Biggest Apple Leaks in 2007

To round-out the 2007 year of rumoring, here is a wrap up of some of the biggest leaks from 2007.

iPod "Fat" Nano Images

9to5Mac first posted a mockup of the shorter/wider iPod nano on July 17th which was met with skepticism:

There's not even a tiny chance that Apple would release something that daft. - emotion

Later, 9to5mac released actual "spy photos" (mirror) of the new iPods in a number of different colors. Apple responded with Cease and Desist letters and the images were pulled from various websites.

This "fat" 3rd Generation iPod Nano was indeed released on September 5th, 2007 at Apple's 'Beat Goes On' media event.

The Nano seemed squat in the photos I had seen, In person it was much more attractive and pretty cool. Apple will sell a boat load of these this holiday season! - Sandfleaz

6th Generation iPod Interface Video

Videos of the 6th Generation iPod Classic and 3rd Generation iPod Nano videos were briefly posted on MacRumors.com on July 21st, well before they were finally released on September 5th. Within 5 hours of their posting, Apple Legal requested that the videos were removed. A mirror remains available on YouTube. Many also believed that these interface videos were Fake.

Slim iMac Keyboard Images

The iMac slim keyboard images that were leaked on July 27th were notable for a number of reasons. The original leak came from a mac.hk forum thread in which the seller was trying to sell the unreleased Apple keyboard. Full resolution images were also posted to the seller's Flickr account but subsequently removed. The images were reposted by Engadget.

Unlike practically every other legitimate Apple leak, Apple Legal did not try to have these images removed, causing many to doubt their authenticity. The images were accurate, however, and Steve Jobs even acknowledged the leak when the keyboard was introduced.

iPhone Waiter and Sightings

In June, a reader submitted information about hands-on use with the then-unreleased iPhone. The submitter was a Wine Director at a prominent restaurant, and was able to use the iPhone of (presumably) an Apple employee. The description revealed a few unknown features of the iPhone at the time which were later confirmed to be true.

A few other iPhone sightings that were widely reported: Airport and Train, were also later confirmed to be real by MacRumors.com.

iPod Touch, Steve Jobs Email

In October, MacRumors Forum user, DavidJearly emailed Steve Jobs about various issues, including iPod game incompatibilities and why the iPod Touch didn't include Calendar add/edit functionality. Jobs responded:

David,

Nothing can be done about the games. The new iPod touch is a completely different animal inside than the old iPods and the games just don't translate. The inability to edit and add calendar events is a bug that will be fixed in a future software update.

Best,
Steve

A subsequent iPod Touch update confirmed the authenticity of David's email from Jobs.

Note: the iPhone 1.1.3 video/images might have made the list, but has not yet been officially confirmed.