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This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.

As iPhone growth exploded, Apple struggled to keep up with demand. Every year, the number of iPhones sold would double, which meant that Apple kept adding new suppliers and assembly operations to keep up. It was a monumental struggle.

A mega-lawsuit from a so-called patent troll claims that Apple is infringing on 16 separate patents.

The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas by Seven Networks, a software company which licenses technology related to network congestion and other areas.

Apple shows an impressive commitment to sustainability, particularly when it comes to clean energy.

Today, it revealed that it has almost doubled the number of suppliers committed to running their Apple production on 100% clean energy. This brings the total number to 44. It means that Apple will exceed — by 1 gigawatt — its goal of bringing 4 gigawatts of renewable energy into its supply chain by 2020.

Apple’s newest services don’t deliver the “depth” investors want to see as iPhone sales fall for the Cupertino company.

Some analysts are particularly disappointed with the upcoming Apple TV+ video streaming service. They don’t believe Apple has any hope of competing with Netflix.

Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz has slammed tech giants that “pay taxes nowhere.”

It’s the latest shot at tech giants such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon which have previously clashed with the European Union on tax issues. In an interview with CNBC, Scholz argued that “we should find a global agreement” to shut tax avoidance loopholes.

Netflix has confirmed plans to launch its first comedy radio station.

Netflix Is A Joke Radio, which is being launched in partnership with radio streaming service SiriusXM, will go live on April 15. It will feature “highlights from top Netflix talent,” including Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and Ricky Gervais.

Apple has overhauled the web interface for podcasts hosted on its platform. The refresh means that Mac users can now stream episodes directly from the podcasts.apple.com website, instead of being redirected through iTunes.

The change comes at a time when Apple is reportedly moving to break up iTunes, which has been bloated and increasingly un-user-friendly for years.

Amazon employs a team made up of thousands of people to listen to recordings made by Echo devices, a new report claims.

These recordings are transcribed, annotated, and ultimately used to “help improve” the quality of Amazon’s smart speakers.

Global shipments of laptops and desktops were on the decline in the first three months of this year, and Apple also saw a drop in Mac shipments. But there is a silver lining: the company did better than some of its rivals so its share of the global PC market actually increased.

The same was true for Mac sales in the United States.

Apple is asking a judge to boot the lead attorneys in a class action suit that accuses the iPhone maker of throttling older phones to force users to buy new handsets.

Apple claims opposing counsel with Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy discussed and quoted confidential documents in a public hearing last month.

The monthly YouTube TV subscription fee is going up to $49.99. And it will be even higher for those who pay for this streaming video service via the Apple App Store.

This is apparently YouTube’s way of partially offsetting the cut Apple takes from all subscription fees. And it’s something other companies might emulate.

Two of the biggest stars of the NHL teamed up with Apple for the company’s latest ‘Shot on iPhone XS’ ad.

Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews steps behind the lens in the new ad that shows what a typical day in the NHL looks like for his teammate, Mitch Marner. The short ad takes viewers from the streets to the rink giving fans a a personal look at the hockey players’ lives.

Atom is a “piano roll” sequencer for making music on iOS. A piano roll is named for the software used to run olde worlde player pianos. It’s a roll of paper with holes punched in it. As the roll moves through the piano, the holes are read by a “tracker bar,” and the corresponding notes are played.

Imagine such a sheet of paper in the digital realm. That’s a modern piano-roll sequencer, and it’s a commonplace way to control software instruments. Atom brings some amazing tricks to the piano roll. It’s also an Audio Unit (AU) app, which means it can work as a plug-in inside your favorite iOS Music apps, like Cubasis and GarageBand.

Apple’s total purchase price for Texture will come in at just under half a billion dollars, according to a new report that reveals details of the acquisition.

Texture, an online magazine subscription service, was bought by Apple in 2018. It serves as the foundation for Apple News+. Apple revealed that the Texture app will shut down next month, but the four publishers who teamed up to launch the service are set to get some big paydays.

This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.

A good measure of the size of Apple’s manufacturing operations is its capital expenditure, the amount of money spends on things like buildings and equipment.

Apple’s capital expenditure, or CapEx, is mindboggling. To get an idea of how big it is, take Apple’s new spaceship campus in Cupertino – which is the fourth most expensive building in the world. It cost the company an estimated $5 billion to construct.

Apple spends a similar amount every six months on manufacturing equipment.

Evidence of Apple’s plan to break up iTunes has been uncovered ahead of the next major macOS update.

Icons for new Podcasts and TV apps have leaked out early. They’re expected to be accompanied by a new Music app and a redesigned Books app — all based on their counterparts for iOS.

Wiz Khalifa is the latest rapper to receive the documentary treatment courtesy of Apple Music. Wiz Khalifa: Behind the Cam is set to debut this month on Apple’s streaming music platform.

The multi-part docuseries will feature footage from throughout the rapper’s career. If you’re a fan of Khalifa’s music, all five episodes will be available to binge watch on April 17.

Apple had plans to deliver a phone long before Steve Jobs took to the stage of Macworld 2007 to show off the iPhone.

Around 14 years earlier, the company previewed a prototype device called the Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone, or the WALT, which combined a telephone and fax machine into one.

Here’s a rare look at the prototype that shows just what WALT can do.

Apple is moving full speed ahead with its Services division, but is it too late for it to catch up with rivals? That’s what analysts at major bank HSBC are concerned about.

As a result, they’ve downgraded their expectations for Apple shares.

Just when you think that Apple can’t get any bigger names for its TV+ service, it surprises you! Today, it was revealed that the U.K.’s Prince Harry, a.k.a the Duke of Sussex, has partnered with Oprah Winfrey for a new series.

Both parties are acting as co-creators and executive producers for a series on mental health. It will debut for Apple in 2020.

Apple has reportedly agreed to open up its NFC capabilities on the iPhone for a U.K. government app. This Brexit app will help EU citizens apply for residency in the U.K. after it leaves the European Union.

The EU Exit app allows users to scan the chip inside their passports with their smartphone’s NFC reader. While this has been possible to do on Android phones, Apple has not previously allowed developer access to its NFC reading tech.

Information discovered by an Apple Watch enthusiast apparently confirms an upcoming Apple Watch Earth Day Activity Challenge set for April 22.

Get ready to break a sweat in the great outdoors on Earth Day to claim your virtual trophy.

Fortnite just returned from downtime as Epic Games rolled out its latest update. Version 8.30 introduces the new Reboot Van for the first time, alongside a long list of bug fixes and improvements.

The update is a disappointment to almost all Battle Royale fans, who were hoping a controversial change made in the version 8.20 release would be reverted this week.

Several generations down the line, the Apple Watch has seemingly found its chief selling point as a life-saving health-focused wearable. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not room for a bit of fun, too.

While Apple has seemingly moved away from branding the Apple Watch as a fashion item, its latest ad focuses on aesthetics. Specifically, it highlights how easy it is to switch bands. Check it out below.

The 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre is coming up this June, but you won’t hear anything about it on Apple Music.

Chinese journalists recently discovered that Apple Music’s Chinese service censored a song that mentions the 1989 pro-democracy protests where thousands of people were killed. The topic is extremely controversial for the Chinese Communist Party and it appears that Apple is just fine with blotting it out if that’s the price of doing business in China.