Apple’s second wave of iPhone 6 sales has just kicked off with customers in New Zealand getting access to the device through retail stores and online as we roll into the morning of September 26 in the country. We’re also approaching the launch in a total of 20 countries today as the device goes on sale the morning of September 26 local time in the following locations: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates....

I wrote back in 2015 on the bloated mess that was iTunes, and suggested that Apple needed to take the same approach on Mac as it has on iOS: separate apps for each content category. The company took a big step in this direction with the release of iTunes 12.7 in 2017, removing apps and ringtones from iTunes, turning iTunes U into a subsection of podcasts, and tidying up Internet Radio …...

Apple’s never-ending battle with notorious patent troll VirnetX continues today. According to a new report from Bloomberg, an Eastern Texas court has ruled that Apple infringes on four VirnetX patents and must pay $502.6 million in damages… The report says that the patents in question relate to Apple’s FaceTime, VPN, and iMessage services. VirnetX, of course, thinks the damages are fair and based on the sales of over 400 million infringing Apple devices:...

Apple released the iOS 8.1.3 software update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users today. The update is available over-the-air through the Software Update section of the Settings app. The update includes the usual bug fixes and performances improvements, and notably claims to reduce the amount of free storage required to perform the update. Apple first released iOS 8 in September near the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and iOS 8....

Just as we thought Apple’s long-running ebooks suit might finally be settled, the out-of-court agreement has been thrown into doubt. The judge required to approve the settlement terms has expressed concern that they may be unfair to consumers, reports Business Insider. Apple was found guilty of price-fixing, an allegation it always denied and is currently appealing. To speed things up, lawyers on both sides agreed what would happen for each of the three possible outcomes of the appeal....

Apple Music is now “well past 20 million” subscribers, according to Eddy Cue. Speaking at the Recode Media Conference this evening, Cue explained that Apple Music is still growing, but that Apple is not satisfied with where numbers are now and will continue pushing. Cue couldn’t offer a specific number for Apple Music subscribers, but stated that the number is now “well past 20 million.” Apple announced the 20 million number back in December, so the fact that the service is now “well past” that milestone in just two months is notable....

Apple is apparently ramping up its efforts to clean up the App Store. According to a report from VentureBeat, Apple has started rejecting applications which tout their price in the name, icons, screenshots, or previews… Apple has reportedly gradually started this practice over the last month. In the past, Apple has discouraged developers from highlighting an app’s price in titles, but it has not gone as far as to reject apps that do so....

Last week, it was discovered that setting your iOS device system date and time back to January 1st 1970 would crash your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch effectively bricking it. Setting the date back this far would prevent the iPhone or other iOS device from booting up until the battery died. AppleCare has been flooded with people bringing in their devices after trying out this bug … Now, Apple has officially acknowledged the problem on its Apple Support website....

Answering probably the biggest question regarding the Macintosh Operating System, Apple revealed today that the tenth iteration of its OS X system will be dubbed Mavericks. OS X 10.9 delivers a collection of new features including: -Tagging -Tabs in the Finder -Better multiple display support -Apple TV can now work as a full powered display -iBooks and Maps apps -Compressed memory -Better battery life -Redesigned Safari -iCloud keychain -Quick reply for messages...

Patently Apple points to a new patent application from Apple which surfaced this morning in the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) database pertaining to a “database message builder” which might be Apple’s take on unified, platform-agnostic social sharing. “The user can publish the message to a target application or network resource (e.g., a social networking site)”, Apple writes in a summary of the patent application. The document describes tokens which are replaced with the structured data prior to publishing the message....

One of the key features Apple touts with its new Fitness+ workouts service is deep integration with Apple Music. One of the ways in which this is now manifesting itself is with a dedicated category in the Music app, allowing users to quickly view playlists from Fitness+ workouts. Apple has a new Fitness category in the Apple Music service, under which you’ll find a variety of playlists dedicated to Apple Fitness+....

As reported by TechCrunch, Apple is pushing HomeKit hard at CES this year. It coordinated with manufacturers to demo key new HomeKit smart home announcements to the tech press .., Apple HomeKit has been criticized in the past for having a relatively small ecosystem of compatible accessories. In 2017, Apple made it easier for accessory makers to get HomeKit accessories approved, and the fruits of that labor are finally paying off....

Right after tvOS 13.4.8 beta, Apple has just released the first watchOS 6.2.8 beta version to developers. The update comes two days after watchOS 6.2.6 was released to the public, and as with tvOS, Apple has skipped version 6.2.7 for some unknown reason. We don’t know what’s new in watchOS 6.2.8 yet, but Apple is likely to be working on more bug fixes and general improvements to the Apple Watch operating system....

Thirteen days after the third developer beta, Apple has released iOS 11.3 beta 4 for registered developers to test on iPhone and iPad. We’ll dig in to the new version and detail changes below. Beta 1 4 new Animoji on iPhone X: Lion, Skull, Bear, and Dragon ARKit 1.5 with support for vertical surfaces like walls, irregular shaped surfaces like circular tables, support for auto-focus, and 50% higher resolution Business Chat for iMessage in beta with Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo on board Health Records in Health app automatically updated from select partners More prominent music video features in Apple Music HomeKit software authentication without chip certification Advanced Mobile Location for sending your location to emergency services when calling from iPhone Messages in iCloud New privacy page during set up and a new Privacy icon in Settings (gray becomes blue) Splash screen for Messages in the Cloud, backup can be disabled in Settings iBooks is now just Books App Store lists version number and update size on Updates screen App Store following text size Hello, Feedback app… Apple TV shows up in Home app with tvOS 11....

Update: watchOS 8 beta 7 is now available to public beta testers as well. As we near the final release of watchOS 8, Apple is seeding today watchOS 8 beta 7 to all developers. Here’s everything new with the upcoming Apple Watch operating system. Today’s build is 19R5340a. Public beta testers will have to wait a bit longer until beta 7 is available to them as well. watchOS 8 beta test program started on June 30 with beta 2....

That iPhoto integration means you can link images to contacts, projects, events and other information stored in Bento. “Think of Bento 3 as a powerful, easy way to bring together all of your key Mac information and photos,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services, FileMaker. “With Bento 3, we’re providing new ways for you to view and interact with your information so you can organise contacts, projects, events and even more details of your life....

In line with our report from earlier this month, Apple today launched its first trade-in program for non-iPhones in its Apple Retail Stores. The program allows users of select Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry phones to bring in their devices and receive credit toward the immediate purchase of a new iPhone 5c, iPhone 6, or iPhone 6 Plus (but not an Apple Watch). Apple first launched its standard iPhone Reuse and Recycle trade-in program in 2013, and the company expanded the feature to the iPad last year....

Apple is now under a third privacy investigation in Ireland, this time looking at whether the company fully meets GDPR requirements in regard to a data access request from a customer. Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law imposes a wide range of strict privacy rules on companies, one of which is that a customer has a right to see a copy of all the data held on them …...

Apple today has begun issuing another round of bonds shortly after announcing strong Q4 earnings while it moves closer to completing its $300 billion capital return program for shareholders. Bloomberg notes that Apple is more than 75% through its current capital return program scheduled to end by March 2019. Those close to the matter say that Apple will likely offer this new round of fixed-rate bonds in up to six parts....

By now, most people that are interested in Apple and/or video editing have heard about the ongoing criticism towards Apple’s latest professional movie making software, Final Cut Pro X. Many are calling this total revamp of the Final Cut product an application that is not suited for professionals. Some have even dubbed it as a slightly jazzed up version of iMovie – “iMovie Pro.” Now, Apple has officially responded to this criticism with a new “answers to the most common questions we’ve heard” web page....