By Seth Weintraub, Computerworld |

Macworld 2009 Predictions - Cheating Spoiler edition

I know I have a leg up on some of the other predictors out there because I've "heard some things" but here are my 2009 Macworld predictions anyway...

Hardware:

iPhone/iPods - Not here, but expect to see a 32GB iPhone with some possible price cuts and a 64GB iPod Touch may get introduced at an Apple event within a month or two. Toshiba is now producing double density RAM chips that go into these devices enabling them to double in space. Intel's offerings could quadruple the density.

AppleTV could see a major gaming overhaul based on moving to the ARM platform and incorporating the app store. I don't think this will be happening at Macworld and will probably happen at an Apple event closer to the middle of the year, if not later.

MacBooks:

I expect the 17-inch laptop to get the Unibody overhaul with the notable exception of having a built-in battery, which may use a silver-zinc core rather than the traditional lithium ion.

The 15- and 13-inch MacBooks won't see any physical changes except perhaps having the option for the new silver-zinc batteries I mentioned above. Also, there is a good chance Apple will be phasing out the plastic MacBook and hopefully reducing the prices on the Unibodies for an entrance point closer to $1000.

Mini:

The Mini will likely see an update in processor/mobo to bring it on level with the Unibody MacBook. This means NVIDIA 9400M chipset for videoand will add a Mini DisplayPort out as well as a better Firewire 800 port and USB. Prices will remain the same or (hopefully) drop. Contrary to some reports, I think the form factor will remain the same.

iMac
Same drill as the Mini. The iMac will likely see a new video chipset similar to the 15-inch MacBook Pro and a faster Quad Core Processor. I don't expect to see a new design. They are already starting to take some market away from the Mac Pro and this speed increase won't help matters for the Pro.

Mac Pro
Mac Pro will likely see a Core i7 Processor update as well as an NVIDIA video card update. Initial test results for the Core i7 say it blazes.

Cinema Displays
Apple will very likely make the sometimes unpopular choice of moving the 20" and 30" cinema displays to the new glossy/ Mini DisplayPort technology. Hopefully they can drop the prices on the 24-inch variety. There is no question in my mind that Apple makes the best displays. However, at three times the cost of a 24-inch Dell, it is hard for us Systems Administrators to justify their purchase, especially in this economy.

New Hardware? I expect to see an update to the Time Capsule product that offers additional Home Server functionality - at least some software updating. This would be a nice extension of the current platform and would stop Apple users from having to go to HP to store their home multimedia files in a shared environment.

Software, including Snow Leopard, iLife and iWork online, I cover here.

Don't forget to stop by and visit my liveblog as I cover the day's announcements at 9am Pacific/Noon Eastern.

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