Apple has officially taken the wraps off of its next-generation of Apple Watch. Dubbed the Apple Watch Series 4, the device features a larger display with smaller bezels, as we exclusively reported last month. Head below for all of the changes with Apple Watch Series 4. Prior to the Series 4 introduction, Tim Cook touted that Apple Watch has become the ‘number one watch’ in the world – not only among smartwatches....

CODA is the first film in Sundance Festival history to win all top prizes in the US Dramatic Competition category. Today, Apple announces the movie is going to premiere for Apple TV+ users and in theaters at the same time. Written and directed by Siân Heder (Tallulah, Little America), CODA was presented in the US Dramatic Competition category at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and went on to be honored with four awards at the festival: the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast, the Directing Award, the Audience Award, and the Grand Jury Prize....

Apple appears to be planning to enable its Apple Pay iPhone mobile payments service in the United Kingdom on July 14th, according to sources at multiple retailers. Apple has informed some Apple Retail employees in the U.K. that Apple Pay support will go live on that Tuesday, while an internal memos for supermarket Waitrose plus an additional retail partner indicate the same date… Apple will also begin training its U.K staff on supporting Apple Pay on July 12th....

We first learned about plans for Apple Pay Later almost a year before the company announced the new installment payment plan at WWDC. While no interest or fees are charged, a report today says that Apple will still make money from the service. A business school academic has also warned consumers to be cautious about using the option … Background Apple launched a 0% financing scheme back in 2019, but that was limited to iPhone purchases, and only available to Apple Card users....

Apple Pay continues its international expansion today, going live in Hungary and Luxembourg. This means that iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac users in those countries can now take full advantage of Apple’s mobile payment platform. In Luxembourg, Apple Pay is supported by BGL BNP Paribas. Notably, BCEE, the Luxembourg State and Savings Bank, is not yet supporting Apple Pay. It’s unclear when Apple Pay will expand beyond BGL BNP Paribas in Luxembourg....

Back in June, Apple teased that it would soon add new top level categories for Podcasts. This afternoon, Apple has officially started rolling out those new categories, making it easier to find new podcasts across different genres. The new categories were first spotted by Zach Kahn on Twitter and are visible in the Podcasts app as well as iTunes. Here’s the full list of Apple Podcasts categories: True Crime Comedy Sports Fiction History Business Society and Culture Kids & Family Education News Religion and Spirituality TV & Movies Technology Arts Health and Fitness Music Science Leisure Government When you tap through to view a category, you’ll see things like top shows, new shows, and subcategories....

Apple has prominently featured its own suite of free apps when iOS users first open the App Store, such as its iLife and iWork apps, for a while. Now that Beats Music and Beats Electronics are officially part of the family, the Beats Music app is now appearing on this ‘Apple Apps’ list as well. Beats Music is currently the last entry in the list, described as a way to ‘listen to music that’s always right for you’....

This contrasts with revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.6 percent, up from 34.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter’s revenue. The company confirmed what many industry observers hadn’t expected, that it is continuing to exercise the subscription accounting treatment required by GAAP, presumably while it implements new systems which don’t assess income in this manner....

Apple has released new software updates to address the Telugu character bug that affected devices running the latest public version of Apple’s software. Updates available today include iOS 11.2.6 for iPhone and iPad, tvOS 11.2.6 for Apple TV, watchOS 4.2.3 for Apple Watch, and macOS 10.13.3 supplemental update for Mac. Per the iOS release notes: The macOS update similarly makes reference to the Telugu character that caused apps to crash when received....

Alongside the new iOS, tvOS, macOS and watchOS updates today, Apple has now pushed an update to iTunes for Mac and PC. This brings the software to version 12.7.3 and adds support for the HomePod. According to Apple: Aside from updates to the HomePod, the change log in the App Store does not mention much else. The update is available on the Mac App Store, as well as via the Apple Software update on Windows....

Apple today has released the first beta of a new Reality Converter application for macOS. This app allows developers to convert, view, and customize USDZ 3D objects on Mac, Apple says. USDZ is Apple’s augmented reality file type. Reality Converter is designed to be used in conjunction with Reality Composer, which is Apple’s tool for allowing developers to prototype and produce content for AR experiences. Reality Composer was introduced alongside the RealityKit framework at WWDC in June....

Two days after releasing 10.8.3 build 12D43 to developers, Apple is today pushing out 10.8.3 build 12D44 with no known issues. Such rapid releases could point to an imminent launch of the OS. Like the last pre-release build, Apple isn’t listing any significant changes and asking developers to focus on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari. Head below for the full release notes: OS X Mountain Lion Update 10....

Research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics are out today with their latest reports on the worldwide tablet market share and both have Apple remaining in the top position by quite a large margin, despite overall declines for the category. With Apple reporting 13.1 million units sold in its fiscal Q1 report this week (down 19% from 16.1 million units last year), that puts the company in the top spot for sales during the important holiday quarter last year....

On the heels of recent rumors that Apple is preparing to augment its music video production work and create its own original content in-house, with the first such content now rumored to be an exclusive fashion network. The New York Times briefly mentions that Apple now has an exclusive content agreement with WME/IMG to produce and distribute original TV content: Fashion may have seemed like an odd choice for Apple to focus on a few years ago, but following the hiring of Angela Ahrendts as SVP of Retail, fashion show-related iPhone marketing stunts, and the launch of the fashion-focused Apple Watch, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch....

Apple has announced a variety of new software features coming soon to iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. All of these features focus on Accessibility, including AssistiveTouch for Apple Watch, eye-tracking support for iPad, and much more. Apple says that AssistiveTouch for watchOS allows users to control their Apple Watch without ever having to touch the display. The company explains that this feature will be especially useful to those users with limited mobility....

Today’s best deals include $100 off Apple’s latest MacBook Pro, plus iPhone and Apple Watch discounts, and a new Anker sale. Hit the jump for all that and more in Friday’s edition of the 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Drop $100 from Apple’s latest M1-powered 13-inch MacBook Pro iPhone and Apple Watch deals from $100 Today only, Woot is offering various refurbished iPhone and Apple Watch models from $100. You can pick up the iPhone XS from $380....

Analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch have suggested that Apple is facing a potentially worrisome “informal boycott” from consumers in China and India. A survey conducted by the bank’s equity research team, cited by Bloomberg, shows user interest in upgrading to iPhone dwindling, with most of the excitement coming from Samsung or Huawei products. Further, the firm goes on to speculate that increasing trade tension talks aren’t helping the situation, with Apple potentially falling as the biggest victim as a result of the entire ordeal....

With the Grammy Awards approaching this Sunday, Apple has posted a series of new billboards in Los Angeles featuring nominated artists as Animoji characters alongside the title of their work for which they’re nominated. The billboard reminds us that we can listen to the Grammy nominated albums on Apple Music. The images first appeared on Twitter, initially spotted by a fan page for one of the nominated artists, Kacey Musgraves....

Apple News has launched a special hub for 2020 presidential election coverage that’s curated from “dozens of trusted news sources” and designed for readers from “all political viewpoints.” It includes guides for candidates and hot topics, real-time election results, live streaming of debates, special features, and more. Apple detailed the new 2020 US presidential election coverage on Apple News in a Newsroom post: Different types of content will include guides, special features, real-time election results, trending news from many sources, and more for “readers from all political viewpoints....

Apple Pay continues its expansion around the world today. The mobile payments platform launched in Germany back in 2018, and now one of the largest banking groups in the country has added support. As reported by local news outlet Focus, Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank customers in Germany can now use Apple Pay on their iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. As of right now, there is no debit support, but customers can add their credit cards to Apple Pay....