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'Modbook Pro X' Tablet Based on 15-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Debuts on Kickstarter
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These guys have been doing this for years. They were offering this about 5 years ago. Frankly, I thought they'd gone the way of the dodo once the iPad came out.
Will never happen. I've said in the past thread about Modbook that this IS legal and Apple allowed them to do it over the years.
Don't think so... they're performing a service, not selling a product. (Mostly.)
I think it would work better with an iMac though, wouldn't it?
This is an aftermarket mod. It uses Mac hardware bought directly from Apple themselves. They're allowed to do what they want to with it, and sell it to whoever will buy it.
The only thing Apple can do is deny it warranty coverage, since it's greatly modified from the original product. But I doubt these guys expect Apple to do that anyway. They'll probably cover the warranty themselves.
More than likely that the technology Apple uses (standard haswell CPU's and chipsets) can support up to 32GB of RAM.
Have to remember, This is Apple and its not necessarily always about giving us the best or highest options available. It's a mix of what Apple can provide and still maintain the profit margins they wish.
They've probably calculated that the cost of the largest modules of today isn't worth it yet, and that 16gb option is the limit currently.
Of course, this could change at anytime depending on supply, demand, and the beancounters.
For what? They are using a genuine macbook pro which comes with the OSX license. You can do whatever you want with the hardware you purchased and the license for OSX says it has to run on Apple Hardware, pretty straight forward.
Not unusual for Wacom to license out their technology, they did it with TabletPCs as "Penabled" back in the day. Penabled didn't offer the amount of sensitivity levels/features as Wacom's actual hardware like Cintiq and Intuous, but it was still pretty good.
Wow there is a lot of misunderstanding here as to what the Modbook is. It's a creative "pro" work machine. It's not a tablet, and it's NOT meant for the "consumer". To be clear, it's this
Image
plus this
Image
combined.
If you don't know what the second device is, it's a Cintiq. It's a pen-abled screen meant for professional digital artists. It is widely used and indispensable to most digital artists' workflow. It's meant to be used in conjunction with desktop computers and creative desktop applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Storyboard Pro, etc.--again, it is not intended (nor able) to be used with mobile OSes and apps.
As indispensable as they are to digital artists, the downside to relying on Cintiqs is that they pose a problem for artists whose job requires a lot of moving around. They have a 13" version that is technically portable, but having to carry and set up an external monitor in addition to your laptop greatly diminishes portability value.
PC-based artists have for a long time had a vast number of options for an ALL-IN-ONE pen-abled laptop solution (Surface Pro, Wacom Companion, many various tablet-PCs and hybrids), while Mac-based artists have had absolutely zero options (until the Modbook came along), since Apple is the only company to make Mac and OS X, and they have never shown interest in digital pens.
So just to reiterate--if you are not a person who makes a living from drawing on a Mac (or a rich hobbyist), then this product is completely irrelevant to you. So don't be confused as to why you don't see its utility. But for Mac-based professional artists (myself included), this is an unquestionable dream machine. Albeit, a very expensive dream. But since for me it would be an investment that would definitely see return, I will be buying one as soon my pocketbook allows.
And I'm pretty sure Apple does not have a problem with the Modbook, because all it can do is promote more Mac sales, since you need a Macbook in order to make a Modbook. What I wonder is how Axiom is able to use Wacom pen technology, since the Modbook seems to compete directly with the Wacom Companion. Maybe because it's a different OS Wacom allows it.
BINGO! That's the reason it's designed for the creative industry. The Cintiq is pretty slick but I'm happy with my Intuos 4 by Wacom which gets the job done but I would lover to get the former, someday.
As for the Wacom tech, I believe it's been licensed to Axiotron or they're in a partnership to add that in the Modbook series.
For people wondering why the high price: It's a very small customer base / number of items sold, has very expensive parts and dito custom software and some custom hardware. It's all one by one manual labor and not in made in China but made in Germany, where cost of labor is high..
For comparison: In 2001, the ancestor of the MacBook Pro, the Titanium PowerBook cost $ 6500, depending on the model. That's not compensated for the 34% inflation between 2001 and 2014.
I'm surprised about the many comments about it's looks. It's not meant to look cool for the masses. It's a tool for a niche market. Fluent, high sensitive pressure sensitivity (and tilt sensitivity) can be very useful.
I think the lag between the Wacom pen and the cursor on a Cintiq is a bigger problem, for example when sketching, even if it's only a fraction of a second behind. Also, the Cintiq 12WX cursor couldn't draw a straight line a the edges of the screen. IMHO this is a bigger problem than it's looks.
That's easy: They are using Wacom parts, probably the thing is even Wacom licensed. So Wacom gets their share and therefore won't complain.
For comparison: In 2001, the ancestor of the MacBook Pro, the Titanium PowerBook cost $ 6500, depending on the model. That's not compensated for the 34% inflation between 2001 and 2014.
I'm surprised about the many comments about it's looks. It's not meant to look cool for the masses. It's a tool for a niche market. Fluent, high sensitive pressure sensitivity (and tilt sensitivity) can be very useful.
I think the lag between the Wacom pen and the cursor on a Cintiq is a bigger problem, for example when sketching, even if it's only a fraction of a second behind. Also, the Cintiq 12WX cursor couldn't draw a straight line a the edges of the screen. IMHO this is a bigger problem than it's looks.
That's easy: They are using Wacom parts, probably the thing is even Wacom licensed. So Wacom gets their share and therefore won't complain.
ModBook Pro is for REAL Pros
This product is not new as such. This company has been around for years so they know what they are doing. They have additional software packages written for OSX for handwriting on the ModBook and ModBook Pro so that handwriting can be recognized as well as keyboard input. If you are a professional digital artist, you need a more detailed and powerful tool that an iPad. The stylus allows you to more accurately draw like you would with a pad and paper but with all the benefits of digital undo and redo.
This is not some replacement for the iPad. Yes it is expensive. It has an authentic Retina MacBook Pro inside, with the keyboard removed and a touch sensitive screen overlay so that you can use the stylus. It includes extra software not included with OSX. It includes a whole new outer shell removing the keyboard, adding the specialty keys to the back and adding the stylus sensitive touch screen over the retina screen.
If you are not an artist that draws electronically, ignore this product. It is not made for you.
If you are a game designer, digital artist, illustrator, graphic designer, industrial designer, interior designer, etc., then this may be for you.
This product is not new as such. This company has been around for years so they know what they are doing. They have additional software packages written for OSX for handwriting on the ModBook and ModBook Pro so that handwriting can be recognized as well as keyboard input. If you are a professional digital artist, you need a more detailed and powerful tool that an iPad. The stylus allows you to more accurately draw like you would with a pad and paper but with all the benefits of digital undo and redo.
This is not some replacement for the iPad. Yes it is expensive. It has an authentic Retina MacBook Pro inside, with the keyboard removed and a touch sensitive screen overlay so that you can use the stylus. It includes extra software not included with OSX. It includes a whole new outer shell removing the keyboard, adding the specialty keys to the back and adding the stylus sensitive touch screen over the retina screen.
If you are not an artist that draws electronically, ignore this product. It is not made for you.
If you are a game designer, digital artist, illustrator, graphic designer, industrial designer, interior designer, etc., then this may be for you.
You really don't see how this is any different? Really? Nobody is hacking anything... The hardware is still built to Apple's specifications, because it IS AN APPLE LAPTOP.
This company simply restructures the casing and adds a touchscreen. Apple still gets paid for the hardware.
yes because a mac pro has a built in screen and pen stylus and you can carry it in your bag.
snipper said:
The biggest problem with it is that the Surface Pro 3 is doing the exact same thing in a thinner, lighter package for far less. You'd have to really, really, really like OSX to get this.
Very true. And for that much lower price you get a 1.9GHz dual-core i7 vs a minimum 2.3 GHz quad-core i7, Intel 4000 HD vs 5200 HD Iris Pro/2GB minimum discrete GPU, 8GB RAM vs 16GB RAM minimum, 13.3" HD display vs 15.4" Retina display, and 512 SATA SSD for 1TB PCIe SSD. That's arguably more than worth the increased cost.
To be fair, this thing is using the Macbook Pro for it's internals, which uses the Low Voltage components, which comparatively should yield far better performance (Though far more heat).
the Surface Pro line uses the ULV chips, and offer performance more in line with the Macbook Air line of computers than the macbook pro's.
That could account for the significant difference in size, plus, since this is Macbook pro, there is more "stuffs" inside. the Pro's are bigger computers than the Airs
the surface pro has an ntrig pen with 250 levels of pressure sensitivity. no rotation, no tilt, no external buttons. it's a joke. useless for an artist who wants to produce a whole project.
Or you'd have to be a professional who can't use N-Trig due to the extremely poor linearity. If you don't know what this means you probably aren't in the target market for this device.
Linearity tests (only the digitizer from the Cintiq actually "passes," but N-Trig is the worst by far):
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/art...racking-accuracy-test-multiple-tablets-3.html
You also have to take into consideration the SP3's generally poor performance due to throttling (even without the throttling it's using an MBA class ULV CPU).
The only way to get what this offers today is to pair an rMBP or equivalent machine with a Cintiq Companion Hybrid, which brings the costs into similar territory and weighs over 8 lbs total.
Great find. Maybe Apple just wants to save it for the next generation, or maybe the RAM sticks required to upgrade to 32GB weren't available until recently and haven't been put in the MBPs yet because there hasn't been a refresh.
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My guess actually was wrong. timd.mackey found their explanation. They upgrade it themselves.
Apple will prob sue alot of ppl. But not these guys
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Yes and they have to buy it and then mod it hence the price. They arent gonna do it for free now are they?