In addition to the release of iOS 13.4.1 today, Apple has also updated its creative Clips application. Today’s update brings the app to version 2.1.1 and includes cursor support for iPad, new editing features, and more. The headlining change in today’s update to Clips is support for using the app with a mouse, trackpad, or Bluetooth keyboard. Apple says this will give users “new ways to create videos” on iPadOS. Apple also recently updated its iWork apps with iPadOS cursor support....

Apple is quietly negotiating with some of the largest ISPs in the country in order to roll out their own Content Distribution Network, which would help ensure faster and more reliable downloads for iTunes content, iCloud data, and software (via StreamingMediaBlog). Apple has previously made strides to improve its networking infrastructure, including purchasing hardware to boost performance and creating a team dedicated to improving download speeds. It is also opening new Data Centers at a frenetic pace....

Today’s best deals include a notable movie bundle sale at Apple, plus deals on iPhone 6s from $99, and elago’s $10 Apple Watch stand. Hit the jump for all that and more. Apple launches movie bundle sale We’re under a week away from the release of the latest Star Wars film, and Apple is commemorating the event with a huge movie sale today. That includes nearly every Star Wars film, plus markdowns on various bundles including Batman, DC Universe, Superman, and more from $5....

An Apple Store Manager relayed to us that the new iPad 2 displays are able to turn into “normal iPads” with a few swipes in secret combination. To find out if true, I went to the Soho store and tried it out. Yep, it works. The button still doesn’t work so it is easy to get yourself stuck – like in Email Setup below: I’m not going to post the gesture combination unless it hits the web but it does exist and Store managers know it....

Apple today added support for a long list of new banks and credit unions to its Apple Pay service in the US, as well as the addition of support for Visa and debit cards for Desjardins customers in Canada. Yesterday we reported that Apple Pay launched in its 10th country this week with the addition of Russia through support from local Sberbank. That followed previous launches in Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and U....

Apple Pay Cash is now starting to roll out on iOS 11.2 for iPhone and iPad. Apple Pay Cash lets you send payments to friends and pay in stores and in apps with a virtual debit card from compatible iOS devices. Apple Pay Cash was originally unveiled back in June at Apple’s developer conference, but the feature missed the initial iOS 11 launch in September. Developer and public beta testers gained access to new feature in iOS 11....

Throughout the course of 2018, Apple’s filings with the California DMV showed a steady increase in the number of self-driving cars it had on the road. This month, however, Apple has reported its first ever drop in autonomous cars. As first noted by macReports, Apple now has 69 autonomous cars permitted to test on public roads in California. The company also has 110 drivers eligible to operate those cars. Both of those numbers are down from last month, when Apple reported 72 cars on the road and 144 drivers....

macOS Monterey beta 6 is now available for developers. As we move closer to a fall release one big feature we haven’t seen fully available to test is Universal Control. With macOS Monterey beta 4, Apple said in the release notes that Universal Control had been enabled before the mention was quickly pulled. We’ll see if Universal Control arrives in beta 6 along with any other changes. Update 8/31: Apple has made the most recent macOS Monterey beta available for public testers....

Apple today has released the second public beta of macOS Catalina. This release comes one week after Apple originally launched public beta testing for the forthcoming release of macOS. Apple had originally said that it would begin public beta testing of macOS Catalina in July, but it launched things a week early instead. We detailed the early rollout last week. Despite today’s release of the second public beta of macOS Catalina, Apple has not released the second public beta of iOS 13....

Apple has poached five key engineers from A123 Systems to work in a new battery division at the Cupertino technology company, with some hires possibly going as far back as June, a new report claims. The battery maker claims that these hires violated agreements it had in place to prevent them from joining competing companies. The employees the report refers to are Don Dafoe, Michael Erickson, Indrajeet Thorat, Mujeeb Ijaz, and Depeng Wang....

Following Apple’s acknowledgement last month that the iPad “4G” marketing in Australia may be misleading to some customers, Apple has sent iPad 4G buyers in Australia refund information by email. Additionally, the company has instructed resellers to update their in-store signage with new signs that better outline the iPad’s true cellular data capabilities in Australia. Apple makes it clear in their new signage and letter to customers, as first posted by MacRumors, that the iPad WiFi + 4G does not support Australian LTE or WiMax....

Apple is rolling out the second macOS 10.12.5 developer beta through the Mac App Store. macOS Sierra 10.12.5 beta is currently only available to developers. Public beta versions usually come a few days after developer versions if not the same day. The upcoming update follows macOS 10.12.4 which brought Apple’s color shifting Night Shift feature to the Mac for the first time. Apple is also running developer betas for iOS 10....

Apple’s ad business has grown dramatically since the company’s App Tracking Transparency rules came into effect, says a new report. The rules made it more difficult to target specific interest groups through third-party ad networks like those owned by Google and Facebook, making Apple’s own ad business far more valuable. But some suggest this is because the iPhone maker breaks its own privacy rules … Background As we’ve explained before, Apple first created a unique device identifier for use by advertisers, then later introduced App Tracking Transparency rules, which required developers to seek user permission to take advantage of it....

Apple’s share of the global mobile phone market grew by just 6.6 percent in the past year, from 35.1m to 37.4m units, according to new data from the IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. This is the first time its growth has been in single digits since 2009. Apple’s worldwide market share is now 8.9%, behind Samsung at 27.5 percent and Nokia at 14.8 percent. Apple is the market leader in the USA, with a 35 percent market share, but worldwide competes with both low-cost smartphones and featurephones....

An analysis by a senior IBM exec suggests that Apple’s move to M1 chips will save the company around $2.5B this year, with far larger savings to come as Apple transitions its entire Mac lineup to its own silicon. The analysis is admittedly based on a series of estimates, and likely inaccurate, but the overall picture it paints seems plausible … The back-of-an-envelope calculations were carried out by IBM AI strategy lead Sumit Gupta....

Apple has added a new section to the iOS App Store today promoting apps used to share selfies (via MacStories‘ Federico Viticci). Among the apps included are classics like Snapchat and the Justin Bieber-backed Shots and lesser-known apps such as selfie-editing app Facetune and an app called Front Flash that’s design to make it easier to take selfies in low light… The temporary section is featured on the front page of the App Store on both iOS and the desktop iTunes application....

Apple recently picked up approximately 260,000 square feet of office space not far from its new Campus 2 project in Cupertino, as noted in a lease discovered this week by Silicon Valley Business Journal. The buildings are part of a new, downtown-style mixed-use center rapidly taking shape next to Vallco Shopping Mall… Apple Inc., brokers with real estate services firm DTZ and the property owner either declined to comment or didn’t respond to my requests, but the lease was disclosed in a document filed with the county on Monday....

Apple executives like Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have a history of donating their time via lunch meeting auctions to support charitable causes. Now three Apple Music leaders are auctioning off 30-minute lunches to donate to the childhood cancer foundation Pablove. Tim Cook raised a record-breaking $688,999 for his charity auction back in 2017. While these latest Apple employee auctions won’t see near the same numbers, it’s wonderful to see Apple Music leaders donating their time to such a great cause....

Apple Oakridge Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia will close its doors on September 26 after exactly 11 years in operation. The closure was expected following an announcement last month that redevelopment efforts would shutter the majority of Oakridge Centre until 2024. In August, Oakridge Centre owner QuadReal announced a detailed construction timeline for one of Vancouver’s most significant development projects, noting that most retailers would close by the end of September to aid construction progress....

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed by Apple, which closed the deal Friday. Lala currently enables users to stream any song in its 8-million song catalogue for free and purchase them for 10 cents a piece. ITunes is the leading music service in the United States with more than 70 percent of all digital music sales and it is the leading music retailer overall. A brief statement from Cupertino: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said....