MacWorld New York is less than two weeks away and I had begun to wonder where all of the wild speculations, and rumor-mongering have been. There was a slight trickle of rumors early in June and then a period of unusual silence until the middle of June when a few more rumors popped up. Then an odd silence fell over the scene until just the last week or so. I was beginning to think that Apple's campaigns to silence the rumor sites may actually have worked, but I really should have had faith in our intrepid purveyors of... well... what is often pretty much the material usually found paving the floor of a horse's stall.
During the last week a floodgate opened with more fascinating and often contradictory claims appearing at such sites as MacRumors, Mac OS Rumors, AppleLinks, AppleInsider, etc. Interestingly enough, a careful examination of these often outrageous expositions can actually extract something of some small value from all of this drek being tossed about.
Let's take a look at some of the current rumors floating about on top of the waters.
Multiprocessing Macs
In case you thought that Apple's admitting at the World Wide Developers' Conference that they did indeed have a dual processor Mac under development and even demo'd one (running under Mac OS 9, not Mac OS X, incidentally...) would stop any rumor-mongering. Well, you would be wrong. Apple's demo only stopped the rumors for a couple of weeks and now new ones are floating about. Mac OS Rumors on June 9, 2000 reported a rumor about a new fat-bodied Mac using a version of the UMA-2 motherboard is being tested at Apple. It is supposed to run at 733 MHz, have a 133 MHz motherboard bus, use Double Data Rate SDRAMs, 266 MHz 4X AGP graphics slot with an ATI RADEON™ graphics card installed. These new Macs are also supposed to have been seen with up to four processors. It also was seen in a new and unusual enclosure. Mac OS Rumors also reported that it will possibly be available late this year.
On June 15, 2000 Mac OS Rumors reported that the new Macs will have a new UMA-2 chip set that supports up to six slots. They also reported that these Macs are in fact essentially ready for market but that Apple is waiting for Mac OS X to be ready for consumer release.
Now I do have one simple problem with these rumors. They all are emanating from Mac OS Rumors and we do have to view them with a grain of salt (well... how about a whole 25 pound bag of salt?). Nonetheless, even if we are skeptical about Mac OS Rumors' reportage (even Mac OS Rumors is skeptical about Mac OS Rumors reportage. Just read the disclaimers they print sometime...) there is still some meat hidden in there.
More recently new rumors have been cropping up again about Apple's new Multi-processing Macs. On July 7, 2000, AppleInsider reported that "Mystic", the code name for Apple's multiprocessor Mac project, would have a new case design and AppleInsider posted an artist's rendering of what it is supposed to look like. I do have to take this one seriously for the simple reason that Apple has publicly admitted that they do indeed have a multi-processor Mac being developed and the case design posted at AppleInsider is a rather plausible one.
There are more hints about new Macs, and the possibility of a new Multiprocessor Mac being one of the new products to be shown.
For one thing, ATI does say that they have a version of the new RADEON graphics processor card for the Mac designed for 4X AGP. Since Apple does not currently have a Mac with a 4X AGP slot in it, obviously the new RADEON card is meant for something Apple will bring to market within the next few months. That means Macs based on the UMA-2 architecture which does support 4X AGP.
We do know that Apple did demo a dual processor Mac at the World Wide Developers' Conference. The reportage about the new UMA-2 motherboard architecture is not new and since the rumored specs seem in line with realistic technical capabilities and they don't seem to vary amongst the reports I have seen, I have to accept that the new Macs will use the new UMA-2 motherboard specs. Rumors have persisted for some time about both six slot Macs and multiprocessor Macs using from two to eight processors. I am sure that Apple is experimenting with various multiprocessor machines, especially since one of the conference items at the WWDC was how to develop for multiprocessing machines under Mac OS X which is capable of true Symmetrical Multiprocessing. Also, Apple has been under pressure from high end graphics and publishing pros to develop a six slot Mac. The question is not that such machines will eventually go on the market, but when.
My guess is that Apple may wait until either the final public release of Mac OS X in January of 2001, or if they feel enough pressure, to allow multiprocessing machines to become available sooner if the Mac OS X Public Beta goes over well enough. I suspect that Apple will make at least one model available by the Seybold Conference at the end of August. The graphics and publishing industry would definitely be the prime market for such new multiprocessing machines.
New single processor Macs are very likely to appear at MacWorld New York. I would be very surprised if Apple did not present some sort of vanguard of new Macs at MacWorld New York if for no other reason that the PowerMac has been stuck at 500 MHz for quite some time and both Motorola and IBM have been slow in coming up with more speedy processors. When faced with claims of gigahertz clock speeds for x86 boxes, Apple has some marketing problems to deal with until Motorola finally gets something a little faster out of its doors. I would guess that MacWorld New York is a possible venue for demo'ing new G4+ based machines with higher clock speeds. Apple sorely needs new hardware to keep public interest.
New iMacs
Another set of rumors floating about currently is about new iMacs. Like the PowerMac, which has been hung up at 500 Mhz ever since the announcement in August, 1999, the iMac has only had a mild polishing up even with the new DV models. Sales, though still good, are slowly declining and newer, better iMacs are needed to keep the shine on that particular Apple.
So, what are the rumor-mongers saying about a new iMac?
On June 15, MacOS Rumors reported on availability of current iMacs drying up. Since this was an early report it looked interesting, but I was not able to confirm it when I checked at a local MacMall store (Yes, they do have real stores...). No one would confirm it but then again I somehow doubted that they would tell me if it was true.
On June 16, 2000, AppleInsider reported that there would be a whole new lineup of iMacs. We will still see 15" screens on the lower end versions but with a 17" screen iMac DV Special Edition version running up to 450 MHz using a G4 processor. The lower end versions are supposed to have the new IBM 750CX processors in them.
One poster at MacRumors responded almost immediately to the AppleInsider report by telling us that the new iMac will appear on January 1, 2001, will run at 500 MHz on a G4 processor and will have Mac OS X installed.
On June 30, 2000, Brad Gibson reported at MacCentral that Apple was indeed clearing out the inventory of curent iMacs and that inventories were dwindling. MacWelt, the largest European Mac site reported the same thing. Also on June 30, MacAddict magazine reported the same thing at their web site. At this point I have to concede that it is beginning to look highly probable that Apple will announce new iMacs models at MacWorld NY, and it's about time!
An End To The Hockey Puck?
Okay, let's face it. The hamburger mouse just simply doesn't cut the mustard. I have only met two people in the last year or so who claim to actually LIKE the round mouse Apple inflicted on the hapless Macintosh users. Most of the rest of us simply despise the d*mned thing. Ever since the introduction of the iMac, we have been stuck with this anti-ergonomic annoyance, all in the name of "kewl." Well, after more than a year of continuing complaints sour reviews and Apple having to notice the growing industry in replacement mice and keyboards for iMacs and Powermacs it appears that a small measure of reality has managed to sink in against the entrenched egotism of certain high ranking vegetarians at Apple.
As early as May 19, 2000, AppleInsider reported that Apple was developing a wireless mouse. This is a technical possibility, but I suspect that it may not be the standard replacement for the current miniature curling stone that pretends to be a mouse.
On may 24, 2000, AppleInsider reported that not only was Apple going to introduce a new mouse but a new keyboard as well that has the full complement of buttons missing from the current truncated keyboard Apple provides.
On June 30, 2000, ZDNet news reported that Apple may eliminate the stupid round mouse that has confused us for over a year now, and also provide a new keyboard with the full complement of buttons missing from the current keyboard. However, unlike AppleInsider's earlier report that the mouse and keyboard will be wireless, ZDNet tells us that they will be USB. The article also has an interesting artist's rendition of the possible mouse design. ZDNet also reported that the new mouse will be a "buttonless" mouse depending on various actions to replace the functions of buttons. At least this is a credible report.
On July 6, 2000, AppleInsider reported on Apple's new mouse again. This time they stated that it would be a USB optical mouse and like the ZDNet report told us that it would be buttonless. However, AppleInsider's artist's rendition of this new mouse seemed a bit far-fetched.
Not everyone is pleased with the reports of a new mouse. MacMonkey's Brad Gessler seems to feel that it will be just another blunder, like the round mouse that has irritated the entire Mac community for more than a year now.
What Do I Really Think Will Happen?
Apple does have something ready for us at MacWorld New York. A new iMac is likely, assuming reports about slowing production of iMacs are true. In these reports Apple no longer has current iMacs in production and is clearing out the pipeline in time for MacWorld New York. Another likelihood is a new line of PowerMacs. Although I won't go so far as saying Apple will announce new multiprocessor Macs in New York, I do think new machines with new capabilities are coming, and soon.
My reasoning? Well I saw three things that tell me something is brewing.
One is a screen shot seen at the Mac Opz site (see links below). In the screen shot in question, it showed the monitors control panel and it did not have the familiar choices of screen resolutions, but a slider with a continuous resolution choice. Since current monitors (with the exception of the 22" Cinema Display) don't support this fully, it means that future monitors will be available that do support it. These future monitors will be needed for future Macs that use the digital connectors on the ATI graphics cards.
Another thing is that the Apple 15" Studio Display, the 17" CRT, the 21" CRT are all on sale at some vendors at lowered prices. Only the 22" Cinema Display that supports a Digital connection is not seeing lowered prices. Apple is clearing the pipeline of older monitors to make way for something new. Since the only reason to clear out the old monitors is that new Macs using Digital Video connectors may not support them. These new Macs have to be announced somewhere soon and MacWorld New York is the most probably venue.
Finally, some vendors are selling current G4 PowerMacs with up to an extra 128 MB of memory as a sales bonus. This is a way for them to lower the price without showing a lowered MSRP. The only reason to do so is to clear out inventory.
In short, I think that Apple will announce new Macs at MacWorld New York that use the new UMA-2 motherboards, ATI RADEON™ graphics cards, digital displays and newer and faster G4 plus processors. Apple very likely will announce at least one new model of iMac, and possibly a whole line. It is a tossup if the new iMacs will include a 17" version. Multiprocessing Macs for sale will more likely be announced at the Seybold conference in August since that is where the Mac users with the most interest in them will be gathering.
By the keynote speech at MacWorld in New York we will all know just how well I have guessed.
