Can Apples be Macerated before Pressing into Cider

The food-grade wax applied to apples after being washed post-harvesting (which removes their naturally produced waxy outer coating) is safe.

From the U.S. Apple Association:

Waxes have been used on fruits and vegetables since the 1920s. They are all made from natural ingredients, and are certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be safe to eat. They come from natural sources including carnauba wax, from the leaves of a Brazilian palm; candellia wax, derived from reed-like desert plants of the genus Euphorbia; and food-grade shellac, which comes from a secretion of the lac bug found in India and Pakistan.

That said, if the layer of wax is so thick that you can peel it off, it wouldn't hurt to brush it off under warm water; wax isn't digestible. (I use a speck of Dawn or a spritz of enzymatic vegetable/fruit spray to clean my apples because I hate the added wax.)

Apple cider has two meanings, but they both start with raw, pressed juice from crushed apples.

Soft apple cider (normally just called cider) is simply the pressed juice, bottled. It is cloudy from suspended apple particles, and turns brown from the oxidation, much as apples themselves do when cut and exposed to air. Hard apple cider is an alcoholic beverage made by allowing soft apple cider to ferment.

Apple juice is essentially the squeezed juice from the apples that has been highly filtered to remove the suspended particulates. It is usually pasteurized to have a longer shelf life.

UK Usage: Per ElendilTheTall, in the UK, the alcoholic beverage is called cider, and the other products are called simple apple juice.

See also: MA government article