Anonymous Apple employee supposedly speaks about WWDC

When we go through our usual motions and say "take things with a grain of salt," we mean it -- but seriously people, take this one with a few. A site called DVD Newsroom is claiming to have published a short interview with an anonymous Apple employee who gave them the blow by blow of what we can expect from WWDC 2006 next Monday. In a nutshell: no iPhone (yet), Blu-ray probably coming in January (at Macworld 2007), Mac Pros will ship October or November, new monitors with "built-in iChat" (huh?), no plans for an Apple TV, nor a 12 or 14-inch MacBook, iTunes movie downloads will feature burning to DVD, no Mac tablet on the horizon, and, of course the bit everyone wants to know, "expect a true video iPod with Airport support" in the future. So there you have it, yet another unsubstantiated rumor keeping the Apple-blubber-lit fires burning bright going into the weekend. We hope not to have to pain you with more over the next couple of days, but we're making no guarantees.

[Thanks, Eliz and Marty]

[james @ Aug 4th 2006 11:04AM]

so basically a leopard preview and that's it? better start shortin' them shares

[rkolsen @ Aug 4th 2006 11:05AM]

Sounds Great!

[Benoa @ Aug 4th 2006 11:08AM]

Maybe the "built-in iChat" thing is a system allowing to use ichat without the mac turned on (but hey, what about the network issue ? -> wifi ? Another port/cable ?)

[tsubie @ Aug 4th 2006 11:10AM]

No macbook pro bumps to merom mentioned. darn.

[Verticalforce @ Aug 4th 2006 11:11AM]

Seems realistic enough.

[Julian @ Aug 4th 2006 11:11AM]

Is it just me or the guy basically said nothing? I mean, if this are true, Steve will have NOTHING new to introduce next week. That is absolutely non-apple.

[Joe Loy @ Aug 4th 2006 11:12AM]

Look, pain us as much as you like. Allso, do it with some pride!

[Jake Walker @ Aug 4th 2006 11:15AM]

I would think the built in iChat with a monitor is really just a built in iSight camera for use with iChat.

This sounds about right to me -- it's not like other rumors predicting everything under the sun.

[Jordan @ Aug 4th 2006 11:20AM]

Man, I'm getting sick of reading apple rumors... and yet I keep refreshing this site over and over and over; It's like an addiction. We should start a support group.

"Hello, I'm Jordan and I'm an engadgetaholic"

[O.I. @ Aug 4th 2006 11:21AM]

If this guy is right, then this confrence is hardly worth the hype (which isn't saying much). There's nothing of all that importance there.

[duncan @ Aug 4th 2006 11:22AM]

@julian, that's why i'm more inclined to believe it. no wild speculation, just stuff you'd expect to see at a WWDC. new powermacs, new monitors and i bet a lot of time spent on leopard.

[oxjox @ Aug 4th 2006 11:22AM]

This is good news. The rumor mill gets so crazy before any Apple event, everyone is bound to get let down. I think it's been over a year since Steve has announced anything interesting at all - even the Macbook was a given since we new about it WELL ahead of time. Yes, this report basically has NO information. Do you realy expect a fancy new concumer device at WWDC? This is going to be ALL Leopard preview with the addition of an Intel PowerMac in the same old enclosure.

[Nick @ Aug 4th 2006 11:24AM]

When is the WWDC? I really want to replace my old ipod...and i don't wanna get shafted if the true video ipod is out soon

[craig @ Aug 4th 2006 11:28AM]

Oh, they have to spoil all the fun. If this is true I'm a bit disappointed, then again it just confirms 'you shouldn't believe rumours'. Sigh.

[PPC @ Aug 4th 2006 11:33AM]

no iPhone? then iDont care!

[Gizmo @ Aug 4th 2006 11:33AM]

Seeing as the focus of a developer conference is the software, it should be more reasonable to expect a greater focus on 10.5 with maybe a few small product releases. January is always the big one and that's when I'm expecting the big guns to be rolled out.

Then again, Christmas isn't so far away really and some new hi tech booty always goes down well with guys at Christmas. Video nanos to compete with the new Creative Zen Vs seems logical if not commercially essential.

But I think it's reasonable to expect that a venture into pure telephony rather than just putting iTunes in someone else's phone would warrant an entirely separate media frenzied event anyway.

Don't get your hopes up for Monday people - you just know you'll be left feeling cheated if you do.

[blahblah @ Aug 4th 2006 11:34AM]

No tablet or new Macbook lovin'? Ah, well, I was hoping for that before picking-up a Macbook. We'll see, but it'll prolly be a black Macbook for me this September...

[morty salt @ Aug 4th 2006 11:35AM]

That is hillarious. Well, this is going to be the longest preview/demo of leopard if Jobs doesn't have anything else up his sleeve. 100% there will be a nano upgrade, that is all that I really know.

[Jeffrey Schrab @ Aug 4th 2006 11:40AM]

Meh. All I want to hear is "big revision of Finder, real slick now" and "hardware accelerated Quartz 2E is finally working and on by default - overall 25% GUI performance increase" and I read nothing that teases me with those two possiblities.

This is a developer conference - that's the DC in WWDC. There had better be a lot of Leopard news and it better be of the "Thought Vista might be catching up? Think again!" nature.

It's not that I want bragging rights for my OS - I just want a reason to shell out $149 10.5. Tiger ... wasn't as amazing after the new-OS smell wore off.

[Roy McKenzie @ Aug 4th 2006 11:40AM]

Sounds utterly boring.

[Gio - NYC @ Aug 4th 2006 11:42AM]

Whoa? iPods, Macbooks, TV's , iPhones, Monitors? Soon Apple's Desktop PC's will be forgotten.

[morty salt @ Aug 4th 2006 11:43AM]

Oh, and by the way MS. Sweet Confidante, Powermacs will!!! ship almost immediately no waiting till October or November. I think this individual is delusional at best.

[Googs @ Aug 4th 2006 11:45AM]

You know, I do not like mac stuff, but from a business point i follow the word on the street, and now i found myself looking forward to WWDC much more than i should! I feel let down because i wanted Apple to come out with something incredible, so i still have my fingers crossed at this point

[An - CA @ Aug 4th 2006 11:46AM]

this seems pretty dead on and realistic to me.

[morty salt @ Aug 4th 2006 11:47AM]

This comment and answer doesn't make sense at all?!!?


Q. What have been the roadblocks with an Apple movie store?

A. We’ll win both; consistent price per movie, burning to DVD. Other internal factors include bandwidth and the evolution of Airport. This is all bigger than the iPod.

[Dolomite @ Aug 4th 2006 11:56AM]

Interview sounds realistic enough, but I doubt an Apple employee with that much insider knowledge would so freely give it up. Apple employees tend to pride themselves in their ability to keep secrets... and they also have the wrath of Steve to deal with if they slip. Remember Worker Bee?

[Max @ Aug 4th 2006 11:57AM]

They didn't even mention the Macbook Pro with Merom core. That seems more probable then anything besides the Mac Pro, and it wasn't even mentioned!

[Kevin @ Aug 4th 2006 12:02PM]

This doesn't sound right to me. Mac Pros not shipping til October? Right...

What about MBP/MB updates? Surely at the least the MBP will get Merom by September. We should get a roadmap for Core 2 Duo as well, in which case the future of the iMac will be determined (Conroe or Merom).

Every says that they won't announce consumer products, but with Apple using Intel chips now the pressure to compete is on. They have to keep up with the trends and get the processors out first. And with the Zune coming out eventually (maybe with Vista :-P) they need to get an iPod update soon too.

There is the Paris expo though...

[shon @ Aug 4th 2006 12:02PM]

Unfortnately, i think this is realistic as well. Common, its just WWDC.. who gives a rats ass about devs?

[Stepleader @ Aug 4th 2006 12:04PM]

I agree this prediction is dead on (change that iChat to iSight). I can't tell you how many times I have been pumped up for an Apple event to be let down when they release produts that are so down to earth.

And everyyear the consesus is that WWDC or MacWorld was a bust. Then sure enough the next year history repeats itself and I am let down all over again.

Steve, just release the phone, pda and tablet already will ya? Stop thinking like a bussiness and consider what the consumers want.

[Jeff @ Aug 4th 2006 12:23PM]

"Interview sounds realistic enough, but I doubt an Apple employee with that much insider knowledge would so freely give it up."

This is assuming it's not an intentional leak.

Companies do this all the time. I'm sure Apple does as well. A lot of the time, the leakers provide about 90% correct information and 10% incorrect... then they leave out completely the bits that are really important. So what you end up with is a leak that looks really credible, that the article author/interviewer wholeheartedly believes and supports, but that still leaves a lot of room for surprises. At the same time, it's just inaccurate enough that next time around, there are still those who insist it wasn't an insider.

This is a way for companies to control the spread of rumors, basically by introducing their own. With Apple being as tight-assed on rumors as they are, it would surprise me if they *didn't* have plants all over the place. Some of them are probably even spreading more accurate info than others.

[Brian @ Aug 4th 2006 12:29PM]

It's a freakin' DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE!!!

I can't believe people think they were going to actually introduce consumer hardware (iPhone, new MacBooks) to DEVELOPERS!!!

Expect software and high end hardware - nothing more.

[Todd @ Aug 4th 2006 12:40PM]

Rumors on bloomberg radio said that Jobs is going to be leaving...

[stirrinthepot @ Aug 4th 2006 1:07PM]

How about the new Apple ISAAC UMPC-type Mac? I heard it will be pretty sweet; better than a tablet; handwriting and voice recog.

[Joe @ Aug 4th 2006 1:28PM]

I don't buy it ... Even people at the heart of Apple don't know about every product in development or which products will be announced. Steve holds that info very closely. I really doubt that someone who would be in the know ... would be spouting off anonymously.

[Jeff Foster @ Aug 4th 2006 1:32PM]

That's sort of what i've been expecting for a long time.

Apple TV? iPhone? that's all just silly speculation that SEEMS fun, but really are pretty stupid ideas. I still love all the off-the-wall rumors, but this one (though i doubt it's actually a leak: or maybe just a leak from an Apple Janitor,) sums up what i'm hoping for.

More than anything i'm just interested in 10.5, and hoping we get a few surprises along the way (Apple LCD's with a built in iSight are overdue, though i wonder how they'll connect.)

[Nocturnal @ Aug 4th 2006 1:50PM]

@Julian

I was thinking the same damn thing. This guy basically said nothing lol.

[John @ Aug 4th 2006 3:19PM]

Has it occured to anyone else that perhaps Apple is engaging in a little information warfare? There have been so many rumors so accross the map, perhaps a good portion of them were spawned by Apple deliberately? If you can't beat em (or sue em), join em by burying the true under a deluge of false.

[Karl Viklund @ Aug 4th 2006 3:56PM]

Fire him! Fire him! Fire him!

[eqwg @ Aug 4th 2006 4:41PM]

Hey,

I Want a monitor with built in chat so that I can finally look in someones eyes ;)

[Michael Fortson @ Aug 4th 2006 5:01PM]

Mac Pro: October or November? That disqualifies this source instantly. There is no way they will wait that long, when the chips have been shipping for weeks (months in the case of Woodcrest).

[Ben @ Aug 4th 2006 6:02PM]

"so basically a leopard preview and that's it? "

well you know... it's a developers conference, not some iPod users gathering.

Anybody expecting anything more than leopard preview and high end Mac introduction is just hyping themselves up for a gigantic disappointment.

[Chris @ Aug 4th 2006 8:18PM]

@John



Your a genius.

[shinyhat @ Aug 4th 2006 10:35PM]

People really ought to get realistic when it comes to these mac shows. Apple rarely ever releases crazy new platforms and there is no reason to believe they will do so now. The iPod was a nice surprise, but there was an obvious need at the time for a device like it. I don't see an obvious need now for a phone or a tablet (which would be way more complex than iPod was), so why would they launch something like that? Better to wait for technology to be ready anyway.

If this was indeed an intentional leak, then you can expect a couple more surprises I'd say. But don't get your hopes up for some miracle products. Maybe just some nice improvements or updates to make your life easier. Seems that's the Apple philosophy anyway.

This show is supposed to be all about Leotard, no? I'm more interested in the new Mac vs. Windows battle as both OS's will hopefully debut around the same time. Seems so long since we've had a nice head to head comparison of products that you could argue are nearly on the same technology level.

[Tyler Robinson @ Aug 5th 2006 2:03AM]

And suddenly the phone dies and he hears the dialtone? Yeah right.

Everyone knows you don't hear a dialtone if someone hangs up on you.

[Chris Hofman @ Aug 5th 2006 2:15PM]

Hey Tyler where are you from? Either it's you, my neighbour or somebody with the same name as my neighbour

[Uway @ Aug 8th 2006 7:42PM]

Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple, man its all about apple at this convention..i remember when Steve would talk about new software available for mac..for once i wouldn't mind knowing what new third party music software is coming for a mac. For instance pro tools has made a huge change in the new age of mac but nobody is really addressing this. Talk about new plug-ins that are being introduced to the mac platform via audio/video. Show some tricks on the big screen and wow folks with the power of the new core 2 duo..it would not surprise me if Steve was not behind some of these new gadgets and he wants out before it becomes bigger then him...if he goes out now he left as the greatest comeback kid in history..