For some gadget fans, the release of a new Apple product is like Christmas, Easter and The Rapture rolled into one.

So any claim that a new gizmo is on the way is likely to provoke massed happy clapping among Apple fanbois, no matter how sketchy the gossip turns out to be.

Over the weekend, the reliable Apple news and leaks website 9to5Mac suggested the tech firm was working on a device called ‘Star’ with the model name ‘N84’ which is a totally new type of product.

Prototypes of this alleged invention have been built in China and tested at the Californian company’s HQ in Cupertino. Sadly, it doesn’t we’ll soon be seeing an iRocket or anything as cosmic as the name Star might suggest.

It’s probably going to be a new type of hybrid gadget that’s a cross between an iPad and a laptop, the website suggested.

‘There’s not much information on what the device could possibly be, but we do know that it has a touchscreen, a sim card slot, GPS, compass and is water resistant,’ it claimed.

The new product is rumoured to use ARM chips made in-house rather than chips from Intel. ARM chips are common in mobile phones and tend to consume less power, which would mean a laptop could approach the battery life of an iPad.

Of course, it’s impossible to verify anything about Apple’s future plans, which are protected by a policy of total corporate secrecy. So we can’t say whether the rumour describes a star in the making – or is just a ball of gas.

-MetroUK