Apple didn’t just announce a $5000 monitor during WWDC: it also announced an optional $1000 monitor stand to go with it. There wasn’t too much reaction to the $4999 starting price of the monitor itself, or even the $1000 premium for the low-reflectivity upgrade. This is a true reference-grade monitor designed for critical color work by photographers, videographers, and filmmakers. Similar monitors typically cost upwards of $10,000, and Apple compared it to one costing $43,000....

As noted on the official schedule website for the 2018 SXSW Conference & Festival held in Austin, TX, Apple’s Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives will make a public appearance at the annual event. On March 15th, Sarah Herrlinger will speak as part of a panel at the Innovations In Accessibility session during the conference’s Startup & Tech Sectors track. SXSW describes the session as follows: As Apple’s accessibility lead, Herrlinger is primarily responsible for working on the company’s VoiceOver technology and Made for iPhone hearing aids....

We’ve been hearing all kinds of Chatter that the next version of Final Cut Pro will debut in Vegas at NAB next week. Thing is, we hear this every year and Apple hasn’t really done a NAB properly in awhile. That’s OK, we’ll take that we can get. Who’s up for Vegas? Philip Bloom just confirmed with me that Canon has canceled his appearance at the Supermeet. Canon was told last night that Apple has demanded ALL “lecturn” or stage time exclusively....

Alongside WWDC 2021, Apple rolled out a bunch of features for its Music streaming service. The Lossless and Spatial Audio update, as well as other enhancements, are now available for Apple Music on Android. Update 7/22: Version 3.6 of Apple Music with spatial listening, lossless audio, automatic crossfade, and library search enhancements is now rolling out via the Play Store to all existing and new users. The test period for those that signed-up for the beta channel lasted just over a month, and ended this afternoon....

As it regularly does following the release of a new version, Apple today has stopped signing iOS 11.2.6. The company last week officially released iOS 11.3 to the public following an extensive period of beta testing with developers and the public. What this means is that users who are already updated to iOS 11.3 will be unable to downgrade to the previous version of iOS, whether it be because they have issues with the latest release or because of something such as a jailbreak becoming available....

Apple Pay continues to pick up new banks and credit unions every month — and soon to Germany and possibly Austria. These are the latest new banks and credit unions added in the US that let you pay with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac… Androscoggin Savings Bank Baker Boyer National Bank BlueOX Credit Union Desert Rivers Credit Union Fidelity Bank of Florida First Source Federal Credit Union Firstier Bank GHS Federal Credit Union Guaranty Bank and Trust Company (MS & LA now) Investors Bank Miami Firefighters Federal Credit Union North Shore Trust and Savings Orion Federal Credit Union QNB Bank Reliance State Bank Security State Bank (NE) Town of Cheektowaga Federal Credit Union Twin River Bank Valley Bank of Nevada Check out our Apple Pay guide for the latest news....

Apple Pay’s rollout in Australia has been hindered since the start as local banks have pleaded to have access to the NFC hardware in the iPhone so existing mobile payment services can be used alongside Apple Pay. Now, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has rejected a proposal from a handful of big Australian banks that would have allowed them to negotiate in a group with Apple, according to the Australian site ABC News…...

Apple is committed to its promise of expanding its retail presence in China from 15 to 40 stores within two years. Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts told Chinese website Xinhua on Thursday that the iPhone maker is gearing up to open five new stores in roughly five weeks. “We are opening five new stores before the Chinese New Year this year. Four of the stores are in brand new cities for us,” said Ahrendts in a telephone interview with Xinhua....

Apple’s iPhone success over the years in China is hardly an accident. The Information reveals a previously unreported agreement negotiated by Apple CEO Tim Cook and Chinese government officials that saw the company invest over $275 billion in the country over five years. The deal was reached at a time when local smartphone makers were forcing iPhone sales in China to fall. The Information cites interviews and internal Apple documents in reporting that the pledge started in 2016 when Tim Cook regularly visited China to lobby the government for exemptions to regulatory actions that would negatively impact Apple....

Apple launched Podcast Subscriptions earlier this year as a way for podcasters to offer listeners perks with a monthly subscription. As part of the effort to get the latest Apple Service off the ground, Apple also runs an affiliate program that encourages podcasters to market their premium shows. It generally works like this: share an affiliate link to an Apple Podcast Subscription, and Apple will pay you 50% of the first month’s subscription cost if someone clicks the link and becomes a paid subscriber....

Apple has released seventh iOS 9.3 pre-release beta for developers and public beta testers to ahead of its expected public release next week. Features include a new Night Shift mode that auto changes the display temperature, Touch ID- and password-protected items in the Notes app, new CarPlay features, expanded 3D Touch options on apps such as Settings, and more. Beta 6 was released last week and was relatively small in the grand scheme of things....

In addition to new iPhone and iPad updates today, Apple has released iTunes 12.6 with a new feature for movie rental playback. Described as ‘rent once, watch anywhere’, Apple says you can now rent a movie on one device then finish watching it on another device. Previously, it was possible to rent from iPhone, for example, then be restricted to that device to finish playback. The new ‘watch anywhere’ feature for rentals appears to require iOS 10....

One day after releasing it to developers, Apple today is releasing the latest iOS 15 beta for public beta testers. Apple refers to this as iOS 15 public beta 4 and it includes a handful of notable changes, such as Safari design changes, new Podcasts widgets, and more. If you’re interested in signing up for Apple’s public beta testing program, you can do so via Apple’s website right here. Apple’s new software version won’t be complete until the fall, at which point it will be released to the general public....

Apple has officially released OS X El Capitan for the Mac, adding some new improvements as well as bringing parity with changes in iOS 9, released two weeks ago. OS X El Capitan (version 10.11), can be installed on any Mac that runs OS X Yosemite: simply download the free update from the Mac App Store. The release does not feature anything radically new — like the major visual overhaul that came last year — but there are new features as well as a strong focus on overall performance and stability improvements....

Just over two weeks following the release of OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4, Apple has seeded the 5th preview to developers via the Mac App Store Software Update tool. Also released is OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 build 12F33. That build comes one week after the previous 10.8.5 seed. Safari 6.1 beta 5 has also been released for Mountain Lion. The new Mavericks beta brings iBooks app. Full tour here....

Apple has released the third iOS 11.3 public beta loaded with new features for iPhone and iPad. The third macOS 10.13.4 public beta for Mac and tvOS 11.3 public betas are also available. Apple originally previewed several new features prior to the first developer beta: 4 new Animoji on iPhone X: Lion, Skull, Bear, and Dragon ARKit 1.5 with support for vertical surfaces like walls, irregular shaped surfaces like circular tables, support for auto-focus, and 50% higher resolution Business Chat for iMessage in beta with Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo on board Health Records in Health app automatically updated from select partners More prominent music video features in Apple Music HomeKit software authentication without chip certification Advanced Mobile Location for sending your location to emergency services when calling from iPhone Other new features include:...

iOS 16 also introduced essential security features that protect your identity and let you know who has access to information stored on your phone. Tap or click here for new iPhone security features to turn on now. For an extreme level of protection, there’s Apple’s Lockdown Mode. The company says this feature is intended for people who face serious, targeted threats to their digital security. But anyone can find benefit here — if you’re caring for family members with diminished capacities, you may want to look at Lockdown Mode....

Long story short: Yesterday Gawker issued a bounty on information on the Apple tablet. Today, Apple’s famously heavy handed lawyers issued a cease and desist (and send us anything you get) order. The legality question is: Is anything that Gawker gets a violation of contract or theft of Apple’s trade secrets? Certainly most of what they are asking for would seem that way. But perhaps there is some gray area: Their $50,000 prize is for a picture of Steve Jobs with a tablet....

Apple is continuing its work to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 around the world. Apple today released a mobility data trends tool from Apple Maps, which provides insight into social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak. The goal with this mobility data trends tool is to offer Apple Maps data that may provide insights to health authorities looking for ways to slow the spread of COVID-19. Apple explains: Apple says the new Mobility Trends Reports aggregate data from major cities and 63 counties or regions....

Curious about how to set Apple Music sleep timers but haven’t noticed the feature in the app? Follow along for how to get the functionality on iPhone and iPad as well as using the feature with Siri and apps like YouTube. Even though it’s been a requested feature from users for years, Apple strangely hasn’t built a sleep timer directly into its Apple Music app. However, there is a way to do it natively with iPhone and iPad, you just have to make use of the Clock app....