Apple

6,149 'Apple News' stories November 2008 - May 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

Researcher claims iOS 7 (including current 7.1.1) does not encrypt email attachments, Apple aware of issue

Mark Gurman May 5 2014 - 6:42 am PT

Security researcher Andreas Kurtz has discovered that versions of iOS 7, including iOS 7.1.1 (the current release), iOS 7.1, and iOS 7.0.4 do not encrypt email attachments in the bundled Mail application. This is an issue itself, but more worrisome as iOS, according to Apple, is supposed to encrypt email attachments. Here’s a page from Apple’s website indicating that:

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Apple donates $500,000 to local anti-poverty charity SF Gives

Jordan Kahn May 5 2014 - 6:27 am PT

Apple, alongside a handful of other tech companies, is reaching into its pockets for local San Francisco anti-poverty charity SF Gives. According to a report from Fortune, Apple is one of many companies that has donated $500,000 towards the total goal of $10 million that the organization is attempting to raise for local initiatives.

For the most part, signing up high-profile tech companies hasn’t presented a huge challenge thanks to Benioff and Lurie’s Silicon Valley connections. Still, while SF Gives is close to hitting the $10 million mark by its Wednesday deadline, 10 or so companies have declined to chip in. According to Lurie, their reasons vary. “For some, they feel like they’re doing their own thing: They’re giving back [already], and they’re involved,” he says. Other companies don’t generate revenue and feel it’s inappropriate to give away their investors’ money. “Then, there are others who just fundamentally believe that a company shouldn’t be doing philanthropy and that individuals should do it,” Lurie says.

The donation comes as Google and other big tech companies have been involved in controversies over their impact on the housing market and other aspects of smaller San Francisco neighbourhoods in recent months. There have been several cases of protestors blocking buses that shuttle Google employees to and from its headquarters and some even showing up at the homes of Google employees. Compare Apple’s relatively low donation of $500,000 to SF Gives— a fraction of one executive bonus— to the $6.8 million Google just gave to fund transit for low-income youth in the city following the controversies.

Swiss-based watchmaker Swatch anticipating Apple’s market entry by fighting for ‘iWatch’ trademark

Mark Gurman May 3 2014 - 10:11 am PT

Swiss-based watch maker Swatch is not thrilled about an impending Apple wearable device or the rumored name “iWatch.”:

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Angela Ahrendts officially starts role as Apple’s new Senior VP of Retail and Online Stores

Mark Gurman May 1 2014 - 10:57 pm PT

Angela Ahrendts has officially taken the reins of Apple’s new Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores. Ahrendts’s last day as the CEO of Burberry was yesterday, and Apple’s website has been updated to reflect Ahrendts beginning her work at Apple today. Her biography, which can be found on Apple’s executive leadership website, explains her role at Apple:

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Apple to begin notifying customers of law enforcement requests for personal information

Mike Beasley May 1 2014 - 5:10 pm PT

Image via Wiki

The Washington Post reports that Apple is one of several tech companies planning change the way it handles government requests for customer information in the near future. According to the Post, Apple will begin notifying any customer whose information is requested by law enforcement later this month.

Microsoft, Facebook, and Google are also adjusting their own policies accordingly. The companies say that users have a right to know when their data is being turned over to officials. The government, on the other hand, argues that this could give criminals under investigation a chance to fight back, cover their tracks, and avoid being caught.

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Apple brings iTunes Match to Japan

Benjamin Mayo May 1 2014 - 3:39 pm PT

As shown on Apple’s iTunes Match availability page, Apple has now brought its iTunes Match service to Japan. This follows an expansion of iTunes in the Cloud and Apple TV content to Germany, earlier today.

For $30 a year, iTunes Match uploads your entire music library and makes it available across all your devices automatically. Lower quality, or pirated music, is replaced with high-quality 256kbps legal songs.

The service in Japan is priced at 3980 yen.

(via MacRumors)

Apple hires CEO of indoor positioning firm Wifarer as it continues testing indoor mapping features

Jordan Kahn May 1 2014 - 9:57 am PT

TechCrunch reports today that the CEO and founder of Wifarer, a company working on innovative indoor positioning technology, has has left for a leadership role at Apple.

If a CEO and co-founder quits his indoor positioning startup to work for Apple, should his staff and customers be concerned? Wifarer, a startup which offers tools to help consumers navigate malls, museums and other venues, was notacquired by Apple, we learned, while following up on some tips pointing in that direction. However, its CEO and founder Philip Stanger now works there in a “leadership role.”

While Philip Stanger confirmed on his LinkedIn that he’s been at Apple since February, the report notes that the company claims it is still in business and has not been acquired by Apple:

And finally, it’s odd because despite new CEO Murphy’s claims, Wifarer could be seen as being in decline. The company got rid of its sales staff in 2012, and today there are roughly a half dozen employees still at the company, according to what we’ve heard, as well as public searches on LinkedIn. Murphy says its numbers are higher than that, but admits they’re less than Wifarer’s previous peak.

We’ve reported several times in the past that Apple is working on new Maps features that would rely on indoor positioning technologies. Ahead of iOS 8, Apple is currently testing unique ways of integrating indoor mapping views into its Maps app, but those features aren’t confirmed for the next iOS release.

Last year, Apple picked up another company working on indoor positioning technologies called WiFiSLAM.

Opinion: Can Apple maintain its $100 tier flash storage pricing for iPhones & iPads indefinitely?

Ben Lovejoy May 1 2014 - 7:27 am PT

There’s a certain marketing genius to Apple’s tiered pricing for flash storage on its iPhones and iPads. Since customers can’t add storage via a microSD card later, they have to decide in advance how much storage they need, and many of us are going to err on the side of safety, bumping our purchase up to a higher price-band.

Adding $100 or $200 to the price of an iDevice for maybe $5-10 worth of flash storage/controller capacity is an important source of income for Apple, and one of the reasons its margins are so high. Whatever the company makes on a 16GB device, if it can upsell you to a 32GB or 64GB (or even 128GB, in the case of the iPad), almost all of the premium charged on those beefier models is pure profit.

It’s not money Apple would give up lightly, but I do wonder whether it’s sustainable …
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Apple’s iPad maintains a narrowing lead, still almost a third of all tablets sold

Zac Hall May 1 2014 - 7:03 am PT

Research firm IDC is out today with new data on the state of the tablet and 2-in-1 market in the first quarter of 2014. As you might expect after Apple’s most recent earnings report, Q1 unit shipments of iPad were down by 3 million from 19.5 million to 16.4 million between 2013 and 2014. For its part, Apple attributes its Q1 2013 iPad sales as inflated due to demand for iPad mini in Q4 2012 being fulfilled in the following quarter when supply was less constrained.

That may be, but the iPad also saw a drop in tablet market share between the first quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014. According to IDC’s data, Apple dropped from 40.2% market share in Q1 2013 to 32.5% market share in Q1 2014 while Samsung saw unit shipments increase as well as marketshare. Despite Samsung’s gains, though, Apple still dominates the tablet market more than any other one company leading Samsung by 10 percentage points in market share.
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Aerial photo shows Apple Campus 2 starting to take shape

Benjamin Mayo Apr 30 2014 - 10:37 am PT

In a tweet, KCBS reporter Ron Cervi shows the groundwork of Apple’s new ‘spaceship’ campus taking shape. Cervi often tweets from his reporting helicopter and caught this shot a few hours ago.

Last time we checked in with the site, it was in the midst of demolition. In this latest photo, the circular foundations of Apple Campus 2 (Apple’s official name for the project) are much more defined. Apple is expected to start new building work at some point this year. The campus is currently planned to open in 2016.

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Alleged iPhone 6 dummy molds appear online, reflecting thin design seen in previous leaks

Benjamin Mayo Apr 29 2014 - 4:06 pm PT

New images from Nowwhereelse.fr show some sort of physical mockup of the alleged ‘iPhone 6’ design we have seen from many sources in the past few days.

The purpose of this mockup model is not clear. At first glance, it seems like some sort of dummy model, that could be used by case manufacturers to validate and refine case designs. This is what the site has to say on the matter, via Google Translate:

Published by a member of a well-known Chinese forum indiscretions cabbage lovers, the three photos that I propose to examine in this article are meant to introduce the physical model of one of the two future iPhone rumored ad with a lot of leaks for several months already. Prototype for reference molding to prop in mobile telephony.

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Apple & Samsung slip below 50% in global smartphone marketshare for Q1 2014

Jordan Kahn Apr 29 2014 - 7:00 am PT

Both Samsung and Apple have slipped in smartphone marketshare globally during the first quarter of 2014 according to the latest numbers from research firm Strategy Analytics. While global smartphone shipments grew 33 percent to 285 million units in Q1 compared to 213.9 million in the same quarter last year, Apple and Samsung collectively dropped from over 50 percent of the market to 47 percent. The report cites strong growth of “second-tier smartphone brands” such as Huwaei and Lenovo and lack of entry-level devices in markets abroad from Apple as the main contributors to slowed growth for Samsung and Apple. As for Apple on its own:
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Steve Jobs named #1 in CNBC’s list of the most influential leaders in the past 25 years

Ben Lovejoy Apr 29 2014 - 6:20 am PT

Steve Jobs has been ranked #1 in CNBC’s First 25: Rebels, Icons & Leaders, described as “a definitive list of people who have had the greatest influence, sparked the biggest changes and created the most disruption in business over the past quarter century.”

Steve Jobs earned the top spot for both transforming the way we think about technology and redefining the style in which we live […]

More than any other member of our group of extraordinary entrepreneurs and executives—all outstanding leaders—his vision spurred changes far beyond his industry and put an indelible stamp on the wider culture …

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Analyst suggests iPhone 6 will favor thin design over optical image stabilization, camera will be flush in chassis

Benjamin Mayo Apr 29 2014 - 2:44 am PT

A post on Weibo from a Chinese analyst (via GforGames) suggests that the new iPhone design will not feature a protruding camera, which would have seemingly enabled optical image stablization, as Apple has instead opted to focus on a super-thin profile for the new device.

Apple’s current line of iPhones take advantage of the embedded SoC’s processing power to enable software-based image stabilization. Whilst optical image stabilization is generally considered to be superior, it also requires the camera components to be physically much larger. According to this report, Apple does not seem to have wanted to make this tradeoff.

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Facebook open-sources ‘Pop’, the animation framework that drives the visual effects in Paper

Benjamin Mayo Apr 28 2014 - 11:08 am PT

Facebook has open-sourced a lot of stuff recently, but this is what most developers have been waiting for. Developed originally at Push Pop Press, and refined by Facebook, the company has today released its Pop animation framework publicly. Developers can check out the code from the GitHub repository.

The library enables rapid development of rich animations for iOS (and Mac) apps. Although Core Animation, (Apple’s built-in framework) is well suited to fire-and-forget animations, Pop was created to work seamlessly with modern interactive physics-centric user interfaces.

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New MacBook Airs likely launching tomorrow

Mark Gurman Apr 28 2014 - 9:52 am PT

Update: Here are the specs…

Apple is preparing to launch a refreshed line of MacBook Air laptops as soon as tomorrow, according to multiple sources. These sources say that shipments of new MacBook Airs have begun arriving in large quantities to Apple Stores across the country. Another source adds that Apple Stores are scheduled to re-arrange the placement of Macs in stores to focus on the MacBook Air tomorrow morning…

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iPhone 6 renders supposedly meant for accessory manufacturers leak, claim 6mm thinness

Benjamin Mayo Apr 25 2014 - 9:33 am PT

UkranianiPhone.com has posted images of what it claims are iPhone 6 renders aimed at helping manufacturers produce accessories for the upcoming device.

The images appear to be better quality versions of the schematics leaked a few weeks ago. They depict the full-metal backplate with inlets at the top and bottom, assumedly related to the antenna structure. The cutouts for these lines match the image from the previous leaks. Interestingly, the renders also give specific measurements saying that the phone is 138mm in height, 67 mm in width, and 6 mm in depth.

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Opera’s Coast browser adds iPhone support, adds iCloud syncing of bookmark tiles

Benjamin Mayo Apr 24 2014 - 6:30 am PT

Opera first launched Coast back in September 2013, on the iPad. Although it didn’t make a huge impression on the App Store first time around, Opera is probably hoping its new version will be more popular.

The app has been fully reworked for the iPhone size. There are hardly any buttons onscreen; the app relies almost exclusively on gesture-based navigation.

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Analysts respond to AAPL earnings, rating the stock a strong buy

Ben Lovejoy Apr 24 2014 - 4:12 am PT

Photo: USA Today

Early overnight reports collated by Fortune unsurprisingly show analysts pleased by the higher-than-expected iPhone numbers, with five out of five rating the stock a buy, their price targets ranging from $75 to $252 above yesterday’s closing value. Apple reported iPhone sales of 43.7B against expectations of 38B, and revenue of $45.6B against the consensus estimate of $43.5B.

Katy Huberty, Morgen Stanley: Price target $630
Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray: Price target $640
Brian Marshall, ISI: Price target $600
Brian White, Cantor Fitzgerald: Price target $777
Peter Misek, Jefferies: Price target $625 …

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Apple announces 20 million Apple TVs sold through Q2 2014

Chance Miller Apr 23 2014 - 3:18 pm PT

During Apple’s earnings call this evening, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company has sold 20 million Apple TV boxes through the second quarter of 2014. Sharing this number is out of the ordinary for Apple, as it generally doesn’t break down specific sales for its set-top box like it does for other products.

Apple’s decision to give us specific sales information for the Apple TV, however, does corroborate with its move earlier this year to present the device as its own product line, as opposed to an accessory. Cook also said on the call that Apple TV is over a billion dollar market, which means that it is no longer just a “hobby” for the company.

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Tim Cook: 60+% of iPhone 4s and 5c buyers are ‘Android Switchers’

Seth Weintraub Apr 23 2014 - 3:07 pm PT

The success of Apple’s low end phones, the 3.5-inch iPhone 4s and the colorful plastic 5c, has been questioned since the current lineup was launched last year. But in today’s earnings call, Tim Cook might have just explained why Apple keeps the lower end devices in its stable: They bring in the lower-end Android crowd. Specifically Cook said 62% of iPhone 4s, which is usually free (or cheaper) with a plan in the US buyers and 60% of iPhone 5c buyers were switching from Android.

Cook previously compared Android to Europe in its fragmentation and had some harsh words for some of the low end Android tablets in enterprise saying Apple would never produce or label products of that low quality.
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Tim Cook addresses iPad sales slowdown, says Microsoft should have released Office sooner

Benjamin Mayo Apr 23 2014 - 2:54 pm PT

On Apple’s earnings call, Tim Cook directly addresses concerns surrounding iPad. Notably, he calls out Office as helping iPad sales somewhat but ‘frankly’ admits that Microsoft should have released Office for iPad sooner. He says that in the time that Microsoft waited, other companies including Apple have released very-competitive productivity alternates to Office, likely referencing iWork.

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New video compares alleged iPhone 6 case to iPhone 5s, Nexus 5, and Galaxy Note 3

Dom Esposito Apr 23 2014 - 1:38 pm PT

A new video published by Unbox Therapy provides a closer look at an alleged third-party case for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6 that was recently shown off in a set of photos. The case’s design definitely falls in line with previous leaks and rumors that we’ve reported on, but could be a manufacturer’s attempt to take a risk and get ahead of the game.

The video below compares the case’s design to the iPhone 5s, Nexus 5, and Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Surprisingly, the case’s layout almost lines up perfectly with Google’s Nexus 5, which gives us a good idea of the iPhone 6’s overall form-factor if the leaked specifications used to manufacture this case are correct.

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Apple reports $45.6 billion revenue for Q2 2014: 43.7m iPhones, 16.3m iPads, 4.1m Macs, 2.7m iPods

Jordan Kahn Apr 23 2014 - 1:32 pm PT

Apple just announced its second quarter results for 2014 with revenue for the quarter coming in at $45.6 billion. That’s compared to the guidance it previously provided of $42 – $44 billion and estimates by analysts averaging approximately $43.5B. Apple’s $45.6 billion in revenue reported today is also up from the $43.6 billion in revenue in the year ago quarter.

Break down of device sales for Q2 2014 include 43.7m million iPhones, 16.3 million iPads, and 4.1 million Macs. Compare that to an average of 38M iPhones, 19.3M iPads, 4M Macs, and 3M iPods predicted by the analysts leading up to today. In the same quarter last year, Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones, 19.5 million iPads, just under 4 million Macs, and 5.6 million iPods.

It also reported net quarterly profit of $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per diluted share in contrast to quarterly net profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

“We’re very proud of our quarterly results, especially our strong iPhone sales and record revenue from services,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re eagerly looking forward to introducing more new products and services that only Apple could bring to market.”

“We generated $13.5 billion in cash flow from operations and returned almost $21 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the March quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “That brings cumulative payments under our capital return program to $66 billion.”

Apple is providing guidance for its next quarter of revenue between $36 billion and $38 billion.

The question of the day for Tim Cook and other Apple executives on today’s call will surely be the new product categories that Cook previously said were coming across 2014 and have yet to make an appearance in the first quarter. With Apple’s WWDC developer conference just around the corner, we’ll have to wait and see if Cook gives us any clues of what’s to come during the call today at 2:00 p.m. PST/5:00 p.m. EST. Stay tuned to our live blog for coverage.

Apple’s full press release is below:
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