“The dust from the new iPods has settled, but it appears that Apple is already gearing up for a next round of introductions. Apparently, the company is planning an October 14 event, during which a refreshed notebook family and a mysterious new product code-named ‘Brick’ are expected to be introduced,” Christian Zibreg reports for TG Daily.
“An ‘insider source’ told Daring Fireball that Apple will refresh its laptops at a new special event scheduled to run October 14: ‘Those of you holding out for a new lineup of MacBooks will have to wait until October 14, according to sources who, as they say, are familiar with Apple’s hardware plans,'” Zibreg reports.
“If you believe rumor site 9 to 5 Mac, there will be a “one more thing” moment with a new, mysterious product code-named ‘Brick.’ There is some chatter that this ‘Brick’ is actually a Mac tablet, but we here at TG Daily believe that if that is in fact the case, Macworld in January may be a more appropriate event to unveil a tablet,” Zibreg reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Tablets do not sell. The market is too small.
Apple will not make a “headless” or “midtower” Mac, so shut up about it already. IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS.
To ken1w
Then all you’d have is a Apple TV.
Brick = modular ?
Modular storage?
It would be handy if I could snap on new storage as it is needed and have my Mac see all assembled storage as a single volume.
Modular computing?
Miniature stackable CPUs, allowing effortless processor upgrades with no disruption, followed by redistribution of processes among old and new CPUs.
I’ll tell you what it will be, a tablet the size of those mini 9 or 10 inch screen computers with a slide out bluetooth keyboard/cover. Return of the Newton anyone?
> Then all you’d have is a Apple TV.
Except that an Apple TV is not a Mac. It does not run as a computer; it runs as a media player for an HDTV.
It’s more like a “nano” Mac mini without the optical drive. I’m not saying such a device is a good idea. But the Mac mini itself is half as small as it needs to be; it can be cheaper to produce and have higher capability if it was one inch taller and used a 3.5-inch hard drive. Who’s to say Apple won’t make the Mac mini into a Mac nano, and take away the optical drive to push its “get your media through the iTunes Store” agenda.
@Olternaut
I’m not asking for a tiny physical keyboard. I’m asking for a small tablet or extra large iPod Touch that I can connect my bluetooth keyboad and mouse to. That way, I have something really small and light that will fit in my rolling bag along with my school books, that I can use for taking notes, checking my email and browsing the web. Not asking for much power just light and small footprint.
@Marc G……again:
Well I think we’re on the same page then. Its just that it would feel kind of weird for Apple to debut such a product at the October. An event which is going to be much smaller and on campus.
The tablet would be an uber product that would deserve introduction at the 2009 MacWorld event.
Oh hey, I would love it to debut in October but it would just be…..wrong somehow.
will be a revamped apple tv…with blu-ray as an option, a new firmware will enable to buy tv shows from apple tv. (well peter o from apple had said in his wall street meet they will be coming with something that will be far far superior and unmatched bla bla bla.. .. sometime in the end of september).. has to be something good to vreate a buzz for the holiday season..
.. macworld would be more of a new version of iphone… (hardware wise or look wise)…
“Well, the code name certainly wasn’t going to be “slate” now was it?”
Good one Jarrett.
Hmm. Wonder if they’ll play some Jethro Tull during the intro…
It’s actually a brick, but a very cool one…
“What’s the benefit once the “gee whiz” factor wears off?”
The best general purpose tablets from others allow you to rotate the screen over full keyboard to switch between notebook and tablet configurations. then you have a tablet when you need it and a normal notebook when you don’t.
A tablet would also be great for those of us who do digital art.
For the uninformed, Wacom makes a whole business just selling tablets.
Those tablets are mainly for digital art.
If Apple did a tablet that did art (with the image on the tablet-that could also be connected to a desktop) and also was a Macbook it would have tremendous appeal.
Certainly the Modbook people see the market.
“have about 95% of the functionality they had when I bought them.”
Strange how you’re happy with a Mac running only obsolete software and having 95% of the capability it had when you brought it. Anyone but a Mac fanboy would call obsoleting your processor then failing to deliver new OS updates for your hardware to be bricking it.
Bluetooth keyboard with integrated multi-touch touchpad for use with desktop Macs.
Having just returned from a overseas trip in cattle class on an airplane with my MacBook Pro, I sure would like to see a smaller notebook. My Pro was unusable without me contorting my arms and scrunching one way or another.
“Having just returned from a overseas trip in cattle class on an airplane with my MacBook Pro”
No road warrior carries a large heavy laptop for long. We’ve been using those compact sub 3lb windows notebooks, now in the 2lb class, for years. While thin, the Air is a bit large and hefty by today’s standards. It’d be great if Apple decided to make a notebook that is smaller and lighter weight than the Air.
An external battery finally. Batteries on laptops just add weight, now an external battery that you plug into the mag power socket would be sweet for those like me who have a powerbook that sits motionless on a desk for 10 months of the year.
The “Brick” is the Mac mini on steroids we all have been waiting for that will be the entertainment hub of your living room. New OS X front end GUI for HD TV viewing and navigation.
Use it as a Mac
Use it with Front Row
Use it as an iTunes hub
Use it as a TiVo
Use it for gaming
Starting at $499.
How about this for a “Brick”
A wireless or docking station. You set your macbook next to it and poof you MacBook connects to the large display/keyboard/mouse connected to the brick. Yeah I know video bandwidth needed would never permit it to happen.
Ok how about one firewire 800 connection.
For a few reasons, I think it’ll be a new Mac mini (note that Apple does not use a capital on “mini”). This will be a kinda building block of the Mac world that can be affordably bought in bulk for schools: down with dastardly shoddy Bindows boxes!
I’d love it if it had a wifi router embedded so it could be a wifi server; this would be like Time Capsule with a computer, not just an HDD. It could be that Apple will release “Slate” soon to make up the family, and that would be a tablet.
To be honest, calling a tablet or laptop a brick does not inspire confidence, because a brick is heavy, whereas a tablet or laptop shouldn’t be.
Another possibility is an expandable server system that you would just add “Bricks” to (as required).
I’m who would buy a tablet… a college student. That also could be why Apple is having the event on campus. To be free of notebooks is my dream…
Steve’s finally decided he can sell you and actual brick and you’ll pay $299 for it as long as it has an Apple logo.
I am also prepared to buy one in a heartbeat.
I’m interested in an improved mini. How about a single quad-core (gotta get it ready for Snow Leopard) with 4GB memory and 3.5″ 300+GB hard drive?