# Apple/Macintosh related rumours



## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Thought there may be interest in having a thread devoted here just for breaking news and rumors of what may be coming down the pike regarding Apple-related products. For example, ran across this the other day:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0412expo2.html
EXCLUSIVE: Apple to drop sub-$500 Mac bomb at Expo

December 28, 2004 - With iPod-savvy Windows users clearly in its sights, Apple is expected to announce a bare bones, G4-based iMac without a display at Macworld Expo on January 11 that will retail for $499, highly reliable sources have confirmed to Think Secret.

The new Mac, code-named Q88, will be part of the iMac family and is expected to sport a PowerPC G4 processor at a speed around 1.25GHz. The new Mac is said to be incredibly small and will be housed in a flat enclosure with a height similar to the 1.73 inches of Apple's Xserve. Its size benefits will include the ability to stand the Mac on its side or put it below a display or monitor.

Along with lowering costs by forgoing a display (Apple's entry-level eMac sells for $799 with a built-in 17-inch CRT display), the so-called "headless" iMac will allow Apple's target audience -- Windows users looking for a cheap, second PC -- to keep their current peripherals or decide on their own what to pair with the system, be it a high-priced LCD display or an inexpensive display. Sources expect the device to feature both DVI and VGA connectivity, although whether this will be provided through dual ports or through a single DVI port with a VGA adapter remains to be seen.

The new Mac is expected to have a Combo drive only, but will possibly have an upgrade path to a SuperDrive at a higher price. It is unclear how big the hard drive capacity will be, although sources indicate it will be between 40GB and 80GB.

Other expected features of the iMac include:
256MB of RAM 
USB 2.0 
FireWire 400 
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet 
56K V.92 modem 
AirPort Extreme support

In terms of software, Apple will include a special iLife suite (minus iDVD) as well as AppleWorks, sources believe.

The new Mac is expected to be introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at his keynote address on Tuesday, January 11, but is not expected to be available until later in the first quarter. Sources indicate "issues" have arisen in production of the new Mac, but that Apple never planned on shipping the new device immediately upon introduction. The plan is to air freight the new model from its manufacturing plants in Asia for at least the first three months of shipments, sources report.

The announcement of the new, inexpensive Mac will be a dream come true for Mac aficionados who have begged and pleaded for years to see just such a PC. Until now, the company has downplayed speculation that it would get into the low-end PC market. "In terms of our pricing, I feel very good about where each of our product lines are priced," Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO, said in October. "To date, we have chosen not to compete in the sub-$800 desktop market and have put that R&D investment in expanding our products in the music area, in software, and in hardware."

So what has changed to motivate Apple in producing a low-cost Mac? In a word, iPod.

"Think of your traditional iPod owner," said a source. "This new product will be for a Windows user who has experienced the iPod, the ease of use of the iTunes software, and has played around with a Mac at an Apple retail store just long enough to know he'd buy one if it were a little cheaper."

Apple executives announced on October 13 that 45% to 50% of its retail store customers bought a Mac as their first PC or were new to the platform in the fiscal fourth-quarter. The company has refused to divulge more exacting figures on iPod buyers who also buy a Mac, for competitive reasons.

According to sources, internal Apple surveys of its retail store customers and those buying iPods showed a large number of PC users would be willing to buy a Mac if it were cheap enough, less of a virus carrier than PCs (which all Macs already are), and offered easier to use software solutions not available on Windows-based PCs. Now, Apple feels it has the answer.

Apple has been working on the low-end Mac for almost a year, sources report. Indications are Apple has been working mostly on finding the right mix of price, performance and features that would motivate Windows users to consider a Mac, and less on the actual engineering of the product. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to design a bare-bones PC," said one source familiar with the project. "What it takes is a team of marketing and software experts to find the right mix to convince Windows users to buy a Mac at a price that is not much more than the cost of an iPod."

Sources familiar with the product cautioned that the low-end Mac will be marketed towards a totally different audience than those who traditionally buy even a $799 eMac. "This product is not going to be about performance," said a source close to Apple. "This is going to be the basics, but with just as much of a focus on software as any Mac could ever be."


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## MSY-Houston (Dec 5, 2004)

Well hot dang and halleluia! 

And thanks for the new thread. So much info. out there--so little time....

MSY


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Hey there MSY  You ain't kidding about that time vs. info crunch... 

Here is some additional material just found:

http://www.computerworld.com/softwa...,10801,98711,00.html?source=NLT_MAC&nid=98711

New Apple products seen broadening reach
News Story by Duncan Martell

JANUARY 04, 2005 (REUTERS) - Apple Computer Inc. is widely expected to unveil cheaper portable music players and Macintosh computers next week at its annual trade show as it seeks to change from a niche technology player to the mainstream champion of the "digital life."

Apple rumor Web sites and analysts have been buzzing in recent weeks about an iPod digital music player that uses a relatively inexpensive flash memory microchip to store songs, rather than the more commodious and expensive hard disk drives currently used in the devices, which cost $250 to $600.

Opinions are divided on whether CEO Steve Jobs will also unveil a Macintosh computer for less than $500, excluding a monitor. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple now sells more iPods than Macs, with analysts forecasting 4 million or more iPods to be sold in the December quarter, double the number in the prior period for the device, which debuted in 2001.

"A flash-based iPod would be going after what we'd call the low end of the market and could certainly bring more people into the Apple experience," said analyst Tim Bajarin of market research firm Creative Strategies.

That is something that Apple has largely failed to do for years, as its high-design computers have garnered less than 5% of global PC sales. Extremely strong sales of the iPod as well as strong demand for its highly profitable PowerBook notebook PCs have not only been a boon for Apple, but also for its shareholders. Apple stock more than tripled last year from $21.37 on Dec. 31, 2003 to at $64.40 at the end of 2004.

JPMorgan analyst Bill Shope estimates that Apple could double its market with the introduction of an iPod device costing about $150 or less. He cited research firm IDC's forecast that flash-based digital music players will account for nearly 51% of the worldwide market in 2008.

Jobs often uses the annual gathering of the Mac faithful for its biggest product introductions and advances to its iLife suite of photo, music and video software and the Macintosh.

Rumor sites dedicated to all things Apple such as Think Secret and Apple Insider have recently said Apple would introduce a "headless" iMac computer -- without a display -- at Macworld, costing $499, citing sources. Analysts are divided about whether the rumor will pan out. Bajarin said he is somewhat dubious about the introduction of an iMac costing $500, unless it is designed for uses other than just a traditional PC. "They could have done that at almost any point in their history," he said.

But in a note to clients, Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich said such a lower-cost PC, a market that Apple has until now conspicuously avoided, would make sense and could encourage more consumers to switch from Windows-based PCs to the Macintosh. "Selling just the system unit would cut significantly the cost to switch," Milunovich wrote, adding that such a device would expand Apple's "digital living room" strategy, which it kicked off with its AirPort Express gizmo, which transmits songs from an iPod to a home stereo system. "Apple needs to build a strong digital consumer franchise based on more than iPod but using iPod as the lever," Milunovich wrote.


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

FWIW, and who knows if this is just part of a larger marketing ploy to grab media attention before the big show in SanFran [MacWorld] next week, but Apple is suing the above mentioned site in the first post above, www.thinksecret.com:

http://www.theregister.com/2005/01/06/apple_think_litigious/
Apple has confirmed the veracity of reports detailing its MacWorld announcements in the most expensive way possible - by filing a civil lawsuit against the website which published them.

ThinkSecret published two scoops describing Apple's plans for Q88 (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/29/sub-500_imac/), a sub-$500 headless Mac to ship in the first quarter of the year, and iWork, the successor to the AppleWorks suite, which was last updated five years ago. Apple has filed a civil suit against the site's pseudonymous publisher, Nick de Plume, reports CNET.

Apple admits it doesn't know who the author is, but acknowledges that unspecified ThinkSecret stories accurately reveal its marketing plans and technical details of a new computer product. Both articles were still online at the time of writing, despite Apple's claims for damages.

According to Apple, ThinkSecret's reports cause it financial injury. But since the announcements in questions are only expected next week, and the new products have no direct equivalents in Apple's portfolio, it's difficult to see a judge sympathizing.

It's one thing to sue employees or contractors who have broken a pledge of confidentiality - Apple filed suit against three employees (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/22/apple_sues_tiger_leak/) who leaked beta Mac OS X binaries and John Doe suits (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/20/apple_sues_whistleblower/) against unknown leakers. It's quite another to use its corporate financial might to stop the press doing its job. Unable to find the leaker, Apple is shooting the messenger instead.

In a particularly rich piece of humbug, Apple also claims it doesn't want to "discourage communication protected by the free-speech guarantees of the United States and California constitutions", but the lawsuit demands not only that the website delete the reports but also that it turns over the identity of its sources.

The latter represents a violation of basic journalist ethics, and if Apple's chilling effects tactic was adopted more widely a free press would no longer be possible, with users solely dependent on corporate press releases, or a corporate PR republishing service, such as Walt Mossberg. Which is exactly how Apple CEO Steve Jobs likes it.

http://www.insanelygreatmac.com/news.php?id=4213
In July 2002, Apple withdrew the press passes of several Mac media people for Macworld New York, including, most notably, Graphic Power. Now Apple has gone a stage further by suing the webmeister of Think Secret, Nick de Plume, who today revealed the reality of the 'Flash iPod', as IGM reported earlier today.

In an even bigger story recently, Think Secret revealed the killer 'Q88' or 'headless iMac'. Now, as The Register points out, Apple has been forced to reveal its hand by slapping lawsuits on Think Secret, demanding the site remove the material and reveal its sources.

And that, as eWeek comments, is exactly how Steve Jobs likes it.

In 2002, Apple tried to quash sites which reported rumors - but the corporate media which did report the rumors were left unscathed.

There are sometimes when Apple behaves awfully like Microsoft. In 2002, IGM said,

"In our view, reporting of rumors of new or revised product is fair game. Auto magazines snap and publish pictures of unreleased cars on test. Political reporters make a living out of background briefings."

And we don't think Bob Woodward has ever revealed the identity of Deep Throat. We agree with eWeek that Apple is within its rights to go after contractors who spill the beans. They sign an NDA and they know what the consequences are if they break that. Nobody held a gun to their heads and told them to leak the information.

As a sidenote, we wonder whether Bill Palmer will withdraw his criticisms of Think Secret following MWSF, should Apple confirm what their lawsuit suggests: by releasing Q88 at a price within the $499 ballpark.

And, while we're on this, we should tip our hats in the direction of Mr. de Plume, particularly as this is, after all, the entertainment industry. Being hit with lawsuits by fairly large multinational corporations is never very entertaining.

And in a semi-related event, to show that Apple, just like any other firm should rightly protect its trade secrets:
http://www.theregister.com/2004/12/20/apple_sues_whistleblower/
Published Monday 20th December 2004 12:04 GMT
Apple has filed a lawsuit in Santa Clara California Superior Court against an unidentified individual who has "recently misappropriated and disseminated confidential information". The move comes in advance of the forthcoming MacWorld conference in San Francisco, at which Apple aficionados speculate the company will unveil a new flavour of iPod.

Apple admits that it does not know the defendants "true names or capacities, whether individual, associate, corporate or otherwise", but is clearly hoping that this bit of sabre-rattling will deter people from lifting the lid on new kit in advance of official launches.

The move follows the 2002 application of the big stick against Jose Lopez, a contractor who allegedly swiped schematic drawings, images and engineering details of the PowerMac G4 and posted them on the web.


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

If interested in iPod related news:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050223/sfw068_1.html
Apple Updates iPod photo Lineup
Wednesday February 23, 8:31 am ET
New Slim 30GB Model Starts at Just $349

CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today updated its iPod(R) photo lineup by introducing a new slim 30GB model, holding up to 7,500 songs, for just $349 and a new 60GB model, holding up to 15,000 songs, for $449. Designed to take your entire music and photo libraries with you wherever you go, both iPod photo models feature a stunning high-resolution color screen for displaying photos and enhancing the entire iPod music experience. Both models hold up to 25,000 digital photos and will feature the ability to import photos from your digital camera via the new iPod Camera Connector for instant viewing and slide show playback on iPod photo.

"The new slim 30GB iPod photo at just $349 lets music lovers enjoy their iPod in full color, including album artwork along with their personal photo library," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "And now you can import photos from your digital camera directly into iPod photo with the optional iPod Camera Connector."


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

And, for what's in the mix for Apple's business: [wish they'd buy the company I work for! ]

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuo...tfh60398_2005-02-23_20-25-41_n23627852_newsml


> TiVo shares rise on takeover speculation
> Wed Feb 23, 2005 03:25 PM ET
> NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - TiVo Inc. (TIVO.O: Quote, Profile, Research) shares jumped more than 17 percent on Wednesday, fueled by speculation that Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) might make a try to buy the digital video recorder maker, analysts said.
> 
> ...


One older, yet interesting blog on TiVo: http://www.gigaom.com/2003/01/tata_tivo.php

And another cool article, w/ some decent comments: http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2003/08/tivos_apple_pro.html


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## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Continuing the story about the suit by Apple:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050304/apple_secrets_2.html



> Associated Press
> Apple Suit Pits Web Reporters, Protections
> Friday March 4, 11:24 pm ET
> By Rachel Konrad, AP Technology Writer
> ...


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## Flashback (Oct 14, 1999)

MSM Hobbes said:


> On Jan. 4, Apple sued a 19-year-old publisher of another Web site that revealed trade secrets about the $499 Mac mini computer.


Would've loved to have read that story


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