14 DAY TRIAL // With the 10.5.5 update out, Apple's next focus should be adding Blu-ray support in its next update to Mac OS X Leopard, some suggest. After all, pretty much everything Digg's Kevin Rose disclosed about Apple's latest announcements turned out to be true, so why wouldn't Blu-ray materialize?
Kevin Rose, who has been the source of several Apple-related rumors for quite a while, posted a blog entry, as well as a YouTube video, before Apple's music-related event in San Francisco, “Let's Rock”. Talking about Apple's plans with the iPod line and the iTunes media player, Rose also added that an upcoming version of Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5.6, should include Blu-ray support. While pretty much every prediction Rose had to share turned out to be true (regarding the new iPod line, iTunes 8.0 and even iPhone OS 2.1), Apple is yet to confirm one of the most burning rumors regarding the architecture of its upcoming Macs - Blu-ray playback capabilities.
Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is an optical disc storage media format. The discs, developed by Sony, are high-definition video and data storage environments, sporting the same physical dimensions as a standard DVD or CD. The name Blu-ray Disc is derived from the blue laser (violet colored) used to read and write this type of disc. More data can be stored on a Blu-ray Disc than on the DVD format thanks to the shorter wavelength (405 nm). DVDs use a red (650 nm) laser beam.
We also know Apple is busy working on a major Leopard release - Snow Leopard. Whether or not Apple has plans to revamp its Macs, adding hardware capable of playing Blu-ray discs, along with the launch of Snow Leopard, remains to be seen. Up until this point, Apple hasn't expressed its interest to do so. But, one way or another, we're more likely to hear about a hardware upgrade first (officially), rather than a software update containing support for Blu-ray playback. What's a 10.5.6 supporting Blu-ray video capabilities to a machine still supporting traditional CDs and DVDs?