We typically avoid posting a story each time the Apple Store goes offline for updates. While the Apple online store famously goes offline to introduce new products, it also goes down for routine maintenance.
Tonight's downtime is likely related to maintenance or other non-product tweaks, but notably the "We'll be back soon" graphic that should be quite familiar to long time Apple followers has been changed.
The original graphic (above) was on a sticky note and has been in place for many years. Every time Apple's online store goes down, visitors would be greeted with this yellow sticky. Tonight, we see a new graphic overlaying a linen background that has been popularized in iOS.
Apple has several product lines that are due for updates soon, including the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. These overnight downtimes, however, are more typically related to routine maintenance rather than new products. The change in "We'll be back" graphic may foreshadow other graphical tweaks to the online store.
Update: The online store returned without any notable changes.
Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond.
Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far.
Apple...
Tuesday February 4, 2025 8:00 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today announced the launch of a new app called "Invites," which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties, graduations, vacations, baby showers, and more.
"With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple's senior director of...
Monday February 3, 2025 1:15 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple does not approve of the "Hot Tub" pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem.
We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore...
Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:17 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Updated A-Series Chip
The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for...
Thursday February 6, 2025 3:30 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple's next-generation iPhone SE could debut as soon as next week with a launch to follow later in February, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE 4, and will instead unveil the device through a press release.
The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have an iPhone 14-style design, with Apple eliminating the thick bezels and Touch ID Home button of...
Tuesday February 4, 2025 9:35 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States.
Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current...
Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks.
iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
Wednesday February 5, 2025 3:34 pm PST by Juli Clover
Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers worldwide in recent months, according to Disney's earnings results for the first quarter of 2025.
Disney said it now has 124.6 million Disney+ subscribers, a decrease of 0.7 million compared to its subscriber numbers in the fourth quarter of 2024. The drop in subscribers comes after Disney+ prices increased in the fall. Disney+ with Ads went from $7.99 to...
Anyone notice that the wording also slightly changed from "shortly" to "soon"?
"Soon" would seem to imply a longer duration than "shortly"... so it sounds like they might be updating two product lines at once. I'll go ahead and place bets that the two are:
1) New MacBook Pros with Ivy Bridge
2) Updated iPad 3 with new display tech to fix yellow screen issue
