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Following the release of macOS Big Sur 11.2.1 with fixes to a bug that prevented MacBook Pro battery from charging, Apple has just announced that the company will replace for free the batteries of 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models that won’t charge past 1%. According to a new support article published on Apple’s website, a small number of MacBook Pro users have experienced an issue with the battery not charging past 1%....

An interesting Apple patent application published today describes how an AI system could help car drivers identify pedestrians and other hazards when driving at night or in poor visibility … The patent application spotted by Patently Apple describes three different elements to the safety system. First, when it detects a hazard, the system may adjust the beam of the headlight to better light the danger. Second, it could use the headlight beam to warn other road users of the car’s planned path....

Apple has updated its aerial screensaver video feed for the Apple TV 4K this week with a handful of new videos. There are now a total of fourteen aerial videos for the Apple TV 4K, most are copied over from the 1080p Apple TV at higher resolution … However, with this latest update, Apple has included one wholly brand new video of the Los Angeles skyline at night. You can see that new video embedded below (unfortunately at non-4K resolution) and watch all the Aerial screensavers on my personal blog page, which automatically updates with new videos as they come in....

A new report today from Variety shares that Apple has hired two new executives for its original content efforts with one coming from Hulu and the other from Legendary Entertainment. Apple has brought on legal executives Philip Matthys and Jennifer Wang Grazier for what Variety calls “key business affairs roles” for its video programming team. Matthys reportedly started at Apple last month as the head of business affairs, after leaving the same role at Hulu....

Apple has expanded beta testing of its upcoming iWork for iCloud service to all Apple employees, according to an email sent to employees. Since the mid-June WWDC conference, iWork for iCloud beta testing has been limited to members of Apple’s developer program. Apple says that employees can use iWork for iCloud on their personal computers. iWork for iCloud is a Google Docs-like service that allows Pages, Keynote, and Numbers users to create, edit, and view documents, presentations, and spreadsheets via iCloud....

Apple Fitness+ is now available to iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Watch users, but the rollout hasn’t gone smoothly for some users. Specifically, it appears that many iPad users are currently unable to install the Apple Fitness app on their device. Update: Apple has resolved this issue for most years. To use the service on the iPad, you need to update to iPadOS 14.3, which was released today. What’s important to keep in mind is that iPadOS 14....

It’s been a long wait, but the latest Apple headphones were finally unveiled yesterday. Nobody expected them to be cheap, of course – this is Apple – but the $549 price of AirPods Max has raised quite a few eyebrows. That is $150 more than the excellent Bowers & Wilkins PX7, which is arguably the product to beat in the wireless over-ear ANC headphone category. It’s $200 more than the Sony WH-1000XM4, which have also been given rave reviews....

The Cupertino giant Apple has released its three iPhone models in September 2019 such as iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. All the three iPhone models run on iOS 13 version out-of-the-box. The iPhone 11 lineup devices are too powerful in performance. While cameras and battery are one of the main key features that users like it very much. But the iOS 13 has plenty of issues with stability and bugs....

Apple Maps detail now beats Google Maps in many respects, from things like building shapes to vegetation coverage. That’s the conclusion of Justin O’Beirne, who used to work for Apple’s maps division and has now put together an exhaustive comparison … O’Beirne begins with one complaint: that Apple’s more detailed mapping only covers 3.1% of the land area, and 4.9% of its population. Apple has promised 100% coverage by the end of next year....

Apple today rolled out the student discount tier of Apple Music to over 20 new countries around the globe. As noted by The Financial Post, Apple Music’s student discount offering is now available in Canada, Italy, Japan, and 22 other countries. With today’s new additions, the tier is available in over 30 countries in total. Apple Music’s student pricing has been available in the United States Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Denmark for a while now, but today’s countries are all new....

Apple today announced that it is removing the USB power adaptor from Apple Watch boxes going forward, citing environmental concerns. Next month, the company will announce the iPhone 12 … and is rumored to no longer be bundled with a power adapter nor wired EarPods. The company’s announcement today for the Apple Watch will help customers get used to the idea of having no bundled accessories in the box, and soften the blow when the same thing happens to the iPhone in October....

Apple has started alerting WWDC 2017 scholarship applicants of their award status ahead of the developer conference scheduled for June. WWDC scholarship winners receive free access to the conference which usually has a $1599 ticket cost for entry. This year Apple’s application process included a stronger emphasis on using Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app rather than supplying a finished app. Apple has also expanded the scholarship program to cover both the cost of entry for everyone and travel accommodations for some as well as lodging for the first time....

Back in March, app developer Qbix thought it had hit on a great new way to make money from its Calendar 2 app for the Mac. Instead of charging users, or including intrusive ads, it offered users access to pro features in return for allowing cryptocurrency mining in the background. Apple quickly put a stop to that, and has now updated its app guidelines to explicitly ban background currency mining …...

An appeals court on Friday overturned a ruling that would have forced Samsung to pay $120 million in damages to Apple for patent infringement, reports Reuters. In this specific case, one of several patent battles between the two companies, Apple claimed that Samsung infringed on its “quick links” patent. The court, however, has ruled that Samsung did not infringe on that patent and that two other patents relating to the iPhone’s slide-to-unlock mechanism and auto-correct feature were invalid....

The legal odyssey between Apple and Qualcomm is continuing to escalate as the chipmaker is now accusing Apple of defying the court ordered iPhone 7 & 8 sales ban in Germany. Now, Qualcomm is seeking fines against Apple, claiming available iPhone units sold throughout early January in Germany “intentionally defy the court order”. Bloomberg Quint reports that Qualcomm makes mention of a press release published by Apple following the injunction, which makes note of banned iPhone units still being available for purchase through third-party retailers....

Apple is launching a donation campaign to help with efforts in Australia to fight back the devastating bushfires. Once again, Apple is partnering with the Red Cross. Customers can make Red Cross donations simply through the iTunes and App Store, using their associated payment method. Apple does not collect any commission or processing fees, 100% of donations go to the charity. The in-app charity screen makes it easy for Apple users to donate $5-$200 to the Red Cross charity....

An unconfirmed report of Apple buying Drive.ai suggests the Cupertino company may be primarily interested in acquiring engineers from the self-driving startup. However, a statement by Apple suggests that the deal is not certain … The Information carries the report. Although Apple rarely comments on acquisitions, it does normally give a boilerplate reply which at least doesn’t deny reports: ‘Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans....

Apple has reportedly discovered a critical flaw in watchOS 2 and decided to withhold the update to fix it, pushing back today’s scheduled release. The issue may remind users of a similar predicament with HealthKit applications at the launch of iOS 8 last year. Users running the GM build of the software haven’t yet reported anything big enough to potentially stop the entire release, although there were some reports of sluggish performance throughout the beta....

Photo of iPad 2 Smart Cover. There are no photos of the iPad Mini version yet. Apple will sell what it is calling the “iPad Mini Smart Cover” in red, dark gray, light gray, pink, green, and blue. This is according to reliable sources. These covers are actually called “iPad Mini Smart Covers,” so it may be safe to assume that the smaller iPad is, in fact, called the iPad mini....

A scant 4 months after they were released, Apple has finally caught up with iPad 2 demand. The US Store now lists shipping times of 1-3 business days for the items, the same for other Apple products that aren’t constrained. Apple still constrains purchases to 1-2 per order and many overseas stores still list 3-5 days or longer, however. Fortune notes that shipping times were stuck at 1-2 weeks from mid-April to July 8, when they were cut to 3-5 days....