As time goes by, Synthesis becomes more and more of a Mac (and Linux)- based office, so it’s always fun to speculate what coming up from Apple.In that spirit, here are a few of my predictions for what’s coming in the Steve Jobs keynote Monday at WWDC.
The second generation iPhone is an obvious call, but there have been many different rumors about the details.My guess is that it will be available in both unlocked and carrier-subsidized versions, with the latter probably as low as the $200 figure that’s been bandied about.It won’t have the massive rounded white back that appeared in some “leaked” photos.It will, of course, be 3G and have GPS.And I might even buy one.
Those of you (like Justin) waiting for a Mac tablet/Newton revival will have to keep waiting.Apple has the technology to make this, but I don’t think there’s enough of a market to make it worthwhile.I’d love to see an iPhone Nano or clamshell version, but I don’t think it’ll happen either.
I also believe the rumors of a rebranding of .Mac as Mobile Me/me.com, along with upgraded capabilities (e.g. over-the-air iPhone syncing).Apple is becoming more and more of a services company, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t upgrade .Mac to match the strength of their other offerings.A big boost to the online storage would be nice.I could see some minor collaboration with Google on this, but nothing fundamental (e.g. GMail won’t be the Mobile Me webmail client, and Google won’t store your data).
I’m also betting the iPhone application store will open on Monday, along with the iPhone 2.0 firmware.(And, looking beyond WWDC, I think the iPhone is going to take a massive share of the consumer market for mobile applications.You’d be silly to develop one for another platform.)
An announcement of the next version of Mac OS X also seems plausible, although I doubt the suggestions that there will be no major new features.My guesses are better Windows integration (e.g. the ability to launch individual applications) and better Exchange support.Both of these could help convert large numbers of current Windows users.
Finally, I think the MacBook will be redone in metal, with an announcement either at WWDC or next year’s Macworld.This will eliminate the last plastic holdout in the product line, and probably lose the amazing WiFi range of the current models.The MacBook Pro will keep the same classic design, though it may be upgraded or otherwise modified (look for solid state drives, for example).
Well, those are my predictions — what do you think?
