Macworld 2006 Opens Today with Steve Jobs' Keynote--The New Stuff

Today at 9 am PST in San Francisco's Moscone Center, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will take the stage and rock the world with announcements of Apple's new products. Bet the farm on it! Well, at least, he will rock our world. But since this week follows the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which Apple did not officially attend, we expect Mr. Jobs to announce some fabulous products.

What products? We have no inside information but 2006 heralds the arrival of the MacIntel, i.e. Macs with Intel processor(s) inside, as Mr.Jobs announced last July at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. Yes, we know, he said that their avaliability would begin around mid-2006 but no one in his right mind would expect Steve Jobs to pass up a chance to grab the world's attention with an early announcement. Afterall, several Wintel companies have already announced products based on Intel's low-power, multi-core processor called Yonah.

We expect that at least one Mac will get an Intel CPU and begin shipping very soon, if not immediately, but which one? We think the G5 Macs will be last to get an Intel CPU so that nixes the iMac and Power Mac. The Macs that really need a faster, more capable processor the most are the PowerBooks.

Most commentators are betting on the Mac mini or iBook getting the first Intel Yonah CPU, but we'll stick out our neck and go with the PowerBook. Why? Because, as we said, PowerBooks really need a performance boost the most and several Yonah-powered Wintel laptops will shortly hit the market. We can't believe that Steve Jobs would let the PowerBook fall behind with today's opportunity to blow the world's mind and not become a Johnny-come-lately or an also-ran. Of course, almost the same holds true for the iBook and Mac mini but the major consumer and school season is over. Then again, the school buying season is not too far off and Apple has been moving heavily into the consumer market. So, maybe all three lines will be announced as MacIntels?

We're sure there will be one or more software announcements as well. It's only a few hours, so we'll know real soon. Stay tuned.

We're at Macworld and we'll post the developments as we learn them. We'll also post our hands-on experience with everything new from Apple and cover the new products on the Macworld Expo floor over the next couple of days. [Bill Fox]