Apple Shows Some Much-Needed Love to Neglected Product Lines
*By Hope King*
Apple showed some love to the MacBook Air and Mac Mini Tuesday.
The trillion dollar tech giant hosted its second event in two months to introduce new versions of these somewhat neglected devices.
The MacBook Air was last fully refreshed eight years ago, with a small update three years ago. The Mac Mini hasn’t gotten an update in four years.
Reports ahead of the event anticipated the announcements, but that didn’t leave the crowd — made up of Apple employees, guests, partners, and media — any less enthused when C.E.O. Tim Cook and team finally got on stage.
When the video of the MacBook Air played on stage there were "whoo-hoos" from the crowd when the retina display was featured, and more when the three different color options came on screen: gold, silver, and space gray.
One of the moments that drew the biggest cheers was when Laura Legros, VP of hardware engineering, announced the body of the MacBook Air would be made from 100 percent recycled aluminum.
"That's one of the really exciting things about the product today," Legros told Cheddar after the event. "This is many, many years in the making of actually being able to develop a process out of the materials that we already are using in our production process."
Apple is entering a phase of slowing growth for its iPhone, its most important product for revenue and profits. The company is also seeing increased competition from the likes of Amazon ($AMZN) and Facebook ($FB), two names which are suddenly threats. Amazon this year released 70 new devices and Facebook recently came out with its first-ever hardware devices, the Portal and Portal Plus.
According to Apple, the company unveiled 10 new products this year — more so than in years past.
Can new colors like gold help Apple sell more Apple Watches and computers? Future earnings reports will be the proof, but for now, Apple is heading into one of its trickiest holiday seasons yet.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.