Report Claims Apple Working On “Clearly Different” Mac

The Cloudy Crystal Ball
A report from Japanese Mac site Macotakara claims that Apple is working on some kind of Mac that will be “absolutely different” from the company’s current Mac product line. The site claimed an anonymous person inside Apple’s supply chain as the source for its story.

Using an English nickname, “danbo” wrote (via Google Translate) that, “Though this source does not told in detail, this new Mac line seems to be clearly different products from current ones, so new product name could be given.”

In other words, even the source doesn’t know how the alleged new device will be different, and had access to no details about it.

Macotakara and danbo have published rumors in the past, and the site has a hit and miss track record. In May, Apple was experimenting with a MacBook Air powered by an A5 processor (which may or not be the case, but Apple certainly hasn’t shipped such a beast); in March, the site passed along a Chinese rumor that that Apple would return to an aluminum back on the iPhone 5 (we’ll know in a few weeks); and in December of 2010, the danbo reported that Apple would ship the iPad 2 in March (which happened), though Rik Myslewski pointed out The Register that Macotakara was wrong about some of the specs.

Accordingly, you should take this rumor with a grain of salt. Apple does source some of its components, including some of the most advanced components that go into its mobile product line, from companies in Japan.

Just as with the even larger cadre of Apple suppliers in Taiwan, these third party companies provide opportunities for local journalists and Apple enthusiasts (Macotakara translates its own name as “Mac Treasure Tracing Club,” but “takara” more generally translates as “treasure” or “precious object”) to find information Apple would rather not have in the wild.