A new study shares some interesting findings on how Apple Watch and other wearables are impacting health care use for those with irregular heart rhythms. In a study at the University of Utah Health, those with atrial fibrillation and who used Apple Watch were more likely to receive health care than those without a wearable. The report also found those with wearables don’t bombard doctors with unnecessary calls. The new study was done by Libo Wang, MD; Kyron Nielsen, MPH; and Joshua Goldberg, MD (via The Verge)....

Despite speculation to the contrary, Apple does in fact plan to sell an array of bands as separate accessories for the Apple Watch at launch, according to sources. So far Apple has only shown the Watch in pre-assembled collections, which reduces their potential for customization, but our sources say that Apple’s retail outlets will be stocked on day one with individual straps so customers can easily mix and match the looks of their Watches....

Apple has today announced a new program to help human trafficking victims get behind-the-scenes jobs at its retail locations. The program comes as Angela Ahrendts accepted the Stop Slavery Award on Apple’s behalf at an event in London. Apple is teaming up with an NGO (via BBC) to help victims pass interviews for a handful of roles. These individuals will not be identified nor employed by Apple, going through its third-party suppliers instead....

As we previously reported, Apple’s VP of software technology, Bud Tribble, will testify at a Senate hearing tomorrow on federal privacy legislation. While there are no surprises expected, Axios obtained his prepared statement that details how Apple will voice its support of “comprehensive federal privacy legislation.” The White House started looking into a new federal privacy law after Europe passed its GDPR back in May. The Trump administration has held over 22 meetings with over 80 companies, organizations, and groups over the summer and now Apple’s Bud Tribble will give a testimony at tomorrow’s Senate hearing on the subject....

Apple is set to officially make a statement before Congress tomorrow regarding its refusal to fulfill a judge’s request to help the FBI unlock a suspect’s iPhone in the high-profile San Bernardino attacks. Apple’s General Counsel Bruce Sewell, likely alongside other Apple employees, will deliver the prepared statement below at the hearing titled Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy before addressing the panel and answering questions from Congress (via The Verge)....

With the launch of the iPad Pro, Apple unveiled its new Smart Connector technology to allow accessory makers to more seamlessly integrate with the device. Two years after the first iPad Pro’s release, however, the Smart Connector hasn’t necessarily gained a whole lot of traction. A new report from Fast Company this week offers some insight into Apple’s efforts to have accessory makers adopt the Smart Connector… When pressed for why they haven’t adopted Smart Connector, many accessory makers cited wait times and high prices for Smart Connector components....

While a possible deal with China Mobile, one of the world’s largest telecoms, was rumored for quite sometime leading up to launch of the new iPhones, the company said in August that it was still working out “commercial and technical issues” with Apple. Today, Bloomberg points us to an Apple job listing in China that provides some evidence that the company is indeed preparing to launch the iPhone on the carrier’s network:...

Apple has updated its third-party USB adapter trade-in program page to note that the program is worldwide. Apple originally only noted support for the program in China and the United States. The company then updated the page to share that customers in Australia ($14 AUD), Canada ($11 CAD), France (10 €), Germany (10 €), Japan (￥1,000), and the United Kingdom (10 €) are eligible as well. Now that the program has officially begun, Apple has providing special discount pricing for official Apple USB charging adapters for several more countries (shown above)....

New data from Strategy Analytics shows that Apple’s iPhone 7 was the top-selling smartphone during the first quarter of 2017 despite a slight year-over-year drop in sales. While Apple doesn’t release iPhone sales by model, Strategy Analytics estimates that the iPhone 7 accounted for 6.1% of total smartphones shipped while the iPhone 7 Plus captured 4.9% of shipments. According to the research, Apple shipped 21.5 million iPhone 7 models during the first quarter of the year while the pricier iPhone 7 Plus made up 17....

Apple appears set to abandon its plans to offer the rebranded Beats streaming music service for less than the $9.99/month charged by Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music. Billboard reports that Apple’s attempts to use its clout to negotiate better deals with record labels have been unsuccessful. The report says that the deals offered by the labels would have left Apple losing money if it had gone ahead with its plan to offer the service for the rumored $7....

Following Re/code’s report earlier this week that Apple will announce its wearable product (iWatch, iBand) alongside new iPhones on September 9th, Re/code now adds that the device won’t actually be available this year. Apple recently previewed another product months for its availability with the 2013 Mac Pro being shown off at WWDC last year before debuting in late December of that year. More similar, perhaps, is the time between both the iPhone and iPad announcements and product debuts with considerable time between both also taking place....

Apple is set to pay up to $500 million to settle a United States lawsuit over the iPhone battery performance throttling debacle of 2018. Via Reuters, Apple agreed to a preliminary settlement in legal documents filed on Friday. The company denied wrongdoing but said it settled to avoid lengthy court proceedings. The monetary suit is equivalent to $25 per impacted iPhone. The lawsuit covers US owners of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, or iPhone SE who were running the iOS 10....

Following the release of iOS 12.2 to the public yesterday, Apple today has updated the Shortcuts app for iOS. The update includes improvements to existing Shortcuts actions, as well as new tools for creating Shortcuts that integrate the Notes app. Apple says that with today’s update, you can now create and access Notes through Shortcuts with new actions called Create Note, Append to Note, Find Notes, and Show Note. This means that Shortcuts can do things like create new notes, add specific things to existing notes, and more....

The massive Apple v Qualcomm trial got underway yesterday, though the first day of what is expected to be a four-week case was entirely taken up with jury selection. The trial is expected to be the biggest patent or antitrust case ever heard, with a total of as much as $30B at stake … CNET provided a run-down on the nine jurors who made it through the selection process. We outlined yesterday the two key issues at the centre of the Apple v Qualcomm battle, though there will doubtlessly be many other areas of contention....

Apple Watch Series 6 was announced today by Apple with new colors, oximeter sensor, and a faster processor. However, Apple briefly mentioned that Series 6 models also feature the same U1 chip introduced last year with the iPhone 11. The U1 chip uses positioning tech known as an Ultra Wideband (UWB) radio that provides precise location and spatial awareness, so a U1-equipped device can detect its exact position relative to other devices in the same room....

We all know the background, Palm introduced the Palm Pre, which the company equipped with the ability to sync with iTunes. Apple didn’t like it and prevented use of this within an iTunes update, Palm re-enabled its feature, Apple stopped it again and Palm took a complaint to the USB Forum, the body which polices such things. Palm had accused Apple of improperly using its USB Vendor ID to block sync with iTunes....

As part of its recent environmental campaign, Apple has taken out some tongue-in-cheek full-page print advertising in newspapers around the world today. The ad reads ‘There are some things we want every company to copy’. The ad was first spotted by David McClelland on Twitter. (Hi-res version below:) The ad also has been seen in Germany. The ad highlights Apple’s commitment to its green energy plans and environmental sustainability. The ad is phrased as a clear jab at Samsung, reading: ‘There’s one area where we actually encourage others to imitate us’....

Update: Live webcast will be at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq413 Apple will hold its quarterly earnings call to announce results on October 28th, as noted on Apple’s investor website. Typically, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer will read prepared statements about the company’s performance, before opening the call to a question and answer session for analysts. The call will begin at 2PM Pacific / 5PM Eastern time. Apple will publish a press release reporting their results about half an hour before the call is due to begin....

Apple and Samsung appeared in a San Jose federal court today, where U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh presides, to give opening statements starting at 9 a.m. PST. Apple filed the first suit in this monumental case in April 2011. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company claimed Samsung infringed its patents by “slavishly copying” its iPhone. Samsung, a South Korea-based Company, promptly countersued. This is one of the important cases to go to trial among a slew of other litigations on smartphone patents....

Apple appears to be running low on inventory for Apple Watch Series 3 repairs as the company informed store staff today that it will substitute some Series 3 repairs with the newer Apple Watch Series 4. Apple announced the change in an internal memo that was delivered to Apple Store repair staff and Apple’s Authorized Service Providers, according to sources briefed on the update. The change means that customers looking for a repair or replacement for their Apple Watch Series 3 Stainless Steel (GPS + Cellular) model will instead be fulfilled with Apple Watch Series 4, Stainless Steel (GPS + Cellular) inventory as a replacement due to constraints on the older model....