Macworld Predictions

With Macworld 2008 fast approaching I'm going to take a misguided educated stab at predicting what we will see coming out of Steve Job's magical Keynote:

Safe Bets

--Gen 2 iPhone-- This one is a pretty safe bet in my opinion. I don't think that the new iPhone will be available the day of the Keynote. Best guess is that it will be out in the May, June time frame. I'm going to roll the dice and guess that Apple will be able to integrate 3G without too much battery loss, increase the capacity to at least 16GB of internal storage, and jack up the price to the $500 ceiling for the top model. Here's where it gets interesting. I think that Apple will be keeping the 8GB first Gen iPhone (with EDGE) around and lowering the price to $299. I don't think that they will drop the line when stock runs out of the older model either (not until next year). Think about it, if Apple wants to get a real hold in the Cell Phone market, wouldn't they want to have an entry level device and a Pro? Props go to me if the naming scheme goes to iPhone Extreme and iPhone Express.

--Mac Pro update-- Honestly, not one that gets me jazzed up because I simply can't afford one of these super towers. Processor update, Blu Ray support (burning?), New Design?

--Penryn Introduction-- I am fairly confident that Apple will start shipping most of their computing devices with the 45 nm Penryn processors for the new year.

Not Inconceivable(.....that means conceivable)

--Sub-Notebook Solution-- I'm not as sold on the whole UMPC idea that some people are claiming that Apple will roll out with, but the rumors are well documented regarding a Sub-Notebook. My take is that Apple will go with a 12 inch 'Macbook Mini' sans optical drive. Stretches include Solid State Drives (which are coming in droves over at CES) and colors other than white, black, and silver.

--iCar-- Ok, not a whole new car-line by Apple, but Macworld would be the perfect place to demo some upcoming integration with cars. VoiceOver Utility gets the nod (and a much needed face lift) as the weapon of choice for controlling your iPod and iPhone in your new Jeep or VW. Oh, and look for Google to get in on the party.

It is High, it is Far, it is.......a bit of a reach

--Merging of the Mac Mini and Apple TV-- Last night, Bill Gates took a nice little slap at Apple with his quip "This isn't a hobby, we take this seriously" regarding content distribution for TV and internet entertainment around the house. Apple needs to do something about the Apple TV, why not integrate Leopard and bundle the wireless keyboard/mighty mouse to boost sales? Problems include making the Apple TV idea cost too much for the users.