Like any company that has kept a small, loyal customer base rabidly interested in its products for more than 30 years, Apple has mastered the art of reinvention. The transformation from a 1Mhz motherboard manufacturer to the biggest purveyor of digital music has been gradual and deliberate, and Apple’s path has been peppered with forks, detours and bold turns that have kept Cupertino on the map.

And now, it seems we’re on the precipice of another “product transition” that will apparently put a significant dent in Apple’s third-quarter gross margins (how much money it makes from each sale). The less-than-characteristic divulgement set off a characteristic flurry of speculation surrounding the fabled Tablet Mac, with rumor sites chiming in with specs and investors betting on another must-have holiday gadget.

With Apple, we never know too much, but we do know an announcement is coming sometime within the next 60 days; and if history is any indictor, we all should be paying attention:

Mac

Way back before many iPod owners were even born, Apple made Apple computers — that is, Apple I, Apple II, Apple III, etc. It wasn’t until 1984, nearly eight years after selling its first PC, when the world was introduced to the Macintosh, the computer that would set the course for the next 24 years (and counting). Apple famously teased its new computer with a 60-second Super Bowl spot directed by Ridley Scott — a bit more ostentatious than July 21's Webcast — launched its signature machine two days later, and never looked back.

Little did we know that the Mac would grow and evolve as much as Apple itself, with titanium-dipped portables, blueberry-flavored desktops, sunflower-inspired works of art, and sleek, refined towers. Through every transition, the Mac has retained its trademark style and class, and we’re sure it’ll leave us breathless this time, too.

iPod

On Oct. 23, 2001, Steve Jobs took the stage at Apple’s headquarters with a new gadget tucked away in his pocket that immediately made headlines. Built exclusively for the Mac, the 1,000-song iPod seemed doomed to fail in a fledgling market cluttered with players no one really wanted.

What we didn’t know was that Steve had no intention of letting iPod languish as a high-priced niche product. Within two years, millions of iPod users were downloading and transferring songs using the iTunes Music Store, and Apple even let Windows users in on the action as it carefully crafted a “halo” of support.

Nearly seven years later, the iPod represents the single greatest gamble in Apple’s history — and while it may not be the star, we’re betting it plays a significant role in this transition.

OS X

After years of anticipation and several false-starts, a DVD Player-less, bug-plagued version of OS X hit shelves on March 24, 2001, to much fanfare. The first clang in Classic’s eventual death knell, Aqua and Cocoa ushered in a grown-up, sleek desktop far beyond anything Windows and Linux had to offer, bugs and all.

It was hard to see then, but with OS X 10.0 Cheetah, Apple set the stage for the ice book, aluminum PowerBook, sunflower iMac, iPhone, Expose, Dashboard, Time Machine — and whatever Steve has up his sleeve this time.

PowerPC/Intel

Much like a car’s engine, a computer — even a Mac — is nothing without its processor. Back in the early 90s, in an effort to stem the migration to Windows, Apple teamed with IBM and Motorola on a brand new processor architecture that promised higher yields, better performance and more versatility than Intel’s offerings.

For the most part, the partnership delivered, but despite bake-offs and megahertz myths, PowerPC handcuffed the Mac for more than a decade, as the vast majority of consumers chose more mainstream boxes with Intel inside. While everyone’s attention was focused on the iPod, however, Apple pulled the most shocking transition of all and dumped PowerPC, not two years after shipping its heralded Power Mac G5.

Apple’s ingenuity made the whole Intel shift seem seamless, and its numbers have been increasing ever since. And whatever the upcoming transition is, we think it’ll keep up that trend.

The greatest mind in the history of Silicon Valley shouldn’t need an adjustment period, but when you return to the company you helped found after all but getting the pink slip some 10 years earlier, it’s a necessary evil — especially when said company is in shambles. When Steve returned to Apple in 1996, he immediately made his presence known as “iCEO,” killing the Newton, striking a browser deal with Microsoft, and shifting the company in a decidedly consumer direction, with the iMac, iPod, iTunes, iBook and iPhone all coming under his watchful eye.

And, of course, this year’s upcoming, “one more thing.”

What transition does Steve and Apple have up its sleeve? Share your theories below.