Right after tvOS 13.4.8 beta, Apple has just released the first watchOS 6.2.8 beta version to developers. The update comes two days after watchOS 6.2.6 was released to the public, and as with tvOS, Apple has skipped version 6.2.7 for some unknown reason. We don’t know what’s new in watchOS 6.2.8 yet, but Apple is likely to be working on more bug fixes and general improvements to the Apple Watch operating system....

Thirteen days after the third developer beta, Apple has released iOS 11.3 beta 4 for registered developers to test on iPhone and iPad. We’ll dig in to the new version and detail changes below. Beta 1 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 Messages in iCloud New privacy page during set up and a new Privacy icon in Settings (gray becomes blue) Splash screen for Messages in the Cloud, backup can be disabled in Settings iBooks is now just Books App Store lists version number and update size on Updates screen App Store following text size Hello, Feedback app… Apple TV shows up in Home app with tvOS 11....

That iPhoto integration means you can link images to contacts, projects, events and other information stored in Bento. “Think of Bento 3 as a powerful, easy way to bring together all of your key Mac information and photos,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services, FileMaker. “With Bento 3, we’re providing new ways for you to view and interact with your information so you can organise contacts, projects, events and even more details of your life....

Over the past few years, several reports have claimed that Apple is in talks with display makers like Sharp to implement IGZO screens inside of iOS Devices like iPads and iPhones. As thin and light devices, it makes sense that Apple would want to implement the ultra-thin and power efficient IGZO panels. At IFA Berlin last year, we had some hands-on time with an IGZO display, and we explained the benefits for small devices:...

In an effort to reduce wait times at Genius Bars within Apple Stores, Apple this week will launch a new repair program for the iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus and 6s Plus in select stores across the United States, Europe, and Japan, according to several employees. Rather than completing all repairs in store, the new program will allow Apple Store Genius Bars to determine that these phones should be shipped to an off-site repair center if the issue falls into one of three categories:...

Apple appears to be looking to further improve the iTunes Radio service through the $30 million acquisition of a radio application called Swell, Re/code reported early Monday morning. Unlike the $3 billion Beats Electronics (and Beats Music) buyout, however, this purchase centers more on talk radio than music. Swell currently carries news from sources such as NPR, ABC, ESPN, the BBC, and more, and uses a user’s listening history to create personalized content playlists....

We are still waiting for Apple’s invites for the September iPhone event to go out, which is expected sometime in the first half of the month. Until the official unveiling happens, there’s still time for iPhone 8 rumors. The price of the premium OLED iPhone has been the subject of much debate, and now The New York Times has chimed in. It reports that the iPhone 8 will be priced ‘around $999’ …...

Apple has rolled out some new channel additions to the Apple TV set-top box this morning. Both FOX NOW and CNBC have joined the Apple TV lineup. Both channels appear to require a cable subscription to unlock the content within. However, some episodes and clips are available without providing subscription credentials. The CNBC channel supports viewing live broadcasts from the business-focused station as well as viewing previously aired shows and content....

With the success of the 2020 M1 MacBook Air, Apple is readying itself to launch a revamped MacBook Air with an even faster chip. According to Bloomberg, a redesigned MacBook Pro is expected to debut as soon as early this summer “followed by a revamped MacBook Air.” While the big news with the 2020 MacBook Air was the M1 chip, the company didn’t change its design at all. This time, Apple could bring, alongside an M1X or M2 chip, a better FaceTime HD camera, as it did with the 24-inch iMac, add MagSafe support, as it’s rumored to do with the new MacBook Pro and more internal customizations....

Apple is developing a new version of its popular Powerbeats earbuds with support for Hey Siri. Evidence found within iOS 13.3, which was released to the public today, indicates that “Powerbeats4” are likely coming soon. Strings found within iOS 13.3 explain that you will be able to talk to Siri using the Powerbeats4 by simply saying the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase. This also means that they will likely use Apple’s proprietary H1 chip for connectivity....

WhatsApp shared criticism for Apple’s new app privacy label requirement today, saying they are unfair for two reasons. Now Apple has addressed arguably the biggest issue raised by detailing what it will be doing with privacy disclosures for its own apps. The first issue that Facebook-owned WhatsApp shared with Axios about Apple’s app privacy labels is that it didn’t seem to apply to the company’s own apps that are preinstalled with iOS....

As we reported last week, Apple has announced that the iPad Pro will go on sale in 40 countries on Wednesday, November 11th. The ‘epic’ 12.9 inch device will also be available in Apple Retail Stores later in the week. The iPad Pro costs $799 for the 32 GB base model and maxes out at $1079 for the WiFi + Cellular 128 GB version. The iPad Pro will be available to buy in 40 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, China and Japan …...

Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Sir Jony Ive never misses an excuse to get away to his native England, but for the Design and Art Direction awards, he brought his whole 16-member team to collect the award for ” best brand and the best design studio of the last 50 years.” An incredibly animated Sir Jony Ive pictured in the video and image gallery below (thanks to reader “Coleman” who was there):...

Presenting the abridged version of the iPhone 7 keynote, which includes all of the important details and none of the fluff. If you’re pressed for time, but want to see all of the major announcements from today’s event, check out our distilled video. If you haven’t already, be sure to catch up on all of our coverage of the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus announcements, the Apple Watch Series 2 announcement, the new wireless AirPods, and much more....

Apple can’t catch a break on Android. When Apple released its first app on Google’s platform last month called Move to iOS, Android fans were quick to negatively rate the app that only existed to help people switch from Android to iPhone. To date, Move to iOS has roughly 30,000 1 star reviews to only 10,000 5 star reviews with not much happening in the middle. Now Apple has its second Android app on the Google Play Store called Beats Pill+....

Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson announced today that she will be speaking at the Bay Area Women’s Summit next week on June 21st. The event is held in partnership with the Women’s Foundation of California and will be hosted at Moscone Center North. The purpose of the Bay Area Women’s Summit is to have a “conversation on advancing economic empowerment for women to ensure that they and their families succeed and thrive....

Apple has pushed the first beta build of OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 out to AppleSeed users and developers. The update has a build number of 14C68k and weighs in at 422 MB. Last week the company released version 10.10.1 to the general public. Apple hasn’t provided any indications of what’s new in this beta and has not listed any particular focus areas, though it’s possible this could be a hotfix update to address any lingering Wi-Fi glitches that didn’t get fixed in the most recent patch....

Over the weekend, Apple shared four new ads holiday-themed ads for the Apple Watch. The ads originally debuted last month, but only hit Apple’s YouTube channel this weekend. The ads are shorter in style, coming in at between 10 to 15 seconds in length. The first ad is entitled “Go Play” and depicts the Apple Watch Sport being unboxed and worn during soccer, with the Activity app used for fitness tracking....

A new Apple support document lays out what to look for in third-party hardware to make use of the new fast charging feature for iPhone 8 and iPhone X. As we noted the day after Apple’s September event, the iPhone 8 and iPhone X both support some new ways to charge up your device. While more attention is focused on the new iPhones supporting wireless charging (although it’s quite slow), a potentially more handy feature for many will be fast charging support....

This is kinda interesting. Apple today released a seed of OSX 10.7.2 to developers. It is part of the iCloud download area. What happened to 10.7.1? Probably a bugfix update due in the next week or so. We’ll let you know what comes up in 10.7.2 but there’s a general feeling that this is where iCloud comes in. via BGR OSX Server hits the App Store but XCode disappears (9to5mac....