Apple is facing some competition as it looks to secure luxury office space in Manhattan. According to a new report from the New York Post, Apple is sparring with Facebook over the office space, but Facebook reportedly holds the edge. The report explains that Facebook has been in talks to take over 740,000 square feet of office space that is being built in the former James A. Farley Post Office in Midtown Manhattan....

On its UK YouTube channel, Apple this evening shared a series of new ads for the iPad and Apple Pencil. These ads continue Apple’s focus of promoting the new $329 iPad’s capabilities with the Apple Pencil… Apple shared four ads on the channel this evening, one of which originally hit the company’s Australian YouTube channel last week and highlights markup with Apple Pencil. Each of the other three ads showcase a specific feature or application....

With just six days to go until WWDC 2021, Apple has rolled out another notable update to the Apple Developer app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The update brings further optimizations for this year’s all-virtual conference, including support for signing up for labs, new stickers, and more. Apple writes in the release notes for today’s update that the Apple Developer app now supports signing up for WWDC 2021 labs directly within the app, as well as exploring other digital offerings for the conference....

The U1 chip was introduced by Apple in 2019 with the iPhone 11, and since then, the company has only brought it to the Apple Watch Series 6 and the iPhone 12 lineup. Although some rumors suggested that Apple’s over-ear headphones would have the U1 chip, Apple launched the AirPods Max today without its Ultra Wideband chip. Apple only mentions that AirPods Max have the H1 chip in each ear cup for computational audio and other smart features just like other AirPods models....

[Update: EMagin’s CFO has said today that Apple has not invested in the company, but that EMagin included the Cupertino company in its January filing “because it had discussions with them at industry events.” and added that the document was “misinterpreted.”] Apple is making further investments into bringing augmented reality devices to market. The latest news is the company backing a small AR display component maker along side LG and others....

Last week on our sister-site Electrek, we reported on Faraday Future (FF), a well-funded California-based startup looking to invest $1 billion to build an electric vehicle factory in the US. Due to the company refusing to disclose its CEO or investors, some media outlets have been reporting that it could be a front for Apple’s Project Titan. But it isn’t likely for Apple to have any involvement with the company since everything points to it being backed by the Chinese technology company LeTV....

Apple Music Connect, a social interaction feature between artists and listeners that was a cornerstone of the Apple Music launch last summer, will be demoted in an iOS 10 overhaul this fall. Apple Music Connect was designed as a major component of the Apple Music service that would spur usage by allowing artists to share photos, videos, and audio while on tour in addition to allowing Apple Music listeners to comment and like posts....

Unlocking all of Anthem’s Javelins and choosing which ones to use will undoubtedly be an early-game focus for new players. After years of development, Anthem is now available, and there’s a lot to digest in BioWare’s new adventure. Anthem plays very differently to what people experienced in the beta, and choosing a Javelin is one of the most important elements of the game. Unfortunately, Anthem doesn’t do a particularly great job of explaining what players are getting into when they choose their first Javelin, and once you’ve chosen, you’re stuck until you unlock another Javelin suit later....

Apple’s upcoming video streaming service is an open secret at this point, with details continuously leaking about shows and movies the company is working on. Today, Variety is reporting that Billy Crudup and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are joining the cast of the upcoming Apple original series led by Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. The show will be directed and produced by Mimi Leder and the show runner, EP and writer will be Kerry Ehrin....

In an email circulating to customers, Apple has announced that the ad-supported iTunes Radio stations available in the US and Australia are going away on January 29th. Beats 1 will be the ‘premiere free broadcast’ going forward. All other radio station features, i.e. the algorithmic stations like Charting Now or Pop Workout, will require an active Apple Music subscription. The full email is included below … This marks the end of iTunes Radio as first launched in 2013, which expanded internationally into just one country: Australia....

Apple has announced that it will hold its annual iTunes Festival in London during the month of September. The event will occur nightly during that month at the Roadhouse in London. Apple says that popular artists Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jack Johnson and Jessie J will headline the event. The event will be streamed nightly to iOS devices, iTunes on computers, and the Apple TV: In select countries, tickets will be raffled off by local media partners, according to Apple:...

The Wall Street Journal reports that Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon Products, Inc. and the Apple board member, is facing a scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission over missteps at her company. Avon shares dropped eighteen percent on the news. It wasn’t immediately clear how the development might reflect Apple, where Jung serves as one of the seven members of board of directors. In addition, Jung in December of 2010 became the co-lead director of Apple’s board to replace Jobs’s mentor and former Intuit CEO, Bill Campbell, also known as the ‘Coach’....

Apple is currently involved in an outreach program to new neighbors in its planned “Campus 2” area. A brochure was mailed this week to residents surrounding the new campus that provided information and invited feedback in a variety of ways. Although the project seems to be a big win for the city of Cupertino, some residents voiced concern about the added traffic and other changes to the area. We obtained a letter from one of Apple’s new neighbors—here are the takeaways:...

Apple today is expanding its Search Ads program to handful of new countries. As reported by TechCrunch, Search Ads is now available to developers in six new countries across Europe and Asia… The Search Ads functionality is today rolling out to developers in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Spain. With today’s additions, the Search Ads platform is now available in 13 countries around the world. The previous seven countries included the United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the U....

Apple has started sending notices to developers who offer apps in China with CallKit integration. The notice explains that apps cannot offer CallKit functionality in China due to government regulations. In order for developers to make their application available on the China App Store, they must remove that CallKit integration. Alternatively, they can remove the application from China altogether. This crack down appears to have been a long time coming. Popular communication app WeChat briefly supported CallKit integration, though the feature was later removed....

Apple today debuted a new Arabic version of Apple.com, bringing the language to its website and online store for the first time alongside a new font right-to-left text. The new Arabic website can be viewed on Apple’s United Arab Emirates website, although most of Apple’s own links to the UAE site still point to the English version that was live for that market previously. While Apple hasn’t made an official announcement about the new site, talk on Twitter points to the Tarek Atrissi Design agency as the designer of the new Arabic font being used on Apple....

Ahead of CES back in January, Apple debuted new billboard advertisements highlighting its focus on user privacy. Apple is now continuing that campaign with two new billboards in Canada. As spotted by Matt Elliot and Josh McConnell on Twitter, Apple has recently debuted two billboards in Canada promoting its privacy focus. The first billboard is located right outside of Sidewalk Labs’ headquarters in Toronto – and says “We’re in the business of staying out of your business....

A new study today from Analysis Group, supported by Apple, aims to defend the 30% cut Apple takes from App Store transactions. According to the research, Apple’s App Store commission rate is similar to those of other app stores and digital content marketplaces. “Support for this study was provided by Apple,” the study discloses on the first page. “The conclusions and opinions expressed are exclusively those of the authors.” The study analyzed commission rates used by 38 different digital marketplaces, including apps and software, video game platforms, and other digital content such as videos and ebooks....

In a post on its iTunes Connect blog this evening, Apple today explained new server notifications from the App Store that are available for developers. The notifications and receipt enhancements center around subscriptions and come on the heels of a new ‘customer support’ role Apple announced last night for iTunes Connect. The new notifications make it easier for both developers and customers to keep track of things such as auto-renew subscription status preferences, price consent changes, renewal failures, and more....

Apple has shared a new one-minute ad focused on iPhone privacy. The video highlights how much private information we have stored on smartphones and that it should belong to “you.” The new privacy on iPhone ad features an opening scene of a city at night as the narrator describes how important privacy is and how much private information we have on our smartphones. The ad goes on to highlight the various types of private information like location and health data that we have now....