Recently there is news on the possibility of partnership between Orange and Apple to launch new laptop mobile broadband deals. Orange is intends to supply Apple MacBook along with their mobile broadband dongles, on a 24 month contract basis.
Laptop deals are not quite a new thing in the UK mobile market. However such a deal is the first of the kind in the UK where an Apple laptop has been offered along with a mobile broadband contract. Based on the information we gathered, Orange will be launching this offer as early as this summer. So for those Mac enthusiasts, this summer may be something to look forward to.
So far there is still yet no confirmation from either side of the companies in term of the pricing and launching date. But based on the high prices of MacBooks (around £800), we do not expect this offers to be cheap and could somehow make its slightly less attractive for many peoples.
As mentioned earlier, the current laptop offers are in conjunction with the Orange mobile broadband dongle. But there is speculation from some mobile industry experts that the Orange partnership may in future offers on-board mobile broadband in the Apple laptops. This kind of offer are getting more and more common in the UK mobile phone market, such as the Vodafone deals with Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook.
There are currently a lot of rumours around on why Apple wants to work with Orange instead of with their previous iPhone partner O2. Many are wonders might be due to Apple not satisfaction with the O2 mobile broadband service they are currently received.
