What’s in a Banner?
Much conjecture has sprung up in the Macosphere about what clues might the large banner in the foyer at WWDC contain.
Besides the 64-bit icon, what seems to have been overlooked in the forums I’ve sussed out is relative sizes of the icons. The largest ones are for the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro, followed by the MacBook, XCode (which would symbolize developers), Leopard and the iMac. The MacPro is only shown side on as well as if hiding a redesigned front panel. Plus itis is also the centre piece.
What can we read into all that? Does it guarantee the arrival of the MacPro. Does it suggest a significant upgrade to the MacBook Pro and lesser upgrades to the MacBook and iMac?
Will all these machines sport 64-bit processors? What will be the “One more thing...”? 64 bit MacBooks? 64 bit iMacs?
Click the image for a full sized version:
Note also the Leopard disk still sports spots, so anyone thinking Apple might be changing its naming convention away from big cats, will probably be disappointed.
Everyone else is talking about the banner, so what do Apple Matters’ readers think?
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The black-matte MacBook Pro is a nice touch. Is this the U2 edition? Also, from the icons - I see no evidence of the iPhone service logo, unless it uses only Bluetooth and Bonjour.
Perhaps, one of the reasons that they’ve (Apple) waited for so long to release the new top-of-the-line desktop computer, predecessor of the G5, is because they’re going to name it the Apple IV.
The names, Mac Pro, Macbook and Macbook Pro are supremely annoying. Whoever came up with them must have been not paying very much attention to the idea.
I just think that after 25 years of not using the Apple moniker for their computers, a revival of the Apple in Apple’s line-up would be awesome.
But that’s just my two cents, plus the Apple IV sounds better to than Mac Pro.
Hmm… As far as the iPhone icon goes, check in the top-right corner of the 64-bit icon. What’s that thing with a screen that’s all black and has an iTunes-y logo covering it’s lower region? I’m not so sure about the idea of an Apple IV. Mac Pro sounds a little better to me. I’m sure though that somewhere in Cupertino there’s someone who can think of a better name than Mac Pro. But like Daevrojn said, that’s just my opinion, and my job is to design stuff, not make up names for cutting-edge computers.
Robo, I few ppl reckon that’s a black MacBook Pro. I’m not sure - it’s pretty narrow and no sign of speaker grills to the side of the keyboard
I don’t expect a consumer product (iPhone) to be announced at a developer confest.
But, if it is, it will be the one morre thing. Steve will say “One more thing...” and start talking vaguely about where technology is going. A phone will ring and he’ll pretend to be annoyed and say “Who’s left their phone on? Oh hang on, it’s me.” to raucous cheers.
Steve will say “One more thing...”
I am fully expecting Steve to make a great play on stage if he’s about to introduce the iPhone. Definitely a “one more thing...” situation with the iPhone but many NDA’d (non-disclosure blah-blah) analysts are all saying this is a real possibility.
If it happens at WWDC, that would be great for everyone and not just developers. The device can finally open up the vaunted iPod OS for third-party game/app development wouldn’t you think? That is why it would be perfect to introduce a consumer iPhone at the Apple dev confab.
As for the black MB Pro. That would be sweet, indeed. I will need a couple for later this year’s CES preps (HD streams around the home?). Speaker grills gone? If the thing still cuddles a huge 17” panel then there is too much empty space around the keyboard. The 15” edition wouldn’t have this conundrum. Oh well, Apple knows what they’re doing so I leave it at that.
stephen: looks to me like the black thing above-right of the 64-bit icon is just a black iPod. Given that they’ve been so good at keeping leakage about an iPhone (if it even exists) to a minimum, I’d be amazed if they’d put it on a banner which would be in plain view before such a clever keynote stunt.
Robo: I have to disagree with you a little on the “Apple knows what they’re doing” in regards to the huge amount of space around the keyboard on a 17” widescreen laptop… it would have been the perfect place for a real numeric keypad (still plenty of real estate around the trackpad for speaker grilles). Since I’m a small laptop fanatic, it makes no difference to me, but it would be nice to see my M$-faithful father using a laptop with a glowing Apple logo on it.
Robinhood, I agree with you completely. What I meant was Apple’s design maestros knows what to use of all that empty space - hidden speakers, perhaps? A full implementation of the Pro keyboard with separate numeric keypad? I wish.
And yes, your old man can use a MacBook for a Windows-exclusive hardware, if only for the glowing logo. Not bad I admit.
According to the banner, the slight vertical declination of the “Power Mac” case got me curious, so I sent the jpg down to MIT to have it anal-ysed. According to his anal-ysis, the new Power Mac (he was unable to ascertain a new name based on the banner alone) would have to contain at least a Core 2 Duo, based on the offset weight suggested by the position in relation to the Quicktime logo counter-balanced against the hammer and steaming cup o’ Joe.
Or maybe we’re reading too much into a damn banner?
That’s how affectionate Mac faithfuls have become. Apple and its products have become part of our daily lives - like smelling the perkolating bitter stuff in the morning, like cuddling with your favorite throw pillow when siesta comes knockin’, or just staring at the front yard tree branches on a windy afternoon sippin’ ice tea. Apple and its bountiful products have become part of a Mac faithful’s daily routine.
So, on the eve of the Big Event like Macworld or WWDC, any sign that points toward an evidence of a particular rumour, of course the Mac faithful deservedly goes berserk. No need to send these evidence to the FBI labs for disection. The breathless faithful can wait for the plethora of wiz-bang announcements that will surely come and the glorious, “And there’s one more thing...” thriller conclusion.
Ain’t being a Mac faithful so much fun?
Very nice images on the banner posted bellow.