The Apple Rumor mill is in full swing with new claims that Apple has signed a deal with manufacturing partner Quanta to produce a 15.4” widescreen iBook, and that it may ship later this year:

The news that Apple may be preparing widescreen iBooks plays to recent suggestions that the company will shortly begin branding certain consumer and high-end notebook and desktop Macs as HD models, the better to link the products to the emerging HD video market.

Unsurprisingly, neither Apple nor Quanta are commenting on the rumors.