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Apple has released macOS 10.12.2 beta 2 for Mac. The new update follows the initial macOS 10.12.2 beta at the end of October, followed by a slightly updated build earlier this month. Today’s build has version 16C41b, up from 16C32f, and is available from the Mac App Store. macOS 10.12.2 includes Unicode 9.0 emoji support, which matches compatibility in beta versions of iOS 10.2 and watchOS 3.1.1. macOS 10.12.2 will be released to everyone in the future, and the beta allows developers to test pre-release versions of the software update before it’s released....

Apple has added a new addition to its W1 lineup, the Beats Studio 3 over-ear headphones ($349). The new models utilize the W1 chip for automatic pairing to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch as well as boasting up to 40 hour battery life. These look very much like Beats’ answer to the Bose QC35 headphones. The other flagship new addition for the Studio 3 series is adaptive noise cancelling. The headphones listen dynamically to the surrounding environment and algorithmically adjust the intensity of noise cancellation....

Apple has released its 2016 supplier responsibility progress report including a new letter from recently named COO Jeff Williams detailing Apple’s commitment to the people who create its products. Comparing the highlights from the latest report to the results from the year prior, Apple performed 640 audits covering over 1.6 million workers in 2015, up from 633 audits covering about the same number of workers in 2014. Apple audited suppliers in 25 countries across 2015, up from 19 countries the year before....

Apple today has introduced a new Apple Books Marketing Toolbox for members of its Affiliate Program. Apple says the new marketing toolbox includes a variety of marketing assets to make it easier for affiliates to earn commission, as we as a new audiobooks widget. In an email to Affiliate Program members, Apple explained that the new Apple Books Marketing Toolbox includes features such as easy access to assets in 26 languages, support for content search to make generating affiliate links easier, and more....

Halfway through the work week, all of today’s best deals kick off with Apple Magic Keyboard discounts from $249. That’s alongside a 20% off Satechi sitewide sale and Anker’s latest iPhone accessory discounts from $16. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Apple Magic Keyboard for 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros on sale In either case of Apple Magic Keyboard, both of these accessories are designed to go alongside the latest iteration of 12....

Apple is continuing to take advantage of low interest rates and bond sales to fund its giant stock buyback program. The Financial Times reports that Apple is preparing its third bond sale of the year to the tune of $7 billion: Apple has already announced a $12 billion bond program in February as well as a $1 billion bond sale in Taiwan last month. Apple has previously done bonds in the US, Japan and Australia to avoid repatriating overseas funds at higher-than-desired tax rates....

Apple today released an update for Final Cut Pro X that addresses a couple of annoying bugs that some users may have been experiencing. Version 10.4.2 of Final Cut Pro X arrives three weeks after version 10.4.1, a major update that brought about new features like closed captioning workflows and ProRes RAW support. Version 10.4.2 addresses two specific bugs that may have plagued some users: Bug fix number one fixes an issue related to selecting multiple clips on the timeline using the Shift key or when using a marquee selection....

That new iOS 11.3 beta from Monday? It’s already out of date. In a special Friday release, Apple has seeded iOS 11.3 beta 6 to registered developers to test on iPhone and iPad. We’ll dig in to the new version and detail any changes below. (Update: iOS 11.3 beta 6 is also now available for public beta testers too.) Beta 1 4 new Animoji on iPhone X: Lion, Skull, Bear, and Dragon ARKit 1....

Update to iOS 7.1.2 To make sure you get the update, go to Settings > General > Software Update and download the update. On my iPad mini with Retina display (16 GB version), I wasn’t able to install it at first because it needs 1.5 GB of storage space available. If this happens to you, tap on Usage Settings, and you’ll get a list of all the apps installed on your device and the amount of space they are taking....

Roughly two weeks after the previous build with Apple Music support included, Apple has released iOS 9 beta 4 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to registered developers. iOS 9 includes new or redesigned built-in apps including the Flipboard-like News app and an overhauled Notes app, powerful iPad multitasking features, and a new system feature built around search and intelligence called Proactive. The previous beta included the first look at Apple’s News app, support for Apple Music and Beats 1, and other changes including Screenshots and Selfies albums in Photos and 4×4 app folders on the iPad....

Apple has released a supplemental security update to OS X El Capitan, the version prior to macOS Sierra. The update weighs in at 623.9MB and can be found in the Mac App Store on compatible machines. Today’s supplemental security update pushes a fix to El Capitan to help mitigate a kernel issue where the Mac would occasionally become unresponsive. Users currently running OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 can find Security Update 2016-003 in their Mac App Store Updates tab....

Following yesterday’s misfire on the public beta channel, Apple has released OS X El Capitan Beta 7 (build 15A263e) to developers. The fifth public beta has also returned after being pulled yesterday afternoon. That version comes with a build number of 15A262e, which puts it a few builds ahead of yesterday’s. The developer update is available in the updates tab of the Mac App Store and will be on the Developer Center shortly....

Further pushing toward the idea of a plugin-free internet, Apple has issued an update to Java for OS X that removes the Java applet plugin. Attempting to use a Java applet through any OS X web browser will now prompt users to download the latest version directly from Java maker Oracle. This is not the first time Apple has stopped shipping a specific browser plugin with their computers. With OS X Lion, users discovered that their Macs no longer came with Adobe’s oft-derided Flash Player plugin due to its instability and security issues....

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts is set to appear as a featured speaker at this year’s Global Retailing Conference scheduled for next month in Tucson, Arizona. Ahrendts has led Apple’s retail and online stores since leaving her CEO position at Burberry between 2013 and 2014. Here’s how the Global Retailing Conference (via @setteBIT) is described: Macy’s CEO Terry J. Lundgren will moderate this year’s discussion at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort on April 20 and 21....

A new piece summarizing the history of changes to Apple’s App Store rules argues that the company hasn’t changed the strategy it adopted when the store was first launched back in 2008. The piece echoes my own view that Apple makes the smallest possible changes it believes will deal with each antitrust threat … CNBC argued that Apple’s strategy is to fight antitrust threats one rule at a time. The piece lists examples across the years....

NVIDIA on Wednesday announced the next edition of its annual GTC conference, where the company brings together industry professionals to introduce and discuss new technologies. This year, NVIDIA GTC will have Apple’s senior director of AI and ML research Samy Bengio as one of the speakers. According to the company, more than 200,000 developers are expected to join the event, which will feature content focused on deep learning, data science, high-performance computing, robotics, data center, networking, and graphics....

We’re anxiously awaiting iOS 10 beta 2 after just over two weeks with the initial beta version, but Apple has released a fourth beta for any iOS 9.3.3 update testers. Changes so far haven’t been noticeable as the update is likely focused on security enhancements and bug fix improvements. Apple last released an iOS 9.3.3 beta eight days ago, suggesting its public release is imminent. For Apple TV developers, tvOS 9....

An Australian court has rejected Apple’s appeal against the country’s refusal to allow it to trademark the term ‘App Store,’ reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The ruling means that Apple is free to continue to use the name, but it cannot prevent other companies from doing the same. The court ruled that consumers understood that the term App Store referred to any online source of apps for any platform, and therefore there was no danger of consumers being misled into thinking they were buying apps from Apple....

A wave of Apple M1 benchmarks has landed today with reviews of the new Macs as well as the computers now arriving to early customers. We’ve now got some great examples of what the impressive new M1 Mac capabilities mean for real-world performance. Last week saw the first Apple M1 benchmarks land with the new MacBook Air outperforming the 16-inch MacBook Pro in both single and multi-core scores. Then yesterday we saw the whole Apple M1 Mac lineup beat every Intel Mac in single-core scores and some wild results for Cinebench....

The chairman of the British music industry lobby group UK Music says that independent labels may not agree to Apple’s terms for inclusion on Apple Music. Andy Heath told the Telegraph that receiving no payment during the free trial period could leave indies, which include big-name artists like Adele and the Arctic Monkeys, “completely screwed.” Heath said that while Apple’s argument is that it will pay slightly more once the free trial is over, smaller labels may be concerned that they will see fewer download sales during the free trial – and that this could put smaller companies out of business....