[Macworld]

Post your comments for Imagining Apple?s new products here

[maclia]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a quick ETA on a 3G iPhone...

[FCP_User]

Tis the night before OS Xmas...

ok maybe it's a little late for the holidays, but speculating on Apple's announcements tomorrow sometimes feel like guessing what present I might be getting.

Since we're speculating, why not dream big...
Wouldn't it be great to have Apple TV 2.0? It runs standalone as well as wirelessly connected to my desktop whether it's a Mac or PC as long as I can access my movie rentals on iTunes. Those movie rentals would be .99 cents per viewing and pauseable and restartable except at the very end of the movie, of course. And, wouldn't it be great to have a Netflix like movie rental system for Blu Ray movies that I could access through iTunes and pay $0 late fees so that I could play my Blu Ray movies in my Blu Ray equipped Apple TV 2.0? Oh, did I mention my Apple TV 2.0 looks like a flat panel TV complete with a brilliant touch screen surface that combines multi-finger touch gestures so that I could browse my video library right on the screen as well as with my remote which would surprisingly look a lot like my iTouch...

Of course my videos that are accessible to my Apple TV are downloadable to my video iPod so I could bring it into the car so that my friends/kids could continue watching the movies on my Apple car 5.1 surround video/audio system which would also feature iTunes mobile access and multi-finger touch gesture display, iPhone dock/charger and interface, and a featherweight noise canceling bluetooth headset.

And to make sure the OS Xmas stocking was stuffed beyond belief...
iPhone is spearheading the new cellular market in the US by bringing over the european concept of 1 phone works on all carriers and adding to that the ability to seamlessly change networks and even seamlessly transition from cellular to wifi VOIP.

oh, there's one more thing...
Apple's iPhone works on all airlines because you have to be able to rent your inflight movies too you know...

[heyjp]

Jason... I am a big fan of your mention of syncing a "minor Mac" to a "mother Mac". It fits the iPod model and I think Apple should adopt it across the line. Any laptop, whether the Sub-notebook, a macbook or macbook pro should be able to be synced to a mother-ship. It would be nice to have a MacPro or iMac as a home-system that is the source of ALL my Music, videos and photographs... and I could synch just what I needed to the laptop/sub-notebook. All I need to carry around is a gig or so of photos and 5-10 gig of music. Instead of 50 Gig of Music and 60 Gig of Photos I carry everywhere now.
I think that's a powerful concept you've come up with.
Jim

[heyjp]

First, I would predict that the only new hardware that will be announced tomorrow will be products that can ship in quantity within 2 weeks. The sub-notebook, an iPhone with 16Gig, GPS or 3G network... would cannibalize existing notebooks or iPhones. So no advanced announcements of such hardware.
The only exception to that would be a new AppleTV associated with a video rental service.
My predictions:
(1) Apple Sub-notebook: Available Feb 1
(2) iPhone SDK and 1.1.3 (no new hardware announced or mentioned)
(3) AppleTV with 1080p iTunes Rental Service: Available March 1 with optional Blu Ray player.
What the heck, eh?
Jim

[aestival]

Apple & Jobs have a strong tendency to extremely minimalist design. As others have suggested, I fully expect to see a a sub-laptop or tablet with no wired connectors or removable storage (i.e. no DVD). Linking that to a phone network would subject Apple to further abuse from the North American carriers (it's so bad here in Canada that the iPhone isn't even available yet!), so I'd be very surprised if they push anything more than wi-fi & bluetooth.

[MacGeekPro]

Well, I could type up everything here, or point you to my blog article. Oh look, the latter made itself happen. :)

[DJRizzo]

My prediction is that the Air theme will cover many topics. Air theme #1: Tthe MacBook Air sub-notebook which will be extremely thin and light weight. Air theme #2: It will have the mercury-free, power-efficient LED currently in the 15" MacBook Pro and the manufacturing process will be more environmentally friendly. This will be a major marketing point of the device. The trackpad will have multi-touch features. Air theme #3: The optical drive (and maybe other peripherals) will be external and wireless using either WiFi or the new ultra-Wideband Bluetooth standard. The external drive(s) can also be used and charged via a USB (or firewire?) connection. Yes, this means there will be ports on the MacBook Air; but to keep the slim form factor they will be collapsable as seen in this Apple patent: . The MacBook Air will be available with an optional iMac style dock as seen in this patent: . Air theme #4: If you get the docking station it will use power induction to charge the MacBook air. All MacBook Airs will also come with an improved MagSafe adapter. Air theme #5: There will be an iPhone/iPod Touch update along with an iTunes update for all Macs with WiFi which will allow for wireless syncing. Air theme #6: an iPhone/iPod Touch update will allow for file sharing as seen in this patent: and include the updates seen in this video: . Possible Air theme #7: The only way WiMax will be a part of this would be if there is a new or updated AirPort introduced (maybe an "AirPort Pro"?). Unlikely but possible Air theme #8: The 2G iPhone with 3G support (or maybe WiMax?). The only way this would be introduced is if the the iPhone is ready to sell this week; but all reports indicate the 3G won't be until later this year so I doubt Apple will cannibalize existing sales by addressing that now. There, that is my prediction based on being an Apple nerd who looks at a dozen Apple RSS feeds every day...

[DJRizzo]

I didn't realize all my links would be removed. So for the collapsable ports google "apple patent notebook ports", for the iMac dock google "apple patent notebook dock", for the wireless sync/sharing google "apple patent ipod wireless share",

[danviento]

? I've recently thrown myself into a quickly-growing hobby photography that's sprouting shoots of becoming a side income venture. As soon as I made the transition from my limited digi-cam to a full-blown DSLR, I jumped on the student price offering of Aperture. I looked at iPhoto and how I could edit photos (before '08) and saw the power Aperture offered for handling these large RAW files and managing the library and instantly liked it in the trial.

Ever since, Aperture has been a tool I can use without thinking thanks to its slick design and keyboard-friendly tools (although I still learn a new better trick every other day). In my desire to know more, I've come across forums of professional Aperture users, and they're calling for what would seem like necessary improvements for what is supposed to be one of the legs to Apple's professional software line.

Just a few examples of community calls for improvement include [1] support for new Nikon camera RAW files (I use Canon for the better glass, but it's still an issue for the community), [2] smarter methods for instant archiving of old data to a parent machine or external drive in lieu of lugging your thousands upon thousands of files around with you on your portable, [3] utilization of Leopards integrated alpha select to do more refined edits you'd usually need Photoshop for, and [4] something like PS's barrel/pincushion/perspective adjust plugin. A number of these calls are being made because people love Aperture, but Adobe's competing product, Lightroom, is offering support for features and camera models that Ap. doesn't.

I'd predict/hope that Apple dissuades a growing possibility that they will discontinue their work for this product with a 2.0 release at Macworld.

? Another rumor/call I've noticed in multiple places is for a refresh of the Apple's Cinema Displays. Yes, the form factor is the usual minimalist Apple goodness, but with more 30"ers appearing on the scene scoring points with support for multiple inputs, BluRay compatibility (is that DRM signal crap going to be an issue on the Mac, or just Vista?) and some even have HDMI inputs. Apple would do us a great favor if they could add in a few inputs. If some of the PiP rumors are true, that'd be another useful revision to think about.

However, Apple's trend for simplified connections and as little cord-clutter as possible won't allow for a bunch of cables on the back of the display dangling to everywhere. Perhaps we'll see the inputs added onto the powerbrick so it's still one cable going on the back, and the clutter is hid behind the furniture. I'd see that as a way to keep their current form-factor with additional support. Then you've got to ask about how Apple will look at having multiple sources in reference to its vaunted reputation for color accuracy. That's another piece of firmware to consider to be controlled somewhere in the design.

One more thing on displays and I promise that's it- touchscreen. That's right, we saw some pitiful attempts at large-format touchscreens at CESs, but resolutions weren't impressive. You can do a 30" touchscreen you know- they use them for the heads-down-displays in the cockpits of the flight-simulators at Boeing. They're actual Apple cinema displays with a grid interface. Call it a niche-enterprise, but with the right panel provider, Apple could make this work for a lot of different professions (architecture, cartography, digital artists, retail, the list goes on).

? One last prediction. It's a quick-and-easy one. Full. Sized. Wireless. Keyboard. I can't tell you how many people I know weren't happy with the small version of Apple's wireless keyboard. If you've got a portable you use the bluetooth connection with mice and keyboards to save on USB ports, then when you're in the office/home/studio environment, having the keypad, extra function keys, etc. is something you're willing to pay a premium for. I recently sold my previous gen. full-sized Apple wireless keyboard for $3 less than I bought it for. Why? Well, I gave it a micro-detailing job, and you can't find the full-sized version of the newest gen. Pros like being able to switch out the keys for the special labeled kind and have a keypad and such. My "Buy It Now" option was met within 36 hours of it being on eBay.

These may not be the popular rumors or theories for Apple's growth, but for those who are vested in their products as tools, they'd certainly be appreciated.

[dubbl_d]

I love the night before stevemass and all the predictions.
My 2 cents:
1. update and some app demos for the SDK on the iPhone. 16GB version for $50 more.( No 3G yet or 2nd Gen until Summer and no announcement that would kill current sales.) apps I'd expect to see are a voice interface for bluetooth devices, a to-do list and a game.
2. Updates to software suites and all the usual sales stuff.
3. The new and improved Apple TV. I think this is the big thing at the end. They've been leaking it cleverly, and we're all hyped up to rent movies, which has been what consumers have wanted for years. The ATV will connect directly and you'll be able to use the new and improved remote to control all aspects of itunes (via bonjour to your computer?). Scan movies via coverflow, order and view from the couch. Netflix beware, because their site is not designed for the consumer. 6.99 per movie and we'll all complain but rent them anyway.
4. One more thing.
The iPad. Yeah, I'm an idiot and It's probably not this year's OMT, but they've got that cool interface on the iPhone just begging for a sub-notebook tablet thingie with a large soft keyboard and the touch interface running a full OSX. a small 80 GB drive and it will slave/sync itself when near it's master computer if you set one up for it. Major security will make it a must have for anyone on the go. (You gotta dream big). If announced, this won't be available until August.

[haim_vital]

All this talk of ultra portable...well for some this is great.
I personally hate anything under 15 inches, and to be honest, its to small.
Yet I like to tote around my computer. So the 17 inch is nice - but I say do like HP and come out with a 19 inch apple laptop.
Yeah, why not...not just me wanting it. HP did it, so Im sure there is a market bigger than me. Forget this ultra tiny monitor stuff that cant even comfortably fit anything on screen or hold a good graphics card or hold a large harddrive, etc., etc. Why have one?
I tell you what...the iphone. Thats your ultra small computer, enjoy.
heheh.
Meanwhile give me my 19...heck 30 inch laptop with carry handels that pop out. See, I use my laptop primarily as my desktop, but I like to move it around. And while the imac is close to this, tis not. Gotta be thinner and gotta have a handle or something.
peace

[elietrichet]

After spending a few hours thinking about:
"What do I need in the house that Apple can create?"
My answer is simple: MacTV
The Apple Tv was a start in the concept of sharing your computer media to the Tv but it is almost obsolete now.
It's evident that the "Movie Rental business" is booming, as well as the sales of big TV screens.
Movie rental thru iTunes is also coming, but we do not want to watch our computer screens all day...
My guess (my needs) is:
A super thin TV with super bright and powerful definition that would connect like apple computers do.
In the TV would be a Hard drive, a Dvd player and the Mac OS software so that we can use the TV to play and do everything we do on our computers.

[brian24gc]

Sales stats (complete with quotes out of publications...Walt, Pogue, etc): Leopard, iPhone, new iPods....
Mac Sales

1. "There's something in the air." Simple, iPhone as a bluetooth modem.
2. Demo of 3rd party apps on iPhone (slingplayer?? hopefully) and 1.1.3 new features (PLEEEEEASE MMS, and multi recipient SMS).
3. Apple TV updates, and rental service for sure.
4. As for the sub-notebook, i think there will be some sort of multi-touch interface built in, whether a trackpad type input device or directly on the screen as a tablet (not a typical tablet, a tablet Apple-style i.e. something so simple and elegant that you will wonder why it took so long to do it only the way Apple can). I think HDD storage w/ Flash memory for faster booting, docking wirelessly (Something in the air again) with other Macs. Not sure about optical drive, I was thinking external at one point but thats not Apple's style - not elegant, and kind of clunky. Anyone with any ideas on this? I can't see eliminating optical all together - it is needed for software installs if nothing else.
I'm hoping also for a 13" full fledged MacBook Pro as I am in the market to replace my 12" PowerBook. I think the Sub-Notebook will be the "One more thing" but I hope not. I hope Steve blows us away with something that hasn't even shown up in the rumor mills.