Apple has just seeded the latest beta of iOS 8.3 to its public beta users. The first beta was sent out just under two weeks ago. The build is also available over-the-air to developers, making it the fourth beta for those users. It’s also available on the iOS developer center. Along with the new iOS beta comes a new Xcode beta. The Xcode 6.3 beta comes with a build number of 6D554n and includes support for Swift 1....

After sharing a series of new Apple Pay Cash advertisements last week, Apple has kicked off this week with three new Apple Watch videos. These videos come as part of the company’s “Close Your Rings” ad campaign… Each of these videos highlights a specific Apple Watch user who is staying motivated to “sit less and move more” with their device. The first video follows Atilla, who wears his Apple Watch to track his progress throughout the day while swimming, running, shopping, and much more....

Apple earned the top spot in a new corporate reputation study by Harris Poll (via TechCrunch). It awarded Apple with a corporate reputation quotient of 85.63, which is enough to displace a second-ranked Google with a score of 82.82. Only eight companies earned an RQ score of 80 or above that denotes “excellent reputation.” Apple’s achievement is even more noteworthy knowing Google ranked as last year’s most reputable corporation. Facebook and Intel did not appear on the list this year at all....

During a presentation with advertisers, CW Network president Mark Pedowitz announced that the network would be expanding its content offerings to new multimedia devices. This strategy will include a spot as an app on the Apple TV set-top-box’s home screen. The network confirmed this to MacRumors: Notably, as noted in the above quote, the CW content will be ad-supported. CW currently streams its content to software on Microsoft Windows devices such as the Xbox....

Further bolstering the presence of third-party social networks in iOS, Apple is testing deep LinkedIn integration for the upcoming release of iOS 7, according to code-based references found inside of the first beta of iOS 7. The code points to a single-sign-on system, similar to how iOS integrates Facebook and Twitter, for LinkedIn accounts. The references also indicate that users will be able to easily post content, such as Web links, to LinkedIn via a share-sheet or through iOS applications…...

Apple TV+ has won the rights to hot Sundance film ‘CODA’, which premiered at the film festival on Friday. The film received a warm reception from early viewers and critics. As reported by Deadline, a bidding war for the film raised prices to a new record for Sundance film, with Apple securing the deal for $25 million. At $25 million for worldwide rights, that makes Apple’s purchase of CODA the biggest deal ever to take place at Sundance, beating out last year’s $22....

Apple TV+’s first British production, the comedy series ‘Trying’, has been renewed for a third season. Season two of the show, which stars Rafe Spall and Esther Smith as the lead couple, will debut on May 14. Trying is a light-hearted comedy that explores the process of adoption. The series will debut its sophomore season episodes on a weekly basis, whereas the first season was dropped all at once on May 1st, 2020....

In addition to Bloomberg joining the Apple TV channel lineup today, a handful of other channels were added as well. Sony’s Crackle service offers a number of television shows and movies without any subscription cost. The new Watch ABC channel features a number of hit TV shows from the broadcaster including the new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series, but requires a subscription from a service provider including AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Google Fiber, Verizon FiOS, and others....

Apple has curated a new App Store section today highlighting Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which is observed on May 21st each year with the goal of “raising the profile of and introducing the topic of digital (web, software, mobile app/device etc.) accessibility and people with different disabilities to the broadest audience possible.” The featured App Store section includes 15 apps for iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch including Proloquo2Go and Proloquo4Text augmentative and alternative communication apps, Instapaper which features a font that makes text easier for dyslexic readers, and other apps with support for Apple’s accessibility features including the popular Workflow and djay 2 apps among several others....

Update: The first public betas of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15 are now available. The macOS Monterey public beta is listed as “coming soon.” Apple will release the first public betas of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 today, according to Rene Ritchie, allowing anyone to try out the new features coming to iPhone later this year in beta form. iOS 15 brings new features to FaceTime, upgrades to notifications, Focus, SharePlay, and much more....

[Update: The public beta version is also available for testers.] Apple has released macOS High Sierra beta 6 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 6 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....

Apple this week has shared the framework for Turi Create on GitHub. This framework, Apple says, should make it easier for developers to build machine learning models. Turi Create, as Apple describes it, is designed for people who aren’t necessarily experts when it comes to machine learning: Apple explains that Turi Create is intended to be simple to use with a visual interface, flexible, and fast. Furthermore, it’s ready to be deployed for use in iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS....

Update: Now available. Following the release to developers yesterday, Apple will release the first public beta of iOS 12.3 today. The update will be available to those users enrolled in Apple’s public beta program. Apple will also release the first beta of watchOS 5.2.1 to developers today. In addition to the iOS 12.3 public beta release today, Apple will also likely release the first public beta of tvOS 12.3. This update includes the all-new TV app, as well as the new Apple TV Channels feature....

According to a new report from research firm Fiksu, which regularly tracks changes to App Store charts, Apple might be experimenting with new algorithms for iTunes and App Store rankings that incorporate user ratings. Apple previously only used the number of downloads and how fast an app was being downloaded in order to rank apps for its top charts, but Fisku thinks it has recently started incorporating user rankings: The report also notes that, in recent weeks, Apple appears to be updating App Store charts every three hours opposed to the 15 minute intervals it was using previously....

Although its original efforts are believed to have failed, Apple isn’t giving up on its goal to sell a streaming TV bundle. According to a new report from Recode, Apple is currently working towards selling consumers a “premium TV bundle” consisting of HBO, Showtime, and Starz. While many cable providers already offer such a package, they typically require users to sign up for a basic level of channels. Apple’s efforts, however, would allow a consumer to subscribe to just those three premium channels....

In halfway compliance, Apple posted a link to a page with the acknowledgement at the bottom of its page, where most people wouldn’t see it. In the acknowledgement itself, it also added in content beyond the ordered requirements that made it sound as if the court was completely wrong in its judgment against Apple. As result the UK court has held Apple in non-compliance and ordered Apple to change the wording of the statement, place it on its home page, and use at least 11 point font....

Don’t get me wrong. Nobody knows for sure when the new iPhone will come out (it wasn’t at Apple’s WWDC, although there were rumors suggesting it), or what its specs will be. Still, a lot of reports, usually quoting “sources familiar with the matter”, show up every day. Anyway, the latest iPhone rumor is quite an interesting one. The Wall Street Journal says that the new iPhone is set to feature a thinner screen (it has found that out from “people familiar with the matter”, of course)....

In the wake of everything new announced today in the Mac lineup, Apple has stopped selling the legacy MacBook Pro with non-Retina screen, 5400 RPM hard-disk and SuperDrive optical disc slot. This Mac has existed in the lineup for many years and has finally been discontinued. Apple has also stopped selling the 11-inch MacBook Air, which used to be the cheapest Mac portable in the lineup. This position has been supplanted by the $999 13 inch MacBook Air, which has not been changed at all....

This brochure might look familiar but it is now out in the open. Our leak earlier this week was obviously spot on. Early visitors to the Apple Store noted that there was a lot of traffic but things were orderly and with the help of “EasySteal”, they were in and out in a matter of minutes and saved lots of money. Hit up our Black Friday 2011 Price Guide to get the best deals on Apple hardware and accessories....

Apple’s release notes for OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 4 reveal that the company will be wiping CloudKit data tomorrow. This data has to do with the new iCloud storage APIs in iOS 8 and Yosemite as well as with the upcoming iCloud Drive online storage feature. It’s best to safely store anything of importance before tomorrow’s wipe: Apple previously wiped CloudKit data ahead of iOS 8 beta 3 and OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 3....