Apple Touchscreen Netbook to Launch in October at $800?

[Tallest Skil]

And more powerful than that mac laptop we were editing video on a few years ago. I love peoples definition of useless.

And strangely enough, software has changed in the last few years, so the definition of useless is CONSTANTLY changing. Meaning that what you have said holds absolutely no merit.

Today's most powerful computer is five years' hence nigh-on-useless computer.

 

[JohnMC]

This thing is going to have to have a keyboard and just a touchscreen one. If Apple decides to make a flat 10" device running a larger version of the iPhone OS there is not going to be any go way to hold it and type. Plus $800??? I can't justify that price when a new MacBook Pro 13" can be had for ~$1100.

 

[zeasar]

It seems like all of you have forgotten the patent that apple filed not so long ago, about slotting a small flat device into a bigger "screen" like device.

Well, my guess is this tablet is a bigger version of iphone, with a slot on the side to slide in your iphone, with tethering, you can access FULL SCREEN internet on the go. With headphone jack on the side you can make/receive calls while the iphone is slotted in.

And maybe a built in isight, video conference on the iphone/itablet combo.

think outside the box people.

 

[Wilches]

Because tying your customers to a telecom is the most intelligent thing you can do.

Keep the 3G card off, please, Apple.

that is another question....

Yes I belive is a smart move to include 3g data cards...

Yes some will be atached to a telecom to become cheaper

I hope that most of them will be carrier free... just insert a sim card and surf!

 

[zedsdead]

Sounds more like a Touch-Tablet than a Netbook, especially given Apple's anti-netbook stance. I don't expect them to release something with a small garbage keyboard.

Wasn't there a rumor a while back about a someone saying Apple is going to define a new category?

 

[TheMechanic]

Well of course you wouldn't pay that for a netbook.
It's a good thing then that Apple's product won't be a netbook!
It will be a product category unto itself. *sigh* Please try to keep up people. It has only been proclaimed for YEARS now that Apple's product won't be a netbook or a "tablet" in the traditional sense but because we have no other words to describe what Apple is doing we have to use "netbook" or "tablet" to refer to Apple's new product.

QFT
Finally somebody who gets it!

 

[cmfilms]

Sign me up. I have a 17" MBP and an iMac. I'd love for something bigger than an iPhone to take with me on weekends away from the office. I'd have this the weekend they come out.

 

[Vulpinemac]

And I don't want to pay a premium for it. These days Apple uses the same parts as everyone else so I don't see why It can't be ~$400. But someone, can't remember who, said Apple doesn't know how to make a sub-$500 computer that isn't a piece of crap.

You just showed how little you really know about Apple. Maybe you should check out iSuppli's reviews of their teardowns of Apple computers and other devices. To quote their Mac Mini teardown, "Apple Inc.’s latest Mac Mini desktop computer demonstrates once again that Apple knows how to make computers better, smaller, and more attractive. Such an achievement, however, comes at a premium and bears higher component costs..." In other words, even a 3rd party business recognizes that Apple's products are worth the added cost. They don't buy just any components, they specify the quality they expect from those components. My own experience with one of their suppliers demonstrates that as we had an entire shipment of product returned because a random sampling fell outside of their specifications; forcing us to do a 100% QA test of the product before they would accept another shipment. Components so sensitive, by the way, that the fluorescent lamps overhead in the testing room affected the readings.

In other words, they don't just "... uses the same parts as everyone else...," they go far beyond that.

 

[patricksan]

Piece of crap worthless for everything except the Internet.

Also, I don't believe this. Apple touts a full-size keyboard, and you can't HAVE THAT on a computer this small.

Great definition!!!

 

[rosenkrieger]

iPhone/Touch XXL

Its coming.

Think of it real simple.

A 9.7" iPod Touch or iPhone

1. Same OS as iPhone/Touch
2. Basically all the stuff a current iPod Touch has ( plus a nice iSight! )
3. 64+ RAM
4. CPU/graphics from their own yard ( forgot the name but Apple bought a manufacturer a few montsh back AFAIR )
5. No Keyboard ( of course not )

6. Maybe 3G or equivalent if "based" on iPhone

For "bedsurfing" / on the go it would awesome - more screen estate - more power

 

[crackermac]

Mac Tablet != netbook

Who is calling this a netbook? The author of the article? This may be the mac tablet that has long been rumored. This may not compete with the netbook market. Hell, with rumors pointing to a touch-screen, it's already not in the same category as a netbook. Do others contain a touch screen? And this I'm sure will have multi-touch. I don't see Apple taking a step back with that technology. I would guess at more of an over-sized iPhone/touch. And for those of you wishing for core 2 duos so you can process video/high-end graphics, you're asking for way too much. Come back to reality. The majority of the population checks webmail, surfs the web, and light word processing. That's what this will be geared towards and will satisfy the majority. People get too hopped up on specs. Up until two weeks ago I was running a 1.25Ghz G4 Powerbook as my main computer. Only until I started doing video conversions and streaming HD content did I finally say, "OK, I need a new computer." As soon as there is a better word app and someone makes a foldable keyboard to connect to the iPhone, I will never have to take my laptop with me on trips.

 

[hashholly]

3. i don't see $800.00 considering its coming with OSX and will more than likely have some iPhone attributes.

$800 for osx with an optional physical keyboard would compete with mba. They have established the itouch platform so rapidly, I can't see them using osx (much as I'd like them to; I'd buy one immediately, one more if it really ran all my osx stuff productively).[/QUOTE]

You could also say the 13 MBP/MB competes with the MBA at that rate, it all depends on your needs. With the "Tablet" you'll lose at least 3" screen real estate, a physical integrated backlit keyboard, and frankly not everyone wants a touch screen, the two would be two different beasts as much as a MBP and an MBA are.

I almost think we're going to get a hybrid OS, especially considering SL is supposed to have touch screen enhancements in the OS...I almost think of the "Dashboard" consisting of the MobileOSX portion, while you still have the true OSX UI outside of that, albeit with enough enhancements so that it is usable with just a finger.

 

[tgc]

800 dollars for a netbook is retarded. not surprising at all

Yes ... especially compared to a Windows System you could buy for that, but inline if they're asking $599 for an out of contract iPhone 3G!!!

Typically overpriced. Can you imagine if they charged $499 for the device.

Listen to me speculating on paying for something I've never seen or know the specs on! Can you tell I'd buy one!! ;-)

I've had an iPhone for ~2 years now and would LOVE a slightly larger item that I would no doubt leave on the couch for surfing, take with me on trips, slip into my briefcase for meetings, etc., etc.

 

[patricksan]

Well of course you wouldn't pay that for a netbook.
It's a good thing then that Apple's product won't be a netbook!
It will be a product category unto itself. *sigh* Please try to keep up people. It has only been proclaimed for YEARS now that Apple's product won't be a netbook or a "tablet" in the traditional sense but because we have no other words to describe what Apple is doing we have to use "netbook" or "tablet" to refer to Apple's new product.

Absolute right!

I also don't understand why a lot of people complains about the price. If you are not satisfied, just buy a netbook eeepc, for example.

 

[rwilliams]

Sorry, but $800 for that machine would be completely stupid on Apple's part. For $200 more, you can get a full-fledged MacBook. People that can already afford to spend $800 on an underpowered machine like a netbook can likely afford another $200 for a real machine.

 

[gianly1985]

Netbook = ATOM or ION + gma950 if not gma500 = CRAP

Apple thing = CORE 2 DUO + 9400M = Not a Netbook = Not Crap

OR

Apple thing = GIANT iPhone = Not a Netbook anyway


What's SURE: Apple thing =! 900$ Vaio P nor 199$ EEE Pc, both crap.

 

[maccompaq]

Atom 1.6 single core

My first Hackintosh was built using the single core Atom 1.6 running Leopard. I am amazed at how much it will do. It does very well with Photoshop CS, yes the non-native version. With CS4, it would operate much faster. It does fine with MS Office 2008, Aperture and iWork 2008. Does good on the Internet. Plays streaming TV shows over the Internet at full screen without stuttering. It burns CDs and DVDs without problems. So far, it has done everything I have asked it to do.

I do not do video rendering, so not a problem. If this was my only computer, it would be OK. However, I do have several other computers much more powerful than this one.

One thing I cannot grasp; why do so many want a touch screen? It just seems awkward to use a touch screen for input.

 

[Digitalclips]

A 9.7 inch screen suggests a SMALL keyboard. I know they mention touchscreen, but one of the biggest complaints I've read on netbooks is their small, non-standard-sized keyboards. If Apple wants to introduce a netbook I was hoping for something with an 11" or 12" display and a standard sized keyboard (or one that is very close to standard size). Sure, they could use a small screen and have a big bezel surrounding it, but that would just be stupid (IMO).

I have one of those ... my trusty iBook G4

 

[taio84]

And more powerful than that mac laptop we were editing video on a few years ago. I love peoples definition of useless. They aren't THAT underpowered. I mean if we're playing games and processing soca and images on our phones how bad can they be? More often, they are lacking ports and optical drive. They are basically what the air should have been- underpowered cheap and small. Not underpowered , expensivesive and light. The air isn't that small IMO. Just thin.

Actually the netbooks i've tried (had to work on one for a week) Asus and Acer second generation, running XP were way much slower than any mac I ever possessed, speed isn't only the Mhz or "rendering time" in various programs, it's also how you perceive the system you're using, and if I have to wait 20-30 seconds to go from a browser window to control pannel that's not fast and not even tolerable.
I was planning on buying one of those netbooks, I was assuming what you said, "if i could have worked on an old ibook, I surely can on this" but when i tried working on one of them, the only thing that saved the netbook from a 40 meters fall from my window was the fact that it was'nt mine..... I really got nervous, and after 1 hour of using it, i had accomplished the same that in 10 minutes with my iphone... Netbooks as they are now, are terrible, probably it's all due to Atom processors, don't know, simply the experience they gave me is much worst then the one of the eMate apple made in the 90's (wonderfull product).
If Apple is going to make one, they surely are going to keep this into mind, and would never provide such a thing as actual netbooks, even me, "super fanboy" would toss it out of the window (if mine...).


Ps. sorry for the english...

 

[Tallest Skil]

Sorry, but $800 for that machine would be completely stupid on Apple's part. For $200 more, you can get a full-fledged MacBook. People that can already afford to spend $800 on an underpowered machine like a netbook can likely afford another $200 for a real machine.

A MacBook doesn't have a touchscreen.

Also, THIS IS NOT A NETBOOK.

 

[qbricc]

Fine for surfing

There are many people who use limited functions of what a computer can do. My wife uses an ipod touch for light internet surfing, emails, watching Youtube videos and looking at wedding photos on flickr. She would love a scaled up version of the touch. Ok this new product won't suit everyone but not all of us use a computer for video editing. This type of device will be the future of computing - small user interfaces which link to a hub (mobileMe, Apple TV Time Cap etc). Apple will be thinking large ipod touch and not small Macbook. IMO

 

[hashholly]

It seems like all of you have forgotten the patent that apple filed not so long ago, about slotting a small flat device into a bigger "screen" like device.

Well, my guess is this tablet is a bigger version of iphone, with a slot on the side to slide in your iphone, with tethering, you can access FULL SCREEN internet on the go. With headphone jack on the side you can make/receive calls while the iphone is slotted in.

And maybe a built in isight, video conference on the iphone/itablet combo.

think outside the box people.

Honestly, I don't think so. Personally that patent looked more like a tablet you throw into the side of an iMac housing, and at this rate its the equivalent of a 24" ACD; you have your usb hub, charging port, and external screen, coupled with a usb bluetooth keyboard/mouse your set.

Frankly, pair it with a good VNC client, and make it as powerful as the mac mini and im sold in a heartbeat.

 

[villageindian]

I agree with your description except for the USB part. Apple already has a keyboard that works over BT. So I suspect that it will contain connectors like the new monitor (forgot the model!) that had the extra cables on the side to connect other devices.

I can almost guarantee that Apple's device (I refuse to call it a 'Netbook') will not have a conventional keyboard. In fact, I expect it won't have any keyboard at all; not a physical one, anyway. A virtual keyboard similar to that in the iPhone/iPod Touch is most likely, perhaps with a couple of USB connectors to permit use of an external keyboard/mouse combination. The fact that it has been reported many times that the device will use a touch screen pretty much guarantees no physical keyboard.

If this thing opens like a clamshell at all, I expect it will open like a book, not like your conventional laptop form factor. I also expect the cover will be exactly that and nothing more--a simple cover to protect the glass and maybe help provide a stand for hands-free viewing.

Anybody remember the old Star Trek "Padd"? This may be the closest thing to that concept since the original Newton.

 

[Michael73]

Not sure I'm interested...

The device sounds interesting but I already own an iPhone 3GS, 15.4" MBP and a MP rigged to a 27.5".

Where does this product fit?

This rumored device won't replace my iphone (too big), it can't replace my MBP and MP for more reasons than I can count. As a guy, I'm not carrying a purse and if I'm carrying a briefcase or messenger bag, why would I carry a tablet-like device that has only 25% of the horsepower of my MBP when that same bag could carry my MBP?

I guess to put it another way, while touch screen technology is cool, I can't see people carrying around an iTablet AND a MB or MBP and it seems like a stretch that people would have both and carry one sometimes and then carry another at different times.

 

[hashholly]

My first Hackintosh was built using the single core Atom 1.6 running Leopard. I am amazed at how much it will do. It does very well with Photoshop CS, yes the non-native version. With CS4, it would operate much faster. It does fine with MS Office 2008, Aperture and iWork 2008. Does good on the Internet. Plays streaming TV shows over the Internet at full screen without stuttering. It burns CDs and DVDs without problems. So far, it has done everything I have asked it to do.

I do not do video rendering, so not a problem. If this was my only computer, it would be OK. However, I do have several other computers much more powerful than this one.

One thing I cannot grasp; why do so many want a touch screen? It just seems awkward to use a touch screen for input.

Not at 720p and not on hulu.com it doesn't....which is why i ditched both hackintosh netbooks i've owned.