According to an anonymous report, six new Mac placeholder SKUs have appeared in Future Shop's inventory system. While we've been unable to independently verify this at this time, the placement of early "placeholder" part numbers is consistent with inventory practices of some major retailers.
In February, we saw MacBook Pro part numbers in Best Buy's systems about 3 weeks before the release of the new MacBook Pros. Future Shop is a Canadian subsidiary of Best Buy.
Apple has been rumored to be planning new releases for their laptops (and maybe iMacs) before the holidays. The last rumored date pinpointed October 14th for the launch.
Update: According to one BestBuy poster, these SKUs were set up without any knowledge from Apple with only the circulating expectations that Apple would be releasing notebooks in the near future. As a result, there can be no conclusions drawn from this inventory change, except what we already know, that Apple is expected to release new notebooks in the near future.
I helped set these skus up. They were set up with no information or assistance from Apple. These were set up as the same time as a long list of placeholders for iPods for the "Let's Rock" event - we weren't sure if there were computers coming at the same time (as you can see in the thread in the Future Shop forums).
So to recap:
* We setup a bunch of skus.
* We did so without input from Apple.
* We did it to be prepared for when new product launches because we find out at exactly the same time you do. Sometimes we get a "you'll see X number of new laptops" but that's the extent of it.
* We also did it because we wanted to make sure that we weren't setting skus up in the same time frame that they were going to launch because inevitably someone with a camera phone is going to see them in the system and be a little overzealous and fire off a cropped, poorly compressed photo of our inventory system to engadget/gizmodo/macrumors/appleinsider and we figured if we set them up in advance we can avoid tipping Apple's hand in the future. Yes, we're that considerate of our partners. Phew.
Thursday September 22, 2022 1:04 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 16.0.2, addressing a number of bugs that iPhone 14 owners have been experiencing since the new devices launched. iOS 16.0.2 comes two weeks after the launch of iOS 16, and it follows iOS 16.0.1, an update made available to iPhone 14 owners on launch day. The update is available for all iPhones that are capable of running iOS 16.
The iOS 16.0.2 update can be...
Wednesday September 21, 2022 7:49 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple on Friday released the new iPhone 14 models, and MacRumors videographer Dan picked one up on launch day. He's been using the iPhone 14 Pro Max non-stop since it came out, and over on the MacRumors YouTube channel, has shared his initial thoughts on the day-to-day experience with the latest iPhone.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Dan's mini review highlights...
Wednesday September 21, 2022 1:36 am PDT by Sami Fathi
Rumors suggest Apple will announce new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models as soon as next month. The new iPads will be the first update to the iPad Pro series since April 2021 and will be an overall incremental upgrade that brings new capabilities and functionality to the highest-end iPad.
According to reports, Apple is planning an event for October to announce the new iPad Pro models, a...
Wednesday September 21, 2022 4:25 am PDT by Sami Fathi
It's been nine days since Apple released iOS 16 to the public, bringing major changes to the Lock Screen, Messages, Maps, and more. In the days following the release, some users have encountered several issues on their iPhones, ranging from slow system performance to battery drain.
In the past few days, iPhone 14 Pro users have shared specific bugs related to Apple's latest high-end iPhones, ...
Thursday September 22, 2022 7:57 am PDT by Sami Fathi
A copycat version of the iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island has arrived on Android's Google Play Store in the form of an app called "dynamicSpot."
The app, still in beta, offers customers several different experiences at the top of their smartphones. In its current form, dynamicSpot offers playback control for songs, timers, battery status, and more features coming soon, according to the app's...
Thursday September 22, 2022 5:12 am PDT by Sami Fathi
Meta is facing a new proposed class action lawsuit that accuses it of tracking and collecting the personal data of iPhone users, despite features and policies made by Apple which are meant to stop that same type of tracking.
In August, it was revealed that with the Facebook and Instagram apps, Meta can track all of a user's key taps, keyboard inputs, and more, when using the in-app browser....
Wednesday September 21, 2022 2:03 pm PDT by Juli Clover
With millions of devices shipping out to customers with every Apple launch, there's occasionally someone who gets lucky and gets a new product ahead of schedule. This time around, Redditor playalisticadillac received an Apple Watch Ultra from AT&T two days before the official debut, sharing some images on the social media site.
The images include an unboxing and comparisons to the...
Thursday September 22, 2022 3:12 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today explained why the new silicone ear tips for the second-generation AirPods Pro are not officially compatible with the original AirPods Pro.
In an updated support document, Apple said the original AirPods Pro ear tips have "noticeably denser mesh" than the second-generation ear tips. Apple did not provide any additional details, but the mesh density could result in acoustical...
Apple on September 12 released iOS 15.7 and iPadOS 15.7, delivering important fixes for multiple security vulnerabilities, including at least one that has been actively exploited.
Apple's latest mainstream iPhone models come in two sizes with A15 chip, car crash detection, satellite connectivity, and more. iPhone 14 is available now, while iPhone 14 Plus launches on October 7.
Top Rated Comments
I helped set these skus up. They were set up with no information or assistance from Apple. These were set up as the same time as a long list of placeholders for iPods for the "Let's Rock" event - we weren't sure if there were computers coming at the same time (as you can see in the thread in the Future Shop forums).
So to recap:
* We setup a bunch of skus.
* We did so without input from Apple.
* We did it to be prepared for when new product launches because we find out at exactly the same time you do. Sometimes we get a "you'll see X number of new laptops" but that's the extent of it.
* We also did it because we wanted to make sure that we weren't setting skus up in the same time frame that they were going to launch because inevitably someone with a camera phone is going to see them in the system and be a little overzealous and fire off a cropped, poorly compressed photo of our inventory system to engadget/gizmodo/macrumors/appleinsider and we figured if we set them up in advance we can avoid tipping Apple's hand in the future. Yes, we're that considerate of our partners. Phew.
Alright. Hope that clears it up for everyone.