Wow, little did we know that a few blurry spy photos allegedly revealing next week's new Power Macs would ignite such a firestorm of international controversy. (Evidently everyone's a little on edge in this final week before the Stevenote. But really, who could blame them?) For those of you just tuning in, yesterday we noted that MacOSX.org had posted what they vociferously insisted were real, honest-to-Steve photographs of the "Titan" G4s that many Apple-watchers are expecting to surface in a week's time. The images were obviously (and admittedly) digitally edited, heavily compressed, and blurry to start with-- making the debate over whether or not the pics are legit the hot topic around the water cooler. We here at AtAT announced our marginal gut feeling that the photos are real-- which, judging by the mail that's been flooding our inbox since yesterday, places us squarely in the minority.

We admit, there are plenty of reasons to be suspicious of the authenticity of those photos. MacOSX.org's claim that the pictures were edited to remove details that could compromise the anonymity of its source could just as easily be a convenient excuse to explain away telltale signs of Photoshop phakery. The design as shown is just a little bit too close to the new front panel described by the Naked Mole Rat a couple of weeks ago. There's no Apple logo on the front. And as for the biggest sticking point for many people out there, unless the Power Mac's enclosure has changed drastically, what's with the transparent side door revealing a mass of wires and junk-- right where the motherboard should be? Hmmm...

Well, at first we were wondering if the transparent door on the wrong side was simply the result of horizontal flipping that may have occurred during editing (a stretch, we know), but after staring at the photo for a while, we've since formed the opinion that the side door isn't transparent at all. What we're seeing, we think, is a reflection of whatever was next to the unit in the glossy surface of the G4's enclosure. That fits with the Rat's statement that the new G4 uses the same enclosure with a new face plate. (We don't buy MacOSX.org's claim that Titan has a "slimmer" enclosure, but who knows?) As for the lack of a logo, we don't have an easy explanation, other than perhaps this is a photo of a prototype with non-final plastics. All we can say is, our gut feeling remains: while we're still skeptical, something about these pictures rings true, and while we wouldn't put money on it, we still think they're probably real photos taken of an actual prototype.

On the other hand, some people are now 100% convinced that the pictures are legit purely because MacOSX.org was ordered to remove them, as pointed out by faithful viewer Axo1ot1. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, however; while the images were pulled allegedly due to Apple Legal's "request for removal of all pictures and links to photos... as of 3:15 PM MST," we know that if we planned to perpetrate a hoax involving faked photos of unreleased Apple products, we'd post them for a few hours and then simply yank them, claiming to have been ordered to do so by Apple. Instant credibility! We suppose the real test will be to see if Apple also goes after other sites that are currently redisplaying the images in some form, among them MacAnonymous.com and macGuardians. And whether the images are legit or not, at least this has been a whole lot of fun...

Price war, shmice war-- at least, that's what Apple may be saying next week. We've already mentioned pundit Tim Bajarin's recent opinion that once the slaughter is over, most of the surviving PC manufacturers will have abandoned the consumer market for the colder cash of sales to Big Business, leaving Apple and Sony to slug it out for the attention of the average shmoe. But that's long-term; what about the near future? Well, other analysts are now flat-out stating that while most of those Wintel cloners are climbing over each others' dead and mangled bodies to keep afloat in this unfriendly buying climate, Apple may escape from the current price war "unscathed."

That's right, do your worst, Failing Dotconomy; according to a Macworld UK article, despite the "lack of improvement in global PC demand," UBS Warburg analyst Don Young believes that Apple may come out of this tussle "in good health." And Morgan Stanley Dean Witter figures that when Fred Anderson reveals Apple's Q3 financial results next Tuesday, the company will report "revenues at or slightly below $1.6 billion"-- a feat that the analysts are calling "a good result in a very tough market," assuming Apple actually hits those numbers, of course. While other major computer manufacturers are getting hammered, Apple seems to be dodging financial bullets Matrix-style.

Indeed, when last we checked, the analyst consensus prediction for Apple's Q3 results is for a profit of $50 million; in this market, that's nothing to sneeze at. Perhaps even more impressive is that of the sixteen analysts who have issued estimates, not a single one is expecting a loss. The range of guesses runs from about $20 million to $87 million in pure, unadulterated black ink. Given the state of the economy and the typically very negative vibe most of these analysts give off when it comes to all things Apple, you can safely consider this a virtual love-in. Of course, that's only going to make things that much worse if Apple doesn't meet expectations... but hey, we have faith in Fred. He's the Mac Daddy of all things cashlike.

Speaking of quarterly earnings and analyst expectations, it's time once again for our thrilling Beat The Analysts contest. Enter your guess of how Apple's going to do excluding one-time charges and gains, and if yours is the closest entry, you'll win one of those shiny new AtAT t-shirts you've been hearing so little about-- or a prize from our Baffling Vault of Antiquity™, if shrink-wrapped copies of ancient cheesy software is more your thing. Enter soon, because we're closing the contest on Monday night in preparation for Tuesday's conference call. Good luck!

"And lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the staffs of the Two Mag Rags were thrown into disarray." Will next week's Stevenote therefore mark the end of the world? We haven't noticed any earthquakes, bloody moons, or hairy suns lately, but the fact that both of the largest Mac-centric print publications have announced new editors-in-chief in the past three days has us a little nervous, as far as omens of imminent doom are concerned.

On Monday, MacCentral reported that Macworld's Andy Gore was stepping down to "pursue other interests," and would be replaced as editor-in-chief by former MacWEEK bigwig Rick LePage. At the time, we didn't think much of it; it's just normal churn in the thrill-a-minute world of publishing, we figured. But then today we noticed a press release that made our blood run cold. Ancient prophesy is coming true, and MacAddict has also hired a new editor-in-chief: one Rik Myslewski, who is, among other things, an eight-year veteran of the ill-fated MacUser. In short, we've got new EICs crawling out of the woodwork, and stars falling from the sky can't be too far off.

Is the timing just a coincidence? For both major Mac magazines to replace their head honchos in the same week strikes us as just a smidge too unlikely-- especially when that week just happens to be the one prior to the biggest Macworld Expo ever. And they both just happen to be named Ri(c)k? No sir, we don't buy it. Between the omens and the thought of some sixty thousand Mac faithful descending upon the Big Apple to bask in the Glory of Steve, well, it's tough to ignore the possibility of something of serious religious significance going down. "WARNING: In the event of Rapture, this Mac will become unmanned!"

Of course, it's possible we're overreacting just a little. We'll only be really worried if Apple's staff is handing out robes to attendees on the way into the keynote in a week. In the meantime, we wish the two Ri(c)ks success at their new gigs-- provided they're both spared the almighty wrath of Steve, that is.