Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Imagines Mac-Inside-a-Keyboard Device Evocative of 80s Home Computers
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No.
Just give me a Mac Mini of the size of an iPhone, we know you can do it pretty easily.
It would be great, the most portable PC ever, absurdly Apple.
Then if your really want that old keyboard-PC thing, also sell me a keyboard with a slot for it. And let selected third party manufacturers make their keyboards so I can get a mechanical one.
Just give me a Mac Mini of the size of an iPhone, we know you can do it pretty easily.
It would be great, the most portable PC ever, absurdly Apple.
Then if your really want that old keyboard-PC thing, also sell me a keyboard with a slot for it. And let selected third party manufacturers make their keyboards so I can get a mechanical one.
Ooh having had a c64 abd an amiga I would love that in a more retro design.
Going back to a keyboard that has cables attached to it for the monitor + power delivery is a step backwards. Unless they think up of a way to efficiently without delay have a monitor wirelessly connect (and how it connects) as well as a way to have a decent enough battery life in something as small as a keyboard, which would be way more interesting than the actual Mac in a keyboard concept.
Don't forget to add a trackpad! Then it'll be good!
But still, I'd definitely buy one even without.
But still, I'd definitely buy one even without.
1: With the supposed use case, you're not likely to put it on your lap. It will be connected to a screen. It's a Mac Mini and keyboard in one, which makes total sense, not a screen-less laptop which makes zero sense.
2: I'm literally sitting with my M1 Air on my lap right now, and have done for an hour, and if anything my legs are heating up the laptop, not the other way round. There are literally zero technical issues with this design, just usecase decisions. I think it makes perfect sense, just not for enough people that Apple is likely to actually put it to market.
Nope the 'book' part of a Macbook is the screen part that folds shut
I think this is a terrible idea. Imagine the first time you spill something on your keyboard and the amount of freaking out that occurs afterwards. Or think about an individual keyboard key not working, you have to take the entire computer to get it fixed. With desktop computers keyboards are the most exposed items of the setup and a lot can happen to it. I’d much rather an Apple TV sized Mac than a Mac in a keyboard.
I still have both of those.
In some parts of the world that may already be practical if your uses are very basic. I mean fundamentally that's what a Chromebook does. But certainly for creators / developers who live anywhere which doesn't deliver gigabit internet, it's a pipe-dream.
Its about time! Lots of Pi examples that are perfectly usable. I've been saying this for literally decades. In business, you don't need all the whizbang stuff anyway so even Intel would work. Just carry around your keyboard and mouse... Oh, and I still code for those 80's computers including right now, though hopped up with better video and SD card readers lol... (Sinclair being my fav).
And yet when the typical home computer was basically this form factor, amazingly we managed, without destroying them.
Zero issues with this concept. The first three computers I owned were the Commodores VIC 20, 64 and Amiga 600. So long as we don’t go back to loading games off of cassette tapes, I love the form factor.