Mark is an award-winning journalist who worked at 9to5Mac for over six years. He covers Apple and other topics related to the consumer technology industry.
In June, we noted that Apple is adding a handy new feature to the upcoming OS X Yosemite: the ability for iMessage/Apple ID users to screen share via the Messages app. Screen sharing was a hallmark of early versions of Apple’s Mac “iChat” application, but it has always required an Aol Instant Messenger (AIM), Gmail, Jabber, or Yahoo account. With Yosemite, users can have the same screen sharing experience with just an iMessage/FaceTime/or Apple ID account. Apple activated the feature in this week’s beta release, and it brings some new tricks not found in earlier implementations:
Earlier today, we discovered a new potential resolution for the iPhone 6: 828 x 1472. This finding came several months after sources first told us that Apple is testing an iPhone 6 resolution of 960 x 1704. Now, phone reseller Feld & Volk has put a purported iPhone 6 screen panel under the microscope and claims that the resolution is the 960 x 1704 that we reported:
Early this year, we heard from a source that Apple had been testing multiple resolutions for the iPhone 6’s larger display, including a resolution of 960 x 1704. As we outlined, the benefit of that resolution is that it allows both developers and consumers to smoothly transition to the new display without losing high-quality imagery and graphics found in many applications from the App Store. At that density on both a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch display (the two larger screen sizes for the next iPhone), all content would display larger in comparison to the current, 4-inch iPhone, but there would not be more actual screen real estate. Now, we’ve discovered another potential iPhone 6 screen resolution by way of iOS 8 files inside of the latest Xcode 6 Software Development Kit (SDK) betas for developers.
Apple’s stock has just hit $100 per share for the first time its stock split in June and adjusted for the 7-1 stock split, the first time it has approached its all time high since 2012. Morgan Stanley unleashed a uber-bull report this morning touting the Eight reasons Morgan Stanley thinks it’s time to buy AAPL which is thought to have pushed Apple over the top.
Apple was over $700 (pre the 7 to 1 stock split earlier this year) in the lead up to the iPhone 5’s highly anticipated debut in fall 2012. Apple’s all-time closing high (adjusted for the stock split) is $100.30, and it seems that the company could soon hit that threshold once again.
We raised the possibility yesterday of the iPhone 6 including a redesigned USB to Lightning cable that allows the USB end of the cord to be inserted into a USB port in either direction. In other words, like the Lightning connector, the next Apple USB cable could be reversible. Leaks of the purported cables have been flowing quickly out of Asia-based areas surrounding the Apple supply chain, and now Sonny Dickson has shared a video of the cable in action. While the video does not show the iPhone actually syncing with the new USB cord, the video does show the cable being inserted in both directions into a standard USB port. This lines up with a recent Apple patent, which is for a USB connector that can be inserted in either direction into currently existing USB hubs.
You can watch the videos and see the new photo below:
Those annoying iCloud storage warning email notifications have begun referencing the upcoming iOS 8 and iCloud Drive, according to multiple tips from readers. This change in the copy within the emails likely indicates that Apple is already preparing for the upcoming debuts of the new iCloud and iOS releases. Here’s one of the emails:
In honor of the Bank holiday in the United Kingdom, Apple is offering five Newsstand magazine issues per day at no charge. The deal started today (August 18th) and lasts through August 22nd…
Right on schedule, Apple has released the sixth preview of the upcoming OS X Yosemite to developers today. This new seed comes two weeks following the previous release, and it likely continues to bring performance enhancements, interface tweaks, and bug fixes. We’ll be updating this post with the changes in Preview 6 as they are discovered. If you find something new, you can let us know at tips@9to5mac.com. The release version of Yosemite is currently scheduled for the later half of October, and it will ship separately from iOS 8, which is not seeing a new beta today. Here’s what’s new:
Apple’s iTunes Affiliate program has notified users of the program that developers can now earn affiliate commission via the Store Kit feature in iOS 8. StoreKit Product Sheet, which has existed since 2012’s iOS 6, allows developers to put a page inside of their apps to download other items from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore. However, the feature was not compatible with affiliates until iOS 8. Here’s Apple’s email to affiliate users:
We are excited to announce that Store Kit Product Sheet is now affiliate commissionable on iOS 8.
Store Kit Product Sheet allows app developers to promote the purchase of music, apps, books and more directly from a sheet within your app and earn the standard affiliate commission on all sales within 24 hours.
We encourage you to use Store Kit Product Sheet to provide a superior user experience and keep users in your app longer. Learn how to integrate your affiliate token into the Store Kit Product Sheet in the Developer Documentation.
Apple briefly discussed this iOS 8 enhancement for developers during a WWDC 2014 session, but this email indicates Apple is pushing developers to utilize all of the resources available to increase their monthly revenues.
The iPhone 6’s packaging might not only include a redesigned smartphone, but a redesigned USB to Lightning cable. While it’s unlikely that Apple will yet-again change the Lightning port introduced with the 2012 iPhone 5 anytime in the near future, a redesigned version of the USB plug could be ready for this fall. Sketchy photos of a reversible USB cable first surfaced on the web last week, and Sonny Dickson yesterday shared another shot of the cables via Twitter.
Like the Lightning connector, the benefit of a reversible USB connector is that it can be inserted into a USB port in either direction. This makes it easier to insert the connector in darkly lit or hard to reach places (like behind a desk). Due to uncertain sourcing, the first batch of photos did not seem completely believable, but digging a little deeper into the situation reveals that Apple readying a reversible USB iPhone cable is a real possibility…
Update (8/19 9:15am): This sale is also live at Amazon and Best Buy.
A couple weeks following the closing of Apple’s acquisition of Beats Electronics and the Beats Music streaming service, Apple has cut the price of all Beats by Dr. Dre products by 10% in both its physical retail stores and official online store…
Here’s some good news for Apple amid several months of controversy surrounding the Cupertino-company’s marketing efforts: Apples’ 2013 Holiday season television commercial “Misunderstood” has won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for most “outstanding commercial” in 2014. The award was announced on the Emmy’s winners list last night, and the Creative Arts Emmy Awards are presented for “guest performers on television dramas and comedy series, as well as the many talented artists and craftspeople behind the scenes to create television excellence.” The main, televised Emmy Awards ceremony takes place on August 25th…
Apple today has expanded its Executive Leadership Team to include notable Apple Vice Presidents. The team shown on Apple’s official PR Bios website now includes Vice President of Special Projects Paul Deneve, Vice President of of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson, Vice President and Dean of Apple University Joel Podolny, Vice President of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji, and Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources Denise Young Smith.
Yesterday, Apple released its first ever diversity report and a letter from CEO Tim Cook explaining Apple’s approach to diversity and inclusion and its importance at Apple. The report details several facts, including that 55% of Apple’s United States workforce is white and only 30% of the Apple workforce is female.
Writing about the report, Cook said, “I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page. They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them.” In a move to further promote diversity and inclusion within Apple’s culture, Apple is holding several events this week at its Cupertino headquarters, according to sources…
Apple today has released new versions of Safari for OS X Lion/Mountain Lion and OS X Mavericks that address security and WebKit issues. The Safari 6.1.6 update for the older versions of OS X and Safari 7.0.6 update for the latest OS X are available in Software Update on the Mac App Store. Here are the release notes from Apple’s support page:
Two key members of the Apple team working on the iWatch/iBand (or your favorite “i” + wearable nickname) have confirmed their new jobs at Apple via their LinkedIn profiles. Jay Blahnik, formally a key advisor on the Nike FuelBand project and a world-renowned fitness expert, joined at Apple in July of 2013. Divya Nag, a rising star in the medical research world with experience in FDA approvals, joined Apple in April 2014.
Apple today has provided developers with a new beta of the upcoming OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 release. Today’s build number is 13F14, which is two builds newer than last week’s 13F12 build. Apple has asked developers to continue testing USB, USB Smart Cards, Safari, Graphics, and Thunderbolt integration with 10.9.5. The update is available for developers running the previous 10.9.5 seed via Software Update in the Mac App Store.
Users of the Shazam iOS application have begun noticing that Shazam is testing a new “Listen Now” feature with the Apple-owned Beats Music streaming service. Like it does with iTunes Radio, Spotify, and Rdio, this feature allows a user to tag a song with Shazam and then instantly play it in Beats Music. We tested the feature this morning and it works as advertised. You’ll need a Beats Music subscription or a 14-day free trial in order to make use of the feature. With Beats now under Apple’s wing and Shazam a key partner for Siri in iOS 8, it makes sense that the trio would integrate in a fashion such as the new Listen Now button in the Shazam app. You’ll need the latest Shazam update to make use of the feature.
Drobo, a popular brand of connected storage arrays, has today issued a notable software update that should cheer up some Mac users. The company’s new drive software now more easily works with OS X’s Time Machine backup service. By default, Time Machine automatically allocates storage in external drives to be wholly used for Time Machine backups. If you want to use a single Drobo drive for holding both a Time Machine backup and separate stored data, you would have to simply manually drop folders into the drive’s Finder window. Today’s Drobo update adds functionality to make this process and data separation more automated:
No need for complicated partitioning of the main volume in order to reserve space for backups.
The size of this volume can be set to a fixed capacity for Time Machine to use.
The ability to set capacity limits eliminates the need to create sparse bundle files.
Time Machine Backup Volume wizard auto detects the best size based on the internal disk capacity.
Encryption such as OS X FileVault is supported on a Drobo Time Machine Backup Volume.
Can delete and recreate the Backup Volume with a different size without affecting the data volume.
Ahead of Apple’s new iPhone event on September 9th, Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (that nation’s version of what we know in the U.S. as the FCC) has approved two new iPhone models for sale in the country. The approval was confirmed on Twitter by the country’s Secretary General for these matters, and a local report indicates the model numbers for two new devices: A1524 & A1586. Thailand’s Secretary General spoke about the matter in a video from earlier this week:
A significant number of Apple Stores in the United States will likely begin offering iPhone sales via the latest carrier financing programs later this month, according to several sources. We previously detailed that Apple Stores will soon offer iPhones on AT&T Next, Verizon Edge, and the T-Mobile Jump plans, and now we’ve learned some new information on the matter. We’re told that Apple is tentatively planning to begin rolling out the programs on Wednesday, August 20th as a pilot.
Of course, this could slip back a few days as this new program’s existence has not even been officially confirmed by Apple. We’ve also been sent a couple of slides from internal Apple employee training materials showcasing what exact plans will be offered. The slide above details the differences between the plans, and the photo below compares the perks of each program. Also, it does not appear that Sprint’s latest financing offerings will be in the mix for Apple Stores anytime in the near future. Will you buy your iPhone 6 at the Apple Store via carrier financing? Tim Cook certainly thinks you should.
Mac users who want to start developing software for the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset platform can now do so. Oculus today released an update to their software SDK that opens up support for users on OS X:
Notably, the Oculus SDK is now available for Mac OSX, along with a version of the Oculus Runtime and Unity Tuscany Demo for Mac. There’s no word on when Linux support will be ready.
Mac display drivers are unavailable, so users will need to use Extended Display mode on the Mac. To make full use of the software platform, eager developers will need to gain access to the Oculus Hardware Development Kit, which is a $350 online pre-order item.
While most of the Apple-watching world has its sights focused on the next iPhone, Apple has put next-generation versions of the iPad into production. That’s according to Bloomberg News, which says that the new full-sized iPad Air model will be announced later this quarter or early next quarter and that the new 7.9-inch model will hit the market by the end of the year:
