Is there a mini macbook on the way?
- Thread starter Bengaboy
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I don't see why apple would have the incentive to release such an item. Being aimed at professionals a small laptop for light use doesn't seem to fit in. Especially with the macbook air and the iphone capable of such tasks.
Man of Honour
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Interesting question, I don't think we'll see one soon...
- Apple have little history of paying attention to the market. Nobody was looking for a £300 mp3 player when they came up with the ipod after all.
- They seem to have a pathological dislike of making anything which might canabalise sales of another product. This would eat into both macbook sales to students and macbook air sales to pros.
- It's horribly similar to the macbook air in theory, no optical drive, slowish processor. If you use a 1.6Ghz Atom, you're shelling out an awful lot more money for not much more if you buy a Macbook Air.
I think it's far more likely they might have a brainstorm and try and sell a bigger tablet like version of the iphone/ipod touch. Which I think is a bad idea myself (I'd buy one but who else would).
- Apple have little history of paying attention to the market. Nobody was looking for a £300 mp3 player when they came up with the ipod after all.
- They seem to have a pathological dislike of making anything which might canabalise sales of another product. This would eat into both macbook sales to students and macbook air sales to pros.
- It's horribly similar to the macbook air in theory, no optical drive, slowish processor. If you use a 1.6Ghz Atom, you're shelling out an awful lot more money for not much more if you buy a Macbook Air.
I think it's far more likely they might have a brainstorm and try and sell a bigger tablet like version of the iphone/ipod touch. Which I think is a bad idea myself (I'd buy one but who else would).
Soldato
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Why not just get a Macbook?
Its small and light enough already?
Its small and light enough already?
Soldato
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What is wrong with a MacBook? They are hardly big or heavy.
Apple won't make this product you want as it will bleed sales from other products. The MacBook Air is the closest you will get.
Buy a MacBook, you won't regret it.
Apple won't make this product you want as it will bleed sales from other products. The MacBook Air is the closest you will get.
Buy a MacBook, you won't regret it.
Man of Honour
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Not really, I know it's not big but it's heavy and relatively thick for it's class.
It's only a 13.3" screen yet it's comparable in weight to the 14.1" machines from HP, Dell and Lenovo. It's barely lighter than the 15" macbook pro. The 13.3" machines from Dell and Sony are noticeably lighter.
If it really was small and light enough already then apple would be having a hard time selling macbook airs.
Soldato
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I'd probably get one if they did. The eee is tempting tho
Man of Honour
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Really, how useful would it be?
Not much use for serious text entry without a hardware keyboard is a big problem. So it's just a web browsing slate, which is great but limited, especially if they want £300 for it. If it could connect to the bluetooth keyboard though, it'd be more tempting...
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If they could tie it in as a main-machine add-on (functionality a la Wacom tablet for use with Adobe Photoshop) or as a portable media browser then it could be good.
I really want Steve to say they'll never bring out the 12" MBP.. so many people moan about it on every Apple launch event it makes me want to punch myself in the face.
Soldato
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It is thinner and lighter than any 14" Dell laptops I have had the pleasure of dealing with. Sure some of the other manufacturers 13" are lighter a thicker but as far as portability goes I see nothing wrong with the MacBook.
I don't think twice about throwing mine in my rucksack and then cycling, so it cannot weight that much - at least not enough to bother me!
The OP wants a small laptop and a Mac so the MacBook is a perfect way into the world of Apple and OS X and all that follows. You know? The buying of black turtle neck jumpers, the odd BOOM! slipped into conversation...
Man of Honour
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Yeah, that would make it quite useful I guess.
I think the 12" Macbook pro is the macbook air now anyway...
Man of Honour
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It is thinner and lighter than any 14" Dell laptops I have had the pleasure of dealing with. Sure some of the other manufacturers 13" are lighter a thicker but as far as portability goes I see nothing wrong with the MacBook.
I don't think twice about throwing mine in my rucksack and then cycling, so it cannot weight that much - at least not enough to bother me!
The OP wants a small laptop and a Mac so the MacBook is a perfect way into the world of Apple and OS X and all that follows. You know? The buying of black turtle neck jumpers, the odd BOOM! slipped into conversation...
It's 2.27kg, thats close to 30% heavier than a Sony SZ and the Dell M1330 isn't much heavier than the Sony I believe. It's quite a bit heavier than a Dell latitude E6400 which has a high res 14.1" screen.
Most damningly it's only 10% lighter than the far bigger Macbook pro, so it could obviously be made lighter.
I'm not saying it's not portable, I'm saying it's heavy for what it is and compared to the competition. Particularly if you're looking for something in the netbook mold, it's twice the weight and not comparable.