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Apple fans hoping to nab the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition for under $5,000 may want to start looking at the other collections. Twitter user Greg Koenig [via Forbes] estimated that the high-end Apple Watch Edition contains around 29.16g of gold in its casing. That's around $1,200 worth of gold at current prices. Once you factor in additional manufacturing and Apple’s markup, Koneig says that the watch will retail for no less than $5,000. Ian Morris of Forbes thinks Apple will want to go a little higher at $8,000.

The Wall Street Journal said on Monday that the "Apple Watch Edition is expected to be among the most expensive product the company has ever sold, likely surpassing the $4,000 Mac Pro computer". In the same report, the WSJ claimed Apple had ordered five to six million units of the Apple Watch from its suppliers, with the high-end model making up the least amount of the order. Apple is expected to increase production of the Apple Watch Edition to one million units per month after the initial launch in April.

Apple has released a Windows-only iTunes update, bringing the software to version 12.1.1. The update primarily fixes a list of bugs, including audio playback issues and Outlook syncing problems. Improved compatibility with screen readers is another change touted in the release notes.

Windows and Mac users received the 12.1 update three weeks ago, which added a Notification Center widget for OS X Yosemite. Apple has not updated iTunes for OS X since then. When it comes to iTunes 12, the jump from 11 brought significant changes to Apple's flagship entertainment package.

The ranks of Apple Pay partners swelled again today as Apple announced that it has added support for cards from 20 more financial institutions.

Most notable among the new institutions are Morgan Stanley and Northern Trust. Banks that joined include Central Bank, Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach, First National Bank of Omaha, First Sentry Bank, FirstBank and The Independent BankersBank. Quite a few credit unions joined as well, including Affinity Federal Credit Union, Credit Union of Southern California, Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, Ideal Credit Union, Redwood Credit Union, State Department Federal Credit Union, Teachers Credit Union, Technology Credit

Apple has been awarded a patent for a head-mounted virtual reality (VR) apparatus that would connect with an iPhone or iPod. After sliding into a cavity on the apparatus, the iOS device provides the display and processing capabilities for VR interaction. The unit detailed in the patent resembles a large pair of glasses with EarPods.

Apple's concept is similar to the Samsung Gear VR and the Hasbro MY3D accessory. Both accessories accept a smartphone and deliver visually immersive VR or 3D experiences and games using the built in display and accelerometer.

GoPhone customers will automatically get major improvements to their data and calling plans starting in two days. AT&T has announced increases to high-speed data allowances on pre-paid $45 and $60 per month plans. The less expensive plan will jump from 1GB to a 1.5GB allowance.

Customers with $60 plans will see an increase from 2.5GB to 4GB. These changes will not increase billing costs. All GoPhone plans are actually unlimited data, however the data allowance is the amount of high-speed monthly data usage. After these amounts are reached, speeds are reduced.