Apple's February 28th 2006 Event Rumors and Speculation

[SFVCyclone]

Back!

They should introduce the mac mini so I could finally switch BACK to the mac!

 

[psxndc]

The reason those of us want a tablet, we dont want to spend $3000 on a Wacom Cintiq, yeah they are great, but after using the 21" at work for a few hours

Whoa there. I'd like an Apple tablet because I like annotating my typed notes or scanned in textbooks. Not all of us are graphics professionals.

The PC Tablet market is poo, it doesnt have any were to go, its all laptops with a rotating screen, imagine, JUST a screen... drooooool...

Yeah, I mean could you imagine just a screen as a tablet. I wonder what they'd call it. A slate maybe?

Sorry to be so harsh, but you a) act like you're speaking for everyone that wants a tablet, which you aren't, and you're making comments about an industry you don't seem to follow. The tablet PC market is growing, and though this will get me flamed, Microsoft is leading the charge. OneNote is an AWESOME piece of software when combined with a tablet PC. It has completely changed the way I take notes and prepare for class. There probably is not a solution for graphic professionals in the tablet PC space, I'm not arguing that. But don't presume you speak for all people when you opine on why you want a tablet.

-p-

 

[Sam*]

If The Full movies are true... it will only be for the usa proberly....

Here in the uk i doubt we will get it..although they might give us the option of finally downloading tv shows but i still doubt that

 

[matthewHUB]

We're forgetting the invitation teaser

Guys, all this debating and we're not really getting anywhere. Take a look at the teaser... An iCal icon. Clearly this has something to do with some sort of life organiser such as a blackberry type PDA/iPod thingymajig. The invites in the past have always given a clue (sort of - sometimes with hindsight) as to what kind of avenue the product will be down.

I'm really hoping for a thin iPod-form-factor portable multimedia player, with decent apps for lifestyle organisation. Perhaps iLife on the go? not sure yet whether a stylus would be used or whether input would be with fingers only but i know i'd buy one in an instant.

I've been 'fannying around' with various diaries etc. for a long time. I have desperately wanted a PDA-type device but they've just been crap to be honest. I dunno... I'm a musician, and my diary is very important to me - dates and times constantly changing. With this device running iCal it would mean i would actually use the program! At the moment i don't as when somebody tells me a date it goes into my diary - i'd forget if i waited till i got home to put into my comp. Wish i could do it on the go.

Also, for all you guys who say you wouldn't use a PDA / don't see why anyone would want one... WTF? Do you use a diary?

 

[kawijoe]

iPDA

Just a wild guess, but maybe Apple is getting ready to leap back into the PDA market with a crossover iPod + PDA type product ?

J<

 

[danielwsmithee]

Full Length Video

Everyone on here is so sure that Apple will anounce full length widescreen videos! While the time is right I think the bandwidth issue is still huge. I have comcast 3MB connection and rarely see download speeds greater then 500KBs. A 480p movie encoded in H.264 would likely be 700MB, at that speed it would take almost 24 hours to download a movie! Would people be willing to do that? Many I'm sure would.

It wouldn't surprise me though if they impelmented a BitTorrent type distribution sytem inside iTunes so users can help improve Bandwidth. Who knows!

 

[ruud]

Everyone on here is so sure that Apple will anounce full length widescreen videos! While the time is right I think the bandwidth issue is still huge. I have comcast 3MB connection and rarely see download speeds greater then 500KBs. A 480p movie encoded in H.264 would likely be 700MB, at that speed it would take almost 24 hours to download a movie! Would people be willing to do that? Many I'm sure would.

Actually, at 3 Mbit/s, a 700 MB file will actually download in about half an hour.

It wouldn't surprise me though if they impelmented a BitTorrent type distribution sytem inside iTunes so users can help improve Bandwidth. Who knows!

Something like that inherently clashes with the DRM.
Besides, they already have a pretty good distribution system in place using Akamai servers all around the world.

 

[p0intblank]

I really hope it's a Mac mini... I don't know if I would buy one right away, but I would certainly be tempted. The Mac mini, in my opinion, is one of Apple's coolest products yet. Full-length movie downloads... hmm, I didn't see that coming. I don't see why that cannot happen. It was only a matter of time. I guess we'll just have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

 

[maestro55]

I agree with those who think that is some kind of PDA. I think that Apple would be wise to break out some sort of iPhone that includes a PDA and a media player on it. This is what people are wanting. With the previous rumors of the iPod going wireless, I think this iPhone will have the ability to download iTunes music on the go. Also I think this device will have wireless abilities to transfer information directly from the computer to the device or from other devices to share information. This could be a big turn in the wireless world and would put together the three things that people want. The business world and consumers would greatly benefit from this.

Will we see it? Lets wait and see...

 

[danielwsmithee]

Actually, at 3 Mbit/s, a 700 MB file will actually download in about half an hour.

Sorry I messed up on the math there. With a 3 Mbit/s connection I rarely see download speeds quite that fast usually more like 500kbit/s. Which would make it about 3 hours. Either way I guess that is is plausible.

About the DRM that can be worked around fairly easily I would think. The actual authentication would come from the normal Apple servers. They could quite easily make it so it would be just a useless 700 MB file until the Apple servers have authenticated. I think you are right about there servers allready working well though.

 

[ziwi]

I would welcome the mini -dvr thingy, but it is interesting that the announcement takes place during the PMA conference next week - perhaps it has somehting to do with photo's as well or something along those lines...

 

[peharri]

My 2c:

It'll either be:

- Software (I'm leaning towards this only because of the lack of concrete rumours about what will be announced. That said, I can't think of any "fun", "calendar related" applications. An Apple alternative to Outlook and Notes would not be fun.
- An Apple version of the Nokia 770. Essentially a wireless (802.11) web and multimedia client with PDA functionality. This is what I want it to be, but while I can come up with some pretty good justification for it, I can't see enough concrete evidence that Apple's going to release any hardware.
- A revamped Mac mini with PVR-type functionality. Nice, but poorly timed if true - the HD standards are still in a state of flux.
- Plasma displays - yeah, right Well, it'd fit the "There was some awesome stuff lined up for the MacWorld show that they had to pull at the last minute" thing.
- PowerBook G5s (Heh)

Things I'm pretty sure it'll NOT be:

- an iPod (the Nokia 770-like device mentioned above is not an iPod, even though it can act as an iTunes client.)
- a games console (regardless of my jokes on the other thread, and no, it's not a spiral-bound calendar either.)
- some speakers (right. Apple's announcing some me-too accessories for the iPod, and organizing a press conference around it. Hmmm. Sure. Right. Yeah.)
- MacBooks (well, they may be announced as part of the package, but I don't think they'll be the highlight of the show. Likewise Intel-based Mac minis sans DVR enhancements above. The key is these are "new products", and they're related in some way to calendars.)
- The first Windows-based Mac.
- Dell's new Mac OS X based Dimension Desktop
- Full-screen and/or full-length movies on iTMS. Again this might be announced as part of the package, but it certainly isn't the highlight. A little premature to announce this at a time when movies-over-broadband is still a little expensive.
- The 30th Anniversary Mac
- The 30th Anniversary Apple ][.

 

[milo]

The mini could do 720p and 1080i if the video card were to be used to help decode the video. Right now, you need some serious Mac horsepower to watch HDTV without dropping frames because the video cards aren't being leveraged.

The mini could do HD if it had intel chips, even if that meant core solo. One of the first benchmarks on the intel imacs and macbooks was HD playback, and it did great at that, even playing back multiple HD movies at once.

An intel mini will do HD regardless of which Core chip it gets.

Unfortunate date.

Every day is an unfortunate date. Americans aren't going to be familiar with that.

Trivia note: "invite" is a verb.

Sorry, Oxford dictionary lists it as a noun as well, "informal". Nice try. Thanks for playing.

Guys, all this debating and we're not really getting anywhere. Take a look at the teaser... An iCal icon. Clearly this has something to do with some sort of life organiser such as a blackberry type PDA/iPod thingymajig. The invites in the past have always given a clue

And for the last couple, people have figured out the new products before they were announced. If apple has something they really want to try and keep secret, wouldn't it make sense to send a generic invite (like how I did that?) instead of giving a hint?

I still think a tablet or PDA is incredibly unlikely, look at how bad the PDA market is right now. People just want basic calendar and address book in a device like a phone (or ipod), not a full on PDA.

 

[ELTITO]

Any chance of a Powermac???

Ok.. Guys... This is my first post and I will go a little crazy!!!

Let think about the Ical Invitation: It could mean that something related to the timeframe that apple was expecting change.. This is confirmed when they released those Imac - Intel / Macbook pro... So we shouldn't be surprised if Steve come out with a New Powermac.. There is plenty of powerfull intel processor that will fill in this category... Also is good to remark that there is no power problems on this category of machines.

I agree 100% with people expecting to see news Macbook and Macmini.. To me this fit also in the Ical invitation (Ready before expected)

I don't see anything goin on. related to the Ipod...

last thing I want to mention is that I read in some thead that intel will release a 2.6 ghz dual core on the next mont... So imagine a Powermac Intel with a Dual-Coreduo arrangemnent


Thanks

 

[MacMosher]

- MacBooks (well, they may be announced as part of the package, but I don't think they'll be the highlight of the show. ....)

It would be the highlight of the show for me

 

[grneyedjay]

Does anyone really want to watch full-length movies on their ipod? I sure dont.

Also, I'm thinking full length movie downloads may not qualify as a "fun new products"...so hopefully all that other stuff people are speculatin' will be there

 

[wPod]

i know i know!!!! 512MB Nano!!! and a 4GB normal iPod! you know, to be retro

 

[tcctre]

Without going into how.....

As in how I know but its not going to be anything iPod or iTunes related.

Unless the source is throwing me off the trail

 

[milo]

So we shouldn't be surprised if Steve come out with a New Powermac.. There is plenty of powerfull intel processor that will fill in this category...

Not really. No quad processors. No processors that are much of an improvement in processing power, heat, power usage.

And there aren't enough universal apps yet, tower users are the ones who need them the most.

Powermacs are the LEAST likely to get updated anytime soon, Apple won't do an upgrade until they can be a significant improvement over the current G5's.

 

[revjay]

One More Thing...

Nup. It can't even do 720p video. My iBook handle 480p but anything higher than that drops frames and just looks bad.

There is absolutely no way in hell Apple would bung a Pentium D into the Mac mini, the thing would melt in just a few seconds. The Mac mini will share the iBook replacement's processor - whether that be slower Core Duo or a Core Solo processor. The Core processor is what Apple switched to Intel for, not the mess that is the Pentium D. Intel's new desktop chip is going to be out later this year based around the higher specced 64bit version of the Core Duo. Those will go into the PowerMac, xServe and possibly the iMac.

I don't think we'll see a Mac announced at this event - I get the feeling it's going to be more iPod/recreational consumer electronics for this one. Mac mini and iBook replacements I think will be out in autumn, probably around April.

I agree...mostly.

Fun = iPod stuff, some software (iCal reference), some surprise that we never saw coming...by this time all the fun seeking media will be whipped into a frenzy when Steve says the magic words:

"One More Thing..."

Mac Mini which I would suggest is the most "fun" (in a highschool, look how cool my computer looks...and it has a remote, sort of way) of all the Mac's...

Autumn?...there are times I envy our friends of the southern hemisphere...(not May - September).

 

[Fireburst]

If it was to be a Apple tablet pc then I will be one of the first to buy

 

[Hattig]

I couldn't care less about movies on an iPod, even if it looked like the recent rumoured iPod Video.

Short films, TV shows, video podcasts ... yes.

Movies ... maybe on a flight, that's about it!

I can see more Disney content being announced next week though.

 

[~Shard~]

So we shouldn't be surprised if Steve come out with a New Powermac.. There is plenty of powerfull intel processor that will fill in this category...

<snip>

last thing I want to mention is that I read in some thead that intel will release a 2.6 ghz dual core on the next mont... So imagine a Powermac Intel with a Dual-Coreduo arrangemnent

Nope, not going to happen.

First of all, the PowerBooks were updated because they needed to be updated. They were slow G4 machines. The PowerMacs do not need to be updated.

Second of all, Apple is not going to stick Yonah into the PowerMac - it's simply not going to happen. Apple is waiting for Conroe/Woodcrest and they won't be available until the fall.

Further to this, Apple will need to come out with Intel PowerMacs that at least match or better the existing offerings. They can't do that right now. It would look bad to release a "brand new" and "superior" Intel PowerMac which doesn't benchmark as high as the existing quad which has been out for months now. The technology simply doesn't exist right now.

Thirdly, there are not enough universal applications yet. The people who use PowerMacs are generally the power users who ned those apps the most. Until we see a release date for Adobe CS3 and until we hear when FCP, etc. are going universal, we won't see an Intel PowerMac.

In conclusion, PowerMacs, are going to be the last Macs to be switched over (with the exception of possibly the Xserve for similar reasons).

Any questions?

 

[crudsponge]

I think this will go in either two directions.

1. iCal icon... make your life easier. Some sort of organizer, Tablet?
2. Portable Game system. The iCal icon on the invite would repersent the change in apple from this day onward. (highly unlikely) However.. this could Really identify 'FUN'. Flat out, games are fun. Period. Also, remember apple has filed for many patents with Tablet/Game style stuff. Apple would now be in the Game industry. Maybe the Mini would become a type of video game council (Highly unlikely), But that would be 'Fun'

What's werid is that this announcment just kinda 'happened' (of course Apple was planning it).. but No on REALLY knew it was comming. Kinda like the iPod 'One more Thing' announcments.
Who knows, we can guess... but we'll find out soon.

 

[revjay]

Nope, not going to happen.

First of all, the PowerBooks were updated because they needed to be updated. They were slow G4 machines. The PowerMacs do not need to be updated.

Preach it!

Second of all, Apple is not going to stick Yonah into the PowerMac - it's simply not going to happen. Apple is waiting for Conroe/Woodcrest and they won't be available until the fall.

Have Mercy!

Further to this, Apple will need to come out with Intel PowerMacs that at least match or better the existing offerings. They can't do that right now. It would look bad to release a "brand new" and "superior" Intel PowerMac which doesn't benchmark as high as the existing quad which has been out for months now. The technology simply doesn't exist right now.

Yes! He is Good!

Thirdly, there are not enough universal applications yet. The people who use PowerMacs are generally the power users who ned those apps the most. Until we see a release date for Adobe CS3 and until we hear when FCP, etc. are going universal, we won't see an Intel PowerMac.

(fans himself)

In conclusion, PowerMacs, are going to be the last Macs to be switched over (with the exception of possibly the Xserve for similar reasons).

Any questions?

Glory!