Special: MWSF ’06 Predictions

With less than a week to go until Macworld San Francisco, I thought I’d share my predictions for what will be introduced. Besides, it’s almost as fun to guess what Apple will introduce as watching Apple introduce new products. Of course, these are in no way backed up by anything, so let’s go. Predictions we were correct at (a product predicted “Yes -” that was actually released, or a product predicted “No” Not released) have a green dot. Incorrect ones have a red dot.

• Yes: iPod nano 1GB/6GB

I think we’ll see some sort of addition to the nano family. Although I’m not for certain if it will be a 6GB model or a 1GB model to replace the suffle, I think that the nano’s popularity has proven that many people want design over capacity.

• Yes: iPod shuffle Updates

The shuffle is the only iPod that still is the same as it was a year ago. It’s time for a refresh, plain and simple.

• Yes: Media Mac

This is going to be the year Apple takes back the living room. Front Row and remotes on iMacs was a start. Let’s see if we get a high-powered Mac mini with DVR.

• Yes: iLife ’06

This suite gets an update every year—why should 2006 be any different. I’m expecting to see something new and cool along the lines of home entertainment added…think Front Row, but more advanced.

• Yes: iWork ’06

Just like the shuffle, it’s been a year since iWork first appeared. I’d love to see a spreadsheet added (which is a possibility), or at least a database/spreadsheet combo (FileMaker Express?). Besides that, Pages could use some extra features and other tweaks.

• No: iPhone

Some think that Apple will still introduce their own branded cell phone. I disagree. I think that once Motorola gets their act in gear with more models, the iTunes-on-a-phone idea might take off…or not.

• No: Intel Macs

Although we can almost be certain that the topic of Intel Macs will be touched on, I doubt any will be ready to go until June.

• Yes: Audio Breakout Box

We predicted yes last year and were wrong. I want to give it another try and see if it shows up to go along with GarageBand 3.

• No: iBooks without FireWire

Despite Apple’s removal of FireWire from all of its iPods and less emphasis in other areas, I doubt we’ll see it removed from computers—many places rely on Target Disk Mode, and without FireWire it will be tough to manage a fleet of iBooks—something that is big at schools.

• Yes: Why Didn’t I Think of That?

We always leave this one at the end because there will be something that we couldn’t predict. Will it be a computer? A consumer electronic? Software?

We’ll just have to wait and see what Apple introduces, but be sure to come back for our Keynote coverage and after the Keynote when we make sense of it all.