Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:
Delay: The world’s largest wireless carrier says it remains in discussions with Apple (AAPL) to bring the iPhone to its network, but has no agreement to announce, the New York Times notes. China Mobile’s (CHL) chairman made the statement to reporters on Wednesday, shooting down speculation that the company would announce the addition of the iPhone to its offerings when it unveils its new 4G/LTE network today. Numerous media reports over the past few weeks had indicated that a deal between Apple and China Mobile had been struck. Other rumors suggested that China Mobile subsidiaries were readying to take iPhone pre-orders and had developed marketing materials. A deal with China Mobile — which has more than 700 million subscribers — is considered critical to bolster Apple’s sliding share of the Chinese smartphone market. Tim Cook reportedly traveled to China over the summer to negotiate directly with China Mobile officials.
Pricey: Apple’s new high-end desktop computer will go on sale on Dec. 19, TheVerge notes. Apple showed off a radically-redesigned Mac Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference back in June. The company ditched the prior model’s gray-grill box design in favor of a small, sleek black cylinder. The new Mac Pro includes Intel’s (INTC) Xeon E5 chips and can be configured with a graphics card with up to 6GB of memory, a maximum of 64GB of RAM and a 1TB solid state hard drive. Available through the Apple website and Apple Stores, Mac Pro pricing starts at $2,999. The computer runs of the most current version of OSX Mavericks.
Shared: Apple has decided to split the production of upcoming chips between two supply chain partners, DigiTimes. According to the report, Apple has signed a contract with Samsung to manufacture smartphone 14/16 nanometer FinFET chips in 2015. The iPhone-maker has tapped Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) to produce 20 nanometer A-series processors for next year’s iPhones. TSM will also manufacture some 14/16 nanometer FinFET chips. A source told DigiTimes that TSM and Samsung might “equally share” 2014 chip orders from Apple. DigiTimes has a mixed record of accuracy when it comes to reporting about Apple.
For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.
