Flash-based MacBooks next year?
Buzz has been flying for a while now around the hard drive's belated evolution into flash-based drives, much like the solid-state memory found in the iPod nano. Engadget has of course been covering this NAND flash memory for some time, while manufacturers have been demoing real-world notebooks that use them as early as March 2006. The advantages of these drives are far better power usage (meaning: much longer battery lives), faster seek times (meaning: stuff works faster), vastly improved durability (no moving parts) and even some claim "instantaneous" OS booting.This all gets interesting when considering Apple's position, as they have one of the largest reputations with NAND flash memory manufacturers among PC makers, due to the success of the iPod. Sure, Samsung has been showing off their own flash-based notebook prototypes, but that's because they're cheating - they're one of the largest manufacturers of NAND memory. Apple's close relationship with these manufacturers is leading many to speculate that they could be one of the first manufacturers with a flash-based notebook, even as early as 2007, especially since Samsung is already selling commercial models with at least 32GB NAND drives baked in.
This is, of course, speculation, and when speculation comes from the rumor gurus, you'd darn well better take it with at least one, if not two, grains of salt. Besides, back in March, a 32GB NAND flash drive cost $900 alone at $30/GB. With the way things move in this industry, prices should undoubtedly be at least a little better by now, but the question of when they become appealing enough for manufacturers like Apple to start including them as standard parts is anyone's guess. If anything, I'll bet that we'll start seeing rumors of NAND-based MacBooks at Macworld San Francisco 07 once the season kicks in. Stay tuned.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
b said 1:06PM on 9-29-2006
you won't see a flash based macbook before a video iPod that's for sure
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themole said 1:08PM on 9-29-2006
Personally, I think Apple should go with a flash/HD combo, flash memory for the OS & some apps, with the HD functioning for EVERYTHING else.
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Drew said 1:35PM on 9-29-2006
A flash / HD combo would be OK, but if I can't drop in my own drive upgrade, I won't bite.
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captainjaroslav said 1:39PM on 9-29-2006
This'll be just like when vacuum tubes were replaced by solid state or hard drive recording began to replace tape. I can already hear the music nerds reminiscing about how much warmer audio used to sound when it was coming off a hard drive!
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Aaron said 2:08PM on 9-29-2006
Before NAND-flash MacBooks, the entire iPod line would probably be all flash.
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L. Gordon said 5:19PM on 9-29-2006
All the software that comes preloaded on a mac (iLife) takes up a ton of space, though, so 32GB is not very good. GarageBand and iDVD have a TON of files for music clips and the like - my 60GB Powerbook keeps running low on space because of them.
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rob said 2:18PM on 9-29-2006
Is it true that you can't write to a flash drive nearly as many times as a HD before it becomes useless?
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Carl Trimble said 2:22PM on 9-29-2006
#6... I do not believe that to be true at all. But who knows... I surprise myself everyday with how much I do not know. The only thing I know for sure is that I don't know everything.
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CcntMnky said 2:33PM on 9-29-2006
This would conflict with the Time Machine feature of the coming OS X upgrade, since you need storage space (read: more Flash than you're willing to pay for) to pull off the redundancy.
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WillGonz said 2:57PM on 9-29-2006
I would rather have size over speed. If I can get a HD with 400Gigs on it or a NAND-Flash with 100Gigs. I'll go for the HD. Some how unless NAND-Flash really takes off. I see HD's always being bigger.
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Travis Cripps said 4:47PM on 9-29-2006
Apple already had a flash memory based notebook... in 1997. It was called the eMate 300.
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/apple_emate_300_blast_from_the_past_review
That said, I'd like to see the improvements to battery life and access times that come with the flash memory approach be a part of their lineup again.
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ms said 3:03PM on 9-29-2006
Flash-based MacBooks? Jeez, I'm still wondering when we'll get Core2-based MacBooks...
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Ross said 3:04PM on 9-29-2006
Flash-drives, not in 2007, too pricey for anything but an add on... what I want to know is where are the Kentsfield-based MacBook Pros are... what waht I want to see
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D.J. said 3:10PM on 9-29-2006
I think themole (aka #2) hit the nail on the head. The combo is the only way to move the consumer into the new wave of NAND-Flashiness. The greater space of HDs will keep consumers like WillGonz (aka #9) away until they are introduced to a system with apps and OS's that start "instantaneously" due to being sotred on NAND but with files that take time to load because they come from their HD... only then will consumers' become impatient see speed as a priority (if its to come to pass at all).
Personally, I'd be surprised to see it in an Apple in 2007. The price of the technilogy isn't yet anywhere NEAR accessable for the average consumer, and I doubt Apple is about to let go of their focus on a product that's got a great bang/buck ratio (as established with the Mac Pro and other recent models) so soon... but uncertainty is the only certainty as CcntMnky (aka #8) so eloquently pointed out. By the way... what kind of name is CcntMnky? I'm sketched out, man.
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Jon said 10:48PM on 9-29-2006
"Is it true that you can't write to a flash drive nearly as many times as a HD before it becomes useless?"
I've heard that it is true, but apparently engineers are looking at ways around that.
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Leonard Nimrod said 5:17PM on 9-29-2006
This, like many thing in technology is about Cost vs. usability. Now, the lifetime of the item, in this case read/writes of NAND factor into cost and the size of the NAND factors into usability.
I'm sure we will we see 3rd-party hybrid NAND/plater drives long before we see Apple make a move. And even then it will be an option at the Apple Store, not a default. My reasoning: Apple really wants to sell you content from the ITS which is better served with a larger and cheaper HDD, not the smaller yet more expensive NAND.
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Eric J said 6:40PM on 9-29-2006
re: The advantages of these drives are far better power usage (meaning: much longer battery lives), faster seek times (meaning: stuff works faster)...
thanks, I have a hard time reading through that heavy geek speak
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Shadar said 12:15PM on 9-30-2006
While NAND-based HDD will have a place at the fringe, HDD trend of price reductions per gigabyte has an even steeper trajectory than Flash. 250 to 400GB HDD's are coming, and by the time Apple sells them in systems, they won't cost any more per notebook than 120's.
Flash prices go up and down (they're bouncing up a little right now) but will generally decline over time, but HDD will remain 4 to 10x cheaper per gigabyte (and likely that much higher capacity for a given form factor).
What is interesting is the hybrid drive that Seagate and possibly a few other folks are readying for Vista launch that combine 250Mbyte of Flash along with the usual HDD capacity. The idea is to cooperate with the OS to keep the hot, fast access files in HDD Flash to cut boot times and provide other instant on and performance features. Hopefully Leopard is working on the same integration.
Won't help with reducing battery drain while running Photoshop/Aperature or anything with huge files, but if your working files and critical OS fit in 250Mbyte, maybe the drive won't spin up for very long periods of time. Which is exactly how HDD iPods get their duration on music -- put the next hour's music in Flash and don't spin up unless user changes selections or you finally are close to running out of content in the Flash.
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s8ist said 12:15PM on 10-02-2006
Just put the OS on the flash memory and use a regular HD for everything else.
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