Comments on: Apple Still Needs a Sub-$700 Conventional Notebook

By: tobylane

tobylane — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:20:58 +0000

Nope. Netbooks suck, that is not Apple's world. Nanobooks (hackintoshes) fill the gap for whoever feels strongly enough (anyone smart enough), and still make money for Apple.

Tbh.. another ill-thought-out post on this blog. Too many.

By: JD

JD — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:29:38 +0000

I own a Dell Mini 9 as cited in one of the articles. Instead of OS X, mine runs Ubuntu 9.10. It’s great for what it is but it I don’t see it as a good form factor for OS X. Too cramped, too slow. After less than an hour of use, I appreciate more and more the full size keyboard on my 13″ MBP.

For casual Web surfing, I use the iPhone more than the Mini 9. There are definitely times I wish the iPhone was bigger, so I’m probably a good candidate to purchase an iPad 3G.

My experience with the Mini 9 goes towards your contention that the mini version of the MacBook should run “real Mac production software and with a real keyboard and pointing device.” That describes the MacBook Air, other than the price of course. But if Apple were to produce a mini version of the MacBook, it would cannibalize the MBA.

By: jack

jack — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:02:26 +0000

I hope one day to see the end of these moronic articles. Is that what a writer turns to whenever he has nothing to write about? Anyone that has followed apple can give several solid reasons a netbook will not happen at this time.

That someone who writes ABOUT apple, supposedly somewhat of an expert, it’s amazing you trot out this drivel.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:37:33 +0000

That’s interesting – I’m a librarian at the University of Michigan, and I’m seeing exactly the opposite. Student laptop usage appears to be evenly split between Mac and Windows platforms here, and only 10-20% of the Windows users have netbooks.

By: Eideard

Eideard — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:53:17 +0000

And Tata is missing out by not building an SUV…

By: Simple Llama

Simple Llama — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:32:57 +0000

I’m not sure Apple needs a sub-Macbook laptop either. Using lower spec’ed hardware won’t drop the price much…. the only thing they can really drop is quality, which they’re not willing to do.

There isn’t much profit in a $400 netbook, or a $500 laptop. Dell, HP, and Asus can have those sales, and the razor thin margins that go along with them.

Though I hate to pay more than I have to, I know that Apple currently has a sustainable business model, so their products will be around for years to come, in a form I will recognize.

The only solution I can possibly see is an “iBook”. If the iPad is successful, then perhaps a notebook style device with the iPad OS. That gives you built-in full-size keyboard for typing, but with none of the fluff of a full desktop OS. Although the price would have to be awfully close to Macbook…. so I’m not sure how feasible this is.

Overall I really like Apple’s current lineup. There are a few holes, but a sub-Macbook laptop isnt’ one, IMHO.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:28:05 +0000

Charles, I think the articles you site prove the point many of the commenters have made. Low End Mac is a site dedicated to keeping old Macs alive and using the least-expensive Mac hardware available. Those aren’t the customers Apple is trying to serve.

There are many articles on Low End Mac about users who love their G3 and G4 machines and buy them to replace their old computers. Does that mean that Apple should start building G3s and G4s? Of course not. Apple doesn’t have to serve every market niche. I would argue that their focus on specific niches is one of the keys to their success.

By: Brett

Brett — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:41:45 +0000

Weird so when Apple lowered the cost of say the iphone they made it lower quality? Or moving away from Apple when Sony/Nintendo lower the price of their consoles and include better hardware inside they are actually making it lower quality?

Either way, I was saying Apple could make a lower cost laptop that is high quality not higher quality.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:28:01 +0000

No such thing as lower cost and higher quality.

By: Charles W. Moore

Charles W. Moore — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:55:44 +0000

Hi again;

Please take note that I didn’t and don’t advocate Apple making a low-end netbook to compete directly with the $300 (or less) – $400 PC machines.

What I am suggesting is that if they can make a profit off the current MacBook at $999, offering power virtually equivalent to the 13″ MacBook Pro, then they should be able to make a decent buck off a more modestly endowed and featured and physically smaller clamshell form factor design selling for a couple of hundred bucks less that would still be able to run the standard Mac OS rather than an iPhone OS, and would still have more than enough power to satisfy a large proportion of non power user laptop fans.

The iPad just doesn’t cut it as a substitute for a real computer running the real Mac OS X, supporting real Mac production software and with a real keyboard and pointing device.

It wouldn’t have to be designated a “netbook” – “MacBook mini” would be just fine, and it would need no more “cheapen” or “dilute” the Mac brand than the desktop Mac mini does.

There would be a strong market for such a machine, evidenced by the number of articles extolling the virtues of netbooks on Mac enthusiast Websites and dyed-in-the-wool longtime Mac enthusiasts buying them. Here’s a couple of topical examples:

http://lowendmac.com/mac2win/10m2w/hackintosh-dell-mini-9.html

http://lowendmac.com/thomas/10tt/lenovo-s10-2-review.html