Apple is legendary for having a strong penchant for secrecy. The game plan is simple: Until they are ready to announce a new product, you won’t hear anything about it. Well, at least officially, yet in the weeks before the launch date, there will be a lot of rumors and speculation about what’s going to happen.
Now most of those rumors are nothing more than that. Or people are making guesses, some good, some bad, based on Apple’s previous behavior. That allows them to predict when a product might be refreshed. Looking at Intel’s processor roadmap, it’s very possible to choose the likely chipsets for a new Mac, although delivery dates might vary.
Apple did sort of quash the timeline for new iPads last fall, upsetting the annual cycle, so there is now talk of a fall refresh for both models. That Tim Cook already announced that new products would arrive this fall would seem to set the delivery dates in stone. At least that’s what it seems.