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Phil Schiller: Optical drives are 'anchors on where we want to go'

Fresh off the introduction of its latest products, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller explained his company's abandonment of built-in optical drives in its new Macbooks and iMacs.

"These old technologies are holding us back," he told Time. "They're anchors on where we want to go. We find the things that have outlived their useful purpose. Our competitors are afraid to remove them. We try to find better solutions -- our customers have given us a lot of trust."

Full coverage of Apple's iPad mini and other announcements

The senior vice president … Read more

Apple's fiscal 2012 in numbers: 125M iPhones, 58.31M iPads

With Apple's fourth-quarter earnings in the bag, we now have a full picture of how the company has done during its entire fiscal year.

Though Apple's last quarter was a disappointment on the profit side, and soft on iPad sales, the company surprised with stronger-than-expected iPhone sales.

The company's current quarter, during which Apple expects to bring in $52 billion in sales, kicked off last month.

Here's some of Apple's 2012 by the numbers:

$156.5 billion. Apple's total sales for the year. The biggest chunk of that came during the first quarter, when … Read more

Apple earnings: $36B revenue, $8.2B profit, 26.9M iPhones, 14M iPads

Apple's knack for surprises held up in its quarterly earnings today.

The company narrowly beat expectations on revenue, but missed on profits.

Buoyed by sales of the iPhone and iPad, the company reported revenue of $36 billion and profits of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per share, for the quarter ended September 29.

Wall Street expected Apple to report $35.80 billion in sales, with earnings per share of $8.75. Apple's own forecast for the quarter was $34 billion, with earnings per share of $7.65.

"We're very proud to end a fantastic fiscal … Read more

Apple's new iMac will boost ailing desktop division, analyst says

Apple's newly redesigned iMac could be its desktop division's savior, according to one analyst.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors in a research note recently that he expects Apple to post just 264,000 desktop unit sales during its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in late September. Those sales represent a 79 percent decline compared with the same period last year. AppleInsider, which obtained a copy of the note, was first to report on Kuo's comments.

The new iMac, however, should turn things around, according to Kuo. He says that Apple's fiscal first-quarter shipments will … Read more

How Steve Jobs' 7-inch flip-flop worked to Apple's advantage

It doesn't rise to the level of "read my lips, no new taxes." Still.

With the announcement of a "mini" iPad with a 7.9-inch screen, Apple trotted out a smaller version of its best-selling iPad to help it compete more directly with rival 7-inch tablets offered by Google and Amazon as well as an 8.9-inch tablet computer sold by Barnes & Noble.

It also contradicted everything that Steve Jobs ever said publicly about smaller-sized tablet computers as Apple embraces a category that its former CEO told us was a loser from the get-go. … Read more

Apple news roundup: iPad Mini, new Macs

Tuesday's CNET Update has the breakdown of Apple's new hardware:

Apple shook up the tablet world (again) by revealing the iPad Mini at its press conference Tuesday. Apple also announced a new full-sized iPad and upgrades to its Mac computers. Today's Update video sums up all the new toys, but you can find more details on each product in the links below:

- iPad Mini: Starts at $330 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version, arrives Nov. 2. Preorder Friday. (4G version starts at $460, arrives Nov. 16)

- Fourth-generation iPad: Starts at $500 for 16GB Wi-Fi version, arrives … Read more

Apple's revamped, speedier Mac Mini starts at $599

See CNET's full coverage of Apple's iPad Mini event

Apple's tiny Mac Mini computer has become a bit more capable.

At an event today in San Jose, Calif., Apple said the revamped Mac Mini will have three USB 3 ports, dual or quad-intel Core i5 or i7 Ivy Bridge, with Intel HD Graphics 4000, and up to 16GB of RAM. It starts at $599 for a 2.5GHz computer with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

There's also a server edition for $999 that has a pair of 1TB hard drives. It ships today. … Read more

Finally: Apple unveils new iMacs

See CNET's full coverage of Apple's iPad Mini event

Apple unveiled a thin new iMac today, refreshing the design and specs for its popular desktop computer.

"It is absolutely beautiful," Apple's Phil Schiller said during the introduction at an event in San Jose, Calif. "It is stunning from every side."

The new computer is the thinnest desktop Apple has made to date, Schiller said: a 5 millimeter edge, 80 percent thinner than the previous generation. It is 8 pounds lighter as well.

The computer also uses a new "Apple Fusion" drive, … Read more

Apple by the numbers: 35B apps downloaded, 100M iPads sold

See CNET's full coverage of Apple's iPad Mini event

CEO Tim Cook kicked off today's iPad Mini event by offering up a range of big numbers and milestones. Below are some key numbers, and here is CNET's full coverage of the event.

Sales of new iPod Touch: More than 3 million.

iOS 6: 200 million devices running iOS 6 -- Cook says the fastest software adoption rate in history that he knows of.

iMessages sent: 300 billion; people sending 28,000 messages per second.

Apps downloads: 35 billion.

Game Center accounts: 16 million.

Shares iPhoto streams: … Read more

13-inch MacBook Pro dons a new Retina Display for $1,699

See CNET's full coverage of Apple's iPad Mini event

Retina-display loving Apple fans rejoice. Apple's rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display is here.

Apple announced the smaller version of its high-end laptop with the sharper-resolution Retina Display at its event today in San Jose, Calif.

Apple already offers a 15-inch version of the laptop with the Retina Display. And now it offers the same sharp screen for its smaller 13-inch sibling. The notebook also comes with the same dual Thunderbolt I/O connectors, as well as an SD card slot and HDMI out port found on … Read more