Apple has reportedly been working on new devices with augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) capabilities for a long time, but it’s still unclear when these products will hit the market. While some analysts believed that Apple’s mixed reality headset would be released in late 2022, analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities says that the product may be delayed until 2023. The report also mentions that the in-house designed chip will be one of the main differentiators of Apple’s mixed reality headset against its competitors....

As we reported two weeks ago and again yesterday, Apple has today launched its Back to School promotion for this school season. Like previous years, qualifying student customers will get a free gift card alongside any purchase of a Mac, iPad or iPhone. While last year Apple gave out Mac App Store/iTunes cards, this year’s cards are for Apple Retail Stores. Buying any Mac makes the buyer eligible for a $100 Apple Store gift card and $50 cards will be distributed alongside iPads and iPhones....

Apple’s patent infringement claims against Samsung now include twelve courts in nine countries on four continents. Reuters reported this morning that Apple is now formally suing Samsung in Japan and seeking to block sales of Samsung phones and tablets in the country: The iPhone maker is seeking 100 million yen, or approximately $1.3 million, in damages. Apple previously had filed four complaints before the Tokyo District Court, according to patent expert Florian Müller....

Apple’s been on a roll lately. They sold a record 18.65 million iPhones in the first quarter and for the first time zoomed past Microsoft in terms of profitability. The 49,400 Apple employees helped the company earn $14 billion annually and pull 30 percent growth in earnings per share. Recognizing those strides and Apple’s rising fortunes, the company is now ranked 35th on the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations....

Apple has started prompting iOS 10.3 beta users to enable two-factor authentication with a new push notification. The prompt has only started appearing over the last 24 hours or so and seems to have hit most users in the middle of the night last night. If you swipe on the notification, you’re taken to a screen in the Settings app that explains what two-factor authentication is and how to enable it for maximum security....

Apple this afternoon has seeded the first beta of macOS 10.14.5 to developers. The update is available to developers through the System Preferences app on macOS. Earlier today, Apple released iOS 12.3 to developers, as well as tvOS 12.3 for the Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K, and software version 7.3 Apple TV 3. These updates include the new TV app, as well as access to the Apple TV Channels functionality, which allows you to subscribe to third-party subscriptions directly in the TV app....

Following a lengthy beta period, Apple has now released iOS 9.3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. iOS 9.3 is a significant feature update for Apple’s mobile operating system, with brand new additions like Night Shift, Touch ID Notes and more. iOS 9.3 runs on every iOS 9-capable device, including the brand new iPhone SE. The update appears to weigh in at a hefty 1.7 gigabytes. See our full walkthrough of all the new iOS 9....

Towards the beginning of last year, Apple’s iBooks and iTunes Movies services in China were shut down by a government agency. Now, Apple is again facing problems in the country, this time due to third-party applications by The New York Times. According to a report from the publication, Apple has removed the NYT news apps from the App Store… According to the report, Apple removed the apps following a request from Chinese authorities....

Update: Weirdly, the YouTube video has now reverted back to the original ad, vocals intact. Apple has updated the videos on social media, including YouTube, for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus launch ad. The original ads used a snippet of the song Biggest by Idris Elba, with lyrics repeating the word ‘Biggest’. However, the way the way the word was said in the song meant some people instead heard an offensive racial slur....

In the future, hitting the gym along with your iPhone-toting pals could spur competitiveness in ways unlike ever before. Apple’s mobile devices run a variety of fitness apps and third parties provide useful accessories ranging from casual jogging to some serious working out. Not content with resting on its laurels, Apple is looking to ratchet it up a notch with a new patent filing titled “Interfacing Portable Media Devices And Sports Equipment” that surfaced Thursday in the United States Trademark and Patent Office database....

Apple’s video editing app, Clips, has been updated today with a range of new features including a retro camcorder filter, new posters, stickers, Live Titles, ClassKit support, and more. It’s been since last November that Clips saw an update, but today’s release brings a solid batch of new features and changes. Here are the full release notes: Use the new camcorder filter to give your videos a retro video camera look Choose from 8 new posters including options with solid backgrounds, colorful vintage designs, a classic blue camcorder recording screen, and an animated globe to celebrate Earth Day Create titles and captions with 3 new Live Titles styles featuring static text that appears all at once or animated text that highlights each word as it’s spoken Apply new 8-bit and 3D-styled stickers to add emphasis to your videos Create songs in GarageBand and other music apps, then add them directly to new or existing Clips projects Duplicate and rename projects Share projects with friends via AirDrop or email, save them to Files, or upload them to cloud storage services with share extensions ClassKit support lets students deliver video assignments to teachers using the Schoolwork app Clips is a free download from the App Store....

Apple continues to showcase the iPhone 11 Pro camera through its Shot on iPhone series of videos. In a new video today, Apple showcases the Ultra Wide camera capabilities of the device. The video was shot with an iPhone 11 Pro and is called “A journey into the Valley of Fire.” Here’s what Apple says about the video: Apple uses the Shot on iPhone series to promote the camera capabilities of its latest iPhone models....

Apple continues to slowly but surely build its plans for original TV content. Its latest deal is an English adaptation of the French TV series, Calls … Variety shared the news. In the original French version, there are ten episodes, each around ten minutes in length. Created by Timothée Hochet, the original “Calls” allows audiences to experience short stories through real-life audio sources and minimal visuals. As part of the deal, Apple has also acquired the rights to the first season of the French original ....

Apple has begun removal of the innumerable amount of unofficial games based on popular cartoon characters from their app store. As of this time, Apple has not released an official statement as to why they’re suddenly removing all of these programs. In the Apple developer guidelines, Apple states that “apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy,” as of its latest update....

Apple announced the new iPhone SE last week, and the phone is now available to order in more than 40 countries, according to Apple. While Brazil is not in the first wave at launch, the 2020 iPhone SE may arrive in the country in the coming weeks, as ANATEL (Brazil’s FCC-equivalent) has just released the documentation of the product homologation process. More surprisingly, there’s evidence that Apple is planning to assemble the new iPhone in Brazil....

[Update: Apple tells us that The Chronic will definitely be available tomorrow on Apple Music.] [Update #2: The Chornic is available on Apple Music and available to purchase digitally for the first time on the iTunes Store.] Taylor Swift’s 1989 album isn’t the only high profile record exclusive coming to Apple’s new streaming music service when it launches tomorrow. Apple Music is said to include Dr. Dre’s classic album The Chronic for streaming, Rolling Stone reports, which will be a digital first for the hip-hop album....

While individual retailers have been announcing support for Apple Pay as more NFC terminals enable the service, it’s still hit and miss on vending machines and other self-serve, unattended hardware. USA Technologies today announced it’s bringing support to around 200,000 of these self-serve payment terminals that its customers use for everything from coffee brewers to vending machines, kiosks, laundry equipment and pay parking terminals. “Our customers are excited to accept Apple Pay at the self-serve locations they operate,” said Stephen P....

While we’d all expected plastic bank cards to be replaced by apps eventually, the CEO of mobile banking startup Moven is suggesting that Apple’s backing could mean the end of physical bank cards within 2-3 years. The additional sweetners here are three fold. Firstly, tokenization will avoid much of the type of breaches we’ve seen at Target and Home Depot because the token is only a one-time use thing. Secondly, the move to tokens and the combination of biometrics, etc allow for the emergence of a ‘cardholder present’ approach to interchange rates that will potentially give mobile payments a competitive merchant rate....

Following Apple’s revision to its Q1 2019 earnings earlier this month, the company is said to be planning to reduce its hiring. According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple plans to “cut back on hiring for some divisions” following its slowdown in iPhone sales. Tim Cook reportedly made the announcement at Apple’s all-hands meeting earlier this month. The exact plan is still unclear, with Cook not having decided which divisions would experience hiring cutbacks....

iPhone 13 launched this Friday. While customers around the globe were happy to receive their brand new phone, it didn’t take long for them to realize that the “Unlock with Apple Watch” feature wasn’t working. Today, Apple addressed this issue on a support document page. According to the “If Unlock with Apple Watch isn’t working on your iPhone 13” support page (via MacRumors), Apple says “this issue will be fixed in an upcoming software update....