The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted a patent application that details a remote control device for a marine vessel, a concept that Steve Jobs was originally credited the inventor of (via PatentlyApple).
The patent, titled "Remote motion control using a wireless mobile device", was filed in 2013 and has just been granted, now registered under Apple and Savant Systems. Savant is a manufacturer of luxury home automation systems and worked with Jobs on the late Apple co-founder's super yacht, named the Venus.
The patent describes a general-purpose device with a touchscreen, similar to an iPhone, which executes an application that remotely controls a vehicle (e.g. a marine vessel, such as a yacht).
The device communicates wirelessly with an interface linked to the vessel's electronic control system, which collects environmental and system status information like wind speed and water depth from a series of sensors.
The control system also transmits and receives signals to the vessel's subsystems, such as throttle controllers, transmission, and rudders, enabling it to maneuver the vehicle remotely over the wireless network.
The patent goes on to describe the application's packet delivery and user interface module, as well as a network health monitor that enables and disables functional control. The touchscreen displays status information for the vessel and shows which controls are engaged, among other subsystem data.
Jobs' super yacht was designed by Philippe Starck's design company Ubik and built by Headship. Jobs died in October 2011, while the yacht was unveiled a year later at a cost of more than $112 million.
Apple has green-lighted its carrier billing feature for iTunes users in Taiwan and Switzerland, allowing them to charge app and media transactions directly to their cellphone bill (via Mashable).
The two countries join Germany and Russia in allowing customers to pay for music, movies, apps, books (excepting Taiwan, since Apple doesn't sell books there), Apple Music memberships, and other iTunes content with just their phone number, instead of using a credit or debit card.
At present, the option in Taiwan is only available to Far EasTone contract holders, but is expected to roll out to other carriers soon. Salt (previously Orange) reportedly lets its customers use carrier billing in Switzerland, but we're still waiting to learn which other carriers in the country support the feature.
Users wanting to take advantage of carrier billing can sign into the iTunes Store or App Store, navigate to the 'Payment Information' section, and choose 'Mobile Phone' from the payment options list. Further details can be found on Apple's support page covering mobile phone billing.
Apple debuted the billing scheme in Germany back in October 2015, before rolling it out to users in Russia a month later. Apple is likely to continue to expand the initiative to more countries as it seeks to secure deals with carriers for lower transaction handling rates.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in Apple by 55 percent, taking its investment in the company to $1.46 billion (via Reuters).
Berkshire owned 15.23 million Apple shares as of June 30, up from 9.81 million shares as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing. It's unclear whether Buffett himself or one of his deputies are behind the investment.
The move by Berkshire Hathaway took advantage of a difficult time for Apple on the stock market. Between April and June, Apple's share prices dipped 12 percent to $95.60 per share, following the company's first revenue decline in 13 years during the previous quarter.
Despite that, Apple shares are up more than 10 percent in the last month, after the company rebounded on news of better than anticipated business performance in its last earnings call, partly due to strong iPhone SE sales.
Back in March, Berkshire revealed its $1.2 billion stake in Apple, causing shares to soar 9 percent and breach the $100 mark shortly after other investors revealed they had moved to dump Apple stock.
In an interview with Fast Company, former Apple employee Bob Messerschmidt, who helped design the heart rate sensors in the Apple Watch, gave some insight into what it was like working with Jony Ive and Apple's Industrial Design Group on the company's first wearable device.
After a 2010 acquisition, Messerschmidt joined the Apple Watch team, where he was in charge of designing some of the sensors for the device. In an anecdote relayed to Fast Company, during one meeting, Messerschmidt proposed putting health sensors in the Apple Watch band, an idea that was quickly shot down by the Industrial Design Group because of a desire for interchangeable bands.
One great example is [when] I went to a meeting and said I'm going to put sensors in the watch but I'm going to put them down here (he points to the underside of the Apple Watch band he's wearing) because I can get a more accurate reading on the bottom of the wrist than I can get on the top of the wrist. They (the Industrial Design group) said very quickly that "that's not the design trend; that's not the fashion trend. We want to have interchangeable bands so we don't want to have any sensors in the band."
Messerschmidt's next proposal was for sensors at the top of an Apple Watch worn tightly against the wrist, which was also nixed because "that's not how people wear watches." According to Messerschmidt, it was difficult working within the design constraints at Apple, but it pushed him to figure out "new engineering solutions" and ultimately made for a product with a superior user experience.
Engineers left in a vacuum might say "well, that's maybe not so important; we can get a better signal by doing it the other way so let's do it that way." So, left to their own devices, that would be the way the product would end up. So you have to have a really strong voice supporting the user. I think the idea of focusing on that is uniquely Apple
Messerschmidt goes on to explain other important lessons he learned from his time working at Apple and from Steve Jobs, including that user experience is "everything when it comes to consumer products," that "good enough is not good enough," and that it's important to say no "until it's just right."
Following three years at Apple and integral work on the heart rate sensor in the Apple Watch, Messerschmidt left the company to found Cor, a startup producing a device that draws blood, analyzes it, and provides near-instant health-related information.
Messerschmidt's full interview is worth checking out and can be read over at Fast Company.
Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus could feature improved charging speeds, according to information shared by Twitter user The Malignant, citing an unverified Chinese source.
Alongside an image of an iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 logic board comparison that does not seem to divulge any clear info to confirm the rumor, The Malignant says the iPhone 7 will feature "at least" five volt two amp charging.
Apple's iPhone models currently ship with a 1A/5W charger, but are able to charge more quickly with a 2.1A/12W iPad adapter. With the rumored fast charging feature, charging speeds would presumably be even faster than using an iPad charging adapter with a current model iPhone.
Improved charging speed is not an iPhone 7 rumor that we've heard before, nor does it come from a reputable source, so this information should be viewed with some skepticism. Twitter user The Malignant appears to share a variety of rumors and information sourced from Chinese social networking sites, not all of which is reliable.
Apple is expected to introduce the iPhone 7 at an event rumors suggest will be held on Wednesday, September 7. More reliable rumors about the device suggest it will feature a slightly redesigned body with relocated antenna bands, camera improvements, a faster processor, and no headphone jack.
Starting this week, Logitech-owned Jaybird's Freedom Wireless Bluetooth Headphones are available for purchase in two new exclusive colors from the Apple Online Store and Apple retail locations.
Designed to match Apple's line of iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches, the two exclusive colors include a Space Gray and Rose Gold. The Space Gray Freedom earbuds feature Space Gray highlights on the remote and the earbuds themselves with a black cord and accents, while the Rose Gold earbuds feature a Rose Gold remote and earpieces with a white cord and accents.
Launched earlier this year, the Jaybird Freedom Wireless Bluetooth Headphones have previously been available directly from Jaybird and from third-party retailers in Carbon (black/gray), Gold (gold/white), Blaze (red/silver), and Ocean (blue/silver). The standard colors are not available from Apple Stores.
Jaybird has been designing Bluetooth earbuds since 2007 and the Freedom Wireless Bluetooth Headphones represent the culmination of years of design refinements. The earbuds are the smallest Jaybird has produced yet, thanks to a clever decision to move many of the audio components from the earbuds themselves to the remote control.
Jaybird's earbuds are wireless and connect to devices over Bluetooth, so they're able to work with iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, Macs, and more. They'll be compatible with the upcoming iPhone 7, which rumors suggest will not have a headphone jack. We went hands-on with the Jaybird earbuds earlier this year and while we loved the comfort, the small size, and the battery life, the large remote was a little difficult to deal with.
The Rose Gold and the Space Gray Jaybird Freedom Wireless Bluetooth Headphones, priced at $199.95, are available starting today from the Apple Online Store and many Apple retail stores.
Apple today released the sixth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. macOS Sierra beta 6 comes one week after the release of the fifth beta and two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Developers can download today's beta update using the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center.
macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an "Auto Unlock" option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a "Universal Clipboard" for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.
Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user's devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There's also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and "Tapback" response options.
Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.
macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.
Update: There's also a new version of macOS Sierra for public beta testers.
The sixth watchOS 3 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone by going to General --> Software update.
To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery, it must be on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone. watchOS 3 also requires an iPhone running iOS 10 to install.
watchOS 3 introduces significant changes to the watchOS operating system. A new dock, accessible by pressing the side button, replaces Glances and houses 10 favorite first and third-party apps. Apps in the dock are kept continually up to date and are stored in memory for a new instant launch ability.
New Activity Sharing options allow Apple Watch owners to share workout and activity information with friends, and there are new fitness features for Wheelchair users. A Breathe app guides users through daily deep breathing sessions, an Apple Watch can unlock a Mac, and Apple has added apps for Reminders, Find My Friends, and accessing one's heartbeat.
Additional watch faces support complications, there are three new watch faces to choose from, including a new Activity watch face, and an SOS feature will make sure an option to get help in an emergency is always right at your fingertips. On the iPhone, there's a new Face Gallery for customizing Apple Watch faces, and watchOS 3 allows the Apple Watch to be located via Find My iPhone for the first time.
For complete details on the new features coming in watchOS 3, which will be released to the public this fall, make sure to check out our watchOS 3 roundup.
Apple today provided developers with the sixth beta of tvOS 10, the next-generation operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 6 comes one week after the release of tvOS beta 5 and two months after the operating system was first shown off at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference
tvOS betas are harder to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta updates will be available over the air.
tvOS 10 builds on features initially introduced with tvOS last October, bringing expanded Siri capabilities like topic-based search, Live Tune-In for automatically accessing live channels, and options for managing HomeKit accessories.
Single-Sign On allows users to sign in and authenticate cable credentials just once instead of requiring authentication in all cable-supported apps, games are now able to require controllers, and there are new features for Photos and Music.
A dark mode offers a better visual experience for darker rooms, universal apps are automatically downloaded, and there's a new Apple TV remote for iOS devices that mirrors the Siri Remote.
Over the beta testing period, Apple has been making slight tweaks and updates to the tvOS 10 operating system, but many of the changes are under-the-hood and not readily apparent to testers. Any outward-facing changes discovered in the sixth beta will be noted below.
Apple today seeded the sixth beta of iOS 10 to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fifth beta and more than two months after first unveiling the new operating system at its 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.
iOS 10 beta 6 is available as an over-the-air download to those who installed the first five betas or the beta configuration profile and it's available for direct download via Apple's Developer Center (developers only).
iOS 10 is a major iOS update with a ton of new features and design tweaks, including a new Lock screen experience with 3D Touch-enabled notifications, a more easily accessible camera, a redesigned Control Center, and a new widgets screen. According to Apple, iOS 10 is the company's biggest iOS update ever released.
The Messages app in iOS 10 has been overhauled with features that include background animations, bubble effects, Digital Touch, handwritten notes, Tapback replies, predictive emoji, and a dedicated App Store, and Photos has gained new facial and object recognition capabilities along with a Memories feature for rediscovering forgotten moments.
Over the beta testing period, Apple is tweaking the features introduced in iOS 10 to refine them ahead of the public release of the operating system. In iOS 10 beta 5, Apple introduced a new lock sound and fixed some important bugs.
According to Apple's release notes, iOS 10 beta 6 fixes a number of bugs. Search hints now function as expected in the Messages Store, Siri offers an appropriate response when a request requires a removed app, a bug that caused sticker pack apps to be blank has been fixed, and more. Reports from beta testers suggest an ongoing bug affecting the dock on iPads running iOS 10 has been resolved.
iOS 10 is currently available to developers and public beta testers, with a full public release planned for the fall. For full details on iOS 10, make sure to check out our iOS 10 roundup.
A new set of iPhone 7 images have emerged online, this time showing a mockup of the larger-screened, 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus in Space Black (via TechTastic). Earlier in the year, a sketchy rumor hinted that Apple might be introducing a "Deep Blue" color option in the 2016 iPhone lineup, but more recent reports have clarified that "Deep Blue" will ultimately be a darker version of the current Space Gray, now depicted in today's pictures.
Although the Space Black images fall largely in line with recent mockups and image leaks for the iPhone 7, there are a few inconsistencies. The dual-lens camera bump on the iPhone appears slightly less raised than previous depictions of the back of the iPhone 7, and the mockup designates the model as an "S" edition, which has been lacking from any previousreports and remains an unlikely moniker given the name schemes of the current generation iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
The pictures also include a Smart Connector on the back of the iPhone 7 Plus, which, at best, has been an inconsistent rumor leading up to the launch of the new iPhone next month. More recently, mockups and image leaks have leaned more towards Apple's decision to not include the Smart Connector in the iPhone 7. The feature could also be specific to the 5.5-inch iPhone Plus, or a third "Pro" model.
Elsewhere, the Space Black variant keeps up with rumors of what the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will look like: no 3.5 mm headphone jack, two speakers (one likely to be cosmetic), and rearranged antenna bands on the back. Apple might be preparing an all-new, flush Home Button on the next-generation iPhone devices as well. But, like most image leaks, it's hard to be certain in the new pictures whether the Home Button is a new, pressure-sensitive option or just the traditional physical switch.
The new pictures follow a collection of high-resolution photos of a Gold mockup of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus that were posted last week. Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus on September 7, with pre-orders beginning on September 9 and a potential launch one week later on September 16.
In China, low-cost smartphones have brought an overall uptick in sales in the second quarter of 2016, while high-end devices -- from companies like Apple and Samsung -- continue to face declining sales numbers in the country (via DigiTimes). Local vendors in China are said to be "focused on promoting entry-level and mid-range 4G models," instead of trying to convince the Chinese public that Apple or Samsung's smartphones are worth the higher price points.
Specifically, smartphone shipments totaled 149 million units in Q2 2016, increasing 2.7 percent from Q1 2016 and 14.3 percent from the year-ago quarter. This surge comes from China's top-selling smartphone companies (in order of smartphone market share in China): Huawei (14 percent), Oppo (12.7 percent), Vivo (11.2 percent), and Xiaomi (10.4 percent). Apple comes in fifth place, "with its market share falling into a single-digit range," although the specific number wasn't disclosed.
Sales of high-end models from Apple and Samsung Electronics continued to suffer declines in the second quarter as local smartphone vendors focused on promoting entry-level and mid-range 4G models capitalizing on subsidies offered by the top-three telecom operators, Digitimes Research noted.
The double-digit shipment growth rates enjoyed by China-based smartphone vendors in the first two quarters of 2016 were higher than the growth rates of smartphones shipped to consumers from retail channel operators, resulting in an increasing pile-up of inventories at channels.
As it was reported earlier in the summer, low-cost devices that are available to a wide range of users who have yet to purchase a smartphone are helping to contribute to an overall growth in the worldwide market. Apple still faces some issues in the Greater China market, reporting an 11 percent revenue drop in mainland China in April, in the same earnings call that confirmed the company's first year-over-year revenue decline since 2003.
In the same call, CEO Tim Cook remained "optimistic" about Apple's presence in China, saying that "China is not as weak as has been talked about. We may not have the wind at our backs that we once did, but it's more stable than the common view of it." Despite some hindrances placed on Apple services like iTunes and iBooks in the country, not to mention Apple's occasional scuffle with Chinese regulators, China remains Apple's third-most profitable market behind the United States and Europe.
Microsoft today updated its suite of Office apps designed for the iPhone, adding finger-drawing support to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
In January, the company added inking support to its productivity suite for the iPad Pro to take advantage of the Apple Pencil, but now iPhone users can also make use of the feature using their digits.
A new Draw tab can be found in each of the three apps. The drawing tools in this tab allow iPhone owners to use a stylus or finger to write, draw, highlight, and annotate various Microsoft Office documents.
The thickness and color of the pen can be changed, while hand-drawn shapes can also be transformed into customized shapes. Excel users can annotate over cells, while those who use PowerPoint can draw freeform over slides.
Tesla has removed the word "autopilot" from its China website after a driver in Beijing who crashed while the mode was active complained that the company had misled them about its capability (via Reuters).
The accident happened on a commuter highway when the car failed to avoid a vehicle parked on the left side and partially in the roadway, damaging both cars but causing no injuries.
Tesla Model S all-electric five-door, luxury liftback (Image: Tesla Motors)
It is the first incident of its kind in China, but follows a fatal crash in Florida earlier this year and highlights a lack of clarity surrounding how automated driving features work.
References to autopilot and the term "zidong jiashi", which also translates as "self-driving", were taken off the company's web page for the Model S sedan by late Sunday, according to a comparison with an archived version of the page. The references have been replaced by a phrase that translates as 'self-assisted driving'.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, a spokeswoman for the company said:
At Tesla we are continuously making improvements, including to translations. We've been in the process of addressing any discrepancies across languages for many weeks. Timing had nothing to do with current events or articles.
In response to the crash, Tesla China staff have reportedly undergone training to re-emphasize that car salespeople must always keep two hands on the wheel when demonstrating the autopilot function.
Other Tesla drivers interviewed by Reuters said China sales staff took their hands off the wheel while demonstrating the function. Under Chinese law, drivers are required to keep two hands on the wheel at all times.
The spokeswoman for Tesla said that the system was not self-driving but merely assistive and that drivers were responsible for always maintaining control of the vehicle. On the Tesla U.S. website, autopilot in the Model S is described as allowing the car "to steer within a lane, change lanes with the simple tap of a turn signal, and manage speed by using active, traffic-aware cruise control".
Digital control of motors, brakes, and steering helps avoid collisions from the front and sides, and prevents the car from wandering off the road. Autopilot also enables your car to scan for a parking space and parallel park on command. And our new Summon feature lets you "call" your car from your phone so it can come greet you at the front door in the morning.
U.S. regulators have yet to issue written regulations for autonomous vehicles, but Apple – heavily rumored to be working on a car project – has already met with California DMV officials regarding self-driving car laws within the state.
Multiple reports indicate that Apple is exploring the functionality with the possibility of including it in a later iteration of its vehicle project, which is said to be overseen by former longtime executive Bob Mansfield, who last served as Senior Vice President of Technologies at the company.
Apple has reportedly recruited hundreds of engineers from the likes of Tesla, Ford, GM, and elsewhere to work on the so-called Apple Car, codenamed "Project Titan" internally, despite CEO Tim Cook's recent refusal to be drawn on the subject. The electric vehicle could be street-ready between 2019 and 2021 according to various reports, with R&D based in Sunnyvale, California.
Apple continues to build upon the transit coverage of Apple Maps, today adding the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the City of San Antonio to supported areas in Texas. The support marks the first expansion of transit coverage beyond the state's capital of Austin.
In Dallas and Fort Worth, Apple will now offer up several city transit routes, including transportation by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail commuter service, streetcar and bus lines, and the Skylink at DFW Airport.
In San Antonio, coverage is concentrated within the Connolly Loop (Interstate 410), and takes in the city's VIA Metropolitan Transit system.
Transit directions were first added to Apple Maps in 2015 as part of iOS 9. At launch, transit information was only available in a handful of cities, but Apple has been working hard to expand the feature to additional locations.
Transit data is now available in more than 20 cities around the world, along with dozens of cities in China.
Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a new research report outlining his expectations for the future of Apple's iPad lineup, predicting three new iPads ranging from 9.7 inches to 12.9 inches to be released in 2017.
According to Kuo, Apple is aiming to introduce a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro model next year to go along with a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2 and a "low-cost" 9.7-inch iPad model. Kuo makes no mention about the fate of the current 7.9-inch iPad mini, although many have assumed that model may be phased out as the recent 5.5-inch iPhone "Plus" models have helped lessen demand for Apple's smallest tablet.
We expect three new iPads (12.9” iPad Pro 2, new size 10.5” iPad Pro & low-cost 9.7” iPad) to be launched in 2017, though this may not drive shipment growth amid structural headwinds; 2017F shipments to fall 10-20% YoY. If the iPad comes in a larger size, such as a 10.5” model, we believe it will be helpful to bid for tenders within the commercial and education markets. As a result, we expect Apple to launch a 10.5” iPad Pro in 2017. In addition, we estimate the 12.9” iPad Pro 2 and 10.5” iPad Pro will adopt the A10X processor, with TSMC (2330 TT, NT$177.5, N) being the sole supplier using 10nm process technology. The low-cost 9.7” model may adopt the A9X processor, which is also exclusively supplied by TSMC.
Looking even further ahead, Kuo predicts "revolutionary" changes for the iPad lineup for 2018 "at the earliest," with Apple making "radical" changes to the iPad's design and shifting to an AMOLED display.
Revolutionary iPad model likely to be introduced in 2018F at the earliest, with radical changes in form factor design & user behavior on adoption of flexible AMOLED panel. We believe iPad will follow in the footsteps of the iPhone by adopting AMOLED panel in 2018F at the earliest. If Apple can truly tap the potential of a flexible AMOLED panel, we believe the new iPad model will offer new selling points through radical form factor design and user behavior changes, which could benefit shipments.
Kuo remains conservative in his predictions of iPad shipments, cutting his total 2016 shipment forecast from 45–50 million to 35–40 million due in large part to a lack of new models before the end of the year. Even with updated models in 2017, however, Kuo predicts shipments will continue to decline as part of general trends in the tablet market.
In a piece covering Twitter's successful effort to win live streaming rights for Thursday night National Football League games this season, The New York Times reports that Twitter is in discussions with Apple to launch a Twitter app for the Apple TV that would let Twitter's users watch the NFL games on Apple's set-top box.
Twitter has directed [Chief Financial Officer] Mr. [Anthony] Noto, a former Goldman Sachs banker with deep ties to the sports media industry, to lead the charge on live streaming and has assigned an engineering team to create its streaming video player. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief executive, considers streaming a critical component of the company’s focus on “live” experiences, along with Periscope, its app that allows smartphone users to live-stream video.
To bolster the effort, Twitter is in talks with Apple to bring the Twitter app to Apple TV, which would potentially let millions of Apple TV users watch the streaming N.F.L. games, according to the two people briefed on the discussions.
Beyond the NFL, Twitter continues to strike deals for other live streaming content, and while the company's strategy for live streaming is not yet "fully formed," Twitter is considering how to bring that content users either in the main timeline or in the Moments tab of the current app for various platforms.
The NFL had solicited a number of companies, including Apple, to gauge interest in streaming rights for Thursday Night Football, but Apple ultimately declined to submit a bid.
Twitter's first Thursday Night Football live stream will take place on September 15 when the New York Jets visit the Buffalo Bills.
The Washington Post today posted a lengthy new interview with Tim Cook, in which he discussed his first five years as Apple CEO and hinted at the company's work on augmented reality products.
When asked how he handled the scrutiny that came with the role, Cook admitted that it was something he'd had to adapt to since taking over from Steve Jobs, and that there was very little Apple could do without it being reported somewhere.
You’re both praised and criticized, and the extremes are wide — very wide. And that can happen all in a day. You build up — my skin got materially thicker after August 2011. And I don’t mean in a bad way. I don’t mean that I’m callous and don’t care. I think I’m a bit better today about compartmentalizing things and not taking everything so personally.
Asked what has changed about Apple since his tenure in the role, Cook explained that while the company's aim of making "insanely great products" remained the same, its interests had broadened in line with its tremendous growth.
The obvious things are we have more employees. The company is four times larger [by revenue since 2010]. We’ve broadened the iPhone lineup. That was a really key decision and I think a very good one. We’ve gone into the Apple Watch business, which has gotten us into wellness and in health. We keep pulling that string to see where that takes us. Lots of core technology work has been done.
Cook also explained that the company had stepped up its social responsibility and been more transparent about issues such as its environmental work, which had been "going on at Apple for decades, but we didn't talk about it." When asked how Apple could move forward when so much of its business is tied up in the iPhone and an industry that's cooling off, Cook said:
Look at the core technologies that make up the smartphone today and look at the ones that will be dominant in smartphones of the future — like AI. AI will make this product even more essential to you. It will become even a better assistant than it is today. So where you probably aren’t leaving home without it today — you’re really going to be connected to it in the future. That level of performance is going to skyrocket.
When asked about some analysts' claims that Apple's best days are behind it, Cook said the suggestion "doesn't bother him" because "he's heard it all before" and he doesn't subscribe to it "because it's traditional thinking in a lot of ways: You can't get large because you are large".
Asked about Apple's future and statements he made in the last earnings call about artificial intelligence, Cook argued that the company wasn't falling behind AI efforts by other companies and called the breadth of Siri "unbelievable":
Increasingly, Siri understands things without having to memorize certain ways to say things. The prediction of Siri is going way up. What we’ve done with AI is focus on things that will help the customer. And we announced in June that we’re opening Siri to third parties, so third-party developers can now use Siri. So a simple example with that, whatever kind of ride-sharing app you might use, Uber or Lyft in the United States, you could just — using your voice — order the car. So third-party developers are writing tons of those that will be available to the public in the fall. And that’s how we’re broadening Siri in a huge way.
Apple has had a team working on virtual and augmented reality technologies since at least early 2015, when rumors suggested there were a small number of employees investigating how Apple could incorporate the technologies into its products. Apple's interest in virtual reality dates back much further, however, and Apple has filed multiple patents over the years, for products like video goggles, motion-sensing 3D virtual interfaces for iOS devices, and 3D "hyper reality" displays. When asked if Apple had designs on the augmented or virtual reality space, Cook said:
I think AR [augmented reality] is extremely interesting and sort of a core technology. So, yes, it’s something we’re doing a lot of things on behind that curtain that we talked about. [Laughs.]
In the full interview, Cook reflects on the death of Steve Jobs, Apple's tax policies, his non-traditional view of the role of a CEO, his succession planning, and some of the mistakes he's made along the way.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
Apple has green-lighted its carrier billing feature for iTunes users in Taiwan and Switzerland, allowing them to charge app and media transactions directly to their cellphone bill (via 
In an interview with 
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