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Tablet Mac Coming in Fall 2008?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,522
30,800


Jason O'Grady revives rumors of a tablet Mac in his 'The Apple Core' blog today with claims that the long-rumored Mac Tablet would finally be arriving later this year.

Specifically, he believes that Apple will announce a 12" or 13" tablet "in the fall" of this year. The Mac Tablet will reportedly run full Mac OS X, a slot loading Superdrive, 'iPhone-type' GPS chip and an Intel Core Duo processor.

O'Grady believes September or October as the most likely months for the launch of the device and claims that his source "has been reliable in the past". While this rumor may overlap with earlier rumors of an Apple PDA, they appear to detail different features. The earlier PDA rumors suggested more of a larger iPhone rather than a tablet-ized Mac as O'Grady suggests.

162751-tablet_400.jpg


Images from an Apple Patent from 2005
Rumors of a tablet Mac always spark a debate about practicality of the tablet form factor. Regardless, it's clear that Apple has been working on a tablet Mac over the years with numerous patents depicting such a device.

Article Link
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/05/23/tablet-mac-coming-in-fall-2008/
M

mwxiao

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2007
228
5
CT
I don't think so.

Apple is focusing on iPhone. I don't think they have more energy on Mac.
 
UCLA-Bruin

UCLA-Bruin

macrumors member
Feb 19, 2008
79
7
no service contract required means development independent of cell phone providers. also it fits into a unique market. you would buy this thing and still need an iphone and laptop and desktop. why not? priced at $799.
 
D

David G.

macrumors 65816
Apr 10, 2007
1,128
488
Alaska
MacRumors said:
Specifically, he believes that Apple will announce a 12" or 13" tablet "in the fall" of this year. The Mac Tablet will reportedly run full Mac OS X, a slot loading Superdrive, 'iPhone-type' GPS chip and an Intel Core Duo processor.
Click to expand...

Why no Core 2 Duo processor?
 
T

trip1ex

macrumors 68030
Jan 10, 2008
2,888
1,422
Interesting, but I would have to doubt it.

I just don't see the market there for one.

And I can't imagine why I would need one.

Plus Apple seems to have their hands full with the new iPhone and everything else.

Of course if they make it a bigger cousin of the iPhone then maybe it's doable.

I definitely don't see a reason to put a super drive in it. If they aren't putting a super drive in the MB Air then why would they in a tablet?
 
S

SirOmega

macrumors 6502a
Apr 17, 2006
715
6
Las Vegas
I just want bluetooth so I can tether to an iPhone for internet access out in the field. It'd be great to have one out doing data collection.
 
S

SodiumBenzoate

macrumors regular
Feb 10, 2008
123
0
I'm not a big fan of tablet PCs - I don't have any use for them - but it is an up-and-coming market, so I wouldn't be surprised if Apple comes out with one in the speculated timeframe.
 
H

husJAF

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2007
14
0
Sounds cool but I don't see why they would put a superdrive into a tablet if they didn't have one for the MBA...

Wonder what gestures they'll integrate into OSX, can't wait :D
 
B

bbydon

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2005
587
94
ATL
the ZDnet article was still quoting that german intel executive "Germany CEO Hannes Schwaderer spilled the beans that an “iPhone” that will be using Intel’s new Atom processor after which he was quickly corrected by Apple. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire indeed."

But i thought that was debunked and that he never even mentioned apple using Atom
 
N

neven

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2006
815
0
Portland, OR
orbital said:
Why do illustrations for patents have to looks so bad?
Click to expand...

Because you don't want to reveal too much of the actual design and give your competition a heads up. It's not marketing - it's disclosure you have to begrudgingly make. You want to make your product look as unappealing as possible - hence the ugly anatomy of people and the early 1980s look of the whole thing.

Also, a tablet with a SuperDrive? They just introduced the Air, a laptop with no optical drive, but they'd put one in a tablet Mac?
 
H

hhaeschen

macrumors regular
Jan 1, 2008
102
0
EU
UCLA-Bruin said:
no service contract required means development independent of cell phone providers. also it fits into a unique market. you would buy this thing and still need an iphone and laptop and desktop. why not? priced at $799.
Click to expand...

Nobody needs a laptop and a tablet and a desktop. It's more like either or.
 
iSee

iSee

macrumors 68040
Oct 25, 2004
3,539
272
Does Jason O'Grady have a good record on rumors? His source "has been reliable in the past", after all...
 
N

neven

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2006
815
0
Portland, OR
bbydon said:
the ZDnet article was still quoting that german intel executive "Germany CEO Hannes Schwaderer spilled the beans that an “iPhone” that will be using Intel’s new Atom processor after which he was quickly corrected by Apple. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire indeed."

But i thought that was debunked and that he never even mentioned apple using Atom
Click to expand...

He mentioned it as a "possible use". He might have said that because he was aware of a pending deal, but that's unlikely. He just used a bad example, and I'm sure he heard from both Intel and Apple about it.
 
S

SodiumBenzoate

macrumors regular
Feb 10, 2008
123
0
neven said:
Also, a tablet with a SuperDrive? They just introduced the Air, a laptop with no optical drive, but they'd put one in a tablet Mac?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't rule it out, but you're right, it doesn't really fit. Tablets are almost universally low-power thin-and-lights, so why would Apple go in a different direction with this than the MBA?
 
arn

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
iSee said:
Does Jason O'Grady have a good record on rumors? His source "has been reliable in the past", after all...
Click to expand...

He ran/runs PowerPage.org, and has had both ups and downs regarding rumors. He was targeted in Apple's Asteroid lawsuit, but also the source of the Plasma TV rumor which wasn't true.

In the end, I trust him that if he says he has a reliable source, I believe him. (vs some random blog who says the same, I would not necessarily believe it)

arn
 
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