Tim Cook Talks Apple Watch Water Resistance and European Apple Pay Expansion
While on a trip in Germany to visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and meet with a few German-based Apple staff members, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Apple Store employees in Berlin that he wears his Apple Watch constantly, "even in the shower", according to iGen.fr [Google Translate].
The new piece of information from the Apple CEO could mean the company's been working on adding more water resistant features to the upcoming wearable, since at its early-September reveal event the company warned off wearing the device in the shower.
Cook went on to say that he charges his Apple Watch every night, which seems to fall in line with what he's said previously on the topic. But, as Apple Insider points out, some of his comments regarding the new information on the Apple Watch could have been lost in translation.
He also told a few of the Apple Store workers, specifically in fielding a question asked by a visually impaired employee, that apps and accessibility features focused on aiding the disabled would be coming to the watch over time. Cook even commented on a few recent bits of bad press the company has faced in regards to the working conditions at its Chinese facilities.
He said that Chinese workers want to work hard and their employers want them to always work more. Apple is trying to ensure that there is no abuse, and the number hours worked per week decreases with time. He said that wages in China are increasing much faster than anywhere in the world. While recalling that the cost of living is much lower there, compared for example to Germany or the United States.
Concerning the overseas launch of Apple Pay, which has been gaining steam in rumors lately, Cook stated that a European launch for the contactless payment service will come "before the end of the year." Cook's trip continues this week (via The Marker) [Google Translate], with the CEO moving on to Israel to visit the newly-built Apple offices in Herzliya and a planned meeting with former President Shimon Peres.
Popular Stories
Black Friday sales are continuing today with Best Buy kicking off early Black Friday deals that will last for the next few days. Similar to other retailers, Best Buy's early Black Friday event includes sitewide savings on Apple products, headphones, TVs, monitors, video games, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may...
Apple today released firmware updates for both AirPods 4 models (version number 7B20) and the AirPods Pro 2 with both Lightning and USB-C charging cases (version number 7B21). All of these AirPods models were previously on firmware version 7B19.
It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in firmware versions 7B20 and 7B21, but we will update this story if we find...
Apple has returned to using two 128GB storage chips in the new Mac mini with 256GB of storage, according to a partial teardown video shared on social media today. This means the base-model Mac mini with the M4 chip will not have significantly slower SSD speeds compared to higher-end configurations of the computer with 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage, as multiple NAND chips allows for faster SSD...
In its announcement video for the new Mac mini last month, Apple teased an "upcoming" version of Final Cut Pro for the Mac. Apple will likely announce the update during the annual Final Cut Pro Creative Summit, which begins this Wednesday. The conference is held in association with Apple, and attendees will be visiting Apple Park on the first day.
Apple already teased four new features...
Next year's iPhone 17 "Air" model may not be as thin as Apple planned, according to a rumor originating in Korea.
According to the news aggregator account "yeux1122" on Naver, citing industry sources, Apple has run into problems making the new iPhone 17 model sufficiently thin. The device's reduced thickness is apparently dependent on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate, but...
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about.
Find My
Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
Law enforcement officials in Detroit, Michigan are warning other police officers about an alleged iPhone change that causes Apple devices stored for forensic examination to spontaneously restart, reports 404 Media.
iPhones that are undergoing examination have apparently been rebooting, which makes them harder to unlock with brute force methods, and Michigan police think that it's due to a...