Apple this week added over 30 more banks and credit unions to its list of those that support Apple Pay in the US. It also added an additional five countries that now support the service in Australia. Head past the break for the full list. The additions for Australia come as a report late last month questioned the fate of Apple Pay in the country, claiming that banks have been denied a request to negotiate with Apple as a group....

Following Apple’s decision to almost halve the price of the iPhone 5s in India, the Times of India states that the company has followed this by a more modest price-cut for the iPhone 6s/Plus. The move was reportedly made in response to a sales slump. Apple cut prices of its latest iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus […] just two months after their launch in India to boost flagging sales in what is historically its most crucial quarter as demand for the flagship devices nosedived from a Diwali high […]...

Apple is rolling out the fourth watchOS 3.1.1 beta for developers testing the pre-release software update for Apple Watch. watchOS 3.1.1 includes support for new Unicode 9.0 emoji as well as the ability to change skin tones when picking certain emoji characters. Release notes and version numbers for the latest builds have been published, and over-the-air downloads should follow shortly. [Update: OTA now available as well.] watchOS 3.1.1 is a minor release that follows the major release of watchOS 3....

[Update: Apple has also released the fifth iOS 11.3 public beta.] One week after the fourth developer beta, Apple has released iOS 11.3 beta 5 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....

Apple is out with a new update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch today, the official iOS 9.1 release. For most users, a collection of new emoji characters including a taco, unicorn, and yes, a middle finger is the most notable new feature within the update. Apple has also tweaked its three planetary wallpapers and developer support for Live Photos as well as improvements to the capture experience. As for those new emoji characters, you can check out our gallery here from during the beta period last month while you’re downloading the new update....

Apple has unveiled a host of new accessories today that weren’t given stage time at Steve Jobs Theater. The company has unveiled new cases for the iPhone, as well as new Apple Watch bands and a few new Beats products… Apple quietly released an updated version of the urBeats earbuds in the form of the urBeats3. These still proudly rock the 3.5mm headphone connection and you can get them for $99....

Apple has officially announced the availability of WatchKit, the software tools that developers will use for creating software for the Apple Watch coming in 2015. The company revealed last month that the SDK, or software development kit, would be released sometime this month. Apple says WatchKit enables developers to “create innovative WatchKit apps, actionable notifications and Glances, for timely information accessible by an easy, quick look at Apple Watch.” Additionally, resources within WatchKit reveal the screen resolutions for both Apple Watch sizes....

UPDATE: The software update is now available, AirPlay 2 is not available with this release and we haven’t noticed any changes yet Apple is releasing the first-ever software update for HomePod since its debut. The new software update comes alongside iOS 11.3 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. HomePod can be updated automatically or prompted through the Home app after updating to iOS 11.3. HomePod’s operating system is called “audioOS” internally, and is a variant of iOS....

Last year, Apple teamed up with the University of Michigan to launch the Apple Hearing Study, focused on examining factors that impact hearing health. Apple and the University of Michigan are now reaching to participants to inform them of a bug in the study app that caused historical data to be shared with Apple. Consent for those data types was necessary to help researchers understand the link between long-term sound exposure and its impact on hearing health....

CEO Tim Cook has highlighted Apple’s new privacy features to European users, with a new video on the Apple UK YouTube channel (embedded below). Cook tops and tails a six-minute video, which mostly comprises privacy-related clips from WWDC … Apple likely chose to speak specifically to European users given the particular emphasis placed on privacy there. The European Union implemented the world’s toughest privacy law back in 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)....

Apple tonight has released the first beta of iOS 8.1.1 to developers. This update is packed with bug fixes, according to the release notes. Most notably, “this release includes bug fixes, increased stability and performance improvements for iPad 2 and iPhone 4s.” This marks the first time in recent history that Apple is seeding a beta for a patch update. A new seed for the Apple TV is also available. Apple released the first OS X Yosemite 10....

It looks like Siri and Google are friends again and Bing is in the rear view mirror. In a major shift, Apple is changing its search results provider for Siri and Spotlight on iOS and macOS from Microsoft’s Bing to the vastly more popular Google. The change has started to roll out today and should be in effect for all users by the end of the day. For users, this means Siri and Spotlight will now provide the same search results as Safari by default (and in a lot of cases show better search results)....

Apple today has updated its online store to indicate it will soon start selling the Wynd Plus Smart Personal Air Purifier. This accessory packs USB-C and an accompanying iOS app to let you “create a bubble of clean air around you.” The Wynd Plus is a small air purifier that you could theoretically take with you everywhere you go. It weighs in at less than a pound and is around the size of a bottle....

Apple today confirmed that its next conference call to announce the fiscal Q1 2021 results will be held on January 27. This comes after the company announced its annual meeting with shareholders on February 23, 2021. As usual, the company will hold a call with investors and analysts at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET, right after the release of the earnings. Once again, Apple has not provided an official guidance for the first fiscal quarter of 2021 due to the economic uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic....

When Apple TV+ launched, it was praised for its exceptionally high bit-rate streaming quality. However, that is set to change for the time being for customers across Europe (and possibly other markets soon). European officials have instructed streaming services to reduce the amount of bandwidth their services use, in order to reduce strain on internet networks. Usage of streaming services has picked up substantially in recent weeks in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic....

Today Apple launched a brand new high-end reference-grade LCD HDR display alongside the newly redesigned Mac Pro. The new monitor, which Apple is calling the Pro Display XDR is a 32-inch LCD display with a 6016 x 3384 6K native resolution and over 20 million pixels. The Pro Display XDR is over 40% larger than the iMac 5K display, and supports P3 wide color, true 10-bit, and comes bundled with reference modes that are calibrated at the factory....

Last month Apple rolled out support for dozens of banks and credit unions with Apple Pay bringing the count to more than 45 institutions, and today Apple is out with the first wave of the month adding more than a dozen new banks to its list of supported Apple Pay banks bringing the total count to over 60 institutions. Here are the new banks listed as supporting Apple Pay as of today:...

Apple Pay revenue hasn’t gotten much attention so far. The most valuable role Apple Pay plays for the Cupertino company is further lock-in to the ecosystem. Once you’ve experienced the convenience of Apple Watch payments in particular, and know the security you get from the use of Apple Pay on any device, it’s not something you’ll want to give up. (Sure, there’s Google Pay and Samsung Pay too, but it still adds friction to switching platforms....

Apple has shared the latest progress with Apple Pay rolling out to major US retailers. Today’s news includes Target, Taco Bell, Speedway, and more as the latest businesses to accept Apple’s payment platform. Apple announced the news this morning in a Newsroom post: We reported last year that Target was testing Apple Pay support in San Francisco in November. Apple says Target is rolling out support for its payment platform now and will be functional in all of its US stores in the “coming weeks....

Apple just posted its 2012 Proxy Statement for investors. Within, we find that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was awarded almost $400 million in 2011, while Steve Jobs was paid his $1 a year salary. Mr. Forstall’s annualized base salary was increased to $700,000 —from $600,000 in 2010— to match the then-current base salaries of his peers on the executive team. Mr. Cue had a base salary of $444,000 during 2011, the lowest base salary out of the executive team....