Just because Steve Jobs says something about Apple in public, does that make it "official"? We ask only because he mentioned several weeks ago during his CAUSE98 keynote address that he would not be introducing the anxiously-awaited "consumer portable" Macintosh at next week's Macworld Expo. Despite that fact, it seems that several people and sites are taking it as a given that we'll all be treated to a peek at the translucent laptop, code-named "P1," during next week's opening keynote. And if Steve's remarks aren't "official," well, then, we can see the reason for the expectations.

But now there's bad news for the P1 hopefuls (and your friendly neighborhood AtAT staff numbers themselves among those ranks): according to MacWEEK, a representative from Apple's PR firm Edelman Public Relations is "confirming that Apple will not announce its consumer portable at Macworld Expo SF." This is a significant announcement, because ordinarily Apple doesn't comment officially on rumors or future products-- and, by extension, they definitely don't comment on rumors of future products. Yet apparently the pre-Expo P1 hype was so prevalent that they felt they had to do something to keep people from getting their hopes up and then being disappointed.

So there you have it. Official confirmation from Apple that the P1 will remain in the wings for now-- though, for how long is anyone's guess. Some people are speculating that the P1 will have its own little unveiling party as early as January 17th. One thing seems clear, though: Apple may have learned something from the iMac's introduction. Remember how it coincided with the revelation of the new PowerBook G3 Series? Talk about a thunder-stealing performance! Everyone was going ga-ga over the iMac, while the sleek and sexy PowerBook G3 found itself relegated to short mentions at the ends of iMac articles, like "Apple also introduced some new laptops." We're guessing that the P1 is actually probably ready to reveal, but Apple doesn't want to overshadow the introduction of the new Yosemite desktop systems, which should generate a lot of press on their own. So it's time to play the waiting game again, but don't worry-- there'll be plenty to talk about in the meantime.