Chance of An Apple Atom Netbook?

The netbook market has been getting a lot of competition from every major brand out, it's imminent that Apple will design something eventually. I was playing in a 12" Powerbook in art class and I was pretty impressed with that. OS X ran great on it, despite that fact that the hardware in it is very slow. It looks a little clunky, but it's nice-looking. Apple would probably add a more modern design if they released a netbook like that. The only real problem with that 12" Powerbook is that the screen on it is insanely dim.

If Apple made a 12" netbook with a 1.6GHz Atom processor for around/less than $500-$600 (maybe with a touch screen, too ?), it would really dominate their competition. I wonder what the chance of Apple doing something like that is?

 

Dear god I hope not, as I think that should only be reserved for ~8 inch screen netbooks, not notebooks.

 

If they did, it wouldn't come for $500. Maybe closer to $800 or so....I do like the concept though, an Apple netbook. Sounds pretty cool, but things like price and what they would have to cut out of it make the actual execution of such a device probably not what we would be happy with.

 

I think it would work with a Mac tablet. Or they might just keep using their own processor from Intel. Is it still exclusive, or has it become the Atom or something else? I haven't kept track...

 

Small Form Factor Penryns are now available to all OEMs. The processor Apple used in the MBA was just Intel testing out the SFF package using the existing Merom core. These are all still Core 2 Duos.

I don't believe Apple will actually get into Netbooks. I'm pretty sure the original point of Netbooks were to be small and cheap. And I just don't think Apple wants to or should focus on cheap. Although admittedly, the latest netbooks are getting bigger and more expensive.

I agree with Sam, Apple should just focus on a Mac tablet on the high-end and push the iPhone/iPod Touch to fight Netbooks on the low-end. Because, really the main functionality of a Netbook is surfing the web, some word processing and maybe the occasional video, which is precisely what the iPhone and Touch are capable of doing. If the 16GB iPod Touch falls to $199 at the iTunes Event, it'll be cheaper and offer more storage capacity than some netbooks.

 

Uh... why? What's wrong with a low-power, low-cost system with a somewhat larger screen?

Anyways... I think Apple will make some sort of netbook at some point... but since Apple bought PA Semi, I could imagine that they may decide to use that instead of Intel Atom. Of course apps may need to be compiled separately for that instruction set... but if it's a netbook-type thing... maybe that's ok. After all, the iPod Touch "runs OS X", and it's not an x86. So maybe.

 

It's an oxymoron. You can't have a "somewhat larger screen" without upping the cost and power usage.

 

Nobody seems to be mentioning the profit margin issue. Many manufacturers have lamented the razor-thin/non-existent profit margins on the sale of these netbooks. Take into account support costs and its very possible that a €300 netbook in retail will cost the manufacturer more than that over the warranty period. They may be cheap to the consumer but not the manufacturer and in the end of the day its the latter that determines if they get produced. Its not a charity. Asus essentially started the ball rolling down a very slippery slope which other manufacturers were forced into entering due to their initial blitzkrieg success. Its become blatantly clear with rising costs of production these little things are not long-term viable products. Hence Asus themselves are increasing the prices of their netbooks and demolishing and diversifying the EEE brand in an attempt to return the small format laptop arm of its business to one which can sustain profits. The EEE has become a burden taking sales away from other notebooks in their range and reducing R+D budgets for others in the Ultraportable market in the process. The public now perceive a small laptop to cost small bucks.

Apple's profit margins range from the incredible to the unjustifiable. They are not playing the same game as Asus, HP, Dell etc were having a model in a particular market sector is essential to show/defend brand presence. Apple's marketing does that for them automatically. It is possible that Apple could enter the Netbook market. They are up to something huge they are not disclosing. They have been stockpiling assets in the bank and not touching them with product production or share dividends, to the tune of billions of dollars over the last 2 years out of proportion to their competitors. But my gut feeling is that its being withheld to start a record label to consolidate their position in the music industry which has greater bottom line profit potential. If a small form factor laptop does arrive Apple would most likely go down the tablet route with a cross-platform OSX/iPhone compatible OS as a Mac companion, but it will cost us much more than a comparable Dell. Apple will steer clear of anything which devalues the Apple brand in the consumers eyes and a €300 netbook would have that exact effect even if it does increase market share.

 

Unlikely I think.

I already consider my iPhone as a small netbook.

 

Netbooks are a good idea for kids, I find usability to be pretty poor. The iPhone can nearly do 80% of the netbook's capabilities.

 

After using a Panasonic CF-M34, I can say honestly that I don't ever want to deal with another mini-laptop like that again. The screen size wasn't the issue, it was the keyboard. I don't have large fingers, and I still hit 3-4 keys every time I aimed for one, so I resorted to the method I used until August of 1987 for typing (hunt and peck two fingered). Things couldn't get done that way. Hell, I can type faster using the waterproof rubber keyboard on my 28 while drunk than I could with that micro-keyboard.

The only benefit that the M34 had over my 28 is that it weighs about 1/5th the weight.