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Apple has been granted patents on three Apple Watch bands, just a few days before pre-order customers are due to start receiving their watches, reports Patently Apple. The three patents cover the Sport Band, Classic Buckle and Link Bracelet, and are simply listed as “the ornamental design for a band, as shown and described” … Apple had already been granted a patent for the Modern Buckle that the company apparently sees as a women’s band, as it is available only for the 38mm watch....

Alongside the new iMacs, Apple has silently raised the prices of all Mac mini models in both Australia and Brazil. In Australia, the prices were formerly A$699 and A$899 for the standard configurations, and the Mac mini Server model was priced at A$ 1,099.00. Now, the machines are priced at A$749, A$999, and A$1249, respectively. Here are the new prices in Brazil (up R$ 300, 400, and 500 respectively): The prices for the Mac mini have also been raised in Portugal and Malaysia, multiple tipsters have noticed....

Job listings mentioning the LTE wireless data technology have appeared in Apple’s database before, but none of these listings have been like what we have just found. Those jobs listings mentioned LTE technology-familiarity as a skill, but now we have discovered a job that lists the integration of LTE in iOS devices as a “specific duty.” Apple’s job listings are usually a good indication of what’s to come, and Apple listing the integration of LTE in their iOS devices as a specific duty, is definitely an indication that they are building and potentially planning to sell devices with an LTE 4G data connection....

Commenting on Apple’s record-breaking 2020 Q1 performance, CEO Tim Cook shared an update on how many active devices are now in customers’ hands and we’ve also got fresh numbers on how iOS 13/iPadOS 13 adoption is coming along. Apple posted a record-breaking fiscal Q1 for 2020 with revenue of $91.8 billion and that means more Apple devices than ever are in the hands of customers. Last year at this time, Tim Cook shared that Apple had 1....

Apple is facing a class action lawsuit over how it labels TV bundles in the iTunes Store, according to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter. The class action lawsuit was recently filed in California federal court and alleges that by counting promotional clips as episodes, Apple is deceiving buyers of Season Pass content. On the iTunes Store, Apple allows customers to purchase TV shows on an episode-by-episode basis, as complete seasons, or with a Season Pass....

After rebranding its A List: Hip-Hop playlist last month to Rap Life, Apple Music has given a makeover to its A list: Alternative playlist. The rotating collection of curated songs is now called ALT CTRL. Last month Apple Music changed its A List: Hip-Hop playlist to Rap Life and also announced that a weekly Beats 1 Radio show with the same name would be launching. Now the latest shift comes to the A List: Alternative playlist....

Apple has now opened the floodgates and is letting all developers submit Watch apps to the App Store. This means any of the 1.2 million apps can now submit updates including Watch apps (using the WatchKit framework), beyond the select partners Apple rolled out last week. As a reminder, Watch apps come bundled as extensions inside normal iOS apps. This means customers can update the apps in the iPhone ready for the Watch’s release on the 24th....

Apple opened up its Apple Park campus to more than 350 WWDC scholarship students yesterday, welcoming them to an orientation and meet-and-greet in the Steve Jobs Theater. And it looks like the company wanted to make sure the place was looking good for their visit … Drone pilot Matthew Roberts found workers cleaning the roof as he did his latest over-flight (below). We can see many more trees planted now, along with more finished grass areas, helping the campus really start living up to its name....

According to an Apple patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and detailed by PatentlyApple, Apple is at the very least conceptualizing a device that sports a removable back panel for easily replaceable components such as lenses or optical solutions. While it is unclear whether the invention would be used in a standalone camera, next-generation iPod or iPhone, or a different device entirely, the patent detailed several methods of upgrading a device with supplementary optics:...

There has been no shortage of Apple patent applications published by the US Patent & Trademark Office today (via PatentlyApple). Three of the most interesting with potential to be implemented in upcoming products include a dual OLED backlighting system for future iPads, integrated speaker clip for iPod nano, and new hold and swipe gestures for iOS devices. First up we have a patent application that backs up a report from DigiTimes claiming Apple is considering alternative backlighting systems with a dual-LED light bar design for iPad 3....

Apple may be planning to block drones from over-flying its Apple Park campus, but it is also reportedly interested in experimenting with its own drone flights. The government has opened up applications to companies interested in being able to conduct experimental drone flights beyond those currently permitted by FAA rules, and Apple is said to be one of the applicants … Reuters reports that the program would exempt participating companies from four FAA regulations....

Earlier this week, Apple has reorganized its online page where it details upcoming data collection operations for Apple Maps. This takes the form of cars equipped with LIDAR and photographic cameras being driven around cities, and ‘pedestrian’ surveys where Maps employees walk around wearing backpacks fitted with similar sensors. The data is ultimately fed back into Apple Maps to improve accuracy. The page now reports that ground surveys will begin in Andorra in April....

Apple today launched support for turn-by-turn directions in Apple Maps for India, an emerging market that Apple has pinpointed for future growth potential. Now, Indian iPhone customers or tourists can get precise routing throughout the country. Apple also launched support for ride-hailing apps Uber and Ola, so you can request rides from inside of Maps using the two biggest taxi app in India. Apple has a thousands of employees at its Indian offices, who are all focused on improvements to the worldwide Apple Maps service....

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue was spotted alongside Tim Cook at the annual Sun Valley conference for technology and media executives. According to a tweet from Bloomberg‘s Jon Erlichman, Cue and Cook arrived today at the conference, as pictured above. In response to a question about the event being a “big week,” Cook reportedly said, “we’ll see.” The week long conference held in Idaho, which Tim Cook attended last year, is a media-and-content-heavy conference focused on making deals, partnerships, and acquisitions....

Apple has filed a number of patent applications for different ways of embedding a fingerprint reader into a display, and one of these has today been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Apple first applied for the patent in 2015. In addition to allowing Apple to eliminate a separate Touch ID sensor, the patent also explains how embedding the reader into the screen can make for a more seamless experience …...

When we reported on Apple’s courtroom woes in March, we told you lawmakers were sending letters to iOS devs (Apple included) and questioning them on their privacy policies about how apps access contact data without explicit user permission. Despite promises, Apple has yet to carry out an update requiring apps to ask for user-approval, but an earlier case over the collection of user data has been given the green light by U....

Buried inside all of Apple’s announcements today were some notable changes to the company’s AppleCare+ repair program. While Apple has long charged $99 for repairs of current-gen devices and $79 for previous-gen repairs, the company today announced that there is now a flat $99 charge for all incidental repairs under AppleCare+. For one of the most common repairs, however, there’s a nice pricing improvement… Perhaps most notably, however, there’s a new fee that applies exclusively to screen repairs for AppleCare+ customers....

We brought you an “iPhone 5 conversion kit” earlier this week that essentially allowed you to purchase a back plate mod kit resembling the leaked images of the white and black next-generation iPhone backs. Apple does not want you to get your hands on the new iPhone design just yet, so it not surprisingly issued a take down notice to the makers of the mod kit. The sellers still promise to accept orders for the next 48 hours and continue to ship to those who have already ordered....

As it does every year, Apple has officially kicked off its iTunes Boxing Week sale with discounts on select albums for this week only. The sale, which both UK and Canadian users will find under a special section in the iTunes store on both iOS and Mac, will likely remain available through the end of the week. While “Boxing Day” is officially recognized in Canada and elsewhere on the 26th, retailers usually offer a Black Friday-type event for Boxing Day with most sales lasting the entire week following Dec....

Apple is preparing to enhance its Apple Store-based iPhone sales operations in the United States around pre-paid and month-to-month plans in order boost sales, according to a source briefed on the upcoming initiatives. For the first time in U.S. Apple Stores, customers will be able to purchase an iPhone at full-price and then connect the phone to a pre-paid plan or a month-to-month plan within the store. Previously, iPhone customers could only buy full-priced iPhones as unlocked devices then connect the devices to pre-paid plans or month-to-month plans via a previously purchased SIM-card or through a carrier store…...