It seems a foregone conclusion that the successor to the Power Mac G5 will be unveiled at WWDC. It is widely assumed that the new line of desktop Macs (expected to be called the Mac Pro) will feature Intel's Core 2 Duo processors, which Intel began shipping last week. Given the switch to new processors, there are expectations that the Mac Pro will sport a newly designed enclosure and will be single-processor machines (albeit with two cores). Intel has not announced shipment of dual-socket Core 2 Duo processors. If Apple unveils a revised case for its new desktop machine, it would mark the first time the Intel transition has yielded a new look. Despite the move to Intel processors across Apple's line of laptops iMacs and Mac Minis, none of those computers has seen any substantial redesigns.

Aside from incorporating Intel processors, it's unclear what other hardware changes Apple may have in mind, including whether new Macs will use ATI Technologies Inc. video chip sets (as the MacBook Pro and iMac do) given the planned acquisition of ATI by Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Apple may also adjust its Cinema Display line, which -- other than price cuts -- hasn't seen any substantial changes in years.

Demos of Universal design apps

Along with the expected new desktop Mac, WWDC is likely to feature demos of the revised Adobe Creative Suite designed to run native on Intel Macs. This is almost required given that higher-end Macs will target design professionals, many of whom have put off their own Intel transition until Universal versions of the major design applications are available.

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