Apple Mum About Aug. 7 Event

Apple public relations representatives made calls to press members July 31, inviting them to an event on the companys campus in Cupertino, Calif., Aug. 7 and promising Mac-specific announcements. No further information was available, though it seems clear that the event will not feature iPhone, iTunes or iPods, but will stick to Apples core hardware product—Macintosh computers.

Mac-watchers across the Web quickly began speculating.

Veteran Mac rumor sites Think Secret and AppleInsider have both published stories assuring that August will see the release of a redesigned iMac consumer desktop line.

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Though they declined to discuss internal specifications, both sites speculated that new iMacs—if indeed they arrive—will feature an external makeover. AppleInsider used the words "slimmer and sleeker," while ThinkSecret foresaw a brushed aluminum enclosure.

The latter site originally predicted these computers would be revealed around Apples 2007 Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Both sites also agree that Apple will discontinue the 17-inch iMac model.

Recently, the site Engadget published photos of what it said will be the keyboard bundled with a next-generation iMac. To differentiate it from existing versions, the new keyboard—if the photos prove real—will feature a similar design to the "raised chiclet" keyboard of Apples MacBook consumer laptop.

One source told eWEEK that the photos were accurate, but declined to expand on that comment.

Other speculations around the Web posit that Apple may debut new versions of its iLife and iWork software suites, a refreshed Mac Pro line—which was last updated in April—and either the death of the Mac Mini, which has not been updated in nearly a year, or the introduction of a new, "headless" pro- or pro-sumer level Mac.

Apple representatives declined to comment.

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