The question on music industry and analyst’s lips is, “can the world’s largest music-focused social network take a chunk out of iTunes sales?” Some industry watchers, however, remark that the most likely competition to be generated as a result of the launch will be between News Corp’s MySpace and CBS’ Last.fm. MySpace last night confirmed itself to have won support from major advertisers to kick-start its free music streaming and paid purchase MySpace Music service....

After being discontinued in September, Apple has finally confirmed an issue regarding the iPhone X’s display module. The company has also announced a repair program for the 13-inch non Touch Bar MacBook Pro, offering free repairs on certain devices with 128GB or 256GB of storage. Apple says that these models may suffer from data loss or failure. 13-inch non Touch Bar MacBook Pros sold between June 2017 and June 2018 are affected, according to Apple....

One of the features Apple emphasized for its upcoming HomePod speaker is what the company refers to as ‘spatial awareness.’ This is a more efficient version of a semi-manual audio adjustment process used by other high-end speaker systems like Sonos and Naim. But a new Apple patent application published today suggests that future versions may go further … The patent describes how a speaker could not only configure itself to an initial location, but also detect when it has been moved to a new position and reconfigure its sound to suit....

This is due to a heavy load on Apple servers, sources say. It has nothing to do with your computer or device. No matter how many times you reboot your computer, device or home network – the upgrade process will still error out. During the upgrade process, iTunes checks Apple servers to validate your device and the .ipsw file. Because so many users are trying upgrade during these initial hours after the iOS 5 release, traffic loads are causing it to error out....

In interviews, several high-level music executives, who spoke on the condition that they not be named to avoid angering Apple, said they operated in fear of Apple’s removing a label’s products from the iTunes store over a disagreement, even though that has never happened. The labels do not have much leverage in negotiating with Apple. Of course even in vacation mode, Steve Jobs is still running the show. …All the labels agreed except Sony Music....

[UPDATE: Apple statement below the fold.] Long-running rumors that Apple will add wireless charging to the iPhone 8 have been lent additional weight with the news that the company has joined an industry group devoted to wireless power. Apple is now listed as one of the 213 members of the Wireless Power Consortium. It was not present in a cached version of the page from a week ago … While early rumors suggested that Apple was holding out for long-range charging, without the need to place the iPhone on a charging pad, those hopes appear to have been dashed by more recent reports....

A quick Reuters report on an unsealed document in the Apple-Samsung trial reveals that iPhones are much more of a profit driver for Apple than its iPads. To the tune of double (!) per unit. That means Apple makes as much money on one iPhone as it does on two iPads (considering they cost roughly the same amount). Who likes phone subsidies? Apple likes phone subsidies! Also, when considering the 7-inch iPad costs, a lower margin in the 20 percent range means Apple can bring its prices pretty close to $200....

Apple’s historic Tysons Corner store could be preparing to see an inspired move. Recent plans indicate that construction of a significantly larger and more modern replacement space may soon begin at the nearby Tysons Galleria. When Apple opened its first two retail spaces just hours apart at Tysons Corner Center and Glendale Galleria on May 19, 2001, nobody predicted the cultural impact and broad success Apple stores would have across the world....

Apple Music has been live for over a year now and has suffered its fair share of successes and failures thus far. In a new interview with BuzzFeed News, Apple executives Jimmy Iovine, Zane Lowe, and Bozoma Saint John talk about what they have learned in their first year, the battle for exclusive streaming rights, and more. Iovine explains that his ultimate goal with Apple Music is to make it easier for artists to release good music and for users to have access to good music....

After its release back in September, Apple is no longer signing the initial build of iOS 12. This means that users will now only be able to restore to the current release of iOS, iOS 12.0.1. iOS 12.0.1, which was released earlier this month, focused on bug fixes and performance improvements. The update included a fix for the iPhone XS charging issue, Wi-Fi issues, and more. The next revision of iOS, iOS 12....

Today, Apple has launched a promotion for online purchases, offering 0% financing on any purchase above £449 (or €400). The deal is on offer across most of Apple’s European websites, including the UK, France, Italy and Spain. In the UK, for instance, a customer can buy any product above that value and spread repayments across ten monthly instalments with 0% interest. In other countries, such as France or Spain, the repayment is window is slightly longer at twelve months....

The US Patent & Trademark Office has published an Apple patent application today (via PatentlyApple) revealing a brand new method of interacting with content on your iOS devices. Referred to as a “Persistent Overlay”, the concept essentially aims to provide users with single tap access to photos, songs, files,etc. from an always accessible, persistent UI. The patent also introduces us to a new social networking app, and Trackpad and Magic Mouse support for iPad....

According to an internal AppleCare document, Apple is actively investigating a series of WiFi-related issues affecting the third-generation iPad. Since the new iPad’s launch, many users have been complaining about third-generation iPad WiFi issues ranging from connection drops, slow download and upload speeds, or the device’s inability to even pickup local WiFi networks. A thread discussing the issue exists on Apple’s online support forums has almost amassed 700 replies from users with similar issues....

Apple continues to expand its video content line-up by extending its partnership with Vice today as the duo have released the first episode in a new documentary series. Apple Music and Vice’s series, The Score, take a focus on various music scenes around the world. Episode one looks into the life of Minnesota’s Native American hip-hop scene and artists. Not much is given about the new series on Apple Music or Vice’s website, but it’s reported that future episodes will take a look at the music scenes in other countries like Brazil, Iceland, and Vietnam....

Apple is once again coming under fire for business practices and deals around Apple Music, the subscription music and video streaming service it launched last month. Consumer Watchdog, a prominent consumer advocacy group, issued a letter to the United States Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice today, asking the government to put restrictions on Apple’s “plans to dominate the subscription music sector” while citing “serious antitrust concerns” based on information it received....

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....

Last month Apple hired Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the law firm that has represented it in various patent cases against Samsung, to serve as the company’s lobbyists in Washington on matters regarding intellectual property and tech industry competition, PC World reports. This year alone Apple has reportedly spent somewhere around $3 million on lobbying efforts, especially in the areas of consumer health legislation and international tax policy. Apple has a diverse group of lobbyists on its payroll, including five firms (now six with WilmerHale) and several in-house lawyers....

After closing the Heart Study to new participants last month, Apple today has started sending notifications to participants informing them that their participation is nearly completed. When Heart Study participants launch the program’s application, they’ll see a new “Complete Survey” button along the top. Clicking through this link, users are taken to the Stanford Medicine website where they are informed their participation is “very close to completion.” The survey was first spotted by Nate Gorby on Twitter....

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....