A second gen iPad Air and a beefier iPad Pro could arrive next month. Josh Valcarcel/WIRED
Each week, there are dozens of rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what’s coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but many are totally bogus. As always, we’ve parsed the rumors, ranking them in order from “utterly ridiculous” to “duh, of course.” First up…
DON’T COUNT ON IT: Apple and U2 Working On New Digital Music Standard
Bono is putting down the microphone and putting on his thinking hat, apparently. U2 is working on a secret project with Apple to work on a new digital format that combats piracy and free-to-access music, TIME reports. Bono hopes it will urge music aficionados to pay for music again. Earth to Bono, the iPod days are dead, but I would imagine that the band members could be consulting with Apple on ways to make iTunes purchases stickier, or make a streaming service more profitable to musicians. But Apple made a big deal about eliminating DRM from its music library back in the day, so adding something similar back into audio files could cause a major iTunes revolt.
ASK AGAIN LATER: Bone Conducting EarPods for Better Noise Cancellation
Apple’s EarPods are a big improvement over its old ear buds. And if the company uses the tech in a recent patent filing, that experience could get even better. The EarPods would be able to sense vocal chord vibrations using bone conducting technology. And combined with an accelerometer and multiple strategically positioned mics, Apple could improve noise cancellation in the EarPods by being able to detect exactly where your voice is coming from and minimize all other audio signals. While it’s unclear if Apple will implement this exact technique in future EarPods, it’s not unlikely that Apple could use at least some aspects of this technology to improve them.
ASK AGAIN LATER: Bigger ‘iPad Pro’ to Include Faster A8X Chip
A report out of Taiwan suggests that Apple’s 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” will arrive later this year with an upgraded A8x processor. In past years, Apple debuted a new chip on the iPhone, then upgraded it with the A-(number)-X nomenclature when the next iPad surfaced the following spring. This would definitely make sense on a larger, more powerful device. The report also expects the second generation iPad Air to get double the RAM of the original.
ASK AGAIN LATER: 12-Inch MacBook Air to Come in Silver, Gold, and Space Gray
The MacBook Air could be getting a major facelift come mid-2015. According to a source with Jack March, the super slender notebook will get even thinner and come in the same three colors as the iPhone: gold, silver, and space gray. It will also include that reversible USB standard we heard about last month. It’s an intriguing potential update that could bring more parity to Apple’s various product lines.
WITHOUT A DOUBT: Apple Watch Originally Planned for This Year
A report from The Information says that many folks at Apple expected the company’s wearable to land this year, but now, “Apple would be lucky to ship it by Valentine’s Day.” Valentine’s Day is a lesser, but notable, holiday target that would make sense for a launch given the watch’s high-fashion potential. Apparently issues relating to the display, the fit and finish quality, and the software were to blame. Plus, there were tons of rumors earlier this year that the watch would land in 2014, so it sounds like that was the original plan.
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