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In a move which hit Apple harder than other smartphone brands, India increased the import tax on smartphones from 10% to 15% in December. Less than two months later, it has just decided to increase the rate again, this time to 20% … Bloomberg reports that the decision was detailed as part of a budget announced today. Import tax hikes hit Apple particularly hard as it currently imports all models other than the iPhone SE....

Apple’s Black Friday shopping event is now live in the United States. Don’t go celebrating too much — the deals aren’t the best. Apple is giving away up to $200 in gift cards with select purchases (that excludes newer hardware like AirPods Pro or 16-inch MacBook Pro). Check out the latest offers on 9to5Toys for the best deals from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Apple’s premium brand means it is not known for offering deep discounts on Black Friday – Cyber Monday shopping season, and this year is no exception....

The online Apple Store is down as Apple readies the site to take pre-orders of the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. The iPad Air 2 is 18% thinner than the original Air, adds Touch ID, M8 motion-sensing chip and an AX8 processor that Apple says is 40% faster than the previous model. It also has camera and wifi improvements, and is available in gold … The iPad mini 3 is essentially identical to its predecessor bar Touch ID and the gold color option....

In March, Apple agreed to pay $500 million to settle a United States lawsuit over iPhone performance throttling. Now, the judge in that case has given the deal preliminary approval, with final approval slated to come later. As reported by Law360, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila told both parties via Zoom on Friday that he wants to extend the final approval deadline because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge Davila instructed both sides to confer about a new date “for a final settlement approval hearing that would take place sometime in December....

Update: Apple has now pulled the GameStore app from iTunes and the App Store. Spotted by Flo’s Weblog at Schimake.com, an application called GameStore, published by Apple, made its way onto iTunes Dec. 31. What exactly GameStore is used for -at this point- is still unknown. At first glance, it appears to be some type of internal test app for in-app purchases and payments. The official description for the app through its iTunes page is as follows: “This application allows you to buy different things from within the app....

Apple’s new Mac Pro is now available to order from Apple’s online store. While prices start at $5,999, the Mac Pro gets expensive rather quickly as you add more SSD storage, a more powerful processor, additional RAM, and more. With all of the available hardware upgrade options, you can currently configure a build-to-order Mac Pro that costs $52,599. Here is what that price gets you: Processor: 2.5 GHz 28‑core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4....

In line with an increased number of press releases issued this year, Apple has just announced via a press release on its website that iTunes U content has now reached 1 billion downloads. It also shared some stats on the service that is now “the world’s largest online catalog of free educational content.” According to Apple, more than 2,400 schools are currently hosting content on the service with some of the top universities enrolling over 100,000 students into iTunes U and around 250,000 students enrolled in total:...

Apple has seeded the golden master version of Xcode 5.1.1 to developers. This indicates that a public release should be imminent. This new seed follows the release of Xcode 5.1 in the middle of this past March. Release notes below. Thanks, D! Issues Resolved in Xcode 5.1.1 GM Seed! Compiler! Fixed a compiled code crash on when targeting iOS 5.1.1. (16485980)! Fixed a compiled code crash when using ARC and C++....

A supposed screenshot of a notice (via TechWeb) sent to Apple retail employees suggests that Apple is readying a China iPhone 6 (and 6 Plus) launch for October 10th. As stated on the Chinese site (translated): This is shortly after China’s national week-long holiday. Independently, the Chinese press have also reported the same October 10th date for the iPhone 6 debut. Last week, regulators stated that the phone was nearing final approval, causing black market iPhone 6 prices to plummet....

Following a full week of WWDC announcements, Apple today has officially announced the winners of the annual Apple Design Awards. The goal of these awards is to recognize developers for “outstanding app design, innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement. Apple has named eight app and game developers receiving an Apple Design Award this year. Usually, winning developers receive a hefty swag bag of Apple products, including the latest Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch hardware....

Apple is rolling out the sixth macOS 10.12.4 beta for developer testing. The upcoming version of macOS Sierra is the first to bring Night Shift to the Mac. macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is currently only available to developers and public beta testers. Public beta versions usually come a few days after developer versions if not the same day. macOS 10.12.4 beta also includes changes to Siri, Dictation, and Apple’s PDF API:...

Samsung’s new $3.6 billion factory in Austin has now kicked manufacturing into full tilt and is dedicated almost entirely to producing Apple’s A5 chip shipping in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. Reuters reports: The report also noted that Samsung started supplying Apple with A5 chips from the plant earlier in the year, but just hit full production this month. In September, there were reports claiming that Apple was moving to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for manufacturing of the next-gen A6 chip....

In addition to the release of iOS 13.4.1 today, Apple has also updated its creative Clips application. Today’s update brings the app to version 2.1.1 and includes cursor support for iPad, new editing features, and more. The headlining change in today’s update to Clips is support for using the app with a mouse, trackpad, or Bluetooth keyboard. Apple says this will give users “new ways to create videos” on iPadOS. Apple also recently updated its iWork apps with iPadOS cursor support....

Apple is quietly negotiating with some of the largest ISPs in the country in order to roll out their own Content Distribution Network, which would help ensure faster and more reliable downloads for iTunes content, iCloud data, and software (via StreamingMediaBlog). Apple has previously made strides to improve its networking infrastructure, including purchasing hardware to boost performance and creating a team dedicated to improving download speeds. It is also opening new Data Centers at a frenetic pace....

Today’s best deals include a notable movie bundle sale at Apple, plus deals on iPhone 6s from $99, and elago’s $10 Apple Watch stand. Hit the jump for all that and more. Apple launches movie bundle sale We’re under a week away from the release of the latest Star Wars film, and Apple is commemorating the event with a huge movie sale today. That includes nearly every Star Wars film, plus markdowns on various bundles including Batman, DC Universe, Superman, and more from $5....

An Apple Store Manager relayed to us that the new iPad 2 displays are able to turn into “normal iPads” with a few swipes in secret combination. To find out if true, I went to the Soho store and tried it out. Yep, it works. The button still doesn’t work so it is easy to get yourself stuck – like in Email Setup below: I’m not going to post the gesture combination unless it hits the web but it does exist and Store managers know it....

iOS release history tells us that as a product in development moves even closer to release, it is assigned a proper codename. Not only an identifier like “3,1” but a codename such as N94 (iPhone 4S) or K48 (original iPad). The next-generation Apple TV has reached that stage. Thanks to today’s beta release of iOS 5.1, we have on our hands the codename for this new Apple TV (3,1). As you can see above, the new Apple TV is rocking a the J33 codename, the second JXX product we’ve seen from Apple....

Apple’s stock opened at a record $690 per share following its triumph in the pivotal patents trial against Samsung last Friday. Today is the first day of trading since Apple came out on top and its latest record soars past the previous best of $674.88 per share. The unparallelled all-time high also forced Apple’s market capitalization to $637 billion. [tweet https://twitter.com/jaydeezy17/status/240086109554606080] Check it out: NASDAQ:AAPL Related articles Apple and Samsung issue official statements on today’s rulings (9to5mac....

After withdrawing its guidance for its fiscal Q2 2020, Apple is not providing traditional guidance to investors for fiscal Q3 2020. According to CFO Luca Maestri, there is simply too much uncertainty to provide any useful data for investors. Apple traditionally provides investors with a variety of different guidance points, including revenue, gross margin, and operating expenses. In an interview with the Financial Times, Maestri explained Apple’s reasoning behind this decision for Q3 2020:...

Some iPhone X customers have complained in the last week that their phone screen does not work at near-freezing temperatures. Apple has now said that it has an identified an issue where the iPhone X display becomes unresponsive to touches after a ‘rapid change’ in temperature. The company promised a forthcoming software fix will resolve the problem. Apple says that iOS devices should be used at operating temperatures between 0º and 35º celsius....