Now that the iPhone 4 and new iMacs are out, Apple hardware rumors have slowed down to a trickle — until yesterday, that is. iLounge posted a great piece with a couple of mouth-watering rumors about new Apple hardware in the pipeline — oh happy day!
Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
iPhone 5 - Not much meat on this one, but the word is that Apple is pushing up the release date of the fifth-generation iPhone to “early 2011.” Translation: as soon as January. The reason is believed to be because of the antenna issues with the iPhone 4.
It’s unknown whether this will be a repackaging of iPhone 4 components in a different shell or something more substantial.
iPad mini - This one is pretty simple: a smaller version of the iPad. According to iLounge, a seven-inch iPad is “substantially finished” and could arrive as soon as later this year or early in 2011.
Apple has been prototyping devices with screens of this size for a long time—quite possibly predating the original iPhone.
iPods - Remember these? Apple sure does. Three new iPods could drop as early as this month, or as late as September. Expect a new nano, iPod touch and a question mark, which could be a small (1.7”) touchscreen replacement for the iPod shuffle.
There’s also continued chatter about a three-inch touchscreen that could make its way into an iPod, shaving half an inch off the diagonal of the current iPod touch.
Bumper cases - Apple is believed to be developing a cheaper, all-silicone version of its bumper case to give away after September. No surprises there, now that it is giving them away free with every iPhone 4.
Our source says that the original, unreleased version of Bumper had more hard plastic than the final version, and claims that Apple was considering giving Bumpers away with every iPhone 4 before deciding to take its chances with the bare device. The question is whether the Bumpers were originally intended for glass protection or antenna coverage, and why Apple developed them in the first place.
Are you waiting for any of the above items?
