Apple AR/VR headset delayed until early 2023, according to new report

The rumor: We are still many months away from getting our hands on the next major Apple release, according to Jeff Pu (50% accurate, via 9to5Mac).

Sam’s take: It sounds like this headset, considering it is something entirely new, probably won’t be in our hands until early 2023. I certainly don’t believe the announcement will happen this late…but the launch seems likely around then. Maybe we get surprised and get it earlier! But my expectation is shipping early next year.

Lower-end iPhone 14 models rumored to gain pro features…including 120Hz ProMotion

The rumor: There might be less of an incentive to buy an iPhone 14 Pro later this year, according to Jeff Pu (53.3% accurate).

Here’s the research note, via MacRumors

  • 120Hz ProMotion may be available across the board on all iPhone 14 models
  • All 2022 iPhones are also said to feature 6GB RAM (iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 only have 4GB)
  • Storage capacities may start at 64GB on iPhone 14 and 256GB on iPhone 14 Pro

Our take: I find this report sus for two reasons. First, if there was ever to be a feature limited to the pro iPhones, ProMotion would be it. The reason being that most folks don’t really notice the difference between 60 and 120Hz. So why would Apple put that on the default phones that most people will buy so quickly? Second, I don’t buy that the iPhone 14 will start at only 64GB of storage…considering that the current iPhone 13 starts at 128GB. It would be an odd look to downgrade storage year-over-year. I say all of this to say that Pu is roughly half right and half wrong overall.

2023 iPhones again rumored to include 10x zoom periscope lens

The rumor: Apple is working on the biggest upgrade yet for their telephoto zoom lens, according to Jeff Pu (53.3% accurate, via MacRumors).

Our take: What is a periscope zoom lens? Essentially, it takes a longer zoom lens that normally would make the phone unreasonably thick and places it sidways, using a mirror or prism to reflect what it sees into the camera sensor. There’s an image that illustrates it above and a really helpful video from Samsung below. I never saw it visualized like this before and it actually makes sense: this is the path to seriously increasing the optical zoom in smartphones.

iPhone 14 Pro may get unbelievable camera and RAM upgrades

The rumor: Apple is planning to radically upgrade the wide camera and RAM on the 2022 Pro iPhones, according to Jeff Pu (53.3% accurate).

  • A new 48-megapixel (MP) wide lens may headline the new camera module…but similar 12MP telephoto and ultra-wide lenses will still be present
  • More RAM is also said to be coming, jumping to 8GB from the current 6GB inside iPhone 13 Pro

Our take: This isn’t the first we’ve ever heard about a 48MP camera, but it’s the first we’ve heard since April. I’m still skeptical because this would be a 4x jump in megapixels, but maybe? Perhaps this will enable 8K video? Regardless, this and the additional RAM sound like solid Pro upgrades (things that most folks don’t care about but buyers of $999 iPhones do).

October 2020 leaderboard updates

Ahead of Apple’s rumored October Special Event, there have been a number of minor changes on the source leaderboard that are worth taking a look at.

🆕 October 6 update

Following the announcement of Apple’s October special event…

🧻 Jon Prosser: 72.7 ⮕ 73.9% accurate

October 3 updates

Some claims related to Apple’s September event that we’ve now graded.

📱 Jeff Pu: 71.4 ⮕ 62.5% accurate

The Verifier 51.4 ⮕ 51.3% accurate

October 1 updates

After reviewing a number of pages, we found some inconsistencies and have made corrections.

🏀 Mark Gurman: 87.7 ⮕ 87.8% accurate

🍍 Max Weinbach: 39.1 ⮕ 55.8% accurate

💛 iupdate: 100 ⮕ 75% accurate

Note: As you may have noticed, no source is perfect. That’s because even the best get some info right and some info wrong: do not harass anyone for their track record. The leaderboard functionality on AppleTrack is here only to help tech enthusiasts better understand how likely a rumor really is.

As always, if you notice a discrepancy on someone’s record, let us know.