Apple to focus on Macs at upcoming developer conference

[AppleInsider]

When Apple chief executive Steve Jobs takes the stage at the company's Worldwide Developer Conference later this month, he's likely to confine his focus to the Mac platform, according to one Wall Street analyst.

"Similar to previous WWDC events, we believe Jobs' keynote will most likely be Mac-centric," American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu told clients in a research note on Friday. "We anticipate the focus will be on Mac OS X Leopard, its next-generation operating system, and introduction of new Macs."

Leopard

Wu believes the most anticipated announcement will revolve around its undocumented secret features in Leopard, noting that many in the user community are hoping Apple will announce "virtual machine" technology that allows users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously.

"If so, we believe this would serve as a major catalyst for Mac sales," he said. "We continue to believe the key reason Leopard was delayed until October was to give developers time to test secret features."

MacBook Pros

The analyst also cited sources who indicate that new MacBook Pros -- the first notebooks from Apple to incorporate LED-backlit displays and features of Intel's new Santa Rosa platform -- are also "likely" to see an introduction at the event.

"We view this as a positive step as this further differentiates the high-end MacBook Pro with higher performance, enhanced graphics and video capability, superior displays, and better battery life vs. the more mainstream MacBook," Wu wrote.

MacBook mini

Less likely but still "possible," according to the analyst, would be an introduction Apple's much rumored ultra-portable sub-notebook. "We believe there is a fair likelihood that Apple will introduce a new subnotebook named 'MacBook mini,' which uses NAND flash as primary storage," he explained. "We last talked about this groundbreaking product in early March and while our sources indicate that it could ship sooner rather than later, we believe it will more likely arrive in late 2007-early 2008."

The American Technology analyst said he has been told that timing of the sub-notebook will be dependent on NAND vendors' willingness to accelerate price declines, making NAND economically attractive for Apple to use in lieu of HDD storage.

The last time Apple had a subnotebook was in 1997-98 with the PowerBook 2400, which weighed 4.4 pounds and had a 10.4-inch screen.

Steve Jobs is scheduled to deliver his WWDC '07 keynote speech in San Francisco, CA on Monday, June 11, 2007.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Porchland]

Multiple OSs on Leopard? Ugh! I don't want Vista or XP on my Mac; I just want the apps. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for native install of PC apps in Leopard.

Then I could finally run TerdPerfect -- it's for work; I hate it -- and Office for Windows on a Mac.

[psychodoughboy]

I don't care about portables! Bring on the new iPhone-resembling iMacs!

[gigi]

They forgot the iMac?

This iMac have this design for a while.

I'm sure we will have a new iMac.

[Slewis]

No Virtual Machine tech.

Apple sells Parallels in the Apple Store so if you're interested, try that.

Sebastian

[Louzer]

What the hell is Apple thinking? Focusing on computers and their OS at their developer's conference? People don't expect to go to a developer's conference and hear about that kind of thing! The only reason people are going to this thing is because they're expecting to find a free iPhone under their seats at the keynote!

What's next. Apple going to a MacWorld conference and actually talking about the Macintosh?

[andrewcod]

Digg it

[Hobbes]

Pardon my french, but Wu don't know shit.

[eAi]

The iMac is kind of being forgotten here... It hasn't had a new design (except for the iSight) since August 2004 - almost 3 years ago now!

Although existing Apple fans might not see Virtualization software as anything to be excited about, it has huge potential for Apple. Obviously a WINE like solution would be ideal - no need for a copy of Windows, but I doubt Apple have enough developers (or time) to finish WINE!

Whatever the features are, they probably ought to be better than the previously announced ones, or people are going to be disappointed.

As for a Macbook Mini - I think that'd be a confusing name - its surely going to be aimed at the Pro market (due to cost), so surely Macbook Pro Mini would be more apt...

[Nicnac]

I'll repeat my usual gripe:
If Apple doesn't release a midtower this year, I guess I'll skip another year. I haven't bought a Mac for at least 10 years now (my last was a PowerComputing). Newer models have been acquired through school dumpsters, and now here at work. Still, I am finally ready to buy one and there isn't a model for me. I don't want the iMac screen and I don't need to spend $2500 on a pro.

[ZachPruckowski]

I agree with SLewis. Apple isn't going to cut Parallels off at the knees. They sell it in their stores, and it's been advertised (slightly) by Apple. Especially now that it's really kicking it into high-gear, with the summer release having (supposedly) decent 3D support.

[ascii]

They may take the opportunity, while all their developers are gathered in one place, to open up the iPhone for 3rd party development. A new version of XCode with iPhone development support mayvbe. So I don't think just because it's a developers conference it has to be all Mac.

[shanmugam]

new iMacs

More about Leopard & iPhone

possible 10" Mac Book Mini

thats about it.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Louzer

What the hell is Apple thinking? Focusing on computers and their OS at their developer's conference? People don't expect to go to a developer's conference and hear about that kind of thing! The only reason people are going to this thing is because they're expecting to find a free iPhone under their seats at the keynote!

What's next. Apple going to a MacWorld conference and actually talking about the Macintosh?

With the magnitude of live blogging of Job's keynotes and the Apple video feed relased later that day it makes more sense for Apple cater to the majority. Especially with the increased interest in the Mac platform.

Besides, there are plenty of developer workshops to make any Mac programmer's laptop all hot n' sticky.

Originally Posted by Hobbes

Pardon my french, but Wu don't know shit.

Shit is Germanic in origin, not French.

[chabig]

Originally Posted by Louzer

What the hell is Apple thinking? Focusing on computers and their OS at their developer's conference?

My thoughts exactly!

[audiopollution]

Originally Posted by andrewcod

Digg it

The next time that I see a 'digg it' comment, I'll be looking at the ban stick.

Contribute to the thread and not to your Digg popularity, please.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by audiopollution

The next time that I see a 'digg it' comment, I'll be looking at the ban stick.

Thank you!

[Sabon]

Originally Posted by Nicnac

I'll repeat my usual gripe:
If Apple doesn't release a midtower this year, I guess I'll skip another year. I haven't bought a Mac for at least 10 years now (my last was a PowerComputing). Newer models have been acquired through school dumpsters, and now here at work. Still, I am finally ready to buy one and there isn't a model for me. I don't want the iMac screen and I don't need to spend $2500 on a pro.

Well, hell froze over once. But I wouldn't count on it again.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Nicnac

I'll repeat my usual gripe:
If Apple doesn't release a midtower this year, I guess I'll skip another year. I haven't bought a Mac for at least 10 years now (my last was a PowerComputing). Newer models have been acquired through school dumpsters, and now here at work. Still, I am finally ready to buy one and there isn't a model for me. I don't want the iMac screen and I don't need to spend $2500 on a pro.

How much are wanting to pay for a headless Mac?

[Haggar]

Originally Posted by eAi

surely Macbook Pro Mini would be more apt...

MacBook Pro Mini Express Extreme

[Sabon]

Originally Posted by solipsism

How much are wanting to pay for a headless Mac?

I think a lot of people including me. And I would LOVE it if it came with a video card with option 250mb of VRAM and setup so I could just plug in two digital LCD monitors without having to buy any external devices. Actually I'd like it to let me come out so that I could hook up three monitors but that would be gready.

[Slewis]

Originally Posted by Louzer

What the hell is Apple thinking? Focusing on computers and their OS at their developer's conference? People don't expect to go to a developer's conference and hear about that kind of thing! The only reason people are going to this thing is because they're expecting to find a free iPhone under their seats at the keynote!

What's next. Apple going to a MacWorld conference and actually talking about the Macintosh?

Wait they're serious! It's a sign of the Apocalypse!

Originally Posted by andrewcod

Digg it

Note: I had to destroy the link. -Sebastian

No. Not Now. Not Tomorrow. Not Ever Again.

Originally Posted by eAi

The iMac is kind of being forgotten here... It hasn't had a new design (except for the iSight) since August 2004 - almost 3 years ago now!

Although existing Apple fans might not see Virtualization software as anything to be excited about, it has huge potential for Apple. Obviously a WINE like solution would be ideal - no need for a copy of Windows, but I doubt Apple have enough developers (or time) to finish WINE!

Whatever the features are, they probably ought to be better than the previously announced ones, or people are going to be disappointed.

As for a Macbook Mini - I think that'd be a confusing name - its surely going to be aimed at the Pro market (due to cost), so surely Macbook Pro Mini would be more apt...

Yes the iMac is kind of forgotten here, but at this point the only thing I care about are laptops.

As for virtualization, yes it's a powerful tool, that doesn't mean Apple is going to do it. They have been beta testing Boot Camp for more than a year now, and if you want Virtualization there are at least 2 tools for it now, one is Parallels that you can buy in an Apple Store, the other is VMWare Fusion which is currently in Beta (unless it's been released already) so why would Apple say to hell with what they have now that works, especially when they had only a year to work on this, which I doubt they actually did.

WINE isn't entirely ideal either, if I'm going to be running ANY .exe, I want it sand boxed from everything else on my Macbook in an out of the way place not touching anything important.

Also it's kind of an insult to mention Boot Camp or Virtualization tools at a Mac developer conference. It's kind of like saying "Well we can run Windows Software too so why the hell are you here?"

Originally Posted by ascii

They may take the opportunity, while all their developers are gathered in one place, to open up the iPhone for 3rd party development. A new version of XCode with iPhone development support mayvbe. So I don't think just because it's a developers conference it has to be all Mac.

Steve said be patient. They're not going to open it up to developers until they feel safe about 3rd party apps not crashing iPhone. The new version of Xcode is Xcode 3 and developers have already been working with it for a year now. So yes, WWDC is still very much about Mac.

Originally Posted by audiopollution

The next time that I see a 'digg it' comment, I'll be looking at the ban stick.

Contribute to the thread and not to your Digg popularity, please.

Thank You.

Sebastian

[Slewis]

Originally Posted by solipsism

With the magnitude of live blogging of Job's keynotes and the Apple video feed relased later that day it makes more sense for Apple cater to the majority. Especially with the increased interest in the Mac platform.

Besides, there are plenty of developer workshops to make any Mac programmer's laptop all hot n' sticky.

Developers are paying good money, many of them paying even more money to go to a Developers Conference. Just to see the Keynote in person it's $1,595.00 and that's if you can get past the very long lines, of course it makes sense for them to talk about new Mac hardware, Leopard, and developer tools.

EDIT:
Rawr.... can somebody clarify pricing for WWDC? When I look on Apple's site all I see are a bunch of ADC Memberships and some Ticket prices... but I thought only certain membership levels could see the Keynote?

Sebastian

[angevil]

The day that seemed so distant is to come in 10 days, finally. I can`t wait to see the keynote.

So, if there is this ultra-portable, it should be priced similar to Macbook and not Macbook Pro. Because, really, this thing won`t be so powerful. The only good thing it might have is a good battery life and flash memory. Is it worth it? I hope that new Macbook Pros willl alos have at least part flash memory.

[tacojohn]

[Just Some Guy]

Originally Posted by Nicnac

I'll repeat my usual gripe:
If Apple doesn't release a midtower this year, I guess I'll skip another year. I haven't bought a Mac for at least 10 years now (my last was a PowerComputing). Newer models have been acquired through school dumpsters, and now here at work. Still, I am finally ready to buy one and there isn't a model for me. I don't want the iMac screen and I don't need to spend $2500 on a pro.

Amen.

There is no excuse for Apple not to have a mid-tower machine starting at $1000-$1200. The gap in price and expansion capacity between the rather dated Mac Mini and the Mac Pro is just too great. Dedicated hobbyist and pro-sumer users can't justify a $2000+ Mac Pro that will not generate income. Many people (like myself) invest in high quality monitors because they know that they will last through more than one computer purchase or be used with multiple machines with the aid of now ubiquitous, low cost KVM switches (or the built-in signal switch as on my Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 200). I would love to buy a nice 1920x1600 LCD monitor to get me through the next several years that I can use with my PC AND my Mac, so the iMac's are out of the question. Also consider that many people (again like myself) are very excited about the ability to run a Mac laptop with the lib closed when not on the road in order to take advantage of a large display, standard layout keyboard and scroll mouse.

I have been using (and developing both hardware and software for) Apple products since my first Apple II (not IIe or even II+) and I'm VERY frustrated with the gapping hole in the middle of the product line. My G4 system seems a bit sluggish these days which is why I'm typing this message on a PC.

It seems that Apple Computer (sorry, Apple Inc.) wants to be more like Sony than like Apple. What's next, Apple branded televisions like Dell (which is about to layoff thousands of employees). I got a sinking feeling in my stomach when I noticed that Apple demoted the Hardware tab on their web site to the non-tabbed second row. As with a tree, growth is good but survival depends on the roots.

Ok, I feel a bit better now.

[ajhill]

Originally Posted by ascii

They may take the opportunity, while all their developers are gathered in one place, to open up the iPhone for 3rd party development. A new version of XCode with iPhone development support mayvbe. So I don't think just because it's a developers conference it has to be all Mac.

Apple will definitely open the iPhone to 3rd party Dev. The real question is whether or not those applications will only be available via the iTunes Store. Obviously that would give Apple a cut (however large they choose) of the sale, but also would provide a control for Apple to control what goes onto the phone. Since you will have to dock the iPhone to iTunes to load ANYTHING it is almost certain that developers will have to sell thru the iTunes store.

Obviously if Apple doesn't mention iPhone dev at WWDC they would have to wait an entire year for another conference. And that's too long, in case the iPhone needs a boost after release, God forbid.

Al

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by tacojohn

Yeah, and 10,000º!!
We need more than 40Gigs sorry, that machine would be outdated in 1 year.

[ajhill]

Originally Posted by tacojohn

Tacojohn,

Wow you should work for Apple marketing. Nice! Just one correction I would add: Change "40GB HDD" to "40GB Flash Storage" or maybe something that's Apple cool, like "40GB FuturStor" or maybe "SSR" for Solid-State Storage. That one seems like it's supercharged!

Al

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by eAi

The iMac is kind of being forgotten here... It hasn't had a new design (except for the iSight) since August 2004 - almost 3 years ago now!

The iSight update was more than the addition of a camera, they changed the back shell from flat to curved and made the edges thinner. As well as make it hard to get into.

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by andrewcod

Digg it

Someone has a hard on for digg

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Ireland

We need more than 40Gigs sorry, that machine would be outdated in 1 year.

Also, 40GB is not a capacity that is available in flash, and might never be. As it is, it's simple powers of two, 16GB, 32GB and so far, the max is 64GB.

I wish notebook marketers would quit referring to the thickness dimension as "thin". Stupid psychological manipulation.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by solipsism

How much are wanting to pay for a headless Mac?

Considering that Nicnac hasn't bought an Apple Mac since who knows when, if at all, I doubt that he isn't willing to pay 2¢ for one.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solipsism

With the magnitude of live blogging of Job's keynotes and the Apple video feed relased later that day it makes more sense for Apple cater to the majority. Especially with the increased interest in the Mac platform.

Besides, there are plenty of developer workshops to make any Mac programmer's laptop all hot n' sticky.

It's still wildly off-message for the event. People pay $2000+ per person to go (assumed figure including hotel, travel & food expenses), and I think it would be quite insulting to those people to turn the keynote into a big sales pitch for a product unrelated to the conference. I think that's actually against the definition of keynote.

[bryand]

Originally Posted by eAi

The iMac is kind of being forgotten here... It hasn't had a new design (except for the iSight) since August 2004 - almost 3 years ago now!

Although existing Apple fans might not see Virtualization software as anything to be excited about, it has huge potential for Apple. Obviously a WINE like solution would be ideal - no need for a copy of Windows, but I doubt Apple have enough developers (or time) to finish WINE!

Whatever the features are, they probably ought to be better than the previously announced ones, or people are going to be disappointed.

As for a Macbook Mini - I think that'd be a confusing name - its surely going to be aimed at the Pro market (due to cost), so surely Macbook Pro Mini would be more apt...

Wine would be great if you could get it to work. I have tried it under Linux though and it is just far too difficult to get it to work with anything but the most mainstream applications. I don't think that would fit with Apple's focus on ease of use.

[EagerDragon]

Originally Posted by Louzer

What the hell is Apple thinking? Focusing on computers and their OS at their developer's conference? People don't expect to go to a developer's conference and hear about that kind of thing! The only reason people are going to this thing is because they're expecting to find a free iPhone under their seats at the keynote!

What's next. Apple going to a MacWorld conference and actually talking about the Macintosh?

Good one, LOL

[palegolas]

The key feature for the customers with a sub notebook from Apple must be that it is ultra portable. It doesn't matter if it has hard disk or flash disk. It could very well use an iPod disk, it's fast enough for most uses. But if it isn't in the magical 1kg (2,21 pounds) class then what would the point be? Yet another full featured mac in the 2+ kg class? Nooo.. I hope they're getting it right. It must be ultra portable and once and for all replace the now classic powerbook 12".

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by Just Some Guy

There is no excuse for Apple not to have a mid-tower machine starting at $1000-$1200. The gap in price and expansion capacity between the rather dated Mac Mini and the Mac Pro is just too great.…I have been using (and developing both hardware and software for) Apple products since my first Apple II … My G4 system seems a bit sluggish these days which is why I'm typing this message on a PC.

Seems like you wouldn't buy a mid-tower at $500 if it were available.

[Louzer]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

Considering that Nicnac hasn't bought an Apple Mac since who knows when, if at all, I doubt that he isn't willing to pay 2¢ for one.

Hey, I'm willing to pay 2¢ for one! Who's with me?!?!

The $1200-1300 price point always seems to come up, and I'd agree with that. Most people don't need 4 PCI Express slots, or 18 cores, or a tower that could crush your cat if it toppled, or one taller then your desk. But a replaceable video card, hard drive bays out the wazoo (I'm tired of stacking a bunch of external drives on my desk), a Core 2 Duo chip. That's all we want.

Hell, if dell can do it for less then a grand, why can't Apple do it for $1299? (and I don't care, stick it in a crappy plastic case that looks like something from the mid-90's, because, unless you're one of those style-geeks who put their macs 'on display', most people never see their computer, let alone stare at it and go "Boy that looks nice!".

[Slewis]

Originally Posted by angevil

The day that seemed so distant is to come in 10 days, finally. I can`t wait to see the keynote.

So, if there is this ultra-portable, it should be priced similar to Macbook and not Macbook Pro. Because, really, this thing won`t be so powerful. The only good thing it might have is a good battery life and flash memory. Is it worth it? I hope that new Macbook Pros willl alos have at least part flash memory.

Manufacturing costs will be hell.

Originally Posted by tacojohn

Brilliant! Except for one thing, a 40 GB disk is 1) too small (60 is the bare minimum, and that's pushing it really low) 2) has Moving parts.

I love the "Moving Parts Not Included" except you did include moving parts, which needs to be changed to a 64 GB Flash Drive.

Originally Posted by Just Some Guy

Amen.

There is no excuse for Apple not to have a mid-tower machine starting at $1000-$1200. The gap in price and expansion capacity between the rather dated Mac Mini and the Mac Pro is just too great. Dedicated hobbyist and pro-sumer users can't justify a $2000+ Mac Pro that will not generate income. Many people (like myself) invest in high quality monitors because they know that they will last through more than one computer purchase or be used with multiple machines with the aid of now ubiquitous, low cost KVM switches (or the built-in signal switch as on my Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 200). I would love to buy a nice 1920x1600 LCD monitor to get me through the next several years that I can use with my PC AND my Mac, so the iMac's are out of the question. Also consider that many people (again like myself) are very excited about the ability to run a Mac laptop with the lib closed when not on the road in order to take advantage of a large display, standard layout keyboard and scroll mouse.

I can think of one excuse: Mid Towers, or any Tower (including the Mac Pro) is just damn ugly. I'm a huge fan of AIOs and Laptops though, and the Mac Mini design isn't bad for a non AIO desktop.

Sebastian