WWDC Predictions

So I want to know what you guys think will come out of the WWDC! I'm so excited 'cause there's just so much stuff that could happen!!! I predict:

1. New iPod announced, larger screen and motion detection
2. Macbook Pro and iMac get Merom
3. Mac Pro gets Woodcrest
4. Leopard announced to come out January
5. Leopard blows everything out of the water
6. Integration of parts of either Parallels or Crossover or Bootcamp
7. iWorks '07 demonstration
8. TransGaming's Cider demonstrated (hopefully )
9. iChat mobile (it's kinda...ugly...)
10. Price cuts on all Core Duo stuff
11. LEOPARD BLOWS EVERYTHING OUT OF THE WATERRR
12. Leopard

So what do you guys think??

[Edit] Actually I want to add a few things:

33" Cinema displays
iSight resolution increase
Macbook Pro 15" gets Firewire 800
Mac Pro gets Blu-ray

 

i would love to see blu-ray in the new macbok pro's that would be soo cool....but expensive!

 

Sony will be keeping Blu-Ray to itself for a while, it'd be nice, but not really practical.

Not only would it not really be possible because of what Sony, but it would make them cost an enormous amount more, which would make selling them pretty difficult.

 

I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you expect all of that. The only things really that are a sure thing are Leopard, and most likely the announcement and unveiling of the Mac Pros. Anything outside of that is probably very likely to be unveiled at a special event later, or at Apple Expo in September in Paris. Possibly they might officially announce the Merom upgrades, but I wouldn't expect anything outside of that.

 

Well, Sony would probably love to see more companies putting Blu-Ray drives in their computers, all the better to help it win in the fight against HD-DVD. But you're right, will probably be a while before they start showing up in other desktops or notebooks.

There is a rumor that the new Mac Pro line will include an open second optical drive bay which will have a Blu-Ray option.

 

I think we will see the Mac Pro and XServe. The XServe obviously with Woodcrest and I think there will be two maybe three Mac Pros. One with a single Conroe(Conroe cannot be used in dual processor system) a dual Woodcrest system giving four cores and MAYBE and quad Woodcrest giving you eight cores. The last one is unlikely but possible. I do not think they commit to a Leopard release date, nor do I see ne notebooks. I think the notebooks will come at another event in late Sept or Oct. iPods. We will see one if not at WWDC, then definitely the same time as my MBP predictions.

**EDIT** Oh and the Cinema displays are due for a refresh.

 

I doubt there will be anything about the iPod at WWDC, WWDC is for software developers, and doesn't have a place in it, its mostly geared at Apple's direction on the software aspect of their business.

However, such things as new hardware such as Mac Pro or Xserve does have a place, because it can give developers ideas of what to expect they need to program for.

 

That's the WWDC Banner (got it from Engadget.com)

 

a wi-fi enabled iPod, anyone?

 

I was thinking of a new iPod design (or a refreshed version) to compete better with MS's new Zune. I also think Apple will announce the final phase out of its G5 CPUs in favor of Intel's Core Duo 2 CPUs.

 

Hmm, Wifi ipod haha. I don't think that'll happen.

However, I highly doubt the G5 comment made above, Apple won't really start phasing it out for another 3-4 years most likely. I think if they started now, there would be an uproar from the Apple Community.

 

Really? Everybody expects that Apple releases Intel equivalent versions of the G5 and Xserve very soon. AFAIK Apple is losing lots of sales on these machines due to the market expectations - after all, if Macbooks, MBPs, iMacs and MacMinis are 2x-5x times faster then their G4/G5 counterparts everybody will expect a similar performance gain in their pro lineup. Notice that "phasing out" here doesn't mean not supporting anymore, Apple will most probably support the PowerPC architecture for some 5 years I'd guess.

My bets:
-no new iPod;
-no iPhone (yet);
-Leopard of course. The most important aspect is the degree of 64bit support. While Apple bolstered 64bit support in OS X before, the kernel actually run in 32bit mode. If Leopard is to have "true" 64bit support, then either they started working on it very long ago, or they have a heck of a development team;
-Merom in at least MBP and iMac. Even though I am quite sure the Macbook will get Merom as well, eventually. The performance difference is not that great using the same chipset, and Intel is phasing out its Core Duo production. OTOH, Apple might wait until the new chipset for Merom is out (what's the name again? Santa Rosa?).
-bigger (capacity) iPod nanos;

And that's all folks.

 

Oh I didn't mean that they won't start using like Xeon processors, I meant like they aren't gonna start slowly dropping support for the PowerPC architecture for quite a few years yet. I should made that a bit more clear.

I agree with most of your bets, however I read on some mac rumor sites that Apple has put in a lot of orders for merom and I think they'll start asap.

 

Humm perhaps Apple will get the first batch of Santa Rosa chipsets? Before any PC manufacturer??? After all, now that Apple uses Intel/x86 like everyone else, it has got to differentiate itself from the other in some way, and maybe whatever deal the did with Intel grants them this privilege. Apple had a good head start using the Core Duo, who knows.

 

It's possible, considering Apple only said they will be Intel-Specific only and that much of the market is shifting towards AMD processors now, On one hand it appears to be a good move, on another it appears to damage their relationship with other manufacturers if they start playing favorites.

I can't see why not become IBMs replacement.

 

A guy can dream can't he?

Oh, I didn't mean the immediate phase out of the G5s, I just meant maybe a more finalized timeline of when they would be dropped out.

 

that would make more sense, I thought you were saying they were gonna annouce they were gonna start dropping support now, that would almost be a suicide move. I would imagine it'd be in about 3-5 years such a thing would be complete.