Rumor has it that Apple is planning to rollout a new series of Macbook products, possibly as soon as October of 2008.  As in… three months from now.  And if the reports are true (though they’re nothing more than unconfirmed rumors at this point), then Apple may be about to revolutionize the way that people work on laptops.  Again.

It’s not like there haven’t already been attempts at touchscreen technology on PC-based platforms.  In fact, many people use Microsoft Windows Tablet PCs for everyday work.  And HP has recently announced that they will be rolling out a new “Touchsmart” PC for home and office use.  So it’s not as though Apple is breaking any new ground on the touchscreen computer front.  I mean, hell – fifteen years ago, Apple brought us the Newton and all the headaches associated with early handwriting recognition.

But something tells me that Apple will do it right this time.  In fact, according to the original MacDailyNews article linked above, this gives Apple yet another use for their acquisition of P.A. Semi.

If all the rumors turn out to be true, the biggest advance Apple will have made with their touchscreen release will be the use of a full version of Mac OS X, and not a streamlined OS such as Windows Tablet.  Having the full features of your brand’s primary OS is a huge advantage, especially if Apple can then incorporate things like handwriting and voice recognition into the system.

In other words… I’ve been waiting on buying a new laptop for a couple years.  This might be the one that gets me back in the market.