Mac tablet: Fresh squeezed juice on specs, pricing, delivery
It’s gonna be a touchscreen with built-in cellular wireless and use one of the company’s very own home grown P.A. Semi processors with two price points below $1,000. A slew of Taiwanese OEMs are being named as beneficiaries of this largesse, and as unattributed rumors go this one looks better than most.
Sometimes they’re spot on and sometimes, well, not so much, but CENS (China Economic News Service) reports that Apple will introduce the long-fabled and lusted for Mac tablet, Mac touch, iPod touch on steroids or whatever it eventually gets named next February and the basic specs should look something like this:
One of the prettier artistic renderings of the mythical beast
• 9.6 inch screen with touch input
• Integrated HSPDA (ie anywhere wireless) module
• Long lasting battery pack (300K units per month)
• P.A. SEMI processor chip
• Priced at $799 and $999
• Taiwanese OEMs named as beneficiaries include DynaPack (batteries), Wanshih (cabling), Mag Layers (power chocks) and Wintek (touch panels)
Further, their write up also doesn’t name an assembler, widely believed to the Quanta, which makes Apple’s traditional portable computers. Yet, they do state that part deliveries are expected to begin in December — depending on where they’re at with manufacturing prototypes — is potentially within the realm of reason for February delivery.
Sadly, CENS only attribution in their write up is the nefarious “industry sources.” Nevertheless, their reputation and reliability lies somewhere between DigiTimes (abysmal) and Taiwan’s famed Commerical Times (best of class).
An interesting tidbit is the timing — February — which happens to be when IDG Expo has rescheduled Macworld. Granted, Apple has said they won’t be participating ever again.
Nevertheless, as a package, this rumors’s specs, pricing and the projected introduction date all seem reasonable and tantalizing enough to get my juices flowing just a little.
Then again, I am a confirmed and baptized Apple fanboy…
What’s your take?
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September 15th, 2009
What does mean “300K units per month” in “Long lasting battery pack (300K units per month)”
September 15th, 2009
I hope these rumors are not true. I don’t see the use for a 9.6” tablet, especially given Phil Schiller’s recent remarks that the iPod Touch is a great pocket computer, while flashing a picture of a Dell netbook failing to go into someone’s pocket.
What I really hope Apple releases is a 13” CONVERTIBLE tablet along the lines of the MacBook Air. A physical keyboard is still a must for typing papers, reports, etc., but the ability to convert to a slate makes it very convenient for note-taking, derivations, etc.
A built-in optical drive is not necessary in my opinion. Remote Disk should work fine for most people, and if not, there’s always the USB SuperDrive that Apple offers
September 15th, 2009
Now yet another product, I was excited about, and will have to skip!
What is it with that marriage with the monopolist, and abuser as AT&T ????
Do Apple know anything about AT&T behavior in recent tough economy times?
September 16th, 2009
Ive been using my Motion slate tablet since 2003. I type most of the time, but need to be able to switch back and forth between pen (for graphs and formulas) and typing.
I couldnt do this with a convertible, and my external keyboard is better than an attached one. Plus I dont need to carry it around with me when I dont need it.
I plan on getting the Mac tablet as soon as it available.