Apple

6,154 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - June 2012

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Apple News and Brief History

Before you can properly understand Apple News, it’s important to know its history. Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976. In 1977, Apple’s sales were growing with the success of its early computers. Within a few years, Jobs and Wozniak hired designers and a production line crew. Apple went public in 1980 and was an instant success. Over the next few years, Apple shipped new computers featuring new graphical user interfaces, such as the original Macintosh in 1984. As the market for personal computers expanded through the 1990s, Apple lost market share to the cheaper Microsoft Windows on PC clones. Eventually, Wozniak and Jobs both left Apple. Jobs would go on to found NeXT and would return to Apple when NeXT was acquired in the late 90s. Apple then began a journey to the great second act in the history of the business world.

Since the release of the iPod in 2001, Apple has become a major player once again in the technology industry. After releasing the iPhone in 2007, the iPad in 2010, and the Apple Watch in 2015, Apple is now one of the largest companies in the world. Apple’s worldwide annual revenue totaled $274.5 billion for its 2020 fiscal year.

Today, Apple operates retail stores all across the world, has a growing services division, and an ever-expanding hardware lineup. The technology industry follows Apple news to see where the company is headed in the future.

Keep reading for the latest Apple news

Google attempts to block US iPhone & iPad shipments over 3G patents

Jordan Kahn Jun 25 2012 - 2:22 pm PT

[tweet https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/217362407469748224]

Update: A report from Bloomberg Businessweek confirmed with some clarification. As we reported in April, the ITC will have to review Judge Pender’s previous ruling that Apple infringed on one Motorola patent related to industry standard 3G and wireless technologies. The date for that hearing is now scheduled for August 24 and could result on a block of iOS devices from Asia to the United States:

The U.S. International Trade Commission said it will review ITC Judge Thomas Pender’s findings that Apple was violating one of four Motorola Mobility patents. The commission is scheduled to issue a final decision on Aug. 24, and has the power to block devices made in Asia from entering the U.S.

According to several tweets from financial analyst @zerohedge, Google is apparently attempting to block shipments of the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. related to 3G patents. We do not have any more information at the moment, but we will keep you updated as the story unfolds…

[tweet https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/217362478374457345]

CNBC reported a Reuters story of the same nature.

[tweet https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/217364425290686464]

(Developing)
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Apps & updates: Instagram 2.5, Facebook Messenger & Pages Manager, free McGraw-Hill apps, more

Jordan Kahn Jun 25 2012 - 12:34 pm PT

Today’s apps and updates news kicks off with four free apps from publisher McGraw-Hill, which was one of Apple’s partners for the iBooks textbooks launch in January, as well as big updates to popular apps such as Instagram, Facebook Messager, Facebook Pages Manager, and Words With Friends HD. McGraw-Hill Education is attending the International Society for Technology in Education conference this week, and it is offering some of its best-selling apps free. Starting today until June 27, you can grab the following textbooks free:

American History Time Line

Words to Learn By

Fusion Reading The Vocabulary Process

Sail Through Math

Instagram version 2.5.0: One of the most notable apps to receive an update today is Facebook’s Instagram with version 2.5 bringing a number of noteworthy features listed below:

– Revamped profile tab
– Search for users and tags in the Explore tab
– Improvements to commenting
– User search autocompletes based on people you follow
– Visual improvements
– Speed optimizations
– Optionally share likes to Facebook (enable in your Profile > Sharing Settings > Facebook)

Facebook Messenger version 1.8: The Facebook Messenger iOS app received a decent update today that includes the following features in addition to “More-reliable push notifications” and “Faster app loading, navigating and sending”:

– Quickly switch between multiple conversations with in-app notifications
– Include friends of friends in conversations
– Swipe to delete individual messages from conversations
– See who’s available when you start a new conversation
– Share bigger photos, tap for full screen and pinch to zoom

Facebook Pages Manager version 1.1: Facebook also updated its Pages manager app with the features listed below as well as the usual bug fixes and performance updates:

• View and reply to messages
• Adjust how often you receive notifications about Pages activity
• See answers to questions and guest lists for events created on your Pages
• Insights added for checkins

CNN App for iPad version 1.6: The CNN iPad app, like many others after the launch of the third-gen iPad, has been updated with enhanced imagery to support the device’s Retina display.

Groupon version 1.6.6: Groupon was updated today with a number of welcomed features, including: the ability to make appointments with Groupon Scheduler for iPhone users, support for users in Chile, and various tweaks and “beautification efforts” to the app’s UX.

Words With Friends HD version 5.0: One of Zynga’s most popular titles was updated today to version 5.0, which mostly brings a number of enhancements for iPad users:

-Interface enhancements will make all those “wanted” posters look out of date!

*Words is “strapped” with a new side menu!

*Surveillance is key! Turn the iPad and enjoy our new landscape mode!

*Words iPad now supports Retina display, so you can analyze every last detail of the scene.

-All this crime has made us more concerned about security!

-Enhanced app security!

-Bug fixes and optimizations!

Gmail version 1.2.7812: We already told you all about today’s update to the Gmail iOS app that brought Notification Center support, alternate sender addresses, and persistent logins. You get can all the information here.

Apps & updates: Hulu Plus, Time Warner Cable, Men In Black 3, Fox Business, more (9to5mac.com)

iOS 6 Beta 2 roundup: Here’s what’s new

Mike Beasley Jun 25 2012 - 12:00 pm PT

Earlier today, Apple released a new iOS 6 beta to developers, introducing the usual “bug fixes and improvements”. Below is a list of all the new buttons and changes we’ve found so far. If you happen to spot any more, send them our way at tips@9to5mac.com.

The first thing you’ll see when installing beta 2 is actually a change that was technically made in beta 1: when installing an OTA update, the cogs in the Settings icon on the Software Update page spin (not the ones on the actual home screen, though).

Check out even more changes after the break.
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Gmail iOS app updated with support for Notification Center, ‘Send-as’ option, and persistent logins

Jordan Kahn Jun 25 2012 - 10:27 am PT

Google just updated the Gmail iOS app with a number of new features. Perhaps the most notable is that Notification Center support provides users with banners, alerts, and lock screen notification options that are manageable from settings. Google also noted on the Official Gmail Blog that notifications in the updated app are “up to 5x faster than in the previous version.”

Another new feature is a “From:” option when composing a new message. It allows you to switch between sender addresses under Settings->Accounts->Send mail as from Gmail on the desktop. Finally, Google explained the improved “persistent logins” would allow you to stay logged in as long as you want:

“we’ve improved the login process to allow you to stay logged into the app for as long as you’d like. You can still choose to sign out of your account, but you won’t be automatically logged out after a certain period of time has elapsed.”

What’s New in Version 1.2.7812

– Notification Center support. Banners, alerts and lock screen notification options.
– “Send-as”. Alternate sender support, if configured within Gmail.
– Persistent login. Sessions no longer expire.

Google doesn’t plan to leave iOS Maps users without a fight (9to5google.com)
After getting booted from Maps.app, Google is plotting their own amazing iOS Maps experience (9to5mac.com)
Facebook working on ‘major update’ to its SDK for iOS, acquires Face.com (9to5mac.com)

Apple pushes iOS 6.0 Beta 2 OTA update to developers (Update: Video of spinning gears and changelog)

9to5 Staff Jun 25 2012 - 10:10 am PT

Not available yet on Apple’s Dev site, developers are pinging us that a 299MB -iPhone4S/322MB iPhone 4 update is available for iOS 6 via OTA update.

“WOW, when you Download and Install 6.0 Beta 2 OTA, the Settings Icon Animates!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuaDOtjil30]

Apple also updated Xcode 4.5 developer preview 2, Apple TV beta 2 as well.

We will look for interesting changes, but do not be shy at tipping us (tips@9to5mac.com) if y’all find anything interesting.

Update: the OTA got a much more official looking screengrab, and the changelog has been posted to Dev center (below):

[tweet https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/217312366608646146]

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Apple softens its language on Virus susceptibility in wake of Flashback trojan

Jordan Kahn Jun 25 2012 - 9:13 am PT

After Apple released a patch to a Java vulnerability that lead to the infection of roughly 600,000 Macs with the Flashback Trojan earlier this year, there were claims weeks later from security researchers that hundreds of thousands of Macs were still infected. Kaspersky’s CEO claimed Apple is “now entering the same world as Microsoft has been in for more than 10 years.” Now, as noted by PCWorld, Apple appears to be publicly changing its longstanding stance that “it doesn’t get PC viruses.” The statement on Apple’s “Why you’ll love a Mac” website now reads: “It’s built to be safe” (as you can see in the comparison screenshots above).

Another statement on the website switched from “Safeguard your data. By doing nothing” to “It’s built to be safe.” Following the Flashback incident, Kaspersky claimed in April that Apple is “ten years behind Microsoft in terms of security,” and he “expects to see more and more” malware on Macs.

Cyber criminals have now recognised that Mac is an interesting area. Now we have more, it’s not just Flashback or Flashfake. Welcome to Microsoft’s world, Mac. It’s full of malware….Apple is now entering the same world as Microsoft has been in for more than 10 years: updates, security patches and so on,” he added. “We now expect to see more and more because cyber criminals learn from success and this was the first successful one…. They will understand very soon that they have the same problems Microsoft had ten or 12 years ago”

Kaspersky: Apple is ten years behind Microsoft on security (9to5mac.com)
Kaspersky analyzing Mac OS X security at Apple’s request (9to5mac.com)
Kaspersky: 30,000 Mac users left infected with Flashback, more Mac malware on the way (9to5mac.com)

New iPhone prototypes have NFC chips and antenna

Seth Weintraub Jun 25 2012 - 3:00 am PT

We have previously been able to pull data from PreEVT iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2 prototypes codenamed “N41AP (5,1)” and “N42AP (5,2)”, which lead us to believe that the new iPhone will have a bigger 1,136-by-640 display. We also detailed a lot of the hardware (here), but we forgot one very important bit of information. Further investigation into this hardware code dump leads us to believe that these iPhones also have Near Field Communication controllers directly connected to the Power Management Unit.

The implications are obviously monstrous. With the recently announced PassBook application (which we detailed prior to its announcement while speculating about an NFC tie-in), Apple will be set to compete with Google Wallet and Microsoft’s similar service that unveiled last week. Apple could tie in with a payment processor like Citibank’s PayPass system for credit card transactions—or it could become a payment processor of sorts with its hundreds of millions of credit cards already on file at iTunes.

NFC would also allow iPhone users a quick and easy way to share files from one iOS device to another.

Jim Peters, CTO of SITA, agrees that NFC is coming to iPhone and retailers should prepare…

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Report: Apple developer kit shows iPhone Maps app with Yelp check-ins

Élyse Betters Jun 25 2012 - 1:42 am PT

Scott Forstall showed Yelp on Apple’s new Maps app during the opening keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference last week, but he neglected to mention Yelp check-ins

Those using iOS 6 probably noticed this feature in the Maps app when clicking a location.

According to Bloomberg, the Apple developer kit, which the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company distributed to software developers earlier this month, visually depicts how the upcoming Apple Maps essentially lets users alert friends of their location through Yelp without leaving maps or launching a new app.

Bloomberg added:

Mobile check-ins use the GPS capability in smartphones to let users share what local businesses or events they’re visiting. The feature can show how many other people have checked in at a location, whether those individuals are friends, and can publish users’ whereabouts through social-networking services such as those operated by Facebook and Twitter Inc.

Yelp is ramping efforts to attract local advertising, which made up 70 percent of revenue in 2011. Check-ins are used by 18 percent of adult smartphone owners, the Pew Research Center found earlier this year.

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RIM to be split into handset and services, sold off piecemeal?

Seth Weintraub Jun 24 2012 - 10:53 am PT

TheVerge reads behind the Sunday Times’ firewall:

The Sunday Times reports today that RIM is considering a plan to split its handset division and messaging network into two separate companies, and will sell off the struggling BlackBerry hardware business. The British paper doesn’t cite any sources in the report, but it says that Facebook and Amazon are both “potential buyers.” As part of this plan, RIM could keep its enterprise-friendly messaging and data network (including BBM and BIS) in-house and license them out.

BBM and BES only run on Blackberry now, and that platform will have a market share heading toward zero by the time RIM gets all of this organizational structure sorted. So keeping that a separate business makes little sense.

The other option is selling out piecemeal to Microsoft for parts and people. I imagine that by then, the price of RIM will get so low, even Apple and Google would be interested in picking up the parts (patents, people, and tech). Microsoft is probably already lining up some cash to buy the remnants of Nokia as well, so it is less likely to pick up RIM (although it made several attempts to pick up RIM in the past).

Moreover, RIM’s QNX/Blackberry 10 might have some value for companies like Dell, HP (which recently fumbled WebOS), Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, or ASUS due to Microsoft now building its own tablets and scaring OEMs.

That split could also see Cisco or Oracle taking the backend stuff.

Any way you look at it, on the fifth anniversary of iPhone, Blackberry —as we knew it— is almost over.

iTuneUp Bundle for iTunes: $30, Toast 11: $50, Voila Screencapture tool: $15

9to5 Staff Jun 23 2012 - 12:01 am PT

From 9to5Toys.com:

StackSocial offers the $30 TuneUp Bundle which offers to “Cleanup your iTunes Music Collection. Automagically.” The TuneUp Bundle (Lifetime License) includes:

• Clean — Accurately fixes mislabeled or missing song information (like “Track 01” or “Unknown Artist”) using cutting-edge waveform recognition

• Cover Art — Scans your entire music collection in seconds and automagically™ fills in missing album artwork

• DeDuper— Intelligently finds and removes duplicate music files from your music library using waveform recognition

• Tuniverse — Delivers music videos, artist bios, concert alerts, social network integration and more

(Stacksocial also offers Toast 11 for $50 and Voila screencapture tool for $15)

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0IHUnmDfmQ]

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Facebook recruits Apple’s UI Design Manager

Jordan Kahn Jun 22 2012 - 9:10 am PT

As noted by InsideFacebook, Facebook recently picked up former Apple employee Chris Weeldreyer as its new product design manager. Weeldreyer previously worked as the UI Design Manager at Apple for over eight years since joining the company in November 2003. According to his Facebook page, he officially started his new role at Facebook on June 18, 2012.

In May, the New York Times reported Facebook “has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone” and tied it the old Facebook phone rumor.

As for Weeldryer’s work at Apple, he certainly worked on at least iWeb. He is listed as an inventor on several Apple Inc.-filed patents including iWeb for iPad, multi-touch and gesture-related inventions, as well as a number of security related patents. Weeldryer’s LinkedIn lists his specialties as: industrial design, interaction design, user interface design.

TIME cover story asks ‘How long will China allow Apple to profit so handsomely on its shores?’

Jordan Kahn Jun 21 2012 - 10:08 am PT

As you can see from the image above, TIME magazine’s cover story that hits newsstands tomorrow for both the U.S. and international editions is titled, “Made in China: Why Apple’s future depends on the world’s biggest market”. While noting increasing iPhone sales in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong greatly contributed to Apple’s record earnings of $39.2 billion and ($7.9 billion for Greater China) reported in April, TIME’s Hannah Beech questions, “How much longer will an increasingly nationalistic government allow foreign companies like Apple to profit so handsomely on its shores?” The full story titled “The Cult of Apple in China” is available to TIME subscribers here. An excerpt is below:

The vast majority of Chinese aren’t up in arms about labor conditions at Apple’s supplier factories. A cluster of suicides by Foxconn workers a couple of years ago elicited much more coverage in the West than in China…. Yet Foxconn keeps signing on new workers, even though many other companies complain of labor shortages as Chinese youth increasingly eschew factory work. (Apple runs educational programs for workers in supplier factories.)… Even after all the criticism of Foxconn—the suicides, the industrial accidents, the punishing hours—young Chinese still want a job making Apple devices…

…Apple’s relationship with the People’s Republic embodies some of the global economy’s brightest opportunities but also its thorniest dilemmas. An American tech giant must decide how much to adapt its practices in a faraway land. Should Apple represent the best of the West in the Middle Kingdom, or must it conform to the less salubrious way China Inc. operates? From China’s side, how much longer will an increasingly nationalistic government allow foreign companies like Apple to profit so handsomely on its shores? Caught in the middle are 1.3 billion Chinese whose toil in factories and taste for luxury products will dictate the future of the world’s marketplace.

Arizona’s iStores close up shop as another Apple reseller bites the dust

9to5 Staff Jun 20 2012 - 4:07 pm PT

Liquidation sale

Apple Stores are an unmitigated success. Unfortunately, that is bad news for those who sold Apple products before the stores came along. Yet another Apple retailer is closing this month, as Arizona’s iStore Owner Steve Walker told patrons on its website.

Walker cites an unfair playing field provided by Apple:

“We had a lot of fun over the years working so closely with the Apple product and loyal Apple product users. Unfortunately, since the introduction of the Apple Corporate Stores in 2001, dealers have continually struggled with fair inventory allocation by Apple along with a horribly uneven playing field in relation to the independent’s ability to service our customers in the same way the Apple Stores are able to provide service. As an example, Apple will swap iPhones, iPads, iPods and oftentimes Macs that are not functioning properly, but do not provide the ability for Independent’s to offer the same level of service. These problems existed even though iStore has consistently met all metrics as measured by Apple to be a distinguished and high-performing Apple Specialist and AppleCare Premium Service Provider. For these reasons and others, I have made the tough choice to close our stores.

The note on the website is pasted below:

To Our Many Valued Customers and Friends,

We have enjoyed assisting you with all your Apple needs over the past 17 years here in Arizona. I feel blessed to have been able to provide for my family while being entangled in all the cool Apple products. Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with some of the most talented Apple people around – those who have helped you with everything from your complex issues to your simple problems or helped you figure out exactly which Mac, iPod or iPad was right for you.

With the gradual opening of what is now 5 corporate Apple Stores here in the Phoenix area and corresponding changes at Apple with their reseller relations, Apple has made it nearly impossible to sustain profitability while providing great customer service. As many of you have experienced (most recently with the 3rd Gen iPad), Apple consistently withholds product from their independent dealers while providing abundantly to their own corporate Apple Stores. For this reason and many others that would take too long to enumerate and, quite frankly, you probably don’t care about, we have chosen to permanently close our stores.

As is the case with all businesses, we have made our fair share of mistakes. We could have done better at many things. If you were ever caught in the crossfire of those situations, I hope you were made whole by us (except the crazy ones like that guy that expected us to give him a refund for a product he purchased at our competitor’s store).

I thank you for your kindness, tolerance, patience, humanity, business and friendship over the years.

Sincerely,

Steve Walker

President

iStore

The question is: Should Apple have some compassion for retailers that have been with Apple for decades? Or is this just part of business?

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou: iPhone 5 will put Samsung’s Galaxy S III to shame

Jordan Kahn Jun 20 2012 - 1:19 pm PT

According to several local reports, Foxconn’s Terry Gou made some pretty bold statements at Hon Hai Precision’s annual meeting of shareholders on Monday. While there are a few translations, all seem to claim Gou urged customers to wait for the iPhone 5, “saying that the new model will put Samsung’s Galaxy III to shame.” A report from Focus Taiwan quoted China Times:

Gou said he has made it a lifetime goal to defeat Samsung — “a company with a track record of snitching on its competitors.”… He was referring to Samsung’s action in 2010 of snitching on four Taiwanese companies in an investigation by the European Commission on price-fixing in the flat panel industry…Samsung was exempted from the investigation by serving as a “tainted witness.” … Gou also urged consumers to wait for the launch of Apple’s iPhone 5, saying that the new model will put Samsung’s Galaxy III to shame.

Gou also apparently claimed that Foxconn’s Sakai plant “has an exclusive agreement with Corning Inc., an American manufacturer of glass, on large panel supply,” and his “competitors will not be able to secure any such material if they wished to.” We are going to wait to see if Foxconn issues a statement regarding these quotes, because we know a couple of stories in recent months misquoted Gou…
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Retina MacBook Pros run three external displays, refreshed Airs get dual external display support

Jordan Kahn Jun 20 2012 - 12:25 pm PT

Picture by Gabor Cselle

While Apple already recognized in its support documents for Thunderbolt that the new Retina MacBook Pro supports up to three external displays (as pictured above from Other World Computing’s recent tests of the setup), it has yet to confirm official support for the refreshed Ivy Bridge MacBook Airs. Today, we get word that the new MacBook Airs indeed support two external Thunderbolt displays thanks to the recent “Mac OS X Lion Update (Mid-2012 MacBook Air)” update that “improves external display support.” Apple has not updated the device’s specs page to reflect support for dual external Thunderbolt monitors.

The image below from OWC shows two iMacs running at 2,560-by-1,440 as Thunderbolt displays, and it shows an LG monitor at 1,920-by-1,200 via HDMI. The post noted “moving images and media didn’t create any lag and we were able to play video on all four displays simultaneously.” This makes the new MacBooks the first to support up to four displays at their native resolution. Note: You could theoretically add even more space with AOC DisplayLink displays.

The refreshed MacBook Air with dual external Thunderbolt displays is pictured above, while the MacBook Pro with three displays is below:

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Apple in court: Apple vs Motorola, Samsung wins damages, Kodak sues

Jordan Kahn Jun 20 2012 - 8:12 am PT

There are several reports today on Apple’s ongoing court cases with Samsung and Motorola. First, we have the latest on the United States case between Apple and Google’s Motorola Mobility with Reuters reporting on a “crucial hearing” scheduled for today:

Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago will hear Apple argue why it should be able to seek an order barring the sale of some Motorola phones. Posner’s decision could affect the iPhone maker’s ability to negotiate favorable licensing agreements in its legal fights against Motorola and other competitors like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd… last week Posner granted Apple’s request for a hearing on a possible injunction, and ordered both sides to submit legal arguments in advance. Those documents were filed under seal on Monday.

The last time we reported on this Apple/Samsung Galaxy case in the U.S., Apple was forced to request a separate hearing for a ban on the Galaxy S III. A trial date for Apple’s previous injunction requests for the Galaxy line is set for July 30. In its patent disputes with the company in Europe, Reuters reported today that a Dutch court in The Hague ruled Apple would have to pay damages for violating a Samsung patent with pre-iPhone 4S devices:

A court in The Hague ruled Apple had violated a Samsung patent used in some of Apple’s phones and tablet computers to connect to the Internet, and said damages should be based on certain iPhone and iPad sales in the Netherlands… Damages should be based on Dutch sales figures since August 4, 2010, which the court said was the date when Apple could have known it was violating Samsung’s patent.

FossPatents weighed in:

…there’s no question that Apple is ready, willing and able to pay a FRAND royalty rate. It just didn’t want Samsung to win an injunction, or pay an excessive rate. Court documents say that Apple asked Samsung half a dozen times (!) to quote a FRAND rate before the 2.4% demand, which the court considered outrageous, was made… Considering the parameters and circumstances I just described, Samsung will be lucky to even recover its attorneys’ fees with this. The dispute will continue.

In other Apple court news, bankrupt Kodak is suing the company this week for wrongly claiming ownership of 10 patents and “interfering with plans to sell a large patent portfolio.” Reuters explained:

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Kodak said Apple, the largest U.S. company by market value, wrongly claims to own 10 patents arising from work that the companies did together in the early 1990s… Kodak said Apple is the largest infringer of patents in that portfolio, and also a potential purchaser of those patents… “Apple’s strategy has been to use its substantial cash position to delay as long as possible the payment of royalties to Kodak” and interfere with the sale, Kodak said.

iFixit tears down the refreshed MacBook Pro, compares repairability to Retina MBP

Jordan Kahn Jun 20 2012 - 5:35 am PT

Since the introduction of Apple’s refreshed Mac lineup earlier this month, iFixit has torn apart the new machines one at a time starting with the new 13-inch MacBook Air, then the Retina MacBook Pro, and finally the Retina display itself (which it later confirmed is made by Philips). Today, it is venturing inside the refreshed MacBook Pro and comparing it to the Retina model:

As for the tear down itself, iFixit found the refreshed MacBook Pro lineup, which has the same overall design and is largely unchanged on the inside too. More interesting is how the Retina MBP (1/10 repairability score) and refreshed last-gen MBP (7/10 repairability score) compare:

The regular MacBook Pro is always cited first, compared to the MacBook Pro with Retina Display:

* Use of regular vs. proprietary screws. This is a no-brainer in our books — there’s absolutely no benefit from using a proprietary pentalobe screw type in any electronic device, aside from keeping users out of it.

* The battery is exactly the same capacity as last year’s model: 77.5 Wh at 10.95 V. It’s the same size as well, a solid 13.8 mm in thickness. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display’s battery varies in thickness from 5.25 mm to 8.60 mm depending on which cell you measure, and it has a plastic frame around some of the cells. Although the discrepancy is large between the two battery thicknesses, the Retina MacBook Pro’s battery (seen here http://bit.ly/retina_battery) is spread out over a much larger surface area. It would’ve taken some engineering, but Apple could expand the frame in the Retina MacBook Pro to encompass the whole battery, and allow it to come out as a singular, non-glued unit.

* Here’s a big difference: the regular MacBook Pro 2.5″ SATA hard drive is 9.45 mm thick, compared to 3.16 mm for the SSD found in the Retina Display MacBook Pro. But the SSD is one of the few things that is actually removable from the Retina version, and Apple *could* use a non-proprietary mSATA connector so folks could replace the drive with an off-the-shelf unit.

* While the individual RAM modules are thin (~3.15 mm), the “stacked” RAM slots in the regular MacBook Pro are a whopping 9.15 mm thick. Yet the entire Retina MacBook Pro is only 18 mm thick, and allocating half of that dimension to RAM slots would be a big sacrifice. But, an individual RAM slot is only 4.27 mm thick; if the design of the logic board featured the RAM slots side by side (like older MacBooks), folks could still replace their RAM for years to come.

* While the regular MacBook Pro display may not be Retinalicious, a cracked LCD will still be the most expensive repair (aside from the logic board) on this machine. Thankfully, users can replace just the LCD instead of the entire assembly. Incorporating a removable LCD into the MacBook Pro with Retina display would increase the thickness by less than a millimeter, while still preserving the awesome Retina resolution.

* We love the optical drive in the regular MacBook Pro because we appreciate the additional space given by adding a second hard drive (using one of our SATA enclosures: http://bit.ly/sata_enclosure). A significant portion of the weight savings in the Retina MacBook Pro comes from Apple’s removal of the optical drive. While the lack of an optical drive won’t be major imposition for many, the inability to inexpensively add a secondary, high capacity spinning drive is definitely a significant loss in terms of upgradability.

iFixit tears down the new Retina MacBook Pro, calls it “least repairable laptop” yet (9to5mac.com)
iFixit tears down the new MacBook Pro’s Retina display, an “engineering marvel” (9to5mac.com)
iFixit: MacBook Pro’s amazing Retina Display is made by LG Philips (9to5mac.com)

Good Deals: Pixelmator is $15 today, $49.99 Parallels (11 Mac app) bundle ends in a few hours

9to5 Staff Jun 19 2012 - 12:28 pm PT

From 9to5toys.com (Twitter, Feed) today:

2011 Apple Design award winning image editor Pixelmator is only $15 today at the Mac App Store. That’s half off and the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

Also, if you are going to put Parallels on your new Mac, MacUpdate has a pretty incredible 11 app bundle for $49.99 (Details). You only have a few hours to hit this one before it expires.

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Apple Store employees get overzealous with Iranian export restriction, borders on racial profiling [Update]

Élyse Betters Jun 19 2012 - 12:06 pm PT

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBDFILJ8tkM&feature=youtu.be]

UPDATE: On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and National Iranian American Council called upon Apple to change its policy and take appropriate steps to guarantee further enforcement of the policy will not impede on Iranian’s rights in the United States.

The press releases:

CAIR
NIAC

9to5Mac contacted Apple and the councils and will update again if they issue a comment.

An Apple Store in Georgia apparently refused to sell iOS devices to an Alpharetta woman and her uncle, because they spoke Farsi to each other.

Sahar Sabet, 19, is a United States citizen and student at the University of Georgia. She and her uncle were recently shopping for an iPad and iPhone at an Apple Store in the North Pointe Mall. They were conversing in Farsi, a Persian-Iranian language, when an employee overheard them and asked what language they were speaking.

According to WSBTV, the woman answered, but then the Apple employee said, “I just can’t sell this to you. Our countries have bad relations.”

Another customer, Zack Jafarzadeh, apparently received the same treatment at a different Apple Store in the Perimeter Mall in Atlanta. He recently accompanied a friend who tried to buy an iPhone.

“We never talked about him going back to Iran or anything like that. He was just speaking full-fledged Farsi and the representative came back and denied our sale,” said Jafarzadeh to WSBTV. “I would say if you’re trying to buy an iPhone, don’t tell them anything about Iran. That would be your best bet.”

Sabet returned to the North Point Apple Store on Monday with WSBTV’s Amy Napier Viteri, and they caught the same employee describing an Apple policy on camera that allegedly prohibits the sale of products to Iranians. A manager even presented the duo with the policy, which said the exportation, sale, or supply of Apple products from U.S. to Iran is not allowed without prior authorization by the federal government. The manager explained Apple Stores have to “rely on customers to be honest.”

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Google Offers app now available on iPhone for US users

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2012 - 10:45 am PT

Google just announced on the official Google Mobile Blog that it is releasing a Google Offers app for iPhone. The app is available on the App Store now for United States users, which is just in time to take advantage of today’s Netflix deal that offers movie theatre tickets for $1 to new subscribers (free one-month trial available here). Google outlined the available cities and some features for the iPhone app below:

Cities available (US only): Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, NYC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Oakland / East Bay, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, St. Paul, St. Louis, Tampa and Washington D.C.

Instant savings, just around the corner: Quickly discover offers near you in map view or search for deals by category to easily find the right deal for you.
See & use the deals you want, when you want them: All of your purchased and saved offers are tracked in “My Offers,” for easy access from your iPhone or online.
Savings made simple: Instantly redeem most offers with your iPhone, without having to print vouchers.
Never miss a great deal: Get notifications when new deals are available or when a deal that you’ve purchased or saved is about to expire.

Apps & updates: Sparrow update/sale, Spotify radio, Bento 4 for iPad, Square reward cards, more

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2012 - 9:51 am PT

Below is our usual list of the most notable app-related news from today, including, among others: new web radio features for Spotify, the release of Bento 4 for iPad, and updates to both the Square Register and Pay With Square iOS apps.

Spotify Version 0.5.2: First, we have an update to the Spotify iOS app that brings a new radio experience to the service. A report from AllThingsD detailed the new web radio service and described it as “more or less mirrors Pandora’s core radio service.” The service would include advertising and offers users the ability to listen free on mobile devices, and it would initially launch for iPad and iPhone with an Android version in development. The iTunes page explained users could now start radio stations based on genres, artists, playlists, and albums, as well as customize their stations “by voting tracks up or down.”

Square Register & Pay with Square: Square updated two of its main iOS app today with new features. The Square Register app now allows merchants to offer reward cards including punch cards for repeat customers and “Visit specials” to attract new customers. On the customer’s side of things, the Pay with Square app was updated with an interface to view and manage the rewards, specials, and punch cards. FastCompany has a nice breakdown of all the new features.

Bento 4 for iPad: Filemaker released Bento 4 for iPad today for the introductory price of $4.99 (goes up to $10 on July 31). It also included a ton of new features, such as: new drag and drop tools, 40 new themes, “Direct Access to the Bento Template Exchange,” and “Form view, Table view, Split view and Full Screen view.” As noted by The Loop, Apple posted Bento 4 as a new app on the App Store, which means owners of previous Bento apps will have to pay for the upgrade.

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iFixit: MacBook Pro’s amazing Retina Display is made by LG Philips

Seth Weintraub Jun 19 2012 - 9:25 am PT

[Image credit: iFixit]

We covered iFixit’s Retina Display teardown this morning, but the report left out one very important detail: Who makes the display? There had been some discussion by DisplayMate’s Raymond Soneira on whether Sharp’s IGZO display technology was used:

An IGZO Retina Display? Traditional high PPI displays (with amorphous Silicon) are inefficient with both brightness and power. As a result, the new iPad 3 with a Retina Display needs a 70 percent larger battery than the non-Retina Display iPad 2, but the MacBook Pro with Retina Display has only a 23 percent larger battery with the same 7 hour running time as the non-Retina Display MacBook Pro. How can this be? You may recall that IGZO technology has been making headlines for months, first rumored to be the technology used in the Retina Display for the new iPad 3. IGZO is significantly more efficient than amorphous Silicon. It wasn’t ready in time for the new iPad 3, but Sharp announced that production of IGZO LCDs with up to 300 PPI started in March of 2012… Just in time for the MacBook Pro… These facts lead me to speculate that the MacBook Pro is using a Sharp IGZO Retina Display…

Apple, Sharp, and Foxconn are rumored to be working together on something bigger as well.

Nope…
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Google accelerating development of Siri competitor for Android

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2012 - 7:14 am PT

The Wall Street Journal reported that Google is accelerating its plans to launch a competitor to Siri. 9to5Google has the full story:

We have heard several reports in the past that Google was working on various evolutions of its Voice Actions platform for Android. Back in December we heard of “Project Majel”, which according to reports is the codename for a new voice-controlled assistant app similar to Siri. In March TechCrunch reported on a similar project dubbed Google Assistant. According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Google is accelerating its plans to launch a competitor to Apple’s Siri…

iFixit tears down the new MacBook Pro’s Retina display, an ‘engineering marvel’

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2012 - 5:21 am PT

They first took apart the new Retina MacBook Pro and called it the “least repairable laptop” ever, but today our friends at iFixit took apart the device’s most impressive new component: its Retina Display. Here is what they found:

The Retina display is an engineering marvel. Its LCD is essentially the entire display assembly. Rather than sandwich an LCD panel between a back case and a piece of glass in front, Apple used the aluminum case itself as the frame for the LCD panel and used the LCD as the front glass. They’ve managed to pack five times as many pixels as the last model in a display that’s actually a fraction of a millimeter thinner. And since there’s no front glass, glare is much less of an issue.

The major downside to the design noted in the report: the LCD is not replaceable. It is attached to the entire assembly, so this means you will likely have to replace the entire assembly if something goes wrong. It also noted that getting into the display is quite difficult, claiming, “Obliterating the front panel of the display was the only way to get it out.” Some highlights:

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