...And We're Back!

Woah! It's been nearly a year since anyone posted anything on here! Sorry about that if you're even still reading this. WWDC 2010 is less than a week away already, and WWDC '09 was the last thing I posted about on here. That's about it. Don't be surprised if this drops of the planet again, but I'll try to keep this updated.

2008 Apple Products: Year in Review

Now that there are only about 19 hours until the end of 2008 (at least where I am), I think it would be a good idea to look back at some of the product releases and updates that we saw throughout the year.

Time Capsule
Time Capsule is a really interesting product. As stated by Steve Jobs, it is a "backup appliance". With either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive built in, this device makes backing up your data with Time Machine easy. It also doubles as an AirPort base station which is also very cool.

MacBook Air
One USB port? No optical drive? What the heck? Remember all the complaints that came following the introduction of the MacBook Air? The MacBook Air is Apple's ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook. With a full size 13.3" display and a beautiful full size backlit keyboard, what is to complain about. I think that the MacBook Air makes perfect sense for someone on the go that doesn't need much power, but needs that small, light package.

iPhone SDK & App Store
I think I'm correct in saying that the iPhone App Store is likely Apple's biggest success of the year. They've sold thousands of third party applications, and some developers are making loads of cash off of their applications. I bet the introduction of the App store has also helped iPhone and iPod Touch sales.

iPhone 3G
Making up 39% of Apple's 3rd Quarter earnings, the iPhone 3G was a major sucess for Apple. It was introduced at WWDC in June and hit the stores on July 11th. The iPhone 3G was half the price of its sucessor, and a third of the price of the original iPhone at it's release. It had problems with slow 3G data, long backups, and poor battery life at first, but it has been improved with the 2.1 and 2.2 software updates.

MobileMe
I'm going to say that MobileMe was a total flop for Apple. It obviously wasn't ready to be released which was clearly shown by all the issues early on. I haven't had any experience using it, so I can't judge if it works fine yet, but I'm kind of dissappointed in Apple for releasing a product as premature as MobileMe was.

Tall iPod Nano
In September, Apple updated the entire iPod line. Most of the models remained looking the same. The iPod Touch was only slightly changed cosmetically. The most apparent change in the iPod line was the new tall, curved iPod nano. It ships in either 8GB for $149 or 16GB for $199. The new nanos are what Apple calls "nano-chromatic" and come in 9 brand new colors that are all very vibrant.

Aluminum MacBooks
Finally we get to Apple's last big announcment of the year. In October, Apple introduced the new aluminum MacBook on top of the previous line which still exists in Apple's product lineup for $999. The aluminum MacBook features a beautiful glass trackpad with no button, a precision unibody enclosure, and a very shiny glossy screen. It does however lack a firewire port, and many users were very frustrated with Apple for that. The new Nvidia 9400M graphics chipset is included for up to five times faster graphics processing than on the previous model which used an Intel GMA integrated graphics chip.

That's pretty much it for 2008. I think Apple has a fairly solid product line-up entering 2009, and I can't wait to see what they introduce next. MacWorld Expo is next week already!

Wha... wha... what?

It has been confirmed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will not be presenting the opening KeyNote at MacWorld Expo in January. Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing will be taking his place for the presentation. Apple has also announced that this will be their last year exhibiting at MacWorld. Could this be the beginning of the end of Steve Jobs' leadership at Apple?

New iMacs

As predicted, Apple has released the new iMacs. They now include faster processors which range from 2.4GHz in the low end to 3.06Ghz in the high end model. They also now include the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS (512MB) video card.

New iMacs

We're still waiting on a refresh of the Mac Mini line which is nearing the end of it's product cycle.

My Mac Mini Update Predictions

Since it is highly anticipated that there will be an update of the iMac product line next week, along with the possibility of an update to the Mac Mini line, here are my predictions of what will happen.

First off, I think that the two existing models will receive a faster processor. .2 GHZ added to each one is my prediction. So there will be a 2 GHZ model, and a 2.2 GHZ model, at the same prices as the previous generation.

Making the Mac Mini smaller is another possibility I've seen rumors about.

iMac Refresh Rumors...

So, some rumors have been going around about Apple going to have the iMac line refreshed (updated). Just recently, retail sources have told MacRumors that they have received part numbers for new iMacs. Prices appear to be the same as current iMac prices. And while these iMacs have been updated, there is no news of a Mac Mini update.

[Via MacRumors]

Apple Reports Quarterly Results

Apple announced Wednesday, a quarterly revenue of $7.51 Billion and a profit of $1.05 Billion! A new record for Apple in a March quarter! A breakdown of their sales goes as follows: 10.46 million iPods sold, 2.3 million Mac Computers sold, and 1.7 million iPhones. There was a 43% revenue growth over the previous quarter.