The new iPhone SE is available in a special PRODUCT(RED) variant, in addition to black and white. In conjunction with that, Apple says it will donate a portion of proceeds for iPhone SE (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 response fund. Typically Apple donates a portion of PRODUCT(RED) proceeds to Global Fund HIV/AIDS grants. Tim Cook said last December that Apple has donated more than $220 million to the initiative since the inception of (RED) in 2006....

Apple announced on Thursday that it will broadcast this year’s iPhone event live for Safari and Apple TV users, and today Apple TV has revived the dedicated Apple Events channel for viewing the announcement live during the event. The channel usually remains for a short time after the event for on-demand viewing. As always, we’ll be sharing major announcements from Apple’s event for those who cannot view the live stream throughout the event....

Apex Legends is gearing up for Season 2 at the moment. It was no surprise to see Apex Legends have a focus as part of E3 2019’s EA Play event, with the Battle Royale game receiving plenty of updates showcasing what the Season 2 Battle Pass has on offer. Perhaps the most exciting for players is the arrival of a new Legend in the form of Wattson. Developer Respawn Entertainment initially stuck gold with Apex Legends....

The App Store is promoting the Alexa app today, however, marking the closest thing to an announcement since we learned Apple Music was landing on Echo speakers. When you view the story from iOS, you can see screenshots of how to set Apple Music as your default music service for libraries and stations using Alexa, and Apple touts that Apple Music supports streaming “your iTunes libraries and the 50 million-plus songs in the Apple Music library through Echo devices....

Popular online media aggregation and discovery app for iOS, Matcha, suddenly disappeared from the App Store in late May without any explanation by the company or Apple. Tonight it became clear exactly what happened. According to Venture Beat, Apple has acquired Matcha.tv for an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million. Although, the final total could be higher once the deal is completed. Unsurprisingly, Matcha.tv CEO Guy Piekarz declined to comment on the potential acquisition and Apple served Venture Beat their typical canned response that “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans....

Update: Apple has launched a new vintage repair pilot program to fix aging iPhones including iPhone 5. Apple this week has updated its list of vintage and obsolete products to make a notable addition. As of October 30th, the iPhone 5 is now categorized as vintage in the United States and obsolete in the rest of the world. For those unfamiliar, Apple supports products with parts and repairs for at least five years after the end of production....

Apple is among the corporations planning a Washington, DC, lobbying push against the Biden administration’s proposed $3.5 trillion spending plan. According to a new report from the Washington Post, companies and lobbying groups representing the likes of Apple, Walmart, ExxonMobil, Pfizer, and the Walt Disney Company are pushing back against the proposed corporate tax increases that would help fund the spending. The report explains that lobbying is ramping up in an effort to “stop Congress from enacting significant swaths of President Biden’s $3....

Apple today has officially stopped signing iOS 13.4 following the release of iOS 13.4.1 last week. What this means is that users can no longer downgrade from iOS 13.4.1 to iOS 13.4. Reverting to older iOS builds is common for those in the jailbreak community and can sometimes also be useful for users who experience significant bugs after updating to the latest version of iOS. Other than the effects on jailbreak hopefuls, Apple generally wants as many users as possible on the latest version of iOS for security reasons....

With new Senior Vice President of Retail Angela Ahrendts in charge of operations, Apple is further blurring the lines between its online and physical retail store services. We reported earlier this year on Ahrendts’s plans to more seamlessly integrate both paths of Apple retail, and now the Cupertino-based company is rolling out a revamped Genius Bar and product support reservation system. The new system eliminates the pre-existing separation between getting support for Apple products online and in-store....

Update, 4:00 PM: Apple updated its system status page to reflect the ongoing iCloud outages as pictured above. After receiving several reports from readers experiencing issues with accessing the App Store, iCloud, and other online Apple services, Apple has finally updated its system status page and confirmed outages for the iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and App Store. It also confirmed some users were experiencing issues with iCloud calendars. While Apple’s status page shows outages between 9:40 a....

Apple has disabled the Walkie-Talkie service on Apple Watch this morning, due to an unknown exploit that could have allowed a stranger to eavesdrop the Apple Watch microphone without consent. Apple told TechCrunch it just became aware of the issue. The company says they do not believe any unscrupulous actor took advantage of the vulnerability. The exact nature of the bug has not been disclosed. Apple said it would require a specific sequence of events to take place so it sounds like the bug was intricate and not something that would be stumbled on by accident....

One of the key privacy features in iOS 14 is a new option that allows users to disable tracking between different applications. During its quarterly earnings call last month, Facebook pointed out that the new tracking setting could impact its advertising revenue, and a new report from The Information today goes into more detail. The report explains that Facebook representatives have been meeting with mobile game companies to discuss the iOS 14 privacy change....

Interbrand’s annual brand value report lists Apple as the world’s most valuable brand for the fourth year running, estimating the total worth of the brand at $178B, up 5% on the previous year. Apple first knocked Coca-Cola out of Interbrand’s top slot in 2013. The company says that Apple’s ecosystem is the biggest contributor to the value of the brand … Apple is a technology company that leads innovation with their products and software platforms, providing seamless experiences across devices, and empowering people with breakthrough services....

And if you thought Steve Jobs’ passing would make the company go down, think again: the only way seems to be up. The first-quarter figures Apple posted today have every reason to make Tim Cook one very happy CEO. He has made no secret of it in the press release. Here’s the big picture: for the quarter ending on December 31, last year, the revenue of $46.33 billion, profits of $13....

Who Can Download iOS 10.1? Customers running iPhone 5 or later, iPad 4th generation and later and iPod touch 6th generation and later can install the update. It won’t allow you to begin the install unless you have 50% or more battery life remaining. On my iPhone 6 Plus (yes, I’ve not yet upgraded to an iPhone 7 yet…), the download was a little over 200 megabytes. The download and install took exactly 17 minutes....

Apex Legends Season 2 will be revealed at E3 during the EA Play conference on June 7, 2019, according to EA CEO Andrew Wilson during the company’s latest earnings call. Apex Legends has been devoid of meaningful content for a while now, with the game’s Season 1 Battle Pass failing to meet fan expectation after a torrid launch period saw the title become one of the hottest properties in the entire industry....

Alongside the long-awaited launch of AirTag, Apple has also announced the availability of AirTag accessories. Apple offers polyurethane and leather holders which can be attached to everyday bags, luggage and other items, including a keychain attachment … There is also a special Hermès range of both AirTags and holders. Users can easily place AirTag into a bag or pocket on its own, or utilize a wide range of Apple-designed AirTag accessories, including the Polyurethane Loop, which is both lightweight and durable, and the Leather Loop and Leather Key Ring,4 featuring specially tanned European leather....

Today’s images show Apple’s Campus 2 as it is seen from Homestead Road in Cupertino, which runs alongside the building. In the images you can see the exterior panels for the building going up. Apple has previously said that very little of its new headquarters will be able to be seen from the street for privacy reasons, and that certainly seems to be the case in these new images. Last month, however, it was revealed that Campus 2 will feature a visitor’s center with a rooftop observation deck, allowing people to view Apple’s new headquarters from the inside....

Apple Card partner bank Goldman Sachs is again pessimistic about AAPL, predicting that the stock will lose one-third of its value this year. The company previously predicted a 26% hit to the stock… Goldman’s previous suggestion was based on the idea that Apple accounting for its Apple TV freebie for hardware buyers would confuse investors. That prediction turned out to be erroneous, but that isn’t stopping the bank’s chief US equity strategist David Kostin from predicting that AAPL stock has ridden too high and is due for a fall....

Apple today officially opened its first retail store in Mexico. The store is located in Vía Santa Fe and marks the “first time customers in Mexico City can experience all of Apple’s products and services in one place.” Apple shared images from the grand opening experience this evening in a news release… Apple noted in its release that “crowds of customers” lined up overnight to experience the grand opening, with the first customers arriving at 7PM on Friday night....