Forums | MacLife

I've been very lucky. I just backup my Applications folder every time that i do an upgrade and move machines. The only Apps that I have issues with are PhotoShop, Lightwave and believe it or not, Adium. Everything else has always copied over fine. Unfortunately, Apple might believe that this is acceptable enough and expect the other apps to catch up.

Mr. T wrote:

I think a lot of people would love to have something more substantial than a PDA (or iPhone, if you will), but not a full-fledged laptop.  This fills that need, and if it's cheap enough, it'll probably even make some more switchers.

Very much so. I was saying over here that a thin laptop might have an e-paper keyboard/trackpad. Essentially the entire surface should be wafer thin and entirely non-mechanical. Certainly shaves 5mm off the thickness of the laptop. Also wouldn't affect battery time at all. Pain in the arse to type on, but on such a small machine, you wouldn't normally be doing much typing.

Well, if we assume the screen is of similar construction tolerances as the iPod Touch, the screen would be very thin. Assume a paper thin keyboard solution and assume that the thickest component is the HD, the entire thing would be around 10-12mm, 1/2" thick at the very worst.

If Apple releases an ultra small Mac, it will upstage everything on the market. I would be expecting the the ethernet port to be an adaptor or missing entirely as it is probably too large for the lower case. I would also be expecting a dock of some description. I doubt there will be anything more than a USB port, headphone jack, Mini DVI and mag safe on the case without an adaptor.

FutureDreamz wrote:

the ethernet port will fold.

As in bow to pressure? Or the patent a while ago when showed the ports hinging out the bottom.

I've seen the patent for folding ports they spring out and apart and when pushed in squeeze into the case

reece_james wrote:

The ports and the optical drive are the two items that prevent a very thin computer from being produced.

Don't forget about the battery and a cooling mechanism for the CPU, Northbridge, GPU etcetera.  Are the new 45nm processors really cool enough to allow a super skinny machine? I'm sure the ultra low wattage slow-pokes can do it but I want some power in my portable, and some decent battery life even if it is a little bit chubbier.
I'm all for light weight tiny machines as I do a ton of back-country photography and would love a machine small enough to bring with me.

We'll see what Tuesday brings

I feel like this year there are more predictions circulating than usual.  I guess that's good, as it seems like interest in Apple is growing, which should mean more customers, high marketshare percentages, etc.

Things that I think are likey to actually show up are:

-OSX 10.5.2
-iPhone 1.1.3 software
-iTunes 7.6 with Movie Rentals
-Spec-bumped laptops

Things I'm putting on my 'maybe' list:

-Announcement of iPhone gen 2, with 3G and larger flash capacity, for sale sometime in the first 6 months of this year.
-Some type of AppleTV upgrade
-New Cinema Displays

My most likely contender for the "big item":

-The ultraportable, and I think it's more likely to be a laptop than a tablet. (Also file this under the "likey" category.)

Things I really have no idea about, and wouldn't be surprised to see or not see:

-New case designs across the whole laptop line
-Some other utterly amazing thing that I've never even thought about but seems like I can't live without it when Steve talks about it.

I think we'll see:

- iTunes HD, maybe rentals too
- New cinema displays with a built-in webcam
- More information about a 3G iPhone
- The evolution of the 12" Powerbook that is missing from the notebook line.
- Higher capacity iPod Touch

We better see an Airport Express that is "N" capable. That is taking way too long!

Onanum wrote:

reece_james wrote:

The ports and the optical drive are the two items that prevent a very thin computer from being produced.

Don't forget about the battery and a cooling mechanism for the CPU, Northbridge, GPU etcetera.  Are the new 45nm processors really cool enough to allow a super skinny machine? I'm sure the ultra low wattage slow-pokes can do it but I want some power in my portable, and some decent battery life even if it is a little bit chubbier.
I'm all for light weight tiny machines as I do a ton of back-country photography and would love a machine small enough to bring with me.

Well look at the iPod Touch as an example. Yes it's ARM not Intel, but in that tiny case, there is a LCD, backlighting and glass plate.

I'd be expecting it to be just as fast a my CD MacBook. No real reason for it not to be, unless they can't cram it into a Jobs Approved Design™.

Hahah...the "Trademark" symbol by the Jobs Approved Design got me to chuckle. 

I would hope that the new ultraportable would at least keep up with the MB.  Granted, it's super portable, but it has to be able to keep up with Apple's "entry-level" notebook in order to be successful...

Onanum wrote:

If and ARM processor can keep up with a Core 2 Duo I'll eat my hat, ARM processors are great for low power consumption applications like iPods and Nintendo DS' but they don't have the horsepower to run an OS and applications like an Intel platform can.

Yes, they're low power, but they're just as hot and no smaller. They just use less power. We'll find out tomorrow.

No 3G iPhone.