Here's my first post, on Mac World eve, as it were. My shot in the early-morning-dark of what I think may be unveiled today. Maybe I'm just a fool caught up in all these rumors, but my intuition tells me that if indeed there is a new machine, it will be along lines such as these:
-Basic clamshell form factor. No ungainly swivel screen to make it into a tablet; too complicated and inelegant. I join the several voices here who doubt that the case will be tapered; little precedent in the current Apple esthetic, the back of the iMac notwithstanding.
-Compact, but still large enough for a keyboard comfortable for average sized hands. So it will be larger than an Asus Eee, but smaller than a MBP. Perhaps the width of the 12" Powerbook, but the screen will be "widescreen" proportions and so will be smaller on the diagonal. The compact size yields all the advantages of increased portability. Smaller screen size is partially mitigated by:
-The keyboard, which instead of being mechanical, is rendered digitally on an optical glass touch screen, about the size of four or five iPhones placed side by side. This screen will occupy about 2/3rds of the area of the lower shell. The remaining third will be a wider than usual touch pad and a mechanical input button. (BTW, eliminating the mechanical keyboard is one way to get the thickness of the machine down by 1/8th to 3/16th of an inch. Also, it makes sense that Apple will leverage their "touch" R&D as much as possible, in this case making a large, usually "dead" spot of the machine interface into something dynamic and alive. There will probably be a separate SDK for this lower screen, for widgets and customized key layouts.)
-Though most have been replaced by the screen, there will be at least three mechanical buttons on the lower shell: power, touchpad input, and a "Home" button a la iPhone.
-The upper screen will be a non-touch, OLED display.
-Of course there won't be an optical drive. There may be a dock. But docks in general suck, so maybe not. Personally, I don't iDock.
-There probably won't be an ethernet port. Cause they jus too BIG to fit this slim design. Unless they use that collapsible design mentioned above, which to me just seems like a miniature cousin of the awkward titanium flap on the back of my PowerBook.
-Maybe support for WiMax?
-The machine won't be available till Q2, when the new ULV chips are.
Well that's my two bits at this late hour, or early, depending on what coast you're near. Whatever happens tomorrow on the other side of this city, I just hope it's lightweight and under $1500. Otherwise I'm going to hold onto my TiBook for another year and just get an Asus Eee for when I'm on campus!
~S.
