This is no surprise at all. From reading this report, I am now totally convinced that these "leaks" were in fact a covert marketing survey project for Apple to notice overall reaction to the new form factor.
A call will or was just made on which form factor to mass produce. Anyone taking bets? I'm sure all the hardware and software features are the same. The board design between the two are almost identical so it is just old boring three dimensional work instead of really challenging four to seven dimensional work that is electronics and software.
Reminds of a summer where the early "mako shark" Corvette prototype was driving around the country in the early 1970s. There were "new Corvette sightings" making automotive magazines for a while before Chevy rolled out that generation Corvette. I am sure Chevy learned a lot from those press pieces before deciding on the final design.
How is it that people STILL think that Apple leaked these on purpose? For one, Apple doesn't even conduct focus groups on new products- isn't it clear by now that Apple alone dictates what it's products look like and do, not marketing or focus groups? I believe it's been documented pretty well in exlusive interviews and reports, not just rumors. Second, if Apple purposely leaked the Gizmodo iPhone, then they wouldn't have prompted a criminal investigation, as that would get them in some hot water legally.
Even autmobile manufacturers don't use the public feedback on sightings of it's development cars. If a car company has cars driving around in nearly finished bodywork, they aren't just testing how it looks, they're well into starting production and are fine tuning the underpinnings. Car shows are where car companies guage public opinion on new designs, with concept cars, not on late-development mules.
Seeing as though you're "totally convinced" that this is a marketing survey of some sort, I don't think that I'm going to convince you otherwise. There isn't some grand scheme here to test public opinion.
However, I do have several millions of dollars that I need to deposit into a bank account notlocated in my home state, to avoid some taxes. Perhaps I can convince you to message me your name, SS#, and bank account number so that I may deposit the money in your account for a short time. In return, I'll give you 25% of the balance!
