Image credit: Gizmodo

With MacWorld just a few weeks away, folks are coming out of the woodwork with predictions that Apple will launch a netbook or something very much like it in January. This week’s prediction comes from Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil. He thinks Apple will release a machine that looks like a netbook (or maybe a tablet-style UMPC), but works a bit more like an iPhone than a netbook. Which is kind of what I’ve been saying for months. Except for one major difference: I’m not at all certain Apple will release an ultraportable computing device. Rather, I think that if the company pushes one out, it will have the following features:

• It’ll cost $599 or more, which would put it near the top of the netbook market in terms of price.
• It will run a stripped down version of OS X, much like the one you find on the iPhone, which would help Apple keep the little computer from eating into sales of the company’s bigger, more expensive computers.
• It will be able to run third party applications, but Apple will control access to those applications, much as it does with the iPhone App Store. After all, if you could just download and install all your favorite apps for OS X, why spend another $500 to pick up a full sized Macbook?

It’s worth nothing that I don’t have any insider information and neither does Gottheil. We could both be totally wrong. Apple might be putting out a rebranded MSI Wind U100 with OS X preloaded for $599 for all we know. Or the company could ignore the netbook space altogether.

Word on the street is that Apple is about to come out with something new. No surprise there. Apple’s always coming out with something new. But according to the rumor mill, this new model could represent the fruits of a new manufacturing process called “brick” that will make it easy for Apple to sell attractive laptop cases at a lower price. The Inquisitr claims that Apple could even be preparing to release an $800 laptop. While that’s not exactly cheap by PC standards, Apple has never released a laptop for less than $1000 $999.

OK, so if the rumor is true, does that mean Apple has a netbook up its sleeve? I don’t think so.

First, $800 may be cheap by Apple standards, but it’s not exactly an impulse buy. While there are plenty of Mac enthusiasts who would love to get their hands on an $800 MacBook even if it offers lower performance than the higher end models, you can pick up a netbook from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, or MSI for $300 to $550. So even if Apple were to release a 10 inch, $800 notebook, I’d be reluctant to put it in the same class as these cheaper devices.

Second, some recently leaked photos would seem to indicate that the new mystery MacBook is a lot bigger than 10 inches. You know, unless that’s the tiniest hand ever. I’m guessing this laptop will feature at least a 15 inch screen.

On the other hand, I could be totally wrong here. Maybe Apple is developing a new manufacturing process that will make it easier to release cheap laptops. And maybe the leaked photos show just a single model. Maybe there will be a 10 inch, 12 inch, 15 inch, and 19 inch version. Who knows? That’s the fun of rumor-mongering. You get to speculate. I just wouldn’t waste a lot of time hoping for a truly cheap ultraportable laptop from Apple.

via MacRumors

Over the past year almost every major notebook manufacturer has announced or released a netbook. Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, Samsung, and Toshiba, just to name a few. But one name that’s been noticably absent from the list is Apple. To date, the iPod and computer maker (in that order), has yet to announce a low cost ultraportable laptop. But jkOnTheRun’s Kevin Tofel thinks an Apple netbook can’t be too far off.

His argument goes something like this: The MacBook likenup is due for a refresh, and Apple could absorb the current MacBook lineup into its MacBook Pro line, thus clearing space for a new entry level model. The new entry level laptops could include a 10 inch version with integrated graphics, which Apple could sell for around $700 or $800.

It all sounds pretty plausible, until you consider one other item: This is Apple we’re talking about. The company has never really been known for offering computers for bargain hunters. Rather, Apple pumps out high quality hardware that’s designed to go with its polished operating system. You pay a bit more to get an Apple laptop than you do to get one that runs Windows because you know everything will just work out of the box.

I just don’t see Apple catering to the folks who are snapping up $400 low-to-medium performance machines. The company would probably insist on charging a premium for its computers, which I imagine would mean a MacBook Mini costing less than $800. And while that might be cheap by Apple standards, it’s a fortune compared with other netbooks.

That said, Apple is almost better known these days as a consumer electronics company than a computer company. The success of the iPod and iPhone show that Apple knows how to make devices that appeal to the masses. Perhaps Steve Jobs will decide that a netbook is a consumer oriented device that doesn’t need to cost as much as a MacBook because it doesn’t have to do as much. As long as it connects to the web, has a decent browser, and can run a few office and productivity apps, it could sell.

But I imagine this kind of an Apple netbook would look more like an iPod than a MacBook, running a stripped down version of OS X like that found on the iPhone with big, easy to use buttons for launching programs. Apple might actually be willing to sell an iPod Book for under $600, especially if the company works with mobile carriers to subsidize the cost with the addition of a 3G modem.

Until that happens, we’ll have to console ourselves with unofficial hacks like installing OS X on an MSI Wind.