“Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs’s annual Macworld surprise may be a slimmed-down laptop and a higher-capacity model of the iPhone,” Connie Guglielmo reports for Bloomberg.
“Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster and UBS AG’s Benjamin Reitzes expect Jobs to capitalize on demand for the Mac by introducing a smaller, lighter version of Apple’s MacBook notebooks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst David Bailey anticipates a version of the iPhone with 16-gigabytes of storage, double the capacity of the current $399 device,” Guglielmo reports.
“‘Ultra-portables don’t sell a ton,’ said Andy Hargreaves of Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon, who expects Apple to introduce one in January. ‘Then again, music players didn’t sell a ton until Apple came out with the iPod,'” Guglielmo reports.
“A slimmed-down Apple notebook will cost less than the $1,999 MacBook Pro and have a screen between 11-inches to 13- inches, Munster said this week in a note, citing unidentified Asian component supplier,” Guglielmo reports.
“Jobs, 52, also may introduce a larger-screen handheld device for playing music and video and surfing the Web, said Andy Neff, an analyst at Bear Stearns & Co. in New York. Apple may also unveil a new version of Apple TV, a $299 device that connects to TVs and lets people watch movies and shows stored on their PCs,” Guglielmo reports.
Full article here.
Let the speculation begin… These claims will get more wild and outrageous until His Steveness takes the stage and puts them all to rest. MacWorld can’t get here fast enough.
Go AppleTV!! No new device but a major update to the existing one would be awesome!!
Where’s the kitchen sink?
damnit, would you just announce native games for iPhone already?!! I bought this thing day one expecting there to be real games on it soon after. My first cell phone 7 years ago had games on it, come on Steve!!! EA has had a dev kit for a year now, release some games already.
Argg!! I knew I was in trouble switching into “we have really great interfaces but to hell with games” apple.
iPhone upgrade is likely, an intermediate step until 3G is ready.
My first mac was an ultra portable, a Powerbook Duo, was smaller and lighter than the mobile phone I’d recently upgraded from. Something between iPod Touch and MacBook is a given at sometime but that’s a wide range and I suspect may be dependent on larger touch screen reliability. There’s a large market out there for them already but to date they have all been specialized devices like what you sign when Defex delivers eventually. Apple bringing out a software upgradeable multifunction device that can do the same job but can cater to consumer stuff as well will find a ready market, how big is the question, they’d probably sell more than AppleTVs have sold to date.
I hate this time of the year… These ‘analyst’ people go around and make these huge, ofttimes ridiculous speculations about what new gizmo Apple will throw at us.
Then, come MWSF, the announcements come, and it is different, or in some way slightly less than the pie-in-the-sky analysts lofty visions, and then we have to listen to people bitch about what a disappointment the announcements are. Even if they do happen to be great announcements, not living up to the ignorant hype just makes for a painful, FUD-filled new year.
*sigh*
A larger more capable (in terms of software) version of the iPod touch is inevitable, even if not released at MacWorld 2008. It should serve as a “tablet” PC or super-PDA, but Steve Jobs will never name it Newton 2.0.
MacWorld 2008 may the most exciting one ever.
Jeez, I just want an updated Mac Pro to replace my eight-year-old G4 400. Call me old fashioned.
I just want my two front teeth…..
I just want to know why Leopard is sluggish on my 6100/60av.
“I just want my two front teeth…..”
Now that’s inciteful.
More biting humor, Ampar?
Jobs, 52? Phew! And I thought he was only 50… thank goodness, now I can buy AAPL.
No games?
Stupid Jobs.
A new iPhone and computers right after everyone gets one for Christmas? They’ve got to stop having Macworld right after Christmas.