Every week the numerous blogs covering the machinations of the Apple empire float unconfirmed rumors, blatant speculation and questionably-sourced reports on what the company might be unveiling in the near or distant future. Let's take a look back at what the Apple blogs were excited about during the week of April 29 - May5. Check out our last edition of Apple rumors here, and for all the latest follow me on Twitter right here.
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Here's What The iPhone 5 Might Look Like
This is what the next iPhone is going to look like, according to -- wait, can this be correct? -- someone with a really good track record of predicting these things!
iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz has indeed been super accurate in the past -- <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/backstage/comments/tweets-on-the-next-ipad-and-more/" target="_hplink">check out his inside info</a> on the new iPad <strike>3</strike> just before it released in March; also, <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/backstage/comments/dont-shed-a-tear-for-the-teardrop-shaped-iphone-5/" target="_hplink">watch him tell everyone in September</a> that the iPhone 4S would NOT be redeisgned and would instead resemble the iPhone 4 in form factor.
The man knows his Apple! Which is why we're paying close attention to <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/backstage/comments/the-new-iphone-size-screen-new-connector-plus-ipod-touch/" target="_hplink">what Horwitz thinks the next iPhone will look like</a>: Four inch screen, and a bit taller, with a smaller connector for the charger.
Yeah, that's right: Horwitz thinks Apple will change up the size of the port for the charger. If he's right, that means you can count on buying new accessories, car chargers, speaker docks, etc. for your older iDevices in...oh, five months or so, if the October release date everyone's counting on turns out to be correct.
For more on the next iPhone -- and rumors of a new iPod Touch -- <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/backstage/comments/the-new-iphone-size-screen-new-connector-plus-ipod-touch/" target="_hplink">check out Horwitz' prediction-packed column at iLounge</a>.
And now, let us return to SillyTown with some of the more ridiculous Apple rumors of the week. Nothing -- and I mean nothing -- could be sillier than this one...
Is THIS What The iPhone 5's SIM Card Tray Will Look Like?
Just when you thought no Apple rumor could possibly be dumber than last week's item about what is supposedly the next iPhone's home button, here comes a rumor that is looking to out-dumb the Dumb King and wear the Dumb Crown on the Dumb Throne:
Look at this picture: Could this be the iPhone 5's SIM Card tray? How incredible would it be if it was? Would anyone ever be able to catch Apple if this really was the SIM Card tray in its next iPhone?
Pack up your things, Samsung and Nokia. Apple's got a killer SIM Card tray coming in its next iPhone. Resistance is so futile that competing smartphone manufacturers might as well blow up their own buildings and sell the scrap metal for cash.
(For those who care, the supposed iPhone 5 SIM tray comes from parts seller <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/01/claimed-iphone-5-sim-card-tray-appears-identical-to-iphone-4s/" target="_hplink">SW-box.com</a>, and I was made aware of it <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/01/claimed-iphone-5-sim-card-tray-appears-identical-to-iphone-4s/" target="_hplink">by the MacRumors article headlined</a> "Claimed iPhone 5 SIM Card Tray Appears Identical to iPhone 4S").
Let's move on: To the Apple television, which might come out later than expected...
Much later.
Apple Television Delayed Until 2014?
Most analysts who follow the rumored Apple-branded television set believe that Cupertino's TV set will come out either in time for Christmas 2012 or shortly thereafter, at the beginning of 2013.
But here's some ice water to cool you off: <a href="http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/03/apple-itv-2014/#utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBoyGeniusReport+%28BGR+%7C+Boy+Genius+Report%29" target="_hplink">JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskovitz opined</a> in a letter to investors that the so-called "iTV" won't be ready until 2014; he believes that the television will come with Siri and gesture control and a more user-friendly Apple-designed user interface.
The gesture control and the Siri and the redesigned interface are all pretty common predictions; the 2014 thing is not. Apple <a href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/01/31/apple_reportedly_shopping_for_television_display_components_from_major_tv_supplier.html" target="_hplink">supposedly already has prototypes</a> of this thing floating around -- how long can it be until an Apple engineer accidentally leaves one in a San Francisco bar? -- and we've <a href="http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a370942/apples-new-tv-set-going-into-production-this-summer.html" target="_hplink">heard that the thing is going into mass production</a> as soon as this summer. Moskovitz, obviously, disagrees, though he doesn't say where he gets the 2014 date from. Perhaps from a hat? Let's say a hat.
Speaking of hats (not really though), we <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/this-week-in-apple-rumors_n_1441845.html#s895680&title=Next_iPhone_Could" target="_hplink">had a rumor two weeks ago that</a> the next iPhone might be made of "liquid metal." Sorry, Terminator 2 fanatics, but it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon, either...
New MacBooks Will Not Be Made Of Liquid Metal, Whatever That Is!
Some sad news from Business Insider, <a href="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-05-02/tech/31531817_1_apple-gadgets-corrosion" target="_hplink">as an interview with Liquidmetal inventor Atakan Peker has revealed</a> that new Apple products will not be made of magical liquid metal, which I can only assume is exactly like the stuff the bad guy in <em>Terminator 2 </em> morphs into.
Actually, liquidmetal is a kind of beautiful, strong, scratch-resistant <a href="http://www.liquidmetal.com/" target="_hplink">amorphous metal alloy</a> that Apple <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/09/apple-buys-out-liquidmetal-patents-to-stay-one-step-ahead-in-materials-game/" target="_hplink">bought some patents from</a> back in 2010. Peker tells <em>BI</em> that he doesn't expect Apple to use it in devices any time soon; rather he expects them to use it in a "breakthrough product" at some point in the future.
Once again, I'm going to predict this "breakthrough product" is the ability for humans to morph into a puddle of iTitanium, to launch in 2016. Right after the Apple television.
That's all for this edition of This Week In Apple Rumors. Make sure you check back next week, when I will be writing this column as a goopy mass of metallic alloy, eyeballs, and fingertips. And if you can't wait one week for your hysterical Apple rumormongering fix, you can get up to the minute Apple rumors by <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/gilbertjasono" target="_hplink">following me on Twitter here</a>.
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The Huffington Post | By Jason Gilbert Posted: 05/06/2012 4:42 pm Updated: 05/06/2012 4:42 pm