Did Some Insider Just Spill The Beans On New Apple Laptop? | Hacker News Reader

Did Some Insider Just Spill The Beans On New Apple Laptop?

whydoeseverythingsuck.com

11 pointspius21 comments

Accurate or not, that's a pretty good idea. Being able to detach the screen and plug the computer into a bigger monitor would suit perfectly the way I use my laptop at the moment.

Plus, with the screen removed the "brick" is presumably a computer in a keyboard form factor, just like in the good old days.

I don't get it. I plug a bigger monitor to my laptop when I'm at my desk. Why the need to detach the laptop screen?

same here. and I know some use there laptop screen as a second monitor. so this is a bad idea on many fronts.

I'm not expecting this to actually happen... but I would instantly buy a Mac laptop that let me physically separate the screen and the keyboard while continuing to use them both. Then I could set the screen up on a portable stand at approximately the right height and distance while the keyboard lived closer to me and lower down, perhaps even in my lap.

Right now the best I can do is to carry an external keyboard. But it's a pain to have to tote around redundant hardware. Of course, it's also a pain to be in pain after spending too much time using an un-ergonomic laptop.

The main limiting thing there for me that's annoying is that Mac OS seems to require me to use my laptop's screen as the main one putting the menubar there instead of on my larger external monitor.

You know abhout this "drag and drop" thing? Open up the Displays preference pane. You see the two (or more) screens and you can drag them around to decicde how to arrange your virtual desktop.

Now drag the menu bar to whichever screen you like. And remember, Google is your friend.

Ah, didn't realize that you could drag the menubar separately.

I haven't tried this, but someone says that if you go into the Spaces view--the one where you can drag windows between all four of your spaces--you can drag the menu bar in there as well!

In your defense, a lot of "elegant" GUI designs are like this: they lack affordances, so you have no idea that they can be manipulated. But once you learn them, they seem to make sense.

The common alternative, some sort of configuration wizard with 1,000 controls, seems worse. But only just.

In some cases it's just a little more thought -- like here if, for instance, the border of the menubar was highlighted as the mouse rolled over it, it would be pretty obvious, in my opinion.

Why bother detaching the screen? Close the lid and put it on a dock.

That's what I do now (except for the dock, I just plug everything in) but if I had one of these I could save: (a) on buying a separate keyboard and (b) on desk space.

OK, it's not a huge advantage, but it's neat.

Only downside: unless they're very clever with the design, a brick-keyboard isn't as good to type on as a regular keyboard. But hey, maybe they'll be clever with the design, so it tilts downwards properly.

Hmm, and I just thought of another nice way to use it: on my lap, on the couch, plugged into my big-ass TV.

Better yet, transmitting the video output to your TV.

A detaching laptop screen seems unlikely. The mechanical stresses on the attachment device sound too extreme.

This also sounds like a new series of monitors which Apple probably won't do until they can have LED backlights in the big screens.

  * Sounds clunky, and overspecialized.
  * Awkwardly splits the product (display/no display).
  * Competes with the low-end Macbook, while being a lower-margin product.
  * Can't imagine a design for this that isn't ugly.

Very Un-Apple. Jobs isn't going to follow up the iPhone 3G with this, aptly described, 'brick'.

The $800 might be wishful thinking. Unless they're planning an all out assault.

"Some analysts are expecting the laptops to start at less than $800, compared with $1,099 now" -- WSJ

Looking forward to it. I use a mac. But I would like to pay (on sale) windows pc prices.

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Se...

LOL. Nothing said at BJ's is ever real. Would be more credible if he's having breakfast at Caffe Macs. No one shows off gadgets during lunch.

I think he's saying that he IS an Apple employee (that eats at BJ's) not that he overheard it. The the patent link below seems to indicate that he's dead on.

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