Why the MacBook Air should not be counted out yet (Part II)

A few days ago, Patently Apple revealed a design for laptop computers that Apple had patented:

There have been rumors that Apple is going to come out with a thinner, smaller, perhaps cheaper MacBook Air. With yesterday's release of the Magic Trackpad, I am convinced more than ever that the figures above and the rumors on the Air can actually happen, perhaps within the year.

With the thinness of the Magic Trackpad and its affordability, what could possibly stop Apple now from making a touch keyboard (as opposed to a screen keyboard like that of the iPad's) for a thinner, lighter, more forward-looking MacBook Air that may or may not have the ability to fold unto itself to transform into a tablet (perhaps capable of running iOS as well)? I still believe that we might hear something very exciting about the Air very soon, a groundbreaking device that could become Apple's flagship portable computer, and a showcase of features that will clue as in to where Apple will take us next.

Why the MacBook Air should not be counted out yet

I'm quite amused by some Apple fans as well as tech blogs who say that the MacBook Air is on its way out. I find this a bit naïve, though I'd find it really disappointing if what they're saying turns out to be true since the MacBook Air is such a great-looking product. Like Apple TV, MacBook Air I think is an Apple product that is ahead of its time, that might receive a much-needed update very soon. I even have a hunch that the Air might become the flagship Apple laptop in the near future, that is, should Apple decide to keep the Macintosh line and not become exclusively a hand-held device company like many Mac fans are fearing.

Let's take a look at some of the ideas floating around:

Rumor 1: Apple will start to concentrate on cloud storage, even for iTunes.

The main complaint with MacBook Air is its lack of storage. That's a valid complaint...last year. The first generation iPad, currently selling like crazy, has only 64GB max. If Apple can come up with a new generation MacBook Air, make it even more irresistible than the current design and with a cheaper price, then I don't think this lack of storage would matter. Certainly, there are now third-party services, both free and paid, that allow users to store gigabytes of data in the clouds. And certainly there are apps for that.

Rumor 2: A hybrid?

Speaking of apps, a persistent (perhaps far-fetched) rumor is that Apple is coming up with a hybrid computer that combines Mac OS and iOS's touch capability. What other Apple computer can be a more ideal one to have such features than the MacBook Air, powerful enough for Mac OS yet light enough to be carried around like an iPad.

Also:

A bit tacky, but can't you imagine MacBook Air as two tablet screens folded together, with one screen capable of pulling up a virtual keyboard to give you...a touch MacBook Air?

And finally, way into the future:

Introducing the Apple Air.

Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

The "iWatch"

These guys must be very pleased with themselves. It seems that an Italian design firm, ADR Studio, has already come up with not only a design, but also packaging, and even a mock advertisement and an unboxing video for a device they call the iWatch.

As you can judge from these photos (more here), everything was done very tastefully and very Apple-like that frankly all Steve Jobs ought to do is give these guys a call and give the green-light for the iWatch's mass-production.



ADR Studio lists down the iWatch's "features":

- Aluminium body
- WiFi and Bluetooth
- Integrated RSS Reader
- 16GB;
- Weather forecast system;
- Possibility to connect to the Bluetooth or WiFi to iPhone / iPad
- LCD projector to show everywhere pictures by your iPhone / iPad
- Available in various colors

As this was designed prior to the introduction of iPhone 4, there's no FaceTime yet in the features. That wouldn't be difficult, would it? I'm not a watch person, but if I see these babies in my favorite Apple reseller's shelves, I might buy two.

Could it be??

Tw.apple.pro has the cult of Apple buzzing when it posted last week photos of a 3cm x 3cm touch screen bearing an Apple copyright stamp. It would be easy to dismiss such postings as a hoax if not for the fact that the same site had posted photos of spare parts before that turned out to be components for actual Apple products. The photos are intriguing because nobody knows exactly what product in Apple's current line-up could make use of said spare part. A new iPod? A new peripheral for the iPad when using a physical keyboard?

However, what really sparked my interest was this rendering by Apple.pro in the same post, causing me to gasp a little:


Gasp. Could it be??

In last month's keynote by Steve Jobs to introduce the iPhone 4, I admit my eyes moistened (a bit) when he picked up that phone and called Jonathan Ive using FaceTime. "It's real now," he said. Of course, what he's talking about was the ability to make video calls using hand-held devices, the stuff of our childhood sci-fi and comic book fantasies.

Let me backtrack a bit. When we say hand-held devices, we actually mean this:


It certainly wouldn't be the first phone wristwatch. LG released a similar device last year. However, we're talking video here. And if Apple could make possible FaceTime calls over 3G, then Steve Jobs' promise of shipping "tens of millions of FaceTime devices this year" would be a possibility. Anticipating!