MacRumors

Despite claims from Apple CEO Tim Cook that the company was going to "double down on secrecy on products", 2012 may have been one of Apple's leakiest years so far.

The leaks seem to stem primarily from Apple's supply chain in China. While we were saturated with iPhone 5 and iPad mini parts in 2012, we also had early looks at Apple's iPod and Mac lines. As usual, the challenge is the relatively high noise to signal ratio when tracking rumors.

Here are a collection of some of the more notable and accurate iPhone, iPad and iPod rumors from 2012.

iPad 3

The move to a Retina display for the iPad 3 was not necessarily a foregone conclusion prior to its launch. Despite the move to "Retina" on the iPhone, the sheer volume of pixels needed for a Retina iPad generated considerable doubt. One forum commenter from February:

Do people honestly think this is going to happen?

If it did ship with a 2048x1546 display, then it would be capable of rendering images at a higher resolution than all video game consoles currently on the market.

However, game developers already struggle to produce games that run at 1920x1080 due to the power of the consoles - are people seriously saying that they think iPad 3 will have a better CPU and GPU than PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360?

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The iPhone and iPad tend to dominate the rumor scene for a number of reasons. Most signficantly, the total audience for iOS devices is larger and growing more rapidly than for Macs. Apple's Mac line has of course also been growing, but at a much slower pace. Also, given the maturity of the line, changes in the Mac line tend to be more incremental.

Still, looking back, we've seen a fair number of Mac-related leaks that preceded each product launch.

Perhaps the most reliable leaks have been from benchmark suites such as Geekbench, as we've seen benchmark leaks of unreleased Mac products several times now. These have all turned out to be accurate predictors of final Mac releases, sometimes with a several month lead time.

Here are some of the photo leaks we saw in 2012 for the Mac:

13" MacBook Pro

This pre-WWDC 13" MacBook Pro leak revealed that the 13" MacBook Pro would see little in the way of upgrades. Despite many comments about the easy fake-ability of the leak, the image turned out to be accurate. The 13" MacBook Pro wouldn't see Retina upgrades until later in 2012.

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Apple this week released a preliminary proxy statement in a filing to the SEC. The filing is an announcement of the 2013 annual stockholders meeting, as well as questions that will be voted on at the meeting and details of executive compensation arrangements.

Among other things, the filing details CEO Tim Cook's total compensation for 2012. His base salary for fiscal 2012 was increased to $1.4 million in cash from $900,000, reflecting "his responsibilities for the overall leadership of the Company". The bonus program for senior executives allows for targeted and maximum bonuses of 100% and 200% respectively, depending on performance of the company.

Additionally, following the restructuring of executive responsibilities in October 2012, Apple increased the 2013 base salary of executive officers from $800k to $875k to "recognize the additional responsibilities" given to the officers.

Apple also gives stock awards to executives in the form of restricted stock units or RSU's. These RSU's are awarded to executives with a certain vesting date in the future, when they will turn into normal shares of AAPL stock. They are intended to encourage officers to remain with the company, but are designed to be more favorable than stock options for tax purposes.

In 2011, Apple awarded Tim Cook 1,000,000 RSU's upon his promotion to CEO -- half will vest in 2016, and the other half in 2021. As a result, his "total compensation" was in the range of $378 million last year, though this is de facto inaccurate because, as Apple stated at the time, the award was intended to be viewed as spread over 10 years. This didn't stop Bloomberg from claiming in a now-changed headline that Cook's pay had dropped 99% from last year to this. Instead, Cook's total compensation this year amounts to just over $4 million in cash and bonuses.

We now have more details regarding the changes made to SVP Bob Mansfield's compensation package to encourage him to stay with the company. It was previously reported by Bloomberg Businessweek that Cook offered Mansfield "an exorbitant package of cash and stock worth around $2 million a month" to stay with the company.

According to a lengthy disclosure in the proxy statement, Mansfield's compensation change was largely related to how the company treats the vesting of his RSU awards after he announced he was going to retire:

The Compensation Committee believed the modification was appropriate given that Mr. Mansfield’s compensation, like that of the other executive officers, is weighted considerably toward long-term equity awards, Mr. Mansfield was expected to perform services for a significant portion of the vesting period, and Mr. Mansfield was expected to contribute to several important projects during the transition period. The Committee believed that a modification of Mr. Mansfield’s existing RSU award, rather than a grant of a new RSU award or cash bonus, was the appropriate incentive for Mr. Mansfield to continue providing services to the Company. Therefore, no other changes were made to Mr. Mansfield’s compensation.

The Committee modified the vesting schedule of Mr. Mansfield’s November 2011 RSU award so that the RSUs that would have vested on June 21, 2013 instead vest daily over the period from March 24, 2012 to June 21, 2013, subject to Mr. Mansfield’s continued employment by the Company. The March 24, 2012 date was chosen because it was the most recent vesting date of an RSU award held by Mr. Mansfield.

With regards to the shareholders meeting, there will also be votes on six proposals related to compensation, director reelection and more. The proposals are detailed in the proxy statement, but there is nothing out of the ordinary in them.

The 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders will occur at Apple's 1 Infinite Loop headquarters on February 27, 2013 at 9AM.

(Tim Cook image via AllThingsD/Asa Mathat)

Chinese site TGBus reports [Google translation, via Mobilegeeks.de] that Apple and Intel are currently working together on a Bluetooth-enabled smart watch. According to the report, the watch will include a 1.5-inch OLED display from RITEK subsidiary RiTdisplay and will launch in the first half of next year.

Full details on Apple's smart watch are unknown, but the report compares Apple's project to Sony's SmartWatch, although it notes that Apple's Siri voice assistant will provide for greater integration with the iPhone in allowing users to take phone calls directly through the watch.

There are of course other smart watches taking advantage of the low-power Bluetooth 4.0 standard hitting the market as well, with one of the most highly anticipated ones being the Pebble e-paper watch that raised over $10 million on Kickstarter. But while the Pebble team has continued to give regular updates on its development progress, the watch has yet to begin shipping.

According to a new DigiTimes report, Apple is evaluating the feasibility of using IGZO displays across their iPad, iPad mini and iPhone products in 2013.

The sources said Apple is in further discussions with Sharp over IGZO panel production capacity estimates for 2013 and is also inquiring about whether AU Optronics' (AUO) L5C line could be used to produce the technology.

We've heard rumors about Sharp's IGZO displays over the past year, but no Apple products yet seem to use the new technology. There had been talk of production delays that may have prevented Apple from pursuing the technology.

Qualcomm recently invested in Sharp to push forward the technology. Sharp is reportedly betting on IGZO to save the company, which is in dire financial straits.

IGZO has been touted as having many benefits over existing technology. PCWorld notes lower power consumption, improved touch sensitivity and increased pixel density among these benefits.

This difference in current flow inside the screen also means that transistors don't have to be continually refreshed when a still image is on the screen. That leads to lower power consumption and, for touch panels, much less interference from the screen's electronics so the touch panel becomes more accurate and sensitive, said Nobuhiro Okan, a manager with Sharp's display device group.

The glass edge of each display can also be made slimmer, allowing for smaller devices.

Obviously, those improvements would be highly desired for Apple to advance their products. The iPad, in particular, actually found itself both thicker and heavier in the 3rd Generation model in order to accommodate the battery for the power-hungry Retina display. Display power consumption and thickness were also likely factors that prevented the iPad mini from adopting a Retina display in its first generation. Rumors have already suggested that the 2013 5th Generation iPad could be slightly thinner and smaller than the current models.

DigiTimes reports that contrary to the early speculation, it will be the Mac mini, not the Mac Pro, that will be shifted to U.S. production.

Apple is reportedly set to move its Mac mini production lines back to the US with Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) to be responsible of handling establishment, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

According to the report, Foxconn already has "about 15 operating bases" in the U.S. and the company plans on recruiting workers for 2013 for new automated production lines. The Mac mini is expected to reach 1.8 million sales units in 2013, up from 1.4 million units in 2012.

During a recent interview with NBC's Brian Williams, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that one of the existing Mac lines will be manufactured exclusively in the United States next year. Early speculation had suggested the Mac Pro might be that Mac model due to its relatively low volume of sales.

During the new year in Japan, retailers often offer a Fukubukuro, or "mystery bag," which is a grab bag that is filled with a random assortment of products sold at a steep discount.

Apple has participated in this tradition for several years, and will once again be offering its "Lucky Bag" in seven different Japanese Apple stores on January 2.

Lucky Bags, which Apple sells for 33,000 yen or $390, traditionally contain items like iPods, headphones, and t-shirts. A few fortunate folks, however, have received big ticket items in previous years, like MacBook Airs or iPads, which have made Lucky Bags ultra popular in Japan.

Apple's grab bags are sold as is, and returns are not accepted unless a product is defective. Still, the bags have been quick sellers in previous years.

According to Tech in Asia, people begin to line up the night before in order to get their hands on a bag, as the sale is similar to Black Friday.

Unfortunately, you'll have to get in line very early if want one of these Lucky Bags. People typically begin lining up at the Apple store on the night before, so if you show up in the morning, and still manage to secure a bag — well, consider yourself lucky. I tried a couple of years ago, but walked away disappointed.

Like Apple's 12 Days of Christmas, this promotion is regionally limited to Japanese customers, though other countries, like China, may see the same traditional Apple Store sales during the new year.

Last Friday, we noted that the Jobs family's new yacht had been impounded by Dutch authorities as a result of a dispute over the design fee to be paid to famed French designer Philippe Starck. Starck had claimed that he was due to be paid €9 million for designing the yacht, while the Jobs family said that the agreed rate was 6% of the €105 million construction cost for the yacht, or roughly €3 million less than Starck claimed he was owed.

AFP now reports that the yacht has been freed after the Jobs family posted a security deposit to a bank account.

"The Venus is no longer impounded, we have found a solution," Gerard Moussault, a Hague-based lawyer for the Jobs estate, told AFP.

"A security deposit was paid into a bank account, but I cannot say for how much," Moussault said after French designer Starck last week asked Amsterdam bailiffs to seize the sleek 70-metre (230-foot) yacht.

The yacht remains in harbor in Amsterdam due to bad weather, and the report notes that the yacht is scheduled to be transported by ship to the United States to be turned over to the Jobs family at an unspecified date.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara is reporting that a redesigned fifth-generation iPad could arrive in March 2013.

However Chinese news ZOL (CBS Interactive) reported next iPad mini in AppleInsider's article, according to my inside source, iPad(5th) may be released in March, 2013.

Source told that, design of this new iPad will be like iPad mini in detail, and be thinner and lightweight.

Apple just released the fourth-generation iPad about two months ago, which could make this fifth-generation iPad, if the report is true, the second in five months. The design is said to have taken inspiration from the iPad mini and will be thinner and more lightweight. According to the site, the new iPad will 4mm, 17mm and 2mm smaller in height, width, and depth than the current models.

Previously, Digitimes also reported that a new iPad could appear in the "Middle of 2013". Except for the fourth-generation iPad and iPad mini, new iPads are have traditionally released in the first couple months of the year.

Mac Otakara has been a source of accurate information in the past, predicting the design of this year's iPod Nano and iPod Touch.

Apple has spent little focus updating its iOS app switcher since it was introduced with iOS 4, so designer @Sentry_NC decided to try his hand at a new concept for app switching.

In October, he created a mockup on The Verge forums of an iOS app switcher that takes advantage of the iPhone 5's elongated screen, providing easy access to settings and additional app management tools.

Though it was originally designed as just a concept, the Auxo iOS app switcher has now become a reality as a jailbreak tweak after Sentry teamed up with two app developers.

Auxo's design allows users to control apps with intuitive touch gestures. For example, sliding down on an app closes it, while swiping left reveals both music controls and toggle controls for adjusting brightness and turning Wi-Fi on and off. The video below, from iDownloadBlog, demonstrates how Auxo works.

The Auxo tweak may be limited to jailbroken devices, but it serves as an impressive example of the improvements that could be made to future versions of iOS if Apple takes notice. Auxo is not currently available, but it is coming soon to Cydia for jailbroken iOS 6 devices.

Microsoft has released a game tonight called Wordament for the iPhone. The game has been a popular Windows Phone game, but is now also available on iOS. Wordament was originally a side-project for two Windows Live employees that was later acquired and published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Wordament is notably the first Microsoft game to come to iOS with Xbox Achievements.

When you sign in with your free Microsoft account, you can earn up to 50 Gamerscore from our 10 achievements and you’ll have access to all of your Xbox Friends and Wordament Frenemies. If you’ve played on Windows Phone or Window 8 and jump to the iOS version, all of your player stats and friends will follow your account automatically.

Wordament is a word game that takes two minutes and allows you to compete, real-time, with everyone else playing at the same time. A 4x4 Grid of letters is presented and words can be created by dragging your finger across adjacent letters. Everyone plays on the same board at the same time.

Microsoft has been making slight movements into the iOS gaming space. They had previously released an Xbox Live App that allows you to manage your Xbox Live account, and a few iOS games including Kinectimals. Wordament is available for free on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple has released a new television ad showcasing the iPad and the iPad mini with a young girl singing Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to her grandfather over FaceTime.

I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.

Last year, Apple released a holiday ad featuring Santa talking to the then-new Siri to get directions and weather.

Google, via its newly acquired Motorola Mobility unit, is developing a "stand apart" phone to compete with the iPhone, reports the Wall Street Journal. The phone, which the company aims to release next year, is designed to compete more strongly with the iPhone, and Samsung's Galaxy line, than Motorola's current lineup.

This new "X Phone" project is being led by former Google product manager Lior Ron. Possible features seemed to be ambitious with exploration of bendable screens, ceramics, image and gesture-recognition software.

The company is running into development issues, however. Google is having problems with supply-chain management, a speciality of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

But while Google is known for swift execution on the Web, its new hardware unit has run into obstacles associated with manufacturing and supply-chain management that have caused the company to rethink some initial plans for the X phone, these people added. Meanwhile, Google must manage complex relationships with smartphone makers that use its Android mobile-device software—particularly with Samsung Electronics Co., a Motorola rival that has become the No. 1 smartphone maker with Google's help.

Google does have ample amounts of cash to invest in the phone project, which the WSJ says the company will follow up with a tablet based on the same platform.

Google's acquisition of Motorola was controversial as it puts Google in direct competition with their Android licensees. Apple and Samsung, however, have captured the lion's share of smartphone profits, and Google is reportedly concerned that Samsung could "fork" Android and preventing Google's applications from being installed by default. This could have a large impact on Google's mobile reach if it doesn't develop its own handset.