Apple Touchscreen Netbook to Launch in October at $800?

[tetravus]

What if it's a fullfledged Macbook white replacement?

I'm thinking it could be a full sized Macbook with a detachable screen that can serve as a tablet. It could have a dual mainboard setup. An ARM based one in the screen side and a core2duo in the keyboard side. Imagine a lightweight tablet you can dock and sync into a full Macbook. Not sure if the technology exists to power both ARM and Core2duo simultaneously, or even PowerVR and 9400M running in parallel; but I think given all the uncertainty, anything is possible here.

 

[kenlee620425]

Do we need a much smaller netbook?

I use a 11.1" (768x1388) PC Lenovo Ideapad (1.1KG) at work, and 10.1" (576x1024) PC BenQ netbook (1.2KG) & a 13.3" (800x1280) MBA (1.3KG) at home. As a Mac fans, who would like to compromise at a 576x1024 10.1" screen?

Ken

 

[sishaw]

I have used them, they are worthless for any real work. ...

It depends on what your real work is, and what value you place on portability. Blanket statements based on personal experience are rarely valid for everyone. If you use netbooks for writing when travelling, they can be a nice compromise--light, small, and quite usable once your hands adjust to the smaller keyboard. I happen to have an MSI Wind, but of course if Apple had an offering in that price/size space, I would have looked there first. Also, FYI, the Wind runs iTunes just fine (although the sound is poor, you need headphones).

As far as Apple products go, I have an iBook, iPhone, and ATV. Is the MSI Wind of the same build quality? No. Is it convenient and useful? Yes. Would I love to see Apple produce something like it, with better build quality and nicer design? YES! But that's just me, and I won't make the error of transforming it into a blanket statement.

As for the larger question of how much market such a product would have, that would require more market research and knowledge than I have access to. I can only observe that the relatively low-quality netbooks that are out there are selling quite well, according to press accounts.

 

[Ktulu]

I know this thread is already long but I have yet to hear anyone talk about this product the way it could best be used. imagine this, a tablet that was WiFi for basic internet/email/chat. However it also is used as a remote device for your desktop. Imagine using your desktop as the power and the tablet as the display sort of thing. This would be a nice bridge for the people who need the power of a desktop but, at times also need that power to be portable. This type of product would be extremely useful to me and I think it would be to others as well. This model would get 2 sales from 1 person. Many desktop consumers could be interested in this type of additional product/purchase.

Just my 2 cents and like I said, I haven't seen/heard anyone make mention or view a product like this as of yet.

 

[AidenShaw]

imagine this, a tablet that was WiFi + 3G for basic internet/email/chat

Fixed it....

The Internet should be ubiquitous, and WiFi is very, very spotty.

 

[Ktulu]

Fixed it....

The Internet should be ubiquitous, and WiFi is very, very spotty.

Nice catch. Yes, you are right, 3/4G should also be an option. Would not be for me, however I think I am in the minority on that one.

 

[olternaut]

It will be a tablet, with a touchscreen, like a bigger iPod touch. It will use iPhone software. It won't cost $800, because you will have it subsidized by AT&T with their monthly data plan.

I'll gladly pay $800.00 bucks for it so that I wouldn't have to sign some damn contract for it.
That should be an OPTION for those who want it. But, I might be tempted to do so IF and only IF Apple is able to impress the hell outta me with the product.
I suppose that too is a possibility knowing Jobs and Apple.

 

[no.1 Apple Fan]

This is what I think will happen: Apple will hold a special event in October and say that this is the successor to the Air, and it will be light and thin. The Air will be discontinued and this MacBook Touch, or whatever it's called, will have handwriting recognition and learn how you write, sort of like how the iPhone learns how you type.

I will buy this right away if this rumor is true, if it is at a good price, if it has good specs, if there is no contract for AT&T, and if it has handwriting recognition.

 

[anthonymoody]

one thing i'd be interested in at this size (though not at $800...) is a digital photo frame that SEAMLESSLY runs slideshows from iPhoto. there are photo frames which can be made to work with iPhoto, but not nearly as easily and elegantly as Apple could do (actually there's one brand that's great, forget the name, but they are horrifically expensive as in $1000).

of course apple would add all sorts of additional functionality, to increase the feature set. probably app store capabilities, etc. so maybe while you dock it to charge it acts like a frame.

i'd buy one for my mom just for that. have it set to subscribe to a me.com photo library so she automatically sees the new pix of the kids you upload...

 

[Pigumon]

MacRumors severe slant

wow

" produces an inferior user experience as current products do"

Says WHO Macrumors?

I say the current iPod Touch produces an inferior user experience to my 5 year old ipod because I can't put all of my songs on it. (hopefully that will change soon)

The current netbooks are great, I'm just sorry I missed out on the dell that ran OSX without problems.

 

[condorman333]

Netbook or iPad

I would very much welcome such a tablet based device. It would help me to prevent having to buy a kindle and could be used for some casual surfing on my porch... I can't wait.

 

[hard-case]

I for one, would love to see this come about. I've been looking for a decently powered, thin slate tablet....and considering the minimum entry point currently for that is about $1800 bucks, $800 (even $1k) for a decently powered Apple tablet with touchscreen running a flavor of OSX would practically be a steal!

wow

" produces an inferior user experience as current products do"

Says WHO Macrumors?

Um...if you follow the post chain that can be attributed to Tim Cook, IIRC Chief Operating Officer of Apple.

 

[andiwm2003]

just now i'm sitting in the backyard and surf the web and do email and stuff. the iphone is too small for good surfing so i had to lug out my 15"mbp.

i so wish there was a 10" tablet.

 

[onehoop]

Touchscreen Netbook + Micro-Projectors = ~virtual keyboard~

I'd seen this years ago, it would use a small laser (or "micro-projector") to project a keyboard onto a table-top (or flat surface) and interpret your movement into keystrokes. I'm pretty sure there was a video element to the detection, but there may have been audio only?

I didn't read the entire 11+ pages of this thread or the 6+ pages of the micro-projectors on iphone/itouch thread, but I did search them enough to know that no one over here has mentioned keyboards and at least one person over there has mentioned keyboards:

Just a thought. But has anyone ever seen those projected keyboards that work with a sensor to allow one to type on them? They do exist as I've used one a few years back. Could this be the answer to those who hate the small keyboard on the iPhone? The projection quality and power could be low and still achieve this goal.

So, this could be the "solution" to keep your fingers off the screen and pick up speed for typing. The technology would not necessarily be limited to a standard keyboard, but could work with different gel-pads and different keyboard configurations (numerical input, for example... or specialized to applications like Ableton Live?).

Sounds pretty exciting if they have it ready to release at least at beta stage (it seems much can be done through later firmware updates).


M@

 

[macintoshtoffy]

Why not just a 10 inch oversized iPod Touch with some slight enhancements? it would be bring in the app store, it would be crippled enough not to compete with laptops, and enough features to suit the target audience for netbooks.

 

[bbotte]

Why not just a 10 inch oversized iPod Touch with some slight enhancements? it would be bring in the app store, it would be crippled enough not to compete with laptops, and enough features to suit the target audience for netbooks.

That's exactly what it will be in my opinion.

 

[iMacmatician]

That's exactly what it will be in my opinion.

Same here… I am very interested in what enhancements it will have… anything from a few new features for a larger display to a "hybrid" OS…

One reason why I think a larger and enhanced iPod touch is likely is because:

http://deals.venturebeat.com/2009/07/13/look-for-pa-semis-chip-designs-in-upcoming-apple-tablet/

Reports surfaced today that Apple will launch an $800 tablet computer in October. But we’ve dug out something interesting ourselves: the processor chip for the tablet is being designed by Apple’s own internal chip team.
…
If Apple’s chip designers are indeed creating their own ARM-based chip for the tablet, that would help Apple reduce its costs. It won’t, for instance, have to pay a markup to other chip design companies such as Samsung or Intel.

 

[ddTaylor]

The problem is you haven't a clue as to what his background is to be making claims of his ignorance, and yes, you are rude doing it.

Sorry you lack the social skills to realize that.

Wow! Nice post! I called HIS POST IGNORANT - that means UNINFORMED. I DID NOT REFER TO HIM AS IGNORANT - but his post.

He claims that a netbook is good for mundane internet tasks yet the netbooks are FASTER than a recent G4 - are the people who use a G4 for REAL work wrong? That is IGNORANT and I called him on it. That is my point. IGNORANT means UNIFORMED and yes, I DO have facts to base that on in the form of his many posts - many of which I find the same. How do I lack social skills, exactly? I called the way I saw it - he made a silly statement without any facts to back it up beyond his non-empirical use.

Nothing in my post was personal - it was in the scope of the post. He bashed the netbook market and backed-up nothing but his experience that by his own posts were very brief. How can you pigeonhole something without proper information? That is the problem with our entire society.

Netbooks are fine computers and work as a substitute for many people when compared to much more expensive set-ups. Why knock 'em when by his own admission he has very little experience with real-world use?

Also - by your logic you have no right to question my social skills when you no nothing about me and obviously spent no time reading my other posts.

See - irony at its best. You proced my point.

D

 

[dbowlin17]

there are 17" PCs that fit that definition

all pcs fit that definition.

 

[AidenShaw]

... UNIFORMED ...

I love men in uniforms ...

... or did you mean UNINFORMED ?

 

[aswitcher]

This would be Apple's style, can't make a decent laptop/netbook for $500. So do a big brother for the touch, make it full OSX, give it better battery life and lighter than the rivals, and charge more for a far better product.

 

[yliu]

i dont think they would sell a touch screen notebook for only 800 dollars.
I would be really happy for a touch screen desktop from apple, because i really like the HP desktop that is touch screen!

 

[JuBe]

Other Uses

I for one would be very excited to see some sort of Apple netbook-device precisely because I know Apple will have to make it different somehow. It won't just be a tiny lap-top running OSX, they would never do that.

I think they must have something interesting up their sleeve. They have to beat standard-netbooks, the MBA, and the iPhone/iPod touch.

However, between my iPod Touch and MBP, I feel anything else would be an awkward 3rd wheel/a bit excessive.

I'm sure I'll want one anyway.

Perhaps it could be used for other such things, like students who need something light, but useful for carrying to class. There is also the military implications... I remember hearing a while back that the Army was looking at using some iPod touches.

I don't know any of the numbers, but just a thought... perhaps they wish to expand their revenue from iTunes and the App Store through a device like this?

 

[341328]

Video out

I'd love a multi-touch tablet without a keyboard but it must have at least 1 x USB, Bluetooth for wireless keyboard AND video out for connecting to projector etc.

Also with real Mac OS X - not just the iPhone OS. An iPhone emulator to play iPhone games would be awesome even if just in a window.

 

[WLS]

well yea.. The APPS store has grown so much that there is no way they are not going to use it and Itunes in the business model (ecosystem) for this device. People who say they cannot imagine what the use would be keep overlooking that.
I'm inclined to expect it to use the new chips that Apple is making and the company they bought for that is ARM focused to my knowledge. It is also interesting that OSX is reported to run just fine on ARM chips. I'm surprised that they are going to use a 9.75 diagonal touch screen which seems a bit large to me but probably is the right size for watching movies from Itunes.
That being the case expect to see a plethora of murses or other such man bags showing up to put this in. The stylish fanboy will have to have the right bag to show this off in