December is always one of Apple’s biggest months of the year thanks to the influx of new devices people receive as gifts during the holiday season. The company often reports its highest device sales during this month, and as you can figure, the more people who are using iOS devices, the more people who are downloading apps from the App Store. App Store analytics company Sensor Tower has today shared its figures for the month of December 2015, and it was another record-setting month for Apple. Sensor Tower says that revenue for games in the App Store during December was nearly $1 billion.
This latest drone flyover of Apple’s under construction Campus 2 project is perhaps our best look yet at the site that will soon become Apple’s main headquarters and home to around 13,000 of its employees. The footage comes courtesy of Duncan Sinfield (via MR).
Since last checking in, you can see that Apple has now completed erecting most of the four stories that make up the main, circular structure. And if you’ve been keeping track (we have in our continually updated construction progress timeline), you’ll also notice that much of the surrounding campus taking shape with the underground auditorium, parking structure, R&D facilities and more all starting to look real.
If all goes to plan and Apple sticks to its general construction schedule posted on the City of Cupertino’s website (below), it will wrap up construction by the end of 2016 and begin moving its employees onto the campus from its current HQ down the road and elsewhere.
If you want to check out how the project has progressed so far, you can head over to our construction progress timeline that includes drone videos, official aerial shots from Apple and City of Cupertino, and news surrounding the project since before construction began.
Apple has sent an email to registered developers on Wednesday to inform them that iTunes Connect will be shutting down for the holidays from December 22 to December 29. During this time, developers will be unable to submit new apps, app updates or in-app purchases to appear on the App Store. Access to iTunes Connect, Application Loader, iTunes Connect for iOS and making changes to TestFlight Beta Testing will also be unavailable as a whole. Expand Expanding Close
iTunes Connect has gone back online today after a short hiatus due to the holidays. This is not unexpected as Apple told developers the website would be closed between December 21st and December 27th. iTunes Connect is the online portal for developers to manage, upload, and make changes to their applications on the iOS App Store. This means developers can now make price or content changes and means customers will be able to get the latest changes.
This morning, the store opened with delivery estimates of December 30th with some variants quoting a January timeframe. Now, it appears the initial allocation has sold out as Apple’s website now reports February shipment for all models.
After about an hour of downtime, the Apple Online Store has come back up with the option to order the latest-generation Mac Pro. The quad-core model starts at $2,999, with a 6-core model available starting at $3,999.
While it’s certainly far from confirmation of a launch date from Apple, German retailer Conrad today posted an availability date of December 16 for the new Mac Pro (via Apefelpage.de).
The retailer is an authorized reseller, but we’re thinking this is more likely a placeholder date. The company is still advertising the Mac Pro listing on its homepage, so it’s not like the listing slipped out accidentally. It’s also taking preorders for two configurations of the device– not a bad way to get some press and capitalize on preorders before everyone else, even if they don’t really know the date. If the Mac Pro does go on sale on the 16th, Apple could have enough time to ship orders out for Christmas.
For now the only release window Apple has confirmed is “December”.
Apple will have several configurations and built to order options available for the next-gen Mac Pro including Quad 6, 8, or 12-core designs. The base model includes a 3.7GHz quad-core Xeon processor, 12GB of DRAM, Dual FirePro D300 graphics, 2GB VRAM each, and a 256GB SSD starting at $2999, and Apple will also sell a $3999 configuration with a 6-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon E5 processor, 16GB DDR3 ECC memory (configurable up to 32GB), and Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each.
After first unveiling the completely redesigned Mac Pro at WWDC earlier this year, Apple today gave the new machine a bit of stage time at its iPad event to announce pricing and availability details. The base model of the new Mac Pro (pictured above) will start at $2999 and ship by the end of the year.
While Apple will presumably have several configurations and built to order options available for the next-gen Mac Pro– including Quad 6, 8, or 12-core designs– it only announced base pricing for the configuration above. That model includes a 3.7GHz quad-core Xeon processor, 12GB of DRAM, Dual FirePro D300 graphics, 2GB VRAM each, and a 256GB 22D.
Apple is also listing a $3999 configuration on its online store that comes with a 6-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon E5 processor, 16GB DDR3 ECC memory (configurable up to 32GB), and Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each.
Apple also mentioned on stage that it has new versions of Final Cut Pro and Aperture that support 4k and other features of the new Mac Pro while presenting first impressions from professionals that have been using the new machine.
The new Mac Pro features an all-new cylinder design that is 1/8th the volume of previous generation Mac Pros and also packs in some impressive specs that Apple’s Phil Schiller walked through today on stage (gallery below). The new machine includes the latest Xeon processors in Quad 6, 8, or 12-core configurations, dual station FirePro GPUs with up to 12GB of GDDR5 VRAM, 4K video support, PCIe-based flash, ECC memory, and six Thunderbolt 2 ports.
Other specs include HDMI, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11ac WiFi, up to 1TB of flash storage, and a motion sensor that lights up I/O when picking up the Mac Pro.
Apple also noted today that it aimed to have the new Mac Pro as quite as the current Mac Mini and was able to achieve that goal.
When asked about staggered product launches during the Q&A of Apple’s Q2 2013 earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that he wished Apple would have postponed the launch of the new iMac until after the holiday season in order to avoid the significant delays that customers experienced in the initial months of launch:
I don’t spend a lot of time looking back… If we could run it over, i would have announced the iMac after the turn of the year… we felt our customers had to wait too long for that specific product… Where the iPad mini was in shortage in the December quarter, I would not have done that differently because we were able to get the product out to many customers that wanted it. In retrospect, I wish it [iMac] was after the turn of the year so customers would not have had to wait as long as they did.
After officially bringing iTunes music and movies to India alongside a huge international rollout in December, Apple appears to have now launched Apple TV in the country. The Apple TV product page on Apple’s India website was first spotted by BGR India, but Apple has yet to issue an official press release announcing the product launch. The product page doesn’t include a “buy” button, and some reports claim stock has not yet made it to Apple resellers in the country. BGR first posted a screenshot of Apple’s site showing an Rs 7,900 price tag, but Apple’s website now shows a price of Rs 8295 (as pictured to the right). That’s roughly $150 USD and slightly higher than first rumored. As pictured above, the product page also highlights a number of Bollywood films and other local content in addition to The Wall Street Journal, YouTube, Vimeo, and MLB.TV.
French language website MacBidouille claims to have some bad news from its retail sources. While they were expecting to see iMacs arrive Nov. 27 (we also heard a similar time frame—with availability beginning around Black Friday) for the 21.5-inchers and later in December for the 27-inchers, both may now miss the all-important holiday shopping season.
The source blames a welding process for the delays, which would push the iMacs into 2013. The new iMacs also have a redesigned display that features a new thinner lamination process.
We first noted the delays in new iMac production in October and questioned whether the devices would be announced at the iPad mini event. Interestingly, we also heard that Apple might introduce an updated Thunderbolt Display in the not-so distant future that may be tied to the launch of the 27-inch iMac. Stay tuned for more information on that soon.
As we originally predicted, Apple is going to have some major delays and shortages for its new iMac lineup heading into the holidays. Before the refreshed iMacs were unveiled at Apple’s iPad mini event earlier this week, we thought the shortages might even mean the unveiling would be pushed back. While Apple decided to unveil the new product publicly, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed today that the November and December release dates for the new models will mean significant shortages for the robust demand the company is expecting headed into the holiday season.
Apple just finished unveiling its all-new iMac design that we previously unveiled leading up to the event. We told you at the time that Apple is shipping two refreshed models of its 21-inch and 27-inch iMacs, but we would unfortunately likely see delays on at least some models. Apple decided to take the wraps off its refreshed iMacs today, but as we predicted, the models will not ship right away.
Apple did not confirm during the unveiling, but it has now listed the new iMacs on its website with availability dates listed as November for the 21-inch model and December for the 27-inch model. You will no longer be able to get your hands on the last-generation iMac, except through Apple’s refurbished section. Hopefully Apple can get enough of these out before the holidays, especially the 27-inch model that will not ship until weeks before.
Also of note for the new iMacs is the fact that the 21-inch model comes with no user accessible RAM slots, while the 27-inch model has 4 slots accessible from the back of the machine. The 21-inch model is configurable up to 16GB through Apple, but the 4 slots on the 27-inch can handle up to 32GB:
The 21.5-inch iMac comes with 8GB of memory and can be configured online with 16GB. On the 27-inchiMac, 8GB of memory comes standard, and you can upgrade to 16GB or 32GB. Configure and buy your iMac at the Apple Online Store and it will arrive with the memory already installed. Or add more memory to the 27-inch model yourself by popping open the easy-to-access memory panel on the back.
The United Nations is considering a new Internet tax for U.S. websites and content providers including Google and Apple, according to leaked proposals from the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association:
The United Nations is considering a new Internet tax targeting the largest Web content providers, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix, that could cripple their ability to reach users in developing nations…The European proposal, offered for debate at a December meeting of a U.N. agency called the International Telecommunication Union, would amend an existing telecommunications treaty by imposing heavy costs on popular Web sites and their network providers for the privilege of serving non-U.S. users, according to newly leaked documents.
An interesting occurrence happened this morning: In a run up to Apple’s Q1 2012 earnings call, and amid a steady flow of 2012 Consumer Electronics Show announcements where Apple traditionally does not exhibit, the company’s share reached an all-time high by passing $427 a share for a market valuation of $398 billion (Exxon Mobile is at $408.86 billion). As noted by Fortune’s Philip Elmer-Dewitt, the company passed the $426.70 mark it hit briefly one day in mid-October
Interestingly, several analysts boosted their iPhone estimates for the December quarter. Goldman most notably upped their iPhone estimate to 31 million quarterly units, up from the previous 30.2 million estimate. Needham significantly increased their previous 28 million units projection to 32 million units.
By the way, the Apple iPhone turned 5-years-old today. On this very day five years ago, Steve Jobs took the stage at MacWorld Expo to announce the original iPhone. The rest, as the saying goes, is history…
Apple this afternoon revised holiday ordering and shipping deadlines for this year, as spotted by The Loop. For those looking to order customized Macs, you have until tomorrow, December 14, to place an order for your customized all-in-one system if you want to receive it by December 24, with free 2-3 day shipping. With custom engraved iPods you have until December 19 to receive it by the December 24 deadline.
And lastly, for off the shelf Macs and other Apple products you have until December 21 to receive them by Christmas Eve. Sadly, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to get an iPhone 4S online before the holidays. Find all of the dates after the break:
After officially 
As we 
