Apple has unveiled its first Macs with custom M1 chips. For its notebooks, those include the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro and they come with what looks like some huge performance upgrades thanks to Apple’s custom M1 chip. While they also include improved FaceTime cameras, unfortunately, they’re still 720p. This year with the amount of remote work skyrocketing around the world during the pandemic, it’s become more apparent than ever that the 720p FaceTime camera on MacBooks offers a subpar experience....

Update: Tim Cook has now tweeted about the logo change, being made globally. [tweet https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/671793179767672834 align=’center’] Apple is lending its usual support to World AIDS Day, turning its store logos red and promoting (PRODUCT)RED items on its homepage (below). The company also notes its own role in fundraising for the charity, which works to eradicate AIDS within a generation. A number of special (RED) versions of Apple products are featured on the RED....

Apple is keen to get the TV app in front of as many eyeballs as possible with opportunities to sell customers on recurring subscriptions, whether that is through reselling channels like HBO, Showtime and Starz or attracting subscribers to its collection of original content TV shows and movies through Apple TV+. To get the app on the Fire Stick, search for “Apple TV” in the app store or use Alexa and ask “Alexa, find the Apple TV app”....

At the special ‘Spring Forward’ event in the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, Tim Cook has taken the stage and announced some important changes to Apple TV. Apple’s digital media player has now been discounted to 69 dollars, which is cheaper by $30 from the previous $99 selling price. This move shows that Apple is feeling cornered by competition. To stimulate the purchase of the device, Apple has partnered with HBO for the HBO NOW service which will be available exclusively in the U....

[Update: Apple says the issue is now resolved after roughly seven hours.] If you’re having trouble setting up Apple Pay this morning, it’s not just you. Apple is currently reporting an hours-long issue with adding credit cards and debit cards to the mobile payment service. The issue only appears to be affecting Visa cards, not American Express, MasterCard, or Discover cards, which suggests it could be an issue on Visa’s side....

Earlier this year, Apple announced that it would be relocating its flagship Downtown San Francisco to the Union Square District. The new store, with a fully glass front, would be larger, and it would be able to serve more customers and employee more workers. Since then, the new store design came under scrutiny from San Francisco officials because it would remove a famous fountain designed by Ruth Asawa. In late August, Apple submitted redesigned renderings of the upcoming store that retain the historical fountain....

Last year, Apple debuted a short film entitled “Apple at Work” to promote the enterprise integration of iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Now, “The Underdogs” from that video are back, this time focused on working from home — and the associated struggles — amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this wacky, 7-minute short film is to highlight how Apple hardware and software help people working from home “unleash their creativity and productivity....

Apple has released firmware updates for the AirPort Base Station and Time Machine, Camera RAW, and MacBook Pro this evening. The AirPort Base Station and Time Machine have been updated to version 7.6 which issues a fix with performance on overlapping wireless networks, AirPlay audio streaming, and configuring multiple entries for DNS servers. The MacBook Pro has been updated to firmware version 1.5 featuring a fix for random shutdown issues when under a high load....

Apple has seeded a new preview version of the upcoming OS X Server version 3.1. The update has a build number of 12S4122. OS X Server 3.1 is expected to be released at some point in the near future to accompany OS X 10.9.2, which was released last month. Developers can grab the beta now from Apple’s Developer Center. The seed notes are below: OS X Server Preview (Build 13S4122) Seed Note OS X Server Preview (Build 13S4122) is now available for testing on OS X Mavericks 10....

Apple has released new beta versions of iOS, watchOS, macOS, and tvOS for developers to test. iOS 11.2.5, watchOS 4.2.2, macOS 10.13.3, and tvOS 11.2.5 beta 4 are all available now on the developer center and rolling out over-the-air. We’ll update to the latest versions and note any changes below. The latest betas follow the official release of iOS 11.2.2 for iPhone and iPad. We haven’t seen version numbers in between the official release and the beta release (so maybe these are placeholder numbers pending additional bug fix updates)....

Following today’s event, Apple has just released the third iOS 14.2 beta developer. The update is now available to developers via an over-the-air update in the Settings app. Update: iOS 14.2 beta 3 is also now rolling out to public beta users as well. As usual, if the update does not immediately appear for download, keep checking as it sometimes takes a few minutes to roll out to all registered developers....

As expected, Apple has released iOS 8 beta 5 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to developers this morning. This update, like the past betas, includes various performance and bug fixes. The previous beta brought various minor user-interface touch-ups and a new Tips app to iOS 8. We’ll be updating this post as new discoveries are made in iOS 8 beta, and you can send us what you find to tips@9to5mac....

Apple today has officially released more information on the Apple Music API available in iOS 9.3. Entitled Apple Music Best Practices for App Developers, the documentation today solidifies what the Apple Music API can do and sets a precedent that developers of music apps should follow. At the original release of iOS 9.3, there seemed to be some confusion as to what the Apple Music API would entail exactly. We had reached out to Ben Dodson, developer of Music Tracker, to better understand the limitations and new features the API could introduce....

A few weeks following the previous beta, Apple has released build 1498g of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 release. The next Mac software update includes support for the new iCloud-based Photos app, improved Gmail login, and new, more diverse emojis. To support the new Force Touch trackpad in the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and the new 12-inch MacBook, this new build also adds APIs: We’ll keep updating this post with new changes as they are discovered....

Less than a week after the release of OS X 10.11.1 beta 2, Apple has followed up with a new release that was pushed out to both developers and public beta testers at once. The 10.11.1 update will introduce bug fixes and a new collection of emoji icons. Yesterday Apple seeded a new beta of iOS 9.1 to public testers and developers. Like the OS X update, that software will also include the new emoji set and many bug fixes....

After using legal action to block alternative developer conference AltConf from streaming the Monday, June 8th Worldwide Developers Conference keynote to its attendees, Apple has reversed course and will allow the conference to go on as originally planned. In a phone call today, lead AltConf organizer Rob Elkin told us that Apple has now agreed to allow his conference to stream the WWDC Kickoff Keynote and the State of the Union address geared toward developers to his audience…...

Apple’s HomePod is officially available for preorder. As announced earlier this week, preorders begin today with the first orders arriving in two weeks, on February 9th. HomePod costs $349 and is initially available in the US, UK, and Australia… HomePod was originally supposed to be released last year. Apple first announced the device at WWDC in June, but ended up delaying its release until this year. Apple didn’t offer a specific reason for the delay, only saying that it needed a little more time to make sure things were perfect for customers....

Apple last year confirmed a rumor that it was buying Shazam, but that plan stumbled last month when European antitrust regulators said that they were launching an investigation into the deal. Apple yesterday sought formal approval of the deal, and the European Commission said today that it will make a decision by April 23 – though not necessarily a final one … Reuters reports that the issue was referred to the EU competition agency after seven European countries asked it to take charge of the investigation....

Apple has a pair of new Apple Watch Activity Challenges coming this month. In addition to the annual Earth Day Challenge, Apple is also launching a new International Dance Day Challenge for the first time. This comes after the launch of Apple Fitness+, which includes an entire category of dancing workouts. Here are the details on the two challenges coming this month for Apple Watch users. April 22, 2021: Earth Day Challenge: Let’s get out and celebrate the planet on Earth Day, April 22....

To commemorate HomePod launch weekend, Apple has shared a trio of tutorial videos for the smart speaker on YouTube. Each video covers a specific topic ranging from the touch controls on top of the device to Siri control… One video, for instance, convert using the Home application to adjust HomePod settings. In the video, Apple walks users through adjusting setting such as the linked iCloud account, explicit content, and more....