THE NEW YEAR IS FAST APPROACHING, which means it’s time for our quarterly rundown of Apple rumors. After all, Apple’s last big unveil – the release of the iPhone 4S – was conveniently timed well ahead of Christmas, as happens every year. But that also means no new additional products for quite a long while for Apple fanatics, and for this reason Q1 always packs some surprises. What’s in the rumor mill currently? Most titillating: there were heavy reports after Steve Jobs’s death that he had “finally cracked” how to invade the living room with an Apple-produced television set. While the hoofbeats are terribly loud on this one, we doubt it will happen as quickly as the first quarter of the year. After that? It looks like Apple was just about ready to pull the trigger on the re-designed iPhone 5 last summer – and in light of the slight disappointment at the iPhone 4S release, one could see them pushing out the next generation relatively soon. However, again, we see June as a more likely time. The final rumor: we could see the next generation of iPad – which could take the form of a newly redesigned “iPad 3,” or perhaps an “iPad Pro” much like the iPad 2 but with a higher resolution. But, alas, the hoofbeats are not nearly as loud on this front. The bottom line? We’re in the dark on all three – and frankly skeptical on all three fronts. But we also know that Apple execs need to release something to feed an insatiable public, so new rumors will probably come fast and furious as we close out the year. Stay tuned for what should be an interesting ride! 12/7/11