Edible Apple

In less than 12 or so hours, Apple’s “Let’s talk iPhone” event will commence and the world will be watching to see what sort of technological magic Apple will unleash into the marketplace ahead of the holiday shopping season.

But not everyone will be paying attention to new iPhone hardware and intriguing new iOS software. You simply can’t escape the fact that many people will be watching closely to see if Steve Jobs – newly retired – will take the stage or if MC duties will be handled exclusively by new CEO Tim Cook and his trusty cadre of executive lieutenants.

We won’t know for sure until the event starts – though we certainly wouldn’t complain if Tim Cook borrowed Jobs’ patented ‘one more thing’ announcement only to have Jobs himself come out on stage and handle the biggest announcement on the agenda.

At the same time, a Steve Jobs appearance would arguably undermine Tim Cook’s position as the new CEO of Apple but that’s an issue we’ll perhaps delve into if necessary.

In the meantime, we’ve seen a few conflicting reports regarding the odds of Jobs making an appearance at tomorrow’s iPhone event.

Reuters reported earlier today, albeit without naming a source, that Jobs will likely be in attendance.

The Apple co-founder, a pancreatic cancer survivor who stepped down in August after his third medical leave, is expected to make an appearance, though a no-show by the Apple co-founder will not be a major disappointment.

On the other hand, Robert Scoble claims to have heard through the grapevine that Jobs will be sitting out this event.

I’m hearing that Steve Jobs won’t be at tomorrow’s press event. He’s just not feeling well enough to come out in public, I hear (and yes, that makes me sad, the industry will really miss him and they will see again tomorrow why). I keep wishing that these continued rumors are wrong, but know in my head that they probably are right. That said, tomorrow will be ALL about Steve Jobs even though he probably won’t be mentioned much, beyond something like “Steve is watching today’s keynote from the comfort of his home and he sends his best wishes to all of you.”

Again, Tim Cook will be heading up the MC duties at tomorrow’s event so even if Jobs does step out on stage, we imagine that he’d only be out there for a short while.