Apple is rolling out an updated version of the 1.0.276 firmware it rolled out to AirTags three weeks ago. This update likely makes further improvements to the anti-stalking features Apple announced earlier this month. Apple announced AirTag firmware version 1.0.276 on June 3 with new anti-stalking features. The original version of the firmware featured build number 1A276d, and today’s new release features build number 1A287b. As we detailed last month, the process of checking your AirTag firmware version is a bit hidden....

Apple tomorrow will open its latest flagship retail location in Chicago. The Michigan Avenue store features a gorgeous design that resembles a MacBook Air from the top, and Apple this week offered the first preview of the store as well as commentary from retail head Angela Ahrendts and designer Jony Ive… In a press release today, Apple shared new images of the Michigan Ave store, showcasing its placement on the Chicago River....

Apple announced last year that it was moving Chinese customer iCloud operations to China in an effort to comply with local laws, with the move officially taking place at the end of this month. Reuters today reports that among the information being are iCloud customer keys… Currently, all iCloud data is protected by strict security measures, with cryptographic keys being required to access any of the data. All of those details, including those of Chinese iCloud customers, are currently stored in the United States – meaning that data requests are subject to U....

As of today, you no longer need an AT&T plan to purchase an iPhone at an Apple Store. Apple’s new policy is that anyone can walk into an Apple Store and pick up an iPhone 8GB for $499, 16GB for $599 and 32GB for $699. They will allow one unit per customer per day up to 10 iPhones. The iPhones are still locked to AT&T’s network so unless you are going to jailbreak it (and I guess that is the assumption), you are still on AT&T....

A new report this weekend from the SF Chronicle highlights Apple’s push to lower its tax burden in its home county of Santa Clara in California. The report explains that Apple is the leading appealer of tax assessments in the county, with over 400 open cases since 2004. The report says that Apple currently has 489 open tax assessment appeals since 2004. The company is disputing $8.5 billion in property value, something that is common among tech companies in Silicon Valley....

Following the announcement that Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer will be retiring in September, the Australian Financial Review has uncovered evidence of a scheme that it says has allowed Apple to move around $9 billion in untaxed Aussie profit to Ireland. The program has allowed Apple to get away with paying only $200 million in taxes on $8.9 billion in profit over the past ten years or so. Here’s how the whole thing works: Apple has created an Ireland-based company known as Apple Sales International which contributes money toward the research and development budget in Cupertino....

Apple is steadily putting together a catalog of original content behind-the-scenes before it launches its own video streaming service similar to Netflix and Hulu, and the latest series to receive the green light is an unnamed sci-fi space drama. Deadline reports (via Variety) that Ronald D. Moore, who is the showrunner for Outlander on Starz and has worked on Star Trek as well as Battlestar Galactica, will lead the project for Apple....

To celebrate Canada Day and the country’s 150th anniversary taking place July 1st this weekend, Apple today released a new shot on iPhone campaign that includes photos and a short film titled “A Portrait of Canada”. The company worked with three Canadian artists on the project including Humble the Poet, photographer Caitlin Cronenberg and First Nations band A Tribe Called Red, each contributing words, images and music used in the video below....

iOS 8 is scheduled to be released over-the-air next week on September 17th for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch running iOS 7 with a list of new features including iCloud Drive; a new Health app; support for app extensions and third party keyboards; continuity features that bridge iPhone, iPad, and Mac; new Family Sharing functionality; and more. iOS 8 will support iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2/iPad mini and later, and iPod touch 5th generation....

[slideshow] As we reported on a few weeks ago, Apple has just released a brand new free universal iOS app, Podcasts. Apple describes this as as being “the easiest way to discover, subscribe to and play your favorite podcasts on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Explore hundreds of thousands of free audio and video podcasts from the Podcasts Catalog, and play the most popular podcasts, organized for you by topic, with the all-new Top Stations feature....

While Apple has released updates for both Lion and Snow Leopard to remove the Flashback malware that is making the rounds, the company had not released a fix for Leopard until today. Apple released a Flashback Removal Security Update for Leopard this afternoon that weighs 1.23MB. Along with removing the Flashback malware, it also disables the Java plug-in in Safari. Apple described the update: Apple also released Security Update 2012-003 for Leopard that “disables versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates and provides the option to get the current version from Adobe’s website....

According to a report from Reuters, Apple abandoned plans to release an end-to-end encrypted version of iCloud backups after facing complaints from the FBI who told Apple that it would hinder their investigations. The report says that Apple was working on the feature more than two years ago, but it was cancelled after the FBI raised concerns. One employee said “legal killed it, for reasons you can imagine”. End-to-end encryption works by making an encryption key based on factors that are not stored on the server....

Apple has announced this evening that its fiscal first quarter earnings call will take place on Tuesday, January 26th at the usual time 2PM PT/5PM ET, with the earnings release dropping roughly thirty minutes before that. The call will report earnings for the three-month period ending this month. Given that these results will cover the holiday shopping season, we should expect strong numbers from Apple. This is also the first full quarter during which the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been available, as well as the iPad Pro....

Amid their goal to even out prices internationally with those in the United States, Apple has raised prices (and lowered!) for applications across the international App Store. Of note for the UK, a 99 cent application (U.S.) now costs £0.69 up from the £0.59 of yesterday. Additionally, apps which were £1.19 are now £1.49. These changes are also international with a slight price drop in Switzerland and in Japan. Apps in Japan now start at 85 Yen versus the 115 Yen of yesterday....

During its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Apple demoed a new app called “Passbook” with its unveiling of iOS 6. The app allows you to manage boarding passes, movie tickets, store cards, and other passes that have QR codes, barcodes, or visual, scannable codes. Scott Forstall demonstrated how the feature is integrated into the iOS 6 lock screen by allowing cards or tickets to be displayed when—for instance—walking by a movie theatre....

After bringing the iTunes Festival to the US earlier this year at Austin SXSW, Apple’s annual music event in London kicking off next week has been the focus of much of the company’s attention recently. Earlier this week, Apple’s newly acquired Beats Music began promoting the iTunes Festival with a contest within the app to attend the festival. Apple’s iTunes Festival runs for 30 days through September and will feature artists including Maroon 5, Pharrell Williams, Deadmau5, Ed Sheeran, Mary J....

Apple will begin selling an unlocked version of its iPhone 5 through its online store as soon as 9 PM tonight, according to our retail sources. The unlocked iPhone 5 price range will likely be $649, $749, and $849 depending on a choice of either 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage. Additionally, Apple’s chain of retail stores will begin selling the unlocked devices soon, but have yet to be provided a start sales date....

Apple TV+ is expanding its franchises beyond the raw TV episodes of the shows. Sesame Workshop is now releasing books to coincide with the Ghostwriter Apple TV+ series. Ghostwriter-branded versions of Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book are out now. The cover of each book features prominent branding including a ‘Watch Ghostwriter on Apple TV+’ sticker. In addition to classics, Ghostwriter features some narratives centering around new original stories like Trinity, which will be published by Sesame Workshop for the first time at the end of December....

Apple TV+ shares the official trailer for its upcoming drama Dickinson, which turns the 19th century poet into a millennial hero of sorts. The tech giant’s streaming service and original content has been in the works for some time now, and though it seemed as though the company was simply getting very good at delivering tantalizing press releases teasing potential series with amazing casts, it’s all set to come to fruition this November when the service makes its official debut with Dickinson and a few other notable series premieres....

Apple has quietly rolled out a change to the Apple TV App Store on tvOS in the last few days, which affects how apps are listed in the Top Charts. For the Top Charts (Top Paid, Top Free, Top Grossing), the Apple TV App Store will now hide listings for apps that the user has already downloaded, so the charts update dynamically per user. This means users can only browse for apps they don’t already own, removing some clutter and allowing less popular apps more opportunity to be seen....