Rumor Roundup: Probation violation

Following Apple's most recent event, a solid two weeks went by with no rumors of consequence. It turns out that was just probation. The rumors have returned -- just a trickle compared to the flood of the past few months, but there nonetheless.

iPad mini 2 Retina display tipped already in pipeline from AUO (SlashGear)

One of the suppliers for the current iPad mini's display is reportedly already preparing a 2,048 x 1,536 Retina display for the second-generation model, due for release just under a year from now. This is good news, because it gives iPad mini owners with an over-inflated sense of entitlement many months to stoke the fires of their nerd rage over the iPad mini 2's release.

Exclusive: Microsoft Office for iPhone, iPad, and Android revealed | The Verge

I'm not sure whether to classify this as a "rumor" or not since it was unveiled via a press release. Nevertheless, Microsoft Office is supposedly coming to iOS next year -- as a viewer-only app. If you want to actually edit Office documents, you'll have to purchase a subscription. Or you can do what I'm going to do: ignore these apps altogether and go on happily using anything but Office.

Apple not likely to ditch Intel chips for Macs in near future (Macworld)

This past week, multiple outlets came out with the perennial old story that Apple is planning to ditch Intel processors in favor of its own ARM-powered CPUs. Anyone possessing a passing familiarity with the enormous gulf in processing capability between the most powerful ARM A6 and the weakest Intel i5 might laugh this off as implausible, but that didn't stop the Internet's echochamber from sounding off for most of the week. Macworld's take on the matter seems the most sane to me, and I'm not just saying that because its position agrees with mine.

That's all of this week's credible rumors out of the way. Let's see what our old pal Digitimes is up to.

Rumor: Samsung expecting to lose a portion of orders for future Apple chips (AppleInsider)

The real news here is AppleInsider has downgraded Digitimes from "sometimes reliable" to "hit-or-miss."

Apple unlikely to hit MacBook growth target (BGR)

Digitimes thinks Apple won't make its 2012 target for MacBook growth because its "new MacBooks" didn't launch until late October. The hit-or-miss publication apparently doesn't remember that Apple actually refreshed its entire MacBook lineup at WWDC in June. Only the Retina display 13-inch MacBook Pro is newer.

That's it for this week's rumors. The well is likely to be this dry or drier for the rest of this year; Apple's product lineup is likely locked down for the next few months at least.