More than a year after becoming Apple CEO, Tim Cook has granted an extended interview with Bloomberg Business that reveals more personal detail. Although it’s clear that Cook isn’t baring his soul — he’s very savvy about reinforcing Apple’s marketing messages and knows how to evade tricky questions — we do get a better sense of how this normally private man is dealing with the massive attention being Apple’s CEO brings.

In the interest of simplicity, iTunes 11 changes how you access your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Jeff Carlson explains what has changed, and how to go back to the sidebar control of previous versions of iTunes.

Apple says the iPad mini is “every inch an iPad,” but does that apply for photographers who want to replace the laptop in their camera bag with the new tablet?

Citing the desire for “changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams,” Apple announced that Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall is leaving the company in 2013. Also packing up, apparently immediately, is Senior Vice President of Retail John Browett, with CEO Tim Cook taking over his duties until a new head of retail operations can be hired. Meanwhile, other Apple senior vice presidents are taking on additional responsibilities. Industrial designer Jonathan Ive will start working with software teams to “provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company.” Eddy Cue of Internet Software and Services assumes responsibility for Siri and Maps, in addition to overseeing the iTunes Store, the App Store, the iBookstore, and iCloud. Craig Federighi, who formerly headed up Mac Software Engineering, will also lead iOS development. And Bob Mansfield, who abruptly retired in June 2012 only to return in an unspecified role a short time later, will lead a new Technologies group that combines all of Apple’s wireless groups.

Apple earned $8.2 billion on revenues of $36 billion for the most recent fiscal quarter, which prompted analysts to figure out why the company performed so ‘poorly’ compared to their predictions, and why the iPad mini is priced starting at $329.

Photos from the iPhone 5 are better than those from the iPhone 4S, but not all photo enhancements are due to the new device’s hardware. Jeff Carlson looks at photo improvements in iOS 6 that owners of the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and camera-enabled iPod touch models can enjoy.

Journalists and analysts in the United States often forget the impact that Apple’s worldwide presence has on the company’s success, but it’s significant. Graham Spencer at MacStories has put together an impressive overview of where Apple sells its media properties: music, movies, TV shows, ebooks, and apps. He also includes the same figures for Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.com as comparison, demonstrating that Apple maintains a sizeable head start on the rest.

The rumored iPad mini looks more likely, now that Apple has sent invitations to a media event on Tuesday.

We’re not sure what’s more amazing about this Saturday Night Live sketch from last week: that the bit is funny, or that it pokes fun at Apple products and the entire industry in a way that doesn’t reflexively rely on lazy rumors or reporting. In it, bloggers from CNET, Wired, and Gizmodo are interviewed about the iPhone 5’s problems such as the new Maps app, lens flare when taking photos of the sun, being too thin and light, and susceptibility to scratches. Count on a trio of guests to put them in their place. (Our apologies to international readers since Hulu isn’t available in other countries. You may be able to find a copy on YouTube or other video sharing sites before NBC has it removed.)

On 18 September 2012, Jeff Carlson is giving a free online presentation about the concepts and techniques in his book “The iPad for Photographers” at 5:00 PM Pacific (8:00 PM Eastern). Over the course of the hour, he’ll demonstrate how to import photos wirelessly from a camera to the iPad, rate and tag images while still on location, edit the photos directly on the iPad, and more. This will be a live demonstration (not just a set of Keynote slides), and there will be plenty of time for questions. Register at Peachpit’s site and tune in Tuesday!

Viewing the photos sent back from NASA’s Mars Curiosity mobile science laboratory has been exciting over the last week, but here’s one with a twist… and a roll. Open this link on an iOS device that contains a gyroscope sensor — like the iPad 2 and third-generation iPad, iPhone 4 and 4S, and fourth-generation iPod touch — and navigate the panorama by tilting and moving the device. (Bonus points for scanning the horizon while you’re sitting in a swivel chair!)

Apple is happy to tell you about the main features of OS X Mountain Lion, but you may not know about the details that TidBITS staff members have shared in this article of important (and fun!) Mountain Lion tips.

Just prior to its quarterly earnings call, Apple issued a press release trumpeting the latest financial results. In the release, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “We’ve also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we’ve got in the pipeline.” Mountain Lion is being distributed exclusively through the Mac App Store, and costs just $19.99. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

After experiencing the speed offered by the new Retina MacBook Pro — but needing to return the review unit — Jeff Carlson decided to put a solid-state drive into his sluggish MacBook Pro. But because he couldn’t give up its existing storage, he tried something different: he replaced the optical drive with the SSD.

In an odd move, Apple, which touts its commitment to environmental building practices for its products, recently withdrew all of its computers from the EPEAT registry of "environmentally preferable products." Although it seems as if Apple is just ignoring a marketing label, the action has real consequences, as many government and higher-education institutions require that only EPEAT-listed computers can be purchased. Macworld's Dan Moren runs down the details.