Welcome to our weekend Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed this week in a handy bite-sized summary. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but it’s cool if you want to read it during lunch or dinner hours as well.
When did Apple rumors stop being fun?
Acrimony and recrimination in the rumor sphere this week, with the news that an iOS 17 leak could have been horse feathers. Mark Gurman (in a slight conflict of interest is a leaky analyst himself, and therefore a rival of the source under review) furiously tweeted that a seemingly innocuous story had been “entirely based on a troll account known to invent false information”, and merely expressed disappointment that respectable sites fell for the hoax. iMore agreed, pointing to LeaksApplePro’s “dismal record” and outrageous past claims. 9to5mac wrote about it but declined to link to the story. AppleInsider has pledged to implement a so-called “BS Meter” and in the future “to clearly label what we think of the rumor in question before the click.”
So first of all, the mea culpa. igamesnews did indeed cover the story, and while we noted the source’s “poor track record,” perhaps we weren’t clear enough on their shaky credibility. So you can feel free, if you wish, to dismiss everything I’m about to say as the bitter ramblings of a hoax victim. (However, a weird “hoax”: a set of vague but perfectly plausible predictions that may well turn out to be correct or, at the very least, hard to prove.)
But here’s the thing. No source is completely credible and no leak is 100% reliable. Gurman and Ming-Chi Kuo, the best in the business, have been wrong in the past. Jon Prosser once dropped the ball so much that he had to shave his eyebrows as a forfeit. DigiTimes reported that Apple’s MacBook Pros were “delayed once again” less than a week before their arrival. And in the early 2000s, Think Secret had to shut down its entire site after reporting a false rumor about a FireWire audio interface box for GarageBand, named Asteroid.
Rumors are sketchy business at the best of times, and there was a time when igamesnews preferred not to cover them. But it turns out Apple fans are really interested in that sort of thing. Why? Because they are fun. Apple rumors bridge the massive gap between product launches, simultaneously raising expectations and dashing them, and have been a big part of Apple’s success during tough days. Sites like Spymac, Think Secret and Macrumors kept Apple relevant during the lean years and helped generate considerable buzz around events and releases. We didn’t spend a lot of time debating what was true or not, they were just fun to read.
Rumors are part of the tech landscape these days, but they’re embedded in Apple’s culture like no other company. But this carries risks. We can either cover rumors or write only accurate predictions. But you can’t do both.
The path we have chosen to follow is therefore that of compromise. When we cover rumours, we try to seek interest – for fun. We write about the weird and surprising rumors, and the ones that (if true) will change our experience with Apple products. But we try to balance that with context and expertise. My colleague Jason Cross writes a Rumor Reality Check column that focuses on credibility and tries to give you an overview of which theories are likely to be true and which should be considered a silly diversion. We’ve seen a lot of rumors come and go and generally have a good idea of which ones are level. The LeaksApplePro rumor may have been made up from scratch, but the information provided seemed plausible.
Even the good ones will get it wrong from time to time, and if you’re looking for rigorously accurate information, you’re in the wrong game. You better wait for the main presentation. And if you spend your time getting angry when people make mistakes, you don’t even understand that.
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The opinion corner
This week, Apple shipped the first units of its latest M2-based Macs, and igamesnews had the chance to have two of them tested in our labs. Here is what we did with the new machines:
Trending: Top stories of the week
Is the apple silicon power holding the Mac, wonders Dan Moren.
In a sea of layoffs, observes the Macalope, Apple is a stability lifeboat.
Apple’s next battle in its “silent war” against Google will be search and ads.
We’re rounding up 5 reasons to upgrade your 2021 MacBook Pro to a M2 Pro or M2 Max.
Apple will take advantage of its tight ecosystem to strap a $3,000 Mac screen to your face. And you will like it.
M2 Pro vs. M2 Max: It’s a question of memory and money.
The rumor mill
The iPhone 15 just got a super exciting rumor from a ‘very nice’ redesign.
The iPad Pro is late ‘major overhaul’ should arrive in 2024.
Apples next big thing appeared with a massive “Reality Pro” headset leak.
The Latest Rumored Apple Silicon Mac Pro Brings more disappointment.
There are no new HomePod mini in the pipeline, according to the latest report.
Will Apple hold a spring event This year? We believe it could.
Podcast of the week
Apples new M2 Pro is here and we got our hands on it. In this episode of the igamesnews Podcast, we talk about the new chip, our experiences with new Macs, and whether you should run out and buy them.
You can watch every igamesnews podcast episode on Spotify, Soundcloud, Podcasts app or our own site.
Software updates, bugs and issues
Apple updated billion products this week, here’s everything they have.
All parents should update their child’s iPad to fix this creepy Screen Time flaw.
Apples SSD slowdown made an appearance again in the Mac mini and MacBook Pro.
Apple just updated iOS 12 to patch a critical security flaw.
A iOS 16.2 feature removed will be restored with ‘version 2’ in a future update.
the original HomePod and HomePod mini just received a major update.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you want to receive regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter or on Facebook to discuss the latest news from Apple. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay Appley.
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