There were rumors about a possible Mac Pro with six-core processors, thanks to the introduction of the i7 980X and Core i7 970 from Intel. The rumors now speak of a possible launch next Tuesday, in fact.

The first Mac Pro model to be launched next week according to rumors would be based on the six-core Core i7 980x, with this specifications:

• 3.33 Ghz (with TurboBoost up to 3.6 Ghz)
• 6 cores / 12 threads
• 32nm Architecture
• LGA 1366 socket
• 130W TDP

The usage of such powerful technologies could mean a real change for Apple’s professional computers. There’s no word about the graphics used for now, but previous rumors spoke about the Radeon HD 5870 as the most possible choice.

The April 3rd date was chosen by Apple apparently due to the need of giving the iPad software the final touches. John Gruber, usually a reliable source, says that the specialists from Canaccord Adams believe that the current problem for Apple is how to polish the iPhone 3.2 and the corresponding applications in time for the release.

Apple has increased the efforts for the iPad software, with 3 iPhone 3.2 SDK beta released from the day of the first presentation (end of January). Contrarily to some Android tablets announced in January, the most part of the iPad software is specifically optimized for bigger displays (9.7″) instead of a dynamic resizing. That would explain the time needed by Apple to release the product.

Yet no news of official release, but Apple has sent another build of the Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers, this time called 10D567. And again like las week, the build was released without any technical notes or bug fixes. The developers were asked to concentrate their tests on Rosetta, iChat, QuickTime, printers and graphic drivers.

Once this update is available to the public, it’ll solve many problems with Snow Leopard, such as the compatibility with third-party printers and QuickTime X safety. Also the Logic Pro 64-bit users will notice a big enhancement in the performance. We thought the release would be soon, due to the fact that builds seemed rather stable, but it seems not, so we’ll just have to wait.

Apple has announced the prices and availability dates for the iPad. Apple’s new device will be available in the USA from April 3rd for the Wi-Fi models, and by the end of April for the Wi-Fi + 3G models. All the iPad models will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK by the end of April as well.

From next March 12th on, USA clients will be able to pre-order both models from Apple’s online store. It will be also possible to preorder a Wi-Fi model to be collected from an Apple Retail Store from April 3rd on.

The prices are as following:

USA:

• Wi-Fi Models: $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32 GB model, $699 for the 64 GB model
• Wi-Fi + 3G (Available from the end of April): $699 for 16 GB, $729 for the 32 GB model and $829 for the 64 GB model.

For the other countries mentioned in the beginning of the article, the prices will be announced during the launch month, and the rest of the world will see the iPad in later months. iBooks, the application that includes Apple’s bookstore, will be available for free from App Store on April 3rd in the USA. It’ll be available for other countries during the year.

According to an analysis from Morgan Stanley, the next iPhone model, the iPhone 4G will be cheaper than the previous models. The analysts claim that the possibility comes from the fact that Apple has now almost completely regained the money used in development and research to create the iPhone, and that now they can afford to use a more aggressive marketing campaign.

Also, a lower cost for the iPhone would bring to more units sold, which could bring to more songs downloaded from iTunes Store or applications from the Apple store. It could also influence customers to buy other Mac products. It would be a good move for the company.

Apple has released another build for the Mac OS X 10.6.3 to developers. The update 10D561 is very similar to the previous (10D558) and it still doesn’t mention any important problem that still needs to be fixed.

The Mac OS X 10.6.3 build 10D561 is different from the previous build because it can be downloaded in beta and combo formats, which is the method used for the release to users. The size of the delta package is 787MB.

The notes that come with the new update show the interest areas: Bluetooth, graphic drivers, iChat, QuickTime and USB. For the enhancements and fixes, the list is the same as the previous build. Perhaps the launch isn’t too far away.

Roughly one day after publishing two new ads, today Apple has published another one, called Family Travel. Again, not much else to say, the iPhone spots are pretty self-explanatory as they are.

So enjoy!

Apple has published two new ads, called “First Steps” and “On hold”. We don’t need to be saying much about it, as you’ll see them in the beginning and in the end of this post.

Enjoy!

The fourth generation of iPhones (iPhone 4G) are likely to be around in May. The rumors were brought forward by the French magazine Challenges. The magazine claims that the news came from a non-identified mobile operator. If that rumor comes true, it’d be the second time that a French phone company leaks information about Apple products.

Unfortunately the news don’t reveal anything else about the new iPhone, although it’s easy to think that the anticipated May launch, contrarily from the usual June/July launch that Apple follows since 2007, is a reply to Google’s new market strategy.

Stay tuned on our Iphone 4G news.

Apple has sent another Mac OS X 10.6.3 build to developers, called 10D558. It arrives only 9 days after the previous build (10D552). The attention of Apple’s developers was concentrated on aspects such as Apple Filing Protocol, AirPort, graphic drivers and QuickTime. Some bugs and issues were fixed as well.

THis is the fifth Mac OS X 10.6.3 build since January. Although Apple hasn’t revealed any launch date, generally the more frequently builds come to developers, the closer it is from the actual launch date.