Rumor Roundup: IPHONE 6 LEAK
Apologies for the weeklong absence of the Rumor Roundup. It turns out influenza is not conducive to analytical writing... and drinking martinis and playing blackjack in Auckland is even less so.
Sketchy report claims Pegatron has received 15% of orders for Apple's 4.7-inch iPhone 6 (9to5 Mac)
9to5 Mac continues its proud tradition of noticing a rumor seems "sketchy" and then posting it anyway. At least they helpfully note that this latest sketchy rumor contradicts earlier sketchy rumors on the same topic... which, of course, 9to5 Mac also passed off as real news.
TSMC Provides First Batch of Fingerprint Sensors for iPhone 6, iPad Air 2, and iPad Mini 3 (MacRumors)
"Supply chain sources" say what everyone already expects -- that all iOS devices released this year will have Touch ID sensors. Honestly, the only shocking thing about this story is it wasn't sourced from Digitimes. That at least means it has a nonzero chance of being true.
Whatever Happened to the Apple HDTV? (Time)
Harry McCracken does a brilliant takedown of the perennial Apple HDTV rumor meme, largely kept alive in recent years by Gene Munster. Once upon a time, this mythical device was the darling of the rumor scene, constantly forthcoming in the fourth quarter of whatever year it happened to be. Today, not even the most harebrained of analysts will touch this meme with a barge pole. Time will tell if the iWatch turns out to be in the same category.
Apple in final talks to acquire Beats Electronics for $3.2b, deal could be announced next week (9to5 Mac)
This was by far the Rumor of the Week, and it sent every blog in the universe into a firestorm of speculative posts on why the acquisition will or won't happen, and why it would be either the best or worst thing Apple has ever done.
Personally, I don't remember the last time Apple acquired a company that "normal" people had heard of prior to the acquisition. Apple doesn't have a history of paying out big money for household-name companies, which is why I scoffed at the "Apple is going to buy Twitter" rumors a few years back.
I could go down the rabbit hole of speculating on why Apple might or might not actually buy Beats, but roughly two million writers have already done that this week. It's amusing to note that people are already reporting that this (still unconfirmed) deal has been delayed by a week, which makes me wonder how long we'll have to endure "Apple acquiring Beats next week" posts.
4.7″ iPhone 6 could be available in August, 5.5″ model in September (9to5 Mac)
Source: "Taiwanese media," which is another way of saying "don't hold your breath."
Sketchy supplier renders of 4.7-inch iPhone 6 surface online (9to5 Mac)
"Sketchy renders." Get it? HA HA, I kill me!
Apple Reportedly Integrating NFC Technology into iPhone 6 (MacRumors)
Remember when Apple was rumored to put NFC in the iPhone 4S? And then the iPhone 5? And then the iPhone 5s? Ah, good times.
IPHONE 6 MOCKUPS
iPHONE 6 LEAK -- iPhone 6 vs. iPhone 5s: New leak gives us a better look at HUGE redesign (BGR)
IPHONE 6 MOCKUPS
iPHONE 6 LEAK: Yet another way Apple will reportedly follow rivals' lead with the iPhone 6 (BGR)
IPHONE 6 NFC LOL HURR DURR
Apple plans to match Microsoft Surface with split-screen iPad multitasking in iOS 8 (9to5 Mac)
This seems likely to have come from 9to5 Mac's reliable sources embedded in Apple, so it has a chance of coming true. It's worth noting, however, that rumored features like these are by no means guaranteed to make their way to the public on the initially reported timescale, especially if Apple can't find a way to make them work to the company's high standards.
Rumor: Apple already restricting retail employee time off in Sept., its usual iPhone launch window (AppleInsider)
Wait, how does this align with rumors of an iPhone release in August? Surely if that earlier rumor was true, there'd be similar restrictions lined up in both months. Right?
iPhone 6 with larger, sharper 1704 x 960 resolution screen in testing (9to5 Mac)
This is some interesting speculation, but even taking into account the analysis behind it, 1704 x 960 still seems like a really oddball resolution. Although it might cause more growing pains for developers initially, it seems like 1920 x 1080 would ultimately be a better target for a screen resolution bump.
