Apple poised for special event this September

[AppleInsider]

Although it has not yet been announced, investment bank Piper Jaffray believes it's only a matter of time before Apple reveals plans to hold a special event next month to usher in a new array of iPods and Mac notebooks.

The Cupertino-based company has used a September gathering to launch new iPods for the past three years, analyst Gene Munster advised clients in a research report Wednesday, adding that Apple shares have risen about 4 percent on average from the week before those events to the week after.

Historically, shares have risen more than 47 percent between the week before those events to the four months after, he said.

At this year's event, Munster is expecting Apple to refresh its iPod family through a number of "pricing and capacity changes." Specifically, he's looking for capacity increases to iPod shuffles and iPod nanos, but no price reductions on those models. Conversely, the iPod touch is likely to see a redesign "and a new $199 price point, in line with the iPhone."

Sharing the stage with new iPods will be a complete overhaul of the company's mainstream notebook families, Munster believes. In particular, the analyst sees Apple unveiling new industrial designs for both the MacBook and MacBook Pro, and possibly re-entering the $999 price point on the MacBook as it once offered alongside the notebook's iBook predecessor.

"We note that the MacBook has had the same design since its launch over two years ago, and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago," he told clients. "To compare, the long-running iMac G5 design lasted three years."

In his note to clients, the Piper Jaffray analyst also weighed in with his thoughts on how Apple will expand the presence of its multi-touch technology on the Mac going forward. He said gestures recently added to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro "are just the beginning of Apple's exploration of multi-touch on the Mac," and that the company clearly holds plans to leverage its technology portfolio from the iPhone to simultaneously advance Mac experience.

"Currently, these gestures require the same touch-sensing technology used in the iPhone, but they use a traditional looking trackpad," the analyst told clients. "Eventually, we expect Apple to change the trackpad to backlit color screens for a more dynamic user interface on the Mac."

Ultimately, Munster expects Apple to introduce a full touch-screen MacBook, although "not until the technology has fully matured over the next 2-3 years."

The analyst reiterated his Buy rating and $250 price target on shares of Apple.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Bryan3089]

Finally, a realistic, reasonable set of predictions from an analyst. Not saying his words are golden, but at least he didn't propose anything radical, like so many others in his profession... We shall see!

Question: Does Apple usually announce these types of events? If so, typically how many weeks beforehand?

[NTropy]

Is that why Apple shares are up so much (11+ poins ~7% as of this writing) in the past couple of days?

[nofear1az]

I say they won't release any new Macbooks in September but rather save that for MacWorld in January.... just my assumption.

[ncee]

Originally Posted by NTropy

Is that why Apple shares are up so much (11+ poins ~7% as of this writing) in the past couple of days?

And $250.00 is way to conservative. Once the other countries start selling iPhones, and China gets on board … $350.00 or more, BEFORE it's splits is way more likely

[Go Banana]

Analyst reads rumors everyone else reads, then gives conservative prediction that Apple will, at some point, in the future, release updates to it's product line, MAYBE... even introduce a new product within the next 2-3 years. Buy stock.

[solsun]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago," he told clients.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

When he says "same design," is he referring to the same color? Because the design of the MacBook Pro has completely changed since the PowerBook G4.

Just a few changes..

New Processors,
New Motherboard design,
New RAM,
New Keyboard design,
LED displays,
New Trackpad with MultiTouch,
iSight Camera added,
Magsafe connector added,
Backlight Keyboard added,
New Speakers and placement,
New Wi-FI 802.11n,
Bluetooth 2.1 added,
Firewire 800 port,
PCI express slot added,
Slimmer enclosure.

Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.

I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.

[resnyc]

Originally Posted by nofear1az

I say they won't release any new Macbooks in September but rather save that for MacWorld in January.... just my assumption.

This site has been predicting new MacBooks for Q3 2008 for the last couple months, based on industrial design leaks and existing MB inventories shrinking. But before that they were predicting the release for Q2 2008, so who knows. All I know is I just can't wait!!

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by solsun

When he says "same design," is he referring to the same color? Because the design of the MacBook Pro has completely changed since the PowerBook G4.

Just a few changes..

New Processors,
New Motherboard design,
New RAM,
New Keyboard design,
LED displays,
New Trackpad with MultiTouch,
iSight Camera added,
Magsafe connector added,
Backlight Keyboard added,
New Speakers and placement,
New Wi-FI 802.11n,
Bluetooth 2.1 added,
Firewire 800 port,
PCI express slot added,
Slimmer enclosure.

Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.

I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.

They don't look significantly different though, that was his point. And he'd be right. Same color etc. Same size trackpad (I think). The new ones will have bigger trackpads (probably), black keyboards and a more tapered (tear-drop) shape. That will be "different".

In fact it it has that combined with a magnetic latch I'll likely purchase one to go along with my cracked iPhone (cracked as in the glass)

[aaple]

Originally Posted by resnyc

This site has been predicting new MacBooks for Q3 2008 for the last couple months, based on industrial design leaks and existing MB inventories shrinking. But before that they were predicting the release for Q2 2008, so who knows. All I know is I just can't wait!!

Yeah, when Apple sends out a notice to retailers to buy enough stock now to cover three weeks worth of Macbooks sales (this was a week ago), it most likely means they're ramping down production of the current model to start selling a new one in the next 4-6 weeks. I'm 95% certain new MBs and MBPs of some sort are coming out in September or October of this year...which is why I'm holding out on buying one until then for law school that starts in a couple of weeks. I'll make do with my Dell... If there were a significant chance it'd be January before they released updated notebooks, I'd have bought mine two months ago.

[amac4me]

Munster hasn't had the greatest track record with his 'Apple Expectations'.

In my view, the next MacBook and MacBook Pro updates will likely be incremental. There's also the possibility that MacBook may get the trackpad. September/October is consistent with prior updates however November shouldn't be ruled out as Apple updated these lines in November 2007.

Let's not forget about the iMac, which is also prime for an update during this same timeframe.

I wouldn't make sense for Apple to release 'redesigned' systems just prior to the holiday season because of the risk. What if a production, manufacturing, or design issue presents itself and Apple ends up on the short end of the stick during the busiest shopping period of the year? Besides, the best time to rollout redesigns would be in 2009 when the next Intel chipsets hit the market.

Hence, my incremental update expectation on the next MacBook and MacBook Pro releases.

[wobegon]

Originally Posted by solsun

Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.

I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.

They're talking about its overall case design: from a few feet away, most people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a MacBook Pro and a PowerBook G4. A lot of under-the-hood improvements have been made, but the case has remained the same for the most part.

It's a good design, but don't expect Apple to leave the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines unchanged after releasing the very sleek, futuristic, yet durable MacBook Air this past January. From the Air's construction, we can pretty much assume the case material will be aluminum and the enclosure itself will be streamlined with tapered edges, maybe the adoption of the Air's new MagSafe connector, and I'd say it's rather likely the Pro's keyboard will be stripped in favor of the kind used in the MacBook, MacBook Air, and bundled with the new aluminum iMac.

I doubt they'll kill the internal disc drive on all their notebooks just yet, as they did with the Air, but doing so would allow them to be even thinner.

Then of course, we'll see the usual under-the-hood improvements: faster processors, more storage (probably optional SSDs), better graphics cards, etc.

[ouragan]

Good guessing, Gene, although you are probably right.

The historical perspective is accurate, and you are probably right, but would you call your note an "analysis" of facts disclosed by Apple management, or did you become the new Apple spokeperson, in charge of keeping management morale by boosting stock price with unsubstantiated rumors?

It's high time that Apple be covered by reputable stock analysts who report facts, not rumors and speculation.

BTW, the fact that Apple stock is held by hedge funds should be worrisome to long term investors and anyone interested in the development of the Mac OS X platform, as we all know that hedge fund managers are there for a quick profit. Beware of the day when they drop the stock for a more profitable "investment".

See: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07212008...alk_120853.htm

[yama]

Originally Posted by solsun

I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.

Uh, because the current MacBook Pro is has almost the same case design as the Aluminium G4s that were released in 2003 maybe?

Compare PowerBook G4 with MacBook Pro. Spot the differences

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by yama

Uh, because the current MacBook Pro is has almost the same case design as the Aluminium G4s that were released in 2003 maybe?

Compare PowerBook G4 with MacBook Pro. Spot the differences

Waaay different LOL

[wobegon]

Ireland, nice suggestions.

Forgot about the magnetic latch and big Multi-Touch trackpads in my comment above. I'm really liking Apple's use of magnets to eliminate mechanical latches and power connectors. Oh, another thing to add to the new MacBook/Pro with list: LED backlit displays.

Also, if they're going to taper the edges, I wonder if we'll see a similar trap door of ports like the Air. I'd personally prefer that as I don't like having exposed ports that can get dirt or water in them.

[Galley]

My predictions:

*The 3G shuffle gets capacity bumps to 2GB and 4GB at current prices, but also gains a tiny display. It may be slightly larger.

*The nano is killed off, replaced by the new shuffle.

*The iPod touch drops in price, and essentially replaces the nano, pushing everyone towards unified games and software in the App Store. An updated design may include playback controls on the body, and an internal speaker.
8GB - $199
16GB- $299
32GB - $399

[Haggar]

Since there seems to be a debate over the internal optical drive, why not just make it removable and let users put whatever they want inside: optical drive, second battery, or second hard drive.

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Waaay different LOL

Although they use the same basic design, the cases are different. The Macbook Pro is larger than the Powerbook, with a 15.4" display vs 15.2", thinner than the Powerbook, and has the obvious addition of an iSight and IR sensor.

And of course the internal layout is completely different.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by NTropy

Is that why Apple shares are up so much (11+ poins ~7% as of this writing) in the past couple of days?

Nothing to do with Apple. Oil is down, and the markets have risen a lot, pulling Apple up a bit with them.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solsun

When he says "same design," is he referring to the same color? Because the design of the MacBook Pro has completely changed since the PowerBook G4.

Just a few changes..

New Processors,
New Motherboard design,
New RAM,
New Keyboard design,
LED displays,
New Trackpad with MultiTouch,
iSight Camera added,
Magsafe connector added,
Backlight Keyboard added,
New Speakers and placement,
New Wi-FI 802.11n,
Bluetooth 2.1 added,
Firewire 800 port,
PCI express slot added,
Slimmer enclosure.

Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.

I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.

When people say design, they mean the outside, the case.

[Denton]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

At this year's event, Munster is expecting Apple to refresh its iPod family through a number of "pricing and capacity changes." Specifically, he's looking for capacity increases to iPod shuffles and iPod nanos, but no price reductions on those models. Conversely, the iPod touch is likely to see a redesign "and a new $199 price point, in line with the iPhone."

The shuffle is likely to be unchanged this September. Sure 4GB would be doable at the same price-point as the 2GB holds right now, but why? Unless the shuffle is re-designed to have a small screen, there is not much point in having so much space for music that you can't browse. Or is Apple going to begin pushing a lossless format instead of 256 Kbps AAC?

Increased capacity on the Nano makes sense, but I can't shake the feeling that the Nano will be replaced with a touch screen Nano. Perhaps that will wait for another year. I've just been feeling that the click-wheel has had it's day -- It's simply too imprecise (at least on the Nano). EDIT: can this be a "'product transition' that cuts back on its profit margins?" Apple does sell a lot of Nanos -- if they went for touch-interface Nanos at the same prices, this would certainly lower margins and would "shut out rivals."

iPod Touch at $199? I doubt that very much. It might feasibly come down to $249, but I think it's far more likely to have larger capacity at the same price. The Touch and the iPhone are simply not competitors. Until Apple can find a way to incorporate an on-going usage charge into the Touch, it will be infeasible to charge so little up-front for the device. Remember that AT&T is subsidising the iPhone somewhere between $300 and $400, and they're happy to do it because people are signing up for data plans on top of their voice plans. Munster is way off on this one.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Galley

My predictions:

*The 3G shuffle gets capacity bumps to 2GB and 4GB at current prices, but also gains a tiny display. It may be slightly larger.

*The nano is killed off, replaced by the new shuffle.

*The iPod touch drops in price, and essentially replaces the nano, pushing everyone towards unified games and software in the App Store. An updated design may include playback controls on the body, and an internal speaker.
8GB - $199
16GB- $299
32GB - $399

Something like that is likely. I'm not so sure about the tiny screen though. What would be the point? The Shuffle sells well without it.

[cdnalsi]

Again with the 'analysts' and their precious outlooks and predictions? Jeez...

[melgross]

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

Although they use the same basic design, the cases are different. The Macbook Pro is larger than the Powerbook, with a 15.4" display vs 15.2", thinner than the Powerbook, and has the obvious addition of an iSight and IR sensor.

And of course the internal layout is completely different.

The size is a tiny bit larger, but the design is the same.

If the designs we've been seeing on the net are correct, this will be a much bigger change.

[melgross]

Anyway, screw all this!

Where's my new Nehalem Mac Pro?

[shanmugam]

My Predictions
------------------
iPod Touch - internal changes, new features unknown
4GB - $149
8GB - $199
16GB - $299
32GB - $399

iPod nano - axed
iPod shuffle - 2 & 4GB

Alu MacBooks
13" & 15"

Alu MacBook Pro
15" & 17" - (13" MBP is kinda of overlap between MB and MBA - so not viable)

Sep 2nd OR Sep 9th Tuesday Apple event almost a month away toooo early to get excited

[VisualZone]

Originally Posted by cdnalsi

Again with the 'analysts' and their precious outlooks and predictions? Jeez...

Some say analyst others say ANALyst.

[wobegon]

Originally Posted by Haggar

Since there seems to be a debate over the internal optical drive, why not just make it removable and let users put whatever they want inside: optical drive, second battery, or second hard drive.

Same reason iPhones and iPods don't use removable batteries: makes the overall product more bulky. Simply dropping the internal disc drive to save space and slim down the Air while providing an optional SuperDrive for those that actually want or need one makes more sense both in terms of technology and costs.

[Denton]

Originally Posted by Galley

My predictions:

*The 3G shuffle gets capacity bumps to 2GB and 4GB at current prices, but also gains a tiny display. It may be slightly larger.

*The nano is killed off, replaced by the new shuffle.

*The iPod touch drops in price, and essentially replaces the nano, pushing everyone towards unified games and software in the App Store. An updated design may include playback controls on the body, and an internal speaker.
8GB - $199
16GB- $299
32GB - $399

Are people who bought the current Nano going to be happy with the Touch, which is larger in every possible metric? If I wanted a Touch, I would have bought one. I prefer the current Nano at $199 to even a free Touch because the size is my majority concern. I am not the only one. I'm not certain that a shuffle with a small screen would be adequate to replace the current Nano either.

What is particularly compelling about the current Nano is that it rides the features line so well. It's not as good as the Touch on video, but it's still adequate in a pinch. It can't browse the internet, but that's not important for this segment of the market. It has low capacity, but large enough to contain all of the music and playlists that one actually listens to on any regular basis. And on top of that, it's small enough to exercise with. If you are only going to have one iPod, the Nano is the one -- you won't go jogging with a Touch and you can't watch video with a shuffle. I don't think that Apple can replace the Nano with anything other than another Nano without losing a lot of customers to other players.

[Denton]

Originally Posted by shanmugam

iPod nano - axed

As with Galley, I suspect you don't understand why people buy Nanos -- for many (majority?) it's not the price.

[RolandG]

IMO, the MacBook's and the MacBook Pro's design is near perfect. Sleek, no unnecessary fuss, quality materials, clever details. What do you think could be optimized?

[solsun]

Originally Posted by yama

Uh, because the current MacBook Pro is has almost the same case design as the Aluminium G4s that were released in 2003 maybe?

Compare PowerBook G4 with MacBook Pro. Spot the differences

Thats definitely not a 2003 Powerbook G4. The original PowerBook G4's (titanium) had black keyboards, plus Garageband didn't exist in 2003.

At any rate, I understand that the color has always been the same, but everything else has changed. It has been redesigned many times.

[VisualZone]

Originally Posted by melgross

Anyway, screw all this!

Where's my new Nehalem Mac Pro?

Why the rush? Just kidding!!

I'm still very happy with my G4. I've maxed out the ram, added a bigger hard drive and if I need Microsoft Windows it has VirtualPC for the Mac w/XP Pro. The only thing I could think of if I want to whine is it will soon need a new battery. Right now I'm getting about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of charge time.

[VisualZone]

Originally Posted by VisualZone

Why the rush? Just kidding!!

I'm still very happy with my G4. I've maxed out the ram, added a bigger hard drive and if I need Microsoft Windows it has VirtualPC for the Mac w/XP Pro. The only thing I could think of if I want to whine is it will need soon is a new battery. Right now I'm getting about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of charge time.

It's been upgraded to Tiger and iLife 08.

[Denton]

Originally Posted by RolandG

IMO, the MacBook's and the MacBook Pro's design is near perfect. Sleek, no unnecessary fuss, quality materials, clever details. What do you think could be optimized?

The Macbook is plastic for one. Refreshing the design excites buyers. There is no other reason required than that.

[aaple]

Originally Posted by Haggar

Since there seems to be a debate over the internal optical drive, why not just make it removable and let users put whatever they want inside: optical drive, second battery, or second hard drive.

Because if it was removable, it wouldn't be slot-loading, and Apple is in love with slot-loading disc drives.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Denton

As with Galley, I suspect you don't understand why people buy Nanos -- for many (majority?) it's not the price.

They could make a smaller touch.

[VisualZone]

If you want to check out the different G4s go here. It's a great place I visit when I need some info on the specs of Macs.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/appl...erbook-g4.html

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by melgross

The size is a tiny bit larger, but the design is the same.

If the designs we've been seeing on the net are correct, this will be a much bigger change.

Yep. It'll be a bigger, thicker Macbook Air.