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.
Apple today has informed employees of significant changes to how iPhones are sold via AT&T and Verizon Wireless, according to sources. As we reported last month, Apple has indicated that iPhones sold via AT&T at both physical Apple Retail Stores and on the Apple Online Store will move exclusively to Next financing plans this month, in June. This means that a customer who wants to buy a new iPhone on AT&T will no longer be able to do so on a subsidy…
For the month of June, Apple is giving a small boost to its trade-in price values for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5S, according to Apple Store sources. Using the Reuse and Recycle program, a customer can bring in an older iPhone model and receive gift card credit toward the purchase of a newer iPhone. Likely in order to spur some new iPhone sales this month, Apple is offering the following improvements to its trade-in pricing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApxR_TwmLCs&feature=youtu.be
Drake wearing the $17K Apple Watch at Coachella
It seems that many high-profile artists wearing gold Apple Watches over the past several weeks may be doing more for Apple than just promoting their new watch. Apple is in talks with at least Drake, Pharrell Williams and DJ David Guetta to become guest DJs on the new iTunes Radio, according to a new report. The report says that Drake’s deal could be worth around $19 million, while these deals follow the hire of notable U.K DJ Zane Lowe…
Nearly a year after Touch ID support for third-party developers was announced for iOS 8, major bank Chase has added fingerprint login support to its iPhone application. When you launch the new app update for the first time, the application will ask you if you’d like to turn on Touch ID support. The bank warns that some functions will still require you to enter your password, but this upgrade should still make the app quicker to navigate for many use cases. The app has also gained complete support for the iPhone 6 Plus. Chase’s iPad app, which is still on a pre-iOS 7 design, has not been updated to support Touch ID on the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. Other banking apps like PayPal and American Express already have Touch ID support, with the former gaining the functionality just last week and the latter being upgraded last holiday season.
Thanks, Scott! Images via Chris P. and John B.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today, Apple revealed that CEO Tim Cook has donated 50,000 Apple stock shares to charity this week. At today’s stock price of just over $130 per share, this number of shares is equivalent to approximately $6.5 million. Cook’s previous publicly-known, personal donation was to Project One America, an LGBT equality campaign…
Three years after Apple launched its own iOS Maps app to replace Google as its iPhone and iPad map provider, the Cupertino company is readying its first major enhancements to the service. While Apple was known to be gearing up for the launch of a mass transit directions service this fall in a handful of cities, sources have revealed that it is also developing its first entirely in-house mapping database to reduce its reliance on TomTom, using a fleet of mysterious vans to take still photos of business storefronts to replace Yelp photos, and building a 3D Street View feature. Apple has been using the sensor-equipped vans in cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York since earlier this year, and, below, we detail how the vehicles are advancing Apple’s plans for the future of Maps…
Apple’s first Apple Store opening in Queens, New York is approaching. Signage for the new store at the Queens Center mall has appeared, according to tips from readers. A photo of the location, which we discussed in our report on future New York Apple Stores earlier this year, is shown above. We were told earlier this year that this Queens store will be the largest New York Apple Store within a mall and that the opening is planned for later in 2015. Apple is expecting this store to pull in nearly as much revenue as some of its larger flagship locations in the State…
Apple has acquired Metaio, a company specializing in several application related to augmented reality. Metaio mysteriously announced that it will stop selling its services last night, and filings with the German government this week indicate that the Apple acquisition is a done deal:
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve published several articles detailing the future of iOS (the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch’s operating system), OS X (the Mac’s operating system), and Watch OS (the software that runs on the Apple Watch). Here’s a list of links to the stories we’ve written thus far about the new operating systems, and we’ll keep updating this page as we publish new and relevant details.
After several years of quiet development, Apple is readying a major new iOS initiative codenamed “Proactive,” which will leverage Siri, Contacts, Calendar, Passbook, and third-party apps to create a viable competitor to Google Now for Android devices. Like Google Now, Proactive will automatically provide timely information based on the user’s data and device usage patterns, but will respect the user’s privacy preferences, according to sources familiar with Apple’s plans.
As an evolution of iOS’s Spotlight search feature, Proactive is the fruit of a long-term initiative that involved the acquisition of small app developers, and integration of core iOS apps. It will also work with Apple’s Maps application to display personally relevant points of interest using an augmented reality interface, and integrate with a third-party Siri API codenamed “Breadcrumbs”…
Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams is being interviewed this morning at the Code Conference south of Los Angeles, and we are here live on the scene. As a key player in the development of the Apple Watch & ResearchKit, as well as in the operations for Apple’s product launches over the past several years, Williams will likely be able to shed interesting new light on several Apple-related topics. We’ll be providing a full-live blog below of the interview, which begins around 10:30AM Pacific Time/ 1:30 PM Eastern Time.
Speaking at the Code Conference south of Los Angeles this evening, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel revealed that the key Snapchat feature of needing to hold down the display to view a photo or a video will go away in the future. Asked by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg about needing to hold down on the display to view content, Spiegel said that the feature was originally designed to circumvent the lack of a Screenshot API on the iPhone…
While Apple plans to debut its own mass transit directions service for Maps in iOS 9 as soon as June, the rollout will not be as ambitious as some users may have hoped. In its first iteration, Apple’s Transit service will only support approximately a half-dozen cities across the United States, Canada, and Europe, in addition to China, according to sources…
Some of iOS 9‘s more important planned enhancements include split-screen apps on iPads, a new Home app for controlling HomeKit accessories, a new system-wide UI font, a mass transit directions service for the Maps app, and major quality, performance, and security enhancements. However, multiple sources note that there will also be some smaller, but still important, tweaks to the operating system. We spotlight some of these expected changes below…
Nearly a month after the Apple Watch officially went on sale, gold Edition models have begun arriving for non-celebrity customers who placed the earliest online orders. As expected, the Apple Watch Edition’s white external packaging is nearly identical to the cardboard box for the stainless steel Apple Watch, save for the box noting the color of the 18-Karat gold casing and unique band on the side.
Inside the box, however, the items are a bit different. As we’ve noted before, the Apple Watch Edition includes a colored leather-covered box that integrates the MagSafe charger. The Edition also includes a color-matched cleaning cloth with the word Edition embossed into the material. The steel Apple Watches instead include a plastic white box with lining and a beige cleaning cloth. The Edition also includes a booklet explaining the manufacturing process.
When you power on the Apple Watch Edition for the first time, a gold, not silver, description of the Watch’s hardware materials appears (as can be seen above). MacRumors noted earlier today that Editions started to ship, and the images of arrived Watches first appeared on their forums. You can find a gallery of more images below.
Update: Below, we’ve also added the first video unboxing of the Edition as well as pictures of the bundled booklet into the gallery.
For the first time in several years, Apple is changing up its annual iOS and OS X upgrade cycle by limiting new feature additions in favor of a “big focus on quality,” according to multiple sources familiar with the company’s operating system development plans. We first reported in February that iOS 9, codenamed “Monarch,” would heavily feature under-the-hood optimizations, and we’ve now learned that Apple is taking the same approach with OS X 10.11, codenamed “Gala.” Sources have revealed additional new details on how Apple will optimize the new operating systems for improved stability and performance, add several new security features, and make important changes to its Swift programming tools for developers…
Facing slowing growth for the first time since the iPad’s 2010 debut, Apple is working on several significant software and hardware updates to reinvigorate the tablet over the next year. Apple is developing a dual-app viewing mode, 12-inch iPads codenamed “J98” and “J99,” as well as support for multi-user logins, according to sources briefed on the plans. First planned for debut last year, the split-screen applications feature for the iPad could be introduced as soon as June at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, while multi-user login support and the 12-inch iPads will apparently arrive later…
Having originally planned to add a new transit directions feature to Maps last year, only to pull the feature before WWDC 2014, Apple now hopes to launch its Transit service with iOS 9, according to sources. Apple currently plans to debut bus, subway, and train route navigation as the central upgrade to the Maps app in iOS 9 at WWDC, using a user interface similar to the one intended for last fall’s launch, as depicted in the screenshots above…
New Brussels shopping complex<em> La Toison d’Or</em>
Apple is getting closer to taking its retail stores to a new market: Belgium. According to sources within Apple retail, Apple today sent out a memo announcing the new market. The note also was sent to gauge interest from employees who may be inclined to relocate to Belgium to assist with opening up the new location…
<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2015/05/18/apple-watch-review-video/">Image via Zac Hall’s Apple Watch review</a>
Apple Stores will begin stocking Apple Watch bands later this week in “limited” quantities, according to a message sent to retail stores, with the majority of bands being the fluoroelastomer Sport Bands. According to the notice, this strap inventory will primarily be for customers who would like to swap the band that comes pre-bundled with their Apple Watch after their purchase. Secondary to this, these early band shipments for stores will be available as replacements for worn-out bands from the various store Apple Watch try-on stations…
Apple’s plan to manage upcoming HomeKit-compatible accessories could revolve around a new iOS app called “Home,” according to sources familiar with the app. Introduced at last year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, HomeKit is an Apple initiative designed to encourage accessory makers to integrate “connected home” accessories such as Wi-Fi garage door openers, smart thermostats akin to Nest’s Learning Thermostat, and wireless door locks with iPhones and iPads. Using Siri or the Home app, users will be able to remotely control parts of their homes directly from iOS devices…
Apple is currently planning to use the new system font developed for the Apple Watch to refresh the looks of iPads, iPhones, and Macs running iOS 9 “Monarch” and OS X 10.11 “Gala,” according to sources with knowledge of the preparations. Current plans call for the Apple-designed San Francisco font to replace Helvetica Neue, which came to iOS 7 in 2013 and OS X Yosemite just last year, beginning with a June debut at WWDC…
SwiftKey today released a major update to its iOS 8 third-party keyboard, bundling in a new theme store and critical performance improvements. SwiftKey is one of the more popular third-party iOS keyboards, and was launched last year with impressive word prediction technology that is similar to Apple’s QuickType keyboard…