JustinFlood.com

Apple ISN’T making a netbook. Get over it.

Investors on Apple’s quarterly conference call, asked Steve Jobs if Apple was planning on making an entrance into the world of inexpensive netbooks.  Jobs’ characteristically dodged the question by saying that if the market grew large enough Apple would consider getting into it, and then noted that the iPhone performs many of the same functions as a netbook.

A lot of the pundits out there are jumping to some really silly conclusions and saying things like  “APPLE IS WORKING ON A NETBOOK!! YAY!!! LETS SIT AROUND AND WAIT FOR APPLE TO RELEASE A $400 LAPTOP!! WOO!!”

No.  They AREN’T doing it, and they likely NEVER will.   At least not a netbook like we know them today.  Why?  Read after the jump.

If Apple has said ANYTHING over the last few years, they have strictly maintained the fact that they are the BMW or Mercedes Benz of the computer industry.  They want nothing to do with the low end.  The low end is for the pedestrian players who have no profit margins because they are driven to be the fastest at the cheapest price.

The netbook market has no room for a high end segment.  Netbooks are not so much about portability as they are about being inexpensive.  Of course they’re neat devices, and of course there is a demand for them, but I don’t see many people spending $700-$900 on a high end netbook.  Why would you when you could just go and buy a regular Windows laptop at that price?  And believe me, there is no way that Apple would sell a portable computer in that laptop form factor that we’re used to for less than $700.  It will NOT happen.  Especially for the fact that Apple won’t cannabalize the sales of it’s regular MacBooks.  It’s asinine.

What we ARE likely to see, much the the evolution of the iPod, is an eventual evolution of the iPhone line into a range of really interesting products that will have functions much LIKE today’s netbooks.

It’s almost assured that Apple is working on an iPhone like device with a larger screen and a possible physical keyboard (a BIG maybe), running the iPhone OS, which like the iPhone will access data over Wifi  and possibly 3g networks.  This mystery device has already been seen by webhosts who check referral logs and find an un-announced Apple product surfing the web.  From what I’ve heard It doesn’t appear to be either a laptop or an iPhone from info gleaned from the OS and screen resolution.

So why won’t they release it yet?  Simply because there isn’t anything that will run well on it.  Apps developed for the iPhone are currently being developed EXCLUSIVELY for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Both of those devices share the same screen size and resolution.   While this device will likely be SIMILAR,  I’d imagine it would come with a screen between 7 and 9 inches, with a much higher pixel density.  look for an update to the SDK that adds support for different size and shape screens.  Apps written now will likely have to be recompiled so that they don’t break once a new screen size is introduced.  I would imagine that Jobs could possibly announce the product at MacWorld (where no major announcements are so far expected), so that he has something with which to blow us out of the water.  That will give devs time to get a head start creating software for it, and to start the hype machine building up towards a summer launch along with spec-bumped iPhones.

Sorry Mac faithful, your chances of seeing full on OS X on tiny portable hardware for less than $700 will likely just never happen.

So netbooks?  No.  iPhone like tablet device?  More likely.  Price?  Don’t expect cheap.