FT claims Apple will launch a tablet Mac for Christmas

Is Apple readying a tablet MacBook for Christmas? The Financial Times certainly thinks so — in a story published earlier today, it states that Apple is readying a portable computer with a 10” screen that’s designed specifically for entertainment.

Sadly, the story is little more than a rehash of the rumours of an Apple tablet that have been circulating for well over a year, but the steady aggregation of information by other sites seem to confirm that Apple is working on something to sit between an iPhone and a MacBook — and will be launching it soon.

The FT piece quotes sources from within the “entertainment industry’ who speculate about what an Apple tablet “could” consist of, but there's little concrete information. One supporting argument for a Mac OS tablet is that Apple has apparently been talking to music publishers about the development of interactive content for music downloads in attempt to create a digital ‘sleeve’ for albums. Such a concept would work just as well on the iPod Touch and iPhone as any large-screen device, of course.

However, a couple of weeks ago, the China Times ran a story claiming that component manufacturers Foxconn, Wintek and Dynapack have all received orders from Apple relating to a touch-screen device. The three companies refused to confirm the claim, but the China Time’s source stated that Apply is readying a 9.7” tablet computer with an $800 price tag – something that sits comfortably with Apple’s insistence that it has no interest in low-end laptops.

Apple Insider followed up the story with a piece claiming that the Apple tablet project was under the personal supervision of CEO Steve Jobs and the reason for its long gestation was his critical eye for detail. The design has apparently been retooled six times in the last two years and is now scheduled for an early 2010 launch. Costing somewhere between an iPhone and the current low-end MacBook, the tablet is reckoned to have a 10” screen and onboard 3G.

Throw in the finger-friendly features that have surfaced in the next version of Mac OS (Snow Leopard) and Apple’s recent acquisition of a Silicon Valley processor manufacturer, and all the signs seem to suggest that something is cooking in Cupertino. Whether it’s a true tablet Mac or something less exotic remains to be seen — we’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, here's an unboxing video of an earlier Apple tablet computer...