Flash memory laptops planned for 2007?
Rumor says that Apple are going to launch a couple of laptops with flash memory hard drives only, instead of the regular spinning hard drives used today. And this will be done by the end of 2007. Well, it might be true considering that Samsung already have a hybrid laptop, that uses a combination between an ordinary hard drive and a flash memory based one, and the Koreans from LG are planning to launch a similar gadget this month, equipped with a 14″ screen.
The advantages of a this kind of laptop would be more then obvious: the elimination off the lengthy start-up time, better battery life, as the flash drive would have less spinning and thus power hungry parts, longer hard disk life and better protection of data in case of shocks, smaller space needed for the HDD and far less heat relieved. On the other part, flash based drives would have considerable smaller storage capacity and would be a lot more expensive than the ordinary spinning HDD.
Actually, this kind of storage is already used by Apple on their iPod music players series, so it might not be such a big step adapting it for notebooks. According to the rumor, the new laptops from Apple will be called sub-notebooks and will use a simplified version of the Mac OS operating system.
I’m looking forward for Steve Jobs performance while rpesenting the new Apple flash memory based laptops
Such technology could have a major impact on the ordinary spinning hard drives industry, so we should expect some big changes in the near future, like price drops and many bankruptcies. Although if the flash drive solution might not be so viable right now, it will surely be in the future, as the prices for flash memories are going down, while capacities are increasing. So it’s only a matter of time now until the transition will be made.
Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox said the company does not comment “on rumor and speculation”, but what else could she have told… Anyway, we’ll just have to wait and see, but i might even bet that this rumour has a pit of truth in it.
Source: Computer World
Mike is an Editor at Gadgetroad.com. He's the 'let him write' type of guy, with a great focus on getting the job done and, like all of us, a passionate gadget lover with many years of tech background.
