Apple will not be debuting an 8 GB iPhone 5s or a cheaper new iMac in its June developer conference, according to a well-sourced insider.
In his trademark style, well-connected Apple journalist Jim Dalrymple posted his response to rumors that Apple will unveil a lower-end iPhone 5s at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference set to begin on June 2.
"Nope," wrote Dalyrymple.
Reports posted early on Wednesday said that Apple was planning to introduce a new edition of its flagship smartphone that will be targeted toward emerging markets, with savings coming from decreased storage space. The reports were based on a research note released by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that Apple may be taking the wraps off a cheaper iPhone 5s and iMac.
"As iPhone 5S is a highly popular model, we predict Apple may launch an 8-GB version to boost market share in emerging markets," writes Kuo in his note.
However, Kuo, who is well-known for his virtually 100 percent accurate predictions on future Apple plans, did say that an 8-GB iPhone 5s is a wildcard and may not actually be introduced at the WWDC because it is not considered a major update. A number of Apple fans also doubt the authenticity of an 8 GB iPhone 5s since iOS alone takes up as much as 5.5 GB on the iPhone and would leave only less than 3 GB for other apps.
Kuo also predicted that Apple will release a cheaper iMac at the conference, even while it will introduce a lighter, sleeker Retina display MacBook Air toward the end of the year. The low-cost iMac will reportedly use improved panel laminations and casing yields to offset production costs. This, Kuo said, will help Apple boost its iMac sales, which have been slowing down due to competition from PC manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo. Kuo also revised his sales prediction from 4.8 million iMacs to between 4 and 4.5 million.
Dalrymple's response is clear, though. He said, "Nope," fans will not be seeing any of that at the WWDC next week.
Still, the rumors will most likely not die down, especially since developers participating in Apple's Beta Seed program have discovered new bits of code in the latest OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 that could possibly mean Apple is releasing an updated iMac soon, if not next week. The code, which was discovered by Pike's Universum, points towards two new iMac models identified as "iMac15,1" and "iMac15,n." The current generation of iMac computers are identified as "14,1," "14,2" and "14,3."
Apple, however, has pulled out 10.9.4 from its Developer Center for reasons not specified.
Let's wait and see.
