The case for (and against) an Apple netbook

Speculation is rife that Apple is working on a netbook

As is usually the case, recent months have seen a bevy of rumours as to the nature of Apple's next big product.

Apple is well established in the desktop, notebook and smartphone markets, and many assume that its next foray will be into the burgeoning netbook market.

This speculation was furthered in recent weeks when reports began to leak out from suppliers in Asia that the company is constructing a device with a 10in touch screen matching the general description of a netbook.

Aside from being the latest rage in gadget circles, the netbook market rewards sleek designs, simple layouts and intuitive software, all areas at which Apple excels. It is also, however, a market littered with potential landmines that, if not properly handled, could destroy any attempts to brand the company's logo onto the market.

First and foremost of these is cost. Apple chief Steve Jobs has said flat out that cheap computers are more or less rubbish, and that the company will not waste its time on such projects.

Apple does not do low-end machines very well, as the company has a set standard for user experience that requires a fair amount of money to construct. Even the cheapest Mac, the stripped down Mac Mini desktop, starts at a price well above that of any netbook or even discount PC.

If Apple won't build a bare-bones desktop for less than $500 (£350), how is the company going to compete in a market that crams high-end technologies such as solid state drives (SSDs) and 3G networking while still maintaining a lower price point than a notebook?

The closest Apple has come to a netbook so far is the MacBook Air. The device sports a 13.3in screen, but weighs just 3lbs and famously fits inside an A4 envelope. Of course, it also starts at $1,800 (£1,280), and rises to $2,500 (£1,780) if you want the SSD option.

How then could Apple shrink its notebook down to a netbook model as other companies have, and still keep the device from costing less than a 1998 Volvo?

Then there are the design questions. The Mac has always been about visuals and, ever since the Macintosh jumped out its tiny case and into the hearts of graphic designers and desktop publishers everywhere, that has meant big bright screens.

Nowhere is this more true than with Mac OS X. The sleek and elegant interface of Apple's operating system requires a fair amount of screen space, something which a netbook simply doesn't afford.

On a standard netbook screen, the OS X dock alone would take up half the space. Having more than one window open at a time would require nearly placing one's nose in front of the screen.

So how could Apple possibly create a netbook that is still a Mac and doesn't cost an arm, a leg and a college fund? The answer may lie not with the MacBook, but with another Apple device, perhaps the most famous Apple device on the market right now: the iPhone.

Early adopter penalties aside, the price point for the iPhone has been very good, at least low enough to get the device into the penny-pinching emporium that is Wal-Mart. This is a device that sports a 3G connection, decent battery life and enough muscle to run sophisticated applications on top of a stripped-down version of the Macintosh operating system.

The iPhone's interface may also pose a clue as to the nature of an Apple netbook. Rather than the traditional graphical user interface, the iPhone uses small buttons on a touch screen arranged in a grid. Applications use touch gestures to zoom and scroll, and the result is an interface that has changed the way smartphones are designed.

Since smartphone interfaces seem to be equal parts smartphone and PC, this could bode well for Apple. The iPhone's signature grid and pop-up menus could solve many of the problems associated with translating OS X onto a smaller screen.

Would a sort of souped-up, stretched out iPhone be the way to go then? The latest reports of mass orders for 10in touch screens could point that way.

Second only to netbook rumours have been talks of a Mac tablet. Such a device could satisfy both camps. While I'm sure my photographer friends would love it, it wouldn't appeal to anyone that makes extensive use of the keyboard. While the animating features of the iPhone's keyboard help, they're no match for tactile feedback, and the very thought of typing 600 words on a touch-screen keyboard is enough to make your wrists scream in agony.

There's also the durability question. Netbooks are designed to be tossed into a backpack or purse, and carried around during all the bumps and bangs of everyday life.

The iPhone survives quite well in my pocket, and I always make a point of putting keys, pens and coins in the other pocket so as to avoid a scratch, but I'd never toss it in a backpack or purse without a case to protect it.

But we can solve both these issues by going back to the MacBook. If you slap a 10in keyboard underneath the screen and fold it over into a clamshell casing, you can kill two birds with one stone.

So let's try to imagine our Mac netbook: a 10in touch screen with a bare-bones keyboard and a clamshell case. Sort of like a slimmed-down MacBook Air when closed.

The software is the iPhone/iPod touch, but with more room to breathe. Though it uses a home button and icon grid, there's also room to drag windows and top menus. By keeping the software footprint simple, it also keeps hardware requirements down and thus the price stays competitive.

So, it looks like there may just be a model for an Apple netbook after all. That just leaves the question, with the economy in a once-in-a-century tailspin and Steve Jobs currently recovering from fairly serious health issues, will Apple want to release a netbook right now?

If history is any indication, the answer is yes. It just won't be in a time span any of us can predict, and the end result, no doubt very cool-looking, will be nothing like any of us would imagine.