Apple kicked off today’s keynote with a video highlighting some of the accessibility features of Apple products, such as spoken alerts letting a blind person know when the camera has detected a face and locked focus on it …

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Apple’s October 27 ‘Hello Again’ Mac event is about to kick off, and the company is expected to unveil all-new MacBook Pro models alongside possible updates for its other Mac lines, Apple TV, and more. We recently gave you the full rundown on what to expect. 

Below we’re keeping track off all our coverage from the event today, including the handy links to all of our in-depth coverage in the News Hub. And you’ll also find our live feed of updates from the stage as well as pre-event coverage and the latest from inside the event in our Live Blog below that.

Check back for updates as the event unfolds.

NEWS HUB |

• What to expect at Apple’s Mac event: All-new MacBook Pros, refreshed Airs & iMacs, more
• How to view/stream today’s Mac-focused Apple keynote presentation

LIVE BLOG |

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Audio accessory maker Sol Republic is today launching its first product in the cord-free headphone space, the ‘Amps Air’ wireless earbuds. The launch would have been timed with the now delayed release of Apple’s own similar wireless AirPods that were previously expected to launch late this month and possibly following the company’s Mac event today. Apple released a last minute statement yesterday informing customers it needs more time to get the product right before shipping.

But after using the new Amps Air earbuds from Sol Republic over the last week, I’m convinced they will be a better option for many…

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With around two-thirds of our readers expecting to buy a brand new MacBook Pro, and others looking to upgrade to a refreshed MacBook Air or iMac, we thought it would be useful to provide a quick guide to preparing for the upgrade.

We recommend a seven-step approach …

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Nike+ Run Club for iPhone and Apple Watch has a notable update out today just one day before the Apple Watch Nike+ starts hits stores. Version 5.1 includes a ton of improvements and fixes plus some new features like Apple Music integration and GPS support on the Apple Watch Series 2.

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The European Union isn’t the only one to consider Apple’s Irish tax arrangements illegal – Reuters reports that a senior Apple exec came close to being jailed for alleged tax evasion in Italy.

Back in 2013, the Italian government accused the company of failing to declare sales revenue from sales in Italy, instead funnelling it to Ireland. The Italian tax authorities said that undeclared sales from 16 Apple Stores in the country totalled more than $1.3B, and sent Apple a tax bill for $347M.

Apple paid up, but that wasn’t the end of it …

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I wrote an opinion piece last month entitled macOS Sierra’s new storage-management tools are a bit of a mess. 

Effectively you are switching from a belt-and-braces system, where you have three copies – one local, a second in your local Time Machine backup, a third on iCloud – to just a single copy. That’s way too risky for my tastes, especially given the somewhat flakey reliability record of Apple’s cloud services.

But Mac users may also be running that same risk without even realizing it. Because that first option – to ‘Optimize Mac Storage’ for files stored on iCloud – is on by default in my experience. This means that, for any file on iCloud, your Mac could be deleting files from your Mac without your knowledge or permission. That should never be the case.

I was wrong. Sierra’s storage-management aren’t a ‘bit of a mess’ at all: having just seen what they did to my MacBook Air, seemingly prompted by the update to 10.12.1, they are a complete and utter disaster … 

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Apple is holding its media event later today at 10 AM PT, where it is widely expected to announce a series of new Mac hardware including a new MacBook Pro. The rumor mill has not been clear about availability details for the new products … but Apple Stores appear to be readying for something new as soon as today.

A Reddit user has posted pictures of the San Francisco Apple Store where employees are setting up line dividers and measuring floor space as if they are preparing for a new in-store display of some kind. This seems to suggest that the new Mac laptops (or something else?) may actually go on sale today, once the event is over …

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We’ll of course be bringing you all the news from today’s Mac-focused keynote presentation as it happens, but many also like to watch the live presentation. The ‘hello again’ tagline suggests Apple thinks it’s announcing something pretty special.

The keynote kicks off in the morning in Cupertino, and the start time of course depends on your time-zone:

• 10am PT
• 1pm ET
• 6pm London
• 7pm Western Europe …

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As is the way with Apple event days, the Apple Online Store is down ahead of the event starting at 10 AM PT. The store goes down for hype more than technical limitations but it still indicates that whatever Apple is announcing later, such as a new MacBook Pro, will be available to order imminently.

Apple’s ‘hello again’ event rumors suggest that the event will focus on a much-needed update to the Retina MacBook Pro, featuring Touch ID, Apple Pay and a new OLED function bar above the keyboard, and some kind of new 13 inch MacBook (apparently similar in style to the 12 inch one-port MacBook). However, Apple has at least an hour of stage time to fill so they are likely other announcements too …

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