Apple today announced that it is celebrating America's national parks in August ahead of the 103rd anniversary of the US National Park Service, introducing new parks-related content to encourage park attendance.
"The beauty in our parks is obvious to all observers but their most profound contribution is to our spirit," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We are proud to support them."
As announced over the weekend, from August 17 to August 25, Apple is making a $10 donation to the National Park Foundation for each purchase made with Apple Pay at an Apple Store, Apple.com, or the Apple Store app in the United States.
Apple says that its donations will help support programs across the United States designed to help connect young people who wouldn't otherwise have the means with "transformative park experiences" ranging from classroom field trips to immersive multi-day experiences and multi-week service corps for young adults.
During August, Apple is also encouraging people to explore their national parks through several special collections coming to Apple's services.
In the Apple TV app, there's a collection of park-related content such as "Free Solo," and the Smithsonian's "National Parks Exploration Series," while Apple Music has a new "Nature Awaits" playlist inspired by the "extraordinary beauty of the country's parks."
Apple Podcasts will feature a collection of shows focused on national parks, and Apple Books will feature an "Our National Parks" themed collection guiding readers through notable parks in the United States. The App Store will also highlight essential apps to help users plan for their next national park visit.
Apple on August 25 will challenge Apple Watch owners to participate in a walk, run, hike, or wheelchair workout of at least three miles to earn an activity award and animated stickers inspired by Grand Canyon National Park's 100th anniversary.
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by Juli Clover
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by Joe Rossignol
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
I visited Arches National Park this summer to do some hiking and photography. I went there once as a kid and hadn't been back in 20 years. I'm glad to see that it has been preserved well so that my own children were able to witness the beauty. This is why we fund our National Parks system.
This is one of my favorite places in the world, climbed up inside Double Arch late in the evening. It was so peaceful.
I visited Arches National Park this summer to do some hiking and photography. I went there once as a kid and hadn't been back in 20 years. I'm glad to see that it has been preserved well so that my own children were able to witness the beauty. This is why we fund our National Parks system.
This is one of my favorite places in the world, climbed up inside Double Arch late in the evening. It was so peaceful.
I think this is one of many facets of Apple that people tend to overlook when comparing to the competition. Does Google, Amazon and Samsung directly participate in connecting people with our world in the same way that Apple does? Genuine question. Apple is the only company that I regularly see demonstrating their efforts to better the environment. They have the largest solar installation in the US, and include an environmental report in every product release. I never see this from the other guys.
If you have the choice of going to a national park or to Disneyland, go to a park. Nothing Disney fabricates can equal the majesty and awe of these spaces. My first park was the Grand Canyon. I assumed I would take a few pics and be back on the road in half an hour. Instead, I stared at that canyon until sundown with everyone else.
If you have the choice of going to a national park or to Disneyland, go to a park. Nothing Disney fabricates can equal the majesty and awe of these spaces. My first park was the Grand Canyon. I assumed I would take a few pics and be back on the road in half an hour. Instead, I stared at that canyon until sundown with everyone else.
The Grand Canyon is beautiful but I don’t think anything can beat the majesty of Yosemite.
My breath is always taken away coming out of the tunnel.
