MacWorld SF 2005 Rumor Roundup

Steve Jobs will deliver the MacWorld San Francisco 2005's Keynote Speech on Tuesday, Jan 11th 2005. Contrary to previous years, it appears there will be no live broadcast of this event. In fact, according to a small (unconfirmed) blurb on Keynoteuser, it's claimed that Apple may not allow the press to post any live newsfeeds of the Keynote at all.

This year's pre-expo hype has been accentuated by a number of actions by Apple Legal. In December Apple filed suit against three developers for posting early versions of Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) on the internet. Apple also subpoenaed three Mac sites for information related to leaks about an unreleased product (presumed to be 'Asteroid').

Most striking, however, is the reported Apple lawsuit against ThinkSecret for posting trade secrets as well as soliciting contractually-protected information. In the past, Apple has brought legal action against individuals for leaking trade secrets (Worker Bee, PowerMac Photos) but this is the first time that it has brought direct legal action against a rumor website.

The surrounding legal action, of course, lends credence to certain rumors, published at the ThinkSecret site. This roundup reviews the most likely rumors for the upcoming MacWorld Expo.

Flash iPod

Talk of a Flash-memory based iPod has been ongoing for some time. An October analyst report indicated that a Flash based iPod was in the works with a 3rd party manufacturer of controller chips (SigmaTel). More hints in the following months led us to a rumor of a Flash memory-based iPod to be introduced in early 2005. A recent article provides confirmation as well as additional details: the Flash-memory based iPod is expected to come in 1GB and 2GB versions and start at $149.

Asteroid

In November, Appleinsider posted information of an hardware audio interface for GarageBand users which provides two XLR/ TRS audio input connectors, two RCA analog output jacks, and a standard headphone jack. This device is reportedly at the heart of some of the previously mentioned legal action from Apple. In the initial report, this device was expected to be released at MWSF, but little additional information has been released.

New Apps

One of the most detailed reports of new Applications coming from Apple came from this ThinkSecret report which is one of the subjects of Apple's lawsuit. The article describes an iLife '05 update providing new releases to iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and Garageband.

More significant is the rumored release of iWork '05 which will bundle two applications -- Keynote 2 and Pages. Pages is expected to be a word processing application to take place of Appleworks. It is unclear, however, if spreadsheet functionality will also be included.

Older rumors first labeled this application as "Document". Of uncertain significance, Apple also had previously trademarked iWrite in 2003. Finally, another historical rumor is that Apple reportedly acquired employees from GoBe, a BeOS productivity suite with an innovative design.

$499 Headless iMac

The most significant release from Apple at MacWorld SF may be this item. The $499 display-less iMac. The specs of the bare-bones machine is said to include a 1.25GHz G4 processor, Combo drive, and 256MB RAM.

The point for this machine is to lure PC users, already tempted by the iPod, to make a switch to the Mac platform (at least as a second computer system).

Other?

Most notable about the rumors leading up to MacWorld is the lack of rumors related to the other Apple hardware lines. Two hardware updates did occur last week -- Display Price Drops and Xserve updates, which ensures no further updates on those fronts.

Of the remaining hardware line, the PowerBook has the longest lead time since last introduction (April 2004), but no word on PowerBook updates have been heard.

Coverage

MacWorld SF 2005's Keynote kicks off at 9AM Pacific on January 11th, 2005. As always, MacRumors will try to provide live coverage for the keynote and/or provide links to the best available information.

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...