Update: Apple changed the status for Apple Card from “outage” to “resolved outage” Wednesday afternoon. The service was offline for almost exactly six hours.
Apple Card users may find that they’re unable to make a payment or see recent transactions. Apple reports that the software that handles these tasks for its credit card has been having problems for several hours.
An improved display in the iPhone 13 series reportedly will force Apple to put in a larger battery, making the upcoming handsets slightly thicker.
This could mean we finally get an iPhone screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The faster rate makes the user interface of a phone or tablet just a bit smoother and more responsive.
There’s macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS and tvOS. How about homeOS, signaling a ramping up of Apple’s smart home ambitions?
That is one take-home from a new Apple Music job posting spotted online. It references a hitherto-unannounced mobile operating system called “homeOS.” While Apple rolled out its HomeKit smart home platform in 2014, it has — to date — been a part of iOS/iPadOS, rather than its own fully fledged operating system. That could change soon.
The bumpy, pothole-filled road to Apple Car continues, with Bloomberg claiming Wednesday that Apple has “lost multiple top managers of its self-driving car team” in recent months.
The company reportedly has hundreds of engineers working on self-driving software, along with multiple groups of employees working on a physical vehicle. However, multiple managers on the project have thrown in the towel this year alone. That’s never a great look.
Slapping a smartwatch on your wrist has long been a luxury with a major payoff. It’s convenient to manage your day from your watch. Using an Apple Watch can allow you to step away from your iPhone or Mac while remaining in touch via notifications and other smart features.
However, smartwatches can also be quite expensive. The most-affordable Apple Watch costs $199, and higher-end models go for hundreds of dollars more. But for a limited time, you can score an Apple Watch alternative called the ChronoWatch for just $32.97. It’s an affordable wearable that offers many of the benefits of top smartwatches. (Typically listed at $199, the ChronoWatch will still be a bargain at $39.99 if you miss this exceptional price drop.
Tim Cook is “afraid of [the] shareholder blowback” that might come with buying a Hollywood studio, claims one executive, quoted in a new story from the Hollywood Reporter.
The article, published Wednesday, suggests that Apple missed out on buying MGM Studios because it wasn’t bold enough to do so. Amazon recently snapped up MGM, home of the James Bond movies, for a massive $8.45 billion. Apple was supposedly in the bidding at some point, but didn’t wind up going through with it.
Because Tim Cook’s chicken. Or something.
A bribery allegation against Apple’s head of global security has been dropped due to lack of evidence. Thomas Moyer, who has worked at Apple since 2006, was accused of donating 200 iPads to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office in exchange for concealed firearms licenses.
Two officials at the sheriff’s office also faced indictments as part of the investigation.
Apple has stopped signing iOS 14.5.1 following the release of iOS 14.6 a couple of weeks ago. That means that, if you’ve already upgraded to the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, there’s no going back again. (Although, to be fair, why would you want to?)
Apple stops signing firmware quickly after introducing newer, more up-to-date versions. “Signing” is the process of confirming that code is legitimate and has not been altered or corrupted. This allows downloaders to know their software updates are coming through official Apple channels.
Tim Cook is one of the highest-profile CEOs in the world, currently in his tenth year running what’s currently the most valuable public company in the United States. But Cook is far from the biggest earner when it comes to executive compensation.
According to a ranking by the Wall Street Journal, Cook ranked 171st among S&P 500 CEOs in 2020s, taking into account both pay and compensation packages. While Cook’s take-home was a more-than-adequate $14,769,259 for the year, that’s still considerably under the $211 million raked in by Chad Richison of Paycom, the no. 1 entry on the list.
Ahead of next week’s WWDC 2021, Apple is highlighting the young developers who have won its Swift Student Challenge. The annual contest exists to reward up-and-coming coders who are on Apple’s radar. They typically win some great Apple swag for their troubles.
This year, for its second virtual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple handed out prizes to 350 next generation Swift coders from 35 countries and regions. They had to submit an original Swift playground in order to win a spot. Apple seizes upon this year’s competition to show off the diversity of the people who entered.