As Apple begins a new year of operations, a media narrative is unfolding that Apple must ditch its reliance on premium hardware-- and particularly iPhone-- to desperately scramble its way into Services for the scraps left behind Netflix in a world of commodity devices. But the reality is actually a lot less dramatic for Apple, which has already proven an unusual ability to deftly adapt to changes in the industry. Compare its position today with that of Microsoft twenty years ago.

48 comments

Microsoft's Xbox Live online platform -- originally limited to its namesake consoles -- should soon come to a variety of third-party games on other hardware, including iPhones and iPads.

0 comments

Microsoft's latest Super Bowl campaign calls the Surface a laptop, but the company shifts definitions of what it is when it suits them. It's always been very careful to compare its tablets against Apple's laptops whenever possible, for instance, but that's gone now Microsoft has seemingly decided the NFL audience is more likely to buy a laptop.

31 comments

Now you can download Microsoft Word, Excel and most of the rest of the suite from Apple's Mac App Store, and sign up for a subscription with an in-app purchase.

8 comments

Attending this week's World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down for dinner with a high-profile collection of fellow guests, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the newly-elected far-right President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.

2 comments

Microsoft is recommending users of Windows 10 Mobile devices migrate to other platforms, including iOS, after the software giant confirmed the end of support for the mobile operating system by the end of 2019.

30 comments

Microsoft has started to roll out Files On-Demand for Mac, a function of Office 2019 that allows users to see all of their files held in OneDrive storage from the Mac desktop, with documents downloaded from the cloud only when they are required.

7 comments

Looking back at the last month of 2018, Apple revealed how its technology was literally saving lives. However, it also had to contend with lawsuits and a new PR misstep with its iPad Pro.

2 comments

Looking back at Apple's November 2018, it looked like investors just weren't getting as into the Christmas spirit as Apple is with its new holiday ads. And maybe Apple is looking for cheer in all the wrong places as Microsoft supplants it as the most valuable company in the world.

1 comments

It's only on reflection that you find July contained a lot of news about Siri but we didn't need long-term testing to come to some conclusions about Microsoft's Apple-killing new Surface -- or to back away from taking photos on a Samsung. Taking a look at Apple's July 2018.

13 comments

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference dominated much of the month but June also saw awards season -- with Apple both giving and receiving trophies.

0 comments

The long-awaited and delayed HomePod finally arrived to a chorus of praise and complaints. Apple also officially moved into its spaceship campus, Woz got taken by a scammer, and the entire Swiss watch market got beaten, all in February 2018.

14 comments

Apple's hardware designs, software, icons, marketing, retail strategy, and branding have all been closely copied by its rivals. One thing they aren't copying is Apple's vast, premium installed base of loyal buyers. That's the primary foundation of Apple's wildly successful, global business that's uniquely selling massive volumes of luxury-class, premium-priced products in markets where competitors fight over sales of low-priced commodity units with thin margins. Why can't anyone else achieve what Apple has?

46 comments

Sure, it doesn't come with nice gift-wrapping but a subscription to software is something that will be used, remembered and hopefully even treasured. Especially if you buy them something that will radically change or improve how they use their Macs.

3 comments

Microsoft on Tuesday pushed out an update to its suite of Office apps for Mac with full support for new operating system-level features baked into Apple's macOS Mojave, including Dark Mode and Continuity Camera.

26 comments

Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to rebuild its Edge browser, included with Windows 10, to run on Chromium -- and in the process, port it to macOS for the first time.

19 comments

Microsoft and MasterCard announced that they are teaming up to create a digital identity solution to help protect consumers across the shopping, investment and travel industries.

33 comments

Microsoft passed Apple as the world's most valuable company with a market capitalization of $851 billion at the end of trading on Friday, retaking a position it last held more than eight years ago.

100 comments

A fresh version of iCloud for Windows, 7.8.1, is now available from Apple, and appears to solve serious compatibility problems with Microsoft's October 2018 update for Windows 10.

10 comments

The holiday shopping season is upon us, and like every year, there are thousands of choices for the Mac user in your life. AppleInsider discusses some we like very much, and that may just bring a smile to the recipient's face.

0 comments