Update: Following Apple’s expression of opposition and much national attention, Governor Brewer has vetoed the bill. [tweet https://twitter.com/GovBrewer/status/438838664928325633] // Apple has confirmed an NBC report that the company has urged Arizona State Governer Jan Brewer to veto a highly controversial (to put it mildly) bill that would allow businesses to deny service to gay and lesbian customers. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, Sen. John McCain and three State Senators who originally voted for the bill are also among those who have joined calls for the veto....

Apple has launched a new microsite today called “Why Mac” to make its case on why it’s the computer to pick. The new marketing features updated imagery of the current Mac lineup, a short pitch on why it thinks Mac is the best choice, and five aspects that set Mac apart from the competition. Apple’s new “Why Mac” microsite showed up today alongside the all-new iMac arriving to customers today. Here’s the company’s 30-second elevator pitch for why people, institutions, and businesses should pick Mac:...

Much like Apple did when introducing its standalone iTunes U app at its education event last January, it is also planning to launch a standalone app for podcasts. A report from AllThingsD first mentioned Apple’s plans to include the app in iOS 6 this fall. We also heard that the app is in the works for a release with the final version of iOS 6. Apart from the podcast app that AllThingsD noted would allow users to “discover, download and play” on iOS devices, we heard separately that Apple is working on podcast-producing technology, perhaps for inclusion into this app....

Apple is bringing a variety of Waze-like features to Apple Maps with the release of iOS 14.5. The update gives users the ability to report speed traps, accidents, and other road hazards using Siri, CarPlay, or through the Apple Maps app on iPhone. When you use Apple Maps for the first time after updating to iOS 14.5, the Siri navigation voice will tell you about the new features. Apple is giving users a handful of different ways to report these hazards....

Ransomware is not uncommon on Windows machines, but has so far only been seen once on Macs and not at all on non-jailbroken iOS devices. However, Dutch site AppleTips reports that hackers are trying to fool people into thinking their devices have been compromised after gaining access to an Apple ID. Hackers use Find My iPhone to lock the phone, displaying a message demanding a ransom for access. This device is locked....

Apple’s iPhone 11 models could soon support new strobe and flash accessories for photography that connect via the device’s built-in Lightning connector, according to sources briefed on new specs shared with manufacturers in Apple’s Made-for-iPhone (MFi) licensing program. The specs could allow for new types of accessories like a Made-for-iPhone battery case with a built-in flash that connects over Lightning. The new specs will allow an accessory’s strobe or lighting component to sync with the device’s integrated flash and also relay the strobe sync signal wirelessly to additional accessories....

Apple fixed these, too, while improving reliability of Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode performance. Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) updates also addressed problems with Lion Recovery from an Internet connection. Thunderbolt updates are available by choosing Software Update from the Mac menu, unlike the updated iPhoto which is deployed via the Mac App Store client. Release notes after the break… What’s New in iPhoto 9.2.1 Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly on Macs with the 3ivxVideoCodec plug-in installed...

Apple has announced that its new Metal 2 Developer Kit, which launches later today, will support external graphics units over Thunderbolt 3. That means that eGPU setups featuring units like the Akitio Node, will officially support AMD’s popular RX 580 GPU. But not just that, the Metal 2 developer kit will make it possible to connect to VR headsets. Apple is partnering with Valve to support SteamVR, along with support for the Unreal 4 engine and Unity....

Apple Music for Android has received a huge revamp today to match the release of iOS 10 for iPhone and iPad last September. That redesign is now making its way to the streaming service’s Android app. The interface is nearly identical with features like iOS 10-specific features including lyrics and an improved Library available on Android for the first time. Jumping from version 1.2.1, today’s 2.0 update is modeled exactly after iOS 10’s design with large headers denoting what section of the app you are viewing....

Apple Music is joining several other music streaming services in a movement to stop promoting R. Kelly’s music in its playlists as he is facing multiple sexual misconduct and assault allegations. According to Rolling Stone, Apple’s decision on the songwriter was made several weeks ago, and is now starting to take effect. Other music streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora are also taking similar approaches. Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora all say that artists will be judged on a “case-by-case” basis, and the severity of the artist’s offenses will determine whether the services will stop promoting the artist, or if their music will be removed completely from the catalog....

[UPDATE 6/6: Going to Uber…] Axios reports that Apple Music executive Bozoma Saint John plans to leave her role at the company. Saint John has served as the Head of Global Consumer Marketing for Apple Music since the company’s Beats Music acquisition in 2014. Bozoma Saint John has also made several public appearances and given press interviews during her role at Apple. Saint John demoed iOS 10’s Apple Music update on stage at last year’s WWDC, an appearance which was widely praised, and even an Apple Music ad alongside Eddy Cue and James Corden....

Apple Music has started teasing a special announcement coming soon, on the main Browse tab in the Music application. The teaser comes as Apple is rumored to announce a new lossless audio tier for its music subscription service, perhaps with Spatial Audio enhanced 3D music. We’ve already heard rumors that Apple was planning to launch a new hi-fi music tier imminently, possibly alongside new AirPods on May 18th. The beta Android version of Apple Music somewhat tipped the hat on the news, with the app readying support for 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/192kHz lossless music streaming....

Apple News monetization – or lack of same – is still a huge problem, say large publishers, who describe the situation as ‘abysmal’ and ‘atrocious.’ We heard back in September that while traffic was growing, ad sales weren’t generating meaningful revenue for publishers. Indeed, we saw one stark example back then … Media and marketing site Digiday has spoken with seven publishers, who suggest this is a widespread issue. Publishers said there were three problems with Apple News monetization....

Apple has just started sending out emails to WWDC student scholarship winners informing that they are now eligible to this year’s conference free of charge. Steps for claiming a ticket will be arriving in winners’ inboxes soon. Those who didn’t win a ticket are also being notified. Apple notified winners in the ticket lottery earlier this month that they would have a week to purchase a ticket to the event for $1,599....

Apple was initially set to release turn-by-turn navigation for Australia sometime this month, however an update to Apple’s Maps availability webpage this evening has clued us in that the launch has been delayed. Apple is now saying the feature will be available in November, just a month after ex-iOS chief Scott Forstall announced that the turn-by-turn feature was in “qualifying stages” for Australia. The Maps feature did launch in Brunei, Egypt, Macau, Malaysia, Morocco, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand during October — one commenter pointed out below....

Apple’s autonomous vehicle program is one of the biggest known secrets in the tech industry. While the company has yet to confirm anything, information about the project has been leaking out sporadically over the past several years. Today, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has confirmed (via macReports) that Apple now has 55 vehicles and 83 drivers permitted to test autonomous vehicles. One important thing to note here is that Apple has yet to apply for a separate driverless testing permit, which would allow the company to test autonomous vehicles without a person in the car....

Following the arrival of the M1 MacBook Pro and M1 MacBook Air in the Apple Refurbished Store, Apple today began selling the refurbished M1 Mac mini. Customers can now get all three Macs with M1 chip in the Refurbished Store at a discounted price. The cheapest model of the refurbished M1 Mac mini currently available has 256GB SSD storage and 16GB RAM. While this model is priced at $899, you can now buy the same model in the Apple Refurbished Store for $759 — a $140 discount....

As previously rumored, U2 announced today that its new album Songs of Innocence will be available for free. The news came in an announcement on stage with Apple CEO Tim Cook and the band following a performance at the company’s iPhone and Apple Watch event earlier today. Rather than bundling the album with new iPhone models as rumored, Apple is making the album available for free to download on iTunes for all users....

Apple currently supports over 50 languages and varying script systems with its system-wide keyboard in iOS, but a new job listing hints that it is working to add support for additional languages and writing systems. Apple is looking to add engineers to its iOS keyboard and text team, and its UIKit Frameworks team, to “work closely with international teams and native speakers to accommodate all the world’s script systems.” Apple has done a lot of work on the iOS keyboard in terms of language support in recent years, and most recently announced that “improved Chinese input including handwriting recognition for multiple Chinese characters” would be arriving in iOS 7....

Apple News+ debuted in March, and Apple was quick to tout that the service attracted over 200,000 subscribers at that time. A new report from CNBC today details that since then, Apple has struggled to add Apple News+ subscribers. The report cites people familiar with the matter and says that the number of Apple News+ subscribers hasn’t “increased materially from its first couple days.” What’s also unclear is how many of those 200,000 initial subscribers converted from the free trial to paying customers....