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How AI is secretly transforming everything Apple does

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Robot
Apple is investing heavily in machine learning.
Photo: Scott Schaut/Mansfield Memorial Museum

When it comes to the incredibly hot field of AI, Apple has been racing to catch up with Google and Facebook. A new article reveals exactly when Apple’s interest in this area began paying off: July 30, 2014, a.k.a. the date Siri switched over to deep learning.

A type of machine learning built around brain-like “neural networks,” the switch drastically improved on Siri’s accuracy. However, as is typical for ultra-secretive Apple, the company didn’t boast about — or even publicize — its success.

Report card: How has Tim Cook fared after five years as CEO?

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook has now been officially running Apple for half a decade.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The flip side to the news that today marks five years since Steve Jobs resigned as Apple CEO is the fact that it also marks Tim Cook’s ascendance to Apple’s top position.

So how has Cook done at the seemingly impossible task of following one of the most-revered business executives in history? Putting on our teacher hats and picking up our best red marking pens, here’s how Tim Cook’s report card reads so far.

Apple Music is ruining Spotify’s negotiations with record labels

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Spotify
You won't have to listen to music you don't like.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Negotiations between music streaming service Spotify and all three major record labels have hit a snag lately and Apple Music is a big reason why.

Spotify’s licensing agreements with Sony, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have reportedly been on a rolling month-by-month basis for much of 2016, yet the companies haven’t been able to hammer out long-term deals yet because Spotify isn’t willing to share as much revenue as Apple Music.

iPhone 7 dual-lens supplier is making serious bank

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dual-camera iphone 7 render
Companies are already getting rich from the iPhone 7's camera upgrade.
Photo: feldvolk.com

The iPhone 7 Plus isn’t even out yet, and already Chinese Apple supplier Primax Electronics is reportedly expecting to hit a new August revenue high as a result — partially due to its orders for the plus-size iPhone’s dual-camera components.

Apple Maps could help you find your way around unfamiliar buildings

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It might not quite be Harry Potter's Marauder's Map, but it's getting there.
Photo: Universal Studios Orlando

Could a Harry Potter-style “Marauder’s Map” help give Apple a leg up on rival mapping services by offering indoor directions as well as outside ones?

That’s the working theory behind a new U.S. patent published today, which describes a “Visual-Based Inertial Navigation” system, explaining how accurate indoor directions could given on a smartphone or VR headset down to an accuracy of centimeters.

Amazon could beat Apple to $5 per month streaming music

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Cheap streaming music could be another selling point for Amazon Echo.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Amazon is looking to launch its own Amazon Echo-exclusive streaming music service, and according to a new report the company might beat Apple to the much-sought-after $5 per month subscription price point.

For those who don’t remember, one of the big rumors about Apple Music was that the company wanted to charge users five bucks a month, based on the idea that the average iTunes user spends $60 per year on downloaded music, which translates to $5 per month.

Today in Apple history: OS X Jaguar roars onto Mac

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osxjaguar
How did that cat print pattern ever make it past Steve Jobs?
Photo: Apple

Aug23 August 23, 2002: Apple ships Mac OS X Jaguar, the third major release of OS X and the first to publicly adopt the cat-themed code name it had been known by inside the company.

The $129 operating system is well-received by Mac users, who correctly view it as the most stable version of OS X yet — and with a few neat features, to boot.

Apple Music Festival 2016 kicks off September 18

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Apple promises "10 exhilarating nights of live music."
Photo: Apple

The Apple Music Festival will return to the U.K. this September for “10 exhilarating nights of live music,” according to Apple.

No musical acts have been revealed yet for the festival, which will run from September 18 to September 30. But if previous years are anything to go by, 2016 promises to deliver a star-studded lineup — and Apple Music subscribers get to watch the whole thing for free online.

Everything we think we know about the iPhone 7

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blue iPhone 7 Plus
The iPhone 7 is getting some big upgrades.
Photo: PConline

The grand unveiling of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is still weeks away, but this year you don’t need to wait for Tim Cook to take the stage to find out all the new features.

Months of leaks have already given us a sneak peek at a lot of the big changes coming to the iPhone. And contrary to early reports that this year’s device will be boring, there’s actually a whole lot to get excited about.

Here’s what to expect from the iPhone 7, based on Cult of Mac’s analysis of everything we’ve seen from reliable leakers and the Apple rumor mill.

Bids for Apple-1 computer built by Steve Jobs pass $500,000

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Could this become the most expensive Apple-1 to ever sell at auction?
Photo: Charitybuzz

Online bids for an original Apple-1 computer, reportedly built by Steve Jobs, have passed $500,000.

The so-called “Celebration” Apple-1 comes with period correct power supply, original Apple-1 ACI cassette board, Apple-1 BASIC cassettes, original marketing material, and the most complete documentation set of the known Apple-1 boards. Only around 60 Apple-1 units are thought to still exist today.

Barbra Streisand calls Tim Cook to fix her biggest gripe with Siri

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Barbra Streisand
Singer Barbra Streisand and husband James Brolin.
Photo: Wikicommons

Getting iPhone bugs fixed is apparently super-easy if you’re a world-famous diva.

Barbra Streisand says she recently had a huge bone to pick with Apple over the way Siri pronounces her last name. So the singer did what only Barbra Streisand could do: She dialed Tim Cook’s personal phone number.

Apple increases health focus by buying medical AI startup

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Gliimpse is a machine learning health platform.
Photo: Gliimpse

In keeping with its mobile health ambitions, Apple has snapped up Gliimpse, a personal health data startup which uses machine learning technology to help users make sense of their medical records.

The company was founded in 2013 by former Apple employee-turned-serial-entrepeneur Anil Sethi. Apple reportedly acquired it earlier this year, although (no surprises here) it hasn’t publicly announced what it plans to do with it yet.