August 20, 2012: Apple breaks records as it becomes the most valuable public company in human history.
When markets close, Apple’s market cap — the stock price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares — sits at an astonishing $623.5 billion. This beats the previous record of $618.9 billion set by Microsoft on December 30, 1999, at the height of the dot-com bubble.
This week on The CultCast: Apple makes a major play to become the next HBO. Meanwhile, intriguing new images surface showing what looks to be a product we all thought had died — the long lost Apple Television.
Plus: A trusted source says Apple’s next Watch will be more boring than we hoped; and finally … eating bugs … Thai Tinder … yes, Buster Heine is back to share strange stories from his travels deep into the heart of Thailand.
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Apple has begun eliminating official accessories in many color options from its online store.
Shoppers are discovering that a number of iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch accessories are no longer available in some color options. They are likely being phased out before new accessories for Apple’s next-generation devices arrive this fall.
As we get closer to the iPhone 8’s launch, more and more alleged components are starting to show up online. The latest is what is reported to be the A11 chip which will power the next-gen device.
Made by TSMC, previous reports have stated that the new chip is manufactured using a 10-nanometer manufacturing process, which should make it faster and more efficient than the 16-nanometer A10 Fusion used in the iPhone 7. It should also be faster than the A10X Fusion chip used in the latest iPad Pros.
Apple’s supposedly impenetrable security chip found inside iOS devices has been penetrated.
A hacker has released what is claimed to be a decryption key for the Secure Enclave Processor (SEP) that handles things like Touch ID and password verification. But we shouldn’t worry about the security of our Apple devices being compromised… yet.
Best Buy will kick off a massive 50-hour sale later today, offering generous discounts on a number of Apple’s hottest products, including the MacBook, iMac, iPhone 7, and iPad mini.
The company is also slashing up to $200 off Beats headphones, and up to $600 off LG’s 4K TVs.
Apple could come close to doubling its 25,000 Santa Clara Valley employees in the coming years, based on Apple’s aggressive long-term office space leasing in the region.
Its latest long-term lease is two buildings — collectively totaling 73,000 square feet — in Sunnyvale, near its 13,000 person Apple Park campus. Apple also leases another nearby 105,000 square foot building around three blocks away.
Hollywood is pushing for iTunes to show the latest blockbuster movies just weeks after they hit the theater.
Sources say a deal between Apple and a number of major studios could be signed as early as next year without the blessing of theater chains. However, talks are currently held up over the price that Hollywood wants to charge for new rentals.
Apple Watch shipments may have slowed in recent months, but with Series 3 right around the corner, the device is expected to enjoy a strong end to 2017.
According to sources in its supply chain, Apple is likely to ship a total of 15 million Apple Watches for the year. That figure could rise even higher in 2018.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized tech companies that took action against white supremacist groups in the wake of deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Quick to take a stand against hate groups, tech companies removed some neo-Nazi groups’ access to web servers and online services. But the EFF issued a statement reminding them of the slippery slope of censorship.
There are awesome prices to be had this week whether you’re shopping for a MacBook or an iMac, and free Beats headphones.
If you’re ready to step up to Apple’s super fast, super light MacBook Pro featuring the innovative Touch Bar, there’s no better time.
Audiobus, the iOS app that lets you route audio between apps on your iPad or iPhone, just got an update. The version number is 3.0.5, which belies the fact that Audiobus 3 just got one huge new feature: support for Ableton Link, which means that it will now keep tempo with all the other music apps on your iDevice.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed to employees in an email this week that Apple will make $2 million worth of donations to organizations “who work to rid our country of hate.”
The donations come as a response to the tragic events of Charlottesville which Cook told employees have been deeply troubling for him personally. Cook, who has first hand experience with the devastating impacts of the KKK, took aim at President Donald Trump in his letter for supporting the white supremacists and says that Apple plans to play an important role in bringing about positive change.
Apple has baked a new feature into iOS 11 that lets you quickly disable Touch ID.
The feature could come in handy if you’re ever in a situation where someone (a cop) might force you to unlock your device.
A new August drone flyover video of Apple’s spectacular Apple Park campus shows a headquarters on the verge of completion.
The video, by drone photographer Matthew Roberts, depicts both the circular Apple Park main building and its central garden as virtually complete — with most of the construction vehicles now gone. There are also looks at the Steve Jobs Jobs Theater, visitor’s center, and more.
Check it out below.
What’s the best way to generate interest in your latest ad campaign? Include pictures of the next iPhone before it’s even announced, of course!
That’s exactly what McDonald’s has done, using an unofficial iPhone 8 render created by Benjamin Geskin, for a campaign to promote its new mobile ordering app down in Australia.
New photos of apparent iPhone 8 components once again corroborate rumors that the device will finally deliver wireless charging. We’ve already seen an image of its wireless charging coil, and now we have a charging circuit to go along with it.
The Apple Watch 3 has reached the final testing stage of its development process, and is now ready to enter volume production, a new report claims.
Apple may be planning to spend a massive $1 billion on acquiring and producing original video content in 2018, but according to Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s 2018 spend will dwarf Apple’s — with plans to shell out enormous $7 billion on content in the next year.
In its stance against hate speech, Apple has disabled Apple Pay support on three websites selling sweaters with Nazi symbols, “White Pride” paraphernalia, and other offensive items.
While Apple hasn’t issued an official statement, it has highlighted guidelines for Apple Pay, forbidding its use on sites which promote hate, intolerance, and violence.
The rumored Apple Watch with LTE may not work for phone calls, according to new research from a reliable Apple analyst. Instead, Apple will focus on improving the user experience with the untethered wearable.
That’s the main takeaway from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. However, his Wednesday research note offers other predictions about the upcoming hardware update.
Three iPhone component manufactures experienced an unexpected — and unwanted — disruption this week, when a major power outage in Taiwan temporarily brought production to a halt.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, PowerTech Technology and ChipMOS Technologies are all chip assemblers and testers, which make a variety of components for Apple — including the iPhone’s Wi-Fi, baseband, fingerprint chips, and more.
When you want to keep an eye on multiple games at the same time, you need ESPN’s updated tvOS app.
Thanks to a new feature called MultiCast, you can enjoy up to four live streams simultaneously from across all of the network’s programming options on your Apple TV.
To hype its new Carpool Karaoke series on Apple Music, Apple has debuted two new teaser ads, offering a preview of what fans can expect from the show.
One ad features Game of Thrones stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner as they belt out Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and Miley Cyrus’ song “Wrecking Ball,” and get ready to prank fans. The other ad includes Ariana Grande and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane singing show tunes.
Check them out below.
Blurry images that popped up online supposedly show the testing of an Apple OLED television set of around 60 inches in size. The photos were shared on Chinese social media before being circulated by mobile leaker Benjamin Geskin on Twitter.
And, just like that, longstanding rumors of an Apple TV set reignite!