Apple Pay continues to pick up new banks and credit unions every month — and soon to Germany and possibly Austria. These are the latest new banks and credit unions added in the US that let you pay with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac… Androscoggin Savings Bank Baker Boyer National Bank BlueOX Credit Union Desert Rivers Credit Union Fidelity Bank of Florida First Source Federal Credit Union Firstier Bank GHS Federal Credit Union Guaranty Bank and Trust Company (MS & LA now) Investors Bank Miami Firefighters Federal Credit Union North Shore Trust and Savings Orion Federal Credit Union QNB Bank Reliance State Bank Security State Bank (NE) Town of Cheektowaga Federal Credit Union Twin River Bank Valley Bank of Nevada Check out our Apple Pay guide for the latest news....

Apple Pay’s rollout in Australia has been hindered since the start as local banks have pleaded to have access to the NFC hardware in the iPhone so existing mobile payment services can be used alongside Apple Pay. Now, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has rejected a proposal from a handful of big Australian banks that would have allowed them to negotiate in a group with Apple, according to the Australian site ABC News…...

Apple is committed to its promise of expanding its retail presence in China from 15 to 40 stores within two years. Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts told Chinese website Xinhua on Thursday that the iPhone maker is gearing up to open five new stores in roughly five weeks. “We are opening five new stores before the Chinese New Year this year. Four of the stores are in brand new cities for us,” said Ahrendts in a telephone interview with Xinhua....

Apple has released seventh iOS 9.3 pre-release beta for developers and public beta testers to ahead of its expected public release next week. Features include a new Night Shift mode that auto changes the display temperature, Touch ID- and password-protected items in the Notes app, new CarPlay features, expanded 3D Touch options on apps such as Settings, and more. Beta 6 was released last week and was relatively small in the grand scheme of things....

In addition to new iPhone and iPad updates today, Apple has released iTunes 12.6 with a new feature for movie rental playback. Described as ‘rent once, watch anywhere’, Apple says you can now rent a movie on one device then finish watching it on another device. Previously, it was possible to rent from iPhone, for example, then be restricted to that device to finish playback. The new ‘watch anywhere’ feature for rentals appears to require iOS 10....

Apple has officially released OS X El Capitan for the Mac, adding some new improvements as well as bringing parity with changes in iOS 9, released two weeks ago. OS X El Capitan (version 10.11), can be installed on any Mac that runs OS X Yosemite: simply download the free update from the Mac App Store. The release does not feature anything radically new — like the major visual overhaul that came last year — but there are new features as well as a strong focus on overall performance and stability improvements....

Just over two weeks following the release of OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4, Apple has seeded the 5th preview to developers via the Mac App Store Software Update tool. Also released is OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 build 12F33. That build comes one week after the previous 10.8.5 seed. Safari 6.1 beta 5 has also been released for Mountain Lion. The new Mavericks beta brings iBooks app. Full tour here....

Apple has released the third iOS 11.3 public beta loaded with new features for iPhone and iPad. The third macOS 10.13.4 public beta for Mac and tvOS 11.3 public betas are also available. Apple originally previewed several new features prior to the first developer beta: 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 Other new features include:...

iOS 16 also introduced essential security features that protect your identity and let you know who has access to information stored on your phone. Tap or click here for new iPhone security features to turn on now. For an extreme level of protection, there’s Apple’s Lockdown Mode. The company says this feature is intended for people who face serious, targeted threats to their digital security. But anyone can find benefit here — if you’re caring for family members with diminished capacities, you may want to look at Lockdown Mode....

Another batch of newly granted Apple patents were published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and then detailed by Patently Apple. Perhaps the most notable is one for an inductive charging solution that we have heard about in the past. Apple patents surfaced last year showing new methods of inductive charging that could be used in various Apple devices. There were even rumors last year that a next-gen iPhone could sport a similar cable-free charging solution....

An Apple salesman “convinced” the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would be in their best interest to buy storage gear from both his company and Cloverleaf Communications, another party specializing in data storage solutions for big clients. The agency greenlighted the purchase of a million dollar worth of items from both Apple and Cloverleaf and carried out the transaction in the summer of 2008. The deal was essentially a no-bid contract as SEC didn’t seem fit to seek out alternative bids from more established storage vendors....

Apple has shared an investor update this afternoon focused on the guidance it provided for Q2 2020. Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Apple says it won’t hit the March revenue guidance numbers it provided. Apple had forecast a wider-than-usual range revenue range for Q2, predicting revenue between $63.0 billion and $67.0 billion. Apple now says it won’t hit even the lower-end of that range due to the effects of the coronavirus in China:...

Update: iOS 5.0.1 expires for developers on Wednesday December 14th — interesting. Apple has just begun seeding iOS 5.0.1 (9A402) to developers. The new update features battery life fixes, multitasking gestures on the original iPad, improves Voice recognition for Australian users, and features other bug and security fixes. The update weighs in at 811MB. Go ahead and download it on the Developer Center! Confirming the release notes, Apple has shared with AllThingsD this afternoon that an update for battery life on iOS 5 will be coming in a few weeks....

Apple just announced in a press release this evening that its Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield would retire. Apple’s current vice president of iPad hardware engineering, Dan Riccio, will take over the position during the next several months. Apple CEO Tim Cook had some kind words to say about Mansfield, who has been with the company since 1999. Mansfield has played a huge role in recent hardware releases for the company: since 2008, the SVP has led Mac hardware, and he led hardware for the iPod and iPhone since 201o....

While Apple will be including a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter with the purchase of every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the company will also be selling the adapter separately. Apple has listed the adapter on its website and it carries a surprisingly low price tag of $9. Apple says that the Lightning to 3.5mm adapter will work with all iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models, but that iOS 10 is required....

Just after Apple Pay officially launched in Mexico this week, a hint has surfaced that Apple’s secure payment platform could be close to debuting in Israel as well. Israel has been seeing a notable expansion of updated payment systems across the country in recent months to handle EMV and NFC transactions like Apple Pay. Reported by The Verifier (via Google Translate), online-bank/credit card company Pepper released an update for its iOS app with a “Version surprise!...

Apple is today sending out emails for its latest Apple Pay promotion, this time advocating fitness with a partnership with the GOAT app and up to 30% off on the app’s “Get Fit” sneaker collection. GOAT (greatest of all time) is a popular app that allows users to buy and sell new and used sneakers. The promotion applies to a curated Get Fit collection of sneakers and runs through January 17th....

Following the release of self-driving car disengagement statistics earlier this month, Apple today has released a brief whitepaper about its self-driving car efforts. The company specifically focuses on its “approach to automated driving system safety.” As you might expect from a company as secretive as Apple, the paper is inherently vague. The company glosses over how it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to make its “products and services smarter, more intuitive, and more personalized....

As we await Apple’s official announcement of WWDC 2021, Apple’s open-source WebKit code has recently been updated by Apple to include references to the looming iOS 15 and macOS 12 software updates. WebKit code usually refers to future versions as “TBA” to hide their actual version numbers… Unfortunately, this WebKit mention does not confirm anything about what to expect from this year’s updates to iOS and macOS. It coud, however, suggest Apple’s likely naming plans for the iOS and macOS updates coming at WWDC this summer....

In addition to iOS 11.4 beta, Apple has released the first tvOS 11.4 beta for Apple TV 4 and Apple TV 4K. We’re not likely to see any new features introduced in the new version of tvOS 11.4, however, although we’ll update with any notable discoveries as always. The latest developer beta of tvOS follows the official release of tvOS 11.3 to all customers last week. The new version added support for frame rate matching to older Apple TVs and Apple Music highlighted new music video playlists....