Apple has brought us what may be the most exciting tech products in recent history, their latest run of exciting hardware and software dates back to earlier this decade. In late 2001, Steve Jobs introduced the revolutionary iPod which has indirectly brought changes to the way people listen to, distribute, and buy music. Since then, Apple has brought us the ever-so-popular iPhone, which has sold over 13-million units, and revisions to their lines of Mac computers and notebooks, and a few strong updates to the OS X operating system.

I’m personally saddened to hear that this will be Apple’s last appearance at Macworld, and that Steve Jobs himself will not be appearing to deliver the keynote address; . After exaggerated rumors of Steve Jobs’ health issues, and even an accidental obituary publication by Bloomberg, showed false signs of his intentions to leave Apple in the foreseeable future. But this could be the first actual sign of his exit, whether it is sooner or later. His presentation skills are impressive, and I’ll miss hearing his “one more thing.”

With all of this being said, every annual Macworld expo is highly anticipated by Apple fans and freaks for a new product release or upgrade to the point of parodying the speculations and predictions. Look at MADtv’s rare moment of hilarity when Michael McDonald impersonated Steve Jobs and introduced the ridiculous ‘iRack’. So, what kind of products and upgrade are fans anticipating to hear about in early January, when Macworld finally happens? Here are three major rumors that have been circulating the blogs these last few weeks, going from the unrealistic to the most probable:

-The iPhone Nano, or NanoPhone-

This rumor was originated shortly after the iPhone was released, then it was debunked, and now it has resurfaced again. Sourced back to XKSN, a Chinese third-party manufacturer of iPhone accessories, this NanoPhone rumor was brought forth by iDealsChina (via Gizmodo) and was accompanied by 3D renderings of a silicone skin casing, giving us a size comparison of the device to the 3G iPhone. iDeals has stated the device would be announced at Macworld ‘by Steve Jobs’, and that production will begin on the 20th of this month. The supposed device will not have 3G capability, but it will have 3 sensors, a camera, and the mirror screen; it’ll also be sold at a more affordable price than the current iPhone, and will be available at current resellers, including Wal-Mart. Overall, it sounds like a pipe dream.

I don’t believe that this rumor will be confirmed true when the time comes for Macworld’s keynote address, most of all because the iPhone has been so successful in its venture that there is no real need for a smaller, less-capable product to undermine sales. Furthermore, another reason to debunk this speculation is that although XKSN was the source of the original iPhone leak last year, the likelihood of the same source leaking two products is practically impossible with Apple’s strength in securing the leaks of products and announcements. And I can’t believe that Apple would allow a leak through a third-party manufacturer that’s asked to develop an accessory to this product before it has been announced. Also, Steve Jobs won’t be delivering the keynote address, which I pointed out earlier, making this whole idea look more unintelligent. What’s the likelihood of this rumor turning into truth in January? I’d give it a D-.

-An Apple Netbook?-

Now this really intrigues me. The netbook product category was only recently created and became relatively popular and trendy in a short amount of time, thanks to Asus developing and releasing the EeePC late last year. Netbooks are smaller, lightweight notebooks that are designed to be less powerful and capable, but more mobile versions of their bigger cousins. They often rely on the internet for their capabilities, which is why they’ve been given the ‘netbook’ name. Other competitive manufacturers have since developed and sold netbooks similar to the EeePC; and it has quickly become a crowded market in little time. Netbooks are much more affordable and portable revisions to the notebook, which I would like to see Apple get involved with.
While not factually stating that Apple will be announcing a netbook in January an analyst from the Technology of Business Research has speculated that a new product category will be announced at Macworld, and the analyst does believe it will be a netbook. The article, published by John Paczkowski at All Things Digital, further explains the idea behind the product by showing possible support from strong software applications like the App Store and iTunes for media playback and content delivery and stressing the “simple” factor of this product; at one time the analyst, Ezra Gottheil, says that “computer beginners would be able to start using it quickly and easy.” Even though the specifications and details of this netbook weren’t given any detail whatsoever I do imagine that the product could share some of the hardware with the current 3G iPhone, especially the flash drives for storage (8GB, 16GB). Gottheil believes the price of an Apple netbook would start around $599.

Although this does sound like a solid move for Apple, and there are no specifics or images to nit-pick and criticize so far, there are a couple of things that do conflict with the idea of Apple releasing and developing a netbook. First of all, Apple already has a strong-selling multimedia, internet communication device with the iPhone, although it doesn’t exactly have considerably strong office applications or capability unlike most netbooks. Also, in October Steve Jobs said that Apple is not interested in making a $500 computer, believing that it would be a piece of junk. He stressed that the strategy Apple uses has been very successful, which is focusing on a few product categories at a time instead of releasing and maintaining a product for every market. I’d really like to see Apple develop a netbook, as I would probably buy one myself. The probability of this netbook becoming a reality does seem unlikely when you factor in those two strong elements, so I’d give this a grade of C. My heart wants it to be at least a B.

-A Revised/New Mac Mini-

Wired received a tip from an anonymous Apple employee that the Mac Mini will receive an upgrade and that this would be the big announcement at Macworld 2009. The Mac Mini is Apple’s current entry-level computer, and it’s already an attractive device that leaves a small physical footprint on your desk (measured at 6.5”x6.5”x2”), and is spec’d competitively with desktops in its price range (currently $599-799). Wired has made a prediction as to what will be included in this revised Mac Mini and that is faster processors (2.0Ghz and 2.3Ghz Core 2 Duos), more expandable memory (2GB standard, 4GB maximum), a larger hard drive, a new all-aluminum casing similar to the new MacBook and MacBook Pro line, much-needed new video chipsets (Intel’s GMA X3100 standard, for example), and more. At first this does seem like a long list of upgrades, I do agree that these are all realistic changes to the product. Factor in that this computer hasn’t been changed since 2007 and how the technology has aged and progressed over time, it really deserves a revision in order to stay competitive.

To me, this moves seems realistic, warranted, and encouraged from Mac Mini fans like myself. The only thing that distracts me from giving this a perfect grade would be that I do believe Apple will be introducing a new device at Macworld, not only a product revision. However, other news seems to virtually confirm chipset upgrades in the near future. My final grade on a revised Mac Mini is an A-.

-Wild Card: Home Theater PC-

One crazier idea could be that there might be some integration or coupling of the Mac Mini and the Apple TV, which was introduced along with the iPhone last year. The two products already look similar, and there is some leap between the hardware of each system, but it doesn’t sound too unrealistic besides the fact that this would be going further into another product category: the HTPC, Home-Theater-PC. I’m not sure if this will happen or not, but that’s my wild card addition.

Also, I’d like to mention the possibility that Apple would be announcing the release date of the new OS X Snow Leopard (aka, 10.6). While it is reasonably certain that Snow Leopard will be released in 2009, no specific date or quarter has really been stated. It’s believed that Snow Leopard will increase the multi-core performance of Mac machines and GPU-shared processing. Right now, the rumor shows a first-quarter release of Snow Leopard next year.

Macworld begins in January on the 5th, and lasts until the 9th. Philip Schiller, an Apple executive, will be delivering the keynote address. What do you think will be the big announcement, or do you think this is all just hype?