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Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?

By | January 7, 2008, 6:48am PST

Summary: In the calm before the storm that is Macworld Expo, it seems that Apple’s announcement of a thinned-down version of their popular MacBook (or MacBook Pro, depending on who you ask) is a foregone conclusion. I’m just as guilty as the rest for fanning the fire. Call it wishful thinking, but my share of sources have [...]

Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?In the calm before the storm that is Macworld Expo, it seems that Apple’s announcement of a thinned-down version of their popular MacBook (or MacBook Pro, depending on who you ask) is a foregone conclusion.

I’m just as guilty as the rest for fanning the fire. Call it wishful thinking, but my share of sources have told me that the Apple subnote exists and that it’s only a question of when Apple decides to announce it.

But are we setting ourselves up for disappointment?

On Saturday MacRumors posted a series of thin MacBook concept images which are sure to make readers drool. (Image above courtesy of kontheur.) Reading around the Web, there’s no shortage of wish lists, predictions, sightings and sourced reports about the elusive subnotebook and it’s got an impossibly long feature list:

  • 12-inch screen
  • 13-inch screen
  • full complement of “pro” ports (HDMI and FW3200 anyone?)
  • less ports and dockable
  • no optical drive
  • external optical drive
  • FW optical drive
  • Flash/SSD/Hybrid hard drive
  • wide trackpad
  • multi-touch trackpad
  • multi-touch screen
  • half the weight
  • half the thickness
  • new enclosure
  • carbon-fiber enclosure (ok, that one’s from me:)
  • UPDATE: WiMax
  • UPDATE: 3G wireless radio

Either way you look at it, some people are going to be a tad disappointed if said subnotebook only ships with a subset of the above. Everyone take a deep breat, everything will be ok. Besides we’ll know exactly what the new subnote is all about in eight days. Let’s just hope that they decide to release it.

Update: What subnote features did I miss?

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Topics

Subnotebook, Optical Drive, Apple MacBook, Apple Inc., Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O\'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
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0 Votes
+ -
How about a slimmed down software suite?
Vesicant 7th Jan 2008
I'd be a lot more likely to buy a MacBook or an iMac if I didn't have to pay for all that software that I have no interest in and will never use. Just let me buy the basic OS and then get the applications I really want. How much could Apple drop their prices if they did that?
0 Votes
+ -
probably not much
lostarchitect 7th Jan 2008
i assume you're talking about iLife, which only costs $79 if you buy a stand-alone copy. Maybe not having it would knock off $40, but would you really never use iphoto or imovie?

if you're talking about stuff like time machine, safari, preview or the disk utility, those are not available separately and are more or less part of the OS, so they're not going away. windows has similar stuff bundled in as well.
0 Votes
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Zero
Richard Flude 7th Jan 2008
"How much could Apple drop their prices if they did that?"

The marginal cost of providing the software to your computer is zero. Of course if
you're saying Apple should drop development of it's award winning software products
completely the savings would be significant.

I'm not sure most Mac consumers would be as happy as you would be;-)
0 Votes
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And the marginal cost
simon@... 9th Jan 2008
Of testing the software suite on a new unit is how much????

Not Zero thats for sure.
0 Votes
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Sony has had it for years
jorjitop 7th Jan 2008
Starting with the original Vaio F505 some ten years ago, and now with the TZ series, Sony has had thin and light computers for years. The new TZ series has everything I want, good hard drive, internal optical drive, great battery life, light weight, carbon fibre case, etc. If I could get it with OS X, I would be happy. Sure we would like a faster processor, but that would be at the expense of battery life. Come on Apple, don't force me to buy another Sony Vaio.
0 Votes
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$300 or more
ewelch 8th Jan 2008
The value of the software on Apple's laptops is about $300 or more. Whoever said the
cost is zero doesn't know diddly about anything. You think Apple engineers work for,
well, Apples?
0 Votes
+ -
Re-read the post
Richard Flude 8th Jan 2008
"The marginal cost of providing the software to your computer is zero."

The cost to Apple for providing the software is the same for 1 machine and
1,000,000.
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
TheSchmett 8th Jan 2008
Why are we obsessed with "dockability"? Isn't it a lot of engineering work, and added cost for something that a few plugs do just as well?

My PB docks just fine with drives, peripherals, monitors, networking, and I don't even use bluetooth. A usb switch/hub, power, monitor, 802.11, and FW cable are it.
0 Votes
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Hence a MacBook for CES
georgelien 8th Jan 2008
Instead of waiting for the new Apple
sub-notebook, I got myself a black
MacBook for this year's Consumer
Electronic Show. I had my share of
first-gen products, so this time I took
the advise I offer to other people: Get
it now if you need a new computer,
otherwise, just wait until you really
need one.
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
vulpine@... 8th Jan 2008
Personal opinion: I think the subnotebook is likely to be
more like a tablet about the size of a hardback or trade
paperback book and about as thin as a new legal pad.
This is what I'm hoping for, anyway. I've been waiting for
years to see Apple to release a true tablet Mac and
everything is in place for them to provide exactly that.
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
brilang 8th Jan 2008
Personally, here's what I want:
- Screen large enough to display a Letter page on the screen. Rotatable (a la iPhone) for best fit.
- A handful of USB ports - you can do just about anything with add on USB devices
- External Optical drive - available separately.
- One video port - probably HDMI - with an included HDMI to VGA adapter cable. Other adapters available separately.
- Solid State "Hard Drive"
- flash memory slot to expand "hard drive" (any format will do, but I prefer SD myself)
- 2GB RAM
- Decent speed dual core processor
- light weight
- touch screen (a la iPhone)
- tablet style device with fold-out keyboard
- wireless networking
- Ethernet port
- Bluetooth? I don't use it, but there's plenty who do.
- It's not a cellphone, so I don't want it to have that feature. Maybe as an add-in card or module?

Now there's a concept!
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
phatkat 8th Jan 2008
It is a pity that Apple doesn't expand their hardware offerings. However Apple doesn't want to develop hardware that is only few people will buy but in Apple eyes a sub-notebook is. I don't know what marketing surveys Apple does but Apple appears to stay in the middle of the road everything so they get the most bang for the investment buck. I would like to see a high performance (ie MacBookPro) in a smaller format than the current offerings (15 & 17 inch). Also I would like to a more user customizable systems from Apple so tweakers can update their systems like the PowerBook 1400.
0 Votes
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You aren't drinking enough of the kool aid, I guess.
ajole 8th Jan 2008
How can you possibly want something Jobs hasn't made yet? (I hear the the MS fanbois say..)

On the other hand, I absolutely agree with you; more power with less bulk and more customization would be great.
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
dean.thompson@... 8th Jan 2008
How about a real multi button track pad like Windows laptops have. It is not always practical to connect an external mouse when on the go. As a reformed Windows convert it is the one thing that still irritates me about all Mac's and is so easily overcome via the adoption of a multi buttoned track pad.
0 Votes
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Why do you need 2 buttons???...
thepixeldoc@... 11th Jan 2008
when you can just tap with 2 fingers on the track pad for a right click???
You can also scroll any page in any program this way as well. Just check
your settings in the System prefs under Mouse and Keyboard, then
Trackpad.
0 Votes
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I don't think it'll be anything special
John Musbach 8th Jan 2008
I think the ultraslim macbook will be a disappointment if anything. NAND flash memory has not yet reached a point where it can really compete with modern hard drives, it still has a relatively small storage capacity and it has a limited number of writes too. Not only that, but how useful will a computer really be without any drive at all? Of course we can trust that Apple will offer a external drive as a bto option at an incredibly marked up price. All in all I say hold off on the ultraslim and go for one of the regular macbooks instead.

- John Musbach
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
ardentangel@... 10th Jan 2008
A notebook is a notebook is just another notebook. As long as it takes all the abuse and still preformes like all macs, I'm happy. I would be disapointed if it didn't come with a superdrive. I've gotten quite spoiled by mine.
0 Votes
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RE: Are expectations too high for the Apple subnotebook?
tomlin21-24319035676893835085146735905770 11th Oct
You obtained a unquestionably effective blog page web page I've been proper right here learning for around an hour. I am a beginner nfl jerseys 2012 as well as your accomplishment is type of rather a little an inspiration for me.

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