San Francisco

Apple paid $33,333 per stair for glass staircase in San Francisco’s Union Square

Apple's signature glass staircase in its newly launched store on San Francisco’s Union Square set the company back a cool $1 million, or approximately $33,333 per stair, while the shell of the building cost about $19 million, according to official building permits obtained by Patently Apple.

The building's sprinkler system cost an estimated $2.28 million to upgrade, the solar power installation on the roof cost $800,000 while installing canopy panels came with a $150,000 price tag attached to it.

Apple Watch ‘San Francisco’ font reportedly making its way into iOS 9 and OS X 10.11

The San Francisco font used throughout the Apple Watch's operating system is expected to replace Helvetica Neue as the new default font in iOS 9 code-named “Monarch” and OS X 10.11 code-named “Gala,” according to sources with knowledge of the preparations who spoke to 9to5Mac.

In addition to achieving a consistent look across Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple Watch devices, it should help alleviate much of the criticism leveled against Apple over its use of thin weights of Helvetica Neue in iOS 7, iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

Activation Lock helps curb iPhone theft in New York, London and San Francisco

You may remember stories from a few years ago that described how iPhone theft was becoming a serious problem. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg even claimed that iPhone thefts had contributed to an overall rise in crime in New York City in 2012. The problem prompted Apple to team up with Google, HTC and others to help put anti-theft measures in place on smartphones.

Apple's own anti-theft measures appear to be working, as The New York Times reports that police in New York, San Francisco and London are finally seeing a decline in theft of the iPhone. The introduction of Activation Lock on iOS 7 has seen iPhone robberies drop 38 percent in San Francisco, 24 percent in London and 19 percent in New York, based on the six months before and after Apple released the feature… 

Apple, Google and others pledge $2M to hold Super Bowl 50 in Bay Area

According to a new report from the San Jose Mercury News, Apple has joined Google and other tech companies who have pledged $2 million in cash and services to help offset taxpayer costs of hosting Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco.

The Bay Area Super Bowl Host committee announced that is has raised $40 million for the event, which will be held at the 49ers' newly-built Levi's Stadium in 2016. The venue is less than 15 miles away from Apple's Cupertino campus...

San Francisco museum to honor Jony Ive with lifetime achievement award

According to a new report by MediaBistro, Jony Ive will be presented with this year's Bay Area Treasure Award on October 30. The award is granted annually by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in recognition of artists and creative leaders who have redefined visual art.

Ive will be the 15th recipient of the award, joining the likes of Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas and famed landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. And he's being honored for his long history of designing innovative products for Apple, which include the iMac, iPhone and iPad...

Apple invites employees to participate in San Francisco’s annual LGBT Pride Parade

San Francisco is many things to many people. To us, geeks, the city is synonymous with hot technology startups that challenge the status quo and strive to change the world. But if you're a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), San Francisco has a much deeper and more personal meaning as it's home to some of the most vibrant LGBT community on the planet.

Because Apple has always pushed for equality in workplace, it's really no surprise that the leadership team is encouraging its employees to march in the annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade...

San Francisco DA wants Apple to enable Activation Lock by default on all iPhones

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón released survey results yesterday that he says makes an argument for Apple to enable its Activation Lock security feature on all iPhones. The DA has been publicly leading the charge for a solution to rising cell phone thefts.

Gascón's survey indicated that 78% of respondents who owned an iPhone have enabled the security feature, and according to him, that's a clear sign that Apple should begin enabling this tech on all of its phones as a standard. He believes that it should be completely 'opt out.'

Report offers inside look at undercover police operation to disrupt stolen iPhone trade

Earlier this year, it was reported that mobile phone thefts had climbed to 300 per day in London, with the iPhone accounting for over half of them. And we've heard similar numbers here Stateside, in major cities like New York and Chicago.

But police forces are beginning to fight back, setting up undercover units to try and disrupt the stolen smartphone trade. And a new report out this weekend offers an inside look at such an operation by the San Francisco Police Department...

Sprint starts deploying LTE in San Francisco

Sprint's implementation of the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution radio technology has been spotted being deployed in certain parts of San Francisco, New York City and Washington, D.C., all major metropolitan markets. Apple added an additional 36 LTE carriers with the January 28 release of the iOS 6.1 software for iPhones, iPads and iPods.

Sprint on its part during January 2012 lit up LTE towers in 58 markets (here and here). This is a notable improvement because previously only those in neighborhoods in San Francisco could see Sprint's LTE signal, although coverage in San Francisco is spotty because Sprint has just begun deployment...

Colorful banners go up at Yerba Buena Center, perhaps alluding to new iPods?

First set of blurry snaps depicting preparations over at the San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts building in San Francisco hit the web last evening. Just this moment, another batch of images arrived, showing workers dressing up the building in colorful banners.

The design of these banners could mean nothing, but then again - this is Apple and the colors are surely meant to convey a certain message.

Colors for the next iPhone? Hardly, if you ask me. Instead, the nicely done banner graphics could be a subtle hint at the lively colors the refreshed iPods are thought to be provided in, thus indicating that next Wednesday's media event may not necessarily be iPhone-exclusive as previously thought...