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See the original image at popularmechanics.com

MacBook Touch Mockup: Is This Apple's Top-Secret Laptop?

popularmechanics.com — The Apple rumor mill is at it again, with reports surfacing this week that Steve Jobs and Co. are working on a touchscreen laptop to unveil as soon as the end of 2008. Good thing Glenn Derene dreamed up his own at the beginning of this year. Here's a fresh look at our would-be MacBook Touch.

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  • SystemError, on 07/25/2008, -1/+67this is so old..pre the macbook air
    • SolituSneiku, on 07/26/2008, -1/+13do not want
    • starscream45, on 07/26/2008, -1/+12$100 says this thing pops up a year from now when we are STILL speculating about a possible Mac tablet.
    • themastersb, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1This video has been going around for a long, long time
  • electriched, on 07/25/2008, -0/+45Buried for being a 2 line update to a 6 month old article.
  • brainnovate, on 07/25/2008, -5/+11I am not dissing Apple here cause I love my Mac, but I am more interested in the "New Area 51" article! That being said, the video of this thing looks bad ASS, ie. I want one YESTERDAY!
  • techblogLAT, on 07/25/2008, -2/+65"Is this Apple's top-secret laptop."

    No, it's not. It's a silly mockup by some random guy. Who would want all these transformer pieces to the laptop. Imagine losing your keyboard attachment, or your optical drive attachment.
    • FukumiFukuya, on 07/26/2008, -0/+0I would prefer a smaller MacBook tablet, equal or less than 12.1", less than 1.5 kg, less than US$1000, optional external DVDRW






      ...and black.
      • MacHarborGuy, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2or an iPhone that is twice the size....






        ...and a flux capacitor
    • bxblox, on 07/26/2008, -2/+1Are you aware that apple currently has an optical drive attachment for one of its notebooks?
      • macchappy, on 07/26/2008, -1/+0Yes, and you don't drag it with you everywhere, now do you?
    • CrashKC, on 08/25/2008, -0/+1This thing is so horribly convoluted and poorly designed (you have to reach OVER the keyboard to use the trackpad?!) that Steve would *****-punch the designer right in the middle of the boardroom and cave his skull in with the prototype.

      Unfortunately, due to the design's spindly nature, this would take a while.
  • digitalpencil, on 07/25/2008, -1/+36god, not this thing again..
  • YodaJones, on 07/26/2008, -0/+33I hope not. That is dumb.
  • dpowre, on 07/26/2008, -1/+17no no no no no no!!
  • ReneRuizJ, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3I can see why this would pick up popularity now that Apple made the announcement about their new revolutionary product that no competitor could answer to.. but I'm not quite sure this is it.
  • aserer511, on 07/26/2008, -4/+2VERY cool rendering and modular design, but that thing is like 4k BASE heh
    • johnkmiecik, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1...and you base that pricing on what, exactly?
  • frascellyboy273, on 07/26/2008, -0/+8yeah since popular mechanics is SOOOO known for their insider apple info...
    • msheidi, on 07/26/2008, -0/+0apple doesn't even tell their employees who do not need to know about new products, because they are into blowing people away.
  • nonsequitur668, on 07/26/2008, -12/+0There are a number of things I could have chosen to write about in this post. I could have chosen to write about how Apple's propaganda machine grinds on and on. Or I might have chosen to write something about the way that its arguments are so full of holes that one cannot help but think that I cannot, in good conscience, step aside and let condescending snollygosters extract obscene salaries and profits from corporations that inspire a recrudescence of wicked fatuity. But, instead, I've decided to devote this entire letter to explaining how Apple's self-ordination as a god has caused people like me to proclaim that it exhibits a startling lack of remorse, shame, and guilt for so brazenly attempting to make us too confused, demoralized, and disunited to put up an effective opposition to its communications. The full truth of my conclusion I shall develop in the course of this letter but the conclusion's general outline is that it turns to medieval legends of poisoned wells in order to frighten hate-filled dummkopfs into giving rise to irritating charlatans, and everyone with half a brain understands that. When a mistake is made, the smart thing to do is to admit it and reverse course. That takes real courage. The way that Apple stubbornly refuses to own up to its mistakes serves only to convince me that if we contradict it, we are labelled devious hatemongers. If we capitulate, however, we forfeit our freedoms.

    Apple's cohorts tend to fall into the mistaken belief that the worst sorts of self-satisfied flakes there are make the best scout leaders and schoolteachers, mainly because they live inside an Apple-generated illusion-world and talk only with each other. Apple can't attack my ideas, so it attacks me. It could be worse, I suppose. It could quote me out of context.

    Apple's roorbacks emphasize the formation of small units of uncompromising, oleaginous adulators that can avoid detection by authorities, strike quickly and disperse, and, to some extent, brand me as dastardly. I've already explained why but let me add that Apple is right about one thing, namely that fear is what motivates us. Fear of what it means when contentious big-mouths reward mediocrity. Fear of what it says about our society when we teach our children that a knowledge of correct diction, even if unused, evinces a superiority that covers cowardice or stupidity. And fear of soporific thieves like Apple who rip off everyone and his brother.

    Apple likes to cite poll results that "prove" that we can stop particularism merely by permitting government officials entrée into private homes to search for cold-blooded vermin. Really? Have you ever been contacted by one of its pollsters? Chances are good that you never have been contacted and never will be. Otherwise, the polls would show that Apple seeks scapegoats for its own shortcomings by blaming the easiest target it can find, that is, pathological hermits.

    I contend that it can be safely said that this is an exceptionally convincing illustration of the power wielded by Apple and of the destructive way in which it uses that power. To believe that all it takes to start a rabbit farm is a magician's magic hat is to deceive ourselves. Let me try to put this in perspective: I wish I didn't have to be the one to break the news that I should state this explicitly. Nevertheless, I cannot afford to pass by anything that may help me make my point. So let me just state that Apple likes saying that some people deserve to feel safe while others do not. Okay, that's a parody -- but not a very gross one. In point of fact, if Apple were to get its hands on the levers of power it'd immediately commit all sorts of mortal sins -- not to mention an uncountable number of venial ones. If you don't believe me then consider that by its standards, if you have morals, believe that character counts, and actually raise your own children -- let alone teach them to be morally fit -- you're definitely a scurrilous convert to fascism. My standards -- and I suspect yours as well -- are quite different from Apple's. For instance, I indeed believe that it disturbs me that these intolerant fomenters of revolution have so little tolerance for differing points of view. But that's not all: It uses highfalutin terms like "intercrystallization" and "cinematographical" to conceal its plans to paralyze any serious or firm decision and thereby become responsible for the weak and half-hearted execution of even the most necessary measures. In this scheme of its, a mass of grandiloquent words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outlines and covering up all the details. We become unable to see that we are observing the change in our society's philosophy and values from freedom and justice to corruption, decay, cynicism, and injustice. All of these "values" are artistically incorporated in one person: Apple. In short, I feel we must reinvigorate our collective commitment to building and maintaining a sensitive, tolerant, and humane community. I hope other members of the community feel the same.
    • footfwd, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2This posting in no way deserved an essay.
    • vdogg89, on 07/26/2008, -1/+3noone is going to read that
    • alex7575, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3Welcome to Digg Blogs Beta
    • santaliqueur, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2It's one of those form complaint letters. Input the company of your choice, and a random letter is generated. Might be funnier if it was 1/6th of the length.
    • mCanada, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1This ***** keeps on spamming threads with these generated comments. Welcome to my block list (insert *****'s name here)
    • ffoofighter2001, on 07/26/2008, -0/+0eww-you thesaurus using douche
    • CrushThemTorg, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1tl; dr;
  • ZephyrNinety, on 07/26/2008, -2/+8You're a D-Bag just for submitting this.
  • Wootstapler, on 07/26/2008, -0/+4"Published on: January 3, 2008 "

    /facepalm
  • joshblufs, on 07/26/2008, -1/+11note to self... invest in screen cleaner.
    guessing it will be hard to wipe this on my pants like i do with my iphone.
  • tacojohn, on 07/26/2008, -0/+4no.
  • footfwd, on 07/26/2008, -1/+8That thing sucks, yea put the scroll pad on top of the keyboard... oh yea and i love when my screen looks like my nephew just used my computer.
    • freakstyle571, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3my thought was the same. Why would you ever put the touch pad above the keyboard... it leaves no where for you to rest your palm....

      FAIL
  • SitPoMk, on 07/26/2008, -1/+6Lets pretend this isn't as old as the internet
    This seems way too complicated to be an apple product. There are too many things to do, too many buttons and levers to operate it to ever be an Apple design
    • xShifty, on 07/26/2008, -0/+0The internet is only half a year old? It seemed like so much longer...
    • ThVK, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1You are so right—anything from Apple ain't gonna have detachable parts like this. If anything, it won't have a keyboard but will have a neat way to sync with a Bluetooth keyboard.
  • MagikOvenMit, on 07/26/2008, -0/+7Answer: No, no it's not.
  • rdldr1, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3If Apple created anything remotely as stupid as that mock-up, Apple would be the laughingstock of the computer industry. Awful, and amateurish.
  • vdogg89, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1sucky video. apple would never make something with detachable components
  • hiptrigger, on 07/26/2008, -0/+5Apple would never make anything this clumsy - 3 pieces? Modular? No way. Look at Jony Ives' latest laptop patent application - LCD locks in place similar to normal lappie or can slide over QWERTY using side rails to create tablet-slab. No wobbly pivots, no jigsaw pieces, no smoking the "I made this up and I am selling this to a magazine" crack. I love PM, but you have to put this next their drawings of flying cars, jetpacks and such...
  • DiggzDE, on 07/26/2008, -2/+1So if you want to play something on CD you have to have a whole separate peripheral? No thanks, I will pass. Just like I did on the Air.
  • nickbarber, on 07/26/2008, -1/+3"It's January"
    No it isn't.
  • an10ae, on 07/26/2008, -0/+4No, No it is not.

    That thing looks idiotic and it's old.
  • handya, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2thats just supid
  • lougoose, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1That is dumb placement for a trackpad, so....it won't look anything like that.
  • ffoofighter2001, on 07/26/2008, -1/+1buried for OLD OLD OLD article...booo this looks ugly-unapple design with clumsy peripherals...the external dvd drive for the macbook air is the most they're going to offer not a detachable keyboard and a cd-dvd dock-that's just nonsense...who would really want to carry around a screen, keyboard/mouse and cd/dvd drive base??? why not just carry a desktop?
  • jdh24, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3Too ugly
  • zeeky, on 07/26/2008, -1/+7what a ***** mockup

    trackpad above the keyboard? LOL
  • SuperSunny, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3This sucks
  • KalebS, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3first off its way to clunky and disgusting for apple...2ndly..really??..come on.
  • cadmiumpaint, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3besides the fact that its fake, it looks like it would be completely useless as a laptop.
  • zdiggler, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2woah! Steve Job must be really sick!
  • fudged71, on 07/26/2008, -3/+1I think that it is a well made video, I have not seen this concept before, and the industrial design used to create the 3D model was well thought-out.

    However, it is still impractical.
    I would rather see the title to this story be "Neat yet impractical Macbook Touch mockup"
  • PrometheusZero, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1OMG, THE NEW MACBOOK IS A JET!?
  • DeFex, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1NO its so stupid even apple wont do it.
  • tomis, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3random guy makes video mockup of a poorly designed modular computer. could this be the next product from apple?

    no, no it isn't.
  • Pliep, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3ridiculous mockup. Apple would never create producs that are that complex and useless.
  • NWFackler, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2I think that the designer in this case has forgotten that fact that Apple is a company who bases their designs on simplicity and practicality. Those are two things that this mock up is not!
  • supersteve, on 07/26/2008, -3/+2this thing could kick ass. Go apple
  • Macintoshreader, on 07/26/2008, -2/+0LMAO! That looks soooo ugly. It made me want to puke.

    Apple won't make a tablet or a computer with multi-touch because Tablets are a failure because they don't sell and they cost a lot more than normal notebooks. Not to mention that they don't provide any real advantages to a normal one (apart from eye candy).
  • WoollyMittens, on 07/26/2008, -0/+2This is uselessly clunky.
    • johnkmiecik, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Exactly. This is the opposite of Apple's design cues. PM needs to fire their creative guy.
  • Mikey129, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Dugg for Nine Inch Nails weather. 00:11
  • targetpro, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3there is zero chance Apple will be releasing anything like this soon
  • combatchuck, on 07/26/2008, -0/+3Not a ***** chance. I wouldn't even expect something that stupid from Sony.
  • flashback99, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Apple would never make a laptop that is modular. Clearly this design came from a long time PC user.
  • gentooian, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1The day Apple designs a product with the trackpad ABOVE the keyboard is the day I stop buying Apple products.
  • MacBookForMe, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1It would be great to work on real one for a moment, though..
  • reformation, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Who is ***** stupid enough to digg this *****?
    mpind176 - are you retarded?
  • Kelmon, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1I was about to say "not a chance" because this would appeal to such a small market, but then I thought the same about the Air and they still made that. I still doubt this but not to the same degree that I would normally do.
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