Apple

image via Walyou

Last week, we heard that iPhone 4S devices, ones identical in appearance to current iPhone 4s, were rolling of the assembly lines in big numbers. The only differences in this model are the 8 Megapixel camera and A5 Processor. Everything else is the exact same. In fact, Apple employees could be carrying these around without anyone knowing. The ‘iPhone 5′ lost in a bar might have looked like an iPhone 4.

The bad news is that we reported that there were design and production delays that could have pushed the iPhone 5 launch back.

It appears that the tear-drop shaped iPhone 5 with larger screen and thinner, rounder body is seeing continued design and production delays, at least on one assembly line (Apple has multiple production sources – Pegatron, Foxconn, etc). We therefore think that iPhone 5 will be delayed slightly at the very least and may see shortages all the way into 2012.

Since then, we’ve also heard that those iPhone 5 delays might push the teardrop iPhone 5 out until 2012. This is from two separate, additional sources who have ties to Apple and its manufacturing partners. We don’t want to believe this but we’re hearing it more and more…
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Clearly, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse knows (whether or not) he’s getting the iPhone in a few weeks. But he’s obviously sworn to secrecy by Apple.

The problem is that he has to tell investors how he’s going to come up with all of the additional money and subscribers that will come with getting the iPhone and offering it on unlimited data plans.  When asked about the “rumored device” he said,

“If we get it–if–we may have to adjust our guidance for that,”

Last week, Sprint CFO Joe Euteneuer did the same dance, saying that Sprint’s network could handle the iPhone, not that it was getting it.

It will indeed be interesting to see how Sprint’s network can handle the iPhone, especially with unlimited plans.

In other ‘News’, Al Gore mentioned that Apple would be releasing new iPhones next month.

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Fortune does a nice look back on how long Apple has waited from announcement (which seems to be October 4th at this point) and actual launch of the iPhones and iPads. Initial launch windows are huge because there weren’t really competitors in the space quite yet.

Importantly, the general trend is towards a smaller window.

Ten days out, October 14th, seems like a reasonable projection, doesn’t it?

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Apple CEO Tim Cook at the January 11 Verizon iPhone presser

We received an interesting tip in July that AT&T would be changing its iPhone tiers on October 4th. At the time, we said,

AT&T raises iPhone device tier on October 4th, perhaps signaling launch date?

Fast forward to today. AllThingsD reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook will unveil a fifth-generation iPhone at a media event scheduled for Tuesday, October 4:

Tuesday, October 4. That’s the day Apple is currently expected to hold its next big media event, according to sources close to the situation, where the tech giant will unveil the next iteration of its popular iPhone.

Author John Paczkowski mentions Apple could change plans at any time. The time frame jibes with the publication’s previous report calling for a mid-October launch of the next iPhone. Kara Swisher, another author with AllThingsD, wrote on Twitter last month that there will be no iPhone event “until Oc … to … ber”.

This will obviously be a huge event for Tim Cook, his first in the CEO role. AllThingsD notes that pressure is on Tim Cook to perform well.

Cook is certain to preside over the iPhone 5 rollout. He has to, of course. To pass the presentation on to anyone else — even one of Apple’s key executives such as Phil Schiller, who has handled the Macworld and Worldwide Developers Conference keynotes in 2009 — would undercut Cook’s new role and reinforce public perception that its legendary outgoing CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs is Apple and that it will be a different company without him.

We told you late last night that LaCie Thunderbolt disks were arriving in Apple Retail Stores.  Today, LaCie officially announced the availability of its new products which hit the Apple online Store today for $399 (1TB) and $499 (2TB) earlier today.

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That is a $100+ premium over their Firewire drives and you’ll need a $49 Apple Thunderbolt Cable.

The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series sets the new standard for the storage industry. Featuring a pair of 2.5″ drives in a Mac OS RAID configuration, the Little Big Disk delivers stunning read speeds more than 480MB/s in SSD and up to 190MB/s in HDD.

It appears that these drives are limited by the speed of the 2.5-inch drives, not by the bus as the faster SSD blows away the HDD version.  It is curious that they didn’t make a 3.5-inch variety which would have allowed for much greater speed and cost much less.

The SSD version will ship next month.

Promise sells their 4TB Thunderbolt RAID boxes for just over $1000, 8TB for $1500 and 12TB for $2000.

Full Press release follows:
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The Onion joked that Tim Cook’s first order of business as CEO would be to begin making printers again.  Of course that is a bad idea.  But, let’s say that we’re in some alternate reality.  The above SWYP: See What You Print concept created by Artefact is a very Apple-y solution to printers.  Perhaps the HP/Canon/Epsons of the world should take note.

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We’ve been rambling on about white iPod touches for awhile now. Back in June we postulated that Apple would create a white iPod touch after successive launches of white iPhone and iPad and launched a survey (over 80% of you wanted that guy above).

In July we told you they were coming at the next refresh and then later we showed you the front panel (below).

After that, Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo bravely forecasted that a White iPod touch was en route.

Today, MacRumors has joined in with their own information:

MacRumors has received information indicating that the next iPod touch revision will be a very minor change, with the primary addition being the introduction of a new white model. Only minor changes are expected for the existing hardware, with the addition of an oleophobic coating for the display and a revised ambient light sensor seemingly being the main differences. Otherwise, we expect the models to be nearly identical to the current fourth-generation iPod touch model.

Could we put in a request for a better backside camera? Just give us 2-3 megapixels and auto-focus like an early iPhone and we’ll shut up.

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Since Apple and Intel’s joint announcement of the Thunderbolt high-speed I/O technology, one of the most anticipated products to make use of the technology has been the Thunderbolt-compatible Little Big Disk from LaCie. The drive – which comes in both HDD and SSD flavors – was announced all the way back in February for a “summer” launch, and is now finally arriving at Apple Stores in both the United States and internationally. LaCie’s description of Thunderbolt and why it is important for a product like the Little Big Disk:

This new high-speed cable technology connects computers and electronic devices together like never before. Thunderbolt technology supports two 10Gb/s bi-directional channels from a single port, the fastest data connection available on a personal computer. At 10Gb/s, a full-length HD movie can be transferred in less than 30 seconds.

Since the drive carries two ports, it can be daisy chained. The drives have already arrived at Apple Stores, which suggest immediate availability, and we are expecting an official announcement from LaCie in the coming days. The hard disk drive variant with 1TB of storage will reportedly cost $399.

Update: here they are.

Apple also announced Thunderbolt updates, another firmware update and a software update for Snow Leopard…

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We’re not sure exactly what caused today’s spike, but Apple stock had a huge day ending up 2.8% at $411.65 a share for a Market Cap of $381.62B against a down market. It had reached as high as $413.23 from a morning low of $395.20. Notably, Apple is now worth over $23B more than Exxon and is approaching the combined value of Microsoft and Google.

(flipped)

MacPost..posts..another image of today’s earlier ‘iPhone leak’ which shows much more of the front of the device.  In the time since our original post this morning the iPhone 4 repair experts at iFixyouri have chimed in to note that the grill on the white iPhone front plate is a non-OEM version which likely indicates that this isn’t from Apple.

Apple removed the grated grill during the white iPhone redesign to help with the proximity sensor issues.

Perhaps this one is built from parts floating around Asia, but it isn’t one that Apple would have put together itself – recently anyway.

More below:

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Remember that cool iHub USB device that was briefly selling on M.I.C. Gadget, but then was pulled by Apple’s lawyers? It is back, and at a place you’ll probably feel a bit more familiar with: Amazon. Amazon has a few sellers selling that iHub again for prices (white, black) as low as $12.40. Interestingly, Amazon is fulfilling these orders (free shipping) which indicates that they might be complicit.

The iHub isn’t the only Apple branded device making its way through Amazon’s fulfillment centers. the iAccessory Store has a new look “silver” iHub for $9 (black too) and some questionable iPhone HDD enclosures as well as external speakers that bear the Apple logo.

An unboxing video from Nowhereelse.fr of the iHDD and iAudio below:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFNi9SLFkU]

Not, “put this on my iPhone now” good but “wow, that’s interesting and must’ve taken a lot of hard work” good. Lifehacker explains:

You can now grab the theme via an app on Theme Outlet. Here’s how. (And make sure you have Dreamboard installed, as this is a Dreamboard theme and requires it.)

1. Open Cydia
2. Tap Manage Sources
3. Tap Edit, then Add, then add source fnetdesigns.com/cydia/repo
4. Go to the Changes section and install Theme Outlet
5. Close Cydia, go to your home screen, and open Theme Outlet
6. Browse for OS X Ultimatum and download it from there
7. Open up Dreamboard, browse for the OS X Lion Ultimatum theme, and install it.

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Update: This isn’t likely real

The image above was posted on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter clone of sorts, showing what is thought to be components of Apple’s yet to be released next-gen iPhone.

Clearly showing the familiar Apple “A5” stamp, the chipset is mysteriously not from an iPad 2, and as Phone Arena points out, closer resembles that of the current iPhone 4’s A4 chipset layout. Curiously, the visible part of the battery reads “430 mAh”, which leads us to believe a similar battery to the iPhone 4’s 1420 mAh battery may be included in the next-gen iPhone.

There is reason to be skeptical of these images. Apart from the overall blurriness of the shot, the A5 logo itself seems a little off and the source of the image cannot be confirmed.

We still expect two variations of a next-gen iPhone to be unveiled late September and becoming available for purchase sometime around October 7th. You can get all the details here.

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An artist’s rendition of iPhone 5.

The Korea Times reports that Samsung “is seeking a complete ban” on the iPhone 5 sales in Korea – even before the handset is even released, let alone officially announced. Local carriers KT and SK Telecom have so far sold about 3.1 million iPhones in the country. The paper quotes an unnamed Samsung senior executive:

Just after the arrival of the iPhone 5 here, Samsung plans to take Apple to court here for its violation of Samsung’s wireless technology related patents. For as long as Apple does not drop mobile telecommunications functions, it would be impossible for it to sell its i-branded products without using our patents. We will stick to a strong stance against Apple during the lingering legal fights.

Another Samsung executive is “quite confident” about “a big breakthrough” provided Samsung wins in Germany, adding that “so will other envisioned efforts against such products as the iPhone 5”. The report goes on to mention that iPhone sports an LG Display-made screen, LG Innotek’s eight-megapixel camera, Samsung-made NAND flash and A5 chip and an NFC chip for wireless payment.

The twist in this case, of course, is the fact that Apple is Samsung’s biggest customer, buying displays, NAND flash memory and custom-built A4 and A5 chips for its products. It has been reported that Samsung may soon lose its iOS device processor contract as Apple turns to rival TSMC.

The manufacturing relationship means Samsung gets information about the innards of Apple’s non-released devices months before the actual manufacturing ramp up. This early access to Apple’s designs could have led Samsung to move with the iPhone 5 ban in Korea ahead of Apple’s official launch. On the other hand, Apple did not accuse Samsung yet of abusing its manufacturing contract to rip off Apple’s upcoming devices with its own products.

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According to a posting on the Apple Developer boards this afternoon, Apple will be resetting iCloud Backup data on Thursday, September 22nd. We believe Apple is performing this reset for the release of iOS 5 GM, which will be released around the same time of the reset. iOS 5 GM will be the last release before iOS 5’s official debut in early October, like we previously reported. This reset doesn’t include data from mail, contacts, calendars, reminders, or bookmarks.

On Thursday, September 22, the iCloud Backup data will be reset. Backing up to iCloud or restoring from an iCloud backup will be unavailable from 9 AM PDT – 5 PM PDT. If you attempt a backup or restore during this time, you will receive an alert that the backup or restore was not successful. After this reset, you will be unable to restore from any backup created prior to September 22. A full backup will happen automatically the next time your device backs up to iCloud.

Along with iOS 5, we are hearing two new iPhones will be accompanying it, and will be announced in late September and available for purchase October 7th-ish. Check out last week’s post for all the details.

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Update: Apple has pulled the listing. 

Some eagle-eyed commenters noted that the Support document about Thunderbolt Displays included an interesting addition.  Apple says that iMac (Mid 2011 and Late 2011) can both support two Thunderbolt displays.

There’s only one problem:

Apple hasn’t released a Late 2011 iMac…yet.

Apple released an EDU-only  iMac in August which is sometimes called “Late 2011 iMac” but that device has no Thunderbolt so that wouldn’t make sense.  Apple last updated the iMacs in May to Sandy Bridge processors.

Rumors of a late 2011 MacBook Pro refresh perhaps could also point to an iMac refresh as well.

Here is Apple’s current support doc on how to identify iMacs:

Interesting to say the very least.
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Apple has just seeded Mac OS X 10.7.2 Build 11C57 for iCloud testers. The 790MB Combo Update comes less than a week after the previous Seed, 11C55.

There are no known issues and the focus areas include:

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Following the first shipments of Apple’s new 27-inch Thunderbolt Display, a new support document reveals some limitations regarding multiple display support that we weren’t exactly expecting.

Nearly every current Mac model is able to support two Thunderbolt displays. The exceptions are the 13-inch MacBook Air (mid 2011), which only supports one, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro which supports two, but disables the device’s main display to do so. Also of note, the $800 Mac mini can support three Thunderbolt displays thanks to the AMD graphics and its HDMI port.

One other somewhat surprising limitation of the new displays is the inability to daisy chain a Mini DisplayPort screen off the new Thunderbolt display. The support document explains:

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“Is 2011 going to be the year of copycats?”, Apple’s then chief executive rhetorically asked at the March iPad 2 introduction in San Francisco. Really, the title of this article couldn’t be more true. iPad is now stealing market share from Android, climbing from 65.7 percent share to 68.3 percent globally as Android slipped from 34.0 percent to 26.8 percent. HP exited the game, having retired its TouchPad and today lackluster sales of RIM’s PlayBook tablet made the news.

Apple decimated competition so thoroughly that analysts are saying the company can take its time releasing a third-generation iPad. According to J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, Apple should be in “no rush” with iPad 3:

Our latest research continues to indicate that there is no such device slated for production this year. In our view, Apple should be in no rush. The other tablet entrants have stumbled so far, and that trend-line could persist deep into 2012.

He also wasn’t impressed by Sony’s tablet which “lacks the refined, sleek feel of the iPad and its bezel-like back is not user-friendly”. And Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet? On a downward spiral and probably due for life support. Per RIM’s quarterly filing, they shipped only 200,000 PlayBooks in the quarter, a paltry number compared to Wall Street expectations of 700,000 units. RIM refused to reveal actual sell-through as it is no doubt significantly lower than the sell-in. Ticonderoga analyst Brian White weighs in:

We believe the PlayBook is poised to follow HP’s TouchPad as the next casualty of iPad’s tablet dominance

To put PlayBook sales into perspective, RIM shipped one PlayBook to every 46 iPads. With just 200,000 units, PlayBook may very well be heading to the technology graveyard. BlackBerry phones are also shrinking due to “lower than expected sales for older models”. One fifth of RIM’s stock valuation was wiped out today as a result of poor tablet and smartphone performance. By the way, RIM’s global market share is now dropping to single digits. Did the Waterloo, Ontario company learn a valuable lesson?

Many watchers have written off the PlayBook, but RIM has bigger worries on its mind: Its smartphone business is declining and global market share dropping to single digits. Chart courtesy of Asymco.

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We passed up the New York Times iPhone story earlier because it didn’t really contain any new product information. We’ve been hearing early October for awhile now in terms of when the iPhone gets released.  Therefore, the announcement in ‘weeks’ isn’t news either.

Neither is the 8MP camera which I was on hand to hear Sony CEO Howard Stringer reveal earlier this year.  Nor the A5 processor which isn’t even a small stretch.  And the best bit:

two people with knowledge of the inner workings of Apple’s next-generation iPhones say either the iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 will include a new chip that is made by Qualcomm.

Helpful.

But here’s some real info: We’ve heard that there are indeed two different models of iPhone coming out next month (announced this month?)  We still think October 7th is the scheduled release date give or take any delays.  We’ve heard the low-end model, which is essentially an iPhone 4 look-alike (glass front and back), is rolling off the assembly line in big numbers right now.  Apple expects to have 10+ million of these things on hand for launch and full ramped production into the holiday shopping season.  These will be priced aggressively and be everywhere.

They will also be offered in both prepaid and post paid plans (this is a big deal – more to come on that).

But there is some bad news…
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A frustration for many users in the past is the fact that Apple IDs are currently not able to be merged. As Apple’s iOS 5 and iCloud near launch, Apple might be taking an important step to allow the merging of Apple IDs. iOS 5 includes several services such as iMessage, iCloud integration, Game Center, FaceTime, iTunes, the App Store, and iBooks.

Some users are frustrated because all of those services are spread across multiple Apple IDs. For example, some people have a separate Apple ID for iCloud (especially migrators from MobileMe) and for iTunes/App Store/iMessage/FaceTime, etc. According to an answer from Apple’s executive relations team, as reported by MacRumors, Apple could be readying a solution that merges all of a user’s Apple IDs:

Tim Cook about the issue, and quickly received a phone call from an Apple executive relations employee. She had spoken to the team responsible for Apple IDs and acknowledged that they understood the issue and that more people would run into the problem with iCloud. She also repeated that there is no way yet to combine accounts but revealed they are working on it. In the meantime, she recommended picking a single account to plan on keeping indefinitely and to make all future purchases on that account.

There you have it.?
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