[Update: The fifth public beta for macOS 10.13.4 is now available in addition to the developer beta.] Apple has released macOS 10.13.4 beta 5 for registered developers to test on compatible Macs. We’ll dig in to the new version and detail changes below. Beta 1 New Privacy explainer included in macOS 32-bit app warning starting now New ‘Ink Cloud’ wallpaper on all Macs, previously iMac Pro only Messages in the Cloud is opt-in on High Sierra, requires checking a box Beta 2-3 iBooks Mac app renamed Books to match iOS (iBooks Author is a Mac App Store app so it likely won’t change until the beta cycle ends ) Refresh for updates....

Apple is rolling out the fifth watchOS 3.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 beta includes Theater Mode which disables raise-to-wake and mutes alerts. Apple is also introducing SiriKit to Apple Watch with watchOS 3.2 beta. SiriKit lets developers integrate their apps with Siri for select uses. Prior to watchOS 3.2 beta, SiriKit was limited to iOS apps. As for Theater Mode, this is how Apple describes the new feature:...

On the second day of Apple’s “12 Days of Gifts” promotion, the app is now offering a free download of Rovio’s ‘Tiny Thief’ app. This morning the 12 Days of Gifts app was offering a free pilot episode of TV show Once Upon a Time, but Apple appears to have now switched the gift to the ‘Tiny Thief’ app. It’s unclear if Apple mistakenly offered the TV show download for a short period of time or if it plans to offer various gifts throughout the day as part of the promotion....

After several hours of downtime, the Apple Online Store is back online and the iPhone XR is now available for pre-order. Pricing starts at $749 and the device is available in a total of six different colors. Head below for all the iPhone XR specs, details, and more. iPhone XR Specs The iPhone XR, in many ways, is a lot like the iPhone XS: there’s Face ID, the same A12 Bionic chip, and a similar body design....

Apple has strengthened its App Review Guidelines to require greater protection of children under 13 years and to clamp down on gambling apps that involve real money. Some of the changes were required in order to comply with tougher requirements in the newly-expanded Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits apps from collecting personal data from children under 13 without ‘verifiable parental consent.’ Personal data initially meant name, address, phone numbers, email address and present location, but has now been expanded to include photos, video and audio....

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article where I called MagSafe the defining feature of the iPhone 12 line. Little did I know that Apple was about to release its own official MagSafe battery pack. So, of course, I bought it immediately because I wanted to see how it compared in day-to-day use with the Anker Magnetic Battery Pack. Let’s dive into my comparison of the Apple MagSafe Battery vs....

Contradicting yesterday’s report by Reuters that Apple’s cloud music service is a go – but without the necessary support from record labels – Peter Kafka reported today on the Wall Street Journal’s MediaMemo blog that at least two out of four major record labels have signed on the dotted line. The rumored service will let you keep your music in the cloud and stream it to any authorized device. A source told the author that iTunes boss Eddy Cue, who appeared alongside Rupert Murdoch at The Daily introduction last February, is said to be on a tour today in New York in order to seal the remaining deals....

Had you heard? Apple’s got a ‘little’ event going on at the newly-decorated California Theatre tomorrow where they will FINALLY showcase the iPad Mini, new Mac Minis, a Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro as well as software like iBooks 3.0 and iTunes 11. First, the bad news: We’ve heard that the some of the iMacs that we found earlier have been pushed so far back that they might not warrant inclusion at the event this week....

Asymco analyst Horace Dediu has estimated that iTunes accounts for three-quarters of all digital music sales – $6.9b a year out of a total market of around $9.3b. He also noted that Apple had substantially exceeded his own expectations in video sales, with total sales to date of 380m movies and a cool 1b TV shows, but apps were where the real growth was seen … The per-user figures for music are quite surprising....

Following the devastating earthquakes that have hit Japan and Ecuador in recent days, Apple has opened a donations page in iTunes to support relief efforts in both areas. The company, as it has done in the past, is partnering with the American Red Cross for the donations and is accepting donations in $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 denominations. The donations are being accepted via iTunes and the App Store on both iOS devices and computers....

You’ll be offered the opportunity to checkout with Apple Pay in many smaller online stores as ecommerce service Weebly has announced integration for the payment service. Weebly powers more than 45 million online businesses worldwide, and notes that more than 40% of transactions take place on a mobile device … The company says that up to a quarter of people abandon their carts before checkout due to an overly complex process, and it hopes that enabling Apple Pay will reduce this figure....

In honor of its Earth Day celebrations, Apple has released a new video on its YouTube page reemphasizing its goal that each of its products will be carbon neutral by 2030. In the very Apple-like video, the company reminds customers that its offices are already 100% carbon neutral, but Apple wants to do more with every iPhone, iPad, Watch, and Mac with 100% recycled or renewable materials. The company says it’s finding new ways to extract aluminum, steel, tin, tungsten, plastic from recycled products, and it’s also growing enough trees and recycling enough paper to sustain all of its packaging....

Apple has launched a new promotion to encourage Apple Pay use this holiday shopping season. The company is offering a $5 App Store & iTunes gift card with purchases at qualifying online retailers in the United States. On a webpage detailing the promotion, Apple says minimum purchase requirements and details may vary by retailers. Furthermore, you can only get one $5 gift card through each retailer, but you could theoretically stack this offer by buying through the different merchants....

Apple today is officially rolling out iOS 14.6 to the public. This update includes Apple Card Family support, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, AirTag improvements, and more. Read on for the full release notes and details on what’s new in iOS 14.6. In addition to iOS 14.6, Apple is also releasing iPadOS 14.6 to the public today. You can update your iPhone or iPad by going to the Settings app, choosing General, then choosing Software Update....

Apple this evening has quietly seeded the third beta of macOS 10.13.1 to developers. The release comes a day after the company released the third betas of iOS 11.1, watchOS 4.1, and tvOS 11.1 to developers and public beta users. macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements and has yet to showcase any major user-facing features. There is, however, support for hundreds of new emoji just like Apple promised....

Update: iOS 13, iPadOS 13, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13 beta 7 are now available. No update to macOS Catalina beta 5 yet. iOS 13 public beta 6 also coming today. Apple is releasing the seventh developer beta version of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 (possibly alongside new seeds of watchOS 6, tvOS 13, and macOS Catalina) today. The release comes just over one week since the last round of releases — save for macOS Catalina which hasn’t been updated this month....

Apple has announced to developers that it is switching up its pricing strategy in eight countries over the next few weeks. Today, Apple sells apps in many regions with the prices shown as US Dollars irrespective of the local domestic currency. Later this month, the following App Store countries will now price apps in their local native currency; Egypt (Egyptian Pound), Kazakhstan (Kazakhstani Tenge), Malaysia (Malaysian Ringgit), Nigeria (Nigerian Naira), Pakistan (Pakistani Rupee), Philippines (Philippine Peso), Qatar (Qatari Riyal), Tanzania (Tanzanian Shilling) and Vietnam (Vietnamese Dong)....

There’s an oft-told story about Steve Jobs insisting the wiring inside the Macintosh be made to look neat even though few owners would ever see it. Apple’s human-interface chief Alan Dye, interviewed in Wired, says the same attention to detail lives on in Apple today, and is reflected in the care that went into the Apple Watch. Dye illustrated the point by referring to the animated faces of the Apple Watch … We have a group of people who are really, really super-talented, but they really care....

Last year, Apple was rumored to be working on an autonomous all-electric car codenamed ‘Project Titan’. The company later confirmed development work on an autonomous driving platform and CEO Tim Cook even referred to it as “a core technology” for the company, but it showed signs of giving up on developing an actual car. But now Apple is reportedly working on electric car batteries with China’s biggest battery maker. Today, China’s Yicai Global reported that CATL, China’s largest automotive battery maker, is working with Apple on a confidential project:...

A few days after Fiksu showed how much better iOS is than Android when it comes to allowing older devices to upgrade to to the latest operating system, and most analytics companies were reporting iOS 7 penetration of around three-quarters of devices, Apple has updated its developer site to show that iOS 7 penetration is at 74 percent. Apple’s data is likely the most reliable, based on visits to the App Store during a 7-day period ending on 1st December....