Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Rumors, Odds and ends, Apple
Apple files patent for collapsible ports
Ingenious. But does it mean an ultraportable is right around the corner? Seems unlikely to me-- with the iPhone at $600, and the MacBook at $1100, Apple would have to squeeze a 13" display portable in at around $800-900. What's the point? I love my 12" Powerbook, but if I was spending that much on an portable, I'd go with a MacBook anyway.
[ via Mac Rumors, thanks Brian! ]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steve Rhodes said 7:29PM on 8-16-2007
There are people who agree with you, but even with an iPhone and a Macbook, I'd buy a 12" or smaller MacBook (mini?).
When you do need a laptop, it is nice to have a small, light one.
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Andrew said 7:33PM on 8-16-2007
That's cool that you have a 12" PowerBook but some of us don't. I'd buy a 12" laptop in a second but Apple hasn't made it yet (Intel based).
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mentalsticks said 7:35PM on 8-16-2007
I'm not sure if an ultraportable should be cheaper than the MacBook - I'd gladly fork out thousands and thousands (by which I mean $1200-1600 tops) for an ultraportable with goods specs. However, those collapsible ports wouldn't do the trick for me - at home I like to connect my notebook to an external display and work it in clamshell mode, and that would make those ports inaccessible, if I understand correctly.
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Josh Kritner said 7:43PM on 8-16-2007
I honestly don't think that cost is really a factor for the ultra-portable nutjobs- er market. The type of people who think that the 13" MacBook is "freakin' massive" wouldn't bat an eye at paying more than a top of the line MacBook for a 2 pound 10" "Macbook Nano"...
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Stuart said 7:44PM on 8-16-2007
I've a 12" PowerBook and my girlfriend complains it's too heavy and won't be buying a Mac until they make a light one; 'for girls' : ) She's just waiting
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wickedpheonix said 7:48PM on 8-16-2007
it wouldn't be less than a macbook, but it would still be less than a full-fledged MBP. Reason being, you get MB performance but a slick pro look and a much smaller form-factor. People are willing to pay for portability, most Wintel ultra-portables are $2000+.
@ mentalsticks: Presumably, Apple would offer a docking station if they did something like this, or at least a mobile docking station ala the Thinkpad X61 Tablet. If they did so, you could keep all of the ports plugged-into while still in clamshell mode.
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Dude said 1:45PM on 3-27-2008
Ultra portables are more expensive, generally. Just look at the Sony models.
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required said 7:52PM on 8-16-2007
They propose limiting port functionality simply so the thing can be thin-ner? Odd. Then again this sort of thinking works for inflatable rafts...
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required said 7:53PM on 8-16-2007
...you must blow it up in order to use it.
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Robert Mohns said 9:15PM on 8-16-2007
"with the iPhone at $600, and the MacBook at $1100, Apple would have to squeeze a 13" display portable in at around $800-900."
Nonsense. Smaller doesn't mean cheaper, it means more expensive. An ultra-thin 13" laptop should come in more around $2000. Remember the 12" PowerBook G4, which sold just fine against iBooks which cost $600-800 less.
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Reg Muffet said 9:39PM on 8-16-2007
By Mike's logic, a 3 carat diamond should be cheaper than a much bigger pound of coal. I mean they're both just chains of carbon atoms, right!
Add my vote for an ultraportable. As someone who used to have a PowerBook G4 12" and replaced it with a black MacBook 13", I long for the form factor of my long since eBay'd 12". The MacBook is a few inches too wide for my liking.
Most people dreaming of an ultraportable also see it as being flash based. A true flash based ultraportable would have many other benefits. Think of what the iPod Mini gained when it became the iPod Nano...
- very thin
- impressive battery life
- no spin up from a hard drive
- no sound from moving parts (whenever I un-sleep my MacBook, there's a characteristic mechanical sound)
Also, comparing using my silent, responsive iPhone to my whirring, pausing 60GB 5th gen iPod, I yearn for the day when a Mac can do the same thing.
But I don't know when it could happen. Flash hard drives are only really economical in the 32GB range currently, and an ultraportable Mac would really need a 64GB drive.
Very doubtful for this year.
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Mike Schramm said 9:42PM on 8-16-2007
All right, you guys make good points. :) You're right, an ultraportable buyer isn't shopping for price, they're shopping for size, and nobody makes them more unbelievably small than Apple.
I agree we won't see it for a while, but I guess there is a need for it.
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Gregory Tucker said 7:43AM on 8-17-2007
I travel a lot and find my 12.1" G4 to be cumbersome. I see coworkers with the small Vaio and I'd certainly pay a premium for a Mac about that size. Flash-based drive, anyone?
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ben Murray said 9:23AM on 8-17-2007
yes i love my 12" Powerbook as well
But its 3 years old and there's no model to replace it with
The pro line needs a small form factor option and pronto
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ralph said 12:09PM on 8-17-2007
Its really amazing to me that so many people (myself included) have 12" PB g4s and are waiting to spend 2 grand to buy a 12" MBP or something like it. If you walkk into any mac store and ask them if theres one of those out (knowing full well that there isn't) theyll usually tell you "so many people are waiting on that 12" Well folks today I give up. My 12" is on ebay and I bought a black refurb macbook from apple.com (great deal 1049 for a C2D 2.0ghz 120 gb!) I will still buy an ultraportable if it ever does come out (i hope 12" or less!)
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aarongarn said 5:11PM on 8-17-2007
OMG! I THINK THE NEWTON IS COMING BACK!
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mrtotes said 9:20AM on 8-19-2007
I do think a MacBook Mini is in the offing. Flash to too pricey right now so it'll use an 1.8" HDD like the iPod 5.5G first off and when SSD (Solid State Drives) get larger and cheap enough we'll see the MacBook Nano replace the MacBook Mini.
Why collapse the ports though? Sony can get all the required ports and an optical drive in a 11.1" ultra portable so why can't Apple?
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=VGN-TZ11MN%2FN&site=voe_en_GB_cons&pageType=Overview&category=VN+TZ+Series
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