-
Apple Expands ‘Made In USA’ Efforts With Sapphire Glass Plant, Manufacturing Deal In Arizona
Apple has plans to build a manufacturing plant in Arizona that will extend its ‘Made in The USA’ efforts beyond the Mac Pro and other silicon facilities it maintains in Texas. The news came via a release from both the State of Arizona and the company GT Advanced Technologies, which will produce sapphire material. The multi-year agreement, which was reported by Macrumors includes a… Read More
-
Apple’s Tim Cook Is Right, Anti-Gay Policies Hurt The Economy
The elusive CEO of the richest company in the world, Apple’s Tim Cook, has taken a rare step into the spotlight to urge Congress to ban sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. In a Wall Street Journal OpEd, Cook argues that passing the Employment Nondiscrimination Act is not only a moral imperative, but sound economic policy: “Those who have suffered discrimination have… Read More
-
JD Power Explains Why Samsung Beat Apple In Its Latest Tablet Study: Price
Yesterday, JD Power released its newest tablet satisfaction study and the Internet went a bit nuts. For the first time, Samsung had edged out perennial favorite Apple in customer satisfaction on tablets. This was a stark change from volume one of the study which had Apple handily beating its competitors. There was outcry about how close it was, about how the JD Power chart and scoring (835 to… Read More
-
iFixit’s iPad Air Teardown Reveals Tightly Packed Innards Dominated By A Big Battery
Apple's iPad Air goes on sale today – it's easily the best iPad Apple's put out so far, but we're waiting with bated breath for the iPad mini with Retina display. Until then, however, the Air is also the most remarkable feat of engineering in any tablet device in terms of what goes on under the hood, or at least that's what it looks like based on iFixit's traditional day one teardown of the… Read More
-
Apple, Microsoft-Backed Rockstar Consortium Sues Google, Samsung Over 7 Nortel Patents
The Rockstar consortium is an organization backed by Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Ericsson and Sony. It purchased patents off of the defunct telecommunications company Nortel in 2011, in a bidding war with Google. Now, the consortium has filed suit against Google, ASUSTek, HTC, Huawei, LG, Pantech and ZTE over those patents. The suit was filed in a U.S. District Court of Eastern Texas today. Read More
-
Apple Looking Into Practical Solar Charging For Notebooks, iOS Devices
A new patent application published by the USPTO this week indicates that Apple has been thinking about how to practically deliver the benefits of solar power to mobile devices, without requiring clumsy and gigantic external convertors. Solar charging is still fairly fringe when it comes to the general gadget-using population, but Apple's patent, filed originally in 2012, looks like it could… Read More
-
iPad Air Review: Apple Makes Big Tablets Beautiful All Over Again
Apple introduced two new iPads this month at a special event in San Francisco on October 22, and the first of those to go on sale is the iPad Air, which is in stores and on virtual shelves this Friday, November 1. After a week with Apple's newest 9.7-inch device, it's clear there's a new champion of the large tablet market, and one that breathes new life into Apple's original slab-style… Read More
-
Apple Replacing ‘Limited’ Number Of iPhone 5s With Manufacturing Issue Leading To Battery Life Problem
Apple released a statement today to The New York Times noting that a manufacturing issue has caused shortened battery life in a ‘very limited’ number of iPhone 5s devices. At its introduction, the phone was reported by Apple to have nearly identical life to the iPhone 5, and most tests have borne that out with reviewers seeing identical or slightly improved numbers. The statement… Read More
-
Smartphones Now Account For 60% Of Mobile Phones Shipped Globally, With Apple Expected To Rebound On The iPhone 5s, Says Strategy Analytics
Global shipments of smartphones are continuing to increase, growing 45% to hit a record 251 million units in Q3 2013, from 172.8 million units a year ago, according to the latest report from Strategy Analytics. Read More
-
Apple’s Greater China Business Bounces Back, Accounts For 15% Of Q4 Revenue
Three months ago, when CEO Tim Cook was asked why Apple's revenue from greater China sunk 14 percent year-over-year, he didn't have a great answer. Apparently, there wasn't a "totally clear" answer for the shift. Now, poring over Apple's Q4 earnings, the story is very different -- that same region accounted for $5.7 billion of Apple's total revenue pie (or, if you prefer, 15.3 percent). Read More
-
Apple’s Rebound Quarter In Charts
Apple just reversed its slide, if you can call it that. After three quarters in a row of slowing sales growth, Apple's September quarter — reported this afternoon — shows a modest re-acceleration. Read More
-
Apple Sold 33.8 Million iPhones, 14.1 Million iPads, And 4.6 Million Macs In Q4 2013
Well, folks, Apple has just put up some mixed numbers in its fiscal Q4 2013 earnings release -- $37.5 billion in revenue and $7.5 billion in net profit to be exact -- but how exactly did the tech titan fare in terms of hardware sales? This time around Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones (which it notes is a record for Q4), 14.1 million iPads and 4.6 million Macs during the quarter. Read More
-
Apple Sends Out Set Of Slick Mac Pro Posters To Some Journalists
Apple sent out a set of slick Mac Pro posters to at least one journalist today. TidBITS author Jeff Carlson received a long black tube with four Mac Pro images as posters in it this morning. Other journalists like CNET’s Scott Stein (Photo by Dan Ackerman) and Dallas Morning News’ Jim Rossman also received the posters. Apple sends out printed material from time to time to promote… Read More
-
With iWork, Apple Walks It Back Before Moving Forward
Over the last few days there has been a lot of talk about Apple’s new direction for iWork, especially when it comes to the OS X versions of its productivity suite. At an event on Tuesday, the company announced that they would be making iWork free with purchase of a new device — but it also announced a redesign that many are seeing as a regression of the product. Specifically, many who use… Read More
-
This Week On The TC Gadgets Podcast: Apple’s New iPad Air And Traveling With Gadgets
Guten Tag, and welcome to a very special (Saturday) edition of the TechCrunch Gadgets Podcast. This week, Apple unveiled the iPad Air, the thinnest, lightest, and most powerful iPad yet. But is it an upgrade worth your cash? Is it light enough to truly become a one-handed device, as MG Siegler suggests? Read More
-
Jony Ive And Marc Newson Customize An Unreleased Mac Pro For (RED) Auction
Apple head of Human Interaction Jony Ive and designer Marc Newson have customized a one-off Mac Pro in brilliant crimson for the (RED) charity. Apple is a (PRODUCT)RED partner and often produces editions of its products for the organization, whose proceeds go to fighting to eliminate Aids. The charity recently announced that Apple alone had helped it raise over $65 million. The machine is… Read More
-
Apple.com Now Selling $20 OS X Mountain Lion And Lion Redemption Codes For Older Macs
Apple has begun selling OS X Mountain Lion redemption codes alongside OS X Lion for $20 each. Lion was previously available for purchase directly from Apple over the phone, but the company has decided to make it easier to purchase either version of the older OS X vintages directly online. The codes that you purchase can be redeemed on the Mac App Store to download and install OS X. We did some… Read More
-
Apple, Microsoft And Free Software
Apple announced this week that it will make its iWork suite of productivity applications free on new OS X and iOS devices. The company also made the Mavericks update to OS X free for all users, immediately. Microsoft recently released its Windows 8.1 update to Windows 8 for free, has begun to bundle its Office set of products with Windows RT, and now sells Office as a service through its… Read More
-
Tesla Snags Apple VP Of Mac Hardware To Lead New Vehicle Development
Apple VP of Product Design Doug Field is leaving the company for Tesla according to a press release from the automaker today. Field will head programs that will drive the development of new vehicles for the electric car maker. The hire was first spotted by CNBC. “Doug has demonstrated the leadership and technical talent to develop and deliver outstanding products, including what are widely… Read More
-
OS X Mavericks Review: Apple’s Mac Operating System Has A Need For Speed
OS X Mavericks, the first of Apple's post-big cat OS updates, is named for one of the nicest spots on Earth. Mavericks is a surf beach in California, and the operating system that takes its name definitely represents a new wave in Mac software, even though it isn’t drastic change from OS X 10.8. The changes Apple has made are for the better, though, and since it’s free, there’s no reason not… Read More