Gizmodo
Some Apple fan mixed the real iMac-like dock patent and the fabled MacBook touch, getting a very nice rendition of how both concepts may look together. There is minimalist dock station too, with an optical drive, extra hard-drive, charging and wireless connectivity but without the screen, which looks like a more realistic proposition. The whole thing is just a figment of a wet fanboy imagination, but could this really happen? And would you buy an Apple tablet, an ultra-Slim MacBook or none of them?
According to the author of this fantasy, "the Keyboard Wireless Dock connects to the dock using Wireless USB. It also has a bigger hard drive, some sort of DVD player/burner, inputs for your USB and Firewire devices. The whole keyboard part itself is used as a large multitouch track pad. Since the keys need to be depressed when hit, you can do lighter touches as you move across the whole thing."
Hokai. It also probably dices potatoes, synthesizes Strawberry Daiquiris and teleports you to other planets full of wonderful civilizations with sculptural Monica-Belucci-style oiled amazons or George-Clooney-style oiled warriors (depending on your preference), that will name you their King or Queen. In other words, it doesn't make much sense.
The black Powerbook-Titanium-style is quite nice, though. The concept may be feasible too: I like the idea of having an on-the-go tablet with touch keyboard for surfing, video, music and photography using a touch-optimized iLife suite. But one thing is some people finding the idea attractive, and the other is people buying it: unfortunately, the market for this kind of device could be quite limited as other keyboard-less Tablet PCs have demonstrated in the past. Even if we assume that Apple's implementation may make a difference, as it did in the case of the key-less iPhone, the market will still be very limited. One thing is a device like the iPhone, for short SMS/mails, and a very different thing is this kind of device.
Furthermore, looking at Apple's recent history, the company is not one that likes to create new markets, but improve on ones that may have true mass-market potential (like the iPod in the music market, or the iPhone in the cellphone market.) That's why a ultra-slim laptop idea, not a tablet, with Flash storage at a cheap price point sounds like a more realistic (and equally as sexy) as this tablet. Down the line, such product may get a touch-screen. At this point, a device like the one pictured here still looks like a risky proposition.
The mini-dock concept, on the other hand, seems like a real possibility for the rumored ultra-slim MacBook. If Apple finally decided to release such a machine without an optical drive, the dock seems like a reasonable combo. At least, a more elegant and more practical solution than their iMac-dock patent (and quite cheaper.) With a real keyboard. Apple did this in the past too with the PowerBook Duo. It was a good machine at the time, but limited. Perhaps like with the case of the Newton and the iPhone, now is the right time to implement all these technologies at the right price.
We will have to wait and see if all these wishes get granted by the Wizard of Cupertino. In the meantime, we can all vote and see what a part of the market, the readers of Gizmodo, really want. [Flickr via MacRumors Forums]
Comments
#$@%# fanboys.
"OOooh look at this its how i want the apple tablet thing to look like."
#$%@#ers, try posting some valid stuff.
(Just having a bad day)
I really, really don't like it. I'm planning on buying a new MacBook if this "slim" version is unveiled at the MW, but if it will be something like this, I'll buy a Vaio.
I want a PC/Mac with real keyboard and real screen, not something in the middle.
(plus I still hope there'll be a version with DVD burner inside and not as en external unit).
We'll see! :)
Where do you put your wrists when typing?
@mendo: Yea I'm in the same boat as you. Looking to get a Laptop, but am holding off to see what pops up at MW. I want a Mac and am really hoping this portable one comes out at MW because it will be great for me at uni.
now you know why that radial keyboard design on the UMPCs was such a good idea
Looks cool but functionally impaired.
Wait. I think I get the keyboard wireless dock thing. It's a touch *pad* not a touch screen. You could rest your wrists on the 'key-less' part of the unit. Further, since the keys need to be depressed (I'm reading that to mean something like a bubble switch), then a lighter touch could be used as a ginormous track pad.
If the concept here is somewhat of a full OS with a 10-12" display, I would be very intrigued. My interest would be based on speed and price point.
@OMG!!! Ponies!!!:
You don't, you balance it on your fingers and type the left hand characters with your thumb, then you poke the right hand characters with your pointer finger. Haven't you ever used an iPhone?
why does it have to be a macbook what if they make an imac touch?
This looks like a phone-mini-laptop-tablet-wanabe type of thing!
It looks sexy with all the reflections and glassiness in the photoshoped pictures, but other than that, Apple is retard if they do anything close to this "wanabe" crap!
I'm still eagerly awaiting the Curverberry touch Pro
@kaneshadow: Unfortunately, there's no scale in this. I'm assuming it's about 10" - 12" in size, making iPhone style key navigation untenable.
Its a good thing there's false reflections under everything, otherwise no one would believe it was a genuine apple image.
(seriously, can we get over the whole "reflections" thing? it's the new lens flare.)
@kaneshadow: In fact, if you look at the USB ports on it, it appears to be about 10"-12" in size. To get an idea of typing, grab your screen and try reaching toward the center with your thumbs.
The virtual keyboard looks for like its eeePC sized - possibly slightly larger.
@LowFuel: Would you prefer excessive bloom?
If it's like the other full touchscreen umpc's ([www.engadget.com]), then it'll be 3 g's out yer pocket.
This would be really cool with how thin it is and all, It's also neat because it would most definitely have a multi-touch screen like the Iphone. Currently though i know of one store that is making something like this [eshop.macsales.com] I guess this one lacks the multi-touch screen because it's a Wacom tablet on top of a Macbook but it still gets the job done i guess.
Cool, it's a Tandy 100 that runs Leopard!
@LoopTrack: Well, if the MacBook Touch really exists, I'm sure it's nothing like that UMPC. UMPCs in their current form are bad news. If you want to have that kind of power, better choose an smartphone.
that is daft.
everyone gets so worked up about the iPhone's glass surface attracting dodgy marks and scratches - why oh why would Apple let you shove a glass panel into the side of a metal / glass screen?
daft.
I was almost going to say, "but apple's OS doesn't have very good touch support..."
but that's kind of not true. The iphone has very good touch support. Granted, some people do not like the iphone, but the OS on it is very easy to touch. (I just bought one. maybe the magic dust hasn't worn off yet, but I really like it.)
I think the big issue is... what's the huge market for tablet-style docking UMPC devices with only a slate screen? There is a NICHE market, as jkontherun.com and others demonstrate. But a big market? Look at music... everyone wants to listen to music. Look at phones, everyone wants to talk on the phone.
But the super touchy slate-style UMPC is a sci-fi staple, and partly for a reason. Once we have flawless OS support for it, especially for data entry (what do you see people doing on laptops and other portable computers? TYPING...) we'll see what happens.
It needs a real keyboard. That tactile response is required for anything that's meant as a "real" computer. Without a real keyboard, it's nothing more than an iPhone with a hormone imbalance.
Very nice? This is hideous!
Bottom line, if you've got the money, buy and try whatever product you want. But if you're looking for advantages, this potential product doesn't offer ANYTHING significant over a laptop. You can easily send messages or emails from a smart phone. If you need more than that, you would probably have time to open up your laptop to do what you need to do.
How small a screen do you really want to suffer using?!
No doubt there'd be a niche market for people who just happen to enjoy doing tablet stuff with a pen-like input, but I can imagine that sort of thing catching on in a big way, and I guarantee a lot of them will get dropped--the more you handle something, the more chances you have to drop it.
A super slim, light weight laptop sounds good, but I wouldn't want anything smaller.
A touch screen is just another thing to wear out or break. If you've got the money to keep replacing such gadgets, go for it.
I'm glad Apple continue to do their R&D. I'm sure they'll keep coming up with great stuff, but this thing wouldn't entice me to dump my MacBook.
This is exactly what I was thinking of the other day when I saw the patent post. I might possibly buy something like this, because if I'm not playing WoW then honestly all I use my laptop for is email and surfing the web.
My brother-in-law had a PC tablet made by Fujitsu I think on our ski trip, and I was impressed by it. He was able to lounge on the couch and hold it like a book. While I had a hot MacBook on my lap.
But I'm looking at getting rid of my MacBook, because I want to upgrade to a bigger screen and video card. Since my wife works from our PC now I'm stuck playing WoW on a MacBook.
Jesusiceskatinginapinktutuchrist! That on-screen keyboard is HIDEOUS! And come on, another iPhone-esque device? Jonny Ive can do better than that...
Slim is not the end-all be-all. Slim means lower battery life and poorer air circulation inside. The bottom of my MacBook gets pretty hot as is. This thing better be able to remain cool under a decent load.
As long as photoshop exists anything is a realistic possibility.
yeah im not exactly sure i'd buy this. I like the look and feel of a normal laptop. if they come out with a slimmer laptop, it's be that much more amazing.
The devil's in the details. Yes, I want Apple to do some sort of touch screen tablety thing but only if it has some preactical applications right out of the box and doesn't required me make many sacrifice over a standard issue laptop. An optical drive I could easily live without.
I want to use it to draw directly on the screen in Illustrator, Photoshop like the Cintiq but also to manipulate edit points in FCP and iMovie and I want to be able to connect it to an external display so I can see the output on both screens.
It would be nice if it were at least as portable as my macbook and better if it were even more so but size isn't nearly as important as execution and useability.
I wouldn't expect anybody who doesn't use a tablet on a regular basis to understand or care what I'm talking about and I'm not sure what the market would be. But anyone who's ever used a Cintiq for more than 10 minutes would certainly understand my eagerness to see what Apple would do with the concept.
I'm not holding my breath but I am holding off making a laptop purchase until after macWorld.
@OMG!!! Ponies!!!:
I was trying to sarcastically mock this design but I guess it came across as serious.
I meant, "You're right there's nowhere to put your hands"
If this could run adobe cs3, and you could draw directly on the screen like a wacom cintiq tablet, i'd be totally sold.
I like this as a design, very apple. My only qualm is that the screen doesn't use the entire face of the tablet. I don't see the point in using potential screen space for caps num and fn light. It'd make more sense for them to be icons akin to the airport and bluetooth indicators.
Okay, this is pretty hot even though its a mac. Personally I wouldn't buy it. I can't game on it.
or you could just buy a modbook and stop dreaming its basically already here
@livinzlife: A modbook? While it's functional, it's a brick and doesn't have multitouch. The OS supports Ink and you can draw in Painter and Photoshop, but that's about it. I would hardly call that a replacement for an Apple-made tablet. Anyway, my money is on a good ultra-slim, not this kind of device.
Can you imagine hunching over to type on it at a desk? Major neck and back problems.
I don't think such a device would be marketed as that. More like a "sofa" computer to consume media and do iLife stuff, rather than word processing. The question: Is the market ready for such a device? My hunch is that it's not.
I agree with jesusdiaz...
what. the. FUCK?!
I really dont care much about the an Apple tablet, if it comes out I would just play with it at an apple store. What I found interesting about that mockup was the cinema display, if the new ones looked like that I would definetly buy one (I have been waiting for an upgrade for some time).
On the ultraportable side, I would definetly buy one.
I don't care for a tablet but I do want an Ultra slim, compact Notebook, that's fo'sha!
Depends on price, and reliability of my current macbook (going good for now). I've said it before, and I've said it again: touch screen Starcraft 2 could be amazingly awesome.
@legerdemain: I miss my TRS-80. I liked the external cassette player so you could cue up Donkey King (not Kong), type EXEC, and feel the love on the family boob tube.
from the student perspective, there is NOTHING more attractive than a tablet.
one of the most irritating thing about being a student at the moment is carrying all this shit around. there are all of these links between heavy backpacks and back problems as well. IF, potentially, a tablet could replace a student's notebook needs, so that they could just write straight onto the surface of the tablet, have it translate into words, had working keyboard functionality, all of that, there would be no reason for paper notebooks anymore. a slimmed down macbook, which is what we'll likely get at MW, will not fill this gap, even though it would be light.
there is a HUGE MARKET in tablets if they are implemented and designed correctly. HUGE. it just needs to be done right, and no one has done it yet.
what would be really perfect is a laptop, with a keyboard, and rotational display that turns into a tablet. that would be PERFECT. make everyone happy.
I've been resisting posting a comment all day on this post. I give in.
I honestly don't want a touch tablet. I can't even afford a new computer. A donation?
I will buy a Mac Tablet or Ultraportable Macbook ... but whichever it is .. i don't want an internal dvd drive (wasted bulk) .. and it must have at least 32gb of SSD
optical media is so obsolete