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Amid a decline in adoption by websites, Apple has revealed that it will remove support for “Do Not Track” in Safari 12.1. As detailed in a blog post from DuckDuckGo, Do Not Track’s mission of helping users avoid having their activity tracked has largely failed. Apple, meanwhile, is shifting focus to its new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature. Do Not Track was original designed to “a special signal to websites, analytics companies, ad networks, plug in providers, and other web services you encounter while browsing, to stop tracking your activity....

Apple has canceled Xnor.ai’s Pentagon contract for military drone work following the iPhone maker’s acquisition of the AI company. Xnor.ai was reportedly working on the controversial Project Maven, which is using AI to identify people and objects in drone videos and photos… The project came to public attention last year when it was revealed that Google was also involved. A petition by more than 4,000 Google employees led to the company not only ending its involvement but also coming up with principles governing the ethical use of AI....

Apple Pay is continuing to expand to more users around world. Apple’s mobile payment platform is now available to customers of additional banks in Sweden, Austria, and Malta. In Malta, Apple Pay is currently supported by Monese and Revolut. That will soon change, however, as BOV (Bank of Valetta) has announced that it will soon add support for Apple Pay. This makes BOV the first national bank in Malta to support Apple Pay....

A host of interesting Apple and Steve Jobs memorabilia is up for auction from Apple product design engineer, Jerrold Manock. Available items include a Steve Jobs signed contract for the Apple II, Manock’s original 1983 Macintosh computer, an Apple Snow White Paperweight, hats, beach towels, t-shirts, and much more. RR Auction is holding the “Steve Jobs auction featuring The Lifetime Collection of Apple Product Design Engineer, Jerrold Manock.” Here’s how the auction house describes the collection:...

Update: Now available on iBooks to download on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac. Apple has today posted its Apple Watch User Guide, as customers begin to receive their Watches starting tomorrow. The guide serves as an accompaniment to the Watch, teaching users how to navigate around the interface and access various features. The guide covers all of the native first-party Apple Watch apps as well as general user-interface tips and tricks....

After the LTE iPad mini went on sale alongside the WiFi version, we noted that customers were seeing various delivery dates for the product. However, most readers reported delivery dates of either November 21st or November 23. A few days later, Apple removed the dates leading some to believe that the LTE iPad mini may be facing some sort of delay. Today, though, the LTE iPad mini delivery date seems to be back for a number of readers....

Apple has officially released iPadOS 14 to the public with the new software bringing a variety of changes and improvements. iPadOS 14 is compatible with the iPad Air 2 and later, iPad mini 4 and later, iPad 5th gen and later, and all iPad Pro models. To check if iPadOS 14 is available on your iPad, head to Settings > General > Software Update. Keep checking back as it may take some time for the major update rollout to reach everyone....

Apple has posted its latest iPhone 5s, called “Dreams,” to its YouTube channel. The new ad shows a number of iPhone owners using their devices in various professional and personal pursuits ranging from art, to medicine, to fighting fires. The ad is set to Jennifer O’Connor’s new single “When I Grow Up,” which was released on iTunes earlier this week. The app highlights a specific set of apps, which Apple has detailed on the updated page “Powerful” on its website....

Along with updates to iWork and iLife today, Apple has overhauled their Podcasts, Find my iPhone, and iTunes Trailers apps to fall in line with the design paradigms of iOS 7. Along with new icons, all three apps have been completely redesigned, with user interfaces that closely resemble Apple’s other iOS 7 apps. While Find my iPhone and iTunes Trailers don’t include new features, Podcasts has received updates to the search tab, Top Charts section, and more....

Apple has released an updated version of iTunes through the Mac App Store, although the version number and release notes appear the same. iTunes 12.6.1 with ‘minor app and performance improvements’ was first released last Monday with no visible changes, but Apple has issued a new iTunes update through the Mac App Store today without changing the version number or change log. The new iTunes 12.6.1 update does have a slightly higher build number at 12....

Apple appears to be tweaking its branding for retail stores by removing the word ‘Store’, as spotted on the company’s website (via MacRumors). Apple has started transitioning its own listings for retail stores to remove the word “store,” and for new stores starting with the launch of its just opened San Francisco location that’s listed as “Apple Union Square”. The changes build upon community and volunteering efforts we detailed earleir this year that Apple is pushing throughout its retail system....

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is in early talks with “Iranian distributors” to bring the iPhone to Iran: The report notes that financial and banking sanctions as well as political tension has thus far prevented companies like Apple from conducting business in Iran, but points to a policy change in May that lifted the ban on sales of “consumer communications technologies” in the country. The report goes on the claim that “senior Apple executives” have already met with “potential Iranian distributors” at Apple’s regional headquarters in London....

The decade-long legal battle between Apple and VirnetX may be coming to an end. Today the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Apple to hear the case in which it may end up owing VirnetX $400+ million. Update 3/13: VirnetX has said today in a press release that Apple has paid the full $454,033,859.87 judgment awarded in the lawsuit, ending the ten-year legal fight (via MacRumors). Reported by Reuters, the news that the Supreme Court today denied Apple’s request to hear the case comes after a US Court of Appeals rejected Apple’s request for a rehearing earlier this month....

Apple’s head of Apple Pay, Jennifer Bailey, is set to appear alongside other industry titans at Recode’s Code Commerce conference this December. The Apple exec ran the company’s online stores for many years and now leads Apple Pay, Apple’s contactless mobile payments solution. The Code Commerce meeting takes place multiple times a year; Bailey will be appearing at the last one in 2016 on December 6. No doubt the new MacBook Pro with integrated Apple Pay will form part of the discussions....

Apple created a new section on its website dedicated to the enhanced iTunes U service that was updated during last week’s education announcement. The new web-based resources available at www.apple.com/support/itunes-u contain a wealth of information and how-to topics for educators to implement the new iTunes U digital features into their workflow. Specifically, training course are available for iTunes U Public Site Manager and iTunes U Course Manager, as well as various guides on publishing on iTunes U....

Apple announced macOS Big Sur with a redesigned interface and new features, including widgets, Control Center, and more. The update also brings some important changes that weren’t mentioned on stage at WWDC 2020, such as a system capable of installing software updates faster in the background. Users are currently unable to use the Mac during the update installation process, which can take up to an hour depending on the update. Both the preparation and installation process are done on boot, so the system remains inaccessible until the update is complete....

The iPod, which has had its own tab on the Apple.com web site’s homepage for over 13 years, today disappeared from Apple’s homepage and menu bar — replaced with and subordinated under a new Music button. iPod sales have been slipping for years, the result of both steadily increasing demand for iPhones and reduced support from Apple, which has left previously-introduced iPod hardware untouched and undermarketed. iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod touch models remain available from Apple (and discounted elsewhere), but their de-emphasis suggests that Apple isn’t particularly concerned with promoting them to customers....

Apple has released an update to macOS High Sierra for all Macs running macOS 10.13.2. The supplemental security update likely addresses the Spectre flaw that affected Safari and may contain further mitigations for Meltdown. Apple released the original version of macOS 10.13.2 back in early December, but acknowledged last week that Safari would require further updates to help lessen potential issues related to recently disclosed vulnerabilities. Apple has already released mitigations in iOS 11....

Update: Apple says that the Chinese MIIT requires VPN providers to obtain a license. The company has been ‘required’ to remove VPN apps from the App Store in China which do not meet the regulations. Apple has begun removing all VPN apps from the App Store in China, as first noted by the developers of ExpressVPN. In a blog post, they reported that Apple informed them that their app had been pulled from the Chinese App Store....

Apple lined up another record quarter (shocker) selling an incredible 20.34 million iPhones, 9.25 million iPads and 3.95 million Macs. iPods were down 20% YOY to 7.9M. The company earned $7.31 billion in net profit on revenue of $28.57 billion for the June quarter. Both are records for Apple…and it isn’t even a holiday quarter. Press release and charts follow: Apple Reports Third Quarter Results All-Time Record Revenue and Earnings...