Jony Ive shows Charlie Rose the company's secret design studio. Photo: CBS
60 MinutesĀ host Charlie Rose took a deep dive into all things Apple in an episode that aired Sunday.
Featuring interviews with Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Angela Ahrendts and others, the showĀ explored everything from the iPhoneās inner workings and Appleās manufacturing in China to Cook dancing around the question of whether Apple is building a car.
Tim would rather you not ask about taxes. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook will sat down for a wide-ranging interview with 60 Minutes host Charlie Rose for Sunday nightās episode inside Apple HQ, and it appears that the two will have a heated exchange about Appleās tax practice.
In a preview of the interview released this afternoon, Tim Cook defended Appleās tax policies, noting that the company pays more taxes in the United States than anyone. Rose also prodded Cook about the companyās massive pile of cash stashed overseas, asking why the CEO doesnāt bring all that money back home.
āIt would cost me 40% to bring it home, and I donāt think thatās a reasonable thing to do,ā replied Cook, before launching into a rant against the US tax code that was built for the industrial age and not the digital age.
New titles and responsibilities in management could reshape Apple. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple made some promotions and tweaked the responsibilities of some of its managers Thursday. Companies do it all the time without much notice or disruption to the goods and services they create.
But this is Apple. Any change in the way it does business could ultimately change our experiences with its product. That is the point behind CEO Tim Cook shifting and shoring up duties for some of his closet managers.
Apple CEO Tim Cook gladly welcomes Android users to make the switch. Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web (2014)
Apple convinced us we couldnāt live without a smartphone. Now many of us have a smartphone in hand and Apple may be facing the curse side of the blessing ā finding new customers for the iPhone.
Credit Suisse recently issued a report to investors that further fuels speculation that iPhone sales will dip for the first time since Apple introduced it in 2007. The upshot: Smartphone ownership is approaching 100 percent. Weāre nearing āpeak smartphone.ā
Are these things signs of a larger design problem? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Unlike any other consumer electronics company, Apple has been nailing product design for decades.Ā Jony Ive and his incredibly talented team have produced countless iconic gadgets that rivals can only dream of, and itās the biggest reason why the company is so successful today.
But there are suggestions that Appleās design prowess is beginning to slip away. Under new leadership, Apple has rolled out a number of products ā most recently the butt-ugly Smart Battery Case āĀ that have led someĀ fans to question various design decisions.
Are those fans right to be concerned? Is it downhill from here for Appleās design team, or is this a whole lot of fuss over nothing?
Join us in this weekās Friday Night Fight betweenĀ Cult of Android andĀ Cult of Mac as we battle it out over those questions and more ā and weigh in with your thoughts down in the comments section!
Apple CEO Tim Cook will introduce the band Imagine Dragons Satuday at the LOVELOUD Festival in Utah. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook accepted the Ripple of Hope Award in New York last night. During his speech at the the benefit for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Apple CEO touched on a number of world issues, from protections for the LGBT community, to the Syrian refugee criss.
Cook also cited Robert F. Kennedyās remarks from a 1966 speech promoting the idea that business plays an essential role in helping society solve its greatest problems. According to Cook, RFKās āwonderful optimismā is the kind of spirit that drives Apple.
Siri is loaded with good advice. Photo: Apple/Cerebral Palsy Foundation
Siri is loaded with fun Easter eggs. However, its latest addition ā created in collaboration with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation ā isnāt flippant or sarcastic like some of the AI assistantās other one-liners; itās just good advice.
Ask Siri how to start a conversation with someone with a disability, and sheāll answer, āItās easy. Just say, āHi.āā
In an email sent to all Apple employees this morning the CEO called the situation āunacceptable.ā Cook said he thinks the Highpoint store issue was an isolated incident, but notified employees that leadership teams will be ārefreshing their training on inclusion and customer engagement,ā starting with Australia.
Apple PR has sprung into ādamage controlā mode after Tim Cook uncharacteristically fired verbal shots at Microsoft yesterday āĀ reportedly telling a crowd in Ireland that Microsoftās attempts to create āhybridā laptops is, ādeluded.ā
What is being claimed is that Cook didnāt mean to sayĀ ādeludedā at all, but instead ādilutedā ā which is still a diss, but without the insinuations that the good folks at Microsoft are a few sandwiches short of a picnic if they think the Surface will ever be a hit.
Tim Cook talks all things Apple. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook is in my home country of Jolly Old Blighty (read: the U.K.) at the moment, promoting the imminent launch of the iPad Pro.
While there, heās given anĀ interview to the Telegraph newspaper, in which Appleās CEO touches on everything from the new Apple TV to the U.K.ās rumored āsnooperās charterā to, of course, Appleās super-sized tablet.
Tim ditched his Mac for the iPad Pro. Photo: Olivier Hess/The Independent
Tim Cook loves the new iPad Pro so much itās the only product he travels with now, other than his iPhone.
In a new interview talking about the benefits of the new big-screened iPad, the Apple CEO trumpeted the iPad Proās productivity thanks to new multi-tasking software in iOS 9 complimented by the new keyboard and Apple Pencil. Some detractors have dismissed Apple Pencil as a just a fancy stylus, but Cook insists itās a much more revolutionary product than that.
If you really wanted, you could stage your own Apple keynote address in Lego form. Photo: FamousBrick
A company that specializes in making Lego-ized versions of tech-world giants is offering minifigures based on Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, current CEO Tim Cook, and some people who work for other companies, if you want to be all diverse about it.
The figures wonāt even set you back that much, really. Depending on how much you value plastic that looks like people.
The iPhone 6s is selling like hotcakes. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The iPhone 6s is a huge hit, China is still doing great, and Android users absolutely love switching to iPhone.
Those are just some of the details Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed during this afternoonās earnings call with investors that revealed Apple managed to top Wall Streetās expectations thanks to the iPhone 6s.
Here are the top takeaways from Appleās latest record-setting quarter:
Apple CEO Tim Cook will introduce the band Imagine Dragons Satuday at the LOVELOUD Festival in Utah. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple is scheduled to reveal its earnings for the final fiscal quarter of 2015 on Tuesday, October 27, and investors are expecting monstrous results.
Sales of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus should boost revenues to new heights after Apple announced that it sold a record 13 million units of the new devices during launch weekend alone. Exactly how many iPhones Apple sold wonāt be revealed until the bell closes, but Tim Cook seemed pretty optimistic in a recent interview.
Cook told The Wall Street Journal that Apple Watch shipped even more watches last quarter than in the first quarter. Itās unlikely Apple will give us the actual Apple Watch sales figures during the earnings call, but there should be a lot of juicy Apple bits.
Hereās everything to expect from Appleās Q4 2015 earnings:
Tim Cook says Apple will continue to invest in China. Photo: Apple
Tim Cook has stuck his neck out again in support of the Chinese economy, saying that Apple will continue to pour money into the market, despite a slowing stock market and economy.
āI know some people are worried about the economy,āĀ Cook said in an interview with the ChineseĀ Xinhua news agency. āWeāll continue to invest. China is a superb place to be. Nothing has changed that.ā
Not everyone is happy at Apple under CEO Tim Cook. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook heads a company that devotes massive brain power in developing and understanding algorithms. And it was an algorithm that ranked the Apple CEO the nationās top executive from a list of 250.
ExecRank, a kind of social network for companies to find advisors and board members, uses a statistical and algorithmic analysis to measure 24 categories, including experience, business resolution, company growth and earnings and industry reputation.
Spotify was the top-grossing App in the iPhone App Store. Photo: Spotify
Tim Cook may like the ārunwayā for Apple Musicās take off, but Spotify is currently soaring.
Appleās competitor in the music streaming business found itself in the No. 1 position on the iPhone App Storeās Top Grossing charts for the first time in the United States. This is on the same day that the Apple CEO Cook told the audience at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference that Apple Music has 6.5 million paying customers.
Apple Music already has around one-third of Spotify's paid subscriber base. Photo: Wall Street Journal Digital Live
Apple Music has 6.5 million paying customers, according to no less an authority than Tim Cook, speaking at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference.
Given that Apple claimed it had 11 million people using its free trial back in August, thatās an impressive free-to-paid conversion rate of almost 60 percent. Itās also around one-third of the paid subscriber base of Spotify, which has 20 million subs.
Tim Cook takes home $125 million for Appleās best year since 2009 Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the CEO Council for Sustainable Urbanization this week as part of Appleās continued fight against global warning and environmental issues.
The council is basically like an Avengers-style group (or Justice League if DC is your preferred flavor) consisting of CEOs and chairmen from the top companies in China and the West, that are hellbent on saving the planet from overpopulation, deforestation, and finite energy resources.
Sorkin's a great writer but, man, is he orange! Photo: Conan
Steve Jobs writer Aaron Sorkin has been doing the media rounds as of late. Last night he appeared on Conan, where heĀ made a kinda-sorta apology to Tim Cook for their recent falling-outĀ ā only to then turn around and joke aboutĀ Apple hacking his personal files.
Michael Fassbender is Steve Jobs. Photo: Universal Pictures
Laurene Powell Jobs and Tim Cook have slammed Aaron Sorkinsā upcoming biopic on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, but according to the Sorkin, they actually might like it, if they ever go see it.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has opposed the film by calling out āopportunisticā filmmakers like Sorkin for making movies about Jobs, while Steveās widow tried to kill the movie starring Michael Fassbender. At a press screening in New York City on Monday, Sorkin addressed their concerns, saying it might surprise them.
What was it really like to work for Steve Jobs? Photo: Jigsaw Productions
Today is the fourth anniversary of Apple co-founder Steve Jobsā passing, and as has become tradition on October 4, some of his closest co-workers are sharing their fondest memories of what it was like working alongside him.
Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, Andrea Jung and Bud Tribble all shared short essays with Apple employees this morning on the companyās intranet. To commemorate Jobsā legacy, Tim Cook told employees in an email to stop older executives today and ask what Jobs was really like.
With controversial movie Steve Jobs set for release later this month, Jobsā co-workersā essays provide a look at aspects of the visionary Apple CEOās personality that those who only knew him through the public eye probably missed.
Hereās what Jobsā friends had to say about working with him:
Notice something different about the Windows logo? Photo: Apple
It looks like Apple hated Microsoftās new Windows logo so much that it got redesigned for an iCloud support page.
Apple updated its article on how to get help using iCloud Calendar recently and added a custom Windows logo that looks like a literal window with a little windowsill underneath. Itās more like clip art than something master designer Jony Ive would approve of, which makes it kind of mysterious why itās there when the official logo would suffice.
Steve Jobs connects the dots in his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. Photo: Stanford University
It may not seem like it, but Steve Jobs passed away four whole years ago today ā leading to his colleagues paying tribute to the late Apple CEO.
In an email sent out to employees, Tim Cook praised Jobs as a āvisionary,ā reminding people that Jobsā office remains untouched at Apple, and encouraging people to post their own memories to Appleās internal AppleWeb intranet and messaging system.
Tim Cook has been a tireless champion of the LGBT community. Photo: Human Rights Campaign
Over the weekend, Tim Cook received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award in Washington D.C. for his work as an outspoken voice in support of the LGBT community.
CookĀ āĀ who came out as gay last yearĀ āĀ delivered a great acceptance speech in which he talked about his decision to publicly reveal his sexuality as well as talking about the numerous advancesĀ LGBT rights have made within his lifetime.