Now the presents are opened, the mince pies eaten and the last of the turkey turned into sandwiches or curry, it's time to turn our attentions to 2011. What will Apple do next year? The company is famously secretive, but by piecing together what's already been announced, sorting the leaks from the lies and applying a dollop of good, old fashioned common sense, we can all make a reasonable - if unconfirmed - prediction of what the new year has in store. So here's mine.
? The App Store
This one's a no-brainer. It's already been announced that on 6th January, Apple will open the Mac App Store. This will function in the same way as the App Store for iOS devices, allowing you to browse, update and buy software applications for your Mac. Unlike the iOS App Store, it won't be the only way to buy new software. You can still purchase software directly from its vendor, or as a boxed copy at your local computer shop. Perhaps this will bring us the best of both worlds, with a wealth of easy-to-browse applications readily available from the Mac App Store, but without tying your Mac into the Apple ecosystem, with the same restrictions as an unjailbroken iOS device. Time will tell.
? OS X 10.7: Lion
Again, this one's already been announced, and is due in the summer. According to Apple, Lion brings the best of the iPad and iPhone operating system to OS X. Few new features have been announced to date. Launchpad is a new way to open apps, and you can run your applications in full-screen mode to reduce distractions. Mission Control gives you a bird?s-eye view of everything currently open, including Expos�, Spaces, Dashboard, and full-screen apps.
If you read our feature in Issue 229, you know the MacFormat team aren't yet won over. What's been revealed so far looks interesting, though hardly earth-shattering. But it's early days yet, and we can be sure Apple has lots more to announce about Lion between now and its mid-2011 release date.
? New iOS Devices
No announcement has been made so we're into the realms of speculation here, but a new iPad is expected in the Spring. iPad 2 is believed to offer a front-facing camera for FaceTime communication. A rear-facing camera and a gyroscope have also been suggested, as have a thinner form factor and a retina display. Leaked images of a new iPad case appear to show an opening for a USB port and an SD Card slot, though it's also been claimed it's there to accommodate a bigger speaker. An iPhone 5 is also rumoured, offering incremental improvements and possibly a larger screen, 3.7-inch instead of 3.5-inch.
? iWork '11
With iLife '11 being released late in 2010 and rival Microsoft Office already enjoying a 2011 version, it seems the ideal time to update Apple's own office suite, iWork. Reports suggest that stocks of the current version (iWork '09) are running low, and promotional materials for the forthcoming Mac App Store show the three individual iWork applications, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, selling individually for $20 each. Could new 2011 versions launch with the Store? We haven't long to wait to find out.�
? New Macs
New Macs next year is another no-brainer, but in the absence of any firm announcement (as usual), we can only speculate as to what they'll be. New iMacs and MacBooks seem likely. Perhaps Apple will give us user-accessible drive bays in the iMac, allowing us to fit our own solid state drives should we so wish. Incremental updates for the MacBook Pro and possibly the Mac mini range seems entirely possible too. Perhaps the new 2011 Macs will bring us USB 3.0 and/or FireWire 1600 connectivity, but anyone expecting Blu-ray is likely to be disappointed.
? An Outsider: Apple TV?
An unlikely rumour for 2011 is that we'll get a new Apple TV. Not a new version of the recently-revamped media device, but an actual television set. It's been speculated that Apple will release a television with digital video recording, streaming from iTunes and built-in media features such as interactive TV and videogames. Although this seems a logical move for Apple, most analysts suggest a 2012 launch at the earliest. And if iTunes vdeo rental and Apple TV content is anything to go by, it will have little to offer those outside the USA for at least a year.
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