Macworld 2008 Predictions

No one but <noparse>Apple</noparse> knows what will be revealed at Macworld 2008. Period. Everything you hear/read is speculation. There is nothing new here, just even more speculation. Still, I thought this concept image was really cool!

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This image was taken from the MacRumors' thread: Thin <noparse>MacBook</noparse> Laptop Concept Images. Will there be a new tablet Mac? Other sites have published supposedly "leaked" Macworld 2008 transcripts:

 

that is a awesome concept image! that actually resembles Apple's patent sheet and looks like a product they would actually release.

what I am most excited for is the new Cinema Displays if they will actually come about, especially at those prices! come on Apple Cinema Displays!!!!!!!!!

if that "transcript" is right this might go down as the best MacWorld in history.

 

Is the whole part below the keyboard a track pad? If so thats awsome!

 

Yes, except for the trackpad button. Which still appears to not have a dedicated right-click! ARGHH! Remember it's not real.

 

According to Apple's patent filing, yes . And circa86, I agree! This could be a bigger Macworld than 2007, which was huge already. Excited for what's coming out this year.

 

That is the best concept image of the new MB I have ever seen. Props to whoever photoshoped that. It actually LOOKS like a Mac, unlike the many other concepts out there.

 

Just for clarification, the image was posted by a user, kontheur, at MacRumors. And I love that the concept uses the <noparse>MacBook</noparse>'s keyboard!

 

if they released a 20" Display with 1920x1200 display I would run to the Apple store, and since I only live a few blocks away, I might just walk out of the store with one whether they manage to charge my credit card or not ^_^

 

If this comes out that will be Awsome.

 

I wish my MBP had black anodized aluminum and more VRAm for the same price.

Future ingrates. T-T

 

I'm hoping for some new MacPro's.. so I can finally afford the current MacPro

I suppose if my financial situation gets better once I move, I might be able to get one brand new though, and that would be nice.

Now if only Apple would realise that 20" monitors shouldn't be priced at $600, they might sell more of them. $250 would buy me a nice 22" monitor from somebody else.

But my opinion doesn't matter... I was the idiot that sold all of his AAPL shares for $30 a few years ago....

 

No, I believe the patent means that the center part of the big "trackpad" will be the mouse. The rest will be for whatever weird input scheme they plan up. It's a terrible idea still. That image looks better than the one with the huge button.
Sorry Xander, but I hope Apple does not add a 2nd mouse button. It is not needed. I honestly hate 2nd mouse buttons on laptops now.

First off... Mac Nano... No SSD. Thats completely unrealistic. That drive costs almost as much as what they want to sell the unit for. Keep in mind they are still selling in the open market for $400 + dollars.

Mac Pro and Macbook Pro... yeah, probably spot on. Bit iffy on the black aluminum, but... I could see that option.

Macbook Nano, will probably be a 12". If it uses the LVU or whatever, the cost will start at 2k at least. All business laptops with those are very expensive. Again, I don't think default SSD is realistic. An option if they are aiming for an ultra portable, yeah... but not as the default.

Hopefully right about itunes, ipod and iphone...

Front Row... Can we get external monitor support? please? It's almost useless without it!

Don't see a macTouch coming. Maybe a tablet. But Apple will not release two niche products at once. Besides, as cool as it is, those screens are bloody expensive.

Lets hope those freaking SSD drives go down in price!

I don't so much want to see a new MacPro.. as maybe something like that, but not using server hardware. Maybe starting at 1500 instead of 3000.

 

I agree with Xander, Apple needs to include a right click button, especially if they hope to convert many PC users.

 

If they unveil that I will have a hard time saving up to buy all that crap.

 

As for right click, I just switched from PC and set up my mac for two fingers as my mouse pad for right click. Works great, I don't mind a bit. Comes in handy. I honestly think it's apples 'thing' to not have a right click because then its one more way they are similar to PCs. I wish I could back myself up a bit but I gotta run!

 

I actually like the idea of one mouse button... The second mouse button won't work good with the two-finger scroll. If you do, that then your free finger is on the right side so if there is a right-click button it won't be too good

 

I saw that leaked keynote somewhere else, and I gotta say, could that at least make one that was somewhat believable?

The most obvious is the Cinema Displays and Mac Nano. If the ACD keep the same res as it says, how can they all support 1080HD? Does the faker even understand what he is writing?

The Mac Nano is complete BS. The SSD alone would cost way more than the Mini currently costs. Plus, most indications point to the Mini being discontinued, not updated.

Also, only a handful of actual machines have been announced at MacWorld before, now all of a sudden we will see 5?

The biggest give away is the number of items. Usually no more than 2 hardware items are introduced at a keynote, and maybe piece of software (usually iTunes).

I also like Front Row 3.0. After 3 months they are going to replace 2.0.

I like these leaks, but come on a little believability please! Take that new picture of the MacBook, that looks believable!

 

Yeah, the single click is kind of just one of those things that make you say "oh hey, that's a Mac." I don't think they'd ever put a second button, especially with 2-finger tapping already being used as a right click. What they need to do, however, is put tap clicking functionality in our boot camp partitions! I mean.... we're running windows, give us a functional way to right click!!

 

Oh I forgot my predictions!

I think we will may see a smaller, cheaper iPhone. Maybe new ACD, but I doubt it. Definitely a new iTunes with rentals, hopefully HD. And possibly a new Apple TV.

Honestly, I think this may be a very disappointing MWSF. People are expecting products that I think may still be a long way off, i.e. 3G iPhone and tablet/touch/ultraportable Mac.

 

How about the announcement that they are releasing the iPhone in Canada?! I mean, come on, when was the last time something released in America was not in Canada at near the same time also?!

 

Regarding the first picture is it just me or do I see a virtualization of XP inside of OS X inside an OS X? Must take up so much RAM lol.

 

iTunes Movies (still not available yet) + iTunes TV shows?

Its ridiculous...Apple is slow in everything in Canada. Pricing is still higher, despite the higher Canadian dollar, new Macs usually take +2 weeks to arrive from its US counterpart...iTunes Movies still aren't available, TV shows just arrived about a month ago...Apple Stores only in Toronto and a Montreal suburb currently (Vancouver's one is being built now, but it should've been done long ago), no iPhone yet.

But as far as I've heard, the iPhone not being in Canada yet isn't Apple, but Canadian regulators and Rogers Wireless (the only carrier that operates a GSM network here in Canada). Canadians unfortunately pay a lot for their phone service, and an unlimited plan (which is something the iPhone would be used best with) would cost a few hundred a month here. Its ridiculous, so I guess Rogers has to figure out a pricing scheme that is still competitive while (ridiculously) profitable as well.

 

I have to agree. I haven't really used the right click button on previous laptops that I have owned. Usually I plugged in an external mouse. Having the two-fingered tap option is way better.

Does Boot Camp 2.0 finally include single-tapping on the keyboard for mouse clicks???

 

No it doesn't. I've always hated tapping on my friends laptops because the buttons were so poorly positioned, now I love not having to tap on my Macbook Pro. I've actually turned tapping off!

 

Ugh, Rogers is horrible. Have Cable, Internet, and phone service from them and it's way overpriced. Was going to switch to Bell since it's all much faster and cheaper from them but our line was broken and there was too much ice for them to repair. I didn't know about the current Apple Store situation though! I thought there were a lot, but I guess it's just because I happen to live in Toronto And yes, the pricing is also very unfair right now. Everyone lowered their prices but Apple. They seriously have to up their game here in Canada though. IDK about it being Rogers fault with the iPhone, since if you hack it, it can be used here in Canada as well.

 

Rogers' phone service isn't bad though, but yes its expensive. I have TELUS for internet, and they're great. At least, they manage to keep their speeds...

Yeah, there's three Apple Stores in Toronto, one in a Montreal suburb, no where else in Canada! Its ridiculous. Montreal's going to get a flagship though, it seems. Vancouver is getting a small store in a downtown mall, Calgary has one in (what seems to be stagnant) construction.

I mean, there's Apple Stores in nearly every U.S. city with more than 500'000 population, and the entire Canada west of Toronto, including Vancouver with 2.2 million, doesn't even have one store!

 

How will you install Leopard on the new optical driveless macbook? Will it come with an external drive or will Leopard come set up and ready to go?

 

Well Leopard would be pre-installed already...but you obviously need to be able to re-install should anything come up...I'm assuming Apple will figure out a way to leave it as a file or something inside a flash drive, or will include an external optical drive with it.

 

That pic looks cool but it looks like it doesnt have ports. Maybe on the other side. But my 2 cents goes to a new macbook thats smaller. Maybe a new pro. I doubt it will replace the current macbook. Maybe a mactouch would be cool. Front row 3 sounds nice but would they really replace 2 after being out for what 3 months?

 

That mockup looks fabulous!

Personally, I don't think a huge trackpad looks that great... But then again, it's Apple. They can turn a lot of weird concepts into gorgeous. I guess for me, it really depends on how the final product comes out on Jan. 15th.

 

Now that i think about it SSD drives really arent that great right now. The standard 32 gig model is really not alot of storage. For me i have like 4 gigs worth of itunes music and tv shows right onto my laptops harddrive. The macbooks 120 gig hd is great for me. Not to mention i am going to install the adobe suit on it so thats like what another 5 gigs? Thats 9 gigs total. The thin macbook to me sounds more like someone who wants to do something like word documents or spread sheets for simple program like iWork 08 and MS office 08. And i did here from a website that ssd drives arent really as fast as hard drives YET. And they do generate the same amount of energy. So i dont think that tech is ready to catch on yet.

My .02 cents. Again.

 

Yeah, but SSD drives are for the people who need very portable laptops. Lightweight with huge battery lifes (think 10+ hours).
They're not for the mainstream... yet.

3-4 years, they may well be the norm.

SSD drives are way faster. I'm not sure where you heard they weren't, but they're killing anything out there. I'm sure they come close to saturating the SATA2 bandwidth. Tomshardware (I think it was toms) put a pair in raid 0... and yeah. wowzas...

 

More concepts...

This first one is from Popular Mechanics: <noparse>MacBook</noparse> Plus Tablet Laptop. Click the link to read the full article and see more images!

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From <noparse>Apples</noparse>fera:



From Flickr:

<noparse>MacBook</noparse> Touch


Keyboard Base Station Dock System


Monitor Dock System

 

Really i gotta look at the comparisons. I think this laptop is more for business users rather then someone who is into digital arts like me.

 

I really like the look of that first laptop there. I highly doubt they will put a touchscreen onto it, but the capacitive touch based touchpad seems like a good bet.

 

I would think that at some point Apple will want to make a direct attack on the business desktop PC market. Their MBPs are a bit pricey, their Mac-Mini too small, and their Mac Pro too much power for the average business desktop. Maybe they will introduce a mid-range desktop aimed squarely at the this huge markt sector thoroughly dominated by the likes of Dell and HP.

 

Yes, that would be nice.

 

Apple has JUST released a new Mac Pro this morning. 8 core.

Does anyone think this may effect what is revealed at Macworld? Any predictions going to change?

 

I wish they just did it now to have a good space and attention for New Products not just updates for old products!

Any thoughts?

 

No, that would be a normal update. They generally don't have press conferences for updates.
They will probably update the xserve as well.

 

The xserve has been updated as well.

 

I wonder if this makes the introduction of Blu-Ray drives less likely. You'd think the easiest/cheapest/most useful way for Apple to introduce Blu-Ray drives into their lineup is to make it a CTO for the Mac Pro, but so far the Mac Pro doesn't have it. Although I suppose a mini-refresh at MacWorld to add a Blu-Ray CTO isn't such a big deal if they haven't started shipping any new Mac Pros yet. Otherwise people are going to complain.

On another note, I'm glad that Apple seems to finally be taking gaming a bit more seriously by including a HD 2600XT as the baseline card. Granted with the HD 3850 , the HD 2600XT is really a low-end mid-range card now, but that's still better than having the 7300GT which was a high-low-end card. The 8800GT option is of course a very decent gaming card. If only Apple could have figured out how to get SLI or Crossfire working.

Apple Store seems to have one of those "We'll be back soon" signs so I wonder if there are any more changes. Please bring Canadian-US price parity.

 

Well, a GDDR3 7300GT was faster than 7600GS. And it was identical with the go7600.

But yeah, It's nice that the GPU line has been refreshed. They also have added Quadro FX5600.

 

It's possible that the Blu-ray drive will be available as an upgrade.

But who wants to spend $400+ on a drive thats not even final spec?

It's not that they can't get SLI/crossfire, the issue is the MacPro is using server hardware. This grade hardware has no SLI/crossfire support, as thats what its not built for.
Which is why we need a consumer level Mac Pro. Psst.... lets just call it a Mac lol.

 

Well, the Stoakley platform provides support for 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 connections, so it's really not a hardware problem. It's just a matter of whether Apple can get a suitable license from nVidia or ATI. Does SLI/Crossfire have much workstation application? Otherwise, I can understand if Apple doesn't bother with it, if ultra-high-end gaming on Mac is a fairly small market.

 

No, thats not it at all data. Server motherboards do not support that. Their north bridges are not made for that type of work, as they are not really made for overclocking. They are built for stability over anything else.
Whichever company actually makes these mobos (such as Soyo) would have to create a new chipset that would support it. There are other restrictions too.

Not saying it couldn't be done, but Apple wouldn't be the ones to do it. It would require much more than just getting a license. They'd have to fund the development and research for a board like that.

 

The Mac Pro/Xserve update will have no effect on MWSF save for the likelihood of Blu-Ray. Since it is not an option, it is highly unlikely blu-Ray will appear in Macs next week. But the Mac Pro or Xserve would never be announced at a MacWorld anyway. MWSF is a consumer show, not pro.

 

So I guess they will be adding Bluray to the Mac Pro during WWDC in July or August, right? And then add it to the rest of the lines progressively after that.

They could always turn the Mac mini into a true HTPC and add the bluray drive as an option, but the likelyhood of starting one of the most expensive technologies on the least expensive model is pretty low.

 

As long as the card in it supports HDCP

Considering Sonys drives for reading blu-ray movies (as opposed to just Blu-ray burned discs on the writers) is something like $400... I do agree it will probably not be in the mini, or the imac for that matter, for a while.

They really need to meld the idea of the appleTV with the macMini.

 

appleMiniTV? But yes, they do. However, if they take the Mac mini upmarket as an HTPC, thats just as good.