Ultra-Portable Mac Expected at Macworld Expo 2008

[TurboSC]

I has to admit that it is a wonderful technology but sad to say at my point of view it is not going to materialise.

In the market it is around USD 8 per GB for the SSD compared to USD 0.25 per GB. Price is the main concern for the already very expensive Macbook Pro.

Macbook Pro is meant for higher end user and if you are providing only 64 GB? Well I dun think Apple will make such a move and futher more it got only like up to 5 million write cycles.

Apple need to think a whole lot before making such committment. I seriously think 2008 is too early to have it launched, probably 2009. Along with Intel Core 2 Quad along with the SSD maybe till den 128 GB with a touchscreen screen, tablet notebook hybrid.

Till the end, it is too good to be true.

P/S: After this post, I have waken from my day dreaming. So should you.

I'm sitting patiently waiting to purchase a new MacBookPro, as I think the new ultra-portable will be a neat addition, as you said it will not offer enough umph I need for working in my profession. ( Visual Effects / Broadcast / Graphic Design )

no doubt it'll be a great hit, but I really don't know what to expect even after reading through all these pages on the thread.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

I saw a sub-notebook (or at least, a very small form factor laptop) at the Media Markt just now. I believe it was a Toshiba machine, and it had a 12,1" screen, a 160GB hard drive and a very, very thin optical drive (although, it was a tray loader, not a slot loader). I can live with the downside, and that's a 1,2GHz Core 2 Duo.

If Toshiba can pull this off with 12,1", Apple can pull this off with 13". I'm really looking forward to a machine like that.

 

[koobcamuk]

What I would like first is the ability CUT and paste files. Why is it not available in Mac OS X???

Drag and drop [the argument too]

 

[koobcamuk]

what is this perteulom you speak of? ok seriously, that would kind of defeat the purpose of it don't you think? The point is looking for an alternative source of energy not the unprocessed form if it.

I was having a dig at the way Americans call liquid petrol 'gas'.

 

[sturmnacht]

I saw a sub-notebook (or at least, a very small form factor laptop) at the Media Markt just now. I believe it was a Toshiba machine, and it had a 12,1" screen, a 160GB hard drive and a very, very thin optical drive (although, it was a tray loader, not a slot loader). I can live with the downside, and that's a 1,2GHz Core 2 Duo.

If Toshiba can pull this off with 12,1", Apple can pull this off with 13". I'm really looking forward to a machine like that.

I think it's this one:
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?coid=-33781

It may be the lightest with a DVD burner but it's not the thinnest. The back of the notebook is quite a bit thicker, which comes to an average thickness of just over .9 inches. The Sony Vaio TZ is still the thinnest at .89 inches with lightweight battery.

Also the TZ can record dual-layer DVD's, not with the Toshiba.

 

[wacahill]

Wow that sound's awsome. When does it come out? How much will it be?



https://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png[/img][/url]

AppleInsider reports that Macworld San Francisco 2008 will be the launching ground for Apple's long-rumored ultra-portable laptop.

The new 13" aluminum sub-notebook is described to be 50% lighter and "strikingly slimmer" than the existing 15" MacBook Pros. To achieve this small form factor, Apple is said to have removed an optical drive from the design of the new laptop. As well, Apple will incorporate NAND flash-based storage as well as LED backlights to improve power efficiency.

Appleinsider posted their belief that a sub-notebook is coming from Apple back in February of 2007. Rumors of an ultra-portable Mac, however, have been ongoing for months with talk of a NAND-based ultra-portable Mac dating as far back as June 2006.

This new description of an aluminum case corresponds to a recent report by 9to5 indicating that slim aluminum MacBooks had been spotted with "something strange" about the touchpad.

Macworld Expo takes place from January 15-18th, 2008 in San Francisco, California.

For what its worth, Apple 2.0 Blog reports that Piper Jaffrey's Gene Munster is 75% certain that an ultralight MacBook “or possibly an entirely new product” will be coming in January at Macworld. They also point to photos and video of Engadget editor, Ryan Block, successfully transplanting a pre-release Samsung 64GB solid-state drive into his MacBook Pro.


Article Link[/QUOTE]

 

[TurboSC]

January 15-18th, 2008 ... I will be glued to the forums / live feeds with money in hand.

 

[matthewHUB]

all i want to know is will it be powerful enough to:

-Handle HD home movie content on the go comfortably through imovie
-run leopard extremely efficiently
-handle the next OS comfortably

and will it:

-have an easily upgradable HD like the macbooks
-provide enough features to take as your "personal machine" on business trips without having to have need for a larger comp to sync to/work on.

If all of the above, i'm in.

 

[harrisone23]

id if ill buy it

i really like the thinnes but im not sure if i can deal with no optical drive or no large storage harddrive. Maybe ill stick with the Pro? Please help

 

[Brianstorm91]

all i want to know is will it be powerful enough to:

-Handle HD home movie content on the go comfortably through imovie
-run leopard extremely efficiently
-handle the next OS comfortably

and will it:

-have an easily upgradable HD like the macbooks
-provide enough features to take as your "personal machine" on business trips without having to have need for a larger comp to sync to/work on.

If all of the above, i'm in.

• For someone else more knowledgeable than I
• Probably, yes
• Yes
• Not sure about that, but's going to be Flash Based NAND memory
• Yes

 

[wacahill]

That sounds really reallyy awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you teach me about Macbook please im really interested in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom is going to uy it for me when I graduate from high school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please and thanks

 

[Brianstorm91]

Mac 101 should answer most or all of your Apple Mac questions, also try one out in an Apple Store and ask if you have any questions.

 

[jeremyrader]

i really like the thinnes but im not sure if i can deal with no optical drive or no large storage harddrive. Maybe ill stick with the Pro? Please help

How often do you really use the optical drive on-the-go? For me, it's a massive battery drain. If I really want to watch a movie on a flight or whatever, I rip it to the hard drive. CD's are ripped to iTunes the first time they are inserted. Having an ultra-portable with no optical drive makes sense. Load what you need, enjoy a full 8+ hour workday without stopping to recharge.

What all do most people need stored on an ultra-portable? Some music, maybe a movie or two, presentations, a few various documents... Even then, back to My Mac over a WiFi connection gets you anything off your home/office-based computer's drive. So that means the OS, a handful of apps, and a few essential files that you need short-term and don't want to rely on the availability of WiFi wherever you happen to be.

 

[mill2000]

Ever Wondered Intel Metro = Macbook Ultraportable?

Connect the dots people. It's logical to assume that the Intel Metro concept unveiled in may 2007 is the macbook ultra portable. the size, weight, thickness, and the unveiling date (jan 2008) matches with the scheduled macbook ultra portable. moreover, the metro shares the "mac" design element. here's the link to intel's metro concept.https://www.macrumors.com/2007/05/24/worlds-thinnest-notebook-from-intel/

 

[mpw]

Connect the dots people. It's logical to assume that the Intel Metro concept unveiled in may 2007 is the macbook ultra portable...

Ask any notebook manufacturer what they'll be producing in a year and they'll all say the same thing; Thiner, lighter, more powerful, more battery, cooler, latest technology.

Just because they all aim for the obvious doesn't mean they'll all be the same. The Intel proposal you link to will, IMHO, NOT be an Apple product, just a similar 'ideal' spec.

Whatever Apple do unveil, I don't think it'll be revolutionary in the sense of never seen before hardware technology, but it might be the nicest presented.

It'll be the software integration that Apple achieves using it's closed eco-system that makes it seem revolutionary.

 

[harrisone23]

i use it alot

How often do you really use the optical drive on-the-go? For me, it's a massive battery drain. If I really want to watch a movie on a flight or whatever, I rip it to the hard drive. CD's are ripped to iTunes the first time they are inserted. Having an ultra-portable with no optical drive makes sense. Load what you need, enjoy a full 8+ hour workday without stopping to recharge.

What all do most people need stored on an ultra-portable? Some music, maybe a movie or two, presentations, a few various documents... Even then, back to My Mac over a WiFi connection gets you anything off your home/office-based computer's drive. So that means the OS, a handful of apps, and a few essential files that you need short-term and don't want to rely on the availability of WiFi wherever you happen to be.

i actually use it alot. i watch alot of dvds and i store files on cd's. I would like it but idk any DVD ripping programs

 

[twerk]

if the new mac looks like the metro intel laptop

man ill buy on straight up

duh lol

 

[mill2000]

Please read the link.

Ask any notebook manufacturer what they'll be producing in a year and they'll all say the same thing; Thiner, lighter, more powerful, more battery, cooler, latest technology.

Just because they all aim for the obvious doesn't mean they'll all be the same. The Intel proposal you link to will, IMHO, NOT be an Apple product, just a similar 'ideal' spec.

Whatever Apple do unveil, I don't think it'll be revolutionary in the sense of never seen before hardware technology, but it might be the nicest presented.

It'll be the software integration that Apple achieves using it's closed eco-system that makes it seem revolutionary.

The metro concept is not an "ideal" prototype. It is an actual product that is intended to be commercialized.

"Unlike other prototype designs, this design is to go intro production later this year with an unspecified manufacturer, according to Businessweek"

I think apple may highly likely be this "unspecified manufacturer". This makes more sense especially since apple is featuring Penryn processors in all of its product lineup about the same time Penryn processors are unveiled (Jan 2008). Usually other manufacturers introduce their products featuring the new processor about a week or two at the earliest after the debut of the new processor lineup by intel.
Therefore, for apple to introduce laptops featuring new processors in january when penryn debuts, it is very likely that apple's been working with intel. This again points to the theory that the metro concept is very likely to be the mac ultraportable.

 

[mill2000]

again, the photo shown coincides with the description about the ultraportable's weird looking mouse touch pad. The windows background and the non-magsafe adapter jack are camoflauges to hide apple's identity (courtesy of intel before apple unveils the product to the public).

 

[mpw]

The metro concept is not an "ideal" prototype. It is an actual product that is intended to be commercialized.

"Unlike other prototype designs, this design is to go intro production later this year with an unspecified manufacturer, according to Businessweek"

I think apple may highly likely be this "unspecified manufacturer"...

Seriously?! Apple haven't designed it, haven't funded it, it wasn't their idea so basically they've licensed their OS their processor supplier and a couple of generic CE design firms, to produce something like this???

 

[mr.light]

Oh Please! Say it isn't so! Tacky Tacky

 

[headfuzz]

Seriously?! Apple haven't designed it, haven't funded it, it wasn't their idea so basically they've licensed their OS their processor supplier and a couple of generic CE design firms, to produce something like this???

That was, quite simply, marvellously put!

 

[AidenShaw]

No need for "standard" quite yet...

Also, how does one expect it to become standard, if someone doesn't make the move and do exactly what it is rumored they are doing, and leading the market by being one of the first companies to offer a laptop where SSD is standard.

what brings the price down, is mass consumption of a product. Apple doing this WILL for DELL AND SONY and other companies to start offering computers with these standard, thus causing people to switch to SSD as the standard Drive. making it more affordable.

Many of the SSD devices are exactly like standard 2.5" and 1.8" hard drive form factors, and plug into the same disk controllers. You can use either in the same laptop - they're interchangeable.

Keeping the SSD an option right now makes more sense. The customer can choose (I know that The Lord God Jobs hates that word) whether to go for a cheap big drive or an expensive small drive that saves power.

The optional drives will help kick off the mass consumption of the SSD, without making the entry price of the product sky-high. Over time, bigger and cheaper SSDs can be standard.

Note: I think that if this new system does show up, it will be a 12" PB replacement. Something in the "thin and light" category, but no way that a 13" screen could be a "ultra-portable".​

This Gizmodo link has more info on systems already available with SSDs - Apple's late to the SSD party.... http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/ssd/

 

[AidenShaw]

Therefore, for apple to introduce laptops featuring new processors in january when penryn debuts, it is very likely that apple's been working with intel.

Penryn was announced about a month ago, by the way. Products are for sale and starting to ship from many vendors.

Apple has said nothing about using Penryn - although of course every vendor currently has mobile Penryn samples to work on product designs. This is standard for any new Intel chip - the partners get prototype and pre-production chips months before the announcement.

Usually production chips are shipping in quantity for 4-6 weeks before announcement, so that manufacturers will have products ready for sale on announcement day. For Penryn, however, it was obvious that the volume ramp is a few weeks late.

This again points to the theory that the metro concept is very likely to be the mac ultraportable.

Remember when Jobs threw a fit and removed ATI Radeon video cards from the Macs because the ATI CEO accidentally pre-announced that ATI would be in the new Macs? (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/08/01/jobs_snubs_ati_over_new/)

It seems to me extremely unlikely that Apple would OK Intel's announcement of the Metro if in fact Apple was involved in the design. That is so completely out of character for the company that I can't believe it.