A pair of reports today explain that Apple customers across in Singapore are noticing a high number of fraudulent credit card charges being made via iTunes. According to the Channel NewsAsia, Apple has said it is investigating the complaints, but specifics remain unclear… The report explains that “dozens” of Apple customers have recently experienced fraudulent charges on their iTunes account. Two people said that they had at least $5,000 (S$7,000) drained from their bank accounts through iTunes purchases....

When iOS 14.5 was introduced, Apple also made the new App Tracking Transparency feature available to the public, so that users can opt out of being tracked by third-party apps. However, several users had been complaining that the Tracking toggle was grayed out for unknown reasons, but it seems that Apple is finally fixing this. Back in April, Apple said that the “tracking option should come grayed out by default for Apple IDs of which the owner is under the age of 18 or for devices with an MDM profile....

A report from Digitimes claims that, although touch panel orders from the iPhone and iPad 2 have increased significantly for the third quarter, Apple is allegedly placing orders at nearly half the cost of previous shipments. This leads us to believe they are either trying to reduce BOM (and increase margins) at the expense of suppliers, or they’re prepping for the usual price cuts in the wake of new product releases (iPhone 5, we’re looking at you)....

Apple today stopped signing iOS 14.4, which means users who have updated their devices to iOS 14.4.1 can no longer downgrade to iOS 14.4 or previous versions of the operating system. This follows the release of iOS 14.4.1 last week with important security patches for iPhone and iPad users. iOS 14.4.1 patches a vulnerability in WebKit, the browser engine that powers Safari and third-party browsers on iOS. According to Apple, the exploit could lead to malicious code execution through web content....

Apple updated the Apple TV today with two additional channels: Hallmark Card’s Feeln network and A&E’s FYI network. The Feeln network includes “family-friendly movies, documentaries, and short films” according to its description. The FYI network owned by A&E and formerly called The Biography Channel “features lifestyle programming, with a mix of reality, culinary, home renovation and makeover series.” Both new channels are available automatically or by rebooting the Apple TV....

Over a dozen more banks and credit unions around the United States have turned on support for Apple Pay in Apple’s mid-August update. The latest additions follow a larger rollout to over 40 institutions around the country earlier this month and Apple Pay’s first international debut in the UK last month. These are the latest banks to support Apple Pay plus the full list so far: Arlington Community Federal Credit Union Bank of Idaho BankFirst Charter Bank Community Bank Community Bank of Oak Park River Forest Corporate America Family CU Credit Union of New Jersey Del Norte Credit Union Empower FCU Forum Credit Union Gesa Credit Union Institution for Savings Mid-Missouri Bank Owen County State Bank Pacific Service Credit Union Statewide Credit Union Vinton County National Bank...

Apple won’t take the wraps off of its upcoming Beats-based music streaming service at its March 9 “Spring Forward” event, according to music industry sources briefed on the launch timeline. Instead, Apple currently plans to introduce the service, at least in beta form, at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June. The WWDC keynote likely takes place on Monday, June 8th, and that’s the event where the debut will occur....

Following Monday’s report that Apple is planning to launch Apple Pay in China in February of next year, Bloomberg reports that it has reached a preliminary agreement with UnionPay to use its card-processing terminals. The agreement was an essential step along the way as UnionPay has a monopoly on card-processing in China. The agreement is provisional, as it still requires the individual banks to agree. They have reportedly been reluctant to agree to the 0....

Apple today released iOS 14.4.2 for iPhone and iPad, and watchOS 7.3.3 for Apple Watch. The updates includes an important security fix for WebKit, which Apple says may have been actively exploited. The company also released a patch update to iOS 12, version 12.5.2, so that iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, third-generation iPad mini, first-generation iPad Air and the sixth-generation iPod touch users can also benefit from the security fixes. Apple said that a bug in WebKit could allow malicious web site to perform activate arbitrary cross-site scripting....

We told you a couple weeks back that Apple plans to open its third retail store in Beijing on Oct. 20. The new Wangfujing Street store will open at 9 a.m., but Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail John Browett today gave press in Beijing a preview of the three-story location that happens to be Apple’s biggest retail store in Asia. Browett also confirmed Apple will open another store in Shenzhen....

Apple’s new European iOS App Development Center, announced back in January, is about to officially launch as the Università di Napoli Federico II in Italy today confirms it has partnered with Apple on the initiative (via Macerkopf). When Apple first announced its plans for the new development center, the first of its kind to offer training for app developers in Europe, it didn’t say which school it would be partnering with to push the specialized curriculum....

eWeek reports that while, “Windows laptops are losing lustre, Mac laptops are making surprising gains.” (Not that surprising, eWeek – they’re clearly superior machines). In essence the news is that MacBooks and MacBook Pros accounted for 20 per cent of notebooks sold across US retail stores, which is nice. Even more interesting, Apple’s notebooks took a substantial chunk of the market when measured in dollars. What does that mean? It means for every $3 spent on a laptop in the US, Apple took $1 while the various partners in the world’s dominant OS ecosystem shared $2 between them....

Asymco’s Horace Dediu broke down iTunes’ economy and placed it in context with the entire Apple revenue model. The excellent diagram above illustrates Apple’s revenues in Q4 2012. The initial stats—$4.6 billion consolidated revenues, $650 million in operating income, etc.—isn’t exactly new information, but, as Dediu noted, it is certainly fascinating to see where Apple’s revenues came from and where they were spent during the quarter. As for the diagram itself, note “Dev Payments” equals $1 billion—or each vertical pixel represents $50 million—and sources of revenue appear according to size....

Apple TV+ and the company’s original programming that it’s been working on for the last few years is about launch next month. Ahead of the November 1st release, we’re hearing more details about Apple’s streaming video efforts and news from The Hollywood Reporter details Apple’s difficult path to original content with issues causing the launch of Spielberg’s reboot, Amazing Stories to be delayed. Other details say Apple is spending $300 million alone on its upcoming drama, The Morning Show....

Apple today has stopped signing iOS 12.3, iOS 12.3.1, and iOS 12.3.2 following last week’s release of iOS 12.4. This prevents users from downgrading from iOS 12.4 to a previous version of iOS. Apple generally stops signing older releases of iOS within a few weeks of releasing an update to the public. iOS 12.4 was released to the public last week after an extended beta testing period with developers. When Apple stops signing an iOS version, it means users are no longer able to downgrade to that version via iTunes....

Apple will hold a conference call on Tuesday, July 23rd to announce Q3 2013 financial results, according to a note on Apple’s Investor website. The call will begin at 2PM Pacific / 5 PM Eastern time. Apple typically presents prepared statements from Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer… Additionally, the Apple executives typically hold a question and answer session with investors and analysts. Alongside its Q2 earnings report from earlier this year, Apple projected Q3 2013 earnings results with the following guidance:...

Apple has today officially transitioned away from its aging press portal in favor of the modern Apple Newsroom, which combines company press releases, photo coverage and other news into one place. All links to apple.com/pr now redirect to apple.com/newsroom. At the same time, the company has also updated its executive biography pages with a fresh design update to fit in with the company’s recent website design trends and adopts the San Francisco typeface, finally retiring the Lucida Grande font....

Apple has placed a straight-to-series order for a new comedy show called Dickinson, starring Hailee Steinfeld. As reported by Deadline, Apple has ordered a new straight-to-series comedy. The show will be written by Alena Smith, better known for The Affair and The Newsroom. The show will run for 30 minutes. It is currently unknown how many episodes Apple has ordered. David Gordon Green, Ashley Zalta, Michael Sugar, Darlene Hunt, Alex Goldstone are all set to be executive producers for the show, along with Smith....

Reuters noted today that Apple is working with healthcare professionals at hospitals across the country, including Mount Sinai and John Hopkins, in preparation for the rollout of the HealthKit system in iOS 8. The goal is to ensure that medical personnel are ready to read data from the system when it ships later this year. This move is hardly surprising, as Apple intends HealthKit to serve as a collection place for all of a user’s health-related data, which can be valuable—even lifesaving—during a medical emergency....

Apple has announced a new version of iPad Pro. The 2018 iPad Pro has a new full-screen design, flat edge, rounded corners, Face ID, and more. The new iPad Pro has a blocky design with rounded corners for both the display and body. The structure appears sort of like the original iPad. It features a new Liquid Retina display just like the iPhone XR. Display and Face ID The new iPad Pro includes an 11-inch display that has the same footprint as the 10....