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Closing the Curtain.
2011 BUYERS’ GUIDE BEST OF THE YEAR AWARDS
As was the case the last time Steve Jobs took a medical leave of absence, the brisk
pace of Apple announcements has slowed a lot in 2011. What does it really mean?
Inside iPod nano 7G, photo courtesy apple.pro
iPhone 4 (left) + 4S (right), photo courtesy micgadget
Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion)
For iPods: Same Ol’ September
The iPod family started to run out of steam a couple
of years ago, and sales of the family have been
sliding, buoyed only by the popularity of new iPod
touch models, and the fact that Apple’s still selling
millions of even its less beloved iPods. This year, the
touchscreen iPod nano is expected to regain the
prior-generation model’s video camera, as well as
new body colors. A FaceTime HD camera might make
its way into the iPod touch. And who knows, maybe
Apple will celebrate the iPod classic’s 10th birthday?
For iPhones: Unusual Delays
Since the iPhone’s 2007 launch, Apple hasn’t missed
an opportunity to announce a new model one year
later - typically at June’s Worldwide Developers
Conference. So when Apple said in March that
WWDC 2011 would focus on the future of iOS and
Mac OS X - not hardware - it implied that the next
iPhone would wait until later, possibly at its annual
September iPod event. Rumors hint at either an
“iPhone 4S” with a larger 3.7” screen, a faster CPU,
GSM/CDMA support, and iPad 2-class graphics, or a
total redesign of the glass and metal body. An iCloud
media streaming service is likely to debut in June.
For Macs: Iterative Improvement
Fresh updates to the MacBook Pro and iMac saw both
laptops and desktops receive faster processors and
Thunderbolt I/O ports - but not much else. Expect
similarly iterative, cosmetically invisible changes to
the MacBook Air and Mac mini as the year progresses,
as Apple’s focus has been largely on stabilizing and
shipping Mac OS X 10.7 - Lion. We tend to believe
rumors of a redesigned, possibly rack mount-friendly
Mac Pro, but feel strongly that Apple has placed its
professional-grade desktop machines on a distant
back burner, so that update could come as early as
June or as filler later this or next year.
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