I expect a Blackberry competitor, which addresses both the “nano computer” rumors and the “iPhone” rumors.

Always thinking too small.

In this case, weren’t you thinking too large?

one more thing… john lennon will come on and play “how much is that MacPhone in the window? ring ring” with lord lucan singing backing vocals.

give me an ipod with isight please monsieur Jobs and forget the phone, i think that’ll be too much fun to play with.

@Peter

There is definitely a market for smaller computers. Head over to Dynamism.com to see how much people are willing to pay to import sub-notebooks from Japan. I would love a compact notebook computer from Apple, and I fail to understand why the sub-notebook category hasn’t taken off in the US. I guess it’s the same mentality that makes people buy big cars and SUVs. I thought the whole point of a laptop was portability. Doesn’t a 17” widescreen kind of defeat that purpose completely? If I wanted all of the power of a massive Dell Hosstop, I wouldn’t be buying a laptop in the first place. What I need on the road is a basic system that doesn’t weigh 20 pounds. Smaller is better. I’d buy a Libretto if it ran OS X. I doubt Apple will release anything smaller than a 12” screen though — primarily due to technical constraints of the processors OS X currently supports — which is a shame.

As for predictions of what could actually happen…

I think iTV and Leopard are going to be the big announcements this year. Whatever Apple has planned for their “TV” product it’s going to be unexpected in some way and they’re going to try and make it this year’s big revolution. The entire iLife suite will be worked in to the product, perhaps with a new program, iTV, being added to the Macintosh iLife suite. Expect Apple’s concept of TV to revolve more around iTunes and/or Google video rather than actual broadcast television.

All of the rumors about new portable devices from Apple will probably end up culminating very disappointingly in a remote control for iTV (or whatever it winds up being called).

Leopard will be shown finally, and this time all of the features will be previewed. It might even be ready for sale.

iWork might finally have a spreadsheet component which would be nice though maybe too little too late.

As much as I’d like a cellphone with a halfway usable UI, I don’t see Apple going in this direction. Same goes for PDAs. If Apple ever does delve into PDA functionality, it will be as an extension of the iPod, not a rebirth of the Newton.

I can’t imagine Apple jumping into the tablet market. It’s a stillborn market — tablets just don’t sell and Steve is not the type to support development in markets that don’t have immediate potential (as the death of the Newton will attest to).

Just for kicks, heres the tablet rumor from 2005, and with slightly less credibility, the dream of an Apple iNote. : )

I’ve been wanting a 12” MacBook Pro. I love my 12” PowerBook G4. Great size. A little package that packs a punch, well a year or so ago it did. Now it needs a lil’ Core 2 Duo love and maybe a shorter package with the same footprint.

I looked at the MacBooks when they came out, but puullease…. Intel graphics? and the keyboard doesn’t compare to the Pro KBs. If I don’t see a 12” pro or at least a 12” MacBook you can get my 12” PowerBook when you pry it from my cold dead hands…

A MacBook nano? maybe… something to segment into the UMPC market? Do people really buy those? Or is it one of those if you are an uber-geek and buy every electronic device known to man then you buy one - kind of thing?

I like the thinking about small handheld that connects to .Mac and handles files and such that way, maybe it will pan out with the .Mac upgrade as well?

Here are my predictions: Leopard will be released ( As well as updated iLife ‘07) iTV ( whatever its finally Called) Will Be Ready iPhone ( whatever name) will be announcedfor later release Beatles on iTunes - New Cinema Displays with iSight built in And Something else, that we never saw coming

My bet: not a mobile phone necessarily, but a VOIP device that integrates with iChat. It will be either an ATA adapter where you can plug in your existing landline, or a wifi-enabled handset that lets you call into iChat and to landlines.

This is why Software Update pushed new cryptographic keys into iChat just a few days ago. Because the device is ready, and they want all the existing iChat installs to be working with it from launch time.

Business logic also favors this. Check out http://www.aaronadams.net/2007/01/04/the-case-for-apple-voip/ for a pretty convincing rundown of the obstalces in the cellphone market. Basically, it’s mature, saturated, and requires partnering with the noxious carriers.

I think Leopard will be released, Apple will have some kind of Spreadsheet application, obviously iLife will be updated, new small 13 inch skinny MacBook Pro, better video for iTunes, something new with iPods but I don’t think a video, new Apple Cinema displays with built-in iSights or HDMI in, and I do think that there will be a phone released, and maybe a new iSight. And the iTV thing will come out as well.

I’ll be getting Leopard, iLife, I’ve been waiting and saving up for the phone, and if I win the lottery get a Mac Pro and Cinema display.

MacPhone is very likely.

Look at the website…they are hinting at 30th aniversary items for sure!