My predictions for 2005

2004 was the Year of the iPod and a great year for Apple. Although there were many major Mac developments, including the iMac G5, the iPod took the spotlight this year as the hottest must-have consumer electronic product. The Airport Express was another major innovation we saw from Apple.

Here are my predictions for 2005 and a look back at 2004.

First, a look back at my predictions for 2004.

• G5 based XServes. I was right on this one.
• A limited edition system, perhaps a colored iMac or a new Cube, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh. I missed this one.
• A small, inexpensive, limited capacity iPod, probably around $100-200. The iPod Mini didn't get down below $200.
• Faster G5s, possibly reaching 3 GHz at MacWorld Expo, pushing 4 GHz by the end of the year. Not quite. The G5 only reached 2.5 GHz.
• A major iLife update. GarageBand!
• A redesign of the iMac, possibly a headless iMac. Half right. We saw the G4 iMac, but still no headless model.
• Wireless connectivity for the iPod, either Bluetooth or Airport Extreme. No.
• MacOS X 10.4 will be released late in the year. No.

Here are my 2005 predictions:

• A flash-based iPod for under $200 and a higher capacity iPod Mini. Other iPods will gain more capacity.
• This year we'll see a low-cost headless iMac. We may also see a G5 based midrange desktop line priced lower than the current G5 minitowers.
• IBM will sell rebranded XServes as part of their server line.
• The G5 will finally reach 3 GHz.
• A G5 PowerBook. It seems very unlikely now, but Apple has surprised us with the impossible in the past.
• Tiger will be released March 24.
• A major upgrade to GarageBand that will make it easy to create and modify software instruments and the ability to use sampled instruments.
• Apple stock will continue to soar, yet pundits will still predict Apple's imminent death.
• The iPod's "halo effect" will bring a major increase in Mac sales and market share as more windows users become disgruntled with Microsoft.
• Airport Express will gain more capabilities, including the ability to stream audio from applications other than iTunes. A third party product has already been announced, but we will see it offficially supported by Apple later in the year.