[The Final Dakar]

If I'm keeping score correctly, we have an iMac refresh, 13" MacBook redesign, Mac mini refresh, Apple TV redesign, and the iPad/tablet all being talked about as eventualities (Most of which for this year). Is it me, or is this a real contrast from five years ago? I can barely make head or tails of the rumors anymore.

[hayesk]

Agreed. It's because Apple is popular now, so even "mainstream" journalists are getting in on the action.

[The Final Dakar]

I tell ya, I really do make the deadest threads this forum has ever seen.

[olePigeon]

My Movie Mashup thread got 1 post.

[BlueSky]

Token thread support post.

[The Final Dakar]

That's one thread. I am infamous for my history of making dead Lounge threads.

[SpaceMonkey]

No one wants to talk about Apple in here.

[ort888]

It was like this before the iPhone launch as well.

[wallinbl]

Having watched a few shows on my iPhone lately, I can definitely see the benefit of the supposed iTablet. If I had a device that was a kindle, video player, and decent web browser, that would rock.

[hyteckit]

A 8" or 10" iphone-like tablet with WiFi and 3G.

I'm sold.

[Andy8]

I would be quite surprised if we see a tablet before early next year, but a redesigned Mac Mini? That would be interesting.

[osiris]

Don't forget the MacBro rumor.

Oops, wrong thread.

But it is an exciting time to be a Mac user.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by ort888 

It was like this before the iPhone launch as well.

I'd say there's even more than then.

[SSharon]

I lost some faith in the rumor mills when the last update to the ipod touch didn't have a camera. Unlike the tablet and pippin revival rumors the ipod touch with camera actually sounded likely.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by SSharon 

I lost some faith in the rumor mills when the last update to the ipod touch didn't have a camera.

Yeah, but did you see that the Touch innards have a spot for the camera? So it was designed for having a camera that for some reason isn't being included. Still, pretty accurate, as far as I'm concerned.

[slugslugslug]

The rumor mills are always a mix of real insider information, reasonable speculation, and just makin' **** up. But given the way things played out with the iPod touch camera, I'd say the most likely scenario is what AppleInsider said shortly before the event: it was supposed to be there, then pulled at the last minute due to unforeseen technical difficulties.

I think you can start getting an idea of which rumors to pay attention to by reading MacRumors.com, since they largely aggregate other sites' reports but also talk about how plausible things are, given people's track records and other factors. Also, Gruber at Daring Fireball is generally very clear about when he has good inside sources and when he's making educated guesses.

Speaking of Gruber, he says The Tablet is real & running some version of the iPhone OS. And he just mentioned that iMacs will have Blu-ray along with the new keyboard & mouse in a couple weeks.

[osiris]

I hope the tablet runs OS X and not iPhone OS. That would pose too many limitations and hints at a similar strangle hold on 3rd party stuff.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by osiris 

I hope the tablet runs OS X and not iPhone OS. That would pose too many limitations and hints at a similar strangle hold on 3rd party stuff.

It needs to be something inbetween. Like a fusion of the AppleTV and iPhone OSes.

[slugslugslug]

Well, it's OS X underneath the UI layer in any event. I don't know if Aqua would translate as well to something with multi-touch as the primary input method. But if were the Cocoa Touch UI layer, it'll obviously still have some changes. I would hope they'd consider allowing multitasking and alternative app distribution methods.

In any event, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come up with. I amass and read a lot of PDFs, and I'd really like to go paperless in the next year or two. And while there seem to be some big advantages to a lot of the e-ink stuff coming out these days, I can see The Tablet shaking things up a bit, too. If I could run presentations from it, and use some kind of folding keyboard/stand, it could take the place of both an e-reader and laptop and convince me to get an iMac again at home.

[The Final Dakar]

The biggest issue (which rumor has it, it got shitcanned for once already) is battery life. I just can't see how it will have "enough."

[Stogieman]

Is it strange that the rumor I'm mostly excited about the one regarding a redesign for the Mighty Mouse?

[The Final Dakar]

There's another I didn't think of. Yeah, I'm lukewarm on it mostly because the thing has been a joke since the last redesign (and technically it was a joke before that since it was one-button), but I'm a little curious.

[Stogieman]

I like the form factor of the current Mighty Mouse. Just add two real buttons with an easier to clean scroll wheel and I would buy one in a heartbeat.

[osiris]

ahh, the mouse. the thorn in my side. Every mouse that Apple spewed forth in the past 10 years has been tossed into the trash. Something new and practical would be appreciated, for sure.

[slugslugslug]

I put up with the pre-Mighty Mouse wireless one for a while with my iMac G5 because there were so few Mac-compatible Bluetooth ones back then, and the idea of using a dongle on Bluetooth-having computer angered me. Control- and Command-clicking were less of annoying than I expected. But when I finally went for multi-button+scroll, the Mighty Mouse was totally not worth it. I look forward to seeing what they do, but I bet I'd like real buttons & wheels better than touch sensors.

[The Final Dakar]

New Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse arrive at the FCC

these keyboard dimensions are also smaller than the current model, which rules out a return of the numeric keypad

I foresee much rejoicing.
That's sarcasm.

[osiris]

let us pray

[slugslugslug]

Meh. I want a keyboard with more keys than my laptop when I'm not using the laptop. As in, I want the volume/expose/media-player keys to not be mapped onto function keys, forcing me to decide when to use the fn key. I really liked the Logitech S530 for Mac because of how it added a lot of expected extra-functionality keys without making them take up lots of space.

I suppose I can see some advantages to making the wireless keyboard extra-small, but it's not for me.

[olePigeon]

Optimus Maximus keyboard

Here you go. You can map the keys however you want, and at only $1500, you might as well get two!

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by osiris 

ahh, the mouse. the thorn in my side. Every mouse that Apple spewed forth in the past 10 years has been tossed into the trash. Something new and practical would be appreciated, for sure.

Haha... agree.

I don't like the Apple mouse starting with the stupid hockey puck.

I always go with Microsoft or Logitech for my mouse and keyboard.

[sek929]

Apple mice are the pits.

[olePigeon]

I like the model 72113 Kensington Mouse in a Box, it has a really long cable.
My other favorite mouse is the old ADB Kensington 5 button track ball.

[hyteckit]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

I like the model 72113 Kensington Mouse in a Box, it has a really long cable.
My other favorite mouse is the old ADB Kensington 5 button track ball.

I still have an ADB Kensington Mouse in a Box.

Wondering how much I can get for it on ebay. I'm sure there are still some Macs using ADB port in college compute labs somewhere.

[Brien]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

New Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse arrive at the FCC

I don't care about a new mouse (been using a Logitech MX Revolution for awhile now) but I'm excited about a new keyboard, assuming they go with rechargeable batteries and a backlight.

[slugslugslug]

Oy, now Gruber’s saying no Blu-ray again, but the touchy-feely mouse is still on.

[SSharon]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

My other favorite mouse is the old ADB Kensington 5 button track ball.

I have one of these as well, but one of the internal wheels is broken so it doesn't track well. I really wish I could find a new one for cheap.

All Apple mice since the hockey puck have sucked. I hate the ball of the mighty mouse and far prefer the normal wheel found on most mice. I've been using a logitech wireless combo for years now and would welcome a new Apple mouse that I actually want to use.

[Brien]

I'm still not sure what we have to gain by a lighter, thinner iMac. Balsa wood office desks?

[slugslugslug]

Originally Posted by Brien 

I'm still not sure what we have to gain by a lighter, thinner iMac. Balsa wood office desks?

Seriously, it’s kind of annoying. It just constrains their CPU/GPU options when a slightly roomier case might allow for slightly hotter-running chips.

Also, the original slabs—the first 2 iterations of the iMac G5—had easily user-accessible HDD and even optical drives. But when they went thinner with the iSight models in 2005, they only left RAM upgradeable.

If they came up with a design that was thinner again but reintroduced easy access to upgradeable components, that might be pretty cool, thermal issues notwithstanding.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Brien 

I don't care about a new mouse (been using a Logitech MX Revolution for awhile now) but I'm excited about a new keyboard, assuming they go with rechargeable batteries and a backlight.

Yeah, I hear that. I just replaced a seven year-old mouse this year and for a moment, I thought it was a shame Apple didn't release their new mice earlier, but then I remembered that they don't have a lot of extra buttons anyway.

Am curious about the keyboard, though.

[jmiddel]

I agree with slugslugslug, it is so annoying when we can't access basic components to upgrade or replace them. in the Mac Pros you just slide the HDs in/out their slots, easy as can be, so why not the laptops?

[The Final Dakar]

I don't know how many rumors had a drop-dead date of tomorrow (9th) but I suspect a slew are about to be disappointed.

[ort888]

Originally Posted by jmiddel 

I agree with slugslugslug, it is so annoying when we can't access basic components to upgrade or replace them. in the Mac Pros you just slide the HDs in/out their slots, easy as can be, so why not the laptops?

I don't know about the new unibody MacBooks, but swapping out a hard drive in the last gen of MacBooks takes about 5-10 minutes. Same with RAM.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I don't know about the new unibody MacBooks, but swapping out a hard drive in the last gen of MacBooks takes about 5-10 minutes. Same with RAM.

Just 3 screws and you're done.

(Can I use a "that's what she said" on myself?)

[The Final Dakar]

Yes.

Edit: (That's what she said)

[Eug]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

I don't know how many rumors had a drop-dead date of tomorrow (9th) but I suspect a slew are about to be disappointed.

Why Friday? Most announcements seem to be Tuesday or Wednesday. What Apple stuff has been announced on a Friday?

Anyways, I'm waiting for the new quad iMac (possible, but could be dual, and possibly this month) and new low end quad Mac Pro (probably more likely next year IMO).

EDIT:

For the low end Mac Pro next year, actually I'm predicting a 6-core.

[The Final Dakar]

Let me see if I can dig up what I'm referring to, so I know I'm not hallucinating, and you know I'm not crazy.

[The Final Dakar]

New iMac, Mac mini, MacBook ads spotted

Again, this points to yet more reasons why there could be new iMac, Mac mini and MacBook models coming soon. These new models are expected to be released before October 9th, so keep a look out.

Low-End Mac Mini Shipping Date Slips Slightly, Additional Reports of iMac Shortages Surface - Mac Rumors

Another source reports that they placed an order for a Mac mini earlier this month and initially received indication that the machine would ship in a timely manner, only to have the shipping date recently adjusted to October 9th.

[Eug]

Ah. For (some of) the new Macs, I'm hoping for next week actually, or October 28 at the latest.

If the new iMac gets quad I'll be very, very tempted, even though I was strongly considering getting a Mac Pro.

[The Final Dakar]

So, uh, MythBusted® (The 9th rumor) ?

[Eug]

The EugQuadiMacRumour has not yet been busted. I've got up to 19 more days left.