Keeping your Apple ID safe and secure has never been more important. Not only does it have your payment details locked in, meaning anyone with access to your account can start downloading apps, video or music, but it also plays host to your emails if you use an @icloud.com email address. Strong passwords are a must - you do have a strong password, don't you? - but sometimes a little extra security must be in order.
Off the back of Apple's deal with IBM to further the presence of products like the iPhone and iPad in enterprise environments, Apple CEO Tim Cook has suggested that he completes around four-fifths, or 80 percent of his work using only the company's famed iPad tablet. In addition, he's also of the opinion that everybody should be able to do likewise, and with laptops still comfortably outnumbering tablets in the business world, hopes that Apple and IBM's new-found allegiance can help to tip the balance.
It's a fair assessment to make that Apple's Passbook feature hasn't been adopted by consumers with the kind of enthusiasm that the early hype suggested, but with NFC said to be arriving with the iPhone 6, the voucher / pass / wallet service could soon become a staple part of iOS users' diets. The Cupertino's move to launch iTunes Pass in Japan is certainly indicative of a more concerted push with Passbook, and as of today, Japanese consumers will be able to top up their iTunes credit via Passbook at Apple's brick-and-mortar retail outlets.
Beats Electronics, which was recently acquired by Apple, has enjoyed an immensely successful first few years in business, and while its hardware arguably offers premium audio quality, there's no doubt that the company's ties with music and popular culture have helped it to reach the dizzy heights of being Apple's largest ever acquisition. As well as music, an industry in which founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are heavily invested, football / soccer players have certainly helped to broaden the appeal of the brand, and now, Beats has returned the favor by presenting Germany's World Cup-winning squad with some 24-carat gold Beats Pro headphones.
It seems that the 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 6 "will it, won't it" saga is set to continue. Apple is widely expected to continue the development of the iPhone by introducing a new 4.7-inch model as well as a larger 5.5-inch "phablet" variant which will appeal those individuals who love a larger display. The question surrounding the release isn't whether or not the purported larger device exists, but whether Apple and its supply chain partners are able to flawlessly manufacture the parts necessary for the device in the required quantities. According to Ming-Chi Kuo - a well respected industry analyst from KGI Securities - the larger in-cell touchscreen panel and the redesigned metal casing that forms the exterior of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 are proving to be problematic, meaning that a launch could be pushed back to 2015.
FCC filings were once a great way of getting a sneak peak at what Apple is working on, but those little leaks have become more and more rare of late. One has been picked up in the last day or so though, and it's all about iBeacons.
Intel's Haswell chip, with its credentials as a very power-efficient processing infrastructure, has done wonders for Apple's Mac range, and in particular, MacBooks, which have seen significant battery life increases over the fleet of machines running on the preceding Ivy Bridge. The next-generation Broadwell chips were thought to be headed to Macs at some point this year, but with Intel apparently beset by delays, we could be waiting until the middle of next year before we can get our hands on the new Broadwell-powered machines.
The Internet is abuzz with rumors and reports surrounding the upcoming iPhone 6 these days (both of them, apparently), and rightly so, since there’s hardly been a device in recent history that has been so extensively leaked. However, that doesn’t mean that Apple’s current reigning smartphones, namely the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s, are to be discarded just yet. In an effort to boost sales and keep the interest piqued in their offerings, Apple has partnered (once again) with eBay for a “low-profile Factory Outlet store” that is selling Apple Certified refurbished iPhones at a much discounted price, all complete with Apple’s one-year warranty.
Aside from being one of the greatest innovators that tech has ever seen, Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and former CEO, was also a fascinating character. Often described as a frosty character in the workplace, this aspect of his personality was seldom more obvious than at lunchtime, when Apple employees would shun the head honcho through fear of being fired.
Whenever Apple launches new software - invariably around this time of year what with the Worldwide Developers Conference - we usually have to say goodbye to several devices and applications in the process. A natural part of the evolutionary process, the likes of the popular iPhone 4, for example, won't be seeing the forthcoming iOS 8, and in apparently, Apple also plans to cull Aperture and iPhoto from OS X in favor of OS X 10.10 Yosemite's new Photos app.
