Macworld Keynote today

RE*AC*TOR

I reckon it will be around 5pm GMT by my calculations.

Even though I don't own a mac (or an iPod) - I am very interested to see what comes out of this one.

Personally, I'm looking for a HTPC intel-based Mac Mini. That would probably force me to buy one.

Ruaidhri

It's going to be interesting alright!
Possible updates to the iPod nano seem on the cards. Also, patents filed by Apple seem to indicate some kind of wireless streaming of audio to your "digital media player". I'm wondering if this will make an appearance this year.

The move to Intel will be interesting.

monkeyfudge

iLife '06 looks like it's definitely going to be released. There were links revealed on thier website to it last week. Included will be a new package called iWeb.

Ruaidhri

iDont believe it! (oh god you have no idea how long i've been saving that beauty up)

ShaneyMac

Yes - looking forward to what's announced. Hoping the Intel iMacs will make an appearance - if so, I'll be putting in an order for a new one to replace my now ageing G3 iMac (6 years of trusty service!)

Is the keynote broadcast on quicktime?

monkeyfudge

ShaneyMac wrote:

Is the keynote broadcast on quicktime?

They don't stream them live anymore. But it should be up on the site after the event.

thoughtwax

"Live" text updates of what's happening during the keynote at http://www.macdailynews.com/macworld_sf_2006_keynote.html

FWIW, I'm looking to see what happens to the iBook (beyond the obvious switch to Intel) - should be a good indication of the degree of change to expect from the next generation of Powerbooks.

Oriel

Yep, def looking forward to it alright!

Scráib

I actually can't wait for this one, I'm buying a notebook this year and the keynote speech will influence which one I'll be getting.

Elessar

I've decided to get an iBook, and I hope that Steve introduces a decent spec'd one for E1000. That's all I can spend atm, and even that's pushing it.

According to Kevin Rose:

Some of you may remember that last year I nailed the Macworld announcements two days early. Well, my anonymous source has come through once again. Here are the new products that will be announced tomorrow. Enjoy.

Macworld 2006

I've heard:
15" intel Macbook - order tomorrow, ships Feb (thinner, dual core)
iPod FM receiver
iWork/Life '06
New remote of some type
Photocasting (iPhoto)
OS X.4.4 w/new widgets

Kevin

huggs2

Looking foward to an "imactel" but it looks like i will have to wait awhile

uncle_sam_ie

I'm hoping for an Airport Express with video streaming support. Now that would be awesome!.:cool:

uncle_sam_ie

Elessar wrote:

I've decided to get an iBook, and I hope that Steve introduces a decent spec'd one for E1000. That's all I can spend atm, and even that's pushing it.

According to Kevin Rose:

Some of you may remember that last year I nailed the Macworld announcements two days early. Well, my anonymous source has come through once again. Here are the new products that will be announced tomorrow. Enjoy.

Macworld 2006

I've heard:
15" intel Macbook - order tomorrow, ships Feb (thinner, dual core)
iPod FM receiver
iWork/Life '06
New remote of some type
Photocasting (iPhoto)
OS X.4.4 w/new widgets

Kevin

If you watch diggnation you'll see Kevin just bought a Power Book lately. What the hell was he think'in.

Elessar

Well if it's a 15 inch I certainly won't be able to afford it. Goddamnit I want a new iBook!

thoughtwax

Personally I'd be surprised to see the iPod integrate an FM radio. Apple want to keep you using your iPod to view ITMS-bought music and videos (hence the difficulty in adding non-proprietary video to your iPod), half of the whole iPod/iTunes business model. That said, it could be a feature that they feel they can't leave out due to competition from other MP3 players.

case_sensitive

Hmmm, I'm staying online for this one, but I'd say thinksecret and appleinsider have it nailed:
new iPod shuffle (who cares?)/iPod nano 1GB
iBook 13.3" replaces 14", intel duo, <€800
macMini-tel with DVR and 3.5" disk
iLife '06 with iWeb almost a given, .Mac bandwidth upgrade likely and linked

Doubt any of Elessar's other stuff will happen, but we'll see, after all Aperture slipped under the radar pretty well.
iMac was just refreshed, I'll give 20:1 on it being replaced.
PowerMac not until Q3 (Pro software won't be optimized until then)

I'll check back in a few hours and see how I'm doing...
edit: yeah, defo no FM either

Elessar

Well I'm certainly hoping new iBooks would be less expensive, but I don't recall seeing Apple ever lower prices like that. Let's just hope a 13 inch one is announced for 1000 or less. Anyway I'm off for a walk to get me out of the house. I'll be back for 5pm for sure!

spartacus93

It has started

http://www.macrumorslive.com/web/

And the Apple Store is offline! Im excited, (not that i can afford anything new!)

:eek: http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060106171732.shtml

spartacus93

case_sensitive wrote:

I'll check back in a few hours and see how I'm doing...
edit: yeah, defo no FM either

Not good so far -

9:17 am Works with current models. New radio screen on the iPod to tune radio through the iPod screen. $49

9:16 am Announcing a new accessory for the iPod. a remote control with FM Tuner.

Oriel

There's NOTHING like a new Mac product launch! :-)
I've got butterflies...

case_sensitive

He'll save the best for last I'd say, there'll be a "oh, and one more thing.."

So far pretty tame, iLife '06, €50 for an FM radio?? etc.

Come on Mac mini DVR (hi-def tuner(s) please!)

RE*AC*TOR

so far nothing to write home about, fm radio for ipod - software updates - nothing making me want to (have to) jump on the mac bandwagon.

spartacus93

10:08 am Now... lets' talk about systems...

YAY!

case_sensitive

<glee>
Here it comes, the Intel Bunny is out...
</glee>

spartacus93

10:12 am The iMac - built in isight camera. front row. incredible reception.
10:12 am First Mac with Intel processor today.

Gotta love Steve

10:29 am "One More Thing..."

monkeyfudge

MacBook Pro...? What a horrible name... it better look fantastic to make up for it.

Elessar

Goddamnit no iBooks. Buy now or wait? I sort of need it, sort of dont. I could buy now and sell later right?

http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/01/MacBook1.jpg <-Macbook

case_sensitive

Despite all my protestations that she should wait another few weeks if she possibly could, my friend plonked €2k on a 15" PB 2 weeks ago. Couldn't help but rub it in. Hopefully they'll still end up being called PowerBooks, MacBook Pro won't stick in the mind of the buyer.

ThinkSecret got it all wrong, no 13.3" iBook, no MiniDVR, and there was an iMac.. I'll accept any bollickings Elessar choses to deliver.

My iMac G4 is still pretty damn sweet (1.5GB RAM, 300GB+180GB, DVR+-RW) but there's not much you can do about the CPU/GPU, that new iMac would chew this cutee up. But mine is still far prettier.

Who's buying what then?
The Store is back, but it's being mashed..

monkeyfudge

everything is up on http://www.apple.com now.

So the MacBook looks exactly like a Powerbook.. despite their fancy dark lighting in the photos.

Just looking at the prices. The Macbook starts at $1999 on the US AppleStore... but it starts at a whopping €2729 on the Irish store... what's up with that?

quon

monkeyfudge wrote:

everything is up on http://www.apple.com now.

So the MacBook looks exactly like a Powerbook.. despite their fancy dark lighting in the photos.

Just looking at the prices. The Macbook starts at $1999 on the US AppleStore... but it starts at a whopping €2729 on the Irish store... what's up with that?

Looks like that may be a typo.

Starts at €2179 is what I'm getting.
Although it says that for the intel iMac too!

...rechecking... store is down again.

Chardee MacDennis

looks good although my 14 month 12" powerbook will do me at least until november/december. what kind of software is available for the x86 architecture?

how long till a easily installes osx86 comes available, would love that.

anyway cant wait to see benchmarking results on this stuff...

K.O.Kiki

Ah, but would those benchmarks be compared to G4/G5 machines, or *gasp* Windows?!

Chardee MacDennis

both i hope! someone will have to do it. my guess is that they will be marginally (~15/20%) faster than equivalent priced windows machines but no mater what they will have the coveted osx which makes all the difference.

flogen

Was hoping the rumours of a mini macintel or new ibook were true, I'm thinking one of those two will be my likely first steps onto the platform. Ah well, when's the next likely big Apple announcement (please don't say next year!)

SouperComputer

espite all my protestations that she should wait another few weeks if she possibly could, my friend plonked €2k on a 15" PB 2 weeks ago. Couldn't help but rub it in.

Im not sure what there is to rub in CS. PPC will be supported and relevant for quite some time. Not to mention the possibility of hardware and sofware issues with the new intel platform.

[edit] fcuk me that Mac Book Pro is a beast! Should have stuck with "powebook" perhaps there was a legal issue keeping the name without the POWERPC architecture? [/edit]

DannyD

Us Mac Book Pro 2,073.22 EUR
Irish Mac Book Pro 2,729.00

Guess I'll have a weekend in NYC on the Irish government.

SouperComputer

DannyD wrote:

Us Mac Book Pro 2,073.22 EUR
Irish Mac Book Pro 2,729.00

Guess I'll have a weekend in NYC on the Irish government.

Not to mention the fact that you'll get it sooner and can get a refund on the US sales tax if you pay any. I hope thats a genuine mistake on their part.

[devil's advocate] perhaps they hike the price up here to stifle demand and ensure enough units for the US. Wouldnt surprise me, Apple are a very US-Centic company [devil's advocate]

I should have bought thost bloody Apple shares a couple of months ago when they were at $45. I think at one stage they traded as high as $85 today.

cgarvey

Ex sales tax (which is probably the fairest comparison) US Price from $1999 =~ €1657
Irish Price from €1800.

Add tax, and we favour even worse (21% vs the 5-7% in the states), obviously. Is there any hassle (other than the keyboard being different, and the US vs UK plug) with having a US MacBook be repaired under warranty in Ireland? Any hassle with the AppleCover plan as well/either?

.cg

SouperComputer

cgarvey wrote:

Ex sales tax (which is probably the fairest comparison) US Price from $1999 =~ €1657
Irish Price from €1800.

Add tax, and we favour even worse (21% vs the 5-7% in the states), obviously. Is there any hassle (other than the keyboard being different, and the US vs UK plug) with having a US MacBook be repaired under warranty in Ireland? Any hassle with the AppleCover plan as well/either?

.cg

Buying in the states is fine. Ive been bringing Apples in for years from the US. Generally, as a laptop is designed to travel your warranty should be international. However if you bought, for arguement's sake a Mac Book Pro today in NY and it went bust in dublin three weeks later and they still havent gotten their stock yet (very possible) then you could be in a messy situation.

monkeyfudge

The high end one comes to about €2500 with an educational discount. Which isn't too bad considering it has a 100 GB HD and 1 GB of RAM and more RAM on the Graphics Card in it as well as the faster processor.

I notice they seem to have done away with Firewire 800. Did that not really take off in the end? My current Powerbook has it but I've never come across a device that supports it though.

savemejebus

SouperComputer wrote:

Not to mention the fact that you'll get it sooner and can get a refund on the US sales tax if you pay any.

a bit OT but how would you get the sales tax back if you bought the macbook in the US?

SouperComputer

IIRC you apply to the embassy here to get a refund. TBH its ages since ive done it. Generally the stuff I get is shipped to minnesota first from another state, as a result there is no sales tax.

dory

monkeyfudge wrote:

I notice they seem to have done away with Firewire 800. Did that not really take off in the end? My current Powerbook has it but I've never come across a device that supports it though.

I was wondering about that too. I have that port and I've been waiting for a chance to use it!!

I was also wondering why ipods have gone back to USB. Have Firewires in general not taken off?

DannyD

cgarvey wrote:

Ex sales tax (which is probably the fairest comparison) US Price from $1999 =~ €1657
Irish Price from €1800.

Add tax, and we favour even worse (21% vs the 5-7% in the states), obviously. Is there any hassle (other than the keyboard being different, and the US vs UK plug) with having a US MacBook be repaired under warranty in Ireland? Any hassle with the AppleCover plan as well/either?

.cg

I think the fairest comparison is what it costs me as a consumer.Regular consumers pay vat. If I purchase it from the Apple store here compared to the US Apple store it costs 700Euro more.

flogen

DannyD wrote:

I think the fairest comparison is what it costs me as a consumer.Regular consumers pay vat. If I purchase it from the Apple store here compared to the US Apple store it costs 700Euro more.

I think the point is that the price difference isnt so much about Apple stiffing the Irish customer, but about the Irish customer having to may much more tax than the American.

DannyD

flogen wrote:

I think the point is that the price difference isnt so much about Apple stiffing the Irish customer, but about the Irish customer having to may much more tax than the American.

True and because of this I will take my 700 euro difference and pay for a flight to NYC. Then I will spend my 2000 Euro on a MacBook Pro.I'll end up spending the same as the price here but I'll get to hang out in NYC for the weekend.My 2 cent.

flogen

DannyD wrote:

True and because of this I will take my 700 euro difference and pay for a flight to NYC. Then I will spend my 2000 Euro on a MacBook Pro.I'll end up spending the same as the price here but I'll get to hang out in NYC for the weekend.My 2 cent.

I don't blame you either, if I was in the same position I'd probably do something similar.

SouperComputer

true and because of this I will take my 700 euro difference and pay for a flight to NYC. Then I will spend my 2000 Euro on a MacBook Pro.I'll end up spending the same as the price here but I'll get to hang out in NYC for the weekend.My 2 cent.

Thirded, last time I looked, flights to JFK were €120 each way in Feb. Sounds like a good deal to me!