Apple has introduced more features in the latest beta release of Apple Music for Android. In version 2.7, which is only available to Google Group beta testers, tablet support for Android devices has arrived. The latest stable release on the Google Play Store, version 2.6.1, still features the classic Android collapsable hamburger menu, however, v2.7 sees this UI aspect removed in favor of a more sensible bottom bar navigation. This design change helps the Apple Music layout easily resize for larger screens....

The Apple Online Store has gone down this evening ahead of the preorder release of Apple’s latest products. Once the store comes back up, users will be able to preorder the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the Apple TV 4K, and the Apple Watch Series 3. Like normal, Apple is teasing users that it’s busy updating the store and it encourages everyone to come back soon.” The Apple Watch Series 3, Apple TV 4K, and iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are slated to go up for pre-order at 12:01AM PT/3:01AM ET....

Apple Pay continues to grow as support at retailers and inside applications expands. A new research note from Bernstein this week highlights that growth, and notes that Apple Pay is one of the biggest long-term competitive threats to PayPal. As detailed by Quartz, Bernstein researchers estimate that Apple Pay currently accounts for around 5% of global card transactions. At its current growth rate, however, Apple Pay is on track to lock-in 10% of global card payments as soon as 2025....

While Apple Pay is the gold standard for safe card transactions, some partner banks are leaving customers vulnerable to fraud via identity theft thanks to weak checks when cards are added to Apple Pay, according to mobile commerce consultants Drop Labs. Some partner banks are consequently seeing fraud rates six times higher than with physical cards. For consumers, Apple Pay is extremely safe, thanks to the use of Touch ID fingerprint verification and single-use code transmission rather than sharing full card details....

All of today’s best deals are going live to start off the work week, with a new all-time low arriving on Apple Pencil 2 at $89. That’s then joined by the best price yet on Beats Studio Buds at $90 as well as a rare chance to save on Satechi’s Thunderbolt 4 Dock at $50 off. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break....

Alongside the heap of new software updates today, Apple is now pushing out a minor update to iTunes for both Mac and Windows, likely to support the new software. Apple’s release notes state simply “app and performance improvements”, with no mention of any user facing changes. Today’s update brings the app to version 12.7.5. Nonetheless, it’s an update and is recommended. Aside from iTunes, Apple released iOS 11.4, tvOS 11.4, watchOS 4....

Apple earlier this week seeded macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 beta 2 to developers, and today the company has issued an update to beta 2. The original second beta was labeled 17E150f, but the newer version from today is 17E150g. It’s unclear as to why Apple has pushed out an updated version and there haven’t been any reported major bugs in this release so far. For those who are already on the beta, an update can be found by heading to the Mac App Store....

Apple is reportedly telling its supply chain partners to expect in excess of 100 million orders for the iPhone 12 next year, as reported by Digitimes. For 2019, the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro is expected to sell around 80 million units. A jump to 100 million or more would represent a significant increase in sales demand. This level of customer interest is apparently fueled by the 5G ‘super cycle’ although the iPhone 12 is also expected to feature significant hardware upgrades compared to the last couple of years....

Apple currently has only one other Apple Store in New York City outside of Manhattan that is located in Staten Island. Things could change, however, according to a new report from NY Daily News that clamed retail developer Yeheskel Elia is working with Apple to bring an “iconic store” to Queens, New York. The specific location of the store would be Austin Street in Forest Hills. Nothing is official because Elia and Apple are still working on more details....

Yesterday, Apple held its first event of the year. Called “Peek Performance,” the company introduced new colors of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, a new 5G iPhone SE, the last M1 chip called the M1 Ultra, unveiled a new iPad Air as well as the Mac Studio and Studio Display. From all of these announcements, which one was your favorite? iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro new colors As it did last year, Apple’s introducing a new color of its flagship phones....

Today’s best deals include Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro at $1,879, plus iPhone XR sees a rare discount, and Apple Watch bands are discounted, too. Hit the jump for all that and more in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Apple Watch Bands from $13 Pad & Quill takes 20% off leather Apple Watch bands Just after Apple unleashed its next-generation wearables, Pad & Quill is offering some solid deals on its leather Apple Watch bands....

Update (9/10 7:30am): Apple has posted the entire 2 hour 4 minute Keynote as a free HD video download (1.40GB) on iTunes. Update (9/9 7:50pm): It’s back! Update (9/9 7:00pm): Looks like Apple is having even more issues with the stream. We’ll let you know when it’s back. This morning’s iPhone 6 and Apple Watch unveiling is now available for replay. There’s no doubt you probably missed a large chunk of the presentation due to video dropouts and random translators talking over presenters....

iPhone and iPad The operating system updates in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 share many of the same design changes across both platforms. Most of these UI changes focus on shrinking borders and pop-ups and giving the space to other processes. The result is a more refined look that better maximizes the screen. Key Changes The next time you receive a phone call on your iPhone or iPad, you’ll notice the banner no longer takes over the entire screen....

Apple is launching its annual Back to School promotion on Macs and iPads this week in New Zealand and Australia. Localized as ‘Back to Uni’, this year’s promotion runs from February 7 to March 16 and includes Apple Store credit for qualified purchases. Apple’s Back to School promo is also live in Japan. The promotion includes gift cards when purchasing iMacs, Mac Pros, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and iPad Pros....

Apple has updated the Mac Pro configurator to include a new 8TB SSD option. This configuration was initially listed as coming soon when Mac Pro orders first began last week. The 8TB SSD option for the Mac Pro comes at an added cost of $2,600 compared to the base 256GB configuration. For comparison’s sake, the 8TB upgrade in the 16-inch MacBook Pro costs $2,400 extra compared to the base 512GB tier....

iPhone 8 owners may not be able to take advantage of the faster data speeds expected to be available later this year in the USA, says a Bloomberg report, and Apple’s dispute with Qualcomm may be the reason. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and other carriers have promised to introduce a new generation of wireless data later in the year, offering speeds as high as a gigabit per second – some fifty times faster than typically available today....

Apple has announced a new update to their Apple News Format, which is used by publishers on the Apple News platform. The update today includes list item stylings for HTML formats within posts, and a new design tutorial to help new publishers hit the ground running. The Apple News Format is a specific publishing format created so news publishers can make their content look great across iOS devices within the Apple News app....

Apple is now sending emails to users when they log in to iCloud.com. This is part of Apple’s latest security upgrades to iCloud, which Tim Cook announced late last week. In the interview, Cook said Apple planned to launch the feature within two weeks, but obviously it has been deployed much sooner. The notification is supposed to act as a warning for users, to detect account infiltrations as early as possible....

Apple has now officially confirmed the opening date of its first Belgian retail store, opening in Brussels on 19th September. The date is shown on the hoarding outside the new store, located on Avenue de la Toison d’Or (also known as Gulden Vlieslaan), and was confirmed by Apple to ANV. The wording on the hoarding reads ‘Creativity, to be continued,’ and features paintings by local artists (below). The store is a large one, at 1500 square metres, reports iCulture....

Apple was granted a patent today for an augmented reality viewing system to display 3D flyover data from Apple Maps onto a desk or any other flat surface from an iPhone. Filed initially back in May 2016, this feature may or may not ever make a debut. However, with Apple’s heightened push into AR, it could be more likely to become a reality than other patents. Spotted by Patently Apple, the proposed app’s usage seems geared towards average consumers rather than a more advanced and complicated AR system....