Apple refreshed all of its small devices on Wednesday as well as giving us an official date for the launch of iOS 6.
The new iPhone 5 will come out on September 21, and will feature a taller screen, LTE connectivity, better camera and a new A6 processor. The new iPod touch will match the iPhone’s screen size and come out in October. The touch will also be able to use Siri for the first time. The iOS 6 update gives Siri to the new iPad as well.
The taller iPhone and iPod touch will have more vertical screen space that can be used by the interface and apps. Older third-party apps will still work on the new phone without utilizing the extra pixels. The improved camera can be used along with a special panoramic shooting mode to take even larger photos.
The new iPod nano also has a larger screen, and will give the iPod line back the ability to show pictures and video. It will not run iOS 6, but remain a simpler device like the previous iPod nano’s that came before it.
The Wednesday event was full of other surprises, like new in-ear headphones called EarPods, a new smaller dock connector on all devices, new iTunes 11 software across all platforms, and new colors for the iPod shuffle.
The invitation to next week’s Apple press event all but confirms that it will be about the next version of the iPhone. The invite shows the date, a 12, leaving the shadow of a 5, apparently referring to the iPhone 5.
Rumors have been suggesting that this event will be dedicated to the next iPhone, although reports are all over the board about what new features may be included. Many agree that it will include a new, smaller, dock connector and a taller screen. It is also possible that this event will include the announcement of a matching iPod touch.
However, most believe that a second event in October will focus on other products, such as the possibility of a smaller version of the iPad.
Apple news this week was dominated by a Wired reporter’s story of how his iCloud, Amazon, Twitter and Gmail account were all compromised because of the way he had the four tied together. Key to this situation were the fact that Amazon shows the last four digits of your credit card, and Apple allowed those digits to be used for over-the-phone account recovery. Both of those holes have now been plugged by those companies.
The compromise highlighted other issues, such as the importance of backing up your Mac. Look for a MacMost video tomorrow on how to avoid problems like this by using several simple security measures.
Two releases this week added two major video providers to Apple devices. Hulu, the service that streams television shows for a set monthly fee, is now available on Apple TV through a system update. The new app requires a paid subscription but goes a long way toward making Apple TV a viable alternative to cable for many people.
On the iPad, a new Amazon Instant Video app beings that service to the device for subscribers. This is a competitor to Netflix, which is also available in the iPad.
The new retina-display MacBook now comes in a greater variety of built-to-order options. There are larger SSD drives, more processor varieties and some memory options as well.
As we move toward fall, more evidence mounts for a possible September announcement and release of a new iPhone. Sharp’s president let slip that his company would start shipping displays for the new iPhone as early as later this month. A new version of iOS, now being tested by developers, is expected to be released at the same time as a new iPhone.
As expected, Apple released OS X 10.8 “Mountain Lion” on Wednesday in the Mac App Store. The new version of OS X costs $19.99 and can be installed on top of Lion or Snow Leopard. It includes the new apps Reminders, Notes and Messages and new functionality such as notifications, game center and dictation. You can see our look at the new features in Mountain Lion in this video.
It seems that updates are going smoothly with the exception of users who had purchased a Mac in the last few weeks and were given a free redemption code to get Mountain Lion. Some of those codes have not been working and Apple has moved quickly to hand out new codes. Some users are also complaining that OS X 10.7 “Lion” is no longer available which could be a problem for those wanting to update older machines that will run Lion, but not Mountain Lion.
In addition to the OS X release, new versions of many Apple apps such as Pages and Keynote have been released to support new Mountain Lion functionality. Pages, for instance, can now save and open documents from iCloud and use dictation.
This week Apple also released its quarterly financial report. Although they increased sales year-over-year and beat their own guidance, Wall Street showed disappointment that they did not beat analyst expectations.
With the clock ticking toward the end of July, it is likely that Apple will release the new version of OS X, Mountain Lion, next week. Apple reports quarterly earnings on Tuesday, and rumor has it that Apple Store employees have been asked to work extra hours next week. Mountain Lion will be distributed online, via the Mac App Store, but store employees might just be preparing to answer questions and provide assistance.
Rumors are building in advance of the fall release season for Apple. There are reports of the next generation of iPhones being manufactured, a small-screen iPad, and new iMacs. Apple usually tries to introduce new hardware before the end of October for the holiday shopping season, so it is likely that we’ll see updates and new products in the coming months.
The next version of OS X, Mountain Lion, will be launched by the end of this month according to Apple. And some signs point to them being right on schedule.
This past week Apple released a gold master of the OS to developer, which is usually the very last test release before launch. Apple also asked developers who were working on Mountain Lion versions of their software to start submitting those versions to the Mac App Store.
In addition, Apple posted a special “how to upgrade” page that includes which Macs are eligible for the new OS. As expected, some older 2008 and earlier models are not compatible with Mountain Lion and will need to remain with Lion as their OS. You can see the complete list as well as other upgrade information at http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/. It will cost only $19.99, the lowest priced OS X upgrade ever offered. It will only be available as a download from the Mac App Store.
Apple announced and released a new version of the MacBook Pro this week, the biggest announcement at Monday’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote. The new MacBook Pro is the first laptop to feature a retina display, similar to the new iPad. The new machine also comes with an SSD hard drive, no optical drive, HDMI output and a redesigned case featuring a new fan and battery system.
The rest of the MacBook line was given an incremental boost with new processors and memory. The 17-inch Macbook Pro was retired. The Mac Pro was also given a small incremental increase in power, but remains the only Mac without Thunderbolt support. Apple did add this week that new professional Macs will be coming in 2013.
In other news at the keynote, Apple revealed that the next version of OS X for Macs will come out in July. A new version of iOS is now in the hands of developers. iOS 6 will bring Siri support to new iPads, and Facebook integration, a new Maps app, and many other features.
Apple will kick off next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference with a keynote at 10 a.m. pacific time on Monday. Rumor sites have been publishing article after article claiming evidence that new Macs will be announced at the keynote.
Of particular interest is the potential for new Mac Pros, a line that has not been updated in a while. The new Mac Pros may feature faster processors and memory, Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, and other features. There are also rumors of new MacBook Pros, a larger screen MacBook Air and new iMacs. The Mac Pro refresh can also be considered likely as the WWDC is an event for developers and Apple has announced new developer hardware at the event in the past.
We can also expect to hear more about Mountain Lion and iOS 6, the next versions of Apple’s two operating systems. While Mountain Lion has been in developer’s hands for a while now, this may be the announcement of an official public release date. iOS 6, on the other hand, has not been talked about previously. There is much speculation about new features in iOS 6, such as Siri integration with 3rd-party apps, new mapping functionality, and Facebook integration.
Apple news was dominated this week by CEO Tim Cook’s appearance at the All Things Digital Conference. He was interviewed on stage and asked about Apple’s future. While he didn’t announce any new products, he gave hints to Apple’s direction.
He mentioned that new features are in store for the iPhone Siri feature. Since Siri is merely send audio to Apple’s servers and responds remotely, it is easy for Apple to change how Siri works without any hardware or even software updates.
He also danced around questions about a future television product, without dismissing the possibility. Another issue was better Facebook integration with OS X and iOS, and Cook seemed to hint that it is in the works.
Cook also responded to criticism over Apple using overseas manufacturing. He pointed out that the iPad’s A5 processor and all iOS device “gorilla glass” is made in the U.S.
Today U.S. pre-paid mobile carrier Cricket announced they will start selling the iPhone. While the phone will cost more than from other carriers, because of the lack of subsidies, monthly costs will be less. The idea of no having a long-term contract may attract many customers.
Many rumors of new iPhones and Mac this week centered around improved screens. Some reports say that new MacBooks and iMacs this year will feature retina displays — higher density displays that are used on the iPhone and iPad. The change could be announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June along with developer tools to allow Mac app makers to build resolution-independent interfaces.
Rumors also persist that a new iPhone may feature a slightly larger screen. This could mean simply that the number of pixels on the already-dense screens remains the same, but the physical size of the screen changes. Or, it could mean a taller screen that will continue to run existing apps without using the extra space, or leaving the extra space for notifications and other information. A new iPhone could be released in the fall, one year after the current model.
Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.4 this week with bug and security fixes. No major new features were introduced. You can get it by running Software Update.
In addition, a new version of Safari, 5.1.7 is available. This version forces users to get the latest version of the Flash plug-in. It is important from a security standpoint to keep Flash up-to-date as well as your browser and OS, and it is interesting that Apple is now making that a requirement.
Three new regional U.S. carriers announced they will be selling the iPhone. Kentucky’s Bluegrass Cellular, Kansas’ Nex-Tech Wireless and California’s Golden State Cellular will all start carrying the iPhone on May 18.
Adobe released the next version of its software suite, CS6. This includes new versions of Photoshop, Premiere, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator and Flash Pro. The applications can be bought in the traditional manner, but starting tomorrow can also be acquired through Adobe’s new online subscription service, Creative Cloud, for a monthly subscription fee.
Once again Apple’s quarterly report wowed investors, causing the stock to surge on Wednesday. Apple announced a profit of $11.6 billion on $39.2 billion in revenue. It sold 35.1 million iPhones, 11.8 million iPads and 4 million Macs.
In a conference call after the announcement, Apple confirmed again that Mac OS 10.8, Mountain Lion, will be out in late summer. In the education market the iPad outsold Macs two to one. iCloud now has 125 million users.
On Wednesday Apple announced the dates for its annual Worldwide Developer Conference: June 11 to 15. Tickets sold out in two hours.
Reports indicate that Apple is now offering MobileMe users free upgrades to Snow Leopard to help them transition to iCloud before the June 30 deadline. MobileMe users who are still using Leopard have been getting notices of the free offer. Previously $30, the Snow Leopard upgrade would give these users the Mac App Store, which is required to then purchase Lion, which is in turn required to get a free iCloud account. MobileMe is schedule to shut down on June 30.
For users of older Macs, there is no upgrade path. Both Snow Leopard and Lion require Intel processors. The transition from PowerPC to Intel processors began and was completed in 2006, making all PowerPC Macs at least 5 years old. However, some of the earliest Intel Macs do not support Lion as it requires at least an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.
The U.S. Department of Justice will take Apple and publishers to court over their pricing system for ebooks. Apple and the publishers use the agency model in which the publishers set the prices for the books and the retailers, like Apple and Amazon, cannot sell below those prices. The alternative would be wholesale pricing, which lets the retailers sell the books at any price they wish. The DOJ sees the agency model as illegal price fixing. But there is much debate about which model is better for consumers, retailers and publishers.
The threat of the Flashback trojan malware is waning as more people update their Macs and become aware of the threat and how to easily thwart it. Apple is reportedly attempting to take legal action against those responsible, and is also working on a removal tool according to this support note.
More regional U.S. wireless carriers have announced this week the availability of the iPhone. nTelos Wireless in Virginia, Appalachian Wireless in Kentucky, Cellcom in Wisconsin and Alaska Communications have announced they are getting the iPhone. Looks like April 20 is the start date for all of those networks.
The annoying Flashback trojan, a rare piece of malware that can infect Macs, became a little more dangerous for a short time this week when it appeared as part of a Java exploit. Formerly the trojan only appeared in obviously untrustworthy downloads on sketchy web sites. This exploit allowed Macs to become infected be simply visiting a malicious web site — though no web sites were mentioned in any of the reports. Apple responded immediately this week with a Java patch you can get by simply running Software Update. Another trojan surfaced last week that relied on the user having an older version of Microsoft Word and downloading a suspicious file. As always, of the easiest and most effective ways to protect yourself against malware is to keep your Mac and all of your software updated. Check out MacMost’s Mac Virus and Malware Information Center.
The controversy over antenna issues that plagued the iPhone 4 drew to a close this week as Apple offers $15 to those affected by the issue. You are only eligible for the money if you are in the U.S. and did not take advantage of Apple’s offer for a free case back in 2010. Those eligible were contacted via email.
Apple released a minor iTunes update with bug fixes this week. You can get the update via Software Update on your Mac.
U.S. Congress continues to take an interest in iPhone privacy issues. They have asked for information from dozens of app developers about what information about users they gather and how the use that information. Apple itself has begun to refuse apps that use the iPhone’s universal device identifier (UDID) as a method of identifying the iPhone as a unique device across multiple apps.
Apple sold about 3 million new iPads last weekend. The usual lines formed outside Apple stores and shipping times for the new iPad slipped back several weeks as initial inventory sold out. In addition, the new iPhoto app reported sold a million copies in the app store.
On Monday Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a change to Apple’s finances as it will begin to offer stock dividends later this year. In addition, Apple will buy back $10 billion in stock over the next three years. This is in response to the nearly $100 billion in cash that Apple currently has on the books as a result of profits.
There was an interesting development this week in Apple’s ongoing Chinese labor controversies. One of the key counterpoints to Apple’s use of Chinese factories came from an episode of This American Life, a radio program that aired in January. That episode told the story of a man who visited the factories to find underage workers, injuries and poisonings. But it turns out that much of those details were fabricated and the producers of the show have issued a retraction.
Apple offered two ways to pre-order the new iPad: delivery or in-store pick up. It appears that both methods have sold out, with the online Apple store showing 2-3 weeks for shipping of new orders. However, it has been reported that Apple stores will still have new iPads for sale on Friday morning for those willing to wait in line.
Many stores have posted an 8 a.m. opening time for Friday. In the past, stores have formed two separate lines: one for pre-orders that have been paid for in advance, and another for everyone else.
In other news, Apple announced that iWork.com will be shutting down on July 31. The free service allowed users to share Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents online. iCloud also has similar functionality and Apple has decided to concentrate on that instead.
Apple announced a new iPad yesterday. Dubbed simply the “new iPad” or the “3rd Generation” iPad in the Apple Store, the device looks similar to the iPad 2 but contains a number of internal improvements. Among those are new quad-core A5X processor, a better rear camera and a high resolution retina display.
In addition to new hardware there are also new versions of many Apple apps. Both GarageBand and iMovie get new features, which Pages, Numbers and Keynote get minor updates mostly to take advantage of the retina display. A new iPhoto app for iPad adds more advanced editing and sharing options than the default Photos app.
The new iPad will be available in Apple Stores on March 16. There are three memory options: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. In addition to the basic wifi-only models you can get 4G LTE-capable models for either AT&T or Verizon. Prices range from $499 to $829. Apple will continue to sell 16GB versions of the iPad 2 starting at $399.
A new Apple TV will also go on sale on March 16. It will be capable of full 1080p HD. A new icon-based Apple TV interface was unveiled today and is available for the original Apple TV 2 via a software update.
