On the eve of Macworld Expo (we won’t be able to sleep and constantly reloading Time Canada the night before a keynote is a sickness, that much is sure) we’ve culled past reports from all over (with emphasis on reliable sites with strong track records) to create a list of rumors in the order (strongest to weakest) that we feel they are most-likely to occur. This order is based upon gut feeling, quality of sources, other industry information, and a variety of other methodologies including the time-tested “educated guess” method:
1. Intel Yonah-based iBooks: New, thinner, with 13.3 and 12.1 widescreen displays. Lesser possibility of surprisingly low price points.
2. iLife ’06 (including iWeb?).
3. Expanded .Mac service, possibly at a lower annual fee of $69 (including iWeb?).
4. (tie) New Mac mini with Intel processor and, possibly, incorporating Intel Viiv technology in some fashion. With DVR capability (see next item).
4. (tie) Front Row 2 with DVR functionality.
4. (tie) Increased content deals for iTunes Store, including CBS and other company’s TV shows and possibly also including feature-length films. Lesser possibility of using some sort of new streaming technology, “digital video locker,” and/or subscription model for video and/or feature-length film content. Least probability, but still a possibility: music subscription service option.
7. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard demo.
7. iWork ’06 with ‘Numbers’ spreadsheet application.
9. (tie) New iPod shuffle with screen. Lesser possibility that Apple may drop the shuffle and intro a 1GB iPod nano at $149-ish price point in the shuffle’s place.
9. (tie) New Intel-based PowerBooks. Slightly higher probability that they will be announced, due to ship a bit later in the quarter.
11. Airport Video Express with 802.11n (hey, they went early with 802.11g, too!)
12. Apple iPhone with iPod capability. Lesser probability of Apple-branded mobile-phone service – Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).
13. Apple Plasma Mac TVs. Think giant Intel-based iMac with Front Row 2 possibly with Intel Robson “instant-on” technology.
14. New Intel-based iMac.
15. New Intel-based Xserve.
16. New Intel-based Power Mac.
17. An Apple-supported virtualization method for running Windows applications without Windows (probably too early for this).
18. Debut of a major informative Mac television ad campaign (showing what Mac OS X, iLife, iWork, and other Mac-only software offers the vast majority of the computer-using consumer, especially vs. Windows XP) and the screening of such ads during the keynote (we wish this was much higher on the list, but wishing won’t make it so).
Oh, yeah, and one or two more things…
Would you reorder the list? Would you add and/or remove items? Let us know below.
[UPDATE: Jan 10, 2006, 8:55am EST: Added Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard demo at #7.]
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! G’night.
iTunes Music Store is “temperaraily Down”. it begins.
: )
that all seems right for me, I hope it all happens.
Thud,
It’s not down anymore. I would assume that it may have been standard maintenance no more, no less.
You guys are way ahead on numbers 13, 14, and 15…these won’t come out for another 6 months to a year, maybe more for the Power Mac
when apple.com/store goes down, that’s when it begins.
eltee,
That’s why they’re ranked so low on the list.
I think iWork and iLife should be at the top of the list
I’ll tell you tomorrow.
Perhaps more than anything on that list, i wish No. 17 were true.
Nothing is comming. Every item on Apple website is 24 hour shipping. Not a good sign.
I don’t get the reference to “Time Canada”. Can anyone explain?
Wow, I’m fairly new to the Mac community and man, What a ride…All this anticipation.
yeah, iWork and iLife updates are pretty much a given and should be tied for #1.
what about 10.5 leopard?
iBook with E-Ink screen and NAND instant on storage. No HD, almost no juice needed for screen. Battery life about a week.
That would actually be a GREAT thing if nothing was coming. If Steve got up there and said, “Here’s iLife ’06, now listen to this Black Eyed Peas song and go home”, the stock price would tumble, and I would buy as many shares as I possibly could. I’m kicking myself for not buying apple back in 2002, but I don’t think it’s too late for me to get in the game. The future belongs to Apple.
I’m predicting Front Row to be part if iLife ’06. You heard it here, first.
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24 hour shipping gets rid of their current stock faster, so that would mean a higher possiblity of them introducing even more new stuff. But you must work at Apple’s warehouse, so you must know.
Theres a huge one missing.
Scarbro
Time Canada was the publication that had a photo of Steve and John Ive with the new (at the time) iMac. It was up on their website the night before the keynote.
It was the floating screen iMac.
True macnut222. Isn’t iLife ’06 to begin 2006 a given?? Hmmm.
Methinks the new .Mac service (with PHP please please please please!) too. Only when .Mac includes at least PHP (PHP/MySQL would be better) will I ever entertain subscribing.
The iBooks shouldn’t be so high, at least in second or third place (but I do think we will see this tomorrow).
Well, maybe for New Years Day, but you won’t catch me losing sleep with expectation tonight.
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Looking forward to tomorrow…
Steve Jobs said last June that Leopard would be previewed in June 2006 for release in “early 2007”.
I agree with others that iWork and iLife ’06 should be #1 on the list (if ordered by likelihood).
Aside from the embarrassment it would cause Apple… Ghandia is absolutely right! I would too.
M.W. Hold, as in “Buy and hold”
I’m wondering if they’ll churn out a black iBook.
=:~)
Time Canada had their web page about new (Luxo Lamp) iMacs up and running the night before the keynote that anounced them.