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MacStories is well-known as a leader for Apple device automation and now Federico Viticci and company will be hosting a neat month-long event focused on just that. Automation April is launching today with original content, special activities/podcast episodes, a contest, and more with a focus on the Shortcuts app. With years of experience as Shortcuts app power users, innovators, and developers, MacStories’ Federico Viticci and John Vorhees have shared countless resources to help Apple users get the most out of automation on iPhone, iPad, and Mac and push the boundaries of what’s possible....

Over the past four months, Apple has been revamping its retail stores across the world with a series of interactive demos that spotlight Apple subscription services. Collectively, the new displays fundamentally change the customer relationship with the Apple Store and represent a significant evolution of Apple’s retail experience. Step inside an Apple Store with the latest design, and the world of Apple services will unfold. Glowing signs for Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, and large text announcing Apple Fitness+ dot the Avenues around the store perimeter....

For this upcoming holiday season, Apple will be celebrating with a front Apple Store window display that several Apple Retail employees have described as spectacular. A photo of the display, sent in by a source, is above. The display highlights both the iPad Air and iPhone 5c and is made up of several LED lights shaped into snow flakes. The design is simple, but unique and impressive… The displays will begin going up in many countries across the world later this week, and they will remain up until early January....

Alongside the release of Apple’s supplier responsibility report today highlighting working conditions within its supply chain, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations Jeff Williams has also sent out a letter to employees. In the past, CEO Tim Cook has been known to send out an email to employees following the supplier report. In today’s letter, Williams went over some of the key points from the supplier responsibility report and noted, “to drive accountability, we are now publishing a quarterly list of the names, countries, and participation status of the smelters and refiners in our supply chain....

Apple’s upcoming release of iOS 6.1 will include a new feature for Siri: the ability to get movie tickets. The feature, according to developers who are beta testing the new iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system, works via Fandango. To purchase movie tickets, a user simply needs to ask their iOS device to buy tickets for a certain movie. Apple even describes the commands in the Siri information menu:...

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple is about to unveil an upgraded iCloud service at WWDC in June. Citing the usual sources “familiar with the matter,” the report also claimed the features would include new photo-sharing capabilities for sharing and commenting on sets of photos. It also mentioned the ability to sync video to iCloud, which sounds a lot like a Video Stream feature that we mentioned last year....

It’s been long time coming and it’s finally here. The U.K. online Apple Store now lists the Apple iPhone Micro USB Adapter, available for £8.00 and shipping October 14. From Apple: Standards bodies in Europe had agreed last year that all mobile phones sold in Europe should drop proprietary connectors in favor of standard USB jacks. Apple’s been ignoring the initiative up to the point when some watchers questioned whether the European Union should fine the Cupertino, California-based gadget maker....

Following today’s iWork for iCloud update, Apple has pushed out new versions of the iOS and OS X version of the productivity suite, providing feature parity with the online version. Pages (iOS / Mac), Keynote (iOS / Mac), and Numbers (iOS / Mac) each received a new read-only sharing mode to work with the iCloud version of that feature. Each app also got a long list of changes and enhancements, which are listed below....

While this year’s iPhone lineup is expected to comprise one LCD and two OLED models, Apple continues to look ahead to the next generation of display technology: microLED. This upcoming display technology is both brighter and more power-efficient than OLED, and doesn’t suffer from burn-in. The company is reported to have visited one of the more advanced suppliers of the new type of display … Taiwan’s Economic Daily News reports that Apple representatives visited AUO....

The new Apple TV 4K begins arriving at customer’s doorsteps from today, and Patrick O’Rourke at Mobile Syrup has an interview with Apple VP Tim Twerdahl on the new box and its redesigned remote. Most notably, Twerdahl highlights the potential capabilities of the HDMI 2.1 port including the high-frame rate 4K HDR output and support for eARC, which allows sound from all TV sources to output to a connected HomePod. Twerdahl says Apple is committed to “making great audio products for the home”, an important note given that the eARC feature currently only works with the 2018 HomePod, a product Apple has discontinued....

An Apple Watch Series 7 user is speaking out after their device overheated, started smoking, and eventually exploded. The case was brought to Apple’s attention and the company confirmed it would investigate what happened. At the same time, however, Apple also attempted to coerce the user into staying silent and not sharing the story. After this, the Apple Watch user said that he immediately called Apple Support to explain the situation....

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-waTi8BPdk] Apple re-uploaded its Apple Watch introduction video to YouTube today with a few small changes to the design of the device. It seems the company’s initial renders of the watch were not as accurate as they could have been, as the new version—which also appears on Apple.com now—sports a noticeably smaller screen… [tweet https://twitter.com/KhaosT/status/517073790342160384 align=’center’] [tweet https://twitter.com/KhaosT/status/517068661387821056 align=’center’] The images in the Apple Watch gallery haven’t been updated, but they’ve always had the same design that was introduced to the video today....

Larger displays are the headline feature of the Apple Watch Series 4 and iPhone XS Max. To spotlight the new screens, Apple has created large displays of another kind – in storefront windows. Just a five minute walk from Apple’s flagship store on Regent Street is retailer John Lewis. Apple has taken over the first floor Oxford Street windows of the massive department store to build a temporary installation. Black wrappings canvas the windows, punctuated by four brightly lit and moving displays....

The first Apple Watch Series 6 orders will arrive to customers tomorrow. Ahead of the public release, the early reviews of the new Apple Watch have hit the web, offering a closer look at the blood oxygen sensor, new colors, and much more. Apple Watch Series 6 reviews One of the Apple Watch Series 6 changes is that the always-on display is 2.5 brighter than the Series 5. Gizmodo says this is easily noticeable during things like workouts:...

Apple has posted a new video to its YouTube channel today promoting the Apple Watch Series 6. The ad is called “Hello Sunshine” and it focuses on the Apple Watch’s suite of health features, including the Blood Oxygen app, workout tracking, and more. The new ad is 90 seconds long and set to the song Cuore Matto (Planet Funk Remix) by Little Tony. “With features like fall detection, the Blood Oxygen app and workout tracking, the future of health is on your wrist,” Apple says....

Following the release of iOS 5.0.1 to developers to test the new software against applications in addition to test for battery life and Siri improvements, Apple is now seeding iOS 5.0.1 to certain end users for testing. A small number of customers who have complained about battery life issues in iOS 5 have been seeded the bug fix release through Apple’s AppleSeed program. Apple warns program participants that their devices will not be able to be downgraded to iOS 5....

. Almost two weeks after the seeding of the initial OS X 10.7.4 beta, Apple has released a new build to developers. The new build is numbered 11E35 and, according to Apple, includes “no known issues.” Apple tells developers to focus on the App Store, graphics, QuickTime, Mail, and iCal. The new seed is available only to registered developers, and Apple has provided no public timeline for the 10.7.4 release. The release notes for the new build can be viewed after the break....

Almost two years ago to date, Apple acquired a Topsy Labs, an analytics company that made various products that searched and drew data from conversations happening on services like Twitter. Now, Apple has shut down the service according to a tweet from Topsy. “We’ve searched our last tweet,” Topsy said in a post on Twitter this evening. Going to Topsy’s website now redirects you to an Apple support article on how to use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch....

When Apple began the transition away from using Intel chips in the Mac in favor of Apple Silicon, it promised that the transition would take two years to complete. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that he expects the Apple Silicon transition to be completed by WWDC 2022 in June. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman doubles down on his previous reporting that Apple is planning a new Mac Pro, a more powerful Mac mini, and a large-screened iMac Pro, all powered by Apple Silicon....

After our attempt at explaining the 500% markup on Apple’s new solar array yesterday, further information has now confirmed that Apple’s new stores – starting in the brand new San Francisco location – will be utilizing a new walkable solar glass floor technology for electricity generation. According to a document on Onyx Solar’s website, Apple “has decided to commit itself to OnyxSolar’s designer photovoltaic technology for its new stores. The first of these is located in the heart of San Francisco, the company’s home town....