With Apple's online store down Wednesday morning, the company appears set to debut a new iMac desktop, with one last-minute leak revealing alleged specifications of a new low-end 21.5-inch model, sporting a slower and more affordable dual-core 1.4-gigahertz processor.

A video posted to YouTube on Tuesday pits widely circulated 4.7- and 5.5-inch "iPhone 6" dummy models against the iPhone 5s and other popular handsets, showing Apple may be headed deep into phablet territory as the larger version is noticeably taller than even Samsung's Galaxy Note 3.

Alongside the introduction of Apple's second iOS 8 beta release on Tuesday, the company issued the first beta version of its upcoming Apple TV Software update, which activates the new iCloud-based Family Sharing function set to debut as part this fall.

In a surprise appearance at the Cannes Lions festival, rapper Kanye West said a collaboration between fellow performer Jay Z and Samsung last year played into Apple's decision to buy Beats and acqui-hire cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.

It was discovered on Tuesday that the second OS X 10.10 Yosemite beta contains code to activate an early version of "dark mode," which changes the translucent light gray menu graphics to a darker shade closer to black.

With publishing house Hachette locked in a battle with Amazon that has seen the imprint's titles pulled from Amazon's virtual shelves, Apple's iBookstore has become the next-best place for readers to shop as a number of Hachette e-books are now discounted to just $9.99.

Apple's iOS ecosystem played host to a trio of interesting updates Tuesday, with Facebook officially releasing its answer to Snapchat -- which itself showed off a new location-based group photo album feature -- while "quantified car" app Automatic received a redesign and a new fuel reporting feature.

Small changes and enhancements can be found in Apple's newly released second beta of iOS 8, including the addition of the QuickType keyboard for iPad, and a change that makes the Podcasts app a native app that cannot be uninstalled.

Best Buy for the next few weeks is serving up coupons to students that knock $150 off Apple's MacBooks & iMacs, and $50 off iPad Airs and iPad minis -- effectively dropping the entry-level buy-in cost to owning a MacBook to $650 and an iPad (mini with Retina display) to $330. [Update: Best Buy has now cut WiFi iPad mini even further, yielding $300 16GB models with student coupons]

Apple on Tuesday supplied developers with its second beta release of iOS 8, packing in bug fixes and improvements in the pre-release software scheduled to ship to users this fall. Updates for OS X Yosemite, Apple TV, and Xcode 6 were also provided.

While Apple's next-generation full-sized iPad isn't expected to see a major redesign this year, a new set of dummy models claiming to show the look of 2014 iPad Air feature tweaked volume buttons with a new, recessed design, along with a Touch ID enabled home button.

Parents looking for an outlet for their creative-minded children this summer can take advantage of Apple's annual Apple Camp, in which the company invites kids ages 8 through 12 to participate in three-day workshops covering moviemaking with iMovie or storytelling with iBooks.

A number of new photos purporting to show manufacturing mockups of Apple's next-generation handset have surfaced from sources in Japan and Korea, detailing a thinner, larger iPhone with a redesigned rear flash and relocated sleep/wake button.

Art-minded app and hardware developer FiftyThree on Tuesday announced it will be adding an iOS 8-exclusive feature to the "Paper" drawing app that lets users of the company's "Pencil" stylus change the characteristics of a drawn line by modifying how they hold the tool.

Cowen & Company on Tuesday became the latest Wall Street firm to revise their price target for shares of Apple stock upward, setting a new forecast of $102 ahead of the anticipated blockbuster launch of the company's next-generation iPhone.

Parallels on Tuesday announced an update to its subscription-based Parallels Access remote desktop app, adding new gestures and controls to support operation on smartphones like Apple's iPhone.

Google-owned smart home device maker Nest on Tuesday announced the reintroduction of its Protect carbon monoxide and smoke alarm after product sales were halted and units recalled when a convenience feature was determined to pose a safety risk.

In a court filing on Monday, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in a class action suit seeking damages from Apple's e-book price fixing scheme informed federal Judge Denise Cote that the company has agreed to settle.

The Unicode Consortium on Monday announced the latest Unicode Standard version 7.0 release includes 2,834 new characters and -- more importantly to avid texters -- more than 250 pictographs, otherwise known as emoji.

In an interview with the New York Times, Apple SVP of Design Jony Ive said Apple has been working to incorporate all new materials in future products, suggesting both new form factors and the possible introduction of long-awaited LiquidMetal and sapphire parts.