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An Apple antitrust investigation in South Korea may be settled with a face-saving deal which would allow the iPhone maker to change its practices and offer compensation without admitting to any wrong-doing. Apple has agreed to end unfair practices, and is offering a total of 100 billion won ($84M) in compensation, to be split between consumers, developers and manufacturers … Background Apple was accused back in 2016 of using its dominant position to force local carriers to agree to unfair terms, in exchange for being allowed to sell iPhones....

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has today published a patent application from Apple for a fuel cell system designed to allow a MacBook to operate without external power “for days or even weeks.” The patent was published shortly after a British company rumored to be working with Apple managed to fit a fuel cell battery into an iPhone 6, powering it for a week at a time. We first reported on that project last summer....

Apple is continuing to promote the iPhone X’s camera capabilities with a new short film, Three Minutes, posted today on the company’s Singapore YouTube channel. An accompanying behind-the-scenes tutorial page has been launched on Apple’s Chinese website. Apple describes the seven-minute film as follows: Similar to Détour, a shot on iPhone short film also produced with Apple in 2017, Three Minutes was created to showcase how creative professionals can take advantage of the camera hardware and powerful software Apple offers....

Following controversy in China with state-controlled media outlets going after Apple over its warranty policies, Apple CEO Tim Cook today addressed the issue in a letter published to the company’s website in China. Within the letter (translation below), Cook apologized to customers and announced the company would implement a number of changes to “improve the level of service” for Chinese customers. The controversy originally started after a report from state-controlled media outlets such as China Central Television criticized the company for treating consumers unfairly with its warranty and repair procedures compared to other countries....

According to documentation by Chinese battery website ChargerLAB, Apple is planning on shipping the necessary Lightning components required to assemble USB-C to Lightning cables to hardware manufactures in as soon as six weeks. This news is in contrast to a previous report which said these cables wouldn’t be launching until mid-2019. ChargerLAB’s documentation, shared with MacRumors, further states that the component will sell at $2.88 a piece, corroborating previous rumors of a higher cost than past USB-A connectors....

Apple this week introduced a new “Ethics and Compliance” webpage on its official website that highlights some of the company’s policies created to ensure that its business conduct complies with the law. On the webpage, which was quietly launched within Apple’s main website, the company details how it ensures compliance at Apple, the conduct of company business policies, and how they conduct independent assessments to guarantee that these policies are effective among employees....

Ahead of the device’s availability on Wednesday, Apple today has shared the first video advertisement for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. In a video entitled “A Great Big Universe” shared on its YouTube channel, Apple shows of the benefits of the device’s larger form factor, as well as apps that are optimized for it. The ad is heavily focused on the galaxy and using the iPad Pro to explore it with apps like Sky Guide Pro and Star Walk....

New York City’s Fifth Avenue Apple store is a landmark attraction in Manhattan. Its iconic glass cube entrance has drawn tourists from all over the world since opening in 2006. It was even ranked among the most photographed attractions in the city. Yet the subterranean store and its popular plaza have been closed to the public for almost two years as a new and improved space is prepared. The high-profile location will certainly benefit from an expansion and redesign, but the extended duration of the closure has left excited residents and readers wondering when we can expect to see the highly anticipated store finally reopen....

Apple has informed developers that it will begin officially rejecting newly submitted and updated applications that access the iOS device UDID. Apple says that this new policy will begin on May 1st. With iOS 6, Apple began offering developers a new Advertising Identifier system that replicates the use of UDIDs for developers. Apple recommends that developers move over to this new system. Interestingly, beginning last year, Apple began rejecting apps that access the UDID....

Apple has officially acknowledged community reports of inadvertently deleted music, with users left with missing tracks in their libraries that may never be recovered, in a statement to iMore. The company says that it is pushing an iTunes update next week with ‘safeguards’ to pre-emptively prevent data loss. However, Apple says it cannot reproduce the issue in internal testing so the forthcoming iTunes update is not guaranteed to work. It also means that the exact cause of the bug is still unknown, although it appears to be a problem with the iTunes desktop app misbehaving rather than the Apple Music streaming service....

[ooyala code=”1rcW5oYTpTmicot6ItPNIE4t19rtj_tb” player_id=”undefined”] Piper Jaffray Apple analyst Gene Munster is out today with an updated outlook for the company, warning that Apple will not have any major product announcements until June and likely miss its June guidance with lower-than-expected iPhone and Mac sales. In other words, the Retina iPad mini he predicted would launch in March—not happening. Instead, Munster said Apple could announce an incremental upgrade to iPad or iTunes in April and wouldn’t have a major product announcement until the iPhone 5S lands in late June....

Update January 19, 2021: Apple has reverted this server-side change, and it is once again possible to side-load unsupported iPhone and iPad apps on an M1 Mac. We don’t expect this to last long, so if there are any iPhone or iPad apps you want on your Mac, download them sooner rather than later using iMazing. This means that it is no longer possible to use an app such as iMazing to side load unsupported applications from your iPhone or iPad to your M1 Mac....

Apple CEO Tim Cook, an MBA graduate and devoted booster of Duke University, has been appointed to the school’s Board of Trustees for a six-year term. Cook and seven other people joined the Board on July 1, bringing it to a total of 37 members — a size that suggests Cook will not be unduly distracted from his work at Apple. The Board is the University’s governing body, responsible for its “educational mission and fiscal policies....

As announced yesterday, Apple CFO Luca Maestri today spoke at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Innovation conference. During the interview, Maestri touched on a number of topics, both reiterating and elaborating on what he said during Apple’s first quarter earnings call last month. The full replay is available on Apple’s Investor Relation’s webpage, but head below for some of the notable tidbits. When asked about Apple’s slowing iPhone growth, Maestri quickly stated that the iPhone returned to growth and had record numbers last quarter....

Following jury selection in the latest Apple vs Samsung patent trial in San Jose, today the trial officially started with Apple’s opening statements. In the trial, Apple is seeking $2B in damages for five patents it claims Samsung violated, while Samsung has counter-claims that Apple devices violate two of its own patents. While some thought the case—which unlike previous patent battles between the companies involves only software related patents— could make Android and therefore Google the real target of the outcome Apple is seeking, Apple actually made it clear that’s not the case in its opening statement (via TheVerge):...

Apple has confirmed iPhone 7 launch dates for more countries today on its website including Egypt on October 20, Korea and Colombia on October 21, and a handful more planned for a week later on October 28. Korea and Colombia will also get access to the new Apple Watch Series 2 on the 21st. Countries scheduled to launch iPhone 7 on the 28th include Cameroun, Botswana, Kenya, and Mozambique. Apple previously confirmed that iPhone 7 would launch in Israel this month on October 20, as well as upcoming launches scheduled for October 21st in Maurice, Madagascar, Maroc, Uganda, and Thailand, and October 28th in Senegal and Moldova....

TechCrunch received a statement from Apple that intends to take the focus off describing the feature change as default music service support and instead on it being a part of Siri intelligence: For example, if you tell Siri to play a song, album or artist, it may ask you which service you want to use to listen to this sort of content. However, your response to Siri is not making that particular service your “default,” Apple says....

Each year, the California Department of Motor Vehicles publishes detailed information from the companies testing self-driving cars in the state. This year’s data has just been made public, and it reveals that Apple completed 18,805 miles of self-driving car testing in California during 2020 — more than double what was reported in 2019. Self-driving car disengagement reports break down the number of times a human driver has to take over control of an autonomous driving system....

A source within Apple has provided us with an internal memo announcing the end of Apple’s long-running rebate programs for both the MobileMe service and Apple’s iWork productivity suite of applications. The rebate allowed Apple customers to receive $30 off their purchase of the $99 MobileMe if the service was purchased alongside a new Mac or iOS device. The iWork rebate program, also $30 off, became an option with new Mac purchases....

Apple this week has begun rolling out its Apple Maps Connect feature to a trio of new countries: Italy, Switzerland, and Mexico. Apple Maps Connect allows business owners to alter their business listing on Apple Maps for OS X and iOS as well as add their businesses to the platform. The additions are noted on the portal, while Apple has also begun emailing users. Business listing updates can take about a week....