Covering Cupertino is more than just statistics and rumors about upcoming products. There’s plenty of weird Apple news, whether it be a Chinese billionaire buying iPhones for his pet dog or the revelation that, in some alternate universe, Tim Cook could become vice president of the United States.
With that in mind, here are the weirdest Apple news stories of 2016.
Getting your hands on an Apple Watch Series 2 in time for Christmas has become nearly impossible for holiday shoppers.
Demand for the new watch has ticked up to a new level in the last month, according to Apple employees, who told Cult of Mac that stores are selling out of the Apple Watch Series 2 so fast that production can’t keep up.
The iMac didn’t get much love in 2016, but according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, killer new desktop Macs are coming.
In a note to Apple employees, Cook assured staff that desktop computers are still “really important” and that they shouldn’t worry about future machines.
The world of quotes is a poorer place without Steve Jobs, who was a quote machine. Nonetheless, plenty of people talked about Apple this year, whether lauding the company’s successes or damning its strategies.
Here are the most memorable Apple quotes of 2016.
Trump Tower in New York City became the site of the biggest meeting of tech figures in years Wednesday, as President-elect Donald J. Trump called together Silicon Valley’s elite for a meeting of the minds.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was among those in attendance and was seated within arm’s reach of the Trump, even though Cook previously has been criticized by the recently elected Republican. Trump also called for a boycott against Apple products during the blistering presidential campaign.
So far, most of Apple’s wrangles concerning its European tax issues has been carried out by the company’s accountants and legal team.
That could change in 2017, however, when none other than Tim Cook has been requested to attend a meeting in Dublin, Ireland, alongside the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Tim Cook is one of a number of tech executives who will meet with President-elect Donald Trump this week, a new report claims.
The meeting will take place at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Wednesday, and will also be attended by Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, alongside a handful of others.
Apple hopes the new Apple Watch Series 2 will become one of the most popular tech gifts this holiday season, so the company made some new ads highlighting the wearable’s fitness skills.
The two new ads, showing how Apple Watch can help you live a healthier life, were published on Apple’s U.K. YouTube channel today.
Watch them both:
Steve Jobs gave one of the most memorable commencement speeches in living memory, and it seems that Tim Cook is set to take on the same challenge when he delivers the address at MIT’s 2017 graduation event next June.
“Mr. Cook’s brilliance as a business leader, his genuineness as a human being, and his passion for issues that matter to our community make his voice one that I know will resonate deeply with our graduates,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif said. “I am delighted that he will join us for commencement and eagerly await his charge to the class of 2017.”
A day after a gloomy third-quarter sales report about the Apple Watch, CEO Tim Cook says the device is already having a record holiday as one of the season’s most popular gifts.
He shoppers bought a record number of Apple Watches during the first week of holiday shopping, and the wearable is on pace to have its best quarter ever to close out 2016.
Apple’s big retail push in China will see the company open its seventh store in Shanghai with a big launch December 10.
The days of Apple busting out hit new products every few years may be over. According to one of the best Apple analysts, Apple has been trying to de-emphasize the “home-run” mindset that made it the most enviable company in tech.
Speaking at the recent UBS Tech Conference, Horrace Dediu claimed Apple’s cultural identity is undergoing a dramatic shift.
The crowd of Apple doomsayers grew louder today with a new note from analysts at Oppenheimer claiming Apple is projected to go through a long decline for the next ten years.
The wait for Apple’s new wireless AirPods is nearly over.
Apple revealed the earbuds alongside the iPhone 7, promising an October delivery date, but anxious customers have not been able to buy a set. But Apple CEO Tim Cook supposedly says they’re being finalized right now.
We’re all expecting Apple to deliver something spectacular for the iPhone’s tenth anniversary next year, but what comes after that? According to some analysts, it will be a “decade-long malaise” that will cause Apple to fall.
Tim Cook and President-elect Donald Trump haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye on a number of issues previously.
However, during yesterday’s meeting with The New York Times editorial board, Trump revealed news about a recent phone conversation he had with Cook, containing details Trump thinks Apple has reason to “be happy about.”
New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance wants the Trump administration to help create federal legislation requiring Apple and Google to remove default encryption from their smartphones.
The recommendation comes from the DA office’s second report on Smartphone Encryption and Public Safety, presented by Vance at the opening of the Manhattan DA’s new cyberlab. New York County is currently sitting on 423 iPhones it can’t break into, even with a warrant, so the DA’s office is pushing for change.
A secret team of Apple employees are working on a project that will turn iPhone cameras everywhere into a portal for augmented reality.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said he’s bullish on the future of AR, and according to a new report the company is working on a total game changer.
The U.S. presidential election left people around the world anxious about the future, but Apple CEO Tim Cook rallied employees yesterday saying we all have to keep moving forward.
In an email to employees, Cook told employees that “Apple’s North Star hasn’t changed.” The Apple CEO invoked the late Martin Luther King Jr. in his note, saying, “We only do great work and improve the world by moving forward.”
Check out the full email:
Construction on Apple’s spaceship campus is finally coming closer to an end. The latest batch of drone videos reveal the construction site now has fewer cranes and a lot more trees.
Apple pushed back the move in date to mid-2017 and it looks like there’s still some serious work to be done. The main spaceship building still isn’t completed and the tunnel to the garage still needs to be covered in dirt.
Take a look at all the new details:
Are you ready to finally get some new Macs? It seems like forever since Apple busted out big updates for the iMac and MacBook, but today the wait for something new is over.
Apple’s “Hello Again” event is expected to feature tons of new Mac hardware. The keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific today, and will livestream from the company’s HQ in Cupertino, California. We’ve already seen tons of pictures of the new MacBook Pro and heard of a new app for Apple TV that’s coming, too. But today’s event could feature some game-changing hardware no one was expecting.
Cult of Mac is here to to liveblog all the action once the festivities start, with all the brilliant analysis, dull wit and pithy snark we can come up with. Join us for the wild ride.
Apple can’t make enough iPhone 7 devices to satisfy demand from customers (and from Wall Street to make more money).
During Apple’s Q4 2016 earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri hinted that big things are in the pipeline that should put the company back on track to growth — and it all starts Thursday with the MacBook Pro.
Here’s what we learned from the Q4 earnings call:
Apple is set to report its Q4 2016 earnings today, only instead of it being a time for celebration, the company is expected to announce its first annual revenue decline in 15 years.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri warned Wall Street that this quarter wouldn’t smash any records, but with the iPhone 7 doing better than expected, could relief be on the way?
Investors and analysts will grill Apple about how well the company expects to perform next quarter during today’s earnings call. And Cult of Mac will be right here, liveblogging the whole shebang when it starts at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Come join the fun — it’s livestreaming on Apple’s investor site.
Apple today revealed its results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2016. While the company made as much revenue as expected, it still posted its first annual revenue decline since 2001.
The good news for investors is that Apple is projecting a lot of iPhone growth next quarter. In Q4 2016, Apple earned $46.9 billion in revenue and $9 billion in profit, but in Q1 2017 Apple predicts it will rake in $76 billion to $78 billion.
Tim Cook was apparently considered as a possible running mate for Hillary Clinton, according to a new email released by WikiLeaks.
Written by Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta, the email includes a number of high-profile names touted as potential vice presidential candidates, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.