I don't think you're right about Leopard. But it would be nice though.

I can only hope you are right about the Mac Mini - it really fits the bill for my application server needs at a price point that makes sense. But only if Apple brings the technology up to its 2007 potential. Guess we'll soon know

My bets are on a pretty radical newly designed iMac... I agree that the current model is near perfect... but a silver, perhaps slimmer?? iMac may be present after today..

Too bad the Mini has always been overpriced and underpowered. How many of us would like to have a basic OSX box that we could do anything with?!? Not a Pro machine, but simply fiddle with the hard drive and graphics... Too bad Apple has never taken the Mini seriously.

Your prediction of a new August release date for Leopard is great. Otherwise, all new macs will come including a free upgrade to Leopard when it's released in October.

Interesting, that you don't expect big design changes to the iMac. I Do.

My prediction: The Mini will cease to exist. Maybe it will be replaced by a completely new type of mac.

Another prediction: iWork and iLife will not feature at the show. It will be Mac hardware only.

/Kent

I think that Leopard may come pre-installed on iMac but a general release will not follow for a couple of months - that would make them sell like hot cakes.

is it normal for apple to introduce so many new things at something this small? it seems like all that would be enough for a mid-year macworld. i don't really care, personally, what apple does to the imac, leopard, or the mini. all i'm waiting for is the next ilife. i'd like to see a beefier version of iweb. i make a lot of sites on my own and while iweb can be frankenstiened to do pretty much what i need it to do, it would be nice to not have to run five different add-ons to get my sites running properly.

scott. www.readscott.com

Thanks for rejuvenating confidence in your column's relevancy. Must admit personal wish would include that mac mini in that its practical and sensible. See you didn't touch on the tablet speculation. My esp then includes the
#1 dot mac enhancement (way way over due) hopefully more centered about ichat (as my personal mandate is that this will be the greatest arena the iphone MUST conquer to obliterate all the other wannabe.
#2 iMac would like to see smaller imac ie 13-15 inch added to line with more umph up the line ( not just screen size and processor power )
#3 Tablet mac --the planet demands this ( more than a pogo ) this is totally apple doable and for me would be the killer realese just in time for school ,
#4 Leopard/ilife release enhancement ( oh I do love my garage band !!! ) We'll see

I'm really not convinced that Apple are about to start using wide-open standards for their documents. They have a history of wanting to use their own file formats, the reason likely being that it allows them to add features that may not be supported by open-standard file formats. Powerpoint's .ppt format, for example, can't contain the same transitions that a presentation in Keynote can, and so when a Keynote document is exported to .ppt, it inevitably loses some of what makes it what it is.

Also, of course, Apple being Apple, I don't think we're about to see them doing anything that makes them like anyone else, or that takes control away from Steve...

I think Jobs likes the word "NOW" too much, to announce Leopard availability for the end of the month. He's been forced to talk and demo it for over a year now. It would be very like him to use today to announce that Leopard is available "NOW".

--Hey, I can dream, can't I? =-D

Andrew Short
ashort@wingedwheel.net

The need for the oversized Mac Pro is gone (since the switch to Intel) I would expect a redesigned tower is going to be intro'd.

- Mike, but you can call me Kreskin (sp?)

MacRider,

You claim that the Mac Mini is over-priced and under-powered. Can you substantiate that claim? I don't think you'll be able to even match its price (let alone beat it) for a similarly sized and featured box. Feel free to post URLs of your discoveries -- I'd love to be wrong here.

I'll help you get started: www.cappuccinopc.com . If I try to just match the lowest end of the Mac Mini, it prices to around $945. Wow, that is so much cheaper than the Mini...

My bets are iWork and possibly iLife 08 get a release.

The .Mac upgrade is a possibility and one I'd love to see. If Apple get the level of service right, it's a killer addition to the Mac experience.

Apple have traditionally used an iMac redesign to start the process of whole revisions of the Mac line up, the iMac is their site of innovation. And i can't see that happening in the Town Hall, that's a Moscone announcement. The only thing is the level of noise around this... that makes me wonder.

My trusty G4 Powerbook died last weekend and I need to replace it. I'm holding off till today's announcement hoping for some nugget on Mac Book Pros since I need to buy one. Hey, a girl can hope, right?

Yea right Leopard by end of august, only if you want really unhappy mac customers. This product is not ready for prime time by any stretch of the imagination. Lets not even talk about server.

Leopard's way far away. The latest betas still have many bugs.

Apple will announce accelerated porting of Windows applications to the Mac. In the 80s and early 90s, GUI software was pioneered on Macs -- including MS Word and Excel. Now it's about how cheaply and quickly old apps can be ported from Windows. What's the point?

hmmm, i'd think they would just update the cinema displays to have a usb2 port at the top for you to put the new iSight that uses usb2.

I just heard from a buddy at Palm that they were all being asked to get onto a bus for a special visit to the Apple campus. This is gonna be huge.

Quote

Bosco wrote:
I just heard from a buddy at Palm that they were all being asked to get onto a bus for a special visit to the Apple campus. This is gonna be huge.

Really and truly?

Did Apple buy Palm?

Vern

- New Look
- New Name
- eSata port
- FireWire 800
- User-installable video
- User-upgradable hard disk.

It's nice to dream, but let's just see what Apple and Steve have to say. Leopard will likely not be featured at the show. They said this was a Mac announcement. He may mention leopard in passing but it's not ready for prime time yet so October still seems to be the most likely target date for its release.

.Mac for sure. iMac for sure. Mac mini, maybe or not at all. iLife maybe or not at all if it is to integrated with leopard they still may not offer iLife. If they do offer it that would be a great surprise and I will look forward to hear about any new features it has to offer as I use iMovie, iDVD extensively.

I have touched all dev releases and Leopard still has a long way to go. Although, the last release was the best so far, there is a lot of clean up to do and lots of loose ends. Many things are still inoperable. No way was Leopard ready last Spring.

If I were to buy Leopard even now and put it on my machine I would disgusted at the level of disarray it is in. It's understandable why they delayed it.

Quote

macspudster wrote:
- New Look
- New Name
- eSata port
- FireWire 800
- User-installable video
- User-upgradable hard disk.

- Sort of.

- No

- Yes

- No

- No

The new iMacs are, basically, the previous iMacs in aluminum cases (vs plastic), with slight improvements in speed, a new display and new keyboard. The big improvements that I can see are 1) up to 4 GB RAM max (vs 3 GB useable before); 2) improved graphics cards (supposedly; I know nothing about them); FW 800 on all iMacs (it was already on the 24-inch iMacs); and lower prices (dropped $300 for the base 20-inch, $200 for the base 24-inch). There's little/no reason for anyone to upgrade from the previous white iMac Core 2 Duo. There would be a small benefit to upgrading from the original 20-inch iMac Core Duo. The big effect will be on those waiting to get an Intel iMac (they just became cheaper) to replace an iMac G4 or G5 and especially on switchers. It will be hard to find a 2.4 gHz Core 2 Duo PC with a 24-inch monitor, 1 GB RAM, 320 GB HD, 802.11n WiFi, etc., for $1799.