The whole point of an ultraportable is for the people you are describing. Apple already HAS the computer you want(MacBook). But they don't have a light laptop and haven't for years. And for those of us who want one, this is great news. And for your needs, being a MacBook owner myself, I can tell you it is a great machine.
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Apple Ultra-Portable MacBook Rumor Roundup
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The whole point of an ultraportable is for the people you are describing. Apple already HAS the computer you want(MacBook). But they don't have a light laptop and haven't for years. And for those of us who want one, this is great news. And for your needs, being a MacBook owner myself, I can tell you it is a great machine.
I doubt Apple would. But a duality might work for caching, and writing to disk whenever the unit has idle time. Technically, it's the same idea behind the hybrid HDDs with a solid state cache.
The idea, though, is to reduce energy used, and HDDs use significantly more than SSDs.
-Clive
Anybody who bought a 12" powerbook would be in the market for this product. If you have a job that requires you to do work away from an office, you will appreciate having a computer that weighs less than 5 lbs.
I highly doubt that demographic is limited to college women.
I highly doubt that demographic is limited to college women.
A plastic laptop construction would drive the cost down, but plastic is so... cheap. It wouldn't feel like a high end Apple laptop, especially if it was released in the pro line.
Apple is know for their sleek sexy aluminum enclosures, and I don't think providing it in plastic to knock down the price is going to really help with sales. ( That's why there's the MacBook line )
If indeed this new laptop will join the ranks of the MacBookPro line, or create a higher-tier line for Apple laptop offerings, it'll have to please both aesthetically and feature-wise. I think plastic was a thing of the past for Apple, everything in their arsenal is converting over
Apple is know for their sleek sexy aluminum enclosures, and I don't think providing it in plastic to knock down the price is going to really help with sales. ( That's why there's the MacBook line )
If indeed this new laptop will join the ranks of the MacBookPro line, or create a higher-tier line for Apple laptop offerings, it'll have to please both aesthetically and feature-wise. I think plastic was a thing of the past for Apple, everything in their arsenal is converting over
Anyone else, like me, have a 12" G4 Powerbook looking to switch over to a new Apple ultraportable?
Anyone else, like me, actually very happy with the G4 PB with Leopard performance for basic photo editing, email, web surfing, watching movies?
Anyone else find themselves happy with the 12" size of the PB?
Anyone else, like me, actually very happy with the G4 PB with Leopard performance for basic photo editing, email, web surfing, watching movies?
Anyone else find themselves happy with the 12" size of the PB?
everyone gripes for this product, but it just won't happen, xeons are too expensive.
yeah sure ! everyone is waiting for a 1500 dolar portable laptop to purchase whichs abilities would be possibly limited compared to ordinary ones.
That is true- I am just hoping they don't get rid of the Macbook or "upgrade" it to 12 inches or even 11. They really need a 15 inch low end notebook though its so wierd to me that you have to pay an extra 800 or so for a 15 inch notebook. Not to mention the MBP isn't really all that much better performance wise. It seems so senseless not to offer smaller hard drives or integrated graphics for way cheaper in a 15 inch notebook. I suppose they would say it would cannibalize sales of the Macbook. Well so what, does the cheap BMW cannibalize the M5? of course not, if there was no low end BMW people just wouldn't buy one. To think that by getting rid of the cheap BMW's that sales of the M5 would increase is stupid you are just going to send customers elsewhere.
I agree that there could be room for this computer in Apple's lineup. It just wouldn't be an "Ultra-Portable." If it had all the features of a MBP, it would weigh probably about as much as a 13" MacBook. Any smaller than that and you are treading heavily on the problem of fitting the necessary components of a unit that powerful inside a shell that small... and cooling the thing.
-Clive
Not true at all - I got a Pro 15" because its better build quality than the poorly put together Macbook. If I could've got a 13" MBP then I would have.
Fortunately, Intel makes a DESKTOP CLASS Core 2 Duo, which Apple has entirely omitted from their line. And guess what? They cost about the same as their mobile cousins while outperforming them. Yes, mobility comes at a price.
Apple could easily make a unit that uses these CPUs. Actually, the mobile CPUs are what dissauded me from wanting an iMac. Apple used to be able to fit the same CPUs in their iMacs as they did their PowerMacs. With today's iMac design, they can't. Why pay a premium for a flawed design?
-Clive
Yes, and for luxury cars, there exists an "elsewhere." For Mac OS X, Apple is it.
And people don't understand when you try to tell them Apple has monopolistic behaviors!
-Clive
Firewire 800
Be nice if it had a superfast external data bus for the option for 'real number-crunching'... given the likelihood of a storage capacity sacrifice in-chassis.
On the other hand, FW 800, hosting a 10k drive via inline power would suck it's little LiPoly(my speculation) battery dry pretty quickly.
What do you think? 800 or merely last millennia's dedicated high-speed bus.
Be nice if it had a superfast external data bus for the option for 'real number-crunching'... given the likelihood of a storage capacity sacrifice in-chassis.
On the other hand, FW 800, hosting a 10k drive via inline power would suck it's little LiPoly(my speculation) battery dry pretty quickly.
What do you think? 800 or merely last millennia's dedicated high-speed bus.
Who said anything about xeons? I specifically said C2D processors with DDR2 ram. Apple should have no problem building a sub $1500 unit.
Well, one way they could make a ultra portable Mac smaller is to remove the touch pad. Then use a bluetooth connected iPhone as the touchpad interface.
Cool concept, but they will never release, and I will never buy something not allowed on a plane. Bluetooth is still technically banned, and is turned off in airplane mode on the iphone and any other cell phone.
As an aside, not that anyone does, or that it poses any risk at all, but the same is supposed to be true of the wireless and bluetooth in your laptop...
As someone who needs a large hard drive on my current laptop (Macbook); may someone kindly inform me what sort of people would need this sort of ultra portable laptop (due the space limitation of current flash memory)?
Cheers.
Me
I love the idea of another 13" screen but much lighter and slimmer and if they max out the battery life i'd be in heaven.
I don't need a lot of storage space since I use my macbook mainly for net browsing and messing around.
I have my ipod for massive music storage and my home network for everything else.
I acknowledge this isn't the case for everyone and i understand that but I imagine there are many others like me who it would be perfect for and I can't wait.
Just because something isn't your bag, it doesn't mean it isn't anyone else's.
Yes, and for luxury cars, there exists an "elsewhere." For Mac OS X, Apple is it.
And people don't understand when you try to tell them Apple has monopolistic behaviors!
-Clive
Well there is an elsewhere for laptops, its called every other computer company. If apple wants to grow you would think their main goal would be to just get people using Apple products. I would argue most people don't want to limit their options so much by buying an Apple for a system they have never used (OSX). I am willing to try it but the more research I do the more doubt I have about whether or not this company really is any different than Microsoft, Dell, etc... It seems like they are limiting options to save money at the expense of new customers. Why else can you go to any other computer maker's website, start with a shell basically, and put whatever you want into it where Apple says we have this, this and this, pick one.
As someone who needs a large hard drive on my current laptop (Macbook); may someone kindly inform me what sort of people would need this sort of ultra portable laptop (due the space limitation of current flash memory)?
Cheers.
Me, I'm about to enter an 18 month massage therapy program and need something to assist learning the features of 250+ muscles, their insertion points and relationships, and take notes in classes. Needs to be non-obtrusive. I don't need full-bore computing, but would love to get home, dock her in and get to work with full Time Machine functionality etc.
Not necessarily. Some people need a monitor or want less clutter and an imac fits the bill. Some of us already have monitors and just want to be able to upgrade the video card and need a form factor that allows this.
No matter what is purchased, apple still sells a product.