Is Apple Feeding the Rumors?

This week we have had to two distinctly different opinions on what the forthcoming October 12 major event from Apple will be.

In the red corner we have AppleInsider claiming their sources say “iPod video” (although they are getting a bit toey now and hedging their bets now, reminding us they had previously predicted Power series upgrades for October)

In the invitations themselves, Apple provided no hints as to what announcements it plans to make. However, recent information suggests that Apple may be preparing to introduce a version of its iPod with video capabilities.

In the blue corner we have ThinkSecret claiming reliable sources who say it will simply be upgrades to the Power Macs and Powerbooksand boldly denouncing AppleInsider’s iPod video prediction (although being careful not to mention them and start a rumor sites war - so I will!)

The event, Think Secret has learned, will not usher in the much rumored video iPod but rather new PowerBook and Power Mac systems.

Well, I’d like to throw the Apple Matters’ hat in the rumor ring and say my reliable source* says it will be a Mac tablet.

I’m smelling a rat you see. Dueling rumor sites? Hmmm? Could Apple be feeding the rumor sites with two different rumors, both wrong though? “One more thing…” despite being a line of Steve’s, as a tagline for an event, sounds like a Pythonesque joke. Maybe the joke will be on the rumor sites.

Let’s consider a few things:

1) The October 12 event is using the “One more thing…” tag line. Firstly, presumably this was something due for release at Paris Expo but either wasn’t ready or they didn’t want anything stealing the nano’s media space. Secondly, when Steve says “One more thing…” it is usually something significant, iPod video and Mac tablet certainly would be.

2) Steve has been dead set against portable video.  We know that Steve’s word on things like this isn’t worth a pinch of poop (eg Flash based digital music players) - it just means Apple hasn’t found how or when to do it right yet.

3) There have been equally strong rumors this year of a tablet Mac in the works.

4) Are PowerMac upgrades - even dual core - a big enough reason to call this special event with this significant tag line? And they did only say one more thing. Is upgrades more than one? ThinkSecret are predicting quite a long list - hard only one more thing.

So where’s that leave us? A major announcement, too big for Mac upgrades but too unlikely for iPod video. Only leaves the Mac tablet.

But why wouldn’t it be Mac tablet? Five simple reasons - I - N - T - E - L. Would Apple release a first gen Mac tablet with a PowerPC processor? Unlikely. Have they already got one ready to fly with Intel inside? Also unlikely. So much for my rumor source.

Whatever Apple’s announcement is, it is planned to coincide with the holiday buying period. This favors a consumer device over a pro device and so the iPod video over the PowerMac upgrades. It also means immediate availability so won’t be a preview of a Mac tablet due next year. But given some of the excellent theories provided by Apple Matters readers to the article Can Apple Save the Tablet? about what the Mac tablet could entail, it could certainly be a consumer device.

What other rumors can we start? My rumor source is also suggesting Steve’s giving the factory to Charlie.

Or maybe Steve is going to announce that there will be five golden tickets hidden in iPod nanos and the five lucky finders of the tickets will get to tour the factory and at the end one of them (oh come we all know it will be Charlie) will get given the factory.

But despite all the postulating, really, we’re none the wiser.

*My reliable source is Chris Howard over at the QR Tech Blog... Oh! Hang on… That’s me! Ooops!  Never believe anything he says!