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Kitchens Sync

Anticipation: New iPods Now, New Macs Later

- 2008.09.05 - Tip Jar

Popularity: LEMLEMLEMLEM

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Not long ago, Apple announced to the media that they would be holding an event on September 9th. From the format of the invitation, the event is widely expected to relate to the iPod platform.

I would consider this a reasonable guess. In fact, I expect we won't see any significant Mac product releases until at least 2009.

A Season for Everything, and Everything in its Season

If you look back at the last 8 months, you might notice something about Apple's product releases: With the exception of the iPhone 3G, they have all been Mac-related. The only iPod-related product launches were simple capacity increases. Every Mac except the Mac mini was updated.

IMHO, this leaves the entire iPod lineup ripe for refreshment. However, I hope that the second generation iPod touch, if it actually comes to pass, is more than a simple shell change. I think a simple visual refresh would be a waste of money, as I stated in my article What About the iPod touch? I guess I will just have to wait until next Tuesday to see if I was wise in buying a new iPod touch.

Contrary to some opinions, I don't think the touch's price will drop to match the iPhone. A new iPhone costs about the same as the old one did. The only way to get it for $200 is to qualify for hundreds of dollars of subsidies; the full price is still high.

But I digress.

A Pivotal Year Approaches

In 2009, there will be a few things coming down the pipe that will make it an excellent year for new Mac releases. First, Intel's new Nehalem platform will be released in phases. We'll probably start to see it appearing in the different Mac models by the end of Summer 2009. I think this because that is also currently the expected release period for the new "Snow Leopard" (Mac OS X 10.6), which I think will be tailored to take full advantage of all of Nehalem's capabilities.

I wouldn't be surprised if no new Macs with Nehalem come out until the release of Snow Leopard.

On that note, I hope we'll soon see some more features of Snow Leopard. I would especially like to hear about Apple's plan to shrink the operating system, i.e. what kind of percentage are we talking about? Some semi-concrete numbers would probably serve to generate more buzz about the upcoming Season of the Mac. LEM

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