Rumour: Apple Working On XL Tablet Running Full Mac OS X

@SaniyaMullimbimby: *eyeroll over Zune tie-in*.

Dallifornia

"...Where do I get the wallpaper?..."

It's not referred to as "Wallpaper" by the Mac community, but rather, as the "Desktop Background." "Wallpaper" is a Windows term devised when Microsoft first pirated the original Macintosh operating system back in 1985. When Bill Gates directed his staff to copy the new Macintosh look-and-feel, his Redmondites made many minor changes to the upcoming "Windows" to avoid charges of copyright infringement. Gates' less-than-innovative crew copied Apple's implementation of graphic icons as buttons, WYSIWYG documents in movable windows and a mouse, but they reversed their implementation of the Mac interface by turning it upside down and backwards (which placed the hard drive icons on the left instead of the right and the main navigation menu — the task bar — on bottom of the screen instead of the top, as Apple had done with its Menu commands.

And Microsoft minions renamed Apple's "Desktop Background" metaphor — to "Wallpaper," a sadly transparent attempt to further distance themselves from infringement claims.

Over the years, Microsoft's shameless, unabashed copying of everything Apple has never stopped and it continues today with the iPhone/iPod Touch and Zune. So, please help us hold on to some respect for Apple's contributions to the computing metaphors that we know today.

SaniyaMullimbimby

The ultimate tablet product would run Mac OS X when connected to a keyboard or the iPhone OS when used as a tablet. This probably could be done in either dual-boot or virtualization mode...

SaniyaMullimbimby

A tablet would be neither fish nor fowl.

A device is fundamentally driven by use case, and I have yet to see a compelling one. OS and other underpinning come later.

- WIll this be a giant iPhone? Which pocket do you carry?

- Will it be a laptop without a keyboard? What to do when you do need a keyboard? What to do about pointing in a world of mouse pointer accuracy? (iPhone solved this by forcing web developers to change the size of the pointing circle to finger size for rendering in mobile safari).

- Is this a tablet laying on the sofa for casual surfing? What happens when it falls and the glass breaks? Who buys a remote control for $600-800?

The only credible use case is an e-reader, in which case these glossy renderings are completely bogus, as it has to be thin, light and using some sort of new e-ink display.

tmeyer2000

Anyone notice the facebook application icon at the bottom right of the second picture?

UWAZell

@Here.

OfficerMike

Where do I get the wallpaper?

@Jesus Diaz, you're insane!

Why the hell do you want a big iPod touch so bad? If it's running iPhone OS, there's absolutely no chance I'll get this thing. If it's running OS X, even if it's just a little watered down, it's going to be mine. I don't own a Mac because I don't see much value for the price, but an awesome 10" touchscreen tablet running OS X for less than $1000 is something I would buy.

I already have an iPhone 3GS, and to have another one with a bigger screen just doesn't appeal to me. The first image above is gorgeous, and I wouldn't be able to resist buying it if that's what Apple's going to unveil.

I knew it.

Suppose some underpaid employee of this mystery firm is abused for trying to earn a few extra pennies for her family by feeding this rumor mill. Who will the heavy of the piece be? The firm? Apple? Gizmodo? Or thousands of us curious techno nerds?

Remember the immortal words of Pogo -- "we have found the enemy and he is us!"

mclurman

@Manve: Thank you. I'm just like you. I dont want you by a Macbook just so a cheaper and PORTABLE (sorry mini) to my Mac quest comes along. But I think Apples been leaking info on purpose as of late (last couples years) cause we're having more and more true rumors and more and more people are guessing correctly.

streetceltic

i'm so tired of all these rumours.i'm about to buy a macbook pro, but don't want to get to it just to have an awesome tablet come out a month later, which is also cheaper...apple is definitely going too far with their secrecy!

Manve

I do hope this rumor comes true. I'm dying for them to come out with a tablet that has at least 512 levels of pressure sensitivity but I won't hold my breath on that one.

I have to say, I definitely prefer the top rendition to the second. The first one looks like a traditional machine, like a modbook, while the second's super-slim iPhone styling just makes me think of those movies where people do excessively complicated gestures for simple actions on paper-thin consoles.

AaronC-T

@SirGecko: I sure hope they realize that. At least with these rumored bigger versions.

Invisible-Echidna

@Invisible-Echidna: Stylus is needed for any sort of real tablet funcitonalitiy anyway. You can't take notes with your fingers. (and touchscreen keyboards suck) I'm a tablet PC user and if apple ever wants to get me they need to release a product that has a stylus and programs that work well with it. Till then Microsoft really has no competition.

SirGecko

@Invisible-Echidna: totally agree, now if they make it so you can use pressure sensitive pen and touch that would be wicked awesome.

kohrtoons

I think they should make a tablet running OS X that has an onscreen keyboard for when you are on the train but also built in bluetooth or wireless usb so you can use a wireless keyboard and mouse at work or home. Add to that a little stand that folds flush when closed, so it can be like a proper monitor. It would challenge netbooks and kindles both.

dtrachtman

OH BABY! That first mockup looks NICE!

leozuck

@headc4se: Doctors running around with a 15" monitor? If they were 5", 6" or maybe even 7", yes, but never a 15". If I, as a graphic designer, need an extra interface, I'll just hook up another monitor, or use a separate laptop. This is doomed, only the fanatic fanboys will ever consider this.

Why not leave the iphone apps run in iphone sized windows like widgets, great way to run multiple apps

HarrisonPaddum

Apple: Just gimme a fargin' netbook already! Hell, even a revamped MacBook at $800. iPhone OS? Useless. No keyboard? Useless. Unprotected large screen? Stoooopeeeeed. Enough with this tablet crap already...

ekornblum

@ars_workerbee2: Agreed. I doubt that the mouse and keyboard as we know them are the final frontier. 30 years from now, interaction will probably look nothing like it does now. This may be one of those incremental changes.

tomsomething

@cc82: If it can hover in place, then there's nothing to worry about. Duh!

tomsomething

If it's all finger and no stylus, the Apple fan in me will be happy, but the artist in me will die a little.

Invisible-Echidna

" New form factor requires a new interface, it's as simple as that."

Um, no. All it requires is adding multitouch to OSX...oh thats right they already pretty much implemented and are refining that already...its even in Windows 7

Are you trying to claim that a tablet would need a complete redesign of the OS? Have you not seen a modbook before?

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

SatiGracchus

I'm sort of against the idea of a web-book in my life but man...this tablet could be really, really awesome. From something to look at recipes on in the kitchen, to checking email, to that sort of stuff....

Wild.

My thesis all along has been that Snow Leopard is the pivot OS between the iPhoneOS and MacOS, branches, and whether that means the ability to run Mac Apps unmodified, recompiled or some new form of new hybrid runtime model, it just makes sense that the Tablet is where Apple confronts the matrix between all of these different form factors, something that I blogged about in:

Apple, the ‘Boomer’ Tablet and the Matrix
[bit.ly]

Check it out if interested.

Mark

hypermark-sf

@TheAlmeida: With this, Cobra could seize control of the BET, activate the spores in space and take control of humanity.

I am really, really excited about this.

electronymous

@anderlan: For that matter, who uses that crappy Apple keyboard & mouse? Or has dorky, adolescent screen images?

CAVEperson

@Sea Chicken: I shouldn't have laughed so hard at that but, I couldn't help it.

electronymous

@indeo: I love you too. :)

@TheGerk: I do love Gerk. I jailbreak my iphone (don't tell apple, they'll kill me) so I have "additions" so it nice.

I totally agree.

Sweet. I'd buy that.

wezelboy

A 15" tablet?

The iSlab!

taodude

Snow Leopard hopefully will be on it by the time they launch it. I'll buy one if it has Leopard or Snow Leopard. I will not buy it if it's a juiced up iphone OS.

addiktion

Best. Apple Tablet Rumor. Ever!

I am sold. Here is my credit card number... get me one!

Ogami

if this does get announced this year, do we know around when?

TT

@iatacs19: *IF* it has full graphics capabilities, no half-assing intensive Adobe multitasking sessions like the air...

@Kevin337: The fact that it may not replace any of those is why I continue to think something is up with all these leaks. The number of people who have the excess income to buy something that other mac products already do (I'm looking at you macbook, iphone, ipod touch), doesn't seem like it would be all that big.

fryhole

i would not be rocking a 10" tablet running iphone OS. What's even the point; if they had the tablet originally and then made the phone it would make sense but not the other way around. Besides, who's gonna pay for an overpriced netbook that, if it runs iphone OS, will not even have flash in the browser?

tubsdouglas

I can see this taking off. Especially with a docking station at home, with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Then having the ability to remove it - place it on it back and play 'surface' type games.

It won't replace a desktop, laptop, iPod, or iPhone, but it will fit nicely within the line up.

Kevin337

@Yuppers: I love you: yeah i never got the iphone OS love. it would most likely be stuffed with macbook air hardware to keep it thin and a touchscreen. i cant see any use for iphone OS on this kind of a device.

i think apple will be looking at students and young people in general with this, and a giant iphone you cant carry would be pointless too the masses.

if it has a full blown mac osx with a app like front row to start a iphone like interface combined with a decent iwork compatability. im thinking here of finger/stylus note taking then i just might buy one.

but if its just an iphone on steroids ill just buy the 3gs and sell my first gen iphone.

indeo

@Yuppers: Loves Gerk: What about a modified iPhone OS that included simultaneous app usage and other luxuries?

I think people are looking at it from the wrong angle; they expect a tablet with iPhone OS to act exactly to a T the same way the iPhone does. Where is the logic? Of course nobody will buy a product that is the Exact Same. I'm sure that even if it isn't OS X equipped, there will be features to sell it above an iPhone/iTouch.

TheGerk

@MrBlahBlah: Only rainbows and a cure for cancer? I want it to drive me home from the pub when I'm pissed.

@Jarek James: yeah, he is dead now....

indeo

@hcho3: Yeah your wife said that to me this morning after you left for work.

@indeo: Key work "was" lol

Jarek James

I have an iPhone and there is no way I would also buy a tablet running the iPhone OS. That seems redundant and I think the iPhone OS would handicap the device. At 10+ inches you could stuff a lot of improvements to include forward and rear facing video cameras, perhaps a stylus for writing notes and photo editing, 500GB drive, 4G of Ram... I could go on. Hopefully, if they use OSX, it would have to be configured for the device, which I'm sure apple would do. Looking forward to seeing the final product (if it's not a rumor).

is that knut hamsuns hunger on the table there? you do know he was a nazi right?

indeo

@Colonel Jack O'Neill: And look how popular the "Windows tablet" is. Apple should definitely copy that idea!

@olternaut: define "vision", define "raise the bar" and explain what bar is being raised, and explain why it is you feel that no other consumer tech company on the planet puts out, well, bar-raising things.

I'll help you out: you're flat out looney.

Sean Masters

@RainyDayInterns: you forgot to mention that it will shoot rainbows and cure cancer

MrBlahBlah

@hcho3: That's what she said.

LEWD98

@BostonPimpDaddy2: I wouldn't start speculating on if it is a good idea until we actually see a product. The iPhone totally changed the landscape of "smartphones" from keyboard burdened devices with a stylus to a single touch screen with the use of fingers and gestures. If they continue to throw in these types of unexpected innovations into something like a tablet it could be very interesting and beneficial. If they come out with a touch-screen running a typical OS X setup with hardly a bit of innovation, then it would be a flop. That is probably why they have refrained from releasing just such a product, they are waiting for the big idea that is going to make the product desirable/innovative.

@olternaut: Raise the bar on what?

@COCOViper: Walking while using a tablet? Good grief! As for stansding you can do it with a netbook. Lighter yes, but so is the apple air and netbooks. I'll agree to your last point.

BostonPimpDaddy2

@BostonPimpDaddy2:

-Can be used while standing / walking
-Theoretically lighter / more portable
-Fewer moving parts to break

COCOViper

A happy Jesus, is well, a happy Jesus!

@yogibimbi: About 1 minute.

@JonnieCrunch: I own an apple laptop, and a apple tower. I own an ipod. I've used the iphone and itouch and want neither. My blackberry is perfectly fine. I think apple would have been better off concentrating on a netbook. The apple air is too expensive, but a netbook would have been excellent.

BostonPimpDaddy2

What they need is the 3DBB. Come to think of it, I've never seen Phineas J. Whoopee and Steve Jobs in the same place...

Brookespeed

@BostonPimpDaddy2: Do you have/want an iPhone/iPod touch? Do you prefer that over your old phone/mp3 player? If you answered yes to both of those questions, then you know the benefits. Its something new, innovative and exciting, and something (I truly believe) only Apple can do right...

No, I think it caught you by surprise. If they're really-for-true releasing a tablet, it would be ridiculous to hamstring it with the iPhone OS. I already have an iPhone. It fits in my pocket and makes phone calls. I think APPL has the foresight to realize that almost everyone out there has no need for an iPhone that won't fit in their pocket, and won't make calls. I think the closest product to this will be a Macbook Air without a keyboard. But give this the iPhone OS, and it's going to be Cube 2: Electric Boogaloo.

If it comes in 13in. and 15in. why not just get a macbook, which already has a keyboard.
The virtual keyboard would probly take up half the screen, which is stupid.
At least in a Windows tablet, which came out about 10 years ago, way long before this supposedly apple tablet, and that has a keyboard.

@Michael Crider: While I agree with you that Apple would use a tablet to "stealth-expand" their iTunes App Store debacle up a notch from just mobile phones, I disagree that a mobile tablet of this kind would require less engineering than a straight OS X tablet of some kind.

Where do the engineering savings come in? In either case, they need to port one of the two existing OS X flavors to this device, they need to write APIs to support whatever hardware innovations it brings, and provide 3rd party developers the tools to write for it.

If they made a full-blown tablet, it would basically be a Modbook with some improvements to gesture/touch UI in desktop OS X.

If they made a "mobile device tablet", it's a high resolution iPhone.

I don't really see a scenario that saves them a tangible amount of engineering over the other.

ludwigk

15 inch!? That's too big.

hcho3

@olternaut: Tell me the benefits of a tablet over a netbook or small laptop

BostonPimpDaddy2

I worked for Apple in R&D, and they *always* made multiple versions of the next Mac, taking them to production prototypes before picking one for release. The others died then. not a surprise to hear and see these variants.

Clem-Clone

@AstroWolf: Which is exactly my point yet the Apple Fanboys were all over me.

BostonPimpDaddy2

@PatrikJohnsson: Depending on your profession, it actually can be very handy, just think of a digital clipboard for doctors, or if you can connect it to a desktop/laptop, it could make for an advanced interface for design/graphics work.

headc4se

@ars_workerbee2: That's a realy good point--those examples spell it all out. I forgot while posting above to mention that Apple has always used the one-button, simple UI approach, & how that translates well to a touch paradigm.

anonymousmonk

@Michael Crider: my thoughts exactly. my guess is they will have to price it between the best iPod touch and macbook, which might put it out of range to compete with netbooks and low end e-readers.

@RainyDayInterns: This isn't i09, you know. lolol

All you naysayers are drones without any vision. Again, Steve Jobs will have to show the way. Why is it that only one company seems to have the vision to raise the bar while no other consumer tech company on the planet seems able to? This should not be!

olternaut

Between all the multi-touch patents & introductions, old Newton tech for handwriting, Dock-Exposé & easily scaling icons/previews in SL, I've always been convinced they were going to go for full OS X 10.6. Maybe at the most having a "compatibility" layer that could run iPhone apps to further piggy back on the popularity of the app store (having the apps run in a 3.3" window, maaaaybe scaling up).

If anyone could make a new form factor work, it's Apple. Just look at all the scoffers at touchscreen keyboards, & all Storm, many new Android models, & other phones saying "me too" now.

anonymousmonk

@JayScooper: "Frankly my darling, I don't give a damn (about e-ink)"

TheAlmeida

@RainyDayInterns: and when you shake it, jelly beans fall out!!!

justsomereportingguy

its funny that a lot of people will end up buying the wireless keyboard apple makes to go along with this, typing on tablets is not good for real work. So people are going to need, a stand, a external keyboard, and power supply on hand. Sounds super portable.

and no, i am not a troll, i am a apple fan boy since i got my LC II... but this is a dream, and a nightmare.

AstroWolf

We heard it will be a flexible screen which can be rolled up and carried in a tube.

The best part is that it is solar-powered.

A 15" tablet seems like it would be cumbersome to handle... you could set it on your lap, but then the screen would be perpendicular to your vision;
holding it up with one hand and using the other to navigate the touch screen would be awkward. 10" and 13" seem more suited ergonomically.

@yogibimbi:

No!

olternaut

@Dillinger23: Biting hard on the troll... wow.

@apus: I would guess that a 10" tablet device would run an ARM processor similar to the iPhone, most likely not an Intel. This would pretty much guarantee an OS that shared much with the iPhone OS including those frameworks.

If they tried to put a port of full OSX Snow Leopard on it people would just be frustrated because apps wouldn't work until devs brought out versions that were compiled ARM.

Stetrain

what about having tablets from 7", 10" - 13" offering the user a choice of OS X or iPhoneOS X? I'd take a 7" one with full OS X, please, but I can imagine some other folks might prefer the iPhoneOS. But that way, all will be happy.

yogibimbi

For the last 2 years at WWDC, Apple has strongly emphasized the difference in designing for mouse-driven interaction and touch-based interactions, and the importance of using the right interface for the device. Basically, don't use touch-based stuff on a Mac, or mouse-centric stuff on an iPhone.

Now, Snow Leopard has a large number of touchy interface elements: Dockspose and the new stack navigation elements, Quicktime X's editing mode, etc. When you start looking at things like the events view in iPhoto (where you could get close to the screen and go back and forth to review what's in the event, then tap to open it), and how that has spread to the template picker in iWork, etc, you start realizing how many of these very touch-centric UI elements have been creeping into the desktop OS.

I think the trend is clear, that desktop OS X is evolving towards a touch-centric interface, for a new device.

ars_workerbee2

@pɹɐoqʎǝʞuǝʞoɹq: hey, just wanted to chime in: I really like your nick! It's very clever. How much time did you need 2 figure it out?

yogibimbi

@masbo99: seconded. On a bigger screen the iPhone OS just doesn't make any sense.

yogibimbi

10" MacTablet running full OS X? YESSSSS!

Can I also haz 7" puleeez?

yogibimbi

13 and 15 inch Mac tablets already exist, legitimately.

[www.axiotron.com]

Expensive little things though, since they buy stock laptops and convert them.

drakino

@En0s0ne... even that damned dog gets a Gold Star: I have a few questions--how do you think a tablet will improve your workflow over what you currently have? Are you an artists or someone that needs a touch interface to work faster? I'm just wondering.

If this is true, I'd be very interested how Apple has solved the dilemma that mouse based WIMP GUIs don't mix well with touch screens.

Apple did a total rethink when they introduced their iPhone OS. No menubar, no windows, no hierarchical menus, no icon bars with 100 icons in it that have to be organized into ribbons, etc. pp.

That the main reason why the iPhone works so well and ALL other devices that have mixed WIMP with touchscreens have failed (windows XP for touchscreens, Windows Mobile, ...)

egghat

The only 100% reliable source I can think of is Apple.

Edit: But then again, I know nobody and nothing.

honestly i wouldn't see what the point is of having a tablet with iphone OS. real OS X (or any "real" OS) seems like the only reasonable option to me. if you want the iphone OS just get an iphone or an ipod touch.

echo off

Regarding the photo containing an artist's impression of the 10": who orders a UN logo mousepad? I'm what Dick Cheney and John "Wolfman" Bolton would call a diplomatic pussy (I prefer to call it being sneaky to get what you want!), but I don't think I'd ever find myself ordering a UN mousepad. Maybe the owner of the desk in the photo works there...

anderlan

@pɹɐoqʎǝʞuǝʞoɹq: Exactly what I was thinking. There's an extremely limited market for this type of thing. It's just a laptop without the keyboard once it hits the 13 inch mark. Now if they want to make 6-10 inch iPod-like portable media devices, I could see a good implementation really taking the market by storm. A tablet pc without a keyboard running full Mac OS X? That just doesn't sound like something Apple would pursue.

cabjf

Perhaps these become the 'Macbook' line and the ol' white one is gone (despite rumors of its redesign)

technologiq

If it runs full OSX and it's 13in, I am sending Apple my money. GAME OVER.

iatacs19

I am salivating just thinking about the posibility of an Apple Tablet.

Everyone that says the lack of a keyboard is a deal breaker, clearly you are not shopping for a tablet; maybe a tablet pc but not a tablet.

@BostonPimpDaddy2: The get a regular computer and quit bitching. Was this comment really worth writing?

Proclaiming you dont want a tablet in a story about a tablet, yeah seems logical.

Dillinger23

@TheAlmeida: Have you used a Kindle? I can't imagine a back-lit display competing with e-ink.

JayScooper

i hope that the tablet does run full OS X. like one of the comments says, the iPhone OS is a great OS... for a phone... but put it in something bigger like the tablet and i'd want full functionality... preferably from the full OS.

AltonOebalus

I was thinking, unless snow leopard has been designed to be touch friendly, I'm dubious it'd be full 10.5. I would imagine if apple chose to use full osx, they'd use a modified version like what they did with the apple tv, but to work with fat fingers. Also, those of use who hackintosh our netbooks know that OS X isn't meant for 10 inch 1024x600 screens as some of the dialog boxes are too big. apple using different OS's in a single line seems improbable. It would be like using PowerPC and intel chips in the macbook line. It would be confusing for the customer, and a pain for developers. I'm not saying its impossible, but improbable and foolish IMHO.

@kingbob337: All the shitty twice the style?

It doesn't matter which one they choose, if they attempt to introduce a tablet running either iPhone OS or Mac OS, it's going to suck. New form factor requires a new interface, it's as simple as that. Shoehorning in something designed for a tiny screen or something designed for a large screen just isn't going to hold up.

I frankly don't buy any of these rumors because Apple seems to have a history of really thinking through their UI and making sure it's appropriate for the task at hand. Until they've come up with a clear purpose for a tablet to exist, it's impossible to design a relevant UI for it, and slapping on a UI designed for a different task is just going to make it cumbersome no matter how well it worked for its original purpose.

chefgon

Simply don't get it... Why would anyone buy a laptop with no keyboard? No wonder Jobs been opposing this crap.

dammit - I just want that Betty Page Star Trek background pic...

VladimirOhlund

@[developer.apple.com]

However iPhone OS lacks the Carbon layer, so apps like Adobe's and Microsoft's wouldn't run at all unless they are completely rewritten.

apus

I agree completely. Apple will use any new device to *extend* not fragment the iTunes Store model. eBooks would be no-brainer to add and accelerate device uptake.

ConradLebron

Anyone else remember the stories of what Jobs did before the iPhone came out? About how he showed different versions of the iphone with different features to different people under him so he could find out who was leaking info? I'm getting the feeling the same thing's starting to happen...

Travis Gohr

@BostonPimpDaddy2: Nah, a keyboard would ruin the tablet feeling.

I do wish they could be like the rumor and you be able to plug them into any mac (and possibly a pc) and use them as a second screen (or a mirror) and be able to write on it. That would be perfect for my classes, I use a ton of photoshop and the graphics are funky.

But how would they get the keyboard? Slide out? Keyboard like iPhone? Will it have some new way? Will that be available for regular macs? Will it be running a special build of 10.5/10.6? Multi-touch screen? Compatibility with other programs?

Will developers have to add a trigger in their program to trigger the on screen keyboard? What will happen if you try and play a game that uses keyboard? Will the device rotate sideways and use whatever space is needed to display the keyboard?

KTK1990

I can already see the advertising: The Mac tablet. Just as shitty as every other tablet...

kingbob337

@BostonPimpDaddy2: NOt caring.

Seems like wishful thinking. Apple isn't going to move away from the locked-down (and extremely profitable) iTunes-->device model of the iPod and iPhone. Everything up to now points to a large Touch to compete with netbooks and e-readers at the same time - Apple wants an extension of their dominating mobile market, not another full computing device that requires so much more engineering.

Michael Crider

Does anyone even make 13" and 15" capacitive screens?

Apple wouldn't release tablets with resistive screens.

GodwinTurco

Dear employee,
We at [redacted] strive to support our staff in the best possible way, however we can no longer compensate you for your lost personal property. This is the sixth occasion in which you have reported your ModBook stolen, and unfortunately we can no longer investigate this matter as the internets have gotten a hold of it. Next time, please stop showing off your [insert Chinese holiday] bonus that you got from the land of America and do some work. You're fired. Please don't kill yourself as we will not compensate your family.

oyumurtaci

I was under the impression that the iPhone runs some Leopard/Snow Leopard hybrid since 3.0. Not exactly the same OS, but mostly a different UI.

This news made me slightly moist. Bring it!

YanabaShark

With this, Apple could threaten the Kindle, steal some share of the Notebook market, and be the first tablet everyone would want to use.

I am really, really excited about this.

TheAlmeida

I don't believe that Apple would do this. That would make a single product line with a significant difference and lack of compatibility between two models. Right now Apple has two distinct businesses, and there is no blurring of the line between them: Computers and Mobile devices. The differences are clear enough so that it is pretty easy to realize that an application for your mobile device won't run on your Mac and vice-versa. If they were to create a line of tablets, some of which run full OS X and some of which run Mobile OS X, it would be an uncharacteristically confusing move for Apple. Suddenly people want "the iTab," but which one? Even with different names, the products appear similar enough to cause mass confusion (think of the typical Apple customer).

I really hope that the devices don't run a mobile-specific OS. They're too big to fit in your pocket, so making them a little beefier so they can run a full desktop OS isn't a problem and unlocks a lot more possibilities for usage. Running a full desktop OS also wouldn't preclude them from allowing compatibility with the App Store, since the developer's kit already can emulate the hardware.

NO keyboard? No sell.

BostonPimpDaddy2

i really hope they all run mac os X.. iphone os on a large form factor isn't worth my time.. its great for a phone.. give me my os X on the full tablet

zavoid

Only one of them running OS X? Marvellous.