Apple confirmed today that iTunes Connect will be unavailable for a five-day period lasting from December 23 to 27. The pre-announced shut down is part of Apple’s annual time off period for app reviewers at the company. For developers, this means any changes being planned during that period should be in place ahead of time and new app and update submissions should be handled days in advance. For customers, it means the App Store won’t be updating for a few days aside from scheduled releases while the App Store team takes a break....

As someone who’s been managing iPads and Macs for a long time, I know there are a lot of “nooks” where settings are in various mobile device management systems. I’ve learned a lot of things through trial and error as the platforms have evolved, but that isn’t useful for new technicians. A new book was recently published that I feel is essential for anyone who works with Apple products in the enterprise....

Apple was today granted a patent for what it describes as a ‘consumer electronic product [which] includes at least a transparent housing and a flexible display.’ The accompanying drawings show a device which has a display which completely wraps around the device – covering front, rear and sides – with only tiny bezels at the top and bottom. While Apple uses generic language throughout most of the patent text, it does use the example of a smartphone in places, and the main drawing clearly shows an iOS device with a phone icon present, indicating that the company has an iPhone in mind....

Comscore today released its usual quarterly report on U.S. smartphone market share for May with Apple holding its spot as top smartphone manufacturer ahead of Samsung. While the numbers haven’t changed much since its report for the three month period ending in February, Apple is up slightly to 42% and ahead of Samsung which grew from 27% to almost 28%. Following behind is LG with 6.5%, Motorola with 6.3%, and HTC with 5....

Last week, repair guide website iFixit published a detailed blog post discussing an issue plaguing a growing number of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users. Referred to as “Touch Disease,” a hardware problem causes iPhone displays to become unresponsive and feature a thin gray flickering line along the top. Now, a trio of iPhone users have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple over the issue, claiming that Apple has refused to repair devices that are affected for free…...

Apple has today released a (PRODUCT)RED version of its iPhone 6s Leather Case, available to buy now from Apple.com with Wednesday shipping. The omission of the color was odd back in September, as the Silicone Case was offered in (PRODUCT)Red since the iPhone 6s launch. Apple has just about got stock of the item in time for the holidays, if you still happen to be hunting for an official red iPhone case (there are plenty of third-party red iPhone cases available)....

Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson acknowledged during its recent Q4 2019 financial results conference that Anthem did not live up to expectations, and that the game’s troubled launch period has the company strongly reconsidering its release process moving forward. Anthem’s release wasn’t necessarily a traditional one, given that it had an early access period for EA Origin subscribers, but its launch was marred by technical difficulties and ineffective Day One patches regardless, which apparently has EA going back to the drawing board for major game releases....

The Mac’s acceptance at work in the last few years is something many of us “old timers” are still amazed by. As remote and hybrid work has become a permanent part of our working society, it’s helpful to look back at what led Apple to its place at the top of the IT endpoint food chain. About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021....

Apple today has expanded its Executive Leadership Team to include notable Apple Vice Presidents. The team shown on Apple’s official PR Bios website now includes Vice President of Special Projects Paul Deneve, Vice President of of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson, Vice President and Dean of Apple University Joel Podolny, Vice President of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji, and Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources Denise Young Smith. Interestingly, each of these positions is fairly new to Apple: Deneve joined from Yves Saint Laurent last year, Lisa Jackson moved over from the EPA last year, Joel Podolny went full-time on Apple University earlier this year, Young Smith was promoted to head of HR earlier this year, and Srouji became head of Hardware Technologies upon Bob Mansfield’s (second) role reduction last year…...

Apple has begun airing a new television advertisement for the MacBook Air that promotes the computer as “the notebook people love.” The ad demonstrates various personal connections to the MacBook Air via various stickers for the computer’s lid. Some stickers range from one of Homer Simpson holding the Apple logo, one with Snow White, and various cool black and white graphics. Apple last updated the MacBook Air earlier this year with improved processors and lower pricing, and significant updates to the line are expected this fall....

After releasing a new beta of iOS 13.5 last week, Apple today has provided new information on its Exposure Notification API for COVID-19. The company continues to underscore the privacy-first design of this API and is releasing new resources to public health authority developers. Apple and Google say that the new resources are designed to help public health authority developers build their exposure notification applications. This includes design concepts of onboarding in Exposure Notification API applications, as well as concepts of positive test results consent interfaces and exposure notifications themselves....

Apple today has acquired the rights to the insanely popular Carpool Karaoke series that started out as a part of The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS. While it’s unclear how much Apple has paid for the series, it will release new episodes of it via the Apple Music, reports THR. For those unfamiliar, Carpool Karaoke is an idea thought up by Corden that sees him drive around in a car with a celebrity or musician and sing along to popular songs....

When you get a new electronic device, and you are new to that gadget. Then some sort of problems start from the initial setup and follow you in your every step. In the case of smartphones, if you are an Android user and switch to an Apple device, for example, iPhone 8 then you might not know how to set it up properly and can face several issues while using the device....

Apple’s growth in the enterprise for the past few years caught many IT experts off guard. Windows had been the dominant platform for decades while Apple products were usually only for people using design software. As the iPhone and iPad became popular, the Mac benefited from a halo effect. A common question I am asked by other IT professionals is if AppleCare is a worthy investment for bulk enterprise purchases....

Apple has just unveiled its new premium News service featuring premium newspaper and magazines for $9.99 a month. The service is branded as News+ and is available today with the release of the new iOS and macOS software updates. $9.99 includes family sharing, so you can share with up to six Family members at no extra cost. The service is integrated directly into the News app and features magazines from National Geographic, Popular Science, New Yorker, Vogue, Rolling Stone and more....

After over a week of back and forth, Apple and Qualcomm presented closing arguments today as part of their patent infringement suit in San Diego. Qualcomm zeroed in on a certain patent, while Apple argued Qualcomm is mad it switched to Intel for iPhone modems. As a quick refresher, the trial centers on three patents, which Qualcomm alleges Apple infringed upon on certain versions of the iPhone. One patent relates to how quickly a device reconnects to the internet after booting up....

Apple is moving forward with a larger version of its iPad tablet and it is working with Quanta Computer for manufacturing, according to United Daily News (via Macotakara). UDN does not have a substantial record in Apple reporting, but it is one of Taiwan’s most prominent newspapers. Today’s report refers to the larger iPad design as featuring a 12-inch display, though recent rumors have pegged the screen-size as closer to 13-inches…...

After many complaints from the developer community about poor networking performance on Yosemite, the latest beta of OS X 10.10.4 has dropped discoveryd in favor of the old process used by previous versions of the Mac operating system. This should address many of the network stability issues introduced with Yosemite and its new networking stack. The discoveryd process has been subject to much criticism in recent months as it causes users to regularly drop WiFi access and causes network shares to list many times over, due to bugs....

Marking the 30th anniversary since Apple gave us the Mac, Macworld spoke with Apple’s Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Bud Tribble to discuss the Mac in an era dominated by the iPhone and iPad. The execs looked back at the Mac’s impact on the PC market and its historical significance for the company, and while they acknowledged the success of iOS, insisted the Mac has a permanent place in the hardware lineup....

With the Apple Silicon transition in full swing following this week’s announcement of new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, Apple executives say there is still a lot more to look forward to. In a new interview with Wired, Apple’s Johnny Srouji, John Ternus, and Greg Joswiak talked in-depth about the new MacBook Pros, what the company learned from the 2016 MacBook Pro refresh, and more. Srouji, who serves as Apple’s senior hardware technology VP, explained that there are many benefits to Apple designing its own silicon versus using off-the-shelf components....