Mac Tablet Arrives, But Not from Apple

Tired of waiting for Apple to make a tablet PC? Believe it or not, there's a new Mac tablet that's on sale right now—but it's not from Apple.

Percolating for about a year now, the long-awaited 13.3-inch ModBook—a Mac-based tablet by way of an outfit called Axiotron—is now shipping, and it looks pretty sweet. The slate-style Mac runs on Leopard (the latest version of the Mac OS) and comes with Wacom's "Penabled" technology, which recognizes up to 133 pen positions per second and 512 levels of pressure, good for precision sketching. The Axiotron pen itself also comes with 11 different pen tips, including pencil and felt nibs. And yes, handwriting recognition through Leopard's Inkwell feature is part of the deal.

Under the hood, the ModBook is no slouch, packing in a Core 2 Duo processor (2.0GHz and 2.2GHz versions are available) and up to 120GB of hard drive space, as well as built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an optical drive (either the CD-writing Combo Drive or the DVD-writing SuperDrive), and GPS—a nice touch for on-the-go tablet users.

All in all, impressive stuff—but who's the ModBook for? In general, tablet PCs are great for artists, graphic designers, and others looking to draw or sketch while they're out and about; by the same token, answering tons of e-mail or tweaking Excel spreadsheets with the pen and handwriting-recognition software probably isn't such a good idea. There's also no word on real-world battery life yet, and the price—$2,279 and up—is pretty steep. And finally, rumors of a Mac ultraportable debuting at Macworld refuse to go away, so you might want to wait until after the Jan. 14 keynote before cracking open your wallet. (Keep in mind, however, that all signs point to a Mac sub-notebook, not a pen-based tablet.)

For more pictures of the ModBook and some hands-on details, check out this Ars Technica story from last year; meanwhile, I'll have more details once I get a review unit.

Related:
Surprise! ModBook gets an early ship date for 2008 [Ars Technica]