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 a brief note, Macotakara.jp reports that Apple’s Final Cut Pro X will be available next week. As Apple said at the event in which they revealed the revamped professional film making software, Final Cut Pro X will be available through the Mac App Store fro $299. The report also claims that third-parties will begin shipping some new Thunderbolt products and accessories; details are currently scarce on that, though.
Ron Johnson, the mastermind behind Apple’s successful retail store strategy, has left Apple to become the CEO of JCPenney according to Bloomberg (terminal) via Business Insider.
Johnson’s bio remains active at Apple.com and we’re waiting for confirmation. Meanwhile Apple Orchard is also reporting the same info. Johnson’s bio:
Ron Johnson joined Apple as senior vice president in January 2000. Reporting directly to the CEO, Johnson leads Apple’s retail strategy and is responsible for its overall execution and performance. Under Ron’s leadership, Apple has opened over 300 stores to date. Johnson has over 20 years of experience in retail and merchandising as well as a strong track record for delivering consistent year over year growth for billion-dollar companies.
Before joining Apple, Johnson held various management positions at the Target Corporation, most recently as Vice President of Merchandising for Target Stores. In this capacity, Johnson presided over a successful period of growth at Target, playing a key role in developing new initiatives for branding, marketing and merchandising. He led the team responsible for launching the Michael Graves exclusive line of products, as well as the addition of other key brands to the store’s selection.
Johnson received his M.B.A. from Harvard and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Stanford University.
Update: The WSJ has now verified the appointment which should be announced later today.
JCP stock has rocketed over 12% on the news (below)
Expand
Expanding
Close
Nokia has announced that Nokia and Apple have finally settled all of their long-running patent disputes relating to mobile phone technology. As part of the patent agreement between Apple and Nokia, Apple has provided Nokia with a one-time payment and will continue to pay Nokia royalties for use of their patents. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop:
We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees, said Stephen Elop, president and chief executive officer of Nokia. This settlement demonstrates Nokia’s industry leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.
“The patents in question relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices”, according to Nokia’s May 2010 lawsuit filing.
Nokia filed yet another patent-related lawsuit against Apple, in March 2011, claiming that “Nokia’s pioneering innovations are now being used by Apple to create key features in its products in the areas of multi-tasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories.”
That second lawsuit came only days after the ITC ruled in Apple’s favor regarding the patents from the initial lawsuit filing.
Apple will start their annual Back to School promotion this week, possibly Wednesday, but this year will feature a major twist. In year’s past, Apple’s Back to School promotion offered students their usual educational discount plus a free iPod with any purchase of a Mac. This year, 9to5Mac has been told, will be very different. In fact, Apple will not be offering free iPods during this promotion but will instead offer a $100 iTunes gift card.
Apple usually begins their Back to School promotion approximately three months prior to their annual fall music-related event. This Back to School promotion usually serves a way for Apple to clear out their iPod inventory ahead of an early September refresh for the lineup. Given that iPods will not be in this years Back to School promotion, we are not too sure what to think about this fall’s iPod upgrade situation.
Update: Just to clarify: when I say $100 iTunes card, I mean a gift card that works on Apple’s iTunes Store and App Store as all iTunes cards, no matter how they are marketing, work in both stores. Even the iBookstore.
Reuters reports on a note from Taiwan’s Economic Daily, claiming that Apple’s refreshed MacBook Air line will finally debut later this month. The report says that the initial shipment, coming in late June, will include 380,000 units (via MR). Apple’s upgraded ultra-thin notebook will likely include Intel’s Thunderbolt I/O and new Sandy Bridge processors. Taiwan’s Economic Daily also claims that the third-generation iPad will include a display that is six times the resolution of the iPad 2’s, which likely won’t happen.
Sources within United States Apple Stores have told 9to5Mac that shipments of four new iPhone models have reached their respective Apple Store locations today. As originally reported by ChronicWire, the model numbers are in fact MC603 (16GB, Black) MC604 (16GB, White) MC605 (32GB, Black) MC606 (32GB, White).
Those model numbers match up with unlocked iPhone 4s sold internationally. Retail sources say the delivery of these new phones was unexpected and the current plan is for availability starting Wednesday. Separately, MacRumors reports that the unlocked iPhone 4s will cost $649 and $749 for 16GB and 32GBs, respectively.
Thanks, JMFM!
BestBuy.com also shows the Mac mini as backordered
Proven sources familiar with Best Buy’s distribution centers have told 9to5Mac that supplies of both the Mac mini and Airport Extreme are exceptionally low. In fact, shipments of Apple’s Airport Extreme WiFi base station have stopped coming into major distribution centers that cover the west coast of the United States. Additionally, individual Best Buy stores across the nation are low on Mac minis and are not expecting many more shipments.
Given the fact that both the Airport Extreme and Mac mini are due for a refresh and given that our sources familiar with Apple’s global distribution plans have already told us that both supplies for the Mac mini and Airport extreme are low, we think the aforementioned situation at Best Buy lends credence to imminent refreshes for both the Mac mini and Airport Extreme. Of course, the Best Buy shortages could be a coincidence, but we think the former is more likely.
In addition, a number of readers have noticed that Apple’s Time Capsule stock is running low on Apple’s own online store in various countries including the Canada, New Zealand, and Australia stores.
Update: Major UK retailer John Lewis went dry on both 11.6 inch models and the entry level 13.3 inch model.
Update 2: Tawain Economic Daily says late June launch for new MacBook Air line.
Prototype iPhone 4 from last year
A previously accurate Apple source has told 9to5Mac some interesting information regarding what 2011 holds for the iPhone and Apple’s popular FaceTime video chat service.
While snooping around the iOS 5.0 SDK we located references to “N94” and “N93.” These are internal code names for two unreleased iPhone models. As we have already told you, the N94 is an iPhone 4 with an A5 dual-core processor and it is likely the device that a small group of elite iOS app developers got their hands on in late April. The N93 is likely a carrier variation of the N94.
We aren’t too sure what this variation could be, as the only time a model number varied based on a carrier in iPhone history was with the iPhone 4: GSM is N90 and CDMA is N92. Verizon already leaked that the next iPhone features a GSM+CDMA chip, so perhaps the N93 or N94 is the Sprint model we told you about – or T-Mobile.
Oh, and one final thing… according to the iOS SDK, and the same snooping we used to break the news that the iPad 2 will feature the same cameras as the fourth-generation iPod touch, it looks like the next-generation iPhone will keep the 5 megapixel sensor found on the iPhone 4. Many of us were expected a boost to 8 megapixels after Seth broke the news about Sony CEO’s comments on Sony making cameras for Apple. Perhaps Apple never updated the SDK files, though, or maybe the N94 and N93 are scrapped devices all together. Maybe Apple took the extra three months to whip up something totally new: not just an iPhone 4 with an A5 to boot.
P.S: We are expecting some more intelligence soon, so stay tuned!
Sources have told 9to5Mac that Apple will be holding one of their retail store overnights on Tuesday. Since Apple has a flurry of upcoming product releases, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what Apple will be releasing – if anything, on Wednesday, June 15th. We first heard about this last week and figured it was OS X Lion related, but now that new chatter has arisen and now that we know Lion is coming in July, we feel it is the right to time to rundown Wednesday’s new possibilities.
The first item on the list would be new MacBook Airs with Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt I/O. Digitimes and CNET have said that the new Airs are coming in either June or July and ChronicWire says they are coming this Wednesday. We have since heard from a source that there are still some current generation MacBook Airs shipping to retail stores across the world into the next couple of weeks. Because of our own independent information, we doubt a new MacBook Air launch for Wednesday. It does make sense though based on the scheduled retail overnight.
Next would be servers. We were first to report that Mac Pro and Mac mini server models are at the constraint stage for supplies, and since then we have been told that supplies have diminished even more with no more current generation models coming through to retail channels. Also, Time Capsules and Airport Extremes are showing the constraint status.
Additionally, sources tell 9to5Mac that Tuesday’s overnight may be related to Apple removing parts of their rumored-be-disappearing software wall. At this point, we are unsure of what is exactly going down Wednesday. It could be new MacBook Airs, Mac minis, Mac Pros, Servers, AirPorts, Time Capsules, or absolutely nothing related to a major product release. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
Update: Wednesday could be related to Apple’s annual Back to School promotion.
Update 2: Another source says that some of the new visuals pertain to the Teach for America Foundation. This is the same foundation that Apple is promoting the donation of iPads toward. This “teaching” theme may or may not confirm the start of the Back to School promotion on Wednesday.
Although it didn’t appear in Scott Forstall’s presentation and is yet to show up in iOS 5 SDK findings or in the actual developer beta release, references to Nuance integration have appeared in iOS 5’s internal preferences. ChronicWire has posted screenshots of the Nuance references from an internal build of iOS 5, including the one above (with help from Sonny Dickson). The Nuance integration, specifically, appears to be related to the voice-recognition company’s “dictation” software.
The closest thing so far to Nuance “Dictation” and iOS would be Nuance’s iOS application demonstrated in the video above. The application is called “Dragon Dictation” and essentially lets you touch the record button, say what you want to type, click to confirm, and what you said into the recording will be pasted into any field of your choice. Another preference references a microphone icon on the iOS keyboard. Perhaps you click this microphone to active:
The obvious built-into-iOS variant of this application function would be a small button within text fields (or on the keyboard). Tap to record; tap to confirm; text appears. We are not sure what “Nuance Long Endpoint” is but based on a quick look at the iOS application, it may be a feature that detects when you have stopped recording; based on a long pause at the end of your speech.
Although Apple has not said if iOS 5’s Notification Center widget section will have a public API for third-party widgets, developer WillFour20 has figured out a way to develop a simple widget as a proof of concept. This proof of concept demonstrates that even without proper tools provided by Apple in the SDK, making widgets for Notification Center is technically possible. As you can see in the image above, a space for the new widget was created and the programmed text, “hello world,” appears.
Known jailbreak developer Chronic informed 9to5Mac that all a developer needs to do is create a “custom view interface” and “compile it is a bulletinboard plugin.” Bulletinboard is Apple’s internal codename for the iOS 5 Notification Center. Hopefully Apple opens up the Notification Center to be a third-party home to widgets. The odd thing about iOS 5’s Notification Center is that the widget section is only compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch; hopefully Apple is dreaming up something similar for iPad customers. If any other developers do take a shot at this, let us know!
It looks like the next month or so is shaping up to be a fairly busy month for the Mac. In addition to OS X Lion, our sources are already expecting new MacBook Airs and Time Capsules fairly soon – due to supply shortages and now Mr. X tells 9to5Mac that Apple’s Mac mini Server and Mac Pro Server are constrained with no shipment date yet in place for new models.
With Apple pushing Thunderbolt and speedy Sandy Bridge processors into their iMacs and MacBook Pros earlier this year, it would be a safe bet that Apple’s next server products will feature Sandy Bridge Processors and Thunderbolt I/O to boot. The interesting part about both the Mac Pro and Mac mini server models become constrained simultanously is that Apple might be looking to completely revamp their server offerings, not just update each respective product.
Apple is currently prototyping a new Mac tower that is smaller than the Mac Pro. This could either be the next-generation Mac Pro or even Apple’s next flagship server offering. In addition, Apple discontinued the Xserve last year.
Concurrently, Apple’s Airport Extreme and Time Capsule supplies are still constrained. Perhaps those two products have something to do with Apple’s future server offerings. On the other hand, Apple also sells non-server versions of both the Mac Pro and Mac mini. That being said, the servers being constrained could be signs of the standard models being contained soon, too. In that case, Apple may just be pushing out new Mac Pros and minis. This might be the more likely case.
Looks like Apple needs some people to head up their brand-new iCloud division. Following the June 6th WWDC kickoff event, Apple has put into place a new initiative that will give existing employees $10,000 bonuses for each new iCloud employee that they refer. Apple wants these new employees in quickly though, so the prize is only good for the next month, multiple sources tell 9to5Mac. Good luck to all playing!
Sources tell 9to5Mac that a version of the iPhone for Sprint’s network is currently in advanced testing. The physical design of this device is akin to the iPhone 4 of today, so this might be the iPhone 4S device with support for all carriers that we have been dreaming up and hearing whispers about. Apple is said to have ordered Sprint-compatible cell towers for use on their campus – for testing – in late 2010. Apple similarly tested the Verizon iPhone against Verizon cell towers on their campus months before the product’s release.
In addition to being actively tested in Apple’s “black labs,” the device is making the rounds amongst Sprint’s research and development department. Sources also say that talk of a 4G varient of the iPhone for Sprint is moving along, but the first generation Sprint iPhone that is currently in testing does not feature support for 4G bands. Last month, a job listing posted to Apple’s official jobs website revealed that Apple is looking to craft up a cellular engineering team in Kansas City. This city is home to the Royals, but also happens to be the home of Sprint headquarters. Sources did warn that depending on negotiations regarding 4G, the project may be pushed to late 2012. If the Sprint model is this fall’s model, it likely will not carry 4G compatible radios.
In addition to what our sources have told us, Talk Android reports that a Sprint iPhone is coming and that it will include dual-band support for T-Mobile (weird, right?). The report also claims that Verizon/AT&T and Sprint/T-Mobile will switch off annually as to who gets the new iPhone model. They also say that the Sprint vartient’s data plan will be spiked to $89 a month from $69 a month. To be clear, we have no reason to believe that Talk Android’s details are legitimate – all we know is that it’s in testing and Apple ordered the cell towers for testing in late 2010.
For those who need it, Apple is finally including custom gesture support to interact with adaptive accessories. We don’t have said accessories to test with, but the panel to create gestures can be found inside iOS 5’s accessibility pane. You open up the gesture section on an iPhone or iPad, draw, hit save, and done.
Thanks, Drew!
iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad have long missed out on 1080P HD video playback through their respective native video viewing applications. In iOS 5, Apple is looking to change all that as 1080P video now syncs to the iPad 2 and is playable in the full 1080P format. Prior to iOS 5, iTunes would not even sync video of the 1080P quality. According to first hand accounts, playback is very smooth and looks great. End users will be able to get their hands on this new feature in fall, when Apple officially delivers iOS 5 to customers.
Thanks, Jamie!
We decided to put together a roughly eleven minute walkthrough video of iOS 5 for iPad’s most notable features. Our video covers Messages with the iMessage service, Notification Center, the brand new Music application, updated Safari, tweaked Mail, Twitter integration, updated Calendar, Settings, Reminders, the new keyboard, and more. This is, of course, all in addition to some great commentary.
On to iOS 5 itself, in the beta 1 stage, it is quite stable – compared to iOS betas that have come before it. The dual-core iPad 2 and A4-packed iPhone 4 feel even faster with this new operating system, and will likely be even snappier™ once this thing achieves Golden Master status. As you will see, our biggest gripe so far with the iPad version of iOS 5 are the widgets. Or the lack thereof. The iPhone version (way smaller display) houses two widgets: stocks and weather within the Notification Center. Apple could at least do this for the iPad.. or maybe they have something better up their sleeves to show off at their annual fall event.
Another thing is that is that there should be some sort of “read” system for users with iMessages and multiple devices. It’s quite annoying to have to clear iMessages on both your iPhone and iPad. It’s beta 1, so we’ll likely see several tweaks and new features over the course of Apple’s beta seeds into fall. Be sure to watch the full video above, check out our iPhone iOS 5 walkthrough, and ask questions about iOS 5 in the comments.- We’ll get to as many as we can.
In addition to OS X Lion’s arrival in June for $29, Apple will be releasing OS X Lion Server in July for $49 on the Mac App Store. Lion Server includes several features like iPad File Sharing, Push Notifications, Wiki Server 3, iCal Server 3, Mail Server 3, and Xsan.
Walmart has dropped the price of the 16 GB iPhone to $147 from $197. The promotion is active until June 30th and it applies to both black and white models, for AT&T and Verizon. Wonder why they are trying to clear these things out…
John Gruber at Daring Fireball has published his thoughts on what’s going down tomorrow with iCloud at WWDC. In short: “Don’t think of iCloud as the new MobileMe; think of iCloud as the new iTunes.” Gruber notes that the iOS syncing process of today requires a user to USB tether their device to their computer in order to sync music, video, apps, etc. iCloud might just be the future of iOS device syncing.
The ideal concept would be that a user can upload all of their media to the cloud, sign into their iOS device, and it will be ready to go.
But in short let’s just think about the ways that iCloud might be a major, dare I say game-changing, step away from USB tethering between iOS devices and iTunes running on your Mac/PC. Consider just the new out-of-box experience. Rather than “Take this out, plug it into your Mac or PC (after first making sure your Mac/PC is running the latest version of iTunes), wait for it to sync before you actually play with it”, you might get something like “Take this out, turn it on, sign into your iTunes account, and start playing with it.”
Gruber also published some interesting thoughts on what he would like to see in iOS 5.
While Apple has publicly acknowledged that they are tracking a summer release window for their upcoming Mac OS X Lion release, sources have indicated to 9to5Mac that Apple may surprise customers with a Tuesday, June 14 launch of the next-generation Mac operating system. Our sources could not confirm with certainty that the launch will take place that day, but due to a mixture of chatter from several sources we believe the June 14th date is a strong possibility.
Apple is said to be planning one of their product launch-indicative “visual updates” for the morning of Tuesday, June 14th. Sources tell 9to5Mac that this particular overnight will feature a new store-front window in addition to other signage-related changes within the retail store. These particular changes are different than the ones planned for Tuesday, June 7 – the day after WWDC. While we do not know what June 7’s changes are, we think the launch of Apple’s 2011 back to school promotion is a strong possibility.
One particular piece of evidence that leads us to believe in a June 14th Lion launch is that Apple will be minimizing software presence in their retail stores on that day. Possibily meaning the removal of Snow Leopard from Apple’s retail outlets. This may mean a mid-June Final Cut Pro X launch as well, but that is purely speculative. Apple removing software from their retail stores is not exactly an issue for Mac OS X Lion customers as this particular software release will come through the Mac App Store.
Separately, Mr. X has told 9to5Mac that Apple’s supplies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard are dwindling and a mid-June launch for 10.7 Lion makes sense based on past trends. Again, we need to emphasize that this June 14th Mac OS X Lion launch is unconfirmed. We do, however, believe that based on the mixture of information detailed above, a June 14th Mac OS X Lion launch is a very good possibility. We will hopefully know all on June 6th when Steve Jobs talks Lion at WWDC.
MacRumors has discovered a new addition to the iTunes App Store update page and that is a new sentence hinting at an upcoming feature called Automatic Download. The greater meaning of Automatic Download is not completely clear at this point but it seems as if Apple will give iOS users the option to have their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch automatically download and install App Store app updates. The leak also hints at this being an option, so perhaps Apple has an iOS update up its sleeve for an imminent release.
Or if your device has Automatic Download enabled for apps, your updates will download to your device without having to sync.
Right now, users have to open the App Store app and manually pick and choose (or click update all) every time they want to update an app. The new sentence, quoted above, has appeared roughly three months prior to the rumored public release of iOS 5. Either Apple is just testing out some of their new iOS 5 literature, or Apple will be making this Automatic Download feature available to the public as soon as next week. Apple, afterall, will be talking the cloud and iOS on Monday at WWDC.
The phrasing of the new sentence does seem to be hinting at just more than App Store apps. This may be the first hint from Apple at their plans to deliver over-the-air iOS software updates and a new iOS software update solution via a new version of the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme.
The previous wording can be seen below:
.
Robert Scoble says, that according to a source who worked on Twitter integration, iOS 5 will feature more than just Twitter photo sharing. He says that integration will be very deep. We can imagine a Twitter widget, Twitter notifications, and Twitter photo and video sharing. Any other possibilities?
More talk on the subject below:
