This morning, Apple's stock underwent a 7-for-1 split, awarding 6 additional shares to each shareholder of record at 5PM PDT on Friday. Simultaneously, the price of the stock has been divided by 7 and should open around $92 after closing on Friday at $645.
Apple's stock has split on three previous occasions, on a 2-for-1 basis, in 1987, 2000 and 2005. Apple has said that it wanted to make its stock "more accessible" to a wider variety of customers, but Apple could also be aiming for inclusion in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. The Dow is price-weighted, meaning Apple's previous stock price of nearly $700 would have resulted in an significant reweighting of the index and a $92 would put it in the right price range for inclusion.
As the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, with a market cap of more than $550 billion, Apple could be a logical addition for the index. It would join a number of other high-tech companies listed including Cisco, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, AT&T and Verizon.
Apple went public on December 12, 1980 for $22 per share. Accounting for its four stock splits, Apple's stock cost roughly $0.39286 per share at IPO, giving a return of roughly 23,400% over 33.5 years.
Leading up to last week's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, various reports suggested that Apple would be significantly improving its Maps application in iOS 8, enhancing the underlying infrastructure that powers the application and adding public transit directions from acquired mapping companies HopStop and Embark.
However, while last week's keynote included a lot of new information about iOS 8, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi mentioned no improvements to Maps aside from enhanced vector-based mapping maps in China.
Now, a report from TechCrunch sheds new light as to why iOS 8 does not feature significant improvements to Maps, with an inside source noting that "many developers left the company," as map improvements for iOS 8 were not finished in time. The source added that tasks were "very badly planned", with developers having to jump from "project to project".
The report also gives an account from another source at Apple:
It’s a take that is both contested and corroborated by our other source. “I would say that planning, project management and internal politics issues were a much more significant contributor to the failure to complete projects than developers leaving the group,” the source said.
Apple originally introduced its Maps app in iOS 6 as it looked to move away from Google Maps. However, Apple's Maps drew a significant amount of criticism over inaccuracies in mapping data, errors in locating points of interest, a lack of transit information, and bizarre 3D mapping. Apple CEO Tim Cook even issued a public apology to iOS owners over the ordeal, stating the company was "extremely sorry" for the frustration it had caused and promised "non-stop" work to fix the app.
Back in late May, a single photo of an alleged rear shell from the iPhone 6 surfaced, showing what appeared to be a thin metal part with cutouts on the rear for not only the camera, microphone, and flash, but also the iconic Apple logo.
Interior (left) and exterior (right) of alleged iPhone 6 rear shell
Side views of the shell show the now familiar cutouts expected for the iPhone 6, including the standard mute switch and elongated volume buttons along the left side. The right side features a SIM tray toward the middle and what has been reported to be a relocated power button, with Apple perhaps moving the button from the top edge to the side to make it more accessible on the larger device.
Left and right sides of alleged iPhone 6 rear shell
The report mentions that the cutout for the Apple logo points to the possibility of a lighted logo that could be used for notifications, but we believe this to be unlikely. Shell cutouts for the Apple logo are not uncommon for iOS devices, although they have not been seen on the iPhone before. But for iPad models, Apple has traditionally preferred to use a shell cutout with an embedded Apple logo rather than printing the Apple logo on the shell, in some cases such as in the original iPad placing antennas in the region to help overcome the shielding effects of the metal casing.
For the iPad mini, the Apple logo was printed on the first-generation models, but for the current generation the company has shifted to an embedded logo. As a result, we expect an embedded iPhone 6 logo to similarly be for aesthetic or perhaps antenna reasons rather than for illuminating the logo itself.
The iPhone 6 is expected to debut around the September timeframe, perhaps initially with the rumored 4.7-inch model while an even larger 5.5-inch model arrives up to several months later. Apple should also be releasing iOS 8 to the public at around the same time based on past patterns, and Apple's iWatch is tentatively targeted for an October unveiling.
Beats has had a trademark on the term "iBeats" for several years, and has produced iBeats in-ear headphones in collaboration with Monster, but recently, the company filed a new application to expand the iBeats trademark to include new music-related uses.
Initially covering only audio video equipment such as headphones, clothing, music performances, and various advertising methods, the trademark has now been expanded to also encompass areas such as broadcasting, social networking, digital music downloads, and streaming music.
Audio recordings featuring music; video recordings featuring music; downloadable audio and video recordings featuring music, music performances, and music videos; prerecorded music, namely, digital downloads; user interface for television and video on demand communications equipment; Computer software for use in the delivery, distribution and transmission of digital music and entertainment-related audio, video, text and multimedia content; computer software for enabling transmission, storage, sharing, collection, editing, organizing and modifying audio, video, messages, images and other data for use in social networking, online chats and interactive gaming, for use in creating social networking databases and for use in social networking database management; computer software for creating searchable databases of information and data for peer-to-peer social networking databases; Gift cards, namely, magnetically encoded gift cards.
Beats Electronics filed the new application on April 25, likely at a time when it was in talks with Apple over an acquisition. It is unknown why Beats has expanded its iBeats trademark, but it is possible that the company has plans for new products and services under the name.
Apple officially announced its $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics on May 28, and the deal is expected to be finalized during the fourth fiscal quarter. The acquisition includes both the Beats hardware business, which encompasses its lineup of headphones, and the Beats Music streaming service.
Dr. Dre, aka Andre Young, who will join Apple following the finalization of its acquisition of Beats Electronics, has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal in a piece that gives a look at his work philosophy, his character, and the role he will play at Apple.
An accomplished rapper, the co-founder of Death Row Records, and co-founder of Beats Electronics, Dre is expected to bring not only his music expertise to Apple, but also the "cool" factor that's made Beats hardware so popular with the younger generation.
The music mogul is said to have a "perfectionist impulse," a penchant for being short with words, and a disregard for artificial deadlines, which could cause friction at Apple. "I'm not feeling that," he'll say when he doesn't like an idea presented to him. The Wall Street Journal compares his attitude to that of Steve Jobs.
Dr. Dre's perfectionist impulse, coupled with his disregard for artificial deadlines, have meant that "he doesn't put out a lot of material," despite being a workaholic, said Paul Rosenberg, a lawyer and manager of one of Dr. Dre's protégés, rapper Eminem.
That could portend friction at his new employer, Apple, which agreed to buy Beats for $3 billion last month. But like Dr. Dre, Apple has also boasted about not doing market research. The company's late founder, Steve Jobs, made no secret of his belief that consumers don't really know what they want until someone else shows it to them. Colleagues predict that at Apple Dr. Dre could also cede some decision-making power and become more accommodating.
Dre, who is joining the company along with Jimmy Iovine, will not have a specific title at Apple. As noted by Iovine, the duo will be known as just "Jimmy and Dre" on campus, but according to Tim Cook, Dre will work with both the hardware and music divisions, being supervised by Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue.
Apple is planning to bolster its in-store iPhone sales in the United States by allowing customers to add pre-paid or month-to-month plans when purchasing full-priced, unlocked iPhones, according to a source that spoke to 9to5Mac.
Currently, iPhone customers who pay the full price to purchase unlocked iPhones from Apple retail locations must visit a carrier store or use a pre-activated SIM card to get service on their phones, but following the policy change, those plans will be available directly through the Apple Store.
Apple Stores will stock AT&T GoPhone pre-paid activation kits and T-Mobile SIM cards for both T-Mobile and AT&T pre-paid plans, with employee training taking place over the next few weeks.
Sales staff will promote ATT's $60 per month pre-paid plan (with 2.5GB of internet data and unlimited talk and text) to those seeking AT&T plans, while the stores will offer $50/month (1GB LTE data) and $70/month (5GB LTE data) unlimited data plans to customers seeking T-Mobile devices. The activations must be done at the time of purchase in Apple Stores and those devices will be unable to be returned to Apple for a refund.
The new pre-paid and month-to-month plans may be available at Apple Stores during the last week of June and are likely part of a push to move more device sales in store. Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that 80 percent of iPhones are sold at third-party locations while 20 percent are sold in by Apple, a figure he would like to improve.
Apple has launched several other programs to improve in-store sales, including a recent iPhone upgrade event encouraging iPhone 4 and 4s owners to update to a newer device.
Apple has acquired Spotsetter, a social search engine designed to offer personalized recommendations on places to visit, reports TechCrunch. The Spotsetter app, which has now been removed from the App Store, offered personal recommendations for "great venues to eat, play, drink, and shop" via existing social networks.
The app integrated with social networks like Facebook to aggregate data on locations recommended by friends, and it included results personalized for an individual's "taste and trust."
Using the app, you could look up any place, category or keyword, then be presented with personalized results, as well as see what your friends had said about the places around you. The app would also highlight which of your friends were experts in a given area, like coffee or shopping or sushi, for example -- and you could tag your friends as experts in order to influence the recommendations. In addition, you could use Spotsetter to discover new places, by browsing the map to see where your friends have been and what they've shared.
The end result was a social search engine built on top of a mapping interface.
Spotsetter announced plans to shut down its app six days ago, but did not give a reason for the removal. Its co-founders, Stephen Tse and Johnny Lee are now listed as Apple employees on LinkedIn, however.
With fondest emotions, I'm announcing that we are closing down Spotsetter app. We still have big dreams for personalized search for places and look forward to seeing great progress in this area. Thank you everyone for your support over the past years!
According to TechCrunch, Apple may be planning to use Spotsetter's technology, which layered social data on a maps interface, to bolster its Maps app with location recommendations. The deal, for an unspecified amount, was said to focus mainly on the technology and the talent of Spotsetter's founders.
Extensibility, one of the iOS 8/Yosemite features for developers announced by Apple during the Worldwide Developers Conference, promises to bring a range of new functionality to the app ecosystem.
The feature is designed to allow third-party apps to share services with other apps, create widgets for the Notification Center, and develop custom system-wide keyboards, letting apps and services work together and interface with iOS and OS X as they never have before.
Federico Viticci of MacStories has taken an in-depth look at Apple's Extensibility initiative, explaining the various types of app extensions available to developers and how those extensions will work on both iOS and OS X. There are seven general ways that extensions can be used, as detailed by Viticci:
- Today (iOS and OS X): widgets for the Today view of Notification Center - Share (iOS and OS X): post content to web services or share content with others - Actions (iOS and OS X): app extensions to view or manipulate inside another app - Photo Editing (iOS): edit a photo or video in Apple's Photos app with extensions from a third-party apps - Finder Sync (OS X): remote file storage in the Finder with support for Finder content annotation - Storage Provider (iOS): an interface between files inside an app and other apps on a user's device - Custom Keyboard (iOS): system-wide alternative keyboards
One of the most intriguing aspects of Extensibility, app widgets in the Today view of the Notification Center, was demoed on stage during the keynote. A SportsCenter widget displayed sports scores and an eBay widget offered a way to keep an eye on auctions. Philips later demoed how a Hue widget might allow users to control lights directly from the Notification Center. Apple is said to be encouraging developers to keep widgets simple, with iOS 8 preventing system-intensive widgets with complex features.
Action-based app extensions will also bring major changes to iOS, allowing apps to extend their functionality to other apps. On stage, this was shown off in Safari on Yosemite, using the Bing app to translate Japanese text, and through a Pinterest tool that allowed it to capture an image from Safari to save to the Pinterest app.
Custom keyboards, one of the major surprises at WWDC, also fall under the extensions category. Apple has, in the past, been reluctant to allow third-party keyboards due to security concerns but there are a number of precautions in place. Custom keyboards are unable to type in secure text input fields, like those used for passwords, and by default, the keyboards will not have access to keystrokes.
According to Viticci, the developers he's spoken have reacted with excitement about all of the possibilities offered by Extensibility, and believe that "a new class of apps will be possible thanks to extensions."
Today, it's difficult to quantify the impact that extensions will have on the iOS app ecosystem, but I think it's safe to say that, considering developers' reactions to Apple's announcement, we're going to see plenty of cool new stuff this Fall.
iOS users interested in more information on Apple's Extensibility initiative, how app extensions work, and how they might be used by developers should check out Viticci's full extensions piece on MacStories.
Apple is indeed aiming for an October release date for the iWatch as first reported by Nikkei earlier today, according to Re/code. Citing sources familiar with Apple's plans, the site says Apple is tentatively hoping to schedule a special iWatch event to show off the device in October.
People familiar with Apple's plans tell Code/red the company hopes to schedule a special event that month to show off the device, which is designed to make good use of the HealthKit health and fitness information-gathering app it recently showed off at WWDC. Could things change between now and fall? That's certainly possible. But right now October is the target date.
Multiple rumors have previously suggested a fall 2014 release date for the device, but this is the first time a more tangible, specific date has materialized. While few details are known about Apple's iWatch, the Nikkei report from earlier today suggested the device will incorporate a curved OLED touchscreen.
Curved iWatch concept by Todd Hamilton, based on the Nike FuelBand
The iWatch is also expected to include a multitude of health and fitness sensors, to measure metrics like calorie consumption, sleep activity, blood oxygen levels, and more. It is said to integrate deeply with the iOS 8's recently introduced Health app and it may come in multiple sizes and at multiple price points.
Last week, iTunes chief Eddy Cue boasted that Apple had the "best product pipeline" he'd seen in his 25 years at Apple, which along with the iWatch, may include larger iPhones, iPads with Touch ID, an updated Apple TV, and a redesigned 12-inch MacBook Air.
While it was revealed yesterday that Apple executives Tim Cook and Eddy Cue had visited the company's new operations campus in Austin, Texas, Cook has just tweeted a photo of a second visit he made to Apple's nearby Mac Pro manufacturing facility.
Watching the Mac Pro come together in Austin yesterday,thanks to a team loaded with American manufacturing expertise. pic.twitter.com/5LcCOFIVgC
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 6, 2014
Apple's Mac Pro manufacturing facility is run by Flextronics as part of an initiative to bring manufacturing of some Apple products back to the United States. While it is currently a limited effort given the relatively low volume of Mac Pro production, it has received considerable attention.
Flextronics' Mac Pro facility is roughly a mile from Apple's new Austin campus, which is actually an expansion of the company's long-standing operations campus in the city. The campus expansion is major effort that will see Apple investing $300 million to add at least 3,600 workers at the site by 2021. The overall project will encompass roughly one million square feet of space, with the just-opened first phase including two out of a planned six buildings on the site.
Following the visit to Apple's facilities in Austin yesterday, Cue was also spotted in the stands at last night's Game 1 of the NBA Finals just down the road in San Antonio.
Update 9:27 AM: Cook has also tweeted a photo of his (and Cue's) visit with the AppleCare team at the operations campus in Austin.
Our AppleCare team is the best in the world. Thrilled to see them in action yesterday on our new campus in Austin. pic.twitter.com/fTaMKzMi9o
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 6, 2014
China has become a major focus for Apple in recent years, with the company seeing tremendous opportunities for growth in the region and working to build out China-specific software features to help attract users. These features occasionally also receive brief stage time at Apple's media events, as with iOS 8 at this week's Worldwide Developers Conference, highlighting the country's importance in Apple's eyes.
Apple software chief Craig Federighi highlighting China-specific improvements in iOS 8
Apple is also working hard to attract Chinese app developers to its ecosystem, increasing its staff in the country and streamlining the customer experience, according to Bloomberg.
Since 2011, Apple has steadily beefed up its developer-relations team in China so new apps can be approved in the country, and it has opened a new office in downtown Beijing where the China App Store is operated. Apple has also smoothed the process for how customers buy apps in China, and built new Chinese-language-specific software to benefit developers.
The report highlights Apple's fifth-place market position for smartphones in China as motivation for Apple's initiative. Apple's ecosystem in China has also been challenged by the fact that many apps designed for Westerners don't translate well to the Chinese audience, with many developers not even making their apps available in the country. As a result, Apple's Chinese App Store includes just 150,000 applications, far fewer than the over one million apps available in the U.S. store.
“On a scale of one to 10 in terms of importance in China, it ranks at about 11,” Ramon Llamas, an analyst for IDC who tracks the mobile industry, said of Apple’s app development. “Nobody buys a smartphone just for it to be a phone -- the value of your device goes up with the more applications that you download on to it.”
Apple's efforts to attract more Chinese developers do appear to be paying off, with the country now ranking number two behind the United States in App Store download volume and the number of registered developers in China doubling over the past year. Still, it's clear there is much more potential left in the Chinese market for Apple, and the company is working hard to capture developers and users alike to boost its standing.
Apple's highly rumored "iWatch" smartwatch is expected to launch in October and will run a version of iOS 8, according to a new report from Japanese business newspaper Nikkei.
Sources tell the paper that Apple has begun finalizing specs for the device, as it will use a curved OLED touchscreen while utilizing biometric sensors to collect health-related data such as calorie consumption, sleep activity, blood oxygen levels and more, in line with recent rumors.
Apple appears confident of the new product. According to a parts manufacturer, it plans monthly commercial output of about 3-5 million units, which exceeds the total global sales of watch-like devices last year.
The news contrasts a report from Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White yesterday, which stated that iWatch production would begin gearing up this month ahead of a September launch alongside the iPhone 6.
While not much is known about the iWatch's physical features, rumors have suggested the device will come in two separate sizes of 1.3 inches and 1.5-1.7 inches. It is also likely that the iWatch's biometric sensors will work with Apple's new Health app in iOS 8 in order to measure and aggregate health metrics.
Apple, along with fellow tech companies Intel, Yahoo, and Google, has given $2 million in cash and other services to offset taxpayer costs of hosting Super Bowl 50 in the Bay Area, reports the San Jose Mercury News (via AppleInsider). In exchange for their donations, each company will receive their own private Super Bowl suite and publicity around the time of the game in 2016.
In total, the Bay Area Super Bowl Host Committee announced that it had raised $40 million for Super Bowl 50. The game will be held in the newly constructed Levi's Stadium, which be the home of the San Francisco 49ers this year after taking two years and $1.3 billion to build. The stadium is also just 13 miles away from Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California.
It is unknown exactly how Apple will plan to use its Super Bowl publicity, but the company has had quite the history running Super Bowl advertisements in the past and could choose to run one in 2016. Apple's "1984" television ad for the Macintosh was among the most iconic in TV advertising history, as the company ran its last dedicated Super Bowl commercial in 1999.
Since then, a number of rumors throughout the years have pointed to Apple running more commercials alongside the Super Bowl, although the company has not done so. Apple was rumored to be working on a commercial for this past year's Super Bowl, but instead chose to partner with U2 and Bank of America for a Product (RED) promotion.
Apple Retail Store employees in Australia have reached an agreement with the company on a new four-year contract, bringing the base pay for entry-level employees up to $22.45 ($20.95 USD) and allowing for 2% annual pay increases, reportsifoAppleStore.
The contract (PDF link), which was approved by 90% of the country's retail employees and certified by the Australian government, will go into effect on November 1 and also reclassifies the hierarchy of retail employees to define specific responsibilities.
The Apple Store in Sydney, Australia
For instance, Level 1 employees include those responsible for store aspects such as assisting customers and doing repairs, which correspond to Apple Specialist and Genius positions, while Level 2 employees are defined as those who work at a "higher level" than Level 1 employees and/or supervise as designated area of the store. Meanwhile, Level 3 employees perform full managerial duties, and correspond to Apple Business Leader, Store Leader, and Market Leader positions.
When the agreement becomes effective this November 1st, starting pay for full-time Level 1 employees will be $20.95 per hour (all rates in U.S. dollars), and Level 2 will start at $25.26. Casual employees will receive 25 percent more per hour to offset fewer benefits. Level 3 employees are management, and will receive a base annual pay of $72,779. The Level 1 base pay represents a 25 percent premium over the current $16.69 Australian minimum wage. However, the annual pay increases are less than the FWC’s 2.6 percent increase in the 2013 minimum wage.
Also included in the new contract are terms on grievance procedures and general working conditions. Notably, workers can receive multiple weeks of "redundancy" pay if Apple determines that a job being performed is no longer required, with compensation depending on age and years of continuous service. Additionally, workers who have a first-aid qualification are paid an extra $29.56 every two weeks, and all workers are also permitted to take two hours off from work to donate blood up to four times a year.
Finally, the agreement touches on the subject of 'Bag Check' inspections, which was the subject of a class action lawsuit last year. Apple Australia states that employees will be required to participate and fully-co operate with the bag and locker inspections, as they "may happen at any time."
A MacRumors reader has sent in a screenshot of a prompt in iOS 8 that double checks with users asking if they want to continue giving location info to apps.
Since iOS 6, Apple has required apps to get explicit user permission before accessing personal data and device information, with iOS 8 now allowing users to determine whether they want apps to keep using location data.
Apple's original move to require apps to ask for permission came in 2012 after it was discovered that apps such as Path were uploading users' address books without asking for authorization. While Path eventually deleted the information, a pair of U.S. Congressmen sent a letter to Apple asking for information on specific data collection policies, causing Apple to make changes.
Since then, Apple has made a number of moves to better comply with concerns over privacy, which include adding the ability to report apps that do not comply with privacy requirements and asking iOS users if Location Services should be enabled during setup.
HealthKit supports some medical Bluetooth accessories natively, allowing accessory makers to skip developing apps for iOS and focus on their hardware, according to 9to5Mac.
The accessories that will be built-in and supported natively by HealthKit include heart rate and blood pressure monitors, glucose sensors, and health thermometers. Apple is using official standard specs for Bluetooth LE devices from http://Bluetooth.org, which is what allows iOS 8 to automatically establish a connection with the devices listed above without the manufacturers worrying about anything on the software side.
HealthKit can automatically detect these Bluetooth medical devices and gather data from them, syncing them to the new Health app without the user having to do anything in a third-party app, making it easy for users to find health information in a single place. Additionally, device makers won't have to spend resources and time making an app rather than focus on their hardware.
HealthKit and the Health app are available to developers in the iOS 8 now. All three will launch in the fall for the general public.
The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) has resolved the dispute between Apple and Mexican telecommunications company iFone over the rights to the phonetic name "iPhone", acquitting Apple of any wrongdoing, reportsEl Universal [Google Translate].
The IMPI found that the "iPhone" trademark can only be infringed by iFone's fellow telecommunications companies. Because Apple is a hardware company and does not own a wireless network, it is not technically infringing the trademark.
Instead, the IMPI will fine Mexican telecommunications companies Telcel, Iusacell and Movistar and require them to remove "iPhone" advertising and branding from its stores within 15 days. Apple will still be allowed to sell iPhones, however.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Apple's brand new campus in Austin, Texas today at its opening celebration, according to various Apple employees. Cook recapped the announcements Apple made at WWDC earlier this week and teased that "exciting" new products are on the way, reports 9to5Mac.
Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue was also in attendance, commenting about Beats Music and Beats Electronics. Cook also reportedly talked about new hires, mentioning how new retail head Angela Ahrendts was the best person for the job.
Many Apple employees took to Twitter and Instagram to share Cook's visit to the campus, which is similar in style to the current Cupertino headquarters and complete with advanced facilities for Apple support, engineering and operations. Only part of the first phase of construction has been completed, with the complete first phase expected to finish by the end of 2015 and the entire project to be completed by 2021.
Leading up to last week's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, 
Apple, along with fellow tech companies Intel, Yahoo, and Google, has given $2 million in cash and other services to offset taxpayer costs of hosting Super Bowl 50 in the Bay Area, 
