The argument that this sort of device makes sense because of the app store is bunk, at the least. You don't take an app running on a high-resolution 3.5 inch screen and just throw it onto a screen 4x as big.

If you read through the Apple SDK documentation for the iPhone it's stated that the dimensions you are working with are NOT pixels. On the iPhone and iPod, the dimensions you are working with scale 1:1 to pixels, but that you should keep in mind the scale will be different with future devices.

So all apps will scale automatically to bigger screens. And it seems that they planned from the start that bigger screens would come along.

Pageviews! Pageviews! Pageviews!

This falls firmly in the "I'll believe it when I see it" category.

I don't really follow consumer electronics closely so I'll ask the dumb questions: Why's it so hard to believe? Have these flirtations happened before?

Oh, my, yes. People have been wanting tablets for ages, and they've especially been wanting a tablet from Apple for ages.

It's possible that they might be able to mass produce something like this in the $800-$1k range, given that the base MacBook Air starts at $1800. And this would have a lot more in common, hardware-wise, with the Air than with the Touch.

To get sufficient buyers, I think they'd have to get it down at least to the $500-$600 range, or maybe even lower. And I don't think that will be feasible, especially given how people would expect to use it. The screen area is 4x, which multiplies requirements for memory and processor and network throughput and batteries... which all still has to fit in a sexy form factor.

Still, it would be sweet. :)

TechCrunch recently specced something like this out and they came up with low cost model, 7in-9in, running Linux/Firefox, w/ WiFi for $200. Not bad...Of course, there's no way Apple will release a low end, low cost anything

Any idea what kind of battery life TC figured, for their spec?

Why would it be sweet? What do all you people who want tablet computers want them for?

I completely see that laptops with digitizer screens that can be turned into tablet form factor are enhanced laptops. Laptops+. Laptops 2.0. Yet they haven't really taken off, and nobody (except me) seems to think they're cool.

Instead people (you included) want Eric-the-half-a-laptop.

Why?

I use the iPhone for web browsing. My wife uses it a lot for e-book reading. It would be much better with a bigger screen. If your mostly reading with only a little input, a tablet about the size indicated is very interesting.

I also use the iPhone for web browsing, but there are scant few places where I am all of: not at home or work and didn't bring my full laptop, yet can't manage with just an iPhone and would have been willing to bring a midsized thing and wouldn't prefer device with keyboard. Which isn't to say I want an Apple-netbook, but instead dream of an even better iPhone.

The iPhone wouldn't be better with a 7" screen; it would be at home because it wouldn't fit in my pocket - after all, I really only want one convergence device and that's got to be centered around my phone because a) that's the main functional thing that I want to carry around everywhere and b) what good is a portable device without a cellular radio these days anyway?

However, I can probably sum up my reply to:

I feel unjustifiable angst that Apple might be spending some of their limited quantities of human effort building a wretched minitablet instead of any of the iPhone improvements I want to see, therefore I don't want it to happen, therefore I wont believe it even if trusted sources have actually held one.

The battery life on such a device would ensure that I have to keep buying a new to replace the old one that I keep smashing out of frustration.

You can buy laptops with digitizer screens now, but the software to take advantage of the digitizer is not as usable as the software that currently runs on the iPhone and the iPod touch.

In this particular case there have been rumors for the past year(ish) of an Apple tablet that would essential be a large iPhone (minus the phone). This falls into the same ballpark but we will see.

This is exactly what's needed. Current tablets are clunky to use, using a stylus is annoying and multitouch is clearly the future.

Shame that it'll probably be crippled by not having a full OS that allows the use of arbitrary applications. The idea of owning a larger PDA doesn't really appeal to me, so I'll probably wait for UMPC and Netbook manufacturers to steal all the good ideas.

So this is Apple's "netbook"? But sans keyboard.

Apple made a tablet PC in 1989, the Newton. It was attractive, but never really took off. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton

Microsoft had a Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, which likewise went nowhere.

Typing is simply a better technology than writing, for text entry.

There are people who still to this day use Newton for taking notes at meetings.

Taking notes? I still have a web server running on one of mine :)

The sad truth is that it probably wasn't until the past year or two that PDAs/net-tablets caught up to what the Newton had in '97. It was definitely ahead of its time, but I was sorely disappointed to wait almost a decade to see just how far ahead of its time those little boxes really were.

Here's my prediction for Fall of 2009:

Apple makes another gadget

Do people find the iPhone/iPod touch inadequate for browsing the web?

I can see he value of a large form iPod for digital book reading, but for basic web consumption the netbook is the iPhone/Android (For me at least).

Typing decent amounts, and Flash, are important to a lot of people.

Macbook Lighter-than-Air?

A 7" screen is too big to be an iPod, so it would have to be focused around films and apps. Yet a 7" device is pretty big to be a device with an accelerometer and no D-pad and be used as a game controller, but not very big to watch films on. And it would be limited as a general netbook competitor by having no keyboard and running the limited iphone-ipod-OS.

Can they make a touchscreen so much bigger and still as good?

Would it be netbook style Intel Atom based and expensive with short battery life and much thicker than the current ipod touch, or the same very low powered phone/pda processor currently used? Could they make it structurally strong if it is as thin as the iPod touch yet much bigger?

I can't see it filling any particular niche given that it would be too big to be pocketable, too limited to be a macbook air competitor and likely not cheap enough to stand far away from the iPhone/iPod touch/macbook.

Who would want one and what would they want to do with it?

Niche? People who fly a lot. Basically the same size screen as what's on your seatback, but completely under your control. In general when I travel I'm almost always too lazy to drag out the Macbook Pro. Still small enough to fit in a jacket or parachute pants type pocket.

Most people who fly a lot do so for work, so they tend to use that otherwise lost time to work rather than sit back and watch movies. Something that's good for typing is better for work, namely a laptop or blackberry.

I'm also very skeptical about the battery life lasting long enough. Every Apple portable device I've had has sucked battery much too fast to last on long trips.

The new macbooks have powerful processors so they run out of juice very fast, but the older ones are much better. PowerBook G4 can last almost an entire flight from CA to New York.

I think you underestimate the amount of goofing off that happens in the world, whether at work, or traveling for work.

I can envision a use case where the user plugs their iPhone-class device into their cinema display and bluetooth to their keyboard and mouse. They use it for professional tasks while at their desk. They take it with them to browse the web^W^W^W take light notes/research during meetings, and consume email/media on their couches at home. They might have a second dock in their home office for additional work or personal input.

I don't know how large the market would be, nor am I sure I would even want such a thing myself, but maybe it would be interesting.