Apple isn’t the most transparent of companies when it comes to its technology, but from next year you’ll be able to dive into the code of one of its most revolutionary operating systems to see how it was achieved.
The operating system in question is that of the ill-fated Apple Lisa, a $10,000 machine which debuted in 1983 — and included Apple’s first ever graphical user interfaces, and one of the first in computer history as a whole.
Apple’s pretty darn good when it comes to advertising, and 2017 was no exception. Whether it was Portrait mode, AirPods or the iPhone X, creatives working on Apple ads found new and exciting ways to sell us on Cupertino’s latest innovations.
Check out our picks for the year’s best Apple ads below.
2017 has been one heck of a year for iOS gaming fans. From action-oriented arcade blasters to strategy games so deep they should come with a warning, just about every genre has been well represented.
Distilling hundreds of great titles down to a single shortlist isn’t easy, but we’ve done our best. These are our picks for the 15 greatest mobile games of 2017.
The China sales head of Huawei Technologies’ smartphone division has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes.
According to an internal memo sent to staff, Teng Hongfei was detained for, “the suspected crime of accepting bribes as a non-state functionary.” Huawei is currently the top smartphone maker in China by market share, and could soon overtake Apple in terms of global market share.
Kanye West is an Apple fan. So what better Christmas gift for him to buy his wife, Kim Kardashian, than AAPL stock?
Kardashian shared her surprising story online, saying that West gifted her the shares, alongside some Apple headphones, and some stock from other select companies including Amazon, Disney, and Netflix. While she didn’t share the exact amount, considering that AAPL is up 47 percent in 2017, that’s a pretty great gift!
Apple has reportedly shifted half of its baseband modem chipsets for iOS devices to Intel from Qualcomm, and is now considering shifting additional orders to Taiwanese manufacturer MediaTek.
The news comes at a time when hostilities between Apple and former manufacturer Qualcomm continue to heat up, with no signs that they will come to a close soon.
A brilliant iPad port of one of the greatest turn-based strategy games of 2016, Civilization VI, is just of one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week” roundup. In addition, we’ve got neat updates for the official Reddit and Shazam apps, plus a game that you control… using your eyebrows?
Check out our picks below — and have a very happy holidays!
A minor change in its App Store guidelines this week concerning template apps doesn’t sound like much. But if you’re one of the many, many iOS developers running a small business who rely on the App Store for a living, either directly or indirectly, it was a major triumph.
Here’s why it’s given developers another reason to celebrate this holiday season.
Apple has recruited three executives from Amazon Studios, who will help Apple further grow its original programming ambitions.
The new employees include Tara Sorensen, former head of Amazon kids’ programming, who will join Apple to pursue a similar role; international development executive Carina Walker, who joins Apple as a creative executive; and business affairs chief Tara Pietri, who will head up Apple’s legal affairs division.
iPhone X shipments are likely to be somewhere between 30-35 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, a new report claims.
If true, this would be something of a disappointment for Apple. Sources in the semiconductor packaging and testing service industry suggest that iPhone X pre-orders in markets including the United States, Taiwan, and Singapore were not as strong as expected.
Cowen analyst Karl Ackerman previously claimed that sales of the new device are “good,” but possibly not as good as anticipated.
Well that didn’t take long! Within a day of Apple acknowledging that it’s software updates cause older iPhone models to slow down, Apple has been hit with not one, but two class action lawsuits from folks outraged that it would behave in this way.
Both suits are asking for unspecified damages from the company.
According to reliable Apple analyst KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will focus on increasing the iPhone’s battery capacity for both the 2019 and 2020 models.
Kuo claims that Apple’s semiconductor manufacturing processes and substrate-like printed circuit boards will enable it to create the required space in its handsets for these larger batteries. He also suggests that Apple will opt for new “superior” radio frequency printed circuit board (RFPCB) batteries.
The newly-passed Republican tax overhaul will allow Apple to repatriate its giant $252.3 billion overseas cash pile without paying as much tax as it would have previously.
Under the new rules, it would be able to take advantage of a one-off 15.5 percent tax rate, meaning it would owe around $39.1 billion — much of which Apple has already set aside for the purpose.
Apple has taken swift steps to make up to customers following the recent counterfeit Cuphead app, which appeared in the App Store this week without permission from the popular game’s developers.
Rather than customers having to request refunds for the fraudulent app, Apple is pre-emptively offering them to everyone who bought the app. It’s a nice “make good” for a situation that could have been embarrassing for the company.
Apple has always denied that merging its mobile and desktop operating systems, the way that Microsoft has done, is a good idea. But from 2018, it is reportedly starting to explore that road by giving developers the ability to create apps which work on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Depending on the hardware you use them on, these apps could be controlled via touchscreen, mouse, or trackpad — and would be equally at home on both iOS and macOS.
Apple is facing a lawsuit in China from a local clothing brand, which argues that Apple is infringing on its design trademark with its logo for App Store.
Apple changed the icon for the App Store in August this year — jettisoning the previous image showing a ruler, pencil and paintbrush crossing over to form an “A” shape, in favor of a simplified version of the same image. Unfortunately, clothing brand Kon has been using a similar image dating back to 2009, supposed to show skeletons bones symbolizing triumph over death.
Samsung Display will continue churning out OLED displays for Apple in 2018, with a reported 180 – 200 million flexible OLED iPhone panels scheduled to ship next year, a new report claims.
That’s around 4x the estimated 50 million OLED panels that Samsung supplied Apple with in 2017, which suggests that Apple is planning on expanding its number of OLED handsets in the new year.
Apple is opening a new “global flagship” Apple Store in Melbourne, Australia.
Australia’s minister for tourism and major events John Eren described the new venue as being a “major drawcard for visitors and locals,” that would breath “new life into one of Melbourne’s most iconic landmarks.”
With its years old traditions and ability to make us feel like kids again, Christmas is a pretty nostalgic time of year. So why not create a festive ad that takes us back to the glory days of 2004, by using Gwen Stefani to try and sell us on Apple Music and her latest album?
Or, at least, that’s what we’re assuming was the rationale behind Apple’s latest holidays-themed ad. Check it out below:
First responder apps may help save your life, but they’re in drastic need of a security overhaul, a new report the Department of Homeland Security says.
Released this week, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate “Securing Mobile Applications for First Responders” report said that discovered glaring security flaws on almost every app that it examined.
Apple is planning to release an updated version of its AirPods wireless earbuds in the second half of 2018, respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims in a new note to clients.
While he doesn’t share too many details about what the new AirPods will do differently, he does suggest that they will adopt a smaller quartz component — quite possibly making them even smaller than the first-gen model currently available.
With the exception of a few software-related blips, Apple has had an incredible 2017 — but its phenomenal run of success could be coming to an end, claims one analyst.
Nomura Instinet analyst Jeffrey Kvaal has lowered his recommendations concerning AAPL from “buy” to “neutral,” suggesting that the current share price adequately reflects iPhone X sales.
Apple’s Indian boss Sanjay Kaul is reportedly leaving Apple with immediate effect, following the company’s slowest growth in India in more than five years — and no sign of things turning around soon.
He will be replaced by Michel Coulomb as its top sales executive in India, previously the managing director for Apple in South Asia.
Apple’s next Annual Meeting of Shareholders will take place on Tuesday, February 2018 at the Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Park Campus.
Due to limited seating in the venue, Apple has asked shareholders to register in advance of the meeting should they wish to attend. “We anticipate there may be more shareholders who would like to attend than we have seats to accommodate,” Apple notes.
iPhone X supply has seemingly caught up with demand, as the Apple Online Store is now offering next day delivery for its next-gen iPhone.
All models are available in the U.S. Apple Store, marking something of a Christmas miracle for Apple — when you consider that the majority of pre-release reports suggested that the iPhone X wouldn’t be shipping to most customers until some time in 2018.