Apple's Early Prototype iPad Had a 12-Inch Display

[Gemütlichkeit]

glad they made it the way they did. prototype is too large and of course way too thick. they made the right choice to wait it out until better technology comes around.

however i can see android phones becoming the size of that prototype

 

[Takeo]

Here are some thoughts on why Apple should make a 14 inch iPad:

Apple has been working on this for 10 years now but apparently we armchair quarterbacks have all the answers and know what people want.

 

[G51989]

I'd like a 17 inch iPad that has 4 gigs of RAM.
With such a large display, I would also like a split screen mode that lets me run more than one app on screen at a time.

Its called a laptop

 

[Apple Key]

The ratio of the screen looks odd on it, especially after seeing the 9.7 inch for so long.

 

[iZac]

Looks like they tore the screen off a G4 iMac, and that's no bad thing

 

[Bigsk8r]

That Apple had designed something 6-8 years before it came out suggests Jobs has given Cook a ton of stuff to develop over the next 6-8 years.

Hopefully.

This is in the vein of what I was thinking as I reviewed both articles about this.

Basically, if Mr Jobs and Mr Ives had been investing time in various iPhone, iPad, and iMac variants from 2001 forward, then think of what could still be out there that they have designed but is just waiting on smaller electronics and better processing advances to become a reality.

It's cool to think about...

 

[KdParker]

I wonder how long will it take for iPad 1/2/3 to look this outdated...

2 years...

 

[jake0112]

As much as it looks outdated now, it is still much better looking than anything that was on the market at the time.

 

[charlituna]

Anyone ever know what happened to the iPad with two dock connectors?

like the teardrop iPhone it was likely a myth. an idea that was mocked up and then rejected.

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But being serious I agree that prototype might have been a flop, too thick/heavy and probably no battery life like we have in the iPad as we know it.

At that point in time the notion of internet in your pocket/bag was not as great. Some folks were still using dial up at that point so wifi was still way off for them. certainly wasn't any at starbucks and such.

so this would have been still a computer you basically used at home and might have been fine. if they had released it we might have seen all this thin, light so it's easy to carry and awesome battery kicking up a bit faster. And iOS might not have happened on the tablets. A scaled down Mac OS X with a touch level would have been the game. Or we might have seen iOS much earlier if the real reason they didn't release this tablet was a feeling that the software wasn't appropriate.

 

[Mad-B-One]

So does anyone know when the first Mod Book Pro devices shipped? I'm guessing maybe a little after this time perhaps? Either that's one thick iPad!

Their homepage says Fall 2012.

 

[Some_Big_Spoon]

Pentium M: http://www.techspot.com/news/49453-ipad-prototype-photos-surface-in-legal-documents.html

If this were circa 2004-2005, I'm curious as to what it would have been using for a processor: Intel Atom (which had some Kernel Extensions in Leopard, enabling a generation of Dell Mini 9/10 Hackintoshes, IIRC), ARM, Core or maybe even G4?

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Still is: http://www.modbook.com

There was a company operating at that time that would take your iBook and turn it into a touch screen machine. It was like 1500 dollars.

 

[deannnnn]

It would make sense if it was going to run OS X at the time. A 12" display would be beneficial to a desktop OS. This was before the Air or MBPr would have been technologically possible.

I was thinking this too. I would love an iPad that ran full on OSX.

 

[Navdakilla]

That looks crazy, glad they waited to perfect the design and release such a amazing device.

My family now has 4 (3 Ipad2's and one New one), and honestly mom and dad love it

 

[671417]

Re 17 inch iPad

Its called a laptop

You mean the one that was discontinued?

The cool thing that about a 17 inch iPad would be that it ought to cost a lot less than the MBP 17.

 

[G51989]

You mean the one that was discontinued?

The cool thing that about a 17 inch iPad would be that it ought to cost a lot less than the MBP 17.

There are other laptops out there other than apple

If you really want a giant tablet, those dual touch screen i5 iconias are pretty huge lol

 

[nightcrwlr]

If this were circa 2004-2005, I'm curious as to what it would have been using for a processor: Intel Atom (which had some Kernel Extensions in Leopard, enabling a generation of Dell Mini 9/10 Hackintoshes, IIRC), ARM, Core or maybe even G4?

I had the same question, but that being said , I can't see the birth of iOS around that time .... I wonder if they where thinking of putting a full fledge Mac OsX , hence the thickness of the unit.

Regardless , had they released it , would have been a sweet product.

 

[shamino]

If this were circa 2004-2005, I'm curious as to what it would have been using for a processor: Intel Atom (which had some Kernel Extensions in Leopard, enabling a generation of Dell Mini 9/10 Hackintoshes, IIRC), ARM, Core or maybe even G4?

You're assuming that this prototype was fully functional. It might've been a design-model, intended only to demonstrate the look, feel, weight, etc. It might not have any electronics in it.

Given the size, it might also have been a hacked-up iBook. Take an iBook, remove the keyboard, attach the screen to the lower case and add a touch screen (a-la the ModBook), and now you've got a platform where you can run UI experiments. If they did that, then it would've been a G3 or G4.

I personally doubt that this prototype was ever seriously intended to be sold as a product. I think it was just an experiment to try out different design aspects.

YES, darnit, I know iOS is OS X-based.

In the early days of the iPhone, they even called it "OS X".

I suppose, if you would map out the family tree here, you'd end up with something along the lines of:

BSD, Mach, and a few other techs --> Darwin
... + many system frameworks --> OS X
... ... + Mac-like UI frameworks --> Mac OS X
... ... + touch-based UI frameworks --> iOS

I wonder if anybody actually has one of these?

I would be shocked if more than one or two were ever built. And it would surprise me greatly if they could run any software aside from, perhaps, some basic UI-test applications.

I was thinking this too. I would love an iPad that ran full on OSX.

You probably wouldn't like it. Mac OS X is really designed around a pointer/keyboard paradigm. It would be painful on a touch-only platform. While you could probably manipulate the Finder and many system dialogs, I think most apps would have inaccessible features.

Although it's not an exact match, go install a Magic Trackpad on a Mac, and disconnect all your other input devices. I don't think you'd enjoy working with the result.

 

[dgree03]

You know what is funny about this, that the prototype is 12in, and looks IDENTICAL to almost every other tablet available from 2000-2009. As a matter of fact, I can venture to guess the iPad protoype was 12in because ALL OTHER tablets at the time were 11-12in, so they were copying the TREND at the time.

People around here act like apple is exempt from gaining influence from current devices.

PS I think a 12in-14in iPad would be awesome if they made it operate more like OSX.

 

[MrXiro]

This prototype must weigh 5 pounds or more. If someone came out with a 5 pound wrist watch no one would want it no matter how much they "hit the gym". iPad is a similar thing. You could be holding it for hours. So the lighter the better. 1 pound would be amazing but probably not possible with today's battery technology.

It's a joke... JK=Just Kidding.

 

[Roessnakhan]

Almost.

 

[uknowimright]

before this came to light, tablets that had vents and laptop parts (also actually running software) were crap

after, (without even showing evidence of running software) are revolutionary

oh the logic

 

[ChrisTX]

Their homepage says Fall 2012.

Obviously they've been shipping for years now. I was too lazy to check myself, and was hoping someone here might know.

 

[E365]

I'd actually love an iPad with basically the same total dimensions as a standard 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper. That would be something like a 12" diagonal screen. With iPads nearly replacing computers for many people, they could use more real estate.

 

[Mad-B-One]

Obviously they've been shipping for years now. I was too lazy to check myself, and was hoping someone here might know.

Yea, I mean the kits for the new ones are coming in Fall 2012. I thought that was your question. I just looked at their page and saw your question

 

[kockgunner]

This size may have made sense if it weren't for the weight. The thing that bugs me about the iPad is that the keyboard is just a bit smaller than a regular one. I'm surprised SJ let that pass because a full size keyboard was one of the selling points of the MBA so it seemed like it would be one of the tent pole features of any Apple product.