The iPhone's camera is so good because 800 people are working on it

Apple was the subject of a wide ranging but not very hard hitting 60 Minutes segment on Sunday night. Charlie Rose steered the conversation through topics that Apple and its CEO Tim Cook have addressed repeatedly over the last few years. (Yeah, those Steve Jobs questions just keep coming.) But the episode did reveal one semi-interesting new detail: Apple now says there are 800 people solely dedicated to working on the iPhone's camera. That team of "engineers and other specialists" is led by Graham Townsend, who took Rose on a tour of the camera testing lab.

"There's over 200 separate individual parts" in the iPhone's camera module, Townsend said. Then he demonstrated how Apple simulates various conditions to test out the camera's performance, from sunsets to lousy indoor lighting. "We can simulate all those here," Townsend said. Apple's competitors certainly conduct many of those same tests, but the sheer size of Apple's camera team shows you how high up on the priority list it's risen. Apple has built entire ad campaigns around the iPhone's camera, and always makes it a point to highlight improvements with each new iPhone revision.

Generally, the interview lacked anything else noteworthy. At one point, marketing chief Phil Schiller addressed product cannibalization, but seemed pretty nonchalant about it. "It's not a danger, it's almost by design," he said of Apple's products making other Apple products less appealing. "You need each of these products to try to fight for their space, their time with you. The iPhone has to become so great that you don't know why you want an iPad. The iPad has to be so great that you don't know why you why you want a notebook. The notebook has to be so great, you don't know why you want a desktop. Each one's job is to compete with the other ones." As long as there's an Apple emblem somewhere on whichever you choose, the company seems okay with that.

CBS previewed tonight's interview on Friday with a short clip covering accusations that Apple skimps on taxes surrounding its billions in overseas revenue. A visibly frustrated Tim Cook told host Charlie Rose that Apple "pays every tax dollar we owe" — more than any other company in the United States. Claims that Apple is scheming to evade US taxes are "total political crap," the CEO said. Cook acknowledged that Apple keeps billions of dollars outside US borders, but said it's necessary due to an antiquated and "backwards" tax code. "It's awful for America," Cook said. "It should have been fixed many years ago. It's past time to get it done."

Photo Shootout Comparing the best camera phones

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