MacWorld Predictions?

Rene Ritchie · Jan 3, 2008

Obvious thread, but a fun one. What will we see?

iPhone 2G with 16GB and 3G Cell?

iPhone 1.1.3 Firmware with Google Locate & Pin Drag, Wiggly Home Customization, Cut'n'Paste, etc?

All new AppleTV, with iTunes WiFi Movie Store with rentables for iPhone?

MiniBook (dock-able to desktop, with iPhone dock-able to MiniBook?)

Jay-Z running Def Apple Jam?

White turtle neck?

Revolutionary "Namaste" UI?

Just over a week away....

Dieter Bohn · Jan 3, 2008

I will be there! WOO HOO!!

Predictions.. will have to come up with some. Expect some frontpage action tomorrow and I'll tie it to this thread.

archie · Jan 4, 2008

Here's what I came up with tonight.

3 iLife apps get updated in the days preceding MacWorld Expo, the other 2 get updated during Macworld.

Update to Mac OS X preceding the show.

Brief mention of a small new addition to .Mac.

Probably about 2 new iPhone apps that Apple will make available as a separate purchase. One will probably be a To-Do List application that is only compatible with Leopard in conjunction with the iPhone.

ITunes 8.0 with support for movie rental service.

Movie related announcements and other iTunes related things.

New Hi-Fi device that has HD radio. This seems inevitable with all the partners Apple has lined up to take advantage of iTunes Tagging of songs from HD radio - so yes, I'm saying this new hi-fi device will have a built in HD radio. How come nobody has noticed that the "Buy Now" buttons have been stripped from the iPod Hi-Fi pages at Apple.com?

An atypical announcement of a professional high-end application at a consumer level show.

Also somewhat atypical is the announcement of new Pro machines.

Definitely a new, smaller sized portable. Somewhere between 8" X 5" - 13" X 8".
Possible that it will interact with some other Apple hardware piece. Maybe the Apple TV??? I don't really have any idea here. Just guessing obviously.

Oh, probably also 2 new Apple branded iPhone accessories and 1 new iPhone model that has 16GB memory.

The day after the keynote, new Xserves will be announced.

Keep in mind these are all pulled out of thin air with no unmentionable sources and not much thought put into it. They just seemed to make sense at this moment.

Oh, almost forgot about a new firmware/software upgrade for the iPhone.

Rene Ritchie · Jan 4, 2008

@Septimus: Awesome news! Can't wait to read/listen to the coverage.

@Archie: Are we talking point releases/fixes or major new functionality for iLife/OS X?

.Mac is still a puzzle to me. Some great features, not all yet fully realized (has anyone got back-2-my-mac perfected?), and not yet priced competitively, I think.

ToDo's tied into Leopard mail? Note syncing? Cut'n'paste for the mobile bloggers?

Personally I'm not clamoring for Java or Flash (given Flash' historic hoggishness on OS X), but a more competitive Quicktime interactive would be an interesting play...

HD Radio set up similar to Starbucks with a Buy-It-Now feature for song discovery?

The Pro-app/Final Cut announcement is rumored to be RED codec support.

Mac Pros with Blu-Ray?

iTablet or MacBookMini? Or both?

How about BlueTooth connection for iPhone with the new Apple Keyboard?

I think it will be hard-near-impossible for Jobs to (literally) pull an iPhone level disruptive device from his pocket 2 years in a row, so the bar is set incredibly high.

archie · Jan 4, 2008

Small point releases for 3, new functionality for 2 at the show.

OS X will receive an update (10.5.2).

To-Dos tied into Leopard at a system level. Note syncing doesn't feel right yet. But it may come about in the form of .Mac parity when using a .Mac email account. The short of it is I don't know.

HD Radio, yeh, kinda like that. Only it will bank the marked songs into a "Want To Purchase" playlist.

That pro app thing, I think I am going to say they will have a beta of it to try out with final product being made available about 4 months later. I thought Final Cut already had RED support.

Mac Pros... with Blu-Ray... with new case design... with new memory architecture... with more ports in the front... with faster processors (of course).

The small portable... I'm thinking detachable screen. No hard drive. Flash memory.

Can write more later. Gotta go.

Rene Ritchie · Jan 4, 2008

I can't find the link at the moment, but the RED support is rumored to be the ability to edit RED low-RES rather than at 4K

Phone different Articles · Jan 4, 2008

The Macworld Expo is coming in a little over a week and I'm wondering what it will bring for iPhone users. *Mac*world will obviously be focusing primarily on, er, *Macs*, but I'm expecting that there will be iPhone news too. Expecting it enough that, yes, Phone different will be there reporting on the events!

In any case, there's a thread up in our forums started by rener asking about what's coming and it seems like a fun thing to think about on a Friday. I won't touch the Mac rumors (except to say I want the subnotebook), but here's my shot at what I expect iPhone-wise:

- Firmware Update 1.1.3 gets released (though doesn't necessarily get facetime in the Stevenote)
- 1.1.3 does *not*, as has been rumored today, get cut & paste.
- 1.1.3 *does* get A2DP ("What the Heck" pick)
- Further sync features (notes and tasks!) are announced and possibly included in 1.1.3
- A new iPhone-compatible speaker-dock system
- If we get our A2DP Stereo Bluetooth What-the-heck prediction right, Apple will also release some bluetooth headphones.
- 16 gig iPhone (but *not* a 3G version)

You?

Read more at http://www.phonedifferent.com/2008/01/macworld_iphone_predictions.html

archie · Jan 4, 2008

rener said:
I can't find the link at the moment, but the RED support is rumored to be the ability to edit RED low-RES rather than at 4K

Oh, that would be cool.

My idea was based on the fact that Apple stays at the forefront of software technologies and capabilities and this is especially true with their professional level apps. Seeing some new stuff brewing in the motion animation and composition industry seems to dictate Apple will too. Well, that and Apple is discontinuing Shake, so it is pretty obvious there will be a new app in a very short time here. My thinking, possibly the showing of a new beta app.

I don't use RED, but I can see where low-rez work would come in handy - four all 4 of those RED owners.

In regards to a new portable coming from Apple, I really have no idea what it would be called but it definitely will not be part of the MacBook line or MacBookPro line. Whatever it is, it will probably get a devoted section here at PhoneDifferent. Kind of a cross between the iPhone and a MacBook.

No disruptive device you say...

archie · Jan 4, 2008

Phone different Articles said:
The Macworld Expo is coming in a little over a week and I'm wondering what it will bring for iPhone users. *Mac*world will obviously be focusing primarily on, er, *Macs*, but I'm expecting that there will be iPhone news too. Expecting it enough that, yes, Phone different will be there reporting on the events!

In any case, there's a thread up in our forums started by rener asking about what's coming and it seems like a fun thing to think about on a Friday. I won't touch the Mac rumors (except to say I want the subnotebook), but here's my shot at what I expect iPhone-wise:

- Firmware Update 1.1.3 gets released (though doesn't necessarily get facetime in the Stevenote)

I think Steve will want to show off Maps... in some fashion.

Phone different Articles said:
- 1.1.3 does *not*, as has been rumored today, get cut & paste.

Agreed

Phone different Articles said:
- 1.1.3 *does* get A2DP ("What the Heck" pick)

hm, maybe.

Phone different Articles said:
- Further sync features (notes and tasks!) are announced and possibly included in 1.1.3

I wish they would hurry up with this. I am teetering on the Google subscription-syncing solution to have this kind of functionality.

Phone different Articles said:
- A new iPhone-compatible speaker-dock system
- If we get our A2DP Stereo Bluetooth What-the-heck prediction right, Apple will also release some bluetooth headphones.

I can't see this happening yet. Apple still wants those white corded headsets dawned amid the crowds.

Rene Ritchie · Jan 5, 2008

@archie: iPhone level disruptive, which I consider up there with the Apple 2 and Mac in terms of game-changers. Likewise, iPhone and Leopard represent a UI leap for me, the same way Mac took us from filename.ext to icon, we have now gone from icon metaphor to Coverflow/Quicklook actual representation.

Also, the iPhone while expected in general was a well kept secet in specific, whereas either a MiniBook or iTablet may be more evolutionary and more leaked (thanks to Chinese component makers!)

Rene Ritchie · Jan 5, 2008

@Septimus: A2DP would be great. I'm still intending to try it with Leopard on my Mac but IPhone would truly rock. (Yeah, I'm the master of the single entendre...)

marcol · Jan 7, 2008

Phone different Articles said:
- 1.1.3 *does* get A2DP ("What the Heck" pick)

- If we get our A2DP Stereo Bluetooth What-the-heck prediction right, Apple will also release some bluetooth headphones.

I think if that were so the iPod Touch would need bluetooth too. So I predict that:

1) There'll be no A2DP, or
2) It'll be revealed that the Touch had BT all along, or, perhaps,
3) A new BT Touch will be released (with 24/32 GB to keep up with the competition/keep the capacity advantage over an upgraded iPhone?)

Also, I'll guess that either 1.1.3 or new (but non-3G) hardware will fix the connection problems prevalent on O2, and I'll be left wondering again whether I should buy one or wait for 3G

marcol · Jan 7, 2008

rener said:
@Septimus: A2DP would be great.

I know a lot of people think this but for me the negatives (lower sound quality, something else to charge, bulkier hardware, limited hardware choice) greatly outweigh the positives (no wires).

Each to his/her own

Rene Ritchie · Jan 7, 2008

@marcol:

A2DP on iPhone would be good because it would allow you to have one (1) bluetooth device to handle both calls and music.

archie · Jan 7, 2008

Right now the iPhone has Handsfree Gateway (HFP), Phonebook (PBAP), Headset Gateway (HSP) and IrMC Sync for profiles.

I also want
AVRCP
OBEX
OPP and maybe
HID.

SYNCH would also be a nicety but definitely not necessary; same with A2DP for me personally.

Edit: Oh, wait, I think SYNCH is what provides IrMC. THAT'S interesting! So I wonder what why they included that...

Rene Ritchie · Jan 7, 2008

archie · Jan 8, 2008

archie said:
somewhat atypical is the announcement of new Pro machines...

Mac Pros... with Blu-Ray... with new case design... with new memory architecture... with more ports in the front... with faster processors (of course).

Yes, "somewhat atypical is the announcement of new Pro machines".

With Apple actually ceding to CES for the first time ever this year (never before has MacWorld been held this late in the year), I should have seen that they would release the Pro machine the week before during CES. And the XServe of course wasn't announced the day AFTER the keynote like I said but the week before - again to get in on CES buzz.

What did I get wrong here:
No new case design and no new Blu-Ray option. This is quite puzzling. There is something behind this Blu-Ray ordeal that we aren't seeing yet I think.

The memory architecture on these things are incredible, 2 unique riser cards to simplify the installation process. AND, a new faster implementation of 32GB total of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory.

Case redesign??? Turns out that was just the inside (everything rearranged).

archie · Jan 9, 2008

Holy Crap! The new memory architecture is showing a 64% speed increase over previous implementation.

Rene Ritchie · Jan 9, 2008

I'm not sure Apple has gotten into the "fashion" aspect to push sales of the pro machines, the way it certainly does with the con/pro/sumer ones. (However, based on how many blognistas alone claimed to be ordering new Pro's immediately post PR, I'd say they don't have to worry - target audience nailed!)

The new specs are incredibly impressive. Running 8 (eight!) 30" displays at the same time is mind boggling, and the plumbing inside makes them, as I'm sure Jobs would say, "screamers".

Dropping them this week, almost off-hand, is ballsy to say the least. Sure it bites into what has been a very lackluster CES to be sure, but it also raises expectations even higher for Mac World (just look at Semptimus' posts!)

It's going to be a loooooong week waiting for that keynote!

archie · Jan 10, 2008

LLVM?

Extended OS X??

Multiple Providers???

MacWorld Predictions?

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