Today Apple will host a special event at its Cupertino headquarters, in attendance will be select members of the media. Update: Apple has confirmed it will host a live video stream of today's event.
When Apple sent out invites last week it became clear what the focus of this special event was; with the title “Back to the Mac” it seems clear that Apple wishes to move away from the focus on iOS and iPods to return to the company’s roots. The invitation sent to the media was simple in design featuring an Apple logo that is revealing an image of a Lion, underneath is the text “Back to the Mac”.
Using just the invite as a clue it seems that Apple wishes to focus this event on its next iteration of Mac OS X, presumed to be dubbed Lion in line with Apple’s previous big cat names. But will Apple use the event to show off other new products?
Join World of Apple on Wednesday, October 20 at 10AM PDT/6PM BST for coverage of Apple’s “Back to the Mac” special event.
Mac OS X v10.7 Lion
It’s been over a year since Apple started shipping Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to consumers and it’s been almost a year since many sites started reporting a significant leap in fingerprints being left behind by individuals using unreleased version of 10.7. Snow Leopard was merely an interim release for Apple, the OS was aimed at improving upon the enhancements available in Mac OS X 10.5 so logically 10.7 will offer a number of significant enhancements.
Details of what will be available in Mac OS X 10.7 are almost non-existent. Educated guesses would say that Apple will move in the direction of more multi-touch interfaces and streamlining the Finder. One rumour this week from the unproven MacStories states that Apple will implement iOS type scrolling, complete with rubber band behaviour. Also included will be Spotlight previews and a new white QuickLook user interface, but these are rumours to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Apple seems certain to show off Mac OS X 10.7 Lion today, but what the headline features will be is anybody’s guess right now.
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air hasn’t been updated since June 2009, that’s a long time for a computer, even by Apple’s standards. The last rumour that pointed towards a refresh of the MacBook Air was in May of this year but recently rumours have picked up again.
Earlier this week Cult of Mac chimed in with a significant rumour that included detailed specs; the rumours suggest that the MacBook Air will be redesigned although will still retain its 13.3-inch display. The new design will allow for a bigger battery and more ports.
In addition to a redesigned 13.3-inch MacBook Air Cult of Mac’s “well placed source” says that Apple could also introduce a new 11.6-inch “netbook version”.
Cult of Mac also notes the following rumoured specifications:
- Bigger battery with a charge of 8-10 hours
- Two USB ports (one each side), SD card slot, Mini DisplayPort, straight MagSafe
- Base model will have 2GB RAM but will be upgradeable, “as is the SSD drive”
- Two models: 2.1GHz with 2GB RAM and 2.4GHz with 4GB RAM
Such details are backed up by AppleInsider and have even been applied to a photo of a purported 13.3-inch MacBook Air, although the image is believed to be from April this year.
The image shows that the new MacBook Air will feature four battery components and that the SSD will take the form of a card (seen above and to the left of the batteries).
Based on these rumours it seems very likely that Apple will introduce an updated 13.3-inch MacBook Air and a brand new 11.6-inch MacBook Air.
iLife ’11
Much like details of Mac OS X 10.7 any rumours regarding features of the newest version of iLife are virtually non-existent. What is standing out currently is the increasing shipping estimates being applied to copies of iLife across multiple sources, usually a sign that Apple is emptying the inventory channel.
Earlier this week the UK online Apple Store changed its shipping estimates for iLife ’09 to 1-2 weeks and a book listing has turned up on Amazon.de in recent weeks.
With shipping times slipping and hints of the existence of iLife ’11 via Amazon placeholders it seems likely that Apple will release an update version of iLife at its special event.
Event Coverage
Join World of Apple for event news and analysis.
Apple’s special event will kick off at the following times:
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (Thursday 21)
04:00AM – Sydney (Thursday 21)