Apple is continuing to imagine what a future MacBook would look like with Apple Pencil support. The tech giant has applied to revamp a patent today regarding an Apple Pencil that is removably mounted above the MacBook’s keyboard. Apple’s revamp of a previous patent According to Patently Apple, the Pencil can act as a mouse when lying in its retainer within the computer. There’s also a high-end lighting system built into said retainer where the Apple Pencil will replace the F-Key row....

Apple Pay is now available from 23 more banks and credit unions around the United States. Apple’s mobile payment service launched two years ago with hundreds of additional regional banks and credit unions added every few weeks. You can find the latest banks added below: 3Rivers Atlantic Stewardship Bank Bank of Franklin County Bank of Southern California Bristol County Savings Bank Center National Bank Century Bank Chadwick Federal Credit Union Citizens Independent Bank City & County Credit Union Community National Bank Seneca CPM Federal Credit Union Elmira Savings Bank First Community Bank (VA, WV, NC, TN) First Keystone Community Bank First National Bank of Texas Fort Hood National Bank Freedom of Maryland Federal Credit Union Hoosier Heartland State Bank Monroe Federal Savings and Loan North Dallas Bank & Trust SC State Federal Credit Union Southside Bank As for new businesses, I recently wrote about the opportunities to expand support in the United States at many retail categories based on reader feedback....

The newest summer Apple Pay promotion is out today with special deals on shoes, clothing, accessories, and more. The discounts come from popular retailers including GOAT, Ray-Ban, J.Crew, Lands’ End, Gymboree, Matt & Nat, The RealReal, and more. Read on for all the details. Apple shared the new promotion in an email to users today. The new Apple Pay deals are available starting now, July 21 and run through August 3....

Apple Pay’s expansion to Israel has been rumored for a long time, but we now have an official launch date. According to local news outlet Haaretz, Apple Pay will launch in Israel on May 5. Apple Pay will allow iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch users in Israel to pay in stores, online, and in-app. The launch has been rumored for nearly a year, but it is believed to have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic....

Apple has invested a lot into its Apple Pay mobile payments solution since its launch last fall. Since launching in October, the payment method is already accepted at more than 700,000 retail locations, according to the company. Reuters today has published a new report in which Apple says that Apple Pay will be accepted by half of the top 100 merchants in the United States by the end of this year, with more planned in 2016....

Just after launching macOS Monterey to the public earlier this week with build 12.0.1, Apple has seeded developers with macOS 12.1 beta 1. It comes as Apple has slated the launch of Universal Control and SharePlay as coming “later this fall.” Update 10/29: The first macOS 12.1 beta is now available for public testers. The first macOS Monterey 12.1 beta is appearing now via OTA for developers and public testers with build number 21C5021h....

The same day as it released OS X 10.11.3 to the public, Apple has now pushed an update to its iMovie video editing software. The update bumps the app to version 10.1.1 and includes primarily under-the-hood bug fixes and performance updates, some of which will certainly be welcomed by users. First off, Apple says the update fixes an issue with YouTube sharing that would prevent a user from signing in if they had multiple accounts....

Apple has released the second iOS 9.3 beta for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to public beta testers. Today’s release follows the developer version Apple releases iOS 9.3 beta 2 with Night Shift, Touch ID Notes, & new 3D Touch earlier this week, which included tweaks and changes from the initial iOS 9.3 beta. These include updated Night Shift settings as well as a new toggle in Control Center and several other changes....

While Apple has made clear that it has a keen interest in augmented reality, there have been conflicting reports about what form those features might take and how they might make their debut. A new Bloomberg report seeks to shed light on both questions. The report echoes earlier ones that Apple has a large number of engineers working on AR features, and that they will be seen first in the iPhone …...

Last year, Apple and GT Advanced struck a deal to open and operate a manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona related to sapphire crystal components. Earlier this year, we learned that Apple is “aggressively” pushing to make the facility operational by February 2014 and that the building would produce a “critical” and “new” sub-component for future Apple devices. Due to the vagueness and secrecy surrounding Apple and GT Advanced’s plans, there has been little to no confirmation regarding what exactly the partnership will yield for future Apple products....

It seems that Apple’s current campus in Cupertino is just not cutting it. In addition to Apple’s dream space-ship like campus that is expected to open in 2015, Apple has just leased out a nine building campus in Cupertino that could fit up to 1300 employees. The campus, which may be renovated prior Apple’s move in, is currently known as the Results Way Corporate Center and sits at 5 Results Way Cupertino, CA....

As noted by MacRumors, Apple’s self-imposed end of October deadline has come and gone without the promised public launch of iTunes Match. The service will scan your local iTunes library and fingerprint songs in order to make them available for download (or was it streaming?) via iCloud to all authorized devices – for $25 a year flat fee, no strings attached. It’s unknown what’s behind this unusual setback. Could be last-minute backend issues that needed sorting out....

Apple Music next month will release a documentary featuring the popular artist, Kesha. The documentary will be primarily focused on the making of her latest album, Rainbow, as well as never before seen footage of Kesha performances. As reported by Engadget, Rainbow – The Film gives the artist a creative space to depict the struggles and work behind Kesha. Apple Music has been steadily growing its video catalog over time. Anything from documentaries with Major Lazer and Pink, to exclusive live concerts from Taylor Swift, the streaming service is clearly wanting to use its leverage to give artists a voice and platform to speak to their audiences....

Apple TV+ has teed up its third partnership with Bill Lawrence. Following the worldwide success of Ted Lasso, last month Apple announced that Lawrence would produce an adaptation of Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn. This time, fellow Ted Lasso writer Brett Goldstein (who you may recognize as Roy Kent) is also in the mix for a new 10-episode comedy series called ‘Shrinking’, set to star Jason Segel. In ‘Shrinking’, Segel will play a therapist who breaks the rules and tells his clients exactly what he thinks, and predictable mayhem ensues....

Apple Pay is now working with cards from HCBC France and BNP Paribas. The two banks join the 25 card issuers already supporting Apple’s mobile wallet service in France … The move follows the addition of bunq and Crédit du Nord in December of last year. Neither HSBC nor BNP are yet listed on Apple’s website, but both banks had announced that support was coming soon, and iPhon.fr reports that cards from both banks can be added as of this morning....

We first heard about Apple making its high-end iPhone models in India earlier this year. Today a new report from ET Telecom claims the company has just started the production of the iPhone XR in the country, with plans to also manufacture the iPhone 11 there in the following months. Apple has conducted several production tests over the past few weeks to ensure these devices can be produced at Foxconn Chennai in India....

If you’d like to listen in to Apple’s Q4 earnings call at 2pm PT on Monday, Apple has now posted the link for the live audio stream: www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq414. It will also remain available for replay for around two weeks afterwards. The webcast is available on any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or above, as well as any Mac running OS X 10.6.8 or later. Windows users can also listen in so long as they are running QuickTime 7 or later....

Deciding what to do with Will Smith’s latest film Emancipation hasn’t been simple for Apple. The actor’s infamous television appearance during which he slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage at The Oscars in March complicated things; now the verdict is in for how the company has chosen to handle the movie. Apple Original Films plans to release Emancipation in theaters on December 2. Apple TV+ subscribers will be able to watch the movie on streaming a week later on December 9....

Apple has launched a new ad promoting the iPhone 12 durability. It’s not the first time the company has emphasized this, as in its iPhone keynote last year, it said that this model has four times better drop performance. In the ad named Cook, a clumsy cooker tries to learn a recipe while reading the steps on his iPhone 12. The result is that he spills lots of sauce on the iPhone, fills it with flour, and hits the smartphone with a pepper grinder too many times....

Apple is promoting Earth Day this Saturday with the latest Apple Watch Activity Challenge. The new Earth Day Challenge encourages Apple Watch users to go outside and complete a 30 minute outdoor exercise to unlock new iMessage stickers and a special achievement award. Check out the stickers below: The new Activity Challenge for Apple Watch users is already popping up for customers in the eastern hemisphere and should arrive overnight for users in the United States....