personally i hope for somthing more like the OQO but with multi touch...
OQO is a great idea in my opinion, if apple could get a good price point theyd have a winner for sure
biggest problem with current OQO = Vista
The only other problem I see with that as well is that it is just a little bigger than the iPhone, and since Apple has sworn off of small keyboards and the such the design philosophy behind it wouldn't make much sense in an ultraportable laptop/Mac that allows you to be productive for long hours. In other words... I don't think the OQO's design would make much sense as an Apple UMMac. I do see Apple making some kind of UMTablet Mac out of such a design though, giving it the touch screen UI of the iPhone or the suspected new UI from Leopard, and allowing users to just write directly on the screen, or flip out some newly designed thin keyboard. It is anyone's guess, and Apple usually blows all ideas out of the water with some innovative design and technology that no one has ever thought of... ala the iPhone.
Can anyone speculate when the LED will be in the Macbook? That's what I'm waiting for.
Not for a very long time... maybe another 6 months or so... the only time I have seen Apple update hardware with in their 6 month window is when they switched to Intel... but right after the MacPro came along they went back to every 6 months... the sad part is that with PowerPC chips they usually had a major jump in processor speeds and hardware specs or designs and features. Now, with Intel, Apple just plays the leap frog game with other PC makers.
if there is an ultra portable it won't compete with the 15 MBP or the MB. it will be much smaller (12", maybe 13.3"), has a downclocked CPU (1.6GHz) for heat reasons, has a weak GPU for heat and battery reasons, has a solid state HD with 64 GB only, only FW400, no express card slot, one usb, maybe even no optical drive, less the 4 pounds.
it will be too limited to compete with the MBP, too expensive for the MB buyer.
my guess based on gut feeling only.
That sounds pretty good to me. Palm's Foleo would be a hit if it were just an under powered UMPC laptop for $500-600 and maybe one or two configurable options, but it won't sell as well with smartphone and Treo owners that already have laptops, especially UMPCs from Toshiba and Sony. And it won't do so well because it has to work in tandem with the smartphone, it can't get online by itself, or do anything by itself really. If it ran Windows it would be a hit as the cheapest UMPC that is actually comfortable to use ever.
If Apple made a device like you described, with an underpowered processor to do basic productivity tasks, just enough SSD space to hold what you need, Bluetooth, Wifi, a Gig of RAM, you could even kill the FW400 and add a second USB port, keep it as thin as possible, and charge under a grand for it, let's say... $700-800 the price of a MacMini, then people would flock by the millions to pick one up. My girlfriend is a school teacher that would love to pull out a small, thin, cheap, laptop to do some file work on. She only needs to run MS Office apps, FileMaker Pro, maybe iPhoto, and other simple apps. If some punk kid steals her book then it isn't a big loss, not like loosing her one of a kind 12" PB which ran her $1500+ She would only loose $700, the cost of her Treo.
I truly think Apple is leaving the 12" PB owners behind with the new linup. Polycarbonate is nice, so is 13.3" screens, but the MacBook is noticably heavier than the 12"PB and the graphics are lacking a bit. If Apple introduced the 13.3" MBP, made it lighter and gave it an independent GPU and a backlit keyboard then they would sell millions of those as well. I would place money on one coming out sooner than most think.
I'll always pine for an updated 12" MBP. If it turns out to be a 13" MBP then I wouldn't buy it.
I find that Apple's efforts in their mobile product range is a bit half hearted. They have so few lines that they're trying to fit into different markets.
First, I think its weird they don't have a consumer notebook bigger than 13" inches. The MB is 13" to try an appease this discrepancy, it wants the bigger screen while at the same time going for portability. The 12" worked, it knew it was a small machine and acted perfectly as such.
Apple should offer a 15" version of the MB personally. Anyway.
My only option now is to wait for a 17" MBP when I have the cash, it knows what it is and I like that about the product. To me the 17" is the strongest product they have in that lineup, I cannot wait to get one.
A 13" MBP is a waste imo, if they are looking for a product to distinguish itself from the 13" MB then make it a 12" machine, at pro level its crying out to be portable, that inch makes a difference to me and others who want portability over everything else. But then also don't limit it by offering consumer features either. That was one thing annoying about the 12" PB, it didn't have the cooler pieces of technology its older brothers had.
Yeah... the backlit keyboard, PC card slot, FW800, and nicer GPU were all missing on the 12". I understand that they had to keep the price down as well as the size though. I am sure Apple has gained a few inches of space since switching to Intel, also, the 12" was the thickest PB on the market, so they could take the same route with the new 12" widescreen MBP. Make it a little thicker to make room for the GPU, Backlit keyboard, and an extra port. FW800 can be left off. And give it much better battery life and we have a deal.
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