'MacBook Pro tablet' launched at Macworld

The Modbook Pro can handle simultaneous pen and finger input.
The Modbook Pro can handle simultaneous pen and finger input.

Apple may not have launched a tablet computer at the Macworld Expo, but Axiotron has. The Modbook Pro uses the guts of a 15.4-inch MacBook Pro laptop, and promises to "re-imagine the tablet computing experience".

This is a powered-up version of the standard Modbook that's been available for some time.

The Modbook Pro's case is built from aluminium, and thanks to the implementation of Axiotron's Synergy Touch technology, you can operate it using a pen and your finger simultaneously. This should enable some useful methods of working.

With up to a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor onboard, the Modbook Pro is being billed as the fastest tablet in the world, and for maximum flexibility, you can even choose to have Windows Vista pre-installed in addition to Mac OS X.

As you might expect, all this comes at a price, though - you'll have to pay $4999 just for the entry-level 2.4GHz model. You can also have your MacBook Pro converted via the Modservice Pro - prices for this start at $3049.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.