Apple sent out a special announcement to the press this week inviting them to a presentation on March 7. The invite states: “We have something you really have to see. And touch.”
Rumor sites predict that this will be the announcement of the iPad 3 which will sport a new high resolution retina display and a faster processor. Some say there will also be a 4G data connection option. Other reports specify a slightly different case design.
It is hard to predict when the iPad 3 will be available. Sometimes Apple makes new products available immediately upon announcement. At other times a special launch occurs a week or two afterward.
Attention peaked this week on working conditions at Chinese factories where Apple products are built. ABC’s Nightline took a look inside the Foxconn factory on Tuesday night’s episode. You can see the video here.
While talk about how Apple and other electronics companies manufacture their products has been going on for years, renewed interest started last month when the New York Times published an article looking in to the human costs of the process. Apple CEO Tim Cook will be commenting on this issue at today’s shareholder meeting.
In other news Apple is planning on building a new data center in Oregon. The new center, likely years away from completion, will use solar power like Apple’s North Carolina data center. It will also take advantage of the cool central Oregon climate to keep energy use down.
A new version of Mac OS X was announced this morning, named “Mountain Lion.” The new Mac OS X 10.8 was released for testing to developers. General release is scheduled for late this summer.
New features will include new apps and more: Messages, Notes, Reminders, Game Center, notifications, Twitter integration and AirPlay mirroring. All of these features mirror or tie in to similar features in iOS.
The release of iBooks Author brought criticism several weeks ago that the license agreement forbade users from exporting PDFs to be sold outside of Apple’s own store. But Apple clarified things this week by stating that the restriction is only for the iBooks format, which can only be used in iBooks anyway. iBooks Author can be used to produce PDFs that can be sold anywhere, and even iBooks-formatted files that can be distributed freely anywhere.
Apple continues to push the new feature of Lion Internet Recovery to more Macs. Many 2010 models received a firmware update this week that allows them to boot using firmware, connect to Apple servers and install Lion onto an empty hard drive. This functionality is needed as Lion does not come on a DVD like previous operating systems.
Apple released updates to Mac OS X Lion and Final Cut Pro this week. The OS X update, version 10.7.3 includes support for some new languages, as well as bug fixes and security fixes. The security updates are also available for Snow Leopard users. These updates can be downloaded by simply running Software Update.
Final Cut Pro version 10.0.3 adds multicam project support, allowing videos to automatically sync using timecodes or audio. Also included are new chroma keying features, a media relinking interface, better support for XML 1.1 and broadcast monitoring over Thunderbolt devices. The update can be downloaded using the Mac App Store.
In other news, apple has hired a new senior vice president for retail: John Browett, former CEO of Dixons, a european electronics retailer. He replaces Ron Johnson who oversaw the creation and evolution of the Apple Stores before leaving to become CEO of JC Penney last year.
It seems that almost every quarter Apple breaks new records. With $46 billion in revenue and $13 billion in net profit the 20122 holiday quarter was more than twice as profitable as 2010.
More than half of Apple’s revenue comes from the iPhone which sold 37 million units. iPad sales totaled more than 15 million. Also more than 5 million Macs were sold, a new record for a quarter. The Mac sales broke down into 3.7 million MacBooks and 1.5 million desktops.
This morning Apple announced a new iBooks app, and a content creation tool to match. The announcement came at a special presentation in New York featuring top Apple brass.
iBooks 2 for the iPad is available right now in the iOS app store and improves on the original by adding support for more graphics and animation, and even interactive widgets. Note-taking has also been improved. To get iBooks 2, simply go to the App Store on your iPad and update your apps. The new version of iBooks should replace the old one.
The non-Apple tech world is focused on the Consumer Electronics Show this week, leaving Apple news outlets to reminisce on fourth quarter and holiday sales and look forward to Apple’s next move. A Piper Jaffray analyst estimates that Apple sold 30 million iPhones last quarter, higher than expectations and up from last year. He said that the iPhone now accounts for nearly half of Apple’s revenue, and the iPad for 21 percent.
The MacBook Air line showed an increase in sales of 20 percent according to some reports. This contrasts with sales in the rest of the laptop industry which were down.
Apple confirmed this week that it purchased Anobit, a maker of high performance flash memory. Apple is the largest buy of flash memory in the world, using the chips in all iOS devices.
There are rumors of a special Apple event coming on Jan. 19 in New York. This could be an announcement of a new textbook service for the iPad. The Steve Jobs biography mentions that Apple is interested in changing how textbooks are distributed.
Apple has started going after web sites that allow people to obtain iOS apps without paying for them. This week Apple started issuing take-down notices to sites that help people with jailbroken iOS devices get App Store apps for free. Apple faces many difficulties in helping app developers, since these sites are mostly outside of the U.S. and can move and change easily.
Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, was knighted this week by the Queen of England. Ive is the talent behind many of Apple’s recent designs, including many iMacs and MacBooks, the iPhone and iPad.
With no official news from Apple to report, tech journalists have filled the gap by reporting this week on ever rumor they could find. But it is important to remember that most Apple rumors turn out to be wrong, except for the parts that are obvious. For instance, there surely will be an iPad 3, but when it will come out and what features it will have are merely speculation.
The iPad 3 rumors peg the release date of such a device as anywhere from January to April. Most rumors mention a high-resolution retina display, like the iPhone. However, a large 10-inch retina display may be too expensive to produce in the iPad’s price range. Other rumors talk of a 7-inch iPad variant, which is also unlikely given Apple’s insistence that a 10-inch screen is ideal, and poor reviews of other 7-inch tablets.
Many rumors this month have centered around an Apple Television. An “iTV” has been rumored for years, helped along by the existence of the set-top Apple TV device and parts being made for Apple computer displays and iMacs. Mentions of a television in the Steve Jobs biography are the main fuel for these rumors, but it would be a strange move for Apple to enter such a crowded low-margin business.
Apple completed the holiday shopping season by giving away free shipping on products from its online stores. First it offered free two-day shipping, and then it upped that to free next-day shipping this week. In addition, it seems that most Apple stores offer in-store pickup of items ordered online.
In iTunes news, Apple added a “Complete My Season Pass” to the iTunes store that allows you to purchase the entire season of a TV show at a reduced price if you have already purchased some episodes individually. This is similar to the “Complete My Album” feature already in place for music. And that feature has been updated to remove a time limit that previous meant you could only complete an album within 180 days of purchasing the first track.
Apple is in the process of buying flash memory and chip design company Anobit. Since the iPhone, iPad, iPod and even some Macs use Flash memory, it is important for Apple to continue to be a leader in this area.
Apple began offering iTunes Match in more countries this week, starting with Brazil and including some other countries such as the U.K, France, Australia and New Zealand. However, shortly after appearing for those countries the service disappeared and Apple refunded customers who had signed up. Apparently the service was turned on prematurely. It still remains available in the U.S. and Brazil. But this may indicate that a real international launch is just around the corner.
Apple issued a number of updates this week, including version 10.5.2 update for iTunes and a Thunderbolt display firmware update. Microsoft issued updates to Office for Mac 2011 and the previous version, 2008. They address security and stability issues.
We’re starting the annual quiet period for Apple news as Apple will not typically release new products or make announcements during the holiday shopping season.
Apple released minor updates this week to Keynote on the Mac and iBooks and Cards on iOS. iBooks new features includes new fonts and a nighttime reading theme.
Apple released Safari 5.1.2 on Tuesday, improving stability and adding new functionality. The update fixes a bug that caused white flashes experienced by many users. It also uses less memory. A new feature is the ability to display PDF documents inside of web pages. You can get the new version through Software Update in Lion and Snow Leopard. Or, you can download it at http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1070.
Today Apple is observing World AIDS Day by promoting RED products in Apple Stores. Some of the revenue from these products, such as the red cover for the iPad, go to The Global Fund To Fight AIDS. You can also buy these in the online Apple Store.
A recent tradition at Apple stores has been to hold modest sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Tomorrow may prove to be slightly more than that, with some Apple Stores opening as early as midnight, and several products having decent sale prices.
To check to see when your local Apple Store will be opening, go to Apple’s retail section and look up your store. A special list of holiday hours should appear on that store’s page.
Reports of sale prices include as much as $101 dollars off MacBook Pros and the Air, and also up to $61 off iPads.
Apple took iTunes Match live this week. The new service allows iTunes users to store their entire music collection on Apple servers and then access it from any desktop or iOS device. The service only uploads songs not available in the iTunes store, simply giving you access to the iTunes store versions of others. The result is all of your music appears to be “in the cloud” and accessible anywhere. It is only available in the U.S. for now, and costs $25 per year. You can find out more about iTunes match in this episode.
Apple updated its flagship New York store on 5th avenue with a new glass cube. The new structure uses only 15 panes of glass. The store is often seen on television worldwide during major product launches.
Every year Greenpeace ranks technology companies based on products and their manufacturing processes. Years ago Apple was as the back of the pack, but has made major strides forward. It now ranks fourth behind HP, Dell and Nokia. You can check out the full report.
This week Apple updated its iOS GarageBand app making it compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch for the first time. The music creation software is similar to the existing Mac version but with a set of instruments that can be played using the touch screen of iOS devices.
Apple admitted this week that there is a problem with the iPhone 4S related to battery life. The good news is that it is a software problem and an update will be issued to fix it soon.
With its product line most likely fixed in place for the holiday shopping season, Apple is continuing to fine-tune its retail stores. In-store pickup of online orders expanded this week from California to New York, and there are reports that more stores will be supporting this in the upcoming days and weeks.
Apple issued a quiet update this week of its MacBook Pro line of laptops. The new models have the same design and basic features as the previous line, but have minor updates to processor speed and hard drive space. For instance, the low-end MacBook Pro now comes with a 2.4GHz i5 processor and a 500GB drive. It previously had a 2.3GHz processor and a 320GB drive for the same price.
The Apple Stores are experimenting with in-store pickup. Three stores in the San Francisco area are now offering the ability to order and pay for products online, and then stop by the stores to pick up the products. It appears that Apple will soon be offering this in more stores in the U.S.
The launch of the iPhone 4S mirrored previous iPhone launches with long lines, sell-outs and broken sales records at AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. A reported 4 million units were sold over the weekend. The downside was slow and problematic activation for the new phones, with some people having to wait hours before they could use them.
In Apple’s quarterly report it showed new highs for Mac sales with almost 5 million Macs being sold in the last quarter. This is despite the sale of more than 11 million iPads, some of which may have been purchased instead of a new Mac.
Wall Street wasn’t impressed with Apple’s numbers. Even though they passed Apple’s own estimates, they missed the estimates of Wall Street analysts. This was mostly because of lower iPhone sales due to the fact that a new iPhone model wasn’t released until after the end of the quarter.
