Apple Sub-Notebook Nearing Release?

[Zadillo]

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).

You are making an incorrect assumption that "small" somehow does not equate with "professional". In fact, the primary market for most subnotebooks (things like the Sony Vaio TX, or the under 2 pound Vaio G) are professional users who want portability and long battery life above all else, and whose primary use for these devices is e-mail, web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. Those would fit pretty squarely into the "Professional" designation.

-Zadillo

 

[Chef Medeski]

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).

14.1" iBook
12" Powerbook.

Remeber?

Pro doesnt mean bigger. It means faster or with more features.

 

[timmillwood]

i think that the specs will be low, due to the size and to save battery life.

but on a small screen no one wants super apps like photoshop or Final Cut Pro

I think max 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo,
1x1GB ram standard, room for 1x2gb stick
80gb HDD
shared graphics
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
all wrapped with a 10" multitouch screen and keyboard

so basicly like a mini high end Macbook, not as high spec as MBP

 

[iEdd]

Thankyou timmillwood, someone who can put 2 & 2 together (it equals 4 by the way). I will make note to make my posts dead obvious in future. Yes I meant that something smaller will not have as good specs and therefore not be "pro".
I basically agree with your specs, just that if the HDD is 1.8" then 80GB would be the maximum (as you said), until 100s or 120s come out. Otherwise a 2.5" would allow up to 200GB.
Maybe that 'dumb idea' with the disc drive under the laptop will be used. I mean it's less of a pain than carrying around or plugging in an external.

 

[matticus008]

Yes I meant that something smaller will not have as good specs and therefore not be "pro".

Something being part of the Pro lineup has relatively little to do with specs and far more to do with little features (optical audio, backlit keyboards, and FW800 as historical examples), target markets, and price.

Any quality tablet would carry the hefty pricetag and the assortment of odd little features that would put it squarely in the pro range--something with similar performance to a MacBook but a couple hundred dollars more expensive couldn't be sold as anything but a "pro" product, regardless of its ultimate name. Remember that the 12" PowerBook underperformed the iMac for quite some time and the iBooks were often only a step behind the PowerBooks in performance (much as the MacBooks now are not terribly slower than MBPs).

 

[Roadstar]

I think max 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo,
1x1GB ram standard, room for 1x2gb stick
80gb HDD
shared graphics
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
all wrapped with a 10" multitouch screen and keyboard

I don't see this happening, as having a single memory module and shared graphics could create a performance bottleneck to the memory controller as there would be no dual-channel available on the stock configuration. They don't ship MacBooks and Minis with two equally sized memory modules just for fun.

 

[timmillwood]

I don't see this happening, as having a single memory module and shared graphics could create a performance bottleneck to the memory controller as there would be no dual-channel available on the stock configuration. They don't ship MacBooks and Minis with two equally sized memory modules just for fun.

Oh yeh, i haven't really got the hardware knowledge. I was just thinking about saving space.

Also i think this will be a Pro machine, or maybe a blur a bit like the mac mini, i think the mac mini could be classed as a pro machine just for an office, not graphics or video, or home. The iMac seems to be styled as a pure home machine. like the Macbook.

This new machined may have a low spec but not styled 100% pro or home. I am sure it will not be classed as a home machine like the iMac and Macbook.

 

[rimbaud@mac.com]

Think tablet

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

Think tablet (no not Think C-Compiler)... Think stand it up to watch the screen and use the remote to control it... Think disappearing touch keyboard, like the iPhone's.

 

[Zadillo]

Think tablet (no not Think C-Compiler)... Think stand it up to watch the screen and use the remote to control it... Think disappearing touch keyboard, like the iPhone's.

I can understanding standing it up to watch the screen, but I don't see how you would practically use this to type on like a normal notebook. I've seen keyboard-less tablets (although those don't have a second section with panels on them), but those are really designed mostly for keyboard input. Samsung's UMPC has a vaguely clever onscreen keyboard concept meant to be used with your thumbs (two circular keyboards on the bottom left and right corners that you can use).

I'm just not sure I see the real benefit of putting the display panel on the bottom, having to use that to type, and having solar panels on a top panel. It seems like you end up with something that takes up as much space, etc. as a normal laptop but would be more inconvenient to use.

 

[MBp lover]

cnat wait for a tablet to compliment my mbp, apple is really trying hard to make its presence felt

 

[tertiaryAdjunct]

Touch screen

My wallet is ready.

I predict this sub-notebook will have a touch control screen instead of a traditional keyboard.

If it is a touch screen, where will they put the rest of the display? A touch screen might be good for a phone, but how well would that work for a sub-notebook? If you want to fire up a word processor, the virtual keyboard would leave no room for the document being edited.

 

[After G]

If it is a touch screen, where will they put the rest of the display? A touch screen might be good for a phone, but how well would that work for a sub-notebook? If you want to fire up a word processor, the virtual keyboard would leave no room for the document being edited.

How about two touch screens? One for the input (keyboard, mouse, etc) and one as the normal screen.

You can do things at keyboard+mouse speed without needing either.
You can zoom in on one part of an image on one touch screen while being fully zoomed out on the other touch screen..
You can have active controls for audio/graphics/video applications and manipulate more than one control simultaneously (impossible with mouse).

Multi-touch touch-screen technology, if produced in large enough volume, may be what sets Apple above and beyond everybody else.

 

[grafikat]

I am still waiting for an apple UMPC. I still say a pepperpad type of surfing machine would really go over well.

Hello, Steve? Are you listening?

 

[MarkWayne]

Subnotebook whatchamacallit

When we started talking about subnotebooks, I flashed back to the old Windows CE devices with cramped QWERTY and color screens. An idea whose time had not come, like tablets and the Newton. I imagine something very different, whether technically feasible at present or not. Other members have considered this: In terms of personal computing, how might an ordinary user do stuff with a MiniBook (to call it something obvious)? For a business trip, my Minibook would write documents, answer webmail, deliver a presentation, edit photos and watch a movie.
Since the Minibook has 60 GB max and no optical drive, it runs Leopard in full but partners with my I-Mac. I firewire connect and open Spaces on the I-mac (we’re in Leopard).
I’m speculating about Spaces here, but virtual desktops would make a great interface for satellite devices. One Space for my I-phone and one for my Minibook. Unlike earlier devices, these run their full parent OS, not CE or Leopard Lite (Jobs emphasized the full-OS capability of the I-phone).
I drag stuff into the Minibook Space. Pages, Safari, Keynote and I-Photo. Tagged folders sync automatically so I have my files.
If I have some GB left, I drag the movie over from I-tunes and head for the airport.
The Minibook has no keyboard, no stereo speakers (who cares), and a battery that does not scorch my thighs. It has FW800, 1 USB, phone jack, Airport, Ethernet, maybe I-Sight and Bluetooth. Let’s say it’s 8 by 10 inches, no thicker than a MacBook, and the two halves are of equal thickness. Inside is a luminous Multi-Touch display, cleverly hinged in the center - one continuous Apple desktop, not a “screen” and a “keyboard” (stay with me, we’re speculating). The display surface is tensile and slightly soft. How I arrange the device depends on what I want to do. For word processing the upper half stands erect, in traditional perpendicular display behind a flat “keyboard.”
When I touch Pages in the Dock, the document field opens on the upper half, with a virtual keyboard on the lower half of the display. I tug the keyboard wider with my forefingers, slide the touchpad around, and bend the QWERTY to an ergo shape. All Pages tools are on the lower, "keyboard" pad. No tracking device needed. 10 inches of Multi-Touch, wide enough for Michael Jordan. It’s ergo, it’s eco, it’s lo-power, it’s Apple!
In Safari I surf, email and make calls with a different, web-functional “keyboard,” specific to the software, QWERTY with web-specific command buttons. No need for toolbars cluttering up the web page.
Then I wipe coffee stain off the table and flatten the whole device wide open, nearly 16 inches wide and 10 inches high, bigger than a 17-inch Pro.
Remember the lower half of a smart phone is wasted? Same for notebooks. With Multi-Touch, tablet detachments and swivels are unneeded.
Now I open I-Photo and edit pix with my fingers like Steve Jobs or Jeff Han. The people in Starbucks FREAK OUT.
On the plane the guy beside me opens his Dell, with hinges as elegant as an outhouse door. I open my Minibook, spin out some feet, and stand the entire device on its left edge. I tap Play with my finger, “Babel” begins, and I doze off.
This may not be technically feasible today, but it would extend the new ideas glimpsed in January, plus Leopard as a radically new environ and Multi-Touch as a new age in hardware.

 

[princealfie]

IF Apple can reinvent my Jornada 720 or NEC Mobilepro 900c then I could get out of the Windows CE platform quickly. However I really do think that any type of subnotebook needs to have flash drive memory and that's about it. I don't want 1.8 or 2.5 drives anymore because I had 2 of them die on me this year (yuck, Toshiba HDD are lousy!). Honestly, Apple can improve on the original Handheld PC market which used to be big during the early 2000's. Also most of the Handheld PC's had touch screens with stylus. Apple could emulate the same and ditch the touchpad. Perhaps maybe no stylus and just use the finger (less control however).

This is one smart move for Apple to get into the subnotebook market. They need to price it lower than the MacBook base model and then this thing will really fly. Just don't use the full version of Tiger but a remixed slim version like Tiger CE/Lite on the flash drive.

 

[garylapointe]

Some of you may not have been around... but back in the day people really loved their Duos.

The Duo was, without question, the best tiny laptop ever made.

I had a dock at home and one at the office. The dock "sucked" in the duo in the way that macs used to pull in the floppy disk.

The dock had a floppy drive, ethernet, video and a card slot (or two) which I used to make it a dual display. The SCSI ports probably had a zip disk drives and CD drives connect too.

And there were portable accessories if you really needed stuff on the go. They were a hassle but if you needed to transfer files, etc.

Remember, this was all pre-WiFi and USB thumb drives...

Sigh. I miss my duo. I had one and then upgraded the motherboard to a PPC 601(?) when it came out (this was a official Apple upgrade).

Gary

 

[garylapointe]

14.1" iBook
12" Powerbook.

I believe the 12" iBook was before the 12" PB.

It seems to me that's why I bought my iBook (smaller is better).

Gary

 

[danny_w]

I would have rather had a Mac, but already bought a used Thinkpad X40. For my needs (very little, actually) it is a perfect fit. And the fit and build are way above most Apple products. My iMac will suffice for home use for a long time to come.