The company responsible for the Mac operating system, iPod and iPhone is preparing for its last appearance at the popular trade show held at Moscone Centre, San Francisco. The pictures available below, featuring the Apple booth and more,  are probably the last of their kind.

As most Apple fans should know, Apple on December 16, 2008 announced that the company was pulling itself from yet another expo, this time the one Apple used to make its biggest announcements: the Macworld Expo. The 2009 edition has been confirmed by Apple as the last where the company is making an appearance, in an attempt to cut back on all events of the kind. Moreover, instead of having its iconic CEO on stage doing the presentation, Apple revealed that the company's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller, would be delivering this year's keynote.

“Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers,” an official Apple report said. “The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways,” said Apple. The report actually saw the company admitting to a longtime plan of scaling back on trade shows, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.

The news had a huge impact on Apple-focused minds, some of which speculated that Steve Jobs was ill, while others blamed it on the economical downturn. However, despite Jobs' absence, Apple fanatics are still expected to attend the show. If anything, even more Apple fans should be present at Apple's last appearance at the event than ever before (some would say), anticipating a surprise appearance from Apple's CEO.

Via Macnn, a few photos from the Moscone Center in San Francisco are available below, as well as early setup photos from the Apple Booth, courtesy of setteB.IT. A second batch of pictures from around the Moscone Centre, courtesy of World of Apple, is also available.