We could lie to you and say that some secret source told us that Apple’s back to school promotion will be announced in the next week or two, or we could just say that Apple has launched their Back to School promotion either the last week of May or first week of June since at least 2006 (‘06, ‘07, ‘08, ‘09, ‘10). Anyway. If you are a qualified student who is looking to get some discounts – and a free iPod – you might want to wait a few weeks to pick up your new kit....

Apple’s first-ever dual-port USB-C wall power adapters are now available to order. These chargers were announced at WWDC earlier this month alongside the new MacBook Air. Even though the new MacBook Air won’t be available or purchase until next month, the new dual-port wall adapters are available starting today. Apple’s first dual USB-C chargers are here Apple is selling two different versions of its 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter. One is designed as “compact,” with a smaller form factor and power prongs built directly into the body of the brick itself....

After more than two years and numerous false-starts, it appears that Apple has now cleared the final hurdle standing in the way of building a $1B data center in Ireland. A bid by two local residents to pursue a High Court appeal has been refused. Objections by a small number of local residents delayed things from the start, with the local planning body responding by asking Apple to respond to five concerns …...

In the last month, Apple has sent a flurry of push notifications to iOS users ranging from iPhone XR promotions to HomePod promotions, Carpool Karaoke episode releases, and more. Last week, users flocked to Twitter to complain that they received a push notification from the TV application on iOS about an “All-new CarPool Karaoke” episode with Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. The notification was sent shortly after the episode’s premier and acting on it launched the TV app for viewing it....

With the 2018 Winter Olympics kicking off in Pyeongchang, Apple News has launched a robust new featured section for tracking up-to-the-minute coverage of the games for the next two weeks. The partnership with NBC Olympics includes original content created by Apple News editors plus custom graphics made specifically for Apple News (with most if not all graphics created by StoryTK for Apple). Readers will also be able to view video from the games right in the News app and have access to curated articles from various Apple News partners....

After multiple years without the ability to ship to Puerto Rico, Apple’s Online Store has been updated with the ability to ship to the United States territory. The option became active this week, and is noted on Apple’s shipping and delivery webpage. Apple notes on its website that average transit time is 2-5 days, and carrier deliveries occur twice a week in Culebra and Vieques (major islands off of mainland Puerto Rico)....

The comedy Ted Lasso has been Apple TV+‘s biggest hit to date, and the streaming service is keeping executive Bill Lawrence in the family with his next project — a drama series — receiving an official series order today. ‘Bad Monkey’ is written and executive produced by Bill Lawrence, and stars Vince Vaughn in the lead role. The series is based off of the 2013 novel of the same name....

Apple’s operations chief said today that the company paid out over $3 billion to small businesses that supplied Apple with parts for its products in 2013. That money was split up between around 7,000 different suppliers as part of the SupplierPay program started by the White House. SupplierPay is an extension of a federal program called QuickPay that required the government to issue payments to small business partners within 15 days of billing in an attempt to promote economic growth....

After prepping for and officially launching its Apple Pay service in Ireland today— the 14th country to get access to the payments service— Apple has also added 15+ additional banks and credit unions for two previously supported markets. The company today added over a dozen additional banks and credit unions for users in the U.S., and in recent days added 8 new institutions & card issuers for users in Japan. A full list of the newly added banks is below....

Ahead of Mother’s Day next weekend, Apple’s weekly Apple Pay promotions have made a return. This time, Apple is offering $15 off at 1-800-Flowers when you shop the “Mother’s Day Collection” and checkout with Apple Pay. The promotion applies to both the 1-800-Flowers website as well as the app, with Apple Pay being available as a checkout option in both places. The offer is valid from May 2nd through May 10th and cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts or promotions....

After launching to the public back in November, Apple today has released a small update for its Heart Study app on iOS. Furthermore, Apple also pushed a small update for Beddit, the sleep tracking accessory company that it acquired last year… With today’s update, Apple Heart Study for iOS goes to version 1.0.5. Meanwhile, Beddit Sleep Monitor is now at 2.8.7. The change log for both updates is the same, with Apple touting “bug fixes and other improvements....

Apple is rolling out the second watchOS 3.2 beta for developer testing on Apple Watch. watchOS 3.2 beta includes Theater Mode which disables raise-to-wake and mutes alerts. Apple is also introducing SiriKit to Apple Watch with watchOS 3.2 beta. SiriKit lets developers integrate their apps with Siri for select uses. Prior to watchOS 3.2 beta, SiriKit was limited to iOS apps. As for Theater Mode, this is how Apple describes the new feature:...

In a surprise move, Apple has revived its Texas Hold’em game for iOS today. The update to the original game comes in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the App Store and has been redesigned to include new characters, improved graphics, more challenging gameplay, and much more. Apple highlighted the Texas Hold’em history and noted some of the updates to the refreshed version in the app listing (still the original listing with reviews from years ago!...

There’s a lot going on when it comes to Apple’s rumored mixed reality headset, which is expected to combine both AR and VR technologies into a single device. However, at the same time, the company has also been working on new AR glasses. According to Haitong Intl Tech Research analyst Jeff Pu, Apple’s AR glasses will be announced in late 2024. At this point, details about Apple’s AR glasses are unknown....

In January, there was a lot of scuttlebutt about Apple talking to various car manufacturers over the Apple Car (Project Titan). It seemed like Apple wanted to find an existing carmaker that would build an Apple-branded car to their specification. Bloomberg says those talks have mostly fizzled out as carmakers do not want to be reduced to a mere contract manufacturer in the supply chain. Instead, Apple is likely to turn to contract manufacturing specialists like Foxconn or Magna....

With iOS 8, Apple will now backup of all your photos. The limitations of Photo Stream seem to have gone away. Apple will now store all of your photos in iCloud, regardless of what device you take them on. iPhones and iPads can view these entire libraries, without having to download them to local storage. The photos stream in as you scroll. Storage is only limited by your iCloud Storage. Apple has announced new cheaper storage plans to go along with the new philosophy....

Apple has opened registrations for this year’s ‘Hour of Code’ workshops, providing kids aged six and up with a free one-hour introduction to the basics of computer programming. The workshops take place at Apple Stores around the world on December 10th, and this will be the third year running that the company has offered them. Like last year, the company is also holding a number of special events in support of Computer Science Education Week and Code....

We heard a report in November that Apple was testing an iPhone 7 model with dual rear cameras, and a patent application published today not only confirms that Apple is indeed exploring the idea, but reveals some extremely exciting possibilities with such a setup. The most basic of these, noted by Patently Apple, is effectively optical zoom. By fitting two separate camera modules behind the lens, and creating a single lens with both standard and telephoto sections, you’d be able to switch between two different focal lengths....

After releasing a tweaked beta of Mountain Lion 10.8.2 just last week and the public release of iOS 6 this morning, Apple just released 10.8.2 through Software Update. As we previously detailed, the update’s big feature is Facebook integration including single sign on, Facebook sharing options for links and photos, and Facebook notifications in Notification Center. Game Center also received some nice enhancements while the MacBook Air (late 2010) gained Power Nap....

We just got the macOS 11.3 release candidate shortly after Apple’s Spring Loaded event. And ahead of the 11.3 public launch that could coincide with iOS 14.5 next week, Apple has seeded developers with the first beta for macOS 11.4 that comes with support for new AMD GPUs. Update 4/22: Now available for public beta testers. The OTA for the macOS 11.4 beta should start showing up in System Preferences > Software Update if you’re enrolled in the developer or public beta program (keep refreshing if you don’t see it yet)....