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.
In June, Apple Senior Vice President – and the creator of the Apple Store – Ron Johnson announced that he would be departing November 1st to become the CEO of JC Penney. That day has come and Apple has made the exit official by removing the veteran executive from their Apple Leadership website. Notably, no replacement has been put up yet, but we will likely hear some news about that soon, eh?
MG Siegler reports that Google is “on the verge” of releasing a native Gmail client for the iPhone through the App Store. Gmail users have long complained over the lack of push Gmail for the iPhone, which this native application is said to bring. Siegler says the application will likely also bring Priority Inbox and one click starring. Of course, nobody says that this application has been approved or will be approved by Apple, so until then, don’t get too excited.
AirPlay Mirroring shown with an iPad 2 and an Apple TV
Sources familiar with the future of Mac OS X say that AirPlay Mirroring and an iMessage application are currently in development. Although neither project may see the light of day, they are definitely on the table for release in future versions of OS X Lion. AirPlay Mirroring for the Mac will allow a user to wirelessly mirror exactly what is shown on their Mac’s display to an Apple TV connected to a projector, television, or external monitor. AirPlay video streaming is also being integrated into QuickTime X.
This would be a fantastic addition to the conference room for corporate presentations and would sell a few more Apple TVs we would imagine.
iMessage for Mac info after the break:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86LxStLXrf4]
iPhone 4S iCloud TV advertisment
Following up on the first iPhone 4S Siri TV advertisement from last week, Apple has just released three new advertisements surrounding the iPhone 4S. The iCloud iPhone 4S advertisement shown above shows the out of the box iCloud integration for the iPhone 4S. Examples include downloading a song on the iPhone 4S and having it instantly appear on the user’s Mac, bookmark syncing between an iPhone 4S and an iPad 2, iWork document syncing, and Photo Stream.
New Siri and Camera ads are after the break:
According to Macotakara.jp, Apple has finished work on test units of a 15-inch LCD for an upcoming ultra-thin laptop from Apple. The report calls the new machine a 15-inch MacBook Air, but in all likelihood it’s a thinner 15-inch MacBook Pro. The report also says that this new MacBook Pro will lose the optical drive, which seems like the direction Apple is heading towards. The new machine as a whole was reportedly in late testing stages since July, but today’s report means Apple is already done with testing and moving towards test production of the computers.
On the iPhone 4S launch date just a couple of weeks ago, we broke the news that developer Steven Troughton-Smith had successfully ported the Siri user-interface and some of the underlying code from the iPhone 4S onto the iPhone 4. The port was functional except for the most important part: talking to Apple’s servers. Now, Troughton-Smith has followed up with Chpwn to get the server fully working on an iPhone 4 and iPod touch.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHQyV9JQzSw]
Exclusive in-depth iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S Siri comparison video
Troughton-Smith exclusively provided 9to5Mac with the above high-quality video that shows Siri fully working on an iPhone 4. The video not only shows the Siri functionality on an iPhone 4, but is in depth and shows a side-to-side comparison against its newer, faster sibling, the iPhone 4S. In addition, our video shows the Siri Dictation in action. A video showing the iPod touch port is after the break. Troughton-Smith also shared with us some specifics about the porting.
Troughton-Smith tells us that an iPhone 4S jailbreak was necessary in order to accomplish the task of porting the proper files for Siri’s servers to connect to an iPhone 4. I also sat down with Troughton-Smith for an exclusive interview about the port:
A 3D model of Las Vegas Strip created by Apple purchased C3
Since the original iPhone’s debut in 2007, Apple’s iOS devices have made use of an Apple-built Google Maps application to provide users with a quick glance at driving directions, traffic, route guidance, current location information, and details about destinations. Like with most sections of Apple’s business, the company is continually innovating, looking to take products to the next level.
A few years ago, Apple set out to seemingly reinvent this iOS mapping experience. As 9to5Mac reported in 2009, Apple scooped up their own mapping software development company called Placebase. In the summer of last year, Apple went one step further in their obvious pursuit of a completely in-house mapping solution and acquired a 3D mapping firm called Poly9.
A third mapping company for Apple…
Yesterday it was revealed that Apple would begin to offer a ship to store option on its online store and it appears that it has just gone online. We heard it would be hitting San Francisco first:
…now we’re hearing it’s going live tonight/tomorrow (depending on your time zone) in the San Francisco area. The pilot program will reach other parts of the Bay Area within the next couple of days or so, and will gradually make its way throughout the United States over the upcoming weeks and months.
As you can see from the screenshot above, it is now live. Apple Store online shoppers now have the option of sending their item(s) to a physical Store in San Francisco. Others soon will follow leading up to the holidays.
Can you imagine how great this will be for the new Apple Store inside Grand Central Terminal?
Apple has been planning to roll out a new initiative that will allow customers to order most products through the Apple online store then pick up their purchases at their local Apple Store. MacRumors described the program yesterday, and now we’re hearing it’s going live tonight/tomorrow (depending on your time zone) in the San Francisco area. The pilot program will reach other parts of the Bay Area within the next couple of days or so, and will gradually make its way throughout the United States over the upcoming weeks and months.
As we previously reported, Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup is launching as early as next week. Today, we have all the details on the new notebooks and this looks to be a minor refresh with faster processors and more storage (for some models). The prices will be the same as the current model’s prices.
New 13-inch MacBook Pros:
New 15-inch MacBook Pro:
New 17-inch MacBook Pro:
Built-to-order configurations:
Current MacBook Pros specs for comparison are after the break. As always, Mr. X!
Apple has posted the full video of the Steve Jobs memorial and celebration of his life at the Cupertino, California campus. The event was held on October 19th and was only streamed to Apple employees who were not physically attending the event. The full video can be viewed at Apple’s website. Don’t come wearing any browser except for Safari.
The winner of this week’s #HelpiFixYouri contest is… Richard Bourgeois. What happened?
3 year old Godson. Angry Birds. He lost. So did I. In the form of a busted phone.
The iFixYouri iPhone repair shop and 9to5Mac will be fixing your iPhone for free! For those who didn’t win this time around, we will be picking another winner next Friday! Here are the rules:
In order to enter the contest, retweet this post on Twitter with hashtag #HelpiFixYouri and a picture of your broken iDevice for a chance to win. If the story about your broken device requires more than what a tweet can share, send an email off to support@iFixYouri.com or like and share it on their Facebook page.
A winning contestant will be randomly selected each week. You are only allowed to enter once and a winner can only win one time. If it is determined that your device is irreparable (and doesn’t start in Blend-Tec condition), iFixYouri iPhone repair and 9to5Mac will replace the device with a good working equivalent! (also no iPod shuffles or nanos are eligible)
You will also need to follow both iFixYouri and 9to5Mac on Twitter so we can DM you in case you win. Just a hint, send in high-quality pictures of your device.
Last week we exclusively reported that the current line of MacBook Pros is severely constrained and that part numbers for a new MacBook Pro line had surfaced. Based on these similar internal part numbers, the new MBP’s design should be the same as the current design.
Now, we’ve received pricing for the new laptops and the prices for each unit are the same as the prices for the current generation.
With supplies only becoming more constrained, and with shipments already touching down in select countries, we think a launch next week is likely (between Tuesday and Thursday). That is, of course, if there are no unforeseen circumstances. Thanks Mr. X!
One more thing… after the break:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtW9U1GXJRk]
Apple has aired their first television commercial about the iPhone 4S and it is amazing. The commercial is about the iPhone 4S Siri voice command feature and the ad goes through a few real-world uses of the feature. Some Siri examples from the commercial:
Update: Official upload from Apple hit the web, below Thanks, Russ!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLgQ22naQhE]
Talk over an iPhone 4S security flaw regarding Siri working from the lock screen has made the rounds the past few days, but this “security flaw” is not so much a flaw, but an intended feature from Apple. In fact, Apple allows users to choose to turn off Siri from the lock screen in the iPhone 4S settings menu. Now, a real iOS security flaw has emerged, and anyone with a Smart Cover can break into your “password-protected” iPad 2. This issue occurs in iOS 5, but we’re hearing uncorroborated reports of it also working in earlier versions of iOS 4.3.
What the flaw allows:
As you can see in our video above, a Smart Cover can essentially unlock an iPad 2. The person who unlocks your iPad 2 will not have complete access to your iPad, but will be able to gain entry to whatever you locked your iPad 2 on. If your iPad 2 went to sleep in Mail, Safari, Messages, Contacts, or Maps, you can imagine the sorts of personal information that can be viewed on your iPad. If you left your iPad 2 on its home screen, the person can view which applications you have on your device, control media from the multitasking bar, but not much else.
How to re-create it:
1) Lock a password protected iPad 2
2) Hold down power button until iPad 2 reaches turn off slider
3) Close Smart Cover
4) Open Smart Cover
5) Click cancel on the bottom of the screen
Temporary solution is after the break:
In past years, Apple has held “Tech Talk World Tours” for developers, covering their latest version of iOS. Now that iOS 5 has been released into the wild, Apple has announced that the iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour will kick off on November 2nd in Germany and end in Austin, Texas on January 23rd. The conference described by Apple:
We want to help iOS developers take their apps to the next level using the exciting new technologies in iOS 5. Our team of experts will visit nine cities around the world, covering advanced coding and design techniques that you can take advantage of in your apps. Since Tech Talks are highly technical, it’s important that you have experience programming with the iOS SDK and have an app actively in development or on the App Store.
This year’s tour will take place in Seattle, New York, Austin, Texas, Berlin, London, Rome, Beijing, Seoul, and São Paulo. The tech talks are free to attend and the full schedule and agenda are after the break:
I’ve been using a new iPhone application called Reprise as my main iPhone music player for the past few weeks, and it makes a fantastic replacement for certain iPhone music listeners. In 2005, Apple took the concept of song shuffling to their biggest extreme yet with the iPod shuffle. An iPod dedicating to shuffling your music. That music player still exists, but the iPod line in general has been caniblized by the iPhone and iPod touch and their iOS operating system. With the iPod shuffle even existing, there is a clear market for music shuffling. Read on for the full review…
We’ll be following along with Apple’s earnings call in a few minutes here. Also expect some separate posts for the “Best Quarter Ever” Press Release and any other news that comes our way.
Apple’s summary of the earnings data:
Update: Apple announces Q4 earnings Live blog archived below:
Just two days after Apple released their faster, more talkative iPhone 4S into the wild, Samsung has asked the courts to stop sales of the iPhone 4S in both Japanese and Australian markets. In addition, Samsung has asked the Japanese courts to ban sales of the iPhone 4, which now comes in an 8GB capacity, and the popular iPad 2 tablet. Samsung’s James Chung had this to say:
We are now counter-attacking Apple again.
Samsung told the Japanese courts that Apple is violating their user interface and technology patents in their smartphones and tablets, while they told Japanese courts that Apple has violated patents in the realm of wireless telecommunication standards. Today’s news comes just after Apple’s victory of a ban on the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia last week.
Although Apple says that they will begin selling unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S units in the United States in November, we have learned otherwise. Select Apple Stores in the United States have begun selling contract-free versions of the iPhone 4S, which our friend Steven Troughton-Smith was able to both verify and purchase.
Users can activate the contract-free iPhone 4S by simply plugging the device into iTunes. Once plugged in, the above iPhone 4S unlocked popup will appear. Troughton-Smith’s unlocked iPhone 4S in the United States successfully connected to T-Mobile’s EDGE network via an O2 SIM-card on roaming. The contract-free, unlocked iPhone 4S included an AT&T SIM card, which is of course removable. Apple sells this special iPhone 4S for $649, $749, and $849 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, respectively.
On October 19th Apple will be holding an on campus ceremony to remember Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. Now, we’re hearing that Apple Stores will be closing for at least one hour (1-2 EST, 10-11 PST) on that Wednesday in memory of Steve Jobs. Apple Store employees will use that one hour to view a live webcast of the Cupertino-based celebration. Thanks JMFM, and iDannyOcean!
Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has been working with 9to5Mac exclusively to port the iPhone 4S Siri voice command system to the iPhone 4. Troughton-Smith was able to get the beginning steps of a full port rolling after installing the iPhone 4S Siri and Springboard files onto an iPhone 4. As you can see in the video, Siri’s interface loads up with all the features from the iPhone 4S implementation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pue5Yl3WrZA
Siri running on an iPhone 4 (video). Update: Faster version below fold.
Siri on the iPhone 4 can recognize spoken commands in both the standard Siri view and the keyboard Dictation view. The only issue at this point is that Apple is not authenticating (obviously) commands to its servers from iPhone 4 hardware. The Siri port to the iPhone 4, at this point, also has the ability to speak back to the user. You may notice Siri and the iPhone 4 acting very sluggish in the above video. The issue here is not Siri, but is that a special GPU driver for iPhone 4 is needed; and it is obviously not included in the iPhone 4S binary cache – where the Siri files are located.
Perhaps the biggest news here is that we’ve determined that there is no technical reason for Apple not to allow Siri to run on the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 hardware can support the Siri artificial intelligence system, as the A4 processor is said to be powerful enough. We are not entirely sure why Apple is making Siri an iPhone 4S exclusive but it could be due to special microphone support, or because the A5 may allow it to run slightly quicker. After all, Apple is the company who blocked custom wallpapers on the iPhone 3G because the animation is slightly slower than the animation on newer iOS devices.
We are, of course, working with Troughton-Smith to improve the Siri iPhone 4 port. Stay tuned.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd7taHnHzcg]
If you’re trying to make your iPhone 4S buying decision based on network speeds, here’s a helpful comparison video (above). The test shows the loading of websites and also runs the speed test application on all three networks.
Remember, this was done at one fixed location so you’re mileage most certainly will vary.
In April, we exclusively revealed that Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer said that Sony was the maker of cameras for Apple iOS devices. At the time, Sony had not been known as a camera supplier for Apple’s iPhone, but Stringer’s comments seemingly affirmed that Sony would be supplying camera sensors for upcoming Apple mobile devices. Now, Chipworks and iFixit have examined the new eight megapixel sensor in the iPhone 4S and have determined it to be built by Sony.