Rumor Wrapup - Rackmounts and Beyond

After each Apple event, we like to look back over the rumors which yielded accurate information, as well as reevaluate the current rumor scene.

The biggest news happened today, when Apple released XServe, their first rackmount server. Rumors of the rackmount server began back in May 2001 (ThinkSecret), and were recently revived. Actual specs were leaked, but only hours before the release.

In an otherwise unreported Studio Summit, Architosh reported on chief "wants" amongst the Hollywood studios from Apple. The "wants" listed included 1U or 2U rack-mountable servers, 'best of breed' graphics performance, duals and quads. It seems Apple may have been partially addressing these 'wants' with Quartz Extreme, and the XServe

The most significant revelation today was the release of DDR/266 capable motherboards. The DDR prototype motherboard which appeared on ebay two weeks ago confirmed what many had suspected. (Note, it was not the same motherboard as the XServe). And PowerMac Rebates hint towards upgrades in July. The rumored MWNY PowerMac Specs posted 3 days ago are validated with XServe's release... though the PowerMac rumors specify DDR 333Mhz chips.

iBooks and 10.1.5 remain in the "any day now" category of rumors, but it should be noted that XServe will ship with Mac OS X Server 10.1.5 in June.