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  • Apple's Scott Forstall at the Apple Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday. The Associated Press

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June 12, 2012

Apple announces upgrades

Annual conference fails to impress stockholders

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SAN FRANCISCO — Apple is kicking an important Google application off its iPhone and buddying up with Facebook rather than Google's social network, as it distances itself from a bitter rival in the phone arena.

On Monday, Apple executives said Google Maps will be replaced by an Apple-developed app in iOS 6, the new operating system for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. It's set to be released late this year.

The announcements were part of the keynote presentation that kicked off Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple presented new features in both phone and Mac software, plus updated laptops. But investors were mildly disappointed, as they expected more substantive news, like a hint of Apple's ambition to get into making TVs.

Apple shares closed down $9.15, or 1.6 percent, at $571.17.

Among other updates in iOS 6, Apple's voice-command application Siri will add a host of new languages, including Spanish, Korean and Mandarin Chinese, Forstall said. "She" will also be able to launch applications and movies, and will run on iPads for the first time.

Apple also said the new version of its Mac operating system, Mountain Lion, will go on sale next month for $20. The update brings features from Apple's phone and tablet software, like the iMessage texting application, to the Mac.

Mountain Lion will also bring dictation to Macs. Users will be able to input text by talking to the computer, in any program. This is already a feature of Microsoft Corp.'s competing Windows software.

On the hardware side, Apple showed off a laptop with a super-high resolution "Retina" display, setting a new standard for screen sharpness.

The new MacBook Pro will have a 15-inch screen and four times the resolution of previous models, Apple executive Phil Schiller said.

Apple already uses "Retina" displays — with individual pixels too small to be distinguished by the naked eye — in its latest iPhones and iPads.

On the phones and tablets, the Retina display is a standard feature. On the MacBook, it's an expensive upgrade. The new MacBook will cost $2199 and up, $400 more than the non-Retina MacBook with the same-sized screen.

The new MacBook borrows features from the ultra-slim MacBook Air. It's only slightly thicker, and like the Air, lacks a DVD drive. Instead of a spinning hard drive, it uses flash memory for storage. In the most radical departure from the last decades of PC design, it lacks an Ethernet port. Those who don't want to use Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet will have to buy an adapter that goes into the MacBook's "Thunderbolt" port.

Apple's other MacBooks are being updated with the latest processors from Intel Corp. Apple will still sell a more traditional 15-inch MacBook Pro, with a standard display.

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