Real Kato Blog: Apple Watch: Signs Point to Yes

It seems very likely that new iBooks and Mac Minis are on their way.

Multiple web sites are now confirming that new iBooks and Mac Minis are coming. And here's a usually-reliable indicator: the wait times for iBooks and Mac Minis at the on-line Apple Store has jumped to a week. While there's no indication as to what the configurations might be, Think Secret reports that the product database has a new iBooks at $999 and $1299, and new Mac Minis at $499, $599, and $699.

These will be arriving just as the peak of the back-to-school buying season arrives, so the timing is perfect.

My guess about the iBooks: I think we'll see the 14" model get eliminated. If it's true that there are only going to be two pre-configured models, I think that points to a single screen size, with a choice between a combo drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) and a SuperDrive (DVD-RW). I agree with the folks who are predicting a 13" widescreen format, at 1280x768. I think a 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 is likely, a GeForce FX Go5200, 512MB of RAM, and a 40GB hard drive. It'll be just a tiny speed bump, I think. The big difference will be the form factor... and perhaps a surprise feature that no one has guessed yet.

I also think the price of the PowerBook line should drop, especially on the 12" models, which will no longer compare favorably with the iBooks.

On the Mac Minis, I think we'll see 1.5GHz and 1.67GHz G4s, an ATI Radeon 9600, 512MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive. The high-end $699 configuration might get a SuperDrive, or perhaps standard BlueTooth wireless peripherals.

I think if we don't see CoreImage-capable graphics cards and 512MB of RAM across the line, there'll be a lot of criticism for not making machines that run Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger to its fullest potential. So I'll be paying close attention to those specs.

Look for the machines to be announced on Tuesday; that's customary for Apple. But unless the machines are available immediately at the Apple Store in Durham, it's doubtful I'll get my hands on one in time for BlogHer. Oh well; the hard-drive transplant in my Pismo went fine, so I can still rely on that.

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