Overnight, the Apple Music service has received a server-side upgrade which results in a redesigned ‘Browse’ tab in the Music app for iPhone and iPad. The new look seems to be rolling out slowly, as some readers are reporting they are still seeing the previous design. Previously, the Browse tab was laid out with a single horizontally-scrolling carousel of featured content and then a list of navigation options, which would start deep navigation hierarchies before users of the app would actually see any real content....

Throughout the construction of Apple Park, drone update videos became monthly occurrences. They offered beautiful overhead updates on Apple Park’s construction progress, but as construction wrapped up, Apple started to crack down on drone videos. Today, however, Duncan Sinfield is back with his first Apple Park drone update in six months. One interesting thing to note is that in today’s drone video, there is some sort of mystery stage in the center of the Apple Park spaceship ring....

Disney today announced the latest expansion of its ‘Dream Big Princess’ program, which it hopes will empower young women from around the world to create digital shorts. The latest expansion includes a notable partnership with Apple… Disney announced today that it will give 21 young woman the opportunity to create digital shorts telling the stories of inspiring female role model. Each filmmaker will be paired with an “inspirational interview subject spanning a diverse range of professions” and tasked with capturing the “stories of these incredible individuals” and their advice for achieving success....

Contradicting yesterday’s report by Reuters that Apple’s cloud music service is a go – but without the necessary support from record labels – Peter Kafka reported today on the Wall Street Journal’s MediaMemo blog that at least two out of four major record labels have signed on the dotted line. The rumored service will let you keep your music in the cloud and stream it to any authorized device. A source told the author that iTunes boss Eddy Cue, who appeared alongside Rupert Murdoch at The Daily introduction last February, is said to be on a tour today in New York in order to seal the remaining deals....

Had you heard? Apple’s got a ‘little’ event going on at the newly-decorated California Theatre tomorrow where they will FINALLY showcase the iPad Mini, new Mac Minis, a Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro as well as software like iBooks 3.0 and iTunes 11. First, the bad news: We’ve heard that the some of the iMacs that we found earlier have been pushed so far back that they might not warrant inclusion at the event this week....

Asymco analyst Horace Dediu has estimated that iTunes accounts for three-quarters of all digital music sales – $6.9b a year out of a total market of around $9.3b. He also noted that Apple had substantially exceeded his own expectations in video sales, with total sales to date of 380m movies and a cool 1b TV shows, but apps were where the real growth was seen … The per-user figures for music are quite surprising....

Following the devastating earthquakes that have hit Japan and Ecuador in recent days, Apple has opened a donations page in iTunes to support relief efforts in both areas. The company, as it has done in the past, is partnering with the American Red Cross for the donations and is accepting donations in $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 denominations. The donations are being accepted via iTunes and the App Store on both iOS devices and computers....

Apple is ensuring that its sub-contracted shuttle bus workers get a better deal, directly funding a 25% bump in their pay and requiring contractors to pay a higher hourly rate for split shifts–where drivers work both mornings and evenings but are kept hanging around without pay between the two … Apple is also requiring bus companies to improve rest areas, reports the Mercury News: “Over 5,000 Apple employees in the Bay Area take advantage of our commute alternatives program every day,” said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet....

Last year, Apple was rumored to be working on an autonomous all-electric car codenamed ‘Project Titan’. The company later confirmed development work on an autonomous driving platform and CEO Tim Cook even referred to it as “a core technology” for the company, but it showed signs of giving up on developing an actual car. But now Apple is reportedly working on electric car batteries with China’s biggest battery maker. Today, China’s Yicai Global reported that CATL, China’s largest automotive battery maker, is working with Apple on a confidential project:...

A few days after Fiksu showed how much better iOS is than Android when it comes to allowing older devices to upgrade to to the latest operating system, and most analytics companies were reporting iOS 7 penetration of around three-quarters of devices, Apple has updated its developer site to show that iOS 7 penetration is at 74 percent. Apple’s data is likely the most reliable, based on visits to the App Store during a 7-day period ending on 1st December....

In a new patent application, Apple details an idea it’s experimenting with that would have Apple Watch users shake hands to exchange data (via PatentlyApple). The idea is simple. The patent application imagines two Apple Watch wearers exchanging data, such as contact information, for example, by performing common gestures like a handshake or a hug: Certain embodiments of the present invention can facilitate the exchange of information (including but not limited to contact information) between user devices (e....

A Florida-based digital video company is suing Apple over a Siri feature of the fourth-generation Apple TV. The company, CustomPlay, says that it originally created the Apple TV and Siri feature that allows users to ask “what did he say?” to rewind and rewatch a short section of the video. The feature was introduced with tvOS and makes it easy for users to quickly rewind a movie or TV show by 10 seconds in order to catch any dialogue they may have missed....

Apple’s latest iOS devices are set to go on sale in just a few hours at 12AM PT/3AM ET and as usual the company has taken its online store offline to prepare for the release. The store will stay down until pre-orders open later tonight. The iPhone SE will be available in 16GB and 64GB varieties at $399 and $499 respectively. The device features a design nearly identical to that of the iPhone 5s, but largely the same internals as the iPhone 6s....

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by an Apple spokesperson, Apple has hired former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern. Stern will report to Eddy Cue and will carry a vice president title working on tasks related to Apple’s growing cloud services, including Apple Music. Stern left Time Warner Cable earlier this year follow its acquisition by Charter Communications. At Time Warner Cable, Stern served in senior strategy and corporate development roles throughout his time....

I’m not about to pitch my tent outside an Apple store just yet. But for the first time since my old iRiver MP3 player finally broke down in 2005, I’m actually considering buying an Apple iOS product. I didn’t wind up getting an iPod . It was too big a leap. I wasn’t ready to sell my soul to the company iTunes Store, either. But Apple chips away at me....

Apple is launching a new app and website to help inform Americans about how to stay safe and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Apple partnered with the CDC, FEMA, and the Coronavirus Task Force to develop the COVID-19 app and website. Apple releases new COVID-19 app and website based on CDC guidanceTools Offer Up-to-Date Guidance and Information for People Across the USApple today released a new screening tool and set of resources to help people stay informed and take the proper steps to protect their health during the spread of COVID-19, based on the latest CDC guidance....

Continuing the celebrations of its 40th birthday, Apple has posted a special Apple Music playlist featuring songs from Apple ads over the last four decades. The playlist contains 38 songs in total, with music from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Gorillaz and more. Unfortunately, the playlist has little accompanying context so you don’t know which songs correspond to which ads. Most the songs appear to be derived from old iPod commercials, like this one....

Following the release of iOS 14.5.1 on May 3 to the public, Apple today stopped signing the original iOS 14.5 release. That means users who have updated their devices to iOS 14.5.1 can no longer downgrade to iOS 14.5. According to Apple, iOS 14.5.1 fixes an exploit found in WebKit and a bug related to the new App Tracking Transparency feature (although it is still not working for some users)....

In order to get its new Lightning technology out on the market, Apple had to acquire the trademark “Lightning” from the popular motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson. According to Patently Apple, two trademark applications published on Sunday by the EU Patent and Trademark Office show the transfer of the trademark officially went down on Saturday. The term “Lightning” is still protected until 2013 under the original filing, and Harley-Davidson still owns some rights to the term....

Following our reports last week of Apple’s Ship to Store system being rolled out in San Francisco, we have learned this evening that Apple plans to rollout the new system to all regions this Thursday, November 3rd. The Ship to Store system will allow customers to place an order for a product on Apple’s Online Store and then pick up their purchase at their local Apple Store within the hour....