In order to launch Apple Pay in the lucrative China market, Apple agreed to halve its normal transaction fee for the country’s banks, a report said on Monday.

Source:: Apple Insider

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg added his name to the list of tech leaders rallying behind Apple in its encryption debate with the Justice Department, but a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center suggests the FBI is winning over public sentiment.

Source:: Apple Insider

Apple on Monday hired a former VP at AMC, Bernadette Simpao, to take charge of its PR efforts for apps and content on the Apple TV, along with several categories of iTunes media. Separately, Twitter officially hired former Apple PR executive Natalie Kerris to head its global communications team.

Source:: Apple Insider

On Monday, a former director of the U.S. National Security Agency — Michael Hayden — took a middleground stance on the Apple/FBI encryption debate, supporting the FBI in the short term while opposing a universal backdoor in devices.

Source:: Apple Insider

Members of Apple’s registered developer program were provided a quartet of fresh updates on Monday: the fourth pre-release betas of iOS 9.3, tvOS 9.2, watchOS 2.2, and OS X El Capitan 10.11.4.

Source:: Apple Insider

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook was expectedly noncommittal when asked about the prospect of an Apple-built car in a new interview, but he did indicate that hiring efforts are not necessarily evidence that a project is a sure thing.

Source:: Apple Insider

Thanks to new tools from IBM, developers will be able to write and run applications entirely in the cloud using Apple’s Swift programming language.

Source:: Apple Insider

For the next five days, AppleInsider readers can grab the lowest prices of the year on Apple’s most popular 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pros, $50 off all 32GB iPad Pros, and $80 off all 128GB iPad Pros; plus free shipping and no tax in 49 states.

Source:: Apple Insider

The FBI’s demand that Apple help it crack the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook has a “limited” scope, without impact beyond that case, according to a new editorial by FBI Director James Comey.

Source:: Apple Insider

Carole Adams — whose son Robert was killed in the San Bernardino attack last year — has spoken out in support of Apple’s position on encryption, saying the company “is definitely within their rights to protect the privacy of all Americans.”

Source:: Apple Insider