Apple is out with a new ad promoting the integration between iPhone and Apple Watch. In a video posted to YouTube today, Apple plays on the “needle in a haystack” idea, with a farmer using the ping feature on his Apple Watch to find an iPhone that’s lost in a haystack. “An iPhone that’s lost is easily found. Relax, it’s iPhone + Apple Watch,” Apple touts in the video’s description. The video is set to the song “Searching (For Someone Like You)” by Kitty Wells....

Update: The first public betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 are now available. The macOS Monterey public beta is listed as “coming soon.” Apple will release the first public betas of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 today, according to Rene Ritchie, allowing anyone to try out the new features coming to iPhone later this year in beta form. iOS 15 brings new features to FaceTime, upgrades to notifications, Focus, SharePlay, and much more....

[Update: The public beta version is also available for testers.] Apple has released macOS High Sierra beta 6 for developer testing. macOS High Sierra includes the new Apple File System, HEVC video playback, Metal 2, Photos and Safari upgrades, and more. macOS High Sierra beta 6 is currently only available to registered developers for now. Apple typically holds new public beta versions for a few days for major updates. We’ll update with any changes discovered in the latest macOS High Sierra release below....

Apple this week has shared the framework for Turi Create on GitHub. This framework, Apple says, should make it easier for developers to build machine learning models. Turi Create, as Apple describes it, is designed for people who aren’t necessarily experts when it comes to machine learning: Apple explains that Turi Create is intended to be simple to use with a visual interface, flexible, and fast. Furthermore, it’s ready to be deployed for use in iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS....

Update: Now available. Following the release to developers yesterday, Apple will release the first public beta of iOS 12.3 today. The update will be available to those users enrolled in Apple’s public beta program. Apple will also release the first beta of watchOS 5.2.1 to developers today. In addition to the iOS 12.3 public beta release today, Apple will also likely release the first public beta of tvOS 12.3. This update includes the all-new TV app, as well as the new Apple TV Channels feature....

After a summer full of beta testing, Apple today officially announced that it will release iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to the public on Monday, September 20. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, such as updates to FaceTime, new Notification changes, and more. While not mentioned during today’s event, the Apple press release for the iPhone 13 revealed the release date. As a reminder, iOS 15 is supported by every iPhone and iPod touch model that runs iOS 14....

According to a new report from research firm Fiksu, which regularly tracks changes to App Store charts, Apple might be experimenting with new algorithms for iTunes and App Store rankings that incorporate user ratings. Apple previously only used the number of downloads and how fast an app was being downloaded in order to rank apps for its top charts, but Fisku thinks it has recently started incorporating user rankings: The report also notes that, in recent weeks, Apple appears to be updating App Store charts every three hours opposed to the 15 minute intervals it was using previously....

Although its original efforts are believed to have failed, Apple isn’t giving up on its goal to sell a streaming TV bundle. According to a new report from Recode, Apple is currently working towards selling consumers a “premium TV bundle” consisting of HBO, Showtime, and Starz. While many cable providers already offer such a package, they typically require users to sign up for a basic level of channels. Apple’s efforts, however, would allow a consumer to subscribe to just those three premium channels....

Apple is rolling out a new firmware version for Beats Fit Pro today. The update pushes Beats’ truly wireless earbuds to version 4E64. Head below for details on how to update and how to check your firmware version. The latest firmware update for Beats Fit Pro arrived in November; for AirPods, in December of 2021 This is the second firmware update for Beats wireless earbuds with the H1 chip since it was released last year....

In halfway compliance, Apple posted a link to a page with the acknowledgement at the bottom of its page, where most people wouldn’t see it. In the acknowledgement itself, it also added in content beyond the ordered requirements that made it sound as if the court was completely wrong in its judgment against Apple. As result the UK court has held Apple in non-compliance and ordered Apple to change the wording of the statement, place it on its home page, and use at least 11 point font....

Don’t get me wrong. Nobody knows for sure when the new iPhone will come out (it wasn’t at Apple’s WWDC, although there were rumors suggesting it), or what its specs will be. Still, a lot of reports, usually quoting “sources familiar with the matter”, show up every day. Anyway, the latest iPhone rumor is quite an interesting one. The Wall Street Journal says that the new iPhone is set to feature a thinner screen (it has found that out from “people familiar with the matter”, of course)....

The Apple Car is still far from being announced, but rumors about it keep circulating on the web. This time, Bloomberg reports that Apple has lost another three engineers from its car project, who recently left the company to join startups. One of the engineers who has left the Apple Car team is Eric Rogers, who worked as head of engineering for the car’s radar system. Rogers recently joined the flying-taxi startup Joby Aviation Inc....

The 10.6.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for: – compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems – an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop unexpectedly – some printer compatibility drivers not appearing properly in the add printer browser – an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item from the Dock – instances where automatic account setup in Mail might not work – an issue where pressing cmd-opt-t in Mail brings up the special characters menu instead of moving a message – Motion 4 becoming unresponsive For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support....

Apple today announced that it is making a new version of its Transporter developer application available on the Mac App Store. This app allows developers to easily upload files to App Store Connect and more. Apple says the Transporter application allows developers to send apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books for distribution via the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV app, Apple Books, or iTunes Store. Here’s how Apple describes the Transporter app for macOS news today:...

An Apple patent application published today describes what Patently Apple suggests may be a new all-in-one Travel app – but more likely describes ways to make Apple Maps smarter … Here’s the site’s take: The patent text is pretty vague, and written in the usual patenteze, so it’s certainly possible that Apple is working on a whole new stock app. It would appear that Apple is still working on a new travel app, even if it’s being done glacially....

Australia’s Attorney-General has said he will be meeting with Apple as the country becomes the latest to demand that the company cease offering end-to-end encryption, reports Sky News. Australia is apparently determined to join the US and UK in the hall of fame of governments who don’t understand how encryption works. Brandis said that the new laws would be directly modelled on the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act, introduced last year....

Apple has a strange relationship with its audio products. While the original HomePod was discontinued last year, the company added new colors to the HomePod mini family in October and finally launched Lossless and Dolby Atmos support to these products. Unfortunately, there’s still a major issue Apple needs to address, which is AirPlay reliability when connecting multiple HomePods. While this should have stopped me from buying new HomePods, I decided I should add two HomePod minis to my house, and this is when problems regarding AirPlay reliability started to bother me....

Apple Pay is now available from two dozen more banks and credit unions around the United States. Apple’s mobile payment service launched two years ago with hundreds of additional regional banks and credit unions added every few weeks. You can find the latest banks added below: BankLiberty CinFed Credit Union Cumberland County Federal Credit Union Denmark State Bank Family Security Credit Union Franklin Savings Bank Gates Chili Federal Credit Union Great River Federal Credit Union Greenfield Banking Company Heritage Community Credit Union Labette Bank Lake Trust Credit Union Michigan Educational Credit Union Natco Credit Union Neches Federal Credit Union Old Point National Bank Peach State Bank & Trust Pioneer Bank (both New Mexico and New York now) River City Bank Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution SELCO Community Credit Union Shell Federal Credit Union Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union The Mission Bank Since launching in the United States, Apple Pay has expanded to Canada, France, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore....

Today’s best deals include the first notable discount on Apple’s Pro Display XDR, iPhone essentials from Anker, and third-party Apple Watch Sport Bands from $5. Hit the jump for all that and more in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Apple Pro Display XDR is $300 off Apple’s Pro Display XDR features a 6K resolution with extreme dynamic range, 1,000-nits of sustained brightness, and up to 1,600 when it peaks. Viewers stand to also benefit from full support for P3 wide color gamut and a 10-bit color depth....

UPDATE: Apple has also released public beta versions of iOS 11.4.1, tvOS 11.4.1 and macOS 10.13.6. While not a major update in any way, Apple is today releasing the fourth developer builds for iOS 11.4.1, tvOS 11.4.1 and macOS 10.13.6. Apple is also releasing the third watchOS 4.3.2 beta to developers. Being a bug fix update to the earlier release, we aren’t expecting any new user facing features. If you’re looking for some major changes, take a look at iOS 12, tvOS 12, watchOS 12, and macOS 10....