Apple Closes All Retail Stores in Spain Due to Coronavirus

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Apple has closed all 11 of its retail stores located in Spain as the coronavirus continues to spread in the country. Spain earlier today declared a state of emergency.


In a message posted on all of its store websites in Spain, Apple says that health precautions have forced the closure of its retail locations, with no word on when the stores will reopen.

Due to current health precautions, this store will remained closed until further notice. If you need online support, visit getsupport.apple.com. Apologies for the inconvenience.

There are 4,200 people infected with coronavirus in Spain, and 120 people have died. Spain has the second highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy, where Apple has also closed all of its retail locations.

Apple Stores in the United States remain open, though in some areas with restrictions on store openings, stores have closed. Apple Willow Grove Park in Pennsylvania, for example, is no longer open after the governor ordered mass closings of schools, gyms, entertainment venues, and more in Montgomery County in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the area.

In the coming days, there's a chance that additional stores in the United States could close, but at the current time, Apple employees are doing frequent cleanings and Apple has implemented measures to increase the amount of space between customers to mitigate the spread of the infection.

Thanks, Sam!

Related Roundup: Apple Stores

Tags: Spain, Apple retail, COVID-19 Coronavirus

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Apple Pays VirnetX $454 Million for Patent Infringement After U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Apple's Appeal

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Apple has paid VirnetX a total of $454,033,859.87 following the conclusion of a long-running patent infringement battle, VirnetX announced today.


The patent dispute between VirnetX and Apple dates back to 2010 when VirnetX accused Apple's FaceTime feature of infringing on its intellectual property, and there are multiple lawsuits involved.

In this particular case, Apple was ordered to pay $302 million in October 2016, but with interest and other costs included, the judgement was increased to $440 million. Though Apple appealed the $440 million award many times, courts have continually ruled in VirnetX's favor.

Most recently, Apple attempted to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal, but the Supreme Court in February 2020 declined to intervene.

Apple claimed that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had canceled "key parts" of many of the patents involved in the case, but the courts rescinded that cancelation, leaving Apple responsible for the $440 million payment.

This is just one of two VirnetX cases that Apple has been fighting. In the second case, VirnetX was awarded $502 million, but the ruling was partially overturned last year and sent back to the lower courts to determine new damages. Apple in February attempted to get a rehearing to determine patent validity, but was denied.

Tags: FaceTime, patent trials, VirnetX, Patent lawsuits

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MacRumors Giveaway: Win a 6-in-1 USB-C BoltHub for iPad Pro From Baseus

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For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Apple accessory maker Baseus to give MacRumors readers a chance to win a BoltHub 6-in-1 USB-C Hub designed for the iPad Pro, which is designed to add useful port options to Apple's USB-C tablets.


The BoltHub, available for $43, plugs into the USB-C port of the 11 or 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models, adding a 4K HDMI port, a 5Gb/s USB 3.0 port, an SD card reader slot, a micro SD card reader slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a USB-C power delivery port.


According to Baseus, the BoltHub can be used for mirroring and extending the ‌iPad Pro‌'s display, transferring photos, videos, and data, listening to music, charging, connecting to a keyboard, and connecting to a thumb drive to view files.


The hub is constructed from aluminum and has been designed to match Apple's ‌iPad Pro‌ models. It fits over the USB-C hub and the right corner of the iPad, adding little bulk.


Though designed for the ‌iPad Pro‌, the BoltHub is also compatible with MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models manufactured since 2016, along with some Samsung smartphones and other USB-C devices.


We have seven of the BoltHub 6-in-1 USB-C Hubs to give away to MacRumors readers. To enter to win our ‌giveaway‌, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the ‌giveaway‌ restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

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The contest will run from today (March 13) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 20. The winners will be chosen randomly on March 20 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Tag: giveaway

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Major U.S. Internet Providers Agree Not to Terminate Service for Non-Payment, Lift Some Data Caps

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Amid the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in the United States, people are relying heavily on home internet connections for work and school as many employers have asked employees to work from home and schools have canceled classes for the next few weeks.


The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today said [PDF] that major U.S. internet providers, including Comcast, AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Sonic, Cox, Verizon, and more, have all agreed not to terminate service for any residential or small business customers unable to pay their bills due to the coronavirus.

Non-payment will not result in cancelation for the next 60 days, with internet providers also agreeing to waive late fees for payments and open WiFi hotspots to any American who needs them.

Along with the major internet providers, many other smaller internet providers across the United States have also agreed to the terms, which the FCC has called the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that it is "imperative" that Americans stay connected.'

As the coronavirus outbreak spreads and causes a series of disruptions to the economic, educational, medical, and civic life of our country, it is imperative that Americans stay connected. Broadband will enable them to communicate with their loved ones and doctors, telework, ensure their children can engage in remote learning, and--importantly--take part in the 'social distancing' that will be so critical to limiting the spread of this novel coronavirus. That's why I'm asking all broadband and telephone service providers to take the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. I don't want any American consumers experiencing hardships because of the pandemic to lose connectivity.

Some internet providers have also agreed to suspend data caps in states that have them, such as AT&T. AT&T yesterday told Motherboard that it is waiving internet data overages for all customers who do not already have unlimited home internet access.

Comcast has not waived fees for data overages, but it is providing higher connection speeds on its Internet Essentials plan, which is a service for low-income Americans.

Tags: AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, COVID-19 Coronavirus

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New MacBook Air Possible as Early as Next Week

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Last March, MacRumors received an anonymous tip claiming that Apple would announce new iPad, iMac, and iPod models with three consecutive days of press releases the following week, and that information proved to be two-thirds accurate with new iPad Air and iPad mini models announced on Monday, March 18 and an iMac refresh on Tuesday, March 19.

Apple did announce a new product on the Wednesday, but it was new AirPods, not a new iPod. Given both products have "Pod" in their name, perhaps there was some confusion there, but it is clear the tipster was relatively informed.


Now, the same anonymous tipster has informed MacRumors that Apple plans to announce new MacBook Air models next week. We have yet to confirm this information, but given the tipster now has an established track record, we have elected to share this rumor. The tipster did not provide any further details at this time.

A few days ago, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple plans to launch updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models with scissor keyboards in the second quarter of 2020, following in the footsteps of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

While the second quarter does not begin until April, an announcement next week would be just a few weeks earlier. Apple has announced new or refreshed products in March for the last five consecutive years, so there is precedence. In terms of covering all bases, however, we cannot rule out the possibility that the tipster received wrong information.

The current MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro are still equipped with butterfly keyboards that can suffer from issues such as sticky or unresponsive keys after prolonged use, which prompted Apple to initiate a free repair program worldwide in 2018. Apple finally solved this problem by reverting back to a scissor mechanism with the new Magic Keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which has proven far more reliable.

Kuo has previously said that several other Apple products are planned for the first half of 2020, including the so-called iPhone 9, refreshed iPad Pro and MacBook Pro models, AirTags, a small wireless charging mat, and high-end over-ear headphones that may have AirPods branding, so it is possible Apple has more announcements in store next week.

Beyond receiving a True Tone display and a tweaked butterfly keyboard in July 2019, the MacBook Air was last updated in October 2018.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air

Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Neutral)

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