Apple is ensuring that its sub-contracted shuttle bus workers get a better deal, directly funding a 25% bump in their pay and requiring contractors to pay a higher hourly rate for split shifts–where drivers work both mornings and evenings but are kept hanging around without pay between the two … Apple is also requiring bus companies to improve rest areas, reports the Mercury News: “Over 5,000 Apple employees in the Bay Area take advantage of our commute alternatives program every day,” said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet....

Apex Legends followed in Fortnite’s footsteps by launching its own Season, dubbed Wild Frontiers, on March 19. On top of showering players with goodies in the form of cosmetics and a new Legend, Respawn has made a host of technical changes. Although we already knew some details about the Wild Frontier battle pass in terms of cost and rewards, the patch notes delve into the nitty gritty. Despite initial excitement, Respawn has already had to defend Apex Legends’ relatively simple approach to Battle Pass compared to Fortnite’s offerings, so a complex look might help assuage fears that the developer is skimping on the latest update....

Bloomberg reports that groups representing Apple, Google, Facebook and other high profile tech companies are lobbying to pass a new bill that attempts to limit NSA spying of email and communications of their users. The report says the groups are “pushing the Senate to pass legislation limiting National Security Agency spying before the Republican majority takes control of the chamber.” The news comes ahead of the Senate vote on the new bill scheduled for Nov....

According to a report from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will launch its first 6K display for the Mac Pro this year. This report lines up with Apple’s own statement about its plans for this year, but adds some much-needed meat to the story. If you’re a creative professional, then you should be downright excited about Apple’s upcoming plans for the Mac in 2019. This year is when Apple is scheduled launch its new Mac Pro, along with its new 6K display....

As OS X Mountain Lion’s July launch approaches, Apple has extended their existing software testing base to include Apple Retail employees. In an e-mail to Apple Store Genius Bar members and Creatives, Apple has provided access to its OS X Mountain Lion AppleSeed testing program… This testing is to be done on personal Macs belonging to employees, and is not standardized in-store OS X Mountain Lion training. This move by Apple, however, is a first, and shows that the company is trying to test the near-final OS X Mountain Lion seeds as rapidly and widely as possible, in a controlled fashion....

For the 2021 edition, Fortune narrowed down over 1,500 companies to the most admired in the world with the help of Korn Ferry and almost 4,000 corporate executives, directors, and analysts voting in a survey. The study included 9 criteria: To determine the best-regarded companies in 52 industries, Korn Ferry asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate enterprises in their own industry on nine criteria, from investment value and quality of management and products to social responsibility and ability to attract talent....

Earlier this month, Apple announced that the new 2019 Mac Pro will be made in the United States after some uncertainty over tariffs. Bloomberg reports today, however, that despite this commitment, the US Trade Representative’s office has denied Apple’s request for tariff exemption on certain components made in China. According to the report, Apple’s request for relief from 25% tariffs has been denied for the Mac Pro wheels, a circuit board that manages input and output ports, the power adapter and charging cable, and a cooling system for the processor....

Update #2: The UK and Spain too. Apple is advertising the new program on its website in the new countries (pictured right). Update: The iPad trade-in program is now available in Germany, according to a report from Macerkopf.de. Last month we reported that Apple launched a new in-store iPad trade-in program on Earth Day in the US and Canada, and now the program has reportedly expanded to France. iPhoneaddict.fr reports that Apple confirmed the program has launched at Apple Stores in the country, which are currently accepting iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, and iPad mini for trade-in value towards a new iOS device....

We’re used to hearing of Apple gift card scams where fraudsters trick victims into buying gift cards for “release fees” for fictitious fortunes, or as “fines” to avoid arrest for tax evasion – but a pair of criminals found a clever way to generate $1.5M worth of gift cards. Or more accurately, the method was clever, but the way they spent the cards was dumb … The scheme involved stealing point-of-sale devices from one Apple Store to generate virtual cards, and then spending the money at other Apple Stores....

Over the next four years, Apple has some really compelling new products that could make it to market. When it comes to iPhone, Apple will likely realize its goal to create a single slab of glass by eliminating the notch and could also debut its first foldable. In the AR/VR space, we should see Apple’s first headset and possibly Apple Glasses. And wading into all-new territory, Apple Car could launch in that window along with other new innovations in the health industry and more....

A Florida-based digital video company is suing Apple over a Siri feature of the fourth-generation Apple TV. The company, CustomPlay, says that it originally created the Apple TV and Siri feature that allows users to ask “what did he say?” to rewind and rewatch a short section of the video. The feature was introduced with tvOS and makes it easy for users to quickly rewind a movie or TV show by 10 seconds in order to catch any dialogue they may have missed....

Apex Legends, the latest game from Respawn Entertainment and the company’s first foray into the battle royale genre, has saved EA stock prices by bringing in more than 10 million players during its first 72 hours of release. This latest impressive feat for the game, which is set in the same universe as the Titanfall series, comes not long after Apex Legends saw a million unique players in its first eight hours of release....

The report says Wandell starts his new role at Apple at the end of this month and will report to recent Sony Pictures hires Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg who are running Apple’s video efforts. His role under the duo will be head of international creative development for worldwide video. More background from Wandell’s LinkedIn profile: Apple’s original content team has also reportedly signed on to reboot Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories series, and Apple has a $1 billion budget for original content, so we should expect more shows to be greenlit soon....

When Apple Music announced support for Lossless and Dolby Atmos a few months ago, the company said the catalog would start with 20 million songs with Lossless support and would have all its 90 million songs in the quality by the end of the year. As of December 28, Apple appears to have reached the goal. While you may have songs in your library with only the Apple Digital Master label, it’s likely that it’s reminiscent of an iTunes purchase, since the company announced that none of the audio content bought on iTunes would feature Lossless or Spatial Audio support....

Tim Cook has previously shared his perspective on tariffs, saying they “end up showing themselves as an added tax on consumers.” Until now it was looking like just the original Apple Watch would be included. However, the latest tariff proposal in the trade war between the US and China could affect more Apple products than previously thought. Back in April, it was looking like most consumer technology products would be exempt from US tariffs on Chinese goods....

We learned earlier this week that Apple Card trademarks have been applied for in Europe and Hong Kong. Now a report from The Star highlights Apple has done the same in Canada which could point to a 2020 spring or summer Apple Card launch in the country. With Apple Card’s US launch likely imminent, anticipation is building for the new financial product and many outside the US are curious when it might expand to more countries....

Apple has posted a new support article that gives some insight into how the 2018 iPad Pro is manufactured, clearly as a follow up to the reports of customers receiving bent iPad units in the runup to Christmas. It says slight bends may be more visible to the eye due to the new straight edge design, and reiterates that Apple specifies 400 micron flatness tolerances — and anything outside of that range should qualify for warranty repair/replacement....

. Today, Apple sent an email to Mac Developers, who do not put their apps on the Mac App Store, and encouraged them to get ready for Gatekeeper: The theory is that when Mountain Lion is released with the default setting to only install apps signed by Apple, many novice users will keep that setting and thereby only install apps from developers that Apple signed-off on. However, as we have seen in the iOS App Store, developers can be malicious, steal data, or worse in rare occasions....

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by an Apple spokesperson, Apple has hired former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern. Stern will report to Eddy Cue and will carry a vice president title working on tasks related to Apple’s growing cloud services, including Apple Music. Stern left Time Warner Cable earlier this year follow its acquisition by Charter Communications. At Time Warner Cable, Stern served in senior strategy and corporate development roles throughout his time....

I’m not about to pitch my tent outside an Apple store just yet. But for the first time since my old iRiver MP3 player finally broke down in 2005, I’m actually considering buying an Apple iOS product. I didn’t wind up getting an iPod . It was too big a leap. I wasn’t ready to sell my soul to the company iTunes Store, either. But Apple chips away at me....