“It’s that time of year again, time to dust off the crystal ball and prognosticate about what Apple has in store for us at the big January love-in at Moscone. Macworld Expo opens in San Francisco in less than two weeks and predicting Expo announcements has become nothing short of a sport. So before you lay your money down for that shiny new computer, here are Jason the Greek’s Vegas odds on Steve Jobs announcements for The Big Dance,” Jason D. O’Grady writes for ZDNet.
O’Grady’s list:
10. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
9. Intel PowerBook
8. iWork ’06
7. iLife ’06
6. Bluetooth remote control
5. Price Increases for iTunes
4. AirPort Ultra (featuring video) + AirTV application (stream video to your TV – in High Definition)
3. 1GB iPod nano
2. Intel Mac mini
1. Widescreen Intel iBook (Don’t be surprised if this IBook is the first to ship without a FireWire port)
Full article here.
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Related articles:
RUMOR: Apple’s Intel-based Macs to get additional USB 2.0 ports, keep at least one FireWire port – January 02, 2006
Five things that will happen with Apple in 2006 – and five others that won’t – December 29, 2005
2006 predictions abound for Apple Computer – December 27, 2005
11. iPod invisia
How about a wireless Mighty Mouse?
“5. Price Increases for iTunes” – WRONG!!
“1. …(Don’t be surprised if this IBook is the first to ship without a FireWire port)” – Don’t worry, I’ll be surprised. Why? Because you’re WRONG!!
“10. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard” – Maybe a demo, that’s about it.
9, 1 (Widescreen iBook part only) and 2 – Good chance.
3 & 4 – 50/50 chance
6 – Highly doubtful
7 & 8 – There is a better chance of Apple releasing Mac OS X for regular PC’s than this NOT happening.
7 days left!!!
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I aggree with lots of that. HOWEVER:
I think that the Mac Mini and iLife 06, are a most def release!
Some form of 1GB music player announcement is comming due to the ousting of the 1GB Shuffle.
New .Mac accounts would prob come too.
As for the new iBooks…im crossing my fingers and dancing with excitement.
How can they dispose FireWire ? I don´t think that will happen. There are too many DV owning Macusers out there. I would love a 13.3 inch “yonah” iBook by the way!
I would not be surprised if Apple eliminated the firewire port in its iBook ONLY if they incorporated iSight.
Looking forward to iWork ’06 with “Numbers” and maybe even a ‘database’ ala FileMaker
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11. Intel powered, Apple branded flying cars.
12. Rollup screens for laptops.
13. iPod pagers.
14. Combat ready PowerBooks with self-destruct mode and edible CDs for sustenance and security.
15. iSpypod MP3 player with hidden camera for remote teen monitoring.
16. Dot Mac and Cheese data storage and porno service.
17. Duke Nukem Forever for the Mac.
18. The first dog and cow combination clone.
19. Inifinite Loop starbase.
20. Hypercard for OS X.
21. QuickTime VR Authoring Studio for OS X.
MW: minutes – count the minutes!
FireWire won’t go away… Intel already promised support for it in its own chipsets (announced prior to last year’s WWDC).
How can they get rid of firewire? How you going to get your digital video from your camcorder? Even on PC this is the standard as far as I know.
I think both iBooks and PowerBooks will be updated to Intel at the same time. Why would Apple cannibalize PB sales with iBooks that are faster than the G4 PBs?
The new Intel iBooks will be completely redesigned with 13.3 and 15.4 widescreens, FW 800 (with 400 adapter), USB 2.0, 128MB vram standard, 512MB ram standard, single core Intel and come in white or black plastic, similar to the iPod. I also think the PBs will be release at the same time with either a faster single core or dual core Intel, but have the exact same hardware design that is currently out there.
MW: looking. As in “I’ll be looking to replace my RevA 12″ G4 PB soon!”
I’d like a smokin’ fast Powerbook in metallic-black or diamond-silver, though it must have enough ports for DV and hi-def. A wireless mini-mouse would be nice for it, as would a dedicated iPod port.
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For 2006 I predict overhyped and underwhelming.
i think they unveil a line of office chairs that have tethers and market it only in the Pacific Northwest.
#4 The Airport Ultra with HD would demonstrate the limitations of the videos available from the iTMS. Unlikely to happen.
I think that all the talk of eliminating Firewire – even in iBooks and Minis – is just plain silly. The reason – consumer-level digital movie cameras.
Too many peripherals use and need firewire for it to be eliminated, not the least important of them being video cameras and external harddrives!
This guy has no clue – a complete waste of time – #5 Price Increases for iTunes!? – Why would Steve Jobs ‘announce’ something like that at a keynote that is intended to be possitive and pro apple – it could happen but not at MacWorld!
All I want is the intel Powerbook.
And what’s the deal with predicting “wishing” Firewire will go away?
IMO USB is awful. I can’t transfer large files to my iPod with it – EVER. I always have to use Firewire and it works perfectly.
Come on intel Powerbook!!! Then I can hopfully dump my lame Gateway.
10. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard – I don’t think this will even be mentioned until WWDC2006
9. Intel PowerBook – Maybe
8. iWork ’06 – Definitely
7. iLife ’06 – Definitely
6. Bluetooth remote control – I hope so, but I doubt it since the iMac uses IR
5. Price Increases for iTunes – I’m not saying this won’t happen, but I don’t think it’ll be announced at MW unless there’s some positive news to accompany it – Steve doesn’t like to be booed.
4. AirPort Ultra (featuring video) + AirTV application (stream video to your TV – in High Definition) – This is essentially the next config of 802.11 but it hasn’t been finalized yet AFAIK, so I doubt it.
3. 1GB iPod nano – Maybe
2. Intel Mac mini – Maybe, and hopefully with DVR capabilities!
1. Widescreen Intel iBook (Don’t be surprised if this iBook is the first to ship without a FireWire port) – Possibly, although I don’t buy the no Firewire part
Bluetooth iSight connected to an iPod.
An intel sticker
Come on O’grady, Apple may reduce the number of Firewire ports on some machines, but Firewire is going nowhere in the short term. 99% of Mac users get video onto their computer by using the standard Firewire port on MiniDV video cameras. Imagine Steve’s announcement, hello eveyone, today Apple is excited to release a brand new, speedy iBook with Intel inside. The downside, the 2 cornerstone apps of iLife (iMovie and iDVD) are essentially useless now, as you can no longer import video onto this Mac, at least not without running out to buy a Firewire to USB box, that by the way, will most likely reduce video quality. It’s Ridiculous in the extreme to suggest that Firewire is going anywhere. Apple may reduce the number of Firewire ports on machines from 2 to 1, they may even go to all Firewire 800 ports and offer a 400 adapter in the box, but Firewire as a means to get video onto your Mac is not leaving the Mac anytime soon.
“20. Hypercard for OS X”
About time! I can’t wait!!!
I think the fact that Apple ran out of the 1Gb iPod shuffle may have more to do with the fact they were using the memory to manufacture as many nanos as possible rather than the fact the line is being replaced/dropped. Not really a related comment, my bad!
Tim Coughlin
http://timcoughlin.typepad.com