Is Apple about to jump on the netbook bandwagon and come out with its first sub-$1,000 notebook, powered by an Intel Atom microprocessor?
We have to confess the question is entirely speculative, but no less so than the usual rumours surrounding an Apple event.
What intrigues us is that Apple’s “The Spotlight Turns to Notebooks” event next Tuesday coincides with Intel’s third-quarter earnings announcement. What better way to counter what could be some grim financial forecasts than the news that Apple is buying Atom and supporting a category that Intel has been heavily promoting.
Asus’s eee model has done most to stir interest in netbooks, triggering similar launches by virtually every major computer maker bar Apple.
Analysts are predicting Apple may come up with its first sub-$1,000 notebook, but see this as likely to be a simple variation of its MacBook line.
A small form-factor netbook would mark a major departure. But Steve Jobs has always favoured those “One last thing…” surprises.
