Ultra-portable Apple laptop rumored to be landing at Macworld Expo

We've certainly heard this rumor before but, according to the folks AppleInsider, it looks like we could now be fast approaching an actual debut of the oft-discussed ultra-portable Apple laptop. If they're right, the system (which is said to be a 13-incher) will be introduced at the Macworld Expo in January and, as previously speculated, it apparently won't boast an internal optical disc drive. That, along with some desirable NAND flash storage, will supposedly make the system about 50 percent lighter han Apple's current 15-inch MacBook Pro, not to mention "strikingly slimmer". As AppleInisder points out, those changes should also help to make the system considerably more power-efficient, with an LED-backlit display also helping on that front. Of course, this is all still up in the air for the time being, but at least this rumor has a definitive expiry date we can look forward to.

[Matt @ Nov 12th 2007 12:56PM]

*Braces for the inevitable comparisons to the Asus EEE PC*

I'll save everyone some trouble: This one will be heavier, bigger and at least 3 times the price. It will also be much more powerful.

[spass @ Nov 12th 2007 1:25PM]

Something is really wrong with my eyes, but silver or white color on the EEE is a deal breaker to me. Is black ink that expensive? I do not mind a $50 premium, but it has to be an option on both Macs (all!) and EEE - (I think EEE comes in black already)

[david @ Nov 13th 2007 12:15AM]

3 times the price? Probably 5-6 times the price for the base model.

[caramelzappa @ Nov 12th 2007 12:56PM]

This might be a neat product, but 13 inches is far more than "Ultra-portable"

[steve @ Nov 12th 2007 1:37PM]

I think that they are using the sub-4pound definition of ultra-portable laptops.

[Andrew @ Nov 13th 2007 1:40PM]

Yep, ultra-portable moniker is usually assigned by weight. But different manufacturers have a different criteria, so sometimes anything less than 6 pounds gets that label, which makes me cringe. My 1.8 pound 12" half inch thick Toshiba R100 is what I'd call an ultraportable. A 13" 3 pound Apple would also be a boundary one.

[Sir.Byrd @ Nov 12th 2007 12:57PM]

We have to wait until January!?!
Blech.

[Sir.Byrd @ Nov 12th 2007 12:59PM]

Woops, double post =o

[Mike Cerm @ Nov 12th 2007 2:40PM]

You'll probably have to wait a lot longer than that. Every time that an Apple press event is on the horizon, this rumor always gets floated by the same people who are talking about it now. It's never been true.

Will it be true this time? I certainly don't know, but I feel like if they were ever going to release an ultra-portable, why haven't they done it yet? It's not like people haven't been begging for something to replace their 12" PowerBook since the second that Apple announced the MBP.

[Sir.Byrd @ Nov 12th 2007 12:58PM]

We have to wait all the way until January!?!
Blech.

[S @ Nov 12th 2007 1:09PM]

Actually sounds nice, even though I'm no iAtollah; now if we could just get a decent non Microsoft spreadsheet and it were to cost less than a thousand bucks...

[Leopard Nimrod @ Nov 12th 2007 1:22PM]

Apple's Numbers is more than "decent" and only costs $79 for the whole iWorks package.

[Matt @ Nov 12th 2007 2:18PM]

Not to mention Openoffice.org

[John Seamann @ Nov 12th 2007 11:40PM]

Even Google Documents, if you are patient enough.

[Phil Perman @ Nov 12th 2007 1:14PM]

13" really isn't ultra portable in my books.

I don't understand Apples fixation with the whole thinner is better thing. They'll no doubt market it as the world thinnest laptop or something silly like that, while completely ignoring the other dimensions. I mean, you stick a laptop in your bag, not your pocket, are there really any situations where you would notice the difference between a 25mm or 15mm thick laptop for example?

[CharlieX @ Nov 12th 2007 1:22PM]

It might have some advantages.... but you start to reach the critical "snapping" point. Too big to be that thin without some appreciable internal bracing.

[Ray Brevton @ Nov 12th 2007 1:25PM]

true that, Phil Perman. I don't really need a laptop thinner than the current macbook. I would however, like the current macbook to lose its thick border around the screen and keyboard. I would also want it to be a lot lighter. So yeah, you're right... i don't see any need for it to be thinner. And losing the optical drive? Is uncle steve crazy?

[DC @ Nov 12th 2007 1:59PM]

You can stick your laptop in a bag; I'll carry mine around in a leather notebook folder.

[Matt @ Nov 12th 2007 2:18PM]

There's more to portability than just the volume of a notebook, weight and battery life being two of the main issues. I'd much rather have a lightweight system with long battery life than one that was simply small in size.

If Apple goes the 13" route, I would imagine it's because of the keyboard. Much smaller than 13" and you're starting to look at having to reduce the size of the keys, something many people will avoid like the plague.

[Mike Cerm @ Nov 12th 2007 2:50PM]

@Matt

I have a Dell XPS m1210. It's 12", and it's keyboard the best I've ever used on a notebook of any size. Also, PC laptops have many more keys than MacBooks do. If Apple doesn't go below 13", it's not because of the keyboard. Look at the 13" MacBook. There's a pretty sizable border around the keyboard.

[YouFaceTheTick @ Nov 12th 2007 10:17PM]

I want small and light, yet fully functional. Right now only Sony and Toshiba make laptop like that. Unfortunately, both are companies I would never buy a computer from. Apple, while I've never owned one, will get my business if this comes to fruition. I've got a 5 lbs Dell that's just too heavy and large to use on a daily basis at the office and for travel.

[Russell @ Nov 12th 2007 1:15PM]

Don't say "fast approaching", we are approaching every single thing that is in the future at the same rate (at least in terms of time).

[scolen2 @ Nov 12th 2007 1:19PM]

A+++++++++!!!! Will LOL again

[sean @ Nov 12th 2007 1:21PM]

lol well said!

[carl @ Nov 12th 2007 2:14PM]

Einstein would not be proud.

[Andrew Horn @ Nov 12th 2007 2:59PM]

@carl
HA! well put

[IndiaTech @ Nov 12th 2007 3:16PM]

They have those Time Machines built into those damn macbooks ,you know?

[Arun @ Nov 12th 2007 10:07PM]

That is not necessarily true.. time is relative and can be faster or slower depending on the observer... like a minute can seem really long at times and really fast at another.

but still funny..

[friendlyner @ Nov 12th 2007 1:21PM]

I'm pretty sure they came out with this a few years ago. It was called a Powerbook G4 with a 12" screen.

[Cunthor @ Nov 12th 2007 2:57PM]

Or Vaio SZ series. Or TZ series. Or Dell XPS-M1210, or XPS-1330... and heaps of Asus, Toshiba Portige and Fujitsu models... And they are available now.

[Bad Beaver @ Nov 12th 2007 1:23PM]

I don't care if it is slimmer than the Pro books, they are slim enough. Slimmer just means a shoddy keyboard as the one in the Macbooks. If it has a shoddy keyboard I can just as well keep my 12" G4 - which has a very nice keyboard - and live with the pre-Intel performance. Give me less weight and more battery life, that is what counts in ultramobiles.

[Peter Tripp @ Nov 12th 2007 1:24PM]

Haven't heard this from anywhere, but I'm hoping for a transflexive LCD. That way you can get even more battery life out of the machine when you are outside (no backlit needed). The XO OLPC has one and so does the Toshiba R500 (best. laptop. ever.) Where's the apple love?

[paul @ Nov 12th 2007 1:26PM]

No optical drive? How am I supposed to update the OS? Download a multiple gig file from their website?

[Jay @ Nov 12th 2007 1:30PM]

Isnt that how you update with the other mac computers, its multi megabyte NOT gigabyte.

[Twitchy @ Nov 12th 2007 3:18PM]

I don't know how you operate, but I tend to execute major OS updates whilst in the comfort of my own home and not huddling up to some stinky homeless gentleman in an attempt to stay out of the win and rain at a bus stop. And at home one could have an external drive to abuse.

I for one like the 'less moving parts' in a mobile device mantra.

[Leopard Nimrod @ Nov 12th 2007 4:01PM]

Don't assume that the lack of an internal drive means it won't have one at all. It could be external, which would help in the size of the device quite a bit.

[Clinton @ Dec 3rd 2007 8:45PM]

Or... one could assume that a NAND hdd would replace the optical one.
I'm also sure that a NAND hdd has the capability of storing "multiple gigabytes" of data

[scudsone @ Nov 12th 2007 1:27PM]

What, no internal drive, pass
How am I supposed to watch dvds on a flight w/o the drive?

[sasiki @ Nov 12th 2007 1:36PM]

Slim USB optical drive.

[pito189 @ Nov 12th 2007 1:39PM]

Downloaded content from iTunes ofcourse.

[Timothy @ Nov 12th 2007 2:02PM]

Torrent?

[Bennett @ Nov 12th 2007 2:16PM]

Rip them to DivX.

[Reader @ Nov 12th 2007 3:00PM]

If you're using a portable laptop it's probably not your primary computer. I have my drive networked for when I need to install something from a CD/DVD. Also I can just drag & drop any other files into shared.

Shouldn't be lugging CD's with a portable anyways, kinda goes against the cause.

[Reader @ Nov 12th 2007 3:00PM]

I just noticed I was thinking from a Windows perspective, I have no idea if it works the same on a Mac, but I'll assume it does.

[michael.kutny @ Dec 6th 2007 8:15PM]

On a long flight I always watch something off the hard drive. DVD drives chew up battery life. Back in the day this was the only way to watch movies on a laptop unless you had paid an exorbitant amount for the DVD add-on. It also came in handy on those great ultra portable Sony VAIOs that didn't come with optical drives (though they did have an option for an external drive - with a proprietary connector, of course). I guess I got in the ripping habit back then.

[Will Static @ Nov 12th 2007 1:36PM]

13" is ultra portable? Sounds pretty old school as far as ultra portable goes now a days.

[gyffes @ Nov 12th 2007 1:40PM]

NONONONONO, damnit, if this is true it'll really crank my gourd...

I bought the eeepc to tide me over 'til Apple comes out with THEIR version.. but of a 7-10" screen, not my damned macbook on ephedrine.

*sigh*

Lordy, while I hope this is TRUER than the tale of Asus making a tablet for Apple, I sure hope they got the size of this thing wrong...

btw, the eee? It ROCKS.

But it ain' no apple.

[Muliadi Jeo @ Nov 12th 2007 1:45PM]

Toshiba is able to pull sub - 2 lb with built-in DVDRW inside. Come on Apple, as a very innovative company, you can do better than that!!!!

[webon @ Nov 12th 2007 8:25PM]

sony 2

[David MacMillan @ Nov 12th 2007 1:48PM]

You are supposed to watch DVDs on flights by downloading them via iTunes earlier. Part of Stevie's plan to conquer the world.

But doing away with an optical drive (if the rumors are true, and AppleInsider HAS been wrong before) is really an excellent idea. There is convenience in being able to burn a quick CD or DVD wherever, whenever, but many people are moving to external HDDs for all of their large storage needs besides backup, and there are many external DVD/CD burners of the same strain, so it wouldn't be too difficult.

I'm hoping, though, that this turns out to be the tablet Mac. Not in so many words, mind you. Knowing Stevie, there will be something revolutionary about the new ultraportable: something like - dare I say it - DS-style technology?

Apple has the patents to make a screen that is independently touch and pressure-sensitive. They also have a myriad of patents for tactile feedback mechanisms that would push little tiny frames through the screen that a person's fingers could feel and thus use to type. It would take some getting used to, but there would be no ultimate difference in typing speed compared to conventional laptops. And the good thing? The keyboard would be 100% reconfigurable.

But yeah - DS. Two screens with complete multi-touch technology (and if you don't give me stylus support, Stevie, I'll die) and the top screen has no bottom border and the bottom screen has no top border. The screen can be folded outwards flat, thus turning it into the Mac Tablet running Full OS X Leopard. So you have a 17-inch tablet Mac and a 13-inch ultraportable notebook. What more could you ask for?

Who needs an optical drive, anyway? With a little bit of high-powered bluetooth/wifi technology, they could easily release an external HDD/optical drive that would work perfectly within a 10-foot radius of the device.