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Apple's Eddy Cue touts 'best product pipeline' in 25 years coming this year

Apple's Eddy Cue touts 'best product pipeline' in 25 years coming this year

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Apple's iCloud and iTunes chief Eddy Cue says the products the company plans to show off later this year are the best he's seen in 25 years.

"Later this year, we've got the best product pipeline that I've seen in my 25 years at Apple," Cue said at the Code Conference, which is taking place this week in California. Cue appeared on stage with Jimmy Iovine, who cofounded Beats and is joining Apple as part of its purchase of the music software and hardware company.

You'll have to wait though

The interview is the first for both Cue and Iovine since the two companies announced the purchase earlier today. Cue was originally set to appear alongside Apple's iOS and Mac software chief Craig Federighi, while Iovine was scheduled to appear alongside Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers.

Cue's comments echo similar claims by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has been drumming up excitement about future products since late 2011. Even so, it's been an awfully quiet year for Apple so far, with CarPlay being one of its biggest product announcements — something that was originally set to ship with iOS 7 last September. That's expected to change next week at the company's annual developer conference.

"They put tarps on everything."

At a combined $3 billion, the Beats deal is Apple's largest ever. The second closest acquisition was NeXT computer in 1997, which brought the return of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. That deal — struck in 1997 — came in at $404 million (worth close to $600 million now), whereas this one cost Apple $2.6 billion, with another $400 million that the company says will "vest over time." The Beats buy has yet to fully close, though Apple said it expects it to be done before the end of September pending regulatory approval. In the joint interview, Iovine said he had been pitching Apple on making a deal every day for close to a decade, and that he was excited he could finally see some of those future products Apple's been talking about.

"When I go there they put tarps on everything," Iovine said. "I'm not kidding."