This Week's Apple Rumors, Ranked From Dumbest to Most Plausible - Wired

The iPhone 5c in its colorful silicone case. Photo: Alex Washburn/WIRED

Each week, there are dozens of Apple rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what’s coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but most are totally bogus. As always, we’ve parsed the week’s rumors, ranking them in order from “utterly ridiculous” to “duh, of course.” First up…

DON’T COUNT ON IT: Apple Toyed With an iPhone 5c-Like Case for the 5s

A prototype case reportedly leaked from an Apple insider shows that Apple considered creating an iPhone 5c-lookalike case for the iPhone 5s. The silicone case has a 6 x 5 grid of holes on the back instead of the 7 x 5 grid on the iPhone 5c cases, and the top and bottom of the device aren’t completely protected. The case looks nice, if you’re into those sort of things, but it’s impossible to verify if this is an Apple made prototype, or something someone drummed up on their own. Either way, I’m glad Apple left that hole-y case for the colorful iPhone 5c.

ASK AGAIN LATER: Apple Working on a Siri iOS Dock for the Home

From the R&D department, Apple could be working on an iOS dock that would give Siri a place in the home. Described in a patent application titled “Smart dock for activating a voice recognition mode of a portable electronic device,” the dock would feature the usual essentials like a clock, radio, speaker, mic, and built-in screen. But, once an iDevice is placed on it, the dock-device combo would constantly listen for prompts from the user to accomplish various tasks. One example would be a finger snap: If you snap your fingers, then Siri would be accessible. The dock could also be configured to perform wireless charging, should future iDevices ditch the Lightning connector in favor of a cordless charging solution.

ASK AGAIN LATER: Apple Looking at How to Add Depth to Photos

A recently granted Apple patent suggests that Apple is investigating how it can add a sense of depth to iPhone photos. The patent, “Producing stereoscopic images,” describes how two photos could be combined to give the illusion of depth. Apple would use a single camera and select appropriate, slightly offset, images to combine into a single photo. Usually, stereoscopic images like this are done using a camera with dual, offset lenses. With Apple’s recent camera improvements in iOS 6 and iOS 7 — the latter of which includes slow motion and burst camera modes — this seems like something Apple could actually implement in future versions of iOS. Or it could just be something they’re playing with.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Apple Testing 12.9-Inch iPad, 2K and 4K Models

Apple is reportedly testing out five different 12.9-inch iPad models made by Foxconn, including a 2K resolution build to debut in early 2014 and a 4K version slated to debut a few months later. This news comes out of Chinese site PadNews. Apple’s current Retina display is roughly 2K resolution, so the report could mean a Retina display version followed by a 4K version. Multiple sources, including Korea Times and The Wall Street Journal, are saying that Apple is working on a 12.9-inch iPad these days, so it looks like we could expect a larger iPad some time next year.

via apple - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFW5IeYupiMcggM0vBSdVeLI7igGg&url=http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/apple-rumors-december-1/