Sifting through the thin MacBook rumors
The Apple (AAPL) rumor sites have been buzzing for months about the new thin MacBook they expect Steve Jobs to unveil Jan. 15 at Macworld Expo 2008. Now, with the company’s annual showcase for new products less than six weeks away, the talking heads of cable business news have started to pick up the scent.
Yesterday was CNBC’s Jim Goldman’s turn. In a breathless report that aired shortly after noon (video, text), he cited a source “with good connections” to Apple’s manufacturing partners and rattled off what 9to5Mac characterized as “the known knowns”:
- That Jobs is introducing a new ultrathin subnotebook at Macworld
- That the machine replaces the usual hard drive with flash memory
- That the device is 50% thinner than the thinnest MacBook
- That it will have a 12-inch screen and cost $1,500
Actually, that last “known” is in dispute. AppleInsider, quoting its own manufacturing sources, maintains that the machine will have a 13.3 inch display. And the $1,500 price point, while devoutly to be wished, seems too aggressive by half. As Ars Technica points out, solid-state hard drives come very dear; the 64 GB Samsung drive alone costs about $1,000 (link). There are a bunch of flash-based 64 GB subnotebooks on the market, and they start at $2,000.
CNBC’s Goldman had other Apple news: that the iPod touch is selling well and Apple is ramping up production (a known known), and that a 3G iPhone is coming out next year, as early as May or June (a known rumor, but don’t hold your breath for May/June delivery).
A computer is a computer is a computer. Repeat until it sinks in.
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I went down to 13.3″ MacBook from 17″ PowerPC and love it. Have 22″ display on my desk: now the best of both worlds.
Ultra-slim/portable needs 13.3″ with the SSD and external optical drive THEN I buy in a NY minute and take it everywhere and plug into any other display.
“………….. Ahh, there’s one more thing!” I’m gonna love that on Jan 15.
None of these rumors are true actually, Apple is done for once Vista sp1 is out!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
lmao….steve ‘blow’ jobs is up to something….
again…providing technology that is already available at a price 400%-500% higher than available
as with their other entries into the pc market, this device will take at most a paldry single percentage of market share.
but hey, at least we got another choice of an over priced, under capable piece of technology to choose from.
i’m glad only the pc challenged by macs; it keeps the high tech stuff out of noobies hands where it does the most damage!
no SPANK you apple. i’ll stick to my high powered computers that squash yours like, well…..apples!
Who knows how powerfull will this machine be really, based that it is flash memory.
Good grief! It takes our dear Apple THAT long to get this stuff out to market??!!
USB flash drives are under $10/GB (e.g. 8GB flash drive for less than $80 at a warehouse club; on-line as low as $30), and that’s all packaged up. Seems to me Apple could put in 32GB for about $250-300.
It could also be that Apple is getting lower prices on the Flash memory than other companies. That’s probably the case with the memory used in their iPods, so it may be a similiar situation for this supposed Flash notebook.
SURE DO WISH YOUR PHOTO HYPERLINKS DID WORK LIKE THEY WERE SUPPSOSED TO!!!!!!!
I CAN’T EVEN SEE THE PICTURES!!!
ex ped: The hyperlinks are working for me; tested them in Firefox, Safari and IE. What browser are you using? BTW, there are not photos linked to in this item, just text and a video. –Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Software is cheap, hardware costs real money. So to get a cheaper machine some hardware capabilities would have to be removed. With the solid state disk a fixed component and Apple never scrimping on video quality not a lot is left on the hardware side that would significantly reduce the price.
Can the high price tag be avoided, if the machine is poised as a connected assistant, instead of as a full blown computer that does it all?
In other words, with 32 gig in the ultra-light, you sync it to your main machine (PC or Mac). Only the applications you want, along with the data files or documents on your employer’s file server get sync’d. Plus the stuff on your main machine’s internal drive which you designate. Then you head for the airport.
This would be SO useful. And cheaper.
ex ped: For what it’s worth, Seth Weintraub of 9to5Mac tells me he thinks 32 GB will indeed be the base model. –Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
I have been using a 12″ powerbook for 3 years now. I’ve been holding off buying a new computer in the hope that apple will launch a ‘thin’ of some description. Something I can use on the road that is light and with a good feature set. If apple don’t release a ‘thin’ then I’m seriously going to look at purchasing an Asus eee which is an excellent ultra portable not only with a full feature set but with an attractive (non apple) price tag £200/$400!