MacRumors

Apple appears to be cutting down on available vacation time for its AppleCare employees between September 15 and 28, a two week period encompassing the prospective September 20 release date for the iPhone 5S and 5C that was first leaked earlier this month. iOS 7 is also expected to be released that week.

An internal document shared by AppleInsider reportedly shows the amount of time off available for AppleCare employees during the month of September, which appears to drop beginning on September 15.

An internal company document shared with AppleInsider purportedly shows time off available for AppleCare employees for the latter half of September. As can be seen in the calendar, available time off drops off significantly starting Sunday, Sept. 15, and continues through Saturday, Sept. 28.

The image provided shows the calendar being accessed via virtual private network from an internal Apple employee domain. Potentially identifying portions of the picture have been cropped out.

Multiple carriers have also initiated similar vacation blackout dates on some of the same days, with T-Mobile employees reporting a September 20 to 22 blackout and Verizon employees reporting September 18 to September 22 blackout dates.

Apple likely has a longer blackout period for its AppleCare employees in order to offer extended support to both iOS 7 users and new iPhone owners. AppleCare employees began training on support issues related to iOS 7 yesterday and that training is likely to continue up until the OS is distributed to the public.

While Apple has been found guilty of conspiring to fix e-book prices as it sought to launch its iBookstore alongside the iPad in early 2010, five publishers involved in the case have already agreed to settle the cases brought against them by state attorneys general and other class-action plaintiffs.

Among the publishers, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster had previously received court approval for their settlement agreements, and Macmillan and Penguin settlements are now proceeding through the approval phase. Customers who purchased Macmillan or Penguin e-books are now receiving emails informing them about the proposed settlement and their rights and responsibilities with respect to the agreement.

Under the proposal, the Macmillan and Penguin settlement funds would be combined with previous amounts committed by the other publishers, yielding a total fund of $162.25 million to be paid out to consumers who purchased e-books between the iBookstore's April 1, 2010 launch and May 21, 2012.

While the exact amount of reimbursement customers will receive depends on how many end up being included in the program, current estimates suggest that customers could be reimbursed $3.06 for each purchase of an e-book that appeared on the New York Times bestseller list at any point, and $0.73 per non-bestseller book.

The amount of your credit or check will be affected by how many qualifying E-books you purchased. There will be two levels of payments, based on categories of E-books. While the exact amount to be paid per E-book in each category is not yet finalized, the best estimates of payments for each E-book you purchased, based on the Plaintiffs proposed plan for a combined fund, are as follows:

- New York Times bestsellers: $3.06 per E-book. These include titles that were New York Times bestsellers at any time, irrespective of when you purchased the E-book.

- Non-New York Times bestsellers: $.73 per E-book. These E-books include any titles that were not New York Times bestsellers.

Residents of Minnesota will receive a different, higher amount per book because they were not included in the first round of settlements.

Reimbursement methods will also vary based on where e-books were purchased, with Amazon customers receiving automatic account credit while Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo users will have to activate their account credits, or they may request reimbursement by check. Consumers have until October 21 to object to or exclude themselves from the proposed settlement, and a hearing will be held on December 6 to consider approval.

While penalties in the case against Apple have yet to be assessed and Apple has vowed to appeal the verdict, estimates have suggested that Apple could owe as much as $500 million for its role in pushing book publishers to move to an agency model that resulted in higher prices for consumers.

Apple has officially confirmed that it is launching its iPhone trade-in program today at its U.S. retail stores, according to a Tweet from CNBC's Jon Fortt. While a number of details on the program have leaked over the past few months, today's statement is the first public confirmation by Apple that the program exists.

Under the program, users can receive a gift card in exchange for their older devices, although the gift card must immediately be used toward the purchase of a new iPhone. Trade-in values are based on a number of criteria, including model and capacity and physical condition.

The trade-in program launches less than two weeks before Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPhones at a media event on September 10. Rumors and speculation indicate that the new iPhones could be available in the U.S. and other first-wave markets beginning on Friday, September 20.

Update: More details are coming out about the trade-in program. Apple is calling it a "reuse and recycling" program and trade-ins for working iPhone 4 and 4S devices ranging from $120 to $250, according to TechCrunch. Customers must use the money to purchase a new on-contract phone.

Apple provided this statement to TechCrunch regarding the new program:

iPhones hold great value. So, Apple Retail Stores are launching a new program to assist customers who wish to bring in their previous-generation iPhone for reuse or recycling. In addition to helping support the environment, customers will be able to receive a credit for their returned phone that they can use toward the purchase of a new iPhone.

Two new videos published today give a detailed look at the casings of the "champagne" colored iPhone 5S and the "graphite" 5S, which first showed up in photos earlier this week.

While there has been a non-stop stream of images and videos depicting the gold iPhone 5S, a video from TLD offers a good overview of both the casing and the structural differences between the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5.

As has been previously noted, the iPhone 5S features repositioned logic board screws and a larger flash cutout to accommodate a dual-LED flash. Placing the iPhone 5’s battery into the iPhone 5S casing, TLD notes that the amount of space available for the logic board has been decreased to increase the available battery space.

A second video from BestTechInfo offers a view of the purported black and "graphite" version of the iPhone 5S compared to the existing black and slate iPhone 5.

When side-by-side, the graphite iPhone 5S is noticeably lighter in color than the existing black and slate iPhone 5, but as 9to5Mac points out, initial versions of the slate iPhone 5 were lighter in color as well. This suggests that the graphite iPhone 5S color variation may just be an early prototype rather than a new color that Apple plans to introduce.

The iPhone 5S will retain the same form factor as the iPhone 5, but it will include a number of upgrades including the aforementioned dual-LED flash, an improved processor, and a fingerprint sensor. It is also rumored to offer a better camera and new picture taking modes.

Apple is expected to debut the iPhone 5S and the low-cost iPhone 5C at an iPhone event that will take place on September 10, with the phones shipping on September 20.

After being delayed for six months, EA has finally released the Mac version of the new SimCity. The game was originally set to come out in February of this year, but EA decided to delay it to "ensure a great experience" for players.

EA has repeatedly emphasized that the Mac version of SimCity is not a "port" of the PC game, but a fully native version designed specifically for the Mac using OpenGL. However, the game will include full cross-platform support to facilitate 'region play' where the cities of multiple players are connected to share utilities and citizenry, with PC and Mac Mayors able to play in the same regions.

SimCity's PC launch was more than a little rocky, largely because the game can only be played online. EA requires that the game be connected to its servers at all times.

At launch, SimCity's servers were overwhelmed with traffic and the gameplay experience was extremely poor. Today, EA seems to have ironed out most of the bugs and users are playing the game as intended.

EA on system requirements, viewable in full at the bottom of the purchase page:

In general, most Late-2009 iMacs, mid-2009 MacBook Pros, and mid-2010 MacBooks meet the SimCity's minimum specifications. Other systems not listed here may be able to run SimCity, but can experience graphical or performance issues and would require an OS upgrade.

SimCity is available through EA's Origin store at $40 for the standard game, or $60 for a Deluxe Edition that includes additional content. Purchases cover both platforms, so gamers who already bought SimCity on the PC will get the Mac version for free.

AppleCare employees have begun training on support issues related to iOS 7, according to 9to5Mac. The site claims the training must be completed by the second week in September, when Apple is expected to unveil the final version of iOS 7 for launch in the middle of the following week.

Because of significant changes to the user interface in iOS 7, Apple is reportedly increasing the hours of part-time AppleCare support staff and requiring Mac and OS X AppleCare technicians to cross train in iOS 7 in order to be ready for heavy anticipated call volume.

The iOS 7 training focuses on some of the more critical features of iOS. Apple seems to want to push the Find my iPhone Activation Lock feature. This option requires the customer’s iCloud username and password for an iOS Device to be inputted to active a found iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

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Other features that AppleCare will heavily push and become knowledgable about include the new iCloud Photo Sharing options, the redesigned Camera app, the more feature-rich Safari browser, Control Center, and AirDrop file-sharing.

Apple is putting special emphasis on the design differences between iOS 6 and 7. Support employees are being shown how, though the design looks significantly different in iOS 7, actual functionality has not changed in most apps.

The final version of iOS 7 is expected to be unveiled on September 10 at the media event for the iPhone 5S and 5C introductions. Apple typically releases the new version of iOS the following week, just ahead of the launch of the new iPhone model.