Even though Steve Jobs has opted out of giving the keynote at this year's Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and Apple will not be attending another Macworld after this one, there will still be a keynote presentation -- it will just be given by Phil Schiller instead. Of course, since the keynote must go on, even without Mr. Jobs, there will also be speculation and predictions as to what Apple will announce during the keynote.

We at TUAW are not immune to this phenomenon and even though we will be liveblogging the keynote to provide you with the news as soon as it's actually announced, that won't stop us from engaging in a favorite pastime of the tech press: Macworld Expo keynote predictions. Of course, when considering this event and the impending announcements, especially in light of this being the last time Apple will take part, these questions, and many others, come to mind.

Will Phil be as entertaining as Steve? How long will Phil talk about the success of iTunes and the iPod before moving on to the other more exciting announcements? Who will be the musical guest? Will Phil be wearing a black turtleneck and jeans or will he try to start a new fashion trend of his own? Will Phil and Apple do anything "special" to commemorate the last keynote? What will be the "one more thing"? And, most importantly, will Phil talk about where Steve Jobs is and why he isn't doing the keynote?

Your intrepid TUAW writers have considered those very questions, and many more, through long days and nights of deliberation, discussion and discourse. In so doing, we have come up with some interesting, perhaps even controversial, prognostications, pre-visualizations and predictions of what new products and services will be announced at this this year's keynote. Read on for all our (at least partly serious) expectations.

For full Macworld Expo coverage, bookmark the TUAW Macworld Expo 2009 landing page.

It's the end of the year, a time of reflection, in which we look back at the year that was and what happened during. But The Independent isn't stopping there -- they went back and dug up some of the world's most famous incorrect predictions. And yes, Bill Gates' 640k is in there, as is Ken Olsen's "...there is no reason for any individual to have a computer at his home." Whoops. But there's also a good iPod one in there -- apparently on the iPod's release, someone from Amstrad claimed it a fad, saying that, "Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput." A few Christmases have come and gone since then, and of course, the iPod is still huge.

That list also reminded me of the famous Nano hater, Motorola's Ed Zander, who said of the iPod nano's release: "Screw the nano. What the hell does the nano do? Who listens to 1,000 songs?" He, of course, was distraught that Apple's then new invention might take attention away from his new Rokr phone, and despite the fact that Motorola later claimed he was joking, we all know the Rokr went on to not only become the USA's most popular handset, but it's the Rokr who has ads all over the place this holiday season.

Oh wait. We might be wrong about that one. Everyone makes mistakes, no?

Thanks, Jean!

With the October 14th Apple Notebook Event just around the corner, the TUAW blogger squad decided it was time to look into our iCrystalBalls and make a SWAG predictions about what laptop goodness will be announced by the Cupertino Kids on Tuesday. To make this extra crunchy, we're not only posting our best guesses as to what will actually be announced, but what Steve J. will announce as "one more thing".

Steve Sande

Best Guess -- The entire MacBook line will be made of aluminum, and the 15" and 17" models will get slightly faster processors and more installed RAM. If that's the only announcement, expect Apple's stock to dive even further than it has during the recent stock market freefall.

One More Thing -- The iTablet. Netbooks are selling like hotcakes, so Apple will get in on the action by coming out with a 9" tablet with a virtual keyboard and multi-touch support. Since it is all display and no keyboard, it will weigh less than two pounds. Think of an über-iPhone.

Victor Agreda, Jr.

Best Guess -- Ditto what Steve said, except I think a drop in price will happen in light of tough economic times. Despite what some analysts may babble about, Apple is interested in the long game, and that means building more market share. To stay in the game they have to get more price competitive on the low end.

One More Thing -- Again, I agree with Steve, although I wouldn't call this a tablet. More like a mini-Air with a decent keyboard (Apple has long been in favor of keeping decent-sized keyboards on smaller laptops) and touchscreen up top. I think the form factor will be something clever and surprising. If it appears at all, of course.

Robert Palmer

I think we'll see higher-end MacBook enclosures made of aluminum, and a sub-$1,000 model still made from white plastic. There's a part of me that says they won't ditch plastic altogether, because of the style factor: I bet there will be some people who still want a black MacBook. Hey, maybe there will be a black aluminum MacBook. Classy.

One More Thing -- I'm still bearish on the iTablet. I think Apple has too much invested in the iPhone as a mobile platform to try and dilute it with another form factor with a different screen size. If it's a Mac, I'm not a fan of jury-rigging traditionally mouse-driven operating systems for styluses. Personally, I just don't think there will be "one more thing." He hasn't done that in a while, especially at "themed" events (like the music event last month).

Michael Rose

I'm also fairly well convinced that the $800 MacBook (dare we call it the MacBook Jr.?) is inbound on Tuesday, although I'm not sure that the manufacturing rumors are completely on target. The mutterings about a mystery port on the new MacBook -- and a dockability patent from years past -- are starting to sound credible too.

One More Thing: I would love to see a BTO touchscreen option... and maybe a technology preview of an iTablet for delivery later in 2009.

Mike Schramm

New MacBooks are a given -- the Nvidia rumor sounds credible to me, not to mention that it's just what would push me to finally replace my old G4 Powerbook (though I'll miss my little 12" screen). "One more thing" seems like it's trending towards an AppleTV upgrade -- we've got HD content on the iTunes store, so it's time to have a set-top box that's fitting to play that content on. I'm hearing lots of Mac mini rumors as well, but I wonder if Apple will ever upgrade the mini -- it's small, it sells as-is, why break what's not broken?

Of course, as Victor mentioned in an email, "Whatever happens, AAPL will drop 10% because iUnicorn wasn't announced..." Think we're out of our minds? Let's hear your prediction in the comment section!

With the September 9th "Let's Rock" event confirmed at Yerba Buena, TUAW readers seem confident that we're about to see a new iPod debut. 70% of you agreed on that point.

Rumors point to a revamped nano, with a longer silhouette. This new shape makes the nano easier to hold onto without dropping, especially when running.

An updated Nike kit appears likely. Nike support is long overdue for the iPod touch and, especially, the iPhone 3G with its built-in GPS system. Rumors suggest that the update will include more biometric logging and feedback for the stats-obsessed athlete in you.

Read more below...

• Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) seeds for developers
  
• MobileMe
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 2.0 firmware ship date

• .Mac rebranding (with support for iPhone/PC)
• iPhone 3G
• Mac OS X 10.6 seeded
• iTablet
  
• Mac nano
• Flash on the iPhone
  
• Video on the iPhone
• Enterprise solutions for iPhone
• Over-the-Air syncing for "MobileMe"
• Redesigned MacBook Pro
• iPhone 2.0 delayed / ship date

Now that it's more or less a given that a 3G model is on its way -- very shortly if rumors are to believed -- let's have a little fun speccing the thing out. Sure there's absolutely no data so let your imagination guide you.

What's the price of this baby going to be? How much memory will be onboard and what will its battery life work out to? Better onboard camera? With Video? And how about "Back to My Mac"/"Back to My iPhone" features? What are you willing to pay per month for the glory of all that is new, shiny and iPhone? Let us know in the comments about your dream 3G iPhone.

So who rocked the keynote? Who was right on the mark? Mike Schramm was "Teh Man"(TM). He called iTunes 7.6, subnotebook with delayed sales, movie rentals, and the Apple TV update.

In second place, Nik called a lot of the same stuff that Mike did but unwisely added Cinema Display updates and Office 2008. Other than that, he practically tied with Mike.

So how did you do? Did you guess the keynote? Let us know in the comments.

• Google integration (iTV + YouTube)
• API's for iTV (for El Gato, in particular). Maybe that's a wish; I really, truly doubt Apple and El Gato will play in the same sandbox
• HD content on iTunes ('07 is the true year of HD)
• A gold nano - for Steve, as he announces retiring in 2008
• Some sort of Spreadsheet addition to iWork 07
• .Mac will "somehow get better"

• I agree with everyone else: iLife and iWork 07 are a sure thing
• No Apple iPhone - mostly because, if true, it could possibly go down in history as one of the most hyped yet never announced fanaticware products of all time
  
• I've been hoping for a video update to the AirPort Express, but it seems like the iTV more or less kills that idea; I predict it ships at Macworld
• On Leopard: I again agree with everyone else on a ship date being announced

• The Mac mini will get a Core 2 Duo upgrade - although not necessarily across the line. I wouldn't put it past them to keep the sub-$600 model a single Core Duo
• A major iTunes-related content announcement
• Hopefully a new stand-alone iSight camera because as much as I dig the convenience of having one built in to my iMac and MacBook, it's not terribly convenient for scanning my many shelves of books into Delicious Library, for instance (I still have my old FW iSight for such occassions, but a shiny new one would be nice)
• I am fairly certain we'll get to hear what the "iTV" will actually be called, along with a ship date and I'm pretty sure we'll hear a Leopard ship date
• I'm not seeing an iPhone(y) (aka iVox in the pretend world where I am in charge of such things) in my crystal ball, although I suspect there will be a number of jokes about it

• Leopard released earlier than expected
• iTV finalized
• revised iPods
• no iPhone
• CS3 released earlier than expected

• Release date and complete feature set for Leopard
• iLife/Work '07
• iTV release date and complete feature set.
• iPhone (You have no idea how much I want this one to be right)

• iLife and iWork 07
• Refreshed Cinema Displays
• Leopard ship date announced

• Likewise on Leopard release date
• Minimum of three additional studios for iTunes movie store
• "iTV" official announcement, integration with Elgato products for capture
• Major digital asset management product announcement for pro video space, stemming from Proximity acquisition
• One more thing: 8-core Mac Pro
• One MORE more thing: iPod Phone - multi-service chat presence included

• iLife and iWork 07
• iTV ships
• Leopard ship date
• iPhone announcement
• iDogCow - because every good prediction should have an absolutely wrong item in it. Viva Clarus. Moof!