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Tim Cook and Jony Ive have both spoken numerous times about the Apple Watch Edition being more scratch-resistant than standard 18-karat gold, describing it as ‘twice as hard’ as standard gold but but without explaining how. A patent application (via Leancrew) appears to explain this–and shows that Apple saves money on the gold into the bargain. 18-karat gold isn’t pure gold, it is defined as being 75% gold by weight. The remaining 25% of the mix is usually made up of one or more other metals, with silver and copper popular choices....

Following its announcement of record Q2 earnings, Apple published its quarterly 10-Q report, providing more in-depth details about finances. Notably, the company warns of the possibility of “material” back taxes due to the company’s well-documented favorable tax arrangements with Ireland. Apple will need to pay the fines if the European Commission, which is akin to the U.S.’s SEC, rules that Ireland granted Apple special privileges for reduced taxes. As the European Commission has not made any formal rulings on the fine, Apple says it could not estimate the impact....

The first stage of Apple’s plan to spend $100 billion in share buy-backs and increased dividends was completed yesterday as Apple sold $17 billion’s worth of corporate bonds – the world’s largest corporate debt sale. Although Apple has a cash balance of $145b, much of this money is held in overseas subsidiaries, and Apple would have to pay tax on it to bring it back to the USA. It is cheaper for it to borrow the money instead …...

Apple today shared new photos from within the currently under construction Campus 2 (via Mashable), as well as previously unknown details about the site set to become the company’s new headquarters when construction completes early next year. The most impressive shots and most of the new details surround the on-site auditorium separate from the main building, where the company will indeed hold future press events. That was expected, but Mashable seems to have gotten the inside scoop from Apple and notes the company is calling the auditorium “Theatre” internally and that it will be “the new stage where Apple will publicly debut its products to the media and, ultimately, the world....

Yesterday it was revealed that Apple would begin to offer a ship to store option on its online store and it appears that it has just gone online. We heard it would be hitting San Francisco first: As you can see from the screenshot above, it is now live. Apple Store online shoppers now have the option of sending their item(s) to a physical Store in San Francisco. Others soon will follow leading up to the holidays....

The Apple Store Online is currently down in China as Apple prepares for a big round of iPhone discounts in the country this weekend. As announced earlier this week, Apple is planning discounts on its iPhone models and accessories, as well as the Apple Watch and AirPods. Apple routinely takes its store offline as it prepares for new product launches or major changes. This is generally done as a way for the company to build anticipation....

We’ve heard from a few overseas sources that Apple Retail stores are planning ‘overnights’ on July 13th. Overnights are generally where Apple refreshes store displays and trains up management on new products. Sometimes it is big stuff and sometimes it is insignificant (at least to us). July 13th, however, lines up with our Lion release date pretty nicely. We’re expecting the Lion release obviously, and also some new MacBook Airs which may or may not have faster storage (but not this fast), a Sandy Bridge CPU, HD Facetime cam and Thunderbolts coming out the side....

There were multiple stories in the news last week regarding Apple Store employees’ plans to unionize. While Apple has yet to make a public statement about the unionization plans, it’s already working with anti-union lawyers to stop these efforts. Recent instances of union talks Apple Store employees at the Grand Central store in New York City have started the process of unionizing. These employees seek to improve the quality of working conditions, earn more vacation time and better retirement, and secure a $30-per-hour minimum wage....

Kuo had already said in another investor note that Apple was working on a new redesigned MacBook Air for 2022, but he wasn’t specific about the schedule. Now Kuo claims that this rumored laptop will be officially introduced sometime in mid-2022, which could indicate an April release just like the 2021 iMac or even at WWDC in June. The analyst also reiterates his earlier note about the Mini-LED display coming to the next-generation MacBook Air, but this time Kuo said that it will feature a 13....

comScore collected the data in December of last year. The company notes that despite the growing use of video on demand services, live TV still dominates, accounting for 84% of all viewing against 14.9% time-shifted TV and just 1.1% video on demand. However, this is very much driven by demographics: Millennials and Gen X spend more time watching digital media than live TV. It was reported over the weekend that Apple hasn’t entirely abandoned its plans to sell a streaming TV bundle, but is currently focusing on a ‘premium TV bundle‘ comprising HBO, Showtime, and Starz....

One concern many users have about Apple Watch 2 likely adding an embedded GPS is what impact precise location tracking could have on battery life. The GPS radio would likely only be tapped during outdoor workouts and when using Maps, but a purported parts leak also claims Apple Watch 2 will gain 35% more battery capacity which would help. The latest Apple Watch 2 leak comes from a post on Chinese social media site Weibo, which claims to show a significantly higher capacity battery purportedly being used in the Apple Watch 2....

Apple appears to have just provided a first glimpse at the retail packaging for Apple Watch or the device’s straps via the photo above posted to a newly updated jobs page on its website. The white box lines up with the little information Apple has provided about the packaging for the entry-level Sport Edition and the stainless steel Watch Edition models. We know Apple is planning a more traditional watch box that doubles as a place to store and charge the device, but that will only come with the more expensive 18k gold models....

Wednesday’s best deals include the Apple Watch Series 4 Cellular models, as well as an Anker New Year sale, and Wemo’s HomeKit Smart Plug. Hit the jump for all that and more in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Refurb Apple Watch Series 4 Cellular models at $250 Today only, Woot offers certified refurbished Apple Watch Series 4 44mm GPS + Cellular models in various styles for $250. Having originally retailed for $429, today’s offer is $109 under what you’d pay for a refurbished model direct from Apple and marks one of the best prices to date....

The move follows the release of iTunes 8 this month, which contains significant accessibility improvements – but these are to be extended under the new deal Apple’s reached with The National Federation of the Blind and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. Apple will now make iTunes fully accessible by December 31, 2008, and will ensure the full accessibility of the iTunes software and the rest of the iTunes Store to blind people using both Mac and Windows operating systems by June 30, 2009....

New figures from CIRP reported in Fortune show that Apple wins three times as many smartphone customers from Samsung as Samsung does from Apple: 20 percent switched from a Samsung handset to an iPhone, while only 7 percent switched in the opposite direction. Unsurprisingly, the biggest chunk of iPhone buyers – 42 percent – were upgrading from a previous iPhone, while the rest were split between those switching from other brands (around 30 percent) and those upgrading from a featurephone (26 percent) – with a handful of first-time cellphone buyers making up the rest....

UPDATE: Read everything revealed by the Aquaman set visit reports. Aquaman will introduce us to the title character’s half brother, Orm, as played by actor Patrick Wilson in the upcoming film. Aquaman is scheduled to be released in December - just in time to attract huge Christmas audiences. Aquaman is the follow-up to 2017’s Justice League, directed by James Wan, and starring Jason Momoa as the title character. In addition to Momoa and Wilson, Amber Heard plays Mera, Nicole Kidman plays Queen Atlanna, Dolph Lundgren takes on the role of King Nereus, and William Dafoe appears as Nuidis Vulko....

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WazDOlB0Kik&w=670&h=401] We told you that Apple would be releasing a modified iPhone 4 Bumper case and today 9to5mac reader Alerio found one at his local Apple store and uploaded a video for us (above). As you will notice the vibrate switch is a bit narrower and longer to fit the Verizon iPhone 4’s modified button layout. The updated Bumper ships in new packaging with a white backing (shown in the video) versus a grey backing on the white Bumper or a backing that matches the respective Bumper’s case color....

Protestor Feng Kung was handing out leaflets urging Apple employees to spill the beans on Nvidia for “allegedly covering up video-card defects,” Wired informs. Nvidia acknowledged a common defect in some of its video cards on July 2. These problems even extended to relatively recent models of MacBook Pro, Apple confirmed last week, saying: “In July 2008, Nvidia publicly acknowledged a higher than normal failure rate for some of their graphics processors due to a packaging defect....

At Apple’s virtual shareholder meeting today, investors approved some of the usual agenda items like the executive compensation plan and reelecting the board. However, the meeting also brought a unique scenario with shareholders voting against Apple’s wishes. Reported by Bloomberg, Apple’s board had opposed the measure for third-party civil rights audits. Proponents of the proposal believe it would be helpful to see if and how the company contributes to inequality. But Apple said “it already meets the objectives of the proposal....

In addition to launching refreshes to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, Apple has lowered the cost of higher-end Mac solid state storage options, cutting the price in half for many of the configurations. For example, the 4 TB SSD of the 512 GB 15-inch MacBook Pro used to cost $2800. It now costs $1,400. These savings are seen across the iMac, iMac Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Air line....