My 2007 Mac Lineup Predictions [Photos]

Yesurbius

Yesurbius

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First Off, I'd like to say that these things are on my wishlist - so therefore Apple MUST BE implementing them :)

iMac



17 " Core Duo: Superdrive - $1299.99
  • Improved Display Technology
  • Improved iSight (faster CMOS sensor)
  • 8x DL SuperDrive
  • ATI Radeon X1600 graphics processor with 128MB memory
  • Fully HDCP Compatible
  • HDMI Video Output
  • Wireless-N Support
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

20" Core Duo: Ultradrive - $1699.99
24" Core Extreme: Ultradrive
  • Available in White or Black
  • Improved Display Technology
  • Improved iSight (faster CMOS sensor)
  • UltraDrive (Blu-Ray/HD DVD/SuperDrive in One)
  • ATI Radeon X1900 XT graphics processor with 128MB memory (Expandable to 256MB on 24" model)
  • Fully HDCP Compatible
  • HDMI Video Output
  • Wireless-N Support
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Mac Mini



Core Duo: Superdrive
  • Available in White, Black
  • 30% smaller profile
  • 8x DL SuperDrive
  • Wireless-N Support
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of non-shared DDR2 SDRAM
  • HDMI Video Output (Ships with HDMI to DVI converter)

Core Duo: Ultradrive
  • Rugged Brushed Metal Design
  • UltraDrive (Blu-Ray/HD DVD/SuperDrive in One)
  • Wireless-N Support
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
  • Radeon X1600 graphics processor with 128MB of non-shared DDR2 SDRAM
  • HDMI Video Output (Ships with HDMI to DVI converter)

Apple Cinema Displays



Apple Cinema Display: iSight
  • Improved Display Technology
  • Built-In iSight
  • HDMI Video Input (Ships with DVI to HDMI converter)
  • (optional) Attachable Speakers
 
Lets keep our fingers crossed :)

I was also going to add a Mac Pro upgrade, but the case would be identical .. the graphics card would be an HDMI / HDCP card - probably the Radeon X1900 or X1950 XTX .... Since the Mac Pro uses a full-powered processor, it'd make sense to see a Core Quad or a Core Extreme chip in it. Of course, Wireless-N, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and the Ultradrive would be standard.
 
Wow, a bunch of predictions and mockup photos that actually sound very plausible. Colour me impressed.
 
Great photos! The ideas are very realistic!
About prices though, I have no idea. I guess the new Cinema Display how you showed them might cost 1000 € (1309 $).
 
I don't know about the Mac minis, though. I don't see them getting next-gen optical drives just yet. They _could_ maybe lower the profile a little (however, I doubt it) and/or change the design to white or black, but I don't see them offer different colours on the Mac mini. They want to keep prices as low as possible. Anything that can be produced more cheaply with scale will be the same among all models.
 
If they released that last Mini, I'd be ecstatic, but I wonder if they'll ever manage to cram a dedicated graphics card in there again. I know they did it with the G4 Mini, but that was before they added more ports and RAM slots. I think Apple feels Intel's graphics chips are good enough, anyway (and I'm not sure I disagree). I do think the GMA 950 will be replaced by the end of the year, but more likely by Intel's newer integrated chips.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see different looks on the Mini. I don't think the cost would be prohibitive. After all, they went wild with the G3 iMacs, and the later models were very cheap (considering that it came with everything you needed, cheaper than the current Minis, I'd say). Also, the Mini does look kind of boring as it is.
 
fryke said:
I don't see them getting next-gen optical drives just yet. They _could_ maybe lower the profile a little (however, I doubt it) and/or change the design to white or black, but I don't see them offer different colours on the Mac mini. They want to keep prices as low as possible. Anything that can be produced more cheaply with scale will be the same among all models.
Click to expand...

I thought for a while on this one Fryke... lemme explain my point:

The whole prediction is based on Apple "raising the bar"... Instead of Superdrives being the higher class drive, the new Ultradrive would be. Instead of X1600 being the best video, the X1900/X1950 would be.

When it came out, the superdrive was a pretty unique thing. Not many other vendors were shipping comparable drives. Nowadays, they are a dime a dozen - virtually all vendors have them. Obviously the cost of manufacturing them will have gone down (more demand nowadays), and improvements to the technology will have made smaller profiles possible.

The same would be true about the X1600. The X1600, when compared to the X1900 or X1950 is about 1/8th of the performance. I'd figure that the chips would probably be cheaper nowadays, but still be in sufficient supply.

I suspect that Apple comes out with bleeding edge configurations and loses a bit of money on them .. but since they don't change their configurations constantly to reflect the changing market... they make money in time as their manufacturing costs drop but the product price remains the same.

So, getting back to the Mac Minis. The smaller profile ones should be entirely possible. The width and length will remain the same, but the height would be shorter. Keep in mind that they'd be polycarbonate (like Macbooks), which will assist the design somewhat.

The final Mac Mini is left in its original form factor, but will sport an ultradrive and a larger GPU .. The way I figure it .. if my G4 Mac Mini could do with a Radeon 9200 two years ago, they should be able to do it with an Intel and a Radeon X1600 now. Rear connector space should be improved a tad as well since the HDMI connector is there instead of the fat DVI. I'm basing my confidence in reducing size off of VIA's mainboard products. When the G4 Mac Mini came out, VIA already had the Epia mini-itx boards out, and had just announced the nano-itx board (12cm x 12cm). If VIA can do it, I'm sure Intel and Apple can.

In regards to the cost. The Mac mini was the entry level - designed for PC switchers. The price advantage was there. The current pricing for the superdrive model is $799 US. The Combo drive is $599 US. I figured that the cost of the parts must have gone down considerably.... especially the superdrive. So altogether: switching to polycarbonate, using less materials (smaller profile), and the reduced material costs, should make the $599 attainable. If not, even a $649.99 price tag wouldn't be THAT bad.

I felt that there are a lot of people that like the Mac Mini design, but want a little more horsepower. That's why I left the final model in there. A much better GPU and an Ultradrive ... but I'd imagine the price point to be $999.99. Cheaper than the Macbook and iMac - but more expensive than the other Mac Mini model.
 
I just wonder if I'll be buying new hardware in a couple months. If Apple did start releasing some of these products, or possibly a new spin on the MacBooks (cough, multitouch, cough), I would. Plus, I'm inexorably going to upgrade to Leopard , so if the hardware is just as impressive as I hope it will be, I see no reason not to sell off my shiny white MacBook.

I believe that Apple could put an integrated GPU in the Mac Mini; they just didn't want to blur the distinction between consumer and pro that much more. Maybe they'll start breaking out of their shell of segregation -like I've been hoping they would for years- and start introducing consumer-level computers with high end options; they already began doing this with CD and C2D in the entry-level MacBooks.
 
Qion said:
....(cough, multitouch, cough)...
Click to expand...

I wonder how much work on Hardware this would take. The MacBook trackpads already recognise two/one fingers for scrolling and double-click. My thoughts are that Apple may incorporate something like this in Leopard as a sofware feature - I think the current hardware may be able to support it.

Andy
 
I don't get why they'd need multitouch really. Multitouch was necessary on the iPhone because they needed and easy, intuitive way to perform a plethora of functions without a keyboard.

I concur with andyhargreaves, the Macbook trackpads already recognize multi-finger "gestures"... its only a matter of implementing the software before you could define writing an "S" will bring up Safari .. etc.
 
There's only so much you can do with a trackpad, though. Multi-fingered gestures would work, but that's a lot more limited than full-screen interaction. I've always wished I could control an array of equalizer sliders all at once using multiple fingers, like on a real audio control board. Or manipulate multiple windows at once. (For example, say you're organizing files in the Finder. You can grab hold of the window with one finger and more files into it from other windows with another. It'd make things a lot easier if you have a lot of windows.) There are already plenty of apps that let you use mouse gestures, and I don't think just putting a second finger into the mix will make it that much more useful.

The problem is that this isn't something Apple can just slide in under everything. It will require significant under-the-hood changes to Cocoa as well as changes to the API itself. Apps will need to be rewritten to use it sensibly.
 
Got my taxes done today ... sitting on a $2000 refund ... I seriously wish Apple will release their new macs soon! I was really expecting them to do so in January.

Is it normal for them not to release iLife this far into the year?
 
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