14 DAY TRIAL // Technicians in Cupertino, California have taken down the Apple online store amid rumors of MacBook upgrades, with new versions of iLife and / or iWork also expected to drop.
Some may be inclined to believe Apple has merely pulled the store for maintenance, and perhaps to list availability of its new 27-inch LED Cinema Display.
However, this is less likely with Apple clearly stating on July 27 that “The new LED Cinema Display will be available in September through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US).”
More likely is the unveiling of a beefed up MacBook Air, the ultra-thin notebook Apple has been reluctant to upgrade for well over a year now.
Other MacBook models, including the 13-inch White unibody version, and the Pro family of Apple notebooks, may well be in line for several upgrades too.
Apple has recently introduced iMacs featuring Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors, as well as a new Mac Pro line with up to 12 processing cores.
Apple generally wants well balanced offerings. This time around, the MacBook family is next in line for hardware upgrades.
Rumors of new iLife and iWork versions have been floating around for a while now.
A couple of Amazon.com listings spotted last month hinted at the upcoming availability of the two new suites.
Few details are available about a potential new iWork.
iLife 11, however, is said to include a mystery application. Furthermore, according to reports, iWeb will be totally renewed, while iDVD will be dropped from the suite.
As noted in a previous report, Softpedia wouldn’t regard Apple’s move to drop iDVD as surprising.
On its official web site, Apple emphasizes iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand and iWeb as the pillars of the suite.
Apple was expected to release the new iLife earlier this month.
Use the comments to note any visible changes on Apple’s store, once the venue goes back online.
UPDATE: the Apple online store is back up and shows no changes at first glance. Strange, to say the least. This is the second time Apple was widely believed to confirm the rumors mentioned above, yet didn't.
Again if you see any new listings, be sure to share that knowledge with the rest of the world, using the comments.