What Is the Holy Grail of Laptop Design?

Ever since I started using the original IBM laptop in 1986, I have watched with interest as these machines became thinner, lighter, and less boxy over the years.

By the late 1990s, there were significant breakthroughs in screens, batteries, and processor voltage regulation, but all laptops were still basically clamshells. But then, Bill Gates outlined his tablet computer vision in which a pen and slate were married together to create a completely new form of personal computing.

Historical purists would argue that pen computing and tablets actually were introduced in the early 1990s, which would be true. However, the pen computing era died about as fast as it came to market. And tablets did not gain any real industry acceptance until Gates gave his Comdex speech in which he declared a tablet the "future of portable computing."

I remember meeting with Gates in Redmond a few weeks after that speech, and he went on and on about how a tablet would redefine portable computing. In many ways, he was right but the technology was just not there to make tablets feasible. It took another 10 years for tablets to catch on, but instead of Gates leading the charge, it was Steve Jobs with the iPad.

For the first two years the iPad was on the market, many thought that tablets could replace laptops, which resulted in a PC sales slump. However, by last year, the market realized that tablets could not really replace laptops, especially for serious business productivity. While some tablets were great for use in vertical markets, most business folks went back to laptops as their core personal computing devices and tablet sales have declined.

But make no mistake, even with tablets in decline, they are here to stay and will most likely augment a business user's personal computing experience and continue to be great products for the family. However, in the world of business productivity, various vendors have started to rethink portable computing designs with 2-in-1s. They have introduced products like Lenovo's Yoga, a laptop with a screen that can flip back and turn into a tablet, and Microsoft' Surface, which is a tablet with a detachable keyboard.

There is an interesting debate inside laptop vendors about whether Apple's new MacBook, and similar laptops from Lenovo and Dell, will redefine laptops or if 2-in-1s will be the way forward. There is also a new term being thrown around called 3-in-1s, a new type of ultra thin clamshell that has a special hinge that can be flipped back like a Lenovo Yoga but is also detachable.

I have been pondering this 3-in-1 idea for a couple of months and am beginning to think that this could be the Holy Grail of laptops. I have been testing the new ultra-thin 12-inch MacBook and the Dell XPS 13-inch model, and in both cases I would like the screens to fold back but also have the option to detach the screen. I like the firm design of a clamshell that has this versatility versus my Surface Pro in which either keyboard options make it too awkward in my tests. I am also not a fan of having the keyboard as the back of the tablet in a Yoga-style setting unless the keys can be recessed so the back of the screen is flat.

I realize that this is a personal preference and a lot of people like the Surface Pro's design and even tolerate the keyboard back of a Yoga style machine. But given the light weight of the MacBook, the idea of it being Yoga-like with a detachable touch screen is really appealing to me as a serious road warrior.

While I see the PC vendors looking hard at trying to create a hinge that would allow for a 3-in-1 in future clamshell designs, I am afraid I just don't see Apple moving in this direction. It seems very firm in its commitment to the idea that a MacBook should not be touch enabled and should operate as a true clamshell at all times.

It seems to be a good strategy. Mac sales, especially MacBooks, are growing exponentially while PC and laptop sales overall are still in a decline. Yet, I can't help thinking that a more versatile MacBook could extend Apple's reach in portable computing even further. Apple is rumored to be doing a 12.9-inch tablet (and possibly merging iOS and Mac OS), so perhaps we'll see some creativity there.

While the jury is still out when it comes to how big the 2-in-1 or convertible market will eventually be, my vote is to make it even more versatile via the 3-in-1 concept. I personally would prefer this type of ultimate computing device and if the vendors can get the hinge right, than perhaps a lot of people will adopt this idea of a solid clamshell that can be used in just about every mobile computing setting.