Bytes and Pieces for May 31, 2011

A rumor has appeared breathlessly suggesting that Apple will substitute the A5 chip, used in the iPad 2, for the Intel Core 2 Duo chip in the MacBook Air at a date in the future.

Nonsense. First of all, I don’t doubt that Apple has an experimental MacBook Air rocking an A5 chip. Apple has all kinds of stuff in its secret lair at 1 Infinite Loop.

When should you take this rumor seriously? When you hear rumors from reliable sources that Apple has a Universal application format for the A5 and the Intel x86 chips. I would also listen for a rumor that Apple has licensed or created software to allow Intel-only Mac apps and the previous Universal app format for Intel and PowerPC chips run on the A5. Think Rosetta 2.

As an alternative, Apple could announce a SDK to allow iOS applications to run on an A5 MacBook Air.

Let’s return to the here and now, (now defined as the month of June). Appleinsider reports that Apple wants the Mac App Store to serve as the conduit for Lion 10.7 from Apple’s servers to your Mac at 3:30 am. No waiting for the Apple Store to open. No need to put on pants, either.

And news about the other guys in Redmond. Microsoft had to walk back comments by Steve Ballmer about “Windows 8” and its arrival in 2012. Who broke the news to His Loudness that Windows 8 is, as yet, still in the “breadboard stage?”

The other half of Wintel, Intel, announced that it would make custom chips for big customers...like Apple.

Finallly, Apple announced upgrades to the iWork suite for iOS. Now iWork works on all 3 iOS platforms; iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad.

Well, don’t forget to attend the MacValley meeting tomorrow night at the VanAlden Senior Center in Northridge.