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dba415

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 18, 2011
938
1,202
A touch screen device that also works as a full fledged laptop, powered by Lion.

You'd be able to close it with the screen facing down like a laptop, or with the screen facing up like an iPad.

Underneath the screen is a full sized keyboard and trackpad, the same as the one found on the 11 inch MacBook Air.

It wouldn't be running iOS but be running Lion.

It automatically detects whether the screen is facing up or facing down. When the screen is facing up, it'll be Lion in LaunchPad mode and essentially be an iPad with Safari etc.

When it is in laptop mode it will run the regular OS with all the features.

The best of both worlds imo. It would have a Core i5, a SSD, and 4 GB of RAM.
 
Why not buy one of those clamshell cases for the iPad that include a keyboard? There! iPadBook but without trackpad support! :p

[Edit]: Well not unless you do that jailbreak tweek and connect a bluetooth mouse. :p
 
thats what microsoft was originally doing with their "tablets". That worked out well...

Full OS no worky
 
so you think having an iPad and a MacBook Air in one device is a terrible idea, lol.

Yes.

The iPad 2 is just barely lightweight enough to be a nice comfortable tablet in your hands. I even thought the iPad 1 was a bit too heavy.

This idea would blow that away. It would be a pretty terrible iPad. (And that's just weight. Trying to use a cursor and menu bars with your finger is a whole other nightmare I won't even get into. Suffice it to say, it sounds awful.)

And based on the compromises they'd have to make, I'm thinking it'd be a pretty terrible Mac as well, performance-wise.

So, yeah, I'd rather own a good iPad and a good Macbook Air instead of one really horrible device.
 
Yes.

The iPad 2 is just barely lightweight enough to be a nice comfortable tablet in your hands. I even thought the iPad 1 was a bit too heavy.

This idea would blow that away. It would be a pretty terrible iPad. (And that's just weight. Trying to use a cursor and menu bars with your finger is a whole other nightmare I won't even get into. Suffice it to say, it sounds awful.)

And based on the compromises they'd have to make, I'm thinking it'd be a pretty terrible Mac as well, performance-wise.

So, yeah, I'd rather own a good iPad and a good Macbook Air instead of one really horrible device.
Wow! I feel bad for the OP...he's getting CLOBBERED!! Geez...so you don't like the guy's idea, no need to pound him into submission.
 
Geez...so you don't like the guy's idea, no need to pound him into submission.

Well, I don't think I was mean nor do I think there's anything wrong with the OP. He likes it. I don't. I don't think he's a bad person or anything. I just said I disagree. Nothing wrong with me or with him for voicing our opinions.
 
Or you could just buy the Asus Transformer and its keyboard/battery dock. It's almost as if the OP's idea was taken right of the Transformer's web site.
 
Well, I don't think I was mean nor do I think there's anything wrong with the OP. He likes it. I don't. I don't think he's a bad person or anything. I just said I disagree. Nothing wrong with me or with him for voicing our opinions.
True.

I just kinda felt bad for the guy...but you are right...unique opinions are good.
 
No they don't. That goes against everything apple stands for anyway(My Opinion). I think having the MacBook air is the perfect complement to the iPad. No need to make the iPad more laptop like. Would defeat the whole Purpose of the iPad being a tablet
 
Geeze doesn't anyone else on here have a vision for the future ? Am I and the OP the only ones ? Why do you think there is all the gestures that were added to SL and that are in Lion ?

Where he is wrong, is that it will be an Arm processor. It will dual boot or VM Win 8. There was rumors of Lion working on Arm. Win 8 will. Apple will beat MS to market with the rumored new iPad release this Sep. It's coming people. Sooner than you think.

Why the hell would you want to buy a Transformer ? I want the tablet that runs the same apps as my truck computer. You will then be able to toss your laptop.
 
Geeze doesn't anyone else on here have a vision for the future ? Am I and the OP the only ones ? Why do you think there is all the gestures that were added to SL and that are in Lion ?

Where he is wrong, is that it will be an Arm processor. It will dual boot or VM Win 8. There was rumors of Lion working on Arm. Win 8 will. Apple will beat MS to market with the rumored new iPad release this Sep. It's coming people. Sooner than you think.

Why the hell would you want to buy a Transformer ? I want the tablet that runs the same apps as my truck computer. You will then be able to toss your laptop.

1. There will be no iPad 3 this September.
2. Microsoft already tried it, no one wanted a full OS on a tablet.
3. Apple won't beat Microsoft to market (See #2)
4. My regular apps are not optimized for finger input and to be frank I would hate running regular Adobe software, for example, with my fingers.
5. The iPad succeeds because it got rid of 30 years of legacy complexity and weight. Once you add that back its no longer the lightweight joy to use.

I will happily carry around an Air in addition to my iPad. I do not want to combine the two. This has nothing to do with vision because that vision was tried before.
 
Apple does not normally build abominations.
MANBEARPIG.png
 
Yes.

The iPad 2 is just barely lightweight enough to be a nice comfortable tablet in your hands. I even thought the iPad 1 was a bit too heavy.

This idea would blow that away. It would be a pretty terrible iPad. (And that's just weight. Trying to use a cursor and menu bars with your finger is a whole other nightmare I won't even get into. Suffice it to say, it sounds awful.)

And based on the compromises they'd have to make, I'm thinking it'd be a pretty terrible Mac as well, performance-wise.

So, yeah, I'd rather own a good iPad and a good Macbook Air instead of one really horrible device.
If you had read my post you would know that I said that in tablet mode it would act just like ios. So half of your post is wrong.
 
1. There will be no iPad 3 this September.
2. Microsoft already tried it, no one wanted a full OS on a tablet.
3. Apple won't beat Microsoft to market (See #2)
4. My regular apps are not optimized for finger input and to be frank I would hate running regular Adobe software, for example, with my fingers.
5. The iPad succeeds because it got rid of 30 years of legacy complexity and weight. Once you add that back its no longer the lightweight joy to use.

I will happily carry around an Air in addition to my iPad. I do not want to combine the two. This has nothing to do with vision because that vision was tried before.

1. If you say so
2. Yep, the Wintel people tried it. You paid more than double for a heavy, slow clunkie laptop, that tried to be a tablet too. However, Win8 is being designed from the ground up to work with touch interface and run on Arm CPUs. iOSification of Lion was no accident.
3. See #1
4. Nope, they sure aren't. Yet. Take the iPad, add a detachable keyboard. You have a laptop. Detach the screen, you have a tablet. Simple. Don't like the way a program works with touch, or it hasn't been converted over yet, use the keyboard/trackpad.
4. You nailed that one. However it won't be going back, but forward.
 
1. There will be no iPad 3 this September.
2. Microsoft already tried it, no one wanted a full OS on a tablet.
3. Apple won't beat Microsoft to market (See #2)
4. My regular apps are not optimized for finger input and to be frank I would hate running regular Adobe software, for example, with my fingers.
5. The iPad succeeds because it got rid of 30 years of legacy complexity and weight. Once you add that back its no longer the lightweight joy to use.

I will happily carry around an Air in addition to my iPad. I do not want to combine the two. This has nothing to do with vision because that vision was tried before.

What he said!
 
1. If you say so
2. Yep, the Wintel people tried it. You paid more than double for a heavy, slow clunkie laptop, that tried to be a tablet too. However, Win8 is being designed from the ground up to work with touch interface and run on Arm CPUs. iOSification of Lion was no accident.
3. See #1
4. Nope, they sure aren't. Yet. Take the iPad, add a detachable keyboard. You have a laptop. Detach the screen, you have a tablet. Simple. Don't like the way a program works with touch, or it hasn't been converted over yet, use the keyboard/trackpad.
4. You nailed that one. However it won't be going back, but forward.

#1. There is no proof one way or another. I'm saying yearly because that is what historically has happened. Its all speculation.

#2. While w8 is designed for touch, you still have all your regular apps which aren't touch friendly. If this is the case then no thanks. I don't want to have to stop what I'm doing to pick up a stylus or mouse and then go back to touch again.

#3. Msoft already did this a decade ago so Apple can't beat them to market.

#4. See #2. So are you talking about a keyboard dock or something more? If its the latter you are describing laptops and hybrid devices that have already been released by numerous companies; they were less than successful. Its possible that Apple will succeed where others failed. Unless Msoft drops all legacy support you will be juggling between touch and stylus for input, which would be like having a MacBook where the trackpad works for the OS but then you have to dig out a mouse for some apps. Then you have to put it away and switch back to the trackpad. It just sounds like a hassle and a fantastic way to interrupt your flow.

#5 Going forward is not bringing back the inherent complexity of a regular OS. For an iPad to run real software it would need to be specced out like the Air. Now the Air has good battery life, but it is considerably heavier than the iPad. So at the very least this all-in-one computer will be at least as heavy as the Air, probably heavier to allow for the complexity of a detachable tablet. In essence you still have two devices to carry around because you wont always redock the screen if you primarily use the tablet. I guess I dont see how this is more convenient than an iPad/Air combination as it still feels like two devices when used in the real world.
 
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I think that is Apple's end game. Each iPad/iOS update brings more and more desktop functionality. Now, Apple's Desktop is being given a very iOS feel. Eventually, the two will probably merge into a single platform.

And please, lets not use the old MS tablets to prove why such a system doesn't work.
 
1. There will be no iPad 3 this September.
2. Microsoft already tried it, no one wanted a full OS on a tablet.
3. Apple won't beat Microsoft to market (See #2)
4. My regular apps are not optimized for finger input and to be frank I would hate running regular Adobe software, for example, with my fingers.
5. The iPad succeeds because it got rid of 30 years of legacy complexity and weight. Once you add that back its no longer the lightweight joy to use.

I will happily carry around an Air in addition to my iPad. I do not want to combine the two. This has nothing to do with vision because that vision was tried before.
1. You are correct.
2. Incorrect. No one wanted Microsoft's vision of what a full OS on a tablet looked like.
3. Incorrect.
4. Partially correct.
5. Partially correct.

There is a reason why Apple made incremental changes to OSX Lion to bring it closer to iOS in look and feel. My prediction is that some future version of OSX will natively support iOS apps in addition to OSX apps.

I can see a future Apple tablet that will work in "iOS mode" when detached from a keyboard, but switch to "OSX mode" when connected to a keyboard. Make the desktop/notebook experience compatible with the mobile experience then switch between the two becomes nearly seamless. (it may not be a keyboard that triggers the switch but perhaps a base/dock)

Pointing to the previous failed attempts by Apple's competitors is a poor argument for claiming that Apple cannot succeed.
 
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