Expectations high ahead of Apple CEO's keynote

(Apple)

Check back here at 9:45 a.m. PT on Monday for a liveblog of Cook's keynote from Yahoo's Scott Ard and Joanna Stern of ABC News.

Apple's 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference begins Monday in San Francisco. As usual, there is plenty of buzz surrounding the annual event--rampant speculation among tech industry observers about what the Cupertino, Calif.-based company and CEO Tim Cook--whose kenote is scheduled for 10 a.m. PT--could unveil this week at the sold-out show.

"Tf the deluge of rumors is indication of what's to come," Engadget's Darren Murph wrote, "this could very well be the most monumental WWDC in recent memory."

Many predict Apple will announce a new operating system--iOS 6--on Monday.

"The announcement of new software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch has been confirmed by banners that appeared at the Moscone conference center in San Francisco on Friday, reading 'iOS 6,'" the Associated Press reported. "It's not much of a surprise. Apple has used its Worldwide Developers Conference as an opportunity to announce new iPhone software for the past few years."

"iOS 6 will very probably be the cornerstone of the keynote and the follow-up sessions," Gizmodo.com's preview noted. "There's also a good chance that we'll see new MacBook Pros, a new generation of MacBook Air, and a release date for OS X Mountain Lion. Hell, we might even see new Mac Pros and some Apple TV Apps."

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"It's been a year or more since Apple's major desktop and laptop models have been updated," CNN's Doug Gross wrote. "The iMac got refreshed in May 2011, the MacBook Pro's last overhaul was February 2011 and MacBook Air's latest model rolled out in July of last year."

As Gross pointed out, apps "have started showing up in the Mac app store with updates saying they've added 'retina graphics,' the term Apple uses for its high-resolution displays on newer iPhones and iPads"--suggesting that Apple's PCs may be getting upgraded, too.

According to PCMag.com, Siri--Apple's "intelligent personal assistant" favored by actors like John Malkovich--will "likely" be announced for the new iPad, too.

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The biggest mystery, the AP noted, surrounds Apple's TV ambitions: "Late company founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he wanted to remake the TV. Apple does sell an 'Apple TV,' but it's small box that connects to a TV to display movies from iTunes. There's much speculation that Apple plans to make a full-blown TV set, integrated with iTunes."

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