Apple needs to release a iPadBook

[vvswarup]

I have just the solution for what you are proposing. To get Lion, buy an app called LogMeIn or one of the other dozens of virtualization clients. Link it up to your Mac.

For the keyboard, buy one of those foldable iPad cases that has a built-in bluetooth keyboard.

Lo and behold! You have yourself an iPadBook.

As for it having i5 and several G's of RAM, I don't think so. There's a reason Apple didn't make a tablet running OS X, which everyone thought they'd do. A terrible battery life one of those reasons.

 

[Macaddict16]

I had been thinking about something along these lines as well. Not quite the same as the OP, but a cross between that and the Asus Transformer.

The way I see it:
The iPad 3 will have a high resolution display. Apple will add a second dock connector on the portrait side of the iPad. This product will be sold by itself as the iPad is today. Apple would also release a MacBook Air type computer without the screen that the iPad could plug into. The display less Air would include all of the components it does today sans screen. When you plug the iPad into the keyboard area it runs Mac OS X and when you remove it it runs iOS 5. The screen would still be a touch screen when connected to the keyboard portion so if any OS X apps were written to support touch screen they could use it. The keyboard attachment would have to be cheaper that the current Air to make this worthwhile. That shouldn't be a problem since the display costs would be removed. If they kept the Thunderbolt port on it they could even market to people buying their cinema display. It could be seen as a lower powered Mac Mini. Then you could buy an iPad, a cinema display, and a keyboard attachment and have 3 computers in one (desktop, laptop, and iPad).

Macaddict16

 

[jb1280]

I had been thinking about something along these lines as well. Not quite the same as the OP, but a cross between that and the Asus Transformer.



Macaddict16

This still does not solve the fundamental problem that you end up with a device that compromises what's great about the Macbook Air and what's great about the iPad.

I assume the argument for such a device is that the merger of iOS and OS X is inevitable and that people only want to carry one device. I think there are three points that Apple has made the last decade that demonstrates that those in Cupertino do not believe this is part of their "grand narrative."

1. Devices and their components should do what they naturally do. This point was made when introducing the iMac G4 and why Apple didn't just chop the back 1/2 off an original iMac. It was reiterated on why Apple does not have multitouch notebook displays.

2. Ascendency of iCloud as demotion of the Mac. With an api that allows app developers who are on both OS X and iOS to sync documents and whatnot, I imagine if you asked senior execs at Apple for such a compromised device, they would say having everything on one device is no longer necessary. It is telling that a slogan such as "Mac as a Digital Hub" was only killed in 2011. Everything Apple does for the next decade should be viewed through the iCloud prism.

3. iOS allows OS X to be OS X and OS X allows iOS to be iOS The two different operating systems allows Apple to get away with compromises that each have to make, but will share certain features such as gestures, flash-based storage, and digital distribution.

24 months from now I imagine there will be a lineup of devices subordinated to iCloud that will remain relatively stable for a number of years. Every device will have primarily flash-based storage, lack optical drives, and be inherently thin and light. Those with keyboards and trackpads will run OS X. Those with multitouch displays will run iOS.

 

[sracer]

...

 

[sracer]

I said "Its possible that Apple will succeed where others failed." I never claimed Apple can't do it.

Really?! Where exactly in the post of yours that I quoted did you say that?

 

[darngooddesign]

Now that I've thought about it I agree with the OP if...

If the price isn't ridiculous

If when removed the screen has all of the positives of an iPad.

If when docked it acts just like an air.

If it doesn't feel like two separate devices docked together.

If carrying these two devices, screen and base, feels more convenient than carrying an iPad and Air. I say this because if you use the tablet a lot you're not going to want to redock it all the time so you will still be carrying two devices.

So assuming all these things can be done then its a great idea.

 

[fertilized-egg]

If when removed the screen has all of the positives of an iPad.
...
If it doesn't feel like two separate devices docked together.

That's not what OP suggested - he was suggesting a swivel-display laptop-tablet - but in any case, I think those two things are mutually exclusive.

To make two devices lock in tightly, they have to have a number of holes and parts for fastening, and presumably added girth to accommodate the space and material to make things more stable when jointed. As soon as you do that, you now have a bigger iPad and a bigger Macbook Air, plus the extra cost.

I can imagine Thunderbolt interface for iPad in the future with some added functionality, but I highly doubt Apple will do anything dockable/convertible with iPad/MacBook Air, especially now that they have iCloud. I do hope they bring the AirDrop to iOS though.