Ultra-Portable Mac Expected at Macworld Expo 2008

[MacRumors]

AppleInsider reports that Macworld San Francisco 2008 will be the launching ground for Apple's long-rumored ultra-portable laptop.

The new 13" aluminum sub-notebook is described to be 50% lighter and "strikingly slimmer" than the existing 15" MacBook Pros. To achieve this small form factor, Apple is said to have removed an optical drive from the design of the new laptop. As well, Apple will incorporate NAND flash-based storage as well as LED backlights to improve power efficiency.

Appleinsider posted their belief that a sub-notebook is coming from Apple back in February of 2007. Rumors of an ultra-portable Mac, however, have been ongoing for months with talk of a NAND-based ultra-portable Mac dating as far back as June 2006.

This new description of an aluminum case corresponds to a recent report by 9to5 indicating that slim aluminum MacBooks had been spotted with "something strange" about the touchpad.

Macworld Expo takes place from January 15-18th, 2008 in San Francisco, California.

For what its worth, Apple 2.0 Blog reports that Piper Jaffrey's Gene Munster is 75% certain that an ultralight MacBook “or possibly an entirely new product” will be coming in January at Macworld. They also point to photos and video of Engadget editor, Ryan Block, successfully transplanting a pre-release Samsung 64GB solid-state drive into his MacBook Pro.


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[xUKHCx]

Good, will be great for students all over the land, but I doubt it would be cheap.

[bigandy]

as always, i'll believe it when i see it.

[edutek]

That's exciting Still don't understand what "something strange" could be, though.

[viltsu]

Yeah, now they got stuff to release in MWSF. But tomorrow, Apple, please introduce the Mac Pro!

[xUKHCx]

Originally Posted by bigandy

as always, i'll believe it when i see it.

What like the iPhone that was rumoured for years.

[zombitronic]

Originally Posted by Macrumors

This new description of an aluminum case corresponds to a recent report by 9to5 indicating that slim aluminum MacBooks had been spotted with "something strange" about the touchpad.

This is the part that I'm interested in.

[jockmock]

so, how big will the screen be?

[Chaszmyr]

Exactly the machine I predicted! I'm not sure if I'm going to buy one, but I'm glad Apple's going to make one.

[AliensAreFuzzy]

I'm really excited. I want something really small and portable so I can just grab it and go. Hopefully this pans out.

[arn]

Originally Posted by jockmock

so, how big will the screen be?

13" screen. Sorry, updated story.

arn

[conshok26]

So I assume that to install from a disk I would need to purchase an external drive. I'm very interested in the flash hd. Engadget posted a video were Ryan installed one on his mbp and it was around a 20 sec startup.

[OdduWon]

Good call apple. who needs a optical drive when your on the go? Definitely going to boost online sales/rentals of movies, or make handbrake a household name would be cool to have something this small, Only usable.

[darthraige]

MacPro coming this week then. Focus all attention on newer technology (not just an update) at MWSF.

[motulist]

I hope they don't pull a Cube fiasco on this product.

Yes, it's expected that you have to pay extra to have a small and attractive form factor, however, the premium can't be too much higher. The pricing for this product will be the key to it's success or failure.

[happydude]

it's about time. though . . . 13"? why not 12"?! "subnotebook" should be smaller than the current 13" macbook IMHO

[sunfast]

I love the "75% certainty". How do you come up with that?

Still, I reckon this would be a great product if true. Expensive though...

[MacBoobsPro]

Without an optical drive Apple will have to offer Leopard, iLife et al as a digital download right?

[drake]

Count on shortly after its release, a rash of post from people complaining how hot their new Macbook Pros are, and lots of heat related issues. You heard it here first.

[sunfast]

Originally Posted by OdduWon

something this small[/url], Only usable.

And less hideous!

[brsboarder]

I'll be selling my macbook on that day if its released and decently priced/speced

[Chaszmyr]

Originally Posted by motulist

I hope they don't pull a Cube fiasco on this product.

Yes, it's expected that you have to pay extra to have a small and attractive form factor, however, the premium can't be too much higher. The pricing for this product will the key to it's success or failure.

Completely right. Sony makes what are hands-down the most impressive ultraportables on the market, but you virtually never see them in the wild because they are extremely expensive. I think if Apple prices this new machine of theirs at $1499 it will sell like crazy. At $1999 it will sell alright, and anything over that and it will hardly sell at all. They could conceivably price it as low as $999, since it sounds like it will use standard laptop components, but at that price you'd have to expect to have hardly any disk space (like, say, 8gb).

[lallenlowe]

Originally Posted by conshok26

So I assume that to install from a disk I would need to purchase an external drive. I'm very interested in the flash hd. Engadget posted a video were Ryan installed one on his mbp and it was around a 20 sec startup.

link please?

[Epicurus]

This is definitely something that I'd go for, despite my love for my trusty 15" PowerBook. I almost got a 12" PB before they stopped making them, but I figured there would be a 12" MacBook Pro before long. Well, its been a long while and I hope the wait is finally over.

I don't know if a mini-laptop or a slate tablet would be cooler, but either way I'll probably buy one as soon as they're available.

[dazzer21]

The new 13" aluminum sub-notebook is described to be 50% lighter and "strikingly slimmer" than the existing 15" MacBook Pros.

So is this going to sit below the Macbook, between it and the MacBook Pro or replace the MacBook entirely? If it's going to have a 13" screen, that makes the MacBook ultra-portable already, doesn't it? I thought the idea, though, was for it to have a smaller footprint...