To preface this article, yes it has been several months since Apple gave us the thumbs-down on FireWire by axing it from the latest round of MacBook updates (it survives on the MacBook Pro, but only in the less popular Firewire 800 form). Much has been said, though little has been done—although there is an online petition to bring FireWire back to the MacBook. But a conversation with a client and an Apple Genius at my local Apple store recently brought the issue back for a while, and it is worth sharing.

Contrary to the recent rumors that Apple would drop PowerPC architecture support with its newest update to OS X, a tipster (and possible Apple insider) was able to acquire the latest build of the soon to be released update of Mac OS X 10.6, and found some evidence that Apple might actually be keeping the chip alive.

The tipster, who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, found a WWDC seed release labeled 10.6. Learn what information he found after the break:

There’s only so much Apple can do with a product. Yes, even Apple has limits. Mac OS X is getting long in the tooth. Just look to the Leopard features list for evidence. While everything is nicely improved in Leopard, there’s no big innovation, no game-changing features. Mac OS X 10.6 will be the last more »