At WWDC last month many fans of the 12-inch PowerBook G4 were hoping to see an announcement of it’s counterpart within the MacBook Pro lineup. Despite rumors going back and forth over the past 18 months nobody was certain. But sadly, no mention was made.

Since WWDC there have been the updates on the 15- and 17-inch MBP screens and the rumors of the new iMac line and the death of the 17″ iMac. But still no rumors of an ultra-powerful ultra-portable.

Apple’s product line

After reading John’s article on OS X-Based iPods, it became apparent as to why we will not see a 12-inch MacBook Pro. John says, “Apple treats its product line-up like a product itself — it is designed to be obvious and easy to understand.”

Look at the computer lineup. It’s incredibly easy to pick just the right computer.

• Do you work from home and need something with 20,000,000 horsepower? Get a MacPro.
• Do you only check your email and want a little remote control to pump the jams? Get an iMac.
• Do you work hard whenever and wherever you want? Get a MacBook Pro.
• Do you check your email from the local coffee shop, and still want a little remote control to pump the jams? Get a MacBook.

No Room

Take a look at their MacBook page. Apple hasn’t left any place for a 12-inch MBP.

The plastic MacBooks are marketed towards iLife and Front Row users – something you don’t need the power of a MacBook Pro to do; while the pro lineup is marketed towards video and image editing – something you need more screen real estate for.

Buried

Apple has told us that a person needing more punch from their laptop also needs more pixels. Although many of us would love to see an ultra portable powerhouse it’s obvious that the 12-inch PowerBook has been buried in order to leave less clutter in the Macintosh product line.

At home I have a Mac Pro I use as my main workstation. I also have a 12″ PowerBook that I take everywhere I go.

The more identical these two computers are the better. I want them to have the same desktop wallpaper, the same dock apps, the same everything. I want my project lists, my emails, my RSS feeds and my web-development to all be synced and mirrored on both computers.

It took me a while, but I found applications that work with my daily routine that will sync between two computers, making it easy to have a seamless work-flow from my Mac Pro to my PowerBook and back again.

.Mac

This is the first step for anyone with more than one Mac computer.

Dot Mac will sync the bulk of your most important, ever changing info. Such as

• Safari bookmarks
• Your grandma’s new email address
• Your friends’ wireless network password
• Your latest email signature
• That hot date next Friday
• … and more …

Email – Go IMAP

If you’re using a desktop email client such as Mail.app or Entourage, you want organize your email on the server. It will be oodles easier to read and manage your email from several different computers. To do this, simply use an IMAP email.

With IMAP set up you can create folders on your mail server to help you stay orgainzed. These folders are automatically synced between your two computers. On my .Mac email account I have a ‘Reply’ folder, a ‘Follow Up’ folder and a ‘Hold’ folder.

If I’m on my desktop at home and can’t respond to an email right away, I drop it into the reply folder. Then, when I am on my laptop checking email later, I view what’s in the reply folder to see what emails I need to respond to. And since it’s IMAP I don’t have to re-sort all my email when I check it on a different computer. It stays synced.

Feed Reader – NetNewsWire

I prefer to use a desktop feed reader so I can catch up on feeds when I’m traveling. But there’s nothing worse than checking my feeds in the morning on my desktop computer, and then opening up my feed reader later in the afternoon on my laptop only to have to re-read 150 posts I already went through.

NetNewsWire flawlessly syncs with multiple computers so my laptop knows what I already read on my desktop, and vice-a-versa.

Project and Task Managment – iGTD

Four letters: iGTD.

I can add, delete and edit anything and iGTD keeps itself identical between multiple computers. Making projects, ToDo lists, and everything else easily available on both computers.

Web Development – Coda

I have fallen in love with Coda.

With Coda it is extremely simple to do server side editing. Making it an ideal program for average web developer who codes at home and at the coffee shop.