MacRumors Rumor Roundup for MWSF 2003
iApp Upgrades and Costs
As first reported by this poster at AppleInsider, and later verified by both CNet and ThinkSecret, it appears Apple will start charging for upgrades to specific iApps... including iDVD, iPhoto and iMovie. The good news is that these iApps will get upgrades.
As per a previous report, iSync and iCal have already received minor upgrades in the past few days.
iMovie 3.0, iPhoto 2.0, iDVD 3.0 should debut at MacWorld SF 2003. These upgrades will provide further integration with other iApps. It does not appear that iChat or iTunes will be getting upgrades at this time.
Quicktime 6.1 is due at any time.
New App?
We've received hints for the past few months that a new Apple application is on the way. ThinkSecret is giving an Apple-Branded Browser a 75% chance of appearing. The iBrowse is also mentioned in the previously mentioned AppleInsider thread as being launched next week.
Other hints include MacWorld's Bruce Fraser's quote that "it will have something to do with processing pixels", while MacOSRumors hints at a music authoring application.
Airport, Bluetooth, Rendezvous and iMacs
Despite the cancellation of the FCC application for integrated Bluetooth, we've received word that Bluetooth is coming... with some rumors of iMac integration despite ThinkSecret reporting otherwise. Rumors of Bluetooth enabled Macs emerged from the Inquirer in early December and was repeated by MacOSRumors recently.
Airport is to be upgraded to 802.11g. per ThinkSecret, and also confirmed by our sources.
Rendezvous is also poised to be a significant technology in 2003.
.Mac
The online .Mac Address Book appears to be coming on Jan 7th. Rumors have all hinted at further .Mac integration with the iApp upgrades coming (see above). Beyond this, there are also rumors of discounted iApp upgrade prices to accompany .Mac subscriptions.
Xserve RAID
Last we heard, this companion product to the Xserve had been pushed back to early 2003.
New Devices?
There have been hints towards a surprise and of new hardware at MWSF... but few reliable rumors emerging. A few of the contenders include:
A Video iPod -- first rumored by MacNews... claiming color screen, MPEG-4 Video and AAC support. Unconfirmed submissions here claim it will act as a portable set-top player rather than a portable player in itself... with iMovie and iPhoto sync. These discussions have even spawned speculation by analysts.
Apple Tablet - posted as speculation by Matthew Rothenberg in November... but reportedly did have some basis in circulating rumors. And now... ThinkSecret not dismissing it as a possibility...
Other Roundups
LoopRumors.com and MacSlash post their predictions for MWSF.
Top Rated Comments
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color iPod? I'd like to be able to download pictures from my camera directly to iPod. But I don't think iPod will be getting an USB Port.
Also, if we see any updates happening in hardware, hopefully they start moving to 150MB/sec Serial ATA drives and controllers. There are currently only two drives from Seagate out on the market that are native S-ATA, but the floodgates should soon be opening and it would be nice to see some fast drives.
adel
Originally posted by sinbushar
anyone think there is a possibility of an iPhone?..and apple branded phone could do really well, syncing wiht itunes and ical and the address book so it'd be a phone/pda/mp3-player...jsut my thought
adel
I dont think you'll see a phone from Apple quite yet. If you look at the Windows PocketPC phones, their battery life is only 1-2 hours. Apple would probably wait till the technology is there to make a better product.
In the workplace it will be nice. The good thing about 11g is that it is fully backward compatible with 11b, both client and AP. Of course you won't get the quick speed, but it will work.
So, I am amazed that people really think that apple will release an 11g product without the spec being finalized. I am hopeful but not confident.
Originally posted by peterjhill
The 802.11g spec is not set to be finalized until June of 2003. It is possible that apple will release a device based on the current draft, but that draft is subject to change prior to finalization. Hopefully to be fully compliant, any device would only require a firmware upgrade. 11g will be kind of silly in the home. Even computer to computer transfers rarely require more than 11 mbps.
In the workplace it will be nice. The good thing about 11g is that it is fully backward compatible with 11b, both client and AP. Of course you won't get the quick speed, but it will work.
So, I am amazed that people really think that apple will release an 11g product without the spec being finalized. I am hopeful but not confident.
LinkSys and a few other companies have just released 802.11g products in the past week. It appears the only item not ratified is the new security encryption, which is a sub-spec, and can be added by firmware upgrades.
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