Apple Questioned Again About a Mac Netbook

[murphysm]

How is an iPhone or Touch NOT a netbook already?

Think Newton 2009! That's what I want to see. A device the size of a Kindle2, looks and functions like an iPhone but with the option of running the iPhone OS or full Mac OS on it. That would be brilliant! You would no longer need a full size computer!

 

[str1f3]

That's an elitist statement by itself.

Believe or assume what you will. I am saying that it is a race to the bottom in terms of price. Whenever you do compete on price, most times other things suffer. To push out cheaper computers, Dell outsourced support amongst other things. Their support was at one time equal to Apple's (maybe even superior) ten years ago and now it is considered the worst in industry.

 

[Oscartapia]

Imagine if all companies were like Apple and selling products with high margins. The world would be a completely different place with only rich people being able to afford a computer. A computer would be a status symbol.

It's funny you say that, 'cause Steve Jobs is one of the people that more than 30 years ago came with the idea of a computer everybody could have at home. The fact they became expensive came after, when they had to be one brand with it's own OS against many, many brands that share the same OS that copied most of it from Apple's Mac OS, and usually takes what Apple brings to the market when it comes to innovation. That's an investment, and it requires research, time, try and fail, but it gives all the industry the things now we can find on any computer, so it's not that they have high margins, they invest in innovations. across the computer history they had give more than you know, at least that's what your post reveals.

The first personal computer with a graphic interface: Mac
The first personal computer to use a mouse: Mac
The first personal computer with an application you could install: Mac
The First personal computer with a program you coud buy separately and install with a disc: Mac
The first personal computer with SCSI: Mac
The first personal computer to offer, off the box, a complete computer, with sound card, integrated speaker, independent video card, ethernet, etc.: Mac
The first personal computer to use CD: Mac
The first personal computer to have actualy used USB as it is: a universal serial bus: Mac
The first computer to use firewire: Mac
The first personal computer to have a DVD recorder: Mac
The first personal computer with a bunch of apps to work like something you could use at home for all the common activities (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband,etc.): Mac
The first personal computer to integrate an application with such thing as the iTunes Music Store: Mac
The first computer to have a total integration with an app and the mp3 player (iPod): Mac
The same with a cell phone (iPhone): Mac

And this list goes larger, for example, if you add the technology in materials, like titanium, aluminium, polycarbonates, etc., and of course the looks, the design, so you can understand the price is not just because of high margins. In fact, if not for Apple that brings all this advances to the industry, and forces the competitors to evolve probably we could have a delay in technology from at least a couple of years, if not close to 5 years.

So yes: they had paid a high price, they sell expensive computers, but they worth it.

And the only thing in many, many years the competitors had advantage: the blu-ray, precisely because it's they're only real advantage in such a long time.

And yes, like somebody already told, if you are a BMW fan, so you understand some brands are more expensive because of the quality of their products, isn't it?? or do you thing the same from BMW: they sell expensive cars, so they have high margins, and if all the cars manufacturers where like them just a bunch of people could afford a car??

 

[Oscartapia]

This doesn't necessarily look like a denial to me. He basically criticizes the way current netbooks are build and that Apple will not and would not build them that way.

After that he confirms that they are looking at them and would build a better type if they could find a way..

Doesn't sound to me like they would never build one, or are in fact not busy building one.

Let's look at his criticism:

Cramped keyboards: the chicklet keyboard Apple uses is already quite small and very thin. Would they be able to make it a bit smaller by eliminating the space between the keys for example? Looks like a solvable issue. Not a keyboard at all?

Terrible software: OS X runs very well on the iPhone. Apple should be able to adapt OS X for a netbook also. Doesn't look like an issue to me.

Junky hardware: shouldn't be in issue of availability. More an issue of price. I guess we would have to pay for good hardware and that an Apple Netbook will not be cheap.

Small Screens: Depends how big you manufacture your netbook, but also depends on the resolution. Is also a question of price.

To me it looks like all the described issues are technically solvable and that Apple even has most of the elements in place to do it. So even with Cook's statement I don't see any reason to think that Apple won't introduce a netbook device soon.

It's not a denial, he's in fact insinuating that when Apple comes to the netbook market will be with a product with a different approach than the one the netbook manufacturers have at this moment, they don't have interest to compete with the rest of the market, they want to come with a product that creates his own market, as it happened with the iPod and the iPhone.

 

[bretm]

It's funny you say that, 'cause Steve Jobs is one of the people that more than 30 years ago came with the idea of a computer everybody could have at home. The fact they became expensive came after, when they had to be one brand with it's own OS against many, many brands that share the same OS that copied most of it from Apple's Mac OS, and usually takes what Apple brings to the market when it comes to innovation. That's an investment, and it requires research, time, try and fail, but it gives all the industry the things now we can find on any computer, so it's not that they have high margins, they invest in innovations. across the computer history they had give more than you know, at least that's what your post reveals.

The first personal computer with a graphic interface: Mac
The first personal computer to use a mouse: Mac
The first personal computer with an application you could install: Mac
The First personal computer with a program you coud buy separately and install with a disc: Mac
The first personal computer with SCSI: Mac
The first personal computer to offer, off the box, a complete computer, with sound card, integrated speaker, independent video card, ethernet, etc.: Mac
The first personal computer to use CD: Mac
The first personal computer to have actualy used USB as it is: a universal serial bus: Mac
The first computer to use firewire: Mac
The first personal computer to have a DVD recorder: Mac
The first personal computer with a bunch of apps to work like something you could use at home for all the common activities (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband,etc.): Mac
The first personal computer to integrate an application with such thing as the iTunes Music Store: Mac
The first computer to have a total integration with an app and the mp3 player (iPod): Mac
The same with a cell phone (iPhone): Mac

And this list goes larger, for example, if you add the technology in materials, like titanium, aluminium, polycarbonates, etc., and of course the looks, the design, so you can understand the price is not just because of high margins. In fact, if not for Apple that brings all this advances to the industry, and forces the competitors to evolve probably we could have a delay in technology from at least a couple of years, if not close to 5 years.

So yes: they had paid a high price, they sell expensive computers, but they worth it.

And the only thing in many, many years the competitors had advantage: the blu-ray, precisely because it's they're only real advantage in such a long time.

And yes, like somebody already told, if you are a BMW fan, so you understand some brands are more expensive because of the quality of their products, isn't it?? or do you thing the same from BMW: they sell expensive cars, so they have high margins, and if all the cars manufacturers where like them just a bunch of people could afford a car??

I think you completely forgot wysiwyg desktop publishing and printing. That was pretty much the one thing that made them.

 

[peterdevries]

how about one of these options.

1. an iphone with a fold out keyboard (yes i no UNLIKELY as fish flying)
2. a larger iphone, i.e. a touchbook
3. smaller iphone for the kids

Check out this list regarding number one in your list...

Regarding number 3: Apple is unlikely to make a kids version of any hardware they have at this point. The quality and price of the hardware is not suited to that demographic.

 

[iMaggot]

I just don't get why people like Netbooks, they are so small and slow.

 

[gdp057]

Yea but I can happily deal with cramped keyboards, junky hardware and small screens if its running OS X! Thank god for hackers...

 

[Santabean2000]

Apple is lying. They bash netbook because they dont make them right now. They will make netbook soon though.

Not unlike what they did with the iPhone eh... deny deny deny, then Whamo new instant success. And everyone has been playing catch-up since

Camon Apple hit us again!

 

[leonstafford]

Let's just hope that if they do a netbook it will blow all the other ones out of the water. I do think there's a market for something more powerful than my iPhone but without the cost and power of a laptop but that isn't a flimsy, cheap, POS.

I've been using my MSI Wind U100 for about a week now, running 10.5.6 from the get-go. It is fast, even with only the stock 1GB. It is light, it is well built and cost me $250 slightly used. I've bought several MacBooks and PowerBooks before that for many times the price. While I liked them, if this had have been a choice, I would have bought it then, too.

It is running OS X without a hiccup (as does my hackintosh desktop at home).

Apple says they don't want to see their OS on such hardware, but I would venture that these Winds and similar Dell Mini 9's are having OS X installed almost as much as Windows... Somewhere at the Top 100 in "the pir8 bay", you will see an old Wind OS X install disc. If you look at the most popular Wind forum site, the OS X sections are way more active than the Windows or Linux forums.

For any "Mac-purists" out there, I've probably spent more on Mac hardware over the years and repaired more machines than most, and to be honest, I love Macs, frikkin love the cute things. Now, the era has changed and at the moment, Apple hardware does not offer the best value or performance of competing products which can also run OS X.

Maybe if Apple really does something cool with 10.6 which is locked into Apple hardware it will be a different story, but right now, the best value computer for ME is a compatible hackintosh. And this Wind fills a lot of gaps people have in their computing needs.

Sorry to rant, but have to stand up for the cheap hackintosh option as there are better things to spend money on in life than a shiny apple logo (though I will be sticking an old iBook logo on my Wind...)

 

[snowleopard48]

i'm hoping for an extremely fast tablet, not a netbook and why not call it:

iPad?

 

[BrokenChairs]

...and if they release one, I'm sure we'll get those Microsoft Ads...

 

[217833]

It's funny you say that, 'cause Steve Jobs is one of the people that more than 30 years ago came with the idea of a computer everybody could have at home. The fact they became expensive came after, when they had to be one brand with it's own OS against many, many brands that share the same OS that copied most of it from Apple's Mac OS, and usually takes what Apple brings to the market when it comes to innovation. That's an investment, and it requires research, time, try and fail, but it gives all the industry the things now we can find on any computer, so it's not that they have high margins, they invest in innovations. across the computer history they had give more than you know, at least that's what your post reveals.

The first personal computer with a graphic interface: Mac
The first personal computer to use a mouse: Mac
The first personal computer with an application you could install: Mac
The First personal computer with a program you coud buy separately and install with a disc: Mac
The first personal computer with SCSI: Mac
The first personal computer to offer, off the box, a complete computer, with sound card, integrated speaker, independent video card, ethernet, etc.: Mac
The first personal computer to use CD: Mac
The first personal computer to have actualy used USB as it is: a universal serial bus: Mac
The first computer to use firewire: Mac
The first personal computer to have a DVD recorder: Mac
The first personal computer with a bunch of apps to work like something you could use at home for all the common activities (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband,etc.): Mac
The first personal computer to integrate an application with such thing as the iTunes Music Store: Mac
The first computer to have a total integration with an app and the mp3 player (iPod): Mac
The same with a cell phone (iPhone): Mac

And this list goes larger, for example, if you add the technology in materials, like titanium, aluminium, polycarbonates, etc., and of course the looks, the design, so you can understand the price is not just because of high margins. In fact, if not for Apple that brings all this advances to the industry, and forces the competitors to evolve probably we could have a delay in technology from at least a couple of years, if not close to 5 years.

So yes: they had paid a high price, they sell expensive computers, but they worth it.

And the only thing in many, many years the competitors had advantage: the blu-ray, precisely because it's they're only real advantage in such a long time.

And yes, like somebody already told, if you are a BMW fan, so you understand some brands are more expensive because of the quality of their products, isn't it?? or do you thing the same from BMW: they sell expensive cars, so they have high margins, and if all the cars manufacturers where like them just a bunch of people could afford a car??

first laptop to have button-less trackpad? .... MAC

 

[splintah]

just give me a 10" iphone with pen support (ideally with some pressure levels)
and i would be sold

with a nvidia chip i would even be able to do basic 3d animation stuff on it
a dream come true


even better would be a 15" ipod with core2duo and wacom support and multitouch
just not for 5k without multitouch

 

[talkingfuture]

Reading between the lines of what Tim Cook said I am completely convinced that Apple are working on a Netbook size tablet device with no physical keyboard. It won't be cheap and I think we will see it sometime between midsummer and Christmas. I don't think they will push it at WWDC unless its a preview to get developers working on Apps for it.

 

[Marx55]

Whatever Apple netbook or iTablet, it must come with Mac OS X (not just OS X of iPhone and iPod touch) for FULL blown presentations from NATIVE Keynote and PowerPoint files. Pocketable and no more than 300-400 g. Yes, the MacBook Air is too large and too heavy!

 

[MacFly123]

Enough already. Apple needs to get into this space, and not at the $1500 price point.

they said they won't make a netbook

they never said they wouldn't make a small notebook

Stop panicking people. This is just like his no Verizon iPhone comment. It is all fluff to make people be taken off guard and kill rumors.

Is what he said true? YES!, BUT they are not going to make a netbook, they are making the Tablet and it will be out this year and it will be part of the Apple entertainment center Apple TV ecosystem. It will be MUCH better than some crap netbook.

Why you people think they added peripheral support in iPhone 3.0 and BlueTooth??? It is all in preparation for the tablet which will sync with the BlueTooth keyboard.

Look past the silk screens people!

The first personal computer with a graphic interface: Mac
The first personal computer to use a mouse: Mac
The first personal computer with an application you could install: Mac
The First personal computer with a program you coud buy separately and install with a disc: Mac
The first personal computer with SCSI: Mac
The first personal computer to offer, off the box, a complete computer, with sound card, integrated speaker, independent video card, ethernet, etc.: Mac
The first personal computer to use CD: Mac
The first personal computer to have actualy used USB as it is: a universal serial bus: Mac
The first computer to use firewire: Mac
The first personal computer to have a DVD recorder: Mac
The first personal computer with a bunch of apps to work like something you could use at home for all the common activities (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, Garageband,etc.): Mac
The first personal computer to integrate an application with such thing as the iTunes Music Store: Mac
The first computer to have a total integration with an app and the mp3 player (iPod): Mac
The same with a cell phone (iPhone): Mac

first laptop to have button-less trackpad? .... MAC

First laptop with a Multi-Touch track pad! (MAC)
First personal computer with a graphical word processing program! (MAC)
First personal computer with Microsoft Office! (MAC)
First personal computer with Fonts! (MAC)
First personal computer with built in web cam! (MAC)

I like this Lets make a forum for this and get a serious for real list going that people can show anyone trying to rip on Apple!

 

[gnasher729]

The prospect of a Mac Netbook just got a lot less appealing to the mainstream buyer.

That one again...

1. There are idiots who think it is clever to illegally download copies of iWork and Photoshop from a torrent. They got what they deserved: A nice trojan on their machine. A combination of user criminality and user stupidity. You not only have to go out of your way to get this, you have to involve in activities that you must know are illegal.

2. That trojan is very, very easy to remove.

3. Web site after web site repeats, and it grows and it grows while they repeat it. Truth is: There is actually no evidence at all that a Macintosh botnet exists at this point.

You can protect yourself very easily from that kind of malware: Just don't steal software. Or if you have to steal it, go to a store and steal the actual box. Or "borrow" a copy from a friend. Just don't download it from an untrusted source on the internet.

Anyway, now that there's an active Apple botnet - maybe the myth that "MAC's are immune" will die....

Show me evidence of an active botnet. Evidence like in "I received this spam email, and it was sent by a Macintosh that had a Trojan". Not evidence like "there is a trojan that looks like it is intended to create a botnet". By the way, why do you use the abbreviation for "Media Access Control", instead of spelling it correctly? Repeat after me: "Macs are immune". You are not a beginner, you should know better.

To see the quality of reporting about this, just check out the quoted article, read carefully, and you'll see the many unwarranted conclusions they jump to. For example, they say that "according to Gartner, 7.4% of computer users use Macs". Gartner did say no such thing. Gartner said that 7.4% of the computers sold in the last quarter were Macs. To find out how many percent of computer users use Macs, you would have to see the numbers in previous quarters, and find out how long a computer is in active use on the average. So they are jumping to conclusions, like everywhere in the article.

 

[tuckerja]

Well if they don't want to put the mac name on it, then don't. Call it the applet!

 

[4np]

He clearly does not deny nor confirm the fact that they are working on a 'small formfactor device', he just denies they are building a netbook.

So my best guess is they are indeed developing an innovative small formfactor device using OS X Touch...

 

[crash8130]

Tim just outlined it for us.

Full size keyboard, bigger screen, Mac OS X.

The reason there is a market for this kinda thing is meeting and lectures. I don't want to carry around my big laptop to classes to take notes. When a smaller sized laptop would do fine.

My prediction.

13.3 inch screen
no cd-rom drive
intel atom 1.6 processor.
i think they will put a video chipset in there. don't think they will stick with current one though, something a little lighter.
32 GB SSD.
1 GB memory.
Led display for great battery life.
Battery built in.
Full sized keyboard.
unibody.
$500.00 price tag.

Also, yes apple does want in this market. If they ignore it hackintosh will grow leaps and bounds. Just twitter search the Dell Mini 9. eight out of ten post are about how they plan to put Mac OS X on it.

Secondly, this is a foot in the door with consumers. This gives students and families a chance to get their hands on OS X. Once the OS X bug bites you do n't go back to PC.

What they will lose in Margins they will gain in volume!

 

[jb1280]

What they will lose in Margins they will gain in volume!

So Apple will completely abandon the philosophy that resulted in, by all reasonable metrics, a good financial quarter?

Netbooks are popular because:
1. They are cheap.
2. They are just good enough for checking email etc. I've tried using one for a full day of research and they are pure garbage compared to something with a better keyboard and larger display.

Apple will never be able to compete on price. As such, there is really no reason to play for those consumers who are most sensitive on the price issue.

From what I can tell, Apple has made it very clear in their notebook philosophy that screen size and keyboard size are not compromises they are willing to make.

Using that as a point of departure when Apple enters the netbook market, they might either completely rethink the internals of the Macbook Air to bring the cost down or they will expand the touch lineup of products.

There simply will not be an apple notebook with a tiny keyboard and tiny display.

 

[iSamurai]

"he sees cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware and very small screens"

sorry but not all our salaries are counted per minute and not all our laptops are macbook airs/pros. not all of us even have a laptop, bear that in mind. growl.

...as if I'm doing photoshop and 3D cad on a netbook... i just need one to do emails, web browsing and type up some assignments on the go. something that doesn't crash like windoze, and something that's cheap enough like asus, acer, msi and those netbooks.

apple should listen to what customers want and not what the few that sits around the meeting table want. that's just being ignorant, sorry, but that's just how I perceive it.

a touch screen laptop will just push up the price and it won't be a netbook anymore. it will, however, be like an iphone mixed with a macbook air, and most certainly, it will disappoint many of us wanting a mac netbook.

 

[Stormz]

The only point of interest to me is the hope that they'll one day release something with OSX on that's affordable, whether it's a desktop, notebook or whatever.

I'm not actually bothered about whether there's an Apple netbook or an Apple tablet (and tbh I've yet to grasp the practical usefulness of the latter)

I don't see them lowering their prices. As many others have said, it would be strange business sense, shooting themselves in the foot. And that's fair enough - their first priority is NOT to the consumer, it's to the board.

Cook's answer was very carefully crafted in advance, you can tell that by all the qualifiers. Saying Apple wouldn't want to make a device like existing netbooks is like saying Apple wouldn't make a device like existing Dell desktops. Read again and look at what he's actually comparing with.

My prediction: later this year we'll see some tablet-type device - everyone will whoop and cheer.

And then the price will be announced....

(and then the UK price... )

 

[tubbymac]

13.3 inch screen
no cd-rom drive
intel atom 1.6 processor.
i think they will put a video chipset in there. don't think they will stick with current one though, something a little lighter.
32 GB SSD.
1 GB memory.
Led display for great battery life.
Battery built in.
Full sized keyboard.
unibody.
$500.00 price tag.

What they will lose in Margins they will gain in volume!

You're confusing Apple with a PC company. Too many people want Apple to be like a PC company, which they tried when Steve was fired and HORRIBLY FAILED at doing. Luckily Steve has more sense than that and made Apple remember what makes them Apple - and that's not spitting out $500 pieces of garbage. I'm sure some PC company will eventually make something like what you described. In fact it'll probably be one of the million EEE models pushed out by Asus every month. But it won't be something you'll see from Apple, not in a million years.