What Apple didn't launch

Steve Jobs talks Blu-ray, netbooks

14 October 2008 19:48 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

At a "town hall" press event in California, Apple has launched new MacBooks, MacBooks Pros, a refreshed Cinema display and updated the Air, but what's also interesting is what wasn't launched.

As is usual with such events, rumours were swirling in the build-up as to what Steve Jobs, the Apple CEO, might debut, and a few of these were touched on during the question and answer session after the presentation.

When asked why the supposedly "next-gen" notebooks don't offer Blu-ray, a technology Apple is officially a backer of, Jobs candidly replied:

"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."

He also stated that "HDMI is limited in resolution", touchscreen in computers "have not made a lot of sense" to Apple and even commented on the much rumoured Apple netbook.

"In terms of netbooks, that's a nascent market that's just getting started", Jobs said, when quizzed if, and when, we will see a cheap Mac netbook. Maybe next year...

Full tags

Hardware, Apple MacBook Pro, Netbooks, Blu-ray, Steve Jobs, Apple