Last week began with AppleInsider taking a fresh aerial tour of Apple's Campus 2, and later saw important news emerging on the company's TV plans, including harbingers of a streaming service and a redesigned Apple TV set-top. We also reviewied the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Force Touch, and took a look at the cars owned by Apple's executives.
Redesigned Apple TV said to have App Store, Siri
Matching the rumored TV service, Apple is also reportedly working on an overhauled Apple TV set-top. The unit is said to have not just an A8 processor and much greater storage, but support for Siri voice commands and access to a dedicated App Store.
Accompanying this should be a new software development kit. The SDK and the new hardware could be shown at WWDC in June.
It's unclear what other features the set-top might have, but an A8 might allow it to support 4K video, and apps could enable functions like gaming.
Review: Early 2015 13-inch MacBook Pro
's Sam Oliver had an opportunity to review the new 13-inch Pro, one of the first Apple notebooks with Force Touch, a trackpad technology allowing haptic feedback and different commands based on how long a user presses down.
The machine was otherwise described as an "evolutionary" upgrade, with extra battery life and some performance improvements, including markedly faster SSD write speeds.
The 13-inch Pro was judged to be a good middleground between the raw power of the 15-inch model and the portability of the MacBook Air and forthcoming 12-inch MacBook.
Apple streaming TV service may debut this fall
Long-rumored and often thought to be mired in negotiations, the service is finally expected to premiere at this June's Worldwide Developers Conference, and go live in or around September. It should cost $30 to $40 per month, and include channels from networks such as ABC, CBS, and Fox.
A conspicuous gap is NBCUniversal. Negotiations between Apple and NBC's parent company, Comcast, allegedly broke down, leading to it being left out of the initial channel package.
Talks with companies such as CBS, Fox, and Disney (which owns ABC) are still said to be underway, with the goal of creating a "skinny" channel bundle excluding smaller networks often tossed into cable packages.
Campus 2 construction advances
A drone managed to capture the latest construction work on the company's new headquarters, including early development of an auditorium complex that will ultimately cost $161 million. Parking is also making progress in the form of new tunnels, and some finishing touches on one structure ahead of solar panels being installed.
A second video, AppleInsider presented shows that an initial segment of the "Spaceship" ring in Apple's Campus 2 is reaching its ceiling, and can be seen clearly from the air.
Campus 2 is in Cupertino, just a few blocks from the company's present complex at 1 Infinite Loop. It is scheduled to be occupied by the end of 2016. It was designed with the direction of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and will house some 12,000 workers in a unique solar-powered ring structure, surrounded by trees and other greenery.
Executives' cars could give hints at Apple's own car project
Clockwise from top left: Bentley Mulsanne, Aston Martin Vanquish, Porsche Boxster, Toyota Camry, Land Rover LR3, Ferrari La Ferrari, Aston Martin DB9, BMW 5 Series.
With rumors of an Apple-built car picking up steam, AppleInsider took a look at some of the personal vehicles driven by the company's executives. For example, lead designer Sir Jonathan Ive favors vehicles from his home country, driving vehicles from Aston Martin, Bentley, and Land Rover.
CEO Tim Cook is relatively low-key with a BMW 5 Series 4-door sedan. He's also rumored to won a Porsche Boxster, though he has not been seen driving it.
The consistent thread among Apple executives' car choice is sleek European luxury. The vehicles selected by Apple's top brass are generally known fro their attention to detail and precision engineering.
Apple stock joins Dow Jones Industrial Average
Thursday saw Apple stock replace AT&T as a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The change was possible in part because of stock splits at Apple and Visa, the latter of which only happened recently and lowered the weighting of the Information Technology segment in the index.
Swapping in Apple helped restore the balance, especially in light of AT&T having one of the lowest share prices in the DJIA group.