Bank of America has begun rolling out support for withdrawing cash from its ATMs using Apple Pay.
Approximately 650 card-less ATMs were deployed in the San Francisco area in May, and the technology expanded to 2,400 ATMs, including eleven in the Raleigh-Durham region, in early June.
The new ability was also spotted by a Reddit user located in Redondo Beach, California, who took a picture of an ATM apparently featuring an NFC reader positioned to the left of the card reader (via 9to5Mac).
When a smartphone is placed on the NFC logo, the user is prompted to enter their PIN number, after which they are taken to a typical withdrawal screen, although the option to deposit money is disabled.
Bank of America is said to be highlighting the new feature on supported ATMs, but customers should note that the Apple Pay option currently only works with bank cards issued by Bank of America, and not all NFC-equipped ATMs support Apple Pay at present.
Bank of America has launched a website detailing the process of withdrawing cash using Apple Pay. The site notes that "Consumer Debit Cards, US Trust Debit Cards, Small Business Debit Cards (owner card only)" are currently supported.
News that Bank of America and Wells Fargo were working on implementing Apple Pay into their ATMs first appeared back in January. Rollout to Bank of America's more than 16,000 ATMs was said to begin mid-2016, but no timeline was given for Wells Fargo.
During the watchOS 3 segment of Apple's keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developer's Conference last week, Apple introduced a new mindfulness-based app called Breathe.
The idea behind Breathe is to help Apple Watch owners better manage everyday stress, and works by prompting users to take a short time out to focus their attention on the simple act of breathing.
By default, Breathe serves up a one-minute session which guides the user through seven breaths. The duration can be extended to up to five minutes by rotating the Digital Crown, while breathing can be slowed to four breaths per minute, or increased to ten per minute.
As the session begins, the app asks the user to "Be still, and bring your attention to your breath". A mandala-like series of concentric circles then begin to expand and contract on the watch screen as a visual guide for the user to adjust the rate of their breath.
What's not obvious from demos is that the app also makes use of the Apple Watch's haptic feedback, by initiating a delicate tapping rhythm on the wrist that begins fast and gradually fades at the top of each breath, as a subtle cue to exhale.
The use of haptic feedback also means the user can close their eyes as the session takes place, while the intensity of the feedback can be adjusted in the app settings.
When the session comes to an end, the user's recorded heart-rate during the session is shown, as is the total number of minutes that have been spent using the app that day. An option to retake the session and "Breathe again" also appears on screen.
The default setting for the app is to prompt a session every four hours, but prompts can be snoozed and their frequency can also be changed in the app's settings.
Additionally, a Breathe complication can be added to watch faces, allowing users to start a session with a simple tap whenever they choose.
During the Keynote, Apple did not cite any scientific evidence to back up its claims that bringing attention to the breath can help decrease stress and alleviate anxiety. However, research does exist to support the claim.
Breath-based meditation has been shown to reduce activity in the brain's "default mode network" (DMN), an area implicated in mind-wandering and the sense of self. Increased activity in this "resting state" network is known to be associated with conditions such as depression and anxiety.
Recent neuroimaging studies have also shown that daily meditation alters the functional and structural plasticity of the brain, and can increase cortical thickness in specific brain regions associated with attention-based tasks.
The Breathe app is part of watchOS 3, which will be released as a free upgrade this fall.
Apple Maps has been updated with comprehensive Transit information for the city of Denver, Colorado, enabling iPhone users in the area to navigate using public transportation, including buses, subways, and commuter rails.
Transit routing was introduced in iOS 9 with support for a limited number of cities, but Apple has since expanded its public transportation coverage for over 20 cities around the world and 30 cities in China.
Apart from Denver, Transit directions are available in Apple Maps for Austin, Sydney, Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Toronto, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
During its What's New in Metal, Part 1 session at WWDC 2016, Apple used an iPad to demo the graphics API's new adaptive tessellation capabilities on iOS 10. At the 17:58 mark of the video, a TextEdit icon can be seen on the iPad's home screen from the multitasking app switcher screen.
TextEdit is Apple's basic word processor preinstalled on macOS Sierra and previous OS X versions, but the company has not released a mobile version for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch as it has done for some of its other first-party Mac apps. There are also no third-party apps that fully match the app shown in the screenshot.
TextEdit and Preview icons were previously spotted in a pre-release iOS 8 screenshot, but neither of the apps were included in the public version of the software update. An early 2014 report had said both apps would debut on iOS 8 as read-only document viewers for Preview and TextEdit files stored in iCloud from a Mac.
While there is an outside chance that Apple plans to release a basic text editor on iOS to complement Notes and Pages, the most likely explanation is that TextEdit serves as a simple "Hello World" testing app for internal developers. Apple is known to have several internal apps for use by software engineers and employees only.
Apple previewed iOS 10 at its WWDC 2016 keynote on June 13 and has seeded the first beta to developers. A public beta will be available in July ahead of an official launch in the fall. iOS 10 is compatible with most devices that can run iOS 9, excluding the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and 3, original iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch.
Apple has informed Republican leaders it will not be supporting the party's 2016 presidential convention in Cleveland next month, according to sources who spoke to Politico today.
The decision is reportedly due to comments made by presumptive nominee Donald Trump which the company takes issue with, in particular his controversial positions on the subjects of minorities, women, and immigrants.
Apple has traditionally donated technology and cash to both Republican and Democratic conventions, although no funding was provided to the 2012 Democratic event after the party decided against taking corporate donations.
It's still unclear whether Apple plans to donate to the upcoming Democratic convention in Philadelphia this summer.
Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have all said they will provide some support to this year's GOP event, despite general reservations within the tech industry about where the party is headed under Trump's candidacy.
Back in March, Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the American Enterprise Institute's annual World Forum, where conversation among tech leaders and Republican representatives kept returning to the topic of the GOP candidate's emergence on the political scene. Sources familiar with the event said that the meeting centered more around how and why Trump had attracted support, rather than how to stop him.
Trump has previously singled out Apple for its encryption stance and its refusal to help the FBI unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, and at one point suggested people should boycott the company's products unless it complied with the federal agency's demands.
It was later revealed that Trump had tweeted the comment using an iPhone.
No indication was given by the two sources Politico spoke to that Trump's criticism of Apple was behind its decision to withhold support for the Republican event.
Apple will not be alone in its refusal to help with GOP convention efforts. Earlier this month, HP announced it would not provide funding, after coming under pressure from activists at ColorofChange.org.
"We want them to divest from hate; we want them to pull all their money and support," said Mary Alice, field director for Free Press Action Fund, which is part of the anti-Trump campaign. Tech companies backing the convention need to be "thinking hard about where they put their brand, and whether they want to align their brand with racism, hatred and misogyny," she told Politico.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Earlier this week, Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi appeared on a live episode of John Gruber's podcast, The Talk Show, touching on a number of topics and expanding on some of the announcements made the previous day at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.
The full video and audio of the interview are now available from Daring Fireball for those interested in seeing exactly what Schiller and Federighi had to say. The executives discussed such topics as the ability to remove stock apps in iOS 10, the opening of several parts of Apple's platforms to third-party developers to allow integration into apps such as Messages and Maps, and more.
The discussion also covered Apple's expanded subscription options for app developers, including some clarification on which types of apps may not be appropriate for such a model, details on the new Photos features and how Apple is approaching privacy with them, and some thoughts on how Apple was able to make such significant improvements in the watchOS user experience.
iOS 10 has been described by Apple as its biggest iOS update ever, with new features like a total overhaul of the Lock screen, a revamped Messages app that includes its own dedicated App Store, among other improvements, a Siri SDK for developers, a more capable Photos app, a redesigned Apple Music app, and hundreds of other changes, big and small.
In the video below, we've rounded up some of the smaller but still significant changes that have gone largely under the radar, like an easy access "Unsubscribe" button for newsletters in the Mail app, side-by-side Safari multitasking on iPads, Notes collaboration, cross device copy and paste, voicemail transcription, and more.
Over the beta testing period, Apple will undoubtedly introduce refinements to many of the previously announced features, along with tweaks to the interface and new minor features to streamline iOS 10 ahead of its release in the fall. We'll have ongoing coverage of iOS 10 and the other operating system updates unveiled at WWDC -- watchOS 3, macOS Sierra, and tvOS 10.
Don't miss out on our previous videos, which have covered iOS 10 and macOS Sierra features:
Last month, B&O PLAY announced the Beoplay A1, the latest portable Bluetooth speaker in its family of luxury home audio products. B&O PLAY is a brand subsidiary of Danish high-end audio and video manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, known for its principled attention to design (which some say inspired Apple).
We decided to take a look at the A1 ultraportable speaker to see if the device justifies its $249 price tag, which places it at the premium end of the Bluetooth speaker market.
Design
Taking the A1 out of the box, the first thing that strikes you is the compactness of the unit relative to its weight. At about 1.3 pounds (600 grams), it's not the lightest ultraportable speaker by any means, but its beautifully minimalist 'hockey puck' design feels disarmingly slight, partly thanks to designer Cecilie Manz's decision to embed the power, volume, play/pause, and pairing controls around the rim, with the attached leather strap adding a touch of surfer appeal.
The polymer base has a suede-like finish that ensures the 2-inch (51 mm) tall A1 sits happily on most surfaces, and its 5-inch (133 mm) diameter means it's possible to grasp the grilled dome from above and pick up with one hand. The unit sits snugly in the larger pockets of a raincoat, but trying to fit it in a light jacket pocket may present more of a challenge.
In celebration of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories, is generously offering an 'Everyday Developer Carry Kit' package where one winner can choose a briefcase bag, iPad case, iPhone case, and an Apple Watch band from the company's entire product line-up.
Pad & Quill offers several briefcase bag styles. The Briefcase and Large Briefcase can both accommodate laptops up to 15 inches, with the latter offering 25% more room than the former. Both are made of full-grain American cowhide and waxed canvas, featuring solid nickel hardware, internal dividers and pockets, leather handles, and a 25-year warranty. The Briefcase retails for $295 while the Large Briefcase retails for $365.
For iPads, Pad & Quill offers something for every model. For the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, there's the $139.95 Oxford Leather Folio case (see our review) that's made from a single piece of American full-grain bridle leather with a built-in stand and room for the Apple Pencil. For the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, there's the $89.95 Contega Thin Case with an archival-quality linen cover, built-in stand, and elastic band closure.
For iPhones, Pad & Quill's most popular options are the Luxury Pocket Book for the iPhone 6/6S that features a Baltic birch cradle and saddle leather cover, and the Woodline Case for the iPhone 6/6S Plus that's made of hardwood around an Aramid polymer core. For the Apple Watch, there's the Lowry Cuff band (our review) for 42mm models, and the Classic Leather Band for both 42mm and 38mm models.
One winner will be chosen. The winner can select one briefcase bag, one iPad case, one iPhone case, and one Apple Watch band.
To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and provide prize shipping information. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.a Rafflecopter giveaway This contest will run from today (June 17) at 12:00 pm Pacific time through 12:00 pm Pacific time on June 24. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 24 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address. The prize package will be shipped to the winner for free.
Pad & Quill is also offering $10 off any purchase of $39 or more for MacRumors readers for a limited time. Please enter code Apple10 at checkout to get the discount.
Apple and the World Wildlife Fund this week announced that the recent "Apps for Earth" promotion has raised more than $8 million in proceeds to support the WWF's conservation work.
The Apps for Earth promotion, timed to take place to celebrate Earth Day, ran from April 14 to April 24 and saw dozens of apps offering special in-app purchases with 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to the World Wildlife Fund.
Many of the participating apps, which included titles like VSCO, Trivia Crack, Hearthstone, and Angry Birds 2, heavily promoted the fundraiser, even going so far as to change app icons and graphics during the time that it ran. Apple itself updated the theme of the App Store's front page to highlight the promotion, displaying environmentally conscious messages and themed categories.
Apple has twice partnered with the World Wildlife Fund, and in addition to the app fundraiser, Apple in 2015 began a multi-year project with the WWF designed to protect up to 1 million acres of responsibility managed working forests in China.
The Beijing Intellectual Property Office has ruled that Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringe on the patent rights of another smartphone sold within China -- Shenzhen Baili’s 100c device -- leading to the possibility that Apple may have to cease sales of its handset in Beijing completely. Apple is expected to appeal to the Beijing Higher People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Court in attempts to keep its two handsets in circulation within Beijing.
However, as Bloomberg points out, if the case turns out badly for Apple, lawsuits that the company face in the future could potentially look back at the Shenzhen Baili ruling as a precedent. Beijing has a population of 21.7 million people, so it could have a larger-than-expected negative impact on a territory that Apple has already struggled with in the past.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringe on Shenzhen Baili’s patent rights because of similarities to its 100C phone, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office wrote in its decision.
While the decision covers only Beijing, future lawsuits against Apple could take the case as a precedent, potentially influencing the outcomes of litigation elsewhere in China. Baili is one of scores of smartphone brands trying to cash in on the country’s mobile boom.
Just last month, Apple lost the exclusive rights to the name "iPhone" in China, after a ruling by the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court favored leather goods maker Xintong Tiandi Technology. Apple has stayed headstrong in a retail rollout plan of new stores and locations for its Chinese users to visit and purchase its products, but the company still faces unexpected roadblocks in the country due to its strict internet policies.
Update: In a statement given to CNBC, Apple confirmed that both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (along with newer models) are "available for sale today in China," and that the company is already going through the appeal process in Beijing.
"iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone6s Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China. We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court," Apple told CNBC in a statement.
Microsoft has announced it is acquiring natural language and AI messaging startup Wand Labs as part of a larger strategy to build out "conversation as a platform" (via TechCrunch).
Founded in 2013 by former Google staffer Vishal Sharma, Wand Labs' stated aim is "to tear down app walls, integrate your services in chat, and make them work together so you can do more with less taps".
Previously, Wand apps focused on using conversational interfaces to allow users to perform collaborative tasks, such as enabling a friend to control a Nest thermostat, for example. (All Wand apps have been removed from the App Store since the announcement.)
"I'm proud of the work my team has done and what we've already accomplished in this emerging space," said Sharma in a statement on the Wand Labs website. "I'm delighted to be joining a company that shares our passion and enthusiasm for this new era where conversation is the central focus. Making experiences for customers more seamless by harnessing human language is a powerful vision and one that motivates me and my team."
The terms of the buyout have not been disclosed, but the fledgling Silicon Valley startup has just seven employees – a world away from Microsoft's recent $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, which has 9,700 full-time employees with offices in 30 cities around the world.
The two deals are likely related, however, as Microsoft appears to be maneuvering significant investment in the direction of conversational chat bot services backed by big data, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
Wand employees are expected to be integrated into Microsoft's Bing and Cortana teams, as the company follows a larger tech trend towards an era of conversational AI services and virtual messaging assistants.
Introducing chatbots into popular messaging apps are becoming more and more popular, with platforms like Kik and Skype gaining bot features to provide users with interactive chat logs that provide information on the weather, entertainment, or world news.
Facebook recently introduced chatbots to Messenger, and provided developers with toolkits to create third-party customer service chatbots and live chat APIs.
In the smart home sector, similar moves are aiming to make virtual assistants more intelligent at performing tasks and more responsive to specific queries, such as Amazon Echo's recent "skills" upgrade, which enables its Alexa assistant to integrate with over 1,000 third-party apps.
Google recently announced its Echo rival, Home, while Apple is also rumored to be working on a similar, Siri-based device for the home.
Apple has reportedly been working on its rival device since before the Amazon Echo debuted in November 2014. Google Home will be available later this year, but it is not known when Apple will be ready to debut its home accessory or how it will fit into the company's existing product lineup.
In a related move, Apple announced this week that it would open Siri up to third-party developers with a public API, allowing users to summon Apple's personal assistant AI to access third-party services and apps hands-free, opening the door to a potential smart home assistant with enhanced functionality and contextual awareness.
In October 2015, Apple acquired VocalIQ, a UK-based startup that had spent the last 10 years researching natural language, belief tracking, decision making, and message generation, in an attempt to develop a next-generation natural language API.
It's early days, but Apple may introduce the API in its Echo competitor because of its ability to go beyond the "session-based" contextual responses touted by the likes of Viv.
During Apple's opening keynote address at this week's Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco, CEO Tim Cook gave a shout-out to Anvitha Vijay, the youngest ever developer to attend WWDC.
Aged just nine, Vijay applied for and won one of 350 coveted Apple scholarships to attend the conference's coding and programming sessions, which are typically dominated by high school and college students. According to Fortune, the number of women who applied for Apple's scholarship also tripled this year compared to 2015.
Anvitha Vijay, the 9-year-old developer at WWDC 2016 (Image: USA Today)
A resident of Melbourne, Australia, Vijay was selected for a scholarship after she created an iOS app called Smartkins Animals, which lets young users have fun exploring the sights and sounds of over 100 animals. Prior to WWDC, the app had been downloaded "a few hundred times".
"It was like a dream to be here and meet so many people," Vijay said, speaking to USA Today. "I've just touched the tip of the iceberg in coding, there's so much to learn."
Vijay, who has Indian heritage, began teaching herself coding skills at the age of seven by watching YouTube instructional videos and using her mum's iPhone (users have to be aged at least 13 to hold an iTunes account). She said she was motivated to make an app using Xcode to teach her younger sister how to identify the names of animals.
"I want to be an innovator, to build things that people will love and benefit from," said Vijay as she handed WWDC attendees her business card, on which reads the motto: "I want to make a difference in people's lives through technology."
Vijay has now progressed to Apple's more advanced Swift programming language to develop a new app she's calling GoalsHi, which aims to give students more confidence in the classroom.
During Apple's WWDC keynote, the company revealed a new educational app called "Swift Playgrounds", which aims to introduce users to a new way to learn to code with Swift on an iPad.
The free app, due to be released with iOS 10 this fall, features custom "learn to code" lessons that focus on crafting visual cues around numeric coding data to slowly introduce kids into the world of coding.
All iPad Air and iPad Pro models will be compatible with the app, as well as iPad mini 2-and-later devices.
Apple Wallet was designed to allow users to easily place payment options like credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards alongside tickets and passes from companies like Fandango and EventBrite. However, Politico Europe has decided to try to use the app to deliver news to its readers, reportsNiemanLab (viaAppleInsider).
As a part of its coverage of the EU Referendum [next week's nationwide vote in which the U.K. decides whether to leave or stay in the European Union], Politico has started to test Apple Wallet as a news distribution channel via a new tool it calls EU Referendum Tracker. With the tool, which is available only on Apple devices, readers can opt in to receive live polling and results data, as well as breaking news alerts, which appear on the back of the pass.
Although the pass is largely used for the EU Referendum, the news organization has been experimenting with breaking news alerts. Earlier today, it pushed a breaking news alert about the death of British politician Jo Cox.
Kate Day, Politico's editorial director of growth, told NiemanLab that the news site turned to Apple Wallet in an effort to experiment with sending news notifications without developing and maintaining its own app. Currently, Apple only allows websites in Safari to send breaking news alerts on macOS. Politico chose the EU Referendum specifically because they believe users are more open to push notifications if they sign up for the specificity of a topic rather than general news.
Politico considered platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for its project, but thought WhatsApp had scaling issues for publishers while Facebook announced its bot program after Politico began work on the Apple Wallet project. The experiment is a joint effort with ad agency Digitas LBI, which used Apple Wallet to deliver news about the U.K. general election in 2015.
Day told NiemanLab that although Apple Wallet was an unusual choice for breaking news notifications, the limitations allowed Politico to focus and simplify what they wanted to do and get across with the notifications.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple today announced the debut of a selection of new features and resources available to developers to help them test, optimize, and analyze their iOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps.
Apple’s TestFlight beta testing platform has been updated with support for iOS 10, watchOS 3 and tvOS 10, so developers can begin testing apps incorporating new features like SiriKit immediately and providing betas to beta testers.
The update, originally released on June 13, adds features like a 3D Touch Quick Action to all apps so beta testers can get feedback on new features quickly.
Apple has also updated its App Analytics feature with data on App Store Impressions, allowing developers to tell how many times an app’s icon has been viewed in App Store search results, the Featured section of the App Store, the Top Charts, and the App Store product page.
Today’s developer news also highlights a new support page outlining how to optimize for App Store search, with tips like choosing accurate keywords, using a simple and memorable app name, correctly using App Store categories, and more.
iOS 10, watchOS 3, tvOS 10, and macOS Sierra will be released to the public in the fall following an extended beta testing period.
With macOS Sierra, the latest version of the Mac operating system, Siri is available on Macs for the first time. Siri on the Mac can perform many of the same functions available on iOS, like answering simple queries, looking up information, sending messages, opening apps, and more, plus there are Mac-specific functions.
As can be seen in our hands-on video showing off Siri on the Mac, Siri is able to search through files to help you quickly locate content with commands like "Find me the documents I opened last week" or "Where are the files John sent me on Tuesday?"
Siri is accessed through the menu bar, a dock icon, or a keyboard command, and the Siri results, displayed in individual windows, can be pinned to the Today section of the Notification Center or added to documents and files.
Pinned results are kept updated, so it's a great way to keep tabs on a sports game or a particular Twitter search right in the Notification Center, and it can be used to do things like insert a map into an email invitation or search for an image to add to a document.
macOS Sierra and Siri for Mac are are only available to developers right now, but Apple plans to offer a public beta in July. The operating system will be released for free to all Mac users in the fall.
In a wide-ranging commentary piece about WWDC 2016, tech journalist Walt Mossberg included an interesting bit about why Apple has not expanded iMessage to competing software platforms like Android.
When I asked a senior Apple executive why iMessage wasn’t being expanded to other platforms, he gave two answers. First, he said, Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to provide a large enough data set for any possible AI learning the company is working on. And, second, having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those devices — the company’s classic (and successful) rationale for years.
Last week, a questionable rumor surfaced claiming that Apple planned to announce iMessage for Android at WWDC 2016, but the keynote passed without any mention. Apple's executive team evidently views iMessage as a big enough selling point to keep it exclusive to Apple devices like the iPhone and Mac for now, despite Android having over 1.4 billion active users worldwide as of September 2015.
As of this week, Apple's online higher education store in the U.K. now offers up to 10 percent off Macs and other qualifying purchases, whereas the discount was previously up to 15 percent off. The base model 13-inch MacBook Pro now costs £898.80 for students and £999 otherwise, amounting to roughly 10 percent off.
Apple also no longer includes three years of complimentary AppleCare with Macs, with one year of phone support, and instead offers students 50 percent off the protection plan. AppleCare for the MacBook, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro, for example, is now £99.63 for students and £199 otherwise.
The changes mean that a student purchasing a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with AppleCare, for example, will now be required to pay £150 or more extra. The free Beats Solo2 Wireless On-Ear Headphones included with a qualifying Mac purchase retail for £269.95, so the difference amounts to around £100 to £120.
Apple's higher education store in the U.K. is now closer in line with the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, where Apple has offered students up to 10 percent off with no AppleCare included for several years. It remains unclear if the changes are permanent, or only for the duration of the free Beats promotion in Europe.
Update: To clarify, Apple only offered three years of complimentary AppleCare for Mac purchases made through its online higher education store in the U.K. Physical retail stores only offered AppleCare at a discount of up to 75 percent off.
Apple has informed Republican leaders it will not be supporting the party's 2016 presidential convention in Cleveland next month, according to sources who spoke to 
Apple today 
In a wide-ranging 
