Apple

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

Apple to increase share buybacks to $90 billion, announces seven-to-one stock split, increase dividend to $3.29 per share

Benjamin Mayo Apr 23 2014 - 1:32 pm PT

As part of Apple’s earnings releases, Apple has announced an extension to its buyback plans. The company will now buyback an additional $30 billion of Apple stock, totalling $90 billion, significantly accelerating its original plans.

Apple® today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized another significant increase to the Company’s program to return capital to shareholders. The Company expects to utilize a total of over $130 billion of cash under the expanded program by the end of calendar 2015.

The board has also announced a seven-for-one stock split beginning June 2nd 2014. Apple last split its stock in 2005, nine years ago. Apple will also increase the dividend by about 8 percent to $3.29 per common share. This will begin on May 15th. Apple plans to increase its dividend every year. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cook said that the buyback will “show you how much confidence we have in the future of the company”.

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Apple giving employees company-branded, reusable water bottles for Earth Day

Zac Hall Apr 23 2014 - 10:07 am PT

As Apple continues to observe Earth Day this year with its new Tim Cook-narrated “Better” film and detailed environmental report card site, the Cupertino company is issuing Apple-branded reusable water bottles to both corporate and retail employees to promote responsible.

In its message to employees, Apple says that 16,420 plastic bottles can be saved through reusable water bottle use, and Apple employees alone can save 22 tons of plastic waste per year (that’s 44,000 pounds) using a reusable water bottle.

Each water bottle features an Apple logo as well as a colored band picked by each employee. In Apple’s message to employees, the company said retail locations will receive their Earth Day company-issued reusable water bottles at a later date as distribution is currently taking place for Cupertino employees.
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GameStop’s Simply Mac Apple Specialist stores adding 50 new locations next year

Zac Hall Apr 23 2014 - 9:36 am PT

As video game retailer GameStop continues to diversify its retail portfolio, the company says it will dramatically expand its Apple product-focused Simply Mac retail locations throughout 2015, the Star-Telegram reports.

Raines said GameStop’s confidence in rapid growth at the small chains, acquired for about $110 million last year, is buoyed by their strong ties to industry leaders AT&T and Apple.

Steve Bain and Jason Ellis, the executives who built Simply Mac and Spring Mobile, continue to run the operations for GameStop and see strong growth opportunities. After opening 23 stores this year, Bain said, the company plans to open 50 more Simply Mac stores in 2015.

Simply Mac is an authorized Apple Specialist retail chain founded in 2006 and bought by GameStop in 2012. News of its expansion is good news for Apple consumers as Simply Mac typically looks for markets where Apple lacks a retail presence like Shreveport, Louisiana; Springfield, Missouri, and a couple dozen midwestern locations across Utah, Colorado, and more.

[tweet https://twitter.com/SammyWalrusIV/status/458964744419151872]

iOS 7.1 code indicates Apple working on Siri for Apple TV

Benjamin Mayo Apr 23 2014 - 7:49 am PT

Code found within the iOS 7.1 SDK suggests that Siri is headed to the Apple TV in future. Pierre Blazquez first found the reference on Friday. 9to5Mac has since confirmed that the code does exist in both iOS 7.1 and iOS 7.1.1’s files. The reference does not exist in 7.0.6.

The file is a supporting property-list resource for Assistant (Apple’s internal name for Siri), containing information about the feature. The UIDeviceFamily array declares what platforms are compatible with the feature.

As shown by Apple’s documentation, ‘1’ and ‘2’ represent the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad families. The ‘3’ represents the Apple TV family.

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Latest iPhone 6 concepts incorporate the more persistent rumored features

Ben Lovejoy Apr 23 2014 - 5:00 am PT

Martin Hajek has been busy again, following his earlier iPod Nano-inspired and schematic-prompted concepts for the iPhone 6. Commissioned by French site NWE, his latest designs incorporate the more persistent rumors: a rounded profile, power button moved from the top to the right (for easier use with a larger, near edge-to-edge screen) and rectangular volume controls …

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Samsung bought two patents specifically for use in Apple trial, say attorneys

Ben Lovejoy Apr 23 2014 - 4:14 am PT

In the ongoing patent trial where Apple is claiming Samsung infringed five of its patents, and Samsung is claiming Apple did the same to two of its patents, it has been suggested that Samsung bought the two patents concerned specifically to sue Apple. The allegation was made by Apple’s attorneys, reports The Verge.

The original inventors on the video patent, for instance, originated in Oklahoma, and the gallery patent originally belonged to Hitachi. In the case of the video patent, Samsung disclosed that it paid $2.39 million to acquire it in 2010, the same year FaceTime debuted alongside the iPhone 4. Apple hopes that will stand in stark contrast with its five patents, two of which were filed the day the company introduced the iPhone, and all developed within the company …

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NYOP Mac software bundle: Few bucks gets RapidWeaver, Tuneup, Snapheal Pro, Crossover, PDF Converter and much more

Justin Kahn Apr 22 2014 - 9:00 pm PT

StackSocial and 9to5Toys Specials are offering another Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle with 10 Mac apps regularly priced at $655. This bundle has some incredibly solid apps, and currently less than $5 will unlock all of the apps. In addition, 10% of your purchase will go to a charity of your choice including Child’s Play, World Wildlife Foundation, or Creative Commons. Also, if you are on the leaderboard at any time, you are entered to win a MacBook Air. The price will go up as more people buy so it is best to get in early.

Some of the notable apps in the bundle are photo editing software Snapheal Pro (Reg. $40), simple website builder RapidWeaver 5 (Reg. $79), Windows software utility CrossOver 13 For Mac, iTunes organizer TuneUp and screen capture software Voila ($30). You can see a full list of the apps in the bundle below, as well as more Mac deals on 9to5Toys Specials and in our daily app deal round-ups.

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Apple airs new “Powerful” TV ad, promoting content creation on the iPhone 5s

Michael Steeber Apr 22 2014 - 6:59 pm PT

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

Update: Apple has now posted an accompanying microsite for the ad, featuring the ads shown in the video.

Apple has begun airing a new iPhone 5s ad this evening, first premiering on ABC during Agents Of SHIELD. This ad, featuring the interesting song ‘Gigantic‘ by the Pixies, takes a very different tone than the “Metal Mastered” ad released in October, which showed that gold really is best.

The ad shows common and uncommon tasks people can accomplish with their iPhone, such as creating music, tracking their health, shooting videos and photos, and playing games. The ad ends with the tagline “You’re more powerful than you think”. A new page on Apple’s website shows off the ad along with the featured software.

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Google agrees to defend Samsung, pay some of its costs in patent infringement case against Apple

Chance Miller Apr 22 2014 - 3:43 pm PT

While testifying in the Samsung vs Apple case on Tuesday, it was revealed that Google has agreed to help Samsung defend itself against Apple in its current patent-infringement case. According to a report from Re/Code, citing deposition testimony from Google lawyer James Maccoun, Google has also agreed to partially or fully indemnify Samsung for any loses it may suffer on its claims.

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Apple releases Heartbleed bug fix for 2013 AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule

Benjamin Mayo Apr 22 2014 - 2:22 pm PT

Apple has released a bug fix patch for its 2013 AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, fixing the OpenSSL ‘Heartbleed’ vulnerability. The update does not apply to the AirPort Express.

Firmware update 7.7.3 is recommended for all AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac. It provides security improvements related to SSL/TLS. Other AirPort base stations do not require this firmware update.

Amusingly, when Heartbleed made headlines earlier this month, Apple said that no key software or services were affected. They conveniently forgot to mention that their latest router hardware was susceptible to the flaw.

Our own Mark Gurman joins John Gruber to discuss Greg Christie, Healthbook, and more

Apr 22 2014 - 10:41 am PT

Our own 9to5Mac Senior Editor Mark Gurman joined John Gruber of Daring Fireball on The Talk Show this week to discuss Greg Christie’s departure, Apple’s upcoming Healthbook application, and Apple news reporting in general. The episode is just under two hours long and can be downloaded from Soundcloud. iTunes users and subscribers will find the episode available here. You can also listen to the episode below.
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Wall Street expecting Apple to report year-on-year revenue fall of 0.2 percent

Ben Lovejoy Apr 22 2014 - 5:51 am PT

The consensus view of 40 analysts polled by Fortune is that Apple’s year-on-year revenue for its fiscal Q2 (Q1 of the calendar year) has fallen by 0.2 percent to $43.6B. This follows earlier predictions that iPhone sales will have grown two percent, and iPad sales will have dropped by 0.7 percent.

Most of our analysts (31 out to 40) are playing it safe, offering estimates within the range of Apple’s guidance — between $42 billion and $44 billion.

Seven think Apple will beat its revenue guidance — by half to three-quarters of a billion dollars, according to Merrill Lynch’s Scott Craig and the Braeburn Group’s Patrick Smellie, respectively. Two analysts — Credit Suisse’s Kulbinder Garcha and the Braeburn Group’s Sunil Shah — think Apple’s revenue may actually have fallen year over year …

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iPhone sales could be threatened as subsidized costs become more visible, say analysts

Ben Lovejoy Apr 22 2014 - 5:24 am PT

How much did your iPhone cost? If you said $199, $299 or even $399 you’re somewhere near $350 off. As some consciously forget, the carriers often shield the owner from the real total cost of the iPhone. That may not last.

iPhone sales could be hurt as carriers switch from so-called subsidized contracts, where customers pay only a fraction of the cost a new iPhone up-front, to deals where the true cost of the phone is more visible, argues a piece in the WSJ.

Many U.S. iPhone customers are not aware that the full cost of an iPhone ranges from $549 for a 16GB 5c to $849 for a 64GB 5s. The reason is that carriers have traditionally asked for only $0 to $200 up-front, hiding the balance of the cost in the monthly tariff. With carriers now switching to separate instalment costs for the phone, and the cost of upgrading every year or two more visible to consumers, analysts believe some will choose to upgrade less often …

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Chinese iOS malware stealing Apple IDs and passwords from jailbroken devices

Ben Lovejoy Apr 22 2014 - 4:10 am PT

Security researcher Stefan Esser (via ArsTechnica) has discovered that an issue reported on Reddit as causing crashes on jailbroken iPhones and iPads is actually a piece of malware designed to capture Apple IDs and passwords from infected devices.

This malware appears to have Chinese origin and comes as a library called Unflod.dylib that hooks into all running processes of jailbroken iDevices and listens to outgoing SSL connections. From these connections it tries to steal the device’s Apple-ID and corresponding password and sends them in plaintext to servers with IP addresses in control of US hosting companies for apparently Chinese customers.

Early indications are that the source of the malware is likely to have been from a tweak downloaded from somewhere outside of Cydia. Esser has identified that the code only runs on 32-bit devices, meaning that the iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display are safe, while other devices are vulnerable.

The blog post says that the malware is easy to check for, but may not be easy to remove. Using SSH/Terminal, check the path /Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries/ for the presence of either Unflod.dylib or framework.dylib.

Currently the jailbreak community believes that deleting the Unflod.dylib/framework.dylib binary and changing the apple-id’s password afterwards is enough to recover from this attack. However it is still unknown how the dynamic library ends up on the device in the first place and therefore it is also unknown if it comes with additional malware gifts.

We therefore believe that the only safe way of removal is a full restore, which means the removal and loss of the jailbreak.

Cydia developer Jay Freeman, aka Saurik, pointed out on Reddit that adding random download URLs to Cydia is as risky as opening attachments received in spam emails.

Taiwanese media claims 5.5inch iPhone 6 to be very thin, special battery components causing delays

Benjamin Mayo Apr 22 2014 - 4:04 am PT

Via GforGames, the Commercial Times is reporting that the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 (the larger brother of the expected ~4.7 inch model) is currently facing delays due to yield issues with special battery components.

According to the report, Apple wants the 5.5 inch device to be incredibly thin requiring battery cells that are only 2mm in depth. Normal battery components are usually closer to 3mm.

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Apple teases Samsung in new environmental print ad: ‘There are some things we want every company to copy’

Benjamin Mayo Apr 22 2014 - 2:53 am PT

As part of its recent environmental campaign, Apple has taken out some tongue-in-cheek full-page print advertising in newspapers around the world today. The ad reads ‘There are some things we want every company to copy’. The ad was first spotted by David McClelland on Twitter. (Hi-res version below:)

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Apple’s updated environmental report card by the numbers

Jordan Kahn Apr 21 2014 - 9:01 am PT

Ahead of Earth Day celebrations planned for tomorrow, Apple today has completely revamped its environmental site with new stats alongside announcements for initiatives planned for the year to come. It also gave an interview with its new head of environmental issues Lisa Jackson. If you don’t want to dig through and read the multiple pages in Apple’s updated report, below we’ve put together a roundup of all the numbers and initiatives Apple announced today:
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Mini review: Elgato Thunderbolt Dock

Ben Lovejoy Apr 21 2014 - 7:26 am PT

There are Mac accessories that are exciting or fun, and others that are boring but useful. The Elgato Thunderbolt Dock most definitely falls into the latter category.

As regular readers will know, I’m of the view that wires are evil. Anything that can be wireless should be wireless, and any wires that are unavoidable should be hidden from sight. This is particularly easy if you have an Apple Thunderbolt Display, of course, since all you need in the way of wires from a MacBook is power and Thunderbolt: everything else can be plugged into the back of the monitor.

But if you share my aversion to visible wires and don’t have a Thunderbolt display, or you are frequently connecting and disconnecting your MacBook from a bunch of devices on your desk, the Elgato Thunderbolt Dock may be the answer …

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Apple enticing games publishers with promotion deals in return for exclusivity

Benjamin Mayo Apr 21 2014 - 1:23 am PT

The Wall Street Journal has published a report saying that both Apple and Google are actively pursuing exclusivity deals with game developers. Whispers of these type of arrangements surfaced last year, with reports highlighting a partnership between Apple and EA for Plants vs Zombies 2.

The Journal confirms that Apple’s exclusivity deals do not include monetary payments. In return, the companies offer “premium placement” (such as featured spots on the home page) for launching first on their platform.

In regard to the Plants vs Zombies’ deal, the report says EA gave Apple agreed about two months of exclusivity.

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Apple adds rising star with background in FDA approvals & product testing to medical team

Mark Gurman Apr 19 2014 - 7:53 pm PT

Apple has added Divya Nag, a rising star in the medical device community, to its in-house medical technology team, according to sources with knowledge of the hire. Nag made her entry into the medical technology world earlier this decade by co-founding Stem Cell Theranostics, a company that focuses on technologies for testing new medicines for the market and how the drugs will affect patients. Nag also participated in the Stanford-based StartX, an “accelerator” for medical technology-focused startups. Nag was just recently recognized for her many accomplishments in the medical and science fields with the Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 award.

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Next-gen iPad Air front panel with integrated display reportedly shown in leaked photos

Dom Esposito Apr 18 2014 - 7:48 am PT

New photos that reportedly show the front panel of a next-generation iPad Air have surfaced. Originally shared by One More Thing, the front panel appears to have an integrated display. This notable change could result in an even thinner iPad Air, or leave room for Apple to rework the hardware and add additional components.

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Analyst forecasts suggest iPad sales have peaked, expect YOY decline this quarter despite 13% holiday growth

Benjamin Mayo Apr 18 2014 - 5:25 am PT

As highlighted by Fortune, analysts’ consensus on iPad sales for last quarter suggest that iPad sales will actually decline year-over-year by about 0.7%. Although the expected decline is small, this would represent a big shift in iPad momentum, especially since Apple saw a strong increase in sales for the holiday quarter, going from 22.9M units in the previous year to 26M this year.

If iPad sales have fallen, it wouldn’t be because of different market conditions to last year. Apple introduced the iPad Air at the end of 2014 around a year from the introduction of the iPad 4 at the end of 2012. Last year, Apple dropped the price of the iPad Mini a modest $30 while also introducing the highly anticipated retina iPad Mini. In 2012, it introduced the iPad mini. The product cycles are similar, so the decline isn’t due to any artificial inflation of sales last year.

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iPhone 6 renders based on recent case leaks show off rumored edge-to-edge screen

Benjamin Mayo Apr 18 2014 - 4:23 am PT

Nowhereelse.fr has commissioned designer Martin Hajek to mockup the iPhone 6, using the most recent leaks about the upcoming device.

The renders, shown above, use the supposed iPhone cases pictured on Wednesday and leaked schematics from late March to envisage the look of the future iPhone. Naturally, the most striking change is the display, stretching almost edge-to-edge.

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Angela Ahrendts says Burberry management transition ‘well underway’ as reports claim delay

Jordan Kahn Apr 17 2014 - 7:16 am PT

After becoming a Dame of the British Empire in a ‘low key’ ceremony earlier this month, rumor had it that Apple’s new retail chief Angela Ahrendts would be leaving her CEO position at Burberry this month. Apple has never confirmed as much apart from saying Ahrendts would start in the spring back in its original announcement, but today reports claim Ahrendts might stick around at Burberry a little longer. The Guardian reports that while Ahrendts is free to leave after serving her 6 months notice and helping transition in a new CEO, she could earn as much as an £8m or $13.5m bonus if she stays at Burberry through June:
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