Rumor Roundup: Return of the analysts
Just when I was starting to think all the analysts had gone into hibernation for the year, a few have crawled out of the woodwork to make their typically barmy, nonsensical predictions.
RBC raises Apple price target to $120, predicts Apple Watch will earn $10B in first-year revenue (AppleInsider)
Source: Some analyst
Chance it's true: 30 percent (at best)
Some analyst throws a bunch of numbers against a wall to see what sticks. AppleInsider reports this as though it constitutes real news. Guess what? It doesn't.
Samsung Chosen to Supply 80 Percent of Apple's Future A-Series Chips for iOS Devices (MacRumors)
Source: Korean website
Chance it's true: 50/50
There's nothing fishy at all about a Korean source reporting a multi-billion dollar deal involving a Korean company as notoriously shady as Samsung. Nope, I'm certain this reporting is totally on the up-and-up and hasn't been influenced at all by Samsung. Not a chance. Move along, nothing to see here.
Apple Supplier Sony Debuts 21-Megapixel Image Sensor With Ultra Fast Autofocus, 4K HDR Video (MacRumors)
Source: Sony
Chance it's true: Well, 100 percent
This isn't a rumor, given that Sony actually announced this component's existence. But no sooner did Sony do so than the wild speculation about this camera showing up in next-gen iOS devices started. This in spite of the fact that Apple has happily stuck with 8-megapixel camera sensors for the past four generations of iPhone. But sure enough...
Apple May Introduce 'Biggest Camera Jump Ever' in Next-Generation iPhone (MacRumors)
Source: "People familiar with the matter"
Chance it's true: 90 percent or more
Daring Fireball's John Gruber heard that the next-gen iPhone will have a decidedly major camera upgrade. If virtually anyone else said the same thing about a device that's nearly a year away from even being announced, I'd dismiss it out of hand. If it were an analyst saying it, I'd also spend a gleeful few paragraphs making fun of them. But since Gruber is legitimately well-connected and knows what he's talking about when it comes to Apple, I'm prepared to keep an open mind on this one.
Apple analysts: Know what's really cool? A trillion dollar market cap (9to5 Mac)
Source: Some analysts
Chance it's true: On a long enough timeline? 100 percent. Probably.
This just in: analysts predict the Sun will exhaust its supplies of hydrogen in 5 billion years and swell into a red giant, possibly engulfing Earth. More on this and other equally shocking long-term analyst forecasts as they come in.
Apple reportedly bundling Beats Music with iOS next year (9to5 Mac)
Source: "People familiar with the matter"
Chance it's true: 50/50
Apple hasn't really done a whole lot with Beats since shelling out a few billion bucks for it earlier this year. Bundling it into iOS doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless Apple can make it a truly international service first, though.
Sony Drops Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs Movie, Universal May Take Over (MacRumors)
Source: Hollywood
Chance it's true: Who knows
This film has now (reportedly) changed directors (multiple times), lead actors (ditto), and now film studios. Assuming any of this is actually true-which is always a big assumption with all things Hollywood-I'm not particularly optimistic about the odds of this film actually being made.
