iPhone's Technical Difficulties

Whispers on the street have it that Apple has run into some issues with the iPhone's OS, preventing a solid supply of the much-ballyhooed phone to hit stores in time for the launch. A source from the manufacturer has this to say on the situation: "It does not look feasible that Apple will be able to ship units out in May to make the shipping date in the US (June), so expect units to trickle by end of June or early July."

Apparently, Apple has sent 50 engineers to Taipei to work around the clock to get the bugs worked out so the iPhone can ship on time. That's a lot of engineers. The source claims that such a shift in manpower is part of the reason Leopard was delayed. We're not sure how likely it is that Apple would send that many people halfway around the world, but anything is possible. Take it with a grain of salt.

Is it just me, or is the iPhone sharing more traits with the much-maligned Playstation 3 than anyone cares to admit? Let's see: The pricing is exactly the same ($500 and $600 models), there are manufacturing delays that are going to make for a very unpleasant launch, and both products are banking on the popularity of their predecessors to become huge sellers. Add to that a touchscreen without tactile feedback that might not be what people are expecting and this might not be the home run that Apple (and everyone else) is anticipating.

These are, of course, just rumors, and it's entirely possible that the iPhone will roll out as smooth as honey in mid-June, with thousands upon thousands of people lining up to toss more money at Apple. In any case, it should be interesting. –Adam Frucci

The above article was found on Gizmodo.

Apple delays Leopard until October because of iPhone

By Peter Cohen on Macworld

Apple on Thursday released a statement noting that Mac OS X v10.5 “Leopard” won’t be released until October. The cause of the delay? The iPhone.

“iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is,” reads a statement published by the company.

Getting the iPhone ready for its June launch has had an unintended consequence, however: QA and “some key software engineering” resources allocated to Mac OS X needed to be diverted from their work to finish the iPhone. As a result, Apple won’t release Leopard at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, as it had first planned.

“While Leopard’s features will be complete by then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us. We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones,” reads the statement.

Rumor-based Mac Buying Guide Keeps Fanboys Guessing

Still wondering whether you should buy that new MacBook or Mac Pro? The gang at MacRumors has compiled the ultimate Mac-buying guide based on product refresh cycles and Internet rumblings.

Take the Mac Pro for instance. MR recommends you skip it cause it's been 234 days since its last refresh. What's 100 percent safe to buy? According to MR, only the Shuffle. Obviously you shouldn't live or die by these rules, but savvy shoppers could save a buck or two if they at least hold off for Leopard. – Louis Ramirez

Mac Buyer's Guide [Mac Rumors via Crave]

found on Gizmodo

Some highlights of the Mac Buyer's Guide can be seen below and were not found on Gizmodo, but were found by myself.

Mac mini

Main article: Mac mini Buyer's Guide

The Mac mini is Apple's low end desktop.

Product Mac mini Recommendation: Don't Buy - Updates soon Last Release September 06, 2006 Days Since Update 204 (Avg = 151)

iMac

Main article: iMac Buyer's Guide

The iMac is Apple's all-in-one form factor desktop.

Product iMac Recommendation: Don't Buy - Updates soon Last Release September 06, 2006 Days Since Update 204 (Avg = 168)

MacBook

Main article: MacBook Buyer's Guide

The MacBook is Apple's consumer laptop; it was formerly known as the iBook.

Product MacBook Recommendation: Neutral - Mid product cycle Last Release November 08, 2006 Days Since Update 141 (Avg = 204)

MacBook Pro

Main article: MacBook Pro Buyer's Guide

The MacBook Pro is Apple's professional laptop, it was formerly known as the PowerBook.

Product MacBook Pro Recommendation: Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle Last Release October 24, 2006 Days Since Update 156 (Avg = 182)

iPhone to Have Unlimited Email Storage

Thanks to Yahoo! Mail VP John Kremer's announcement of unlimited email storage from Yahoo, the Apple iPhone will have unlimited storage as well. The current email storage is 1GB for free users and 2GB for paid users, but everyone will be able to get infinite storage now. Paid users can get a $20 refund if they ask.

The upgrade starts in May, and Yahoo will actively warn and suspend email accounts that are "abusing" their unlimited status. That means no using it as disk storage or backup (unless you do it sneakily).

Technically the iPhone's storage won't be "unlimited" even using IMAP to only download headers, but at the rate you fill up the 8GB of flash storage, it's essentially unlimited anyway. – Jason Chen

found on Gizmodo