Macworld 2008 rumor report card: some hits, mostly misses
By Ryan Block 
posted January 20th 2008 1:35AM
posted January 20th 2008 1:35AM
Please note, all rumors listed originate from sources at or close to Apple, feeding info to publications. This doesn't include sites or posts digging up evidential information, like the MacBook Air domain name stuff.
AppleInsider - MacBook ultraportable to have external optical drive: correct! Still, this was pretty clear, almost no ultraportables have optical drives. Being that there was no mention made of Remote Disc, we're gonna give this a half point.
AppleInsider (twice - our take both times) - MacBook ultraportable to have 13-inch LED-backlit display, internal NAND flash, SSD option: right, wrong, and right again (half point!).
Bloomberg (our take) - iPhone comes to Canada: nope.
Bloomberg (our take) - Warner Bros, Fox, Disney, Paramount and Lionsgate to rent on iTunes: nailed it!
Boy Genius Report (our take) - Jay Z and Apple found record label: not yet. (But who knows, it might be announced later!)
Boy Genius Report - Ultraportable absolutely definitely launching: correct!
BusinessWeek - Major Apple TV update planned (including a possible tuner), but Jobs can't get Universal and Sony to sign on for rentals: eh, vaguely right about the ATV update, but otherwise basically wrong.
Financial Times (our take) - Fox signed to movie rentals, and will also distribute pre-ripped iTunes movies on discs: totally correct!
Gizmodo - Macworld "will be bigger than usual" with "overloaded" keynote and tons of new product revisions: nope.
Macrumors (our take) - Lots of laptop upgrades, one with multi-touch trackpad: correct (kind of). There obviously weren't multiple notebook revisions, but the trackpad was dead on.
Macrumors forums (our take) - "Leaked" keynote #1: total fabrication.
Macrumors forums (our take) - MacBook ultraportable endowed with super-wide trackpad: so very wrong.
New York Times (our take) - Apple got more than just Fox to sign on for rentals: true. Half point, though, for lack of any specifics despite "multiple sources."
Variety (our take) - 24 hour rentals: correct!
Void Inside (our take) - "Leaked" keynote #2: also a total fabrication.
Wired - Details and description of the ultraportable: (mostly) wrong. Described as: thin, tapered profile with "aluminum and glass". Close! But we all knew it'd be thin and aluminum -- the multi-touch capable iMac-esque glass display gives this one away.
Total score: 7 / 16
MVP: AppleInsider
(We forgetting any?)
Gizmodo - Macworld "will be bigger than usual" with "overloaded" keynote and tons of new product revisions: nope.
Ouch
Hey Ryan, what about 9 to 5 mac? They got the MBA spot on during Paris Expo. 13", no OD, funny touch pad, Al, etc. I really believe those guys have an insider source. They even got the nano fatty correct.
I'm just gonna give my opinion on this thread about the software about the $20.00 iPod Touch apps, just to get it off my chest...
I don't know how many people buy products just because they're made by Apple. Some people are gadget conscious, like me. I knew what the iPod Touch did and does, the day I bought it. Now, do you wanna know the reason why I think the software should've been free??
I bought my iPod Touch because I wanted the iPhone without the contract and because I wanted the core functionality of the H.264 decoding, AAC and web browsing/wifi technology there-in. NOT BECAUSE IT WAS MADE BY APPLE!
So, in not caring that it was made by Apple, and knowing that Apple does charge a premium for their devices (I note that iSupply in Dec reported the iPod Touch component cost to be $155.04 and I give a guesstimate of between $30-40 dollars for the software), which gives up a grand total of maybe roughly $199 when it's all said and done in actual value. Now Apple charges $100 more in my guesstimate. So since Apple decided that they could ream another $100 dollars out of me for their name alone, I have every right to say that the new apps should've been given away for free.
On top of the fact, you know they've more than made up for the development of the iPod Touch, with the iPhones cost which was what? $599+ when released, down to $399 in about 3 months and then every iPhone since then? What do you call that? i-Ream?
I understand no-one is rebutting this too too much here, but this is for the loyal Apple fanboys who stand up for Apple's decision in this.
I just wanted to get it off my chest, that's all...
If I wanted to buy a name, I'd buy Sony. Like my Mylo, PSP, Walkman, Sony Ericsson phone, Location Free base station and home theater system.
Thank goodness, Sony keeps pushing out those FREE new features and updates for the PSP. Skype, anyone? It's amazing how they don't charge for their new features? Especially when they have nothing to do with gaming and they keep the price down to a low $169.99.
just jailbreak it already, takes 2 seconds, and makes the touch into such a useful device, and you can't mess it up
(1) A 50% markup on device prices isn't atypical. I'd rather have a markup, a clear sign of free trade, than non-profitable price, super-crazy communist. Besides, do you know how many other products have crazy markups?
(2)If you didn't want to get "reamed," you shouldn't have bought a Touch. You claim that you wanted to buy it because of the features and the not the name. It's pretty apparent that you were willing to pay for it, despite your cost-benefit "analysis" (a word I'm using VERY loosely). A PDA without a cellular radio that can utilize SDHC cards would have cost you ~$200 and the card ~$30. Want proof?
http://www.buy.com/prod/nokia-n800-internet-tablet/q/loc/101/204055141.html
http://www.buy.com/retail/coupon.asp?prid=84773074
http://www.meritline.com/pqi-8gb-sdhc-card-class-6.html
Want to argue that it's not a "pretty" or whatever? Yeah, it's not; it's also not branded apple. Surprising, huh?
(3) Lowering production costs and and subsequently lowering the price is the a stand-up move. You know, the PS3 just halved it's manufacturing costs. The price hasn't budged.
(4) These updates are free because Sony is a much bigger company than Apple and has the resources to do such. Besides, Apple is terrible for customer service. And going back to point (2), you should have bought a PSP if you wanted the same features in a cheaper and better maintained product.
P.S. I'm anti-Apple, but I'm also pro-economy. I don't care if you rip on Apple, but don't go trying to fudge my Gross National Product without believable evidence.
but all i wanted is iPod touch with 80 gig , with DivX support. (i wanna see aXXO blessing on iPod)
I'm with you on this one although realistically I can only see the touch doubling to 32GB - which would be enough for me ... and xvid would be sweet! But we both know Apple will never officially support it. shame.
There's a rumor that tech blogs won't stop friggin' talking about Macworld '08 until Macworld '09. That one is clearly true.
And I do believe I said the new macbook would have the glass screen like the iMac, and everyone said that "no laptop can ever have that". booyakasha!
You have the talk bubble wrong. "That's all you got?" isn't what Steve asked Apple fans, it's what Apple fans asked Steve.
Has anyone noticed yet that in the picture for this post he is wearing a slightly red turtle neck jumper not a black one!?!?! :O lol
What happened to the iPhone Nano
What happened to the better/revamped mac mini that was talked about?
What happened to the new laptop screen that was suppose to stretch all the way to the edges?
Macbook Air? YAWN!!!
Movie Rentals? Another ridiculous constant upgrade requiring space for overpriced rentals that can only be held for 24 hours. Netflix is the way to go!!!
I wasn't nearly as excited Macworld leading up to the event as I had been in years past to begin with. Most of the rumors were pretty much dead on so I didn't really feel let down in any way either. It was a pretty lame deal just like I thought it would be.
The software updates were semi-exciting in the fact that we now know for sure that Apple will be adding a lot of cool new software features in the future. However, I was pretty put off by the fact that they got the cajones to charge 20 bucks for the iPod Touch update while it was free for the iPhone. Sure, you don't pay quite as much if you buy the cheaper model but you also don't get the phone. I just hope that Apple sees that this is not a good move for them and quits trying to rape people that have already spent above the market average for their product to begin with.
As for the MacBook Air, I say BFD. I mean, it's a nice looking laptop and I suppose it does serve some purpose in that it gives us a peek into what direction they are headed with their laptops. Still, I will be very surprised if it really takes off. I know that no one I know who has seen it thinks it's worthy of the extravagent price tag.
Time Capsule seems like just another back up drive with a fancy skin to me. Apple is putting lipstick on a pig in an attempt to sell it for a ridiculous price. No thanks.
I appreciate some of the latest innovations with iTV but, again, BFD. Still gonna take a lot more than that to get me interested. Maybe if they made one that was a Blu-Ray player I could justify buying it but I'm just not one to get excited about thumbing through my photographs on my television. Don't know anyone who is either. Movie rentals are basically the same pay per view that's available from the cable company now with another twist or two that I could live without and might actually find useful once a decade.
Honestly, I really get the impression that the folks in Cupertino have hit a creative dry spell. It's almost as if they just slapped these things together just so they'd have something to show people at Macworld.
Here's an idea. How about updating the years old designs of both the MacPro and the MacBook Pro? These products have looked basically the same for years now. It's time to innovate and move on. Maybe find a way to squeeze the Mac Pro into a case half the size so it doesn't feel like you're trying to move a piano when you pick it up?
Another thing they could do is improve their line up in the sub 1000.00 category. Just having the Mac Mini available for budget conscious buyers is not exactly what I would call making a solid effort to convince people to switch. People are creatures of habit and they don't like taking risks with unfamiliar products. I know a lot of people who are curious about Macs but aren't willing to part with the money it takes to own something they aren't sure if they'll even like. At the same time, they aren't really interested in owning something as stripped down as the Mini.
I got to disagree with you on the MBA. It's an ultraportable that's in upper-middle range for features but the middle for price. Business travelers won't like the crazy weight (Why aluminum? Seriously), but it's not exactly intended to show the direction of the industry.
But everything, wow, spot-on. Something I agree with that I didn't even know I thought. MBPs are getting little dated, although the design is still sexy. And where the hell is blu-ray? For these reasons, I am still reading about good/bad Apple news on my PC. Not the other way around.
I'm not going to sit here and be an Apple hater and get voted down for saying something thats true but I still personally feel that it was a lot of hype for nothing. No you can't release an iphone every year ok but still Apple loves to live off of hype. Before anyone accuses me of something I did just order a new Macbook Pro that is somewhere on a truck in the middle of the country but that does not stop me from seeing how full of crap the company is. Before I bought this "amazing" new Macbook pro I was warned by the convert op working in the Macstore that I would wait 2 weeks because the "computer of my dreams" would be coming out (after I mentioned I was looking for something to replace my x41 table). He went on to backhandedly say to the other guy working there "do you know that Macbooks run vista better than any other computer, it was in pc magazine." He conveniently left out that the part that was retracted and was quite embarrassed when I called him on it.
The whole this is a dirty show. World look at us we are going to release the newest gadget that will change the world. In actuality in my humble option after spending a few nights wondering if the Macbok air is worth it, I came to realize it is a giant PDA running leopard. Ok just if has some more power but it also has more size. 1 usb port give me a break. I don't car how you spin that, 2 is a minimum in my book. It will totally live off of hype and people will pay the premium to say they have the hottest hyped thing out. My Japanese classmate said as soon as he say it, there are computer that small if not smaller in Japan. I have been to Japan and I have to say most of there computers re pretty tiny and come mighty close and actually cost less and have more. All they don't have is an Apple branding, and inflated price and Mac OS which is why I bought that Macbook. The hardware I could find cheaper but the software is tied to it. I can't for the life of me figure why that is not a section 1 violation of the Sherman act but I guess the justice department too is in awe of the Mac gadgets. And I will conclude by saying that Asia also has at least 10 phones I can think of that do what the Iphone does and more (ie they are 3g and have legit gps). Yet somehow people buy into the hype. You can't hate because they are making money but I find it crazy how people defend Apple and its ridiculous business practices ( I have never seen a Windows commercial making fun of Steve Jobs) and not stand up and say I'm pissed I bough an Iphone and you cut the price in half almost in 1 quarter and I'm my I have to pay for my Ipod touch upgrades and no I will not send my laptop to you to change the battery, no I will not pay $3200 for your computer even with an SSD, I'm pissed I don't want you to build my computer all I want is Leopard because Windows frankly sucks etc. If people started doing that instead of wasting time defending Apple then maybe they would change for the better and not live off of keeping people like trained monkeys to watch mac world for manna from heaven
with all that said the time machine drive is pretty cool and fairly priced.
And actually for the record even a Macstore employee had to admit that he too thought the Macbook Air was a piece of junk and he bought his wife a macbook instead after it was announced what a bomb. Apple next time you release a computer for over 1500 put more than 1 usb port and be kind and throw an ethernet port or build in a 3g antenna like other companies. At least then I can say well I really don't need to plub my comuter in.
You know there is a reply feature...
And this is about the rumors. Not what was released.
Sorry I hit the wrong button. Still I think it goes to the point that Apple creates all kinds of rumors and hype and then releases a product that even their own employees think is crap. If they acted like any normal company and just released products without such a grand show and endless rumor reports then people wouldn't have high expectation and they wouldn't get flak for putting out less than perfect products.
Wait. You're saying APPLE makes the rumors?
If it were up to Jobs, you would know NOTHING. NOTHING, before he does his keynote. This is to stop people building unrealistic expectations of products and to stop people complaining that they're dropping something before it's launch but was when was announced had such features (eg: Time Capsule backlash). Looks like he failed this year.
what are you a stock holder? come on now, the only thing apple released was the worlds thinest notebook (of which it will hold the title for about a year or two at most). Everything else was basically software refreshes.
How about all the products people have been talking about but we didn't catch em at the show? The iphone nano, the new newton, the iMac touch?
And as long as I'm stuck on touching things, what about the integration of multi-touch into future products we kept hearing about? Is the Air trackpad it?
We all read these b.s. articles for a glimpse of the future. Do we really care if they are true? I don't, when I read one with a fantastic product I think, that would be f*ing killer. I just hope Steve is reading them too and getting some ideas from them. I say keep the fabrications rolling.
waiting for a mac touch tablet.
You people are all morons. What they should have done is brought down the price of the iphone with a new at&t contract. Instant millions for apple and its investors.
Trolls are so totally into spam. Hey, whatever floats your boat: 17news@gmail.com
There are twelve-umptitrillion rumor sites--trust me, I counted. OF COURSE AT LEAST ONE OF THEM WILL GET IT RIGHT.
"Completely losing his objectivity (apple). Fancy writing with false substance."
I'm really getting tired of this ZOMG!!1111 KNGKLNKLFDNGLFDNGOIFDNG ENGADGET IS SO PRO-APPLE.KLNGKLFDNGKLDNGKLDNGFKL ZOMG!!11!! stuff. Seriously, it's annoying. Apple just happens to release good products (overall) most the time and when they don't they're flamed (the aesthetics of the iPod fatty--or lack thereof--, the MBA and its lacking of essentials, and the Apple TV).
Actually most people I know like the iPod nano 3g. I mean sure, it looks fat when you see it in a picture, but holding it is something completely different.
"rummer" eh?
Angry drunk alert...
Actually, this is quite helpful. Lets me know what sites are consistently wrong with their 'inside' information.
"...almost no ultraportables have optical drives."
How many years ago are you still living in?
What's more of a joke......the overpriced laptop ?......or all the idiots in the audience who clap everytime Steve stops talking.
Jobs is tired. His best accomplishment was the iPhone and now that he's seen it to fruition I think he no longer cares. He has a date, set in his mind, when his retirement will be and I think it will be soon. My evidence is that he's slipping. During the keynote he made two major mistakes and didn't correct himself.
Firstly, Jobs referred to Leopard as "Tiger" and kept on going.
Second, while reading a pie chart that clearly said 3.1% Jobs referred to this section as 1.3% twice and even looked at it on the screen and still made no attempt to correct himself.
The excitement that surrounds Apple is dying fast. Jobs, get out while your name is still synonymous with creating the best, innovative products that Apple had to offer.
the track pad is extra wide correct not wrong
Adding this in just in case, and it's pure speculation.
Regarding the iPod Touch $20 upgrade cost: Could there be some sort of usage or license fee paid to Skyhook per unit for the Wi-Fi Google Maps location service?
If so, could the subscription accounting model for iPhone allow this to be expensed against the future recognition for iPhone, and against the immediately recognized revenue of iPod Touches sold from this point on, but for previously (already) recognized iPod Touches, be passed on to the consumer so Apple can expense against the upgrade charge?
Again, pure speculation, and even if there is anything to it, no doubt the debate will rage over whether or not Apple could/should eat it as a gift to early adapters, or how (much) they chose to charge either way...
Well they are having a media event in February, and if Macworld is any indication, it is going to be a blockbuster.
As price of ssd's decline, even the macbook will have macbook air's ultra thin industrial design. What do you expect when a smaller drive, though faster, is $1000 above the 80gb ipod drive? It's called rushed to market. This thing was meant to be around May or June because critical mass starts in April. Just this weekend, if you go to the deal sites you will see 300 to 400 deductions on ssds.
Yeah, if the air had touchscreen capabilities, a faster processor, and a dynamic keyboard, I would have been a bit happier. Also, gesture recognition for other Macs would have been cool.
Love the look of the air but will wait for more powerful versions with bigger screens, thats if Apple bother to fix my macbook pro,
Apple released a software update last year (SuperDrive Firmware Update 2.1) that has rendered thousands of peoples superdrives useless, my mac will now not burn or read DVD- discs and sometimes will not read any discs at all, its a massive problem that the're sweeping under the carpet and my macbook is just out of warranty.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1081038&tstart=0
If Apple start caring about their current customers maybe i'll start caring about their new products!!
The only site of note (or any street cred) that you missed, I think, is 9to5mac.com
Hey I have a intel MacBook Pro and I recently upgraded to Leopard and I had no problems. Nothing bd happened and it runs about the same. Not worth 100$ but it was a nice little upgrade and it fix a few minor complaints I had
I totally thought Penryn for all...at least MBP and Imac but its probly coming soon. Ive heard about a penryn shortage until late feb. so that might be y they didnt use them yet.
It seems there is a lot more pressure on computer companies these days to keep innovating to the point where their innovations are released before they are even fully tested and complete, and certainly Apple has responded to this pressure. Microsoft has been a good example of this with all the problems its products have experienced in the past year (Vista is probably the best example) and many complaints from business users and computer consultants worldwide. The hype over Web 3.0 (before 2.0 has even been fully explored and developed) is more proof that there is a major push for major companies to keep releasing products quickly. I think it will be interesting to see how the next year pans out in the computer industry and what companies do to refine existing products and keep customers happy.