14 DAY TRIAL // Between January 8 and 12, 2007, a new edition of the Apple Macworld expo is going to be held in San Francisco, and a lot of new products should be announced, just like every year. Obviously, until Apple is going to say something, a lot of people will claim to know more than all the others and reveal some secret information, but in most cases all they say is exactly the same as me saying now that Apple is going to launch a server with 23 AMD quad core processors in September 2007 just because it sounds interesting. Anyway, when we're talking about serious analysts it's a completely different story.
Just yesterday, PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster said "Apple Computer is likely to roll out its iTV set-top box at Macworld Expo in addition to a new iPod and its much anticipated iPod cell phone", as quoted by Katie Marsal from Apple Insider.
The analyst issued a three category ranking of the probability of launch for 11 of the most popular product rumors concerning Apple, and I will share these predictions with you now...
The first category, "almost certain", includes products or events that will see the light of day in the next 2 to 6 months, and here Munster listed the entry to manufacturing of the long-awaited iPhone, as well as a release of the iTV at Macworld, both rumors being ranked as 10 out of 10 certain.
In the next category, with a certainty ranking of 6 out of 10 and likely to occur in the next 6-12 months we find the 4 and 8GB configurations of the iPhone, an iSight camera bundled and the ability to work on multiple wireless carriers. More probable rumors are the candy bar form-factor of the iPod (9 out of 10) and a touch sensitive wireless widescreen iPod as well as a second iPhone model with integrated keyboard, both rated with a 7 out of 10.
At last, in the next 12-18 months we may see a 12 inch MacBookPro, radio transparent material case and "iChat Mobile" video and instant messaging for the iPhone, as well as a release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard at Macworld, all ranked between 2 and 4 out of 10.