Light-weight Stylish Mac Laptops in 2006?

[Randall]

The only thoughts that I have on this are that:

1) We should see a black version of the iBook, based on the successful record sales of the black iPods.

2) All of the line should be employing widscreen aspect ratios, but remember that a 13.5" iBook would have less screen real-estate then a current 12" model because of the acpect ratio. This will need to be compensated for by increasing the screen resolution much like we've recently seen with the 15" and 17" Powerbook models respectively.

3) They need to be Intel x86 based. Any model that has a G4 in it needs to be replaced with Intel's Pentium M "Yonah" ASAP. Apple will continue to lose prospective sales in the mobile market unless their laptop lines receive immediate attention.

If Apple follows these three guidelines, then they will have some very successful and competitive (If not top of the line) laptops.

 

[AidenShaw]

think beyond yourself, grasshopper

I know PC manufacturers offer sub-notebooks that are really light, but I also don't know too many people interested in sub-notebooks.

Many people who travel (even from office to office, or meeting to meeting) *are* interested in smaller, lighter laptops. Apple has nothing in that space today.

Most people that I know wouldn't want a 17" laptop, from any manufacturer.

A couple of people I know do have 17" PBs, but they went out and bought smaller notebooks (in addition) after realizing how big and awkward the 17" PB was. One bought an iBook 12", the other an even smaller Thinkpad. The 17" stay at home as desktop replacements, the small one is their portable.

IFrom a full-featured PC perspctive, are the PM-based machines really that much lighter than a 12" PB?

The fallacy in this argument is that you ignore "which features have what priority for the purchaser".

If "small and light" is an important feature, Apple loses.

Not everyone wants a DVD or other fluff that adds bulk and weight. Many people would gladly take a slower processor (ULV Pentium M, for example) if it meant lighter weight and longer battery life.

Why does everyone assume that any new model will replace either the iBook or the Powerbook? Why can't Apple add additional models for different markets?

Apple has nothing for the subnotebook space, nor for the portable workstation space (the 3+ GHz or dual-core 64-bit laptops). These are big markets that Apple is simply ignoring because of their arbitrary consumer/pro model split.

 

[Mass Hysteria]

Yeah-yeah maybe - until you see the BLACK stuff


1CE YOU GO BLACK YOU'LL NEVER GO BACK, BRO

no no no . . . it's

once you go Mac you'll never bo back

 

[Photorun]

...research analyst predictions that Apple will be introducing "light-weight [notebooks] with a stylish design aimed at luring female users."

Let the rampant and, in this case, STUPID, speculation begin.

Considering I know a half dozen women that not only own, but covet, and LOVE the current Powerbook design, and have never heard any woman say she hates it, this article could easily make the top five, if not number one slot, for this years pre MWSF most erroneous and off-base dumb rumor.

 

[gnasher729]

Apple won't enable external displays by default on the ibook line, it's one more 'feature' that distinguishes them from the powerbook models.

You could hope that this might change in the future. At the moment, Apple just cannot sell an iBook with half the processing power of the top Powerbook, because that would be a measly 800 MHz G4 and nobody would want it. In the future, an iBook with half the power of the top Powerbook would be quite nice (half the power of a dual core 2.16 GHz Yonah is still more than the most powerful Powerbook today), so there is hope that articial differences would go.

 

[AidenShaw]

wrong people to ask

Considering I know a half dozen women that not only own, but covet, and LOVE the current Powerbook design,...

Ask the women who have the Thinkpads, VAIOs and Porteges....

They're the ones who would be targeted by this.

Maybe the comments will be "the Apples are pretty, but they're too big and heavy", which proves that "design" is more than just "style". It's more than what can be captured in a photograph.

 

[DTphonehome]

That explains the current marketshare.

Touche

Well, I've attracted my wife to the platform

 

[michaelrjohnson]

Can't argue with thinner and lighter...


...but as for styling? They've really got their work cut out for themselves. I <3 my PB.

 

[steve_hill4]

what I dont understand is that this trend is done to "lure female users"..

Which stupid marketing manager think that males love to carry around heavy bulky and ugly things?

I don't know, I was reading the rumour and thought, "I hope it doesn't change the PowerBook too much, I think the current size, weight and design are almost spot on." I know I would ge tused to any changes, but the current PowerBooks are the perfect weight already, they shouldn't try to make them that lighter, just extend the battery life.

In saying that, the iPod mini vs nano argument has proven me wrong already. I still prefer the mini's size and would have preferred to have taken that, added flash and a longer battery life. Sales show otherwise, so don't listen to a word I have to say.

 

[steve_hill4]

The big question is if they will vibrate?

Are you suggesting that women will be attracted to buying something more if it vibrates? What are you thinking of?

 

[netmonkey]

Maybe the current ones are too heavy for women in Taipei...?

Anyway, these new laptops are sounding better than ever which update. But a lighter Powerbook would be insane, since the current ones seem pretty light to me. Though, the ThinkPads and VAIOs are pretty light computers.... Though the VAIOs look kind of cheaply-made (Thanks again, Sony!), and the ThinkPads are great, though not widecreen and they run that pesky Windows program.

The new ones better kick ass, because I've been waiting for a laptop, an Apple laptop, for a long, long time...

 

[steve_hill4]

I'm thinking they might drop the "Power" naming convention from the Pro products and call them something else like ProBooks & ProMac's, or something entirely different. It might be time to lose the "iBook" name also. They've used it for 8 years now and this architectural switch might be a good time to revamp everything, including model names.

Yep, one of the most speculated topics surfaces again. I still prefer the name Express instead of the i for the consumer end range. You have software that is either Express or Pro, why not machines?

Of course this leaves the Mac Mini in limbo, unless it gets a rename into the Mac Media.

 

[faisal]

Weight matters for the sales exec market. College students are one thing, but try carting around a 5 lb laptop when you're a 30-something manager with a bad back.

At my last employer the stock laptop was an overweight Dell Latitude, but a lot of people (particularly sales types who traveled alot) were angling for the lightweight (at the time, ~3 lb?) Windows laptops. On the other hand, a some people were buying Powerbooks with their own money to bring in and use for work Combine these two and Apple has an opportunity.

However, the competition on the Windows side is hovering just above 2 lbs for something usable (Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic), so in that regard Apple is failing to even catch up and I hope the article is wrong on the high side.

The stylist design for females is a bit disturbing. Has Apple reached that point of style over substance?

 

[steve_hill4]

The Sonys can look pretty good, but I agree that they feel a bit cheaper. The more you pay in the VAIO range, the better the machine feels, but at that price, the PowerBook is a real option.

I'll tell you the real cheap feeling laptops now, that's the 14" HP range, (previously 1325, 1365 etc). Those things feel like you're getting ripped off big time. You spend £999 on something that creaks as you use it. GET THE iBOOK OR 12" POWERBOOK PEOPLE.

 

[Mass Hysteria]

It doesn't matter if they are thinner and lighter, they'll still come in a box the size of a washing machine!

 

[Peace]

I'm not too sure about the "for the female" part but the natural evolution of the laptop is thinner and lighter like the iPod.

Could be Apple is going to go after the lucrative 14-25 age group with possible iPod themed iBooks..

That would be the natural evolution of the iBook.

 

[faisal]

I know PC manufacturers offer sub-notebooks that are really light, but I also don't know too many people interested in sub-notebooks. From a full-featured PC perspctive, are the PM-based machines really that much lighter than a 12" PB?

I know a number of people (including me) for whom size is a major feature. I use my laptop as a sort of travelling auxiliary to my desktop, so I've been looking at a Windows ultralight for my next laptop. That said, I don't use my laptop as a full featured computer -- I use it for basic office stuff. Even so, the Windows ultralights appear to be at feature-parity with the 12" Powerbook, but at half the weight.

 

[kenaustus]

Costs: Forget the $500 iBook to compare with a Dull. How many people buying a "cheap" Dull find that they have upgraded the basic box to the point where it costs the same as a Mac? First they get a graphics card to avoid shared memory and then they keep adding . . . Let Apple make a basic iBook that avoids the bait & switch approach.

Small form factor: Before switching I used an IBM X-Series (the first one out) and it is a pleasure to travel with, especially on overseas business trips. There is a good market for this type of notebook in both the iBook and PowerBook ranges and I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple tap into this market. The optical drive can be internal or external for most people wanting a 3 pound notebook.

Design: Let's fact it, Apple has been working on new designs for both ranges for a fairly long time. They didn't get together before last year's WWDC and suddenly decide to start looking at what they were going to do. I expect that we'll see something rather exciting in January and continuing thru to WWDC 06. 2006 is going to be an exciting year for Apple (better than 2005) and all we can do is hang on and wait.

 

[mkrishnan]

I'm not too sure about the "for the female" part but the natural evolution of the laptop is thinner and lighter like the iPod.

Tell that to Hewlett Packard!

Yeah, I hope this rumor, slightly-creepy-business-about-luring-females-notwithstanding, is true. I really would like to see a substantially improved 12" notebook from Apple. And if Apple shows it to me, I just might snap at it.

 

[1macker1]

I just hope they dont go the way of the Sony Vaio line. The line up is confusing, with too may "series". I hope apple keeps their notebook line up nice and clean.

 

[mikolia]

What About A Laptop With Flash Drives?

I think the new powerbooks will have flash drives in them and be ultra light and ultra fast.

 

[Photorun]

Actually, get me a lightweight mac laptop that I can install Vista on and I'll be happy. Otherwise I'll just have some issues with apple. Yes, XP. I tried coding on OS X...doesn't work for me. And games, I need my games that were designed for XP to run on XP, not some crappy port <--that'll be mute when I get a revolition though!)

Yes, because why run a stable OS devoid of spyware, malware, and general tomfoolery when you can run something utterly bloated and abysmal.

 

[Cinch]

functional laptop

The only thoughts that I have on this are that:

1) We should see a black version of the iBook, based on the successful record sales of the black iPods.

Really? They have also tried wooden veneer on Dell laptop as well as other who have thought this is a good skin for laptop. I don't know, it may have a slim short of working. I'm sorry to say it, this idea most likely originate from a male engineer who still wear deeply acid wash jean with white tennis shoe . When it comes to style, do not go the route of Dell or Alienware, I'm sorry, this is not directed at you personally.

How about a laptop that is solely design for email, and for "passive" internet use? And one more thing, iTunes. Three things are all this laptop need to do, and have a 8 hour battery life. It is not hard to do! Here is a list of possible components:

a low power processor (lowest)
30 GB flash drive
Wi-Fi
1 USB ports
a battery that will last 8 hours
a lite OSX

do not include: ethernet port, modem, vga, firewire, harddisk, dvd rom

I would buy this over a 12" PB!

Cinch

 

[Photorun]

Ask the women who have the Thinkpads, VAIOs and Porteges....

Just did with a Thinkpad, and they'd prefer a Powerbook stylistically but "it doesn't do Windoze" (arg!!!). Another woman who has this older IBM brick-like laptop, showing her a picture of each, which looked better, the Viao or the 15" Powerbook, she said (by picture mind you) "The Powerbook looks sturdier."

Which means your, and the articles, point isn't taken. It'd be like "we need to make pink iPods" or "we need to make pink iMacs" or this mentality that there isn't a gender neutral aesthetic, that is, design that can just be appealing for appealing sake... which is exactly what Ive designs.

Regardless, this article is full of ****, anyone should be able to smell it through the screen.

 

[mkrishnan]

I'm sorry to say it, this idea most likely originate from a male engineer who still wear deeply acid wash jean with white tennis shoe .

In defense of men and their lack of style...it was really women who persisted with this offense to common sense much longer than men.