Tag Archives: Apple

Macintosh turns 30

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The Macintosh was introduced to the world on January 24, 1984. This year the Mac turns 30 years old and Apple is celebrating this major milestone with a special new portal on their website featuring an interactive, nostalgic and knowledgeable Mac Timeline. You can scrub through every year from 1984 to 2014 and discover how the Mac has made such a significant impact in the world. There’s also a section called My First Mac and you can share your story with the Apple community and learn what people did with their revolutionary computers.

And it wouldn’t be a proper Apple celebration without awe-inspiring video to go along with it. Embedded after the break are three. In “Thirty years of innovation” creative types like Moby and Hans Zimmer wax poetic about the Mac and how it changed their lives and even more so the world. The next video is even more powerful; on January 24, 2014–on the Mac’s 30 year anniversary–Apple sent 15 camera crews armed with iPhone 5s’ all around the world and the end result is pretty incredible. Over 70 hours of footage was edited down to a 1 minute 27 second clip that acknowledges the sheer power and capability of modern technology. Watch it–along with a behind-the-scenes video narrated by director Jake Scott (son of filmmaker Ridley Scott)–after the break.

Truly remarkable stuff. Happy Birthday, Mac. Continue reading Macintosh turns 30 →

Apple reports 2014 Q1 earnings: $13.1b profit on $57.6b revenue

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On January 27 Apple reported its 2014 first quarter financial results. Apple posted a record $13.1 billion profit on $57.6 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s the same $13.1 billion profit and up on $54.5 billion in revenue. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes, Software and Services. We love having the most satisfied, loyal and engaged customers, and are continuing to invest heavily in our future to make their experiences with our products and services even better.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold a record 51 million iPhones in the quarter (compared to 47.8 million in the year-ago quarter); a record 26 million iPads (compared to 22.9 million); and 4.8 million Macs (compared to 4.1 million). iPod sales continue to decline at a steady rate.

Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2014, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue between $42 billion and $44 billion.

[Via Apple]

iTunes shares 2013’s top-selling albums, movies, TV shows, apps & more

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Apple’s iTunes, App, and iBooks Stores have truly become the destination on the Internet to discover and download the latest and greatest in music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books. And every year the house that Jobs built tallies the best-selling media, so let’s take a look.

In music, Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience is crowned the top-selling album of 2013. Also landing in the top 15 are Imagine Dragons’ Night Visions, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist, and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. The top-selling song? M&R’s “Thrift Shop,” followed by Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive.” In addition to these top-selling lists, Apple has hand-picked Editor Choice awards; namely, JT is named Artist of the Year, M&R’s The Heist is Album of the Year, Lorde’s “Royals” is Song of the Year, and Kendrick Lamar (Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City) is Breakthrough Artist.

The top three best-selling movies are Skyfall, Wreck-It Ralph, and Argo. Apple named Gravity Best Movie and Despicable Me 2 Best Animated Movie. On TV, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, and The Walking Dead lead the top-selling series of 2013. Vince Gilligan’s masterpiece is TV Show of the Year, Scandal is Best Breakthrough, and Orphan Black is Best Discovery.

The best-selling paid app is Minecraft – Pocket Edition; also making that list is Heads Up!, Temple Run: Oz, and Angry Birds Star Wars. The best-selling freebie? Candy Crush Saga, of course, followed by Temple Run 2, Vine, Google Maps, and Snapchat.

The most popular books (fiction) are Dan Brown’s Inferno, E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey, and Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. Apple quite liked Tenth of December by George Saunders.

Click here to browse Apple’s Best of 2013 charts across all the various forms of media.

Apple makes Mac Pro available to order, ships in February

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“The future of the pro desktop” is finally here. This week Apple made it possible for (wealthy) consumers to order the new and marginally improved Mac Pro through Apple.com. First announced at WWDC ’13, the Mac Pro comes configured in two ways: the base model, starting at $2,999, comes packed with a 3.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 12GB 1866MHz DDR3 ECC memory, Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM each, and 256GB PCIe-based flash storage. The speedier $3,999 model sports a 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 16GB 1866MHz DDR3 ECC memory, Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each, and 256GB PCIe-based flash storage. From there these models can be further upgraded before checking out. Apple says units will starting shipping in February. If you’re a heavy gamer or a professional creative in the TV and movie industries, this cylindrical powerhouse is just what the doctor prescribed.

Apple reports 2013 Q4 earnings: $7.5b profit on $37.5b revenue

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On October 28 Apple reported its third quarter financial results. Apple posted a $7.5 billion profit on $37.5 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s down from a profit of $8.2 billion and slightly up on $36 billion in revenue. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We’re pleased to report a strong finish to an amazing year with record fourth quarter revenue, including sales of almost 34 million iPhones. We’re excited to go into the holidays with our new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, iOS 7, the new iPad mini with Retina Display and the incredibly thin and light iPad Air, new MacBook Pros, the radical new Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks and the next generation iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold 33.8 million iPhones in the quarter (compared to 26.9 million in the year-ago quarter); 14.1 million iPads (compared to 14 million); and 3.8 million Macs (compared to 4.6 million). iPod sales have declined year after year ever since the introduction of the iPhone, and interestingly Apple is no longer reporting how many units sold in this product department.

Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2014, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue between $55 billion and $58 billion.

[Via Apple]

Apple sets new iPhone record, outs updated iMacs

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Apple released the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on September 20 and just three days later it sold a record-breaking nine million of these new handsets. Also, more than 200 million iOS devices are now running Apple’s newly redesigned mobile operating system iOS 7, making it the fastest software upgrade in history.

“This is our best iPhone launch yet―more than nine million new iPhones sold―a new record for first weekend sales,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement. “The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we’ve sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone’s patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone.”

Elsewhere, Apple has updated its iMac lineup with fourth generation Intel “Haswell” quad-core processors, new graphics, next generation WiFi, and faster PCIe flash storage options. The entry-level 21.5-inch iMac features a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor and new Iris Pro graphics for improved integrated graphics performance. The high-end 21.5-inch model and both 27-inch models feature quad-core Intel Core i5 processors up to 3.4 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce 700 series graphics with twice the video memory and up to 40 percent faster performance than the previous generation. Customers can also upgrade to quad-core Intel Core i7 processors up to 3.5 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M series graphics with up to 4GB of video memory. Also, the iMacs now support 802.11ac WiFi that promises performance that is up to three times faster than the previous generation. The iMacs also support speedier PCIe-based flash storage that makes Fusion Drive and all-flash storage options up to 50 percent faster than before.

“iMac continues to be the example that proves how beautiful, fast and fun a desktop computer can be,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Marketing. “Inside its ultra-thin aluminum enclosure, the new iMac has the latest Intel processors, faster graphics, next generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage.”

[Via Apple 1, 2]

Apple announces colorful iPhone 5c, secure iPhone 5s & dates iOS 7

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On Tuesday Tim Cook hosted an Apple event in Cupertino that introduced not one but two new iPhones. Also, Apple’s next-gen mobile operating system iOS 7 now has a release date and the company’s productivity suite and creative apps are about to become even more popular. Let’s dive in, shall we? Continue reading Apple announces colorful iPhone 5c, secure iPhone 5s & dates iOS 7 →

Apple reports 2013 Q3 earnings: $6.9b profit on $35.3b revenue

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On July 23 Apple reported its third quarter financial results. Apple posted a $6.9 billion profit on $35.3 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s down from a profit of $8.8 billion and slightly up on $38 billion in revenue. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services. We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold 31.2 million iPhones in the quarter (compared to 26 million in the year-ago quarter); 14.6 million iPads (compared to 17 million); 3.8 million Macs (compared to 4 million); and iPod sales dropped 32 percent year-over-year.

Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion.

[Via Apple]

WWDC 2013: Apple intros OS X Mavericks, iOS 7, new MacBook Airs & next-gen Mac Pro

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This week Apple held its latest World Wide Developers Conference from San Francisco, introducing to the world the next versions of OS X and iOS, as well as upgrading its MacBook Air lineup and previewing the next generation Mac Pro. For the full rundown, jump after the break. Continue reading WWDC 2013: Apple intros OS X Mavericks, iOS 7, new MacBook Airs & next-gen Mac Pro →

Apple reports 2013 Q2 earnings: $9.5b profit on $43.6b revenue

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On April 23 Apple reported its second quarter financial results. Apple posted a $9.5 billion profit on $43.6 billion in revenue. Compare this to one year ago, that’s down from a profit of $11.6 billion on $39.2 billion in revenue. That’s the first year-over-year drop in profits and revenue in nearly a decade for the tech company. But still, stay assured Apple is doing just fine in the big scheme of things; they currently have a healthy cash balance of $145 billion. Says CEO Tim Cook: “We are pleased to report record March quarter revenue thanks to continued strong performance of iPhone and iPad. Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software and services, and we are very excited about the products in our pipeline.”

Now let’s break it down by product category. Apple sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter (compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter); 19.5 million iPads (compared to 11.8 million); just under 4 million Macs (compared to 4 million); and 5.6 million iPods (compared to 7.7 million). Elsewhere, the App Store has seen 45 billion downloads, and iCloud has amassed 300 million users.

Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2013, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue between $33.5 billion to $35.5 billion.

[Via Apple; Engadget]

Apple upgrades MBP Retina Display processors, slashes entry point prices

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Last Wednesday Apple updated its MacBook Pro with Retina Display lineup with new processors and more affordable prices. The 13-inch MBP with Retina Display now starts at $1,499 (with 128GB of flash storage), and for $1,699 you can opt for a model with a new 2.6GHz processor and 256GB of flash storage. The 15-inch MBP with Retina also received a processor upgrades now featuring models complete with 2.4GHz quad-core and 2.7 GHz quad-core processors. Additionally, the Pro’s slimmer cousin the 13-inch MacBook Air also saw a price drop and now starts at $1,399 (with 256GB of flash storage). These new MBP and MBA models are available at these prices and with these specs today at Apple.com, Apple Stores, and authorized resellers.

[Via Apple]

iTunes Store reaches 25 billion downloads

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On February 6 Apple announced a new milestone for the company: more than 25 billion songs have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store. That’s an incredible feat, one that the App Store hit right around this time last year. Phillip Lüpke from Germany was the lucky person who nabbed the 25 billionth track–“Monkey Drums” (Goksel Vancin Remix) by Chase Buch–and won himself a €10,000 iTunes Gift Card courtesy of Apple.

“We are grateful to our users whose passion for music over the past 10 years has made iTunes the number one music retailer in the world,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services. “Averaging over 15,000 songs downloaded per minute, the iTunes Store connects music fans with their favorite artists, including global sensations like Adele and Coldplay and new artists like The Lumineers, on a scale we never imagined possible.”

One wonders how long it will take until the Store surpasses 50 billion songs downloaded. Dubbed “the world’s most popular music store” I surmise the company will reach that goal sooner rather than later.

[Via Apple]