Apple Tablet rumor roundup: summer 2010 edition
By Vlad Savov 
posted January 20th 2010 5:57AM
posted January 20th 2010 5:57AM
Before we get into the rumors, here's a fact: unless the Apple Tablet cures cancer, global warming and obesity in one fell swoop, there'll be plenty of disappointed faces leaving the Yerba Buena theater next Wednesday. The hype is that overpowering. But hey, that doesn't mean we are not curious to know what it will actually do, so let's get to the latest batch of uncorroborated scuttlebutt.The Rumor: The Mac Observer believes these are legitimate photos of a 10-inch glass front for Apple's new machine. Coming from a "trusted source," the pictures seem to confirm a 10-inch screen size and an iPhone-inspired design (which includes an earphone hole!). In the pic to the side, you can see it resting atop a unibody MacBook Pro's keyboard for a sense of scale.
Our Take: Naturally taken in the worst possible light and suffering from a strong dose of noise and noise-reducing blur, the photos are close to impossible to verify. Their claim for legitimacy is also not helped by the blatant appearance of a scaled-up iPhone front plate -- something we could mock up ourselves if we had the patience.
The Rumor: Actual retail units of the fabled world-changing device won't be available until June. AppleInsider reports some analyst noise indicating that battery life and durability issues could delay the tablet's release until the middle of this year. Moreover, on the authority of "supply chain sources," it has been described as a "super iPod touch," with a suggestion it might have an ARM-based core inside.
Our Take: It's well known that the original iPhone followed a similar launch pattern of a January announcement and a June release, but Apple must be equally aware of how disappointing to its fans (and shareholders, more importantly) a paper launch would be. ARM internals seem logical, particularly since the iPhone already runs such hardware, and NVIDIA's Tegra 2 platform -- driven by a dual-core Cortex A9 chip -- has made some lofty promises about what can be done with the architecture.
The Rumor: The Guardian, via 9to5Mac, informs us that Apple has been in talks with UK mobile carriers about bringing its famine destroyer to the Queen's backyard in subsidized form. We're told it'll be bundled with mobile broadband contracts -- in much the same fashion as netbooks are treated currently -- but there'll be no exclusivity deals on the table so Orange, O2 and Vodafone are all in the running. There's also pretty firm word that the iWonder won't be making its UK debut until "later in the spring."
Our Take: Mobile broadband takeup is only going to grow in the UK and netbook bundles seem to have been popular so far, so it seems like a no-brainer to try and capitalize on this burgeoning market. As pointed out in The Guardian, behind the scenes talks don't always turn into real world deals, but at this point we'd be surprised if Apple wasn't talking to carriers about subsidies.
Well, we wanted photos and we got 'em -- in the signature grainy style that all pre-announcement hardware seems to appear. The latter two rumors have some intriguing synergy, though: both point toward availability coming significantly later than the announcement, and both seem to steer away from integrated 3G connectivity. We really can't wait to know -- if only to stop this speculative madness.
iPhone DX ~ Or so says Amazon.......
I know these are tight times, but that doesn't mean Apple has tightened the budget on their design team THIS MUCH.
If these are the pictures......no wonder it's going to be cheap. Can you imagine holding this thing up to your ear driving down the street. I'm sure J.Tops is creaming in his overly tight jeans right now. 10" touchscreen phone, sign him up. Paul can hardly control his virtual keyboard lust while Nilay wonders what Nokia patent Apple stole this time.
The only tablet i want to see at this event is a small white one , given out to all Apple fanboys that when bitten will end them agonizingly and quickly , Jonestown style!
Oh, look at that. It's a giant iPhone.
Apple designs products from a user perspective, and most definitely not from a let's-take-something-we-have-and-scale-it-up perspective. That's only done by people who want to fool us.
this could be a picture from "making of happy trigger tv" :o)
they're using xxl-sized phones, do they?
Anyone who thinks the table is going to look like a big iphone knows nothing about Apple, knows nothing about technology, and should be embarrassed by their lack of imagination and willingness to fall for anything some random stranger tells them.
Basically, anyone who wrote a comment as if this is the Apple tablet should be ashamed they posted such on a tech blog. But they won't be. People are oblivious
@pukerocket so you can officially prove that this isn't the tablet? That this isn't what it's going to look like? Or that this even exists? Obviously no one knows if this even really exists, and basing off of how the ipod touch hasn't changed its design since it debuted and doesn't show any indication that it is goin to change ever, I wouldn't be surprised if this is what it looks like.
@acniehaus03
This new product isn't an ipod touch. Have you missed the 400 rumour stories on Engadget the last week?
@pukerocket: The only thing the 400 rumours have shown is that nobody knows anything for sure.
FK it wheres the courier at in all this madness?
what if they just releaed a new mini-mac in the shape of ... an apple ? wouldn't that be fun ? or not ?
this reminds me of some crazy UFO conspiracy theories where you kinda know there is some crazy thing flying in the sky and the picture they took is so obscure but they create rumors and speculate for years..ya its kinda like this..but i mean what apple even isnt like this
Couple more days to go... Then well hopefully hear the real truth ;)
This design would be a mistake, on account of the massive rash of photographic mockery that would ensue (look at me talking on my HUGE iphone! Ha ha). A large iPhone would be received as comical.
Funny - Funny - absolute nonsense
I would also be dissapointed if this is real. There is no real creativity in the design other than just scaling up an iphone.
I'm an apple fanboy myself and I agree that there is too much hype and I am getting a little tired of these posts. They are all just vague enough to be considered plausible and it seems like anyone can just post whatever they want as long as they claim it's a rumor.
I can regurgitate what some "scource" or analyst says too.
The author is right in stating that the tablet will be a dissapointment in the eyes of many. There is no way that all the mythical rimors can be true. That's my two cents you can commence the flame wars.
Everyone needs to quit complaining about these Apple rumors. Don't like them? Fine, no need to let us know, the rest of us don't mind them yet don't care that you do. Secondly no one generates the hits like Apple so deal with it! Thirdly I actually wouldn't mind this design, it looks a bit larger but there's no way this tablet will be a one handed device at 10"s.
Could this not be one of the plastic bezels from one of the oversized iPhones that they put in the front window displays at the Apple store? Something like this, but smaller?:
http://images.appleinsider.com/apple-store-iphone-display-1.jpg
It seems odd that Apple would put an oversized on/home button plus a huge microphone slot in a tablet. Even on the biggest of the MacBook Pros, the on button is still the same size as all the other models.
@zolointo That would make one very LARGE macbook pro if that was really a display iPhone bezel!
@XChrisX
RE: "Something like this (picture of window display unit), but >>smaller
Am i the only 1 who is actually looking forward to new macbook pro's?
A big-ass iPhone? I highly doubt Jonny Ive is that stupid, the man is a genius, and jobs would cut off his balls and feed them to him if he designed that.
Enough with all of the iTablet rumors, in 1 week we will know what it will look like and everything that it can do and we all know that Engadget and all the other Apple lovers will love it as well. Engadget is already preparing their app for it as well, and that makes me think, where is the app for the Android platform? I think that is is never coming since a WebOS app was released before an Android app. Wishful thinking I guess I have.
The only thing that irks me about the supposed photos of the glass would be the hole for the speaker. Holding this thing to your head like a phone would be humorously impractical. It could be from a prototype I suppose, but I don't think they'd even need to prototype that to know that it is a bad idea.
This image and response reminds me of the Apple 3rd gen iPod leak. It seemed so fake, yet was actually the real deal.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/22/apples-3rd-generation-ipod-nano-revealed-in-spy-shots/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/05/apple-announces-new-ipod-nano/
I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but why would a tablet have a ear piece slot? Maybe it's a speaker slot? Just looks to iphony to me.
What about this? Found it via Twitter
http://img160.yfrog.com/i/rjey.jpg/
With all the hubbub about the ISlate, I'm surprised no one is asking the obvious question: If this thing becomes popular, how are we going to carry it?
IMHO, in order to tote this tool, we will see a seismic shift in American fashion. That is, the man purse (or "murse") will become the style of 2010 and beyond. I predict the female purse and the male briefcase will converge into a single unisex carryall to accommodate this mid-sized device.
confirmed, the picture of Apple Tablet:
http://news.indonewyork.com/images/pictures/apple-tablet.jpg
Video of the iSlate revealed in a Mac vs PC commercial spoof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTsQAFqRbo8
It's great that apple is joining the tablet phase but I think tablets are more of a gimick than an actual useful device I mean the only way I think ill actually be able to carry It will be buying a dedicated tablet bag. If I can afford a tablet I might as well buy a smartphone instead which is far more easier to carry or get a netbook if I want a portable computer. Face it people tablets are a gimick that people will use for a day then find they have no purpose for
I reckon it will be called the iPalette or something along those lines. The promo image shows splashes of colour and I think they will push its ability to be a creative device and to use multiple apps at once like you would use multiple colours of a painter's palette.
Hmm another one. Not too bad hmm?
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/807/islate2.jpg