We love to tell you about the latest rumors about various Apple products and services here at Macworld, but we always remind you of the caveat: be careful what you believe. Some rumors are true, some are fabricated, and some are true at the time, but Apple’s plans are changing. We do our best to remind you that such information is just a rumor and does not present it as fact, and to identify and link to the original source as often as possible.
Example: Apple is bankrupt @ analyst941, which has been dropping a lot of leaks lately about iOS 17 and other upcoming Apple releases. The leaker deleted their Twitter account and left a farewell message explaining what happened on the MacRumors forums, where they mention “anonymous-AS”.
In the message, the leaker describes how Apple discovered them. Over time, Apple gave another set of false information about upcoming products to various employees suspected of being the source of leaks. It seems that @analyst941’s sister, an Apple employee, has been given specific presumptive release dates for Final Cut Pro and Logic on iPad. The combination of release dates they posted — Final Cut Pro coming in 2024 and Logic in 2025 — was unique to its sister, and that’s how the source of the leaks was identified.
MacRumors Forums
Be careful what you believe
Apple is a famously secretive company that goes to great lengths to protect its upcoming projects from the outside world. This includes not only serious security and legal measures for its employees and suppliers, but almost certainly operations to “poison the well” with false information, strategically planted “leaks” to gauge fan reaction, and situations like this where unique false information is given to suspected leakers within the company to help identify them. Famously, one of the original Apple rumor sites, Think Secret, was forced to shut down and sued after publishing a planted leak about a Firewire audio box.
So when you read an Apple rumor, here or elsewhere, think carefully about its source and track record. In this case, @analyst941 first made a name for itself by leaking correct information about the Dynamic Island prior to the iPhone 14 Pro launch last year.
This year, they’ve detailed a number of features about iOS 17, many of which made their way into our own rumor roundups. This leaker being busted both validates those previous leaks (they had a real inside source) and questions them (some information may be intentionally wrong as part of Apple’s sting operation). Honestly, we’ll probably never know if this story is true either.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: it’s best to assume it’s actually true until Apple officially announces it. We’ve seen too many seemingly reliable rumors go wrong or just never materialize. According to generally reliable sources, the 15-inch MacBook Air was originally supposed to be released at an event in March (there was none), then in April (which came and went), and was now to be announced and shipped at WWDC in June.
Those rumors came from often accurate sources, but they never materialized, either because of bad information or because Apple’s plans changed. And in the end it only leads to disappointment.
