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3G iPhone and $1500 'Super Laptop' in 2008

Unless this is an ultra-geeky, jaw-dropping gadget with multi-touch and tactile feedback (see recent patents), I think I'd rather see an incredibly compact, robust little notebook. One that I won't think twice before opening standing up one the New York subway, for example.
 
~Shard~ said:
Flash memory does have a limited number of read/write cycles, but to what degree I am not sure. I am sure though that the current generation of flash technology is better than its predecessors, as I believe with early flash models you could only read/write a couple thousand times or so. That's great for storage, however not so good for constant the read/writes you see with hard drives.
Click to expand...

Read cycles are unlimited.

Write cycles effectively are too.

It's the less-than-obvious erase cycles that limit the lifetime of Flash. Flash's natural state is to be all binary 1's.

Transitioning any collection of bits within a single Flash page (think hard drive "sector") from 1's to 0's involves selectively "writing" to that page.

If you want to transition any collection of bits in a page from 0's back to 1's, then you have to erase the whole page back to 1's all at once, and start over from scratch.

You can expect lifetimes in the order of 100,000 erase cycles from most Flash today. That's 100,000 erase cycles per page. If you make sure to leave plenty of free space in the Flash, then an intelligent Flash controller will automatically use wear-levelling techniques to redirect the mapping of logical pages around amongst all of the available physical pages, thus spreading the erase cycles around so that it can effectively increase the Flash's overall lifetime significantly.

For example, assume you're using Flash with a 1 kilobyte physical page size, and you always keep 3 gigabytes of free space. The Flash controller will have approximately 3 million physical pages to choose from as it wear-levels the modification of logical pages. That works out to over 300 trillion erase cycles before you'd statistically expect the drive to start being in imminent danger of wearing out. At those numbers, you're probably looking at an expected lifetime in the order of years to decades, depending on usage patterns.

Flash that's used to house a heavily used paging file/swap partition (AKA what most people are talking about when they use the phrase "Flash RAM") will wear out much more quickly that Flash that's used to store programs and documents.
 
~Shard~ said:
Flash memory does have a limited number of read/write cycles, but to what degree I am not sure. I am sure though that the current generation of flash technology is better than its predecessors, as I believe with early flash models you could only read/write a couple thousand times or so. That's great for storage, however not so good for constant the read/writes you see with hard drives.
Click to expand...

From the wiki on ssd's
Limited write cycles. Typical Flash storage will typically wear out after 100,000-300,000 write cycles, while high endurance Flash storage is often marketed with endurance of 1–5 million write cycles (many log files, file allocation tables, and other commonly used parts of the file system exceed this over the lifetime of a computer). Special file systems or firmware designs can mitigate this problem by spreading writes over the entire device, rather than rewriting files in place
Click to expand...
 
~Shard~ said:
Flash memory does have a limited number of read/write cycles, but to what degree I am not sure.
Click to expand...

I saw some calculations - wish I could find them again... Average to medium usage worked out at something like 6 years. i.e. longer than the MTTF of most mechanical hard disks.

And Flash memory is continuing to improve with new variants that have even more read/write cycles, and emerging technologies that have no r/w cycle lifespan. MRAM look very good. Lower power requirements. No R/W cycles. Fast. They just need to get the density/cost up to the same ballpark as conventional Flash and it will probably be the storage technology.
 
My G4 quicksilver came with a (still working fine) 5gb FireFly drive on an Apple promotion. (The truly hardcore out there can now pinpoint exactly when I bought it)

I know it won't likely happen, but if there was a promotion pairing the sub-MacBook with the Firefly's descendant, the FireLite 120 gb, it would be the absolute perfect rig for me. An iPod size firewire-powered pocket drive, that I could carry easily and plug in when I need it.
 
I like the idea of a 12", but i'd like it to be 'widescreen' if that's possible.

Flash memory seems like a good idea, it certainly wouldn't be a problem with external hard drives being so simple. I'm only using 22gb as it is, so a 32gb would be fine.
 
timsutcliffe said:
I like the idea of a 12", but i'd like it to be 'widescreen' if that's possible.

Flash memory seems like a good idea, it certainly wouldn't be a problem with external hard drives being so simple. I'm only using 22gb as it is, so a 32gb would be fine.
Click to expand...

yeah i agree. i wonder if it will be widescreen, i assume it will be though.
 
twoodcc said:
yeah i agree. i wonder if it will be widescreen, i assume it will be though.
Click to expand...

Remember that 12inch widescreen has less vertical space. Good for movies but really bad for viewing websites or using Word....

That why many people, myself included, don't go for 12inch widescreens - hurts the eyes or turns into a hastle....
 
my wish list and why

• 12 inch widescreen - Lets hope it is high res, Macbook resolution on a 12 inch wide would be ok
• optical drive or option (yes...sigh... an external if you must) - sure people have only used it once or twice but if you could not have...it would have sucked
• 4 gigs of ram - yes I really do use it...all of it. VMs (I run 4 pretty regularly when really dorking around
• Sizeable storage option - hell leave a drive in it if you like but lets do the math : 40 gig drive approx = 8 for winblows (and yes...i need it since freaking webex and every other meeting software blows under OSX or parallels/fusion) - lets say 10 minimum for all of the apple stuff OS/ilife/iwork/aperture/other misc core apps. So that leaves 22 gigs (unformatted) 4 for safe sleep, 4 (I know its way overkill for swap) 4 for photos and podcasts that are purely rotational.

That leaves 10 use. doable but meager to say the least. if that really is the direction for this lappy then i need firewire for external (usb sucks, google for why).

So now why didn't I drop everything and buy the macbook?

well I would have had it not been
• slower than the macbook pro I have
• No backlit keys (helpful for those of us that can't type and work on planes in the evening (not to mention I love the mbp keyboard)
• oh yea and to spark a religious debate...I fricken hate glossy
(but the 3m privacy filter I use could fix part of that).

Basically the MB would just take some getting used to (the female unit has one and I could use one but I _love_ to use my mbp).

I'm just looking for the perfect travel lappy (60 trips a year) that isn't a (/me wretches) Dell. Dell can put the same stuff in a compact notebook that they have in the regulars. Surely apple's design team can work a bit o' magic as well yet make it <fatbastard>dead sexy</fatbastard>.
 
NYCMacFan said:
Remember that 12inch widescreen has less vertical space. Good for movies but really bad for viewing websites or using Word....

That why many people, myself included, don't go for 12inch widescreens - hurts the eyes or turns into a hastle....
Click to expand...

yeah i know, but since everything seems to be going widescreen these days...
 
Funny no matter how many times ppl say it won't have an HD, ppl suggest an iPod HD, and ppl reply again that those HDs aren't built for the kind of usage a laptop requires and these comments fall on deaf ears as ppl refuse to give up the HD.

GIVE IT UP PPL! It's not gonna solve all the problems in your iLives! I think the best part about this article is that the device will indeed be priced in line with the 12" PB of yore, however revolutionarily different its form factor is. I expect apple will brand it slightly differently tho (MBP thin, MB Nano/Mini..., MB Touch?) and it will have a lot of BTO options despite the baseline model being crippled to meet the $1500 pricepoint (however good apple's rapport with Samsung, those 64GB drives retail for a US$grand and there's no way apple is handing their bulkbuy savings onto consumers).

I'll bet you can max one of these out to almost $4000 once 128GB drives are made available for it.
 
Since the theory is that this will be a satellite machine to a Mac desktop, I realized there's two more options for using discs with the ultraportable.

a) Start laptop in firewire target mode and use desktop to read or write the hard drive.
b) Start desktop in firewire target mode and use the optical drive from the laptop.

Potential third option:

c) Apple releases a way to use the desktop optical drive from the laptop without needing to reboot either.
 
twoodcc said:
so it seems the newer flash drives would seem to work quite well
Click to expand...

Yup. This year they have started to take off, and there are lots of people about to jump on the bandwagon (Segate, Crucial for example). Capacity is increasing fast, and the price is plunging. Competition GOOD!

Write performance is not quite as good as a mechanical disk - but good enough for a notebook, but read performance is much better. No noise or vibration. Lower power consumption. Less heat. More robust. Lighter. I'll be slapping one into my MacBook next year. Just a question of the price on a 64GB drive getting down to around £200-250. I'd like a 128GB drive, but I could live with a 64...

Ohhh... Linky... http://www.tabletpcreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1001
 
OldTimey said:
blame advertisers and web content developers...ever try visiting CNN.com on a single Proc. G4? it can be pretty painful...
Click to expand...

I'm so happy that my browser has a setting to disable Adobe Flash - I'd like to Taser some of the web developers for using Flash crap, but instead I can just turn it off.
 
Doesn't anybody else see the likelihood of this supposed thin laptop having a flash ssd highly unlikely given the current pricing ($600-$900).

Pop one of those in and a processor and you're already at ~$1500.
 
Repeat after me: E X T E R N A L - D V D

MacRumorUser said:
If you drop the DVD completely from the device ? How on earth will the machine install applications ? How will it come with the installation disks ?
Click to expand...

You don't install the OS when you're on the road (remember the "portable" part of the name) - you do that when you're home or at the office, using the external optical. Same with major apps (those that can't be downloaded).

Most of the small optical-less laptops include the external DVD as part of the package. It doesn't require a new software delivery paradigm, just a USB DVD.

These small laptops are usually the second or third system that people own. They don't have to do everything.
 
Peace said:
The old 12" Powerbook had a 4:3 aspect ratio did it not ?

12" 4:3 ratio would look bigger ( or at least taller ) than a 13.3" 16:10 ratio.
Click to expand...

Everyone is complaining about the size of a 13+" vs. the older 12" PB screen or other ultraportable models out there like some of Sony's VIAOs, but the recent rumors about Apple's order for 13" screens mentioned nothing about the aspect ratio...

a ~6.5" x ~11.5" screen would have a diagonal of ~13.3", a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, and make for a cool machine with very small footprint.

momoe :apple:
 
Don't know if it's been mentioned in the 11 prior pages, but Samsung is showcasing SATA flash drives up to 64 gigabytes (www.samsungssd.com). I have a feeling these will show up in the new ultraportable.

I'm in line for one, it will go great with my Thinkpad X60.
 
Spades said:
Since the theory is that this will be a satellite machine to a Mac desktop, I realized there's two more options for using discs with the ultraportable.

a) Start laptop in firewire target mode and use desktop to read or write the hard drive.
b) Start desktop in firewire target mode and use the optical drive from the laptop.

Potential third option:

c) Apple releases a way to use the desktop optical drive from the laptop without needing to reboot either.
Click to expand...

If that were the case, this would be the PERFECT laptop for me. I take the BART train to work everyday and an ultra portable 12 or 13" MBP that boots instantly would save me 30 minutes per day, taking care of email and browsing the news. I have my G5 tower at home and this could be the perfect supplement.

I have held off buying a MacBook because I feel it isnt fast enough for my personal tastes (I want something that is notably faster than my G5 and that will last me 3-4 years)....and I havent jumped on the MBP because of the size/cost.

Only time will tell.....
 
Hmm, although I am excited about the prospect of this ultra light laptop with a solid state drive but I am still hoping for a 13 MBP at Macworld however I just cant see both a new 12” and 13” laptop being unveiled together! I live in hope.
 
janstett said:
Don't know if it's been mentioned in the 11 prior pages, but Samsung is showcasing SATA flash drives up to 64 gigabytes (www.samsungssd.com). I have a feeling these will show up in the new ultraportable.

I'm in line for one, it will go great with my Thinkpad X60.
Click to expand...

Yah, $950.00.

I don't get how anyone thinks this is a likelihood in a new laptop that costs only $1500.00
 
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