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Ultra-Portable Mac Expected at Macworld Expo 2008

MacboobsPro said:
Without an optical drive Apple will have to offer Leopard, iLife et al as a digital download right?
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Not necessarily. It may be required that you have another computer that you hook it up to to install software. Or sell an external optical drive.
 
External optical = good. (And is nothing to do with the "minimalist nature" of Steve Jobs: the same technique has been used by other brands of ultrathin laptops.)

13" screen = too big! But still welcome for the thinness/lightness. And the margin around the screen/keyboard could be smaller than the MacBook.

I'm really hoping for the best GPU they can cram in the space and not drain the battery.
 
Well... if the only difference between it and the MacBook is the weight and thickness, I really hope they don't make it a new product line, but rather replace the MacBook with it. Apple's product line is getting pretty wide as it is.

Of course, the "strange" touchpad might turn out to be a significant new feature but even so, one would hope that they would just add it to the MacBook line. One thing that might keep the MacBook alive is the price - this new notebook might end up costing quite a bit more. Will MacBook get eMac-ed?
 
dazzer21 said:
If it's going to have a 13" screen, that makes the MacBook ultra-portable already, doesn't it?
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There are CNET's criteria for an "ultra-portable laptop":

- Weight: 4 pounds or less
- Size: Less than 1 inch thick
- Display: Smaller than 14 inches (diagonal)

I guess the MacBook's weight and thickness are right on the edge of that.
 
The thing is, I am in the middle of convincing myself that I need a MacBook Pro. I'll want an ultraportable, but if it's not got the same power as a MBP (or close) then I'll have to think twice. I wonder if it'll be touch screen.
 
neven said:
Well... if the only difference between it and the MacBook is the weight and thickness, I really hope they don't make it a new product line, but rather replace the MacBook with it. Apple's product line is getting pretty wide as it is.
Click to expand...

Really small--and still having Pro power, such as GPU--can carry a price. Flash storage might be a factor too. I don't expect this model to be cheap (other ultrathin laptops sure aren't). In which case, the current MacBook may be expected to remain, as the low-end consumer offering. Just like the 12" PowerBook and 12" iBook co-existed.
 
koobcamuk said:
The thing is, I am in the middle of convincing myself that I need a MacBook Pro. I'll want an ultraportable, but if it's not got the same power as a MBP (or close) then I'll have to think twice. I wonder if it'll be touch screen.
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no way it's going to have the performance of a macbook pro.. even the macbook will win
 
$1699

Chaszmyr said:
Completely right. Sony makes what are hands-down the most impressive ultraportables on the market, but you virtually never see them in the wild because they are extremely expensive. I think if Apple prices this new machine of theirs at $1499 it will sell like crazy. At $1999 it will sell alright, and anything over that and it will hardly sell at all. They could conceivably price it as low as $999, since it sounds like it will use standard laptop components, but at that price you'd have to expect to have hardly any disk space (like, say, 8gb).
Click to expand...

The 12" PB came out at $1,599 for their base specs (here). That to me would be the perfect price for this one again since 3+ years later with inflation and whatnot wouldn't be unreasonable to keep price the same. just above macbooks, just below macbook pros . . . i'm waiting . . . !!! :apple:😀:apple:😀:apple:
 
jockmock said:
no way it's going to have the performance of a macbook pro.. even the macbook will win
Click to expand...

Too true. In that case, I will buy the new MacBook Pro and use my iPhone as the fabled 'ultra portable'. I have never been able to send email, read pdfs and so forth on a Mac that goes into my pocket 🙂

A MBP is needed for me to break into the design market (photo, architecture etc)

I was all set for an ultraportable, but I don't think it can be someone's main machine.

Does anyone else agree that this can't be a main machine? Maybe for a rich home user...?
 
MacboobsPro said:
Without an optical drive Apple will have to offer Leopard, iLife et al as a digital download right?
Click to expand...

Future versions of iLife maybe, but not Leopard. It'd come pre-installed! 😉

Downloading an application suite is a lot easier than downloading an operating system..
 
WOOOHOOO no OPTICAL!!!!

Yes. Good move IMO.

One can always plug in an external if you need it.

Other then installing OS X, I can't remember the last time I needed one.


🙂
 
Chaszmyr said:
Apple offered OSX to them for free, and the company decided they'd rather go with their own open OS.
Click to expand...

That's understandable. But companies can still get in on it. Microsoft is making windows run on it. The foundation is determined to put laptops in the hands of third world kids - not necessarily the laptop designed by them.

I'm getting one simply because I'm very curious to play around with it, I might find some cool uses for it, it doesn't break the bank, and I sure don't mind subsidizing another one for a good cause.
 
This seems like an interesting development. I would imagine it would maintain something around a 13" screen. This allows it to be a machine with a footprint smaller than a standard sheet of paper, and allows for a relatively full-size keyboard. With a much smaller screen bezel than the macbook, the overall machine will appear smaller even if it uses the same panel.

I think it will probably be one of the less-powerful mac portables though. Probably a ultra-low power dual core chip with integrated GPU. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with that.

I wonder what is "special" about the trackpad. Assuming this thing isn't a multi-touch tablet sort of machine, there is no particular need why it needs unique cursor control (why the other mac portables do not)
 
sounds interesting but nothing for me. and is it really intelligent to take away more cooling-space? we'll see.

i used to go with a 12" widescreen acer sub-notebook with a weight of ~1.5kg and a screen-res of 1280x800. when the battery died, i bought my new 13" macbook and i'm absolutely satisfied.
i think there aint no big difference between both sizes and i love having an internal optical device instead of the stupid acer's firewire thing. i never had the external one around when i needed it...
 
Pass.

The fact that 64GB SSD go for $1500+ alone makes me think this is bunk. Anything less than 60GB on a laptop these days is a no go with me. Without an optical drive and such little space? No, no way.
 
Without an optical drive, how can you perform a software restore?

I'm sure Apple will push Time Machine as the way to go to format your laptop and so an external HD will prabably be required in some way.
 
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