The Oracle: MacWorld Hardware Announcements

The Oracle has been pushed to give a prediction on upcoming announcements at MacWorld. I guess you are probably already well acquainted with this tradition in the Mac scene where everybody tries to dig out rumors or just give a good guess on what might come to be able to say “I said it before!” once one of the prediction was right. So in this sense we are just yet another blog doing the same. So what might be announced in the hardware area? Let’s see what we can easily exclude. As usual, The Oracle gives the probability of an announcement as a percent value.

New MacBooks and MacBook Pros are pretty unlikely as both models have just recently be updated and contain the most recent top-notch hardware and interfaces. Not much to add for Apple (with the notable exception of a better case for the Pro line that matches the ease of closing the lid of the MacBook). The same is valid for the iMac [MacBook: 0%. MacBook Pro: 5%. iMac: 0%]

The Xserve line has just been announced and have barely shipped. Also MacWorld is not the place to focus on these machines. [Xserve: 0%]

The announcement of a 8-core Mac Pro is pretty likely given Apple’s positioning of the machines as high-end workstations. Since the processors are available from Intel and other companies already ship, this upgrade is a no-brainer. If this doesn’t happen, there is a significant problem in Apple’s production pipeline. [Mac Pro: 90%]

Since the iTV will be a big announcement for sure and comes with HDMI interfaces, it is also clear that the aging line of displays needs an update. They will be upgraded with cameras and might either get an additional HDMI plug or will come with an adapter that makes connecting an iTV to these new displays easy and affordable. [LCD Displays with iSight: 90%]

Much talk has been seen on a new iPod model as well. Some just want “a bigger display”, others look for HD to come into the tiny box. Being a hardcore video consumer with an iPod I highly doubt that the time has come for HD to settle on the iPod. The format just hasn’t settled in society. It’s still all about 4:3 and Apple has given a strong hint on what the next stop is: 640×480, the new native resolution, would make much more sense as most of the iTunes Store content and many podcasts deliver this format. Ripping tools now allow for DVDs to be easily converted to this format as well. So pushing the size of the display and doubling the resolution might make sense, but keep in mind that many people still value the mobility and small size of the iPod higher than screen size. It all depends on the displays available on the market and if they match Apples need in terms of brightness, sharpness, viewing angle and power requirements. [iPod 640×480: 45%, iPod HD: 0%]

And ah yes: the “phone”. So what is the big deal here? I am sure this will come one day but I doubt it will be next week. Integrating a phone into the iPod nano totally makes sense once Apple decides on which international telephone standards to support with a single device. It is just not Apple’s style to build something that doesn’t work whereever you walk. It must work in the US, it must work in Europe, it must work in Japan and oh yes baby, it should even work in China. But there is a severe lack of standards so that the electronics need to work with many network systems including GSM, UMTS and some asian standards as well. The Oracle wouldn’t be surprised if it takes another half year to bring out the proper world-phone. [iPod phone: 30%]

So what is left? I think there might be a chance for the introduction of a very portable Mac as many people like to have this. But many people also talk about tablets but not many would actually buy one as laptops are much more popular. A small laptop would be interesting to more, but Apple never really looked as if they would see a big market here. [Small Mac: 15%].