What is Next for Apple?

Apple’s third quarter financial Conference Call on Monday once again proved their skill in using vagueness as a tool to create buzz.  Look for the mysterious product reference in the paragraph below…

We expect gross margin to be about 31.5%, reflecting approximately $23 million related to stock-based compensation expense, down from 34.8% in the June quarter. This sequential decline is expected due to three primary factors; first, the full quarter impact of the back-to-school promotion; second, a future product transition, which I can’t discuss today; and third, the one-time true-up of our contract manufacturer deferred margin that we realized in the June quarter.

Then there was more:

We are working to develop new products that contains technologies that our competition will not be able to match. I cannot discuss these new products, but we are very confident in our product pipeline.

– Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, during Apple’s Q308 Financial Results Conference Call, July 21, 2008

“A future product transition” is all they are going to give us?  That’s just pure marketing genius.  So now the speculation begins (which is part of the fun, of course).

Look for one of the following from Apple in the next 60 days:

1. Revamped MacBook Pro.  Images have surfaced showing a possible new casing for the MacBook Pro, though these images don’t tell us very much.  The MacBook Pro is due for change, so this is probably the most likely of announcements for the next 60 days.

2. A Touch-Screen Mac.  I believe the rumors about the “MacBook Touch.”  The timing seems perfect for this kind of product from Apple and if anyone can pull it off, they can.

3. An Updated Mac Mini.  This one is least likely, but this is a product that is due for some excitement with a design change and perhaps some cheaper prices on Apple’s monitors to create an even more attractive bundle.

MultiTouch Trackpad Added to MacBook Pro

The MacBook and MacBook Pro line was updated on Tuesday, providing more momentum to a strong line of Apple products.

The new Penryn chips are now providing the processing power, but I was most excited about the addition of the MultiTouch trackpad which was added to the MacBook Pro. The MultiTouch was first introduced in Apple’s MacBook Air laptop. It allows the user to pinch, swipe, or rotate to enlarge text, advance through photos, or adjust an image.

I think we are going to soon begin to see a number of significant changes to input technology. It is only a matter of time before our MacBook screens are touch-sensitive, similar to the way the iPhone interface responds to direct contact to the screen.

The trackpad and keyboard have remained relatively unchanged since they first appeared in tandem, but we are due for a massive shift. My best guess is that we will look back on the iPhone as a precursor to a new way of entering and rearranging data in our typical user interface.

(All the new specs are well-outlined here at MacWorld’s site)