Rumor Roundup: "Flop"

Here's a riddle: when is a flop not a flop?

Easy: when it sells a metric load of units and makes tons of money. Don't try telling that to some people, though. Their skulls are far too thick, and the contents of those skulls... the less said about that, the better.

Apple expected to sit out on megapixel horserace with 2014 iPhones (AppleInsider)

"People familiar with the matter" claim Apple won't be bumping up the megapixel rating on the built-in camera for the next-gen iPhone. Instead, Apple will concentrate on upgrading other components.

At least this source is (theoretically) better than Asian tech publications, "sources from the supply chain," or some analyst. And the claim makes sense; Apple has stuck with an 8-megapixel rear camera for the past three generations of iPhones, and in blind tests they're consistently rated among the best smartphone cameras on the market.

Here's why Apple might never release an iWatch (BGR)

Some people (other than me) are finally starting to talk some sense about the iWatch -- namely, that the concept doesn't make sense. At all.

The stupidest thing anyone has said about Apple in a long time (BGR)

BGR is definitely correct that Trip Chowdry's claim of Apple having "60 days left to either come up with something or disappear [...] if they don't come up with an iWatch," is quite probably the stupidest thing written about Apple in living memory. However, BGR pointing fingers at others for writing stupid things about Apple is also definitely a serious case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Report: Apple considering iTunes Store for Android & on-demand streaming service (9to5 Mac)

An on-demand streaming service makes sense, because that's where the industry seems to be heading in the long-term. Offering iTunes on Android isn't something I expect to see any time soon. It made sense for Apple to offer some iTunes ice water to those in Windows hell, because it helped Apple sell many more iPods and iPhones than it would have otherwise. Propping up sagging music sales by offering a music app on a direct hardware competitor makes far less sense.

Rumor: 12-inch Retina MacBook/Air updates coming soon without fan or mechanical trackpad button (9to5 Mac)

The "source" (heavy sarcasm quotes) is some random forum poster on a Chinese website. What, weren't there any analysts available to weigh in on Apple this week? I mean, any analysts other than Trip Chowdry?

Apple in Talks with Comcast to Provide Streaming TV Service on Future Apple TV (MacRumors)

Since this report comes from the Wall Street Journal, and since there is no Apple event scheduled for 48 hours or less from the time of this posting, I'm going to put this one in the "not bloody likely" bin.

Apple's iPhone 5c 'failure flop' outsold Blackberry, Windows Phone and every Android flagship in Q4 (AppleInsider)

This brilliant, in-depth post is a positively brutal takedown of the "iPhone 5c flop" meme that BGR has been pimping mercilessly since last September. Highly recommended.

BGR spent most of 2012 and 2013 heavily investing in the "low-cost iPhone" rumors that were flying around. They seemed certain that Apple would debut a sub-$200 iPhone. They staked their (already shaky) reputation on it. When Apple dared to unveil the still-quite-premium-priced iPhone 5c instead, the nerd rage at BGR was almost palpable.

I can't help but suspect that BGR's relentless attempts to paint the iPhone 5c as a "flop" are a reaction to Apple making them look like fools. If Apple had released a low-cost iPhone that aligned with BGR's speculation and had the same sales numbers as the iPhone 5c, would BGR have spent the intervening months scrambling to depict the device as a "flop"? There's no way to be certain, obviously, but I doubt it.