Michael Harper for redOrbit.com
Apple to announce new software, maybe new hardware at today’s WWDC keynote
UPDATE (06.11.12, 09:40): As I expected, Apple’s online store has just gone down ahead of today’s WWDC announcements. To those uninitiated in the ways of Apple, they take their entire store offline whenever they get ready to announce new products — or just to perform basic maintenance. As such, taking the store down is a bit of an admission that we will see something new today, be it Mountain Lion or new Macs.
New details have also begun to stream in hours before the keynote about the specs for the newly updated MacBook Airs.once again, according to 9to5mac.com, these new ultra-portables will start with 4GB of RAM and can get as high as 8GB. the top of the line 13” MacBook Air is not only expected to have twice the RAM, but could also take advantage of a 512 GB SATA 3 SSD for Flash storage.
In other words, these machines could be super quick.
Now we only have but hours to wait for all these rumors to become reality.
Have your wallet at the ready…
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Bloggers, developers and other members of the Apple faithful have been winging their way to the West coast this weekend as they prepare for this year’s World Wide Developers Conference, (WWDC) which kicks off today.
To begin, Apple will be hosting a Keynote event to welcome everyone to boost troop morale, and possibly release new hardware and software options. Rumors and murmurings have been increasing in volume (both frequency and level) as to what Apple will decide to unveil today. at most, Apple could feasibly announce refreshes to 4 computers, 2 new operating systems and 1 new phone.
Being a Developer’s conference, Apple will certainly announce and discuss iOS 6, the operating system for Apple TVs, iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches. last week, a passersby spotted Apple getting the facilities at Moscone West ready for this week by hanging banners hailing iOS 6 as “The world’s most advanced mobile operating system.” Apple is expected to release a Beta of the software to developers immediately after showing off its new features at today’s keynote.
As the mobile operating system to iPhone, it’s not expected to be released until the next generation of smartphone emerges this fall.
According to AppleInsider, MGI Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the Golden Master of iOS 6 (the final version in developer testing) is expected to release in early September.
“Based on the release schedule for iOS 6 GM, there is a very good chance iPhone 5 will start shipping also in early September,” said Ming-Chi Kuo.
It’s also been recently discovered that Apple may no longer support a few of their more recent devices with iOS 6.
According to some forum boards at WeiPhone, Apple’s latest and greatest version of their mobile operating system may not work on the 3rd generation of the iPod Touch family as well as the original version of the iPad, released in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Even more interesting, these sources say the iPhone 3GS will still be supported and offered as Apple’s “low-end” iPhone, even though both the 3rd Gen iPod Touch and Original iPad have better, faster processors than the 3GS.
Apple is also widely expected to talk in detail about Mountain Lion, the next generation of their Macintosh operating system software. Announced in February of this year, the new big cat in the pride has had an expected release date of “this summer” ever since. Apple may take this time to show off the new OS publicly, something they’ve yet to do, and announce an official release date for Mountain Lion. several features from the iOS platform will be making their way to the Mac with OS X 10.8, such as AirPlay Mirroring, Game Center and Notifications. 9to5Mac.com pointed out last month that Voice Dictation may be making its way to Mountain Lion as well, though they were unable to confirm these rumors.
Power users of Apple computers have been waiting ever-so-anxiously for new hardware, specifically a refresh to the Mac Pro offerings. these super Macs haven’t been updated since 2009 and are long overdue for an overhaul. In fact, until recently, Mac Pro users had taken Apple’s refusal to update the desktops as a sign that they would soon abandon the Pro market, opting instead to focus on consumer or “pro-sumer” markets.
In addition to Mac Pros, Apple is also widely expected to announce new Mac Book Pro laptops as well, featuring faster configurations and a new body style. these computers could feature the Retina display, made popular by the iPhone and latest model iPad.
Apple will lay many of these rumors and suspicions to rest when their top brass take the stage today at 10 am Pacific.
Until then, we watch and we wait.