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.
Seth Weintraub|9:37Apple making your typo famous? Priceless
We’ll, can’t deny it any more. I’m in Cupertino, CA. At the Flint where the iMac was launched and today … ? We’ll soon see!— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) September 09, 2014
There are DSLRs on tripods pointed at the cube, taking pics on timers. Whatever happens will be on time-lapse. http://t.co/MU0Ds02upk— Tim Stevens (@Tim_Stevens) September 09, 2014
Seth Weintraub|8:52Sage advice:
I'm telling you guys, don't go into that white box. You will not be the same when you come out.— Joe Brown (@joemfbrown) September 09, 2014
Descending into a nation of livebloggers “@9to5mac: Apple shares dedicated page w/ updates of iPhone/Wearable event wp.me/p1xtr9-1qnu”— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) September 09, 2014
LOL
Shouldn't have used Apple Maps. “@cue: Just got to Moscone, where is everyone! 😄 #AppleLive”— Chris O'Brien (@obrien) September 09, 2014
Seth Weintraub|8:34He needs coffee?
Its Craig Federighi waiting in line for coffee like a normal. The hair blessed, they're just like us. http://t.co/wTLxrouiCI
It’s September 9th, and you know what that means: Apple’s biggest event in several years is happening today. We’re expecting Apple CEO Tim Cook and his team of executives to discuss two new and larger iPhone models, a mobile payments system, and of course, a fashion/health/fitness-centric wearable device. We’ll be following along and providing articles with the latest news throughout the day. This News Hub will embed the latest action from the ground at the Flint Center in Cupertino and provide an easy access view of the latest news articles. You can also follow us on Twitter at @9to5Mac for quick updates as they break, and all our updates below:
Last time we asked you, back in April, we’d seen only reports and alleged molds for the two different sizes of iPhone 6. At that stage, 60 percent of you planned to buy the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, with just under a third eyeing-up the 5.5-inch model. A further 8 percent were planning to stick with existing models, and two percent expecting to get a Droid.
Since then we’ve of course seen a huge number of leaked parts, and even what appear to be working versions of the 4.7-inch model. Both models are now expected to go on sale on 19th September, so we thought it would be interesting to see if and how your plans have changed
Apple announced on Thursday that it will broadcast this year’s iPhone event live for Safari and Apple TV users, and today Apple TV has revived the dedicated Apple Events channel for viewing the announcement live during the event. The channel usually remains for a short time after the event for on-demand viewing. As always, we’ll be sharing major announcements from Apple’s event for those who cannot view the live stream throughout the event. Expand Expanding Close
We’re less than 24 hours away from Apple’s big iPhone 6, iWatch/iBand, and mobile payments event. Apple is continuing to raise hype for the event by forwarding its www.apple.com homepage to the actual live stream page for the event. We’ll know for sure tomorrow, but it seems like Apple believes it has several surprises in store for tomorrow. We’ll have a full news hub with the latest coverage before, during, and after the event tomorrow.
iGen.fr, who has proved reliable in the past with Apple launch dates, is now claiming that sources informed the site that the new iPhones will launch on the 19th. This is generally to be expected, following historical patterns. Apple traditionally puts new iPhones on sale the Friday the week after the announcement. This year, everyone seems convinced that the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 will be on sale then.
The release schedule of the 5.5 inch model is less clear. Some, citing supply constraints, have said that the 5.5 inch model (most recently dubbed the iPhone 6 Plus) will not launch for a couple more months. However, a consensus on this has not really been reached. iGen.fr says that the larger device will in fact launch on September 19th as well and is certainly still a possibility.
While we seem to know all about the features in the new iPhone and the new design, something still left up in the Air are the names of the new phones. While some have long-referred to the new devices as the “iPhone 6” or the “iPhone Air,” no outright claims have been made about the names until a new report today. According to Macotakara, the 4.7-inch model will be known as “iPhone 6” while the 5.5-inch version will be called the “iPhone 6 Plus.” Apple has not used the “Plus” suffix for a product since the “Mac Plus“, so that would be a first for an iOS device. iLounge first presented the Plus name as a possibility in January 2013. This naming convention does not seem incredibly likely, but Macotakara did indeed accurately predict the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c names last fall. Leaning toward iPhone 6 being at least one of the two names is that the camera data shared by the “reviewer” of leaked 4.7-inch iPhone 6 hardware refers to the device as the iPhone 6.
Apple is now sending emails to users when they log in to iCloud.com. This is part of Apple’s latest security upgrades to iCloud, which Tim Cook announced late last week. In the interview, Cook said Apple planned to launch the feature within two weeks, but obviously it has been deployed much sooner. The notification is supposed to act as a warning for users, to detect account infiltrations as early as possible. Supposedly, these emails will only be sent once, the first time an account logs in to a particular device, so it shouldn’t spam your inbox with login notifications.
A YouGov survey of more than 1,000 American consumers commissioned by security company Tresorit found that just over a third of them have taken steps to beef-up their online security in response to the iCloud hacks.
The most common response was to change passwords for stronger ones, with 13 percent creating different passwords for each online service and 6 percent enabling two-step verification … Expand Expanding Close
In the final run-up to the official launch of the iPhone 6, we’ve been seeing a number of videos of what appear to be the real thing. With just one day to go, Miaopai has just posted no fewer than 17 short videos claiming to show the Chinese version of the iPhone 6 in use.
We don’t learn anything from them we didn’t already know, but they do give a sense of what the size of the 4.7-inch display is like to use in practice.
French site NWE has also re-posted video of what it says is the battery from the 5.5-inch iPhone 6, showing a capacity of 2915mAh. This is consistent with earlier reports. While it has almost twice the capacity of the 1560mAh battery used in the iPhone 5s, it’s unknown how much of that power will be needed to drive the extra size and resolution of the larger display.
We heard over the weekend that Apple’s long-rumored NFC-based mobile payment system will use tokenization to maximize security, transmitting coded one-time tokens to payment terminals, and that the 5.5-inch model may run landscape apps, giving a more iPad-like user experience.
All will be revealed tomorrow at 10am PDT. We’ll of course be bringing you live coverage and commentary. In the meantime, you can see a whole bunch of the videos below … Expand Expanding Close
While the 4.7-inch version of the upcoming iPhone 6 will seemingly function as a large version of the current iPhone interface, it appears that the larger model with a 5.5-inch display could run software in landscape mode with an iPad-like user interface (portrait views likely remain unchanged). Developer Steven Troughton-Smith altered the iOS simulator to run at 736 points x 414 points (1472 x 828 at 2x or 2208 x 1242 at 3x), the resolution we first reported was likely in the cards for at least one iPhone 6 model, and provided us with screenshots of the presented interface…
Apple and longtime partner Disney this week are bolstering their stores with upgraded versions of iBeacon sensors and NFC readers, according to sources. Apple Stores have had iBeacons stationed throughout showroom floors for several months as a way to pinpoint exactly where a customer is within the store. This allows Apple to better serve customers by providing relevant sales information to their iPhones and iPads while in the store. The upgrades happening this week within Apple Stores place several new Gimbal Series 20 Proximity Beacons across stores to make location tracking within the store even more accurate.
In addition to providing relevant information for the Apple Store app, iBeacons can be useful for NFC mobile payment technologies as a form of authentication. If Apple knows where a customer is in the store to a precise degree, it can ensure that is it wirelessly connecting to the correct iPhone for mobile payments. As has been widely reported, the new iPhone 6 and upcoming Apple wearable device will include new wireless sensors (including a near field communication chipset) to conduct mobile payments with credit cards stored in an upgraded Passbook application.
The iPhone 6 leaks are coming fast and furious ahead of Tuesday’s event. This latest video is a supposed review of the iPhone 6 in Mandarin. We won’t know how legit it is for another 48 hours but it is certainly convincing.
One notable feature of these latest leaks is the Passbook (which they conveniently failed to open) icon which looks to have a Credit card on top. Update: The Weibo Account owner opened up Passbook and screenshotted (below)
A brief translation of the video from Stan1028 below (more in comments): Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s upcoming wearable device, based on iOS, will run third-party applications and, furthermore, may come equipped with an App Store, according to two sources with knowledge of the new device. It is currently unclear if the App Store will be full-fledged, like on the iPhone and iPad, or if it will be a special section with in the iPhone App Store for apps that play nicely with the new wearable device.
A small handful of high-profile social network and services companies with apps on the iPhone and iPad App Store have already been seeded with a pre-release version of the Apple SDK (Software Development Kit) for wearables under strict non-disclosure agreements. One of the developers with access to the pre-release SDK is Facebook, according to a source. Facebook is also said to be finishing up work on an iOS 8-optimized version of its iPhone app with improved notifications. The social network is also experimenting with ways it can leverage the new Notification Center widget APIs.
The SDK was seeded “very recently” to these developers, and Apple likely wants to demonstrate some third-party wearable apps at Tuesday’s event, according to one source. Apple, in the past, has provided select developers with early versions of SDKs in order to boast new apps on the keynote stage. For example, several apps from companies like AOL were shown off with the first public demonstration of the iPhone SDK, fancy gaming and drawing apps were demonstrated alongside the first iPad in 2010, and the iPhone 4S’s dual-core A5 chip was launched alongside a graphics-intense video game…
We first told you about the Nova wireless flash for iPhone last fall when it was merely an idea on Kickstarter having just collected enough funding to ship. The campaign successfully raised over $85,000 and the wireless flash for iPhone is now available for purchase with an iOS app available on the App Store. I recently had the chance to test out the Nova wireless flash for iPhone, and below I’ll share a few insights from my experience.
AppleCare+ is coming for the first time to Australia in the coming weeks, according to a source. Apple will begin training Apple Store employees in Australia on how to sell the premium protection plan in the coming days. MacRumors is also reporting that the service is inbound to Down Under. iPhone and iPad users in Australia can currently only buy the less-expensive standard AppleCare plan. Apple revamped AppleCare+ for many countries earlier this year with an extended purchase window and by making the plan the standard. Apple typically adds a few new countries to its list of AppleCare countries with new iPhone launches, and with the iPhone 6 upon us, it makes sense that Australia (and potentially some other yet-to-be-supported countries) will get AppleCare+.
TestFlight is now appearing in the App Store, ahead of an expected launch later this month. The service will allow developers to easily share betas of upcoming apps with public testers. It was discovered Apple had bought TestFlight earlier this year and the company subsequently announced the integration of the service into its developer portal at WWDC.
Before Apple’s acquisition, TestFlight was not in the App Store itself as it violated app review guidelines. Being part of the App Store makes it much more accessible to the general public and should incentivize more beta testers to participate in general.
The anti-poaching case rumbles on … After an antitrust class-action suit last year accused Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe of secretly agreeing not to poach staff from each other, the case appeared to be all over back in April when the parties reached a $324M settlement.
Settlements have to be signed-off by a court, however, to ensure that it is considered fair to all parties. Earlier this month, Judge Lucy Koh rejected the settlement, saying the amount should have been $380M.
Two days ago, the parties resumed settlement talks with the help of a retired judge, but it appears these are not going well: Reuters now reports that Apple and Google has asked an appeals court to overturn Judge Koh’s decision.
In a court filing late on Thursday, the companies asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule Koh’s decision.
Koh “committed clear legal error” and “impermissibly substituted the court’s assessment of the value of the case for that of the parties who have been litigating the case for more than three years,” they wrote.
Judge Koh had earlier said that Steve Jobs “was a, if not the, central figure in the alleged conspiracy.”
Ahead of its major media event next week, Apple has issued a significant update to its Apple Store shopping iOS app. The first addition is a complete redesign for the iPhone and iPod touch application’s interface. The new design is more in-line with the recently released iPad variant. Speaking of the iPad version, the tablet-optimized layout is now a universal bundle (single download) with the iPhone/iPod touch version, and it has also gained support for making Apple Store One to One reservations. The app also has a new Stores section to search for upcoming events at local Apple Stores. There is also a new icon. Perhaps the most significant new feature is support for synchronizing shopping between iOS devices and desktop computers. For example, you can start shopping on your Mac and continue via the app on your iPhone. Apple (rightfully so) doesn’t want to a miss a single iPhone 6 or iWatch/iBand sale.
Financial site Bank Innovation reports that Apple has negotiated lower transaction fees with American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Citigroup, and JP Morgan Chase ahead of the debut of its mobile payment system expected to be announced alongside the new iPhone models next week. The report notes that the banks were likely willing to lower rates to ensure participation and due to Apple’s security measures including the iPhone’s Touch ID sensor.
The first thing Apple has done is convince these four FIs to consider transactions from Apple’s upcoming payments venture — said to launch with its forthcoming iPhone 6 introduction — as “card present” transactions, which carry a lower discount rate than “card not present” transactions, because of lower fraud risk.
The New York Times is weighing in on Apple’s imminent iPhone event, corroborating past information as well as adding some new tidbits about Apple’s newest iPhones (the ‘iPhone 6’) and its brand new wearable (dubbed ‘iWatch’).
Most interestingly, it says that the iWatch will feature a flexible display. Assumedly, this will allow the product to morph to fit comfortably on user’s arms. KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo predicted Apple’s use of a flexible panel in July. The screen is protected by sapphire glass. As 9to5Mac has reported countless times, the device will feature health and fitness tracking capabilities, for things like footsteps and heart rate. The report claims Apple has “put an enormous amount of time and money” to make the sensors track “much more accurately than existing fitness devices”.
In terms of software, the device will rely on HealthKit for health tracking and Handoff, one of Apple’s iOS 8 continuity features, to seamlessly share content between devices. Handoff could be used for sharing SMS texts between the phone and the watch, for instance. 9to5Mac discussed how Handoff might interact with Apple’s wearable a couple of months ago.
Apple has just announced that it will be live streaming its upcoming event later this month on September 9th. Its website also includes a countdown clock pictured above and a link for Apple users to add the event to their calendar. Expand Expanding Close
Former Apple Senior Vice President of Retail (then ousted JCPenney CEO) Ron Johnson made a somewhat rare public-facing appearance on Andreessen Horowitz’s podcast. The discussion comes in at just under half an hour and features the former head of Apple Retail discussing his experience with leading the Apple Store as well as the challenge for up-and-coming startup brands to afford brick-and-mortar retail channels, but more interesting from an Apple perspective is Johnson’s praise for Microsoft’s retail stores and the Surface 3 tablet that the company heavily markets against Apple’s MacBook Air.
“I think the Microsoft stores have succeeded much more than popular opinion. […] I think it’s really helped, for instance, the Surface 3. It’s a really great product and we all know that. Everyone who has tried a Surface 3 is pretty blown away with the software, the interaction, how it can be a tablet and a computer, its part of the future. Without those stores that Surface 3 wouldn’t be where it is today.”
A new report published today by non-profit organization Green America and industry watchdog China Labor Watch accuses Apple of various violations of Chinese labor laws at one of its suppliers in the country (via NYTimes). The investigation focused on Apple supplier Catcher Technology in Suqian, China and claims to have found violations similar to those found during an audit of the same supplier last year: Expand Expanding Close
KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, in a report this morning, states that both 4.7- and 5.5-inch models of the iPhone 6 will be launched next week and will both offer 128GB storage option. If Apple retains its usual three-tier structure this would suggest 32GB, 64GB and 128GB models – though it could be that 128GB would be a fourth tier, as with its iPad Air models. Or, as a previous report suggested, Apple could keep the 16GB option as a very low price tier and skip 32GB.
The same report predicts that the iPad Air 2 will be announced on the same day as the iPhone 6 rather than in a separate event in October. In this scenario, Apple would forgo any physical updates to the iPad mini line (perhaps price drops?). If true, this suggests that it could be a relatively minor refresh, perhaps simply with Touch ID added and a marginally thinner casing along with the RAM bumped up to 2GB for things like split window multitasking … Expand Expanding Close
