Apple told its retail employees that it will likely start reopening Apple Stores sometime during the first half of April, according to memo sent to various store employees on Tuesday.
Apple shuttered 467 of its stores outside of China as a precaution as COVID-19 rapidly advanced around the world.
Schools across the globe are closing due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Apple is ready to help educators with a new site that shows teachers how to enable remote learnings for all students using Apple products.
The Apple Education Learning Series website features a collection of videos that are geared to students and educators of all ages. There are only two videos on the site currently, but Apple says the site will continue to add more.
Apple pushed out a big software update to Apple Watch wearers today that expands ECG functionality on the Series 4 and Series 5 to users in Chile, Turkey and New Zealand.
watchOS 6.2 was released to the public today alongside iOS 13.4, iPadOS 13.4 and macOS Catalina 10.15.4. The new watchOS update also adds a couple of new features, including the ability to make in-app purchases for Apple Watch apps.
Instagram rolled out a new live media-sharing tool Tuesday that narrows the gap created by social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak.
Friends following each other can now view Instagram posts together through a video chat.
Macs everywhere can now upgrade to macOS Catalina 10.15.4. This adds iCloud Drive folder sharing as well as Apple Music time-synced lyrics and other enhancements.
Global smartphone production could fall as much as 30% during the first half of 2020, according to analysts at ABI Research.
The advisory firm’s latest report claims that while analysts previously hoped the arrival of 5G smartphones would bring a big sales boost at the end of the year, that’s unlikely to happen now that the coronavirus outbreak has paused device production and plunged the global economy into a recession.
iPad and iPhone both just received important software updates, with iPadOS 13.4 and iOS 13.4 bringing a range of new features. Apple’s tablets now enjoy robust mouse/trackpad support. iPhones and iPads both gain iCloud Drive folder sharing.
It’s a surprise to no one that video streaming services are seeing big surges in demand while everyone is stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it seems Apple TV+ is missing out.
While the likes of Netflix, HBO Now, and Disney+ have seen sharp increases in subscribers in recent weeks, according to a new report, the number of people turning to Apple TV+ has hardly risen at all.
YouTube viewers are set to see a big drop in video quality worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Alphabet-owned streaming giant revealed that it will reduce the quality of all videos to standard definition starting today as a way to alleviate internet congestions due to more people having to shelter in place.
The developers of the game Plague Inc. will donate $250,000 to fight the real-life plague, COVID-19, currently gripping the globe.
Ndemic Creations said it will split the money between the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Plugable Technologies announced Tuesday the availability of its 2.5Gbps USB Ethernet Adapter, bring a significant boost in speed over other ubiquitous devices at 1Gbps.
This affordable plug-in accessory is compatible with Mac and works over Cat 5e and Cat 6 Ethernet cables.
U.K. Finance on Tuesday confirmed it is increasing the contactless card payment limit to £45. The move is designed to make shopping simpler during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will be permanent.
Consumers in the U.K. can currently spend up to £30 on their debit cards before having to enter their PIN number. The new limit comes into effect on April 1 and will be useful where Apple Pay isn’t available.
Disney+, the streaming service from the Walt Disney Company, launched in the early hours of Tuesday morning across the United Kingdom and six European countries, but at reduced bandwidth and video quality after a government request to ease the strain on broadband networks.
Cult of Mac confirmed that the Disney+ app and service are available on the Apple TV App Store in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.
Popular banking app Revolut on Tuesday officially opened its doors to customers in the U.S.
The app has already proven incredibly popular in Europe where it has picked up more than 10 million users, while 60,000 people in the U.S. have been beta testing the service since last June.
Revolut offers a number of neat advantages you don’t get from traditional banks, including the ability to request money from others, notifications for all purchases, and the ability to exchange currencies.
It’s now possible for developers to make their apps available as a universal purchase. Apple enabled the change on Monday, paving the way for macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS apps to be bundled as one.
Apple is not forcing developers to use universal purchases. It does hope, however, that the move will promote the use of Catalyst for porting iPad apps over to Mac.
Apple is working with German car manufacturer BMW to develop a brand-new CarKey feature for iOS 14, according to a new report out Tuesday. It seems BMW could be first to support the feature this fall.
CarKey is expected to make it possible to unlock and even start compatible vehicles using only your iPhone or Apple Watch. It could also allow for key sharing between family and friends.
Integrating your iPhone with your Dell computer just got far easier. A significant update to Dell Mobile Connect lets users mirror applications running on their iOS handset to their Windows computer. Wireless files transfers between the two were also added.
Beats 1 DJs on Apple Music are being forced to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic and while they’re stuck inside, they’re turning to FaceTime to get the job done.
Apple revealed Monday that its radio show hosts will record interviews with musicians and other artists from their homes by using FaceTime on iPhone.
Apple’s retail origins were far less glossy than today’s glass shrines known as Apple Stores. If a dealer wanted to sell an Apple II in 1978, the fledgling computer company provided a 4-foot-by-5-foot acrylic sign in a metal frame. On the face was a rainbow Apple logo over the words “apple computer.” No capital letters.
Bidding on one of those original signs starts at $20,000 in an online auction that ends in three days.
The U.S. Trade Representative exempted the Apple Watch from the tariffs Apple had been paying to import this product from China, where it’s assembled.
The company continues to pay import taxes on AirPods, iMac and other products.
iPhones and Androids on Verizon’s cellular wireless network will get an additional 15GB of mobile data for free. The goal is to help this company’s subscribers keep in touch while working or schooling from home during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Earlier this month, rival T-Mobile went even farther by temporarily removing all data caps on customers who don’t already have an unlimited plan.
Imaging software companies have been stepping up to support photographers and artists with work drying up because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Joining Adobe and Skylum, Serif is offering three months free access to its Affinity suite of apps, which includes Affinity Photo for Mac and iPad. If trial users like Affinity they can purchase the apps for 50 percent off the retail price.
The iMac might finally get a big design change in 2020 after going untouched for seven years and one team of concept designers is hoping it borrows heavily from the new Mac Pro.
Viktor Kádár and Patrik Borgatai imagined what the 2020 iMac lineup will look like if Apple added a new Pro Display XDR and a base that looks like a Pro Stand that doesn’t cost $999. The end result is a more industrial looking iMac with slimmer bezels and louder sound.
This thing is absolutely gorgeous:
In tvOS 14, Apple reportedly plans to give parents new controls over what their children watch on Apple TV devices. The tvOS update also will give parents the ability to control the amount of time their kids spend watching Apple TV content, according to a report published Monday.
Israeli website The Verifier also renewed speculation that Cupertino will announce a new 128GB Apple TV streaming device later this year. And it could come with a new Apple TV remote design.
China’s production pipelines are finally getting back into full swing just in time to start building the 2020 iPhone.
Foxconn, Apple’s top iPhone assembler, says it has hired enough workers at all major Chinese plants to meet seasonal demand for iPhone production, in what could be a strong signal that the labor shortages in China caused by COVID-19 are starting to get back to normal.