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Ultra-thin 12'' MacBook Pro?
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Ok, so there's a tablet rumor, and a 12" MBP rumor. can we combine em please?
What we'll be seeing is a 12" Tablet PC. This is NOT a convertible, but an all out tablet. However, and this is a big however, it will have a docking station which will turn it into a laptop.
Think about it.. a tablet with a connector on the side to attach it to a dock..
The dock will have a backlit keyboard, and underneath it a DVD drive, 2nd battery, 2nd HDD, and maybe even a dedicated graphics card. How crazy would that be??
What we'll be seeing is a 12" Tablet PC. This is NOT a convertible, but an all out tablet. However, and this is a big however, it will have a docking station which will turn it into a laptop.
Think about it.. a tablet with a connector on the side to attach it to a dock..
The dock will have a backlit keyboard, and underneath it a DVD drive, 2nd battery, 2nd HDD, and maybe even a dedicated graphics card. How crazy would that be??
Where? The only thing I ever said was that there is NO market for a damn tablet...you may also add extremely small subnotebooks (9"/10" and driveless notebooks), for that matter...
A 12" MBP is ALL I've been looking for, and I truly hope Apple releases it...so I think you've mistaken me for someone else, sorry.
What?! Low interest is a perfect reason to buy what you can. Do you know how many people buy a house when - and only when - they can get the lowest possible interest? oh yeah... everyone... except for the affluent. So let's say 95+% of the population.
-Clive
A tablet? I have always thought they're cool and I wanted one as a windows user - but now I am back on track with Macs, why would I want a tablet? Why would many people want tablets? It's a gimmick really. Productivity for word processing goes down for one thing.
No, only a 12" MBP would make me sell my MacBook and buy something more portable. I heavily considered getting a 12" PowerBook but size and weight aren't too disimilar to the MacBook and the MacBook is so much more powerful. It was a no brainer.
No, only a 12" MBP would make me sell my MacBook and buy something more portable. I heavily considered getting a 12" PowerBook but size and weight aren't too disimilar to the MacBook and the MacBook is so much more powerful. It was a no brainer.
Not all professional work has a need for correct colors... Think software development, for example.
Pro audio is another example.
In fact for my main application, Ableton Live 6, a discrete graphics card is not a necessity either.
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Why have you posted this here?wow - God must have designed that... a thing of rare beauty... watch ya back Ives!
Anyway, it's ok looking. Nothing worth getting all hot about.
It looks ok, but in the store I got the impression the button feels a bit flimsy.
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I love this idea! Genius.
I'm not very clued up on tablet PCs though: in my mind they seem very vulnerable to cracked screens, especially if you use them on the go. I can't help but think carrying around a 0.7" thick fully exposed screen would be a certain disaster - i think of myself as quite careful, but my laptops always get dents and scuffs.
I have a sony ultraportable, with an integrated optical drive. I don't need to take anything else with me, not even the power adapter unless it's a very long journey. I'd hate to have to lug around a bag full of add-ons and the integrated drive allows me to watch dvd movies on train/airplane while travelling.
As you can see there are people that see great value in a integrated optical drive and there are so many around that doesn't seem like adding one compromises size/portability that much.
It all depends on your intended use and which category of users Apple will be targeting at... and I have my fingers crossed
Exactly!! Who are these people, who would even for a second, consider a PRO model lappy minus an optical drive. Lets just strip the HDD and boot from an external too while were at it.
Then we could carry this thing around in our shirt pocketAllright:
12" MBP with 2 GB RAM and 160 GB HDD= $1999
20" Cinema Display= $699
iPhone= $299
Total= $3k...
Looks like you forgot the 80% apple tax!
It is fun to dream though...
Sorry, anectdotal evidence is NOT admissible. We really won't know if build quality declined until a comprehensive survey is done by a professional customer survey organization.
Personally, I have owned an iBook G3, iBook G4, and MacBook. I will come right out and say that the MacBook is *vastly* superior in build quality to the iBooks. Everything about it feels more solid and polished.
- the keyboard and trackpad feel VASTLY superior
- the wrist rests seem LESS prone to discoloration than the iBooks (unless my hands are just cleaner since then)
- In general, the case feels much more solid and rugged: no gaps anywhere in the casing, no latch, no removable rubber "feet", MagSafe, etc., etc.
I would say I am JUST as impressed by the MacBook's *improvement* in build quality over the iBook as I am in the performance improvements over the iBook. Even the heat/fan noise issues are about the same a in the iBooks - people just tend to have a short memory!
Rumors are $1700 or $1800 (from Engadget).
I think that's about what the original 12" PBs debuted at. Sure, they were down to $1600 by the end of the PB's life, but I believe that was after price drops over its lifetime. I would expect the 12" MBP to launch at $1799.
I prefer the keyboard, but would love it to be backlit.
The front edge needs rounding, the MacBook cuts into my wrists.
It's hotter than my G3 iBook.
Other than that I'd agree.
man, i just got a macbook last month......i have to say i'm not that happy with the quality/feel (lots of glitches, the black is impossible to keep clean, still pretty heavy, the sides of the machine are "soft"and you can literally press it in) of the machine but stuck with it because i needed a smaller laptop (already have 2 other 15" powerbooks)....oh well, guess i will put it on ebay if this rumor turns out to be true (look for it 200gb HD and 2gb RAM)
I second that. Aside from the cool blue emblum on the "spine" it looked cheap overall.
-Clive
No seriously, I got $2800 in a bank account, ready to blow whenever I want, and since my MacBook has discoloration and whining, I'm gonna get it replaced as soon as I can be without a Mac for a few weeks. I might pay the difference up to a MacBook Pro, or something like that.
"Pro" is such a silly, conceited label
Somehow, all these features are much more important than whether the MBP is ¼" thinner than the Dell (that's about 6.1mm, for those of you who don't live in the colonies).
When I look for "pro" features in a laptop, my list has:
- Docking station - so that taking the laptop from my home office to the work office is one-click detach, one-click attach (how "pro" is a mess of various cables for monitor, power, GbE, Kbd/Mouse, USB, ...)
- Removeable drive bay - so that I can have a second full-capacity battery, an optical drive, or a second 160 GB disk drive, depending on the task (and 90% of the time the second battery is in there - for 7-8 hours of real-life runtime )
- Builtin a/b/g WiFi and 3G (EVDO/HSDPA) - for networking in the office, in the train, just about anywhere in a populated area
- Discrete graphics with 256 MiB plus of usable graphics memory
- Socketed CPU for easy upgrades (I've gone from Yonah to a Merom running 64-bit Vista)
- A case that strong enough to take a few bumps without denting and bending (magnesium-alloy, in my case)
Somehow, all these features are much more important than whether the MBP is ¼" thinner than the Dell (that's about 6.1mm, for those of you who don't live in the colonies).
I totally understand where you're coming from... although these things are all variable depending on one's needs. I *hate* the pro/consumer argument... but for instance....
All your comments sound like they come from a particular professional perspective. But there isn't only one kind of professional who uses a computer. Some professionals have no need of most of those things and really only need ultra portability. Because what they do is use their computer in a wide, wide variety of settings for relatively basic professional tasks -- like accessing CRM systems and other corporate infrastructure, writing reports, and so on. That *is* professional usage. It isn't *graphics design* professional usage. But graphics design professional usage, for instance, is also not software developer professional usage. The most important thing to a software developer might be a huge hard drive to allow for several test environments (e.g. Win2k / XP / Vista environments + Panther and Tiger).
It all depends on usage. Not every notebook Apple makes needs to conform to your particular professional world.
Hello AidenShaw.
"Pro" means to me upgradeability. The fact we can upgrade the internal components to meet our particular pro trade is where the Pro designation is appropriate.
For instance, I have no need for 256MB video graphics even though I am in the media industry, but if one works with CAD and OpenGL apps, then it would be useful. All the other options you describe might not be required by business people who travel giving Keynote lectures. I think Apple machines appeal more to that pro crowd.
luv ya, xoxoxo
It's overkill to include 3G stuff in a laptop as a standard. Make it an option.
In a case as slim as the MBP that is unlikely to happen.
Smaller footprint: Yes. Smaller package: No.
Actually more like 6.1mm