This week Apple released iOS version 6.1. In addition to stability and security fixes, the new version also supports LTE connectivity for more carriers, allows movie tickets to be bought through Siri, and lets iTunes Match users download individual songs. Another noted change is a large “Report a Problem” button in the Maps app, a sign that Apple is looking for feedback to help improve the data.
Apple also announced a new model to the iPad line. The new one is another version of the 4th generation iPad that has 128GB of storage, up from the previous maximum of 64GB. It will be available on Feb. 5.
There was also an update to Apple TV this week, with a new 5. 2 version of that operating system adding the ability to stream iTunes purchased music directly from Internet, use Bluetooth keyboards, and send audio from Apple TV over AirPlay to other devices. Rumors of a new Apple TV model were both squashed and confirmed by Apple as the company stated that there will be a model update, but the changes will be internal only and not include any new features.
Apple reported more than $54 billion in revenue in the previous quarter, $13 billion in profit. This was from almost 48 million iPhone sales, almost 23 million iPads, almost 13 million iPods and more than 4 million Macs. Lower iMac sales were apparently due to inventory problems as the new iMac models were only available in very limited numbers.
Apple’s stock price was down sharply this morning as Wall Street expected more iPhone sales, and Apple’s guidance for the next quarter were below expectations.
Apple TV had a good year in 2012 with 2 million units being sold in the final quarter. Including media purchases and rentals using Apple TV, it is estimated that the device is now a $500 million business.
Apple did well in 2012 with cloud services. The number of iCloud users reportedly grew from 85 to 250 million during the year. iMessage accounts for about 2 billion messages sent each day.
In other news, the movie jOBS is scheduled to come to theaters on April 19. stars. The Steve Jobs biopic stars Ashton Kutcher and will show at the Sundance Film Festival tomorrow.
Apple news this week was dominated by a recent vulnerability in the Java plug-in for web browsers that affected all computers, not just Macs. The potential threat was pretty much a non-issue as Apple used the OS X “Xprotect” system to disable affected versions of Java on Macs. Disabling Java in browsers was also recommended by many, including MacMost (http://macmost.com/disable-java-in-your-browser.html). Oracle quickly issued an update to Java to fix this vulnerability.
FaceTime may soon realize its full potential. The largest iPhone carrier in the U.S., AT&T, is about to allow FaceTime video chat over its network to all customers except those still using the original unlimited data plan. Other major carriers already allow FaceTime.
On Wall Street AAPL had a busy week as the stock was hit with fears that iPhone parts orders have been cut. But other analysts disagreed saying the cuts were only a sign of changes in Apple’s supply lines and the stock rebounded.
It has been 6 years since the original iPhone announcement and the disappointing news that it would only be available in the U.S. and on a single carrier. But since then, Apple has slowly increased international availability and expanded to almost every U.S. carrier.
This week saw even more activity as Walmart began offering the iPhone with an unlimited data plan and rumors increased that T-Mobile will soon offer the iPhone. Currently, you can bring your unlocked iPhone to T-Mobile and reportedly hundreds of thousands of people do just that.
There are rumors, again, that a low-cost iPhone may come out this year, but perhaps only to certain countries like China and other emerging markets. In the past rumors of lower-priced iPhones have only led to Apple’s carrier partners keeping older versions of the iPhone, like the iPhone 3Gs or 4, available as a free-with-plan option.
In other news, Apple tweaked its product offerings this week. You can now get a Fusion drive with a 21.5-inch iMac. The prices went down and options increased for official Thunderbolt cables as well.
Apple set its earning report date for Jan. 23, amid talk from analysts that it achieved yet another record holiday quarter. One analyst believes Apple sold as many as 50 million iPhones and 24 million iPads. Meanwhile, Wall Street pushed Apple stock up after lawmakers reached an agreement concerning the U.S. “fiscal cliff.”
One hiccup did arise over the new year as the Do Not Disturb function of iOS devices stopped automatically turning itself off. The bug will fix itself, according to Apple, on Jan. 7.
Apple news sites haven’t had much to report on over the holidays, but there are plenty of rumors of what is to come next year. We’ll undoubtedly get new iPad and iPhone models at some point, most likely a year after the previous models. But some sites predict a new iPad mini model as early as the spring. And others even predict a fifth generation iPad in the coming months, despite the fact that the fourth generation iPad is still pretty new and followed closely after the third generation model.
Other, more bizarre rumors indicate we’ll have new Apple accessories next year, including a watch that displays data from your iPhone and a motion-controlled mouse for your Mac. The latter idea comes from recent patent filings. Apple is always researching new ideas and filing patents, but few of those become actual products.
The online Apple Store is offering free next day shipping in order to encourage gift buying. According to this special holiday shipping chart you can order some iPods, iPhones, iPads and Macs as late as Friday and still get them by December 25.
iTunes 11 got its first update last week with various improvements such as the return of the ability to see duplicate items. Apple also released version 6.0.2 of iOS for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini that fixes some wifi issues.
Time magazine featured Apple CEO Tim Cook as one of the runners-up for Person of the Year. Steve Jobs was featured many times in that special issue of the magazine, but never won the top spot.
There are rumors that Apple may be moving forward with a second generation of the iPad mini sooner than expected. While Apple usually releases generations about a year later, some analysts expect to see a new one as early as the spring.
Google released a free Google Maps app for the iPhone yesterday. The new app allows iPhone users to return to using Google Maps instead of Apple’s new Maps app.
However, it also includes features that were never available in the original Maps app, such as the ability to sign in to your Google account and sync places and searches as well as fast vector-based maps. It also includes features missed by iOS users since the release of iOS 6 such as Street View.
But the most interesting new feature is turn-by-turn spoken directions. It was reported that Google’s refusal to add this feature to the original Maps app was Apple’s reason for breaking away from Google and creating its own maps solution.
While this new app is only designed for the iPhone screen size, the has been reported that Google will be updating the app for the iPad soon, as well as adding an offline mode.
This week’s hot topic among Apple enthusiasts has been iTunes 11. While most praise its improved speed and slightly cleaner interface, others have lamented the loss of cover flow and have been struggling to find the new locations of functions. You can see the MacMost video on iTunes 11 for an overview.
When iMacs started shipping last week, some machines arrived labeled “Assembled in America.” It now appears that this is the beginning of an effort by Apple to bring some manufacturing back to the USA.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed in an interview this week that he plans to have one whole line of Macs assembled in America in 2013. In the meantime, investigators have determined that the Macs already being built here may be coming from the vicinity of Fremont, California. This is where the original Macs were manufactured in the 1980s.
An interview with Cook will air tonight on NBC’s Rock Center. It is expected that he will hint at future plans for Apple, including a possible television device.
The new 21.5-inch iMac will go on sale in November as promised — the last day of November. The new iMac features a much thinner design than the previous models, plus a 2.7 GHz quad-core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 1TB drive. The Fusion Drive will also be available as an option. The 27-inch iMac will go on sale in December.
Updates to both OS X and iTunes for Mac should be coming soon, with a new version of iTunes as early as later today and OS X 10.8.3 in the coming weeks. The new version of iTunes may include a new store interface and perhaps more iCloud integration.
There are reports that Apple is moving quickly to come out with an improved version of its much-criticized iOS Maps app. The executive in charge of the original app has been reportedly fired, and Apple has been working hard on improvements with some external help.
Apple will again be offering special deals on the day after U.S. Thanksgiving. It sent out emails earlier with week with links to a special page that teases the event.
In the past, the sales haven’t been anything spectacular, with just a small discount on selected Macs and iOS devices. However, contrast this with the fact that Apple never reduces prices at any other time. Plus, you can get these deals at the online Apple Store, so you don’t need to get up early or wait in line.
The Apple Store isn’t the only place you can find discounts on Apple products this week. Many major retailers like Best Buy and Target also are advertising sales that include iPads and iTunes gift cards.
Apple moved forward with the availability of newly announced products this week. LTE-equipped iPads and iPad minis began shipping this week to those that pre-ordered first. Both show as shipping in two weeks on the Apple Store site and there are reports of these going on sale in retail stores this week. iPhone 5 supplies seem to be improving with some customers able to get a hold of one within days of ordering. However, the new iMacs are still listed as shipping in November (21.5-inch) and December (27-inch). There is at least one rumor that these may be delayed until after the new year, but Apple still officially lists November and December.
Apple and phone maker HTC have agreed to a 10-year licensing deal, settling patent disputes between the two companies. While details are unknown, it seems that the companies will pay each other for using technology patents in their products and agree not to sue each other. A similar, but more heated, patent war is going on right now between Apple and Samsung. Apple will most likely use the HTC agreement to show that it is possible for companies to settle differences and work together.
The new iPad and iPad mini went on sale last Friday and easily outsold the 3rd generation iPad on its opening weekend. Apple reported 3 million combined sales, despite only wi-fi versions of the two iPads being available. Apple Stores were sold out of the Most, if not all, Apple Stores sold out of the iPad mini. Only higher-end 64GB models remained in some stores.
Apple is unlikely to make any new product announcements from now until the end of the year. It has updated almost its entire product line in the last few months and is most likely set for the holiday shopping season. New iMacs were announced last month, but are not expected to ship until later this month and in December for the 27-inch models. Current shipping times for the iPhone 5 remain at 3-4 weeks. But MacBook Pros with retina displays are shown as being In Stock.
The iPad mini and the new 4th Generation iPad are due to hit Apple Stores tomorrow, while shipments are on their way to homes. Apple sold out of iPad mini models about three days after online preorders went live.
Two Apple senior vice presidents will we leaving the company shortly. Scott Forstall, in charge of iOS came to Apple with Steve Jobs in 1997 and was even occasionally mentioned in the press as a possible CEO candidate. The are rumors that his refusal to sign an apology for the shortcomings of the new Maps app may have played a part in this change. He will remain a special advisor to Apple until next year. John Browett took over retail at Apple just last year and not much has been reported about his departure.
Last week Apple reported record profits for the 4th quarter with nearly 27 million iPhones sold, 14 million iPads and 5 million Macs. It was also reported that sales of the Apple TV topped 5 million units in the last year.
Apple’s Tuesday announcements included no less than four major new hardware updates and one new product. As expected, they released an iPad mini, a 7.9-inch screen version of the popular iPad, for only $329. In addition, a new thiner iMac, new MacBook Pro and new Mac mini were shown.
The new iPad mini comes alongside a new 4th generation full-size iPad. This new model is more or less the same as the 3rd generation but with a faster A6X processor and the new Lightning dock connector. The iPad mini has all of the same capabilities as the full-size model but with a slower A5 processor similar to the one in the iPad 2.
The new iMac sports a much thiner design and new hard drive options. In addition to opting for a standard hard drive or solid state drive, buyers can get an Apple Fusion drive which is a combination of the two.
A new Mac mini also offers the Fusion drive as an option, and features improved specifications over the previous model in almost all respects. A new MacBook Pro model was also announced with a 13-inch Retina display.
The new iPads can be pre-ordered tomorrow and will start shipping on Nov. 2. The new Mac mini and MacBook Pro are available now, but the iMac won’t be available until November.
Apple sent out invitations to the press for a special event on Oct. 23 at San Jose’s California Theater. The invitation promises: “We’ve got a little more to show you.” The “little” perhaps hints at the announcement of the rumored iPad Mini, a 7.85-inch version of the iPad. Bloggers have been speculating for months about the device, but specifics are still hazy. Even the name of the new device could be something unexpected.
Reportedly, 24 new iPad models have been showing up in retail databases. This could mean an iPad Mini with two colors, three memory sizes and four wireless configurations. Or, it could also mean updated versions of the full-size iPad as well as a new Mini model.
In addition, there are some rumors that Apple may release new MacBooks and iMacs at the event, and even a new Mac Mini. The strongest of these rumors points to a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display. Currently, only the 15-inch MacBook Pro has a retina display.
Research firm IDC came out with its quarterly numbers showing that Macs now have a 13.6 percent share of new PC sales, the largest share in recent history. However, the overall market for PCs is down significantly and the total number of Mac sales is down, though still doing better relatively than PC sales.
The downturn in PC sales could simply be because businesses and consumers are waiting for Windows 8 to come out later this month before buying a new computer. Likewise, rumor sites say they are expecting new iMacs soon. However, it is also possible that the iPad and Android tablets are cutting significantly into sales. With consumers sometimes purchase a tablet instead of a new computer, the industry does not place them in the same class as PCs.
Apple is also looking to revitalize iPod nano sales with a new model that began shipping this week. Commercials for the new iPod started airing on television yesterday. Sales of non-iOS iPods have been down in recent years because of the iPhone and iPod touch.
Now that September’s iPhone and iPod announcements are behind, attention is turning back to the possibility of a new “iPad Mini.” In fact, the Wall Street Journal has published a report that production is already underway. Fortune has reported that press invites to the next Apple announcement will go out on Oct. 10.
It is thought that the this smaller version of the iPad will have similar capabilities to the full-size model, but will be smaller and with a lower price tag. It is possible that it will have a standard display, rather than a high resolution retina display, and perhaps less-capable cameras and battery life. But like with any new Apple product, some rumors are bound to be wrong, while others may be right. Even the name of the new device may be different that expected.
Seems that Apple cannot release a new version of iOS or a new iPhone without at least some controversy. This time it is the new Maps app. This Maps app, created by Apple and using a new map sdatabase owned by Apple, replaces the old app which used Google Maps data.
With the change comes a change in features. The big new feature is turn-by-turn spoken directions. The big missing feature is Google’s Street View.
Instead of Street View, Apple Maps includes Flyover — 3D renderings of buildings in major downtown areas. Apple Maps also ties in to Yelp for reviews but it lacks public transportation or walking directions.
The reason for the new app reportedly comes from Google’s reluctance to allow spoken directions in the old app, instead reserving that key feature only for rival Android phones.
Complaints about the new app include losing Street View, public transportation and walking directions, and inaccuracies in the new maps database. The Google maps database has been refined and corrected over a period of almost 10 years, while the Apple Maps database is just now being used by the public for the first time.
There are rumors of a coming new maps app from Google that iOS users can get from the app store. In the meantime, some of the features of Google maps can be accessed in iOS in the Safari browser. There are also a variety of other 3rd-party maps apps in the iOS app store.
Wednesday was a busy day for Apple as it pushed out a new version of iOS, many updates to iOS apps, OS X 10.8.2 and updates to many Mac apps as well.
The iOS 6 launch held no surprises as the software has been tested by developers for many months now and Apple has listed and demonstrated the new features for a while. But this is the first time most people have had the chance to use the new Maps app, panorama photo mode, Passbook and new Siri features. Comments have been mixed, with some focusing on the differences between the new Apple Maps app and the old Google app.
This new version of OS X brings Facebook integration and enhancements to Game Center, Messages, Reminders and Notes. Overshadowed by many of the day’s announcements was the addition of shared Reminders lists, support for shared photo streams on the Mac, and an update to the iOS Cards app making it work better on the iPad.
The week will end with the release of the iPhone 5. Most of the initial shipments of the phone should arrive in mailboxes tomorrow, and in-store sales will begin, most likely with long lines.
