Mac

Microsoft is taking its "I'm a PC" ad campaign directly to the people: the Mac people.

At least, that's the case in the U.K., where an AppleInsider reader spotted a Microsoft-branded video kiosk just outside a Birmingham Apple store. Microsoft employees were asking passersby to come in and record their very own "I'm a PC" video, presumably for use in a future ad.

It's not clear from AppleInsider's report whether this tactic was actually working, but it's certainly become clear this year that Microsoft is determined to hit back … Read more

Updated throughout at 4:55 p.m. PT with additional details and comment from IBM.

One of IBM's top chip executives has agreed to join Apple as a senior executive, but he might have to fight off his former employer first.

Mark Papermaster, until recently IBM's vice president of microprocessor technology development, plans to join Apple in early November in a position that will see him working closely with Apple CEO Steve Jobs in what IBM believes is an attempt to expand Apple's presence in the markets for servers and chips for handheld devices, according to the … Read more

Psystar is working on a Mac OS-based notebook that will round out its Mac clone product line.

A company representative confirmed a message sent to an AppleInsider reader indicating that a Psystar notebook using Mac OS is in development, although it's not clear when it will arrive. Psystar has of course been selling Mac OS X desktops for over six months, much to the chagrin of Apple's lawyers.

Building a notebook, however, is a very different undertaking than a desktop. The average person reading this article could slap together a desktop PC while watching a football game on … Read more

Psystar's Mac clones now come with a Blu-ray drive, but they still can't do much more with the technology than is already possible on a Mac.

Go ahead, order an Open Computer or Open Pro with a $310 Blu-ray drive if you're a Mac OS X fan chafing at Apple CEO Steve Jobs' decision that Blu-ray is "a bag of hurt." But don't expect to be able to pop in a Blu-ray movie and watch a high-definition movie on the display attached to that system.

Without Mac OS support for a Blu-Ray player, all … Read more

Apple's Mac Mini might be getting a reprieve after all.

A few days after Gizmodo reported that European retailers believed the Mac Mini was heading for the exits, AppleInsider says the smallest and cheapest Mac hasn't left the building. Apparently a number of casinos in Las Vegas use Mac Minis to help run the ever-present security cameras in that city, and those customers believe that an update is around the corner.

One Las Vegas-based source who runs a collocation service based on the Mac Mini told AppleInsider that there are about 10,000 Mac Minis in use in … Read more

Apple CEO Steve Jobs danced around the idea of Apple releasing a so-called Netbook on Tuesday, but such a device might already be in the wild.

The New York Times' John Markoff reported Tuesday that anonymous sources at an anonymous Internet search company (wonder which one that is) have spotted the tracks of an Apple device with a screen larger than an iPhone, but smaller than a MacBook, in their visitor logs.

That is by no means proof that Apple plans to release a small MacBook in the Netbook vein, but could be evidence that Apple's plans for this … Read more

Apple's fourth-quarter earnings conference call was made a bit more lively due to its unusual guest star: CEO Steve Jobs.

It's not unprecedented for Jobs to sit in on one of Apple's earnings calls, usually handled by COO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer, but it certainly is very rare. Jobs said he jumped on the call to help explain Apple's decision to shed a little more light on the contribution the iPhone makes to his company's finances, although there's probably more than one reason why he chose Tuesday to make his appearance.

The … Read more

Updated throughout at 3:15 p.m. PT after Apple's conference call.

Apple's fourth-quarter profit soared past expectations on extremely strong sales of the iPhone, but revenue was a little light, and the company left itself a lot of wiggle room heading into what it called a "challenging" environment.

For the company's fourth fiscal quarter, or the period ended September 27, Apple reported revenue of $7.9 billion, compared with revenue of $6.2 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income was $1.14 billion, or earnings per share of $1.26. Analysts … Read more

It's something that has been talked about for years, and now the author of a new book is trying to explain it: the idea that to many people, Apple is a religion.

In an interview with the creators of the film MacHeads, which itself examines the Apple branding and community phenomena, Buyology author Martin Lindstrom (see video below) talked about just how powerful that brand is.

"Apple is (as we've proven using neuroscience)...a religion," Lindstrom said in the interview. "Not only that--it is a religion based on its communities. Without its core communities, Apple … Read more