After the release of iPadOS 15.2, Apple is finally releasing the long-awaited update to Swift Playgrounds with the ability to create apps using the iPad. Swift Playgrounds 4 was announced back in June at WWDC 2021. The app helps developers and students learn the company’s Swift programming language, and the new version lets developers build and submit apps to the App Store directly from an iPad. For those unfamiliar, Swift Playgrounds is an Apple app to help developers and students learn the company’s Swift programming language....

Apple’s streaming service Apple TV+ has officially renewed the series for a second season ahead of the season finale, which will be released this Friday. The drama series stars Justin Theroux in the lead role, and is loosely based on the characters from relative Paul Theroux’s book The Mosquito Coast. The seven-part first season was originally planned to have nine episodes but was cut short partly to COVID scheduling issues. The show is the latest Apple TV+ original to get a second season renewal as the company continues expands its catalog of titles....

It looks like Apple is working on an electric, possibly autonomous automobile. Numerous publications have reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook started the project about a year ago, which followed a M&A meeting with Tesla’s Elon Musk in the Spring of 2013. We must remember that Apple has many R&D projects and “says no a thousand times for every yes” and of course even if the car project does happen, any type of product is many years off (barring any acquisition)....

Today’s best deals include new price drops on Apple’s latest 27-inch Retina 5K iMac, plus Anker has a new Back to School sale, and you can save on Apple TV, as well. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Save on 27-inch Retina 5K iMac Apple’s latest Retina 5K iMacs feature a familiar design but with upgraded internals, along with a new 10th-generation processor and a 1080p webcam....

We’re heading into the Independence Day weekend with all of the best deals headlined by a Fourth of July Apple sale at Best Buy. That’s on top of Apple Watch Series 5 at $235 off and these Anker iPhone essentials from $17. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Best Buy 4th of July Apple sale goes live The Independence Day holiday weekend has arrived, and so too has the annual Best Buy July 4th sale....

As we reported would occur, Apple has just launched its annual Back to School promotion for students. The program launched in January for students in Australia, and today, the new program was opened up for students in the United States and several other nations across the world. Like we reported, the program offers students a $100 Mac App Store/iTunes Store/iBookstore gift card with purchase of a new Mac computer. $50 gift cards of the same kind are offered for iPad and iPhone (for the first time) purchases…...

Last month, Apple launched the Beta Software Program for all users who want to preview iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12 Monterey, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15. Now, the the company is looking to expand beta testers and is sending emails to those subscribed to the beta program to try out its latest public betas. As we approach beta 5 of all the upcoming operating systems, Apple seems confident that this is a good time for its Beta Software Program users to try out the public betas....

Apple is hiring a video producer to work on original content for its new Apple Music streaming service. The position will see an experienced producer oversee the creation of all original video content for both iTunes and Apple Music and hints that Apple will be collaborating with artists on branded music videos. The job listing seems to confirm a recent report from Pitchfork that Apple is making original music videos in-house for select high-profile artists....

Apple Music has seen its first major internal change after Oliver Schusser was named the new head of the service last month with the creation of a new music publishing division. As reported by Music Business Worldwide, Apple has promoted Elena Segal from her role as Legal Director of iTunes International to be Apple Music’s Global Director of Music Publishing. It is believed that Segal will split her time between LA and London as she oversees four new sub-divisions of Apple Music’s music publishing: operations, commercial, publisher relations, and A&R....

Apple has named live video sharing app Periscope its App of the Year 2015, and Tomb Raider’s puzzle spin-off Lara Croft GO as its Game of the Year. iPhone automation app Workflow won Most Innovative app, while Instagram took home the prize for Best App on the iPhone 6s. In all, Apple picked 25 iPhone apps each for both general and games categories. It also shared the top 10 best-selling paid apps, most-downloaded free apps and top-grossing apps …...

Earlier in the year, a small-but-not-insignificant number of Apple customers complained about screen issues with their new Retina MacBooks and Retina MacBook Pros, specifically cases where the anti-reflective display coating leaves marks and stains on the screen, ranging from small corner blobs to large patches. Several months later, Apple seems to have acknowledged the issue and launched a Quality Program to replace affected users’ hardware. The Staingate Facebook page now includes many reports of people successfully sending their MacBooks in for repair at Apple Stores....

Apple has released the fifth iOS 10.3.2 beta for testing on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (and the second this week). The version number suggests we should only see under-the-hood bug fixes and security improvements in these releases when ready. iOS 10.3.2 beta 5 is currently only available in beta for registered developers. The public beta version of each update usually follows a few days after the developer version if not the same day....

Coming just a day after Apple released the iOS 10.1 developer beta 1 with the new depth of field effect, the iOS 10.1 public beta is also now available. Users installing the public beta on the iPhone 7 Plus will see the new beta Portrait mode under their camera settings. Users on the macOS Sierra public beta will also be seeing the first macOS 10.12.1 public beta update rolling out too....

As rumored last week, Apple has today released a new model of iMac. These machines are considerably cheaper than their predecessors, priced at $1099. Previously, the cheapest iMac SKU was priced at $1299 (which is now the mid-range model). The cheaper iMac features a 1.4 GHz dual-core i5 CPU, which represents a significant worsening in performance over the previous base model of iMac, which featured a processor clocked at 2.7 GHz....

Apple has today shared refreshed assets for to help affiliates promote and share music, movies, and TV content that can be found on Apple Music and the iTunes Store. Apple shared the news in an email sent to members of the affiliate program. The new assets feature a cleaner design in line with Apple’s recent MFi branding update that we discovered over the weekend. Notably, the iTunes Store logo now features the star logo, like the iOS app, as opposed to the previous use of the Apple logo....

Earlier this week, Apple released a HomePod 13.2 software update. After installing that update, however, some users reported bricked HomePod units, causing Apple to pull the update. Now, Apple has released HomePod 13.2.1 to the public. HomePod software version 13.2.1 is rolling out now via the Home app. The update includes all of the features of the HomePod 13.2 update, but with a fix for the bricking problem. As we explained at the time:...

It certainly seems like Apple is approaching original content more seriously now, with Eddy Cue reportedly wanting to challenge the likes of Game of Thrones with Apple’s TV shows. The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is bidding on a new drama series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, battling against Netflix for rights. The concept of the show relates to morning television chat shows, pitched by HBO’s former head of drama....

One of the key challenges for K-12 schools with Apple products is management and deployment of an identification infrastructure. While Google has their solution with G-Suite, companies like Clever are also making a play to become a schools centralized identity solution. Google offers email, document management, calendars, and works as a single sign on provider as well. Clever works directly with software as a service application vendors to sync your data between companies that don’t normally talk together....

Last month, Apple patented a new version of the Touch Bar with built-in Force Touch technology. Now, the US Patent & Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for a “reconfigurable” Mac keyboard that is built with a small display for each key, allowing the keyboard to show different characters according to the user’s preferences. Although the idea may sound like what the Touch Bar currently does, this new keyboard would work in a different way....

Apple Pay has officially gone live in Italy today, as earlier rumors had anticipated. As the clock has already turned to Wednesday in the country, users are now able to add their credit and debit cards to the mobile payment platform and pay in-app, online, and in store using their Apple devices. In Italy, Apple Pay is supported by three banks: Boon, Carrefour Banca, and UniCredit. MasterCard and Visa credit and debit cards are supported....