The American Customer Satisfaction Index is out today with its September report for appliances, computers, televisions and video players/recorders. Not surprisingly, Apple is able to maintain its lead among personal computers despite a drop of 1-point to 86 over previous reports. While the report noted Apple continued to lead the category by a margin of 5- to- 9 points, Apple’s lead is slightly smaller than previously, according to the report, “due to an across-the-board customer satisfaction increase for Windows-based computers....

A new set of job listings noticed by LightReading continue to show Apple’s focus on implementing VoLTE, or voice-over-LTE, support for including high quality call quality on new iPhones. Specifically, the job listings seek both a Cellular Systems Protocol Engineer with hands-on experience in wireless technologies including VoLTE and an iOS Wireless Communication Software Engineer with “SIP, RTP, and VoIP related protocols”, showing the company is continuing to beef up its expertise around the technology....

[slideshow] Update: More images from MacRumors forums. First posted by MacStories, we now have some images of Apple’s preparations at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco where the company will hold its next-generation iPad event and possibly the introduction of a refreshed Apple TV. You can see Apple has started hanging its large banners that will more than likely display images of whatever is announced. The event is slated to kick off on March 7 at 10 a....

We’re waiting for Apple Q2 2020 earnings to be announced on Thursday, and with both supply-chain disruption and reduced demand due to the coronavirus crisis, it’s obvious that the company’s financials are going to take a hit. But while analysts do expect both revenue and earnings per share to be down, they are not expecting a bloodbath… Reuters reports that the Wall Street consensus is for a 6% drop in revenue and 11% fall in net income for the company’s fiscal Q2/calendar Q1....

Apple has released macOS 10.13.4 beta 7 for registered developers to test on compatible Macs. We’ll dig in to the new version and detail changes below. Beta 1 New Privacy explainer included in macOS 32-bit app warning starting now New ‘Ink Cloud’ wallpaper on all Macs, previously iMac Pro only Messages in the Cloud is opt-in on High Sierra, requires checking a box Beta 2-3 iBooks Mac app renamed Books to match iOS (iBooks Author is a Mac App Store app so it likely won’t change until the beta cycle ends ) Beta 4-6 iBooks reverted back to Books Refresh for updates....

Apple wasn’t kidding when it said that the first “Golden Master” of OS X Yosemite was a candidate. The Cupertino-company just issued OS X Yosemite GM 2.0 for developers, and it’s available in Software Update on the Mac App Store. Public Beta 5 is also out for those in the AppleSeed program. The new seed is labeled as build number 14A386a, and it does not appear to include any noticeable changes over the previously provided built....

A bumpy battery case isn’t the only new product from Apple this month. The iPad-specific Lightning to SD Card Reader has been replaced with a newer version with the same name, appearance, and price, but one important electronic difference. It now takes advantage of the faster USB 3 transfer speeds supported by new iPad Pros and works with iPhones… As was the case with its predecessor, the new Lightning to SD Card Reader allows iPad users to import photos and videos from SD cards used in digital cameras for viewing and editing on the tablet....

Following the news that Apple is to discontinue its Mac Pro line in Europe due to new regulatory standards, Apple is reportedly prepping a new Mac Pro product for spring 2013. The news comes from Apple reseller France Systemes (via Mac4Ever & Macg.co), an Apple Authorized Reseller and Certified Education Center in France with 17 years in the business, which claimed in a recent newsletter to customers that Apple has confirmed the discontinuation of Mac Pros in the country would only be temporary....

Last week Apple’s open sourcing of Swift naturally saw the spotlight thrown over Apple’s open source pages. This included a paragraph that claimed Apple was “the first major computer company to make Open Source a key part of its strategy”. Unsurprisingly, this riled some members of the developer community as being disingenuous and untrue. So Apple has since changed the text to retract the rather outlandish statement with something a bit more muted....

Apple today has drastically simplified the iPhone trade-in program that allows eligible smartphones to be traded in for credit towards the purchase of a future device. Today’s changes allow customers to use the trade-in credit to help lower the cost of the a new iPhone purchase or to reduce monthly payments made to a carrier. With the changes to the trade up program consumers will now be able to get up to $250 in credit for their smartphones, down from the original $300....

2020 is (thankfully) coming to a close and Apple has shared some handy collections for what it considers the best content from this year. The lists include the most popular podcasts, books, audiobooks, and more like “Biggest Shows of 2020.” And in a first, Apple Podcasts has named a “Show of the Year” with the honor going to NPR’s Code Sw!tch. Apple shared the news on Twitter and across its Podcasts and Books apps in the Browse sections....

Also: How to choose the right monitor layout for working from home The first issue is with the starting price itself. That will only get you a standard version of the display on either a tilt-adjustable stand or with a VESA-compatible adapter that will require you to provide your own stand or arm. You can’t have both without paying extra. The extremely basic stand can also be replaced by a “tilt- and height-adjustable stand,” which adds an extra $400 to the price....

We learned two years ago that Apple was setting up an R&D center in Cambridge, England, to tap academic research expertise. Business Insider thinks it knows the focus of the work the team there is performing. VocalIQ is a tool specifically geared to allowing truly conversational queries … Those working inside are aiming to make Siri talk more naturally, according to a source that knows a number of Apple’s Cambridge employees […]...

Last fall a growing number of iPhone users started experiencing random shutdowns, particularly with iPhone 6s. After Apple launched a battery repair program to solve the issue for some devices, they stated that the problem may be more widespread than first thought and that a fix for some iPhones could come in the form of a software update… Apple shared today with TechCrunch that a good portion of the affected devices are seeing the issue solved with iOS 10....

Apple has just started seeding out the third beta for tvOS 10 today to all current testers and developers. To update, check through the Software Update section on the Apple TV, or grab the Configuration Profile from Apple’s Developer center if you’d like to install it for the first time. tvOS 10 Beta 3 tvOS 10 introduces Dark Mode, Single Sign-on, HomeKit, and YouTube search to the latest Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 2 brought in an entirely new UI for Apple Music with a Library view inspired by the iPod Classic’s UI....

At long last, Apple today has released a new version of the Apple Store app for iOS with support for Dark Mode. This update comes after Apple redesigned and revamped the Apple Support app with Dark Mode last month. The new Apple Store app interface is a mix of true black and dark gray design. It adheres to your iPhone or iPad’s system setting for Dark Mode, meaning it automatically changes based on your preferences....

A judiciary committee in July asked questions surrounding antitrust and competition concerns of big tech. The documentation from those hearings has now been released. Apple addressed its policies on the App Store, competition in markets where Apple offers first-party apps, disallowing alternative browser engines, among other topics. On the subject of Apple’s role in the repair industry, the company said that the ‘cost of providing repair services has exceeded the revenue generated by repairs’, implying it does not tightly control repairs for financial gain....

During its WWDC 2020 keynote today, Apple officially announced iOS 14 for iPhone and iPod touch. The update brings a variety of new features and design changes. Read on for all of the details on this year’s flagship update to iOS 14. iOS 14 adds a new App Library view for organizing all of your apps. Apps are automatically organized in the App Library, and you don’t have to keep all of the icons on your actual home screen view....

In addition to reaching Brazil for the first time this month, Apple Pay has also expanded to more banks and credit unions across the United States, Canada, Italy, Russia, Spain, and China. Check out the latest new partners below: Canada Assiniboine Credit Union Cambrian Credit Union Limited Steinbach Credit Union Vancity United States 5 Star Community Credit Union AlaTrust Credit Union Apple River State Bank Bank of Weston Community Bank of Elmhurst Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank Farmers and Merchants Bank of South Carolina First Bank of Coastal Georgia First Citizens Federal Credit Union First National Bank of Gillette Killbuck Savings Bank Lighthouse Bank Merchants Bank (both AL and MN now) Morton Credit Union MutualBank One Credit Union SeaComm Federal Credit Union Security First Bank of North Dakota Ukrainain Federal Credit Union Unico Bank United Fidelity Bank Wayne Westland Federal Credit Union Italy...

When Apple unveiled its new Apple Pay payment service during its iPhone event last month, it said the new feature would arrive for users in the US sometime in October. While there hasn’t been a firm date announced for the launch, at least one of Apple’s early bank partners has apparently confirmed a release date. DailyDot reports that USAA said Apple Pay would become available for its Visa and MasterCard customers on November 7:...