Apple Tablet: A First Look From Mac|Life R&D

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Apple Tablet: A First Look From Mac|Life R&D

Posted 11/07/2007 at 8:14pm | by Mac|Life Staff

We’ll be revealing four amazing – but purely conjectural – Apple product studies in the January issue of the magazine (check this website on Nov. 26 for the full article). But for now we wanted to share our vision of how this fabled tablet might pan out.

 

 

We call it the MacBook Flash, and it eschews a bulky hard drive for featherweight flash memory. Granted, the lack of a spinning disk is all just rumor-mill hearsay, but the concept isn’t so far-fetched. The solid-state Flash could be slimmer than three-quarters of an inch thick, and include a touchscreen OS for drag-and-pinch navigation and fingertip data entry.

 

For times when you need to write anything of length, you’d slide the screen upward, revealing a keyboard (à la the Sidekick mobile phone). Optical drive? Très gauche! Instead, you would install apps over an Internet connection (à la third-party iPhone apps) or through FireWire and USB drives.

 

Only power demands compel us to spec the Flash at thicker than a half-inch. With a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 128GB of Samsung memory, and a 12-inch glossy widescreen display, this MacBook will need a legitimate power supply.

 

So please consider. And check back on Nov. 26 for a peek a four entirely new product directions that Apple might explore.

 

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Anonymous

November 27, 2007 at 9:09am

Is there going to be an update for this article, or there is going to be a fresh new one about this tablet.

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Anonymous

November 14, 2007 at 11:38am

I would this that this thing is going to cost way more than the Macbook or the Macbook Pro...........and isn't it time that the Macbook Pro be updated?

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Mymac4ever

November 14, 2007 at 3:15am

You where very fast out replying on my intial comment and making me see how wrong I was writing it in the first place but since then it's been kind of quiet. Though I didn't expect it I did have hopes that my excuses has somehow taken me in from the cold...guess not...

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Apple Lifer

November 10, 2007 at 11:59am

In the article: "Only power demands compel us to spec the Flash at thicker than a half-inch."

Really? ONLY power demands? What about heat dissipation? "Laptop" manufacturers already take a lot of, erm... 'heat' for producing machines that run too hot to actually be placed on a lap. Heat sinks, fans and places for air to flow through require some room, too.

If the display slides somewhere it's not completely supported by the body of the computer, wouldn't it need some kind of structural support? That support (the display housing) would add some thickness, wouldn't it?

It's a great concept and all, but I think 0.5" is pretty ... uh ... ambitious, that's all.

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Mymac4ever

November 08, 2007 at 5:43pm

What can I say. My first reaction when I read the above article was that I understood it as if you misstook the Modbook for a mockup. I've heard about the Apple Tablet for some time now, in fact I guess it's been a wish from many people that Apple one day would make one, ever since the first laptops started to surface.

I guess I didn't read you article completely since when I now reread it noticed that line about the full feature on nov.26, didn't see that one before.

I guess what I'm trying to say as politely as posible is that I'm sorry for my outburst. You're doing a great job handling the magazine as well as this website. I admit I'm a bit shackled by my MacAddict experience but I also have to say that though I subscribe to Mac|Life yet another year (bought a twoyear sub at the eol of MacAddict), I'm not so sure I'll renew my subscription when the time comes. I liked MacAddict a lot since it filled a void that no other Mac magazine over here (cold cold Sweden) ever could fill and still can't so I miss it and its style.

I'll crawl back under the keyboard now.

Sorry,

\Hans

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Hans

November 08, 2007 at 5:48pm

Susie your right. The correct name is Other world computing though they go under Macsales in the webadress since there's another owc out there, or used to be.

Sorry Roman, Rik, Susie, Robbie and the rest of you.

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josef

November 08, 2007 at 11:10am

Why not a tablet that is two hinged displays and software keyboard a la the iPhone or a an external wireless keyboard? The two hinged displays could be opened fully and turned sideways to become a really large monitor.

Just some thoughts.

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Mymac4ever

November 09, 2007 at 3:21am

Something like this maybee, though smaller and thinner ofcourse and from Apple?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/18/acmes-tri-fold-rugged-field-pc-beep-beep-zip-bang/

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Mymac4ever

November 09, 2007 at 3:25am

I though I could reply as in the forums but that didn't work som my above reply ended up at the end.

My "Something like this maybee" was directed towards josef's question above.

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Mymac4ever

November 09, 2007 at 10:16am

I really hope you can accept my deepest apology for this. I'm not usualy this way. Though its no excuse I'm on and off a bit frustrated with my life as it currently is and that can sometimes cause me to lash out like a bat out of hell...

If it wasn't for you guys and girls I wouldnt be as happy Macuser as I am today. Thanks to articles in the magazine as well as postings on the forums, you and others has helped me countless times to figure out some problems and fix them. I might not always subscribe but I will continue to visit the forums and as before try to help those that need help. Its also thanks to Susie that I have my current subscription.

Deep sinceer apologies,

\Hans

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SG

November 08, 2007 at 10:48am

If Apple does come out with a tablet that is retractable and incorporated into the laptop, it would blow all other tablet makers out of the water. BUT - since this is a HYPOTHETICAL new item - there really can't be a true comparison to any mod or wacom product. Guess it might be MacLife's way of putting a bee in Apple's bonnet... nice going. -Steffi

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Anonymous

November 08, 2007 at 9:53am

Two things, they aren't talking about a third party solution here, they are predicting an apple made tablet, which will be far superior to the modbook, for one, i can almost guaranty that it won't need a stylus, and the integration of the OS and ease of use will be exponentially better. And second, I really hope they don't keep this to the consumer side, I would love to use this thing for video editing, thinking of that makes me,...well it makes me happy, so happy that monkeys may be hurt....thats all.

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Mymac4ever

November 08, 2007 at 4:36am

I really miss the good old days of MacAddict when you actually researched a topic before you posted about it. Take this Mactablet for instance. If you'd bothered to research that "fabled tablet" you might have found that the image showed in that article isn't a fake or mockup but actually a real one. It's the joint product of Macsales and Axiotron called the Axiotron Modbook and its the real thing and it can be bought from Macsales today:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ModBook

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Susie Ochs

November 08, 2007 at 4:22pm

I think you meant Other World Computing. (Insert snarky comment about doing your research before you insult us here...)

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rloyola

November 08, 2007 at 2:39pm

As the person who wrote about the Axiotron tablet back in our March 2007 issue, has spent about 45 minutes using the Axiotron notebook, and is working with Axiotron on getting a ModBook in the MacLife offices (they're in very limited supply and hard to come by), I can honestly say we're fully aware of the ModBook.

Try reading the article again slowly and carefully, with a clear mind free from your MacAddict shackles. You might understand that this article promotes a feature in Mac|Life's January issue. Our MacBook Flash is a different product than the ModBook. But you can't seem to understand that. So why do I bother?

I really miss the good ol' days when people actually made an attempt to be nice to each other. Now with the Internet, people think it's OK to be arrogant and rude. Such is life.

 

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Anonymous

November 13, 2007 at 1:20pm

What I miss is clear and well contructed text. MacLife's writers have gone steadily downhill and not just into the gutter of the TMZ style of witing but also in general quality. Everything is written as if they were also doing their dayjob while writing the magazine.

Across the board the writing is sloppy and the research is less so. Your feature article is about conjectural designs? Maybe if you're reviews where more than 200 words you wouldn't have so much space to fill.

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Roberto Baldwin

November 08, 2007 at 10:27am

We are aware of the ModBook. In fact, it was in the March issue of Mac|Life magazine. We use the term, "fabled tablet" in regards to an Apple branded product that has yet to materialize.

 

The ModBoook is just that, a mod.

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