Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Apple’s launch event is being held on Wednesday
Apple has given the Oval Office a run for its money in the past few weeks – we’ve had an unprecedented number of leaks ahead of the firm’s annual product launch.
So, barring any surprises – a Steve Jobs-esque “one more thing” – we have a pretty good idea of what to expect when Tim Cook heads out on stage on Wednesday. He’ll do it as the chief executive of the first US company to reach a value of $1tn (£768bn). To keep it that way, Apple will be building on past successes rather than introducing anything dramatically new.
We’ll likely see three new iPhones, a revamped Apple Watch, and maybe some new iPads. Later in the year, rumour suggests a budget laptop may be on the way.
What we won’t see, however, are some of the innovative leaps being promised by some of Apple’s competitors.
Samsung plans a device with a flexible display by the end of the year. OnePlus said its next phone will have a fingerprint sensor built into the screen. Huawei, which recently overtook Apple in global smartphone sales, has said it is working on a flexible device of its own.
How were the Apple leaks found?
Several rumour sites compete for tidbits of information about Apple’s forthcoming products and often manage to share details before the tech giant would like them to be disclosed.
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But at the end of last month, 9to5Mac’s publication of what appeared to be official marketing images of one of the new iPhones and a new Apple Watch was a real coup for the site.
“To my memory, this is unprecedented,” wrote the veteran Apple commentator John Gruber.
After much speculation about how he achieved his scoop, 9to5Mac’s Guilherme Rambo has now revealed the technique he used via his Twitter account.
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He wrote that he had studied the web addresses that Apple had used to host images of products announced at its last “special event” and deduced what the equivalents might be this time round.
He said he had not expected to find anything when he typed in the addresses, but was successful on his first attempt.
“Looking at the naming for past events, sometimes they combine multiple things into one recap image, which makes them harder to guess,” he explained.
“We managed to guess the iPhone and Watch ones because they are ‘hero’ shots.”
“Apple took them down immediately after we published,” he added.
The iPhone-maker is likely to keep its secrets more closely guarded next time round.
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