MacWhispers posts a compliation of various tidbits they've acquired... some of which inspired previous rumors they have posted.
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Various Rumor Tidbits
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I think it's kinda cool that Macwhispers is just posting their raw data here. It lets people without "the right connections" to speculate on their own.
That's thinking different in action.
That's thinking different in action.
I like seeing the raw tidbits. It's kind of neat to separate the raw data from the speculation.
From these tidbits the thing that strikes me is that LG/Philips is still sending 15.2" LCDs to Apple. Maybe the Chi Mei 15.4" lower-resolution LCDs are for a different product. Combine that with the new iMac case with a door over the ports: maybe there will be a new 15" iMac with a widescreen display.
After all, the last iMac refresh was just a speed bump, nothing more. (Same for the iBook, too, though.)
BTW, the current 17" studio display is still 4:3 aspect ratio. It looks odd sitting next to the others.
From these tidbits the thing that strikes me is that LG/Philips is still sending 15.2" LCDs to Apple. Maybe the Chi Mei 15.4" lower-resolution LCDs are for a different product. Combine that with the new iMac case with a door over the ports: maybe there will be a new 15" iMac with a widescreen display.
After all, the last iMac refresh was just a speed bump, nothing more. (Same for the iBook, too, though.)
BTW, the current 17" studio display is still 4:3 aspect ratio. It looks odd sitting next to the others.
Yep. That's bothering the hell out of me. I've tried to insinuate info from every known LCD maker on the planet, and there just isn't a likely panel for a 16:10 Cinema Display, other than the LG piece being used in the iMac and big PowerBook. And, the folks making the plastic cases for the Cinemas haven't heard a word about making a new one for a 17-inch variant... Seems we're stuck with a 4:3 17-incher for several more months, if not in perpetuity.
The only reason I know of for this anomoly is the high price LG charges for the 16:10 panel. Against Apple' required margins and cost of production, they would have to MSRP such a new Cinema at $899.00... contradicting their recent commitment to be seen as cost competitive on displays.
Maybe they can get Chi Mei (or another Easterm maker) to cut a similar panel, and sell it for substantially less than the LG option... we'll see.
assuming the 15" are getting updated to Aluminum casings, they should have no problem converting the casing to support the new 15.4" screens. Although the imac idea is interesting, maybe these 15.2's are going to the ibooks. when was the last time they were updated? Three powerbook sizes...three ibook sizes...year of the laptop indeed.
I have 2 19" monitors.
I hate them.
They take up my whole desk.
OK, so I get 2560x1024. But still...
If Apple releases a widescreen 17" (same as PB 15.2 or 15.4) Cinema Display for under $550 I will buy 2 the day they come out. Price it at $600 (the going rate for most DVI capable brand name 17" LCDs) and I'd still buy 1 right now, and buy the 2nd 6 months later.
These are making my eyes hurt.
I hate them.
They take up my whole desk.
OK, so I get 2560x1024. But still...
If Apple releases a widescreen 17" (same as PB 15.2 or 15.4) Cinema Display for under $550 I will buy 2 the day they come out. Price it at $600 (the going rate for most DVI capable brand name 17" LCDs) and I'd still buy 1 right now, and buy the 2nd 6 months later.
These are making my eyes hurt.
seems to me like macwhispers is just another sad addition to the rumor scene with absolutely no real information. how hard is it to figure out that the 15" powerbook will be updated?
Actually, that's not hard at all. What's hard, and that takes real effort, is determining precisely which components will be used in upcoming products, who makes them, where Apple's having the products assembled, and what exact dates Apple actuallt begins production in the Asian assmbly facilities.
MacWhispers carefully defines which items we pucblis are speculative and which are facts... something no other "rumor" site ever does, including this one. In fact, to my knowledge, MacWhispers i the only such site that actually does have real facts and published these items to the public.
And, yes... there's speculations as well, but this is clearly stated as such.
I have to disagree with this Jack...
I think you are mixing up your terms a bit, which is why I think you are mistaken here.
a. There are "facts": Example: Toshiba's 40gb drive.
b. Then, there's "speculation" from "facts": Example: Toshiba's 40gb drive will likely be used the new iPod.
c. Then, there are "rumors": Example: Toshiba's 40gb drive will be used in the iPod
The difference between "b" & "c" is that "b" was a guess, while "c" came from a source with presumed information on the topic. I know they look the same... but there is an important distinction.
I read your "Where Apples Rumors Really Come From" article where you clearly state that you don't believe true Rumors really exist... and you feel everything is speculation (or as you call it extrapolation)... well, that's where you are mistaken.
MacRumors never posts (known) speculation as a "rumor". Now, that's not to say, sometimes we get deceived and post what turns out to be mere speculation - but certainly not intentionally.
To recap: "fact" + "speculation" does not equal "rumor"
instead, "fact" + "speculation" = "speculation"
arn
Arn,
What I appreciate is your being the second person in the Mac rumor/speculation game to be open minded about public discussion of the topic. In fact, I'm very pleasantly amazed.
The other "rumor sites" are run by guys who hide behind their byline, and never engage in open, online discussions (I have two very specific such sites in my mind...).
There are two reasons MacWhispers exists, and will continue to exist. First, I enjoy writing, writing about what I know and love, and I know and love the whole Mac scene and lifestyle. That makes MacWhispers a joyous hobby for me. Secondly, because of my work developing products for DVForge, I have recently (since late October) found myself in the unusual position of having daily communication on a wide range of hardware directed topics with many dozens of "behind the scenes" engineering and manufacturing company personnel... many from within the very same companies from whom Apple sources its own components and services.
MacWhispers gives me a public forum to do something I have long wanted to do, but have not until now had the information sources at hand to do: Knowledgably promote discussion about Apple's hardware development efforts and newest products.
I'm a fairly public person, with an unusual willingness to open most of my life up to public scrutiny, and have intentionally maintained that attitude for many years. As a result, I've been both praised and blasted many, many times over the years, and so much more so since the web has come of age, that I'm all but inured to it all.
This winter I attracted a great deal of virtual ink painting me as an evil villain over my past felony convictions and my one-day misadventure in misrepresenting my reseller status of Green Design's nice computer desks on a start up web store I opened. While that was happening, I was divesting several business interests, and was accepting the job of managing a start up computer product manufacturing company, DVForge. Our first products have received more praise than panning, so that's going well. We had a wonderful time exhibiting at MacWorld Expo, and have been growing very rapidly since then.
I love being immersed in the technology lifestyle, and in the daily online Mac community very much. Consider me a fixture here.
The Mac rumor scene has fascinated me, as it's grown through the years. What I've noticed more and more is that a great many people don't read these sites as "entertainment;" they read them thinking that all or most information shown is true, and they then really make their buying decisions based on what they read. To me, rumor sites have been only a lighthearted bit of entertainment. But, I have realized a lot of very nice people depend on "some" degree of accuracy from these sites.
Raw speculation on a public site, connected with any attempt to legitimize it as more than that can hurt people. Folks, to a degree, believe this stuff. So, I've been shifting the MacWhispers format more toward clearly delineating between the facts and the speculation. And, while I have to be fairly careful about explicitly stating my sources for any particular information, I do consider a flat statement from a manufacturing manager (for instance), one with a prior record of providing accurate information, to be "fact" within the scope of a future products discussion. Anything less than that I consider merely a "whisper," and I editorially note it as such.
I won't speak to Ryan's and Nick's efforts at sustained accuracy and adherence to a no-bull editorial policy wih their sites; but, I will say that I am growing to like the tack chosen by MacRumors... a lot. I especially like the growing idea I see you implementing where you lean more and more toward a conservative interpretation of available info. That's the way to grow credibility and, more importantly, not to hurt the visitors who take what you say as gospel.
I appreciate your willingness to talk about what has been previously promoted by others as some sort of highly clandestine, secret activity. It isn't. It's just a few people within our industry who have better access to information than the general public making an honest effort to share some of what we know.
Keep up the good work here. (and... when I get the MacWhispers forums running in a month or so, feel free to drop by, any time.)
Jack Campbell
MacWhispers
What I appreciate is your being the second person in the Mac rumor/speculation game to be open minded about public discussion of the topic. In fact, I'm very pleasantly amazed.
The other "rumor sites" are run by guys who hide behind their byline, and never engage in open, online discussions (I have two very specific such sites in my mind...).
There are two reasons MacWhispers exists, and will continue to exist. First, I enjoy writing, writing about what I know and love, and I know and love the whole Mac scene and lifestyle. That makes MacWhispers a joyous hobby for me. Secondly, because of my work developing products for DVForge, I have recently (since late October) found myself in the unusual position of having daily communication on a wide range of hardware directed topics with many dozens of "behind the scenes" engineering and manufacturing company personnel... many from within the very same companies from whom Apple sources its own components and services.
MacWhispers gives me a public forum to do something I have long wanted to do, but have not until now had the information sources at hand to do: Knowledgably promote discussion about Apple's hardware development efforts and newest products.
I'm a fairly public person, with an unusual willingness to open most of my life up to public scrutiny, and have intentionally maintained that attitude for many years. As a result, I've been both praised and blasted many, many times over the years, and so much more so since the web has come of age, that I'm all but inured to it all.
This winter I attracted a great deal of virtual ink painting me as an evil villain over my past felony convictions and my one-day misadventure in misrepresenting my reseller status of Green Design's nice computer desks on a start up web store I opened. While that was happening, I was divesting several business interests, and was accepting the job of managing a start up computer product manufacturing company, DVForge. Our first products have received more praise than panning, so that's going well. We had a wonderful time exhibiting at MacWorld Expo, and have been growing very rapidly since then.
I love being immersed in the technology lifestyle, and in the daily online Mac community very much. Consider me a fixture here.
The Mac rumor scene has fascinated me, as it's grown through the years. What I've noticed more and more is that a great many people don't read these sites as "entertainment;" they read them thinking that all or most information shown is true, and they then really make their buying decisions based on what they read. To me, rumor sites have been only a lighthearted bit of entertainment. But, I have realized a lot of very nice people depend on "some" degree of accuracy from these sites.
Raw speculation on a public site, connected with any attempt to legitimize it as more than that can hurt people. Folks, to a degree, believe this stuff. So, I've been shifting the MacWhispers format more toward clearly delineating between the facts and the speculation. And, while I have to be fairly careful about explicitly stating my sources for any particular information, I do consider a flat statement from a manufacturing manager (for instance), one with a prior record of providing accurate information, to be "fact" within the scope of a future products discussion. Anything less than that I consider merely a "whisper," and I editorially note it as such.
I won't speak to Ryan's and Nick's efforts at sustained accuracy and adherence to a no-bull editorial policy wih their sites; but, I will say that I am growing to like the tack chosen by MacRumors... a lot. I especially like the growing idea I see you implementing where you lean more and more toward a conservative interpretation of available info. That's the way to grow credibility and, more importantly, not to hurt the visitors who take what you say as gospel.
I appreciate your willingness to talk about what has been previously promoted by others as some sort of highly clandestine, secret activity. It isn't. It's just a few people within our industry who have better access to information than the general public making an honest effort to share some of what we know.
Keep up the good work here. (and... when I get the MacWhispers forums running in a month or so, feel free to drop by, any time.)
Jack Campbell
MacWhispers
I think a subnotebook would be just the ticket, especially now that they have the 12" powerbook. My uneducated guess is well see 2-3 types of iBooks. iBook lite, subnotebook, no optical drive, screen swivels to be a tablet, i dont know what size, a mid size, perhaps a 13" or maybe just a 12, or perhaps a widescreen, like the size of many small DVD portable players, and a large one, possibly a 15.4" and the powerbook will just get a G4, higher density lcd, and other things that make the Pbook better than the iBook. Maybe just keep the 12 and 14, but give them higher resolutions. I dunno, im just thinking out loud here.