The new iPad mini with retina display was announced last month without a proper release date. Apple had simply specified “Available this November” back then. Last night when the Apple store went down, people were speculating that the new iPad mini with retina display might go on sale, but this will still come as a surprise for many in the US when they wake up in the morning. The current shipping dates for the 16GB and 32GB variants of the WiFi only models is 1-3 business days, while others have 5-10 business days....

We love the smell of freshly fried rumor in the morning — particularly the day before an Apple special event. This morning’s rumor takes us back, right back to last week’s claims of Apple’s plans for streaming video services, hinted at by a question held inside an iTunes customer survey. Now we already know what to expect tomorrow: iPod touch update Apple TV update potentially MacBook air update (as briefly rumored) iTunes revision of some kind iPod nano, shuffle and classic updates — or deletions iPad OS 4 preview is likely...

Two pieces of notable news for Apple TV+ today include the service landing Bruce Springsteen’s documentary as an exclusive that will debut in late October as well as an update on The Morning Show season 2. First up, Bruce Springsteen’s document, Letter to You will be arriving exclusively on Apple TV+. Beyond just an intimate look behind the scenes, it marks Springsteen and The E Street Band recording live for the first time in 35 years....

One of the more anticipated updates to come to Apple TV with tvOS 14 is YouTube 4K support. However, when tvOS launched in September, the feature was missing. Now alongside YouTube picture-in-picture support on the web coming back to iPhone with iOS 14.0.1, YouTube 4K support on Apple TV is rolling out to users but there are some notable limits. Reported by Flatpanels HD, users on Reddit have shared that they are starting to see the option to watch 4K YouTube videos on Apple TV 4K....

The “iPhone SE” is now official as Apple today unveiled the device on stage at its ‘Let us loop you in’ press event in Cupertino. The new iPhone SE’s major upgrades include Apple’s A9 chip and M9 motion coprocessor, since the design is mostly identical to the iPhone 5s apart from the new rose gold color as expected. Apple noted that the upgraded internals give the iPhone SE the same graphics and processing performance as the iPhone 6S....

Apple Pay Sparkasse, Commerzbank and Norisbank support has today been added in Germany… Sparkasse is an umbrella brand for more than 400 banks, most of which are nonprofits owned by local regions or charitable foundations. Macerkopf reports that support has been added for both Visa and Mastercard credit cards, but not yet for debit cards, which is promised for next year. Sparkasse customers have been waiting more than a year after Apple Pay was first launched in Germany....

Update: Apple has since informed us that the comment by a local representative was not an official statement and has been mistranslated from the Chinese by Caixan. The correct information is that the ability to add cards was being made available on a rolling basis throughout the day. With many Chinese iPhone owners reporting they they are unable to register for Apple Pay, an Apple spokesman representative has said the issues are due to too many people trying to sign-up a planned gradual rollout throughout the day....

Apple has continued to make steady progress on its new headquarters, and this week provided KQED News with a special “sneak peek” at the construction site. The news outlet has released several photos of some of the major structures on the upcoming campus, and has promised additional photos from the tour will be published later this month. Last week we got an drone’s-eye view of the progress, which gave us our first look at some of these buildings....

Apple has confirmed this evening that it is dropping out of SXSW this year. The company had planned to debut three new Apple TV+ originals at the festival this year, but those events have been canceled. Despite pressure to cancel the event, SXSW organizers announced that it will go on as planned. As detailed by CNN, officials explained at a press event this morning that there is “no evidence” closing South by Southwest would make the Austin community safer:...

[Update: The public beta version is also available for testers.] It’s been one week since the last developer beta, and Apple has just released the sixth developer beta preview. iOS 11 brings new features like drag-and-drop and a redesigned multitasking interface for iPad, a new customizable Control Center, and much more. iOS 11 beta 6 is currently only available to registered developers for now. Apple typically holds new public beta versions for a few days for major updates....

Apple today is officially releasing iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 to the public. This comes after an extended beta testing period for developer and public beta users over the last month and a half. What’s new in iOS 13.4? Read on to find out. Apple is also releasing iOS 12.4.6 for older iPhones and iPads today as well. tvOS 13.4 is also being released today. Trackpad support for iPad One of the tentpole features of iPadOS 13....

Apple is rolling out the third watchOS 3.2.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. The update likely includes bug fixes and security improvements ahead of a more feature-packed watchOS 4 announcement later this year. watchOS 3.2 for Apple Watch brought new features including Theater Mode which mutes alerts and disables raise-to-wake plus SiriKit so third-party apps can work with Siri. The latest Apple Watch software update also includes new watch face colors including Nike custom colors, although previous developer betas have not yet included these....

Update: Apple has also released the fifth developer beta of watchOS 6 today. Apple today is releasing the fourth public beta of iOS 13 to users. The update comes following the release of developer beta five yesterday, and the release of the third public beta two weeks ago. Apple is also releasing iPadOS 13 public beta 4 and tvOS 13 beta 4 today. iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 developer beta five included several notable changes....

Digitimes has a mixed track record of reliability with regard to Apple rumors, but its latest report gels with expectations. The report claims Apple is preparing new 13 inch and 15 inch MacBooks to launch in the summer, by July. Although the publication does not say this, it indicates that new MacBook Pros are on the horizon perhaps debuting at WWDC, Apple’s developer conference. Given Intel’s CPU roadmap, Apple laptops featuring the new Skylake processors are due....

With iOS 9, Apple revealed that its Maps service would begin to support transit directions. The service supports buses, trains, subways, and ferries and will be available in 10 cities at launch later this year. One big question, however, centered around where Apple was obtaining its transit data from. Now, Apple has updated its Apple Maps Acknowledgements webpage with a breakdown of where transit data from each city is coming (via Apple Maps Marketing)....

Sums done by Moody’s Investment Services (via Bloomberg) confirm reports that Apple’s approach of borrowing the $100b needed to fund its stock buy-back and dividend plans will result in massive tax savings, estimated at $9.2B … Apple’s $17B bond issue set a new corporate record. Interest in the bonds continued after the sale was completed, with MarketWatch reporting unprecedented levels of trading in Apple bonds in the 48 hours after issue....

Apple announced in an email to publishers this evening that it is making changes to its iTunes Affiliate Program. The company says that starting this fall, apps for iOS and macOS will no longer be included in the affiliate program… The company explains that, with the launch of the new App Store interfaces for iOS and macOS, there are new methods of app discovery that mean less of a focus needs to be on the Affiliate Program....

Apple has just shared a pair of new ads on its Mexico YouTube channel. The new ads relate to the App Store and the new Portrait Lighting effects found on the iPhone X. The ads are titled App Store and Retratos respectively. Retratos is Pictures in Spanish. These ads are similar to other ads in the past, with the slogan “Switch to iPhone” used to encourage non-iPhone users that switching to the device will make your life a lot easier....

As WWDC continues, Apple today has released Safari Technology Preview 58. This is the experimental browser that the company first introduced in 2016 as a way for developers to test upcoming Safari features. Today’s Preview 58 is available on macOS 10.14 Mojave, as well as macOS High Sierra, and includes Safari 12 enhancements… Safari Technology Preview 58 brings the new Safari 12 features Apple showed off on Monday. This includes icons in tabs, improved intelligent tracking prevention, automatic strong passwords, and more....

Apple this week shared photos of its under construction Campus 2 with employees, including some of the first interior shots of the building that is now nearing completion. The photos don’t appear to be meant for public consumption, but were published today by French blog macgeneration. As part of the memo to employees, Apple reportedly said that around 5,200 people are currently working the site. The photos, which are some of the first of the building’s interior, shows the enormity of the structure from a ground-level perspective....