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WWDC 2006 Predictions


Nickhamm
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This seems to be the most popular topic on here right now. I thought about the new Intel chips and I thought about previous rumors and I took into consideration some of the Apple patents that have showed up over the past year or so to come up with a list that makes sense to me for this years WWDC.

 

First thing is that because Steve Jobs himself said it, we will see a demo of the next version of Mac OS X, 10.5 Leopard. I don't know if he will go into any technical specs on what machines are required to run leopard, but I have this gut feeling that G3 machines will be phased out of this release leaving G3 users on 10.4 or forced to upgrade to a G4, G5 or Core processor Mac.

 

Second thing I think we will see at WWDC are lots of statistics concerning the iTunes music store and how many music and videos sold along with announcements from other TV stations and Record labels that are going ot soon be adding even more content on the Music store. I don't think that we will see a video store yet, but in the future, I wouldn’t doubt it.

 

Third, I believe that we will see a new Mac. I believe it will be the Power Mac replacement, but not the Quad-Core replacement or the server replacement. I have a feeling it will use the new Core 2 Duo processors with maybe a Core 2 Extreme as an optional upgrade when ordered. It will probably use an nVidia card, probably in the GeForce 7xxx range (either 7600, 7800, or 7900). Pricing for this machine may be $100 or so more than current pricing, but otherwise very similar in pricing.

 

Forth, I believe that we may see a sneak peak at the Apple Phone, but it won't be available until later in the year if not early next year. It will look like something that came straight out of Apple and will have mixed reviews, but will be cool none-the-less.

 

Fifth, doubtful, but maybe we will see an upgrade to the smaller 2 cinema displays (17" and 23") so they will have an even brighter display instead of using the old LCD panels they are currently using. The screens will probably also have an option to be "glossy" like the MacBook screen so they have even richer colors. The 30" will remain untouched due to the fact that a 30" glossy screen would be too expensive at the current time.

 

Sixth, also doubtful, but we may see an iPod add on that allows wireless video transfer/conferencing as depicted in a patent released earlier this year (it was a third party patent, but they may have teamed up with Apple and it will be shown as a Apple endorsed third party add on).

 

Seventh, which is more likely, t go along with the new PowerMac replacements, I believe that there will be software demos of beta software that is now universal. Applications demoed may include Office 2007 (may be 2006 or 2008 for Mac, because Microsoft likes to hit the odd numbers for Mac and not the same year as the PC version), Adobe CS3 applications (including former macromedia applications, so this would be Dreamweaver 9, Flash 9, etc.), and maybe several games.

 

Finally, I think it is a (small) possibility that the existing Intel Macs may get processor upgrades, some to Core 2, some to faster Core Duo/Solo processors.

 

Steve will also probably recap that he said last year that it would take 2 years to make the transition to Intel and how they are doing it much faster than anticipated and how smooth it is going. Also, he will probably lay out a timeline of some sort of when to expect other Intel Macs to arrive, such as the Quad-Core Power Mac replacement, the Server replacement, and the eMac replacement (if any).

 

I think that this is a reasonable list to expect at WWDC; nothing too major or groundbreaking, but enough to keep the interest of any Mac fan. We will find out soon enough what of this is true.

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