Analyst Predicts Multiple iPhone Refreshes Per Year, New Services After Meeting with Apple Execs

Apple's bifurcation of its iPhone lineup will provide the company with the opportunity to offer new iPhone products multiple times per year in the future, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. Along with pricing flexibility, the ability to offer new products at more frequent intervals will drive unit growth upwards in 2014. 

Apple recently introduced both the high-end iPhone 5s and the mid-range iPhone 5c, priced slightly lower, selling both alongside the lower-end iPhone 4s. It is unclear how Apple plans to continue to upgrade these lines in the future, but according to Huberty, Apple will be able to utilize its dual product lineup for "multiple refreshes per year..."

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple's iPad Air Adopts IGZO Technology for Thinner, Lower-Power Displays

Apple's new iPad Air marks a significant technological step forward for the company, improving performance while reducing the device's volume and weight by over 25%. Much of the size and weight savings have been enabled by improved power efficiency, allowing Apple to reduce the device's battery thickness and capacity by roughly the same 25%...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apple Releases iTunes 11.1.3 With Equalizer and Performance Improvements

Apple today released iTunes 11.1.3, two weeks after iTunes 11.1.2 and OS X Mavericks were first released. 

The update fixes issues with the equalizer and performance when switching views in large libraries. 

This version of iTunes resolves an issue where the equalizer may not work as expected and improves performance when switching views in large iTunes libraries. This update also includes additional minor bug fixes...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

75% of Early iPad Purchasers Already Own an iPad, Early-Adopter Upgrade Cycle Around 23 Months

According to a survey by PiperJaffray, 75 percent of U.S. iPad Air purchasers on launch day already owned an iPad, compared to only 58 percent for last year's iPad mini launch.

Gene Munster, a PiperJaffray analyst, believes the U.S. market may be getting slightly more saturated.

Surveying 71 day-one iPad buyers, Munster found that the early-adopter upgrade cycle is around 23 months, significantly shorter than the general public's upgrade cycle of 30 months. Also, the average capacity purchased today was 59.7GB versus 40.5GB for the 3rd-generation iPad launch...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Google Smartwatch: Will it be an 'iPhone moment' for wearables?

Despite all the promises, smartwatches remain an acquired taste. Yes, there's a market but one that largely caters to the likes of health junkies and early adopters.

Fitness bands are cheap and light but too minimalist. Samsung's Galaxy Gear is all brawn but lacks device compatibility and email support. And the Pebble, one of the first true-blue smartwatches, is still trying to build an app ecosystem the way that Google and Apple did for their smartphones. It's an uphill battle for Pebble, the smartwatch darling, and it won't get any easier when those tech titans join the fray...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Apple Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Failing 27" iMac Displays

An Idaho man is suing Apple under California's consumer protection laws because the display on his 27-inch iMac failed 18 months after he bought it -- notably outside the twelve-month standard warranty period, reports GigaOm.

The suit, which refers to a 321-page thread on the Apple Support Community as well as a post on TechCrunch from 2009, asks for more than $5 million in class-action damages and seeks to represent every Apple customer that purchased a 27-inch iMac with an LG display before December 2012...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

New Job Listings Point to Continued Work on Transit Options in Apple Maps

Apple today posted two new job listings on its website, seeking to fill engineering positions related to public transit. The company is looking for a Maps Public Transit Engineering Manager and a Public Transit Software Engineer, who will join the Maps team to work on building and improving a Transit Routing platform "at a massive scale..."

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

OS wars 2013: How the latest Mac and Windows upgrades compare

Last year when Mountain Lion and Windows 8 were released, I wrote a piece comparing the Mac and Windows operating systems, and concluded that Apple took the better path by keeping its tablet and desktop operating systems separate. With Windows 8 Microsoft gave its operating system a complete makeover, asking that people change the way they use their computers. Now that the two operating systems have updated with Mac OS X Mavericks and Windows 8.1, I thought I should take another look at both to see if the update did anything to change my mind...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Apple TV Software Updated to Version 6.0.1

Apple released version 6.0.1 of the Apple TV software today, capping a week of new product updates. There is no indication yet about what has changed in the new release.

The last Apple TV update occurred back in September following the public release of iOS 7 for the iPhone and iPad. That release added support for iTunes Radio, AirPlay from iCloud and new podcast functionality...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

15-inch MacBook Pro gets latest Intel chips, better battery life, and a lower price

Apple's MacBook Pro line has now gotten an entirely expected upgrade to current-generation Intel CPUs, just in time for the holiday shopping season. In our hands-on initial testing, these new 13-inch and 15-inch models look and feel just like the previous generation, but the promise of longer battery life, somewhat improved performance, faster Wi-Fi, and lower starting prices is enough to make this a significant overall update...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Top tweets on Apple's iPad event

Apple was once again the talk of Twitter during a media event that introduced new iPads and revealed that Mavericks would be released free of charge. The Cupertino company's event spawned more than 770,000 tweets between 10:00 a.m PT and 12:00 p.m. PT, according to data shared with CNET by analytics firm Topsy.

Collectively, the people of Twitter showed the most enthusiasm around the lighter, full-sized iPad Air and the new Mac operating system, but the top tweets surrounding the affair, measured in retweets and replies, highlight a mix of different emotions.

From 10:00 a.m PT to 12:00 p.m PT, actor Darren Criss, seemingly an enthusiastic Apple fan, had the top four tweets, which altogether generated 1,753 retweets and replies during the two-hour block...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Updated Versions of iWork and iLife Begin Appearing on the App Store

Apple today released major updates of its iWork and iLife suites for both iOS and OS X. All the apps are now live on their various App Stores. 

The iLife suite has been revamped for both platforms, with iPhoto receiving a new look on iOS along with the ability to create and order photo books on the iPad. Both iPhotofor Mac and iPhoto for iOS are 64-bit-optimized, allowing for faster browsing and editing. New tools are included that allow users to create more dramatic images, and favorite images can be saved as custom slideshows...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours