Analyst Charles Wolf notes Apple easily beat third quarter consensus estimates, reporting earnings per share of $1.19 on revenues of $7.46 billion, observing, “But the stock was crushed after the release by gross margin guidance that was materially lower than the historic numbers both for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2009. Our take is that Apple wants to continue the Mac’s momentum and will use pricing to do so.” The purported plan follows a stupendously strong Mac sales quarter, Apple reached 2....

Apple has just seeded a new build (13D55) of OS X Mavericks to developers. The update is currently showing for users on the beta from the Dev Center and doesn’t seem to be showing up yet for members of the recently-reopened AppleSeed program. This release is expected to include improved USB syncing in iTunes and enhanced support for 4k monitors on newer MacBook Pros. Typically Apple increases the frequency of beta builds as it gets closer to the public release of a piece of software....

Apple yesterday shared two new ‘Shot on iPhone’ TV advertisements and today it has followed them up with yet another pair of videos. While yesterday’s videos focused on animals, today’s videos break that trend. The first video, shot in Bregenz, Austria, shows a first person account of someone riding down what appears to be a zip line of sorts. As usual, Apple is sure to credit the original recorder of the video, with this one having been shot by Robert S....

Just after sharing our latest drone flyover video of Apple’s under construction “Campus 2” in Cupertino this weekend (this time in 4K), Apple today shared an updated aerial shot of the campus. The shot shows early progress being made on the structure of the main building and other buildings on the campus as well as earthwork and greenery on the surrounding property. The City of Cupertino’s website, which tracks construction and traffic updates related to the Campus 2 project for locals hasn’t changed the project schedule that still calls for building construction to wrap up by the end of 2016....

Apple held its annual shareholders meeting earlier today, which included votes on six different proposals, comments from Tim Cook, and a question and answer session. One of the proposals was specifically critical of Apple’s cooperation with requests from the Chinese government to remove certain apps from the App Store. Reuters reports this evening, however, that even though that proposal was voted down at today’s meeting, the pressure is mounting against Apple....

On top of our running list of apps being updated for iOS 7 today, Apple too is preparing for the release of iOS 7 later today with updates to its own apps. The latest to get support for iOS 7 is Apple’s AirPort Utility app, which allows users to manage their Wi-Fi networks and AirPort Base stations such as AirPort Express and AirPort Time Capsule. Apple has also updated its Apple Store app today with optimizations for iOS 7 and “a refined user interface....

For the month of June, Apple is giving a small boost to its trade-in price values for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5S, according to Apple Store sources. Using the Reuse and Recycle program, a customer can bring in an older iPhone model and receive gift card credit toward the purchase of a newer iPhone. Likely in order to spur some new iPhone sales this month, Apple is offering the following improvements to its trade-in pricing:...

According to a 139-page 10K form filed today, Apple is acquiring a 230-employee mobile security company called “AuthenTec” for $356 million. Apple’s $8 per-share offer is at a premium of 58 percent over AuthenTec’s Thursday close of $5.07. The company owns 200 patents covering fingerprint sensors and sensor packaging, software, and end use. AuthenTec makes a variety of security tools, including a number of fingerprint scanners like the ones on the Motorola Atrix phone sold by AT&T, and it is responsible for the security behind the HBO Go app....

Last month Apple introduced the first Activity Challenge for Apple Watch users on Thanksgiving Day, and now it appears a ‘Ring In the New Year’ challenge will be the next Activity Challenge. The next Apple Watch Activity Challenge has slightly different rules than the first… For Apple’s Thanksgiving Day Activity Challenge in the United States, Apple Watch users needed to complete a 5K walk or run using the Workout app or a compatible third-party fitness tracking app to unlock a special iMessage sticker and an Activity achievement....

Update: Apple has also shared a shorter one-minute cut of the Homework ad. Check it out here. Following the announcement of a new education-focused iPad and a slew of new software features, Apple has shared a new video of the iPad in use by students. The ad, cleverly entitled ‘Homework,’ follows a group of students as they put the new $329/$299 iPad to test… Apple today introduced a new 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support....

Apple has released the third OS X 10.11.4 public beta for non-developer testers. Public beta testers running the El Capitan pre-release can find the new software update through the Mac App Store. The latest public beta update follows the third developer beta of the same update earlier this week. Apple has also released a second OS X 10.11.4 beta 3 build (15E39c to 15E39d) for developers as well. Changes coming with OS X 10....

Apple this evening sent an email to podcasters outlining some reminders about changes to the Apple Podcasts platform, as well as an announcement that makes podcast submission easier for hosting partners… First and foremost, Apple reminded podcasters that Podcast Analytics is currently in beta and allows creators to see more detailed information about listener patterns and show performance over time. Apple released Podcast Analytics in beta last month. Apple also outlines some of the specification changes that the Podcasts platform offers in iOS 11, which were previously announced:...

First noticed by French news outlet Jeanne Magazine, Apple modified its Mother’s Day iPhone ad in several countries to remove a same-sex couple that appears in the United States version of the ad. The couple does not appear in the German, Italian, Turkish, Japanese, or French versions of the ad, while they do appear in the Mexican, Australian, and Canadian versions (via BuzzFeed News). In the countries where the couple was removed from the video, the image was replaced with an image of one of the mothers and the child....

Ahead of her appearance at Bloomberg’s ‘Year Ahead’ business summit tomorrow, Apple’s SVP of Retail and Online Stores Angela Ahrendts has today made an appearance at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival in New York City. Ahrendts sat down with Fast Company Editor at Large Rick Tetzei to discuss her role at Apple since joining the company in 2014… Ahrendts first noted that when she originally joined Apple, she spent the first 6 months on the job visiting the company’s retail locations in 40 markets and listening to the thoughts and opinions of retail employees....

Does your Apple Watch keep reminding you to breathe? You’re not alone. People all over the world are interrupted by the Apple Watch reminding them to breathe every day — even if they’re already breathing. So what gives? Does the Apple Watch detect stress? One of the most common misconceptions about Breathe alerts is that they are related to stress. The idea is that the Apple Watch detects when you need to take advice from Taylor Swift and calm down....

Update: Apple says iBooks Textbooks are available in all countries with a paid iBooks store and that a full updated list of countries with access to iTunes U Course Manager can be found on its enrollment website. Apple just put out a press release announcing that it’s expanding availability of its educational content– iBooks Textbooks and the iTunes U Course Manager– into new international markets. Starting today, both of the services are rolling out to new countries in Asia, Latin America, and Europe, bringing the total number of countries with textbooks up to 51 and the total number with access to the iTunes U Course Manager to 70....

Just two days before Apple’s education focused event in New York City, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple’s vice president of the iWork suite of productivity applications is heading up the development of Apple’s entry into the textbook market. Rosner, an Apple veteran, oversees the development of the Pages, Keynote, and Numbers Mac applications, and most recently, has been heading up the iOS variants of the three Apple productivity applications....

Apple opened its new flagship retail store in Chicago earlier this year to much acclaim, but as the weather turns from fall to winter, a design oversight is causing some problems. As reported by Chicago blog Spundart, Apple seemingly didn’t design the MacBook Air-like roof of the store to account for snow…in Chicago… Apple’s newest Chicago store garnered earlier attention for its roof design that mimics a MacBook Air, but one clear oversight is that there are no gutters to catch snow or ice....

In addition to the new features detailed earlier today, iOS 14.4 also brings a trio of notable security improvements. In a new Support document published this afternoon, Apple said that iOS 14.4 fixes a kernel vulnerability and two WebKit vulnerabilities, all three of which “may have been actively exploited.” First, Apple says that iOS 14.4 patches a security vulnerability in the kernel affecting iPhone 6s and later, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation)....

Update: Public beta testers may not see the update currently as it appears to have been pulled for now. Apple has pushed out the fifth public beta version of OS X 10.11 “El Capitan.” The update brings bug fixes and tweaks the pre-release operating system in preparation for its launch later this year. The new beta comes with a build number of 15A262c, putting it ahead of the current developer build 15A244d....