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.
The Apple digital distribution App Store is expanding to 20 more countries this year, Apple informed developers Monday. Apple has yet to reveal which countries are included in the expansion nor when the first additional nations will go live.
There are strong indications that the 467 Apple Stores outside mainland China closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic will not reopen until mid-April at the earliest, according to multiple location managers and employees worldwide.
Many Apple Store staff members are being quietly told that the situation remains on a “wait-and-see” status. Meanwhile, Cupertino executives continue to assess which locations might reopen and when on a case-by-case, state-by-state and country-by-country basis.
“I’ve been told not to expect stores in my area to be open anytime soon, and when I asked for a guess, two people ventured to say mid-April, but they said it with no certainty,” said the manager of an Apple Store in the southern United States. The Apple employee asked not to be named because the discussions were meant to be private.
Emergency medical workers in San Francisco are turning to an iPhone-connected smart ring to track their body temperature and other vital signs as a way to identify early symptoms of COVID-19.
2,000 Oura Rings have been distributed to workers at the UCSF Medical Center and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. It’s the first study developed to spot COVID-19 symptoms and help curb its spread. Researchers are hoping the medical data can be used to create an algorithm that can detect COVID-19 before symptoms even manifest.
The 10th-generation Intel processors at the heart of the 2020 MacBook Air launched last week are one of its major enhancements. But these reportedly aren’t standard chips. Some have higher clock speeds, and all have other improvements.
Of all of Apple’s creations, the iPod is a sentimental favorite. For many, it was their first Apple device.
An iPod-inspired action figure called iBoy could be your gateway to other Apple-inspired toys from Hong Kong toymaker Philip Lee.
Apple in recent days has ramped up its prices on build-to-order Mac configurations in many countries outside the United States.
Pricing for standard machine configurations remains the same. But if you want to upgrade your Mac’s processor or increase its RAM or storage, you can expect to pay around 10% more for each component.
Planning to buy a lot of apps, movies and iBooks while stuck at home for the rest of the month? You might want to consider adding money to your Apple ID account to get more bang for your buck.
The OtterBox Defender Series adds multiple layers of shielding, and a version specifically for the 2020 iPad Pro already hit store shelves.
This case wraps around the sides and back of the tablet, plus it includes a built-in screen protector and a removable screen shield that also functions as a kickstand.
The grand unveiling of Apple’s 2020 iPhone lineup is still nearly half a year away, but you can already get a solid look at what to expect with the newest concept trailer from ConceptsiPhone.
Created in cooperation with reliable iPhone-leaker Ben Geskin, this iPhone concept video avoids fanciful features like a holographic display or embedded Touch ID scanner in favor of a no-frills design that looks more like a mix between the iPhone X and iPhone 4, only without a notch.
Take a look:
With COVID-19 lockdowns walling us off from friends and family, the FaceTime feature on iPhones and iPads is saving our social lives.
But glitchy audio and periodic freezing of the video stream add to our mounting self-isolation frustration.
Fresh iOS 14 leaks that surfaced on Monday reveal Apple’s plans to bring new notification triggers and an augmented reality mode to the Find My app.
The improvements could give users the ability to get an alert when a contact doesn’t arrive at a specific location by a certain time. They could also make it easier to track down lost Macs and iOS devices.
Ireland is not allowed to use the 14 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in disputed back taxes it collected from Apple to help boost its economy during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.
Yesterday, the leader of the opposition Sinn Féin party, Mary Lou McDonald, said the Irish government could “right this minute” reach into the escrow account where the funds are held and use them to help workers. However, Taoiseach politician Leo Varadkar says that simply isn’t the case.
Apple is aware of Personal Hotspot problems some users are facing after updating to iOS 13, according to a report published Saturday.
The company reportedly distributed an internal document to Authorized Service Providers acknowledging the issue. There is no fix for the problem yet, but there is a temporary workaround users can employ in the meantime.
Disney has delayed the launch of its Disney+ streaming service by two weeks in France. This is as a result of a request by the French government.
Disney has also agreed to a European Union request for streaming video providers to scale back streaming quality by “at least” 25%. This is to “ensure the smooth functioning of the broadband infrastructure” at a time when the internet faces the strain of more heavy traffic while people are stuck home due to the coronavirus crisis.
Face it: Apple’s probably never going to make a touchscreen Mac. It’s definitely never going to make a touchscreen Mac that looks like the 1986-era Macintosh Plus.
Fortunately, engineer and Mac fan Travis DeRose has stepped up to the plate to show us what such a glorious amalgamation of concepts would look like — by building what essentially amounts to a Mac Plus case for his iPad mini. No, it’s not particularly practical, but it is neat looking. Check out his video below.
Apple plans to make big upgrades to the iPhone’s camera in the coming years, according to the latest research note from reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, published on Monday.
It is predicted this year’s refresh will bring sensor-shift image stabilization to at least one model before the technology rolls out to all flagship handsets in 2021. iPhone is then expected to get periscope with up to 10x optical zoom in 2022.
Apple isn’t giving up on its dreams of an AirPower wireless charging mat, according to Jon Prosser of FrontPageTech. In a series of tweets sent Sunday, Prosser said that Apple is in the process of “re-engineering” AirPower from the ground up. “Prototyping is underway,” he wrote.
While that’s still no guarantee that AirPower will make it to market, it’s good news to hear that Cupertino’s not abandoning plans for a product many people were excited about.
Apple is offering users in the U.S. (and hopefully elsewhere soon) a selection of free books and audiobooks to help while away the hours while in self-isolation.
A push notification Apple sent out Sunday advises customers to “enjoy a good book, on us.” It reads as follows: