Could we see an ultra portable Mac unveiled at Macworld 2008?
- By Rodney Goldston
- Published 12/18/2007
Rodney Goldston
Rodney Goldston is an Entrepreneur, and Sales & Marketing expert with more than a decade of experience. He is also the owner of AskBigPapa.com.
Rodney currently serves older Americans as a Reverse Mortgage Specialist for the nations largest and most respected Reverse Mortgage Provider.
Munster thinks Apple will upgrade “most, if not all” Macs. Of course this means some will get faster processors and increased storage.
What's of particular interest is he also expects an ultra-portable device with a screen in the 11-13 inch range. He expects it to be priced in between the $1,099 MacBook and $1,999 MacBook Pro.
He says the new device could use NAND-based solid-state storage, noting that Samsung recently intrpduced a 64GB NAND-based drive. He also notes that “there are reports that the new portable may include a unique touch pad, possibly using the same multi-touch technology used in the iPhone and iPod touch.”
On the other hand, he says Macworld is too early for the launch of a 3g iPhone. He thinks it won’t show up until May or June. But he does say that Apple could bump up the iPhone’s storage capacity to 16 GB while maintaining the price at $399.
Musnter also says he expects new content partnerships with one or more movie studios, possibly related to the launch of movie rentals via iTunes. He says there is a 50% chance the service launches at Macworld, and a 90% chance it will be unveiled by mid-2008.
Meanwhile, AmTech’s Shaw Wu also is skeptical that we will see a 3G iPhone at Macworld.
Wu notes that 3G is “still a relatively niche technology and not widely deployed, particularly here in the USA.” While 10%-15% of phones shipped are 3G, Wyu says that “the untold reality” is that much of the time they use the 2G and 2.5G infrastructure. He also says that component costs for 3G add about $15 in costs versus EDGE, and that 3G uses too much power - as much as 35%-40% more power. His conclusion: the 3G iPhones is a mid-to-second half 2008 story for Apple.
“We believe by then, the network coverage, price points, and battery life issues will be better addressed,” he says. “Should AAPL decide to ship earlier, it will likely be positioned as a high-end smart phone and allow AAPL to re-position the current 2.5G iPhone as a more mainstream product.”
