What can we expect this year?

[elektro80]

The rumours so far:

January

updated iPods
the iTV
some kind of iPhone announcement
announcement of a new version of Logic Pro ( a buy now + free update ( when the app finally ships )thingie ?
new/updated displays ( there might even be a 17 inch display in the new lineup )
iLife 07 ( with a major update of iWeb and iPhoto )
update of iTunes
one, (but some claim at least two) proaudio hardware devices to be launched at the same as Logic Pro 8.

one or two additions to the bundle of apps in the Logic Pro 8 suite

Updated Airport basestations

some of the rumours re the pro audio hardware suggests that Apple is planning a midi/audio/sync ( + possibly video ) interface/breakout box with firewire/gigabit ethernet ( and possibly wireless ) connectivity. There might even be some sort of gigabit ethernet hub thingie with a built in hypercharged airport basestation . There is of course the possibility that this/ these product designs are tech demoes rather than real products. I suspect these rumours come from people seeing some sort of protoype iLife/lifestyle connectivity hub thingie. It could even be that this device really is the iTV and not a pro audio related device at all.

[elektro80]

Right, forgot...

a major Apple Aperture update ( scheduled for the OS X 10.5 launch ? )
more pro applications

[elektro80]

Apple have been supposedly looking at reanimating the Quicktime VR product and integrating VR creation both in Aperture ( or by using Aperture helper apps ) and in the video apps. We might see VR first in iPhoto though?

[elektro80]

Garbageband... sorry... Garageband ( ! ) is supposedly going to see even more features and more integration with other Apple apps. It seems that the rumours that Sounddiver will be back as a free app ( inside?) or as a helper app to Garageband might be false.. but perhaps Sounddiver integration inside Logic Express might be true?

[elektro80]

So far I have heard little about new features in Logic Pro 8, but more plugins, more instruments and more bundled samples for EXS24 is expected. Some are claiming a vastly improved audio performance ( quality wise ) like a best in class SRC performance, some "amazing" audio editing features, improved interface, support for more file formats and vastly improved project stuff like backups and versioning.


There will be an audio core related firewire performance update soon. It might show up before 10.5, but I kinda doubt it.
Changes are that a lot of updates will be presented as part of the hype fpr all things 10.5.

There will be some sort of OS X Server / XServe / Xraid related update in order to make ZFS work OK with the Apple´s older server products. This is a bit hazy right now.

[elektro80]

10.5 will include Apple´s backup system called TimeMachine. From the outset this seems perfect for novices. TimeMachine has some very obvious problems related to pro audio and video use. It seems that Apple has some sort of take on this too, but at the moment I am not aware if this simply means that TimeMachine can be turned automatically off whenever any pro apps/ special filesystems/external devices / volumes are in use.

Aperture handles backups using "vaults". Some rumours say that ZFS vaults can be created in 10.5 and most pro apps will have "vaults" similar to what Aperture has now.

OS X Server 10.5 might see an integration of a new set of email archiving stuff ( in order to conform to this: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6734 ).

[elektro80]

There have been rumours saying that the device now called iTV can also work as a remote screen ( mac display to TV ) for the monitor output from any modern mac running OS X 10.5 . Supposedly it will be possible to choose remote displays ( just like how we today can send the output from iTunes to any Airport Express basestation. Given what i know now of what is probably inside of the iTV device and what I have seen so far of Leopard, this one I really doubt. It is however not unlikely that Apple have been messing wth such ideas and prototypes. It makes perfect sense, but this will probably not be in any first generation iTV.

This means that the iTV will probably not support viewing the full display output of any connected mac, but rather accept a video/media stream from files stored on a mac.

According to what Apple told back in September last year, the iTV will have these key features:

• Built-in power supply (no power brick)
• USB, Ethernet and 802.11 wireless connectivity
• HDMI, optical audio, component video and RCA (phono) audio outputs
• Works with the Apple Remote

The price is set to 299 USD.

The device is supposedly not sporting any RF tuner capabilities.

[elektro80]

There are rumours re a full clean 64bit refurbishing of the Logic Pro 8 code. Logic will now be able to access as much ram as you can afford to stuff your mac with. At the moment there are still certain limits as to how much ram each application can access and use.

[elektro80]

Re Logic, some have mentioned the new version might see a great grand piano plugin ( and supposedly it has its own built-in effects too ). Supposedly it can kinda run as a standalone too as long as you have a registered version of Logic on your machine. I am not sure about this one. It could just as well be a third party application someone has mistaken for an Apple product.

Right, and Apple might release a newly purchased asset management app this year too. The focus of this product is workgroup management of video for broadcast/production houses.

[v-un-v]

To be honest, there's nothing here that really tugs my nads. It's the same tired old Apple story. Long gone are the days when basic apple apps (Macdraw for eg) had a professional edge. They just seem like a lot of gimmicks.

For eg, I use Firefox because it has more features than Safari, yet Safari integrates better into OSX. Finding files in Safari after downloading is far more productive, yet Firefox has better features- which work better on PC. Apple should buy Omniweb and give us that for free rather than the crazy price that Omniweb dictates.

And when are the CAD heavies gonna give us more support? Just because I'm a Macuser, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm into nothing but graphics, art and music. For eg, UGS's NX has been Mac'fied- but probably because Apple were already using it to design Apple's products. But NX costs an arm and a leg. Solidworks is a lt cheaper, but it dosen't 'think different' and most of the time I'm having to learn very un-Mac routines, that I always seen to forget the next time round

[v-un-v]

Oh yes, talking of Garbageband, have you seen this?

It's in Alpha right now for OSX, and it' really quite good- especially for the price.

[elektro80]

[elektro80]

[opg]

[v-un-v]

[v-un-v]

[brinxmat]

What can we expect this year?

* More viruses
* Less Cocoa, more Carbon
* Less market share

[opg]

Don't forget about the iPod phone! Does this mean we can use the scroll wheel like a rotary dial phone?

[elektro80]

Right, the keynote revealed the new basestation, capable of n, the Apple TV box, and then the phone thingie ( which is more than a phone ). As it stands, the new Apple phone device thingie will probably become a porn platform since it supports video, images, chat and more.
It will arrive in Europe at the end of 2007. This probably means we will see several updates and aditions to the current design. I am guessing this device will become standard issue for all mac owners within weeks.
Anyways, I know I will get one the moment it becomes available here.

I am guessing more stuff and software will be announced later this week.

[seraph]

[elektro80]

yes...