If you show an interest in Apple or technology in general, chances are good that you received at least one iTunes gift card today from a friend or family member today.

Given the card can be used to purchase apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, books, and more, it can be difficult to decide what to buy with your newly acquired funds.

We're here to help with a roundup of ongoing iTunes and App Store sales as well as some other hand-picked recommendations.

Holiday Movies on Sale

In addition to an iTunes sale on select 4K HDR movie bundles, Apple has also discounted a handful of popular holiday movies.


- Bad Santa 2 - $2.99, down from $12.99
- Die Hard (4K) - $7.99, down from $14.99
- Elf - $9.99, down from $14.99
- Home Alone (4K) - $9.99, down from $14.99
- Love Actually - $9.99, down from $14.99
- The Holiday (4K) - $9.99, down from $12.99
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (4K) - $9.99, down from $14.99

Games on Sale

- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Classic - Free, down from $2.99
- Streets of Rage Classic - Free, down from $0.99
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - Free, down from $0.99
- Layton's Mystery Journey - $7.99, down from $15.99
- The Room Three - $1.99, down from $3.99
- Mini Metro - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Jade Empire: Special Edition - $0.99, down from $9.99
- Euclidean Lands - $0.99, down from $3.99
- After the End: Forsaken Destiny - $0.99, down from $3.99
- Old Man's Journey - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Cat Quest - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Abi: A Robot's Tale - $0.99, down from $2.99
- Jaipur: the board game - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Flower - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Vignettes - $0.99, down from $2.99
- Smash Up - The Card Game - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Oceanhorn - $3.99, down from $7.99
- Transistor - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Full Throttle Remastered - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Day of the Tentacle Remastered - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Grim Fandango Remastered - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Don't Starve: Shipwrecked - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Invisible, Inc. - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Minecraft Story Mode - S2 Episode 1 - Free, down from $4.99

Apps on Sale

- Tweetbot 4 for Twitter - $4.99, down from $9.99
- Picfx - Free, down from $1.99
- TapMeasure – AR utility - Free, down from $1.99
- Focus - Productivity Timer - Free, down from $7.99
- Vectorscope - Free, down from $1.99
- Fuelly - MPG, Mileage, Service - Free, down from $5.99
- BeatMaker - Free, down from $4.99
- Timepage - Free, down from $4.99
- My Wonderful Days - Free, down from $2.99
- Halide - RAW Manual Camera - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Duet Display - $9.99, down from $19.99
- Deliveries: a package tracker - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Castro 2 - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Superimpose - Free, down from $1.99
- Meditation Studio - Free, down from $3.99

Apple Music Subscription

iTunes gift cards can be used to pay for an Apple Music subscription, which costs $9.99 per month for individuals, $14.99 per month for families with up to six people, and $4.99 per month for students in the United States and Canada. Prices and student plan availability vary by country.

Those looking for a slightly better deal on an annual Apple Music subscription should consider a 12-month Apple Music gift card, which Apple sells for $99. A 12-month subscription to Apple Music normally costs $120 when paying for the service directly with iTunes credit or another form of payment, so you can save $20.

Apple Music provides on-demand access to over 40 million songs from the iTunes catalog across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, PC, and Android.

Other Subscriptions

iTunes gift cards can be used to pay for many subscriptions available as in-app purchases, although prices can be higher in the App Store as some companies charge extra to make up for Apple's 30 percent cut of sales.

- Netflix
- Hulu
- Spotify
- Tidal

iBooks and Magazines

iTunes gift cards are also valid for purchases on the iBooks Store across iOS and Mac, providing an opportunity to do some reading over the holidays.

- Ready Player One
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Annihilation
- Station Eleven
- It

For magazines, iPhone and iPad users can download the Texture app and subscribe to unlimited access to over 200 of the world's most popular magazines for $6.99 per month as part of an ongoing sale. Magazines can be read on up to five devices per subscription, with the ability to download issues for offline reading.

Some of the magazines available include People, Vogue, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Maxim, Men's Health, GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. New issues are available alongside a searchable archive of thousands of past issues.

Numbered Coloring Books

The latest App Store craze is numbered coloring books in which children colorize pixel art by following a numeric guide. Many of the apps have in-app purchases available to unlock additional pixel art, remove watermarks, and/or remove ads.

- Color by Number
- UNICORN
- Pixel Art - Color by Number
- Sandbox Coloring

Mitchel Broussard contributed to this report.

Apple yesterday confirmed that it has implemented power management features in older iPhones to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery in the devices starts to degrade, and this admission has now led to a class action lawsuit, which was first noticed by TMZ.

Los Angeles residents Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, represented by Wilshire Law Firm, this morning filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California accusing Apple of slowing down their older iPhone models when new models come out.

Defendant breached the implied contracts it made with Plaintiffs and Class Members by purposefully slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out and by failing to properly disclose that at the time of that the parties entered into an agreement.

According to the lawsuit, Bogdanovich and Speas have owned the iPhone 7 and several older iPhone models and have noticed that their "older iPhone models slows (sic) down when new models come out." The two say they did not consent to have Apple slow down their devices, nor were they able to "choose whether they preferred to have their iPhones slower than normal."

They're seeking both California and Nationwide class action certification, which would cover all persons residing in the United States who have owned iPhone models older than the iPhone 8.

Apple yesterday addressed speculation that it throttles the performance of older iPhones with degraded batteries, confirming that there are power management features in place to attempt to prolong the life of the iPhone and its battery. Apple implemented these features last year in iOS 10.2.1.

When an iPhone's battery health starts to decline, the battery is not capable of supplying enough power to the iPhone in times of peak processor usage, which can lead to shutdowns, Apple says.

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."

The lawsuit seemingly misrepresents Apple's original statement and suggests the plaintiffs and their lawyers do not understand Apple's explanation for how iPhone power management features work and why they were implemented, given the lawsuit's suggestion that it's tied to the release of new devices. As explained by Apple, when certain iPhone models hit a peak of processor power, a degraded battery is sometimes unable to provide enough juice, leading to a shutdown. Apple says it "smooths out" these peaks by limiting the power draw from the battery or by spreading power requests over several cycles.

Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time by nature, and this eventual wearing out addressed by the power management features is unrelated to the release of new iPhone models.

Apple does not deny that iPhones with older batteries can sometimes see slower performance, but power management is a feature that Apple says has been implemented to improve overall performance by preventing an iPhone from shutting down completely rather than a feature that's been implemented to force users to upgrade by deliberately slowing devices.

As many people have suggested, Apple has done a poor job of explaining why it has implemented these power management features and how the state of the battery ultimately affects iPhone performance. More transparent information about battery health should be provided, and customers should be better informed when their batteries start to degrade so they can choose whether or not to pay for a replacement. Apple may also need to relax its policies on when customers can pay for a battery replacement, as currently, a battery can't be replaced unless in-store equipment registers it as near failing.

An iPhone's battery is designed to retain 80 percent of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. A defective battery that does not meet those parameters can be replaced for free for customers who have AppleCare+ or who have devices still under warranty.

For out of warranty customers, Apple offers a battery replacement service, which costs $79 plus $6.95 for shipping.

The lawsuit is demanding the replacement of the old iPhone and compensation for loss of use, loss of value, the purchase of new batteries, ascertainable losses in the form of the deprivation of the value of the iPhone, and overpayments because Plaintiffs and Class Members "did not receive what they paid for" when Apple interfered with the usage of their iPhones.

Additional class action lawsuits have been filed against Apple in Chicago, New York, and Northern California. All three lawsuits allege that Apple slowed down iPhones in an effort to get customers to upgrade to new devices.

While deliveries of the first 8 and 10-core iMac Pro orders are set to begin as soon as next week, customers who opted for upgraded 14 or 18-core options were given shipping estimates ranging from 6 to 8 weeks for the machine when ordering.

It appears the 6 to 8 week estimate may not be quite accurate for all orders, as MacRumors reader Adam, who ordered a top-of-the-line machine with an 18-core processor, has received an updated delivery estimate of January 8 to January 9, which will be just a little over three weeks after the iMac Pro was first was ordered.


MacRumors forum member gobluejd has also received a sooner-than-expected shipping estimate for his 14-core iMac Pro, which will arrive on January 9 to 10 instead of the end of January.


Other customers who purchased 14 and 18-core machines may also be seeing updated delivery estimates from Apple, though on Apple's site, iMac Pro orders placed today still list the same 6 to 8 week shipping estimate for high-end iMac Pro configurations.

It's likely that once initial orders go out, Apple will be able to improve those shipping estimates for new orders.

Customers who ordered 8 and 10-core machines will begin receiving their orders in the near future, as some iMac Pro orders started shipping just this morning in the United States and Canada.

The iMac Pro is still listed as unavailable in retail stores. Apple said the new machine would be available in stores by the middle of this week, a deadline that's been missed, but we could still see them in pop up in stores on Friday or Saturday.

Apple's iMac Pro is a workstation-class machine aimed at professional users who have demanding workflows. The iMac Pro supports up to an 18-core Xeon W processor, 128GB ECC RAM, an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics card with 16GB of HBM2 memory, and up to 4TB of SSD storage.

Pricing on the iMac Pro starts at $4,999 and goes up to $13,199 for a fully maxed out model.

Update: Some customers who received emails letting them know their orders will arrive early have received second emails informing them that the original emails were sent accidentally, so it is not clear if 14 and 18-core iMac Pro orders are indeed going to be arriving early.

Future Apple Watch models could include a sensor that allows for continuous electrocardiograph monitoring to better detect serious heart conditions, reports Bloomberg.

Apple is said to be testing a version of the Apple Watch that records the electrical activity of the heart using two fingers on either side of the device, a test that is known as an electrocardiogram or EKG/ECG. With an EKG, sensors detect electrical changes in the skin caused by the rhythm of your heart beat.

A version being tested requires users to squeeze the frame of the Apple Watch with two fingers from the hand that's not wearing the device, one of the people said. It then passes an imperceptible current across the person's chest to track electrical signals in the heart and detect any abnormalities like irregular heart rates.

EKGs today are most often done in medical offices and hospitals, but there are some continuous-wear EKG monitors on the market for those who need more frequent monitoring. With the ability to detect irregular heart beats and other oddities, the Apple Watch would be able to better predict and monitor serious heart conditions. Such functionality has the potential to allow people to catch and treat heart problems early.

Bloomberg says development is ongoing on the EKG functionality for the Apple Watch, and Apple could still decide to scrap it. With the first Apple Watch, Apple reportedly dropped several sensors because they weren't accurate enough.

Apple has taken a deep interest in heart health in recent months, and in November launched a ResearchKit-based Apple Heart Study app in partnership with Stanford University's School of Medicine. The aim of the study is to determine whether the existing heart rate monitoring functionality of the Apple Watch can accurately detect irregular heart rhythms.

It's not clear if adding EKG functionality to the Apple Watch would require Apple to get FDA approval. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said in the past that he doesn't want to get the FDA involved with the Apple Watch, but Apple is participating in a pilot program for faster approval of digital health tools.

Just this past November, the FDA approved the EKG Kardia Band from AliveCor, the first official medical-grade accessory designed for the Apple Watch.

iPhone models released in 2019 and later will likely feature an upgraded TrueDepth camera system that will consume more power, resulting in a need for larger-capacity batteries, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.


In a research note obtained by MacRumors, Kuo said Apple has technologies at its disposal to develop larger-capacity batteries.

Apple capable of designing new system for large-capacity batteries: We believe the adoption of TrueDepth camera for 3D sensing in 2017-18 will create demand for larger-capacity batteries. From 2019, we predict iPhone may adopt upgraded 3D-sensing and AR-related functions, and it will consume more power, further increasing demand for large-capacity batteries. We believe Apple's key technologies, including semiconductor manufacturing processes, system-in-package (SIP), and substrate-like PCB (SLP), will create the required space for larger batteries.

Kuo unsurprisingly expects Apple will use these technologies to continue increasing iPhone battery capacities in 2019 and 2020, as it routinely does, which should result in even longer battery life for future models.

Kuo reiterated that TrueDepth will be expanded to a trio of iPhone models next year, including a new 5.8-inch iPhone X, a larger 6.5-inch model we're calling iPhone X Plus, and a new 6.1-inch mid-range model with an LCD display, but it sounds like the facial system will remain unchanged in 2018.

As far as next year is concerned, Kuo previously said the second-generation iPhone X could have a one-cell L-shaped battery that would provide up to 10 percent additional capacity compared to the two-cell battery in the current iPhone X, which of course could result in slightly longer battery life.

He added that next year's so-called "iPhone X Plus" is likely to retain a two-cell battery design, but the larger size of the 6.5-inch device will still allow it to have a higher capacity in the range of 3,300 to 3,400 mAh.

Apple is expected to release the new iPhone X and iPhone X Plus in its usual timeframe of September to October next year.

Following previous Mac-supported displays that boasted USB-C and some Thunderbolt 3 compatibility, LG today announced a new set of monitors that all include full Thunderbolt 3 support. The news comes ahead of CES 2018, where LG will officially introduce the three new upgraded models of its popular monitor lineup. Apple and LG originally teamed up to create 4K and 5K UltraFine Displays aimed at the late 2016 MacBook Pro models.

The first monitor is a 32-inch UHD 4K model (named LG 32UK950) and offers LG's advanced Nano IPS technology, which the company said will enhance the "intensity and purity" of on-screen colors so that viewing experiences are more life-like. This monitor can display 98 percent of the DCI-P3 color spectrum and supports HDR 600, all making it comparable to monitors used to master Hollywood films, according to LG.


LG 32UK950 also features a Thunderbolt 3 docking display so that it can be daisy chained and be part of a dual 4K monitor setup. It can connect to Apple computers like MacBook Pro through a Thunderbolt 3 cable, transmitting 4K content, sound, and fueling up the connected MacBook (with enough charge to power a 60W notebook).

The second monitor is the LG 34WK95U, a 34-inch UltraWide monitor with wider viewing angles than the previous device, increased 5K resolution of 5120 x 2160 pixels, and a 21:9 aspect ratio. LG is aiming this monitor at customers who "extensively" multitask during their workflow, including video editors, photographers, and software and app developers.


Just like the first monitor, the 34WK95U supports Nano IPS technology, HDR 600, and a Thunderbolt 3 port that can transmit 5K resolution images at 60Hz, along with data and power, through a TB3 cable connected to a compatible MacBook Pro.

The third and final monitor (LG 34GK950G) is given the least amount of detail in LG's announcement, being described as the company's latest QHD gaming monitor. This one offers the same Nano IPS technology for premium picture quality when running games, as well as high-speed G-Sync technology. No other details about the 32GK950G monitor were given.

CES will officially begin on January 7, 2018, so more information on the prices and launch dates of LG's monitors will be coming soon in the new year, along with many other new technology and product announcements. For more on LG's current monitors, check out MacRumors' reviews of the 27UD88, UltraFine 5K, and 38UC99 curved "UltraWide" displays.

Over the course of the last week, there's been speculation that Apple is throttling the performance of older iPhones with degraded batteries, leading to resurgence of accusations that Apple is deliberately slowing down older iPhones that aren't operating at peak battery performance.

In a statement to TechCrunch on the results people are seeing when testing iPhones with older batteries, Apple says it is aiming to smooth out the high power draw peaks that can result in shutdowns and other problems in older devices to "deliver the best experience for customers."


Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time by nature, and there's nothing Apple can do to halt the process, so it uses power management techniques to attempt to prolong the life of the iPhone and its battery. Apple isn't denying that iPhones with older batteries can sometimes see slower performance, but power management is not a feature that's been implemented to force users to upgrade by deliberately slowing devices.

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."

The throttling accusations first surfaced last week, after a Redditor shared Geekbench results taken before and after the battery in his iPhone 6s was replaced. He claimed that performance on his iPhone 6s sped up drastically after replacing a battery with a wear level "around 20%."

Then, earlier this week, Primate Labs founder John Poole showed some aggregate Geekbench data that visualized a link between lower processor performance and degraded battery health. He compared iPhone 6s scores between iOS 10.2 and iOS 10.2.1, which showed variations in benchmarking scores following the update.


Apple in iOS 10.2.1 introduced an update designed to fix a bug that was causing iPhone 6s models to shut down unexpectedly, a problem attributed to uneven power delivery from older batteries. Apple says this feature has been implemented for iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, SE, and, as of iOS 11.2, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. It will be implemented in future iPhones going forward, too.

It's this power management feature causing the benchmark variations John Poole found in Geekbench scores between iOS 10 updates last year. As explained by TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino:

Basically, iPhones were hitting peaks of processor power that the battery was unable to power and the phones were shutting off. Apple then added power management to all iPhones at the time that would 'smooth out' those peaks by either capping the power available from the battery or by spreading power requests over several cycles.

When an iPhone's battery ages, there may come a point when it can't provide the processor with enough power to reach a peak of power, and thus it spreads the requests out "over a few cycles," resulting in the peaks and perceived lower scores on benchmarking tests. As Panzarino points out, benchmarking tests are not reflective of real world usage and will artificially trigger the power management features in the iPhone.

"In other words, you're always going to be triggering this when you run a benchmark, but you definitely will not always trigger this effect when you're using your iPhone like normal," writes Panzarino.

Apple has clear battery replacement guidelines in place. The iPhone battery is designed to retain 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. A defective battery that does not meet those parameters can be replaced for free for customers who have AppleCare+ or who have devices still under warranty.

For out of warranty customers, Apple offers a battery replacement service, with the company charging $79 for a battery replacement plus $6.95 in shipping.

Apple's iPhones do send out a notification when a battery has degraded enough that it's going to impact performance, but it is "pretty conservative" according to Panzarino, and he recommends Apple make this notice more aggressive, in addition to providing customers with clearer information on the link between battery life and performance.

Apple today released the second public beta of iOS 11.2.5 to its public beta testing group, one week after seeding the first public beta and one week after releasing iOS 11.2.1, an update that addressed a HomeKit vulnerability. Today's beta is identical to the beta that was provided to developers yesterday.

Beta testers who are members of Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 11.2.5 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.


Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. iOS betas are not always stable and should not be installed on a primary device.

No new features were discovered in the first two developer betas of iOS 11.2.5, so it's not entirely clear what new features this beta introduces.

It's possible it focuses primarily on security improvements and bug fixes, and if that's the case, we may not know the extent of what's in the update until it sees a public release complete with detailed release notes.

Apple aims to allow developers to release universal apps that work across iPhone, iPad, and Mac as early as next year, according to Bloomberg News.

Starting as early as next year, software developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it's running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac hardware, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple tentatively plans to begin rolling out the change in iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 next year, and it could announce the news as soon as WWDC 2018 in June, according to the report. The exact timeline is subject to change.

Apple typically previews the next major versions of its iOS and macOS operating systems at WWDC in June, with beta versions of each platform available to developers and public testers until September, so it's possible APIs for universal apps will begin rolling out in the pre-release software.

Apple currently requires developers to design separate apps for iOS and macOS, but iPhone and iPad apps often receive more attention than their Mac counterparts in a mobile-first world. The report said it's unclear if Apple will eventually merge the less-popular Mac App Store with the App Store for iOS.

The project is reportedly codenamed "Marzipan" and is considered to be one of the biggest changes on Apple's roadmap next year. The report speculates that universal apps would make it easier for Apple to one day create a single operating system for all of its devices, should it ever go down that avenue.

Apple would be following in the footsteps of Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform, aimed at helping developers create universal apps that run across Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, the latter of which is being phased out.

Samsung Display will supply Apple with between 180 and 200 million flexible OLED displays for the iPhone in 2018, up from an estimated 50 million this year, according to The Korea Herald's sister publication The Investor.

While the report focuses on the iPhone X, it's likely that a portion of the OLED displays will go towards the "iPhone X Plus" rumored to launch alongside the second-generation iPhone X in the second half of 2018.

iPhone X Plus mockup by Benjamin Geskin via iDrop News
Like the Galaxy Note 8, the iPhone X Plus is expected to have a 6.4-inch display, but its overall physical size will likely be closer to an iPhone 8 Plus. Meanwhile, the next iPhone X will likely retain its 5.8-inch display.

With both a full year of iPhone X sales and the addition of the iPhone X Plus to the lineup in 2018, Apple will undoubtedly need many more OLED displays, so today's report about Samsung quadrupling its production next year makes sense. Samsung could reportedly gain an extra $22 billion in revenue from the orders.

The report also claims Samsung has achieved around a 90 percent yield rate, compared to around 60 percent earlier this year, meaning it is getting more efficient at making OLED displays that live up to Apple's strict quality standards. This could lead to improved shipping estimates for next year's launch.

The new iPhone X and iPhone X Plus will likely launch around the usual timeframe of September to October, potentially alongside a new 6.1-inch mid-range model with an LCD display that is predicted to start at around $649 to $749.

There's no word on how much the iPhone X Plus could cost yet, but given the iPhone X starts at $999, the larger version should have a four-digit price tag. Apple charges a $100 premium for other Plus-sized iPhones, so it's possible the iPhone X Plus could start at around $1,099, but it's too early to say.

Apple is likely to remain dependent on Samsung for supply of OLED displays next year, but the company is reportedly investing billions into LG building OLED display production lines dedicated to the iPhone by 2019.

Apple is planning to open a new flagship retail location in Melbourne, Australia, at Federation Square, a shopping center, public square, and mixed-use space located in the heart of the city.

The Federation Square website says the new location will be an "Apple Global Flagship Store" that will open up in 2020. It will be Apple's most significant store in the Southern Hemisphere, with workshops, classes, and live music events.


Apple's Melbourne store will create 500 square meters of new public space, connecting Federation Square with the Yarra River and Birrarung Marr. Apple will construct a new building to replace an existing Yarra building, and based on renderings shared by Federation Square, the store will have multiple levels with glass walls and a viewing deck that overlooks the Yarra River.

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts told The Australian that the store will feature a "bespoke design concept" and "extensive landscaping."

"Apple Federation Square respects the original vision for the plaza, with a bespoke design concept and extensive landscaping bringing increased opportunities for the community to enjoy this renowned cultural hub."

"We're thrilled to move forward in the planning process for our new home in Melbourne's Federation Square and would be honoured to call the world-class galleries and museums of Melbourne our neighbours," Ms Ahrendts said.

Construction on the new store, which will "enhance Federation Square's world renowned architecture," will start in mid-2019.

When Apple released the updated App Store as part of iOS 11, the App Store logo got an overhaul. Instead of an "A" made from a pencil, a paintbrush, and a ruler, Apple designed a simpler "A" that looks like it's constructed from popsicle sticks.

As it turns out, Apple's App Store logo bears a resemblance to the logo used by a Chinese clothing brand named KON, and now KON is suing Apple.


According to Phone Radar (via The Verge), KON believes Apple's new logo is a violation of Chinese copyright law. KON is a brand that's been around since 2009, and as The Verge discovered, Baidu Baike, the Chinese equivalent of Wikipedia, says the KON brand was inspired by music like the Sex Pistols, with the logo meant to represent three skeleton bones symbolizing power over death.


KON wants Apple to publicly apologize for using its logo, stop selling devices using the current App Store logo, and pay compensation for economic loss.

The Beijing People's Court has accepted the case and should make a ruling over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Apple in 2016 lost a similar case involving the "IPHONE" trademark that was in use by Chinese leather goods manufacturer Xintong Tiandi Technology. In that case, Apple was aiming to protect its iPhone trademark to prevent Xintong Tiandi from using the iPhone name for its cases, but the Chinese courts ruled against Apple.