Michael Tchao joined Apple on Monday as Vice President of Product Marketing. He will report to Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing. This is a much different role than that which he had 15 years ago during his first stint at Apple. You see, Mr. Tchao was one of the guys who convinced then-Apple CEO John Scully of releasing the groundbreaking but ultimately flawed Newton tablet back in the early 90’s....

The update follows version 10.3.2, released a couple months ago. Looking through the contents page for iOS 10.3.3, this is definitely a bug fix and security focused release; one you will definitely want to grab immediately. Numerous exploits have been closed, which include: arbitrary code execution, buffer overflows, remote attacks and several other low-level issues. Editor’s note: It took me about 20 minutes to download and install iOS 10.3.3. Not only that, I seemed to have gained back about half a gigabyte of storage space afterward....

[Update: The fifth public beta for macOS 10.13.4 is now available in addition to the developer beta.] Apple has released macOS 10.13.4 beta 5 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 ) Refresh for updates....

Apple is rolling out the fifth watchOS 3.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 beta includes Theater Mode which disables raise-to-wake and mutes alerts. Apple is also introducing SiriKit to Apple Watch with watchOS 3.2 beta. SiriKit lets developers integrate their apps with Siri for select uses. Prior to watchOS 3.2 beta, SiriKit was limited to iOS apps. As for Theater Mode, this is how Apple describes the new feature:...

On the second day of Apple’s “12 Days of Gifts” promotion, the app is now offering a free download of Rovio’s ‘Tiny Thief’ app. This morning the 12 Days of Gifts app was offering a free pilot episode of TV show Once Upon a Time, but Apple appears to have now switched the gift to the ‘Tiny Thief’ app. It’s unclear if Apple mistakenly offered the TV show download for a short period of time or if it plans to offer various gifts throughout the day as part of the promotion....

After several hours of downtime, the Apple Online Store is back online and the iPhone XR is now available for pre-order. Pricing starts at $749 and the device is available in a total of six different colors. Head below for all the iPhone XR specs, details, and more. iPhone XR Specs The iPhone XR, in many ways, is a lot like the iPhone XS: there’s Face ID, the same A12 Bionic chip, and a similar body design....

Apple has strengthened its App Review Guidelines to require greater protection of children under 13 years and to clamp down on gambling apps that involve real money. Some of the changes were required in order to comply with tougher requirements in the newly-expanded Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which prohibits apps from collecting personal data from children under 13 without ‘verifiable parental consent.’ Personal data initially meant name, address, phone numbers, email address and present location, but has now been expanded to include photos, video and audio....

An updated look at progress made on Apple’s under construction Campus 2 over the last month arrives today courtesy of two new flyover videos. Of note, this month’s update from Duncan Sinfield shows that Apple has flipped the switch on some exterior lighting on the facility that makes it much more visible at night. Apple also continues with landscaping as more walking paths and finishing touches are applied to the courtyard’s gardens and the green areas surrounding the main circular structure....

Apple has made a formal complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in response to resistance from Australian financial institutions to adopt Apple Pay. Apple says the country’s three largest banks have formed a monopolistic cartel and are collectively dictating terms of new payment business models, like Apple Pay. It also rejected the request from banks to let them have access to the NFC radio and create alternate contactless payment systems on top of the iPhone....

Apple has announced today that it will release its earnings report for the fiscal third quarter of 2021 on July 27. As usual, the company will release its Q2 2021 earnings report, then hold a conference call with investors and analysts to provide more detail. Apple’s fiscal Q3 2021 earnings will follow a record-setting Q2 2021 in which the company reported $89.6 billion in revenue and profit of $23.6 billion. Apple did not provide guidance for what to expect in Q3 2021, but it did warn that chip shortages could impact its businesses, particularly the Mac and the iPad....

Roughly two weeks after the initial release, Apple has pushed out an update to users testing the iOS 9 public beta on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The latest public beta release follows the earlier release of iOS 9 beta 4 for registered developers developing for the upcoming operating system update. iOS 9 is set to be completed and shipped to all users later this fall. iOS 9 public beta 2 mirror’s yesterday’s iOS 9 beta 4 release....

The Apple Store is down ritual is back for a second time this week as the company launched orders for AirTag and the new purple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini. However, orders don’t start until 5 AM PT so you’ve still got 3.5 hours before Apple’s new devices go on sale. The AirTag enables users to track items and find them when they are lost. Available individually for $29 or as a 4-pack for $99, AirTags integrate with the Find My app....

Claris, the Apple subsidiary formerly known as FileMaker, has today announced the next-generation of its low-code FileMaker platform. FileMaker 19 will enable developers to build custom applications while integrating with third-party libraries for the first time. Claris touts that the new support for third-party libraries in FileMaker 19 will allow developers to “rapidly build sophisticated custom apps” that leverage integration with JavaScript, AI with Apple’s CoreML, and much more. The company highlights a few examples:...

Apple TV Plus has a fixed price of $4.99 per month, with a 7-day trial open to any newcomers. If you buy an eligible Apple device you’ll get an entire year for free, which is a nice bonus if you were going to upgrade anyway. Those who currently get the Apple Music Student subscription are also set to have Apple TV+ thrown in for free. With Apple Family Sharing, up to six users can access the service using their own device and accounts....

You’ll be offered the opportunity to checkout with Apple Pay in many smaller online stores as ecommerce service Weebly has announced integration for the payment service. Weebly powers more than 45 million online businesses worldwide, and notes that more than 40% of transactions take place on a mobile device … The company says that up to a quarter of people abandon their carts before checkout due to an overly complex process, and it hopes that enabling Apple Pay will reduce this figure....

In honor of its Earth Day celebrations, Apple has released a new video on its YouTube page reemphasizing its goal that each of its products will be carbon neutral by 2030. In the very Apple-like video, the company reminds customers that its offices are already 100% carbon neutral, but Apple wants to do more with every iPhone, iPad, Watch, and Mac with 100% recycled or renewable materials. The company says it’s finding new ways to extract aluminum, steel, tin, tungsten, plastic from recycled products, and it’s also growing enough trees and recycling enough paper to sustain all of its packaging....

Apple has launched a new promotion to encourage Apple Pay use this holiday shopping season. The company is offering a $5 App Store & iTunes gift card with purchases at qualifying online retailers in the United States. On a webpage detailing the promotion, Apple says minimum purchase requirements and details may vary by retailers. Furthermore, you can only get one $5 gift card through each retailer, but you could theoretically stack this offer by buying through the different merchants....

Apple today is officially rolling out iOS 14.6 to the public. This update includes Apple Card Family support, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, AirTag improvements, and more. Read on for the full release notes and details on what’s new in iOS 14.6. In addition to iOS 14.6, Apple is also releasing iPadOS 14.6 to the public today. You can update your iPhone or iPad by going to the Settings app, choosing General, then choosing Software Update....

Apple this evening has quietly seeded the third beta of macOS 10.13.1 to developers. The release comes a day after the company released the third betas of iOS 11.1, watchOS 4.1, and tvOS 11.1 to developers and public beta users. macOS 10.13.1 High Sierra focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements and has yet to showcase any major user-facing features. There is, however, support for hundreds of new emoji just like Apple promised....

Update: iOS 13, iPadOS 13, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13 beta 7 are now available. No update to macOS Catalina beta 5 yet. iOS 13 public beta 6 also coming today. Apple is releasing the seventh developer beta version of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 (possibly alongside new seeds of watchOS 6, tvOS 13, and macOS Catalina) today. The release comes just over one week since the last round of releases — save for macOS Catalina which hasn’t been updated this month....