The video accompanying the memo Ahrendts sent to staff last week has been published by Mac4Ever. Apple retail boss Angela Ahrendts clarified some of the details of the Apple Watch and MacBook rollouts that are starting this week. The executive confirmed that for the time being, watch orders will only be available online due to extremely limited supply. Regarding the new products, Ahrendts says customer feedback is “overwhelmingly positive” and says the call to limit orders to online-only for the time being was “not an easy decision....

The WSJ is suggesting that Apple’s growing presence in Israel is focused on expanding the company’s chip design capabilities, reporting that it has hired most of the local employees of a chip design company shut down by Texas Instruments and is advertising new positions in silicon and semiconductor design. While the report contains more speculation than hard fact, we noted yesterday that Tim Cook–who is currently visiting the country–is accompanied by Johny Srouji, whose bio on the Apple website says that he “leads all custom silicon architecture and development” …...

Apple has posted a new SEC filing to report that Vice President and Corporate Controller Betsy Rafael will be retiring on October 19, 2012. Rafael is a crucial member of Apple’s finance team, managing the company’s finances and serving as the Principle Accounting Officer. Apple is yet to name a replacement. Rafael previously worked at several companies, including Cisco and Sun Microsystems, all in management or financial positions. Apple typically does not announce departures of Vice Presidents, but they appear to have been required to do so due to Rafael’s high-level accounting position....

Apple today has released a pair of Safari betas for earlier version of OS X. Safari 7.1.5 beta for OS X Mavericks and version 6.2.5 beta for OS X Mountain Lion are both available on the Mac Developer Center for registered developers. Safari 8.0.5, which includes the same upgrades as the Mavericks and Mountain Lion versions, is not available as a separate download, but it comes as part of the OS X Yosemite 10....

Apple is rolling out a new build of the iOS 11 beta 2 update first released last week. The new version includes a higher build version, 15A5304j up from 15A5304i, and appears to be rolling out over-the-air for select devices. For devices seeing the update, the new release is called iOS 11 Developer beta 2 Update 1. Apple has similarly released an updated build of the tvOS 11 beta 2 build....

Today’s best deals include notable iPad discounts during the Best Buy Memorial Day sale, plus a discount on Apple’s iPhones, and AirPods get another price drop. Hit the jump for the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Best Buy Memorial Day sale is live With a larger 10.2-inch display, Apple Pencil support, and compatibility with smart connector accessories, this is arguably one of the most compelling iPads in Apple’s stable currently. Check out the rest of today’s sale here....

[vimeo 98560323 w=800 h=300] The 3D rendering above comes from Technology Integration Services. The company isn’t actually affiliated with Apple, but decided to put together this render of the company’s currently under construction Campus 2 building using publicly available designs. We have already seen a lot of renders straight from Apple of what the building will look like, but the flyover view in the render above gives us some perspective on the surrounding area, the courtyard area in the middle of the building, and the rest of the campus....

9to5Toys and eventually Dealnews recently noticed a $100 price cut for Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz i5 and 128GB of storage (now over). It costs $100 more at store.apple.com for the same refurbished unit. An even better eBay deal has emerged today: Apple’s 11.6-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz, 4GB SDRAM and 256GB SSD is only $949. It’s certified refurbished unite, while the same refurb model goes for $1,059 on Apple....

Apple’s latest 10.2-inch iPad highlights today’s best deals, plus the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is on sale, alongside NETGEAR’s Wi-Fi 6 Router. Hit the jump for all that and more in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. The latest from Apple delivers 10th generation Intel processors, plus a True Tone Retina display, Touch Bar, and Intel Iris graphics. You’ll get up to 10-hours of battery life alongside the popular redesigned Magic Keyboard. There’s also four Thunderbolt 3 ports available, too....

Apple announced a lot of numbers during its fiscal Q1 2015 earnings call today in addition to confirming the Apple Watch will ship in April. Some of Apple’s highlights include numbers on Apple Pay since its launch in October, the 1 billionth iOS device shipping in November, and big growth in China as Apple sells a record 74.4 million iPhones during the quarter. Head below for a roundup of stats and milestones that Apple announced during the call:...

“We will know we have done really great if it feels like a town square,” explained Apple’s SVP of Retail Angela Ahrendts in May 2016. Ahrendts was specifically referring to Apple’s flagship Union Square store in San Francisco, but the goal was part of a broader initiative to reimagine the experience of all Apple retail stores. With more people shopping online than ever before, the success of the town square strategy is critical to Apple’s continued relevance in a changing space where other well established brands have struggled....

Apple has released a new beta version of OS X 10.10.2 to developers through the App Store’s software update mechanism and the Mac Developer Center. The update, which has a build number of 14C99d (compared to 14C94b in the previous release) is not yet available to AppleSeed users. The 10.10.2 update will include fixes for common Wi-Fi problems, issues with the built-in Mail app, VoiceOver, and more. With only one week passing between pre-release builds, it seems the patch is getting closer to completion, and could be expected for public release soon....

Apple today shared a new short film that was entirely shot on the iPhone. However, unlike other clips that the company has already promoted, this one was recorded vertically. According to Apple, the 9-minute short film “The Stunt Double” was filmed by Academy Award-winning director Damien Chazelle using an iPhone 11 Pro. Besides the short film, Apple has also shared a behind-the-scenes video entitled “Making Vertical Cinema” with director Damien Chazelle....

In the two years since Apple released Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature that keeps websites from tracking users around the web, it looks to have almost totally eliminated the ability for advertisers to market to specific demographics. A new report from The Information dives into how Apple’s offensive against ads has made things more difficult for advertisers while aiming for greater user privacy. Executives in the online publishing industry speaking with The Information say that Apple has been “stunningly effective” with its goal of Intelligent Tracking Prevention stopping websites from knowing what users are doing on the web....

Apple has confirmed launch details for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus — unsurprisingly the new phones go on sale Friday at 8 AM. Apple says that customer response to the iPhone 6s has been “incredibly positive” although the company is yet to release concrete preorder figures. Apple also announced that iOS 9 has the fastest rate of adoption of any previous iOS release, with 50% of devices already using iOS 9, which was released last Wednesday....

Apple this weekend has shared a pair of short Apple Watch how to videos on its YouTube channel. The videos are relatively basic, covering the Workout application and using Emergency SOS mode. Watch them below. The first Apple Watch how to simply covers how to start a Workout on the device. Apple touts that it “only takes a couple taps to kickstart your workout” when you’re using an Apple Watch. The video highlights how to use an open gaol running workout and track your progress, and use the post-Workout summary features....

Apple today has shared an update on its job footprint and growth in the United States. It touts that its US job footprint is 2.4 million people in the US. Apple also says it is on track to hit its goal of contributing $350 billion to the economy by 2023. Apple says that it spent $60 billion with US suppliers in 2018. It specifically highlights Maccor, a company based out of Oklahoma that “designs and manufactures high-accuracy hardware and software to test the performance of batteries....

The Apple Store was briefly down as Apple updated the homepage with a special Father’s Day gift promotion and updated the page to a new squarer & cleaner look – more possible evidence of Jony Ive’s growing design influence … The page leads with the iPad and iPad Mini, highlighting the free engraving option, as well as suggesting a range of alternative gift suggestions ranging from the $79.95 iGrill cooking thermometer to $399....

A report today from The Guardian details claims from one of Apple’s contractors about the conversations that are heard as interactions with Siri are reviewed and analyzed. The report brings up privacy and transparency concerns and Apple has released a statement addressing the matter. The Guardian’s source for this latest report is said to be a contractor that “grades” Siri. The whistleblower said that “Apple contractors regularly hear confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex, as part of their job providing quality control” for Apple’s voice assistant....

As highlighted in a report from Bloomberg today, the opportunities for Apple revenue growth in one of its biggest markets, China, are unclear as the company has been unable to launch its new paid services in the region due to strict local laws concerning content availability and censorship policy. This year, Apple put a big focus on Apple News+, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+ launches. None of them are available in China....