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Report: Apple To Launch Next-Gen iPhone In August
Jul 18th
Yes, I know – the iPhone rumor mill has spun out of control, as always happens preceding a major release. Nevertheless, a new report has surfaced over at BGR suggesting that we may see a next-gen iPhone launch in August, along with a cheaper $349 (no-contract) iPhone 3GS.
(Note: the above image is merely a mock-up of a possible design)
According to one of BGR’s sources, whom they claim is typically a very solid source, Apple will be launching a next-generation iPhone in August. While they were unable to confirm whether or not it would have a new design, nor whether it would be called the iPhone 4S or the iPhone 5, the claim that it will at least be announced by the end of August, even if the release date is somewhat later.
Further, they suggest that the lack of 3rd-party case leaks for a redesigned iPhone might provide some good reasoning to think that we won’t see a major redesign in August, unless Apple’s seriously cracked down on specification leaks to 3rd parties.
In addition, the report claims that Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 4 under some kind of price reduction when they release the new model. This would mean that Apple would have 3 models available at various price points – the iPhone 3GS at $349 retail, the iPhone 4S/iPhone 5 at the typical $650/750 full retail price point, and the iPhone 4 somewhere in between.
BGR tends to have a good track record when it comes to this type of information. Nevertheless, this is still a rumor, and should be taken lightly until official information is released from Apple.
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Apple Block Sales Staff From Taking Friday The 22nd Of July As A Holiday Day
Jul 18th
Strong hints indicate that this Friday, the 22nd of July, will finally witness the arrival of OS X Lion in the Mac App Store. During the WWDC event in early June, Steve Jobs simply said “July” would see the arrival of Lion. That vague date, if you can even call it a date, has lead to high anticipation, stress, and disappointment for Mac users across the World.
As the July days tick on, Lion is nowhere to be seen. Surely this Lion hasn’t gone into hibernation?
When will all this finally end? When will we finally see a cage-free Lion roaming free in the Mac App Store?
I’m quietly confident that this Friday will finally see its release. There are a couple of reasons.
We have learnt from a source within Apple’s sales and retail department that Apple has blocked staff from taking this Friday, the 22nd, off as a holiday. Apple preventing staff from taking this day as a holiday is surely a sign that Apple has something special planned for this Friday. Could that something special be the arrival of new Macbook Airs, OS X Lion, or both? Apple have a previous track record of preventing staff from taking holidays prior to and during releases of products.
Secondly, we all like Fridays but Apple really really like Fridays. Apple tend to roll out OS X system updates on Fridays and they also have a past history when it comes to releasing new versions of OS X on this day. Let’s look at Apple’s past history with OS X releases:
- Jaguar – Released Friday, August 23rd, 2002
- Panther – Released Friday, October 24th, 2003
- Tiger – Released Friday, April 29th, 2005
- Leopard – Released Friday, October 26th, 2007
- Snow Leopard – Released Friday, August 28th, 2009
- Lion, Released Friday, July 22nd, 2011???
That’s right, Fridays have seen 5 of the 7 OS X releases and every single of those Friday releases were put out near the end of the month. The only exception to Friday’s rule is OS X Cheetah and OS X Puma which were both released way back in 2001.The last 5 OS X releases have all happened on a Friday.
I don’t know about you, but I’m quietly confident that this Friday will finally see the release of OS X Lion. Apple’s past history with Fridays and the fact that they denied staff holidays for this date is too much an indicator that something potentially cat-size is coming.
Sadly, I get the feeling that we will be living this “when is it coming out” nightmare in a few weeks when iOS 5 comes out…… sometime this Fall.
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Report: Apple Begins Test Production Of A6 Processor
Jul 16th
Apple and Taiwan-based TSMC have reportedly already begun manufacturing test of Apple’s next-generation A6 processor. The fact that Apple is reportedly working with TSMC on this may serve as a sign that Apple is moving away from Samsung as its chip supplier. The report cites “people with knowledge on the matter”.
Currently, Samsung is the only supplier of Apple’s current A5 chips, but Apple has hinted that it may be moving away from Samsung, possibly in response to their ongoing legal dispute with Samsung over patents and product design.
It’s currently not finalized that TSMC will produce the new chip for Apple. but the test run is said to be authorized. It’s possible that Apple may divide A6 production among several different manufacturers, though I personally find this unlikely. It’s also expected that Samsung will lower prices and fight to retain Apple’s business in manufacturing the A6.
There are a few hurdles that Apple will have to overcome if they move away from Samsung for production, such as the fact that Samsung has patents on some of the technology and design aspects of the A5 chip, meaning that Apple would have to make some changes in the implementation in order to avoid intellectual property disputes.
The A6 will likely debut next year as part of 3rd generation iPad, as the current trend is for Apple to place new technology in the iPad first, then shrink and optimize it later for use in the iPhone.
The A6 will reportedly use a new 28-nanometer process, making it smaller and more power efficient, and could be powerful enough to use inside future Macs, such as future models of the MacBook Air – an idea which has come to the surface before, and would certainly be a strong possibility.
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Apple To Hold Q3 2011 Financial Call On July 19
Jul 16th
Apple’s getting ready to announce their official fiscal; numbers for the 2nd quarter of 2011, and they’ll hold their conference call on July 19. They’re expected to report increased sales across the board in all areas except iPod sales. They’re also expected to announce record profits.
The conference call will be held at 2 PM PDT, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed about the most interesting bits as we hear about them. One thing’s fairly clear: they’re sure to affirm that Apple continues to smite the competition and kick serious butt in the market.
Apple’s second-quarter numbers will reflect the first 3-month period of iPad 2 sales, and the new Thunderbolt-enabled iMacs were also released in Q2, as well as new Time Capsules and AirPort Extremes. Apple’s full announcement and press release can be found at this link.
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Snow Leopard DVDs Already Selling Out – Will Apple Make More?
Jul 16th
Well, OS X Lion didn’t hit yesterday as many expected, but it appears that Amazon is now running out of Snow Leopard DVDs. Amazon UK is now showing that copies of Snow Leopard are out of stock, and Amazon USA is relying on third-party vendors to ship Snow Leopard.
The above screen shot from the Amazon UK website shows their lack of stock. This is an interesting and surprising matter, really – currently, the only officially sanctioned way to perform a “clean install” of Mac OS X Lion is to first do a clean install of Snow Leopard and then upgrade through the Mac App Store (although there is a simple yet unsanctioned way to create a Lion restore DVD).
With Snow Leopard being a required fixture for upgrading from Leopard, and for doing an “official” clean install of Lion, why would stock of Snow Leopard discs be running low? Will Apple be producing more Snow Leopard DVDs? The below image shows Amazon USA as relying on 3rd-party sellers for their shipments:
This matter makes me wonder if Apple might not have something interesting up their sleeve – might they start offering Snow Leopard as a free download, or even making Snow Leopard available as a download that’s burnable to a DVD or thumb drive?
Another interesting bit is that Amazon still has copies of the Snow Leopard family pack in stock, so maybe this is just a matter of being in-between shipments. Only time will tell if anything comes of this – but we’ll be sure to inform you if it does.
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