Tomorrow is the iPhone 3.0 event and I have “a feeling” they will be unveiling a new tablet. What perfect timing for such a device as tablet PC’s are all over the place these days. And for good reason… They’re cheap! However, one thing that will different about Apple’s tablet offering, is it will not match the $500 average cost of current units now available. My bets are that it will be in the $699-899 range. Yes, that’s over $300 more than the current market value. This is what Apple does. They create great looking products and sell them at “worth” value. Even in this price range, they will sell just as many (if not more) as the first iPhone, which was tagged at $599.

Render of possible Mac Tablet

Render of possible Mac Tablet

I don’t think Apple is going to try to compete with the Netbook market directly.  Apple has a big lead in touch technology and probably needs to innovate in other ways rather that release a similar type of product to a mature market. Apple has also shown much interest in these devices which is evident from a job posting at the end of last year.

The timing?  Well, if this thing has to be put on a device in late Summer, Apple will probably want some software to run on it… probably even an App Store.  If so, developers will need at least a few months to get their apps to run on this new little device.  That means they should probably start right about now. And what the rumored “premium app store“?

Even if apple doesn’t release a tablet tomorrow, you can bet they will very soon!