MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

ThinkSecret notes that while the most recent PowerMac revision still sports 970FX processors -- Apple/IBM are still anticipating 970MP based machines in the future... perhaps by year's end. Previous hints had pointed to multiprocessor 970MP machines coming from Apple based on evidence from developer tools. ThinkSecret points to further room for processor changes noted in Tiger's reporting of ...

ThinkSecret maintains that iMac and eMac updates are just around the corner and could ship "as soon as Friday, alongside Tiger". A previous report gave use expected specs for the anticipated...

Banc of America Securities speculates that Apple could launch a new iPod product "as early as June". This appears not to be based on any insider knowledge, and instead is simply analyst...

Appleinsider provides summary of upcoming hardware updates that have been tossed about. One new tidbit is the expectation that new Macs will be introduced on April 26th...

ThinkSecret also noted that the Gold Master of Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) has been making the rounds in file-trading circles. A 2.5GB disc image of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger appeared on the servers of highly regarded ripping groups this past weekend, some two weeks before its official release. Details are scarce on where the disc image, which installs Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger build 8A428, originated from but the...

DVD Studio Pro 4 lists Mac OS X 10.4.1 as a requirement for playing back HD DVDs. DVD Studio Pro was introduced on Sunday, April 17 at the NAB conference in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Mac OS X 10.4.0 (Tiger) has been announced, but not yet released... and is due on April...

According to an anonymous report, Apple and ATI have been in talks about either creating or purchasing a Game Development unit. The purpose of such a division would presumably be to create compelling games for the Mac platform to help attract more PC users to switch to the Mac platform. Such a move would not be uncharateristic for Apple, as their decision to create Safari as well as many of ...

Appleinsider posts some vague hints at new hardware products coming soon from Apple. Code names "Q84" and "M18" related to desktop machines are reportedly coming...

One detailed tipster claims that new PowerMacs will be announced at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters conference which takes place between April 16-21 in Las Vegas, NV. The ambitious report claims that the new machines will include the rumored 970MP starting at 2GHz, alongside 2.5GHz and 3.0GHz models. The first Blu-ray drives (Apple adopts Blu-Ray) are expected to make their...

An unconfirmed tidbit notes that Apple may have acquired Vancouver, BC based SchemaSoft. SchemaSoft's website can be found at http://www.schemasoft.com/ and lists Apple Computer amongst their previous clients. Of note, one of their products offers a software library for reading and writing Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. The readers/writers are described to work on all...

Appleinisider speculates that Apple may be considering an iTunes subscription service based on the recent hire of Julia Miller who previously worked at Microsoft, helping coordinate XBox Live, an online subscription service. Speculation of such an Apple branded subscription service persists in light of Napster's To Go model despite Apple's previous denials of such a...

Skittles.com has been updated with the Star Wars themed iPod giveaway that was previously reported. The upcoming Star Wars iPod appears to simply be a Star Wars engraved iPod with a custom iSkin. According to the disclaimer at the bottom of the page "Apple is not a sponsor or partner in this promotion." So, the iPods are simply aftermarket...

One user submits the following: "Apple released version 4.1.0 of their CHUD tools. CHUD is used by developer for optimizing applications. One of the components is a system preference panel called "Processor". It enables you to turn off the "Nap" function of the processors, but more importantly it allows you to turn off the second processor of a dual-processor machine. With version 4.1.0, ...

According to Powerpage, Apple has in the works a palmtop computer, or mini laptop. Sources who claim to have see one have commented to the PowerPage that an internal planning spec details that the new machines runs a stripped-down flavor of Mac OS X. We're told that it will finally utilize Apple's Inkwell technology to "write anywhere" and neatly fold into your pocket - rather like an enlarged...

In 2001, Transitive Technologies demonstrated a technology called "Dynamite" which allowed code written for one CPU to be run efficiently on another CPU. This "translator" was said to dynamically translate and accelerate binaries -- claiming to provide substantial performance over traditional "emulators". Recent numbers claim ...

According to unconfirmed tipsters, iTunes 4.8 is coming soon. Whether it is timed with the expected iPod announcements or as a separate announcement next week is unknown. No known features have been...

MacShrine reports that they have received information on iPod updates for this Wednesday (Feb 23, 2005). According to the site, the upcoming iPods include a 30GB iPod Photo at $349, 60GB iPod Photo at $449). As well, the Gold iPod Mini will be discontinued with an introduction of a 6GB iPod Mini at $249, while the current 4GB iPod Mini drops to...

Several Apple resellers in Australia have begun selling iPod Mini's, 20GB iPods and iMac G5s at significant discounts. The discounts are believed to be "below cost" -- potentially representing a clearance of products prior to new product releases. Recent rumors have claimed that the iPod Mini would be seeing modest upgrades in the next week or so. No substantial rumors have hinted at iMac ...