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6,154 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - July 2014
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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

Fourth Swiss Apple Store coming to Basel on July 12th

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 8 2014 - 11:17 am PT
6 Comments
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Apple will be opening up its fourth official retail store in Switzerland this weekend. A new store in the city of Basel will see its grand opening on Saturday, July 12th, according to a notice on Apple’s Retail Store website. Job listings for the store first appeared earlier this year on Apple’s jobs website. Apple has already surrounded the store with a black banner promoting the store’s website. Apple is also planning several new stores in China, Italy, and the United States under the guide of recently appointed retail head Angela Ahrendts.


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Apple Campus 2 sample architecture displayed in Germany

Avatar for Zac Hall Jul 8 2014 - 10:17 am PT
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We’ve already seen a number of renders showing Apple’s ambitious Campus 2 project as well as the progress in Cupertino, California at the site of the future spaceship-like building. Now photos shared today by German site ifun.de depict an early shot of architectural samples with the design slated for Apple Campus 2.
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Apple Maps senior engineering manager leaves role for job at Uber

Avatar for Zac Hall Jul 8 2014 - 8:31 am PT
3 Comments

Chris Blumenberg, a senior engineering manager at Apple who manages the Maps Apps and Frameworks team, has left the Cupertino, California company for a new role at Uber, The Information reports. Blumenberg’s time spent at Apple dates back over 14 years according to his LinkedIn profile, and his past experience includes building the original Maps app for iPhone as well as porting the Safari web browser to iOS.

Uber, of course, is a relatively new transportation company founded in 2009 which offers pickups in various cities which can be arranged by a mobile application. Interestingly, Google has in part backed Uber through its Ventures arm investing in the startup with $250 million last fall and adding Uber integration into its the Google Maps app earlier this year. Uber is also a partner for Google’s self-driving car program.

As you may recall, Apple first introduced its in-house Maps data in 2012, which was met with enough user complaints to prompt a publicly posted apology from Apple CEO Tim Cook, as it began the process of moving away from relying on Google’s mapping data.

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Market share of iPhone may increase as U.S. smartphone growth tails off, predicts analyst

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 8 2014 - 5:22 am PT
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There are early signs that Apple’s market share of the U.S. smartphone market may increase as we move through the ‘Late Majority’ phase and into ‘Laggards’, suggests Asymco’s Horace Dediu.

For those who weren’t paying attention in economics classes in school, new products tend to experience an S-curve pattern to their growth. In the tech sector, Innovators are pretty much synonymous with techies.

Innovators (first 2.5%) need to be sold on the premise of novelty itself. Early adopters (next 13.5%) seek status and exclusivity. Early majority (34%) seek acceptance and Late Majority (34%) seek pragmatic productivity. Laggards (last 16%) seek safety.

If those percentages appear rather random, it’s because they are derived from the shape of the curve – the typical points at which it gets steeper or shallower.

With U.S. smartphone penetration now at 70 percent, we’re about two years into the Late Majority stage, with around two further years of growth to come. What Dediu’s analysis suggests is that iPhone growth has a steadier pattern to it than Android growth, which appears to be more closely driven by product launches and promotions. The more mature a market, the fewer product launches and promotions there are designed to drive adoption.

Why, when we are in a late stage of the market, does the iPhone do well when users are not incentivized to adopt? As we crossed 70% adoption, 1.4 million more users adopted the iPhone than Android.

Even if we look out to the last six months, iPhone added 15.5 million late majority users while Android added 14.2 million. If promotions decrease for the “late late majority” and laggards then would the iPhone do even better relative to Android?

Dediu points to the featurephone market as support for his hypothesis: at the tail-end of the curve, before smartphones took over, the most popular phone in the U.S. was the RAZR – a premium handset.

Apple shares video of last week’s Pride Parade, showing support for equality and diversity

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 7 2014 - 7:43 pm PT
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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdjAX5A-6qE&feature=em-uploademail]

Just over a week ago, thousands of Apple employees, including CEO Tim Cook, took to the streets of San Francisco to take part in the Pride Parade. The company has not been hesitant to share its views on LGBT rights, and the parade was yet another instance of that. This evening, Apple uploaded a video to its official YouTube channel showing off all of the effort that went into the Pride Parade last week and its “unwavering” support for equality and diversity.


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Samsung misses analyst estimates, reports $7.1 billion in operating profit for Q2

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 7 2014 - 5:36 pm PT
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Photo: ibtimes.com

After warning earlier this month that Q2 didn’t “look too good,” Samsung today released its earnings preview for the second quarter of 2014. The South Korean company reported an operating profit of $7.1 billion (7.2 trillion won), missing analyst estimates of $8 billion (8.1 trillion won). This comes out to a 24 percent drop year over year (via Bloomberg).


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Apple bolsters iOS 8 Health app with on-device steps, distance tracking & caffeine monitoring

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 7 2014 - 3:26 pm PT
22 Comments
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Apple has made significant enhancements to its upcoming Health application for iOS 8 in the latest beta of the new iPhone operating system. Most notably, the Health application can now utilize the iPhone’s own M7 motion tracking hardware for data sourcing.

The Health app’s Steps counter tab can now report steps without connecting to any third party applications or hardware devices. Because this feature likely uses the M7 processor, an iPhone 5s is required to get the steps data directly from the device…


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Tim Cook ‘actively’ seeking to add new directors to Board

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 7 2014 - 11:51 am PT
7 Comments
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The Wall Street Journal today published a brief profile on Apple CEO Tim Cook as the Cupertino-based company continues to be shaped in the image of Cook rather than co-founder Steve Jobs. The profile has some interested tidbits, but it is otherwise light on new information aside from information regarding Cook’s plan for the Apple Board of Directors. According to the report, Cook is “actively” looking to add fresh faces to the Board:


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Apple’s new coding language Swift receives significant update for developers alongside new Yosemite and iOS seeds

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 7 2014 - 11:37 am PT
10 Comments

As part of the updates to the Yosemite and iOS betas today, Apple’s new coding language Swift has received several major improvements and tweaks to make the language more consistent and help developers make better, safer apps. The intricacies of the changes are very gibberish to non-developers, but the fixes resolve many of the issues that developers had been requesting. In particular, the new value type model of arrays fixes several inconsistencies and prevents many potential code ‘gotchas’ that could arise in previous Swift builds.

Apple has also updated the ‘Introducing Swift’ iBook to reflect the improvements, if you want to learn in more detail about the changes.

iOS 8 beta 3 indicates iCloud Drive will also be accessible from iCloud.com

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 7 2014 - 11:18 am PT
32 Comments
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iCloud Drive was first announced at WWDC. This feature is Apple’s new approach to iCloud file syncing, replacing Documents and Data. The new interface acts more like Dropbox, with one central folder containing all iCloud documents in one place. This gives more flexibility over the model used by iOS 7 and Mavericks, where iCloud documents are siloed within their own app’s containers.

At WWDC, Apple announced that iCloud Drive could be accessed from Mac, iOS devices or even PC’s (as shown by the iCloud Drive preview page). However, a new setup screen present in iOS 8 beta 3, released earlier today, shows that Apple is also planning to expose iCloud Drive on the web. Although people were surprised by native PC support, bringing iCloud Drive to the web enables even more flexibility, bridging any OS with a modern web browser.


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Apple releases iOS 8 beta 3 to developers

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 7 2014 - 9:53 am PT
77 Comments
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Apple has just released iOS 8 beta 3 build number 12A4318c to developers for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The update is available in Software Update using the over-the-air update tool. Apple says the new beta brings various bug fixes and improvements. We’ll be updating this post as changes are found. You can send us what you find at tips@9to5Mac.com.


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Chinese media get specific on iPhone 6 battery capacity, appears that Apple ‘thinnovation’ will exact a toll

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 7 2014 - 7:31 am PT
47 Comments
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Much as we may love our iPhones, battery-life has never been one of its strengths (ask Samsung). But if you were hoping that the larger size of the iPhone 6 would mean a much bigger battery, some Chinese media reports spotted by GforGames suggest that we might be disappointed.

The reports claim that the battery in the 4.7-inch model will be in the 1800-1900mAh range – only around 20 percent more than in the iPhone 5s. Factor in the increased power requirement of the larger screen and corresponding increase in resolution, and we might not see a significant boost increase in battery-life … 
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Google’s co-founders on how the company differs from Apple

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 7 2014 - 6:59 am PT
7 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M&start=1500]

In a ‘fireside chat’ with leading venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin discuss everything from the moment they nearly sold the company to why they are cautious about moving into health technology. One interesting angle for Apple fans was how the two contrasted their approach to that of Apple.

Brin, who runs Google X, said that the experimental wing of the company was about making a number of bets and hoping that some of them paid off.

From my perspective – running Google X – that’s my job, is to invest in a number of opportunities, each one of which may be a big bet. […]

If you look at the self-driving cars, for example, I hope that that could really transform transportation around the world [but] it’s got many technical and policy risks. But if you are willing to make a number of bets like that, you’ve got to hope that some of them will pay off.

Page contrasted this approach with Apple, which focuses on a very small number of products.

I would always have this debate, actually, with Steve Jobs. He’d be like, ‘You guys are doing too much stuff.’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah that’s true.’ And he was right, in some sense. But I think the answer to that – which I only came to recently, as we were talking about this stuff – is that if you’re doing things that are highly interrelated […] at some point, they have to get integrated.

Another difference between the two companies, say Page and Brin, is in their view of technology in the health sector. Apple’s long-awaited iWatch is of course believed to be equipped with multiple health and fitness sensors, and the Health app is a key feature of iOS 8. Google says that while it does have some health-related ambitions – such as glucose-reading contact lenses – it views the field with considerable caution.

Generally, health is just so heavily regulated. It’s just a painful business to be in. It’s just not necessarily how I want to spend my time. Even though we do have some health projects, and we’ll be doing that to a certain extent. But I think the regulatory burden in the U.S. is so high that think it would dissuade a lot of entrepreneurs.

You can watch the complete interview in the video above.

Apple to wipe all CloudKit data on July 7th, including iCloud Photos, Drive & Mail Drop for iOS 8 and Yosemite

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 4 2014 - 12:33 pm PT
9 Comments
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Apple has just informed developers that it will be wiping all CloudKit-based data stores on July 7th. This includes iCloud Photo Library, Mail Drop and iCloud Drive. Apple warned developers that this might happen with the release of the first iOS beta and it is not uncommon for wipes to happen several times during iOS and OS X beta cycles.

Dear Developer,

We will be performing a server-side data wipe on all CloudKit public and private databases for iOS 8 beta and OS X Yosemite Developer Preview users on July 7, 2014. The following iCloud features will be affected: iCloud Drive, iCloud Photo Library, and Mail Drop.

Photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library will remain on their original iOS 8 devices and will upload to iCloud Photo Library again automatically. iCloud Drive can be re-enabled from Set up Assistant after upgrade. If you choose to store your documents in iCloud Drive, your Documents & Data will automatically be copied to iCloud Drive. iCloud Drive will not update across earlier seeds or operating systems. Attachments sent through Mail Drop will expire and need to be resent after you upgrade.

If you have any questions, visit the Apple Developer Forums.

Best regards,
Apple Developer Technical Support

Affected files for Mail Drop and iCloud Drive will not transfer across automatically on the release of the next beta seed. Photos and videos will automatically restore, however, as they are not deleted from local storage. It is likely that new seeds of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite will follow this data wipe, as new seeds of these operating systems are already due.


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Apple hires Patrick Pruniaux, VP of Tag Heuer Sales and Retail, for iWatch marketing

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 4 2014 - 8:37 am PT
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Earlier today, the CEO of Tag Heuer revealed to CNBC that Apple has hired one of the watch-makers sales directors. However, the company did not announce the name of this “director” or the person’s exact position. A source directly familiar with the Apple hire confirmed that the Cupertino-based company hired Patrick Pruniaux late last month. Pruniaux is not just any “Sales Director:” he was the Vice President of Sales and Retail, a major loss for Tag Heuer and a significant hire for Apple in the run up the launch of the Apple smart watch in October. Pruniaux is pictured in the photo above (second person from the right), and his LinkedIn profile reveals his impressive work in jewelry and watch marketing:


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Review: Transcend’s JetDrives add whopping 240-960GB SSD to MacBook Air at a great price

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Jul 4 2014 - 7:34 am PT
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See that little $190 daughter card up there^? It houses 240GB of Transcend SSD and it could replace the 64GB or 128GB SSD that came in your MacBook Air in as little as 5 minutes. Even better, Transcend just released larger versions in 480GB and 960GB sizes to blow your SATA III MacBook Air or Pro into new worlds of space. Keep in mind these are SATA-based SSDs and Apple’s latest round of MacBook Pro/Airs came with speedier PCIe SSDs so you can’t use these on Apple’s late 2013/2014 models (see bottom of the article for compatibility list).

I got my hands on a demo unit and took it for a test drive…


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Apple signs its first retail deal in Saudi Arabia

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 4 2014 - 7:24 am PT
5 Comments

Less than two months after the Saudi Arabia government cleared Apple to begin marketing products and officially operate in the region, Apple has struck a sales deal with major Saudi Arabia-based retailer Jarir Bookstore. The deal includes both official sales inside of the Jarir retail stores as well as technical support for the products. Previously, Jarir had to use third-party means to secure its supply of Apple products, but now with Apple officially providing product supply, costs will go down for both the Bookstore and its customers, creating an overall improved experience for those looking to purchase Apple gadgets in Saudi Arabia.


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iWatch “an opportunity for high-end watch brands” says analyst as Apple hires TAG Heuer exec

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 4 2014 - 5:28 am PT
22 Comments
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CNBC reports that Apple has hired the sales director of luxury Swiss watch maker TAG Heuer for an iWatch marketing role. The hire was reportedly confirmed by the head of the parent company’s watch brands, Jean-Claude Biver.

Biver said the watchmaker’s sales director left as recently as last week, “to take a contract with Apple” in order to launch the iWatch. LVMH owns Swiss watchmakers TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith …


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Decline of music downloads continues as on-demand streaming audio up 50 percent

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 4 2014 - 4:18 am PT
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Apple’s presumed plans for an on-demand music service as part of its Beats acquisition is looking increasingly well-timed as Nielsen data shows that U.S. on-demand music consumption climbed 50.1 percent year-on-year, while music downloads fell by 12 percent in the same timeframe.

“With On-Demand streams surpassing 70 billion songs in the first six months of 2014, streaming continues to be an increasingly significant portion of the music industry,” says David Bakula, SVP Nielsen Entertainment …


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Apple patent details automatically adjusting security settings based on location, biosensors & behavior

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 3 2014 - 6:48 am PT
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A new patent application published today by the United States Patent & Trademark Office details a system Apple could use to automatically configure security and other settings of a device based on its location or the habits of its user (Google filed for the same patent 2 months prior but who’s counting?). The majority of the patent discusses intelligently adjusting settings by detecting a device’s location while using retinal scans, DNA, fingerprints, or other biosensors to present an appropriate level of security to the user:
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Video shows how 4.7-inch iPhone 6 screen will feel in the hand

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 3 2014 - 4:23 am PT
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrM1u_gu49A]

We showed you photos a few days ago of what is claimed to be the display covers for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, which appeared to have slightly curved edges. Chinese site iFanr (via NWE) has now posted a video of the same part, giving a sense of how the larger phone will feel in the hand compared to the iPhone 5s … 
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