World of Apple

AppleInsider reports that retail sources have disclosed signs that point towards Apple’s current line of iPods being ready for a refresh, news that corresponds with recent rumours of an iPod refresh in September.

In the US Target employees have reported to the rumour site that iPod models have recently seen their status change from “Active” to “Discontinued” when scanned with scanners.

Over in the UK, massive retailer Argos is said to be preparing to clear inventory in anticipation of new models in “coming weeks”.

A person familiar with the plans says the company recently took receipt of new point-of-sale displays promoting “price cuts” that should hit the retail floor during the last week of August or first week of September.

The displays are said to be “giant wall graphic[s]”.

Apple’s latest Beta of iPhone firmware 2.1 reportedly disables any previous implementations of Apple’s Push Notification System.

Beta 4 of iPhone firmware version 2.1 comes with the usual “bug fixes” description but completely removes any support for Apple’s Push Notification Service which will help apps communicate via the Internet in the background without the app running.

Apple does offer an explanation for the removal of PNS stating that “further development” is required, but offers no timeframe on when it will return.

iPhone firmware 2.1 is expected in mid-September.

PhoneNews is claiming that Apple is preparing to release a revision of the MacBook Air with a faster processor.

The site reports that the external appearance will stay the same but the new MacBook Air will feature a Penryn processor at speeds of 2.0GHz and above. The new MacBook Air is also said to include a higher capacity battery.

the CPU will be able to dramatically increase, from 2.0 GHz and potentially beyond. As such however, power drain will increase. Apple will curb that constraint with a higher-capacity battery. However, we can confirm that the new MacBook Air will require a 60W power adapter to fully charge, much like the current MacBook family.

The site also notes that he MacBook Air hard drive will “likely” be upgraded to 120GB as standard and add an optional 160GB.

ZDNet Australia is reporting that large banking corporation HSBC is planning to ditch its current fleet of Blackberrys and switch it staff over to the iPhone. The bank has around 330,000 members of staff worldwide which could equate to over 200,000 iPhone orders.

“We are actually reviewing iPhones from a HSBC Group perspective … and when I say that, I mean globally,” HSBC’s Australia and New Zealand chief information officer Brenton Hush told ZDNet Australia.

“You know, it’s a big decision, especially when you have an existing fleet out there,” he said. “But it’s definitely something we are considering from a HSBC Group perspective.”

“I think [the iPhone] would change some underlying infrastructure considerations from an enterprise perspective,” he said .”But [Apple] have been pretty smart with the design.”

ZDNet adds that HSBC has a $6 billion annual technology budget and a team of technical support staff of over 30,000.

Last week analyst Gene Munster wrote a note to clients informing them that Apple would most likely hold a Special Event in September to refresh its iPod lines and MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks.

At the time the report was mainly pinned as speculative but Mac Rumors has heard “whispers” of an iPod touch refresh within the specified timeframe but offers no details above this.

Today also saw another analyst for Piper Jaffray weighing in on the speculation. Mike Olson wrote in a note to clients today that he expects a refresh to the iPod touch in line with the iPhone 3G. In addition Olson expects the starting price of the iPod touch to drop from $299 to $199.

Olson doesn’t mention the MacBook Pro in his report but does report on slimmer MacBooks cryptically explaining “exteriors made of plastic instead of aluminum and could also have a newly designed keyboards”.

This week Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has sent a note to clients speculating on past years. The reports states that for the last three years Apple has held a Special Event in September and the analyst is predicting the same.

Munster in particular expects iPods to be the focus of the event with the iPod shuffle and iPod nano taking a backseat receiving only capacity increases. On the other hand Munster does expect a price cut for the iPod touch down to $199 with a design change similar to that of the iPhone 3G.

In addition to an iPod announcement Munster also expects a complete overhaul of Apple’s notebook line barring the MacBook Air.

“We note that the MacBook has had the same design since its launch over two years ago, and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago,” he told clients. “To compare, the long-running iMac G5 design lasted three years.”

Munster expects new looks for both the MacBook and MacBook Pro with the MacBook re-entering the $999 price point bracket.

The Jaffray analyst retains a Buy rating on AAPL with a price target of $250.

Mac Rumors is reporting that those interested in buying a Apple Cinema Display should wait until Macworld 2009 in January. The rumour site has heard from a source of unknown reliability that Apple is preparing Apple Cinema Display refreshes.

The new Cinema Displays are expected to incorporate LED backlighting, completing Steve Jobs’ promise of a greener Apple.

Mac Rumors adds that a 30-inch LED display is currently available from Samsung but is priced at $4735, considerably higher than the price of the current 30-inch Apple display.

Apple has not updated its line of Cinema Displays significantly since June 2004.

Macworld 2009 runs from January 5th - 9th 2009.

UK newspaper the Daily Mail has posted that a “nano” version of the iPhone could be shipping in time for Christmas.

The newspaper offers very few details on the device itself although notes that the iPhone nano could be released at a £150 ($300) price point to pay-as-you-go customers.

The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain’s Telefonica. ‘This will be a big one,’ said an industry source

Last week Apple issued an advisement bulletin to its channel partners noting a production decrease of iPods and certain Mac models. The resulting decrease in production will cause a supply shortage in the coming weeks.

Apple informed resellers that they should place orders for approximately 4 weeks worth of their top selling iPod models adding that supplies could become very limited within the next week.

In addition to warning of iPod shortages Apple also warned resellers to place orders for at least 3 weeks worth of stock for existing Mac notebooks, specifically mentioning the MacBook and MacBook Pro but not the MacBook Air.

Such advisories are usually a good indication of revisions to the mentioned products.

It is being reported that Foxconn the Taiwanese company that assembles the iPhone 3G for Apple has ramped up production to 800,000 units per week.

Techcrunch is reporting that the figures were received from a source “close to Apple with direct knowledge of the numbers”.

The article goes onto note that an output rate of over 40 million units per year is above Foxconn’s current capacity which has led to concerns about quality control.