I too think this thing must have a flash/mechanical hd combo to be a viable computer (as opposed to a glorified iPhone/PDA). Anything less than 160 GB is absurd these days.
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Apple Ultra-Portable MacBook Rumor Roundup
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I too think this thing must have a flash/mechanical hd combo to be a viable computer (as opposed to a glorified iPhone/PDA). Anything less than 160 GB is absurd these days.
Toshiba just announced a 126GB SSD drive:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/12/10/toshiba.solid.state.drives/
1st quarter of next year.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/12/10/toshiba.solid.state.drives/
1st quarter of next year.
Yeah I gave that a try as well just to see how OS X would behave on such a small laptop. It worked, but that's about all
There were so many hardware-related issues that it was just cool for the novelty 'Wow MacOS running on something so small!!' effect but the usability was zero. Some of the serious issues included: No LAN or WiFi support (so no networking at all), random freezes, weird timebase problems. I had to plug paperclips into the VGA port to just get it to boot.The main reason why I love my Macs so much is because everything 'just works'. I don't want to run a hacked version with all the issues that come with it (not even to mention the legal ones) I just want a real mac
It did make me realize though that a mac in such a form factor would be extremely useful. If Apple would make a small, limited-but-cheap laptop like the EEE I would buy it in a heartbeat. Even if it was up to 800 euro or so.
But the rumored specs and price about this latest ultramobile are overkill for me. I don't need it to do everything that my desktop can do on the road, and it's too expensive to carry around carelessly (the EEE is 300 euro, I can break it or have it stolen 5 times for the price of the ultramobile macbook).
But maybe the new ultramobile will spawn a whole range of small laptops including a budget/basic one. I won't give up hope!
external USB drives are very cheap and compact these days, and you shouldnt have to carry it with you as it would only be for installing programs like office and such.
Guess it comes down to price. If its really shipping for 1500 or 1600 I might pick one up once the second revision hits. otherwise I'll just stick to macbooks. Also curious what they plan as a GPU, if it ends up being an intel integrated job again I'll pass.
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People also said that it was a dumb idea to get rid of the floppy drive. I'm sure there will be a way to address all of the concerns that you mentioned. Something clever I'm sure.
iBunny said:
People also said that it was a dumb idea to get rid of the floppy drive. I'm sure there will be a way to address all of the concerns that you mentioned. Something clever I'm sure.
I want it as my primary/only mac - give me HD!
Well, I don't want to lug around an unused optical drive anymore. (I'll take an external one, thanks)
AND I don't have the cash to buy two computers. So I want this thing to work as my primary (only!) laptop, and that means a decent size hard drive, flash or no flash.
Sounds like I may have to wait 6 months until the Macbooks lose their internal optical drives (!)
Or I could get an iPod classic which has decent storage capacity and carry it with me for the music collection, and overflow storage.
I can't use "back to my mac" if it's my only mac! I want to plug this thing into a large external monitor when I'm home, not have to fuss with synching files, however elegant that can be made.
Well, I don't want to lug around an unused optical drive anymore. (I'll take an external one, thanks)
AND I don't have the cash to buy two computers. So I want this thing to work as my primary (only!) laptop, and that means a decent size hard drive, flash or no flash.
Sounds like I may have to wait 6 months until the Macbooks lose their internal optical drives (!
)Or I could get an iPod classic which has decent storage capacity and carry it with me for the music collection, and overflow storage.
I can't use "back to my mac" if it's my only mac! I want to plug this thing into a large external monitor when I'm home, not have to fuss with synching files, however elegant that can be made.
If it's coming at MacWorld, seems like we should start seeing leaked photos anytime now.
If Apple legal has them taken down, we'll know if they're real or not.
If Apple legal has them taken down, we'll know if they're real or not.
well, the various predictions agree about just about nothing. So I guess we're just going to have to wait and see
what i'd love to see is a macbook DS
think about it
with the multi touch technology they have now with the iphone. a laptop that changes it's keyboard area depending on the program your in. that would be awesome.
NAND comes up to 128GB which is enough, if not just put 2 in
it would need to be a pro to deal with the graphical issues with the dual touch screen. it would just be so cool cos you could hold it like a book or a laptop and the sensors would switch like an iphone.
it would be expensive but i'd buy one!
plus i'd love to see a sim card slot like the iphone so that i can take out my sim from my phone and use it in my mac to get the internet connection on the go. (or thethering from the iphone)
this could be the biggest leap in portable computing, dont let us down Steve!
and if your going to... employ me and i'll make good groundbreaking macs for you!
think about it
with the multi touch technology they have now with the iphone. a laptop that changes it's keyboard area depending on the program your in. that would be awesome.
NAND comes up to 128GB which is enough, if not just put 2 in
it would need to be a pro to deal with the graphical issues with the dual touch screen. it would just be so cool cos you could hold it like a book or a laptop and the sensors would switch like an iphone.
it would be expensive but i'd buy one!
plus i'd love to see a sim card slot like the iphone so that i can take out my sim from my phone and use it in my mac to get the internet connection on the go. (or thethering from the iphone)
this could be the biggest leap in portable computing, dont let us down Steve!
and if your going to... employ me and i'll make good groundbreaking macs for you!
I'm picturing something inbetween an iPhone/iPod Touch and MacBook Pro.
Aka my ideal device! I hope this is as good as it sounds. I was planning on buying both seperate products but if they bridge that with this ultra portable then I'll be very happy.
I think there's no doubt that it's real. We just don't know exactly what it is.
Hope it's N-band too.
Wonder with all these conflicting reports Apple are running a canary trap (or whatever they're called)?
Aka my ideal device! I hope this is as good as it sounds. I was planning on buying both seperate products but if they bridge that with this ultra portable then I'll be very happy.
I think there's no doubt that it's real. We just don't know exactly what it is.
Hope it's N-band too.
Wonder with all these conflicting reports Apple are running a canary trap (or whatever they're called)?
We all have different needs and desires--))) I should be getting my eee 1 Gig Ram and 8 Gig HD this wednesday. I decided not to wait any longer. I'll play with this little Linux portable, use it's PDA functions and Ebook reader, learn some more linux and have some fun at a real decent price. I ordered`the white one to match my 1st gen iMac intel.
Then I'll read about the reviews when apple releases these rumored ultraportables and then I will probally purchase a new apple laptop. But ya never know things may change my mind. Time will tell. Until then IM gonna have some fun with my new geek device--))
Hey, I never claimed it worked well, I just remembered having read about the fact that it was technologically possible.Yeah I gave that a try as well just to see how OS X would behave on such a small laptop. It worked, but that's about all
Wholeheartedly agree.The main reason why I love my Macs so much is because everything 'just works'. I don't want to run a hacked version with all the issues that come with it (not even to mention the legal ones) I just want a real mac
It did make me realize though that a mac in such a form factor would be extremely useful. If Apple would make a small, limited-but-cheap laptop like the EEE I would buy it in a heartbeat. Even if it was up to 800 euro or so.
But the rumored specs and price about this latest ultramobile are overkill for me. I don't need it to do everything that my desktop can do on the road, and it's too expensive to carry around carelessly (the EEE is 300 euro, I can break it or have it stolen 5 times for the price of the ultramobile macbook).
Well for some of us with not so great eye sight a larger screen is really a necessity, say 7 in diag or larger. I have a iTouch but the screen is just to small for me to enjoy it. That's just me and me poor eyes!
No optical drive would be fine as long as they had a docking station and/or an external optical drive.
I'd be in the market for such a device if there was a decent remote desktop solution for OS X. The current VNC-based solutions just don't perform fast enough, even on a local network, and especially over an internet connection. If there was something that could match the performance of Microsoft's RDC or NoMachine NX (for Linux) I would happily sit on my couch while remotely using my Mac Pro from an Apple notebook (preferably a sub-notebook).
It seems as if Apple just didn't design their GUI from the ground up to be efficient over a remote desktop connection the way X and Windows were. I routinely use my Windows machine at work over remote desktop over the internet, and it feels as though I'm sitting right there. I only wish I could do the same with my Macs.
There is also a lot of other little things Apple could do to make multi-machine usage better. Like allow remote management of playlists through iTunes sharing.
I'd be in the market for such a device if there was a decent remote desktop solution for OS X. The current VNC-based solutions just don't perform fast enough, even on a local network, and especially over an internet connection. If there was something that could match the performance of Microsoft's RDC or NoMachine NX (for Linux) I would happily sit on my couch while remotely using my Mac Pro from an Apple notebook (preferably a sub-notebook).
It seems as if Apple just didn't design their GUI from the ground up to be efficient over a remote desktop connection the way X and Windows were. I routinely use my Windows machine at work over remote desktop over the internet, and it feels as though I'm sitting right there. I only wish I could do the same with my Macs.
There is also a lot of other little things Apple could do to make multi-machine usage better. Like allow remote management of playlists through iTunes sharing.
Computers with no optical drive have been around for years. I am an avid mac user but travel and commute fairly frequently, so lugging around my macbook pro became somewhat of a problem. I bought a toshiba ultraportable sans optical drive for my travels and it's been great, weight-wise at least. All I use it for is email, documents, movies (mp4) and the occasional light photoshop/dreamweaver... my only gripe is it runs windows.
If Apple had an ultraportable out back then I would have bought it in a heartbeat. There is a huge market for such a device, just ask Toshiba, Dell, Sharp, IBM and all the other manufacturers who build them. Even if you already have a mac at home and travel alot, it makes more sense to travel light, just take what you need, leave what you don't, sync up when you return home.
And it's a full fledged computer with a full fledged OS... a Palm Foolio killer... oppss, that one never made it out the gate
If Apple had an ultraportable out back then I would have bought it in a heartbeat. There is a huge market for such a device, just ask Toshiba, Dell, Sharp, IBM and all the other manufacturers who build them. Even if you already have a mac at home and travel alot, it makes more sense to travel light, just take what you need, leave what you don't, sync up when you return home.
And it's a full fledged computer with a full fledged OS... a Palm Foolio killer... oppss, that one never made it out the gate
I reckon that it will be a laptop version of the mac mini as there is the mb & mbp which are the imac & mac pro but there is no mac mini laptop.