MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Mac4Ever reports that French wholesalers and retailers are out of stock of iMacs. Meanwhile, other Mac4ever readers have received emails indicating the Apple keyboard is not presently in stock. Both items fuel rumors that the iMac and keyboard are getting an imminent upgrade. Rumors have pointed to August 7th as the first possible date for the...

Instructions on how to patch your Apple TV to use external USB storage has been released at AppleTVHacks.net Installing the patch is a somewhat involved effort which also requires version 1.0 of the Apple TV software (current version is 1.1). As a result, they are asking for more help to bring this patch to the masses. We are aware that the USB Patch released on Friday night was pretty...

TheStreet claims to have financial details about the widely rumored revenue sharing between Apple and AT&T. AT&T has been rumored to give Apple a piece of the iPhone's monthly revenue as part of the agreement. This revenue sharing demand was listed as one of the reasons Verizon rejected the iPhone. TheStreet claims that according to "people close to the companies", Apple receives between a...

Gene Munster estimates the AT&T/Apple iPhone revenue sharing at "$3 per month (over the life of the 24 month contract) for every iPhone customer already with AT&T and $11 per month for every new subscriber." Apple has been rumored to get some form of monthly revenue sharing from AT&T for iPhone...

According to a report by statesman.com, Apple is expanding its Austin, TX facilities to include a new 80,000 square foot facility at 12565 Riata Vista Circle in North Austin. The company also reportedly renewed its lease on existing properties in the area which house support personnel. The efforts continue Apple's attempts to consolidate staff in more centralized, adequate facilities as it...

Commercial Times (as reported by Digitimes) claims that Taiwan-based Wintek has won the contract for touch screen panel orders from Apple for its second-generation iPhone. The report claims that this second-generation iPhone will begin shipping in September from US$249-$299. The report is consistent with a previous Commercial Times claim that Apple would be shipping 5 million iPhones in...

One reader reports that a Yellowpages.com representative claimed that Yellowpages.com would soon be arriving on the iPhone as a new application similar to Youtube. It is reportedly due sometime next month, presumably though an iPhone software update. Yellowpages.com is a telephone directory owned by AT&T. They already have mobile versions of the site available for a limited number of...

DealBreaker claims that "according to the rumor mill" Kevin Chang was fired over the iPhone Nano report that was published last week. The report gained a lot of press last week and was based on unspecified "sources" as well as a recently published patent application, but a followup JP Morgan report essentially retracted the original...

TechDigest.tv reports on a rumor from MusicAlly (subscription). According to MusicAlly "the Yellow Submarine iPod may be back on Apple's roadmap, now that the iPhone launch is out of the way." When/if it happens, its expected to tie-in with Beatles track availability on iTunes with "possibly as a one-month exclusive before becoming available through rival digital music...

Canada.com cites an industry expert who notes that wireless data rates are significantly higher in Canada than in the U.S. A data plan comparable to AT&T's iPhone data plans would reportedly run $295/month at the current rates. The article speculates that this would either delay the iPhone's offering or require major data pricing changes prior to its introduction. The iPhone data/internet...

An increasingly popular thread on Apple's discussion boards appears to pin WiFi problems some MacBook users have been experiencing on the Mac OS 10.4.10 update. Users with the issue appear to experience symptoms ranging from WiFi dropouts to kernel panics. Gaging the severity of a problem is always difficult to do from forum threads, as typically only people who have issues voice concerns....

BestBuy.ca is promoting an early signup for information for the Canadian version of the iPhone. It's beautiful, it's powerful and it's been all over the news; the question on the minds of Canadians from coast to coast is "when can we get our hands on the iPhone?"...

EETimes reports on speculation that Apple may be a licensee for Imagination Technologies Group's "next-generation" graphics and video cores. The conclusion appears to be entirely speculative, with Imagination reporting only that "an international electronics systems company" has signed a multi-use licensing agreement. Observers have speculated that Apple will use the SGX 3D graphics and video...

A web survey from AT&T has been making the rounds as "evidence" that Apple is planning on launching an iChat client for the iPhone. The survey, conducted by a 3rd party company, asks users to give feedback for various applications on the iPhone. The applications listed include: YouTube, GoogleMaps, Email, iChat, Weather, Stocks and Search. "iChat", of course, is not an application on the ...

As noted by Engadget, Apple's iTunes store is now offering a Next Big Thing (iTunes Link) section with albums that are priced at $5.99 and $6.99 per album: Well, we're halfway through the year and iTunes has a fine selection of artists who we think have the true grit (or pure luck) it takes to become...

CrunchGear believes multi-touch capable MacBooks will arrive in October. According to the site, the technology would piggyback off the technology currently found in the iPhone, however, the trackpad would act as the input device rather than the screen, presumably to keep costs down. Crunchgear has not been a particularly reliable source of Apple rumors. Their previous claim believed that OLED...

We've heard some unconfirmed rumblings that Apple may be set to reveal two more announcements related to the iPhone on its launch day (tomorrow). The source is uncertain what these announcements could entail, or whether they concern already-leaked information (i.e. .Mac iPhone RSS Reader). Of course, Apple has yet to announce iTunes 7.3, which is a requirement for the iPhone. One rumored...

AT&T's iPhone and entire wireless site is down for maintenance. Some are hoping that this may represent addition of rate plan information prior to the iPhone launch. Update: The site is back up, with no new revelations in plan...