Apple's WWDC 2009 liveblog is just a weekend away. On the menu: Definitely Snow Leopard, new iPhone, new iPhone OS, and maybe even a guest star appearance of Steve Jobs himself. Here are the latest updates:
Search for What we know today for the updates.
The new iPhone
The biggest announcement and biggest question mark is the new version of the iPhone. A new model is coming for sure, but we don't know what will be in it.
Most probably, the new Apple cell will keep its current design. Since Steve Jobs came to Apple, dramatic industrial design changes have only happened across various generations of gut changes. Historically, the iMac, the Powerbook/Macbook, or the Mac Pro went through several iterations before experiencing a complete redesign. It's too early for the iPhone to change its face dramatically, specially when the current form factor works so well. And, after all, there are only a few ways to do a touch-screen phone. The iPhone 3G's design is simple, elegant, and works extremely well, so there is no reason to see a big re-design now.
Some people are talking about multiple color versions. With the iPod mini, nano, and shuffle, color became a way to convert the low-end hardware into fashion accessories. The iMac also went through that phase, which was later abandoned. The iPod, however, always stayed either white or black, becoming an icon on its own right. The iPhone is also a higher-end icon. Down the linemaybe in a different incarnation, as the iPhone OS product family expandscolor will appear. But for now, looking at Apple's past history, logic dictates that the iPhone won't see the variety of colors that the iPod nano has now.
Other rumors point at something called "the unibody iPhone", which is a retarded notion at best. The iPhone is already "unibody." It may not be carved out of a single piece of aluminum, but there's no need for that. It is a single surfacewhich is made of plastic to make reception betterand a glass top. It doesn't get any simpler than that.
What we know today:
Like I said above, we knew that the new iPhone was coming already, but Walter Mossbergwho is well known for having a very tight relation with Applestrongly suggested that the new hardware is a sure shot next week. He did it in his Palm Pre review, potentially offsetting the Pre's current advantages with unrevealed incoming features in the iPhone.
The Financial Times, BGR, and Engadget also say their sources claim that $99 iPhones are on the pipeline.
There may be sightly different components in the design, as shown in the pages of a Chinese original components wholesaler.
The new iPhone may also experience a change of materials, going from shiny to matte.
Internal changes
Whatever minimal design changes come to the iPhone will be dictated by the new hardware. One of these changes will be an improved camera. I have no doubt that the iPhone will get this much needed upgrade. Just looking at the price range and features of other competing smartphones, a better camera is not only a technical- and economically-feasible option for Apple, it is a must have. They are seriously lagging behind in the photography and video departments, which will be perceived by consumers as a major flaw.
Not only that, but Apple betting heavily on geotagging in their iLife'09 software suite begs for a quality upgrade in their one and only image-acquiring device. In Apple's closed ecosystem, the iPhone seems like a potential candidate to be the perfect machine to shoot and record your life on the go. Expect a better sensor, better lens, and autofocus.
Another must-happen-or-else feature is video recording. This has been pointed out not only by rumors, but also by hints left in the Software Development Kit. More importantly, however, is that video recording is present every single cellphone out there. Apple can't afford not having video recording in the iPhone for an entire year. Not when an army of Android phones with this capability is going to be launching in 2009 and 2010.
Speed and memory will be the other two pilars for the new next-generation iPhone. Both are logical, specially the increase in storage capacity and RAM for applications. As the iPhone OS market booms, bigger, more powerful applications and games will come in. Increased RAM will be a must for these apps. The increase in storagespecially as video recording becomes an official feature and the megapixel count increases for photographyis also a given.
A faster processor will also happen. Speed is often cited as the most important of iPhone's problems. Not because the current competition is fasterwhich it isn'tbut because people want to access their applications instantly, not to talk about typing without any bloody delays when background tasks kick in. Faster chipsboth the CPU and the multimedia processorwill make the next-generation iPhone fly. Not only that: They will be needed to guarantee more powerful applications, needed to support Apple's push on the gaming front and the new video capabilities.
Don't expect any magic hardware features, howeverlike OLED screen or backlit Apple logoswhich just seem the type of thing that random people pull out of nowhereand with "nowhere" I really mean "their asses."
What we know today:
We can saywith 99% certaintythat the new iPhone will have a magnetometer and camera autofocus, according to the screenshots that show these components in action. These new features can only be enabled in the iPhone OS 3.0 software by using the actual hardwarethe current iPhone camera can't do autofocus and it doesn't have a magnetometer. The imageswhich confirm previous sightingsalso confirm that the new iPhone will also have video recording.
There have been some speculation about a front-facing videochat camera, but given AT&T current bandwidth problems, I doubt it, but I hope that this one is true. Maybe the 20Mbps AT&T 3G network will finally materialize for this.
