The Official WWDC 2006 Prediction Thread

I work at Best Buy in Canada, and Intel held this little demo where they showed off some Core 2's. Someone asked about which macs would be running which cores and what they said was:

 

iMac - Merom

Mac Mini - Merom

Power Mac Intel Replacement (nicknamed mac pro)- Conroe

 

I was hoping for the mac pro to run off Woodcrest =(

I work at Best Buy in Canada, and Intel held this little demo where they showed off some Core 2's. Someone asked about which macs would be running which cores and what they said was:

 

iMac - Merom

Mac Mini - Merom

Power Mac Intel Replacement (nicknamed mac pro)- Conroe

 

I was hoping for the mac pro to run off Woodcrest =(

I still believe that the likely scenario once the next version of all products are released will be:

 

mac mini: Core Duo (only core duo or maybe merom, no clue when this update may come)

iMac: Core 2 Duo (probably january or just before the Christmas season)

MAc Pro: woodcrest (i hope. If not, Core 2 extreme) in a few days now

MBP: Merom (i guess in a month)

MB: merom (January or before christmas)

 

EDIT: But thinking this again, they could easily implement a "speed-bump" to the imac and use merom in two week or so, all they need is get the chip and do little changes to the firmware. And still use Conroe for the next mayor update. If they do this, probably at macworld

I reckon Steve will do a big section about "one year ago". I saw the 2005 keynote the other day - and they are so much further with the transition than they promiced.

I'm preying for the iMac to have Core Duo 2 sooner the better. From Jan - June The iMac was good value for money. Now with the way the processor market has just prolapsed it just doesn't cut the mustard.

 

Tho I've heard things about it being upgradeable. If i can slip a Core Duo 2 in with out much effort that would be good but still not the way I'd like to do it. I opened up an eMac and solder hacked the cpu up a bit so i wouldn't mind.

 

But i need to buy one in September for university and i want the best that is going to last. It's a full on multimedia course with lots of video editing so lots of Umph is needed. but i still need as much bang for my buck as possible.

 

I also am hoping for an iPhone and Full video ipod. Not that i don't mind the screen. Just i can't watch more than two episodes of family guy without the battery going. Very annoying on those LONG BORING trains to london.

 

 

But yeah

 

- Leopard Beta to play with (when it's leaked)

- iPhone (with a development platform)

- True Video iPod

- iMac & MBP Upgrades.

 

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned cinema displays. Given even the macbook is shipping with built in isight, anyone willing to fork out for a high end mac pro is going to expect the same functionality so i would hope apple will update the lineup with cinema displays that include built in isights. Such an update would also (hopefully) include hdmi+hdcp support and (maybe) glossy screen options?

 

Doubtfull they will ever put iSight into the cinema displays... maybe release a new iSight, but not built in. Think about it, a lot of people that use cinema displays have 2 on a computer for the professional side of things. Apple knows this, and it would be just silly to have 2 iSights on a computer.

Lets think about this:

 

$180 rebate on Nano/ipod = iPod refresh of some sort

Intel Transition = Mac Pro.. possible MBP Merom announcement

Cinema Display refresh is possible.. but not 'one more thing' material

iPhone.. probably not quite ready.. but very possible.

Boot Camp, Parallels = Leopard updates?

 

Deflating some:

Office universal.. nope.. MS already said no for Office 2004.

Adobe? eh, let adobe announce it.

1: Leopard

2: Merom in the Macbook (non Pro) <-that better happen i pray

3: Virtualization beta

4: BootCamp update

5: 10.4.8

6: Beta theme for Leopard and beta Finder

 

Just some cool things....

5: 10.4.8

No way, they just released a security update today.

2: Merom in the Macbook (non Pro) <-that better happen i pray

 

As much as I want this to happen, there's no way Apple will let the Macbook be faster than the Macbook Pro.

My two penn'orth:

 

Hopes:

Replacement for AppleWorks

Leopard beta with improved Finder, Spotlight,

Support for Blu-Ray

Improvements to .Mac services - SPAM filtering, reliability, on-line conferencing (like Webex)

Roadmap - never an apple thing - for hardware

Extras for Address book to support VoIP dialling, Skype

Virtualisation technology - both for non-OSX OS and OSX OS

Rollback (like WinXP) to snapshot points

Rationalisation of .mac sync, iSync, etc. - syncing to other places (eg disk to disk)

Replacement for recently discontinued items due to RoHS laws - iSight, Airport Base station, etc.

Support for next gen WiFi - software and hardware

Resolution of SAMBA password encryption issues

 

Expectations:

Mac Pro - the workstation

xServe - the server

Improved xCode

Leopard stuff (hopefully as above)

What these have to do with a WW Developer Conference, but time will be spent on them:

Retail experience - more stores

Expansion of iTMS - more films, books (recent renewal by Audible), and further external to USA scope

 

In other words more fluff than detail - or am I being cynical?

 

Vince

well my guess is there will be:

1. mac pro

2. leopard preview with media centre type of functionality

3. iwork '07 preview

 

there wont be new enclosures for macbook pro... i cant be that lucky..

 

saurabh

My predictions:

 

-Leopard of course(!)

-New PowerMac (certainly Mac Pro)

-New Displays(screens)

-Big Update Of TextEDIT

 

-new features of 10.4.8

 

a whole list of new UB appz.

 

and more...

Steve jobs will remove his mask revealing his true identity....

 

A two headed goat demon with seven horns and six beards.

 

He will then chant goat demon like exchanges and dance his twisted evil on stage, and perhaps even summon the devil to begin the apocalypse.

 

Not sure about that, just a hunch. A little magic sprite told me during my sleep. So it's probably just heresay.

I seriously doubt Apple will ever sell OS X off-the-shelf for generic PCs. The closest possibility I can imagine is if Apple picked a partner (like HP, preferably a partner with decent hardware design) and starting licensing OS X to them, so they can provide it as a build-to-order option.

- Some Leopard unveiling (new features)

- MacPro

- ANYTHING iMac related!

Steve jobs will remove his mask revealing his true identity....

 

A two headed goat demon with seven horns and six beards.

 

He will then chant goat demon like exchanges and dance his twisted evil on stage, and perhaps even summon the devil to begin the apocalypse.

 

Not sure about that, just a hunch. A little magic sprite told me during my sleep. So it's probably just heresay.

LOL

I expect Apple will spend most of the time on Leopard and near the end introduce new Mac Pros with very similar case to the Powermac. As this is really for Developers, I would not expect anything to do with iPods. I think that will be the jist of it... mainly those two things; other stuff will be pretty minor or of importance mostly to developers (i.e., depreciating carbon and java further, pushing cocoa with info on more complete APIs, and a faster-better-more-complete Xcode).

The Mac Pro will most likely use the Core 2 Extreme Edition while the Duel-Core Xeon will be used in the Xserve due to the Xeon's common use in server hardware. Also, the case, like the G4 before it, will undergo a revamped design, despite what AppleInsider says (especially since their preview image looks fake anyway). Of course, it's possible that the Xserve will not see any change at all due to the common use of PowerPC processors in servers as well (if so, this would be reflected in the server editions of future versions of Mac OS X).

 

The MacBook, MacBook Pro, and possibly the iMac will receive processor upgrades to the Core 2 Duo family almost immediately after announcement, due to the back-to-school demand for new laptops. The iMac will use the Conroe core, while the MacBook and MacBook Pro will use Memron cores.

 

Leopard will be released during the holiday season, possibly as early as Thanksgiving.

 

The iMac will be renamed to something else, as it currently does not fit Apple's new naming scheme. It will not simply be called "the Mac" because the name is simply too generic to be used for any one model.

 

iTunes will see more advances to their video store, although the iPod and iTunes will not see as much change this year as the last due to focus on the Intel transition.

They won't rename the iMac... it's a well-established brand now. Apple make iPods, the iMac is similar in name and relates to iPods for them non-mac'ie foke.

 

I predict:

 

- 10.5

- Mac Pro

- MacBook Pro bumps

Steve jobs will remove his mask revealing his true identity....

 

A two headed goat demon with seven horns and six beards.

 

He will then chant goat demon like exchanges and dance his twisted evil on stage, and perhaps even summon the devil to begin the apocalypse.

 

Not sure about that, just a hunch. A little magic sprite told me during my sleep. So it's probably just heresay.

 

OMG.. you mean... he is

 

 

developers, developers, developers...

What I think there will be:

 

- Leopard

- new iLife

- Mac Pro + (maybe) new cinema displays

 

mackbook will NOT be refreshed as I think they will wait for intel santa rosa; same for mac mini. it remains the iMac and MBP. iMac again I don't think they will update it to core 2 dou yet (they just released 1 month ago the version with gma950). Bit I do think they will update MBP.

 

because apple (just) switched to intel, i would think that they might get to be the first with core2 duos -- like in january with core duo. in this scenario it would make sense to have a merom MBP (to further differentiate from MB), but following this reasoning, it would mean a system with conroe and one with woodcrest - mac pro and .....?

here's the banner from WWDC:

 

http://www.onedigitallife.com/2006/08/02/wwdc-2006-banner/

 

big silver tower case i quiver with antici......pation

 

(nicked from Digg)

-short line-up of UB mac osX games

-demo on MS excel like appz

-iWork -07

Here's the banner (well, missing some stuff):

http://www.onedigitallife.com/images/wwdc2006-banner.jpg

 

OS X, Mac Pro, MBP, and the 64bit icon seem the biggest items on it.