tech.gadgets.video.geekculture.gaming.kittens.
“There’s something in the air” for this year’s Macworld (and yes, it’s probably in some part eau de fanboi), and people are starting to speculate on what His Mighty Steveness will announce. Will it be a sub-notebook? (I hope so) Perhaps a higher-capacity, Widgets-compatible iPhone, along with the SDK? Maybe even a 3G version? Sure, that seems possible. WiMax-enabled laptops? Highly doubtful.
What do you think is coming? Any surprises you think they’ll throw in this year? Rumors you want to smash? And how annoying is it that Macworld and CES are overlapping once again in 2009 (curse you!!!)?
I’ll be there tomorrow on the show floor, checking out all the fun new toys. See you then!
No related posts.
37 Responses for "Macworld 2008 hopes and dreams"
I’d like to see another rage-inducing price drop on the iphone, a series of macbooks with integrated wireless broadband and sweet data deals with AT&T, and a sub-notebook. Also a hard-drive ipod touch would be nice.
All i want is for iTunes, iPhoto, AppleTV to work across the network on all my computers. No duplicity. No redundancy. Rentals would be nice. One place for ALL my media stored in one place for Macs, iPods TV to access at any time.
I want apple tv to work better!
On the serious side, a 3G iPhone better happen – I thought Mac was so proud of being “ahead of the curve”. EDGE is soooooo 2005.
A blessed SDK for the iPhone and the Touch is another “must have”.
I also predict a big announcement for Apple TV, like some decent content. His Steveness runs Disney, ESPN, ABC and Pixar doesn’t he? So being able to access iTunes and get all that content from inside yer Apple TV needs to happen.
Final prediction? Some kinda parting shot at Bill Gates. Something to the effect “You blinked first and quit. I am still here and win.”
I’m hoping for new Cinema Displays. A 32″ model was on display on an Apple seminar in London last week according to my teacher who was there.
3G iPhone. Works with Verizon with a cheaper price.
Cheap rentals on iTunes. Because I may need that while I’m in the hospital. I will be bored, so it would be awesome to download rental movies and not have to leave the hospital.
Media Server, whether it’s a souped up Apple TV or a new line all together.
I would love to see a rebirth of the Newton. The iPhone Touch is pretty close to a full PDA, but adding a robust calendar, contact list, task list, and integration to Exchange would be lovely.
What do I think is coming: renting movies, a smaller laptop or sub-notebook
What do i really want (but don’t expect): Something in the AppleTV, Mac Mini space that would have Tivo functionality
What rumors have I heard that I think are ridiculous: that Apple is coming up with some sort of better than Blue Tooth high speed non-standard protocol. I think they are working with standards bodies to do new protocols.
—
Chris Christensen
Amateur Traveler podcast – http://AmateurTraveler.com
Tripinator – Travel 2.0 – http://tripinator.com
I already have a MacBook Pro I love, and I have no intentions of getting rid of the Mac Pro I have now, so all I could ask for at this point is the iPhone SDK in my hands. That’s all.
If Apple came out with a nice tablet and/or eBook reader, I’d be interested in those too.
Am I the only person in the free world that hopes that Apple DOESN’T announce a show stopping, life changing, “Stop the Presses you have to hear about this!” device?
In ‘06 they announced Intel-based Macs… I bought a Macbook Pro.
In ‘07 they announced the iPhone…. I bought it.
I don’t want to have to explain yet another large “gotta have it” purchase to my wife tomorrow.
all kidding aside, I’d be happy with some new additions to the iPhone (that will be pushed down via software update) and some early releases of 3rd party iPhone apps through iTunes. And world peace.
I would like to see 3G iPhone, wireless broadband included in MacBooks and like Ted B a sweet data plan from AT&T. A DVR introduced into AppleTV would make that a very sweet purchase.
i’m most excited about the possibility of a light-and-thin macbook! i actually hope it’s *not* a tablet…
Here are my predictions:
3G iPhone
ultra-mobile laptop (likely)
Movie rental deal info
New AppleTV
New cinema displays.
I have one simple request. I’ve been holding out among many rumours about a possible iPhone release in Canada this month. I really hope that gets slipped into Macworld somehow… I’ve grown weary of how there’s a new iPhone/Canada rumour every three months.
I’m thinking if this rumour isn’t true, it might just be time for that 3 year Blackberry plan after all
I suspect the possibility of the MacBook Air isn’t out of the question. A 3G iPhone will likely at least be officially announced by Steve. AppleTV upgrade.
From a business perspective, I want to see the path toward revenue & profits that justify a $300 stock price. I would like to see Apple continue to deepen the penetration of it’s core product suite with some minor additional product line extension. Their best products are the ones that keep customers in the Apple-world and add tons of additional margin to the bottom line. “You just bought a Mac, would you like .Mac with that, or the 1-on-1 training or the Apple Protection Plan or the iWork suite, etc, etc).
While new product development is always exciting, it comes at a cost. The recent Wired article on the untold story of the iPhone reveals that Apple spent over $150M on creating that product. Will they earn it back – absolutely, and they need to be careful how far they extend the brand and the company resources pursuing additional product lines.
I would love to see Apple TV become more useful. I would love to see the ability to add an ext HD. The ability to download rentals right to AppleTV. The ability to shop for TV content from Apple TV and not necessarily from iTunes all the time. Netflix via Apple TV would be great! That way I’d get an email saying my movie is here!
I’d love to see a sub notebook, but I don’t see a real need in MY life for one. A tablet would be amazing, but its usefulness is really the unknown. Apple products have a way of making you NEED them, even if you really don’t.
iPhone updates would be great, iPhone trade in’s would be even better. I’m not going to spend another $500 just for a bigger capacity iPhone.
I am eagerly waiting for Tuesday’s keynote!
My prediction:
*Update Mac Mini
*Sub-notebook (hopefully for under $1000, i’d get one)
*iPhone SDK unveiling
*iTunes update
I would love something to make me want to buy a Macbook and not feel like I should have bought a Macbook Pro. I don’t know what that would be. A price drop would be nice buy while I am at it I might as well ask for a winning lotto ticket. (Then I could afford the Macbook Pro! Bonus!)
A price-competitive Macbook. I love the series, but if you look at, Dell and other brands, you get a lot more power for your money.
A tablet would also be pretty cool, especially for the PS + Mac pairing that everyone seems to be doing these days.
I’d like Apple to remove DRM from the iTunes Store and I would love a price drop for the iPhone, but that’s unlikely. Oh well, all his pretty Myriad Web’d statistics will be fun to watch.
An SDK to be able to develop new software on the iPhone? Come on. How about basic, nineties-era features for the software the phone’s already got. Like stealing the ability to sync ToDo lists and Notes from my 1994 monochromatic Palm Pilot. Or the ability to cut-and-paste from… I dunno… my DOS machine? I love my iPhone. Don’t get me wrong. But I’d really like it to start loving me back.
Air signifies how the new product works all through the air.
Sub-notebook, no ethernet, no cables, all through the air.
I would love to hear news of the Apple Store Employee Wedgie program. Every time someone goes into an Apple Store and the employee gives information that is wrong, or acts holier than thou, the customer can give that little bastard a wedgie. (or melvin if you’re from the northern states).
Other than that, MMS on my iPhone would be spiffy.
I don’t need a subnotebook or tablet. I have an iPhone and MacBookPro. I’d LOVE SDK apps blessed by Apple! And a new 3G iPhone for my husband would make him happy.
But we already got our Apple “present” The new big Macs with dual DVD burners! Just when my husband was pricing disk duplicators at CES. Dual burners and blazingly fast CPUs, what’s not to like?
I think they’ll be introducing the Macbook Lite with wifi and 3g support (so you can surf the internet from anywhere).
The new macbook will have technology that will eventurally be used in the next-gen iPhone.It will also have a multitouch-like touch-pad supporting a few gestures that iPhone users are accustomed to and a few more that will revolutionize how we use portable laptops making it even more easier to use. The 3g service you can also buy from iTunes – in minutes, or on a monthly basis and of course, the back end tech, will be supported by AT&T and its 3G network. It will also not have an optical drive, no firewire, and will have only two USB ports on the left & right.
Ok lets see, what else; Movie rentals is a given, entire iTunes music catalog will be DRM free at the same 99 cents price point, a 16gb and possibly a 24gb iphone, iPhone SDK is also a given, as well as a host of new iPhone apps from Google, and the one more thing is a new Starbucks application that you will be able to buy your coffee for pick up without even being in the store. They will also introduce partnerships with a host of banks, retail stores like the GAP and Cosmetic stores, fast food restaurants to develop their own iPhone app which will be able to do easy transactions of merchandise & services. etc etc… I could go on and on.. but its going to be mind blowing…
A sub-notebook would be nice, or, as Philip stated above, a price-competitive Macbook (Pro). I need a new laptop.
What I’d really like is for the iPhone to drop in price and to become more available in Europe. I’m not even sure it’ll come to my country (Belgium), Apple hasn’t confirmed anything yet.
And, of course, I could get it somewhere else, but then there are the SIMlock and contract problems… In Germany, T-Mobile are selling iPhones without a contract for €999. Yeah, that’s US$1,417.
I’m hoping for a smokin’ update to the MacBook Pro because I am picking one up as soon as the announcements are complete. So I will buy a current state 2.6Ghz or whatever faster is announced.
I vote for the SDK. Having an iPhone with all these restrictions is like having a laptop with no wifi! It just doesn’t make sense!
i added this site as a link. hope you don’t mind.
A macbook with detachable screen that acts like a tablet.
ronnie, i have no idea why you say wimax is doubtful or off the table. if anything, it’s the thing that makes the most sense, given both the title of the slogan on the banners and apple’s partnership with Otelini and Intel.
look at what happened while you were at CES — intel announces at their keynote all the nifty chips and what you can do with them, and what happens the very same day? as his jobsness would say: Boom! suddenly, a week before macworld, and mac pro and xserve and out the door in the apple store with the latest, beefiest quad core chips from intel possible. coincidence? WE THINK NOT! no, it’s obviously a planned marketing partnership between these two companies that are now technology & channel partners. intel has new big chips to push, apple shows their application in the latest, greatest beefy hardware. no mystery there.
same with wimax. as you saw, intel had vans driving everywhere up and down vegas with “intel & wimax” on them. they’re really trying to push this. and who better than their spiffiest partner who was at the forefront of including 802.11n in airport extreme while it was still a IEEE draft? why would apple sneeze at 2 – 10 gb speeds in the air at up to a 10 kilometer distance?
lemme tell you — up here in portland, we’ve had a bear of a time implementing MetroFi’s bass-ackwards solution of what was supposed to be city-wide 802.11g speeds, when in truth, unless you buy a third party solution they support, you don’t get squat if you’re as much as 50 feet away from the broadcaster node on the various telephone poles around town. pathetic. something like wimax city-wide would be a god-send to make our wireless cloud city a reality instead of a crippled, gimpy, limping MetroFi fiasco. and apple and intel teaming up to make it a reality? sign me up, is all i have to say.
I have no idea what machine they’ll be using it in, but i know Steve is going to anounce a WiMax enabled device. I only found out a few hours ago … but it’s absolutely true.
Dunno what there will be, but thanks as always for being one of the more insightful set of eyes’n'ears “on the ground” at these things!
Well, you were featured in Steve Jobs keynote speech. Congrats V, that must be a dream come true! Especially when Ryan mentions it in his live update. =P
I’m really disappointed that they didn’t release new lineup of MBP… I’ve been waiting almost two years to buy one. I would have bought one today if they had released it… If you read the engadget comments, I think a lot of people were expecting this too.
*shakes fist at sky and sighs heavily*
I like the look of Apple devices, but I got used to MS Office, so I dont change, whatever Steve Jobs says
but, to tell you the truth, this guy makes a very good impression on me, he is a very good speaker
Leave a reply