Apple netbook tipped for Macworld introduction

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 11:00

Opinion and Analysis

Consider someone that actually wants a netbook - a small, computer-like device that's bigger than a handheld (and therefore doesn't need a zoom function), has a keyboard, and provides web access, media playback, email  and other basic functionality - not a MacBook, and who is holding out for some of that old Apple magic... well, that's a very different story.

You could also imagine such a device including 3G data support, and being sold through or in association with Apple's existing mobile carrier partners at a subsidised price. We've already seen Vodafone selling the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 on a mobile plan.

In October, Steve Jobs said "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that."

Fair enough. But what about a $800-$900 computer that sells with a $300 subsidy? Especially if the company factored in the revenue from MobileMe subscriptions and App Store sales.

But Gottheil's idea that Apple will announce the hypothesised netbooks in January for delivery midyear. As far as I know, the main reasons that happened with the iPhone was the Apple knew that the need to involve carriers meant the news would be certain to leak, and that the necessary compliance testing is a matter of public record.

And although certain details of a device can be kept under wraps, there would have been evidence that Apple was entering the phone market - so the company chose to make the announcement on its own terms.

Presumably the company could adopt an existing 3G module to avoid testing issues, and negotiations around co-marketing would (should?) be simpler than they were with the iPhone, which needed carriers to make changes to their systems to accommodate the handset's full feature set - visual voicemail, anyone?

While I'm not convinced that Phil Schiller will be demoing a netbook in the Jobs-free Macworld keynote, an OS X (as opposed to Mac OS X) based netbook makes sense to me.