Rumor Roundup: If only 'Failblog' weren't already taken
Apple might already be testing its next major iPhone operating system (BGR)
Source: Czech website
Chance it's true: 100 percent
Obviously Apple is internally testing an operating system that, if previous patterns hold, will be debuted to developers in about six months. This happens every year: Apple employees start surfing the web with devices running the next OS, someone notices them in their Google Analytics logs, rumor blogs go nuts over something that's not remotely newsworthy at all, and we poor unwitting readers are treated to gems of "insight" like this, from the article:
"Obviously, there's nothing official about iOS 9 at this time, with some six months to go until Apple should unveil its next-gen mobile OS, and these iOS 9 devices could always be fakes."
Expect to see variations on this theme roughly 12 months from now when iOS 10 starts showing up in someone's logs.
Apple Ramping Up Production of 12-Inch MacBook Air for Q1 2015 Delivery (MacRumors)
Source: Digitimes
Chance it's true: 0.000001 percent, because Digitimes
Once again, MacRumors fails to acknowledge, even in passing, the fact that Digitimes would rightly be named "Failblog" if that name weren't already taken. Then again, one of my oldest friends was often fond of saying that the sun shines even on a dog's [buttocks] every once in awhile, so this could conceivably turn out to be the single rumor Digitimes gets right this year. If so, we can safely ignore them for the rest of 2015, because one correct Apple rumor per year is all the allotment they get.
Rumor: Apple's 'iPhone 6s' could ship with dual-lens camera, 'Force Touch' (AppleInsider)
Source: Taiwanese website
Chance it's true: 30 percent at most
AppleInsider says the source of this rumor is "ever-reliable sources in the Asian supply chain." I can't tell if they're being sarcastic or not. I hope so.
Neither of these rumors seem particularly far-fetched, but considering how far away we are from the expected unveiling of the next iPhone, I wouldn't get your hopes up that they're accurate. It's way too early in the rumor cycle for anyone to have the faintest idea what the next iPhone will be like.
Source: "Accurate" analyst Ming-Chi Kuo
Chance it's true: 40 percent at best
Right on schedule, someone is beating on the "Apple will switch the Mac to ARM-based processors" drum again. This rumor crops up literally every year, and just like the Apple HDTV and low-cost iPhone, it keeps not happening. This time, "accurate" analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has make the bold prediction that Apple will abandon its relationship with Intel and use its own processors for Macs "in the next 1-2 years."
Now, here's a question: when this doesn't happen in 2016 or 2017, is anyone besides me going to remember how this guy struck out yet again? Probably not. At any rate, these fools rarely know with any true accuracy what Apple's plans are 3-6 months down the line, much less 1-2 years.
Apple's 'iPhone 6s' again rumored to feature 'Force Touch', 2GB RAM (AppleInsider)
Source: Taiwanese website
Chance it's true: 30 percent at best
Some Taiwanese website re-reports what some other Taiwanese website said days earlier, and the rumor blogs predictably double-dip on this non-news "news". The same caveat from before applies here: anyone claiming to have credible knowledge of the next iPhone nearly nine months before its expected unveiling (if previous years' patterns hold) is blowing smoke.
Intel CEO confident chipmaker can keep powering Apple's Macs by innovating (AppleInsdier)
Source: Intel CEO
Chance it's true: Who knows
This is probably the least interesting story to come out all week. I mean, what did you expect the CEO of Intel to say other than this? Intel isn't Adobe; they're not going to throw their toys and publicly say "Go screw yourself, Apple" over a rumor like this. Instead, we get the totally predictable biz-speak talking points, which essentially boil down to, "Our relationship with Apple is strong, we love Apple, please baby don't leave us, we can change."
