Manufactured using the original motherboard and all other core components of a previously purchased, genuine Apple laptop computer, the Modbook is able to run the Mac operating system unmodified and maintain the same level of compatibility with any Mac application, as the initial donor MacBook or MacBook Pro system.
Commercial sales of the Modbook are, like every Mac conversion before it, protected in the U.S. by the First-sale doctrine and similar legal concepts in most other countries.
Currently the company's website Modbook.com has been suspended and they have not updated the Kickstarter and Wefunder campaigns in years. After successful campaign funding and website preorders, the Modbook Pro X still has not been fulfilled to customers as of February 2022.
The Modbook started shipping soon after the Macworld 2008[8][1][2] and was positively received as the pen-based macOS based tablet Apple fans had been waiting for,[9] with all the components of a MacBook and a built-in Wacomdigitizer for peninput, in a slate-style form factor.
The Modbook used the Apple MacBook Core 2 Duo White with speeds of 1.8GHz and 2GHz. Its pen support was based on Penabled Wacom digitizing technology and did not include touch input. The Axiotron Digitizer Pen featured 512 pressure levels, 2 programmable side buttons plus an eraser.
The Modbook also was equipped with a new and improved LCD panel, more suited for use as a tablet computer, offering wider viewing angles and higher contrast colors compared to the original base MacBook display. The "AnyView" display was bonded to the "ForceGlass" screen cover, which was chemically strengthened to improve the durability of the screen and featured an etched surface to improve the response of the digitizer pen.
The top segments of the MacBook are removed, which include the keyboard, LCD screen and camera. A glass screen cover, a new LCD screen, a sensor board, the original camera and a chrome-plated magnesium top shell are then installed. This is done either to a new-from-Apple MacBook for a device sold complete to a new owner, or to the customer's previously owned MacBook for an aftermarket modification.
Modbook Pro
Introduced in June 2012,[11] by the newly founded Southern California-based Modbook Inc., the Modbook Pro uses a completely new conversion process and enclosure design to convert a MacBook Pro 13.3-inch standard display model into an all black, all aluminum slate-style pen-enabled Mactablet.[12][13][14] The system's specifications[15] start with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor with up to 16GB of RAM and either a 1TB hard drive or a 960GB SSD, with a SuperDrive and Intel HD 4000 graphics. The system can be bumped up to a 2.9GHz Core i7 processor and additional storage options. The Modbook Pro is targeted at creative professionals looking for the power of a MacBook Pro running macOS, but in a pen-enabled tablet computer.[16]
Modbook Pro X
The Modbook Pro X was conceived as a one-off, limited production run, starting off as a successful Kickstarter project at the end of 2014.[17][18] Through several delays, caused by technical challenges and subsequent Apple updates to the MacBook Pro it is based on,[19] the Kickstarter project eventually evolved[20] into Modbook Inc.’s next commercial product line, the Modbook Pro X with Touch Bar.
No Modbook Pro X machines were delivered to customers. Payments were not refunded.
As of February 2022, Modbook, Inc. has not delivered any Modbook Pro X or Modbook Pro X with Touch Bar machines to any customers. Wefunder, Kickstarter, and individual preorders have not been fulfilled. The website Modbook.com has also been suspended.[22]
"The original OS X tablet: how Modbook got its groove back". Ars Technica. June 28, 2012. ...The idea is to offer creative professionals a way to work on a "real" computer while still offering them a tablet-like experience—a sort of Frankenstein between the iPad and a normal MacBook Pro...'
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Axiotron_Modbook, and is written by contributors.
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