Apple has introduced new Smart Covers and Smart Cases designed to go along with the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 that it unveiled this morning.
Smart Covers are available in polyurethane, while the Smart Cases are available in aniline-dyed leather. Smart Covers for both the new Air and the new mini are available in Black, White, Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green, and (PRODUCT) RED. They are priced at $39.
Leather Smart Cases for the iPad Air 2 and the Retina mini 3 are available in Black, Midnight Blue, Olive Brown, Soft Pink and (PRODUCT) RED. Smart Cases are priced at $79 for the iPad Air and $69 for the iPad mini.
Leather Smart Cases for the iPad Air 2 can't be purchased online yet, but the Smart Cases for the mini and the Smart Covers for both products can be ordered and are available to ship in one to three days. In-store pickup options are listed as "Coming soon."
As with all versions of Apple's Smart Covers and Cases, these new products include sleep/wake functionality and serve as a stand for the tablets when folded back. While old iPad mini cases will fit the iPad mini 3, Smart Cases for the original iPad Air will not fit the new iPad Air due to its thinner profile. It is unclear if Smart Covers for existing iPad Air models will fit the new model, again due to its smaller size.
Historically, users purchasing cellular versions of iPads have had to choose their carrier at the time of purchase, with Apple shipping a device specifically configured for use on that carrier. But with the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, Apple is launching a new "Apple SIM" included with devices purchased in the United States and United Kingdom.
For U.S. users in particular, the Apple SIM allows users to easily move among AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint by taking advantage of short-term data plans as needed. And with EE participating in the UK, even access while abroad is simplified. And of course the system should work equally well for UK customers traveling abroad to the United States.
The new Apple SIM is preinstalled on iPad Air 2 with Wi-Fi + Cellular models. The Apple SIM gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of short-term plans from select carriers in the U.S. and UK right on your iPad. So whenever you need it, you can choose the plan that works best for you — with no long-term commitments. And when you travel, you may also be able to choose a data plan from a local carrier for the duration of your trip.
Apple notes in an explanatory pop up on its iPad Air 2 store page that Verizon is not a participating carrier and Verizon customers will need to visit Verizon stores to activate cellular service on their devices.
Apple has posted the full video of today's iPad and Mac event on its website. The video should also be made available later this afternoon on the Apple Keynotes podcast, which can be found on the iTunes Store. [Podcast link: Keynotes, Keynotes in HD, Keynotes in 1080p HD]
At today's media event, Apple announced the next-generation 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display carrying a resolution of 5120 x 2880 pixels, as expected from recent rumors. Featuring 14.7 million pixels, the new iMac offers improved improved contrast, viewing angles, and color accuracy.
Thirty years after the first Mac changed the world, the new iMac with Retina 5K display running OS X Yosemite is the most insanely great Mac we have ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With a breathtaking 14.7 million pixel display, faster CPU and graphics, Fusion Drive, and Thunderbolt 2, it’s the most beautiful and powerful iMac ever.
The base iMac with a Retina 5K display will be available with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel i5 processor, AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB Fusion Drive starting at $2,499 with shipping beginning today. The new Retina iMac models can be upgraded with 4.0 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics processor. All Retina iMac models come standard with two Thunderbolt 2 ports.
The remainder of the iMac lineup has not been updated, with the 21-inch model still starting at $1,099 and the 27-inch iMac without a Retina 5K Display starting at $1,799.
At today's media event, Apple introduced the all new iPad Air 2. The second-generation tablet features an ultra thin profile that's just 6.1mm thick, much thinner than the 7.5mm original iPad Air. The significantly thinner design was enabled through the use of a gapless laminated display panel that also produces sharper images. In addition to a thinner chassis, the new iPad Air also includes a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, a faster A8X processor, a new 8-megapixel iSight camera, and an anti-reflective coating that reduces glare by up to 56 percent.
According to Apple, the iPad Air 2 is 18 percent thinner than the first-generation iPad Air and its A8X chip features a 2nd-generation 64-bit architecture which is 40% faster than the A7 used in the first iPad Air in terms of CPU performance up to 2.5x faster when it comes to GPU performance. Like its predecessors, the iPad Air 2 gets 10 hours of battery life and it also includes an M8 motion coprocessor that gathers data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and an all-new barometer that senses air pressure to determine relative elevation.
Apple has added a Touch ID fingerprint sensor to the iPad Air 2, which was said to be the "most requested feature from customers." With Touch ID, iPad Air 2 owners can use their tablets to make Apple Pay purchases within apps that support the Apple Pay API. The iPad Air 2 does not have NFC support and thus cannot be used to make purchases in retail stores.
The iPad Air 2 has gained 802.11ac Wi-Fi with multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) capabilities. Apple states that the iPad Air 2 contains 2.8x faster performance with support for speeds up to 866 Mbps on Wi-Fi and now contains 20 LTE bands for faster LTE with support for speeds up to 150 Mbps via LTE Advanced.
Apple has also included a new 8-megapixel iSight camera on the iPad Air 2, which features an f/2.4 aperture and can record 1080p HD video. For the first time, the camera can take 43 megapixel panoramas and burst mode photos, and it is also able to shoot time lapse and 120 FPS Slo-Mo video. The front-facing FaceTime camera on the iPad Air 2 has also been improved, with an f/2.2 aperture that lets in 81 percent more light. It lets users take burst mode selfies, single-shot HDR photos, and HDR videos.
Pre-orders for the iPad Air 2 will begin on Friday, October 17, and the tablet will begin shipping at the end of next week. Available in gold, silver, and space gray, the iPad Air 2 is available with 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage capacities, priced at $499, $599, and $699, respectively, for the Wi-Fi models. Cellular models are also available and are priced $130 higher, at $529, $629, and $729.
During today's media event, Apple announced that OS X Yosemite, the next version of its Macintosh operating system, will launch today on the Mac App Store. OS X Yosemite will be available for free to all users with an eligible machine, and iOS 8.1 will also be available on Monday for Apple's mobile devices.
As detailed in our comprehensive OS X Yosemite roundup, the new operating system brings a new iOS 7-style design with an emphasis on translucency, smarter controls, and streamlined toolbars.
There are also several new features, including Continuity, which expands integration between iOS 8 and OS X, allowing users to accept phone calls on their Macs and seamlessly transition tasks from one device to another. Yosemite also includes iCloud Drive, plus new features and designs for several key apps like Mail, Messages, and Safari.
Today at its media event in Cupertino, Apple announced a brand-new Mac mini, a popular Mac computer that hadn't been updated since October 2012. The new Mac mini starts at $499, $100 less than the previous $599 starting price.
“People love Mac mini. It’s a great first Mac or addition to your home network, and the new Mac mini is a nice upgrade packed into an incredibly compact design,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With the latest CPU and graphics, faster Wi-Fi, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, OS X Yosemite, and starting at just $499, the new Mac mini is the best value ever.”
The new Mac mini comes with 4th-generation Intel Core processors, Intel Iris and HD Graphics 5000 with up to 90 percent faster graphics than the previous generation, PCIe-based flash storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and two Thunderbolt 2 ports. Apple also claims it's the "world's most efficient desktop".
Today at its media event in Cupertino, Apple announced the iPad mini 3 with Touch ID Home button and a new gold color option. These updates appear to be the only significant changes over the previous generation, with the new model continuing to use the A7 chip from the original Retina iPad mini.
In addition to gold, the iPad mini 3 also comes in the previous space gray and silver color options. The pricing will start at $399 for 16 GB Wi-Fi version, with 64 GB and 128 GB variations priced at $499 and $599 respectively. As usual, Wi-Fi + Cellular models of the iPad mini 3 will be priced at a $130 premium over the Wi-Fi only models.
iPad mini 3 will be available for pre-order tomorrow, October 17, and will begin shipping next week.
Alongside the iPad mini 3, Apple is continuing to sell the iPad mini 2 in 16 GB ($299/$429) and 32 GB ($349/$479) variants. The original 16 GB non-Retina iPad mini is also still available for ($249/$379).
Today at its media event in Cupertino, Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi announced that Camera Roll would be returning to the Photos app in iOS 8.1. Apple had removed Camera Roll with iOS 8.
The Photos app in iOS 8 splits a users' photos between three sections: Photos, which organizes photos into years, collections and moments, iCloud Photo Sharing and Albums, which contains an alternative to Camera Roll in a "Recently Added" album that organizes photos by date.
Camera Roll allowed users to have easy access to their recently added photos without having to go into a photo within a section of the Photos app, which caused many users to be upset by the loss of the feature. iOS 8.1 will be released on Monday, October 20.
At today's media event that saw the debut of new iPads and a new Retina iMac, Apple announced that its Apple Pay mobile payments solution will launch on Monday, October 20 alongside iOS 8.1, which will enable the service. According to Apple, more than 500 additional banks have signed on to support Apple Pay, as have dozens of additional retailers.
In store payments with Apple Pay will require the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, as they both include NFC chips, and the Apple Watch will also be able to be used to make in-store payments when it launches.
The iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus, the iPhone 5s, and the newly released iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 can make online purchases with Apple Pay in apps that support it.
"Our team has worked incredibly hard to make Apple Pay private and secure, with the simplicity of a single touch of your finger," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "The reaction to Apple Pay has been amazing. We continue to add more Apple Pay ready banks, credit card companies and merchants, and think our users will love paying with Apple Pay."
Apple places a heavy emphasis on security with Apple Pay, and the company's Apple Pay press release once again points out that Apple Pay does not store actual card numbers, replacing them instead with a Device Account Number in the Secure Element, pairing them with a one-time use code that verifies each payment along with Touch ID.
Apple Pay protects personal information by preventing stores from seeing a user's credit card number, name, and more. It also does not collect transaction information, keeping transactions between the user, the merchant, and the user's bank.
Credit cards and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard, and Visa, are supported by Apple Pay, and several banks, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capital One, and more have signed up to partner with Apple on the payments initiative.
Apple Pay will be accepted at any retail location that can take contactless payments, and in addition, Apple has signed up with specific retailers like Whole Foods, Macy's, Sephora, Staples, and more, to ensure Apple Pay will be accepted in those stores. A number of retailers have also signed up to accept Apple Pay payments within their apps, including Target, Uber, Panera Bread, Lyft, and more.
Apple Pay will be available in the United States beginning on Monday, October 20, following the release of iOS 8.1. Apple suggests that prospective Apple Pay users contact their banks to determine their card's Apple Pay eligibility, as some banks may not support all card types.
Today at its media event in Cupertino, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that WatchKit would release for developers in November alongside the Apple Watch SDK. Previously, WatchKit had still been in development and was available to a select few third-party developers like Starwood Hotels.
In November, all developers will be available to get WatchKit and the Apple Watch SDK to create their own apps for Apple Watch. Cook once again reiterated that the Apple Watch will be available in early 2015.
Just over a month after it introduced the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, Apple is back with another media event where it is expected to show off new iPads, new iMacs including high-resolution Retina displays on some models, and likely a final look at OS X Yosemite before its imminent public launch.
Today's event is being held at the Town Hall auditorium on Apple's Cupertino headquarters campus and begins at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Apple will be providing a live video stream on its website for Mac and iOS users and via Apple TV.
In addition, we will be updating this article with summary coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the event unfolds. Highlights and separate news stories regarding the event announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.
Apple's online stores around the world are currently down in advance of the event.
Archive of Live Updates in Reverse Chronological Order
With Apple's October 2014 media event kicking off in just a short while, some users are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with the link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.
Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events refrain from making any posts in the thread about today's announcements.
Apple sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies' woes continue today with the announcement that it will not appeal the suspension of its stock on the NASDAQ stock exchange. As part of this decision, the company's stock is no longer being traded on the NASDAQ stock market effective today, October 16. This removal was expected and is the result of the company's recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
GT Advanced Technologies Inc. today announced that it will not pursue an appeal of the determination by The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC ("NASDAQ") to suspend trading in the Company's common stock based on the Company's voluntary petition for reorganization relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The Company has been informed that NASDAQ will suspend trading in the Company's common stock effective at the opening of the market on October 16, 2014.
GT's stock plummeted 90 percent following its bankruptcy announcement earlier this month, and has continued to fall since then, closing at just 44 cents per share yesterday. The stock will continue to trade under the symbol GTATQ on the OTC Pink marketplace.
As part of the original deal, Apple made three loan payments to GT totaling $440 million and said it was working with GT to help overcome technical challenges to qualify for the fourth and final prepayment loan of $139 million. Apple also appeared set to delay scheduled repayments on the debt. But under the weight of difficulties that began at least as early as February, GT found itself unable to carry on its business operations and filed for bankruptcy with plans to shut down its sapphire production facilities.
Apple will remove the ability to enter and monitor blood glucose data in its Health app because of reported issues with measurement from users in the UK and Australia, reportsCNET.
Currently, the app allows users to manually enter view blood glucose values in mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) or mmol/L (millimoles per liter). However, Apple notes that the Health app has an issue with devices that display mmol/L, as those values cannot be entered or displayed in the Heath app.
An Apple support page published on the matter states that the company will soon release a software updated that will temporarily remove the ability and states that data will not be deleted:
If you have previously entered values manually in the Health app, you'll no longer see this data in the Health app after the update. However, your data won't be deleted, and other apps with permission to read health data will still have access to blood glucose values that you previously entered.
Third-party apps will continue to be able to support both units of measurement and can continue to use HealthKit APIs to store blood glucose data.
It is unknown if a fix will come Apple's forthcoming iOS 8.1 software update or through a potential iOS 8.0.3 update. Before the public launch of iOS 8, Apple confirmed that it had discovered a "bug" in HealthKit and pulled HealthKit-related apps from the App Store. Apple eventually released iOS 8.0.1 with fixes for HealthKit, and once again allowed HealthKit-enabled apps to be on the App Store.
Facebook has launched a new feature called Safety Check that allows users to inform their friends and family about their safety in the event of a disaster or crisis using a check-in system.
For Facebook on iOS, Safety Check automatically sends users a Facebook push notification if they are in the area of a disaster and prompts them to answer if they're safe. From there, users can select an "I'm Safe" option which will automatically generate a notification and a story in the News Feed. Friends that are marked safe will also show up in the News Feed with a list of their most recent updates.
To determine your location, Facebook looks at the city listed on your profile and recognizes the city where internet services are being used. The company will also use data from the Nearby Friends feature if a user has turned it on. Safety Check's sign-in feature is similar in nature to the Safe and Well website created by the American Red Cross which also allows individuals to register themselves as safe and inform their loved ones of their current conditions.
Facebook's new Safety Check feature comes after the company launched an update to its iOS app yesterday that added support for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Facebook for iOS is a free app and can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]
In addition to live streaming on the Apple TV, Apple will also be streaming the event live on its website. In order to watch the stream, users will need to be running Safari on Mac or iOS.
Apple is expected to introduce a number of new products at the event, including the iPad Air 2, the next-generation Retina iPad mini, and new iMacs with at least the 27-inch model sporting a high-resolution Retina display. An update published in error to the company's iPad User Guide for iOS 8 revealed some details about the new iPads which will feature a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Apple is also expected to preview OS X Yosemite one final time before its official launch, and some rumors have even claimed that the company may announce updated Mac Minis.
Apple's keynote kicks off at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, and MacRumors will also be providing a live blog and live tweets via the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
Just a day ahead of Apple's own iPad event that will see it introducing a range of new products including new iPads and a Retina iMac, Google has unveiled its next version of Android and three new Nexus devices, including the 5.9-inch Nexus 6 smartphone, the 8.9-inch Nexus 9 tablet, and the Nexus Player, an Apple TV-style set-top box that comes equipped with a gamepad (sold separately).
Google's new Nexus 6 will be one of the biggest "phablets" on the market, and at 5.96-inches, it's even larger than Apple's recently introduced iPhone 6 Plus, which measures in at 5.5-inches. The phone features a 493 ppi AMOLED Quad HD display and a 13-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization, a feature Apple offers with its larger iPhone 6 Plus.
It also includes a Quad-Core 2.7Ghz Snapdragon 805 processor, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, dual front facing speakers, and a 3220 mAh battery. The Nexus 6's battery can be recharged using Motorola's Turbo Charge technology, which provides up to six hours of battery life from a 15 minute charge. Available in midnight blue or cloud white for $649 unlocked, the phone comes equipped with 32 or 64GB of internal storage.
The Nexus 9 tablet, designed in collaboration with HTC, is Google's answer to the iPad Air and the Retina iPad mini. Coming in at 8.9-inches, it is sized between Apple's two tablets and features a thin bezel, brushed aluminum sides, and a nine hour battery life. Like Apple's iPhones, it comes in black, gold, and white, and it features a 64-bit NVIDIA Tegra K1 2.3Ghz processor.
It comes equipped with front-facing HTC speakers, an 8-megapixel rear camera with a 1.6-megapixel front facing camera, and an optional magnetic keyboard. It has a 6700 mAh battery and front facing HTC speakers.
Both the Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet will ship with Android 5.0, aka Lollipop. Lollipop includes 5,000 new APIs and features "Material Design," to provide a consistent experience across a range of different devices. Lollipop lets users mute incoming calls and notifications with a new feature similar to Apple's built-in "Do Not Disturb" function, and there's a battery saver feature that can extend battery life by up to 90 minutes. Lollipop also supports multiple user accounts, a popular feature iOS users have hoped that Apple would implement.
Along with the Nexus 6 and the Nexus 9, Google has unveiled a new set-top box, the Nexus Player, which is the first device that runs Android TV. Designed in collaboration with ASUS, the round hockey puck-style Nexus Player is designed to compete with the Apple TV, serving as a streaming media player for movies, music, and videos.
It's also a gaming device, letting users play Android games on their TVs with a game controller, and it includes both Chromecast support and voice control. Apple too is said to be aiming to introduce an updated Apple TV with gaming capabilities and Siri integration, but it remains unclear when that device might debut.
Google's Nexus 6 smartphone will be available for preorder beginning on October 29, while the Nexus 9 tablet and the Nexus Player will be available for preorder beginning on October 17. Android 5.0 Lollipop will be available on all three devices and on the Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10, and Google Play edition devices "in the coming weeks."
Just over a month after it introduced the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, Apple is back with 
