2004: The Mac Predictions


The San Jose Mercury's Jon Fortt has a few Apple-related predictions for 2004 - and we'll add some of our own.

Fortt argues that notebooks, with prices falling rapidly in 2003, will continue to drop through 2004. LCD panel costs, long the bane of notebook pricing, are getting lower and lower, so maybe the $600 laptop is in sight (but you're unlikely to see it with an Apple logo).

And the iPod? Apple will have to drop prices whether it likes it or not, Fortt says. Dell and HP, the mediocrity of their product aside, are aggressive players in this lucrative market. But then there are those Mini-iPod rumors...

How about video iPods? Much rumored 18 months or so back, Fortt thinks Apple will have to move to color screens to satisfy users who want to store and show photos on the iPod's screen.

And "TiVo will get clobbered" in 2004, Fortt argues. Maybe by one of those rumored 'iBoxes'...

Our predictions? (or wishlist): $149 iPods; higher-res 15.2" PowerBooks (with DVD burners and backlit keyboards standard across the range) and a PowerBook G5. Soon.