Apple has silently extended its worldwide program that offers free repair to 13-inch MacBook Pro models with display backlight issues. While the original program covered eligible laptops for four years after the first unit was sold, the company changed it today to five years. The original program was announced in May 2019 for owners of the 13-inch MacBook Pro models introduced in 2016. Apple says that some units may exhibit unexpected behavior on the display, such as bright vertical areas at the bottom of the screen....

Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a wide-reaching new investor note this evening. Kuo says that Apple will release new iPads, a new 16-inch MacBook Pro, a 31-inch 6K monitor, iPhones with bilateral charging, and more in 2019. First and foremost, Kuo says that the 2019 iPhone models will retain the same screen sizes as the iPhone XS and iPhone XR. This means we’ll get 6.5-inch, 5.8-inch, and 6....

In the last month, Apple has sent a flurry of push notifications to iOS users ranging from iPhone XR promotions to HomePod promotions, Carpool Karaoke episode releases, and more. Last week, users flocked to Twitter to complain that they received a push notification from the TV application on iOS about an “All-new CarPool Karaoke” episode with Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber. The notification was sent shortly after the episode’s premier and acting on it launched the TV app for viewing it....

With the 2018 Winter Olympics kicking off in Pyeongchang, Apple News has launched a robust new featured section for tracking up-to-the-minute coverage of the games for the next two weeks. The partnership with NBC Olympics includes original content created by Apple News editors plus custom graphics made specifically for Apple News (with most if not all graphics created by StoryTK for Apple). Readers will also be able to view video from the games right in the News app and have access to curated articles from various Apple News partners....

After multiple years without the ability to ship to Puerto Rico, Apple’s Online Store has been updated with the ability to ship to the United States territory. The option became active this week, and is noted on Apple’s shipping and delivery webpage. Apple notes on its website that average transit time is 2-5 days, and carrier deliveries occur twice a week in Culebra and Vieques (major islands off of mainland Puerto Rico)....

Apple’s operations chief said today that the company paid out over $3 billion to small businesses that supplied Apple with parts for its products in 2013. That money was split up between around 7,000 different suppliers as part of the SupplierPay program started by the White House. SupplierPay is an extension of a federal program called QuickPay that required the government to issue payments to small business partners within 15 days of billing in an attempt to promote economic growth....

Update 11:50 am PT: The new antitrust act has been officially introduced. US House representatives have unveiled the Ending Platform Monopolies Act today – renamed as the American Choice and Innovation Online Act. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) shared a statement (via The Verge): Spotify’s head of global affairs and chief legal officer Horatio Gutierrez also shared a statement on the act being officially unveiled and the company’s perspective on how it could impact Apple:...

(we’ve heard this directive comes from the tip top) First it was the MacBooks, then the Aluminum iMac, and now the MacBook Pros (old 17 inch notwithstanding). Today, the Cinema Displays are falling. Apple just EOL’ed the 23 inch (matte) display in favor of the 24-inch DisplayPort (glossy) beauty that will be shipping later this month. It isn’t a huge stretch that the 20 inch and 30 inch displays will likely follow at Macworld 2009....

Apple today announced the next version of macOS, named Big Sur. It features a UI overhaul that brings it closer to iOS in style. Many buttons are now chromeless and highlight as you mouse over. There is a lot more translucency, and app icons in the Dock now resemble their iOS counterparts too. macOS Big Sur also brings Control Center to the desktop for the first time with quick access to brightness and other toggles....

This render provides our first look at Apple’s plan to build a sizeable new R&D center in Japan. We first heard that Apple would be building a facility “on par with Apple’s biggest R&D centers in Asia” from the Japanese Prime Minister late last year. Japanese news site NHK reports that the center will be built on the outskirts of Yokohama, the second biggest city in Japan after nearby Tokyo. The city’s mayor announced in a news conference that Apple had purchased the remains of a Panasonic factory on the site, and would be building a 25,000 square meter facility over four floors....

The approval of two trademarks has raised hopes of seeing the launch of Apple Card in Canada. Canadian trademarks were approved for both Apple Card and Apple Cash. The Canadian Trademarks Database reveals that it took quite some time to get approval … Apple filed its application back in July of 2019, and approval was finally granted just last week. iPhone in Canada spotted the filing. Apple Card was launched in the US in 2019, and hasn’t yet made it to any other countries....

Earlier today, a report explained that Apple was among a handful of companies who had applied for government permission to test drone usage beyond current FAA limits. Now, Apple has officially commented on these plans… A report in 2016 indicated that Apple was planning to use drones to collect data for Apple Maps, and now the company has confirmed that initiative. The company says, however, that its stance on privacy will remain the same throughout its use of drones....

At WWDC this past June, Apple shared updates on its guidelines for HTML5 use in iOS apps. Now Apple has announced that developers will have an extra six months to prepare their apps to meet the new guidelines. Apple detailed the extended deadline and reiterated the new HTML5 App Store guidelines in a post on its developer site today: Apple still asks developers to update their apps as soon as possible to be in compliance with the new guidelines but is giving another six months to make the necessary changes....

The USPTO has today published an Apple patent application for a flexible display which deforms when touched to provide tactile feedback. Actuators beneath the display would create bumps or ridges in the display to simulate buttons and other virtual objects. The patent also describes a speaker and microphone that could work through the display, potentially making for sleeker and more water-resistant devices. The display described would be sensitive to both touch and pressure … Electronic devices may be provided that contain flexible displays and internal components....

In January, there was a lot of scuttlebutt about Apple talking to various car manufacturers over the Apple Car (Project Titan). It seemed like Apple wanted to find an existing carmaker that would build an Apple-branded car to their specification. Bloomberg says those talks have mostly fizzled out as carmakers do not want to be reduced to a mere contract manufacturer in the supply chain. Instead, Apple is likely to turn to contract manufacturing specialists like Foxconn or Magna....

With iOS 8, Apple will now backup of all your photos. The limitations of Photo Stream seem to have gone away. Apple will now store all of your photos in iCloud, regardless of what device you take them on. iPhones and iPads can view these entire libraries, without having to download them to local storage. The photos stream in as you scroll. Storage is only limited by your iCloud Storage. Apple has announced new cheaper storage plans to go along with the new philosophy....

Apple has opened registrations for this year’s ‘Hour of Code’ workshops, providing kids aged six and up with a free one-hour introduction to the basics of computer programming. The workshops take place at Apple Stores around the world on December 10th, and this will be the third year running that the company has offered them. Like last year, the company is also holding a number of special events in support of Computer Science Education Week and Code....

We heard a report in November that Apple was testing an iPhone 7 model with dual rear cameras, and a patent application published today not only confirms that Apple is indeed exploring the idea, but reveals some extremely exciting possibilities with such a setup. The most basic of these, noted by Patently Apple, is effectively optical zoom. By fitting two separate camera modules behind the lens, and creating a single lens with both standard and telephoto sections, you’d be able to switch between two different focal lengths....

Microsoft Security essentials took an astonishing lead with over 40% of reader votes. The next runner-up was “Other” and in the comments Avast took the cake followed up by Comodo. A few others mentioned were Avira, Trend Micro, Vipre, Malwarebytes and Bitdefender. As for the rest of the official results, check them out in the graphic below. Overall it looks like most people took advantage of the free anti-virus programs available....

Today’s continuing testimony in the iTunes antitrust lawsuit has revealed that the company added changes to iTunes that deleted music that had been purchased through competing stores like Real Player from iPods. Users would not be notified that any music would be deleted by updating their music players. The deletions allegedly occurred between 2007 and 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Whenever a user tried to sync an iPod with iTunes, it would check for music from other sources....