Posts

An SEC filing by Apple shows that the company plans to increase this year’s spend on product development by $1.5B, reaching a total of $5.9B by the end of September, reports Business Insider. At the same time, Apple is cutting its forecast capital expenditure by $1B, which the company told the WSJ was due to efficiency savings. Apple explores a great many potential new product ideas, and the increased spend on product development could conceivably indicate that the company is choosing to invest more heavily in one of these, BI speculating that it may be the long-rumored Apple car … A company spokeswoman said Apple lowered the forecast because it was able to spend more efficiently for tooling equipment and facilities....

Apple’s first online WWDC event was easily one of the best online keynotes we’ve ever seen. The main focus of the event was the announcement of Apple’s upcoming iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 software. Additionally, watchOS 7 and macOS Big Sur were also unveiled during the event. As always, Apple released the first beta builds for the aforementioned operating systems. These beta builds have been made available primarily for developers to check out....

Along with the launch of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, Apple also released a much larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. Because of the larger display on this device, you can expect a much larger form factor, but there are a few benefits that go along with it as well… Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display (401 ppi) and features significantly improved battery life over the iPhone 5/5s and iPhone 6....

Apple and Genius today announced a partnership which sees Genius apps gain a new inline Apple Music player, and Apple gets a new data source for its lyrics database. Apple has offered lyrics as part of its Apple Music subscription service since iOS 10. This announcement means Apple will now gather lyrics data from another source, expanding the quantity and accuracy of lyrics available on songs in the Apple Music library …...

Apple announced at the start of this year that its iAd network was going away over the summer, which affected advertising in its story aggregating News app in iOS 9 and later. Today Recode is reporting that Apple has inked an exclusive deal with NBCUniversal that lets them run ad sales for Apple News. The report notes that Apple will still allow publishers to sell their own ads, but NBCUniversal is picking up the ad sales business that Apple decided it didn’t want a part of earlier this year....

The latest estimates from Strategy Analytics show that Apple continues to take home the lion’s share of total profits in the worldwide smartphone market. While Apple’s slice of the profits has fallen from the 92%+ it has achieved in previous years, it still hit an impressive 79.2% last year, reports Korea Herald. Samsung took a distant second place, while Chinese brands – despite their rapid growth in market share – are still barely profitable, says the company …...

A new patent application published by the US Patent & Trademark Office (via Patently Apple) today reveals Apple’s possible plans to radically change the implementation of antennas in future iPhones and other small form factor devices. The majority of the patent describes a new composite material made up of a “foam substrate formed of a plurality of foam cells”. However, possible uses for the composite, as detailed in the patent, include a possible new antenna window on mobile devices....

Bloomberg reports this afternoon that Apple has ceased online sales in Russia due to “extreme” fluctuations in the value of the ruble. Apple has previously attempted to combat the unpredictable swings in the country’s official currency by adjusting the prices of its products, having most recently increased the price of the iPhone 6 by 25% in the country last month. Apple confirmed that it has halted online sales in Russia as it looks to re-evaluate pricing in the country....

A lawsuit has been filed against Apple this week by a man and women claiming prominent iPhone XS and iPhone XS marketing photos on Apple.com are overly deceptive in hiding the notch. The lawyer for the plaintiffs claims they pre-ordered an iPhone XS Max unaware there would be any “missing pixels,” bezel or notch of any sort. In the 55-page lawsuit posted to Scribd (via Business Insider), the plaintiffs take particular issue with how marketing material promotes a “false pixel count” thanks to the notch and rounded corners exclusive to the XS and XS Max....

A report last month revealed that Apple had contractors listening to and grading Siri responses, which in turn meant that those contractors heard private conversations from users. Now, Apple has been hit with its first class-action over this practice. The lawsuit, first spotted by Kif Lewsing, was filed in federal court in Northern California. The plaintiffs accuse Apple of “unlawful and intentional recording of individuals’ confidential communications without their consent.” The lawsuit alleges that Apple has violated California’s Invasion of Privacy Act, the Unfair Competition Law, the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and the Declaratory Judgment Act....

Apple is gearing up to launch a pair of new retail initiatives centered around the iPhone: an upgraded iPhone trade-in program for iPhones with damaged screens, cameras, or buttons, and a new program that allows Apple Retail Stores to install screen protectors on iPhones. The Apple Store Reuse and Recycle iPhone trade-in program currently allows a customer to bring in an older iPhone model and trade it in for credit toward the purchase of a new iPhone model....

A number of iOS 13.5.1 users are reporting significant Apple Music battery drain, notable for the fact that it is often being seen when only running in the background. The issue isn’t limited to 13.5.1, as reports date back as far as April, but does appear to be affecting significantly more people in the latest public iOS version released last month … MacRumors noticed the increased number of reports. Some report that more than half of their battery usage comes from Apple Music even when they aren’t using the app....

Filling a void left last year by former Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson, Apple just announced that John Browett is its new Senior Vice President of Retail. Browett is leaving his job as CEO of Dixons, a major consumer electronics retail chain in Europe, to join the Apple executive team. Browett will lead all of Apple’s worldwide retail operations beginning in April. Peter Oppenheimer has been the Apple executive currently guiding the retail division since Ron Johnson’s departure, and he will likely continue to do so until Browett officially takes over in about two months....

Apple is leaning on a close ally of Donald Trump to help it avoid tariffs on iPhone parts and other products. A lobbying registration form first discovered by CNBC indicates that Apple has hired Jeffery Miller to lobby on its behalf in Washington. According to the document, Apple will rely on Miller and his team to focus on “trade issues as they relate to technological goods and services.” Miller has close ties to Trump and the rest of his administration....

Apple has been hit with a $9 million by the Federal Court in Australia over the the infamous Error 53 bug that affected numerous users last year. Today’s decision comes over a year after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission levied a lawsuit against Apple over the issue… As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court explained that Apple was denying Australian customers the ability to have their devices repaired by a third-party and was not offering any remedy:...

Apple has released iOS 10 beta 4 for developers to test on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iOS 10 brings a refreshed look to Apple Music and News plus loads of new features to the platform. The software update will be ready for everyone later this fall, and we’ll dig through the fourth developer version of the iOS 10 beta below. If you’re already testing iOS 10 beta on your iPhone or iPad, head to the Software Update section of the Settings app to find the OTA update....

New data from Counterpoint this week underscores the continued growth of streaming music as the competition intensifies between Apple Music and Spotify. According to the data, Apple Music’s subscriber base grew by 36% in 2019, giving Apple a 19% share of the total paid subscriptions in the industry. Counterpoint notes that Apple Music also accounted for a 24% share of total revenues in the industry. These numbers compare to Spotify, which locked in a 35% share of total paid subscriptions and 31% of total revenue....

Apple today has updated Apple Music for Android to version 2.7, bringing several notable enhancements. This update first entered beta testing last month, but is now rolling out to all users. Headlining today’s update to Apple Music on Android is support for tablets. While Android tablets aren’t incredibly popular nowadays, it’s certainly nice to see the Apple Music app adds support after nearly four years. On Android tablets, Apple Music now includes easier access to the different sections of the app....

Amid the WWDC announcements last week including previewing iOS 9, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, and watchOS 2, Apple has pre-announced a small update coming to GarageBand for Mac at the end of the month. German site Apfelpage noticed the webpage that promises “new features coming June 30” above a description of additional virtual session drummers. The GarageBand site lists five new drummer styles tuned to EDM, Trap Hip Hop, Retro ’80s, Dubstep, and Boom Bap Hip Hop with demos of each new drummer style featured....

Apple today officially launched its in-house mapping data in the United Kingdom and Ireland, after completing the rollout across the United States in 2019. The new map is rolling out now and should be available to all customers later this evening. The new maps offer more detailed cartography and building shapes, more accurate navigation and Google Street View-esque ‘Look Around’ views in select cities. With its revamped Apple Maps initiatives, Apple is using its own map data sourced from satellite imagery, as well as ground truth Apple Maps vehicles....