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Apple Tablet Coming?

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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SpyMac claims that Apple is working on an Apple Tablet:

The unnamed tablet system -- featuring an 8.4" backlit TFT-display and built-in Airport Extreme -- will be marketed as a 'Home Portable
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Meanwhile, MacWhispers claims to have details of a mini-tablet enclosure that is undergoing production (reportedly) for Apple.

Rumors for an Apple Tablet accumulated prior to MacWorld San Francisco - with an number of reliable sources pointing in the same direction -- the ongoing development of an Apple Tablet.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2003/03/30/apple-tablet-coming/
I would definetly buy one.

It should feature an internal hard-disk, though, not some kind of Flash-memory.

Connecting it to a television set to view movies would also be cool. Let's not forget an internal camera.

With the 8,4" display, it's almost an iPD.. aaarrrrgh!
 
unsure

I dunno... i was reading that, and it seems ok, but SpyMac has turned into more of a photoshop paradise (surprise?) than anything. I haven't seen a real rumor, let alone a reliable one, come out of there in a while.

FIrst?
 
Why do we keep coming back to an apple tablet?

the market as a whole is unstable at the moment, and the pda market is quite simply FULL of competition.

It would be economic folly to release one at this time....
 
Full technical specifications are not available at this time, though battery life is said to be targeted for up to five hours and the unit is operated via touchscreen and displayed keyboard. A docking station, which will include an external keyboard and mouse, will be available for an additional charge.

Current prototypes are wrapped in a dull black casing and feature an Infra-Red port, though such capability is said to be for internal use and will most likely not make it to production. More information on this development as it becomes available.
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Infra-Red? Give me a break... hope that it doesn't make it into the final product.

"Dull black casign"... well, I guess it'll be some kind of brushed metal-thing. Or crystal.

But a docking station? If this is "the year of the notebook", it should really not have a docking station (this tabled combined with the docking station would steal sales from other Apple notebooks).
 
Even if this weren't a colossally bad idea, what with current economic conditions and all, I just don't get it. Why? Why do we need a tablet? I know, I know. Apple always gives us stuff we have to have that we never knew we needed. Still, wouldn't we all be a bit happier with new PowerBooks, iBooks, and iPods? That's what I thought. Priorities!
 
This seems somewhat dubious... Are PC tablets even selling that well?

Who wants a 5lb tablet that only lasts for 3 hours, when you can use a PDA, or even just a legal pad?
 
If it is around $600 I will get one. But it has to have the power to play DIVX movies at 640x480 without dropping frames. It would need to be at least a 700Mhz G3 or 600Mhz G4.
 
This sounds like a good idea at first glance, but I've been kicking around the idea all weekend and now that the techno-lust has worn off, I'm really thinking this is a bad idea. I honestly can't think of a good use for this. The screen is too small, input (inkwell or not) would be too difficult, and unless it can completely replace my ibook, then the size is going to be too big to make it truly portable outside the house. The battery estimates are at 5 hours, I believe...this won't do either. If Apple is designing this as a companion device that you carry with you at all times, 5 hours won't do. Not to mention that this product will be dropping Apple into a market that has already been proven to be a failure. I know, I know, "What about mp3 players, huh?" The iPod was great, but there's an honest use for it...everyone likes to listen to music.

I dunno, maybe if Apple can put their customary spin on it, it might work...but I really think that they're spreading themselves too thin with this one.
 
Originally posted by mustang_dvs
This seems somewhat dubious... Are PC tablets even selling that well?
Click to expand...

I believe that they are selling well in Asia, where handwriting input is actually faster than keyboard input. This may be a product that Apple intends more for Asia and/or Enterprise markets.
 
Originally posted by Adurbe
Why do we keep coming back to an apple tablet?

the market as a whole is unstable at the moment, and the pda market is quite simply FULL of competition.

It would be economic folly to release one at this time....
Click to expand...

Yeah, but (here comes the Big But!), if anyone can dump the market on its ear and deliver something BETTER, it's Apple. Agreed?

(dons flame-retardant suit...)
 
Too little

If Spymac is right, then it will be too big to be a PDA and too small to be a decent tablet. I hope that it at least works with an optional keyboard. I was really hoping they would come out with the 15 inch mid-range laptop as a convertable tablet. THAT would be useful!
 
Originally posted by mangoman
If anyone can dump the market on its ear and deliver something BETTER, it's Apple. Agreed?
Click to expand...
No question about it.

Just look at Apple's other products, like the iMac or the iPod: Both of them were (and still are) state-of-the-art gadgets.

BTW, about a week ago, here in Norway, the iPod won a test of hard-disk based MP3 players.

What about putting the same processor as in the 12" PowerBooks in this tablet? Put in a DVD player, and it'll be perfect while on the road or on a plane. But it's almost to much like a PowerBook.
 
Given how often this rumor surfaces, and given that it's been wrong every single time, and given how unlikely it is that anything will ever come out of it, shouldn't it be relegated to Page 2 by now?

Oh and one more thing (pun semi-intended): an 8.5 inch diagonal screen is the same size as the eMate, and possibly one of the earlier Newtons. I have a feeling what's been seen is one of them, especially given the IrDA port and the black enclosure. The only thing difficult to explain would be the backlit screen, but I've seen a Newton modded with LEDs to make the screen brighter, a la most Nokia cell phones.
 
I have lots of uses for the Apple tablet if it comes out.

1. Internet surfing
2. Watching videos over network (DVD, DIVX etc)
3. Listening to music
4. Watching TV over network
5. note taking
6. playing the odd game
7. Controling the home

The screen size is smaller than an ibook, but I want something small, but not quite as small as a PDA.

From the sound of it, the people who have no use for it have never used a network before where the tablet can access the features of the other devices on that network.
 
Originally posted by hvfsl
I have lots of uses for the Apple tablet if it comes out.

1. Internet surfing
2. Watching videos over network (DVD, DIVX etc)
3. Listening to music
4. Watching TV over network
5. note taking
6. playing the odd game
7. Controling the home

The screen size is smaller than an ibook, but I want something small, but not quite as small as a PDA.

From the sound of it, the people who have no use for it have never used a network before where the tablet can access the features of the other devices on that network.
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yes, it could be a really cool 'Uber' remote, which lets you access your mp3 playlist or whatever is on your Apple TV recorder :p, photoalbum, send emails, take notes.

Not sure if the market is ready for such a device, but I guess it will be if Apple produces it :D Even at an initial loss, this could trigger a demand for 'Apple gadgets' or 'communicating devices' and attract the 'Bang&Olufsen' crowd...
 
Boooooooo!

I'd hate to think they've been working on this crappy idea instead of the new iPod. Let's see, a tablet Mac that isn't really a laptop and isn't really a handheld. If I want portable computer I can slip into my briefcase and go, I'll use my iBook or a new 12" pbook. If I want a computer to use around the house on my 802.11b network, I'll use my iBook or 12" pbook. If I had a palm-size device that was completely mac compatible with address book and perhaps one day my yahoo! calendar, that I could forego having to bring my ibook to home games - then I'd buy it.

Palm - yes
7" by 5" by 1" tablet - No
 
Originally posted by EponymousCow
I believe that [Tablet PCs] are selling well in Asia, where handwriting input is actually faster than keyboard input. This may be a product that Apple intends more for Asia and/or Enterprise markets.
Click to expand...

Wait a minute, has Microsoft even created a version of Windows Tablet that recognizes Asian alphabets?
 
I think that it would be great if Apple came out with a tablet, but the price would have to be low, I would think, in order to sell a lot of them.
 
All I want to know is why no manufacturer (aside from Archos) has come out with a HARD DRIVE-based device slightly larger than a PDA with audio, video (including the ability to take full motion video and still pictures) and PDA capabilities...if you'd throw in a TV tuner (as Sony intends to do in their CLIE line if the rumors are to be believed) and you'd truly have a killer device...hope Apple comes out with something this sweet
 
Tablet PC's - I just don't see the point.

Watching films? I've got a widescreen TV and DVD player for that.
Music? A stereo.
Music while surfing? iTunes
Portablitiy? I'd buy a laptop
Portable games? GBA
Note taking? A pen and pad, and save myself a bunch of cash

Aside from the fact an Apple tablet may well look impossibly cool, it just sounda like a gimick at the moment. If it had a 20" screen, powerful graphics, a bucket load of RAM and the sensitivity of a Wacom tablet, then it could be great with Photoshop or Painter. But if not it's just going to be a PDA with a superiority complex.
 
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