Apple preparing Netbook assault with 11.6-inch MacBook Air?

by Steven Mostyn - Jul 16 2010, 09:47

Those rumour-merchants over at DigiTimes are at it again. Following on from recent whispers regarding smaller screen sizes and smaller price points for the iPad tablet, the site’s latest surge of thoroughly unsubstantiated speculation points to a new MacBook that’s creeping perilously close to Netbook territory.

If the somewhat vague report is to be believed, Quanta Computer has snaffled the contract to produce Apple’s new 11.6-inch MacBook Air, which, according to unnamed “upstream component makers,” will carry an Intel Core i-series low voltage CPU and be both slimmer and lighter than previous MacBook Air platforms.  

Okay, perhaps not quite a Netbook. Plus, given Apple’s well-documented disdain for portable computers built on budget-prices and underpowered hardware, it’s unlikely the Cupertino-based gadget maker would offer up something similarly weak in terms of processing oomph – and even less likely any such creation would break the company’s ‘reassuringly expensive’ approach to retail.

An 11.6-inch MacBook Air would be positively titchy beside Apple’s current smallest portable, the 13.3-inch MacBook Air, yet a Core i-series chip beneath the hood could perhaps indicate Apple is merely looking to enhance portability appeal without compromising on functionality.

And, colour us cynical, but there’s no way in hell an 11.6-inch MacBook Air is going to retail for less than $800-$1,000 USD, which would price it way beyond the sub-$500 USD bracket that defines the majority of Netbook computers.

Clearly keen on keeping the rumour mill churning, DigiTimes also claims the upcoming iPod Touch refresh will see Apple’s popular non-telephonic handset equipped with a 3.0 mega-pixel camera and the same A4 processor as used in the new iPhone 4.

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