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New Apple Netbook: Should MacBook Laptops Go Smaller?

New Apple Netbook: Should MacBook Laptops Go Smaller?

By: Daniel Chubb | October 19, 2008 | 3 Comments

When we all got a look at the new Apple MacBook laptops this week, some of the details were impressive with some cool new technology and others seemed to lack a little.

The new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Macbooks have some nice features that include an ultrathin 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, a new smooth glass Multi-Touch trackpad, an aluminum unibody enclosure, up to 5x faster NVIDIA graphics, and a lot more.

The price was not as good as we first thought. Rumor had it we would get a new lower priced Apple MacBook at around $1,000, but the new MacBooks cost from $1,299.00 to $1,599.00 and this is certainly not a price that could do well in recession.

You can get the white 13-inch MacBook for $999.00, although this is way more than an ASUS Eee PC or Acer Aspire ONE from around $250. Yes they have specs a lot lower than the new MacBooks, but money will get much tighter worldwide during the pending global recession.

Netbooks are becoming more popular everyday, this is for much easier web access on the move and because they are much more affordable.

Do you think Apple need to launch a much smaller laptop/netbook to combat a different marketplace that may form over the coming months/year?

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  • Brian Cawley

    I would have ordered the new Macbook – but it lacks the firewire port I use for my travel video compilation.

    The Macbook Pro is nice but too large and too expensive.

    So, I will hold off and wait until I return home and edit the videos on my wife’s year-old iMac. Too bad for me, too bad for Apple – Marketing/Engineering dropped the ball on this one I think.

  • Aaron

    Absolutely. The aluminum macbook is beautiful, but just too expensive when I can run OS X fine on a netbook for 1/3 the price. The Air just doesn’t cut it, being the same dimensions as the MacBook & way more expensive. But, if Apple made a netbook, I would instantly buy it. Imagine: a miniature of the new aluminum macbook: 10″ screen, less than 3 lbs., good keyboard. People would be willing to pay $800 or possibly even more for such a machine. But, Apple’s still got this psychological block due to past failures with the sub-notebook form factor. Can they overcome it anytime soon? I’m not real optimistic.

  • wanchaiman

    I also really considered getting a new aluminium Macbook when they came out but the lack of firewire made me keep my iBook for now for the times when I need to edit home video on the go. At this stage I was waiting to see if they would put the FW back in the next release….

    I have tried using an iTouch and an iPhone for surfing but the experience is not that good. Such a small screen is very tiring especially if the website is not built for the iPhone.

    So … when I saw these things and their price I instantly perked up. Now switching back to Windows after years of OSX is quite a big step… But hey, what will I do with netbook on the go? A little more than I do with my iPhone… Surfing, email, watch a video now and then.

    Then I found the HP Mini 1000 which reminds me of the last version Black Macbook… Stylish, great keyboard and glossy screen. But at 1/3 of the price of a new Alu macbook I could not resist. What’s more its 1/2 the weight as well!

    Windows is not OSX but it is quite stable after all these years and does everything I need for coffee shop computing and more.