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General discussion

Steve, why haven't you implemented this yet?

Nov 28, 2007 1:13PM PST

Recently, there was a contest on Gizmodo, I think, about concepts for a Mac Tablet. I was looking into Mac Tablet stuff after this, and I found this:

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-6147316-7.html?tag=blog.1

and

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ModBook

Now I know the ModBook is old news but you'd have to wonder if these things sell, since they aren't really Apple-branded anymore. They're still designed from a regular MacBook... And it seems odd that OWC could actually do this, but I saw somewhere that they can with some agreement. Pretty cool idea, but Steve needs to actually take advantage of this, a 13 inch MBP, and a new Mac Mini replacement for cheaper prices. Then there's the Penryn Mac Pro rumors and the Apple TV hobby. Steve! You got a lot of stuff building up on your to-do list! Stop playing with all of your hot-selling gadgets and make some more for us consumers! LOL. Happy

I wonder how Leopard runs on that thing, though it may not if Tiger was modded too, which it probably was. OWC should ship them with Leopard now. Anyone have one of these to know? Personally, the new concepts I saw on the web are better looking, but I never heard of this mod being out there before. Maybe it's because they took the Apple logo off Wink.
-BMF

Discussion is locked

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A full-on MacBook tablet? Never, but think about a handheld
Dec 16, 2007 2:50AM PST

Maybe I shouldn't say "never," since that's the same thing people have said about Apple using Intel chips, creating iTunes (and Safari) for Windows, and making a flash iPod that costs more than a hard drive model. Let's just call it "unlikely."

Full-size tablet computers are usually niche only: you'll see them used by doctors, engineers, and warehouse workers, but you don't often see them anywhere else. It's the wrong market (i.e. very corporate) and not a very large one at that. Eventually the MacBook may get a multi-touch display, but I doubt it'll become a tablet unless it gets cheap enough to implement at negligible cost.

But if you've seen the AppleInsider rumor -- and I have my own information that suggests it's legit -- Apple may have a larger, more computer-like communicator by mid-2008. Think DVD resolution and more of the features you'd expect from a computer (copy and paste!) for personal use when a notebook would be too large.

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I mean that Apple probably has plans for a tablet
Dec 16, 2007 9:41AM PST

but that doesn't mean it will be similar to the ModBook. Look, I just found the thing, and thought that it was good someone else likes the idea of a tablet Mac. In some way, Apple may come up with a tablet Mac that has one of the flip screens like many tablets on the market do today.

What I think you're saying is Apple may create a portable machine similar to this, but not exactly a sub-notebook or tablet. As logical as this may be for something like this, I doubt they will release one, though they may. Apple always seems to do something you never expect. Already, Apple has the iPhone which is basically their PDA/phone and the iPod Touch, which is more of a PDA and an iPod. If they created a product in between the iPods and iPhones and their notebook lines, it would interfere with all of their sales. But that's my opinion.

We may never know until The Steveness tells us. Maybe MacWorld will hold more than a 13 inch MBP for us. Only thing to do is wait I suppose.