While I often ignore the senseless rumors that come from the tomfoolery of tech "analysts", this latest one claiming that Apple plans to discontinue the 17" MacBook Pro comes from Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities who has gotten some things right about Apple products in the past. Kuo believes that this discontinuation will come as a result of Apple's convergence of the Apple's Air and Pro notebook lineups. In Q1 of 2012, Apple sold roughly 3.1 million notebooks. Out of that figure, nearly half of those were of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Kuo has a bleak estimation of the 17-inch Pro sales figure, however, stating that only 50,000 were sold in that quarter.
We find this very difficult to believe, and very easy to believe in equal measures, so let's just get this out of the way and see what everyone else thinks. With Samsung's focus very much on the Galaxy S III these days, it is full steam ahead for the company's various P.R. departments, and it is one of those departments which is being accused of putting together a rather elaborate advertising campaign.
Tying in with rumors surfacing last month, the Worldwide Developer Conference will indeed begin on the week beginning June 11th, it has been confirmed by Apple itself. The conference, held during the middle of each year, is one of the fruit company's main events, and in the past, has launched some of Apple's most successful products to date. This year, as you'd expect, the main focal point will be the upcoming Mountain Lion OS for Mac, but workshops will focus on both iOS and OS X Mountain Lion, offering attendees guidance on how to enhance apps in terms of performance, quality, functionality and design.
With all eyes and ears waiting eagerly for Apple to announce their earnings for the second financial quarter of 2012, we are all wondering whether or not the company would continue to rack up record sales and profits. The information has filtered through from California, only moments before they officially held their earnings call with company investors.
In light of the recent Flashback malware infestation, it appears running OS X is not enough by itself to protect you from the bad stuff circulating around the web. Always considered to be a safe haven from the Trojans and viruses, Mac users can ill afford to be complacent nowadays, and many have been looking around for the best antivirus packages around.
Following a report earlier this month claiming that production has already began on the next-generation iPhone, a new rumor suggests that it will be receiving a slightly redesigned Home button. If you were anticipating a redesigned oval-shaped capacitive touch Home button, then prepare to be disappointed (again, bearing in mind just how often this rumor has been regurgitated time and time again). The new rumored home button seems to have little aesthetic difference from the existing home button on the 4S.
It seems that jailbreakers and potential unlockers are having to wait longer and longer for news to cheer about as the cat and mouse game with Apple and the networks becomes more and more difficult for those involved in producing jailbreaks and iPhone unlocks. Once upon a time, when a new firmware was released, it didn't seem to take that long for the development teams to pull something together to release to the public, but as time progresses it also seems that the difficulty levels involved in this kind of work is increasing dramatically.
The Android versus iOS debate is one of the most fiercely contested within the smartphone and tablet spectrum. Google's comparatively new mobile OS trumps Apple's offering in terms of reach and activations, but according to research compiled by ad network Chitika, iOS users are a lot more active on the Web than their Android-toting friends.
The next-generation iPhone which Apple will be releasing sometime later this year might just be implementing in-cell touch panels produced by Sharp and Toshiba, according to a report from DigiTimes.
An analyst has told investors that he believes Apple will not release a new iPhone during the summer, citing chip shortages as the reason that the handset will be released during an October window, just as the iPhone 4S was last year.
