In preparation for iPhone X pre-orders tonight, Apple has taken its Online Store down. Pre-orders kick off at 12:01 AM PT/3:01 AM ET, so expect the store to return then. In the meantime, be sure you’re prepared for iPhone pre-orders! As we outlined in our preorder hub earlier today, there are a few things you can do to get ahead of the game. Be sure to keep in mind that fastest checkout processes and to try your hand at carrier websites in addition to Apple....

Apple is rolling out an update to the Dark Sky weather application it acquired last year. This marks only the second update since Apple announced its acquisition of Dark Sky, and it brings Apple Watch improvements, Accessibility updates, and more. Apple announced that it was acquiring the popular hyperlocal weather app Dark Sky in March 2020. The company recently announced that the app, website, and API will be shutting down at the end of 2022, but it looks like we can expect continued updates until then....

The Apple patent – which is available in its entirety here – describes ways to manipulate objects on a touch screen, including numerous user interface applications, detailed with accompanying diagrams. For DJ’s the patent describes the following implementation, which basically explains a virtual pair of twin turntables which appear on the screen, touch-sensitive, these would let DJs mix and shift various kinds of digital media. “Like a pair of physical turntables, stylus 844 and stylus 855 can be graphical icon indications of a playback queue, the position of which can be varied by touching the queue on a touch sensitive display screen and dragging the icon to the desired position on the graphical record....

Bloomberg provides some detail on our report that Apple is working to dramatically upgrade its cloud infrastructure as it prepares to launch its Apple Music streaming service. The company is said to be working on designing its own storage and network equipment, rather than relying exclusively on third-party companies, and to build its own private fiber optic links between its key data centers in California, Nevada, North Carolina and Oregon....

Ahead of the Apple Watch launch next month, Apple has removed language from its website signaling it has received all necessary final approvals from the US Federal Communications Commission. Up until today, Apple’s website included the following footnote noting that the device had not yet been authorized by the FCC for sale: This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained....

In addition to iOS 11.3 beta 1, Apple has released the first tvOS 11.3 developer beta for Apple TV (fourth gen) and Apple TV 4K. The new beta follows one day after the release of tvOS 11.2.5 for all customers. When used with iOS 11.2.5 on iPhone and iPad, content playing on tvOS 11.2.5 appears as a Now Playing option in Control Center. In the future, tvOS will support AirPlay 2 and turn connected speakers into AirPlay 2 speakers....

As expected, Apple released Mac OS 10.6.5 today. The 10.6.5 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes that: improve reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers address performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture address stability and performance of graphics applications and games resolve a delay between print jobs address a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme resolve an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal address an issue where dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide resolve an issue with Wikipedia information not displaying correctly in Dictionary improve performance of MainStage on certain Mac systems resolve spacing issues with OpenType fonts improve reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays resolve a VoiceOver issue when browsing some web sites with Safari 5...

Apple has officially made macOS 11.4 available to the public. The latest software enables support for several AMD GPUs as well as support for paid subscriptions in the Podcasts app, some serious security fixes, as well as smaller bug fixes for Safari, Preview, and more. macOS 11.4 is available now for all users and should be showing up in System Preferences > Software Update soon if it’s not already. Apple’s also made the latest software available for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Apple TV....

We’re just over a week away from the debut of the new Carpool Karaoke series on Apple Music, and Apple is ramping up promotion with a new celebrity-packed trailer. Apple officially announced the new series back in May after adopting the popular segment from The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS into a full series. New episodes will feature both musicians and celebrities and be released weekly each Tuesday on the Apple Music subscription service....

Three weeks after the release of Xcode 7.1 to developers, Apple today has released Xcode 7.1.1 to the Mac App Store. The update brings about a handful of under-the-hood fixes relating to the new features added with the more significant 7.1 update last month. Apple says that Xcode 7.1.1 improves the overall stability of the app, making for an improved developer experience. Apple also says the update fixes “critical issues” in the Interface Builder, debugging, and UI testing....

A report last week said that Apple had lost a trio of its top sales executives in India as its iPhone sales continued to fall in the country. Now, new data from Counterpoint Research indicates Apple secured just 1 percent of the smartphone market in India during Q2 of 2018… According to the data, Samsung came in atop of Xiaomi to become the top smartphone maker in India with 29 percent of the market, up from 24 percent during the same quarter last year....

If all the rumors are correct, 2022 is the year when Apple will finally introduce its own mixed reality headset. As we learn more about the product, technology analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple’s headset will be released in late 2022 with limited supplies. Kuo had already said in a previous note that Apple already anticipates delays in the production of its mixed reality headset as the device is expected to have much more advanced hardware and design than rival products....

Apple today launched new international versions of its Smart Keyboard accessory for iPad Pro previously only available in a U.S. English layout. Available for both the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, Apple now offers the Smart Keyboard accessory with localized layouts including British English, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian and Arabic, among others. The new localized layouts include various differences similar to those available for the company’s Apple Wireless keyboards for Macs, while the new Arabic keyboard brings full support for the right-to-left language to Pad Pro....

Apple has launched a new iCloud interface on the web for all users. This new design is far more modern and customizable, with a tile-based interface that shows information from Apple’s various iCloud apps and services. This includes Mail, Reminders, Photos, and more. This new iCloud design launched today to all users. The design was previously tested on the beta version of the iCloud website, which Apple uses new features and changes before they are rolled out to the broader iCloud user base....

Apple is today launching its zero-interest iPhone financing plan for Apple Card owners today. As reported by TechCrunch, the purchase method will roll out today across Apple retail stores, Apple.com and the Apple Store app on iOS. If you have an Apple Card, then you will be able to buy a new iPhone through that card and pay back the phone through monthly installments over 24 months with 0% interest....

On the heels of this past Tuesday’s annual shareholders meeting, Apple has made the transition to their new campus official by changing the company’s corporate address to One Apple Park Way. The change comes just weeks after Apple was given occupancy permits for several sections of the main campus building. Until today, Apple’s official contact webpage listed One Infinite Loop in Cupertino as the company’s official address, despite a continuous stream of employees beginning to make the move to Apple Park....

A recent report suggested that an Apple mixed-reality headset would be the Mac Pro of VR devices, priced at a level where the company would only expect to sell one unit per day per Apple Store. A new report today claims to have more specific details, including ultra-high-resolution 8K displays, and a price point somewhere around $3,000 … Apple’s known interest in this field has so far focused more on augmented reality (AR) than virtual reality (VR), but the recent reports point to a mixed-reality device, which would be mostly VR but including some real-world elements....

Update: A few days after letting users add their card to the Wallet, Banco de Chile removed them, as Apple is not promoting Apple Pay in the country just yet. Apple Pay is expanding to a second South American country. After Brazil, Chile is now receiving support for Apple’s own payment system. Apple Pay’s expansion to Chile had previously been teased. In August, one of the Chilean banks, BICE, said it was readying the launch of the service....

. What does that symbol mean? It is the “Protologo”. [tweet https://twitter.com/protologo/status/237262624142786560] More pictures and a video below: Note: This phone does not have screws at the bottom like the eventual iPhone 4 and 4S had, but most everything else looks familiar. More images and description on eBay. Update: Contributor Sonny Dickson spent some time with the unit and made this video: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y2skSyNaPA&feature=player_embedded#!] Update 2: The listing has been removed off Ebay....

Update: Apple has also released the sixth public beta of macOS Catalina. Apple today has released the first public beta of iOS 13.1 to testers. This comes after the surprise release of the first developer beta yesterday afternoon. iOS 13.1 adds back many of the features removed in the iOS 13 beta, including things like Share ETA in Maps, Shortcuts Automations, and audio sharing. Watch our full hands-on video below for a closer look at all of the changes....