There’s nothing like a last-minute rumor to get us excited for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). But one claim that surfaced over the weekend shows why things are not always as they seem.
Yes, today I’m going to play the role of the grumpy grandfather pouring cold water on everyone’s fun. But as we’ll see, there’s a good reason for that.
So, back to the rumor. On Saturday, MacRumors reporter Joe Rossignol tweeted that Apple retailer B&H had added two listings to its website: An M2-equipped Mac Mini, and a “Mac Mini tower.” Given the rumors that Apple is planning a Mac Mini refresh, possibly for WWDC, this was exciting.
Then there was more. The next day, 9to5Mac unearthed “hidden” listings on B&H for a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip, and a 13-inch MacBook Pro with the same chip. Could Apple be planning to sucker punch us with a massive Mac revamp at WWDC?
https://twitter.com/rsgnl/status/1533161252121464835
Well, no. If you go back to Rossignol’s original tweet, the reporter noted that the listings were “probably just a placeholder or something meaningless,” and that’s exactly what they turned out to be.
Not long after Rossignol’s tweet, Shawn Steiner, Senior Manager of Web Creative Content at B&H, replied to dispel the rumors around what the listings could mean. According to Steiner, “These aren’t real SKUs.” They were, “Preemptively made before the last event and not properly removed. All guesses based on rumors.”
In other words, they were simply added to B&H’s website before the last Apple event in March 2022 just in case a number of rumored products turned out to be real. It’s a far less glamorous story than a headline screaming “top-secret Apple products revealed moments before WWDC show,” but as with many things in life, the more mundane answer turned out to be the correct one.
Smoke and mirrors
It’s a helpful reminder that you should take any and all rumors with a pinch of salt. This being a major Apple event, there are tons of unconfirmed leaks and rumors doing the rounds on the internet, many of which will disappear into the ether as soon as the show comes to a close.
Many are wishful thinking. Others are maliciously spread by people looking for clout and retweets. Others still are simply mistakes. But if you believe them all, you’re just headed for disappointment.
This WWDC, there almost certainly won’t be the slate of new Macs hinted at by the B&H listings. While the MacBook Air seems fairly likely, the only people who know for sure are tucked safely inside Apple Park. So go ahead and enjoy the show, but chalk the B&H rumor off your hit list.
