Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, Apple
Rumor Watch: Apple touchscreen netbook on tap for October
Rumors about an Apple "netbook" or "tablet" have been rampant for years, but if a report today on the Taiwanese news site Info Times is any indication, a touchscreen Mac may finally be coming to market in October of this year. This would put the new device in stores in time for the prime holiday buying season. MacRumors has published a translation of an Info Times article that states that Taiwanese manufacturers Foxconn, Dynapack, and Wintek have all received orders from Apple for components or (in the case of Foxconn) finished product with respect to a 9.7" diagonal screen tablet device. Foxconn reportedly lost out on much of the manufacturing of the new generation of MacBooks, but has been tapped for the touchscreen netbook due to the success they had working with Apple on designing and manufacturing the iPhone.
Earlier this year, TUAW reported that Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster expects Apple to release a touchscreen device. However, his prognostication pointed to a release in 2010.
Several updates have been posted to the MacRumors translation. The first notes that the manufacturers have all denied being involved with Apple on a netbook. In all cases, the manufacturers have company policies that prohibit disclosure of client information. Another update reports that several British reporters have received confirmation from Foxconn employees about the device, while a third mentions that the screen size choice was based on that of the Amazon Kindle DX.
Due to the integration of touchscreen technology into the device, it is expected that it will retail for more than traditional netbooks at around $800. As with all rumors dealing with new Apple devices, take this with a very large grain of salt, and don't put off any purchase decisions based on what could once again be wishful thinking on the part of Mac fans.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Frank said 10:54AM on 7-13-2009
YES!
if apple finally puts out a touchscreen tablet in october, something for easy reading and surfing while on the couch or in bed, and competes with the amazon kindle, i'm IN. please oh please oh please!
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Skoalbandit said 4:16PM on 7-13-2009
I don't know. These have been out awhile for PC's and no one really uses them. Being apple will help but to be honest I don't see these being a big hit. If it is cheap perhaps, but apple never does cheap.
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skyman375 said 11:15AM on 7-13-2009
So what are people actually going to do with it? I mean other than what Frank suggested - surfing from the couch/bed?
I just don't see much of market for this; I want one in the geeky way that it will be a cool gadget, but when my wife asks "What will you use it for?" I don't know that I will have an $800 answer.
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Richard said 7:59PM on 7-13-2009
As a student I can think of a couple of reasons that this would be nice to have but it all comes down to my ability to input data. If I can't type up my notes as quick on this as my laptop it probably wouldn't be worth it. On the other hand I go to ASU and they are currently testing out Kindles to be used to replace text books. I would much rather have this over a Kindle since there would be many other things I could use it for. I can't really think of many people other than say students or professors that this would really be all that useful for at the rumored price. With that said it would seem to me that the demographic for this product is your 20-30 year olds, and I'm not really sure how many of them are going to be paying $800 dollars over a netbook that will cost them $300.
kurt said 7:08PM on 7-14-2009
thought your response was interesting because I can't think why anyone wouldn't want something like this.
as a commercial artist, what better way to show a portfolio to a client
as a portable web browser, how much cooler than an iPod Touch with its tiny screen
if they make it smart [read: include camera, wireless, bluetooth, GPS, accelerometer] and able to run iPhone/iPod Touch software, you've got the ability to run thousands of ultra cool programs but on a larger screen
sure make it a book reader while you're at it
make it full web capable with Javascript and Flash and you have anything you want it to be
for those of us who are artists and scripters, it is the holy grail of "can't wait until it comes out" coolness -- if they do it right
SIP said 11:26AM on 7-13-2009
If my wife asks me why I want a tabletMac, I'll tell her she can use it to play bubbleshooter all day long...
I'll use it as a book reader and for web access at the dining table.
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mex said 8:14AM on 7-14-2009
so you plan to buy computer desk with wine bottles older in order to have your dinner while on PC?
Johnny said 11:33AM on 7-13-2009
This is where we Apple lovers get called sheep, because even though I can't really think of an $800 reason to buy one myself, like skyman372, I most likely would just because it will be cool. Then again, maybe I'll get one and wonder how I ever lived without it.
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Carniphage said 11:53AM on 7-13-2009
I am a self-confessed Apple fanboi.
But I still don't get it.
What is the compelling reason to get a device like this?
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Mathias Bengtsson said 11:58AM on 7-13-2009
It would look really futuristic when sitting with it in a public place.
Seriously though, I'm not sure, and I hope this will be the.. 20-30th time (?) this rumor WON'T be true.
snugs said 1:12PM on 7-13-2009
Think education. I'm a student and would love to have an ebook reader around this size with a color touch screen.
There could be an app store for downloading new text books, or updated sections of old textbooks (that way you don't have to pay hundreds everytime they update one section)
color touchscreens would allow for interactive lessons/exercises, and even extensive user highlighting/annotation.
Throw in iSight and os x server support for the sick days. Maybe apple will even help universities build a backend for the thing, allowing for weather updates and class cancellations to be pushed to students.
I would definitely pay $800 to consolidate my spiral, textbooks, and word processor into one svelte package!
Zimmie said 1:52PM on 7-13-2009
@snugs: Yes, it would be nice if textbooks were sold like that. They won't be. Textbook publishers are even greedier than the RIAA. The easiest example I can give is calculus textbooks. The calculus has not changed at all in almost a century.
Why do you think calculus textbooks have more than two or three editions (original, then one or two to weed out errors)? I've had to pay $300 per book for three different textbooks just because they kept changing the problem sets. When I took 1 and 2 (single course in my university), I caught the old edition on the way out then when I took 3, the new one on the way in. When I took DiffEQ later, it required a third book even though the two books I already had both covered the topics. Plus, after the publishers convince everyone to go to the new edition, the resale value of the old one drops to around $5. So I effectively have three books covering identical material which I can't really resell because they've changed the problem sets for homework assignments.
What's worse is that they are *all* like this. Textbook publishing is a racket and the feds should really bring a RICO suit against the companies involved.
Anyway, why would textbook publishers be willing to give up their obscene guaranteed profits? There is no serious competition, so there would be no reason for them to do it.
snugs said 9:30PM on 7-13-2009
@Zimmie:
good point, except that the textbook industry is set up the way it is in order to offset the losses incurred by the used book market.
if textbooks went digital, not only would publishers save money on distribution/printing costs, but the used book market would effectively disappear.
instead of used books, students would just buy the updated sections. also digital distribution would allow for more frequent updates of texts, resulting in thousands (and millions if the system went global) of constant microtransactions every term.
sounds much more profitable than the current way text books are distributed, and hopefully palatable enough to make this a reality
Ryan said 11:57AM on 7-13-2009
This has potential as an input device for artists, right? That would be my $800 answer. Although the TouchBook seems like the same thing for a better price.
http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/
Shoot. Now that I go back and look at the TouchBook site, I can't imagine being able to justify an $800 Mac tablet. It's going to have to be un-freaking-believable if I'm ever going to consider buying it.
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sketchguy said 11:58AM on 7-13-2009
I wouldn't mind having a full-fledged, pressure sensitive drawing tablet - think portable Wacom Cintiq.
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Celedhring said 12:03PM on 7-13-2009
I think the Kindle has showed up there's a potential market for a device with this form factor. I can very well see Apple expanding on the concept and bring out a souped up e-reader with an app universe that would dramatically expand its functionality (it could also be marketed as a productivity device much better than the iphone/touch), and it becoming the first breakout tablet device. The problem with tablets is that they have been constricted with the "pc without a keyboard" concept, instead of finding its own entity as device.
Such a device might be the first Apple device I would use myself (have bought several as gifts). It would really fit my current productivity needs.
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David L Good said 12:29PM on 7-13-2009
The image looks fake to me. The nano is casting a shadow that is much darker than the shadows in the rest of the image (which is a calculated 'gray' level based on the ambient light available). Add to this the fact that the shadows in the scene are actually reversed -- meaning that a shadow will fall on material that reflects light (like the metal) but the shadow will not be seen on a luminescent material (like the backlighting of the LCD monitor). Try it out yourself -- place a phone/iPod/whatever up against your current LCD monitor (so that part of it falls on the edge and part on the screen) and you'll see a shadow on the bezel and not on the screen. Again... even if a shadow was visible on the screen it wouldn't account for the shadow being darker than all the other shadows.
My vote is that this is a clear fake.
Besides... considering the resolution of the monitor (if the nano is any size indication) I doubt anyone would be able to read the text from any of the icons on the screen shown in the image.
:)
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Damien K. said 1:05PM on 7-13-2009
That image is retardedly old and proven fake before. Likely this is only posted as a mockup to get your imagination going.
Good job, though.
mimi said 2:28PM on 7-13-2009
of course it's a fake. the rumor is a speculation. you can't have a picture of a speculation without faking it. =/
oliver hart said 8:29PM on 7-13-2009
Dude, RTFA