In some respects I’d expected the bigger news to be about the iPhone. Turns out that Apple’s Q3 2007 was the best quarter for Apple Mac sales ever. Apple shipped 1.7 million Macs, representing a 33% rise on Q3 2006.

Here’s the kicker: 64% of Macs sold were laptops.

Here’s why:

• Just because you use a computer in one place doesn’t mean it must be a desktop;
• If you need to be out of the office for a period of time, having a laptop saves you from all that stupid synching malarkey;
• Laptops are powerful enough to run a business from;
• Laptops enable you to personalise your work aesthetics;
• Laptops enable you to be more flexible about your work / life balance.

With the exception of two Linux servers – one for each office – we run our business from first generation MacBooks. Earlier this year I spent seven hours on a train developing a fairly complex Ajax web architecture. I couldn’t have done that without a laptop. Secure access via a Virtual Private Network keeps us in touch with our servers, and all connected equipment, with just a broadband connection.

When I’m at the office, my MacBook gets plugged into a proper keyboard, mouse etc., is networked via Ethernet, and I use a 23” Apple Cinema Display as a second monitor. No reboots – I just have to move some windows about. It takes seconds to connect up.

Now the iPhone: Apple reported 270,000 sales of the iPhone during the first 30 hours of sales. Just think about that for a moment. That’s 30 hours of sales in the US alone. How much of that 30 hours is the US asleep for? Smart-asses at the back of the class shouldn’t answer this rhetorical question. Fact is this figure is sensational for an unproven first generation mobile device. Apple’s predicting one million sales by end of September 2007 (representing Q4 2007).

They’re coming to a ‘few major countries’ in Europe later this year. And yes, I’m still buying one.