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News & Opinion
In This Week's Mac News Review
Rumor Roundup
Software
News & Opinion
Tablets Are Out to Kill Your Laptop
ReadWriteWeb's Antone Gonsalves notes that the key finding of a new
Forrester Research report authored by analyst 
Frank E. Gillett [see
Tablets Will Become Our Primary
Computing Device in the April 27 iNews Review] is that laptops
are doomed, and that in the next five years, tablets will displace
notebook-style computers to become the dominant personal computing
platform - a transition that's already begun among users who were born
between 1980 and 2000, ergo: the millennials. The report, "Tablets Will
Rule The Future Personal Computing Landscape," notes that in the US,
30% of tablet owners in this age group have purchased a tablet in place
of a PC, compared to 20% of baby boomers.
"For this growing body of [millennial] users, PCs will seem like
clunky trucks rather than sleek cars, dampening their long-term
propensity to buy conventional PCs," Gillett says, but predicts that
Cloud services such as Box, DropBox, SugarSync, and Apple's iCloud will
be critical enabling technologies helping nail down the laptop's
coffin-lid. As will a new type of large stationary display the analyst
calls a frame, predicted to be commonplace by 2015, used to wirelessly
display video, documents and other tablet-based content. Forrester
expects frames to become fixtures in homes, offices, hotel rooms,
coffee shops and conference rooms, accelerating displacement of
laptops.
Link: Tablets Want to
Kill Your Laptop
New iPad or MacBook Air: Which Is Best for
You?
Gadgetmania notes that notwithstanding the hype over Intel's
Ultrabooks, Apple actually released the first "Ultrabook" (the original MacBook Air) almost
half a decade ago, and it's always had the features and size that
pretty much matchthe Ultrabook specification. With the Air's current
price comparable with PC Ultrabooks now on the market, there's really
no reason not to choose it unless you need to run Windows or Linux on
the device (and you could actually do that on the Air).
However, a bigger question is, "Should I go with the iPad or the
MacBook Air for my next computer?" Both the iPad and MacBook Air are
perfect as replacements for a desktop or laptop computer for the
average user, but Gadgetmania suggests there are a few things you
should consider before deciding which way to jump.
Editor's note: This article is a pretty good overview of what
obtains, although I don't entirely agree with the conclusion that the
respective machines' capabilities are closely equivalent. If that were
fact, the iPad would be a superb value for the money, but sadly, while
it's a great platform for content consumption, not so much for content
creation. cm
Link: The New iPad vs.
the MacBook Air - Both Apple, Both Ultraportable, but Which One Should
You Buy?
Should Apple Discontinue the 17" MacBook Pro?
MacNews' Dennis Sellers notes that the 17" MacBook Pro is
nearing its end-of-life, and it's being speculated that Apple will turn
its entire laptop line into MacBook Airs with 11", 13", and 15" models
differentiated by different specs, which is where Sellers thinks Apple
is heading.
He notes that like the Mac
Pro, the 17" MacBook Pro has a limited niche market, but it's a
powerful, creative market with specific needs Apple has met for years,
citinng Redmond Pie's Paul Paliath's arguments not killing Apple's biggest
laptop:
- Many users, especially creative professionals, need to be able to
burn CDs and DVDs.
- People in certain professions require lots of screen real estate
while on the go, along with decent storage options and lots of
speed.
- Many content creators have traditionally turned to Apple for their
computing needs; they shouldn't be "exiled" by the company.
Sellers notes the counter-argument - that the 17" MacBook Pro can be
replaced by a 15" MB Pro coupled with a 27" Thunderbolt Display for
times when more screen real estate is needed - observng that pro users
have stood by Apple over the years, including the hard times, and he'd
hate to see them shunted aside in favor of nothing but
consumer-oriented products.
Link: Should Apple Kill
the 17-Inch MacBook Pro?
Rumor Roundup
Apple Pondering $799 MacBook Air in 3Q12?
DigiTimes' Monica Chen and Joseph Tsai say that Apple is reportedly
considering responding to upcoming second-generation ultrabooks by
launching a $799 MacBook Air in the third quarter of 2012, according to
unnamed insider sources from the upstream supply chain. Currently,
Apple's least expensive 11"
64 GB MacBook Air is priced at $999
Last week, Focus Taiwan's Jeffrey Wu cited Intel Taiwan's country
manager Jason Chen commenting that thin and lightweight Ultrabook
notebooks may be priced as low as $599 in the second half of this year,
with the adoption of new and cheaper case materials, such as a mixture
of plastics and aluminum.
Chen and Tsai note that even though Acer recently reduced its
ultrabook shipment target, Intel continues to aggressively push
Ultrabooks and is aiming to have Ultrabook devices selling for $699 in
the second half of the year. However, much hinges on whether Intel will
really be able to reduce Ultrabook ASPs to that figure, also recapping
that Intel has previously set aside a $300 million fund for ultrabook
promotion and another $100 million for developing its own application
store. In addition, they say that with its heavy investment in product
promotion, the company believes the investments will help strengthen
notebook brand vendors' morale and help increase Ultrabook market share
in the notebook category. However, Chen and Tsai's sources are
convinced that ultrabooks are unlikely to achieve strong sales
performance until Windows 8 launches later this year, since many
potential customers are now deferring system upgrades in anticipation
of Win 8.
In the meantime, a major MacBook Pro and MacBook Air
redesign/refresh is widely anticipated to be imminent from Apple. A
pertinent question is, would Apple really want to dilute the sales
impact of that with a low-ball $799 MacBook Air release hard on its
heels? Unless, of course, an entry-level MacBook Air price cut is part
of Apple's new model notebook strategy.
Link: Apple Pondering
Release $799 MacBook Air in 3Q12? - Report (subscription
required)
2012 MacBook Pro to Include SSD and Larger
Battery?
SlashGear's Chris Burns reports that while the dominant rumor buzz
thus far for the new MacBook Pro 2012 models has been that they'll
adopt the thinner, lighter MacBook Air form factor, a new tip he's
received disputes that postulate and predicts instead that Apple's Pro
laptops will get a new case with no optical drive and the space
formerly occupied by the latter to be used for a much larger battery
and a SSD boot drive just for the OS, with main data storage still
relegated to a traditional hard disk drive.
Publisher's note: Apple would not be well served to keep the MacBook
Pro models as thick as they are while eliminating the optical drive. My
guess is that Apple will continue to offer more pro-oriented MacBooks
that include a hard drive, a larger battery, and a space for the SSD
modules used in the MacBook Air, all of which could be done while
making them thinner than today's nearly 1" thick MacBook Pro line.
dk
Link:
MacBook Pro 2012 Amps Up with SSD and Battery
Tech Trends
Intel: Cheaper Ultrabooks Likely Later This
Year
Focus Taiwan's Jeffrey Wu reports that Intel said that thin and
lightweight Ultrabook notebooks may be priced as low as $599 in the
second half of this year with the adoption of new and cheaper case
materials, such as a mixture of plastics and aluminum.
Wu cites Intel Taiwan's country manager Jason Chen commenting at a
press event discussing the company's technologies used in Cloud
computing data centers that "It is likely there will be $599
[Ultrabook] models in selected regions, but the mainstream price should
fall around $699," and that the new models to be launched in the third
and fourth quarters will support new functions, such as touch-enabled
screens and gesture sensors, expected to drive overall demand.
Chen told Wu he expects Ultrabooks to account for 30 to 40% of the
global notebook shipments in 2012 thanks to introduction of lower
priced models.
Link: Intel Says Cheaper
Ultrabooks Likely to Be Seen This Year
Bargain 'Books
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