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danengel · May 19, 2006, 12:56 PM

I'm disappointed about the MacBook's weight. 4 lbs (1.8 kg) would have been much nicer. Any hope we'll ever see a lighter MacBook?

masugu · May 19, 2006, 01:08 PM

I keep predicting we will see an Ultra-Portable from Apple using Intel's ultra-low voltage CPU. Especially since they killed the 12" PB. People would pay out the wazoo for a 3lb subnote - IMHO

danengel · May 19, 2006, 01:29 PM

I would. Any idea when this could happen, from Intel's roadmap or so?

SLiMeX · May 19, 2006, 02:03 PM

I am genuinely dissapointed in people who complain about the weight of a laptop. Specifically the MacBook. Its five pounds. Cheer up, lazy people who don't want to carry around heavy laptops...

ajprice · May 19, 2006, 02:07 PM

I think there's definitely room, in price and spec, below a MacBook.

Call it MacBook mini. It just depends how small it goes, because making it really small would make it more expensive than a MacBook (I'm looking at you, Sony Vaio UX50 ). It depends on what you lose from the spec - optical drive? 1.8" HD instead of 2.5", small keyboard?

If its going to have a full size keyboard, its going to be as wide as a PB 12", but thinner and not as deep, because it would probably be widescreen (1024x600?). If its a a tablet, then it could be UMPC size. If you go so small though, you get a crossover between a small portable Mac and a top of the range Video iPod, either of which could be the Mac version of a UMPC. I wouldn't mind one, either way

!!

masugu · May 19, 2006, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by danengel

I would. Any idea when this could happen, from Intel's roadmap or so?

Intel has an ultra low voltage part on their website...but it is for Pentium M. Guessing Apple would want the latest / greatest version of the CPU in ultra low voltage. No idea when that comes out.

slugslugslug · May 19, 2006, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by SLiMeX

I am genuinely dissapointed in people who complain about the weight of a laptop. Specifically the MacBook. Its five pounds. Cheer up, lazy people who don't want to carry around heavy laptops...

"Genuinely dissapointed"? What are they, your kids? I don't understand some folks' need to denigrate others based on minor differences in personal preference. People are different than you. Some are students or scholars who need to carry around a bunch of books at any one time, and there's a practical limit to how much some people can schlep around all day. An extra pound of laptop makes one more book you have to leave at home.

That said, why is this thread here? Isn't it exactly the same as the 5.2 lb (2.36 kg) thread?

Also, though I'm one of those "lazy" people who wishes Apple had made something smaller, I don't think it's coming any time soon.

danengel · 04:09 PM

I carried the original iBook (~6lbs, 2.5 kg) around a as a student. It was too heavy as an item you just take with you every day, so you start planning if you really need it, if you don't need something else instead etc.

I don't think we can expect another replacement for the 12" PowerBook. The MacBook comes so much closer to the MacBook Pro (except for the GPU), there's not much room in-between.

Also, Apple has never made a light notebook. The 12" PowerBook was small, but not really light. Maybe Apple considers the market too small.

b11051973 · May 19, 2006, 04:03 PM

I would like to see a smaller MacBook. Don't know if I'd buy one or not though. I know one thing is that I rarely use my optical drive. I wouldn't mind having that be external.

danengel · May 19, 2006, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by b11051973

I would like to see a smaller MacBook. Don't know if I'd buy one or not though. I know one thing is that I rarely use my optical drive. I wouldn't mind having that be external.

Apple won't release a notebook without an optical drive. Other manufacturers manage to make light notebooks even with one.

Yakov · May 19, 2006, 04:32 PM

i'd be interested in a smaller laptop, but i'm going to buy the Macbook, and it'll be my only computer through 2011 at the earliest so... maybe Apple will come up with a mini-laptop by then!

anyway, i need an optical drive, since i among that vanishing breed -- an avid collector of those little round shiny things that hold music (and I have far, far more music than would ever fit on a laptop hard drive -- try 3000+ cds)
y

masugu · May 19, 2006, 05:34 PM

2011??? Man, if you can get by for 5 years on a laptop, more power to ya. I couldn't do that.