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Rumor Roundup: Post-WWDC rumor retrospective

Chris Rawson
Updated ·5 min read
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First we'll open with the new, dumb rumors. Then, we'll review the dumb rumors of months past which failed to come true during WWDC.

New and dumb

Evidence of Upcoming Retina iMacs Showing Up in OS X Yosemite Beta (MacRumors)

Remember when this French website got a story about upcoming, refreshed MacBook Airs right, and I said the rumor blogs would therefore repeat absolutely anything this site said for years afterward? It has begun. (MORTAL KOMBAAAAAT)

IPHONE 6 LEAK: These case photos show us how MASSIVE Apple's next iPhones will be (BGR)

BGR, you keep using that word, "leak." I do not think it means what you think it means.

iWatch Component Production Said to Start Gearing Up This Month, September Launch Speculated (MacRumors)

A Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, who hasn't written a single correct prediction about Apple since he used to be a Topeka Capital Markets analyst, makes completely unsubstantiated claims about the iWatch's launch date and price. Of course, it's painfully obvious by now that a terrible track record is no impediment to getting absolutely everything that spews from your word-hole reblogged, so long as it has something to do with Apple.

Tangentially, this is an amusing tidbit from the article: "Little physical information has surfaced on the iWatch thus far."

If by "little" you mean "absolutely none," then sure.

iWatch Reportedly Launching in October with iOS 8 and Curved OLED Touchscreen (MacRumors)

This is a prototypical iWatch article: poorly sourced from an Asian publication, with totally unverifiable claims about its specs and launch date, and accompanied by a nauseatingly awful mockup of what the device might look like.

Code/red: Yes, Apple's First Wearable Device Is Slated for October (re/code)

John Paczkowski's Apple rumor reporting is pretty much immaculate, but you've still got to love this bit of bet-hedging: "Could things change between now and fall? That's certainly possible."

It's the "get out of being wrong about a rumour for free" card. All the cool kids are playing it these days.

Alleged iPhone 6 Rear Shell Shown From Multiple Angles in New Photos (MacRumors)

I'm not going to make a habit of this, but the top commenter on this article wins: "After all the excitement of WWDC, back to iPhone rear shells and mockups for 3 months!" Or as they're known at BGR, BREAKING IPHONE 6 LEAKS.

Now, let's look back at the past few month worth of rumors that failed to come true.

Old and dumb

iWatch + iOS 8: Apple sets out to redefine mobile health, fitness tracking (9to5 Mac)

Health and fitness tracking integration was supposedly going to be the "headline feature" of iOS 8. While the next-gen version of IOS hasn't been released to the public yet, thus far this claim doesn't appear remotely close to being true.

Also, the "Healthbook" application is just called "Health," and its interface doesn't match what's described in this article at all. And despite claims to the contrary, it's incredibly unlikely Apple changed any of this because of the leak.

Apple Stores discounting Apple TV w/ $25 iTunes card ahead of new hardware rumored for spring (9to5 Mac)

No new Apple TV hardware debuted.

Questionable screenshots from China claim to show TextEdit, Preview, Healthbook apps in iOS 8 (AppleInsider)

No iOS versions of TextEdit or Preview were announced at WWDC.

This is Healthbook, Apple's major first step into health & fitness tracking (9to5 Mac)

Again, neither the name nor the design match up with what was reported here - and again, it had nothing to do with Apple changing its plans because of the leak.

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

This device has yet to show up on store shelves or an Apple keynote stage.

Everything to know about iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 (Roundup + New Details) (9to5 Mac)

So much wrong to choose from.

  • As before, Healthbook's name and design don't match what's reported here.

  • iTunes Radio hasn't been split out into its own app,

  • Voice over LTE support wasn't announced. Though to be fair, this may still be in the cards for the next-gen iPhone.

  • Messages auto-deletion wasn't announced.

  • TextEdit and Preview apps weren't announced.

  • Game Center wasn't removed from iOS 8.

  • "Apple has announced major new Mac initiatives at WWDC the past couple of years, so perhaps Apple has this new MacBook Air up its sleeves for the 2014 conference." Nope.

  • "iOS 8′s headline feature being health and fitness tracking software." Nope.

Apple plans to match Microsoft Surface with split-screen iPad multitasking in iOS 8 (9to5 Mac)

No such feature was announced at WWDC. Of course, the typical weaselling-out claim here is the feature "wasn't ready," so if this never shows up at all, I guess we're supposed to assume it's because Apple can't make it happen rather than pinning the blame squarely where it belongs.

Apple confirms WWDC 2014 keynote to be held Monday, June 2nd at 10 AM PT; new hardware likely (9to5 Mac)

"According to sources, Apple is planning to unveil new hardware at this year's conference." Looks like your sources aren't doing nearly as well in 2014 as they did in 2013.

References to new iMac model discovered in OS X 10.9.4 developer preview (9to5 Mac)

"The model, dubbed iMac 15,1 could be shown off next week at Apple's WWDC conference, where we've heard that there will likely be some new hardware announcements." Not only was no iMac announced, there were no hardware announcements at WWDC whatsoever.

Apple expected to debut cheaper iMac and 8GB iPhone 5s at WWDC [u] (AppleInsider)

That little [u] will never erase the shame of your wrongness. Also, chalk up yeeeeeet another strikeout for "reliable" analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Did Apple accidentally reveal the iPhone 6 during WWDC preparations? (BGR)

LMFAO, BGR.