Ever - thoughtful Apple has given us something to stave off the domestic dog daytime of August a little while longer — a chance to hypothesise on what the company has up its sleeve in this berth - iPhone , pre - Leopard period . tardy Tuesday , the company announced that it would defend … well , not an event , really , but more of a crush briefing at its Cupertino main office .

Usually , these sorts of Apple - sanctioned press gather are herald by an invitation incorporate some sort of tell - taradiddle artwork — think the then - cryptic “ The first 30 years were just the beginning ” subject matter before last January’sMacworld Expokeynote or the “ It ’s Showtime ” invitation depicting the Apple logo bath in movie - style spotlights to tick off the outcome where Apple add movie purchases to the iTunes Store . This sentence , however , there ’s no cunning graphic for us to pore over like soothsayers study chicken bones for clues about the hereafter . Instead , Apple has come right out and say it — next Tuesday ’s imperativeness event will be “ Mac - focus , ” which will doubtlessly trigger a outpouring of speculation over just what that entail .

I ’m felicitous to oblige .

Whenever it ’s time to make an educated hypothesis on what new products Apple might have in storage , I confab two things — Macworld ’s Apple Hardware Guide andApple ’s most late quarterly composition , specifically the breakdown of sales by product type . The former tells me how long it ’s been since a mathematical product ’s undergo an update while the latter shows me what the sale trend are .

For instance , glint at the Hardware Guide , I notice that while both the MacBook and MacBook Pro have seen upgrade in the last several month , the intact desktop line has gone about a year without a young model ( excluding the April debut of the eight - kernel Mac Pro , which really was n’t train at a wide - ordered series hearing ) . reckon at the sales form from the Apple information sheet , we can see that laptops are what ’s motor Apple ’s book Mac sales event . Desktop sales by unit rose a goodly 20 per centum in the third quarter year - over - year , but the fellowship sold only 634,000 desktops compared to 1.13 million laptop computer . Clearly , there ’s elbow room for growth in the desktop numbers .

Whichdesktop becomes even more apparent when you count that the iMac uses the same Core 2 Duo chip that powers the laptop telephone line — in fact , last fall , the iMac underwent the Core 2 Duo upgrade more than a month before the MacBook Pro descent . With Intel having expel its updated mobile processors in May — and with many of the improvements from that Santa Rosa chipset finding their way into the most recent MacBook Pro ascent — it seems logical that a novel line of iMacs is in the works .

Ah , but here ’s where my careful reasoning fall apart : If it were only a matter of swapping in an promote silicon chip , Apple would do so without much hoopla . After all , that ’s precisely what the company did in early June with the aforementioned MacBook Pro release . If Apple is summoning reporter to its main office next Tuesday , it ’s potential to be something slightly more significant than newfangled - and - improved processors in the same old cause .

Now as to what that slightly more authoritative affair is ? I have no estimate . Perhaps it ’s a young inclosure for the all - in - one desktop . Perhaps there ’s some other hush - hush applied science to be introduced . Or maybe it ’s something else entirely .

Whatever it is , I ’m certain you’re able to fill me in , using the link to the Macworld.com forums below .