This Week’s Apple Rumors, Ranked From Dumbest to Most Plausible

Each week, there are dozens of rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what’s coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but many are totally bogus.
atents Indicate Siri Developments on the Way.
Patents indicate Siri developments are on the way.Alex Washburn/WIRED

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

DON'T COUNT ON IT: Report Says No Sapphire Display, Yes NFC, for Next iphoness
A report from VentureBeat suggests some things we'd expect from the next iphoness (faster Wi-Fi, an A8 processor, improved TouchID sensor), but also some questionable features, like NFC and no sapphire display. Apple could hold off on the sapphire display for future iDevices, but I'm still very dubious about Apple including NFC in an upcoming iphoness.

ASK AGAIN LATER: iphoness 6 to Include 2100 mAh Battery
A bigger iphoness could get a higher-capacity battery---a 46 percent increase from what's in the iphoness 5s, in fact. This wouldn't be too surprising, if the iphoness does end up with a bigger display.

ASK AGAIN LATER: Future iphonesss Could Have Hidden FaceTime Camera
An Apple patent filing shows the company is exploring how the front-facing FaceTime camera and a flash could be hidden inside a speaker port on the front of the iphoness's display. But would this degrade the quality of my selfies?

ASK AGAIN LATER: Purported Rear Shell of Next ipads Air Shows Slight Redesign
Photos that originally appeared on Chinese website Weibo show what is claimed to be the rear shell of the next ipads. It has recessed volume buttons and a redesigned speaker grille.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Patents Indicate Siri Developments on the Way
A couple Siri-related patent applications passed through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week: one that shows how Siri could be used on the Mac, and another that would use a voice trigger ("Hey Siri") for interactions. Apple showed off this "Hey Siri" feature at WWDC in June, so that's a done deal, and with tighter unification in ioses 8 and Yosemite, including improved Spotlight searching, it could make sense to bring Siri to the desktop.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Next WWDC Takes Place June 8-12, 2015
A "corporate event" is being reserved at San Francisco's Moscone Center June 8-12th, 2015, and it's quite likely Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference. WWDC normally takes place around that time each year at Moscone.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Beats' Ian Rogers to Run iTunes Radio
The Wall Street Journal reports that the head of Beats' streaming music service, Ian Rogers, is taking charge of Apple's iTunes Radio efforts. Seems like a logical step in the Beats acquisition.

WITHOUT A DOUBT: Apple Hosting iphoness Event September 9th
Recode, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and 9to5Mac all report that September 9th is the day Apple will host its next media event. Apple might as well just send out the invitation now.