Apple WWDC 2007 Predictions
Big announcements are likely come Monday when WWDC begins in San Francisco. I’m going to arrange them from Disappointment to Insanely Great, with the middle devoted to Most Likely. Insanely Great are things that don’t seem likely to happen, but I’d be blown away if any of them came to pass.
Disappointment
- Steve Jobs talks only about Leopard and the iPhone.
- No new hardware announcements, other than a passing nod to the recent MacBook and MacBook Pro Upgrades.
Most Likely
- Speed bumps to the Mac Mini.
- More features to Leopard are revealed, such as Boot Camp integration, demonstrations of Core Animation, and a Google / Apple partnership.
- SDK kit for iPhone released.
Insanely Great
- The iMac is completely redesigned to look sleek black with rounded corners and a glass front screen, resembling a Sony Bravia combined with the iPhone.
- Another secret Leopard feature is seamless running of Windows applications in Leopard.
- Google partners with Apple to completely overhaul .Mac.
- A “MacBook Mini” — subnotebook.
- A multitouch monitor or iMac.
- A fullscreen iPod — similar to the iPhone with a touchscreen.
- Apple TV is combined with the Mac Mini to make a PVR device.
- Al Gore stops by to make an announcement.
We’ll see come Monday. Anything in the “Insanely Great” category means I stop by the Market Street Apple Store on my way home from work if need be.
I like your ‘insanely great’ predictions. But I think I’d prefer a brushed metal iMac to a sleek black one. Making it touch-screen would force me into debt in order to buy one. A .Mac overhaul is looooong overdue, and Google would be the right group of folks to make it usable. .Mac email w/ a gmail interface might actually make me use it. That and the backup features (though I adore Mozy, so it might take a bit to get me to switch).
And I’d prefer some kind of linux integration (easily use Gnome or KDE) rather than Windows, but I’m weird like that. I’m sure the population at large would prefer the ability to run Windows apps.
I think I’d like a brushed metal iMac if it looked more like the current Cinema Displays and not just the current iMac form factor.
A touch screen Mac seems totally possible in the future but I’d be surprised to see it happen this summer.
.Mac… I once had an account but it just seemed so pointless, especially at the price.
I hear you about “must buy” apple hardware. I’m now wondering if this is going to be Christmas in June or at the very least June 29…?
Now that the WWDC is over, it looks like my Disappointment and Most Likely predictions came to pass with the exception of the Mac Mini speed bump.
Most Likely also included BootCamp integration and an iPhone SDK. I’m guessing most developer’s expectations when these two are mentioned would say they were not part of this year’s WWDC.