Mark is an award-winning journalist who worked at 9to5Mac for over six years. He covers Apple and other topics related to the consumer technology industry.
Mark is regarded as one of the go-to reporters for all Apple-related matters, one of Wired‘s top 16 people to follow in technology, and one of TIME Magazine‘s top 25 bloggers of 2013. Mark has also been profiled by CNN Fortune multiple times, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, the Huffington Post, Business Insider, Columbia Journalism Review, Marketplace, Haaretz, and USA Today. Mark was also recently named to the 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 List.
In 2012, Mark published the first photos of the iPhone 5, broke the news about Apple’s switch to an in-house Maps application, revealed the first 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, forecasted that Apple would update the iPad’s software with Siri support, and accurately revealed the iPad mini’s higher-than expected price point.
In 2013, Mark published the first photos of the original iPad Air, provided the first details about Jony Ive’s end-to-end iPhone and iPad software update called iOS 7, provided information about OS X Mavericks, and detailed Apple’s early work on the Apple Watch.
In 2014, Mark revealed Apple’s work on a new Health application for iOS 8 and the Apple Watch, Ive’s redesign of OS X called Yosemite, and details about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Mark started out 2015 with a significant scoop detailing Apple’s yet-to-be-released 12-inch MacBook with a Retina display, thinner design, and more advanced trackpad and keyboard. He has continued the year by reporting on several details about iOS 9, including the new Proactive Assistant, redesigned Siri, upgraded Maps with transit functionality, new system font, split-screen iPad apps, Swift 2.0, as well as predicting a performance focus for both that software upgrade and OS X El Capitan. Mark finished the year by reporting the majority of the details about the new Apple TV, iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple Watch updates, the iPad Pro, the iPad mini 4, and iMacs.
Mark started out 2016 with exclusive reports on Apple’s work on a pair of completely wireless Beats headphones for the iPhone 7, details on the iPhone SE, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, Apple Watch updates, Apple’s March product event, new Apple retail initiatives, and Tim Cook’s Town Hall meeting with Apple employees.
Mark has also written long-form features on “Apple Anonymous,” a group of retail employees who discuss work over Twitter and the fascination of watches by Apple executives. Most significantly, in fall 2014, Mark published an extensive profile of Apple’s PR and Communications department that was compiled over two months into nine chapters. Mark also provides analysis on relevant technology industry topics, such as Apple’s recent executive shakeup. Mark kicked off his writing career at the end of 2009, and he had his first significant break in 2011 with a story detailing Siri and the iPhone 4S.
You can follow him on Twitter.
After noting my past three reports regarding Apple’s work on a sensor-packed iWatch, along with reports noting Apple hires from both the fitness and medical industries, MobiHealthNews reported that it received a tip that Apple has also hired Dr. Michael O’Reilly. According to his LinkedIn profile, O’Reilly served as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer for nearly five years at a company called Masimo. A video of a product that company created is below:
SwiftKey, a popular Android keyboard option, has arrived on iOS. No, not as a keyboard that you can install to replace Apple’s iOS touchscreen keyboard, but in the form of a free App Store application. The name of the application is SwiftKey Note and it is available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. More details below:
In November of last year, Apple announced that it would be opening up a new manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona. Since that time, little information has come out about the plant except that it would be utilized to manufacture sapphire crystal for future Apple devices. The plant will be operated by Apple in tandem with GT Advanced Technologies. Earlier this year, we learned via (now removed) Apple job listings that the plant would involve components for future iPhone and iPod product lines.
Now, we have tracked down documents (with the help of analyst Matt Margolis) showing correspondence between U.S. Foreign Trade Zone officials and Apple’s Deputy Director of Global Trade Compliance. The documents were made public today by the Foreign Trade Zones Board. The papers indicate the materials Apple will utilize to manufacture sapphire, share details about Apple’s “aggressive” plan to take the facility live, and provide a description of how the sapphire will be used in future Apple products…
Apple appears to be putting its ducks in a row ahead of major Apple TV changes. Alongside last night’s changes to the Apple Online Store to promote Valentine’s Day specials, Apple added an entire Apple TV section.
The Apple TV is now promoted as a full product line alongside Macs, iPads, iPods, and iPhones. Previously, the Apple TV did not have its own section, and it was simply tucked away as an accessory in the dwindling iPod department.
Not only does the Apple TV now have its own section, but it now has promoted and dedicated accessory, AppleCare, refurbished, and community question/answer sections.
Of course, the timing of the Apple TV’s “graduation” is interesting. Last week, we reported that Apple is working on a new version of the Apple TV set-top-box that will integrate new content (such as apps).
If Apple were to launch such a product in the near-future, it would make sense for it to have a dedicated, unhidden spot on Apple’s online store. And, based on what we’re hearing, the new Apple TV will certainly deserve to be called more than a “hobby.”
And we have some more information on why…
Credit: <a href="http://9to5mac.com/author/michaelsteeber/" target="_blank">Michael Steeber</a>
As we mentioned earlier this month, Apple is scheduled to hold a conference call to discuss its earnings and sales figures from the previous quarter it reported today: including 51 million iPhones, 26 million iPads, and 4.8 million Macs. The company also reported $57.6 billion in revenue for the previous quarter. We’ll be listening in on the conference call and updating you on key developments as they play out, so follow along at 5pm EST.
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Among the hoopla surrounding the 30th anniversary of the Mac last week, Macworld‘s Jason Snell had an excellent interview with Apple’s Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Bud Tribble about both the past and the future for the Mac. While the entire interview is well worth a read, the talk from Apple executives about iOS and OS X convergence being a “waste of energy” stood out to me the most.
“It’s obvious and easy enough to slap a touchscreen on a piece of hardware, but is that a good experience?” Federighi said. “We believe, no.”
“We don’t waste time thinking, ‘But it should be one [interface]!’ How do you make these [operating systems] merge together?’ What a waste of energy that would be,” Schiller said. But he added that the company definitely tries to smooth out bumps in the road that make it difficult for its customers to switch between a Mac and an iOS device—for example, making sure its messaging and calendaring apps have the same name on both OS X and iOS.
Of course, it appears that the Apple executives are taking shots at Microsoft, Windows 8, the Surface line of products, and Google’s new Touch-enabled Chromebooks. Microsoft is well known to believe that computer operating systems should be the same regardless of devices. On the other hand, Apple has two complete different operating systems: one for the iPad and iPhone, and the other for the Mac. Federighi explains why:
<a href="https://twitter.com/saschasegan/status/421117388235358208/photo/1">Image via Sascha Segan</a>
Earlier this year, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) held a press conference to announce that it will be bringing its wrestling content to television and mobile devices via a new WWE Network. At the event, WWE Chief Revenue and Marketing officer Michelle Wilson announced hardware partners and that the network will provide its content via a 24/7 stream that costs $9.99 per month.
As shown in the video below (5:30 in), Wilson said that the network would become available on a slew of devices, including iOS devices, Android devices, Rokus, Amazon Kindle devices, Xbox hardware, and PlayStations. Rounding out the list of supported devices, Wilson said, is “a connected device that I am not allowed to mention at this press conference…”
Last night we reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been interviewed by ABC in celebration of 30 years of the Mac. Tonight, the interview will air on World News with Diane Sawyer, but this morning, a tease of the interview was given on Good Morning America. ABC has sent us the above video excerpt of the video. As you can see in the video, Cook is joined by Apple Senior VP Craig Federighi and Apple software VP Bud Tribble.
Interviewer David Muir does not hold his questions back, and specifically asks the trio about secrecy, Apple’s plans for its Arizona plant, and about the iWatch. The interview takes place inside of Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, and we learn some new tidbits about Cook from this interview. According to Muir, the Apple CEO wakes up at 3:45 AM each morning and receives between 700 and 800 emails from customers each day. The CEO says Apple wants to make even more made-in-the-USA products (besides the Mac Pro), and he confirms that the new Mesa, Arizona Apple plant is to develop sapphire crystal.
Oh, and the iWatch? Cook jokingly says Apple is making a “ring” instead.
Tonight, the rest of the interview will showcase Cook’s thoughts on the NSA and more. You can watch the full (very interesting!) excerpt below:
Update: We’ve got video of the interview, which also includes Craig Federighi and Bud Tribble.
ABC News has announced that it has interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook regarding the 30th anniversary of the Mac. The interview will air tomorrow night on World News with Diane Sawyer at 6:30 PM EST. A small portion of the interview will be presented at 7 AM EST on Good Morning America…
A week following the previous beta, Apple has seeded a new version of OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 to developers. The update is available via Software Update in the Mac App Store and Apple’s online developer portal. It is labeled as build 13C44, and that’s a small increase over last week’s 13C39 build. Last week’s build brought blocking for iMessage and FaceTime, while the original 10.9.2 beta introduced FaceTime Audio in the Mac’s FaceTime and Messages apps.
It’s software update Thursday for Apple. In addition to redesigning many elements of iWork for iCloud and tweaking Podcasts on iOS, Apple has pushed out a slew of software updates to its applications for OS X…
Bought another $500mil of $AAPL tday, bringing our total to $3.6 billion. If board doesn’t see AAPL’s ‘no brainer’ value we sure do.
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 23, 2014
Just yesterday, activist investor Carl Icahn revealed that he has invested another $500 million into AAPL stock. Just around 24 hours later, Icahn has posted on Twitter that he invested another $500 million. That brings his total investment into Apple stock to $3.6 billion. This means that he is closing in at 1% ownership of Apple’s stock…
We’ve learned that Apple is making progress on its development of a successor to the current Apple TV and that the device is well into testing. We are led to believe that the new device, which is said to be a set-top box rather than a full-fledged TV set, will likely be introduced in the first half of 2014. We understand that the product will include a revamped operating system that will be based on iOS. Of course, release timeframes with these type of products can quickly change due to the content partners that are involved in such products…
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is planning to release two distinct iPhone models with larger displays later this year. This corroborates a report from Bloomberg News published late last year, so this is not entirely new information. The first new iPhone is claimed to have a screen between 4.5 and 5-inches while the second model will go beyond 5-inches in size:
Last year, we reported that Apple plans to open up its first Apple Store in Brazil between February and March of 2014. This store would be located inside of the popular Village Mall in Rio de Janeiro:
Apple currently plans to expand its retail store presence to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil early next year, according to information provided by a source. This person says that Apple is targeting a store opening between February and March 2014, but delays due to construction and staffing are always possible.
Now, the Instagram account for Village Mall has published a photo of the space in which the Apple Store will be housed. The store is blocked by colorful Apple logo signage that is not too different from the teases shown before the recent opening of Apple’s new flagship store in Brisbane, Australia…
Since Beats launched its Beats Music streaming music service earlier this week, the launch has been plagued by reliability issues and new customers not being able to sign up.
Responding to these complaints, Beats CEO Ian Rogers has sent out an email to customers with an explanation:
Huge thanks to everyone for making our launch day yesterday so successful. We’ve been blown away by the love that made us the #1 Music App in the iTunes Store.
Due to the extremely high volume of interest in our service some users are experiencing issues. Most people are unaffected but our priority is to give everyone a great experience. We prepared for issues like these, have a plan, and are going to hold off on letting more people in while we put this plan in action.
For those of you that claimed your name in the lead up to launch, we still have your username reserved and we’ll be in touch with your invite. We appreciate your support.
Everyone who registers this week will get an additional seven days added to their trial.
We’re staying focused on bringing you the best music experience from the people who know what song comes next. Stay tuned, and thanks for being excited about Beats Music.
Ian Rogers
CEO
Notably, for people who register this week, free trials will be extended by seven days. That is essentially the trial being doubled as the free trial was initially seven days.
Besides the more colorful and flatter design and several features, iOS 7 introduced plenty of bugs to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Several bugs have been squashed over the course of software updates issued in the past few months, but the recurring bugs have been application crashes and random rebooting. After months of complaints, Apple has finally responded by saying that it is aware of the issue and that a fix is coming:
Repeat of the late-2012 iMac launch, indeed. Joining Apple’s international online stores, Apple’s United States, Canada, and Mexico online stores are now quoting a March shipment timeframe for the “late 2013” Mac Pro. The Mac Pro launched in December to a February shipment quote, and as the month of January nears its end, the new March shipment timeframe indicates little to no improvement in a supply to demand balance for the $3000+ workstation.
Several readers are reporting that a snowblower has accidentally knocked into and shattered one of the large glass panels at Apple’s iconic 5th avenue Apple Store. That’s one of 15 panels, and those large slices of glass were installed a couple of years ago. In total, the late-2011 renovation project to move from 90 glass panels to 15 cost Apple approximately $6.7 million. Doing the math (and excluding labor costs), Apple is looking at a roughly $450,000 bill to fix that glass panel. Reports say that the store has not been closed because of this damaged glass, and it’s unclear when Apple will conduct the replacement. More photos of the scene below:
Ahead of Apple’s launch of iOS in the Car later this year, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has seemingly activated the feature inside what we presume is the iOS Simulator. iOS in the Car allows an iOS 7 user to connect their iOS device to their car’s built-in center console display. On the console, they can use Apple Maps, read Messages, make phone calls, and control music…
Apple has released iOS 7.1 beta 4 to developers via the Software Update function in Settings of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The previous betas brought various interface enhancements to the phone app, shut down slider, and the calendar application. Only hours ago, a rumor said that iOS 7.1 beta 4 would be released tomorrow. We’ll update this post as new changes are discovered in beta 4:
iOS 7.1 beta 3 UI changes
Update: Oops… more like today.
Word is in from BGR that the next seed of the iOS 7.1 beta track will be released to developers as soon as tomorrow. It’s apparently already in the hands of Apple’s testing partners (read: carriers). The site says there will be the following changes:
We are told there are various fixes in this latest version, including fixing keyboard issues, problems with the contacts app, more changes to the phone UI, and other changes.
The previous betas brought interface changes to calendar, the phone app, and the system shut down screen. 7.1 will also likely unlock the previously announced iOS in the Car feature.
Oddly, BGR’s report lists the iOS 7.1 beta 4 build number as 11D5127c, but that’s actually the beta 3 build number:
BGR’s track record in reporting beta releases is mixed (but usually more accurate than not), and of course Apple’s release plans can easily change, so don’t take this with 100% certainty. The previous 7.1 beta was released nearly two weeks ago.
Schiller and Fadell on the left
Only a few days after “father of the iPod” Tony Fadell agreed to sell thermostat and smoke detector maker Nest to Google for north of three billion dollars, Apple senior vice president (and former Fadell colleague) Phil Schiller has unfollowed the Nest CEO and the Nest company on Twitter.
Here’s Schiller’s following list from a recent cache:
<a href="http://componentstoday.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-medical-devices-sensor-tattoos.html">Example</a> of biomedical industry’s work on blood sensors
Apple is moving to expand its personnel working on wearable computers and medical-sensor-laden devices by hiring more scientists and specialists in the medical sensor field. Apple began work in earnest on a watch-like device late last decade, and it has worked with increasing efficiency and more dedicated resources on the project over the past couple of years. Last year, we published an extensive profile that indicated Apple has hired several scientists, engineers, and managers in the field of biomedical technologies, glucose sensors, and general fitness devices…