Citing a very reliable source, Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge drops some very interesting tidbits relating to the rumored Apple tablet.
First, Horwitz notes that Apple “created at least three separate prototypes of its tablet computer.” The first prototype checked in with a 7-inch screen, but that was deemed to be too small. The latest working prototype is reportedly a tablet with a 10.7 inch screen, which is a tad bigger than the 9.6-inch screen that was rumored to be in the works a few weeks ago.
Aesthetically, the tablet will look very similar to an iPhone and will include a curved back. It will run iPhone OS and,here’s where things get interesting, will come in 2 different models.
… one with 3G networking capabilities, and one without 3G networking capabilities. Think of the 3G version as a bigscreen iPhone 3GS, and the non-3G version as a bigscreen iPod touch.
Perhaps this difference is what accounts for the rumored price tag, which varies from $800 to $1000.
With the added screen size comes increased resolution, with Horwitz writing that the upcoming Tablet models will sport “something like 5-6 times the resolution of an iPod touch or iPhone screen (720p or thereabouts) and 7 times the touchable surface area.”
In terms of functionality, Horwitz writes,
It is designed to expand the iPhone and iPod touch media concept to its next potential level: as a slate-like replacement for books and magazines, plus all of the media, gaming, app, and web functionality of the iPhone and iPod touch.
It is not meant to compete with netbooks. It’s an iPhone OS media player and light communication device.
While earlier reports have pegged a tablet release for sometime in early 2010, Horwitz’s source notes that Apple won’t start selling the device until sometime this Spring, in either May or June. An announcement and public demo of the device, however, may come as early as January 19, 2010.
And lastly, Apple’s mysterious tablet is simply “awaiting a final green light from Steve Jobs”, with the odds that it actually sees the light of day coming in at “80% at this point.”
September 29th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Really, just a big iPhone? I was really looking forward to something that could run iWork, iLife, more advanced video editing. Along with having inputs such as USB and FW800.
iTablet for $1,000 or an Macbook Pro for $1,200? Hmm. Not really a hard decision. Not even at $800 for the tablet. First, I do not see the advantage of just a larger iPhone, but even if one does exist, it can not be justified at 4x the price.
This simply has to bee wrong.
September 29th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I was going to write along the same lines as Richard above. It makes little sense, to me at least, to have the tablet run only iPhone OS. I just can’t see a future of me carrying around my MacBook AND a Mac Tablet AND an iPhone. There’s geek and then just plain friggen Apple Nerd. If it can’t replace what I do on my MacBook, I could never justify the price tag.