Apple’s decision to use an OLED screen on the iPhone 8 will significantly accelerate adoption by other smartphone manufacturers, says a Trendforce report. The WitsView division of the company suggest that adoption will hit 50% by 2020. The prediction highlights ‘the Apple effect’ when it comes to new technology … Apple generally isn’t the first to adopt new technology. It usually takes a watching brief, aiming to produce the best product later, rather than to be first to market....

Apple has already confirmed plans to introduce the final version of the iPhone Software Development kit in June, but whispers now claim the company may have a couple more surprises up its sleeve for WWDC 2008. If these quietly whispered rumours are true, Apple plans to leverage its expertise in managing aspects of both the software and hardware on its platforms to deliver new generations of tools that will let users integrate iPhone with Mac OS X Server-side services and tools....

Apple today has released the first developer beta of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. The updates are rolling out now through the Apple Developer website where you can find a new configuration profile. Once you install the developer profile, the new release of the iOS 15 will be available to developers via an over-the-air update in the Settings app. 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....

Apple has officially released iOS 10.2.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iOS 10.2.1 is likely a bug fix and performance improvement release. The initial beta was released on December 14 with a second beta issued before the holiday break. We’ll test the official version and highlight any changes discovered below. iOS 10.2.1 is latest software update after the previous iOS 10.2 update. Released on December 12, iOS 10.2 brought Unicode 9....

Apple has released the third developer beta of iOS 11.2 for iPhone and iPad. The latest version comes one week after the second beta became available for all iPhones and iPads after first coming to iPhone X. Apple has also released the third developer beta versions of watchOS 4.2 for Apple Watch, tvOS 11.2 for Apple TV and Apple TV 4K, and macOS 10.13.2 for Mac. iOS 11.2 will likely include AirPlay 2 and Apple Pay Cash support in addition to SiriKit for HomePod which was detailed at the end of October....

Apple has just announced watchOS 7 with new watch faces, workout types, and sleep tracking. While developers can install watchOS 7 beta today, Apple has confirmed that a public beta release of watchOS will be available for the first time next month. Previously, watchOS beta versions were only available to developers, but now other users will be able to test new versions of watchOS before they are released to everyone....

Citron Research took to Twitter today with a decisive message: “ROKU stock is uninvestable now”. Immediately after, the stock plunged nearly 10%. This comes after a tremendous 25% gain just 24 hours prior, when newly released strong Q4 streaming numbers boosted the stock drastically. The turn of events come amid Apple’s unprecedented partnerships with previously taboo television manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony and LG. Now that Apple is expanding the capabilities and reach of the iTunes Store alongside previously exclusive features such as AirPlay 2 and Siri support, investors are seeing Roku at a dead-end financially — even citing Roku CEO Anthony Wood’s recent self-stock-selling-spree....

Apple is upgrading HomeKit this fall with new features like Secure Video and expanded automation, but it’s not all good news for Apple’s smart home framework. The Home app where users manage the smart home experience makes one design choice that is likely meant to make it more approachable. In practice, the change degrades the experience for a whole category of HomeKit products. Difficulty managing the Home app at a glance when more than a few accessories are added has been a common complaint about the app’s design from the start....

Market intelligence company Kantar said that iOS market share in the U.S. fell from 40.6% in the three months ending in October 2016 to 32.9% in the same quarter this year. Apple saw similar significant drops in other key markets, says the firm, as customers waited for the iPhone X to go on sale. Kantar says that the drop was inevitable, but still puts pressure on Apple … It noted that this was reflected in the percentage of iPhone owners still waiting to upgrade in October, at 35....

Apple has seeded today beta 5 of tvOS 14.5 and HomePod 14.5. After four betas, the company seems to be approaching the final release of the tvOS for the Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K, as well as HomePod 14.5 for the HomePod and HomePod mini. Both the software have the same build: 18E5186a. While developers and public beta users can download beta 5 of tvOS 14.5 for the Apple TV, only invited developers can try the HomePod beta....

Apple has today stopped signing iOS 12.2 following last week’s release of iOS 12.3 to the public. That means users are no longer able downgrade to the previous 12.2 release from devices that are already running iOS 12.3. Apple typically stops signing older versions of iOS a week or two after the public release of the latest build. iOS 12.3 was released last week with the new TV app including Apple TV Channels, bug fixes and improvements for Apple News+, Apple Music, Apple TV Remote, AirPlay 2, CarPlay, and more....

As we reported would happen earlier this week, Apple this evening has updated its Apple Store app with support for Watch. From the app, users can get real-time order status updates, initiate the process of picking up an order, make and search for Genius Bar appointments, and discover events and workshops taking place in nearby Apple Stores. The update is available on the App Store now. We reported earlier this week on the update and noted that since the Apple Watch does not have a keyboard, more detailed processes will have to be completed on the user’s accompanying iPhone....

MacGasm reported that Apple is giving away free copies of Snow Leopard to MobileMe users to ease their move to iCloud. iCloud only works on Lion. Apple is offering MobileMe users without Snow Leopard a free copy, so they will pay $30 to upgrade to Lion. Once on Lion, they can ditch MobileMe to start using iCloud. Apple posted a page where MobileMe users can register for their free copy of Snow Leopard....

Apple plans to add 1200 new jobs in San Diego over the next three years with some posts occupied by the end of 2019. Company representatives and San Diego’s mayor made the announcement this morning at the UTC mall Apple Store. In a December press release, Apple first referred to expansion plans for San Diego and many other locations across the US. At the time, Apple promised to hire 1,000 San Diego employees....

Following Apple’s media event yesterday afternoon, where the company’s all-new Lightning connector was introduced, The Verge confirmed with Apple that there are two new adapters on the way. According to the report, Apple will introduce Lightning to HDMI and Lightning to VGA adapters to compliment its new connector. Many were shocked to learn yesterday that the $29 Lightning to 30-pin adapter does not support video out, but you should be in the clear with the two adapters shown off this evening....

The newest series slated to come to Apple TV+ is called The Last Thing He Told Me. Julia Roberts will star in the new drama and also serve as executive producer. Reported by Variety, The Last Thing He Told Me is a series adaptation based on the upcoming novel of the same name by Laura Dave. Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is also involved with her and the company’s Lauren Neustadter joining Roberts as executive producers....

Costco has announced that it now accepts Apple Pay at all of its US warehouse stores, and says that the payment method will be coming soon to its gas stations … The company told CNET that contactless terminals have been installed at both store checkouts and gas stations, but the latter are not yet in use. Costco was a notable Apple Pay holdout after 7-11 and CVS finally announced their own rollouts last month....

Alongside the release of OS X 10.9.3 and iTunes 11.2 last week, Apple released Safari version 7.0.3 and 6.1.4. Apple has since released a minor bug fix to that version of iTunes, and today Apple has released a security update to Safari bringing the latest version to 7.0.4. Users can find the latest version in the Mac App Store. Read Apple’s documentation on the latest version of Safari here. Safari 6....

In a move designed to save $1B a year, Apple is now replacing damaged iPhone screens in-store in place of its previous policy of swapping them for a new handset. 512pixels.net grabbed this photo of the machine used to calibrate the screens after replacement. The move is good news for customers too, as out-of-warranty screen replacements will cost $149 instead of the $229 cost of a replacement handset, and you won’t have to restore your data from backup (although you are of course still advised to do a backup before any kind of repair is carried out)....

Apple system status page is currently reporting an error with the iMessage service. For the last few hours, Apple says ‘users may be unable to access this service’. Based on some reader reports on social media, some users are currently unable to send iMessages to their friends. Customers may also be presented with an Apple ID log-in screen, as the authentication server is temporarily unavailable. As a user, there’s not much you can do apart from try on a different device and/or wait for Apple to resolve the backend problems....