Basically: new iPods and iTunes, no Beatles and no tablet.
In declining order of likelihood, here’s what Apple will show off tomorrow:
1. Steve Jobs. Steve’s back but very, very thin. Steve will be the highlight of the show and his presence will dominate tomorrow’s headlines.
2. New iPod Touch with built-in camera; no compass, no GPS. The cases all but confirm it. May not be for sale immediately if Apple has withdrawn first batch.
3. New iPod Nano with built-in camera, no GPS or compass. Same as above.
4. New iTunes with social networking. Tell your idiot friends on Facebook and Twitter what you’re listening to, and serve up an iTunes’ link so they can buy it from Apple. Steve knows how to make a buck.
5. New App Store. This is probably the most important thing Apple will unveil tomorrow: a new App Store that makes it easier to find Apps, especially the good ones. Big picture, this will dwarf the new iPod hardware — the App Store is the heart of the new iPhone/iPod platform.
6. $149 iPod Touch. Seems plausible that Apple will keep the old iPod Touch in the lineup as the entry-level device, just as it’s kept the old iPhone 3G at $99.
7. Cocktail, Apple’s new format for digital LPs, isn’t fully baked yet, but Steve may show a preview.
Here’s what’s not happening:
1. No tablet. This is an iPod event. I’m betting the tablet will be unveiled at CES in January during a surprise Steve Jobs keynote.
2. No Beatles on iTunes. The reissue of the remastered Beatles catalog is separate from Apple’s announcements, but I think it’s likely Steve will at least acknowledge it. 50/50 he uses the Beatles to show off the new Cocktail format.
3. Discontinue Classic? Maybe. I think there’s still a market for a high-capacity player. The drives are still being made, and I think Apple will keep it around.
Apple’s Sept. 9 event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. It’s open to press and VIPs only, and will kick off at 10 AM PST (1 PM Eastern).
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
