As spotted by Patently Apple, Apple was today granted five patents covering the form factor and overall design of the Apple Watch. The patent images show the near-invisible bezel, Digital Crown, contacts button, rear sensors and strap attachment slots. The company was last month granted patents on three of its watch bands – the Sport Band, Classic Buckle and Link Bracelet – and we’re likely to see many more watch-related patents granted in the coming months … Apple last year filed a patent application that builds on the watch’s Force Touch feature, a flexible display deforming to provide tactile feedback, while a separate patent application for the Force Touch used in the latest MacBook trackpad covers similar ideas....

Apple has been granted patents on three Apple Watch bands, just a few days before pre-order customers are due to start receiving their watches, reports Patently Apple. The three patents cover the Sport Band, Classic Buckle and Link Bracelet, and are simply listed as “the ornamental design for a band, as shown and described” … Apple had already been granted a patent for the Modern Buckle that the company apparently sees as a women’s band, as it is available only for the 38mm watch....

Alongside the new iMacs, Apple has silently raised the prices of all Mac mini models in both Australia and Brazil. In Australia, the prices were formerly A$699 and A$899 for the standard configurations, and the Mac mini Server model was priced at A$ 1,099.00. Now, the machines are priced at A$749, A$999, and A$1249, respectively. Here are the new prices in Brazil (up R$ 300, 400, and 500 respectively): The prices for the Mac mini have also been raised in Portugal and Malaysia, multiple tipsters have noticed....

Job listings mentioning the LTE wireless data technology have appeared in Apple’s database before, but none of these listings have been like what we have just found. Those jobs listings mentioned LTE technology-familiarity as a skill, but now we have discovered a job that lists the integration of LTE in iOS devices as a “specific duty.” Apple’s job listings are usually a good indication of what’s to come, and Apple listing the integration of LTE in their iOS devices as a specific duty, is definitely an indication that they are building and potentially planning to sell devices with an LTE 4G data connection....

Apex Legends, the popular battle game from Electronic Arts, will offer to its players a higher level cap and more rewards, starting from December 3. Despite the success that Apex Legends gained shortly after its release, the game has recently struggled to maintain its popularity, partially due to negative comments by Internet personalities who are relevant to the game industry. Last April, the Twitch streamer Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek threatened to leave the game forever because of its slow, laggy servers....

Apple has acquired the machine learning startup Inductiv Inc., according to a new report from Bloomberg. The startup had been developing technology that uses artificial intelligence to identify and correct errors in datasets. The report explains that the engineering team from Inductiv has joined Apple “in recent weeks” to work on several different projects including Siri, machine learning, and data science. Apple issued its standard statement regarding the acquisition, saying it “buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans....

We previously reported that Apple would likely introduce a new 128GB iPad model, and today the company made things official with a press release on its website announcing the product. As predicted, Apple will make both Wi-Fi-only and cellular options for the new 128GB capacity fourth-generation iPad. Apple also confirmed that both black and white models of the device would be available starting Feb. 5 through Apple’s online store, retail locations, and authorized resellers....

Apple just announced some pretty interesting numbers in their Q4 earnings call. Below you’ll find them broken down: $28.7 billion in Q4 revenue $6.62 billion in Q4 net profit $7.05 per diluted share 17.1 million iPhones sold in Q4 11.12 million iPads sold in Q4 6.6 million iPod sales sold in Q4 18 billion App Store downloads 180 million iBookstore downloads 6 million Lion downloads, since its release this summer 4....

Apple this weekend has clarified changes to its iTunes Affiliate Program. While it was originally stated that Apple would cut affiliate rates for apps altogether from 7 percent to 2.5 percent, the company has now confirmed that its original announcement was misinterpreted and the changes aren’t as drastic… In a post on the iTunes Affiliate Resources website, Apple confirmed that commissions for in-app purchases will be cut to 2.5 percent, while everything else will remain at 7 percent....

Apple is apparently looking for next-gen flexible LCD screen technology from Japan Display to use in future iPhone models. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is ‘considering’ the new panels for future iPhone designs which could pave the way for bendable smartphones becoming mainstream. Japan Display’s technology uses LCD and plastic rather than the typical LCD and glass, which makes it able to flex and bend as shown in the photo above (left)....

It’s been just over a year since Apple’s Jeff Williams first introduced ResearchKit on stage, and today the Apple COO returned to present the latest developments in Apple’s medical research effort. Williams revealed that the largest Parkinson’s study in history happened using ResearchKit. Following the success of both the HealthKit and ResearchKit frameworks, Apple is today introducing a new framework called CareKit. The first app to use this new framework will focus on Parkinson’s....

Apple announced last week iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, tvOS 14, and macOS Big Sur during WWDC 2020. This week, Apple’s Jenny Chen and Stephen Tonna were interviewed in the Connected podcast to talk about the new tools available to Apple Pencil users on iPadOS 14. Jenny Chen is an Apple engineer who works on Apple Pencil projects, while Stephen Tonna is part of Apple’s product marketing team. They joined Federico Viticci, Myke Hurley, and Stephen Hackett to talk about the changes made on iPadOS 14 to enhance the Apple Pencil experience, including the Scribble feature and more....

Apple is gradually reopening its retail stores around the world, as we’re tracking in our detailed roundup. Apple is implementing new procedures such as temperature checks to ensure the safety of visitors and employees, but regulators in Germany having concerns about these temperature checks. According to a report from Bloomberg Law, Apple is facing a probe by a regional data protection office in Germany over the temperature checks. The Hessian data protection agency seeks to find out if Apple’s plan to take customer temperatures “violates EU privacy rules....

One of the most intriguing changes in iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 is a merged Find My Friends and Find My iPhone application. The new app converts all of your Apple devices into Bluetooth beacons, enabling you to locate an offline device based on its proximity to any other Apple device. Now, Apple is offering up a bit more detail about the security features for the Find My application. Here’s how Apple describes offline location support in the new Find My app:...

Commenting on Apple’s record-breaking 2020 Q1 performance, CEO Tim Cook shared an update on how many active devices are now in customers’ hands and we’ve also got fresh numbers on how iOS 13/iPadOS 13 adoption is coming along. Apple posted a record-breaking fiscal Q1 for 2020 with revenue of $91.8 billion and that means more Apple devices than ever are in the hands of customers. Last year at this time, Tim Cook shared that Apple had 1....

Apple is facing a class action lawsuit over how it labels TV bundles in the iTunes Store, according to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter. The class action lawsuit was recently filed in California federal court and alleges that by counting promotional clips as episodes, Apple is deceiving buyers of Season Pass content. On the iTunes Store, Apple allows customers to purchase TV shows on an episode-by-episode basis, as complete seasons, or with a Season Pass....

After rebranding its A List: Hip-Hop playlist last month to Rap Life, Apple Music has given a makeover to its A list: Alternative playlist. The rotating collection of curated songs is now called ALT CTRL. Last month Apple Music changed its A List: Hip-Hop playlist to Rap Life and also announced that a weekly Beats 1 Radio show with the same name would be launching. Now the latest shift comes to the A List: Alternative playlist....

Apple has now opened the floodgates and is letting all developers submit Watch apps to the App Store. This means any of the 1.2 million apps can now submit updates including Watch apps (using the WatchKit framework), beyond the select partners Apple rolled out last week. As a reminder, Watch apps come bundled as extensions inside normal iOS apps. This means customers can update the apps in the iPhone ready for the Watch’s release on the 24th....

Apple opened up its Apple Park campus to more than 350 WWDC scholarship students yesterday, welcoming them to an orientation and meet-and-greet in the Steve Jobs Theater. And it looks like the company wanted to make sure the place was looking good for their visit … Drone pilot Matthew Roberts found workers cleaning the roof as he did his latest over-flight (below). We can see many more trees planted now, along with more finished grass areas, helping the campus really start living up to its name....

According to an Apple patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and detailed by PatentlyApple, Apple is at the very least conceptualizing a device that sports a removable back panel for easily replaceable components such as lenses or optical solutions. While it is unclear whether the invention would be used in a standalone camera, next-generation iPod or iPhone, or a different device entirely, the patent detailed several methods of upgrading a device with supplementary optics:...