The 30th Anniversary Mac that Apple should announce…but won't

With Apple's 30th birthday now only days away, there seems little hope that it will use the anniversary to announce a brand new Mac. But it may yet announce a 30th Anniversary Mac later this year.

If it does, this is what it should look like.

It should be a slimmer sleeker version of the Mac mini capable of running the most demanding games with ease. Airport, Bluetooth and Gigabit Ethernet are a given, as is DVI and digital audio – though if it wants to show it really is at the bleeding edge, it should replace those with an HDMI output. You see, this is a Mac that isn't designed to sit on a desktop, run as a server, or be carried in a bag, it's very definitely an under the TV machine.

Like the 1.83GHz Core Duo mini this Mac would play 1080p HDTV QuickTime trailers and HDTV content with ease. There would be no need to include an HDTV tuner, Miglia's TVMini HD will plug into one of its USB 2 ports a do the job nicely (although for reasons that will become apparent, it may need to work with Elgato on a special version of the software). Building one in would involve dealing with all sorts of localization issues in the different territories in which Apple operates and be costly and complicated.

There would need to be a big hard drive, at least 300GB, and 1GB RAM. So far, so mac mini. However, this machine would be entirely an entirely different beast. As well as looking like the sexiest DVD player or games console you've ever seen it would have a motherboard unlike anything Apple has ever shipped. A motherboard licensed from Sony (which would, ironically, mean an IBM processor) and identical to the PlayStation 3. Like the PS 3, it would also have a Blu-ray drive built-in.

Imagine it – an Apple branded PS3 that would hook up to your HDTV, play all the PS 3 games and Blu-ray movies. It would also connect to your wireless network and stream iTunes playlists, movies and photos to your TV using Front Row with Bonjour. Of course, it would hook up to your broadband internet connection for online gaming and to allow you to connect to the iTunes Music Store. And because Blu-ray drives canplay regular DVDs, you can play all those iMovies you've burned to DVD too. With a TV tuner it would become a PVR and if the hard drive gets a bit full you could add another via USB 2 or burn archived conetnt to DVD or Blu-ray disc.

It would need controllers of course, but USB 2 ports would take care of the connectivity and I'm sure Apple would do a great job of designing a fantastic controller.

It’s a win-win situation for Apple and Sony. Apple needs a strategy to stop Microsoft winning the battle of the livingroom with the Xbox 360 and Windows Media Center. Licensing the PS3 would put an Apple-branded games console in the living room of tens of thousands of people who would never think of buying a Mac, and give Apple a great opportunity to sell iTunes downloads to them. The iTMS will eventually become a fully-fledged movie downloads store and what better way to sell content than to people whose 'Mac' is connected directly to their TV?

Sony would win because it would get to put a PS3 in the hands of additional customers and actually make money from it. As it stands, it will cost Sony money to sell each PS3. The money it makes will be from games and other content deals. This way, Apple foots the bill for the hardware, and Sony gets a license fee for each sale.

Yes, there are lots of obstacles technical, political, and commercial. But it can be done. Who wouldn't like to see Apple and Sony join forces to beat Microsoft? Unlikely, yes. But we can dream.