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Epic Games has stepped up its rhetoric against Apple, claiming that the App Store contract is illegal and that Apple’s view of what is reasonable is “crazy and misguided.” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney yesterday tweeted his view on the dispute … Not everyone who responded to the tweet was buying Epic’s stance, however. What’s most disturbing about Apple’s position is that they seem to truly believe they “own” all commerce involving phones they make, characterizing direct payment as theft, smuggling, and even shoplifting....

Apple has announced that it now has two million Final Cut Pro X users – or ‘seats,’ in the terminology used when speaking to an audience at the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual conference. Apple said that it hit the milestone some five and a half years after launching version 10 of the professional video editing app. Notably, it said that the pace of adoption was increasing. While the company didn’t provide specific dates, it said that it had taken much less time to grow from 1M to 2M users than it had taken to hit that first million....

It’s been quite an exciting week for those glued to the latest out of Cupertino, and this morning it gets better. As promised, Apple made the iPad mini available on its website for pre-order. The .68-pound tablet that is “thinner than a pencil” offers users a 7.9-inch experience on top of Apple’s traditional iOS. Apple is offering the iPad mini at $329 for 16GB, $429 for 32GB, and $529 for 64GB....

Last year, a report explored Apple’s crackdown on third-party screen time and parental control following the implementation of Screen Time as a native feature in iOS 12. Now, a new report from The New York Times notes of Apple’s continued efforts to push users towards its first-party time tracking feature. The report details that over the past year, Apple has “removed or restricted” at least 11 of the 17 most popular screen time and parental control applications on the App Store....

If you’re waiting to trade in your old Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch for a new model, bad news. Apple has lowered the estimated prices for all of these products, which means you’ll get less when trading in them for a new product by the company. The good news is that the iPhone value remains unchanged. In addition, some Samsung and Google smartphones also saw their trade-in value lowered (via MacRumors)....

[Update: Apple has confirmed plant evacuation of Cork facilities following ‘threatening emails’ the company received. The situation has now been dealt with and employees are returning to work.] According to local news, Apple’s plants in Cork, Ireland have been evacuated following a potential security threat in the area. Around 4000 workers have been told to leave premises at Apple’s facilities in Lavitts Quay, Hollyhill and Model Farm Road. Although details are scarce, Defence Forces told The Independent that explosive ordnance disposal teams are on standby in case they are needed....

Senior Apple execs Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak are among the speakers for the tech leadership conference WSJ Tech Live. Tickets for the exclusive event originally started at $4,000, but now only $5,500 tickets remain, and are only available to senior execs of organizations with $100M+ in revenue … Even watching it online will cost you $350, unless you’re a WSJ subscriber, in which case you can get a free pass....

Apple has hired software engineer Greg Duffy for an unknown role at the company, according to The Information. Duffy is the co-founder of Wi-Fi camera firm Dropcam which was bought by Google in 2014 after being independent for five years. Dropcam later fell under parent company Alphabet after Google’s major restructuring and was absorbed into Nest. During his tenure at Nest, Duffy is said to have bumped heads with Nest co-founder and ex-iPod chief Tony Fadell....

Games developers say they have detected significant abuse of Apple’s refund policy on apps, and are being forced to take their own steps to hit back after Apple refused to help. At least four developers cited in The Korea Times say that the problem is that people are repeatedly purchasing games and in-app content, asking Apple for a refund – which is normally granted without question – and then continuing to use the content....

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In June, we noted that Apple is adding a handy new feature to the upcoming OS X Yosemite: the ability for iMessage/Apple ID users to screen share via the Messages app. Screen sharing was a hallmark of early versions of Apple’s Mac “iChat” application, but it has always required an Aol Instant Messenger (AIM), Gmail, Jabber, or Yahoo account. With Yosemite, users can have the same screen sharing experience with just an iMessage/FaceTime/or Apple ID account....

Apple and Yahoo are in active discussions regarding increasing their partnership, according to The Wall Street Journal. While the report does not provide any true specifics regarding what an increased partnership could entail, the report notes that discussions have surrounded increased Yahoo integration into Siri. Additionally, Yahoo is reportedly exploring ways to reduce Apple’s reliance on Google for web search functions. Apple and Yahoo have had a lengthy history in terms of iPhone/iOS-related partnerships....

Apple today announced a major new investment project, revealing its plans to establish a European Center for Chip Design in Munich, Germany. The financial commitment will exceed 1 billion euros over the next three years. The facility will hire hundreds of employees and focus on advancing mobile and wireless technologies, including 5G. The research and development will ultimately inform future Apple silicon chip designs. Currently, Apple relies on Qualcomm to supply separate cellular modem chips for the iPhone, which works in tandem with the Apple A14 SoC....

New iMac (2021) The first iMac to feature a 24-inch display since the polycarbonate iMac in 2006, the new iMac (2021) becomes the fourth Apple computer to include an Apple M1 system on chip (SoC) architecture. Unlike the Mac mini (2020), MacBook Air (M1, 2020), and 13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020), this new model offers an all-new design. Available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver, the iMac (2021) is thinner and more compact than previous versions....

Apple’s education event is underway at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum where the company announced the “iBooks 2″ app, a major new version designed to help integrate the iPad into school curriculum. That was Apple’s first highlight of the event — reinventing textbooks. We have been given some interesting metrics, and now Schiller unveiled “iBooks Author.” It is a new (and free!) Mac app for authoring e-books. “Authors are going to love to use iBooks Create to create not only textbooks, but any kind of book,” said Schiller....

Apple announced iOS 8 today during its Worldwide Developer Conference, including several new features for its default Mail client. Among those new features were new gestures for quickly handling messages by swiping. Swiping from left to right allows you to mark a message as unread, while swiping right-to-left presents options for deleting or archive messages and more. The app also now intelligently detects invitations and other potential calendar events and presents a banner at the top of the message that offers to create that event auotmatically....

Apple today has scheduled its Q4 2017 earnings call as noted on its Investor Relations webpage. Apple will release its Q4 earnings on November 2nd with a call following shortly thereafter at 2PM PT/5PM ET. Apple reported revenue of $45.5 billion last quarter on sales of 41 million iPhones, 11.4 million iPads, and 4.29 million Macs. The Q4 2017 earnings release will offer a first look at iPhone 8 sales and will see Apple share guidance for the holiday season....

Taiwanese media reports that Apple asked Foxconn to begin recruiting iPhone 14 assembly workers earlier than usual in China, alongside boosting recruitment of those working on iPhone 13 production at its Zhenzhou plant. Foxconn has responded by boosting its recruitment bonus by 30% in what is generally an off-season for iPhone production … United Daily News says that there wouldn’t generally be recruitment of iPhone workers at this time of year, but as Foxconn’s main iPhone assembly plans are located in Zhenzhou – a city which has so far escaped full COVID-19 lockdowns – Apple wants to boost capacity there to balance out lost production elsewhere in China....

Apple on Thursday celebrates 40 years of operations in Australia. And because of this, the company announced a number of initiatives that will help not only the local community, but also the planet. Among these initiatives are projects to push the use of renewable energy and new opportunities in coding for Australians. In a statement to the press, Apple CEO Tim Cook being “proud to celebrate Apple’s long history in Australia....

Apple has confirmed that it will be offering Black Friday deals in the online store as well as in retail stores. For the online store, the special pricing will be available from midnight to midnight. Apple hasn’t revealed what the savings will be, but last year offered $100 off MacBooks as well as smaller discounts on iPads, iPods and a range of other products. The promo also says that shipping is free without the usual minimum spend caveat (usually $50 in the US)....