Apple is changing the way it hires much of its security staff, San Jose Mercury News reports. Apple will begin to directly employe most of its security offers rather than contracting staff out. The change is especially notable as it means Apple will be providing benefits including health insurance and retirement options to its security staff. An Apple spokesperson told the newspaper that it will be working with the existing contractor that handles security staffing for the company to transition employees to officially work for Apple....

Apple announced today that it’s rolling out a new feature for its TestFlight beta distribution service called TestFlight Groups to improve the experience of managing builds with multiple testers. Apple noted the Groups feature will allow developers to “organize your testers into groups to quickly send specific builds”, provide separate instructions on where to focus, and apply an action to several testers at once in TestFlight.” The new feature is available to those using Apple’s in beta TestFlight service through iTunes Connect....

Apple today has announced a voluntary recall and exchange program for a select number of AC wall plug adapters used in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Continental Europe, New Zealand and South Korea. America is not included in the recall. Apple says that in “very rare cases” the two-pronged Apple wall adapters could break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. Apple said that the affected wall adapters shipped between 2003 and 2015 with Mac and certain iOS devices....

The Chinese Apple Online Store went down for maintenance yesterday as the company rolled out the price changes across its product lines. For example, the Apple Store price for the iPhone XR has fallen from 6499 RMB to 6199 RMB, or about 4.5%. This is slightly more than the 3% drop in the sales tax, but it is not unusual for Apple to round to a more aesthetically pleasing price, like ending in ’99’....

Apple is putting a big focus on exclusive content with its new Apple Music streaming service. In addition to the debut of exclusive music, interviews, and content uploaded directly by artists on the fly, it appears the service’s 24/7 live radio station, Beats 1, will also be the source of exclusive industry news and events. The proof of that comes in the form of an announcement today that the station will exclusively reveal nominees for the upcoming Video Music Awards....

Update 2: Shipping times in at least Hong Kong started at 1-2 weeks then quickly to changed to “currently unavailable”. Update: The Australian Apple Online store and others are back up and listing all iPad Air models as shipping in 24 hours. Lines have started to form at Apple stores around the world. Send pics of your Apple Store line to tips@9to5mac.com. Images below. With Apple’s iPad Air launch about to kick off on the morning of Nov....

Apple will now build a total of 14 million to 15 million iPhones in the second half of the year, the analysts said. Pacific Crest also raised its second half iPhone unit sales projection to 11 million from 8 million. Despite the reduction in production, these figures still put Apple in seventh place for sales in the global smartphone market, prompting Forward Concepts analyst Will Strauss to tell EE Times that he is confident that Apple will make it into the top 10 handset makers this year....

Ahead of the public launch of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions later this month, Apple has announced a new affiliate program for the platform. This affiliate program will pay out a 50% commission to the person who shared the link when a user converts to a paid subscription. As first reported by TechCrunch, the new program is called the “Apple Services Performance Partner Program for Apple Podcasts.” It joins Apple’s other affiliate programs for things like Apple News+ and Apple Music....

With Apple’s Q3 earnings call this week revealing iPad sales of 13.3 million units for the quarter and Tim Cook making a point of defending the category, today we get a look at how Apple is doing overall with IDC’s latest numbers for worldwide tablet shipments. While noting that tablet shipments worldwide grew 11% year-over-year, IDC’s numbers show that Apple was able to maintain its lead over Samsung with 26.9% of the market (down from 33% last year) compared to Samsung at 17....

BuzzFeed News reports today that Apple will hold a special spring event on March 25th at Steve Jobs Theater. The event is said to focus on Apple’s upcoming news subscription service, with hardware announcements unlikely. According to the report, new AirPods, a new iPad mini, and other hardware announcements are unlikely at the March event. Whether or not Apple’s streaming video service will make an appearance is unclear. Just earlier today, a report from The Wall Street Journal detailed the revenue split Apple is planning for its news subscription service....

https://twitter.com/dmaul53854/status/312270255152046080 Apple today introduced discounts for its new iMac lineup for its Employees Purchase Program, signaling it could be further caught up with demand and moving past the significant constraints it experienced in the months following launch. On top of 25 percent off, which brings the top of the line iMac model down from $1,999 to $1,599, Apple’s employees get $500 toward Macs every three years. Up until today, Apple wasn’t offering EPP discounts on the new iMac lineup (something it has done for new backordered products before), but this could be because the product has experienced significant constraints in the last few months of production....

Apple has shared a Newsroom post today recapping the first year of its Entrepreneur Camp, which is specifically designed for organizations led by women. 100 companies have participated so far and gained a lot of valuable experience. Read on for some stories from innovators that have gone through the program and to learn more about how to apply for Apple’s next Entrepreneur Camp. Here’s more about how the program works:...

Apple has been slowly but surely growing hiring rates for jobs related to “health” fields. The company’s job openings with the word specifically mentioned in the career title have increased 400% as the company continues to view health as its “greatest contribution to mankind”. According to new data by Thinknum, Apple has 75 open job listings with the word “health” in the career title, as compared to just 15 openings in October 2017....

Update: Apple has now added the 8 GB 5c to its European online stores. In the UK, the device is priced at £429 unlocked — a difference of £40 between it and the 16 GB model. It will likely appear on the U.S. site in the coming hours. It appears limited to the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China. Earlier today, we reported that Apple was planning release an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c to help support the phone’s lagging sales....

Whether you are very new to the Apple ecosystem or upgrading your phone for the eighth time, setting up a new iPhone is a thrilling experience. This is true due to its wonderful features, great camera, advanced options that carry the phone to the next generation too. However, setting up a network is also important in any phones with a suitable network connection. This network connection will let you browse the internet and other social media pages....

Apple has joined the Alliance for Open Media, a technology consortium that is working on a new industry standard, high-efficiency video codec called AV1. Other goals of the group include navigating the complicated nature of royalties with HEVC Advance, the industry group behind H.265 (commonly known as HEVC) which Apple has adopted with High Sierra and iOS 11. It’s possible with Apple joining the Alliance for Open Media that the AV1 codec could become the efficient video compression that unifies the industry moving forward....

Apple Maps has been updated to show COVID-19 airport travel guidance in partnership with the Airports Council International. The feature is rolling out now with Apple Maps surfacing a paragraph of important details along with a link to an airport’s COVID travel guidance page. Two weeks ago, Apple Maps added COVID vaccine locations in the US and now the platform is gaining useful global airport travel guidance. The Airports Council International (ACI) shared the news in a press release today:...

Apple Maps public transit navigation continues its leisurely global rollout, with the ability to plan journeys using trains now available in parts of Austria. A next-step is also anticipated in Germany … iPhone Ticker reports that the public transit feature is now working in the capital of Vienna, as well as the popular ski resort of Innsbruck, alongside other unspecified cities. The site notes that Apple hasn’t yet added Austria to its official list of supported countries....

Apple News+ hasn’t even been available for a month yet, and some publishers are already growing frustrated with it. A new report from Digiday details how some publishers are experiencing headaches with formatting, communicating with Apple, and more. In its original pitches to publishers, Apple promised that it would provide design resources and article templates. According to today’s report, which cites communication with five publishers, Apple’s promise has proven to be “half true....

Apple has today launched Apple News+ in the United Kingdom with access to around 150 publications. For £9.99 per month, Apple users can access current and past issues from UK-centric magazines and newspapers including The Times, Esquire, Empire, Hello!, Cyclist and Grazia. UK subscribers can also access US publications including the Wall Street Journal. UK users can start using the Apple News+ service now. Just visit the News+ tab in the Apple News app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac....