As part of the Apple event today, the company unveiled the new lineup of iPad Pro tablets. The 2021 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro feature the 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU M1 chip, and a new Thunderbolt connector (over the same USB-C port). The larger 12.9-inch model also sports a new mini-LED screen, which Apple calls ‘Liquid Retina XDR’. For the first time, iPad Pro is also available in a 2TB storage option and up to 16 GB RAM....

Apple has set its next Apple Watch Activity for August 8th. This time around, the challenge will be exclusive to China, with Apple celebrating the country’s “National Fitness Day.” China has celebrated National Fitness Day every year since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This marks the second year in a row in which Apple has gotten involved with an Apple Watch Activity Challenge. This is a rare instance where Activity Challenges are geo-locked....

Well, at least the CEO may – or may not – be there – he may instead choose to explore the sights and sounds of Paris. Or maybe he popped out for a meal with Mick Jagger, who was in the same meeting yesterday. What was the meeting about? Well, that’s pretty important, really. Ostensibly Jobs, Jagger, Apple’s iTunes head, Eddie Cue, and representatives from EMI, eBay, Fiat, UK consumer association, Which?...

Apple announced this morning that it is closing all retail stores and corporate offices in mainland China as a precautionary measure due to current coronavirus situation. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said its thoughts are with those affected and its decision to temporarily close stores is based on the latest advice from health experts. Whilst all retail stores will now be temporarily closed, Apple’s online store will remain operational so Chinese Apple customers can continue to buy online — and contact online support — in the meantime....

Apple offers a wide variety of digital content for those looking to find their Christmas spirit this holiday season. Classic flicks adorn iTunes and the App store as digital downloads, audio books, albums and applications, and each media selection gives global users the opportunity to find good cheer… [vodpod id=Groupvideo.10664228&w=650&h=420&fv=] Frank Capra directed “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and it stars James Stewart and Donna Reed. According to Internet Movie Database, the movie is about an angel who helps a frustrated businessperson discover life’s joys by showing him an alternate reality without his existence during Christmastime....

Apple is significantly extending the amount of time customers have to add AppleCare coverage to protect their iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and other hardware products. Bloomberg reports that Apple has informed retail and customer support employees that customers in the US and Canada now have up to one year to buy AppleCare+ coverage. Traditionally, Apple has given users 60 days from their purchase date to add AppleCare to their hardware product....

Apple has updated its online store with a quicker, same-day delivery option on select items ordered in certain zip codes. The new “courier delivery” option, which promises to deliver “on the same day, within four hours”, has been added today as an additional supported faster delivery method for items bought on Apple’s online store. Apple previously only offered guaranteed shipping services with additional fees that promised next day shipping or next day shipping before noon....

Obtained via Buzzfeed, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a memo this morning to employees reaffirming its position against the government in the Apple/FBI iPhone backdoor case. He thanks Apple employees and feedback from customers for their public support and says that whilst Apple has no sympathy for terrorists, the data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding citizens is threatened by the government order. Apple wants the government to withdraw its demands justified by the All Writs Act and encourages an open discussion between law enforcement, technology and privacy experts on privacy issues....

As Apple continues to observe Earth Day this year with its new Tim Cook-narrated “Better” film and detailed environmental report card site, the Cupertino company is issuing Apple-branded reusable water bottles to both corporate and retail employees to promote responsible. In its message to employees, Apple says that 16,420 plastic bottles can be saved through reusable water bottle use, and Apple employees alone can save 22 tons of plastic waste per year (that’s 44,000 pounds) using a reusable water bottle....

Apple is introducing a new initiative to replace the wallet, Apple Pay. You hold your iPhone 6 to a sensor, use Touch ID to authenticate and done. The transaction is complete. The system works using NFC at supporting locations — NFC is built into every iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 NFC sensor strip is at the top of the phone. Credit cards appear in your Passbook. They are secured using a secure enclave in the phone....

We are all familiar with various retailers offering discounted iTunes cards by now. We told you just yesterday that Walmart is offering downloadable $100 iTunes/App Store gift cards for just $80. The redeem code associated with these cards is usually good for the purchase of all content from the stores including songs, movies, TV shows, apps, games, books, etc. However, according to a report from German website ifun.de, Apple is no longer allowing discounted iTunes cards to be used toward the purchase of books in the country due to pressure from a German bookseller association:...

“The ceiling for the Macs is nowhere in sight. Even if the market itself isn’t growing, for us, switching Windows users is an enormous opportunity,” Cook also added. This is a critical metric for Apple, which once dominated computing on college campuses. In October 2007, analyst Toni Sacconaghi Jr. of Bernstein Research noted Apple to hold 29 per cent of the US market for notebooks in the most expensive fifth of the market, up from 8 per cent three years before that....

In the latest drone flyover video of Apple’s under-construction Campus 2, this one sent in by Matthew Roberts, we get a close-up look at progress made in recent weeks on the new Apple headquarters set to open early next year. First we see that Apple is getting close to putting finishing touches of the underground Theatre where it will hold future events, at least on the exterior portion visible in the video....

Apple is launching medical clinics intended to offer employees and their families the ‘world’s best healthcare.’ The clinics are branded as AC Wellness, but job listings describe the company as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple. While Apple is recruiting for just two clinics so far, one of them based at the Apple Park campus, a job listing states that the aim is to create ‘multiple, stunning state-of-the-art medical centers’ …...

Just a few hours after the end of its ‘Gather round’ event at Steve Jobs Theater, Apple had a handful of products pass through the FCC. The filings relate to the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, iPhone XR, and Apple Watch Series 4. While the equipment authorization requests were originally sent to the Federal Communications Commission by Apple back on July 2nd, 2018, only today did the fillings become public as Apple requested confidentiality....

Over the last several months, we’ve learned quite a bit about Apple’s re-entry into the Pro display market. The display is said to measure 31.6-inches and feature a 6K resolution. Read on as we roundup everything we know so far about the display, and when it might be available. Apple officially left the standalone display market in 2016, discontinuing its Thunderbolt Display and pointing users towards third-party options. The move, however, was met with disappointment from Pro users who rely on seamless integration between Apple’s various hardware products....

We reported last week that the opening of Apple’s Grand Central retail store was rumored to be delayed to Friday, December 9. Today a report from New York Post is confirming a grand opening for next weekend while giving us an inside look into the one-of-a-kind lease that the publication has obtained a copy of. Unfortunately, as we learned from our video walkthrough of the space (video below), much of the retail space doesn’t take advantage of the terminal’s architecture and will actually be located underground, in the basement....

Apple today announced the 8th-generation iPad, featuring an A12 chip compared to the previous-generation’s A10 processor. The design of the new entry-level iPad is largely the same as its predecessor. The jump from A10 to A12 means Apple’s cheapest iPad will feature the Neural Engine for the first time. Apple says the A12 chip offers more than twice the performance of the top selling Windows laptop, 6x faster than the top-selling Android tablet and 6x faster than the best-selling Chromebook....

The US Patent & Trademark Office has today published an Apple patent application for a foldable display. This follows earlier rumors that the company was working with LG on a future foldable iPhone. The patent describes a display that can be ‘opened and closed like a book’ … The first report of Apple working on a foldable display dates back almost a year, when it was said to be one of several companies partnering with LG....

Yesterday, Apple released its first ever diversity report and a letter from CEO Tim Cook explaining Apple’s approach to diversity and inclusion and its importance at Apple. The report details several facts, including that 55% of Apple’s United States workforce is white and only 30% of the Apple workforce is female. Writing about the report, Cook said, “I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page. They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard for quite some time to improve them....