A slew of rumors have surfaced this weekend that point towards Apple currently field-testing 4G iDevices in the wild running the latest builds of iOS 5. LTE code has been uncovered in recent beta builds of iOS 5, and speculation is that Apple could release the iPad 3 with LTE capability in early 2012.
Reports have already come out that Apple is testing LTE iPhones in the wild, and it was recently uncovered that AT&T was installing 4G equipment in Apple stores. Will we see the first 4G device from Apple in early 2012?
In the latest series of iPhone 5 rumors, a new report has surfaced that strings together months of murmurs relating to a second iPhone model release this Fall. This time, it’s believed that Apple will introduce a free, ‘iCloud’ iPhone alongside a new flagship device.
This second, low-cost iPhone would tie heavily into Apple’s iCloud service for streaming and syncing data, and the device is rumored to consist of cheaper parts combined with current parts in the iPhone 4.
The folks over at Nowhereelse.fr have put together a pretty awesome iPhone 5 rumor roundup. The above video goes through all of the major iPhone 5 rumors in a quick and intriguing way. The likelihood of each rumor is given a percentage so that you can get a good idea of what the iPhone 5 will be like.
According to theRBC Daily, Apple could start selling the iPhone 5 in Russia this November, with that date being “almost immediately” after the US release.
The Russian newspaper’s sources are unnamed smartphone retailers, and this report seems to echo another rumor that Apple won’t unveil the iPhone 5 until October of this year.
Could this be the iPhone 5? The picture was posted to MacRumors’s forums, and was snapped at the office of a French cell phone company, according to the forum member who posted it.
Hold on to your hats, because the iPhone 5 may have just been spotted in the wild, again. In classic fashion, an anonymous tipster has snagged a not-so-clear picture of what he claims to be Apple’s next iPhone.
Taken in San Francisco, this picture is of an alleged Apple employee on his way home from work. The tipster in question feels very strongly that the device in the employee’s hands is an iPhone 5, and he just may be right.
Hot on the heels of the new MacBook Air, Apple looks to already be working on a mysterious, “ultra-thin” 15-inch Macbook to add to the mix.
Not much is known about what this upcoming notebook from Apple will be like, but the MacBook Pro line hasn’t seen a refresh since February. Could it be an Air-style MBP?
According to a “very reliable source,” iPhone Italia has reported that one of Switzerland’s carriers, Swisscom, will start offering the rumored iPhone 5 on October 5. Also, the Italian site’s source is “100% sure” that the iPhone 5 will also be available in the US on September 5, as Apple would already have to be talking with carriers about distribution for a new device this Fall.
Apple’s white Macbook has served as the company’s entry-level notebook computer for several years. The 13-inch white Macbook is currently offered as Apple’s cheapest notebook for $999. The base MacBook Air model is also offered for the same price.
It looks like Apple is set to phase out the white Macbook in the coming months, which would place the Macbook Air as Apple’s premiere entry-level notebook.
It’s almost here, folks! After weeks of anticipation and rumors about OS X Lion’s public launch, we’ve heard word that copies of Lion are shipping to Apple Stores for the Mac demo units on the store floor. Additionally, Lion is also getting installed at AppleCare support centers.
We apologize if this is getting confusing. At first there were supposed to be updated MacBook Airs coming today with OS X Lion, then it was reported that we’d see new hardware from Apple on July 26th.
Now, it appears that new MacBook Airs with backlit keyboards and more storage could be coming as soon as next week!
While there’s still hope that OS X Lion will drop today, the chances are slim. Previous speculation was that Apple would announce Lion alongside new Mac hardware today, but that hasn’t seemed to pan out just yet.
So when is it coming? We’ve received a tip that claims a July 26th Lion launch date, seemingly confirming a similar report earlier today… and our tipster received his word straight from an Apple Store Genius’s mouth.
One of the cool new functions of iOS 5 is the ability to set the iPhone’s LED to flash for various system level alerts… but how useful is that functionality when the LED is on the back of the phone?
Not very. That’s why sources are now saying that the iPhone 5 will boast dual LEDs, one on the front, one on the back. Like a Blackberry!
We don’t know about you, but personally we are more excited about the next version of iOS than we are the next version of the iPhone. The iPhone 4 is fairly adequate and meets most of our needs, but iOS has a lot of room for improvement. WWDC 2011 is just around the corner and we know that Apple will be announcing iOS 5 there so here is a round-up of the current rumors surrounding the next version of iOS.
This morning’s press release from Apple clearly outlining the topics Steve Jobs would be covering in next week’s WWDC keynote make it crystal clear that the next iPhone is not officially on the conference’s agenda for the first time in three years. Instead, WWDC will focus on software: iOS, Lion and iCloud.
But could there be a “one more thing?” And could it be the iPhone 4S? That’s what a new rumor is suggesting… but take it with a grain of salt.
Conventional wisdom has held that the next iPhone won’t ship until September, at Apple’s annual iPod event. That’s three months later than Apple’s historic iPhone release cycles would suggest.
If the idea of waiting an extra three months for your next phone gets your blood boiling, though, it might get even worse: one report is now suggesting that the next iPhone won’t ship until November 21st.
Cult of Mac has learned Apple could be scheduling secret employee meetings with retail staff on May 28th between 8 and 10am. Is this just pre-WWDC preparations, or something more?
A handful of components said to come from the guts of the next iPhone have hit the web. Or they might just be a piece of junk taken from some tinker’s pockets. If they’re for real, though, consider at least a couple of the juicier rumors about the hardware of the iPhone 5 debunked.
Will Apple, as rumored, shift the MacBook line over to an ARM processor this year, starting with the MacBook Air? If you answered yes to that question, one analyst has some compelling reasons why you might just be huffing fumes.
New design: Apple is testing several prototypes (we all know this) and one of the leading candidates for the iPhone 5 is thinner than the current iPhone 4 and looks “more like the iPod touch.” It has a teardrop shape – thinner at the bottom than the top, like the new MacBook Air.
Gesture-sensitive Home Button: The Home Button will be bigger and will understand a gestures. “Our sources say that gestures are definitely coming in a future version of iOS,” says
Larger screen: the screen will go up to 3.7-inches, not 4-inches as rumored. It will keep the current resolution, dropping pixel density goes from 326 to 312, but will still be a Retina Display (it’s still above 300ppi).
No Bezel: Screen will be edge-to-edge, occupying the entire front of the iPhone. That means no bezel (or almost no bezel).
Hidden earpiece & mouthpiece: The earpiece and sensors are behind the screen itself.
Inductive charging: It may or may not have wireless inductive charging. Crystal ball is cloudy.
NFC: Likewise it may or may not have NFC.
Global radio chips: It’ll be based on Qualcomm’s dual GSM/CDMA Gobi chipset, which means it’ll work on a ton of GSM and CDMA networks worldwide, most importantly in China.
Joshua Topolsky warns, however, that none of this is set in stone: “Keep in mind that this info isn’t fact — we’re getting lots of threads from lots of places and trying to make sense of the noise. The versions of devices our sources are seeing could be design prototypes and not production-ready phones. Still, there are strong indications that Apple will surprise a public that’s expecting a bump more along the lines of the 3G to 3GS — and this is some insight into where those designs might be headed.”
UPDATE: Brian Tong sent me a note pointing out my unfair characterization of him as “just a TV show host.” Brian has worked at CNet for three years where he is an editor. He’s a journalism major and even used to work in Apple retail. He’s got lots of contacts at the company. My apologies to Brian for unfairly questioning his credentials.
New iMacs with Sandy Bridge CPUs and the zippy new Thunderbolt port are due at the end of April or the first week of May, according to CNet TV presenter Brian Tong, citing “anonymous sources.”
There won’t be a redesign. The new machines will look the same as the old, which is no bad thing.
The source of this info is a bit iffy. Tong isn’t a traditional is a tech reporter — he’s a TV show host — but he does work in tech news and Tong is an editor at CNet and host of CNet TV’s The Apple Byte Show. He says he’s “highly confident” about his source.
The Sandy Bridge update is definitely on the cards. What’s new is the ship date — four to six weeks. This in line with our interactive Buyer’s Guide, which says an iMac update is overdue.
Please, please, please let this be true. I’m in the market for a new desktop to replace my old Mac Pro, and Sandy Bridge, big screens and Thunderbolt make for a juicy, juicy update.
The last iMac update was about eight months ago with Intel’s Core i3, i5 and i7 chips and ATI Radeon graphics. But the MacBook Pros were just updated with quad-core Sandy Bridge processors, and they’re screamers.
Thunderbolt is a new port for high-speed peripherals and displays. Dubbed “one connector to rule them all,” it’s a single 10Gbps cable that consolidates almost all existing ports, from FireWire to USB to miniDisplay to eSATA.
With all the rumors about NFC being in the next iPhone — or not in the next iPhone — we have a few more details about Apple’s remote computing plans that revolve around the technology.
According to a source close to the company, Apple is busy testing several prototype iPhones with near field communications (NFC). Unfortunately, the source has no knowledge of when Apple will actually introduce the technology in the iPhone. It could be the next model, due this summer, or next year’s, they said.
However, Apple is working out the kinks in an ambitious remote computing system — and a key component utilizes the recently launched Mac App Store.
As we previously reported, Apple is working on a system that allows users to log into another computer using an NFC-equipped iPhone. The iPhone pairs with the host machine, and loads the user’s files and settings over the net. It’s as though the user is sitting at their own machine at home.
Ever wonder how blogs and websites decide whether to publish a juicy Apple rumor? Have you ever published a piece of gossip yourself? To help understand this delicate decision making process, Joy of Tech has published some helpful Apple Rumor Publishing Guidelines in the form of a easy-to-follow flowchart.
Gave me a good laugh – classic wisdom finely honed among rumorologists for decades! :)
This one looks a bit fishy, but we’re throwing it out for fun. Amazon.de may have accidentally posted the specs and release date of the iPad 2.
According to the screenshot above, snapped YourAppleDaily.net, the iPad 2 available will have Thunderbolt, a camera and 1.2GHz CPU. And it will be released released on March 17.
Here’s the specs:
9.7-inch screen (same as the current iPad)
1.2GHz CPU
Wi-Fi
Thunderbolt
Camera
Bluetooth
Available 17 March
However, the link to Amazon.de provided by YourAppleDaily.net isn’t working (here’s the link), and a search of Amazon.de pulls up zip.
