Apple

6,134 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - July 2014

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

On average, analysts expect iPad sales to be flat, but no consensus

Ben Lovejoy Jul 18 2014 - 6:10 am PT

8 Comments

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Someone once said that if you put three analysts in a room and ask them a question, you’ll get four different opinions. This certainly appears to be the case today, with Fortune finding no more consensus on iPad sales than it did on iPhone numbers.

Asked to predict how many iPad sales Apple will announce in next week’s Q3 earnings announcement, the overall average suggested year-on-year sales would be flat at 14.35M. However, no consensus view emerged …
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EU accuses Apple of dragging its feet on protections for ‘misleading’ IAP-driven free apps

Benjamin Mayo Jul 18 2014 - 4:43 am PT

24 Comments

The European Commission has complained that Apple is taking too long to implement protections for freemium games in the App Store, reports BBC News. The Commission has decreed that both Apple and Google, the two biggest app store vendors, must make the “true cost of apps” clear before purchase. However, officials are upset that Apple has not yet committed to any such measures.

“Regrettably, no concrete and immediate solutions have been made by Apple to date to address the concerns linked in particular to payment authorisation,” the Commission said in a statement.

“Apple has proposed to address those concerns. However, no firm commitment and no timing have been provided for the implementation of such possible future changes.

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Can’t wait until September? The Goophone i6 is out now, and it will fool your friends

Ben Lovejoy Jul 18 2014 - 4:37 am PT

7 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2C8ED4piM]

The iPhone 6 may not actually exist yet, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese clone manufacturers releasing functional knock-offs based on the leaks and mockups. Now Goophone – the company which previously made an extremely close copy of the iPhone 5s – has joined the party with the WICO i6.

As ever with Goophone, the quality of both the casing and the iOS-themed Android skin is certainly good enough to fool the casual observer – almost worth getting one to prank people …

As for the real thing, production of the 4.7-inch model is expected to start next week, and the 5.5-inch version the second week in August, Foxconn hiring 100,000 new workers for the assembly process.

There’s been a steady stream of claimed leaked parts from the phone, including a scratch test of a sapphire display; both photos and video of the back of the phone; the LCD bracket; the chassis; a ‘more durable’ Touch ID sensor‘; and a battery and camera sensor.

Problems with Hannover Apple Store reportedly resolved, opening in September

Ben Lovejoy Jul 18 2014 - 3:58 am PT

0 Comments

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Humidity and mold problems that delayed the opening of the new Apple Store in Hannover, Germany, have reportedly been resolved, and the store is now expected to open in September, reports ifun, citing several sources involved in the project.

The store had originally seemed close to completion in March, but humidity in the building reportedly led to mold in the fabric of the building, requiring remedial work.

The site ifun reported that employees who had already been hired based on the previous anticipated opening have been informed of the latest developments, and is speculating that Apple may time the opening to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 6, rumored to be on 19th September.

Following with the appointment of retail head Angela Ahrendts, Apple announced an ambitious international expansion program for its retail stores, with around 20 expected to open this year. International stores already opened this year include the first ever Apple Stores in Brazil and Turkey, the fourth store in Switzerland and the eighth store in Japan.

Earlier this month, Apple was granted a European trademark on the design of its retail stores.

Asus reportedly sold more tablets than Apple in Japan during first half of 2014

Chance Miller Jul 17 2014 - 12:21 pm PT

12 Comments

Image via <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml1LzNFn8kc">TechSmartt</a>

According to figures released by market research company BCN, Asus sold more tablets than Apple during the first half of 2014 in Japan. Asus’ market share rose 8 percent year-over-year during the first half of 2014, the report claims, giving it a 38.9 percent portion of the tablet market in Japan. Apple, on the other hand, holds a 36.4 percent share (via Nikkei). This is the first time Asus has ever held the top spot in Japan, according to the report.
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Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 4.3 with Metal API support on iOS and much more

Zac Hall Jul 17 2014 - 9:38 am PT

0 Comments

Epic Games today announced Unreal Engine 4.3, the latest version of their gaming engine technology, which includes over 500 updates. Included in the latest version of Unreal Engine is support for Apple’s new Metal API for game developers, first introduced last month at WWDC, for code compiled with the Xcode 6 beta. Unreal Engine launched version 4.0 earlier this year introducing its current subscription model for developers as well as Mac support.

As mentioned above, Unreal Engine 4.3 includes over 500 updates including new features for Mac, iOS, Android, and more. Below you can read the change log for iOS and Mac.
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Analysts predict up to 40M iPhones sold last quarter ahead of Apple’s Q3 earnings

Jordan Kahn Jul 17 2014 - 9:21 am PT

3 Comments

Fortune-iPhone-sales-estimates-Q314

With Apple’s upcoming fiscal Q3 earnings call just around the corner, analysts are predicting the company sold as many as 40 million iPhones during the quarter that ended last month. That’s on the high side of estimates complied by Fortune, however. Estimates from a poll of 26 analysts includes predictions ranging from 31.8 million to almost 40 million units. The average of estimates comes in at 35.88 million.
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Review: Hours, the world’s simplest time-tracking app from former Apple Design Award winner Tapity

Ben Lovejoy Jul 17 2014 - 7:42 am PT

9 Comments

TimerRunning

Anyone who has ever had the misfortune to have to use a corporate hours-tracking/billing system will know that they typically give every impression of being designed by an enraged gorilla working to a spec provided by a sadistic accountant.

Tapity, which won an Apple Design Award back in 2011 for “the ultimate app for students” Grade, has today launched Hours, a simple color-coded app it says aims to take the pain out of time-tracking. I’ve been using a pre-release version for the past week so that I could let you know my thoughts on the day it launched …

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Kickstarter campaign offers ‘Magsafe for iPhone’ (history says Apple lawsuit incoming)

Ben Lovejoy Jul 17 2014 - 6:41 am PT

28 Comments

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The main product offered on this Kickstarter campaign is just another powered case (albeit a pretty-looking one) – but it was the ‘Magsafe for iPhone’ adapter three-quarters of the way down the page that caught my eye.

Plug in a slim adapter to the Lightning socket of your iPhone, plug in an adapter to your Lightning cable and you have the equivalent of a MagSafe connection on your phone.

It’s a neat idea, but sadly not one that is likely to survive scrutiny by Apple’s lawyers – at least, not using ‘MagSafe for iPhone’ as the description. Battery company Hyper, which makes external batteries for MacBooks and iPads, learned this the hard way when it offered MagSafe connectors. Apple’s lawyers sued, and forced the company to go via an airplane power adapter instead.

Without the description, however, it might survive. You can pledge $25 for the two-part adapter kit, with estimated delivery in November. The campaign currently has just over $6,000 pledged of its $50k target, with 43 days to go.

Apple ID two-step verification feature rolls out to dozens of new countries

Mark Gurman Jul 17 2014 - 6:33 am PT

5 Comments

Apple this week has greatly expanded the availability of its Apple ID two-step verification, bringing the feature from 11 countries to 59 countries. Two-step verification for Apple IDs uses either iOS’s Find my iPhone application or SMS to provide login verification in addition to a password. The feature first rolled out for both Apple ID and iCloud IDs in early 2013 and it expanded to a few more countries later that year. Here are all the countries that support two-step verification (both the original countries and the new ones):

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Analysts believe sapphire display covers will be limited to high-end iPhone 6 models only

Benjamin Mayo Jul 17 2014 - 6:27 am PT

12 Comments

Analysts at JP Morgan securities suggest that production output of sapphire display covers are not enough to satisfy all iPhone 6 demand and say that sapphire will be restricted to higher-end variants of the iPhone 6 only, in a report highlighted by the Taipei Times.

JP Morgan says that sapphire display cover volume will be about 10 million units in 2014. To put this number into perspective, Apple sold 51 million iPhones in the first full quarter of iPhone 5s sales last year.

“Sapphire covers will also be restricted to high-end iPhones, possibly the 128GB [gigabyte] ones,” the brokerage said in the report.

The report says that sapphire will be limited to higher-capacity iPhone models, “possibly” only the 128 GB SKU’s. The additional cost of sapphire over Gorilla Glass also factor in, aside from pure production limitations.

Matching a report from yesterday, the analysts also suggest that not all iWatches will ship with sapphire coatings, either. Both the iWatch and the iPhone 6 are expected to be announced in the third quarter.

Sketchy rumor of 13MP camera in iPhone 6, as earlier battery power rumor backed by claimed photo

Ben Lovejoy Jul 17 2014 - 4:25 am PT

21 Comments

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GforGames is citing a Chinese web forum for a rumor that the iPhone 6 camera will get a bump from 8MP to 13MP as Apple switches to to an improved version of the Sony Exmor sensor. The Sony Exmor IMX220 is a larger 1/2.3-inch sensor that can support up to 20MP, but Apple is said to be planning to use it in its 13MP incarnation.

While a Chinese web forum is generally as unreliable a source as you can get, GoforGames claims that this one has a good track-record with Sony-related rumors …
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Apple environment chief Lisa Jackson speaks at Apple Distinguished Educator conference

Mark Gurman Jul 16 2014 - 1:11 pm PT

9 Comments

At the Apple Distinguished Educator conference this week, Apple Vice President of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson spoke to educators about the importance of the environment and Apple’s related work. Jackson showed the above photo and said “that little green leaf means a lot to me.” The leaf outlines multiple words expressing Apple’s work on the environment such as “Apple Campus 2” and “EPEAT.” During her talk, Jackson shared Apple’s work to trying to reach 100% renewable energy across its operations and she said that Apple is “not going to stop until we get to 101%…”

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Claimed photos emerge of “more durable” Touch ID sensor for iPhone 6

Ben Lovejoy Jul 16 2014 - 7:01 am PT

0 Comments

French site NWE has posted photos from Japan of what it claims is the Touch ID sensor for the iPhone 6.

The photos don’t give anything away, with the only visible differences being in the location of screw holes – which is to be expected given the significant redesign of the new model iPhone.

There have been rumors that Apple has made changes to the Touch ID sensor to improve durability, but there’s nothing here to shed any light either way. For whatever it may be worth, though, you can see the second photo below …
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Opinion: Seven reasons why the IBM partnership could be a pretty big deal for Apple

Ben Lovejoy Jul 16 2014 - 6:17 am PT

34 Comments

apple-ibm

Wall Street seemed pretty unmoved by Apple’s announcement of its partnership with IBM, the pre-market share price barely twitching, and analysts pointing to the high level of existing iOS usage in the enterprise sector, suggesting that only trivial gains would result.

Part of the reason for that impression is the hype Apple has given to the penetration level of iOS devices in enterprise. Back in January, Tim Cook described the numbers as “unbelieveable,” stating that the iPhone is used in 97 percent and of Fortune 500 companies and the iPad in 98 percent.

It doesn’t sound from these impressive figures that there’s much room for growth. But I think the reality is somewhat different …
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Tim Cook to employees on IBM partnership: ‘I’m really excited to see it take off’ (Memo)

Mark Gurman Jul 15 2014 - 2:00 pm PT

26 Comments

<a href="https://twitter.com/darth/status/489149634883747840/photo/1">Image by @Darth</a>

Earlier today, Apple and IBM announced an expansive, long-term partnership to integrate Apple’s iOS devices into the Enterprise with big data software powered by IBM. The partnership will allow for IBM to sell iPads and iPhones to its Enterprise customers, and the duo are also working on jointly developed software for the enterprise. The companies are also developing an enhanced AppleCare protection service for enterprise iOS device users. Following both the official announcement and a video interview discussing the plans, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a memo to employees detailing the partnership:

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Volkswagen in talks with Apple to bring CarPlay to 2016 VW models

Mark Gurman Jul 15 2014 - 1:27 pm PT

8 Comments

Volkswagen’s VW line, one of the few notable holdouts from announcing future integration of CarPlay into its vehicles, is in talks with Apple to embed the iOS-based feature, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.

An announcement from the two companies is expected in the coming months, but specifics on which models will receive CarPlay are currently unavailable, except sources say that Volkswagen is targeting CarPlay for 2016 models, not 2015 versions…

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Apple opening new store in Beavercreek, Ohio’s The Greene mall July 19

Mark Gurman Jul 15 2014 - 10:28 am PT

10 Comments

Apple has announced on its retail website that it will be opening up a new Apple Store in The Green Town Center in Beavercreek, Ohio this weekend. The store opens up on Saturday, July 19th at 10 AM. Store hours are 10 AM to 9 PM Monday through Saturday and 12 Noon to 6 PM on Sundays. We reported earlier this year that Angela Ahrendts is overseeing a push of several new mall-based stores in the United States as more, larger locations are prepared for China and Italy.

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iPhone 5s remains world’s best-selling phone, iPhone 5c takes number 5 slot

Ben Lovejoy Jul 15 2014 - 7:06 am PT

14 Comments

Sales channel data from 35 countries compiled by Counterpoint shows that the iPhone 5s remained the world’s best-selling phone as of May, some eight months after its launch. This backs up a report from ABI Research that the phone had retained the number one slot through Q1.

Apple’s iPhone 5s continues to be the bestselling phone in the world, a spot that many expected to be taken by Samsung’s Galaxy S 5. The highly anticipated Galaxy S5 comes in at second place but still a quite distant number two in terms of (sell through) unit sales.

The news wasn’t quite so good for the iPhone 5c, which came in at number 5, behind both the Samsung S5 and last year’s S4 – as well as the company’s Note 3 phablet.

The iPhone 4S keeps on trucking: two-and-a-half years after its release, Counterpoint shows it at number 6 – one notch down from ABI’s Q1 data.

Overall, Samsung has roughly twice Apple’s market share thanks to a huge range of handsets at all price levels, a statistic that is unlikely to keep Tim Cook awake at night even if market share doesn’t increase, as Apple takes home the lion’s share of the profits – something you can watch in real-time thanks to an interactive graphic.

It’s widely expected that the iPhone 6 will boost Apple’s share of the market as it taps into demand for larger displays, with Cook saying last month that there is more growth to come from Android migration.

(via Business Insider)

Chinese report claims iWatch to come in three models, sapphire and non-sapphire varieties

Benjamin Mayo Jul 15 2014 - 6:28 am PT

8 Comments

A report from the Economic Daily, which has had better reliability than most Chinese news sites (although should still be treated with relative skepticism), suggests that the iWatch will launch in three distinct models (via GforGames). Rumors of multiple iWatch SKU’s have been circulating for months now, including last month in the Wall Street Journal. Specifically, the report says that there will be one iWatch model with a 1.6 inch display and two different models featuring 1.8 inch panels. According to the report, one of the 1.8 inch models will feature a sapphire display.

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Apple begins encrypting iCloud email sent between providers

Jordan Kahn Jul 15 2014 - 5:56 am PT

8 Comments

MailIcon

Last month Apple confirmed that it would soon beef up encryption for iCloud email following a report detailing security flaws in major email services. While Apple previously encrypted emails sent between its own iCloud customers, now the company has enabled encryption for emails in transit between iCloud and third-party services for me.com and mac.com email addresses.

The change is documented on Google’s transparency website that shows the percentage of emails encrypted in transit for both inbound and outbound email exchanges (pictured below):
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Apple is refused Touch ID trademark by USPTO – has six months to respond

Ben Lovejoy Jul 15 2014 - 4:24 am PT

3 Comments

touchid

Patently Apple reports that the US Patent & Trademark Office has refused Apple’s application for a trademark in Touch ID. The decision – made in May but only now made public – is because another company already holds a trademark for Kronos Touch ID, and there is a “likelihood of confusion” given the very similar names.

USPTO states that “Trademark Act Section 2(d) bars registration of an applied-for mark that so resembles a registered mark that it is likely that a potential consumer would be confused or mistaken or deceived as to the source of the goods and/or services of the applicant and registrant.

In this case, the following factors are the most relevant: similarity of the marks, similarity of the goods and/or services, and similarity of trade channels of the goods and/or services.

A search of the USPTO trademark database shows that the Kronos Touch ID trademark also related to a fingerprint recognition system, and that it has held the trademark since 2001:

kronos

Apple only applied for its trademark in January of this year:

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Apple has six months to respond to the USPTO with a suggested remedy, otherwise the trademark application will be treated as abandoned and it would be forced to rename the feature. As we can’t imagine this happening – especially as we expect Touch ID to appear on iPads in the fall – it seems most likely that Apple will be heading over to Kronos’s offices, check-book in hand …

Apple debuts iTunes Pass in Japan, allows Passbook-based iTunes credit refills at Apple Stores

Mark Gurman Jul 14 2014 - 11:31 pm PT

2 Comments

Apple today has launched an interesting new service for iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore users in Japan with iPhones and iPod touches. The new service, called iTunes Pass (no, not that iTunes Pass), allows users to go to an Apple Store in Japan, purchase credit in-store for the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, and have that money immediately applied to the Apple ID account instead of needing to receive a gift card and enter a redemption code…

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Apple seeking ‘photography enthusiast’ retail employees to test OS X Photos app

Mark Gurman Jul 14 2014 - 9:15 pm PT

13 Comments

Apple is seeking employees from its own retail stores who have shown an enthusiasm for photography to test the upcoming OS X Photos application and iCloud Photos feature. Apple, last week, reached out to retail employees offering such a “career experience,” and here is the message to retail staff as provided by multiple retail employees:

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