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With the 2009 Worldwide Developers Conference less than a week away, there’s plenty of speculation of what new products Apple will announce (especially after the dud that was MacWorld Expo). Here’s a roundup of the latest speculation, along with the liklihood of it happening.

OS X v10.6 “Snow Leopard”:
This barely qualifies as a rumor. The next big iteration of the Mac operating system is a lock to be pre-released as a solid beta at Apple’s conference for developers. While some may have forgotten that Apple also makes computers, the Macintosh line is stronger than its ever been, thanks to Macbook sales. In addition to adding new some new features (note that its “Snow Leopard,” and not an entirely new big cat), a lot of attention will be paid to the notion that Apple will make it Intel-only, dumping PPC code to make it faster and more reliable on newer machines.

iPhone Update:
If Apple doesn’t release a new iPhone to go along with the new iPhone OS 3.0, expect them to get crucified in the press. But considering that AT&T was having a fire sale on 3G iPhones earlier this year, and that the signs at the WWDC have been touting the success of the iPhone store, the announcement of a new iPhone—even though the release may be months away—is a certainty.

Mac Netbook:
Consider that the white Macbook was Apple’s best-selling computer, and it was priced at under $1,000. Now, one way of thinking is that this means “people want cheap Macs,” so a Mac Netbook that’s even cheaper would seem to make a lot of sense. But consider what you got for a grand: an optical drive, Airport, Bluetooth, two USB ports, Ethernet, a mini video port, audio in and out, and the otherwise-abandoned Firewire 400. That’s a lot, and Apple was (presumably) still able to make a profit. While netbooks are a growing market, they’re also a very cheap one, and one thing Apple doesn’t do is “cheap.” Creating an ultra-small, ultra-light Mac laptop that doesn’t cost a lot would likely cannibalize sales from the Macbook, Macbook Air, and even the iPod touch line. Some people may want it, but it just doesn’t make sense for Apple.

Mac Tablet:
This already exists: it’s called the iPhone and iPod touch. Will we see a version with a larger screen? Maybe, but the iPhone can’t get much larger than it already is, or it’ll get unwieldy. Plus, Safari’s pinch interface has rather neatly solved the small screen size problem. So, a large, two-handed iTablet with an optical drive makes little sense: it’d be a pain to cart around, optical drives use a lot of power, and besides, Apple doesn’t want you to play DVDs: they want you to buy videos from the iTunes store. There were rumors that a Taiwanese manufacturer was making 10” touch screens for Apple, but I’m still calling this one very unlikely.

Stevenote:
Will Steve Jobs deliver part of the Keynote? Phil Schilller is the announced speaker, and if Steve showed up, it would steal the thunder of the announcements and focus all the attention on his health, and his stewardship of Apple. Since they’ve spent the last six months trying to get people to believe that Apple will survive even if Jobs isn’t the face of the company, having Jobs anywhere in the building would be a mistake. My guess is, Steve will take a pass.

To see how all of this pans out, join us Tuesday, June 9th, for our WWDC Keynote live blog.