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Aug 14, 09 - 04:49 pm Comment from: Micro Me

Some designers go to a lot of trouble to share their dreams.

Aug 14, 09 - 04:59 pm Comment from: Gordon Horne

My favourite is the MacBook Touch. When something like that comes along i think ebooks will take off.

Aug 14, 09 - 05:01 pm Comment from: mike_in_helsinki

Most probably design is Netbook by MacFormat.

MacBook Touch. Without the goofy stretchy middle. Someone else did a mockup similar to this in Al that folded more smoothly, like a normal laptop. Like this black better, though.

Aug 14, 09 - 05:19 pm Comment from: Demon

"The Apple NetBook by MacFormat" is the closest looking to what it might look like.

"MacBook Touch by Tommaso Gecchelin" is the coolest concept.

The others would be too heavy, too big, or stupidly old looking. "The iPhone 4G by Orgut Cayli" which while looks good would be stupid to have Phone built into something that big.

Most of these are total fail. A folding computer? WTF is that thing on the MacTouch version? Looks like an invitation for gorilla arm.
The one on Popular Mech would never happen. Apple would never design something that folds making the base is uneven. The ones that are all modular. Nope Apple wouldn't design that either.

The one on Mac Life is a decent concept, I like the idea of docking it with a computer. The one on Macformat is probably the most likely solution.

MacFormat & MacLife -- it's gotta be used both ways, but the mic in the former just looks weird. Certainly some kind of "docking" and some sort of self standing element ala MacTab -- but remember, it's gotta be light & easy to hold, etc. like a Kindle -- and it's gonna be called iBook. And realistically, I do not see it till next year, it has to be done right, and more time for negotiations with the publishing world.

Aug 14, 09 - 05:51 pm Comment from: Demon

They all seem to miss the obvious however, and that is screen resolution. If Apple makes a tablet it will most likely have a screen resolution of 1280x720. iTouch HD.

Tommaso Gecchelin's vision is ... wow ...

Aug 14, 09 - 05:54 pm Comment from: Gordon Horne

Sure a folding computer. Haven't you ever watched Firefly or Bladerunner? Star Trek is the Microsoft future. That's why their consoles are always exploding.

Whatever it ends up being, I want it to be a solid computing experience all on it's own. I'm not interested in having a 2nd computer to supplement any shortcomings my primary computer may have. I've tried having a desktop and a laptop, and I hated having to keep track of what was on each one. I want ONE computer that does everything I need.

Is it just me, or do these designs mostly stink? It reminds me of when people began mocking up what they thought a flat screen iMac would look like back in 2000. All the designs were nothing close to what Apple came up with.

I'd love to see those guys line up to show Jobs their designs... and watch them walk away in shock or crying.

Something about most mock-ups just lack the surprising subtlety and elegance you expect when you see and touch a new Apple gear for the very first time, like the first iPod Nano, the MBA, or the iPhone. Such as the new 13-in MBP. It's not all that different from my older gen 15-in, but somehow it's sexier, make you want to hold it more.

If Steve actually tested any prototype while lying in hospital bed, it's got to be light, ergonomic, easy to cradle and put away and handled by people of all sizes and strengths. I just cannot picture Jobs next to any of those dreamed up images.

Aug 14, 09 - 06:28 pm Comment from: Crabs

Far and away the best is Tomasso Gecchelin's.

The Macbook Plus Tablet is probably the worst.

Best = MacBook Touch by Tommaso Gecchelin
Worst = MacTouch by TechnoMinds

I luv apple I really think itablet will be at all very diferent in appearance as an iPhone or itouch. It will be a 11 in x 7in size (bout 13diagonal) very similar but smaller to the 13 in mac book screen. Thin and light as a mac book air it will have a cover that protect screen and also acts as a stand. And yes it will have snow leopard.

Aug 14, 09 - 07:26 pm Comment from: silverhawk

Apple should hire Tommaso Gecchelin.

Aug 14, 09 - 07:51 pm Comment from: GRANDxADMIRAL

MacBook Touch by Tommaso Gecchelin is by far the best. And he's got the device's name right too - MacBook touch.

Beautiful.

Aug 14, 09 - 09:06 pm Comment from: BC Kelly

No No No, sorry, all of those are Total Bullchit


For the sake of Truth, Justice, and The American Way

I'll finally fess up - have an "inside source" at Apple

(cough, cough, steve, cough)


And been given authority to reveal for the Faithful here at MDN

But first you must sign this NDA _______________________

Thank You


Now

This is exactly what iThing looks like

[]


But only bigger



BC

The Apple NetBook by MacFormat is my personal favorite of the bunch.

Aug 14, 09 - 09:43 pm Comment from: Brau

After seeing all the mock-ups, the only thing I can say is that I doubt Apple will make anything like those, if a "netbook" at all. They seem to offer little advantage over the current spate of laptops. No, Apple will release something with a defined purpose, specific, and generally limited to that use ... just like the iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, etc. I'm simply at a loss to figure that one out, as I like most others want either full size or pocket size, not something inbetween.

MacFormat's concept, BY FAR, the most likely, and the most Apple'ish...
I generally fall in love at first sight of an apple product...and guess what happened the first time i saw that concept?

all the others: no chance (but some very cool stuff thow)

MacFormat's Netbook is what I expect.
Many of those "designers" don't even realize that Mac OS X is not designed for touch tablet - it will be iPhone OS flavor and the hardware will resemble iPod touch. There will be no Mac in the name.

Aug 14, 09 - 10:09 pm Comment from: silverhawk

Remember how everyone thought the Apple iPhone should look like? There were PS renderings of everything but how it looked. Everyone thought of what was current, not the future. Apple thinks future.

Aug 14, 09 - 10:41 pm Comment from: Cubert

My thinking is that because the rumors say it will have a 10 inch screen, some people may have hands that are too small to grip the thing. I think Apple has designed a smooth back to this tablet but it will also somehow allow you to easily grip it if your fingers can't reach around the whole tablet. I think likely some kind of chemicla coating.

Oh yeah, and I'm sure Apple knows that most people will hold this thing like a big cell phone and not too often lay it on a table like a laptop.

Interesting concepts - none of them are really all that practical to make though.

Nice art college work.

I'm afraid, none of them above offer a 'lick-ability factor.'
I honestly tried to pick a winner and loser out of those, but in the end, they all look something from last decade and less imaginative if not impractical. I can't see myself carrying most of them in my backpack to school or work. Some even look like the current iMacs and just as heavy and unlike the MB Air. So, many of them simply designed around the iPhone and where the puck was a few years ago. Some even offered optical drives where Apple has been trying to rid of it, and conserve battery.

I has to be light and sturdy at the same time. It won't last a whole day of better juice as it is not a replacement for iPhone, iPod touch, MB or MBP but will supplement them.

Finally, a Tablet, of whatever form, must also support stylus and not just fingers. You should be able to draw and write and character recognition will pick up your finer 'brush strokes' that smudgy fingers can't offer.

@Cubert

Oh yeah, and I'm sure Apple knows that most people will hold this thing like a big cell phone and not too often lay it on a table like a laptop.

---

I totally agree, people wont use this device flat on a table.

It's a handheld device, so you will need to operate it with one hand quite easily and hold it with the other.

Another alternative is that it could have some sort of stand builtin so you can use it on a desk - but the problem there is that f it is touch screen only your arms are going to ache after a very short while.

The Apple NetBook by MacFormat is closest.

Aug 15, 09 - 11:36 am Comment from: aka Christian

Having watched several movies on my iPhone while lying in bed, holding the iPhone up in front of my face for 90 minutes at a time, I can tell you that's not fun. I haven't tried reading any books on it, but my guess is that it would be nice to be able to prop it up sometimes for reading while sitting, too. If this thing is going to fly as a media player and reading device, I believe it will have to stand up, either on its own or with an accompanying stand which will have to be very portable, so I vote for those that show it somehow standing on its own. If it's not meant to be so much of a media player, more of a gaming/music device, it will be fine strictly being a hand-held.

Aug 15, 09 - 03:49 pm Comment from: Wingsy

MacBook Touch by Tommaso Gecchelin, with a flexible OLED screen allowing you to fold it right in half.

Just so long as Psystar comes out with it, I'll buy it--there's no way overpriced Apple can beat quality Psystar hardware at reasonable prices!

MDN Word: "plant" as in, "Is this post for real, or is it just a plant?"

MacFormat

All these pictures omit the most important image - a person actually using it in tablet mode. It's the ergonomic issues around this that are the number 1 issue with tablets and if they don't show that then it's pointless.

Aug 16, 09 - 05:29 pm Comment from: marko

pretty pictures

I'm still in favor of HD glasses connected wirelessly to computer on my hip.

User interface to be perfected by Apple.

Use the iPhone as local computer connected to network via 3 or 4 G speeds and even faster speeds coming soon. As you get in range of your home computer you connect via WIFI. Let the network do the heavy computing and iPhone local stuff like word processing, maps, simple games (the things it already does well).

Tommaso Gecchelin; I cannot stop saying "wow".

If we want to have an idea as to what an Apple "tablet" would like like, we have to start at the beginning.

Ask yourself, what is the purpose of a tablet... for a typical consumer? How would a typical consumer use one? Would an Apple tablet need to run iLife and iWork? Should it? Would it be an end unto itself or would it need other computers to access or serve it content?

If Apple does a tablet, it will look like an Apple device. Probably like a MacBook Air without a keyboard and fewer ports... maybe only 2 or 3 USB 3.0 ports and audio i/o jacks.

I would think it would have a cover (to protect the screen from fingerprints, etc., when not in use) that would open and rotate around to the back of the tablet. Unlike some of the designs, I doubt a cover would also double as a support. A built-in support for a device primarily designed to be held and used by your hands seems rather "clunky" and un-Apple to me.

Then again, Apple wasn't too concerned with protecting the screen of iPhones so maybe a cover isn't necessary.

IMHO.