B.ll Sh.t Apple Predictions: MacBook Air

i had a very spirited conversation with my best friend about what may be expected from the upcoming Apple event. specifically what may become of the MacBook Air (MBA) product if Steve Jobs announces a new one.

my b.ll sh.t prediction is that the Apple will forgo using Intel chips and start using the Apple A4 processor. same one found in current iPad product. in addition to that making the MBA the first Apple laptop to run iOS. this to me this makes perfect sense on so may levels.

first of all, the potential to continuously promote their Apple A4 processor. the A4 is already found in the iPhone, iTouch, iPad, and now the new Apple TV. with respect to the MBA: just think of the iPad with a hardwire keyboard in a clamshell design. no more having to buy custom Intel Core 2 Duo chips. in fact all Apple would have to do is just redesign the logic board from the iPad to fit into MBA.

second of all, why the iOS?. the next MBA is reported to have a reduction of the screen size down to 11.6 inches. just shy of the size of the iPad. why is that significant? cause Apple doesn't see their Mac OS in it's native form as a one-size-fits-all solution for all their products. continuing to use the Mac OS was important to the iPhone, but it needed to be scaled down to fit on a device with limited storage. in addition to that it needed to have the UI redesigned in order to be accommodated on a 4 inch screen while supporting the fingers and thumbs as the primary input devices. and even though the iPad's screen is substantially larger than the iPhone's, iOS continues to work well on it while allowing Apple to expand their micro OS's potential. in addition to that opening up the App Store to another product.

lets presume that the upcoming MBA doesn't have a touch screen like the iPad. how would a user interface with it using iOS 4? one basic interaction would be with the track pad. with the established hand gestures already found on the MacBook/MBPro, a user could use those same gestures to swipe from one desktop page to the next, bring up the multitask bar, or pinch & zoom. basic functions. nothing too special. of course it would just be cooler if the MBA did have a touch screen.

in terms of the kinds of 3rd party apps that would run on it, i would imagine that developers would have to include additional support for the MBA on their already existing apps. or, perhaps, develop unique apps just for the MBA just as there are unique apps for the iPad in the App store.

speaking of the App Store, this opens it up to a new device, and gives the developers something exciting and unique to develop for. especially when developers could offers their wares for free courtesy of Apple's iAd service - another service that benefits Apple's bottom line

with WiFi connectivity to be expected, the MBA could be the first MacBook to have a 3G wireless subscription service (a la AT&T) just like the iPad. if the MBA includes a front-facing camera, think about the iPhone's Face Time on it.

now let take this a step further. what if this prediction the MBA becomes true? the way i see it Apple may use the MBA as an experiment to see how well the masses respond to the iOS on Mac hardware. let's assume users love this idea, and the iOS UI becomes more liked than the current Mac OS UI. it would seem to me that Apple may one day release a Mac OS resembling that of the iOS.

of course i'm just talking unpredictable b.ll sh.t here. when it comes to predicting what Apple may release, i'm so far off. still, fun to think about it.

peace,
@riel