Last month, Apple introduced new iWork suites for both OS X and iOS. The new applications feature entirely new designs and are built-up a new 64-bit architecture for increased speed. However, as we previously noted, many long-time iWork users have found that the new versions lack several features that have existed in previous releases. Today, Apple has responded to these complaints and has said that it will be restoring several of the missing features over the course of the next 6 months....

Apple is rolling out a fix for the iCloud Calendar spam issue that has plagued users over the past few weeks. On iCloud.com, the company has added a new Report Junk feature. This lets users remove spammy invites from their calendar and reports the sender to Apple for further investigation. The feature is currently only available on Apple’s iCloud.com Calendar web app but it is likely to roll out to the iOS and Mac native Calendar in a future software update …...

Apple’s Beats Electronics and Bose have settled a lawsuit over noise-cancelling headphone technology and asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to end its investigation into the matter. Bloomberg reports: Bose and Beats in joint filings told a U.S. court in Delaware they’ve settled their claims, and asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to terminate its investigation… Bose originally sued Beats Electronics in July not long after Apple announced its $3 billion deal to acquire the headphone maker....

Apple has today begun rolling out a battery replacement program for the non Touch Bar 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company says there is an issue with a small number of MacBook Pros manufactured between October 2016 and October 2017. Affected users can mail in their MacBook Pro, find an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or visit an Apple Retail Store. To check if your MacBook Pro is affected, head over to this link and type in your serial number....

Apple has officially named long time director of public relations Steve Dowling as its new Vice President of Communications, as noted on the company’s executive bios webpage. Dowling succeeds former Apple Communications head Katie Cotton, who left Apple in 2014 following Apple CEO Tim Cook choosing to take Apple in a new direction PR-wise. Dowling has led Apple’s Communications division for several months following Cotton’s departure, and he was internally named interim head of PR last October....

Apple has officially expanded its Mac trade-in program to retail stores in the United States and Canada. This was first reported last week, and now Apple has made the expansion official. Apple has long allowed users to trade in other products like iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch at its retail stores, but the Mac trade-in program had been limited to online-only. This meant that you had to mail in your old Mac to Apple and wait for a gift card or credit....

Which brings us to iOS 11.2.6. iOS 11.2.6 hit the streets without even going to beta to patch a vulnerability where receiving a certain Telugu character via Messages could crash your entire device. Nice. So, should you upgrade to iOS 11.2.6? If you’re currently on iOS 11.2.5, absolutely yes. However, note that the Telegu character vulnerability doesn’t affect iOS releases before iOS 11.2.5. Here are some more details. iOS 11....

The US Patent & Trademark Office this week granted Apple a patent for a new magnetic connector capable of transmitting power to the iPhone. This comes after rumors that Apple is considering removing the Lightning port from its smartphones in the future. As reported by Patently Apple, the patent shows a new type of connector that can be somewhat compared to the iPad’s Smart Connector and even the MagSafe from older MacBooks....

Later this month, Apple will be seeding an updated version of its mobile point-of-sale (EasyPay) system software to Apple Store employees. This update, numbered version 12.3, will allow retail employees with EasyPays to capture Apple Store payment card codes from customer iPhones and iPod touches running Passbook. While Apple’s EasyPay software should be ready for Passbook this month, some sources noted that the current EasyPay hardware, at least at some retail stores, may not be capable of scanning iOS device displays....

Apple has quietly removed customer reviews for products from its online store sometime this month. This means that potential buyers can no longer see reviews of products sold via Apple’s online store before they buy, while those who have already bought are unable to leave reviews. Apple sells numerous different products through its online store, including its own products and accessories, as well as items from third-party companies. Up until now, a “Ratings and Reviews” section would appear under the product listing, allowing customers to read other shoppers’ thoughts on that particular product....

Apple releases two reports each year on how customer data is requested by governments and private parties as part of its privacy effort. While the reports are generally fairly general, the latest report released this week includes a notable change from previous versions… Apple’s latest “Report on Government and Private Party Requests for Customer Information” covering the period between July 1 and December 31 last year includes one declassified national security letter during the six month period, which The Verge notes is a first for this disclosure report....

Update: Apple has also released macOS Catalina beta 9 to developers. Apple today has released the first developer beta of watchOS 6.1 to testers. This comes after the release of watchOS 6 to the public last week for Apple Watch Series 3 and Apple Watch Series 4. Apple tomorrow will release iPadOS and iOS 13.1 to the public, but we don’t yet have a release date for watchOS 6.1. We’re also still waiting on watchOS 6 for the Series 1 and Series 2 and macOS Catalina, both of which are coming later this fall....

Apple has released a special ‘Shot on iPhone’ TV commercial for European markets called ‘The beautiful game’. It features iPhone photography of football stadiums, goalposts and players. The ad will likely air during the UEFA European Football Championship games, which kicks off tomorrow … Apple says the ad shows off the ‘beauty of football, captured by fans and their iPhones’ and features the music single ‘Wings’ by Little Sims. The ad uses photos and videos from a variety of photographers … who should now expect a memento from California come holiday season....

Following the release of the fourth iOS 14.2 beta yesterday, Apple today released watchOS 7.1 beta 4 for developers. It’s unclear what’s new in watchOS 7.1, so Apple is most likely improving the performance of the Apple Watch operating system in general. What is interesting in today’s release, however, is that Apple has made two different builds available for the same update. watchOS 7.1 beta 4 is available as 18R5585a and 18R5586a builds....

[Update: Now available (and labeled beta 2 after the initial iOS 12.1.2 beta cycle). The second macOS 10.14.3 and tvOS 12.1.2 betas are also out today. watchOS 5.1.3 beta 2 and public betas for iOS and tvOS are also available.] Apple is releasing the first iOS 12.1.3 developer beta later today, after releasing iOS 12.1.2 earlier this week following patent claims by Qualcomm which threatened iPhone sales in China. This new beta is actually considered beta 2 because it follows the same train of the previous iOS 12....

Audio software developer Camel Audio announced in January that it would be shutting down for good and removing its software from sale, but no one knew quite why. However, it now appears that the company has been acquired by Apple. Today Camel Audio updated some of its corporate information, including its address and directors, as listed on the UK government’s Companies House website. The new address is 100 New Bridge Street in London, which also happens to be the address of Apple’s UK offices....

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is exploring the use of color paper displays by E Ink for its future products. Kuo says that this manufacturer’s technology is particularly well suited to enabling a low-power second screen experience for a foldable form factor device. Of course, Apple does not currently make a foldable although there have been ongoing rumors that the company is considering designs for a foldable iPad....

As planned, Apple has announced its Q2 2013 earnings results. Apple reported revenues for Q2 of $43.6 billion, which beats Apple’s estimates for the quarter of between $41 and $43 billion. This revenue compares to a revenue of $39.2 billion in the year-ago Q2. Apple also reported net profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per diluted share The Company sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter....

Like it did last year, Apple’s participation in this year’s Worlds AIDS Day will include changing the iconic glowing white Apple logo that hangs outside its retail stores to red in order to raise awareness for the fight against AIDS. The new red Apple signage is already up at Apple’s Australian stores (pictured above) as we roll into Dec. 1 local time. This year, Apple has increased its contributions to the cause alongside the Product Red charity organization through a tie-in with its Black Friday promotions....

Apple today is rolling out the third beta of watchOS 4 to developer. The rollout comes following the release of the third betas of macOS High Sierra, tvOS 11, and iOS 11 earlier this week. The update carries the build number 15R5321h. watchOS 4 includes changes such as interface tweaks, app list navigation, and more. We’ve gone in-depth with over 50 of the changes watchOS 4 brings. Read our past coverage of the update at the links below:...