Apple Accidentally Lists iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Ahead of Its Wednesday Event (bgr.com)

From a BGR report: Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, and it looks like the web team responsible for updating one of Apple's websites accidentally pushed an update live early this morning. Reddit user "Jaspergreenham" says he was browsing the accessories page on Apple's Hong Kong website when he stumbled across the two new phones. Notice anything wrong with that screen capture? The left-hand column on the site allows users to drill down based on device model, but there are two devices listed there that don't actually exist yet: The iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus.Apple doesn't usually misses out on these things.

Comments

Not hype generation at all

[Dunbal]

It was an "accident".

Re:Not hype generation at all

[cdrudge]

And it wasn't even the actual devices that were "accidentally" shown. It was for accessories that were compatible with the devices and nothing was indicated as belonging to those categories. In reality, the "accident" likely was them creating a category in their back end and marking it as enabled/visible before hiding it until Wednesday (or whenever).

Re:Not hype generation at all

[omnichad]

Or it never happened. I can pull up the page and with Chrome's inspector add the two options to the live HTML. Then I can take my own screenshot showing their new Android tablet as a category.

There aren't even any graphics involved in this leak - just something easily, easily faked.

And I Quote

[Anonymous Coward]

"Apple doesn't usually misses out on these things."

Re:And I Quote

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like some slashdot editors got themselves a job at apple.

Leakiest release ever?

[jandrese]

I know the rumor mill usually has most of the details down well before the official announcement, but the iPhone 7 rumors have been seemingly more frequent and more detailed than the ones in the past. Is Apple feeding the rumor mill or have they just lost grip of their supply chain?

Re:Leakiest release ever?

[swb]

They always feed the rumor mill as it serves as free publicity to drum up interest in what isn't very interesting anymore.

The NY Times even reported on the iPhone 7 rumors, saying that the rumor mongering was stronger this time around than it has been and that's evidence that the brand hasn't lost that much cache.

You might even argue that the whole headphone jack removal was deliberate false information to gin up hype about the phone release. Better to have people arguing about the potential of you doing something unpopular than to not have people arguing about you at all.

IMHO, Apple has reached the limit of peak cycling for their phones. There's almost no incremental improvement they can deliver that means much anymore. They need either a quantum leap in design that limits on existing materials, manufacturing or power consumption can't deliver or need to start figuring out how to expand the walled garden of the phone as a functional platform instead of just seeing it as a version churn annuity.

Re:Leakiest release ever?

[SailorSpork]

Good observation! This has clearly been a strategy for awhile, and has many benefits:
- Slowly keep the flames going over a preiod of time rather than have a big flare-up and burn-out all at once
- Give little pieces to particular influencers in the media to make friends so that big names are more likely to post positive reviews
- Get the biggest controversial pieces out there earlier (read: removing headphone jack) so that by the time the actually reveal is announced, it's old news that people have had a chance to chew on and accept, rather than have it surprise and anger them at the reveal (a la Kübler-Ross stages of acceptance)
- Keep everyone's eyes on the big reveal date
- Gets great press and PR and costs almost nothing, because it;s more fun for news blogs to post about hot rumors than press releases

In other words, it's a great marketing and PR strategy that works and is cheap.

Re:Leakiest release ever?

[squiggleslash]

To be fair, it's been a while since there was anything worth leaking - higher resolution screens and more CPU isn't exactly headline stealing.

This one however - this is the one everyone's convinced will be shipped sans headphone jack. That's a headline.

Re:Leakiest release ever?

[nine-times]

the iPhone 7 rumors have been seemingly more frequent and more detailed than the ones in the past.

Maybe you weren't paying attention to the rumors in the past? The Mac rumor mill has been huge for decades. They don't always get things right, but the rumors have always been frequent and detailed.

why would you believe this guy?

[YesIAmAScript]

Come on. It's an easy photoshop and there's no backup info to indicate he ever saw it.

Have you not been on the internet before? Get wise.

Re:why would you believe this guy?

[allquixotic]

Not even Photoshop; using "Inspect Element" (Developer Tools) in any modern browser, you can easily add genuine-looking markup styled exactly the same as existing markup on the page (identical font, etc.) with 2 minutes of effort and basic HTML knowledge.

Re:why would you believe this guy?

[alvinrod]

If this were something earth-shattering, I'd be more skeptical, but Apple has been releasing new phones with a fairly standard pattern for years now. It would be bigger news if the new devices weren't going to be branded as iPhone 7, but instead something like iPhone 6X which would signal a departure from the existing pattern.

Even if this were a fabrication, it's a safe bet that it still turns out to be true. It might not be, in which case it's Yet Another Apple Rumor That Turned Out To Be Bullocks, but it would be but a drop in the ocean at this point. The real question is why this particular rumor (out of dozens of others) is particularly newsworthy, especially considering it's not terribly interesting nor does it disclose something unexpected.

What a scoop!

[Jeremi]

Through this leak we have learned that Apple is planning to announce an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7+ -- something nobody would ever have been able to guess otherwise!

Thanks Slashdot, for once again providing us with Stuff that Matters!

Re:What a scoop!

[nine-times]

I know! It caught me completely off guard, especially because Apple doesn't usually misses out on these things.

EDIT

[blackomegax]

"Apple doesn't usually misses out on these things." Slashdot editor is asleep at the wheel.

And zero fucks were given.

[ledow]

Seriously.

News For Nerds, Stuff That Matters

[Cajun Hell]

OMG!!!!!11 A consumer electronics company's sales site had a minor administrative error on a couple of teh SKUs! This is HYUUUGE! This is like the time Sorny's 1992 model walkerman was learned to be 2.2% lighter than the 1991 model due to a cost-reduced parts list! Apple: FAAAAAAACE!

Slashdot Editor Interview Questions leaked!

[Overzeetop]

English is your:
a) First Language
b) Second Language
c) Third Language
d) Next language

Shouldn't Ireland sue BGR for this?

[WillAffleckUW]

Since all Apple "patents" and other IP are owned by invisible Irish firms that have no employees?