Yeah, it's especially odd considering how many rumors were flying around toward the end of February. Now it's just... dead quiet. We've recently gotten April and June as possible dates for some announcements, though, and I'd be surprised if March went by without anything happening at all.
With so many hardware products seemingly waiting for Leopard and with Leopard looking more and more like a WWDC release date, things will be rather 'dry' until July. Maybe new Mac Pros at NAB, but that'll be that by the looks of it.
And there are already rumors that any new MacBook Pros being introduced mid year will only be a stopgap upgrade until the real new ones come out in a year's time, possibly then sporting multitouch screens. Oh well...
Strange though considering The Steve announcing at MWSF that they have so many great products lined up for this year. Not really.
Anyone remember the massively touted 'Year of HD' a while back? That didn't really happen. We still don't have a single MacBook Pro model that can display or edit true 1080p HD - albeit Apple offering movie trailers in that size for a long time and Windows notebooks available with 1920x1200 displays for many years.
My opinion: take Steve's great announcements with a lot of salt. They don't tend to happen much. Face it, Apple updates are rare.
But there's logic to Apple's scarce updates: it's hard to improve 'perfection'.
Jobs and Ive always thrive to make their products as perfect as possible. Once you achieved a certain design perfection, how can you improve on it? And how often? Only when new technology comes around that either allows or forces design changes does Apple really need to upgrade their designs. The rest is merely updated processor speeds (if and when available).
I think that the lack of Mac updates is logical since Intel only has one new chip that they have released since last summer, the Quad Core. This means that the update to the Mac Pro to a quad core is possible any time now, as long as it does not rely on 10.5 to support the 8 cores that a dual Quad core would have. 10.4.9 is not out yet, but should be ready soon. I would expect it this month or at NAB next month at the latest.
The iMac and Mac Books will be released after Santa Rosa is ready, and if recent history holds true it will one will be released about a month after Intel is shipping the platform so that Apple has enough supplies on hand to fill their needs for a particular computer line. I would imagine that Apple will want to release the iMacs and Mac Book Pros first with the Mac Books and Mac Mini following within the next two months. Of these the Mini is probably in the most need of an update, and the increased graphics of Santa Rosa would be a welcome change. However I think that it is just as likely that the only upgrades that it gets are a Core 2 Duo and a "n" capable wireless card. I think that the only chance of it getting the Santa Rosa platform update would be if doing so would bring down the parts cost of the mini in comparison to the current mini.
The last I heard is that 10.5 development was going well and might be released as early as this month. That would make sense in a way. Apple does not like to do too many updates in one month, and they have an announcement scheduled next month at NAB. That is more likely to be Mac Pro's and updates to FCP or other video related software than the release of 10.5. For the same reason I think that 10.5 will not be released in in June due to the release schedule of the iPhone. That leaves March or May open for 10.5, and the only thing that we know will happen before that is the release of 10.4.9 at lease 2 weeks before the release of 10.5. I would imagine that they will also announce a press event for Leopard since there are "top secret" features that they have not shown the public. Of course I could be wrong (and usually am) and Leopard could be the focus of the NAB event, or they could push the release back till WWDC . Apple has stated a spring release, which is March 20th till June 21 so even while most people consider June summer they would still be on target with WWDC running from June 11-15. This would defiantly be the right venue for the release of Leopard, but then again the iPhone is set to be released around this same time.
In the end I don't think there is much to conclude except there there will be announcements in the future about future product releases, and we can logically expect at least one announcement or silent release every other month....hmmm maybe I should be an analyst...
backtomac, I do not think Apple can do any of those products now.
Quote:
Core 2 Mini ( I mean really, WTF)
Minis are as cheap as possible hence use Intel onboard graphics. With Santa Rosa having a vastly better onboard graphics chip, it makes a lot of sense to wait for Santa Rosa in the mini upgrade. That'll be June/July at the earliest for new minis.
New Mac Minis not before Santa Rosa.
Quote:
Octo Core Mac Pro
Who knows how well OS X 10.4 performs with 4 cores. Somewhere I read it's not that great an improvement over 2 cores as the OS is not optimised for more than 2 cores.
That leaves you with Leopard to improve on that.
Octo Core Mac Pros not before Leopard.
Quote:
15" MacBook ( I know it's a new product and not an upgrade, but is it really that difficult?)
Apple would vastly shoot themselves in the foot with a 15" MacBook as it will eat into the 15" MacBook Pro sales (you'd be surprised how many 'upgrade' to a MacBook Pro because they think The MacBook's screen is too small!)
Unless the MacBook Pro gets a massively better screen I do not see this happening. And a massively better screen would be one with higher res - which again requires Leopard's resolution indepencence.
15" MacBook not before improved 15" MacBook Pro, and those won't happen before Leopard.
Quote:
subnotebook ( see above)
Apple might wait for the new ulta low power Intel chips which are reported to appear a bit after Santa Rosa in the June/July time frame.
Other rumors suggest these will be more than mere subnotebooks, which also makes sense as the subnotebook market is not very huge and Apple kind of missed that boot in the last few years since the demise of the PowerBook 2400c. So to make new waves this thing will have to have new features. Multitouch anyone? Again we're waiting for Leopard.
Subnotebook likely not happening before new ultra low power Intel chip or Leopard.
Leaves you with exactly zero products ready for an upgrade now.
One quarter is loooong time for big compaines like APPLE
next event is in April 15 means it means almost 1.5 quarter without a new Mac or bumped up mac...
i wonder Apple lots of efforts in iPhone forgetting to stick to the basics, nobody knows success of iPhone, hope apple does not forgot their Mac business ...
just out of curiousity, Apple having problem with delivering Leopard??? i hope it does not...
personally i am interested in bumped up 24" iMac once Leopard delivered with it.
Who knows how well OS X 10.4 performs with 4 cores. Somewhere I read it's not that great an improvement over 2 cores as the OS is not optimised for more than 2 cores.
That leaves you with Leopard to improve on that.
Octo Core Mac Pros not before Leopard.
Mac OS X Developer Preview, circa 1999, will work great with 256 cores.
When you're multithreading something, the bulk of the overhead comes in the moment threading begins: making sure you don't overwrite data you're reading from.
From then on, it's just a matter of breaking a task into smaller tasks, or at least make sure a task isn't holding up other tasks (the Finder needs a kick in the balls right here). But the OS doesn't have to worry about this?every application is its own process and every process has its own threads anyway.
Are applications where they should be? Not really, but it doesn't matter. The important ones are, and the others can get their own processor cores to laze about it.
i wonder Apple lots of efforts in iPhone forgetting to stick to the basics, nobody knows success of iPhone, hope apple does not forgot their Mac business ...
The fact that now it is just "Apple Inc." and not "Apple Computer Inc." anymore, may mean things we are not able to see at this moment (apart the evident ones).
Apple would vastly shoot themselves in the foot with a 15" MacBook as it will eat into the 15" MacBook Pro sales (you'd be surprised how many 'upgrade' to a MacBook Pro because they think The MacBook's screen is too small!)
Further making the case that Macs are more expensive than PCs. Most people that I talk with don't want all of the power of a MacBook Pro, they like the MacBook, and want the larger 15-inch screen. When you can get the same thing as a MacBook with a 15-inch from other manufacturers like Toshiba, Sony, and Dell for less than you get a MacBook with the same specs, it's sort of a no-brainer what Apple needs to do here. It's shameful that there's a $600 gap between the 13.3-inch MacBook and the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro.
Most people that I talk with don't want all of the power of a MacBook Pro, they like the MacBook, and want the larger 15-inch screen.
The question is not whether they like the MacBook better, the question is do they like the 15" screen badly enough to shell out the extra $550. From what I hear and read a lot of people do bite the bullet and spend extra - even though they'd be more than happy with the other features of the MacBook.
But that's exactly Apple's strategy. This is deliberate. To extort more money out of customers. On top of that margins on the MacBook Pros are better too.
So even though customers want a MacBook with a bigger screen, and even if it seems like a no-brainer to you - Apple is in no hurry to release such a product. In fact, it's better for them if they don't. They're not losing the MacBook sales (as most people who don't want to shell out the $550 extra still buy a MacBook rather than a Windows notebook), but they would lose the higher margin sales of those people who do shell out more money and go for the MacBook Pro.
IMHO only if there is another compelling reason for people to upgrade to a MacBook Pro will Apple release a 15" MacBook. One such reason could be a true 1080p HD crisp hi-res multitouch screen on the MacBook Pro (using resolution independence) vs. a normal, current resolution screen on the plain MacBook.
If you want to know when to expect new Macs, just take a look at when the last updates shipped and add at least 6 months or so. Also, take a look at Intel's roadmap. I'm not expecting new iMacs or MBPs until May and no MBs until June.
New MPs: any time now, last update Aug 7
New iMacs: last updated Sep 6, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May
New MBPs: last updated Oct 24, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May or June
New MBs: last updated Nov 8, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: June
Santa Rosa includes an 800 MHz FSB. Whether or not a Mac uses Robson is up to Apple. My guess is the MBP will have it to save on battery life.
As for the Mac mini, no point in updating that until Santa Rosa ships so at least May or June, if not later.
I don't think there's any reason for any of these Macs to wait for Leopard. They can ship with 10.4.9. I think Leopard will ship on or before WWDC in June. My guess is, new Macs will ship during the months of April, May and June and that the June Macs will ship with Leopard.
If you want to know when to expect new Macs, just take a look at when the last updates shipped and add at least 6 months or so. Also, take a look at Intel's roadmap. I'm not expecting new iMacs or MBPs until May and no MBs until June.
New MPs: any time now, last update Aug 7
New iMacs: last updated Sep 6, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May
New MBPs: last updated Oct 24, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May or June
New MBs: last updated Nov 8, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: June
Santa Rosa includes an 800 MHz FSB. Whether or not a Mac uses Robson is up to Apple. My guess is the MBP will have it to save on battery life.
As for the Mac mini, no point in updating that until Santa Rosa ships so at least May or June, if not later.
I don't think there's any reason for any of these Macs to wait for Leopard. They can ship with 10.4.9. I think Leopard will ship on or before WWDC in June. My guess is, new Macs will ship during the months of April, May and June and that the June Macs will ship with Leopard.
So what is going to be released in the next week? Something will be released in a weeks time. If it isn't a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, an iMac, a Mac mini or Mac Pro, then it must be an updated iPod Hi-Fi... or maybe new iPods. :-)
I am not claiming to know WHAT will be released but the evidence says that SOMETHING will be released in a week.
So what is going to be released in the next week? Something will be released in a weeks time. If it isn't a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, an iMac, a Mac mini or Mac Pro, then it must be an updated iPod Hi-Fi... or maybe new iPods. :-)
I am not claiming to know WHAT will be released but the evidence says that SOMETHING will be released in a week.
If something is being released next week, it could be the Apple TV showing up at the stores. Of course, it may not ship until the 20th but it could go on display.
The Mac Pro and new displays can be announced at any time, as I said in my post, above.
The iPod Hi-Fi might be updated with added designer colors.
The software for the iPod could be updated to add CoverFlow. 8)
If something is being released next week, it could be the Apple TV showing up at the stores. Of course, it may not ship until the 20th but it could go on display.
The Mac Pro and new displays can be announced at any time, as I said in my post, above.
The iPod Hi-Fi might be updated with added designer colors.
The software for the iPod could be updated to add CoverFlow. 8)
The Mac mini could finally get a Core 2 Duo.
Mac mini wont get an update just yet for two reasons.. 1. the PRICE of the Core Duo compared to the Core2Duo, is STILL a big difference.. so.. not gonna happen
plus the mini was last bumped in spec in SEPTEMBER.. adding 6 months to that gives us march.. which i doubt we will see the spec bump untill April at the earliest in all honesty.
and that might only be a bump from 512 (HA!!!) to 1GB (about blinkin time!)
i doubt if we will get santa rosa INSIDE the mini... i would be completely surprised.. i just DO NOT think its going to happen.. C2D first
The mini could easily be upgraded to Core 2 chips. When core 2 was initially released it was priced the SAME as core duos, ie a 2.0 ghz core duo cost the same as a 2.0 core 2 chip. Maybe the core duos have dropped in price. If so why hasn't Apple dropped the prices of minis? One of the moderators said the mini is positioned to upsell buyers to iMacs. That's the only explanation that makes sense given the way the mini is spec'ed and priced.
HobBit commented earlier that an octo core Mac Pro isn't being released because there isn't software to take advantage of the 8 cores. The hardware always leads the software. Software developers can't design their software to be optimized for vaporware. When Apple switched to Intel there wasn't a lot of software that was universal but they made the switch anyway.
If something is being released next week, it could be the Apple TV showing up at the stores. Of course, it may not ship until the 20th but it could go on display.
The Mac Pro and new displays can be announced at any time, as I said in my post, above.
The iPod Hi-Fi might be updated with added designer colors.
The software for the iPod could be updated to add CoverFlow. 8)
The Mac mini could finally get a Core 2 Duo.
My post was meant to alude to new updated hardware, not hardware that has been announced and is imminent (Apple TV).
The Mac Pro cannot be announced at any time. They are waiting for Adobe and the completion of some of Apple's new high-end software packages.
The iPod Hi-Fi, when updated, will have a substantially more beneficial feature than designer colors.
Software alone will not enable CoverFlow. It requires the hardware and the memory found in the iPhone for caching and fast access to zip through the album covers.
The one thing I agree with is that the mini COULD (and probably will) recieve a Core 2 Duo.
So even though customers want a MacBook with a bigger screen, and even if it seems like a no-brainer to you - Apple is in no hurry to release such a product. In fact, it's better for them if they don't. They're not losing the MacBook sales (as most people who don't want to shell out the $550 extra still buy a MacBook rather than a Windows notebook), but they would lose the higher margin sales of those people who do shell out more money and go for the MacBook Pro.
Apparently Apple is getting ready to release a 15" MacBook. The difference between it and the MBP could be lower resolution (1280x800 or so), IGP and a larger plastic enclosure. Apple sells a lot of machines to aging boomers and the 13.3" screen is too small for them. Something in the same price range of the current MB and hopefully weighing ≤ 6 lbs would be great. But I'd rather wait for Santa Rosa when the GMA X3000 comes out. By then Apple could upgrade the GPU of the MBP to the the Mobility X1900, Go 7950 or similar to further differentiate it from the MB.
Comments
And there are already rumors that any new MacBook Pros being introduced mid year will only be a stopgap upgrade until the real new ones come out in a year's time, possibly then sporting multitouch screens. Oh well...
Strange though considering The Steve announcing at MWSF that they have so many great products lined up for this year. Not really.
Anyone remember the massively touted 'Year of HD' a while back? That didn't really happen. We still don't have a single MacBook Pro model that can display or edit true 1080p HD - albeit Apple offering movie trailers in that size for a long time and Windows notebooks available with 1920x1200 displays for many years.
My opinion: take Steve's great announcements with a lot of salt. They don't tend to happen much. Face it, Apple updates are rare.
But there's logic to Apple's scarce updates: it's hard to improve 'perfection'.
Jobs and Ive always thrive to make their products as perfect as possible. Once you achieved a certain design perfection, how can you improve on it? And how often? Only when new technology comes around that either allows or forces design changes does Apple really need to upgrade their designs. The rest is merely updated processor speeds (if and when available).
The iMac and Mac Books will be released after Santa Rosa is ready, and if recent history holds true it will one will be released about a month after Intel is shipping the platform so that Apple has enough supplies on hand to fill their needs for a particular computer line. I would imagine that Apple will want to release the iMacs and Mac Book Pros first with the Mac Books and Mac Mini following within the next two months. Of these the Mini is probably in the most need of an update, and the increased graphics of Santa Rosa would be a welcome change. However I think that it is just as likely that the only upgrades that it gets are a Core 2 Duo and a "n" capable wireless card. I think that the only chance of it getting the Santa Rosa platform update would be if doing so would bring down the parts cost of the mini in comparison to the current mini.
The last I heard is that 10.5 development was going well and might be released as early as this month. That would make sense in a way. Apple does not like to do too many updates in one month, and they have an announcement scheduled next month at NAB. That is more likely to be Mac Pro's and updates to FCP or other video related software than the release of 10.5. For the same reason I think that 10.5 will not be released in in June due to the release schedule of the iPhone. That leaves March or May open for 10.5, and the only thing that we know will happen before that is the release of 10.4.9 at lease 2 weeks before the release of 10.5. I would imagine that they will also announce a press event for Leopard since there are "top secret" features that they have not shown the public. Of course I could be wrong (and usually am) and Leopard could be the focus of the NAB event, or they could push the release back till WWDC . Apple has stated a spring release, which is March 20th till June 21 so even while most people consider June summer they would still be on target with WWDC running from June 11-15. This would defiantly be the right venue for the release of Leopard, but then again the iPhone is set to be released around this same time.
In the end I don't think there is much to conclude except there there will be announcements in the future about future product releases, and we can logically expect at least one announcement or silent release every other month....hmmm maybe I should be an analyst...
Core 2 Mini ( I mean really, WTF)
Octo Core Mac Pro
15" MacBook ( I know it's a new product and not an upgrade, but is it really that difficult?)
subnotebook ( see above)
Come on Apple, you can do it!
Core 2 Mini ( I mean really, WTF)
Minis are as cheap as possible hence use Intel onboard graphics. With Santa Rosa having a vastly better onboard graphics chip, it makes a lot of sense to wait for Santa Rosa in the mini upgrade. That'll be June/July at the earliest for new minis.
New Mac Minis not before Santa Rosa.
Octo Core Mac Pro
Who knows how well OS X 10.4 performs with 4 cores. Somewhere I read it's not that great an improvement over 2 cores as the OS is not optimised for more than 2 cores.
That leaves you with Leopard to improve on that.
Octo Core Mac Pros not before Leopard.
15" MacBook ( I know it's a new product and not an upgrade, but is it really that difficult?)
Apple would vastly shoot themselves in the foot with a 15" MacBook as it will eat into the 15" MacBook Pro sales (you'd be surprised how many 'upgrade' to a MacBook Pro because they think The MacBook's screen is too small!)
Unless the MacBook Pro gets a massively better screen I do not see this happening. And a massively better screen would be one with higher res - which again requires Leopard's resolution indepencence.
15" MacBook not before improved 15" MacBook Pro, and those won't happen before Leopard.
subnotebook ( see above)
Apple might wait for the new ulta low power Intel chips which are reported to appear a bit after Santa Rosa in the June/July time frame.
Other rumors suggest these will be more than mere subnotebooks, which also makes sense as the subnotebook market is not very huge and Apple kind of missed that boot in the last few years since the demise of the PowerBook 2400c. So to make new waves this thing will have to have new features. Multitouch anyone? Again we're waiting for Leopard.
Subnotebook likely not happening before new ultra low power Intel chip or Leopard.
Leaves you with exactly zero products ready for an upgrade now.
next event is in April 15 means it means almost 1.5 quarter without a new Mac or bumped up mac...
i wonder Apple lots of efforts in iPhone forgetting to stick to the basics, nobody knows success of iPhone, hope apple does not forgot their Mac business ...
just out of curiousity, Apple having problem with delivering Leopard??? i hope it does not...
personally i am interested in bumped up 24" iMac once Leopard delivered with it.
Who knows how well OS X 10.4 performs with 4 cores. Somewhere I read it's not that great an improvement over 2 cores as the OS is not optimised for more than 2 cores.
That leaves you with Leopard to improve on that.
Octo Core Mac Pros not before Leopard.
Mac OS X Developer Preview, circa 1999, will work great with 256 cores.
When you're multithreading something, the bulk of the overhead comes in the moment threading begins: making sure you don't overwrite data you're reading from.
From then on, it's just a matter of breaking a task into smaller tasks, or at least make sure a task isn't holding up other tasks (the Finder needs a kick in the balls right here). But the OS doesn't have to worry about this?every application is its own process and every process has its own threads anyway.
Are applications where they should be? Not really, but it doesn't matter. The important ones are, and the others can get their own processor cores to laze about it.
i wonder Apple lots of efforts in iPhone forgetting to stick to the basics, nobody knows success of iPhone, hope apple does not forgot their Mac business ...
The fact that now it is just "Apple Inc." and not "Apple Computer Inc." anymore, may mean things we are not able to see at this moment (apart the evident ones).
Apple would vastly shoot themselves in the foot with a 15" MacBook as it will eat into the 15" MacBook Pro sales (you'd be surprised how many 'upgrade' to a MacBook Pro because they think The MacBook's screen is too small!)
Further making the case that Macs are more expensive than PCs. Most people that I talk with don't want all of the power of a MacBook Pro, they like the MacBook, and want the larger 15-inch screen. When you can get the same thing as a MacBook with a 15-inch from other manufacturers like Toshiba, Sony, and Dell for less than you get a MacBook with the same specs, it's sort of a no-brainer what Apple needs to do here. It's shameful that there's a $600 gap between the 13.3-inch MacBook and the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro.
Most people that I talk with don't want all of the power of a MacBook Pro, they like the MacBook, and want the larger 15-inch screen.
The question is not whether they like the MacBook better, the question is do they like the 15" screen badly enough to shell out the extra $550. From what I hear and read a lot of people do bite the bullet and spend extra - even though they'd be more than happy with the other features of the MacBook.
But that's exactly Apple's strategy. This is deliberate. To extort more money out of customers. On top of that margins on the MacBook Pros are better too.
So even though customers want a MacBook with a bigger screen, and even if it seems like a no-brainer to you - Apple is in no hurry to release such a product. In fact, it's better for them if they don't. They're not losing the MacBook sales (as most people who don't want to shell out the $550 extra still buy a MacBook rather than a Windows notebook), but they would lose the higher margin sales of those people who do shell out more money and go for the MacBook Pro.
IMHO only if there is another compelling reason for people to upgrade to a MacBook Pro will Apple release a 15" MacBook. One such reason could be a true 1080p HD crisp hi-res multitouch screen on the MacBook Pro (using resolution independence) vs. a normal, current resolution screen on the plain MacBook.
New MPs: any time now, last update Aug 7
New iMacs: last updated Sep 6, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May
New MBPs: last updated Oct 24, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May or June
New MBs: last updated Nov 8, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: June
Santa Rosa includes an 800 MHz FSB. Whether or not a Mac uses Robson is up to Apple. My guess is the MBP will have it to save on battery life.
As for the Mac mini, no point in updating that until Santa Rosa ships so at least May or June, if not later.
I don't think there's any reason for any of these Macs to wait for Leopard. They can ship with 10.4.9. I think Leopard will ship on or before WWDC in June. My guess is, new Macs will ship during the months of April, May and June and that the June Macs will ship with Leopard.
If you want to know when to expect new Macs, just take a look at when the last updates shipped and add at least 6 months or so. Also, take a look at Intel's roadmap. I'm not expecting new iMacs or MBPs until May and no MBs until June.
New MPs: any time now, last update Aug 7
New iMacs: last updated Sep 6, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May
New MBPs: last updated Oct 24, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: May or June
New MBs: last updated Nov 8, waiting on Santa Rosa so ETA: June
Santa Rosa includes an 800 MHz FSB. Whether or not a Mac uses Robson is up to Apple. My guess is the MBP will have it to save on battery life.
As for the Mac mini, no point in updating that until Santa Rosa ships so at least May or June, if not later.
I don't think there's any reason for any of these Macs to wait for Leopard. They can ship with 10.4.9. I think Leopard will ship on or before WWDC in June. My guess is, new Macs will ship during the months of April, May and June and that the June Macs will ship with Leopard.
So what is going to be released in the next week? Something will be released in a weeks time. If it isn't a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, an iMac, a Mac mini or Mac Pro, then it must be an updated iPod Hi-Fi... or maybe new iPods. :-)
I am not claiming to know WHAT will be released but the evidence says that SOMETHING will be released in a week.
So what is going to be released in the next week? Something will be released in a weeks time. If it isn't a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, an iMac, a Mac mini or Mac Pro, then it must be an updated iPod Hi-Fi... or maybe new iPods. :-)
I am not claiming to know WHAT will be released but the evidence says that SOMETHING will be released in a week.
If something is being released next week, it could be the Apple TV showing up at the stores. Of course, it may not ship until the 20th but it could go on display.
The Mac Pro and new displays can be announced at any time, as I said in my post, above.
The iPod Hi-Fi might be updated with added designer colors.
The software for the iPod could be updated to add CoverFlow. 8)
The Mac mini could finally get a Core 2 Duo.
If something is being released next week, it could be the Apple TV showing up at the stores. Of course, it may not ship until the 20th but it could go on display.
The Mac Pro and new displays can be announced at any time, as I said in my post, above.
The iPod Hi-Fi might be updated with added designer colors.
The software for the iPod could be updated to add CoverFlow. 8)
The Mac mini could finally get a Core 2 Duo.
Mac mini wont get an update just yet for two reasons.. 1. the PRICE of the Core Duo compared to the Core2Duo, is STILL a big difference.. so.. not gonna happen
plus the mini was last bumped in spec in SEPTEMBER.. adding 6 months to that gives us march.. which i doubt we will see the spec bump untill April at the earliest in all honesty.
and that might only be a bump from 512 (HA!!!) to 1GB (about blinkin time!)
i doubt if we will get santa rosa INSIDE the mini... i would be completely surprised.. i just DO NOT think its going to happen.. C2D first
HobBit commented earlier that an octo core Mac Pro isn't being released because there isn't software to take advantage of the 8 cores. The hardware always leads the software. Software developers can't design their software to be optimized for vaporware. When Apple switched to Intel there wasn't a lot of software that was universal but they made the switch anyway.
If something is being released next week, it could be the Apple TV showing up at the stores. Of course, it may not ship until the 20th but it could go on display.
The Mac Pro and new displays can be announced at any time, as I said in my post, above.
The iPod Hi-Fi might be updated with added designer colors.
The software for the iPod could be updated to add CoverFlow. 8)
The Mac mini could finally get a Core 2 Duo.
My post was meant to alude to new updated hardware, not hardware that has been announced and is imminent (Apple TV).
The Mac Pro cannot be announced at any time. They are waiting for Adobe and the completion of some of Apple's new high-end software packages.
The iPod Hi-Fi, when updated, will have a substantially more beneficial feature than designer colors.
Software alone will not enable CoverFlow. It requires the hardware and the memory found in the iPhone for caching and fast access to zip through the album covers.
The one thing I agree with is that the mini COULD (and probably will) recieve a Core 2 Duo.
So even though customers want a MacBook with a bigger screen, and even if it seems like a no-brainer to you - Apple is in no hurry to release such a product. In fact, it's better for them if they don't. They're not losing the MacBook sales (as most people who don't want to shell out the $550 extra still buy a MacBook rather than a Windows notebook), but they would lose the higher margin sales of those people who do shell out more money and go for the MacBook Pro.
Apparently Apple is getting ready to release a 15" MacBook. The difference between it and the MBP could be lower resolution (1280x800 or so), IGP and a larger plastic enclosure. Apple sells a lot of machines to aging boomers and the 13.3" screen is too small for them. Something in the same price range of the current MB and hopefully weighing ≤ 6 lbs would be great. But I'd rather wait for Santa Rosa when the GMA X3000 comes out. By then Apple could upgrade the GPU of the MBP to the the Mobility X1900, Go 7950 or similar to further differentiate it from the MB.