Apple Rumor-Rama: New MacBook, iPods On Tap?

Only a month ago Apple released the iPhone 3G, but analysts are already expecting another big announcement from the company next month. Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, expects Apple to announce redesigns of its iPod line this fall, just as it has for the past three years, as well as changes to the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

But if you're one of the thousands who are salivating over the imminent release of the MacBook Touch, keep dreaming.
According to Apple watchers this design is too far fetched from what we might actually see from Apple.

In a research note, Munster points out Apple's MacBooks have not had a serious redesign update for 2 years and the MacBook Pro hasn't changed for about 2.5 years. He also notes that when the MacBook was redesigned it really wasn't that different from the PowerBook G4 that came out almost 5.5 years ago.

That's lead Apple prognosticators, Munster included, to expect revolutionary changes to the Apple laptop line. This may seem far fetched, but just a few weeks ago Apple reportedly sent out a note to retailers to stock up on various MacBook and MacBook Pro stocks, which usually means that Apple is getting ready to announce a change to those lines. Added to this is the earnings call last month where CFO Peter Oppenheimer hinted at a future "product transition."

Munster also expects the low-end MacBook to drop to the $999, perhaps to make it more competitive with the ever diminishing price point on Windows PCs.

For the iPod Munster says an increase in storage capacity for the Nano and Shuffle, and possibly a redesign of the iPod Touch or a $199 pricetag to bring it inline with the iPhone 3G.

But what about those other rumors that are flying around, like the MacBook Touch? Not likely, says Munster, predicting that a Touchscreen MacBook is at least two years away. But Munster did predict a new MacBook Air in 2009.

And that other rumor? You know, the iPhone Nano that was reported in the Daily Mail? Well, as Harry McCracken, former editor in chief of PC World, put it on his Technologizer site, "There are Apple rumors that ring true. There are ones that sound like they might be true. And then there are the ones that have a whiff of fantasy about them."

The iPhone Nano, with its touchscreen on one side and a dialing wheel on the other seems like all fantasy to me as well.

Comments

I don't believe a touch macbook is as far off as you claim. See Axiotron Modbooks as an example of how the tablet model works in a mac. I think Apple has learned a great deal with the touch track pads and it is not a great leap to extend that knowledge to a full UMM (Ultra-Mobile-Mac).

ulixes

August 07, 2008

9:11 AM PT

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