Apple will announce new products this week at MacWorld Expo Tokyo, the company's European Education Director, Brendan O'Sullivan, has hinted.

Speaking to the Irish Times, O'Sullivan said the company will introduce new machines, for which innovation is the key, he added.

And: "We will keep innovating with portable products such as the iBook."

Tokyo is expected to be the launch point for Apple's next revision to the iMac, finally providing consumer Mac buyers with CD-RW drives. An update to Apple's consumer portable, the iBook, has been suggested too, and O'Sullivan's comments - made separately from discussions of MacWorld Tokyo, O'Sullivan now claims - imply that's one of the products CEO Steve Jobs will unveil.

The new iBook is believed to sport a larger, 13in screen, faster processors and a 100MHz system bus, up from 66MHz in the current model. It's also expected to be slimmer and lighter than the existing machine.

O'Sullivan's comments confirm what our own Mac moles have been telling us, particularly that the new machines should be available in the UK immediately after the launch. Stores will have demo machines, even if kit for consumers is delayed.

We understand that the PC World Croydon bash on Wednesday evening will have the new Macs on show, though we can't confirm that they will be available to buy. And here's a thing: we hear that while John Lewis' High Wycombe store will receive all the new machines, the chain's other outlets may not. Obviously, Croydon and High Wycombe boast large numbers of Mac buyers, reflected in their sales of the platform relative to others in their respective chains. ®

Related Link

The Irish Times' interview with Brendan O'Sullivan

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