Apple

Apple dodges its taxes outside the United States

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

The subject of large companies paying their taxes is something of a hot button topic in the UK right now, which is why the likes of Starbucks have already found themselves thrown to the wolves over their accounting practices. Today, the latest multinational firm to be on the rack is Apple, with the news that it paid just 2% tax on its profits outside the US last year, leaving international taxmen considerably out of pocket.

Paperwork filed in the United States shows that Apple paid around 2% tax on its pre-tax earnings of $36.8B outside the US. That's down on the 2.5% paid the year before.

Oddly though, it's all perfectly legal...

Claimed unlocked iPhone 5 prices show up on Apple’s website

Cody Lee ∙ November 5, 2012

While Apple offers unlocked iPhone 5s in Canada and other countries, it has yet to give buyers inside the US that option. So unless you go through a third party vendor, you can't get an unlocked iPhone 5 here in the States.

That could be changing in the near future though. Purported prices for unlocked versions of the new handset have been discovered hidden on Apple's US website, which could mean that they're preparing to roll them out...

iPad mini user guide

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2012

Good news for those of you who managed to score an iPad mini during this sellout weekend, Apple has posted the full-length user guide for the new tablet online.

Obviously, since the mini is so similar to its larger sibling, it's not going to take seasoned iPad users long to get accustomed it. But since Apple only includes brief "getting started" pamphlets with the device, it wouldn't hurt to bookmark the actual manual for future reference...

You can now reserve your iPad mini for in-store pick up

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2012

The iPad mini officially launched on Friday, and much like the online pre-order sale, it looks like initial stock has gone rather quickly. We've heard several reports now that many retailers are sold out of the 8-inch tablet.

But don't worry, if you haven't gotten your hands on a mini yet, Apple just opened up a new option that could allow you to get the slate next-day. That's right, you can now reserve the iPad mini for in-store personal pickup...

Teardown finds iPad mini cost at least $188 to build

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2012

The iPad mini went on sale around the world on Friday, and though the official numbers aren't in yet, it appears to be selling rather well. This in spite of its lack of a Retina display, and its higher-than-average price tag.

In fact, Apple's had to defend the mini's pricing a couple of times now, claiming that its profit margins on the device are lower than on any of its other products. And according to a new teardown, that seems to be the case...

Apple corrects inaccurate statement regarding Samsung patent infringement ruling on its UK website

Sébastien Page ∙ November 3, 2012

Apple just published a statement on its UK website to correct a previous apology that had been found inaccurate by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The statement can be found at the bottom of Apple UK website's home page, and links to a longer statement acknowledging that Samsung didn't copy the iPad.

This "updated" statement comes several days after Apple published a public apology on its website, at the request of the Court...

Apple’s iPad mini versus Google’s Nexus 7

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The closest competitor to the iPad mini is obviously Google's Nexus 7 tablet. Some may even argue that Apple felt compelled to push out the mini due to the success that Google's diminutive tablet offering has experienced.

Although it's been a while since I've dusted off my Nexus 7, there's simply no denying that it's a solid offering in many areas. I sung the device's praises, and even Sebastien, who has been a bit more critical of the device, had some nice things to say about it.

Whatever the case may be, it's pretty obvious that Apple has drawn a line in the sand with the iPad mini, and it too, is quite the compelling offering. How do the two compare? We thought you'd never ask. Check out our head-to-head comparison video inside...

Survey finds 75% of mini buyers are keeping their 10-inch iPad

Cody Lee ∙ November 2, 2012

In an attempt to get a handle on what kind of people are out buying the iPad mini today, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been out and about interviewing purchasers of the tablet.

As you might expect, more than half of the early mini adopters that he talked to already owned a larger iPad. But somewhat surprisingly, more than 75% of them plan on keeping it...

That’s one hell of a multitouch radio for your ride

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

As you may have heard, Apple's iPad mini finally went on sale earlier today. Some of you no doubt picked it up directly at your local Apple store (hope you didn't have to stand in line outside the Fifth Avenue store). Others might still be biting their nails anxiously awaiting that USP truck. If you're busy playing with or imagining handling Apple's shiny new toy, why not make some room in your car's dashboard so you can easily slide the iPad mini in and out? Look no further than Soundwaves of Tampa, which custom-built a dash in a 2012 Toyota Corolla. Video is right below...

Apple’s Lightning to Micro USB Adapter hits US online store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple's been an avid supported of USB for years. With USB 3.0, not so much - at least not until first Mac notebooks with USB 3.0 support began rolling out of assembly lines last year. The company, however, never adopted the industry-standard Micro USB connector. Instead, and much to the horror of the multi-billion dollar accessory biz, it chose to replace its own bulky, decade-old proprietary 30-pin dock connector with Lightning, another proprietary connector similar in size to micro USB (there's a reasonable explanation for that).

So, if you fancy connecting your Lightning-enabled mobile devices to micro USB cables and chargers to sync and charge, Apple comes to the rescue with its official Lightning to Micro USB Adapter. Originally released in Europe in September due to regulations mandating that all mobile phones be charged via commonplace micro USB adapters, it's now finally available to U.S. customers. How much? Just $20. I know, don't start...

Google talks Nexus gadgets

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 2, 2012

Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Nexus Q... Who would have thought just a year ago that Google would ever be able to build its own family of branded consumer electronics products so rapidly and much in the way Apple has built its iPhone, iPod and iPad lineups. Now, I opined in May that Google becoming a handset maker could spell trouble for Apple, not just concerning the iPhone maker's thermonuclear war on Android but also realizing the vertical integration advantage this acquisition makes possible - even if we have yet to see Motorola-made Nexus phones born out of that partnership.

But Google becoming a hardware company changes market dynamics drastically, especially with much of the innovations in the Android camp happening in software right now. John Lagerling, Google's director of business development for Android, sat down with Brian Chen of The New York Times to talk Nexus devices and how Google goes about designing them, here's what came out of him...

4th gen iPad’s A6X chip runs quad-core PowerVR SGX 554MP4 graphics

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

Apple introduced the new A6X with the fourth-generation iPad on October 23. It's an improved version of the A6 silicon powering the iPhone 5 by increasing clock frequency for the CPU (1.5GHz) and GPU (500MHz) part in order to achieve Apple's claim of twice the CPU and GPU performance.

Though the A6X still runs two ARM Cortex-A15 cores with a heavily customized, Apple's own ARMv7 based processor design (called Swift), the company has improved graphics performance compared to the A6's three PowerVR-based GPU cores by moving to a newer GPU core: the PowerVR SGX 554 from UK's fabless semiconductor maker Imagination Technologies, where Apple has an ownership stake...