Hey, hey guys! It’s that time once again. It’s time for the Official Mackintosh Fun Time Wacko Apple Predictions post, this time for the upcoming Worldwide Developer’s Conference, happening NEXT WEEK!
As Steve Jobs takes the stage June 9, I’ll be watching one of the liveblogs (either Macworld’s, the MacRumors one, or the Gizmodo one), but I wanted to get my predictions out there so that (hopefully) Steve Jobs and Apple feature this blog (and this blog post) in some way, shape, form, or fashion during the keynote.
Since I know that the creation of the actual keynote presentation is so last-minute, I felt that this was the perfect time to talk about what I think Apple will announce at WWDC, and I am going to have three wacky predictions as well as three standard predictions, but who doesn’t have some kind of pipedream at some point?
- Wacky prediction #1: Blu-Ray support is featured on ALL Macintosh computers, even those computers that are already out there with slot-loading SuperDrives via a firmware updater which would automagically (yes, I know that isn’t a word) give Blu-Ray support within the Mac hardware, and also create the HDCP junk necessary for the movies to work. Much as I hate HDCP, I hate that Blu-Ray doesn’t have that much of an install base for the movie studios to actually start throwing these things out there (maybe Blazing Saddles? RIP Hedley Lamarr).
- Standard prediction #1: Apple announces the 3G iPhone. This one’s a no-brainer.
- Wacky prediction #2: You guys are missing the point when it comes to the App Store. It’s NOT just going to be for the iPod Touch and the iPhone, but it’s ALSO going to be for the Mac. Apple probably realizes by now that Apple enthusiasts want a single place to buy all their paid-for software, including VisualHub, Audio Hijack Pro, Puzzle Quest, World of Warcraft (Steve’s favorite), etc.
- Standard prediction #2: Apple re-brands .Mac as either “Mobile Me” or drags .Mac back to the old iTools days, when the service was actually free. I can’t decide, and neither can most of the Mac pundits!
- Wacky prediction #3: Apple releases a new laptop, the MacBook Mobile. This has a 12″ display with the aforementioned slot-loading Blu-Ray SuperDrive, along with screaming ATI Radeon HD graphics and a full complement of ports, all for about 1.5 pounds.
- Standard Prediction #3: Apple will announce a price drop on the iPhone to $250, with a corresponding price drop for the iPod Touch, probably to just $199 for a 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model.
