Apple’s Amsterdam store has been evacuated and temporarily closed after an iPad battery exploded and released potentially harmful substances into the air. As reported by iCulture, Apple employees secured the iPad and punctured battery in a container of sand after it exploded. Fortunately, there was no fire or smoke, or major injuries. However, three employees who experienced trouble breathing were treated by first responders. Due to the chemicals potentially released, the store has been closed as firefighters work to ventilate the space and clear out any harmful vapors....

Apple’s upcoming MagSafe Duo Charger has officially recovered approval from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in the United States. Apple’s website still lists the 2-in-1 Apple Watch and iPhone charger as “coming soon,” but FCC approval is a good indication that a release could happen soon. The new FCC filing is for a “Two Coil Charger” with the model number A2458 from Apple. The documents submitted by Apple detail how the charger can be used to power an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time....

Apple’s latest MacBook Air hits a new all-time low in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Plus you can save big on iPhone 11 and the 16-inch MacBook Pro is also on sale. Head below for all that and more. 13-inch MacBook Air hits all-time low Apple’s latest MacBook Air sports a redesigned Magic Keyboard and 13-inch Retina display. This particular model sports a 1.1GHz 10th generation Intel Core i5 dual-core processor with 512GB of storage and 8GB worth of RAM....

Update: The Apple Store app is back with the only notable change being some currency adjustments. Ahead of new product releases, Apple will take its online store down for a few hours to changeover banners and products, as well as to build hype. This evening, the Apple Store app for iOS has gone offline without warning, though the Apple.com store remains online. However, it’s unlikely that this is for product announcements…...

Apple is upgrading the song matching features for Apple Music subscribers to truly mirror the capabilities offered by iTunes Match; the new smarter more accurate song detection is rolling out to Apple Music subscribers for free, over the next few weeks (via The Loop). Although Apple Music has always included music matching, it used an inferior version than the algorithm used by the standalone $30/year iTunes Match subscription. Apple Music is being updated server-side to offer the same functionality …...

A motion by Apple to halt the operations of a court-appointed antitrust monitor has been rejected, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lawyer, Michael Bromwich, was appointed by the court to ensure the compliance Apple’s iBook platform with antitrust laws. Apple previously petitioned the court to have Bromwich removed from his post, believing that his $1,100/hour legal fees were leading him to take undue investigative steps solely for the purpose of overcharging the Cupertino company....

The Apple Store is down ahead of iPhone 11 preorders later in the day. In fact, the store message even reminds people of the new time for the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro order window: 5 a.m. Pacific Time, or about six hours from now. When the store is back up, the iPhone 11 will be available to buy, starting at $699 for 64 GB. The iPhone 11 Pro will be priced at $999 and the iPhone 11 Pro Max will be priced at $1,099, with a 64 GB base model SKU and storage upgrade options for 256 GB and 512 GB....

Google has copied Apple’s 15% commission level for smaller developers in the App Store, offering almost exactly the same deal in the Play Store. However, the way Google has done it is actually fairer, and is how Apple should have implemented the program in the first place … Our sister site 9to5Google has the details. There are two key differences with Google’s terms, however. The first is that developers don’t need to apply for it – enrollment is automatic for all qualifying ones....

It’s the eve of Thanksgiving in the United States and as has become tradition, Apple has shared its annual holiday ad for the year. The new ad called “Sway” features a brief appearance by the new iPhone X, but mostly revolves around AirPods and sharing an experience with music with someone special. The ad features the track “Palace” my R&B artist Sam Smith from his 2017 album The Thrill Of It All on Apple Music....

With Apple’s ongoing efforts to generate more sales of the latest iPhones, the company is now advertising another deal for users in China. According to WSJ, Apple has teamed up with Alipay, a popular mobile-payments network in China, to offer an interest-free loan for users looking to purchase an iPhone through Apple’s online store. Customers looking to upgrade to the latest iPhone will have an option to apply for an interest free loan over the course of 24 months....

Apple opened a new flagship store in downtown Chicago yesterday and it is stunning. Sitting right along the Chicago River, Apple Michigan Avenue has been moved south about 5 blocks. 14 years ago Apple opened its first flagship store here in Chicago, and now they are doubling down on their mission: stores aren’t just for making money. In an interview with CNBC, Cook explained the goals of Apple’s retail stores are much more than selling products....

After eight beta releases, Apple has seeded developers with the macOS 11.3 release candidate. The software features new sorting options in Reminders, expanded support for Xbox/PlayStation controllers, autoplay in Apple Music, and more. Following its Spring Loaded event, Apple made the macOS 11.3 RC available to developers today. The OTA should be showing up in System Preferences > Software Update if you’re enrolled in the developer beta program (keep checking back if you don’t see it yet)....

The “exceptional individual” will “validate the security architecture for the iPhone.” “As an implementer of advanced technologies in OS X, you will have the opportunity to have a major impact on Apple’s embedded operating system products.” We like the use of the plural there. Like everyone, we’ve speculated that Apple has far bigger plans for embedded system products – its purchase of PA Semi, recent disclosures of new cutting-edge products at prices competitors can’t match, and various mutterings and job ads have suggested the company plans a major play in digital media....

Apple this weekend has continued its popular Shot on iPhone “Experiments” series. This is the third video in the series, entitled “Cascade.” Apple has also shared a video offering a behind the scenes look at the creation of the Experiments video. The “Cascade” video was shot on iPhone XS by Donghoon Jun and James Thornton of Incite in collaboration with WET, and was commissioned by Apple. The video offers incredibly close-up looks at water in a variety of different environments, showcasing the potential of the iPhone XS camera....

Apple this evening has updated its System Status webpage to reflect that a small number of people are unable to use iCloud Backup. According to Apple, the feature has been inaccessible since early yesterday morning, though it affects a small percentage of users… Apple says that the outage affects “less than 1 percent of users,” while it doesn’t offer any information about when the issues will be resolved. The outage means that affected users are unable to restore from an iCloud backup when setting up a new iOS device and thus must restore from a local backup or set up as a new device....

If you jumped into Ping as soon as it was available, like we did, you were able to connect to your friends with Facebook. That capability soon disappeared, making everyone wonder what happened. AllthingsD got the story: So did Zuck rain a world of hurt down on Jobs? Normally, this API access is open and does not require permission. That is, unless some entity wants to access it a lot....

When Apple announced plans for a new ‘global flagship’ store in Melbourne, Australia, it was welcomed by both government ministers and the square’s original architect. Tourism minister John Eren said that the store would ‘breathe new life into Federation Square,’ while architect Donald Bates said that the development ‘respects and expands on the original vision for the site.’ It will also involve the demolition of an existing building many view as an eyesore....

Ahead of WWDC, it was rumored that the iPad would gain support for mouse input as an Accessibility feature. This was confirmed with the release of the first beta of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, and now Steven Aquino has received more detail from Apple on the feature. Aquino spoke to Apple about the decision to bring mouse support to iPadOS and iOS after so many years, and the company reiterated that it’s meant as an Accessibility feature first and foremost....

Continuing its Earth Day efforts, Apple today has shared a collection of new playlists on Apple Music that the company says provides the “perfect soundtrack for Earth day – and beyond.” The collection consists of five different playlists containing a wide array of artists. Artists included in the various playlists are Coldplay, James Bay, Alex Ferreira, The Beatles, Adele, Bob Marley, and many more. The five playlists can be seen below:...

As predicted, the Apple Store went down this morning. We’ve just heard that these are the new Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt-equipped iMacs: Update: The Apple Store is back up with SKUs to match: As always, thanks Mr. X! Best Buy has huge Mac sale, not just clearing for iMac refresh (9to5mac.com) iWork trial goes MIA, update coming? (9to5mac.com) iMac supply constraints hit Apple’s online store ahead of imminent refresh (9to5mac.com) Apple delays iMac orders ahead of next week’s refresh with Thunderbolt I/O and Sandy Bridge processors (9to5mac....