Benjamin Mayo

Apple today shared the official trailer for the upcoming third season of alt-reality For All Mankind. Season three picks up ten years further on in the story, with NASA aiming to occupy the surface of Mars.

Apple’s flagship space drama debuted as part of the Apple TV+ launch in November 2019, and the show has continued to receive strong critical acclaim. For All Mankind season two was selected as the #1 show of last year, by Rolling Stone. Watch the trailer for the new season after the break …

In February, Apple announced a new system called to Tap to Pay on iPhone which allows an individual to take a contactless payment, only using their iPhone as the payment terminal. With the feature active, a customer simply has to tap their NFC iPhone or bank card on the top of the receiving device’s phone, to enact a contactless transaction.

The Apple Store is already trialling a rollout of this feature, at the Apple Park Visitor Center. Watch a video of Tap to Pay in action after the break …

Heading into 2022, Apple TV+ was preparing to fill its original film slate with a major blockbuster original film, ‘Emancipation’, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Will Smith.

However, as part of the ongoing fallout from Smith deciding to assault Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, it now appears that the film’s release has been delayed to 2023 according to a report from Variety.

As expected, Apple today was hit with an official Statement of Objections from the EU competition commission over the dominance of Apple Pay.

The EU says that it has come to the preliminary view that Apple unfairly abused its dominant position in the ‘market for mobile wallets’ by restricting access to the NFC chip to third-parties, thereby elevating the adoption of Apple Pay.

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is set to come under fire on fresh anticompetitive charges from the European Union, which will likely be formally announced next week.

Apple will face the complaint that it unfairly monopolizes the mobile payments system on the iPhone, by promoting Apple Pay and restricting other services from having the same access to the iPhone’s NFC hardware.

Apple today launched the Self Service Repair Store, allowing iPhone customers in the United States access to parts and manual that they can use to repair their own devices.

The new store enables repairs of iPhone SE, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 components, including display, battery and camera replacements. Apple also said it will launch Mac self-service repairs later this year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that he will serve as the 2022 commencement speaker for Gallaudet University.

Gallaudet and Apple already had a close relationship, with each incoming student equipped with a MacBook Pro or iPad Pro on arrival. The company also hosts hiring and recruiting events for graduates. The bond with the institution has only strengthened further in light of Apple’s promotion campaign and Oscar win for original film CODA.

Via Deadline, Apple TV+ has struck an overall deal with Playtone, the production company headed by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

Under the exclusive deal, Playtone will make new scripted and unscripted television series for Apple’s streaming service. Deadline also mentions that a sequel to the popular Apple TV+ film Greyhound is in development.

Apple is apparently aiming to expand the amount of functionality Apple Watch users can perform, whilst keeping the device in a low power state. Right now, Power Reserve mode on Apple Watch only allows users to see the time with a simple digital clock. All other features of the watch are disabled.

But according to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple wants to dramatically upgrade the experience. The new low power mode focus would allow customers to run a suite of apps and features without using as much battery life. This could help make the Apple Watch more useful for customers who are taking long trips, or want to use sleep tracking without charging as much.

Overnight, the Apple TV app has began rolling out the new MLB sections for Friday Night Baseball, which starts streaming on Apple TV+ tomorrow.

In the US, and seven other countries, Apple TV+ will stream two baseball games every Friday night. The first matchup is the Mets vs Nationals at 7 PM ET.

Apple TV+ has renewed its mysterious workplace thriller ‘Severance’ for a second season, ahead of the season one finale premiering this Friday.

Although Apple does not release exact viewing figures, Severance does appear to be one of Apple TV+’s relative breakout hits, with word of mouth increasing every week since the season debuted in February.