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November 23, 2005
Flash-based PowerBooks?
Barring the obvious pricing issues, wouldn't it be cool if Apple did away with hard drives in the upcoming Intel PowerBook in favor of flash memory? It would allow them to further minimize the footprint (possibly fulfilling my dream of a PowerBook nano) and even offer the first instant-on machines.
The Motley Fool has a story on Apple's aggressive sourcing of flash memory and the potential for a new instant-on or near instant-on machine. The article also discusses Intel's "Robson" technology that integrates NAND flash into computers. Although flash memory chips aren't likely to replace the HDD any time soon, adding it promises to provide longer battery life.
The other barrier to replacing hard drives with flash is price. Flash memory is much more expensive that hard drive mechanisms, but then again Apple recently prepaid $1.25B to secure flash chips through 2010, which probably got them a substantial discount. Maybe they have all that flash memory allocated to something other than iPods?
Posted by jasonogrady at November 23, 2005 4:00 PM
Category: PowerBook
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Comments
What if they just put the OS on the flash memory andused a conventional HD for file and program storage? Sounds intriguing!
Posted by: Ken Takahashi at November 23, 2005 11:12 AM
Think we have a long way to go.
Besides cost, flash memory is S-L-O-W compared to current hard drives in read/write speeds.
Posted by: john at November 23, 2005 11:17 AM
Flash has limited write cycles, so it probably will not replace secondary storage. However, it might be perfect for safe sleep in the new powerbooks.
Posted by: sky at November 23, 2005 11:21 AM
Or how about the "iPad" or "PowerPad" ultra small form factor handheld computer? That would be sweet! 1152x768 res on an 8" LCD with touchscreen input -- the perfect web and e-mail machine -- maybe there's a slide-out mini-keyboard for on-the-go input, and bluetooth for wireless keyboard and mouse when you're at your desk...
Dreaming...
Posted by: mxfx at November 23, 2005 1:43 PM
flash-based hard drives - one step closer to the dream of a truly ruggedized powerbook. (it'd run cooler too, no?)
Posted by: Adam B. at November 23, 2005 1:55 PM
What I would like as a short-term solution is having the boot disk and often used files on flash, and the rest on hard drive. With some intelligent caching to move things back and forth, it could potentially speed things up and reduce power needs with needing 100 GB of flash. I ask the more knowledgeable in the audience, would this work, or not be any different? Isn't that how the HD based iPods do things?
Posted by: Howl at November 23, 2005 2:56 PM
What mobile road worrior would not want an instant-on harddisk-less laptop! Just a minor correction. It would not be the first. The UK-based company Psion launched the Psion 7. A sub-notebook which did exactly that. It used RAM as main memory and had two slots for Compact Flash. It served as my mobile platform for a couple of years and is the best mobile computer I have ever had as it booted instantly, could last 8 hours continously on one charge, but I only needed to charge once a week as you just could turn off power between writing and thinking ;-)
http://www.geocities.com/epoc_32/
http://www.ericlindsay.com/epoc/psion7.htm
If Apple came with a similar based on NAND, I would buy one!. CS
Posted by: Carsten at November 23, 2005 3:16 PM
Not only would it be cool if Apple did away with hard drives in laptops, but it would solve the number one problem facing portable computers -- hard disk failure. Ten years ago I didn't know anyone who had actually experienced a hard disk crash. Today, I don't know anyone who hasn't. Competition may drive down prices, but it also forces manufacturers to lower quality in order to compete on price. Who exactly is this benefitting? Price isn't everything.
Posted by: Mark Thomas at November 23, 2005 3:28 PM
A "FlashMac" PowerBook would be a fantastic machine. I can see that a small flash drive (say ~10GB) could be used for the OS and applications. This would make the computer extremely responsive. And then a larger standard rotating hard drive (~80GB) is used for file storage and backup, only when needed.
This dual drive (flash/hard drive) system could easily be used on desktop systems, too. In fact, the use of a flash memory system could be a requirement for the Intel chips and thus provide a way of locking down OSX (Leopard) to the Apple only Intel hardware. I, for one, would love to have an Intel "FlashMac". Where do I preorder?
Posted by: ML at November 23, 2005 4:21 PM
40-60-100 gigs of Flash memory would be astronomical in price. I would suggest an intermediate step. Put 3-4 gigs of flash on the powerbook and load the OS on it. Let the Powerbook startup off the Flash ram, making it fire up MUCH faster. Keep a backup of the flash on the HD just in case.
Posted by: Mark from MT at November 23, 2005 7:26 PM
I already have an instant-on Powerbook. The feature is called "sleeping" onthe Mac ... Just close the lid to sleep. Open it to wake up.
One second to turn it on.
Just works. And has been here for years.
I just don't see what the benefit of another type of memory.
Posted by: Jerome at November 24, 2005 11:16 AM
Hey Jason, I posted a similar idea earlier, suggesting a Flash only portable, also called the iBook or PowerBook Nano. I believe this a high possibility in view of the instant on potential and ability for it to double as a shock resistant media player. However, chances are, Apple will create a hybrid, where Flash is used as a massive cache / buffer, and perhaps a 100% solid state machine will arrive later as the price performance ratio of Flash improves.
Posted by: Wonderkid at November 24, 2005 1:02 PM
Apple already made a flash based portable - it was called Newton.
Posted by: lava at November 25, 2005 8:16 PM
How soon we all forget...wasn't the Apple eMate 300 was the first instant-on laptop from Apple.
John Hyde
Posted by: John Hyde at November 26, 2005 11:50 PM
