Despite the shear excitement factor in the story that Apple will be using the Menlow platform, I have to say that I think the story by Apple Insider is a little over zealous and probably doesn’t relate to MIDs or UMPCs. I won’t go as far as to say that Apple Insider are keyword-stuffing or trying to grab attention but in my opinion its off the mark.
The core of Apple Insiders story is this line: “Apple has taken a liking to the upcoming 45-nanometer (nm) “Silverthorne” chip, agreeing to use it in not one but multiple products currently situated on its 2008 calendar year product roadmap” which they then extrapolate to: “two seemingly apparent contenders appear to be the second-generation 3G iPhone and the much rumoured Newton successor / ultra-portable slate computer.”
There’s no way Menlow will be used on a 2008 iPhone. No way. Its too big, too hot and too powerful and as for the Ultra Portable Slate, well I think its too early for Apple to be doing that. They have a good line in the iPhone and iPod now and those are both ARM-based devices. Running an x86-based iPad alongside these products wouldn’t make sense just yet. It would be far better to wait until Moorestown is available and develop an absolute killer product with that. Intel think so too. I do hope we’re both wrong though! The MID party starts in a few weeks and we need some sharp-dressers to set the scene.
One nice side-effect of this story though is that a number of top blogs followed up on the story. Digital Daily, Cnet, Dvorak. Are they all getting ready for a UMPC-fuelled 2008 or is it just a slow day for news?
Update: Maybe they mean Silverthorne in a different guise? Canmore for AppleTV? Silvethorne is also said to go to 2Ghz so maybe its ideal for an ultra slim notebook? I’m trying hard not to get dragged into the Apple rumor-mill but its bloody hard not to!
Source: AppleInsider.