A Mac tablet feels like it’s been in the pipeline longer than Duke Nukem Forever was. Apple keynotes come and go and still we’ve yet to see the touchscreen ultra portable. But the hints and Taiwanese whispers are picking up steam: we reckon one’s coming. Here’s why and what we think it’ll be like.
How do we know a Mac tablet is on the way?
We don’t for certain. Apple patents for Mac tablet like devices have been popping up for yonks. But over the last year, the number of patents, rumours and reports from the East have been escalating in a big way. An unknown Apple gizmo with a tablet sized resolution has even left a trail of traffic online. Even the venerable Wall Street Journal has chimed in saying that a Mac tablet is on the way. The report also mentions the new iPhone, so could it be 2 out of 2 for the WSJ?
Most recently, CEO Tim Cook has batted off questions about an Apple netbook in a way that certainly doesn’t rule out a Mac tablet (He says Apple is “looking at” the ultra portable market), while a recent update to Mac OS X provided a shocking improvement in battery life on hackintosh portable devices using the low power Atom processor.
What will a Mac tablet look like?
The Wall Street Journal says a Mac tablet will be “smaller than [Apple's] current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch.” What the shell would look like is still unclear: even recent detailed patents for tablet devices just show a rectangular gadget with a large screen.
It hardly needs saying that a Mac tablet would be touchscreen: Apple is proud of its multitouch tech so iPhone-like controls are surely inevitable. Don’t rule out that screen being a lovely OLED number, like the recent Sony X Series Walkman, as one source claims.
Internally though, we’ve heard rumours of an Atom processor and POWERVR graphics, but what might make a Mac tablet stand out from the MID crowd would be 3G internet built in, like many new netbooks. We’ve seen several hints in developer builds of Snow Leopard that some sort of 3G Mac is due, and US phone network AT&T, which powers the iPhone in the States, hasn’t exactly ruled that out – quite the opposite.
And the software? What is up in the air is what the operating system would be. Apple is perfectly capable of putting Mac OS X on a device the size of a Mac tablet – one patent filed shows a version with touchscreen support – but would it want to? If the Mac tablet is an iPod touch Pro, could it run an enhanced iPhone OS to take advantage of the lucrative iPhone App Store? The touchscreen OSX patent is one of the most solid slips we’ve spotted so far, so we’d guess the latter approach is unlikely.
The new iPhone: what we know so far
When will a Mac tablet launch?
Here’s where the Mac tablet rumours start to diverge. On the one hand, the possibility of an imminent 3G MacBook or Mac device points to a Summer or Q3 release, when rumour mongers claim a Mac refresh will arrive. But if a Mac tablet is on target for then, you’d have to expect an unveiling at WWDC next month. We’re 95% certain a new iPhone is due on 8 June then, so that would mean one hectic keynote if both were to appear along with Snow Leopard. That and the lack of rumours and leaks compared to a new iPhone makes an early 2010 release seem more likely, as one analyst recently predicted.
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