New banks and credit unions across the United States, Italy, Russia, the UK, and China have joined Apple’s list of participating partners since the last refresh earlier this month. Check out the latest Apple Pay banks below: In the United States: Almena State Bank American Bank & TrustCompany N.A. Associated SchoolEmployees Credit Union Bank of Star Valley Bofl Federal Bank Caprock Federal Credit Union Central Bank (AR) Central National Bank ofPoteau City First Bank Continential Finance Co....

An Apple patent granted today suggests that a future version of the Apple Pencil could have an interchangeable tip that sees it become an Apple Paintbrush too. The patent also shows how haptic feedback could be used to simulate the feeling of using different implements like pens, pencils, marker pens, and paintbrushes … Apple starts by acknowledging the limitations of the existing Apple Pencil as an artistic implement. It then describes how an interchangeable tip could be the solution, with a paintbrush attachment measuring the degree of flex in each bristle....

Following the release of iOS 13.5 developer beta 4 yesterday, Apple today has released the fourth developer beta macOS Catalina 10.15.5 as well. The new update is rolling out now via System Preferences. The biggest change in macOS 10.15.5 is a new Battery Health Management feature. The goal of the change is to reduce the chemical aging of a MacBook’s battery and extend its lifespan, but without comprising battery life....

According to Apple’s support website, the company is currently working together with Microsoft to bring Xbox Series X and Series S controller support to iPhones and iPads. The support website states, “Microsoft and Apple are working together to bring compatibility for the Xbox Series X controller to customers in a future update.” This comes less than two weeks after the Xbox Series X and Series S release, clearly showing Apple’s willingness to bring new controller support to their devices....

Apple has just published its Best of 2013 page, highlighting some of the most popular music, movies, TV shows, iOS apps, ebooks, and podcasts from the past year. In the music section, Lorde’s “Royals” took the pick for Song of the Year, while Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ The Heist was named Best Album. Gravity, the box office hit starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, was named Movie of the Year. Despite the confusion it caused when its final season was broken into two separate purchases earlier this year, Breaking Bad was Apple’s pick for Show of the Year....

In a slightly surprising move, Apple has shared that the new MacBook Air’s battery can be replaced on its own. According to Apple’s internal service Readiness Guide, the Genius Bar as well as Apple Authorized Service Providers will be provided tools that will allow them to remove and install a new battery more easily. Traditionally, on MacBooks released after 2012, the entire top case enclosure needed to be replaced which includes the keyboard and trackpad....

Update: Russian speaking reader Ilya Kuchinskiy informed us that Izvestia is indeed a respected news source, but like we anticipated, the translation is erroneous. Literally it means “Skolkovo has some plans find investors and has invited to come and work in skolkovo. They have some talks to work but there is no plans to open Apple center in Russia, it is like thay just send invitation and google, facebook, apple just thinking, that’s it...

Apple Music is launching a new multi-lingual playlist today, as first reported by Billboard. The new playlist is called “Suave” and highlights R&B songs from various parts of the world. The playlist will feature songs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with a focus on R&B. Featured artists will include the likes of Paloma Mami, Rosalia, and more. Apple Music’s Marissa Gastelum touted that song ‘Fresh Air’ by Melii was the inspiration to start this playlist:...

Apple has announced a new documentary called “The Sound of 007” focused on the “remarkable history of six decades of James Bond music.” The documentary is slated to be released in October 2022 to mark 60 years of James Bond. “The Sound of 007” will be exclusive to Apple TV+ and comes on the heels of their success in the documentary category. The documentary is being produced by MGM, Eon Productions, and Ventureland according to Deadline....

To celebrate today’s season finale of the Apple TV+ show “Servant,” Apple has partnered with two Los Angeles pizzerias to deliver free pizza to fans exclusively through Grubhub this weekend. Starting today, as of 5 p.m. PST, people in Los Angeles can order one free pizza from Gjelina or Milo and Olive. During the second season of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Servant,” the main characters launched their own pizza delivery company called Cheezus Crust....

Apple Pay support is still slowly rolling out from more banks, retailers, and apps, and two notable updates added Apple Pay in-app checkout options this week. First up is Priceline, the app that aims to save you money on flights, hotels, and car rentals anytime you’re traveling. While the app allows you to book plane tickets and reserve rental cars, Apple Pay checkout is currently limited to “Express Deals” for paying for hotel reservations....

Via email, Apple is now promoting Xcode 5.0.1’s new automated continuous integration feature to developers. Continuous integration via automated bots in the new Xcode will multiple developers working on different aspects of a software product to integrate their code with the other projects in development. This eases up the development procedure of pulling parts of an app together to make the final copy… Additionally, to go along with this promotion, Apple is now (for the first time) offering iOS App Developers a free copy of OS X Server....

Seemingly through a server-side change, Apple is quietly updating some of the international Siri text-to-speech synthesizers. Last month, some readers commented that the British male voice had been upgraded and we can confirm that the British female voice has also been updated as of this week. The change can be heard on iPhone and iPad as well as the HomePod. Unlike when Apple upgraded the US female voice in iOS 11, the raw human voice talent does not seem to have changed....

[slideshow] Apple today released a new free Mac App called Configurator which allows you to administer many iOS devices at a time like in a school or business (or my house) setting. At first blush it appears to be much simpler than the Windows/Mac configuration utility. Description follows: Apple Configurator makes it easy for anyone to mass configure and deploy iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in a school, business, or institution....

Apple has released iOS 10.0.3 for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The update includes a bug fix for users who were temporarily experiencing loss of cellular connectivity on new iPhone models. Apple also pushed out an update to its Classroom app that should fix issues with the education app not being able to find other student devices. Today’s iOS 10.0.3 update should resolve some of cell network connectivity issues our readers have been experiencing....

Apple is rolling out the seventh iOS 10.3 beta for developer testing on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The upcoming software update includes Find My AirPods support, CarPlay improvements, Apple’s new filesystem, and more. Apple is also rolling out the seventh macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing. The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac. We’ll update and highlight any additional changes discovered below....

Apple has released the tvOS 10.1.1 software update for Apple TV. tvOS 10.1.1 is likely a software update focused on bug fixes and performance improvements. tvOS 10.1 was a feature update that included the new TV app for the first time. Release notes for tvOS 10.1 listed these changes: Apple TV Software Update 10.1 TV app: Discover new content or pick up where you left off in a current show or movie—all in one unified place....

Apple has added a second Apple Watch manufacturer, according to China’s EDN (via Digitimes). The report claims that this is in part to boost total production capacity in the light of ‘an optimistic sales outlook for the device’ … Quanta Computer currently has an exclusive contract to make the Watches. It should be noted that supply chain reports tend to be more reliable on the ‘what’ rather than the ‘why.’ Suppliers would not be privy to Apple’s reasons for the move....

ChargerLAB shared some images of the new charger on Twitter, but the sources behind them are unknown. Unlike Apple’s current 20W USB-C Power Adapter, images show that the new 35W charger will have “foldable prongs.” The USB-C ports are positioned side-by-side on the bottom of the charger, and not on top of each other on the back of the adapter. Also based on the images, another difference between the new power adapter and the current ones is a circular cutout on the sides so that users can hold it there to remove the charger from a power outlet....

We told you earlier this week that Apple would send for the first time one of its employees, a manager for the platform security team, Dallas De Atley, to speak at the Black Hat conference on iOS security. Unfortunately, while many hoped we would get an inside look at iOS security technologies, a wrap up of the event from The New York Times described the talk as “the equivalent of reading aloud a white paper, timed to a PowerPoint deck, before escaping out a side door....