Reader Lovell just sent this very puzzling email regarding something new from Apple tomorrow regarding phones. He writes:
I had a friend go to apple today to purchase an iPhone 4. The salesmen talked her out of buying it and told her to come back tomorrow. Would not say what was coming out tomorrow but said she would be verry happy. I ask what it could be phone wise because she said I don’t want a white iPhone but yet the salesmen still wouldn’t say.
Lovell is in Lexington, Ky. I’m stumped. Anyone thinking it could be the rumored cheapo iPhone?
Steve Jobs is on medical leave and now one of his key lieutenants reportedly wants to return to his native U.K.
Apple’s head designer Jonathan Ive wants to return England to live, reports the Sunday Times. Ive, of course, is one of the key geniuses behind Apple’s string of blockbuster hits and is perhaps the world’s most influential industrial designer.
British-born Ive has reportedly proposed a plan to “commute” to Cupertino, Calif., from his $4 million manor house in Somerset, but Apple’s board is none too thrilled with the idea. Ive is said to be at “loggerheads” with the board, reports the Sunday Times.
A friend of the family told the paper: “Unfortunately he is just too valuable to Apple and they told him in no uncertain terms that if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them.”
According to The Times, Ive has just reaped about $30 million from a ‘golden handcuffs’ deal signed in 2008, which has now expired. He and his wife Heather want to educate their twins in their native country.
Apple refused to comment on Ive’s employment status and said it was “speculation” that he wanted to return to the U.K.
“Stay tuned and buckled up.” According to sources speaking to Techcrunch, Apple has far from abandoned their premier Final Cut Pro software after more than a year without updates. It’s coming, and is supposedly slated to be the “biggest overhaul to Final Cut Pro since the original version was created over 10 years ago.” Yowza.
Although details are scant on what will be new, one of Techcrunch’s sources say that Final Cut Pro has been built back up from its marrow, with the changes encompassing everything from low-level architecture to a complete redesign of the user interface (a resdesign which will hopefully go over better than Apple’s redesign of iMovie’s interface a few years back).
The changes are reportedly “dramatic and ambitious,” and will answer all concerns that Apple’s abandoned the pros in their grab for consumers. If Techcrunch is right, Final Cut Pro will be hitting in Spring 2011, possibly to coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters conference on April 9th through 14th.
The new MacBook Pros expected later this week will boot off solid-state drives, claims Boy Genius Report, citing unnamed sources.
In addition:
The new MacBook Pros will feature larger glass trackpads. It’s hard to imagine how this is possible, but they’ve been growing with each successive machine, so maybe so.
The lower-end models will have 8GB-16GB SSDs for Mac OS X, and will also come equipped with a regular hard drive. This will offer the benefits of SSDs — instant on and super fast performance — while also providing lots of room for power users’ files (video and Photoshop).
The higher-end models will be SSD only, just like Apple’s new MacBook Air line.
The new machines will be up to a half-pound lighter than curent models. Again, hard to imagine how this is possible given that Liquidmetal rumors are unlikely.
The report also note there will be five different SKUs, jibing with previous rumor reports.
2011 MacBook Pro mockup by designer Dario Crisafulli.
It’s new MacBook Pros next Thursday February 24, according to MacRumors, citing a “reliable” source.
We’ve since heard reliable confirmation that this information is accurate and that the expected release date is next Thursday, February 24th. The move would be a bit unusual for Apple to launch new machines on a Thursday. So, if you are about to buy a new MacBook Pro, wait until next week.
MacBooks were last updated a year ago with Intel Core i5 and i7 chips. The new machines are likely to get Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge processors, which are faster and a lot less power hungry. Rumors that the machines will have cases made of Liquidmetal are unlikely, but they will probably will be lighter, thinner and have higher-resolution screens. A big price drop is predicted too.
Apple’s said to be releasing five new models, which will include two new 13-inch versions, two new 15-inch versions and one new 17-inch version.
Both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported that a smaller iPhone nano was in development, but now the New York Times says a shrunken iPhone is NOT on the cards.
Apple is developing a budget iPhone, the NYT says, but the device will not be any smaller than current models. Instead, it will scrimp on internal components, like memory, as we exclusively reported on Monday (More Detail On Apple’s iPhone Nano).
Keeping the iPhone nano’s screen size the same as current models makes perfect sense. Developers won’t have to code apps for different screen sizes, like they do on other platforms.
The Times did corroborate our report earlier this week, also reported in the WSJ, that Apple is planning a major overhaul of MobileMe. MobileMe will put a lot more media and files in the cloud, allowing users to stream and sync to all their devices without using cables.
The budget iPhone will make more use of voice commands, the NYT says.
At today’s White House press briefing, press secretary Jay Carney said that the focus of the event will be “innovation and job creation” with business leaders “who know a lot about private sector job growth.”
The full list of attendees has not yet been released, but it has been learned that outgoing Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Paul Otellini of Intel are also on the guest list.
The sleazy rumors, published by the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer, reportedly show photos of Jobs outside the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, his home town. The pictures don’t seem to be available online, but apparently show Jobs looking very thin and frail. The tabloid says Jobs has dropped from 175lb to just 130lb and has just six weeks to live. The topic is lighting up Twitter.
We don’t know whether the information is correct, but we certainly hope not. Best wishes Steve.
UPDATE: I sent an email to App Remix’s CEO Jonathan George asking whether his company was going to be bought by Apple. His response? “No comment…” he said.
Apple is working on a new notification system for iOS and will be buying a small company to build its technology into the operating system, according to one of our sources.
Apple’s pop-up notification system for new text messages, voicemails and the like has often been criticized as one of the weakest parts of the iOS. Notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic. It’s a mess.
HP/Palm’s webOS banner notification system, on the other hand, has been widely praised for its utility and ease of use. And from this week’s preview, it looks to be getting better.
There were rumors last year that the iPhone’s notification system would be fixed after the chief architect of Palm’s system, Rich Dellinger, returned to work at Apple. However, the system still hasn’t been fixed, and according to our source, Apple is now trying to buy a small app developer to fix it.
Our source, who asked to remain anonymous, didn’t know the identity of the company, except it already has an iPhone app in the App Store.
One candidate is Boxcar, a free app from App Remix that enables push notifications for Twitter, Facebook, and email. Boxcar’s system has been highly praised, especially the new iPad version.
Other than that, we couldn’t find other obvious possibilities for the company Apple is buying. If anyone has a good idea, please leave it in the comments.
We like the sound of this one: Apple is rumored to be working on a smaller, cheaper iPhone — the iPhone nano. Best of all, the $200 iPhone will be contract free and may be dual-mode.
According to Bloomberg, the new handset will be about one-third smaller and be based on older, cheaper components to keep the price down. Apple already has a prototype (more likely, prototypes) and plans to introduce the new iPhone mid year.
The new iPhone may also be dual-mode. Bloomberg says Apple is also working on a dual-mode GSM and CDMA handset that would work on almost all networks — this may or may not the iPhone 5, and may or may not be in the new, smaller iPhone. Would make sense if it was though.
The cheaper handset is to counter the relentless march of Android phones, which are beating iPhone market share (but not iOS market share).
Bloomberg has great sources and has a good track record with Apple rumors. If true, it’s huge. It would upend carrier subsidies and the whole wireless business, givung control back to consumers and device makers.
As we noted in our prediction piece, Apple is currently competing only at the high-end, and has nothing to counter Android at entry-level prices. We predicted Apple will introduce a cheaper iPhone this year to widen the “price umbrella.” We called the cheaper iPhone, the “iPhone play.”
Of course, the iPhone nano rumors are as old as the hills.
1. The iPad 2 is getting NFC (Near Field Communications), which will allow all kinds of cool wireless features. We’ve reported on a number of possible applications, including eWallets. iLounge’s source says Apple is working on several NFC-enabled accessories.
2. The iPad 2 may get a carbon fiber case instead of an aluminum. Or not. iLounge says carbon prototypes have been spotted but not be final production models.
3. Apple hasn’t yet abandoned the 7-inch iPad, even though Steve Jobs has said the form factor is “dead on arrival and swore Apple would never produce one.” According to iLounge, Apple has ordered components for a 7-inch device, but it could be for just prototypes.
Everyone knows that Apple will be refreshing the iPhone hardware this summer. But the big question about today’s Verizon launch is whether that carrier will get new hardware in less than six months. It seems likely. Apple is strongly rumored to be working on a dual-mode handset that works on both GSM and CDMA networks. But where does that leave VZW’s early adopters? How are they going to feel about buying a device made obsolete in a few months?
The New York Times columnist David Pogue asked Apple these questions. Here’s what Apple said:
Apple won’t say if there will be an iPhone 5 for Verizon this summer. (“Let’s put it this way: We’re not stupid,” is all an Apple rep would say.) But if it does, and you buy an iPhone 4 now, you’ll be stuck with an outdated phone in only five months.
To me, this reads like a tacit admission that the iPhone 5 will launch on Verizon and AT&T simultaneously this summer. Obviously Apple won’t pre-announce the iPhone 5 on VZW because no one that network will buy the iPhone 4 today.
T-Mobile has hinted it may be the third U.S. wireless carrier to get the iPhone.
“Ask Apple,” said T-Mobile executives when asked whether it was getting the iPhone 4 at a press conference in New York today, according to Electronista.
Though neither confirming or denying, T-Mobile’s answer suggests that talks between the carrier and Apple are ongoing. Verizon used similar language in the run up to its announcement that it would be carrying the iPhone.
One issue that T-Mobile did discuss was the readiness of the iPhone’s radio chips. To work on T-Mobile’s network, the iPhone would have to support the 1,700MHz 3G band.
T-Mobile president Philipp Humm said while the current iPhone isn’t compatible with T-Mobile’s network, future 3G chips would support more cellular frequencies.
“We’re not part of the [iPhone] chipset today,” president Philipp Humm said. “But we have chipsets which support five, or up to 10 spectrum bands in the market, so we should expect there will be more degrees of freedom going forward.”
T-Mobile may be eyeing the iPhone 5, which is rumored to have a dual-mode chipset from Qualcomm with both CDMA and GSM. If it includes both 850MHz and 1,700MHz, Apple could produce a single phone that works on almost all carriers.
A rather questionable new rumor is coming out of Three Guys And A Podcast. They’re claiming that Apple will not only discontinue iTunes this year but they’ll replace it with Safari. What?
Late next month, Nintendo is set to release the 3DS, the successor to their popular Nintendo DS handheld console. Besides a few bumped specs, the main selling point of the 3DS is its glasses-free 3D display, which Nintendo hopes will give their latest handheld a leg up on the competition… most importantly by giving them a clear point of differentiation from the DS’s number one competitor, the iPod Touch.
How long will Nintendo have 3D superiority over the Touch, though? Perhaps not as long as Nintendo thinks. A new rumor coming out of Japan suggests that the next iPod Touch will have the same glasses-free 3D display found in the Nintendo 3DS, based upon Cupertino’s multiple patents for 3D related technologies.
The new openings are a rectangular slot on the upper right side (when viewing the iPad from the front), opposite the volume rocker and lock; and a smaller, squarer opening on the top of the iPad in the middle.
The makers of the case say it fits the iPad 2 “perfectly,” which means the new device may have capabilities.
Chang guesses that the top opening is for HMDI or mini-HDMI, and the side opening for a SD Card. Engadget on Friday claimed the iPad 2 will have an SD Card slot, although it places the opening on the bottom right of the new iPad, not the side.
Although Apple is notoriously tight-lipped about new products in the pipeline, it’s pretty easy to predict when they’ll refresh one of their devices as long as you know when they last released an update… and this is doubly true for iOS devices, which follow a strict yearly update cycle.
Knowing this, you’d have to be addled-of-brain and swollen-of-tongue to bet against the iPad 2 shipping anytime before early April: after all, the first iPad shipped in America on April 3rd, a Saturday.
MacNotes‘s “reliable sources” tipping either an Apil 2nd or April 9th U.S. release for the iPad 2 aren’t really saying anything jaw-dropping then. They suggest, like last time, that the iPad 2 will ship on a Saturday early in April, and, like last time, it’ll be a U.S. exclusive for a a couple months before launching internationally.Also like last time, they say it’ll be six months before big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy get to offer the tablet.
Well, yeah. Duh. My guess is the iPad 2 launch will be more or less identical in timing and specifics to the first-gen iPad launch except for one thing: just a hunch, but I’m betting Apple will have both the WiFi and 3G versions ready simultaneously this time.
Could Apple be planning on signing a deal with legendary radio shock jock Howard Stern to exclusively host a new iTunes show? That’s the rumor amongst Sirius investors, and it’s food for thought, if not terribly likely.
How far in advance would Apple film a commercial for the second-generation iPad? Depending on the answer to that question, Apple might be readying the iPad 2 for release, getting an ad in the can for next April… or, well, not filming an ad for the iPad 2 at all.
In just a few hours, Apple will announce a new version of OS X, and will almost certainly unveil new MacBook Airs and new versions of iLife/iWork. But we’re wondering if they won’t reveal one more thing: a social media network with the goal of creating millions of home-based Apple Genii at its core.
It's going to be Mac OS X 10.7, nicknamed Lion. Naturally, we're hoping Apple licenses Leo the Lion from MGM for a new start-up screen.
There’s very little information about Apple’s next big update to OS X, 10.7 or “Lion,” which may be previewed at Steve Jobs’ special “Back To The Mac” press event on Wednesday.
People are very excited, though, and they’re letting their imaginations run away with them. Among the features that have been suggested are an App Store for the Mac, multitouch controls, and iOS apps instead of the little-used Dashboard.
It’s an interesting list, but some stuff there that just isn’t going to happen… Here’s what is going to be in 10.7:
Apple’s guillotine-thin ultraportable laptop, the MacBook Air, is disappearing from shelves all around the country, as reports indicate that the low-end 1.83 GHz and the high-end 2.13 GHz are out of stock pretty much everywhere… and it may very way herald the imminent arrival of a smaller and svelter 11.6-inch MacBook Air.
With few exceptions, the best way to predict what Apple is going to do is to look at what they’ve already done, which is why it’s best to take this rumor reported by Apple Insider with a grain of salt: they claim a FaceTime-equipped iPad will be coming in time for the holidays.
Apple Insider, on their part, realize that that their source — “a person with proven knowledge of Apple’s future product plans” — is giving them insider intel that defies Apple’s history of yearly generational cycles in their iPod and iOS line-up, but claim nonetheless that “there [is] an ambitious push inside Apple to verify the refresh for a possible launch ahead of this year’s holiday shopping season,” and that the testing of the FaceTime-equipped iPad has already reached the advanced testing stage.
That the next iPad will boast at least a forward facing camera for FaceTime calling is a given… but releasing it less than a year after the first iPad seems like an invitation for customer backlash.
Perhaps recognizing this, Apple Insider’s report ends up contradicting itself later, on, saying that the FaceTime-equipped iPad will arrive “no later” than the first quarter of 2011. Given that the first quarter ends in March, that’s close enough to a year after the iPad’s debut that it seems unlikely that Apple will meaningfully break their historic product cycle for a second-gen iPad, no matter how much they want FaceTime to be the de facto standard for video calling.
