Piper Jaffray Analyst Forecasts WWDC Keynote

by , 3:05 PM EDT, May 23rd, 2008

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster has posted a note to investors on Friday about what to expect from Steve Jobs during his WWDC keynote address on June 9th: an iPhone 3G, but otherwise looking the same, and possibly new MacBooks.

As reported before, Mr. Munster doesn't believe that the iPhone 3G will have a different case design and has advised investors to keep their expectations "in check." He doesn't expect a case redesign until Macworld 2009. However, due to the 3G chipset, he expects the case to be slightly thicker.

More significant, according to the thoughts of analysts lately, is the number of 3G-capable iPhones Apple will sell worldwide this year and next.

The PJ analyst also predicted that some features that are not enabled on the EDGE iPhone could be enabled on the iPhone 3G. For example, direct music purchases, now restricted to Wi-Fi, could be extended to the 3G network.

Mr. Munster suggested that Apple will focus on the integration of iPhone 2.0 and the Mac. Some observers believe that the release of OS X Leopard 10.5.3 is being held up until the final iPhone SDK and iPhone 2.0 apps are released -- so that integration can be showcased. "With control over the hardware and the software, Apple offers a uniquely integrated ecosystem of CE devices, which we believe is driving Mac sales, and vice versa," Mr. Munster wrote.

Finally, Mr. Munster noted that the current MacBook Pro case design, with only slight modifications, goes back 5.5 years to the PowerBook G4 in January 2003, and he gave it a 60 percent chance that Mr. Jobs would introduce redesigned notebooks intended for the back-to-school season. (If not, an 80 percent chance by summer.) Other observers has surmised that Apple will take advantage of the popularity of the MacBook Air to bring the entire MacBook line into a more consistent design theme.