Filed under: Rumors
What is The Brick?
The friendly folks over at Macenstein have a theory about The Brick -- a widely-rumored Apple product that may be debuting mid-October. So far, all we really know is the code name: "The Brick" (originally suggested by 9-to-5 Mac).
Many speculate that it refers to the form factor of the product -- whatever it may be -- but Macenstein has a different take: it's the Windows breaker. Get it? Like a real brick with a real window.
Apple may have a plan to pull significant market-share away from Microsoft using this product (or series of products). If true, it could be the missing piece of the puzzle that executives hinted about in Apple's Q3 conference call in July.
The question, of course, remains: what the heck is it already? A new, low-cost MacBook? An iTablet? Software? Let us know your predictions by leaving us a comment below.
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Reader Comments (Page 6 of 9)
iBearTouch said 10:02AM on 9-23-2008
Yup this seems like the most probable brick to me! :-)
blake said 10:19PM on 9-22-2008
I keep reading all this about OSX running on ANY PC or a Mac with windows installed. This is supposed to be a windows killer, if macs have windows installed this would not be a windows breaker.
I don't know what it is but I know what it is not.
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Kai Cherry said 11:40PM on 9-22-2008
You are getting it backwards.
Indeed, Macs with windows installed...still helps Microsoft.
PCs running Windows XP getting MacOS X instead of Vista?
Glass shattering e'where :)
-K
Loneoak said 8:48PM on 9-22-2008
It is literally a brick, offered in multiple colors. Steve Jobs' marketing genius will allow Apple to charge $149 for a frickin' brick.
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John Gee said 8:54PM on 9-22-2008
I truly believe that the strong possibility remains that the "brick"'s main feature is wireless power capability.
I believe this because of:
#1
the wireless power technology that has been talked about, written about in at least these past two years,
#2
the "brick" nickname doesn't seem to be conducive to describing anything that is interactive/having a user interface
#3
the "brick" is already used to denote a power adapter for a piece of electronic equipment, and therefore calling it a brick would be a clever substitute for a piece of hardware that supplies the energy needed for multiple pieces of hardware in the home. in addition calling it "the brick" further supports the idea that it supplies energy to multiple units ("the" says --the-one-and-only, instead of every product requireing "a" brick, the "the" says it is "the one")
Is that clear? :-)
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macxprt said 8:47PM on 9-22-2008
I say it is a "Slingbox" type of device. Hence the brick monikor. This way they can position the Apple TV as getting media from the internet and the "brick" can send media to you over the internet.
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BillF said 9:21PM on 9-22-2008
Got a monitor, would like a "new" mini, with BD read/write, big (500Gig+) HD and Graphic Card options.
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Carl said 9:34PM on 9-22-2008
It´s obviously the new iPod Hi-Fi.
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JohnJohn said 10:15PM on 9-22-2008
I think it's a MacMini without a CD/DVD drive. Built for none laptop users. Built for office situations. Like most of the Dells and IBM machines we had or have at our desks.
Everything has moved to the cloud. No need for huge hard drives and removable media in today's office situation.
I think it will be about the size of a XBOX360 power supply.
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Robot Kitten Face said 10:01PM on 9-22-2008
Oh good god, people. Apple is NOT going to allow OS X to run on Windows PCs. Apple is a HARDWARE company. That's where the money is. They know they have the best operating system, now they're going to to be more aggressive in their pricing. Jobs is not going to allow OS X to be run on ugly-ass janky 3rd party machines.
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Kai Cherry said 11:36PM on 9-22-2008
...and most of that hardware is sold by the boatload (literally) to people that do not own Macs. Most of that hardware is sold at such a ridiculous volume that the Mac sales and profits pale in comparison.
Or...did you think Apple is making most of their cash off 4 million macs a year, lol.
-K
Joe Cabrera said 10:39PM on 9-22-2008
If it's a completely new thing, how can it even be compared to Windows? Won't it mean a new paradigm?
I do love the codename and symbolism though.
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sonicwind said 11:04PM on 9-22-2008
I have to say that Apple focusing on advertising while ignoring quality really seems to be working for the iPhone. Perhaps Apple has lowered it standards yet again by creating cheap brick laptops in hopes of taking market share of reasonable costing laptops away from Microsoft.
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cenglish said 11:27PM on 9-22-2008
"the brick" could easily be a version of OSX that can be installed on any PC "legally"
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Dan Oblak - MacBigot.com said 12:34AM on 9-23-2008
I want it to be what would happen if OQO and Jonathan Ives had a baby.
http://macbigot.blogspot.com/search?q=oqo
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michael b said 12:08AM on 9-23-2008
I can see it now 1984 sledgehammer breaks the screen and the mold with the release of macintosh...2009 the brick that breaks the proverbial window again and finally...it would be a nice poetic continuation of apples clever marketing and development
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JV said 12:16AM on 9-23-2008
Well, a Mac Mini is kind of shaped like a brick and it hasn't been updated in a while...
A mac mini with a built in projector? Haha.
Or a new Apple TV?
Or a new Mac Mini/AppleTV?
Or a really really big iPod? with it's own speakers? Remember those Apple speakers?
Oh I get it!! Brick! Through Windows! Haha... though it doesn't really conjure great images about the person (company) doing the throwing, so it's not really a great analogy, I don't think.
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danjwark said 12:18AM on 9-23-2008
One way to really "break" windows... how about a dongle (something like efi-x.com) that would allow virtually any PC that follows a list of supported hardware to be a Mac? Apple would still make a profit selling the dongle as well as the Leopard license. Easy profit and and easy switch for Windows users... I'd be all over that!
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Slim said 12:34AM on 9-23-2008
You're all wrong! "Windows" does not refer to the operating system, but the user interface pioneered by Apple then copied by Bill Gates and made trillions off of it.
"Brick" is OS XI, which will feature a revolutionary interface that does not use the "Windows" UI paradigm.
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Jeff M said 12:51AM on 9-23-2008
I think that brick is a hint of the name of the product.
For instance before the Macbook Air was released they had that image on the apple frontpage saying "There is something in the Air". They like to use hints but in weird ways.
Mac Brick? not likely.
But rather a brick is a hard, fortifying object that (in what i believe is Apple's style) would represent a storage device of some sort. Secure, fortified, etc. Just like a brick...
See where im going with this?
(P.S. - I would love to hear what you (Robert Palmer) think of this idea...if your not too busy)
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