In a statement made to Macworld.com, Apple spokesman Bill Evans told the publication that, “Our holiday line-up is set.”

It was recently rumoured that Apple would update the Mac mini and iMac on November 10, in addition AppleInsider had pinpointed November as the stage for an iMac speedbump.

Sellers who makes no mention of sources goes onto to explain that Apple will want to ship new Pro desktops that will work with a new line of Cinema Displays that will feature the Mini DisplayPort connection. Adding that Apple will release new Cinema Displays at sizes of 20, 24 and 30-inches. This would be in addition to the current 23-inch model.

Finally Sellers leaves us hanging by noting that this is not all that Apple will announce at Macworld which runs from 5 - 9 January 2009.

AppleInsider expects the iMacs to receive similar CPU offerings to those seen in the MacBook Pro refresh earlier this week. This would mean CPU speeds remaining around the same. The iMac already has a 1066MHz front-side bus so no improvement is expected there.

Apple stated at its event last Tuesday that all Macs would be receiving DisplayPort so this is likely to replace the mini-DVI currently seen on the iMac.

Although not confirmed and AppleInsider is hesitant to add any certainty, it would be a fair expectation to see NVIDIA chipsets working their way into the iMac.

Currently the iMacs employ ATI Radeon HD 2400 or 2600 paired with an Intel chipset with a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT as a build-to-order option, it’s possible that Apple could simplify its offerings similar to those available in the current MacBook and MacBook Pro.

The iMac refresh is expected in mid-November but is likely to be a quiet affair.

First, the unboxing:

Doing its duty:

The LowKey’s mission is to hold up the iMac, provide easy access to USB ports, and provide a nice spot to stow the keyboard for extra desk space. It does a fine job of all of these things. Here’s a photo of my desk before the LowKey arrived:

After some cleaning:

And finally after the installation of the LowKey:

Flick approves of the great increase in desk real estate:

Going the extra mile

Certainly the LowKey does what it was intended to do, but there is a lot of room for improvement. A number of the stylistic touches I had counted on were missing. The features that would bring the LowKey to the upper echelon of iMac-uppers just weren’t there.

I had originally believed that the LowKey would perfectly match the iMac. In fact, the LowKey is painted metal, not the evenly powder-coated finish of the iMac and its keyboard. That’s pretty important in my opinion. This is my biggest issue with the LowKey.

The remainder of my issues with the LowKey could be attributed to “snobby pickiness” or “high standards” depending on who you’re talking to. I’ll put them as “suggestions for the next model.”

The USB hub doesn’t have an option to use a second USB cable for alternative power. This requires you to have an AC outlet for the stand if you want to really use those ports.

The USB plugs don’t sit flush with the ports.

There’s no room for the mouse when the keyboard is underneath. This is a tricky one to solve because the flow of the stand’s style would be lost if you made room for it, but it’s something to think about.

The rubber feet, while preventing scratching the desk, aren’t as neat as they could be. I’d like to see a foot underneath the edge without creeping up the sides of the stand.

Finally, we come to the support post on the underside of the stand. The post does prevent the stand from sagging at all, which is wonderful, but this guy still has a couple issues. Firstly, the keyboard levers around the post when you try to pull it out by the mouse cord. Not such a big deal.

The trouble I have with it is that the little rubber cap that keeps it from scratching the desk comes off too easily. It popped off immediately when I took the stand out of the box. This isn’t a problem if you’re leaving the computer in the same place all the time, but if you move and that cap gets lost, you could very easily scrape your poor desk to death.

Should you buy this?

If you need a stand, and $60 doesn’t sound too bad to you, go for it. Your Mac is safe on top of the LowKey. In fact, both of my parents have tried to swindle me out of this one.

If you’re concerned about style, or you just thought “what? $60?” don’t buy it. Instead, wait for a revision. This is a promising product, but it isn’t quite there yet.

Final Notes

I’ve now been using the LowKey stand for about a month, during which time I moved my desk. I didn’t have the cables handy to plug in the USB hub, so now that’s useless due to my own laziness. I’ve only really used the keyboard hiding function once, and I had to move all the junk on my desk out of the way to do so, but I was happy the LowKey was there when I needed it. Lastly, through turning my iMac to view the screen from other parts of the room, I’ve completely scratched up the paint job. There are large scratch rings on the top of the LowKey now. Thankfully the iMac’s foot stands right on top of them, so the scratches aren’t glaringly obvious.

Despite these new developments, I stand by my review of this product.

The processor in question comes in the top iMac and clocks in at 3.06GHz, the processor which also has a 1066Mhz FSB and was initially rumoured to be the 45 nm Core 2 Duo Extreme X9100 processor. This processor is expected to officially launch in June as part of the Montevina range.

Intel told TG Daily that the processor in the top spec iMac is not the X9100 but in fact a “special” SKU of the 45 nm Penryn processor for the company’s Santa Rosa platform. Apparently the only technical difference between this special and the X9100 is the CPU’s power thermal design power (TDP), which is 11 watts above the 44 watt X9100.

This update is for iMac computers with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card installed, running Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later.

It updates the ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card firmware in the iMac to improve system stability.

“The iMac’s gorgeous aluminum and glass all-in-one design has been an incredible hit with our customers and is just one of the reasons Mac sales are growing three and a half times faster than PC sales,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the latest Intel processors, a faster new graphics option and more memory, customers now have even more reasons to love the iMac.”

Packing dual-core performance into the convenience of a striking all-in-one design, the new iMac includes faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors across the line; a 1066 MHz front-side bus; up to 4GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory; and a widescreen flat-panel display supporting millions of colors. For the first time, the 24-inch iMac features an optional NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB of video memory, to deliver up to two times standard performance for graphic intensive applications. Providing the latest in high-performance connectivity options to quickly and conveniently transfer digital photos, music and video, iMac includes built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking for up to five times the performance of 802.11g; Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; Gigabit Ethernet; built-in iSight video camera; a total of five USB 2.0 ports (including two on the Apple Keyboard); and one FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port.

The iMac furthers Apple’s commitment to environmental progress with highly recyclable and durable materials including scratch-resistant glass and professional grade aluminum. Every model in the iMac line is rated EPEAT Silver and the power-efficient iMac also meets the stringent Energy Star 4.0 requirements for power consumption. Customers who purchase any qualifying Apple computer can recycle their old PC or Mac for free via the Apple Recycling Program.

• 20″ - 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128MB. $1199 (£799)
• 20″ - 2.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256MB, $1499 (£949)
• 24″ - 2.8GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO 256MB, $1799 (£1149)
• 24″ - 3.06GHz, 2GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS 512MB, $2199 (£1389)

The rumour site reports that new iMac part numbers have appeared in some retail systems according to sources. The price points appear to be identical to those of the current iMacs ($1199, $1499, $1799), delivery of inventory is targeted for Monday or Tuesday.

According to the site which correctly predicted MacBook and MacBook Pro updates in the past, the iMac will remain at the current price points and will “probably” receive a speed bump as well as increased hard drive storage.

This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook Air computers.

MacBook EFI Firmware Update 1.2 - 1.8MB

This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook computers.

After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be:

MB31.008E.B02

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5 - 3.1MB

This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook Pro computers.

After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be:

MBP21.00A5.B08 or MBP31.0070.B07

iMac EFI Firmware Update 1.3 - 1.6MB

This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of iMac computers.

After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be:

IM71.007A.B03

Firmware Restoration CD 1.6 - 30MB

The Firmware Restoration CD can restore the firmware of an Intel-based Macintosh computer.

Though we don’t have a precise release date, we expect the iMac and the Mac mini refreshes to happen within the next four weeks, inventory clearing being the only constraint.

The site reports that the refresh will mainly bring Intel’s 45nm Penryn microprocessor to both the iMac and Mac mini. The same processors present in the recently updated MacBook and MacBook Pro updates.

The site also expects the Mac mini to upgrade to the GMA3100 graphics chipset used in the most recent MacBook.

Finally MacScoop reports that Apple has been working to reduce the thickness of the iMac but the changes will not make it into this revision.

It looks as if tomorrow (Tuesday 26th) will be no different.

Mac Rumors is hesitantly reporting that it expects MacBook Pro updates tomorrow and points towards information about Best Buy part numbers showing new model numbers at the same price points as current models.

TUAW is also reporting that the current Best Buy flyer is listing Time Capsule as an available item.

Finally, 9 to 5 Mac is noting that although they have no idea when the MacBook Pros are going to ship but they do think its “pretty likely” that the iMacs will see a similar speed bump.

[Update - 25/02/2008 23.30 GMT] Mac Rumors and AppleInsider are both reporting that sources are noting that the Best Buy part numbers are related to an unexpected MacBook update, not MacBook Pros.

Today, Apple released an update aimed solely at users of 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMac computers running ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics cards.

The 772KB can be downloaded from Apple’s website or via Software Update, in the associated notes Apple writes:

This update is for 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMac computers with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics running Mac OS X 10.4.10 with iMac Software Update 1.2.1 or Leopard with iMac Software Update 1.3.

And in a further more advanced Knowledge Base article Apple writes:

This update is for 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMac computers with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphics processor, running Mac OS X 10.4.10 with iMac Software Update 1.2.1 for Tiger, or Mac OS X 10.5 with iMac Software Update 1.3 for Leopard.

If you manually download this update and attempt to install it on an ineligible computer, you will receive an error message.

Pocket-lint.co.uk has reportedly received confirmation from Apple that firmware version 1.1.2 will be available to all iPhone owners on Friday 9th.

Although the time could not be confirmed, iPhone owners who sync their device with iTunes tomorrow in the States will be presented with the option to upgrade to the new firmware. wrote the publication.

According to reports from a few days ago the firmware version will reportedly come pre-loaded on iPhone devices in the UK and Germany which go on sale at 6.02PM local time.

[Update] - According to a T-Mobile press release in Germany some T-Mobile stores will be opening at 0.01 hours, just half an hour from the current time of writing. This could potentially mean that the iPhone update will hit the internet a little bit before Friday November 9th.

iMac Freezing a Hardware Issue?

One reader has noted to AppleInsider that his iMac freezing issues have vanished since Apple replaced the Radeon HD video chipset in the system.

“So far that [repair] has fixed it completely,” he says, observing that the iMac has been stable for two weeks since its return. “We’ll see if the same issue starts back up again.”

Many users across the internet are coming to the conclusion that the iMac freezing issues are caused by a faulty graphics card or overheating within the iMac chassis. Most users state that graphics artefacts plague the systems prior to freezing.

“My lockups were normal looking at first, but eventually started to spew out graphical artifacts, the same type of [problem] I used to see when overclocking graphics cards,” the iMac owner said.

iMac Software Update 1.2.1 (Tiger) - 13.3MB

This update is for 20-inch and 24-inch aluminum iMac computers with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8 GHz processors running Mac OS X Tiger.

It improves the performance and reliability of graphics-intensive games and applications and fixes an issue that some customers encountered when installing Mac OS X Leopard after applying iMac Software Update 1.2.

This update improves graphics stability and is recommended for all 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pro Models.

iMac Software Update 1.2 (Tiger) - 13.3MB

This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8GHz processors.

iMac Software Update 1.3 (Leopard) - 21.6MB

This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8GHz processors.

The iMac Updates reportedly do not help iMacs which are freezing. Apple’s discussion boards are the best place to follow the ongoings.

This update supports system software components shared by all iLife ‘08 applications, improves overall stability, addresses a number of other minor issues, and supports general compatibility issues. It is recommended for all users of iLife ‘08.

iDVD 6.0.4 - 6.5MB

This update improves overall stability and supports compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5.

iMac MXM Update 1.0 - 403KB

The iMac MXM Update improves video compatibility with Boot Camp on certain 24″ iMac models.

In the advanced notes Apple writes:

Some iMac (Late 2006 24-inch) computers may display a black screen when booting from the Windows XP installer CD, instead of the standard blue installation screen. The computer will respond to the correct setup key presses and continue the installation even though the built-in display has no video.

Munster noted that Apple was “on track” to ship Leopard by the end of October, and predicted that its release could cause Apple’s calendar fourth quarter results to surge by $240 million.

Looking back to the release of Mac OS X Tiger back in April 2005, Munster wrote that 15 percent of Mac users purchased Tiger or a Mac with Tiger pre-installed within six weeks of the launch. In 2005 OS X’s overall user base stood around 12 million users, it is now predicted to be 23 million.

“While we do not believe many consumers delay the purchase of a Mac because of Leopard, we expect its new features and updated look to be positive for Mac sales,” the analyst wrote.

Looking at unit shipments Munster believes that Apple has shipped somewhere between 2 and 2.1 million iMacs and iPod and iPhone sales are likely to be strong.

Finally the analyst added that Apple was unlikely to remain stagnant following the holiday season and said that the Cupertino company was “likely” to expand its portable device range with at least one new system at Macworld 2008. Either a new Mac “subnotebook” or multi-touch tablet were said to be “80 percent likely” for release at the San Francisco event.

In a statement to Macworld, Apple confirmed the issue and promises a fix.

“We are tracking down the root cause of this bug, and will issue a software update which corrects it as soon as we can — most likely later this month,” the company spokesperson said. “We apologize for the inconvenience.”

iMac Software Update 1.1 - 5.1MB

This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8GHz processors.

This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for 20-inch and 24-inch iMac models with 2.0, 2.4, or 2.8GHz processors.

Mac Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.1 - 544KB

The SMC Firmware Update adjusts fan behavior in Mac Pro.

Boot Camp 1.4 Beta - 347MB

Boot Camp 1.4 beta contains several updates and is intended for all new and previous Boot Camp beta users.

Featuring gorgeous 20- and 24-inch widescreen displays encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing and iLife ’08, making it the ultimate digital lifestyle desktop computer for both consumers and professionals. The 20-inch iMac now starts at just $1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch model, and the 24-inch iMac starts at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous 24-inch model.

“This new iMac is the most incredible desktop computer we’ve ever made,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our new design features the innovative use of materials, including professional-grade aluminum and glass, that are highly recyclable.”

Redefining Apple’s signature all-in-one design, the new iMac integrates the entire computer system into a sleek, professional aluminum enclosure for a striking, clutter-free desktop. An elegant glass cover joins precisely to the aluminum enclosure creating a virtually seamless front surface. The new iMac’s 20- and 24-inch glossy widescreen displays provide incredibly crisp images, ideal for photos and movies using the all new iLife ’08 suite of digital lifestyle applications that are included. The new ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard is just 0.33 inches thin at its front edge. A new optional Apple Wireless Keyboard is a compact design that, with Apple’s wireless Mighty Mouse, offers a cable-free desktop.

Providing the latest in high-performance connectivity options to quickly and conveniently transfer digital photos, music and video, the iMac includes built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, delivering up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g; Gigabit Ethernet; a total of five USB 2.0 ports (including two on the new Apple Keyboard); and one FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port.

The new iMac, with its stunning design, features highly recyclable and durable materials including scratch-resistant glass and professional grade aluminum. The power-efficient iMac also meets the stringent new Energy Star 4.0 requirements.

Packing professional performance into the convenience of an all-in-one design, the new iMac includes the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors running up to 2.8 GHz with 4MB of shared L2 cache and up to 4GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory. The iMac line features ATI’s next generation of graphics with the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory. The new iMac now offers up to 1TB of internal storage to accommodate a user’s growing library of digital photos, movies and music.

Features:

• Up to 2.8 GHz Core 2 Extreme Processor
• Up to 4 GB Memory
• ATI Radeon HD Graphics
• Up to 1 TB Hard Disk
• Wireless 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0

• Steve is on stage.
• Jobs: The market share of the Mac is rising three times faster than the rest of the PC industry
• “Today’s focus is on the iMac”
• “iMacs have been very successful, and we’d like to make it even better,” he said. Apple is borrowing two elements from its pro products for this new generation of iMac — aluminum and silicon dioxide, better known as glass.
  
• “This is the new iMac design, and it’s just designing. This is the new iMac. Just gorgeous. You can see we have a full complement of I/O across the bottom. USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Fireiwre 800. Slot load superdrive. iSight camera and microphone. Can add memory with just one screw. New iMac will come in two sizes: 20-inch display, and 24-inch display. Both will be glossy. Customers say they love glossy displays.”
• New iMac. Also, new keyboard. You might have seen this on the web. Two USB ports. 0.33″, full complement of keys, including dedicated keys for screen dimmer and brighter, expose, media controls, volume controls, eject for optical drive. This is the new iMac with the new keyboard and mouse. Wireless? New wireless keyboard, beautiful, very compact. People love to hold them in their lap. Bluetooth 2.0, all these dedicated keys as well.”
• “What about the inside? Up to 2.4GHz Core 2 Extreme processor, up to 4GB of memory. ATI Radeon HD graphics card, up to 1TB of hard drive storage. 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0 built-in. What models will we have? Up until now, 17-inch, 20-inch, and 24-inch. Well, today we’re replacing the 24-inch, lowering price by $200, 20-inch at same $1499. replacing 17-inch with $1199 model.”
• All models shipping Today.
• New advert to advertise the iMacs, shows iMacs rotating.
• Jobs shows picture of Mac lineup, Mac mini still there
• “Alright, next thing is applications that run on the Mac. Apple invented category of digital lifestyle applications. Computer is the hub of digital life. We’ve increased our lead over the PC industry. Introducing iLife ‘08. Totally new, biggest jump since we introduced it. iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand. We’re replacing one of the apps with something that takes it to a new level.”
• “iPhoto. We’re adding “Events”. Digital cameras have made it so easy and inexpensive, photo libraries have grown, not unusual to find photo library with 5 or 6 thousand photos. It’s getting hard to find ‘em. We make albums, go to some event, take photos, and look what’s happened. We have tons of albums. They’re centered around events. Birthday party, family reunion. We label the albums. We have a computer, we could do this automatically. Automatically makes events out of your photos. Around 50 photos per avg per event. What that means is, instead of looking through 5K, you’re just looking through 100 events. Makes photos manageable again. What photos go in an event? When it automatically makes an event, what does it do? All photos taken in a day. All photos yesterday, put in an event. photos taken two days ago in an event, and so on. What happens if I go to a b-day party in the morning and wedding in the afternoon? Just pick first photo and splits automatically into two events. Multi-day events can be joined together into single event.”
• iPhoto also gains new editing tools, including the ability to copy and paste adjustments you’ve made on one photo to other photos where it makes sense. Books and calendars have been improved, theme based home printing is now available and more. Jobs demonstrated the new features and held up a book example, which can now be printed with foil lettering.
• “When you get your hands on this, you’ll think it’s great. We’re all familiar with .Mac. It’s our internet subscription service. We’re pleased to announce we have over 1.7M .Mac subscribers, we’re going to see it grow even faster after today. Marry .Mac and iPhoto. Announcing .Mac Web Gallery. Works hand in glove with iPhoto ‘08. What does it do? Has one button photo sharing. integrated into iPhoto ‘08. Makes web gallery, uploads automatically. Users get rich Web 2.0 experience. You can see photos in gallary, mosaic. can see in any browser you’d like. Now people that view photos, if you let them, can download print quality downloads. Users can contribute photos from anywhere. You publish on .Mac, someone is on a PC, there is special email address they can get from the web gallery, and they will appear on your web gallery. Photos will sync to your iPhoto library, too.
• we’ve added “Send to Web Gallery” on your iPhone. Pick one, emails to special address, that photo will show up on your web gallery. Can tell friends about it, View others’ web galleries right on your iPhone, great iPhone experience, fully integrated.”
• “Now I want to show how easy it is for other people to contribute to my .Mac web gallery. Phil Schiller has his iPhone, has snapped a photo, gonna send to my gallery right from his iPhone. Went right into my .Mac web gallery. Will auto download to my iPhone as well. Going back to my gallery. So that is .Mac Web Gallery.”
• “Next up: iMovie. This is really interesting. Let me tell you the story. One of our video engineers went to the Cayman Islands, shot a lot of underwater HD, wanted to make a video for his buddies in half an hour. We found out he couldn’t do it. Engineer got out Final Cut Pro. Couldn’t do it. Couldn’t do great movie in 30 minutes. So he created an app that could do it. We were so blown away that we decided to use it. We’re still calling it iMovie, but we’re giving a new icon so we can show it’s a whole new app. One library for all your video.”
• Support for AVCHD
• Like iPhoto, iMovie utilizes the “skimming” concept — you can use your mouse to skim through video, and don’t have to actually “play” clips to see what they contain. You can scrub, for example. “This allows you to have superfast movie creation,”
• Can view and share almost anywhere. You can go to share menu, make version for iTunes. Watch on computer, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV. Put on .Mac Web Gallery.”
• Also built-in YouTube sharing
• [Phone rings in audience! Jobs: “You might want to answer that”]
• Demoing iMovie, making a video real quick, looks good
• “We’re slinging around HD video we’ve taken. You can imagine making a movie in 20 minutes. It’s very well thought through. Can share it, pick resolutions that I want. One of things I want to show you is .Mac Web Gallery. put a few movies on there. You can see, it’s higher res than a DVD, anyone can see this. This is the movie our video engineered made. You can make it in 20 minutes and put it on the web. This is a much better and much faster way to do it. There’s a mobile resolution for watching on your iPhone. If you want, people can download to their own computer as well.”
• “So now I’d like to talk about iWeb. Enhanced version of iWeb, make even better websites. Live web widgets. Add GoogleMaps, we’ve made it so you can put it right in. You can add any web snippet, paste it into your website. Live web widgets. Another thing you can add is Google AdSense. Register with Google, type in registration, decide what format, Google will put ads in there that are appropriate. Media index page. A lot of us have sites with photos on them, we’d like index page. We’ve added that, you can create index page, add your content in. Page with all the photos. Taking up just one position in the navigation. Put pointers to .Mac page as well. Personal domain support. If you have a personal domain, that’s now supported. Themes, you can change theme now if you like. We’ve shipped some great themes. This is iWeb in iLife ‘08″
• iDVD’08 includes pro encoding codes, and 10 new themes
• “GarageBand, multi-take recording. Magic GarageBand, way to experiment, best way to communicate is just to show you. Let me show you.” Demo time! “Magic GarageBand gives me genres to play with: blues, rock, jazz, country, reggae, funk, latin, another rock style, and slow blues. I’m going to audition latin. Gives me little jazz club with my instruments.” Looks like you can switch instruments playing each part of the preloaded track. Changing violin to trumpet, removing the drums. “When I’ve got something I like, can add my own voice and instruments, loops, change around however I want to. Way for musicians and non-musicians alike to get into GarageBand. That’s GarageBand.
• That’s iLife ‘08, shipping today for $79 and free with all news Macs
• .Mac now with 10GB of storage as well as web galleries, new data transfer limit of 100GB
• iWork: Keynote and Pages. I’m very pleased to announce we’ve sold 1.8M copies to date. New iWork ‘08. New Keynote, new text effects, new transitions, Instant Alpha. Instant Alpha, get a photo, lets us take out the background, just keep part of photo you want. Smart Builds, lets anyone make very high production value animations. Go to Media Viewer, drag photos in, anything you want. Keynote generates animations for you. A to B animations, you can create your own animations. Easily build slides that mere mortals can figure out to use. Great new themes that are really beautiful. Of course you can add animations to these. These are so easy, so easy to make slides that look this good. So, these are just some of the features as part of Keynote ‘08.”
• Pages now has two modes, one designed for word processing and the other for page layout
• 140 built-in Apple designed templates
• New spreadsheet application called Numbers
• A spreadsheet “done in the style of Keynote and Pages”
• Numbers touts features like “intelligent tables,” which enable you to sort and filter by clicking on headers; “flexible canvas,” which lets you put multiple sheets on a canvas, tied together in formulas but not tied together by formatting. And it has the requisite set of features like chart creation, image management, text labels, the ability to add photos and diagrams, and so on.
• Ability to import and export almost any Excel document
• That iWork ‘08, costs $79. All application work in Tiger and will work in Leopard
• Starting a question and answer session
• Apple COO, Tim Cook now on stage as well as Phil Schiller
• “How well will you market this ecosystem to consumers, and show how seamlessly all this stuff works together?”

  Steve: “We’ve got a phenomenal customer base, they show their friends and their friends get jealous.”

  “Why are you not participating in Intel Inside program and not putting stickers on your Macs?”

  Steve: “What can I say? We like our own stickers better. Don’t get me wrong, we love Intel, combined with our OS, we’ve really tuned them well together. Everyone knows we use Intel processors, we’d rather tell them about the product inside the box.”

  Phil: “Too much stuff on PC box, stickers on laptop, trialware, You don’t have to peel stuff off.”

  “How thin are the iMacs?”

  Steve: “Really thin. You’ll get your hands on it in a minute, but they’re appreciably thinner.”

  “Two thirds of your products on mobile side, where do things go on the Mac side.”

  Steve: “Desktops still an important part. Don’t require miniaturization of notebook, can offer bigger keyboards, screens, lower cost. Some consumers will want to own both. We think iMac has bright future ahead of it.”

  “Didn’t mention Mac mini today, how is it doing?”

  Tim: “We’re refreshing the Mac mini today.”

  “Mentioned AdSense, what’s the relationship between Apple and Google?”

  Steve: “We are working closer with Google, they offer back end services we want to tie into our offerings. Google likes our products, too.”

  Looking at what you’ve done with the iPhone, there’s volatility in the stock. How satisfied that the product is on track?”

  Steve: “We think the iPhone is a pretty strong success, we think most of the world sees it that way too. We’re really happy with how it’s going.”

  “How is Apple TV today? How does it fit into Mac?”

  Steve: “We’re here to talk about Mac, we’ll have some news for the Apple TV soon, but nothing to talk about today.”

  “What about AMD chips?”

  Steve: “We use Intel chips”

  “What about the iMac in business?”

  Tim: “We’re seeing a lot of growth in business use. Mac is growing and a lot of that is business.”

  Steve: “A lot of other apps that run on the Mac, MSFT Office. But don’t discount that more and more of business is communication, so lots of people have to sell internally, and they’re excited about the tools we’re offering. We see the iMac having some traction in business.”

  “With someone editing movies and going to publish, why not support HD uploads?”

  Steve: “We do. Turns out that HD camcorders don’t have sensors that are full HD, so they produce images that are slightly lower than HD, but are still stellar. We use that res, which is close, but not quite HD. Best you can do under $10k

  “Introduced multitouch on iPhone, what about for the Mac?”

  Steve: “Makes sense for the iPhone, not sure it makes sense in the Mac. Classify that as a research project.”

  “There has been a suggestion that Apple appeals to smaller elite than mass customer base. Is it your goal to overtake PC in marketshare?”

  Steve: “Goal is to make the best PC in the world, and make something we can recommend to family in friends. There is some stuff in our industry we wouldn’t be proud to ship. We can’t ship junk. Thresholds we just can’t cross. But we want to make the best personal computers in the industry. Our products are usually not premium priced. Price our competitors’ computers, and add in all the extras, we’re competitive. We don’t offer stripped down products. We compare favorably. Thank you very much for coming today.”

• All done.

Current iMac price points

Think Secret notes that the pricing makes it obvious that Apple is cutting out the 17-inch model but points out that the 20-inch iMac will receive a $300 price drop and the 24-inch will see a $200 drop.

The site notes that the middle price point is most likely a 20-inch model with some kind of upgraded spec.

The site reports that unlike past events in which Apple sent out email invitations, this time the company just phoned around inviting select members of the media.

AppleInsider writes that the event will be strictly Mac based with Apple personnel ensuring members of the media that no iPod or iPhone announcement will take place.

The event will begin at 10.00am PST and will take place in the Apple Town Hall on the Cupertino campus.

AppleInsider pinpoints next Tuesday as the launch date for the long rumoured iMac refreshes as well as the release of the new Apple keyboard.

The site also mentions that Steve Jobs who is reportedly presenting, will show off the next revisions of iLife and iWork.

Multiple sources have said Apple’s highly anticipated iMac revision is expected in the first week of August. The revamped iMac will represent the first substantial upgrade to the system since it initially adopted Intel processors in January 2006, and will sport an entirely new brushed aluminum enclosure.

[Updated - 18/7/2007 - 00.00 BST] - 9to5mac.com has also posted August 7th as the release date for the iMac revision. The site also claims that new iPods could be released on the same day.

Contrary to many reports 9to5mac.com reports that Apple will release a new 17-inch iMac along with 20- and 24-inch. The enclosure is said to be metal and “razor thin.” The new iMacs will reportedly ship with a new keyboard with built-in media functionality.

The site also claims that new video iPods will be released on August 7, they will reportedly be shorter and wider but still contain a traditional click wheel as opposed to a touch-screen.

According to the firm the “iMac makeover” rumour is its “Hot Topic of the Month” citing that a lack of updates for over 300 days and many rumours point towards a likely release.

“Based on Apple’s product roadmap and the fact that the iMac has not been updated in 309 days, we […] continue to expect redesigned iMacs this summer,” analyst Gene Munster wrote for Piper Jaffray in a research report.

Munster maintained an “Outperform” rating on Apple shares with a price target of $160.

AppleInsider also agrees with Think Secret about the long-rumoured iMac update. The site states that Apple will introduce 20- and 24-inch models only and they will be slimmer and sleeker than the current models, but no mention of a brushed metal finish.

AppleInsider goes onto report that the new iMacs will come with new sleeker keyboards, the design has reportedly been completed by Jonathan Ive and will reportedly be similar to the keyboard featured on the MacBook.

AppleInsider notes that Apple may introduce the new iMacs late this month or in early August.

Finally the rumour site adds that the new iMacs may also come bundled with a new version of iLife, it is said that Apple may opt to call the new version iLife ‘08 missing iLife ‘07 completely.

Think Secret believes that the long-rumoured iMac revision could come in August. The iMacs are said to feature similar internals to the newly-released MacBook Pro’s and they’ll sport an aluminium casing and measure just 2-inches thick.

As previously reported Think Secret still beleievs that Apple will scrap the 17-inch model and just have the 20- and 24-inch models.

Fifth Avenue Construction Video

Apple opened its Fifth Avenue Apple Store in May last year, a gigantic under-ground Apple Store topped with a 32-foot cube.

Since the point of inception Apple had hired video company WSFilms to document the entire process, now the video has finally made light of day.

Direct download

A forum poster on Mac Rumors has noticed a set of four new Vendor ID’s in Mac OS X 10.4.10. They appear to be related to the upcoming iMac.

in 10.4.10 a few new Displays has been added under
/System/Library/Displays/Overrides/DisplayVendorID-610

DisplayProductID
40049
DisplayProductName
iMac

Weather widget on iPhone, note the Yahoo! logo in the bottom left corner.

Meanwhile AppleInsider is reporting that a new framework called “YahooSync” has turned up in Mac OS X 10.4.10. It is being assumed that the update refers to the integration of the iPhone’s support for Yahoo! push mail and address books.

World of Apple has noticed that the recent updates to the iPhone website have added new images of the device. In particular the weather and stock widget now includes a Yahoo! logo in the bottom left corner, this may indicate that Apple is moving to Yahoo! to gather this information.

The addition of this framework in 10.4.10 could mean that Apple is moving desktop based widgets to Yahoo!

“People familiar with plans for the next-generation consumer desktops say Apple hopes to unveil the new systems sometime between the latter half of July and mid-August — a timeframe well suited to garner sales from higher-education individuals and back-to-school shoppers in general. Those same people add that the Cupertino-based Mac maker may also have a few smaller surprises in store for fans of its Mac line around the same time.”

The site also reiterates that the new iMacs will be “slimmer and sleeker” than its predecessor.

AppleInsider is also keen to knock Think Secret for originally claiming that Apple would release new iMacs at WWDC last week. Think Secret was quick to add an air of caution.

“Earlier this month, the Internet was rife with unsubstantiated rumors that Apple would use its developer conference (last week) to introduce new iMacs clad in “brushed metal” enclosures. AppleInsider, however, advised against those claims, explaining that the company would instead use the annual gathering to focus on Mac OS X Leopard, third-party iPhone development, and its software strategy in general.

The report states that the machines will benefit from the same upgrades as the MacBook Pro’s earlier this week. Including the implementation of Santa Rosa, although the report doesn’t mention LED screens.

As previously reported the site mentions that the 17-inch model will not be included in the line-up anymore.

“There’s no compelling rationale for [Apple] to pre-announce new iMacs months in advance of availability,” said another contact familiar with Cupertino-based Mac maker’s consumer product strategy. “The current iMacs appear to have some life left in them.”

The rumoured iMac update was first mentioned in March of this year when a re-design was said to be on the table. The plan was fortified in May, and finally it was rumoured that the 17-inch iMac would be scrapped.

The analyst predicted that an iPhone launch are unlikely at such a computer orientated event but did note that a new MacBook Pro could be on the cards.

“While there may be rumors of an iPhone launch at WWDC, we expect Apple will host a separate event in late June to launch the device. But Apple will not fail to deliver new products at WWDC,” he wrote. “Apple has announced that a full-featured version of OSX 10.5 Leopard will be demonstrated and handed out at the event. This means that we will finally see how Apple will integrate Windows operability into Leopard.”

It appears that Munster used the MacRumors Buyers Guide to assist him in the calculations of product life cycles. Using this data the analyst writes that Apple traditionally updates its professional notebook every 182 days, it has been 209 days since the last refresh.

The analyst also weighs in on the iMac which he believes will receive a redesign at WWDC. The iMac has previously seen update cycles of around 168 days but currently the iMac has been without a refresh for 257 days.

On the subject of the iPhone the analyst notes that recent rumours that the iPhone could see a delay are most likely incorrect and Apple is on target to deliver the phone in late June.

“The iPhone launch is set to be one of the largest product launches in company history,” wrote Munster. “Both Apple and AT&T stores will sell the device and both companies will sell iPhone on their websites.”

The analyst was keen to add that he expects to see lead times of 2-4 weeks for the iPhone.

Piper Jaffray maintains an “outperform” rating on Apple with a target price of $140 per share.

The site also notes that a refreshed iMac is on track to arrive in late June but will only feature 20 and 24-inch models.

Think Secret is also reporting that Apple could switch from using a 23-inch display to using a 24-inch Display in its Cinema Display HD line-up. The move will apparently come “very soon”.

LOOPRumors have previously speculated on black iMac models. The new machines to be released at WWDC are said to be significantly slimmer, be faster and have larger displays.

The site goes onto report that the release will most likely be a “One More Thing” surprise at the end of the WWDC keynote.

Apple last replaced the design of its flagship product in August 2004 at MacExpo Paris, when it transitioned from the famous iMac G4 (sunflower).

AppleInsider reports that Apple reused the current design for the switch to Intel chips as it was under pressure and wished to “get the ball rolling on the next chapter of Apple computing.”

The site also reports that the entry-level 17-inch model could be struck from the line-up completely and those familiar with the re-design are confident that it only applies to 20- and 24-inch models.

No precise date was made available as to when the redesign would appear.

The new option is the availability of a 750GB hard drive, allowing the Mac Pro to hold a potential 3 terabytes out of the box.

The upgraded hard drive costs $399 (£270).

17 inch 1.83Ghz

• $999 US
• 1440×900 resolution
• 2MB L2 Cache
• 512MB RAM
• 160GB SATA HD
• 24x Combo Drive
• Intel GMA950 64MB
• Airport Extreme

17 inch 2.0Ghz

• $1199
• 1440×900 resolution
• 4MB L2 Cache
• 1GB RAM
• 160GB SATA HD
• 8x Double Layer Superdrive
• ATI Radeon x1600 128MB
• Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
• Apple Remote

20 inch 2.16Ghz

• 1680×1050 resolution
• 4MB L2 Cache
• 1GB RAM
• 250GB SATA HD
• 8x Double Layer Superdrive
• ATI X1600 128MB
• Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
• Apple Remote

24 inch 2.16Ghz

• 1920×1200 resolution
• 4MB L2 Cache
• 1GB RAM
• 250GB SATA HD
• 8x Double Layer Superdrive
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 128MB
• Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
• Apple Remote

The reports also contains information concerning the processor choice for the iMac line-up, it is reported that Apple will adopt Merom, the Core 2 equivalent to Yonah, this comes as a surprise as Merom is designed for mobile computers.