Bringing Apple Pay to other countries will be an agonizingly long process

Apple Pay might be the most popular mobile payments solution to date, despite having been available only in the U.S. for a few months, but Apple may have a tougher time bringing it to other markets. A new report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Canada might be the next major market to get this unique iPhone and Apple Watch feature, but Apple fans in the country may have to wait for it to arrive for several more months.

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Posted in 2015 at 09:55PM, April 17

Buyer's Guide: Discounts on iMac, MacBook Air, Retina MacBook Pro, and Apple Accessories [iOS Blog]

As we head further into April, deals have begun to dry up a bit. There are still discounts on a few select iPad models, and low prices on the iMac, older MacBook Air, and older MacBook Pro models. Deals on current products like the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 are unavailable this week, so if you're looking to buy a tablet, you might want to hold off for a bit.



We have several exclusive offers just for MacRumors readers this week, on games from GameAgent and products from Casetify, a site that offers custom iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch accessories. We've also rounded up some great apps you can get on the cheap this week.

iPad Air 2

Best Buy continues to offer the lowest prices we've seen on a single iPad Air 2: the 16GB Cellular iPad Air 2 in silver is available for $499.99, $130 off its regular price.



B&H Photo is offering a small discount on all of its iPad Air 2 models, dropping prices by $30 to $50. With the discount, the 16GB WiFi only iPad Air 2 is priced at $469 and the 64GB model is priced at $569.

iPad Air

Best Buy has a couple of original iPad Air cellular models available at low prices. The 16GB Verizon iPad Air is available for $379.99, and the 32GB Verizon iPad Air is available for $429.99.



Both Best Buy and B&H Photo have deep discounts on some remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad Air models, as listed below.



- iPad Air Wi-Fi 128GB Space Gray - $549

- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) - $549

- iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) - $549

- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) - $449

- iPad Air Cellular Silver 64GB (Verizon) - $566.99

- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) - $566.99

- iPad Air Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) - $579

- iPad Air Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) - $559

iPad mini 2

Amazon has a few iPad mini 2 models available at discounted prices. The 16GB Cellular Verizon iPad mini 2 in Silver is available for $329. The 16GB Cellular Verizon iPad mini 2 in Space Gray is available for $335.





Best Buy, B&H Photo, and Amazon also have remaining stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad mini 2 models, which are a good deal if you're looking for an iPad mini. Compared to the iPad mini 3, the iPad mini 2 only lacks Touch ID.



- iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (AT&T) - $445

- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (AT&T) - $429

- iPad mini Cellular Silver 64GB (AT&T) - $399.99

- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (AT&T) - $399.99

- iPad mini Cellular Silver 128GB (Verizon) - $434.97

- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 128GB (Verizon) - $534.99

- iPad mini Cellular Space Gray 64GB (Verizon) - $429.99

iMac

- 21.5-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,189, $110 off

- 21.5-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,389, $120 off

- 27-inch 3.2GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,689, $110 off

- 27-inch 3.4GHz/8GB/1TB (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,794, $205 off

- 27-inch 3.5Ghz/8GB/1TB Retina iMac (B&H Photo) - $2,299, $200 off

Mac mini

- 1.4GHz/4GB/500GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $464.99, $34 off

- 2.6GHz/8GB/1TB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $649.99, $49 off

- 2.8GHz/8GB/1TB (MacMall) - $934.99, $64 off

MacBook Air

- 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB - (B&H Photo) (Adorama) $824.99, $70 off

- 2015 11-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/256GB - (Best Buy) (Amazon) (B&H Photo) (Adorama) $1044.99, $50 off

- 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) (Adorama) - $949.99, $50 off

- 2015 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (B&H Photo) (Adorama) - $1,139.99 $60 off

- 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $729, $170 off

- 2014 11-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/256GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $899, $200 off

- 2014 13-inch 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB (Amazon) (B&H Photo) - $819, $180 off

Retina MacBook Pro

- 2015 13-inch 2.7GHz/8GB/256GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1,424.99, $74 off

- 2015 13-inch 2.9GHz/8GB/512GB (Best Buy) (B&H Photo) - $1709.99, $90 off

- 2014 15-inch 2.2GHz/16GB/256GB (B&H Photo) (MacMall) - $1,799, $200 off

- 2014 15-inch 2.5GHz/16GB/512GB (Adorama) -$2,249, $250 off

- 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/128GB (B&H Photo) - $1,129, $170 off

- 2014 13-inch 2.6GHz/8GB/256GB (B&H Photo) - $1,249, $239 off

- 2014 13-inch 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB (Amazon) (Adorama) (B&H Photo) - $1,558.99, $240 off

Apps

There are quite a few apps that are on sale at discounted prices or available for free for a limited time. We'll highlight a few here, but make sure to check out our sister site AppShopper for a complete list.



Pandemic: The Board Game is available for $4.99, down from $6.99. Beyond Gravity is available for free, down from $1.99. QUEST: Level up your life is available for free, down from $1.99. Hitman GO is available for $0.99, down from $4.99. My Om Nom is available for $0.99, down from $4.99.



Action adventure game Pursuit of Light was named Apple's app of the week this week, and it will be available to download for free for the next six days.

Apple Accessories

GameAgent is offering MacRumors readers a big discount on Civilization: Beyond Earth, which is available for 50% off for the next 48 hours. Click this link to get the deal. GameAgent is also offering exclusive discounts on games to those who sign up for a GameAgent account in celebration of reaching 200 members.



Casetify is offering MacRumors readers 10% off site wide on all orders with the promo code MR10. Discount's valid from 4/17 to 4/23. Make sure you check out our Casetify giveaway, too!





Woot is offering the Lifeproof Fre case for the iPhone 6 for $54.99, down from $79.99. Woot's also got an Apple Lightning cable 2-pack available for $15.99. StackSocial is selling TuneUp for Mac for $14.99, down from $49.95.





Woot has the Jawbone BIG Jambox for $179.99, down from $299.99. the MyCharge Hub 9000 Power Bank is available for $64.99 from Amazon, down from $139.99.





Groupon is selling the Griffin Survivor Case for iPhone 5/5s for $11.99, down from $49.99. DailySteals has the iPad mini Smart Case in beige for $20, down from $69.



MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:47PM, April 17

WWDC 2015 Lottery Ends, Winners Begin Receiving Confirmation Emails

Developer demand for Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference always exceeds ticket supply, so Apple holds a lottery to determine which developers will win the chance to go to the conference. This year, Apple accepted lottery entries from April 14 until today, April 17, at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.



Now that the lottery has ended, Apple has begun sending out emails to developers who were selected and has charged their credit cards the $1,599 ticket price. Developers who won are currently sharing their good fortune on Twitter after receiving order confirmations.

I GOT A GOLDEN TICKET! #wwdc http://bit.ly/1b5ifxJ

— Julie Johnston (@Julia_JJ) April 17, 2015

This year's Worldwide Developers Conference starts on June 8 and will run through June 12 at Moscone West in San Francisco. More than 1,500 Apple engineers will be on hand to host over 100 technical sessions and hands-on labs. The event is also likely to include a keynote to unveil new products, and it will include the annual Apple Design Awards.



At WWDC this year, Apple is expected to unveil the newest versions of iOS and OS X -- iOS 9 and OS X 10.11. There have also been rumors suggesting the event could be used to unveil a new television service, a revamped Apple TV set-top box, and a rebranded Beats music service.



Developers who are unable to attend or who do not win the ticket lottery will be able to watch several live streams of WWDC sessions that will cover a wide range of topics from the iPad and iPhone to the Apple Watch and MacBook, along with other Apple products and services.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:11PM, April 17

Find out exactly how long it’ll take to binge-watch your favorite shows on Netflix

If you sit on your couch and do nothing but watch every episode of AMC's Breaking Bad back to back with no break, you'll run through the entire series in 2.6 days, or 45.5 hours without any commercials. The same mission would take just 41 hours with every Game of Thrones episode that has aired on HBO so far, and the entire Sopranos series would take you 3.6 days.

If you're planning to binge-watch these or any other TV shows anytime soon, there's only one site you'll need in order to find out exactly what you're in for.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:10PM, April 17

How Hollywood is waging war against VPNs

Virtual private networks (VPNs) aren't some wild-and-crazy piece of hacker technology -- in fact, anyone who's ever worked remotely has likely connected to corporate email through a VPN many times before. However, VPNs can also be used to fool video streaming services such as Netflix into thinking you're actually living in a different country, which can give you unauthorized access to streaming content that's not available in your market. Because of this, entertainment studios have been making a big push on both ISPs and streaming services to crack down on VPN use, as two stories that broke this week demonstrate.

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Posted in 2015 at 07:35PM, April 17

Former iOS Chief Scott Forstall is Now a Broadway Producer

Former Apple iOS chief turned Snapchat advisor Scott Forstall has taken on a new project, according to his first ever tweet on Twitter. Forstall is co-producing the upcoming Broadway musical Fun Home, a show that opens this Sunday.

I'm thrilled to be co-producing the Broadway musical Fun Home http://bit.ly/1ISQeYp opening this Sunday. Bravo to the phenomenal team!

— Scott Forstall (@forstall) April 17, 2015

Forstall is listed as the producer of Fun Home along with his wife Molly on the Internet Broadway Database, and he and his wife also have a paragraph in the show's playbill.

The Forstalls (Producer). This is Scott and Molly Forstall's first foray on Broadway after years in Silicon Valley. They share their love of theatre with their children, Freya and Nils, both of whom are enthusiastic theatregoers and performers. Thanks to Carole for the magnificent journey.

Forstall's announcement of his position as Broadway producer comes just a day after leaked Sony emails suggested he'd received .11 percent of Snapchat's stock to serve as an advisor to the company. Since being ousted from Apple in 2012, Forstall has kept a very low profile, and this occasion marks his first public announcement and appearance in years.



Scott Forstall first fell in league with Apple in 1992, when he took on a job at Steve Jobs' company, NeXT. When NeXT was acquired by Apple in 1997, Forstall stayed on, working on the Macintosh user design team. He was promoted several times and in 2005, he began working on iOS. Forstall has been largely credited with the skeuomorphic design present in the early years of the operating system, an aesthetic that eventually led to disagreements with other executives at the company following Steve Jobs' death.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:40PM, April 17

Esteemed Apple blogger: Third-party Apple Watch apps ‘suck’ and are ‘really slow’

During this week's episode of John Gruber's podcast, The Talk Show, Gruber sat down with Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal to talk all things Apple Watch.

About two hours and 9 minutes into the podcast, both Gruber and Stern began lamenting the poor performance they saw with third-party Apple Watch apps. "It makes me question whether there should be third party apps for it at all yet," Gruber noted.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:35PM, April 17

MacRumors Giveaway: Massive Bundle of Custom Device Cases from Casetify [iOS Blog]

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Casetify, a site that specializes in a whole range of custom-created iOS accessories, from iPhone and iPad cases to MacBook covers and Apple Watch straps.



Casetify lets users design their own cases using photos, text, and more, and it also offers hundreds of awesome community-created and curated designs that aren't quite like anything else on the market. You can add a collage of photos with dozens of layouts, select one photo, or customize an existing layout with the site's built-in tools or iPhone app. The base cases the company offers are nice quality and the printing comes out well.



Casetify is offering one lucky MacRumors reader the chance to win a massive bundle of accessories, worth over $500. It includes one of nearly all the accessories the company sells for the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple Watch.




The Casetify Prize Pack -- cases are all customizable


The site has long offered iPhone cases in a variety of materials, including a simple polycarbonate snap-on case, a wood case, and the Metaluxe, a polycarbonate/aluminum combo case, featuring extra protection with an interchangeable backplate. Custom iPad Smart Covers are also available.



Recently, Casetify has also introduced two new products that will also go to the winner -- Apple Watch bands for the upcoming Apple Watch and new MacBook sleeves (there are also sleeves for the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro). Apple Watch bands can be customized with images and are made from a polycarbonate silicone.





MacBook Sleeves are made of a lightweight polyester and neoprene, with velvet inside to keep a device safe. Like iPhone cases and iPad covers, MacBook Sleeves can be personalized with any image or chosen from the gallery collection.





Casetify's full prize list is below. The winner will be able to create custom designs for all of these products, or choose pre-designed options from Casetify's store, filled with cool patterns and pictures. The prize pack is entirely customizable:

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• 1 Metaluxe Gold iPhone Case


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• 1 Metaluxe Silver iPhone Case


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• 1 Metaluxe Backplate


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• 1 Classic Snap iPhone Case


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• 1 Wood iPhone Case


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• 1 iPad Cover


• 
  


• 1 MacBook Sleeve


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• 1 Apple Watch Band


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• 1 Selfie Pack with Stick and Shutter


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• 2 iPhone Case Gift Vouchers


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To enter to win the prize pack, use the Rafflecopter widget below. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube Channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the intricacies of international law regarding giveaways, this giveaway is open only to U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older.



a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway will run from today, Friday, April 17 at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time through Friday April 24 at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time. Winners will be chosen randomly on April 24 and will be contacted through email. A response to our email is required within 48 hours or the winner will forfeit the prize and we will pick a new winner.



Casetify is also offering MacRumors readers a 10 percent discount off all products site wide with the code MR10. Discount is valid from 4/17 to 4/23.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:16PM, April 17