NEWS

5 Rumored Apple Products We Wish Were Real

This past weekend, tech journalist Kevin Rose leaked a photo (above) of what he says will be the next generation of the iPod Nano. He also said that iTunes 8.0 will bring a number of significant changes and updates. What those changes and updates are, no one knows, but supposedly they’re coming.

This kind of rumor mongering ain’t new. In the world of Apple fandom, rumors are discussed and dissected on message boards like they read it on Steve Job’s Twitter feed. But more often than not, those rumors are just improbable hearsay. Check out a few products we wish would have come to fruition…

30th ANNIVERSARY MAC

At the 1997 Macworld, Apple CEO Gil Amelio introduced the limited edition 20th Anniversary Mac or TAM. Although the internals were nothing remarkable for a machine that costs damn near $8,000, it was the most futuristic looking desktop at the time, with a profile only 2.5” thick and a built-in LCD screen borrowed from the Powerbook. So when it was rumored that Apple was going to be releasing a 30th Anniversary Mac at their ‘07 Macworld, the Apple-verse went nuts, conjuring up renderings of what they were sure would be the most forward thinking computer design to ever be created, ever. Macworld 2007 came and went and although we didn’t get a 30th Anniversary Mac, we did get the iPhone.

APPLE PLASMA TV

This rumor sprouted up a couple times before tech journalist Jason O’Grady announced it was gonna happen at the ‘06 Macworld. He said that Apple was about to drop 47” and 50” plasma HDTVs with an entire Intel based computer running Max OS X crammed inside. What’d we get instead? The half-baked Apple TV.

TABLET MAC

Now that they have an ultra-portable laptop and a mobile phone, the tablet Mac is one of the products Apple fanboys wish the Cupertino, CA company would finally release. The tech is all there. We know they can make super small portables and we know they’re good at implementing touch screens, so what’s the hold up? Whatever it is, they’ve been beat to the punch by a company called Axiotron who released the Best of Macworld winning Modbook. It may not be as elegant as something Apple would release, but, like getting dome when it’s your girls time of the month, it’s better than nothing.

HEADLESS iMAC/MID-RANGE TOWER

If you’re in the market for an Apple desktop, you’ve got three options. There’s the $600 low-end and non-expandable Mac mini, there’s the all-in-one iMac, and then there’s the $3,000, super-high end quad-core Mac Pro workstation. While that may seem adequate, there’s a large number of people who don’t need the power of the Mac Pro but want the same expandability. Every other computer company offers at least one. C’Mon, smarten up, Steve.

iCAR

It seems the more technologically advanced cars become, the more confusing they are to use. One day with BMW’s iDrive will make you never wanna bump music in your car again. So when it was rumored that Apple and Volkswagen were in talks about an in-car integration system, it’s understandable why people went ape shit. Imagine having a R32 with an iMac fully wired into it. It’d be the best of both worlds without the pepper spray and lawsuit.