Apple has opened up a new portal in the iTunes Store to take donations for the Japan earthquake and tsunami relief fund. Users who wish to donate can donate in $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 increments. 100% of the money donated through iTunes goes to Red Cross efforts in Japan. Click here to go the donate page. Update: Apple has posted a message on Apple Japan. “To those who have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami, we send sympathies from our heart....

Apple Watch Series 2 was the first model to be entirely waterproof, and Apple introduced an important feature to keep the internal components protected. As you may know, Apple Watch has a water-ejection system in which the speaker expels water — and this might come to iPhone, according to a new patent registered by Apple. The Apple Watch water-ejection system works by using the speaker to vibrate and emit specific sounds that push the water out, which is useful when you use your Apple Watch for swimming or during a shower....

Apogee has announced the new MiC 96k microphone and the JAM 96k guitar interface for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The full press releases can be found below. Introduced in 2011, the original MiC has become the mobile microphone of choice for both aspiring and professional artists looking for that big-studio sound. The new MiC 96k, which features the same look and portable form factor as the original, now provides the ability to make higher fidelity recordings – up to 24-bit/96kHz – and includes an iOS Lighting cable as well as a microphone stand adapter in the box....

The iPhone XR embargoes have just lifted and everyone is giving their thoughts on the new mainstream iPhone. The front camera and rear wide angle camera in the XR and XS are identical, so have the same upsides and downsides when it comes to Apple’s computational photographing. The Verge had an interesting tidbit: Apple is adjusting the Smart HDR algorithm in iOS 12 to retain more detail and address the aggressive skin smoothing complaints....

Today, Apple has begun notifying participants in its early software seeding program (AppleSeed) that OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2 is on the way. According to the email notification, the 10.8.2 seeding will begin soon. AppleSeed and Mac Developer builds typically coincide in release timing, so it appears that registered Mac developers will, too, receive the first 10.8.2 build very soon. With OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1 coming soon as a maintenance release, this new 10....

Live on stage, Apple has just kicked things off during its event by officially announcing the new iPhone lineup: the much rumored 4.7-inch device is called iPhone 6, while the larger 5.5-inch model is dubbed “iPhone 6 Plus”. Here’s what we know so far: Both of the new iPhone models include new “Retina HD” displays with cover glass that Apple says is ion-strengthened. Apple says the displays feature a full sRGB wide color gamut and that “dual-domain pixels on the photo-aligned IPS display give you a wider angle of view....

Earlier this year Apple launched a new program called the Security Research Device Program to help researchers find vulnerabilities in iOS and also in its devices. Researchers can apply to get the special hardware since June, and now the company is finally shipping these “rooted” iPhones to those who have been accepted. Citing its own sources, MacRumors says that the first researchers who applied the program were notified today regarding the modified iPhone....

Although slowing iPhone growth began to impact Apple’s bottom line numbers in the last quarter of the year, the company dominated Silicon Valley in 2015 as far as finances are concerned. In a survey of public tech companies in the Valley, total profit was $133 billion. Apple, alone, recorded profit of $53.7 billion dollars, responsible for 40% of the entire profit pool. The data was collected by SiliconValley.com. Apple also ranked no....

New orders for Apple’s recently launched 27-inch Retina iMac aren’t the only ones seeing delayed shipment times as Apple has just started informing some customers of unexpected delays for orders placed as long ago as last month. In the email quoting an “unexpected delay” (pictured above), Apple added an extra 5-7 days to the “ships by” date and provided the reader with a new delivery estimate of Nov. 28 – Dec....

Apple has officially an all-new feature coming to Podcasts next month. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions will allow listeners to directly support podcasters through the Podcasts app. The new service inside Apple Podcasts will be available starting in May. Here are the details: Apple Podcasts Subscriptions will be available to listeners in over 170 countries and regions in May. Specific software requirements for Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels will be shared ahead of availability....

Apple this week has expanded its Apple Maps Connect service to five additional regions in Europe: Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and The Netherlands. The additions were noted in an email to users of the platform and on the Apple Maps Connect website. For those unfamiliar, Apple Maps Connect allows business owners to both manage existing Apple Maps listings and add additional listings to the platform. This service works closely with the Apple Indoor Mapping feature, which aims for businesses to help Apple build up a portfolio of indoor mapping data....

The new way to enter your hotel room requires an iPhone running iOS 15 or an Apple Watch running WatchOS 8. Users with compatible devices can simply select the key on their device and hold it near the built-in sensor on their room door to gain entry – as if they held a traditional keycard. Before they even arrive at the hotel, users can add keys at supported locations upon making a reservation....

As noted by VentureBeat, EA revealed today during its earnings call with investors that for the first time, Apple has become “EA’s biggest retail partner as measured by sales” as a result of the App Store. It’s a big announcement for the publisher that previously sold the majority of its content through retail channels for console games, and it could be a sign that EA will be investing more in iOS and other mobile titles in the months to come....

Following an announcement earlier this year that Apple was teaming up with IBM to deliver a number of enterprise solutions, today Apple has officially announced the first wave of iOS apps being released through the partnership. As part of IBM’s “MobileFirst for iOS,” Apple and IBM today announced 10 new apps designed specifically for businesses including banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications and for governments and airlines. The apps launching today through the partnership include Plan Flight and Passenger+ for the travel industry, Advise & Grow and Trusted Advice for the banking and financial industries, Retention (insurance), Case Advice and Incident Aware for government, Sales Assist and Pick & Pack for retail, and Expert Tech for telecommunications industries....

Last week, we reported that Australia had passed a new anti-encryption law that could force Apple and other tech companies to help law enforcement access encrypted messages. TechCrunch reports today, however, that Apple is among a handful of tech companies coming out against the legislation. A group of United States tech companies, including Apple, Google, and Microsoft, today collectively voiced opposition to the law passed last week. In a statement, the companies called the anti-encryption law in Australia “deeply flawed” and said it will undermine the privacy of users:...

Apple has announced the iPad Air, the successor to the full-sized iPad. It has a 43% thinner bezel and a 9.7-inch Retina display… It is 7.5mm thin, 20% thinner across the entire device. iPad Air weighs 1 pound. It has an A7 64-bit processor. Much improved performance overall and graphics. It has 2x rendering. New WiFi technology with new antennas. Twice as fast. Also, expanded LTE coverage with more carriers across the globe....

Apple has officially started the Apple Card rollout. Apple will send out invites to a select group of customers today who showed interest in Apple Card by filling out the “Notify Me” form on the Apple website (via TechCrunch). Invited users to the Apple Card Preview will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app, and also apply for the physical titanium card to be delivered. Apple will be launching Apple Card for everyone later in the month....

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said that Goldman employees were testing Apple Card ahead of its summer launch. Now, Bloomberg reports that Apple has expanded the testing of Apple Card to all of its retail employees. Apple retail employees were reportedly notified on the expanded Apple Card test via an internal message. The employees can apply for Apple Card via their personal devices and are being quoted the same APR range that Apple advertised in March: 13....

Despite the recent change of president in the United States, Apple is maintaining its environmental pledge made to the previous administration, Bloomberg reports. Apple joined other companies including Google and Microsoft in signing a statement backing renewable energy efforts. The joint statement follows an order signed by President Trump that reverses Environmental Protection Agency climate rules put in place by the Obama administration that Apple and other companies backed. Apple’s commitment to renewable energy efforts made when signing the 2015 pledge may line up with other tech companies, but Bloomberg notes that other companies welcome the change:...

Apple has issued a statement to The Register confirming reports and rumors stating that iOS web apps and embedded web views in iOS applications are throttled and run twice as slow as Safari. iOS 4.3 includes a new “nitro” web processing engine, which promises to run java script twice as fast as earlier versions of iOS Safari. According to Apple’s iOS feature page: The only affected users would be users of third-party web browsers that utilize the web engine that Apple provides to developers in Xcode....