Report: Steve Jobs recovered, set for timely return to Apple

By Jacqui Cheng

It appears as if Steve Jobs will indeed return to Apple by the end of June after taking a six-month leave from the company. The world is watching to see whether he'll make a surprise appearance at WWDC next week, though many believe he's saving that surprise for another time.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is reportedly on track to return to Apple full-time later this month, right on schedule. Insiders speaking to The Wall Street Journal claim that Jobs' recovery is "coming along" and that Apple's directors have been receiving weekly updates since Jobs took leave in January. Whether or not we'll see him at next week's WWDC keynote, however, remains up in the air.

"He was one real sick guy,'' one of the WSJ's sources said. "Fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn't digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.''

The iconic CEO has been on medical leave for the last five months after endless speculation about his weight and overall health. Indeed, Jobs was looking a little frail during Apple's iPod and notebook events in the fall of 2008, and he first tried to address the issue by publicly acknowledging a "hormonal imbalance" in early January. At that time, Jobs said that he had no plans to step aside as CEO of the company and that he had already begun treatment.

Just nine days later, however, Jobs sent out another public letter saying that his health issues were "more complex" than he originally thought and that he would be on medical leave from Apple until June. In his place would be Apple COO Tim Cook, though Jobs said he would remain involved in major strategic decisions while on leave. Needless to say, this announcement sent the entire tech community into a flurry of rumors and speculation about whether Jobs would ever return to Apple and what it would mean for the company.

Since then, we have heard relatively little about Jobs' progress except for some brief acknowledgments by Cook during two of the company's quarterly financial calls. Both times, Apple emphasized that Jobs still expected to return in June. A number of Apple employees also relayed last week that Jobs had been spotted around campus, bolstering confidence that he was indeed preparing to return soon. So, the WSJ's report isn't exactly shocking.

What is up for debate is whether Jobs will pop in during Monday's keynote at WWDC, to be delivered by Phil Schiller and gang. Apple fans are dying for this to happen, though numerous analysts have expressed doubt that such a spectacle will come to pass.

For the record, we agree with the analysts—a Jobs appearance at Monday's keynote would be welcome but almost too expected, not to mention early. A better theory would be that Jobs will make a surprise appearance near the launch of the as-yet-unannounced next-gen iPhone (admittedly, we jacked this theory from former Apple PR guru Anuj Nayar, but it truly is the best one). Either way, it's clear at this point that Jobs will definitely be making a comeback to the company, and he undoubtedly has "one more thing" up his sleeve.

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