One of the favorite pastimes of techies following any Apple announcement is to immediately start looking into the future and speculate what will be coming next.
A recent article from Wired collected the most popular rumors that are on the blogosphere and ranked them based on likelihood. They range from retreads of popular rumors to brand-new products.
The unlikely
Taiwanese Pop Star Leak — There have been photos making the rounds that show Taiwanese pop star Jimmy Lin holding a supposed iPhone 6. He did the same thing prior to the iPhone 5c launch, but that device proved to be a fake, so it's likely this is as well.
Light-up notifications on the Smart Cover — One of the drawbacks of a smart cover on an iPad is that is blocks the screen if a notification hits. However, the rumor is that the new smart covers will have an "integrated visual notification system" and be able to display notifications. While this could be a nice accessory to have, it seems more like a pet project.
NFC microchip, wireless charging for the iPhone 6 — These have both been tossed around for several years and a lack of an industry standard makes it unlikely that Apple would try to set one here.
The likely
Next gen iPad Air — Many reports have production of the next generation of the iPad Air starting in June for a fall launch. This follows Apple's historic timeline.
iMac refresh — There was no small product refresh at WWDC, which has been a standard announcement in recent years. However, the iMac is due for one so a quiet launch soon would not be surprising.
Happening
iPad Split screen — We have been covering this so far this week and the latest reports have developers demoing the system.
Time will tell how many of these see the light of day, but with the help of an Apple support service, any company will be able to successfully implement them.
