Tim Cook - page 20

Apple’s first big event of 2018 is practically here! Unlike most Apple keynotes, today’s “field trip” education-oriented event in Chicago won’t be streamed live.

Don’t worry. Cult of Mac will be in attendance and we’ll be live blogging everything with up-to-the-minute info on all the new goodies. Not only is Apple expected to preview some new educational software, but we could also see a new iPad, improved Apple Pencil and maybe even a new MacBook Air.

The keynote starts Tuesday, March 27, at 10 a.m. Central time. So save this page and get ready for Apple’s most mysterious event in years.

Apple will take a field trip out of Silicon Valley to host its first major event of 2018 tomorrow. Instead of focusing on iPhones and Apple Watches, this Apple keynote will be all about education and creativity.

Rumors have been swirling for months that new MacBook Airs and an updated, inexpensive iPad could arrive this spring. We might see those, but Apple probably has a couple other surprises in store that you haven’t heard of.

Apple will not provide a livestream of the event, but Cult of Mac will be in attendance. Joins us Tuesday morning for our liveblog of everything that’s going down at the event. In the meantime, here’s our handy guide to what to expect.

Tim Cook is headed to China this weekend, alongside Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, and Ginny Rometty, head of IBM. Cook will be heading co-chairing the China Development Forum, an annual event which aims to build relationships between Western corporations and the Chinese government.

The event comes at a challenging time when the U.S. and China are duking it out concerning trade tariffs and import duties.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, paid a visit to Apple’s new spaceship campus in Cupertino today.

Mnuchin got a tour of Apple Park accompanied by Tim Cook. The Ape CEO has a history of both working against and with Donald Trump’s administration, and in the duo’s photo that was tweeted this afternoon, it doesn’t look like Tim is particularily stoked.

Check out the full tweet:

This week on The CultCast: Siri sucks, Apple knows it, and Cupertino isn’t sure how to fix it … but there’s still hope. Plus: Our 2018 WWDC hardware expectations!

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Tim Cook visited Washington D.C. on Tuesday, having lunch with Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who has shown considerable interest in the subject of digital encryption and privacy.

Tim Cook is the “Donald Trump of the music industry,” claims outspoken Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose.

There’s no further explanation from Rose, who posted the message on Twitter. It’s probably not meant as a compliment, though. Rose previously criticized Trump for appointing controversial ex-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as his attorney general and accusing the president of “whining.”

In a new interview, Tim Cook says that one of the priorities of his job is learning to say “no to a bunch of great ideas” in order to keep Apple focused.

“There is more noise in the world than change,” he said. “One of my roles is to try to block the noise from the people who are really doing the work. That’s tougher and tougher in this environment … We can do more things than we used to do because we’re a bit bigger. But in the scheme of things versus our revenue, we’re doing very few things. I mean, you could put every product we’re making on [a] table, to put it in perspective. I doubt anybody that is anywhere near our revenue could say that.”

If the importance of saying “no” sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a lesson straight out of the Steve Jobs playbook.

Friends, HomePod is even better than the hype! It’s one of the best products Apple’s ever made. Don’t miss our discussion on The CultCast. Plus: HomePod versus the rivals; the big HomePod flaw you need to know about (one Apple is trying to downplay); how Apple plans to revamp its future software; and, is another new Apple product on the horizon? We think so, and we’ll tell you what it is.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off any hosting plan.

When you’re a company the size of Apple and under the scrutiny that Apple is, keeping secrets is hard.

That’s what Tim Cook told investors during Tuesday’s annual investors meeting, during which he described how, “keeping stuff confidential is the bane of my existence.” In other words, with the exception of the visitor’s center, you shouldn’t expect a tour of Apple Park any time soon!

The end of money can’t come soon enough for Apple CEO Tim Cook.

During Apple’s annual shareholders meeting today, Cook told investors that mobile payments like Apple Pay haven’t taken off quite as fast as hoped. However, he said he sees promising signs that the death of cash could soon be upon us.

Bulky virtual reality headsets may soon look like retro relics if Apple’s designers have their way.

Details of a new patent from Apple reveal the company is investigating different ways to reduce the size of bulky augmented reality and virtual reality headsets. The patents specifically mentions a tech that its rivals aren’t using, which could give it big advantage if it enters the market.

The Chinese governement is finally starting to crack down on fake Apple stores and service centers that look just like the real deal.

Authorities in Beijing fined a store 270,000 yuan (US$43,000) after it was found to be infrining on Apple’s intellectual property and fooling customers into thinking they were getting serviced directly by Apple.

Apple made more money last quarter than it ever has in the company’s history, but despite bringing home $88.3 billion in revenue, not all investors were impressed.

Wall Street walked away from Apple’s Q1 2018 earnings with mixed reviews. Money and cash is at an all-time high, yet there are some worrying signs that iPhone sales are about to hit another slump and new products like HomePod aren’t doing much to excite the market.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from today’s call:

iPhone X sales did not come in as strong last holiday season as investors hoped. Apple just posted its Q1 2018 earnings, and iPhone sales declined compared to the same quarter a year ago. Everyone on Wall Street seemed to expect an increase.

Still, there’s a silver lining: Despite the weaker iPhone sales, Apple made a record-setting $88.3 billion in revenue during the quarter. CEO Tim Cook says the iPhone X defied the company’s expectations, leading to Apple’s best quarter in history.

The first big Apple earnings report for 2018 is nearly here. And, based on analysts’ expectations, it will likely be Apple’s biggest moneymaking quarter ever.

After weeks of waiting, investors will finally get their first look at how well the iPhone X is selling. Apple’s holiday sales probably hit historic levels. But with recent reports that Apple slashed iPhone X orders in half, there could be quite a few surprises in store.

As usual, Cult of Mac will be here to liveblog all the action as it transpires on Thursday, February 1, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Get ready to watch for these six things during the call:

Apple is revving up its efforts to catch its competitors in the self-driving car market.

The company has aggressively expanded its fleet of vehicles used to test its autonomous driving systems, according to a new filing that shows the company added nine times as many cars over the last year.

Tim Cook talked up the audio quality of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker during a recent interview, while taking a shot at the competition.

“We think one thing that was missing from this market was a quality audio experience, a very immersive audio experience,” Cook said. “Music deserves that kind of quality as opposed to some kind of squeaky sound.”

Tim Cook sure racks up the air miles! This week, Apple’s CEO visited Canada, where he made a surprise appearance at a downtown Toronto Apple Store, and took in a Maple Leafs game for good measure.

Incredibly, this is Cook’s first ever visit to Canada since assuming the role of Apple CEO back in August 2011.

Apple has teamed up with Malala Fund to support girls’ education around the world. The iPhone-maker will become the fund’s first Laureate partner and will help double the number of grants awarded by the Gulmakai Network.

Tim Cook will give the commencement address for Duke University’s graduating class on May 13, 2018.

Cook is a 1988 MBA graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, as well as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. Cook has previously given successful, inspirational and funny commencement addresses at MIT, Auburn University (which he attended before Duke), and George Washington University.

Check out the Duke University announcement video, featuring a whole lot of animojis, below.

Apple’s big tax break is about to unleash an avalanche of spending from the iPhone-maker. In a public statement earlier this week, Apple revealed its plans to contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years now that the fee for repatriating its mountain of overseas cash has been significantly lowered.

In this week’s issue, you’ll find that story and more. Tim Cook has revealed that a future iOS 11 update will let users disable their iPhone’s throttling feature. Learn how to get the best battery life from your MacBook. It’s the last week to get your preorders in for Juuk’s new three-think Velo Apple Watch band! Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

Tim Cook finally earned some praise from long-time foe Donald Trump today, thanks to Apple’s plan to contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years.

Trump went so far as to call Tim Cook “a great guy” during a speech at a factory in Pennsylvania today while talking about Apple’s investment into the U.S.

One of Apple’s most important data centers is about to get a $1 billion expansion.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was on hand today for the groundbreaking ceremony of the expanded data center in Reno, Nevada, that the company uses to power services like FaceTime, iMessage and iCloud.

President Donald Trump’s new tax law is doing great things for Apple employees’ wallets.

Apple told employees today that it plans to give all of them $2,500 worth of restricted stock, thanks to the revised tax law that goes into effect this year.