Remember Apple's former partner GT Advanced and its sapphire glass plant that went bust last year? Apparently, the Cupertino giant has plans to turn it into a massive data center.
The facility will serve as a command center for Apple's global networks. The company will invest $2 billion in the project. As a result, it will create 150 full-time Apple jobs and an additional 300 to 500 supporting jobs locally.
GT Advanced has rights to use the Mesa, Arizona plant until the end of this year. As part of its commitment, the Cupertino giant will also finance solar projects in the area.
According to latest reports leaked from Foxconn factories, It looks like Apple is preparing to unveil a bigger iPad this spring. Apple is working on a 12" iPad Pro that will be very similar to the current Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 (Photo below) which is already on the markets since last year.
Virtual brush artist Martin Hajek has created the most realistic and beautiful representation of what Apple's upcoming iPad Pro or Plus might look like when it lands some time this spring, based on these leaks. In addition, the rumored stylus that will eventually accompany the tablet, makes a cameo for the first time. The stylus has borrowed the digital crown and biosensors from the Apple Watch, says Martin, and a slider is added for additional tasks.
It is evident that the tablet will be quite a bit bigger than the current 9.7" iPad Air 2, but still we can reasonably expect to see again a thin, machined aluminum device, with the general shape and form you would expect from the renowned iPad line of tablets. The sources before pegged the slate's thickness at between 6.9-7.5mm, which is a pretty good achievement, and also confirmed the speculated four built-in speakers.
So far, the rumored specs are for a 12.2" or a 12.9" Ultra high-res display, and a souped-up Apple A8 chipset, but the biggest difference might be in the software department. Remember the rumors that iPad Air 2 will feature a split-screen functionality? Well, these didn't materialize for Apple's mainstream tablet edition last year, so it might have been preserved for the more professionally oriented iPad Pro/Plus, or whatever the team from Cupertino decides to name it in the spring, when it is expected to be announced.
According to a report from South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, Around 75% of the application processors (including Processor and RAM) that would power the next generation Apple iPhone 6S will be supplied by Samsung.
While there was no word on the financial details of the deal, as well as which other companies, apart from Samsung, will be supplying the processors, a Reuters report noted that the South Korean company will manufacture the chips in its factory in Austin, Texas.
Apple is doing good on the worldwide market shipments. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a decent track record on Apple-related industry predictions, has estimated that Apple has sold more than 73 million iPhones in the last quarter (Q4,2014) only which includes about 42 million iPhone 6 and 16 million iPhone 6 Plus sold.
For Q1,2015, Kuo is expecting the figure to be around 61.6 million, up 41.1% year-on-year, but 15.6% less than the previous quarter, something which isn't exactly surprising given the fact that it was a holiday quarter.
As for the iPad, total Q4, 2014 shipments stood at around 21.4 million, down 17.8% year-on-year, but up 73.8% compared to Q3. That number is expected to be around 10 million for the ongoing quarter.
Latest rumors about the Apple iPhone 6S (and 6S PLUS) suggests that the U.S. based company will pack a 2GB LPDDR4 RAM memory inside of its Upcoming smartphone. Apple decided it shouldn't stick with LPDDR3, even if its 35% less expensive but it should expand its technology.
The Irony is that the 2GB LPDDR4 RAM chips that Apple will use will be made by Samsung and its partners (Micron-Elpida and Hynix). LPDDR4 memory is not only two times faster than LPDDR3, but also keeps power consumption the same while at it.
One of Samsung's manufacturing partners, Micron-Elpida, which experienced production issues and was reportedly behind schedule, but not any longer. The LPDDR4 chips should be ready for this year of the iPhone 6S.
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