WWDC next week, Apple rumors abound

The Apple World Wide Developers Conference (or WWDC, for short) kicks off next week, which means that it's about time for the Apple rumors to start pouring in. While new iMacs are just about guaranteed at this point, the design and hardware specs of any new units remains in question. 9 to 5 Mac is reporting that the new models will ship with Intel's new Santa Rosa mobile technology and will be available in sizes exceeding that of the current 24-inch model. What's more, they might sport an updated, brushed-metal look. Traditionally, Apple has reserved the brushed-metal for its high-end products, so I would probably take this one with a grain of salt.

Meanwhile, American Technology Research's Shaw Wu went on the record to suggest that LED-backlit MacBook Pros, an ultraportable "MacBook Mini" and "virtual machine" technology in OS X would be unveiled onstage. While I'd be surprised to see LED-backlit Macs so early, it's certainly within the range of possibility. The ultraportable MacBook, however, seems like wishful thinking, given that the mythic device has been the fanboy dream of choice ever since Apple nixed the 12" PowerBook. As for built-in Windows virtualization in OS X, don't count on it: Boot Camp is as far as Apple is willing to go when it comes to enabling other operating systems in OS X--products like Paralells Desktop are available for the niche market that wants to run OS X and Windows side-by-side. While Apple might finally take Boot Camp out of beta and collapse it into OS X, I wouldn't expect much more.

For more pre-WWDC Apple rumors:
- read this Apple Insider article
- see this Gizmodo article on new iMacs