Apple Sub-Notebook Nearing Release?

[fraggle]

Does it need Ethernet or Modem? I don't think so.

How much space do you save by not having Ethernet compared to how useful it is?

As far as the modem is concerned: I agree, but so does Apple: The MacBooks do not have a built-in modem anymore.

The dock port would have more usb ports, firewire, audio-in, and DVI.

I disagree, a (mini-)DVI port is mandatory. You do not want to drag around the docjing station just to be able to hook the laptop to a projector to give a presentation.

 

[timmillwood]

Loads of people are mentioning 12" screen, does that make it much more of a sub-notebook than the macbook?

i think it should be 10" or less.

 

[fraggle]

* As fast as the lowest-end MacBook (1.83ghz) with the option to have 1GB of RAM.

You need an option for at least 2GB RAM. 1GB just doesn't cut it anymore.

* No trackpad. Use the ThinkPad nipple, or even the nipple from the Mighty Mouse - I love those, and haven't found a trackpad on any notebook that I liked - so unintuitive, and force you to pick your hands off the keyboard while you're working (ugh).

Leave my trackpad alone! The keyboard doesn't take up that much space so there will be enough room for one anyway.

 

[Glenny2lappies]

As long as it:
* is small enough to work in a coach/economy aircraft seat
* has a *long* battery life - please, lets get from London to New York in one charge (that's a day to most people)
* has ethernet & wireless
* is wide screen 1280x800
* has 4Gb ram capability (future proofing), comes with 1 or 2Gb standard
* has at least 100Gb disc with larger options (music man, music)
* must have a video out - mini-DVI?
* bluetooth
* 2 USBs
* is lightweight

Don't need an optical drive, this can be in my bag/left in the office, but should be supplied. Personally I like the idea of it being underneath the device. As the patent says, it's easier to make it smaller and it means the case can be robust.

It's the missing link. My 12" G4 is still used for exactly this reason; it fits in a coach seat, has a long battery life, etc.

I'm quite happy to have two lappies; a 17" one for the office/hotels/on-site, and a itty-bitty one for travelling.

 

[k2k koos]

I want one IF it docks

Oh yes, we did. Though looking back, they were a bit ridiculous, much like our clothing (blasphemy! I know).

I wanted a duo back in the day, but couldn't afford it (and didn't like the color difference between the duo, and the desktop hardware when docked), but if they can come up with a design that seemlessly blends in, then I am all for it My G4 ALu PB 1.25Ghz, despite still going (very) strong, is perhaps ready to be re-assigned to my wife, and getting me a new powerhouse (I know, it won't be top of the line, but it will probably out perform my current PB by a large margin ).

 

[iMikeT]

If this were a Newton ][, I'm there!

 

[uv23]

I couldn't care less if it docks or not. It's a subnotebok, not a desktop replacement. I have a 15" MBP and would consider also having a 10" subnote to cart around work and conferences as a supplemental machine. Give me built in wireless, one USB, audio in/out, and I'm happy. The optical can be an included external option. Video will be integrated, which is fine for a machine of this class. 1gb ram standard, 2gb ram max is fine. 40-100gb hard drive.

 

[ictiosapiens]

Waiting for:
12" non widescreen. Matte.
Aluminium.
No optical drive.
Full size, PB/MBPro class keyboard.
HiSpeed Wifi + mini DV for connectivity.
Low power Core Duo. Intel graphics.
up to 2GB RAM
up to 80GB HD (1.8" with same NAND help).
3lb.
$1500.

I reckon it will come with the rubish ultra low voltage core solo... I wouldn't expect more...

 

[coffey7]

I will stick with my old out of date 32 bit macbook core duo. I'm so old school.

 

[christ3d]

its the 2nd coming of the powerbook

i bet that this 12 inch unit will be a separate product line from the mac book and mac book pro lines. it will be THE powerbook. when you think about it, a 12 inch disc driveless laptop doesnt fit in either the consumer or the pro families. its going to be too expensive for consumers, and its not going to be full featured enough for the pros. they supposidly got rid of the powerbook name because of its loose connection to "power pc"... well its been a year, and people don't care about ppc, but the name powerbook still has alot of market share in the minds of mac enthusiasts, consumers and professionals.

 

[Zadillo]

i bet that this 12 inch unit will be a separate product line from the mac book and mac book pro lines. it will be THE powerbook. when you think about it, a 12 inch disc driveless laptop doesnt fit in either the consumer or the pro families. its going to be too expensive for consumers, and its not going to be full featured enough for the pros. they supposidly got rid of the powerbook name because of its loose connection to "power pc"... well its been a year, and people don't care about ppc, but the name powerbook still has alot of market share in the minds of mac enthusiasts, consumers and professionals.

As much as I'd like to see the PowerBook name come back (I always thought it was silly that it got axed along with "Power Mac", even though the PowerBook brand name predates the PowerPC), I just can't see Apple releasing a separate product with the PowerBook name while still continuing to use the new MacBook name. I think it would just be too confusing.

 

[SiliconAddict]

While I'm interested if it truely is a sub-notebook I'm not willing to spend more then 1000-1500 on such a system. Mainly due to its sub-ish nature. Sub-notebooks are great for on the go work but really aren't designed for doing work for long stretches of time.

 

[iEdd]

Umm well heavy text input maybe hard but thats what bluetooth keyboards are for.
Light typing like search words or changing titles is easily done with on screen non-dynamic keyboards.

So lets see keyboard less tablets would actually be easier for up to medium typing, but higher than that would need a keyboard. But usually those situations only arrive at an office or at home withere a bluetooth keyboard would be easy to keep.

I say go slate. Get an on board keyboard. Ditch the keyboard. Ditch the optical drive.

Now that makes for a light computer. Make it 12"-13" and suddenly you have what people have always been hoping for..... a virtual notepad. Plus battery life would be a lot more. Sans optical, sans keyboard.

I really don't see the point of making thinner laptops. They could be a bit thinner yes, but a 11x8" laptop is going to require the same room no matter its thickness. It doesn't matter if it's 2 inches thick or 0.25 inch thick, it still takes 11x8" room to use, carry around, etc.
Edit: I'm also with the "we don't need optical drive in sub-notebooks" crowd. In these days of internet downloads, wi-fi networking and external USB and FireWire drives, it's not needed anymore. At least not in a sub-notebook.

I'd like to point out that an optical drive doesn't sit there spinning. Not having one won't give you a minute more battery life vs having one and not using it.
What I don't get about Chef's post is that he wants a 12-13" tablet. Why not just have 12-13" like we already have, which HAS a keyboard, rather than carrying around a bluetooth keyboard and optical drive "incase you need it". Sure it will be thinner without those two things, that is why I agree with the last poster about only saving 5mm or so by removing them, so I think they should be there.
iPhone is your tablet.
So what I gather is that these "people" you talk about want a 13" inch macbook, without half it's connections, less storage, no keyboard or optical drive, 'oh n0es no wireless docking, must be wired'. Yeah it would be fun to play with for 5 minutes. Until you realise you need a dock, a keyboard, an external drive, etc for the $1000 POS you just purchased.
As for saving weight, wha? They are light enough as it is, but yes they will get lighter. If something comes out, it will be 11" and will most likely have a keyboard and optical drive. Why? Because fingerprints suck

EDIT: Also the clamshell laptop design stops scratches on the screen. I guess you could have a thin 'lid' on a tablet, but it just adds to the tackyness.

 

[Jimmery]

Maybe the next iMac will be a tablet computer without optical drive and hard drive, and its base station will contain a 5.25" hard drive and optical drive (along with keyboard, etc). The tablet would only have flash memory for storage, unless it was communicating with its base station wirelessly. The iMac would become hand-held this way, unless you wanted to sit down at the base station to use the keyboard and mouse.

 

[kcmac]

Dude,lay down the crackpipe!!

Grow up.

I expect a lot of Apple. I had the icebook and now own a 12" PB. I am a professional user that travels a lot and carry my PB everywhere I go. I posted my desires. You obviously disagree.

But don't be a jerk.

 

[solvs]

While I'm interested if it truely is a sub-notebook I'm not willing to spend more then 1000-1500 on such a system.

It's going to be about $1700-$1800 probably. Hopefully it'll be worth it. If it's just a smaller Santa Rosa MacBook, I'll be buying the SR MB. If it's better, even if more expensive than the difference, I'll buy it. I want ultra portable, but I'd like a better video card (even than the Intel X3000) and better battery life. I like the 15", but it's still too big and overkill for what I need it for. A 12-13" with a better video card would work too though.

Whatever is coming out, I need a new laptop, but find current offerings kinda lacking.

 

[BWhaler]

i can see an apple ultra portable, but a docking one? i'm not so sure about that. but boy, i remember wanting a duo back in the day.

Me too.

Ah...flashbacks to college.

 

[Chef Medeski]

I'd like to point out that an optical drive doesn't sit there spinning. Not having one won't give you a minute more battery life vs having one and not using it.
What I don't get about Chef's post is that he wants a 12-13" tablet. Why not just have 12-13" like we already have, which HAS a keyboard, rather than carrying around a bluetooth keyboard and optical drive "incase you need it". Sure it will be thinner without those two things, that is why I agree with the last poster about only saving 5mm or so by removing them, so I think they should be there.
iPhone is your tablet.
So what I gather is that these "people" you talk about want a 13" inch macbook, without half it's connections, less storage, no keyboard or optical drive, 'oh n0es no wireless docking, must be wired'. Yeah it would be fun to play with for 5 minutes. Until you realise you need a dock, a keyboard, an external drive, etc for the $1000 POS you just purchased.
As for saving weight, wha? They are light enough as it is, but yes they will get lighter. If something comes out, it will be 11" and will most likely have a keyboard and optical drive. Why? Because fingerprints suck

Firstly, I know how I use my computer. I take it in my backpack all day to various classes. Weight is of big importance to me because I have to fit papers, books, and a laptop. So the heavier the laptop the more my bag becomes. And as to the remark of needing a dock, a keyboard, and an external drive. I dont even use my internal drive on the go. So, dont need that. I would need a dock for what? I dont connect any peripherials on the go and the only one I would ever need is a keyboard, which works with bluetooth. So, no I dont need a dock on the go, maybe at home yes, but not on the go. The external drive might be used once in a blue moon once again AT HOME. Now finally keyboard. I dont believe I would need one on the go. I dont do heavy typing while taking notes. Mostly I record the audio which is very helpful and do summarize the notes, im not the copy every word kind of guy. If it had an on board keyboard lik Origami I believe I would be fine. If it didnt work out as I thought cause it was a pain in the ass, I would carry around a small foldable BT keyboard that weigh about a CD, and are the same size. And that would be a lot lighter than the current Macbook. So actually I wouldnt figure out its a POS but actually use it. Understandably if this does not corroborate to ur user habits, then you would not want such a device. But me, I love Mac OS X, I love Tablets, and I really see little need for a keyboard but tons of needs for a pen.

And if you dont believe anyone is doing it or if it provides a saving. Tablet Kiosk
Look a 12" slate tablet. With 2 USB, 1 Firewire, 1 eSATA, 1 PCI express, BT, Wi-Fi, Finger print. With touch screen. 3.3 lbs. Thats a pound and a half lighter than my 12" PB. BUt its has a 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo processor. With an actual video card which means support for a second display at 2048 x 1536. I mean you cant beat that. No CD drive. No keyboard. $2,000. I would buy it in a heartbeat if it ran OS X. They have even installed the UMPC add-on software so you can have an origami keyboard on it. Its perfect. Apple, take that make it multi-touch and I'll pay you $2,400. No multi touch, $2,200. But maybe a widescreen version would be better.

 

[christ3d]

As much as I'd like to see the PowerBook name come back (I always thought it was silly that it got axed along with "Power Mac", even though the PowerBook brand name predates the PowerPC), I just can't see Apple releasing a separate product with the PowerBook name while still continuing to use the new MacBook name. I think it would just be too confusing.

i don't think it would be confusing at all. in all honesty, by changing the ibook/powerbook lines into the macbook/ macbook pro, they've merged them into the same product, they're both macbooks. its like college football and professional football... they're both football. i mean, the only thing that truely seperates them is one is plastic and one is aluminum... they look almost exactly the same.

a 12 inch super light computer with tons of battery life would be a totally different beast. they could break out a totally new design for their laptops and get rid of the tired original white ibook look thats been going on wayy too long.

call it a powerbook, hell call it an ibook, but if the thing is anything like what the rumors are saying, it doesn't deserve to be called a macbook.

 

[rimbaud@mac.com]

Mac LightSpeed

Mac LightSpeed... No not the C-Compiler

Light rechargeable (solar)... (notice the recent move to black)

The screen is where the keyboard is on a usual laptop, and the two-sided solar array is where the screen is on a usual laptop.

So where's the keyboard? It's on the screen like an iPhone!

No internal moving parts.

2 GB RAM.

40 GB Flash, not in SSD drive format, but 5 x 8GB memory stick format (4 are removable replaceable, e.g. 1 x 8GB plus 4 x 16GB).

Remote works as your VOIP phone.

Comes with a sling so you can carry it (wear it) on you at all times.

Who needs an iPod or iPhone when you can have your whole digital life with you at all times.

BlueRay sync drive at home with HDMI link to your HDTV.

 

[Nukemkb]

I don't care if its a 1.83 gig, as long as it has 3-4 gig of ram and 120 gig hard drive. AND 12 inch screen! I WANT it!!

 

[Zadillo]

Mac LightSpeed... No not the C-Compiler

Light rechargeable (solar)... (notice the recent move to black)

The screen is where the keyboard is on a usual laptop, and the two-sided solar array is where the screen is on a usual laptop.

So where's the keyboard? It's on the screen like an iPhone!

No internal moving parts.

2 GB RAM.

40 GB Flash, not in SSD drive format, but 5 x 8GB memory stick format (4 are removable replaceable, e.g. 1 x 8GB plus 4 x 16GB).

Remote works as your VOIP phone.

Comes with a sling so you can carry it (wear it) on you at all times.

Who needs an iPod or iPhone when you can have your whole digital life with you at all times.

BlueRay sync drive at home with HDMI link to your HDTV.

I'm having trouble visualizing how you would use this and look at what you are working on if the screen is where the keyboard is on a current laptop. It seems like you'd have to stand and look straight down on it just to view things properly, and some space would also be taken up by whatever onscreen keyboard is used. And the two-sided solar panel would seem to go to waste. Frankly I'd rather something where the screen is where it is now on a laptop, and an actual keyboard would be in the same place as always, but still have the solar panel on the other side of the screen, and also have a second solar panel embedded in the wristrest area below the keyboard.

-Zadillo

 

[MonkeyHugger]

IMO it will only happen in the Macbook Pro line.

 

[iEdd]

What?
The MacMini is not pro. The 13" Macbook is not pro. Why would something even smaller be pro?

EDIT: That's assuming you're talking about this sub-notebook. If you're talking about the solar thing (which people here don't quite understand... That gimmick won't be on a mac anytime soon).

 

[MonkeyHugger]

What?
The MacMini is not pro. The 13" Macbook is not pro. Why would something even smaller be pro?

EDIT: That's assuming you're talking about this sub-notebook. If you're talking about the solar thing (which people here don't quite understand... That gimmick won't be on a mac anytime soon).

Yes. I'm talking about what the thread was made for