Ultraportable Mac Coming in January?

Is an ultraportable Mac in the works?

AppleInsider and other sites have been batting around this rumor for months. According to the latest buzz, Apple is due to announce an ultraportable Mac at the January Macworld show in San Francisco.

If true, it'll be deja vu to some degree. And it'll be about time.

Apple's first ultraportable effort was, if memory serves, the PowerBook Duo. Introduced in 1992, these lightweight PowerBooks--about 4.2 pounds--were fairly limited on their own. But when connected to a DuoDock, they were transformed into full-featured Macs. (Take a look at the vintage PowerBook Duo TV ad, below).

At any rate, Apple hasn't offered an ultraportable since the 12-inch PowerBook was discontinued a few years back.

I'd love to see a truly ultraportable (2.5 to 4 pounds) Mac. The ultraportable segment of laptops could use an Apple infusion. Sony currently rules the segment, at least in terms of design. Its Vaio TX series are gorgeous computers weighing under 3 pounds. But they're too pricey. And, at least in my experience, slow.

Apple could redefine the category, as it has redefined cell phones with the iPhone. But will an ultraportable Mac be affordable? Apple's PowerBook Duo 210 cost $2250 (U.S.) when introduced in October 1992. Adjusted for inflation, that's over $3230 in today's dollars.

Comments

[chuck]

Interesting speculation! The Apple touchscreen technology first used in the iPhone and most recently in the iPod Touch, while not an invention in and of itself, has such a high level of refinement that I can't help but think that it simply HAS to be used on a Mac ultraportable. If that level of refinement could be combined with decent handwriting recognition (not an impossibility, since Apple pioneered this in the Newton), I could easily envision a Mac tablet which would flatten what little Windows competition there is in the ultraportable computer market segment. No matter what, thouch, Apple has a chance to redefine the market once again as it did with the iPhone.