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The Apple online store was updated with some pretty minor tweaks this morning, but welcomed nonetheless. After hitting the “Buy Now” button on the iPad product page you’re now taken to a new and improved interface for selecting your color, model, and carrier preferences. As of right now, only the iPad ordering page for the US and UK stores seem to have received the update. It also appears that the usual “Ships in 24 hours” is now displayed as “In Stock”....

The most mainstream technology company-related controversy within the past few weeks is most likely the issue of Chinese supplier-working conditions. In January, the New York Times published a lengthy and controversial report about the supposed conditions in these supplier factories. The report claimed to source its information from former Apple executives, and it paints Apple and its suppliers in a horrible light. As we exclusively revealed, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to the Times’ report and said, “We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain....

From the Toys section: AT&T Wireless offers the 1st-generation Apple iPad 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G Tablet for $529. (Search for “iPad” to find it.) With free shipping, that’s $130 below what Apple charges for a refurbishedunit and the lowest total price we’ve ever seen by $100. This 0.5″-thick tablet weighs 1.5 lbs. and features an Apple A4 1GHz processor, 9.7″ 1024×768 LCD touchscreen display, 802.11a/n wireless, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, accelerometer, compass, up to 10 hours of battery life, and more....

With Microsoft’s Windows 10 major operating system update launching today, Apple has issued a new driver update for Windows users with 2015 MacBooks, MacBook Airs, and MacBook Pros. Specifically, the FaceTime Camera Driver Update is meant to improve FaceTime camera compatibility with Windows when using OS X’s built-in Boot Camp functionality. The 1.4 MB software update doesn’t appear to be available through the Mac App Store, but 2015 MacBook owners can download and install it from the Apple’s support site here....

In January, we reported that Apple is preparing a new 4-inch iPhone that is essentially 2013’s iPhone 5s with upgraded internals. At the time, we heard that Apple would call the device the “iPhone 5se” based on it being both an enhanced and “special edition” version of the iPhone 5s. Now, we are hearing that Apple appears to be going all in on the special edition factor: sources say that Apple has decided to drop the “5” from the device’s name and simply call it the “iPhone SE....

Apple has finally addressed an Seagate hard drive issue dating back to 2006-2007 Black or White MacBooks which would fail with a question mark icon on startup. Apple will repair these drives until August 15th of 2010 or three years beyond purchase – whichever is longer. Problems with the Seagate drives were first reported in 2007. We’re not sure what took so long for the acknowledgment. Apple/Seagate also offered to reimburse users who may have taken the drives to be repaired themselves previously....

Apple has a bender of a weekend selling two million copies of Leopard. We can’t tell if this is a monstrous amount or just a lot but if you consider $100x2million = $200 million bucks, that’s a pretty good weekend. Also – since Apple just had its first 2 million Mac sales quarter, this is a pretty impressive display of trust from its customers. Both from a “users not pirating something that they can get for free” standpoint and from an EARLY adopter “trust that Leopard is a good piece of software at a great price” standpoint....

Image credit: Anonymous uploader Maybe we were expecting too much from Apple this time around. Maybe we’re just used to big Job-era Apple announcements with whizzy new product and significant upgrades. The iPhone 4S announcement is no iPhone 5. Despite more than a year since the last Apple iPhone iteration, it’s time. Maybe it’s a parts shortage. Maybe Tim Cook is conservatively holding it back for marketing or accounting reasons as yet unclear....

[Update: Mashable says the exclusive Apple Watch models (pictured above) will feature yellow gold and silver aluminum color options with dark red straps.] Apple is making two exclusive Apple Watch Sport designs available for certain markets to celebrate the Chinese New Year, set to take place February 8 this year. A translation of Apple’s announcement indicates that the models will be available for sale until February 22 or while supplies last....

A few years ago, I told a few friends that I wasn’t planning to add security cameras to my house. After Apple announced HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV), my mind began to change. I have never been comfortable with security cameras that use third-party cameras, and my initial belief was repeatedly reinforced. Recently, BuzzFeed reported on an ADT employee accessing cameras inside customers’ homes. I want a video system where that’s not technically possible....

Apple has shared its annual holiday advertisement today, this year touting the “the magic of mini.” The ad features the rapper Tierra Whack and includes a focus primarily on Apple’s new $99 HomePod mini and the $299 full-sized HomePod. The ad highlights the new HomePod mini and sticks to one of Apple’s long-running trends: how music can help improve your mood. The two songs featured in the video are: “feel good” by Tierra Whack “Peppers and Onions” by Tierra Whack “Turn up the holidays with HomePod mini....

Apple has made the Lightning to Micro USB adapter available on its online store this afternoon for $19 in the United States. The adapter allows you to charge or connect your iPhone with any Micro USB cable, and considering how cheap the cables are, buying this adapter may not be such a bad idea. You can buy a 6-foot Micro USB cable for less than $2 giving you three more feet than Apple’s standard connector....

Siri will no longer default to using Apple messaging and phone apps after an iOS update later in the year, revealed the company. Instead, Siri will intelligently choose the appropriate text or voice messaging app based on your past communication with each contact… Bloomberg reports on the upcoming change. Apple appears to be taking the action in response to antitrust claims, one strand of which is that the company abuses its dominant position in order to promote its own apps over third-party ones....

Continuing their showcase of new and upcoming artists, Apple Music has announced Daniel Caesar as this month’s Up Next artist. As with previous artists, Caesar’s showcase includes a documentary, an Up Next Session, and an interview with Beats 1’s Ebro Darden. About Daniel Caesar: Get to know Daniel Caesar on Apple Music’s Up Next at apple.co/upnext. Stay up to date with the exclusives coming to Apple Music and Beats 1 in over at our What’s Coming page....

After launching a new iPhone trade-in program through its retail stores in the U.S and UK and another initiative in India, Apple appears to be planning even more trade-in programs in emerging markets. A new job listing posted on the company’s website seeking a Reuse (Trade-In) Worldwide Program Manager is looking for someone to assist in “developing and implementing programs in emerging markets, with emphasis in APAC and ALAC, while enhancing current EMEIA and North American programs....

Much like the somewhat controversial face unlock feature built-in to Google’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone, a new patent application reveals Apple too is working on similar, but more advanced user detection solutions. As PatentlyApple pointed out, Apple noted these recognition systems could land in a future iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or MacBook. The basics of the patent entitled “Low Threshold Face Recognition,” is to allow a user to unlock a device—such an iPhone or iPad—using facial recognition....

In this article, you’ll learn more about iCloud Keychain, how to use it, and its best uses. What is iCloud Keychain? Apple’s iCloud Keychain offers one secure location to save personal information. Perhaps most importantly, it remembers this information so you can auto-fill content across the web and apps such as usernames/passwords, credit cards, and social log-ins. You can use iCloud Keychain to store Wi-Fi passwords and credit card information....

Over the past few days, it appears that Apple Maps has gained support for in-app reviews and images from two new sources. Since its launch, Apple Maps has only supported reviews of businesses from Yelp, but now it appears that the app is integrating user content from TripAdvisor and Booking.com for hotels, as seen below. At this point there does not seem to be any criteria for when you will see content from Yelp, Booking....

Apple products may last a long time, but as we know, the batteries do not. For Macs, Apple provides a handy way to determine the battery’s cycle count, but for a product like the AirPods, that may not be possible. This means that when your AirPods batteries eventually degrade to a noticeable degree, you’ll have to get them replaced. Apple has recently updated their iPhone Service Pricing page with details on the AirPods’ battery replacement pricing, but there is still some clarity to be had in how it all works....

Apple has released a new dashboard specifically for musicians called Apple Music for Artists. The new dashboard has been created to give “deep analytical insight” about fans’ buying and listening habits. First reported by Billboard, Apple is releasing the new feature to “a few thousand” artists as a beta feature today, with what looks like a full rollout to all artists sometime this spring. Billboard got an early look at the dashboard and notes the clean and simple interface (see above) that is easy to use....