John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, has made his “if-I-were-a-betting-man wagers” for upcoming Apple hardware. He believes there will be a new iMac, MacBook, keyboard, mouse, and a speed-bump/price-cut on the Mac mini.
Gruber had previously predicted Blu-ray was coming to the iMac but now believes that it has been taken out. I’m not sure what has been going on at Apple lately. With the missing iPod touch camera and now the (supposed) missing Blu-ray drive in the iMac, Apple has really been dropping the ball in terms of new features.
He also thinks that rumors of the new mouse having “some sort of integrated touchpad dingus to replace the scroller ball are sounding good.”
Mac4Ever (Google Translated) was the first to describe updates to the Mighty Mouse, saying that it will be “100% touch.” Meanwhile, Engadget has managed to find actual filings for the new keyboard and mouse on the FCC’s website. I’ve often wondered how Apple would translate all of their multi-touch gestures to the desktop realm and this seems to be the perfect solution. And, I really hope that Apple gets rid of that god-awful scroll ball, it only lasts a week or so before it gets too gunked up to work.
In the above Mac4Ever report, they also mention a new Apple remote. I had glossed over this rumor when I first reported saw it but with everything else seeming to come together I have to reconsider. Mac4Ever says that the new remote is aluminum but they don’t know what product it is associated with. The Boy Genius Report had previously posted a product mockup image of a touch-based remote to be released for the Apple TV. I don’t know if these two rumors are related but they are worth mentioning none the less.
Previously:
9/30/09: Updated iMac and Mac mini Coming in October
8/8/09: Upcoming iMacs to Release with ‘Compelling New Features’
6/30/09: Cheaper iMacs May Be Coming This Fall
Update 10/7/09: Interestingly, Microsoft has also been working on multi-touch mice and a video demo of their prototypes can be seen on Engadget’s Viddler account.
Also, TechCrunch reports that Man & Machine has been granted the trademark for “Mighty Mouse.” This could mean that Apple’s upcoming multi-touch mouse won’t be called the “Mighty Mouse.” Honestly, I’d rather Apple bring back the “Apple Pro Mouse” name anyway.
Update 10/17/09: AppleInsider has received word that Intel’s Core i7 quad-core processors may be in the next iMac update. The article notes that they haven’t been able to confirm this rumor with 100% certainty but with pricing of this chip the way it is, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at least a build to order option.
Update 10/20/09: Mac mini with OS X Server and Multi-Touch Trackpad for Desktop Macs
Update 10/20/09: Apple Updates MacBook with LED-Backlight, Glass Trackpad, 7 Hour Battery
Update 10/20/09: Apple Introduces Magic Mouse
Update 10/20/09: Apple Unveils New iMac with 21.5 and 27-inch 16:9 Displays
Update 10/20/09: Apple Updates Mac mini, Offers Server Model
Update 10/20/09: AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule, and Remote
Update 11/6/09: Apple Magic Mouse
