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I hope this is true. For my next round of computers in a year or so, I want to get a subnotebook and a Mac Pro. That way I'll have the portability, but also power. Right now I find myself using my MBP as a desktop replacement. Sometimes I'll want to run somewhere with it but I have to unhook the external monitor, external drives, speakers, eSATA card. Overall, it's just a big hassle. I need something that I can always keep as sometime to just "grab and go".
 
12" MacBook Pro with flash HDD would be nice.

nonono... 10" widescreen and no keyboard. I hope.

I would hook it up to a screen and use bluetooth peripherals at work, and I'd use multi-touch on the road. yeah!

Maybe the Flash based media will make it into the much anticipated PowerBook G5's!

nope, sorry, my powerbook G5 just has a plain, old harddrive..
 
I wonder what percent of the flash market Apple buys.

A big percent. Apple has supply agreements with substantial ($100m+) cash deposits with at least three major flash suppliers.

I wonder if this rumor is related to combo flash and HD MacBooks, or if this is really a next-gen iPhone slightly larger (ATNN). The timing could indicate post iPhone release or merely post Santa Rosa.

Rocketman
 
subnotebook

Yeah that's the problem the subnotebook ends up being more expensive than the 12 inch or the same price.

I am looking for an update to my 12inch powerbook. not a macbook. macbook pro would be nice. or a subnote that had a flash scratch disk built in or card slot for mobile designers.... SSD are certainly the wave of the future but at least 8mos to 1.5 years away before they are large enough and cheap enough to make their way into consumer (read 3500 or less price range) models.
 
A flash based notebook is probably not going to come out for a while, especially from Apple. If they're wise, and I'm banking on the assumption that they are, they'd hold out until the tech is cheap enough to offer a good solid performer so they don't end up with a very competent commercial failure because of a high price that upsets perceived quality.
What are the so-called experts predicting? I heard 2-3 years (i.e. 2009-10). I don't doubt that flash-based drives are the way of the future, but now it's just a matter of when it'll be cheap and reliable enough for us.
 
I don't think we will see full flash-based mobiles for some time yet.

I do, however, believe we will see a small amount of flash memory along with the standard 2.5 drives.

You won't be able to utilize the flash memory as the OS will dynamically control what uses flash and what uses the hdd.

I would imagine the OS will use the flash memory or the program in use at any time.

Just my two cents.
 
I hope this is true. For my next round of computers in a year or so, I want to get a subnotebook and a Mac Pro. That way I'll have the portability, but also power. Right now I find myself using my MBP as a desktop replacement. Sometimes I'll want to run somewhere with it but I have to unhook the external monitor, external drives, speakers, eSATA card. Overall, it's just a big hassle. I need something that I can always keep as sometime to just "grab and go".
I hear that one. I bought the Mac Pro 3.0 and am using my PowerBook G4 as my portable, but I'm waiting for an Intel based alternative that's super light, fast and portable.
 
I don't think we will see full flash-based mobiles for some time yet.

I do, however, believe we will see a small amount of flash memory along with the standard 2.5 drives.

You won't be able to utilize the flash memory as the OS will dynamically control what uses flash and what uses the hdd.

I would imagine the OS will use the flash memory or the program in use at any time.

Just my two cents.
You can force a swap drive to use a Solid State Drive. So you have some control over the OS. It would be a speedy scratch disk for PhotoShop as well. ;)
 
What are the so-called experts predicting? I heard 2-3 years (i.e. 2009-10). I don't doubt that flash-based drives are the way of the future, but now it's just a matter of when it'll be cheap and reliable enough for us.

Experts..pfffff. They can predict all they like until more companies actually produce products that completely bunk up their time frames. It will get cheaper and more reliable, and I think that we'll get a healthy middle ground before then in the form of hybrid drives. They have a much longer lifespan than regular HDD's.
 
OMG, doesn't Shaw Wu ever shut the hell up? I'm so sick of his constant misinformed "speculation." Take this for example: Wu says "1GB = $5 so 32GB = $160" WRONG. That statement is only true if you want 32 independent 1GB NAND units! By that time, we're talking two times thicker than the Zune (for an iPod or iPhone). If you want a single 32GB NAND unit, expect to pay well over $500.

And why the hell would apple want to make a Sub-Notebook over a tablet, especially with their "undercarriage optical bay" patent? It doesn't make sense to lift up the unit to put in a CD/DVD. A tablet is simple: you keep holding it in your hand, rotate your wrist, insert media with your other hand and unrotate your wrist.

Secondly, Apple would not have spent all this time and research developing their multi-touch interface if they were going to banish it away to only the iPhone. It doesn't make sense in a laptop or desktop (who wants to reach out and touch their screen or try to balance a laptop in one arm as they carry it around everywhere?). A tablet is MUCH easier to tote, is lightweight, has no moving parts (hinges! YIKES!), flip it over, throw in a CD, etc.

Shaw Wu has overstayed his welcome as a Wall-Street "analyst." Guess what? I'm an analyst too because I think about the situation and the most logical progression for Apple to make given their technology. I can say right now that Apple's next portable is more likely to be a tablet than a "sub-notebook."

DISCLAIMER: For all you flamers who are eager to tell me that I don't know Apple's plans, I can only say that you're right. I don't. But niether does Shaw Wu. If anything, I know more about Apple than he does. Plus he has the reduced credibility factor of likely owning loads of Apple stock. I, on the other hand, don't own a single share. It's not in my interest to either trash talk or promote Apple Inc.

So to all you potential flamers, I don't want to hear it. Why don't you dish it at Shaw Wu instead?

-Clive
 
When I think about these subnotebook things I always imaged them as being as underpowered, but in a good way. I dont wanna lug around a bulky heavy laptop that can render iMovies when I just wanna write plain text and check my email, what I want is something super small, and cheap. Basically I want something that is a pencil and paper replacement, not a desktop multimedia computer replacement. When I go to class I take a pad of lined paper and a pen, that's all i want to recreate in electronic form. I don't need or want to carry a proper computer around.

This is EXACTLY what Apple should make.

<3lb. 12" LED screen. Full size PB class keyboard. And not much else.
 
With the cost of flash memory, couldn't they put 8GB flash in there for OS and Apps and a 1.8" or 2.5" drive for data. Quick boot, less power draw for OS and Apps, accesses drive only for other data, swaps open docs, files, etc to flash while in use, writes to drive upon save/close.

I think this is totally the way to go as a first move in flash based laptops. Dump the optical drive and offer a usb solution for the instances when you need it, spinning media is brutal on battery life and doesn't make sense to me on such a device. I think such a device would be perfect for email/surfing/office, and you could still use the 1.8 or 2.5 drive for storage for itunes or whatever other storage heavy media you want to have with you.
 
Very cool potential here. I wonder when we'll see these bad boys in the marketplace though? We're buying a new MacBook/MBP once iLife 07 and Leopard are released (along with a refresh to the product line, whenever that happens) but I don't think the incorporation of flash will be coming quite soon enough for us to take advantage of it. ;) :cool:
 
agree except

When I think about these subnotebook things I always imaged them as being as underpowered, but in a good way. I dont wanna lug around a bulky heavy laptop that can render iMovies when I just wanna write plain text and check my email, what I want is something super small, and cheap. Basically I want something that is a pencil and paper replacement, not a desktop multimedia computer replacement. When I go to class I take a pad of lined paper and a pen, that's all i want to recreate in electronic form. I don't need or want to carry a proper computer around.


I'm in total agreement except for the part about being "cheap". Apple don't make products that look "cheap"; Dell, Gateway and HP got this market covered. I know you meant price here, but if Apple makes a stylish subnotbook, it will be priced what the market will pay.

Yeah, most of us just want a laptop that can do Microsoft Office, Safari and iTunes. Make a portable device that can do this well and get 6+ hours of battery time would be wonderful.
 
On the future of flash:

I don't doubt, though, that in a few years (~2009+) flash will be a more viable HD option. Even in the near future, Santa Rosa is looming which integrates flash optimization in the system. So basically this who post is a no-brianer. The thing that irritates me is that Shaw Wu is coming in and saying it like he's a revolutionary or has some secret source inside Apple.

Anyone who knows anything about technology knows that flash is becoming more and more important. So for Shaw Wu to say this is like saying, "I will breathe at some point today." It's a gigantic "DUH!"

As for all-flash HDs, I must have seen that idea on this website at least a year ago. Seriously, that must be all Shaw Wu does: peruse rumor sites and regurgitate obvious rumors built from MacRumors posts. That, and he's trying to tell people what they want to hear (not necessarily what's true)... and claiming he got it from the source. In reality, his source is the internet, and he doesn't have any more info than we do.

Shaw Wu's credibility is 1... on a scale of 100.

-Clive
 
Enough already!
Come on Apple, do the right thing.
Announce a sub-notebook or 12" MBP soon!:apple:

Don't let Paul Allen take the spotlight.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/112378.asp?source=rss
http://www.flipstartpc.com/

Are you serious?? That thing couldn't run Vista any better than my Performa 630CD. 1.1 GHz Pentium M... 512 MB of RAM. Yeah right. And what a lame HD. 30 GB? Just another over-priced, underpowered toy for rich identity-crisis'd execs.

-Clive
 
FLASH is slow to write and can has a limited number of write cycles

I think people are too impatient with this kind of stuff. It's like all of your computers are suddenly sputtering and falling apart and Steve is sitting there twiddling his fingers. :rolleyes:

A flash based notebook is probably not going to come out for a while, especially from Apple. If they're wise, and I'm banking on the assumption that they are, they'd hold out until the tech is cheap enough to offer a good solid performer so they don't end up with a very competent commercial failure because of a high price that upsets perceived quality.

Before everyone throws out the HDD for FLASH, remember that FLASH is slow to write (good for persistent cache, not for dynamic files) and can only be erased/re-written a finite number of times (kinda like battery charges).

I think the hybrid HDD is the path we'll see, but the logic of what to put in FLASH will be under the control of the OS, not the HDD designer.
 
On the future of flash:

I don't doubt, though, that in a few years (~2009+) flash will be a more viable HD option. Even in the near future, Santa Rosa is looming which integrates flash optimization in the system. So basically this who post is a no-brianer. The thing that irritates me is that Shaw Wu is coming in and saying it like he's a revolutionary or has some secret source inside Apple.

Anyone who knows anything about technology knows that flash is becoming more and more important. So for Shaw Wu to say this is like saying, "I will breathe at some point today." It's a gigantic "DUH!"

As for all-flash HDs, I must have seen that idea on this website at least a year ago. Seriously, that must be all Shaw Wu does: peruse rumor sites and regurgitate obvious rumors built from MacRumors posts. That, and he's trying to tell people what they want to hear (not necessarily what's true)... and claiming he got it from the source. In reality, his source is the internet, and he doesn't have any more info than we do.

Shaw Wu's credibility is 1... on a scale of 100.

-Clive
I hope Shaw Wu doesn't read your comment. He'll probably get :mad:
 
I think this is totally the way to go as a first move in flash based laptops. Dump the optical drive and offer a usb solution for the instances when you need it, spinning media is brutal on battery life and doesn't make sense to me on such a device.

I've been saying for YEARS that optical media is totally archaic. It's fragile, slow and EXPENSIVE (for higher capacities). I can't imagine anything more barbaric than a freaking CD. Additionally, I can't believe that after 80 years, we're still spinning our media. Films, Tapes, Hard Drives, CDs, DVDs, and now BluRay/HD-DVD. I say invest 95% into solid state and push capacities beyond that of these spinning medias. Bring down the price, increase the reliability. Everybody wins.

...except Seagate.

-Clive
 
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