Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Rumors, Steve Jobs
NYT: Search engine seeing a Mac netbook?
When Steve Jobs denied that Apple was working on a netbook (small, inexpensive laptop device) during Tuesday's 4Q earnings call, it immediately set off alarm bells for a lot of people. After all, Jobs has denied that Apple was working on other products, only to have them appear months later.New York Times columnist John Markoff has reported that an "unnamed search engine company" is seeing visits from an unannounced Apple device with a screen resolution somewhere between that of the iPhone (480 x 320) and the 13" MacBook (1,280 x 800). This is leading Markoff to believe that perhaps the long-awaited Mac netbook or new, larger iPhone tablet is going to be announced at Macworld Expo 2009 in early January. Of course, it could just be a hackint0sh that is showing up on the search engine's logs.
When Jobs mentioned during the earnings call that "We don't know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk", perhaps he's telling the truth -- and Apple will have a $500, high-quality tablet or netbook to announce in January.
What's your take on the Mac netbook / tablet rumor mill? Inquiring TUAW readers want to know!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
manny said 12:05PM on 10-23-2008
It's probably a hackintosh eepc
Reply
Jash Sayani said 2:22PM on 10-23-2008
Yeah, it can be a Hackintosh. But I guess NYT must be having detailed information about it, as they would be able to figure out if its a Hackintosh. They are used from years now....
dandaman said 4:28PM on 10-23-2008
I'm saying hackintosh.
Otsego_Undead said 6:51PM on 10-23-2008
Gizmodo was saying that if it was a hackint0sh that it would show up as a Mac Pro, independent of its hardware.
http://gizmodo.com/5067405/macbook-nano-or-iphone-slate-caught-online-says-nyt
waiownsyou said 7:09PM on 10-23-2008
Or a Mac Mini at a bad resolution...
Keeter said 12:11PM on 10-23-2008
Probably just the next version iPhone with a higher res screen. Possibly similar in resolution to the Touch HD phone coming from HTC I believe.
Reply
Jason said 12:26PM on 10-23-2008
That's exactly what I'm thinking. A test version of an upcoming iPhone upgrade (iPhone Pro?) with better graphics and display resolution.
Bucky said 12:17PM on 10-23-2008
It could just be a MacBook or MacBook Pro hooked up to a projector with a smaller resolution. The projector could be mirroring the display, so it would have to adjust the resolution to compensate.
Reply
Sean Flanagan said 12:32PM on 10-23-2008
Completely agree. I know I have accessed an "unnamed search engine" during presentations for web clients to show where they currently rank, and our projector is 800x600 resolution. Nothing to see here, folks.
Justin Schmidt said 12:19PM on 10-23-2008
I agree with the hackintosh thing. Or maybe they're testing something in Cupertino? Jobs said very recently that cheap computers, like netbooks, aren't Apple's thing. He also said they always have their engineers testing things out. I'm sure Apple has looked at the netbook phenomenon.
Then again Keeter has a good point too.
Reply
Chris said 12:26PM on 10-23-2008
Apple has been known to make quality products and that's why it is worth it's premium over pc and I don't Apple will create a netbook that could ruin that reputation and steal business from the Macbook line. That could be not business savvy unless they are introducing a new line of product that does not compete with its existing Macbook line.
Reply
Joe RIckerby said 12:32PM on 10-23-2008
If the unnamed search engine in question could look at the IP addresses of this mystery device, we can tell if it's coming from Cupertino!
Reply
Tulse said 12:34PM on 10-23-2008
User agent info can be easily hacked -- Safari will allow you do this if you have the developer version, and many other browsers let you do this out of the box. And Apple engineers are not stupid, they know that user agent info shows up in logs, and that if word of a new device gets out without explicit approval, it is the end of their tenure at Apple.
So the options are that this is either a planned leak from Apple, or that someone is simply using a standard browser to spoof a fake device and so get the Mac rumoursphere in an uproar. I vote the latter.
Reply
stern said 12:51PM on 10-23-2008
Pshaw -- I bet it's 512x342. Somebody is googling from a Mac Plus.
Reply
CV said 1:14PM on 10-23-2008
I say it's a fake. If there was really something close to being released, we'd be seeing leaked photos (fake or real) of the device in question, whether it be case components, specs from accessory makers (e.g., cases), etc.
Probably just some prankster with a hacked user agent, surfing from a six-year-old iBook G3 (1024x768 screen resolution).
Reply
justsilhouettes said 1:28PM on 10-23-2008
remember, most of the products apple (or any company) makes and tests will never reach the market.
i assure you apple has netbooks, and tablets, and all the crap you want, it would be horrible business to not at least develop technologies that might take off. whether it's 1 or 100 of them. doesn't mean they'll ever release it.
Reply
Jason said 2:12PM on 10-23-2008
I don't believe it, but I'd be interested to see the metrics (javascript result stats, user agent, etc.) anyways :).
Reply
Jash Sayani said 2:19PM on 10-23-2008
Even though they think that a cheap netbook would be a "piece of junk", there would be a large audience ready to buy it. And that is what counts....
I guess we would see an Apple netbook sooner or later.. Mac WorldExpo 09 is a good time to launch it, along with the release of SnowLeopard, Max OS X 10.6.0
Reply
+. said 2:38PM on 10-23-2008
the more i think about it, the more it seems like Apple's simply waiting for touchscreen hardware to become cheaper/more available, before they really consider putting a netbook on the table.
it's already a given that OSX *will* be touchscreen, eventually. they just haven't had a reason to develop this very far, because it wouldn't be cost-effective to make notebooks with (multi)touchscreens---yet. but the technology (both hardware & software sides) is rapidly approaching that point, & i'd bet S.Jobs is more comfortable waiting for it than gambling on what he clearly believes would be too small of a form-factor to be usable.
that said: Apple pleasepleaseplease release a netbook in '09.
Reply
officekitchen said 4:24PM on 10-23-2008
MACBOOK AIR!!! you want a quality netbook - buy one. you want to do a lot more than a netbook? buy macbook.
There are enough folks out there willing to drop the coin, that the netbook market, while "hot" won't keep the lights on forever and day to day folks don't need / want a netbook. They'll want to plug it into their Hi-Def tv's or sit on the couch and chat and blog while watching tv. Netbooks are for hackers and gadgeters.... it's not a big enough population for SJ to worry about.
my two cents. would be interested in any comments feedbacks.
thanks
Reply