"While we believe it is unlikely that a new iPhone will be released at Macworld, we continue to expect a new model by the end of the March quarter," Munster wrote. "Specifically, we believe Apple could introduce a lower-end model that is slightly thicker due to the inclusion of a slider keyboard for students (texting) and business use (email) between $99 and $149."
in other words, they believe that Apple would turn away from their typical game of announcing new toys a month or two early to believe up hype,
they believe that Apple would turn away from the summer as iPhone time
and they believe that Apple would be dumb enough to release a device that uses the same tech as most other phones and that someone would probably try to sue them over.
I think people are forgetting that just as in the last two keynotes, Steve Jobs stood to one side and let others do large parts of them, Phil could just as easily say ...
" ... and one more thing, here's Steve to present a new product."
I still think there will be an iPhone nano released, updated Mac mini in new form factor, the rumored server that will really be an updated Time Capsule, and a Snow Leopard sneak peek.
Afterwards, the Steve Jobs health rumors will be back in full swing because of the relatively healthy (pun intended) product releases.
They're not going to completely redesign the iMac. Every single other product Apple makes (with the exception of the base MacBook) has been brought in line with the design scheme developed for that Mac (and the Mac Pro in all honesty). Just look at the Mac Pro, that design has gone mostly unchanged for five years and the MacBooks rarely changed either. That iMac design is gonna be around for a while. After all, the aluminum design has only been around since mid 2007.
.
The aluminum "design" is a mere bastardization of the white iMAc which was around 3 years previous to it. Execpt now it has has a mismatched white cord , white mouse and is the exact same form factor (including the Jay Leno chin) as the white. Where is the new design? The was merely a "greening" of the white iMac.
If what your saying is true then: No new design = No purchase.
I think people are forgetting that just as in the last two keynotes, Steve Jobs stood to one side and let others do large parts of them, Phil could just as easily say ...
" ... and one more thing, here's Steve to present a new product."
My thoughts exactly. I'm not expecting it but you never know.
Although this is still a rumor, it really makes sense in light of Apple's recent partnership with Wal-Mart. Wal-mart, as you know, caters to price-conscious (and who isn't these days) consumers. By offering a "slimmed" down version of the iPhone (both physically and feature-wise) at a lower price (say $100.00 new), Apple has the most direct route to these price-conscious consumers, with the added benefit of Wal-mart also serving as an additional distributor of the full-featured iPhones. I really does make sense.
What is the point including a physical keyboard to iPhone? That really defeats the purpose if you ask me.
It'll never happen. I would like to see a true 16:9 screen in more or less the same form factor. This will add some width to the virtual keyboard in landscape mode (which needs to be accessible to all apps on the platform). The landscape mode keyboard is great - its just a matter of retraining to get used to it. Having said that, a third party bluetooth keyboard is much over due.
Is there absolutely NO hope for the 17" unibody MBP this coming spring/year?
I think there is a very good chance that the 17" MacBook Pro will be announced at MWSF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John the Geek
This guy doesn't know a thing about Apple, does he?
Indeed. There is just about zero chance that Apple would ever produce an iPhone with a keyboard. If someone wants to do that much typing with an iPhone, they can use a bluetooth keyboard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
refresh to the Air for better hard drive and processor wouldn't be sneered at.
I agree with most of your post, but the next processor that would be suitable for the MacBook Air is the SL9600 due to be released by Intel in April. Therefore the next MacBook Air speedbump will be in April or May.
Although this is still a rumor, it really makes sense in light of Apple's recent partnership with Wal-Mart. Wal-mart, as you know, caters to price-conscious (and who isn't these days) consumers. By offering a "slimmed" down version of the iPhone (both physically and feature-wise) at a lower price (say $100.00 new), Apple has the most direct route to these price-conscious consumers, with the added benefit of Wal-mart also serving as an additional distributor of the full-featured iPhones. I really does make sense.
Funny, I was thinking the opposite strategy would be a more 'Apple' way. They should offer a new version of the iPhone (iPhone Pro?) that is more than double the current cost with features that are not available on any other phones...in the US, anyway. Possibly features like concierge services, two-way videoconferencing, cut and paste...
Wait- I thought the new iMac was "next generation" or a "remodel"- here now it's being referred to as a refresh?
AI- Please make up your mind. Thank you.
It always has been rumored as a refresh. No one ever claimed it would be a next-generation model. The only rumor is matching the same hardware as the MacBook/Pro, and now maybe updated cooling. Would still be done in the same enclosure.
That is the first thing that I find odd as niether Appleinsider nor MacRumors said a thing about the press release. That release was very important to anybody thinking about or speculating on updates or refreshes.
For example Intel will now have available a very low cost quad core that would make for an interesting Mini. Like wise processors suitable for laptops. There has to be hardware available to announce new products and Intel just released some ideal ones.
So I'm exspecting a large number of updates. For example:
1.
Mac Mini gets updated or replaced with a new device. The new Mini will be quad core in at least one variant. Nvidia graphics of course but hopefully a souped up variant of the 9400M suitable for compact form factor desktops.
2.
IMac update. Here I'm a bit more confused but I still have this idea that they will walk away from laptop chips to help close the gap between iMac and the Mac Pro. Let's face it, that gap just gets wider and wider, so either iMac gets significantly faster or Apple delivers the mythically xMac.
3.
The 17" or so MBP arrives. It is still a mystery as to what is causing the hold up. The new Intel chips would not seem to be reason enough. I'm putting money on new or faster GPUs than what we see in the other Mac Books. A remote possibility is that Apple comes up with a hardware solution to the BluRay Bag-O-Hurt. Frankly a hardware solution is the only way I could see Apple keeping their ability to innovate as an all hardware solution could be certified once and be done with.
4.
I know many will assume this will never happen but I'm still holding out hope for an xMac type machine. MWSF may be to soon based on hardware availability but Apple needs something to plug the massive performance hole between iMac and the Mac Pro. The situation will be especially bad if iMac can't go i7 anytime soon. This would be a single processor machine with four cores and modest internal expansion. Ideally room for an array of laptop format drives, for data integrity for things like home media servers, low cost file serving and other uses where it would be nice to prevent the loss of data.
5.
Of course Apple may take a different approach on a low cost RAIDed file server. We might see a RAIDed appliance server from Apple at MWSF. This is to address the issue of calling a single disk device a backup platform. It is one thing to call a single disk external storage it is another to label it back up. I believe it is now possible for Apple to deliver a low cost RAID back up machine and believe they will. It is obvious no body wanted expensive solution that was rack mounted!
6.
As to iPhone Nano it is coming folks just like a lot of other iPhone models are on the way. MWSF is a good time for that to happen. Why you ask, well decause they need to keep the spring and summer open for other Touch based device announcements. Touch has so much potential for Apple that I do wonder what is taking them so long to come out with new devices. I suspect that the problem is two fold, one is the hardware which I believe should be close to ready with the PA Semi designed chips and the other issue is software.
Let's face it Apple is still a long way from being able to say that they are happy with Mobile OS even in it's current 2.2 form. It is still buggy and crashes apps way to much. Add to this that new devices would be even more demanding with respect to Mobile OSes shortcomings and it becomes easy to see this as the big hold up. As to those short comings a short list would include back ground apps/multi tasking, support for all the common BluTooth profiles, stability, USB host support, copy and paste, interprocess communications, shared data storage and a whole host of other issues.
7.
Given all the issues above I can still see a new form factor Touch hitting the streets. The easy approach would be to model it on IPhone Nano but I don't see this happening. Instead is see the current form factor being morphed into an HD ratio (likely 16:9) video screen. Obviously the screen would need to grow in one direction or the other, possibly both. If the whole device ends up slightly larger and twice as fast I'd be happy. Notably I believe going smaller on iPod Touch will end up being a very hard sell due to the differences in usage relative to iPhone. More pixels on screen just makes the things that Touch users focus on all that much more useful, that is games, net/web and E-Mail. This is in contrast to a Nano iPhone that would have a larger customer base for a compact smart phone where the user is more concerned about phone and E-Mail.
8.
I'm surprised that no one commented about new monitors. This would seem to be a given if you expect Display Port on all the new machines. Apple might go as small as 20 inches here to attempt to offer a low cost platform. A good possibility also is a tuner for TV in. One of the short comings of TVs with PC inputs is the lack of quality when actually operating from those PC inputs. Apple could turn this upside down with a TV that is actually optimized for PC inputs. In a 24 inch model or larger this could work out rather well. If not I will continue to look for something that can do double duty well.
We already know the next mini and iMacs are going to have significant hardware changes: DisplayPort, new graphics chipset, and who knows what else. This is definitely more than a "dull" "refresh".
The only question at this point is if Apple will use this as an opportunity to cut costs (as in drop features like Firewire), or as an opportunity to make the mini and iMac more exciting.
Comments
"While we believe it is unlikely that a new iPhone will be released at Macworld, we continue to expect a new model by the end of the March quarter," Munster wrote. "Specifically, we believe Apple could introduce a lower-end model that is slightly thicker due to the inclusion of a slider keyboard for students (texting) and business use (email) between $99 and $149."
in other words, they believe that Apple would turn away from their typical game of announcing new toys a month or two early to believe up hype,
they believe that Apple would turn away from the summer as iPhone time
and they believe that Apple would be dumb enough to release a device that uses the same tech as most other phones and that someone would probably try to sue them over.
I think people are forgetting that just as in the last two keynotes, Steve Jobs stood to one side and let others do large parts of them, Phil could just as easily say ...
" ... and one more thing, here's Steve to present a new product."
By video conference from China.....
Afterwards, the Steve Jobs health rumors will be back in full swing because of the relatively healthy (pun intended) product releases.
They're not going to completely redesign the iMac. Every single other product Apple makes (with the exception of the base MacBook) has been brought in line with the design scheme developed for that Mac (and the Mac Pro in all honesty). Just look at the Mac Pro, that design has gone mostly unchanged for five years and the MacBooks rarely changed either. That iMac design is gonna be around for a while. After all, the aluminum design has only been around since mid 2007.
.
The aluminum "design" is a mere bastardization of the white iMAc which was around 3 years previous to it. Execpt now it has has a mismatched white cord , white mouse and is the exact same form factor (including the Jay Leno chin) as the white. Where is the new design? The was merely a "greening" of the white iMac.
If what your saying is true then: No new design = No purchase.
I think people are forgetting that just as in the last two keynotes, Steve Jobs stood to one side and let others do large parts of them, Phil could just as easily say ...
" ... and one more thing, here's Steve to present a new product."
My thoughts exactly. I'm not expecting it but you never know.
What is the point including a physical keyboard to iPhone? That really defeats the purpose if you ask me.
It'll never happen. I would like to see a true 16:9 screen in more or less the same form factor. This will add some width to the virtual keyboard in landscape mode (which needs to be accessible to all apps on the platform). The landscape mode keyboard is great - its just a matter of retraining to get used to it. Having said that, a third party bluetooth keyboard is much over due.
Is there absolutely NO hope for the 17" unibody MBP this coming spring/year?
I think there is a very good chance that the 17" MacBook Pro will be announced at MWSF.
This guy doesn't know a thing about Apple, does he?
Indeed. There is just about zero chance that Apple would ever produce an iPhone with a keyboard. If someone wants to do that much typing with an iPhone, they can use a bluetooth keyboard.
refresh to the Air for better hard drive and processor wouldn't be sneered at.
I agree with most of your post, but the next processor that would be suitable for the MacBook Air is the SL9600 due to be released by Intel in April. Therefore the next MacBook Air speedbump will be in April or May.
My expectations for MWSF are:
- speedbumped iMacs
- speedbumped Mini
- new 17" MacBook Pro
- speedbumped Apple TV (maybe)
- 32GB iPhone (maybe)
- speedbumped Mac Pro (maybe)
Although this is still a rumor, it really makes sense in light of Apple's recent partnership with Wal-Mart. Wal-mart, as you know, caters to price-conscious (and who isn't these days) consumers. By offering a "slimmed" down version of the iPhone (both physically and feature-wise) at a lower price (say $100.00 new), Apple has the most direct route to these price-conscious consumers, with the added benefit of Wal-mart also serving as an additional distributor of the full-featured iPhones. I really does make sense.
Funny, I was thinking the opposite strategy would be a more 'Apple' way. They should offer a new version of the iPhone (iPhone Pro?) that is more than double the current cost with features that are not available on any other phones...in the US, anyway. Possibly features like concierge services, two-way videoconferencing, cut and paste...
Wait- I thought the new iMac was "next generation" or a "remodel"- here now it's being referred to as a refresh?
AI- Please make up your mind. Thank you.
It always has been rumored as a refresh. No one ever claimed it would be a next-generation model. The only rumor is matching the same hardware as the MacBook/Pro, and now maybe updated cooling. Would still be done in the same enclosure.
For example Intel will now have available a very low cost quad core that would make for an interesting Mini. Like wise processors suitable for laptops. There has to be hardware available to announce new products and Intel just released some ideal ones.
So I'm exspecting a large number of updates. For example:
1.
Mac Mini gets updated or replaced with a new device. The new Mini will be quad core in at least one variant. Nvidia graphics of course but hopefully a souped up variant of the 9400M suitable for compact form factor desktops.
2.
IMac update. Here I'm a bit more confused but I still have this idea that they will walk away from laptop chips to help close the gap between iMac and the Mac Pro. Let's face it, that gap just gets wider and wider, so either iMac gets significantly faster or Apple delivers the mythically xMac.
3.
The 17" or so MBP arrives. It is still a mystery as to what is causing the hold up. The new Intel chips would not seem to be reason enough. I'm putting money on new or faster GPUs than what we see in the other Mac Books. A remote possibility is that Apple comes up with a hardware solution to the BluRay Bag-O-Hurt. Frankly a hardware solution is the only way I could see Apple keeping their ability to innovate as an all hardware solution could be certified once and be done with.
4.
I know many will assume this will never happen but I'm still holding out hope for an xMac type machine. MWSF may be to soon based on hardware availability but Apple needs something to plug the massive performance hole between iMac and the Mac Pro. The situation will be especially bad if iMac can't go i7 anytime soon. This would be a single processor machine with four cores and modest internal expansion. Ideally room for an array of laptop format drives, for data integrity for things like home media servers, low cost file serving and other uses where it would be nice to prevent the loss of data.
5.
Of course Apple may take a different approach on a low cost RAIDed file server. We might see a RAIDed appliance server from Apple at MWSF. This is to address the issue of calling a single disk device a backup platform. It is one thing to call a single disk external storage it is another to label it back up. I believe it is now possible for Apple to deliver a low cost RAID back up machine and believe they will. It is obvious no body wanted expensive solution that was rack mounted!
6.
As to iPhone Nano it is coming folks just like a lot of other iPhone models are on the way. MWSF is a good time for that to happen. Why you ask, well decause they need to keep the spring and summer open for other Touch based device announcements. Touch has so much potential for Apple that I do wonder what is taking them so long to come out with new devices. I suspect that the problem is two fold, one is the hardware which I believe should be close to ready with the PA Semi designed chips and the other issue is software.
Let's face it Apple is still a long way from being able to say that they are happy with Mobile OS even in it's current 2.2 form. It is still buggy and crashes apps way to much. Add to this that new devices would be even more demanding with respect to Mobile OSes shortcomings and it becomes easy to see this as the big hold up. As to those short comings a short list would include back ground apps/multi tasking, support for all the common BluTooth profiles, stability, USB host support, copy and paste, interprocess communications, shared data storage and a whole host of other issues.
7.
Given all the issues above I can still see a new form factor Touch hitting the streets. The easy approach would be to model it on IPhone Nano but I don't see this happening. Instead is see the current form factor being morphed into an HD ratio (likely 16:9) video screen. Obviously the screen would need to grow in one direction or the other, possibly both. If the whole device ends up slightly larger and twice as fast I'd be happy. Notably I believe going smaller on iPod Touch will end up being a very hard sell due to the differences in usage relative to iPhone. More pixels on screen just makes the things that Touch users focus on all that much more useful, that is games, net/web and E-Mail. This is in contrast to a Nano iPhone that would have a larger customer base for a compact smart phone where the user is more concerned about phone and E-Mail.
8.
I'm surprised that no one commented about new monitors. This would seem to be a given if you expect Display Port on all the new machines. Apple might go as small as 20 inches here to attempt to offer a low cost platform. A good possibility also is a tuner for TV in. One of the short comings of TVs with PC inputs is the lack of quality when actually operating from those PC inputs. Apple could turn this upside down with a TV that is actually optimized for PC inputs. In a 24 inch model or larger this could work out rather well. If not I will continue to look for something that can do double duty well.
In any event some rough ideas.
Dave
My expectations for MWSF are:
- speedbumped iMacs
- 32GB iPhone (maybe)
Yes please. I've waited patiently long enough.
We already know the next mini and iMacs are going to have significant hardware changes: DisplayPort, new graphics chipset, and who knows what else. This is definitely more than a "dull" "refresh".
The only question at this point is if Apple will use this as an opportunity to cut costs (as in drop features like Firewire), or as an opportunity to make the mini and iMac more exciting.