Mactracker, the definitive app for tracking Apple product information, received a substantial update today, on the Mac’s 30th birthday. Both the OS X and iOS versions have, for the first time, added Apple’s non-Macintosh computers to the database, including the entire Apple II line, and many early Apple monitors and accessories. If you haven’t picked up the app yet, it’s free on both the Mac and iOS App Stores, and is a must have for all Apple enthusiasts....

As expected, Apple has pushed out an upgrade to the Retina MacBook Pro lineup. Both the 15-inch and 13-inch models were updated, and two models received price drops. Each 15-inch model received a modest processor speed bump, starting with a new 2.2 GHz chip in the base model, followed by 2.5 GHz in the upgraded version. The Turbo Boost speeds of each model are now up to 3.4 and 3.7 GHz, respectively....

Apple introduced a web version of Apple Music last year, which was available as a beta preview until April this year when the Apple Music web was officially announced. The company is now relaunching the beta version of the Apple Music website with the new Listen Now tab and more. The Listen Now tab was introduced to Apple Music with iOS 14 and Big Sur macOS to replace the For You tab....

At WWDC last year, Apple introduced a new Car Key feature as part of iOS 13.6. The feature allows drivers to replace their physical car keys with their iPhone. An update to the Digital Key Release specification coming later this year will add support for Ultra Wideband and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity… The new update was announced today by the Car Connectivity Consortium, of which Apple is a member. The Digital Key 3....

Apple has released the first update to its new Clips app for iPhone and iPad. The new version improves Live Title text editing and includes a few other changes as well. Here’s the full change log: What’s New in Version 1.0.1 • Tap on Live Title text while playing or paused to edit it • When sharing to a contact with multiple messaging addresses, Clips suggests the address used most frequently • Improved stability and reliability when recording video clips and sharing videos that contain certain posters...

Apple has just started seeding out the fourth beta for tvOS 10 today to all current testers and developers. To update, check through the Software Update section on the Apple TV, or grab the Configuration Profile from Apple’s Developer center if you’d like to install it for the first time. Apple’s newest tvOS software introduces Dark Mode, Single Sign-on, HomeKit, and YouTube search to the latest Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 3 brought in more language support with Siri, and some improved functionality within the Music app....

After sharing the first look at the series last night, Apple this evening took the wraps off of its second promo clip for its upcoming Carpool Karaoke. Much like the first clip, this one offers a quick look at some of the guests that will appear on the show… In the description, Apple says that celebrity pairings will sing their own personal playlists while driving around. The clip also shows the celebrities doing other things such as helicopter rides, drinking at a bar, and more....

Apple spent $7M last year lobbying the Trump administration, the highest amount it has ever spent on its efforts to influence the White House. In all, tech giants spent a record $50M on lobbying in 2017. The record spend isn’t too surprising when you consider the number of issues on which Apple found itself battling with the Trump presidency … Re/code obtained the numbers from ethics forms companies have to complete to reveal their lobbying spend....

Apple is slated to play a role in the Israel Machine Vision Conference in Tel Aviv next month. The company is listed as a sponsor for the event, while one of its video engineering leads is slated to lead a presentation… Apple this year is listed as a “Silver Sponsor” for the event. It’s unclear what sort of investment this represents, but it’s the third-highest sponsorship tier there is. Other sponsors include General Motors, Qualcomm, Intel, and many more....

An Apple Store in Monterey, California was evacuated yesterday as employees began to fall ill reportedly due to a package delivered to the location covered with an unknown substance. CBS reports that “fire and hazmat officials determined the package was contaminated in transit when an unknown substance most likely leaked onto the package’s exterior.” Employees at the store in the Del Monte Shopping Center called 911 at 12:25 p.m. after some employees began feeling dizzy and nauseous after handling a package that was delivered to the store, according to Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer… Firefighters and the Monterey County regional hazardous materials team evacuated three stores, including the Apple store, as well as an outdoor eating area, according to Panholzer....

A report today suggests that Apple Store staff t-shirts may have been made by a Chinese company which is believed to have used forced labor in its production. The claims against the garment company have been taken seriously enough for US sanctions to be imposed … The Guardian reports. Evidence suggesting that Apple bought staff t-shirts from the company appears strong. Apple has imported clothes – probably uniforms for staff in stores – from a company facing US sanctions over forced labour at a subsidiary firm in China’s western Xinjiang region, shipping records show....

Apple TV+ has secured the rights to the upcoming World War II film Greyhound which was written by and stars Tom Hanks. The film was originally scheduled to debut in theaters and normal distribution channels by Sony Pictures, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in plans. As reported by Deadline, Sony Pictures originally acquired the world rights to Greyhound and had plans to release it in theaters on May 7....

There were no shortage of details regarding Apple’s much rumored radio service leading up to today’s keynote address. The rumors said Apple was planning on introducing a free, ad-supported radio service, similar to Pandora, that would be highly integrated with a tweaked model for its iAd business. Apple has now officially unveiled the service dubbed ‘iTunes Radio’ and provided some details on exactly how it will work during its keynote presentation this morning at Moscone West in San Francisco....

Apple today updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Magic Keyboard, alongside performance and tech spec improvements. The new 13-inch Pro features scissor switch keys, marking the end of the butterfly keyboard MacBook era. The new MacBook Pro is available to order today, starting at $1299. Apple has doubled the base SSD storage across all configurations. The 13-inch MacBook Pro can now be specced to feature tenth-generation quad-core Intel CPUs, and offers 16 GB RAM as standard on certain models for the first time....

Following CEO Tim Cook saying that the car industry is ripe for a major disruption, Re/code reports that Apple has hired Jonathan Cohen, Nvidia’s director of deep learning. While many only associate Nvidia with phone and computer chips, the company has recently been entering the car market, specifically in the form of autonomous vehicles. Nvidia has recently started selling its chips to car manufacturers, who then use those chips to power cameras and radars that do the behind-the-scenes work of allowing a car to drive autonomously....

Apple has made two incredibly thorough white papers available today covering the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR. These “Technology Overview” documents highlight the inner workings of both of Apple’s newest pro-grade pieces of hardware. In the Mac Pro Technology Overview, which is dated February 2020, Apple details everything you need to know about the tower machine. There are details on architecture, the physical enclosure, different configuration options, and much more....

Last month, the ransomware group REvil breached Apple supplier Quanta, gaining access to detailed schematics of past and future Apple products. The ransomware leak revealed details of the forthcoming MacBook Pro update, including specific information about the addition of new I/O options on the side. A new report from Motherboard today details how the leaked schematics are also helping repair experts learn more about Apple’s internal design. The report explains that independent repair shops are turning to these leaked schematics to help customers access data and offer additional repair services....

After a long week of exciting announcements from WWDC, the company has officially announced the winners of this year’s Apple Design Awards. As always, Apple’s goal is to recognize and promote developers that do outstanding work, whether that be in design, innovation, delight, impact, interaction, or inclusivity. This year’s winners include some really great apps like Carrot Weather and Pok Pok Playroom. During the design awards, we heard from several Apple designers, from Alan Dye to Mike Stern to Linda Dong....

In an interview for NBC (a fragment of which you can watch below), Cook says that the company would start making one of its Mac lines in the US starting next year. This could mean quite a bit of outsourcing from companies in the US. The interesting thing is that Foxconn, one of Apple’s main suppliers, is also set to expand its operations in the USA too. If you remember, Foxconn had some serious complaints about the way it was treating its employees, and Apple sent the Fair Labor Association to inspect the company’s plants in China....

One week following the first beta seed of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5, Apple has released OS X 10.8.5 build 12F13 to developers. The new update includes no known issues and is available for developers via the Mac Developer Center and the Mac App Store Software Update function. Apple continues to ask developers to focus on WiFi, Graphics, Wake from Sleep, PDF viewing and Accessibility, and Mobile Device Management during their testing....