According to a new report at the Wall Street Journal, Apple’s new management team dynamic, which includes design maven Jonathan Ive at the helm of both the hardware and software teams behind iOS, is seeing a new era of collaboration. ONe source familiar with the matter went so far as to call the exchange of ideas between Ive and human interface lead Greg Christie, known for his bluntness, as “pleasant and cordial.”

Sounds like things are changing over there at Apple, which is a good thing for proponents of Ive’s preference for a less skeumorphic design ethos. Having Ive watching the software along with the hardware may bring a flatter, more modern look to iOS 7, sure to be coming soon.

2012 was a very different year for Apple. For starters, it was Tim Cook’s first year as CEO. While much of Apple has remained the same, Cook has definitely shown that he is a different type of leader than his predecessor. Apple is evolving into something new.

Between four press events and the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple announced an unprecedented slew of new products in 2012. Every single major product was refreshed to some extent, which leaves even more speculation as to what Apple has up its sleeve for 2013.

There have been key executive firings and hirings, heated lawsuits, and scandals. In the midst of everything, Apple managed to become the most valuable company on earth.

While there are many big Apple moments from this past year, we’ve gathered what we think are the 10 most notable stories. Here they are:

We’ve hit peak Apple – there’s nowhere to go but downhill now, a former employee claimed in a UK newspaper today.

Scott Forstall was destined for big things at Apple. Originally part of Steve Jobs’s NeXT team, he spent 15 years with the Cupertino company and spearheaded its hugely successful iOS software division. Many believed he would succeed Tim Cook as CEO later on, but on Monday, but the chances of that happening looked impossible when Apple announced Forstall was on his way out.

The news came as a shock to us all, but it seems there are several reasons why Apple had to remove Forstall from its executive team — it seems refusing to apologize for the whole Maps debacle wasn’t the only one.

Apple has announced its biggest executive shakeup since Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO.

The biggest surprise is the departure of Scott Forstall, a longtime Apple executive and the senior vice president of iOS Software. Forstall was the major architect of Apple’s mobile software and had been tipped as a possible future CEO. He will be leaving the company next year. He is serving as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook until his departure in 2013.

The other big surprise is the departure of Apple’s newest executive, John Browett, head of Apple ‘s retail division. Browett is leaving after running Apple’s stores for less than a year.

As part of the reshuffling, Apple’s head of design, Sir Jonathan, gets a major promotion. As well as leading Industrial Design, Ive will also run the company’s Human Interface department. Ive will be in charge of the all-important product interfaces in both hardware and software, a role previously fulfilled by the late Steve Jobs.

We just got tipped an email from a reader who emailed Apple VP of Mac Software Engineering Craig Federighi. Cult of Mac reader Stephen Gilbert emailed Federighi about not being able to use fullscreen Mac apps on multiple displays. When you make an app enter fullscreen mode in Lion or Mountain Lion, it will fill one display and blackout your secondary monitor.

For some reason Apple doesn’t allow you to use an app in fullscreen mode while viewing content on another display, and it’s annoying. For instance, entering fullscreen mode for an iTunes movie will make it impossible to use your second display while the video is playing. Not exactly an optimal experience for those who fancy lots of screen real estate.

Apple made its WWDC keynote available for streaming less than an hour after the event yesterday, and the full 1.2GB video recording is now available in the company’s official keynote podcast feed in iTunes.  You can download “Apple WWDC 2012 Keynote Address” now for free. Apple has HD and 1080p versions available as well.

The keynote runs 1 hour and 54 minutes long, and you can watch it on all of your devices, including the Apple TV.

Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi and Scott Forstall all unveiled new products from Apple at yesterday’s keynote, including new Macs, OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6. For everything Apple announced at WWDC 2012, make sure to check out our complete roundup.

Thanks: Xin Niu

When Game Center was announced for iOS 5, some folks were skeptical. They didn’t really see the value in Apple taking on the leader board scene with already established players like OpenFeint, Plus+, Crystal, Gameloft Live, and others.

Those very same people would surely have to eat their words when they heard today at the WWDC in San Francisco that Game Center has over 130 million people using it and those folks submit 5 billion scores every week.

And now? Game Center is coming to the Mac.

Apple unveiled a completely new Mountain Lion feature today at WWDC. “I want to introduce you to a new technology in OS X that we call Power Nap,” said Craig Federighi. “Wouldn’t it be great if our computers still worked for us when we weren’t working? Now it can.”

The new feature automatically refreshes data, conserves battery life, and backs up a Mac while it’s asleep. You can use Time Machine, refresh Photo Stream, download App Store updates automatically, and keep processes running all while your Mac is asleep. Recent MacBook Airs and the new MacBook Pro will support Power Nap when Mountain Lion ships next month.

Craig Federighi took the stage after Phil Schiller at WWDC today to talk everything Mac. OS X Lion has been a wild success, and 40% of all Mac users run the operating system 9 months later. 26 million copies have been shipped exclusively through the Mac App Store.

There are 60 million Mac users around the world, and Apple’s market share has been rising exponentially in the desktop space over the past few years. The rest of the PC industry has seen a decline in sales.

“iCloud has taken off like a rocket with over 125 million registered users,” said Federighi. Apple also ran through tentpole features of OS X Mountain Lion that were revealed in the developer preview months ago. Some new features, such as Siri Dictation, were also announced.