MacRumors

Apple's stock price has surged nearly 6 percent today following extremely bullish comments from Topeka's Brian White. White feels that the recent drop off in Apple's stock price has little to do with the fundamentals of the company and that the stock is ready for significant growth.

In our view, the sell off in Apple's stock over the past eight weeks has gotten to the point of being "insanely insane" given the depressed valuation (CY13 P/E of 7.6x ex-cash), new blockbuster products for the holiday season, the attractive long-term growth opportunities that lie ahead and the Company's ability to distribute significant cash flow to investors. Those investors that have missed Apple or have been under-weight the stock, now have another opportunity to buy Apple before sentiment takes a turn for the positive during what has historically been the strongest quarter of the year for the stock.

Apple's stock price broke through the $700 barrier for the first time back in September but had been on a significant slide since then.

Update: Apple ended the day up $38/share, or more than 7 percent, closing at $565.

Digitimes reports that Apple's suppliers will enjoy a particularly strong 1st Quarter of 2013. The reason cited is due to new iPad and iPhone products "around the middle of 2013".

Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPad and iPhone series around the middle of 2013, which will boost demand for ICs in particular communications related chips during the latter half of the first quarter, according to the observers. Component orders placed by Apple, which climbed to high levels prior to the iPhone 5 rollout, will rise again between March and April, the observers indicated.

The "middle of 2013" claim is offered very matter-of-factly despite Apple's recent history of offering fall releases for the iPhone and now the iPad. For example, the iPhone 5 and iPad 4 launched in September and October, respectively.

The claim is somewhat consistent with another report that reported that Apple is already starting trial production of the iPhone 5S with volume production planned for early 2013.

Still, we are hesitant to read too much into this report just yet. Digitimes has had a mixed record in the past with its share of both hits and misses. If the iPhone and iPad launch will indeed be accelerated, we are certain to hear more in the coming months.

Apple has posted a teaser page on their Australian online Apple Store for a "one-day Apple shopping event" on Friday, November 23rd.

The one-day Apple shopping event is Friday, 23 November.

Get ready to give. Shop online or visit your favourite Apple Retail Store.
We'll help you make the most of the day, no matter how you shop.

This Friday represents Black Friday in the United States. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving that marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Traditionally, retailers offer major sales on that day.

Apple's international online and retail stores also participate in these sales, though Apple's discounts tend to be very modest. Last year's discounts for Apple's core products were as follows (in USD):

iPad 2 - $41 to $61 Off
iPod nano - $11 off
iPod Touch - $21 to $41 off
MacBook Air - $101 off
MacBook Pro - $101 off
iMac - $101 off

For absolute savings, customers will have better luck with 3rd party merchants that tend to offer steeper discounts on Apple products on Black Friday.

Last week, a report from french site MacBidouille claimed that Apple may not be shipping their new iMac until early 2013, despite Apple's official promises that the new iMac models would ship before year's end.

9to5Mac now reassures us that Apple's original plans are still intact for the iMac. The new 21.5" iMacs are said to already be shipping to distribution centers, while the 27" iMacs are due in December. Supplies, however, are likely to be very short through the rest of the year.

Apple continues to list November and December availability dates for the new iMacs in their online store. Pre-orders are not yet available but are expected by the end of November.

NFCWorld reports that AuthenTec has sold off its Embedded Security Solutions (ESS) division to a company called Inside Secure for $48 million, leaving Apple with its fingerprint sensors and identity management assets.

Authentec's Embedded Security Solutions (ESS) division designs, develops and sells a range of embedded security solutions, centered on the use of encryption algorithms and security blocks to protect data and ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability.

TechCrunch suggests one of the reasons for the sell off of this non-core technology is to avoid any regulatory hurdles in the AuthenTec acquisition.

If the initial Reuters report of the acquisition remains accurate, it recoups investment on parts of the business which aren’t essential to Apple’s plans. It also ensures that once any deal is finalized, there will be less to worry about in terms of Apple gaining undue control over tech essential to the securing of its competitors products, which might raise red flags with regulators

Apple had been reported to have acquired AuthenTech back in July for $356 million. Speculation had already claimed that Apple was primarily interested in AuthenTec's fingerprint scanning technology for future devices. Several current customers of AuthenTec's fingerprint sensors were already been forced to quickly look for alternative suppliers.

Earlier this month, MacRumors had reported that early logs have indicated that Apple is already testing early builds of OS X 10.9.

With OS X 10.9, Apple appears to be continuing the theme of bringing iOS features into OS X. According to 9to5Mac, early builds are showing that both Siri and Maps are being integrated into the newest version of the Mac operating system.

Early builds in testing of the next-generation Mac operating system, OS X 10.9, point to Siri and Maps integration coming to Mac computers next year, according to our reliable sources.

Apple already offers Dictation and Text-to-Speech, but Siri integration would presumably offer Mac users voice-command and search functionality to Mac users.

Meanwhile, Maps integration indicates that Apple will offer the service to developers to incorporate into their own Mac apps. Its not clear whether or not Apple would offer its own stand-alone mapping app for the Mac.

A release date for OS X 10.9 is currently unknown, but Apple has stated that is moving toward a more rapid development cycle on OS X. If Apple follows their pattern for OS X 10.8's launch, we could see early OS X 10.9 developer previews in early 2013 and a final release in the middle of the year.

A few times a year, MacRumors partners with one of the Mac App Bundle organizers to promote their bundle deal. The latest bundle comes from MacLegion and delivers 10 Mac applications for $49.99 (a $548.80 value if all purchased separately).

- TechTool Pro ($99.99) - Hardware diagnostics, maintenance and hard drive repair
- Freeway Pro ($229.00) - Web design software
- djay ($19.99) - DJ app for Mac allowing you to mix your iTunes library
- Capo ($49.99) - Learn to play the music in your iTunes library (Apple Design Award Winner)
- Fantastical ($19.99) - Calendar application with natural language processing
- RipIt ($24.95) - Rip DVD movies
- iRip ($19.95) - Transfer songs from your iPod or iPhone to your Mac
- Beamer ($15.00) - AirPlay any movie format (AVI, MKV, MKV, MOV, etc...) to your Apple TV
- Copy Paste Pro ($30.00) - Clipboard enhancement
- Code Collector Pro ($19.99) - Organize and share code snippets

All apps together are being sold for $49.99 until December 9th. MacRumors is a promotional partner with MacLegion. Bundle sales through these links benefit MacRumors financially, and provide a way for readers to directly support this site.

The first 5000 customers also get Alarm Clock Pro ($19.95 value) for free.

On Friday, Apple sent out emails to customers that the company will be discontinuing the Messages Beta program for Lion on December 14th, 2012:

Dear [User],

The Messages Beta program for Lion will end on Friday, December 14, 2012. We hope you've enjoyed the opportunity to preview Messages.

If you'd like to continue using Messages, upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store. Messages is one of many great new apps and features built right into OS X Mountain Lion. Learn More.

Thank you for your participation in the Messages Beta program.

The email indicates that in order to continue to use Messages, users must upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion. OS X Mountain Lion is available for $19.99 on the Mac App Store [Direct Link].

Messages is Apple's iMessage client for the Mac, and replaces iChat in OS X Mountain Lion. Apple had originally launched it as a beta program for existing Lion users while Mountain Lion was being completed.

It has been long known that Apple planned on discontinuing the Lion beta, but Apple is only now given customers a timetable. While Apple suggests that customers can upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion to continue using Messages, some customers' computers may be too old to support the latest OS X release.

Apple has acknowledged on their iCloud status page that iCloud iMessage and FaceTime services are offline for some users.

Reports first started rolling in around 3pm Pacific on our forums with some users still reporting problems.

Update: Apple says iMessages and FaceTime is working again.

Bloomberg reports that a new court filing in the ongoing patent dispute between Apple and Google's Motorola Mobility unit reveals that both sides are interested in using binding arbitration in order to resolve the issues related to standards-essential patents at a minimum, if not the entire dispute.

The companies have been exchanging proposals on using binding arbitration to reach a licensing agreement over patents that are essential to comply with industry standards on how phones operate. Such an agreement could lead to a global settlement of all of their patent disputes, Apple said in a filing yesterday.

“Apple is also interested in resolving its dispute with Motorola completely and agrees that arbitration may be the best vehicle to resolve the parties’ dispute,” Apple said in the filing.

Arbitration would avoid the need for a further protraction of the ongoing court cases, moving the dispute out of the courts and into the hands of a neutral third third party who would review evidence and render a decision that both parties would be legally obligated to accept.

The willingness to engage in arbitration is another sign that the mobile companies involved in a vast web of lawsuits may be seeking to wind down their confrontations, with Apple and HTC having announced a settlement in their dispute over the weekend. Apple's major foe is, however, still Samsung and it appears that there may be no settlement in sight for that dispute.

Following up on yesterday's report suggesting that a launch of a new Apple television product may be "imminent" based on cable operators assessing infrastructure needs to support such a device, AllThingsD notes that Apple is indeed talking with cable operators but that characterizing any launch as "imminent" would be premature.

For starters, Apple has already steered analysts away from the notion that it will have something to say about a TV solution soon. More important: If Apple were close to launching a new service, it would almost certainly be in touch with TV programmers about new arrangements, and we haven’t heard anything along those lines.

In other words, there are still a lot of missing pieces here, and while a major cable provider running what-if scenarios on a rumored Apple product is certainly interesting, it’s not necessarily a trumpet fanfare announcing its imminent arrival.

Apple continues to refer to its existing Apple TV set-top box business as a "hobby", even as sales doubled year-over-year to 5 million units in fiscal 2012. More ambitious plans for either a new set-top box supporting live television or an Internet-connected television set are reportedly being slowed by difficult content negotiations.

Following yesterday's delivery of some early pre-orders of the LTE versions of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad to U.S. customers, Apple's three major U.S. carrier partners AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have all announced that they are beginning sales of the devices today.

Apple has not made any official announcement about availability of the LTE models, and users in our forums are so far reporting scant availability of the devices, particularly the iPad mini, at the company's own retail stores. We did hear from one reader who was able to purchase an LTE fourth-generation iPad at an Apple store late yesterday, but many others are not having luck so far.

Most of Apple's retail stores do not open until 10:00 AM, but some readers have received reports from employees already on-site indicating that availability is very limited, and one reader reports that the company's 24-hour flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan does not have any LTE iPad mini models at the moment.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is continuing to make progress on a standalone mapping application for iOS, working toward submitting the app for inclusion in the App Store after Apple switched from Google to its own in-house Maps app in iOS 6.

Google has distributed a test version of its new mapping app that will work on Apple's iPhones and iPads to some individuals outside the company, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Google has been putting the finishing touches on the app before submitting it for approval to the Apple iTunes store, this person said, though it is unclear exactly when that will happen.

Unlike Google's Maps app that was included with iOS 5 and earlier, the upcoming version will indeed include free turn-by-turn navigation as has been available on Google Maps for Android and which Apple provides in its Maps app.

The report also notes that Apple is continuing to work hard on improving its Maps app, with Eddy Cue taking a very hands-on approach with regular team meetings since he took charge of Maps and Siri late last month.

Google's Maps app for iOS has been spotted in alpha testing, but some Google employees are reportedly pessimistic about its chances for acceptance in the App Store. But given the plethora of existing mapping apps and Apple's promotion of the web version of Google Maps as alternative to Apple's maps while it works to improve its own service, there may be little reason for Apple to reject Google's submission.

Barron's reports on a new research note from Jefferies & Co. analyst James Kisner noting that he believes the launch of an unspecified Apple television product (presumably either a new set-top box or a connected television) is "imminent". Kisner's belief comes from information he has received indicating that at least one major U.S. cable company is assessing the potential impact on its network infrastructure from such a device.

Our discussions with industry contacts suggest that at least one major N. American MSO is working to estimate how much additional capacity may be needed for a new Apple device on their broadband data network. We believe this potentially suggests an imminent launch of the Apple TV, a positive development for ARRIS, who is directly exposed to data traffic growth from incremental IP video streams on cable networks

Kisner's research note is actually addressing the impact on ARRIS, a major communications technology that handles much of the network infrastructure for U.S. cable companies, most notably Comcast. Kisner believes that a forthcoming Apple television product would bode well for ARRIS, as it would force cable companies to increase their network capacity to handle such demands as on-demand HD streams from users of the new Apple product.

Rumors of an Apple television set peaked approximately a year ago with Steve Jobs having briefly addressed the topic for Walter Isaacson's authorized biography published shortly after Jobs' death. At the time, follow-up rumors suggested that the set could be announced in late 2012 ahead of an early 2013 launch, but talk of such a product has quieted down in recent months amid reports of difficult content negotiations.