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Shaddim · Oct 30, 2007, 04:07 PM

Currently I have an 1GHz 12" Powerbook, and I love the size. It fits perfectly in my attache case, and it's light enough not to bother me in airports or when I have to lug it around for a couple hours. I tried a friend's MBP 15" and it's too large for my case, and it's just too bulky for my needs. So, I went to the Apple store and checked out the regular Macbooks and they look cheap (even the black one), I've really gotten used to a metal casing.

So, I guess I'm screwed. Anyone know if Apple will introduce a 12 or 13" MBP? I'll hold on to my 12" PB for now, I guess, but it would be nice to see them release a subnotebook for their professional line.

Macola · Oct 30, 2007, 05:13 PM

Join the club. If they do, it will probably be a MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro, but I hope I'm wrong.

Simon · Oct 30, 2007, 05:22 PM

Yeah, I'm afraid you're screwed. There have been very persistent rumors about a small MBP, but that probably says more about what a lot of geeks want rather than what Apple is really doing. We'll see.

Shaddim · Oct 30, 2007, 05:25 PM

I'd easily pay the same amount as a 15" to get an ultra-portable 12 or 13, but I guess Apple has other plans.

Jens Peter · Oct 30, 2007, 05:29 PM

Yep, I'm also still holding on to my current 12", in hope that Apple will come to their senses and give us a 12" mbp

Hopefully that will happen (sometime soon)...

fisherKing · Oct 30, 2007, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Jens Peter

Yep, I'm also still holding on to my current 12", in hope that Apple will come to their senses and give us a 12" mbp

Hopefully that will happen (sometime soon)...

i bought a new (1.5g) powerbook a year ago, AFTER the macbooks came out. runs 10.5 ok (not perfect), and had to push to get apple to provide applecare for it (it was sold by a legitimate dealer AFTER apple's deadline)...
but won't get rid of it UNTIL we get something new & equivalent...

or so i hope...

Simon · Oct 31, 2007, 01:34 AM

Originally Posted by Shaddim

I'd easily pay the same amount as a 15" to get an ultra-portable 12 or 13, but I guess Apple has other plans.

You're not alone. A lot of people on this board (me included) would do that.

There have been many discussions about this topic. It appears Apple simply doesn't see a large enough business opportunity to do such a Mac. Although that could change (and I hope it will), I wouldn't hold my breath. They're doing very well in the portable market right now.

Altair · Nov 2, 2007, 04:51 PM

I, too, feel your pain. I however broke down and bought a low end 15" MBP since I finally ran into some software that just doesn't run well on my first gen 12" powerbook. Plus I kinda wanted an intel chip so that I can run windows for some work stuff.

I find it a bit awkward in size and shape but the screen is a major upgrade

amazing · Nov 2, 2007, 11:35 PM

The poor viewing angle and lesser quality screen on my 12" 1.33 continually bug me, but portability is a major plus.

But don't hold your breath waiting for a smallish laptop. Apple covers the major niches for laptops, anything off the main beaten path is probably not in the cards. People keep circulating rumors, on the theory that "if you popularize it, Apple might (wishing on a star) build it."

Warbrain · Nov 3, 2007, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by amazing

The poor viewing angle and lesser quality screen on my 12" 1.33 continually bug me, but portability is a major plus.

But don't hold your breath waiting for a smallish laptop. Apple covers the major niches for laptops, anything off the main beaten path is probably not in the cards. People keep circulating rumors, on the theory that "if you popularize it, Apple might (wishing on a star) build it."

I still say that they won't make a laptop that isn't fully capable right out of the box. That means it needs an optical drive and not some silly external that you need to connect and it'll have all the same components as the MacBook and MacBook Pros do and NO docking stations.

Simon · Nov 3, 2007, 05:25 AM

I agree. I doubt Apple would launch a MB lite that isn't fully capable right out of the box.

That said, I'd still love to get rid of that optical drive. I so rarely use it when I'm on the road and yet it uses so much space. When I'm at the office hooking an optical drive up through USB2 or FW400 would be no problem at all.

OreoCookie · Nov 3, 2007, 07:12 AM

Apple will eventually introduce a small notebook -- but nobody knows when. My (educated) guess is that Apple will introduce a new design alongside with it.

mfbernstein · Nov 3, 2007, 09:05 AM

Apple has cut corners in the past for portability (remember the lack of DL DVD-burning in the first generation MBP) or style (no floppy in the iMac), so I don't think there's any inherent reason why an MBP lite would need an internal optical drive. Moreover, even if it did, HP and others have shown that even with an integrated optical drive, a notebook with a 12" screen can be kept to under 3 lbs.

rach · 09:48 AM

Some people have been waiting for this pro 12/13 inch MBP since early last year. When do you give up waiting? I had a 15 inch and i wanted something smaller I waited a while but there was nothing coming on the Apple side so i bought a Dell XPS M1330. I like Mac OSX and i also quite like Vista so i don't regret my decision. Ideally it would best if i could have both operating systems. Hardware and size came first priority to me though. I am very pleased as well with my current computer.

Even say if in a years time Apple bring out this MBP 12/13inch i may well have had my computer for over a year by then and I could sell if i wanted to or maybe if they don't i would definetly hang onto it. If i was still waiting like i was doing several months ago to me that would have been a waste of time as Apple has failed to bring out a 12/13 MBP in that time.

You may want to look around at what else is out there in the market because i doubt that Apple will be bringing in a Pro 12/13 inch. You may want to look at the Toshiba R500, Dell XPS M1330 or the Sony SZ.

amazing · Nov 3, 2007, 09:49 AM

Everybody's forgetting both the Powerbook 100 and the Powerbook 520, both of which had external optical drives. The PB 520 also had multiple external docking station solutions. I sold my PB 100 many years ago, the PB 520 is currently in the closet, stuck in the Dock, won't eject. Anybody for a mini-dock?

Both were very light and very portable, excellent solutions for word processing at college, etc. However, when you needed the extra externals, carrying everything around was a real nightmare. Problem is that the word processing niche market is a small portion of the laptop market. People who want a small laptop also want it to be capable of downloading and burning the photos from their cameras, or they need to burn their designs to disk for clients, render the DV footage in FCP, with a screen big enough for all the menus.

Apple hits the major laptop niches with its current lineup. Yes, they've produced niche-market laptops in the past, but all that means is that they learned their lesson long ago: Produce the mostest laptops for the biggest market-segments. Leave the niche markets for the other players.

rach · 10:41 AM

I would still like to see a pro ultraportable though as i would like to have a go at Leopard i do miss having both operating systems sometimes.

I would like the Apple thin and light notebook to be 13 inches, 4lbs approximately, LED screen, 8400G or GS card, aluminium maybe with a choice of lid colours as well like white or black. This would really be my ideal notebook. I cannot see Apple ever releasing a notebook like this though which is a shame.

The older powerbooks or iBook's are not really good for me i would need to buy a windows media centre box if i bought one of those. I need to use Windows at least sometimes for media streaming and stuff like that.

My sister has bought computers with integrated graphics before and after about two and a half years even with fairly basic games like Luxor the computer can start to struggle. I am not a gamer but even so that sort of thing does put me of getting a MacBook. Laptops with dedicated cards can last longer i have found than those with integrated cards. Besides that you can get a computer not far of from the mid MacBook's price with an LED screen and dedicated graphics and that makes it harder to justify it price wise to me as well.

Edited to add:
I was just googling to see if there was any more rumours on this and i came across this. Seeing as though rumours have been going around on this since about 2 years i don't hold out to much for this rumour being true.
Alleged Apple ultra-thin MacBook rumour restoked | Reg Hardware

slugslugslug · Nov 10, 2007, 01:26 PM

OTOH, Even Gruber has a feeling that there's some substance to the idea that Apple's coming out with a teeny little computer. He thinks it's more likely to be running some iPhone-esque OS X derivative rather than Mac OS X. That sounds supremely intriguing, if it ships with at least a TextEdit-level word processor.

At any rate, I've gotten too sick of not having a laptop (unless I borrow the wife's hand-me-down 1GHz TiBook), so I'm picking up a MacBook in the next few weeks. But if Apple comes out with something under 4.5 pounds that I can use for schoolwork, I'm there.

Flagheimer · Nov 11, 2007, 03:25 AM

I love my 12" PB G4

TailsToo · Nov 11, 2007, 08:45 AM

I am very happy with my 15". I used to have a 12" iBook, and I found that the 15" is virtually the same in terms of weight and size. I know that some people are set on a 12, but if you haven't given the 15 a chance, I would recommend doing so.

tkmd · Nov 13, 2007, 10:24 AM

Apple most likely is going bring out a subnotebook in January. If you cant wait that long or dont have the $$ (I think it will be near 2K) I would try looking on the osx486 forums and find a subnotebook from dell and try to install tiger on it.

fisherKing · Nov 14, 2007, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by TailsToo

I am very happy with my 15". I used to have a 12" iBook, and I found that the 15" is virtually the same in terms of weight and size. I know that some people are set on a 12, but if you haven't given the 15 a chance, I would recommend doing so.

i dunno, my GF has the 15" alubook, i have the 12".
hers is def bigger, bulkier, heavier; not terrible, but not insignificant either.

would not trade mine for that...
am waiting for january, waiting waiting waiting...

Altair · Nov 15, 2007, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by fisherKing

i dunno, my GF has the 15" alubook, i have the 12".
hers is def bigger, bulkier, heavier; not terrible, but not insignificant either.

would not trade mine for that...
am waiting for january, waiting waiting waiting...

Yeah after having my 15" for a couple of weeks it is still a nice machine but I do miss the size and weight of my 12" powerbook. If this rumored ultraportable is indeed coming out in January, I'll likely buy it and sell this even if it's just an extremely thin macbook in terms of size.