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Apple Pay on Apple Watch Secured By Skin Contact

Apple Pay, the new mobile payments system that Apple has developed, is secured on the iPhone 6 through the use of Touch ID, but many wondered how Apple was bringing the system to the Apple Watch, which doesn’t have Touch ID.

As noted by Rene Ritchie of iMore and Cult of Mac, Apple Pay on the Apple Watch is secured by requiring a passcode to be entered initially, but once entered Apple Pay would work until the watch is taken off a user’s wrist, then requiring the passcode to be re-entered.

The Apple Watch can detect when it is in contact with skin thanks to the sensors located on the rear of the watch, which are also used to detect the user’s heart beat. It is also backed up by a comment made by Ed McLaughlin of MasterCard who told Re/code that it would use the sensors for security, although he didn’t go into the detail provided by Ritchie and Cult of Mac.

[Cult of Mac via MacRumors]

Paid iCloud Customers Getting Partial Refunds After Apple Reduced Prices

Earlier this week Apple adjusted the pricing of their iCloud plans to be more competitive, and as part of those price reductions, Apple has also been ensuring that existing paid iCloud customers can take advantage of the discounts. As noted by MacRumors and others, Apple has begun emailing those customers, informing them that they will be given a refund based on the price reduction and the number of months remaining on their subscription.

As noted earlier this week, the new plans start at 20GB for $0.99 per month and range up to a 1TB plan for $19.99 per month. A big reason for the new iCloud pricing is the imminent introduction of iCloud Drive which allows users to store any kind of file and access it from any device.

[via MacRumors]

Connected: Stabbed By a Glass Corner→

This week, the boys tackle the new iPhones, Apple Pay and Apple’s entry into the wearable market with Apple Watch.

More thoughts on the Apple Watch (in addition to this), plus my current doubts about which iPhone and iPad to buy this Fall. Get the episode here.

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Desire and Purpose

I’ve been thinking about yesterday’s announcement of the Apple Watch. Like WWDC ’14, it’s a lot to process in a single day – you’re looking at years worth of design and product vision condensed in two hours of video and a massive website update. I’m not sure I’ll fully grasp the potential of Apple’s wearable even after its release.

But I noticed this: I didn’t feel the same impact of the original iPhone and iPad keynotes. I’m not referring to the product, the pace of Apple executives on stage, or Steve Jobs. I’m talking about the message that I was left with and the explanations that Apple gave to demonstrate their new watch and how it can fit in people’s everyday life. It felt different.

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Apple Discontinues iPod classic

Click image to view a full resolution version

Click image to view a full resolution version

The iPod classic is no longer on sale after Apple quietly discontinued the product yesterday. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone given that the product hasn’t been refreshed since September 2009 - five years ago, but as the direct descendant of the original iPod, it signals the end of an era to a certain degree. The iPod shuffle, nano and touch remain on sale, at least for now.

We’ve charted the key product milestones of the iPod classic line above (view the full resolution version), with thanks to the thorough Wikipedia entry on it. If you’re after a bit more of a visual history of some of the major changes to iPod classic, head over to The Verge.

Apple Watch: Our Complete Overview

At a media event held earlier today at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, Apple officially unveiled the Apple Watch, the company’s highly anticipated wearable device.

Starting at $349 and launching in early 2015, Apple Watch was introduced as Apple’s “most personal device ever created”, aiming to blend style and function, complex tech and self-expression by offering a mix of traditional timekeeping with a variety of health and fitness-related features, apps, integration with iPhone, and a brand new input method called Digital Crown.

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Apple Introduces More Competitive iCloud Pricing

As noted by 512 Pixels, Apple confirmed new iCloud pricing in the official iOS 8 press release today. These new pricing tiers are a substantial drop from Apple’s previous annual storage upgrade pricing model.

The new pricing is as follows:

  • 5GB for free
  • 20GB at $0.99/month
  • 200GB at $3.99/month
  • 500GB at $9.99/month
  • 1TB at $19.99/month

As interesting as these slashed price tags are, Apple is still competing with companies like Dropbox, who are currently giving away a terabyte of space for only $10 a month. Apple’s edge in this market is definitely going to be their deep integration with the many upcoming features in iOS 8 that rely so heavily on cloud storage, such as the upcoming iCloud Drive.

You can read more about iCloud’s new plans on Apple.com.

For more coverage, check out our September 9 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.