There is a lot of noise in the Apple blogosphere, and it is noise that often gets passed on to us by customers who are taken in by the presentation of rumors as fact by news publications. In the past few days, we’ve been asked for specifics on everything from a new Apple TV to the iPhone 6 and the posited iWatch. We answer uniformly: Apple doesn’t tell anyone anything in advance, so it’s all conjecture until a product is officially released.

Apple often surprises, but we caution taking rumors with an enormous grain of salt. It’s true that there are more leaks in the Apple supply chain these days, and that it’s possible to guess a product refresh based on history and on new technology (a refreshed Apple TV sounds reasonably likely at some point this year), but we’re careful never to take anything as fact. If every Apple rumor was fact, we’d already be drowning in Apple television sets (controlled with a ring) and wearing multiple iWatches on both our wrists — and those are some of the more reasonable rumors!

There’s a flip side to that, of course. We try to be careful if we think a new product is likely shortly — no one wants to buy a brand new computer only to have it be replaced the next week by something newer and fresher. Most customers aren’t glued to the rumor mill the way that we are, so we are honest if we think they should wait and see what comes out next. Sometimes it’s not worth waiting, based on their needs, but at least they have all the information they need to make an informed decision. It’s one of the reasons we exist as Apple Specialists — our job isn’t just to sell you a product, it’s to help you find the product that matches your needs, and to guide you to the information you need to do so.

So when you hear that screenshots have been leaked of the iPhone 6’s new casing, or that Apple is testing out their new wearable, a word to the wise: be skeptical!