Some iPad customers have been angered by a comment Apple made earlier this week to The Verge, stating that 2018 iPad Pros that come bent are normal and that Apple will not be replacing bent iPad Pros under warranty. Riccio says that the new iPad Pro flatness specification is up to “400 microns” which he says is “tighter than previous generations”. To put this into perspective, 400 microns is less than half a millimeter....

Eddy Cue is on the schedule for Recode’s Code Media conference in February where the Apple exec will likely discuss the company’s evolving content and services strategy. Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services, is in charge of Apple Music, iTunes, iCloud, Apple Pay, and a lot more. Speaking of Apple Pay, Jennifer Bailey (she is directly in charge of the mobile payment service at Apple) will also be attending a Recode conference with Code Commerce taking place next month....

After McDonalds, Coca Cola and other top American brands that operate in Russia, the once mighty superpower will get its first Apple retail store by the end of this year. IfoAppleStore.com, the site that follows Apple’s retail efforts, reports that the company’s top retail brass flew to Moscow to negotiate a lease inside the trade gallery of the reconstructed Hotel Moskva, pictured above. It’s just steps away from Red Square, the Kremlin and other landmarks in the city....

Apple’s human rights policies will face a fresh shareholder vote in the new year following the controversy over its decision to ban the Hong Kong protest app from the local App Store. Apple objected to the motion, but the US Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that it must be put to a vote at the shareholder meeting expected to be held in February… The Financial Times reports that the motion has been submitted by consumer advocacy group SumOfUs....

Today, Apple announced that the App Store Subscriptions, originally found on The Daily, are now available for all developers. The subscription service is available for all content based apps such as magazines, newspapers, video, music, and basically anything else a developer could want their users to subscribe to. The revenue system for developers is the same as normal in-app-purchases or app sales: 30% to Apple and 70% to the application’s developer....

We’ve already detailed a handful of new features coming to Apple Maps in iOS 14.5, including Waze-style reporting and hazard features. Now, it also appears that Apple is working on a new feature to show users how busy a particular point of interest is before they visit. As first spotted by a user on Reddit, Apple has updated its Privacy menu in the Location Services part of the Settings app to describe a new feature that would use location data to aggregate details about how busy a point of interest is....

The Apple Maps app didn’t get any major changes in iOS 12, but the MapKit team announced at WWDC that they are officially launching MapKit as a web framework for others to use. Google Maps is incredibly popular as an embedded map for other web services, and now Apple is trying to take a slice of that pie. MapKit JS is the same map component that Apple uses in many of its web properties, including Find My iPhone on iCloud....

In a new interview with Wired, Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and Oliver Schusser dive into how the service will evolve and where it’s headed over the next year with more livestreams, behind the scenes content, and radio, but not as we currently know it. The last official report from Apple put paying Apple Music subscribers at 60 million. While Beats 1 radio has grown in many ways in the four years since it started back in 2015, Zane Lowe’s goal its to raise awareness and discovery....

In line with our report from last week, Apple has flipped the switch in its Apple Store app to allow for customers to check availability for the new iPhone models at Apple Stores. The process is similar to the one for Personal Pickup on Apple’s online store. To check for availability on the iPhone and iPod touch Apple Store app, navigate to the buy iPhone page, add your iPhone to the cart, then choose “Check Availability....

The newest Apple Pay promotion is out today with special deals on hotels, food, and parking from popular destinations like Jimmy John’s, Wawa, Sonic, HotelTonight, and ParkWhiz. Read on for all the details. Apple shared the new promotion in an email to users today. The new Apple Pay deals are available now and run through July 13. Summer Apple Pay promotion Here’s what’s available: HotelTonight – 10% off your hotel reservation when you make a purchase in app with promo code APPLEPAYHT Jimmy John’s – $2 off a sandwich for next time when you order ahead with Freaky Fast Rewards and Apple Pay Sonic – 50% off a SONIC Blast for your next order in app with Apple Pay Wawa – $5 off when you spend $20 or more using mobile order in app with promo code APPLEPAY ParkWhiz – $4 off each of your next four parking reservations of $4 or more using promo code APPLEPAY4 Apple also recommends ChargePoint, Domino’s, and Turo for other road-trip apps but those apps aren’t offering any special deals....

Apple is planning to hold its first event of 2022 as soon as early March, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report says that Apple is currently “targeting a date on or near March 8” for the virtual event, which will focus on a new iPhone SE 3, an updated iPad Air 5, and the release of iOS 15.4. The report also says that Apple is “planning a new Mac with Apple-designed chips” that “could also come as early as March....

A day after launching for developers, the first macOS 12.2 beta is now available for those in the public beta program. The update features a new native Apple Music app with faster search and scrolling, and a fix for scrolling in Safari with ProMotion on MacBook Pro. The first macOS 12.2 beta is appearing now via OTA for both developers and public testers. You can also download it from Apple’s Developer website or public beta website if you’re not running the beta yet (full guide here)....

What’s Included in iOS 10.3.1? The update is quite small, coming in at just 28 Mbs. Users can update over Wi-Fi or from within the iTunes software. For such a small update, though, I wish Apple would at least let me download it on my mobile data. Release notes for iOS 10.3.1 are very minimal but one thing caught my attention: a fix for a known vulnerability found in the Wi-Fi chip, which could potentially allow an attacker to execute malicious code....

Apple has released macOS High Sierra beta 5 for developer testing. macOS High Sierra includes the new Apple File System, HEVC video playback, Metal 2, Photos and Safari upgrades, and more. macOS High Sierra beta 5 is currently only available to registered developers for now. Apple typically holds new public beta versions for a few days for major updates. We’ll update with any changes discovered in the latest macOS High Sierra release below....

In addition to new seeds for its mobile platforms, Apple has released the second Developer Preview of the upcoming OS X El Capitan for Macs. The update is available via Software Update in the Mac App Store. Similarly to iOS 9, El Capitan brings many under-the-hood enhancements in addition to new features like a split-screen mode for core applications, a new Notes app, and an enhanced Mission Control view. New changes and fixes in the second preview have already been discovered and are included in updates below....

The second tvOS 11 public beta for non-developers to test on Apple TV is now available. The tvOS 11 public beta includes new features like Home Screen Syncing, light and dark mode automatic switching, and full AirPods support. For more on tvOS 11, check out these stories: tvOS 11 brings Home Screen Sync and automatic dark mode switching to Apple TV Apple TV now included in public beta program starting with tvOS 11 AirPods automatically pair with Apple TV starting with tvOS 11 Apple releases first developer betas of iOS 11, watchOS 4, macOS 10....

Apple has removed Skype from the App Store in China following a request from the Ministry of Public Security … Apple confirmed the action to the NY Times. For the moment, Skype does continue to operate in the country, but the paper says that it’s unclear how long this will remain the case. The government uses the so-called Great Firewall of China to block access to both websites and a number of messaging services, including Gmail, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and – most recently – WhatsApp....

Digitimes reported that Apple is continuing talks with the struggling Sharp over its IGZO display panels. Before making a switch, the company is evaluating whether Sharp’s supply will be able to meet the demand of the iPhone, iPad mini, and 10-inch iPad throughout 2013. The sources said Apple is in further discussions with Sharp over IGZO panel production capacity estimates for 2013 and is also inquiring about whether AU Optronics’ (AUO) L5C line could be used to produce the technology....

Apple has made it a tradition to offer its retail employees a holiday gift at some point in December, and this year appears to be no different. The company yesterday gifted its retail employees a limited-edition t-shirt and a printed copy of the Apple credo. As noted by MacRumors, the gifted t-shirt is gray in color and depicts two circles. Look closer, however, and you’ll see that the circles are made up of a text list of all of Apple’s retail locations around the world....

Apple tonight has shared a series of new videos on its YouTube channel. These videos are part of a new “Designed for” series that highlights people who are using Apple’s Accessibility features to change the way they face life day in and day out… The videos all highlight a different person who uses an Accessibility feature to help live everyday life. For instance, “Designed for Patrick L” puts the spotlight on a visually impaired music producer and DJ who relies on features such as VoiceOver to use Logic Pro X and express himself:...