Apple News
Congo demands that Apple prove it doesn’t use ‘conflict minerals’
The government of Congo has notified Apple of its concerns that the company’s supply chain may be tainted by conflict minerals sourced from the central African nation.
A group of international lawyers engaged on behalf of the Congolese state sent a list of questions to the US tech giant on April 22 and demanded answers within three weeks, according to a statement published on the website of lawyer Robert Amsterdam on Thursday. The statement coincided with the release by the law firm of a report accusing neighboring Rwanda of laundering tin, tungsten, tantalum — known as 3T minerals — and gold from Congo.
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MacDailyNews Note: Excerpt from Apple’s latest Conflict Minerals Report:
[W]e continue to source 3TG and other minerals, such as cobalt and lithium, responsibly while working to improve conditions in and around mining communities, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”) and adjoining countries. Although Apple does not directly purchase, procure, or source primary minerals, we are committed to meeting and exceeding internationally accepted due diligence standards for primary minerals and recycled materials in our supply chain. Our responsible minerals sourcing program includes requirements that apply to all levels of Apple’s supply chain.
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Apple’s lead marketer for Vision Pro spatial computer retires
Apple’s senior director leading product-marketing efforts for the company’s Vision Pro spatial computer has retired following the product’s launch.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Frank Casanova, who worked at Apple for 36 years in various roles, including helping to lead the expansion of the iPhone to new carriers, departed last week, according to his LinkedIn page. In 2019, he was named Apple’s first head of marketing for augmented reality before being tapped to lead the headset effort.
The Vision Pro went on sale in early February, with Casanova attending the release at Apple’s flagship retail store at the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles, alongside services chief Eddy Cue. Dan Riccio, the executive overseeing development of the device, is nearing retirement, Bloomberg News reported last month.
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MacDailyNews Take: Here’s to a long, healthy, and happy retirement!
Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. — Fred Rogers
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Apple Silicon supplier TSMC unveils 1.6nm process roadmap for 2026 chips
Apple Silicon supplier TSMC on Wednesday unveiled its newest semiconductor process, advanced packaging, and 3D IC technologies for powering the next generation of AI innovations with silicon leadership at the Company’s 2024 North America Technology Symposium. TSMC debuted the TSMC A16 (1.6nm) technology, featuring leading nanosheet transistors with innovative backside power rail solution for production in 2026, bringing greatly improved logic density and performance. TSMC also introduced its System-on-Wafer (TSMC-SoW) technology, an innovative solution to bring revolutionary performance to the wafer level in addressing the future AI requirements for hyperscaler datacenters.
“We are entering an AI-empowered world, where artificial intelligence not only runs in data centers, but PCs, mobile devices, automobiles, and even the Internet of Things,” said TSMC CEO Dr. C.C. Wei in a statement. “At TSMC, we are offering our customers the most comprehensive set of technologies to realize their visions for AI, from the world’s most advanced silicon, to the broadest portfolio of advanced packaging and 3D IC platforms, to specialty technologies that integrate the digital world with the real world.”
TSMC A16 Technology: With TSMC’s industry-leading N3E technology now in production, and N2 on track for production in the second half of 2025, TSMC debuted A16, the next technology on its roadmap. A16 will combine TSMC’s Super Power Rail architecture with its nanosheet transistors for planned production in 2026. It improves logic density and performance by dedicating front-side routing resources to signals, making A16 ideal for HPC products with complex signal routes and dense power delivery networks. Compared to TSMC’s N2P process, A16 will provide 8-10% speed improvement at the same Vdd (positive power supply voltage), 15-20% power reduction at the same speed, and up to 1.10X chip density improvement for data center products.
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
TSMC is also making progress toward manufacturing 2nm and 1.4nm chips that are likely destined for future generations of Apple silicon. Its 2nm “N2” node is scheduled for trial production in the second half of 2024 and mass production in late 2025, to be followed by an enhanced “N2P” process in late 2026. Trial production of the 2nm node will begin in the second half of 2024, with small-scale production ramping up in the second quarter of 2025. In 2027, facilities in Taiwan will start to shift toward production of “A14” 1.4nm chips.
Apple’s upcoming A18 chips for the iPhone 16 lineup are expected to be based on N3E, while the “A19” for the 2025 iPhone models is expected to be Apple’s first 2nm chip. The subsequent year, Apple will likely move to an enhanced version of this 2nm node, followed by the newly announced 1.6nm process.
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MacDailyNews Note: In January, DigiTimes reported that Apple will, unsurprisingly, be the first company to receive chips built on the TSMC’s future 2-nanometer process.
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Chinese smartphone market grows 6.5% in Q1; Apple iPhone declines 6.6%
According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, China smartphone shipments grew 6.5% year over year (YoY) to 69.3 million units in 1Q24. Although the growth was supported by a low comparison base year, it marks the second consecutive quarter of growth adding momentum to the market recovery.
The market saw better-than-expected shipments mainly driven by strong growth from Honor and Huawei, which also spurred a 9.3% YoY growth in the overall Android market. On the other hand, Apple declined 6.6% over the same period as it faced more intense competition. The Lunar New Year in the first quarter of 2024 also stimulated shopping sentiment and the demand for low- to mid-range devices. In the high-end segment, the AI buzz and the foldable products allowed the Android smartphone vendors to further differentiate themselves from Apple and garnered increased interest from Chinese consumers.
“Honor climbed to the top spot, thanks to its well-rounded product portfolio and the Magic 6 series which came with popular AI features,” said Arthur Guo, senior research analyst in Client System Research for IDC China, in a statement. “Meanwhile, Huawei made a strong comeback and achieved a tie with Honor, though supply constraints will still be a pain point. Apple’s price promotions in the quarter were unable to mitigate the impact of the intense competition from Android players.”
“The close race among the top-tier players implies that Chinese consumers are more likely to change from one brand to another,” said Will Wong, senior research manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific., in a statement “Thus, there’s an increased need for action from the vendors to keep innovating to ensure strong customer stickiness.”
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MacDailyNews Take: Not as bad as some analysts were thinking.
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Apple Watch X likely to feature a major redesign
A next-generation Apple Watch, suspected to be the long-rumored Apple Watch X (ten) will use a new resin coated copper (RCC) motherboard design, DigiTimes reports.
Apple is believed to be working on “the biggest overhaul yet” to the Apple Watch’s design. A new rumor today indicates that the next-generation Apple Watch could include a design change that frees up more space inside for other components – or that makes the device thinner.
Ming-Chi Kuo has reported that the iPhone 17 coming in 2025 will also use a new RCC mainboard. At the time, Kuo highlighted multiple benefits of this design update, including reducing the thickness of the mainboard. Kuo also said that the change will “make the drilling process easier because it’s fiberglass-free.”
Even small changes to the internal design of an Apple Watch can be huge. By making the logic board thinner, this next-generation Apple Watch could fit additional components inside. Whether this manifests in a bigger battery or other components remains to be seen.
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MacDailyNews Take: The original Apple Watch was revealed in September 2014 (shipped April 24, 2015), so the Apple Watch X could be unveiled later this year!
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Apple co-founder Steve Jobs spent ‘hour after hour’ on product design
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dedicated “hour after hour” to the minutiae of product design at Apple, driven by a belief of “God being in the details,” according to his biographer Walter Isaacson.
Caleb Naysmith for Benzinga:
This philosophy was evident in Jobs’s hands-on involvement in creating iconic Apple products. Isaacson noted how Jobs’s obsession with design extended to every aspect of a product, even those components that consumers would never see. This approach wasn’t just about aesthetics; for Jobs, the care put into the unseen parts of a product was a testament to the integrity and quality of the entire creation.
During an interview posted on YouTube, Isaacson highlighted Jobs’s sessions in Apple’s design studio, where he would scrutinize everything from the curvature of a computer’s casing to the layout of internal components.
Jobs believed that true excellence in product design required a relentless pursuit of perfection, down to the smallest detail. This could mean countless revisions and discussions, often pushing his team to their limits but also driving them to innovate in ways they never thought possible.
Jobs’s detailed-oriented methodology set a new standard in the tech industry, emphasizing the importance of design in product development. His legacy, detailed by Isaacson, shows a leader who demanded the best and deeply understood the elements that would appeal to users, both aesthetically and functionally.
This detail-oriented approach to products helped make Apple into the powerhouse it is today. In its early days, Apple was dedicated to innovation, with the near-flawless design of the iPhone and iPad going largely unchanged since their inception over a decade ago.
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MacDailyNews Take: Those were the days.
Steve Jobs:
• “When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.”
• “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
• “Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”
• “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
• “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
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Apple Vision Pro killer app: Sports and concerts, totally immersive
Only the most avid early adopters will likely feel compelled to rush out and buy a Vision Pro at its initial $3,500 price tag, but it’s definitely a user-friendly attempt to introduce the idea of immersive viewing to the public, and it will eventually come down in price. So far, the killer apps for the thing, besides watching movies and TV series, appear to be sports and concerts.
The more pertinent questions aren’t so much whether you need one now (you don’t), but the extent to which it’s a taste of what’s to come (it is); and as a movie and TV critic, what would seem to benefit most from the medium…
In an early review for CNN Underscored, Mike Andronico pegged movies as the killer app for Vision Pro, calling watching films using the headset “the most engrossing entertainment experience I’ve tried on one of these things … optimized to make you feel like you’re in your own personal theater.”
During a demonstration of the Vision Pro, the short nature/adventure films Apple has produced for the device definitely stood out, from feeling like rhinos (or dinosaurs) were inches away from you to the dizzying vertigo of looking over highliner Faith Dickey’s shoulder as she tightrope-walked over a 3,000-foot-high fjord in Norway.
The market for that, though, would appear to be far more limited than what Vision Pro can do in terms of sports or concerts: Putting you in the front row, or right behind the goalie with 180-degree view, during a soccer game or a performance by Alicia Keys; taking you to the rim along with NBA stars; and panning the locker room as a team celebrates a championship.
Just in terms of return on investment, given the cost for sports tickets or concerts, Vision Pro’s sky-high price tag suddenly seems at least a little less outlandish.
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MacDailyNews Take: We’ve been hearing about concerts since before we knew the device’s name, but Apple has yet to make a big push there.
Little birdie: One selling point of Apple's mixed-reality headset will be attending live and recorded concerts remotely. Buy a ticket, for significantly less than in-person, & the headset will "as much as possible, be like being there – with extras like changing seat positions." pic.twitter.com/GV0B5b5gP6
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) May 18, 2023
As for live sports:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in July 2023 said the league is working with Apple to bring a tech-enhanced NBA viewing experience to its $3,499 Vision Pro virtual reality headset.
During an exclusive chat with The New York Post at Allen & Co.’s annual “summer camp for billionaires,” the hoops honcho hinted that fast breaks and slam dunks could be part of a reimagined courtside experience on Apple’s hotly anticipated device.
“We’re working very closely with Apple,” Silver said when asked about the NBA’s plans for the Vision Pro, which is due for release in early 2024.
Immersive sports content was also highlighted in Apple’s WWDC keynote in early June. During that launch event, Disney CEO Bob Iger played a video that said, “You could do more than just watch sports. You could be at the game without leaving your home. – MacDailyNews, July 20, 2023
See also:
• Apple headset said to offer remote concert attendance – May 18, 2023
• Tim Bajarin: One of Apple Vision Pro’s killer apps likely to be ‘immersive sports’ – July 20, 2023
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Apple TV+ debuts trailer for ‘The Big Cigar,’ new limited series starring André Holland as Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton
Apple TV+ on Wednesday revealed the trailer for “The Big Cigar,” the upcoming limited series led by André Holland, who stars alongside Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, P. J. Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie, and Glynn Turman. “The Big Cigar” makes its global debut on May 17th with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14th.
Based on the magazine article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who also serves as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” tells the incredible true story of Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution. It’s a wild caper about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan — involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can.
NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois (“Claws,” “Self Made”) is the showrunner of “The Big Cigar.” Executive producer Jim Hecht (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) penned the show’s first episode. The series hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Sherman Barrois and her Folding Chair Productions are under an overall deal. Sherman Barrois and Hecht are executive producing alongside Bearman, Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector (“Little America”) through their production company Epic.
Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have earned 484 wins and 2,143 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
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Apple’s forthcoming M4 Mac Studio Sounds like an absolute beast
Apple’s current Mac Studio delivers next-generation speed in the form of the high-performance M2 Max and the boundary-breaking M2 Ultra, but the next-gen M4-powered Mac Studio promises to deliver breathtaking power.
Apple has a lineup of M4 chips in development, including the standard M4, the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and a higher-end version that’s codenamed “Hidra.” This higher-end chip could be an “Ultra” version that’s equivalent to the M2 Ultra, or it might even be something even more powerful.
Current Mac Studio machines use M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, so we can expect the M4 models to be equipped with M4 Max and M4 Ultra (or its equivalent) chips. Aside from the Mac Pro, the Mac Studio is the only Apple machine that uses “Ultra” chips.
The Mac Studio is designed for Mac users who have system intensive workflows that require advanced compute and graphics capabilities.
The next Mac Studio and Mac Pro could support as much as 500GB of Unified Memory, up from the current 192GB maximum.
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MacDailyNews Note: Read more about Apple’s next-gen Mac Studio in the full article here.
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‘Masters of the Air’ star Callum Turner joins new Apple TV+ sci-fi series ‘Neuromancer’
Apple TV+ announced in February that it will expand its acclaimed slate of science fiction offerings with “Neuromancer,” a new 10-episode drama based on the award-winning novel of the same name by William Gibson. “Masters of the Air” star Callum Turner has now joined the series.
BAFTA Award-nominee Callum Turner (Masters of the Air, The Boys in the Boat) is joining Neuromancer, a new 10-episode drama based on the sci-fi novel of the same name by William Gibson.
Created for television by Graham Roland (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and JD Dillard (The Outsider), Neuromancer follows a damaged, top-rung super-hacker named Case (Turner) who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high stakes crime with his partner Molly, a razor-girl assassin with mirrored eyes, aiming to pull a heist on a corporate dynasty with untold secrets.
Neuromancer was Gibson’s debut novel that earned a Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It served as the first book in the Sprawl trilogy and was followed by Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive.
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MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV+ is the No.1 must-have streaming service for sci-fi fans.
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Apple Arcade exec: ‘Games are more important to Apple now than they ever have been’
to 200+ incredibly fun games, with more added all the time. Play across your Apple devices with no ads, no interruptions, and no in-app purchases.
The head of Apple’s gaming subscription service, Apple Arcade, says, “Games are more important to Apple now than they ever have been.”
Keith Stuart for The Guardian:
Alex Rofman is Arcade’s senior director, a 15-year Apple veteran who has been in and around mobile gaming since the beginning. “2023 was a banner year for us,” he says. “All of our critical metrics reached record highs. Two of the highlights for me were the launch of Hello Kitty Island Adventure – an incredibly popular IP that hadn’t really found its home in the gaming world yet – and What the Car winning mobile game of the year at the Dice awards last month.”
Rofman describes a pretty straightforward approach to setting up Arcade. “It was about games that were designed just to be fun and engaging, not built around a business model, not built around timers or video ads,” he says. “We were not looking to replicate the top genres on mobile necessarily, we weren’t looking to bring a match-three that was better than Candy Crush … we focused on games that wouldn’t have had an opportunity were it not for Arcade.”
He also disputes the idea that Arcade is a victim of Apple’s perceived lack of interest in games. “Games are more important to Apple now than they ever have been,” he says. “You can see this with the investment we’ve made in silicon. Finally, Macs are capable of running high performance games, in ways that they weren’t 10 or 15 years ago. And certainly with the latest iPhones, you can now run an immersive high performance game on a device that fits in your pocket. I think you’ll continue to see investment and focus on the gaming space, because games are incredible and our devices are great gaming devices.”
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MacDailyNews Take: More info about Apple Acrade and how to try it for free here.
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Apple launches ‘Made for Business’ in select stores around the world
Beginning in May, a special “Today at Apple” series titled “Made for Business” will offer small business owners and entrepreneurs free opportunities to learn how Apple products and services can support their growth and success. Led by small business owners, the sessions will highlight how these organizations have used Apple products such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac — along with resources such as Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Essentials, and Tap to Pay on iPhone — to build their businesses, reach customers in new ways, and push their organizations forward.
“At Apple, we know small businesses are the backbone of local communities, which is why we are constantly innovating to help at every stage of their growth,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail, in a statement. “Our retail stores provide only-at-Apple experiences such as community and education sessions, free Today at Apple programming, and ongoing support from in-store experts who help small businesses find the perfect technology to supercharge their work.”
Led by small business owners, the sessions will highlight how these organizations have used Apple products and resources to build their businesses, reach customers in new ways, and push their organizations forward.
“Made for Business” Programming
Kicking off during National Small Business Week in the U.S., Today at Apple will offer six “Made for Business” sessions throughout May in Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., with ongoing programming in select stores around the world throughout the year. Led by small business owners with diverse and unique stories, the sessions will highlight how Apple products and services have powered their businesses’ success.
Resources for Businesses
In Apple Store locations, dedicated business teams, known as Business Pros and Business Experts, are available to support small businesses at every stage of their growth. Whether a business owner is looking to learn which products and services are right for their team, or interested in expanding their use of Apple’s tools, Business Pros can help curate personalized solutions, facilitate easy purchasing and shipping, and help small businesses get set up with Apple resources, including:
• Apple Business Connect, a free tool allowing businesses of all sizes to customize how they appear to more than a billion Apple users across Apple Maps, Messages, Wallet, Siri, and other apps. With Business Connect, businesses can directly manage their information in the interactive Apple Maps place card, including creating Custom Action Links that direct users to their website or preferred platform and make it easy for customers to place orders, reserve a table, and more, right from the place card.
• Apple Business Essentials, one complete subscription that seamlessly brings together device management, 24/7 support, and cloud storage. Business owners can easily manage the Apple devices in their organizations and scale up as they grow.
• Tap to Pay on iPhone, which provides businesses with an easy, secure, and private way to accept in-person contactless payments. This includes contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets, using only an iPhone and a partner-enabled iOS app — no additional hardware or payment terminal needed. Tap to Pay on iPhone uses the built-in features of iPhone to keep business and customer data private and secure.
Dedicated in-store teams and purpose-built tools for business are just some of the ways that Apple is supporting companies of all sizes and in every region of the globe. No matter where a business is on their journey, Apple has the tools to help.
Available year-round, Today at Apple also provides sessions for business teams or colleagues through group reservations.
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MacDailyNews Take: Businesses can get started with new devices, explore new skills and tools together with a dedicated expert, and discover what Apple’s latest products can do for their business by signing up at apple.com/today/groups.
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Telegram CEO: Apple’s ‘walled garden’ will cause it to lose Chinese iPhone users to Android
Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, said Apple’s move last week to remove the messaging app from its China App Store under order from the Chinese government (CCP).
Reuters:
Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, said Apple’s move last week to remove the chat app from its China app store had not caused any decrease in downloads from China and criticised Apple instead for its “walled garden” app policies.
Durov published a post in his public channel on Telegram on Monday in which he confirmed that Apple removed multiple apps including Telegram from its App Store in China last week. Apple said the Chinese government ordered the removal, citing “national security” concerns presented by these apps.
But Durov said Beijing’s action was not a move against Telegram but a move against Apple itself. Rather than taking issues with the Chinese regulators, Durov focused much of his post on criticising the iPhone maker, taking aim at Apple’s app policies.
“Once again, Apple shot itself in the foot with its centralized ‘walled garden’ app policies,” he said.
“Unlike iPhones, most Android phones allow sideloading apps outside app stores — such as the direct version of Telegram — so more users from China will migrate to Android…As a result of this change, the iPhone market share in China will keep shrinking.”
Last Friday, in addition to Telegram, Apple pulled WhatsApp, Meta’s Theads, and Signal from the App Store in China.
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MacDailyNews Take: Durov’s criticism is logical and correct.
Those who want safety, security, and privacy will stick to Apple’s App Store, but a single point of control is always a danger, especially when it comes to capricious censorship (see: pre-Musk Twitter, Apple’s App Store in China, etc.).
iPhone and iPad users must, like Mac users, have the ability to install third-party apps; even if they never do, for it will keep Apple honest. The ability to ban an app loses all power when it’s simply available in another App Store. – MacDailyNews, December 13, 2022
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. — Potter Stewart
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Apple Original Film ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ among Peabody Award nominees
The Apple Original Film ‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ is honored among the first batch of Peabody Award nominees.
The film, which incorporates documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounts Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words — the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, unspools alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis, at 29, with Parkinson’s disease. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, the film chronicles Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails, and explores what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease. With a mix of adventure and romance, comedy and drama, watching the film feels like … well, like a Michael J. Fox movie.
A total of 41 nominees were revealed today in the three categories, with noms in the Arts, Children’s/Youth, Entertainment, and Interactive & Immersive sections set to be announced Thursday by the Peabodys, which aim to honor the year’s most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media.
Today’s Documentary noms included Davis Guggenheim’s Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which was nominated for seven Emmys this past year and won four, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Best Director for Guggenheim.
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MacDailyNews Take: Congrats to the cast and crew of Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie!
Winners will be revealed May 9 ahead of an awards ceremony June 9 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles.
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Apple reportedly designing its own custom artificial intelligence server processor
Apple is reportedly developing its own artificial intelligence server processor using TSMC’s 3nm process, with mass production to begin by the second half of 2025.
Generative AI chatbots require large, dedicated data centers which will take Apple time (years) to build out, if they are planning on owning this technology instead of just farming it out. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
According to a post by the Weibo user known as “Phone Chip Expert,” Apple has ambitious plans to design its own artificial intelligence server processor. The user, who claims to have 25 years of experience in the integrated circuit industry, including work on Intel’s Pentium processors, suggests this processor will be manufactured using TSMC’s 3nm node.
Apple could use its own AI processors to enhance the performance of its data centers and future AI tools that rely on the cloud. While Apple is rumored to be prioritizing on-device processing for many of its upcoming AI tools, it is inevitable that some operations will have to occur in the cloud. By the time the custom processor could be integrated into operational servers in late 2025, Apple’s new AI strategy should be well underway.
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MacDailyNews Take: Clearly, Apple is not as innovative as it was under Steve Jobs who even started the company’s work on Apple Silicon, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, but, thanks to Jobs and Cook’s subsequent management of iterations of products and services conceived during Jobs’ tenure, including the retail store buildout which is responsible for a significant portion of Apple’s growth, the company now has more than enough money to make up for Cook’s lack of vision.
Tim’s not a product person, per se. – Steve Jobs
Until it gets another visionary leader (fingers crossed; Apple’s history has shown – cough, Sculley, Spindler, cough – that the next CEO could be far, far worse than the very competent caretaker Cook), Apple can afford to miss things like generative AI – which they clearly did – and then use its huge war chest to catch up – which they’re doing right now (fun times and 80-hour weeks inside Apple Park!) – and, hopefully, surpass rivals (or at least be as good). Apple will very likely unveil their catch-up work within months (this June at WWDC 2024) in iPhones (and iPads, Apple Watches, etc.) with built-in on-device generative AI and other new AI-driven features. – MacDailyNews, February 14, 2024
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Apple cuts Vision Pro production orders amid weak demand
Apple has cut its 2024 Vision Pro shipments, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports on Tuesday as “demand in the U.S. market has fallen sharply beyond expectations.”
Apple has cut its 2024 Vision Pro shipments to 400–450k units (vs. market consensus of 700–800k units or more).
Apple cut orders before launching Vision Pro in non-US markets, which means that demand in the US market has fallen sharply beyond expectations, making Apple take a conservative view of demand in non-US markets.
Apple is reviewing and adjusting its head-mounted display (HMD) product roadmap, so there may be no new Vision Pro model in 2025 (the previous expectation was that there would be a new model in 2H25/4Q25). Apple now expects Vision Pro shipments to decline YoY in 2025.
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MacDailyNews Take: Again, [This Vision Pro reaction] is exactly what you’d expect to occur when a product is released too early to average users.
Apple Vision Pro is a devkit for developers, not for average users, and should have been released as a devkit for developers.
When a product is released too early to average users, you get reviews like “it’s the spiritual successor to the Newton.” And you deserve them. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
As we wrote on March 22, 2024:
There are a lot of people inside and outside of Apple who think the company should have waited on the Vision Pro, but it’s fairly easy today to see why Tim Cook released this beta (alpha?) devkit: He likely knew last year, or had a strong inkling, that Project Titan was a goner and there wasn’t much excitement in Apple’s pipeline. He’d need something to point to as “innovation” while he continued on his seemingly unending quest to iterate and monetize products invented by Steve Jobs’ Apple (a very different place) while continuing Apple’s retail store buildout. He also needed something to energize developers and, who knows, they might come up with a killer visionOS app while Apple toils on the long road to real lightweight spatial computing glasses and beyond.
More importantly, Apple last year had already come to the sad realization that they’d missed the generative artificial intelligence revolution and would need a distraction while they feverishly scrambled to catch up (the fruits of which — alongside what sound like disappointing partnerships which hopefully, somehow, preserve user privacy — we’ll hopefully begin to see at WWDC this June).
You have to feel for Cook. After a decade plus of being able to iterate and monetize Jobs’ inspired products and services and continue adding retail stores around the world to spectacular effect, and being lauded for it, he now finds himself in a place that requires actual vision to be able to see which path to take. And he’s not the guy. Even the guy who put him in the position knew it.
Tim’s not a product person, per se. – Steve Jobs
See also:
• Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs knew about Apple Watch – February 13, 2023
• Work on Apple Vision Pro began under Steve Jobs – August 23, 2023
Beyond the fact that Cook can’t even execute a compelling live keynote address, his big send off, the “Apple Car,” [the idea of which was also germinated under Jobs] fizzled in ignominious failure.
See also:
• Scrapped Apple Car ‘a massive disappointment that will alter the course of the company’s history, perhaps for decades to come’ – Gurman – March 11, 2024
• Apple employees referred to doomed Apple Car project as ‘The Titanic Disaster’ – February 29, 2024
So, despite myriad misgivings and protestations inside Apple, Cook pulled the trigger early on the Vision Pro. He had to have something to point to that would buy him some time. Even Apple’s rubber-stamping board of lackeys would wake up and start asking questions otherwise.
While Cook is hemming and hawing when faced with shareholders (virtually, of course, never again in person for as long as Cook remains), Apple is currently in scramble mode trying to catch up to rivals — including the world’s most valuable company, Microsoft — in generative AI, a technology the company seems to have completely missed while focusing instead on the not-ready-for-primetime Apple Vision Pro, visionOS, its now-canceled decade-long multi-billion-dollar electric vehicle boondoggle, replacing leather in iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands with overpriced junk in a quest to “save the planet,” forcing employees to endure a constant barrage of time-wasting zero-productivity DEI sessions, and myriad other various and sundry “initiatives” which Cook deems of import. – MacDailyNews, February 28, 2024
When you lose your visionary CEO and replace him with a caretaker CEO, this is the type of aimless, late, bureaucratic dithering that ensues. – MacDailyNews, November 21, 2017
Until it gets another visionary leader (fingers crossed; Apple’s history has shown – cough, Sculley, Spindler, cough – that the next CEO could be far, far worse than the very competent caretaker Cook), Apple can afford to miss things like generative AI – which they clearly did – and then use its huge war chest to catch up – which they’re doing right now (fun times and 80-hour weeks inside Apple Park!) – and, hopefully, surpass rivals (or at least be as good). Apple will very likely unveil their catch-up work within months (this June at WWDC 2024) in iPhones (and iPads, Apple Watches, etc.) with built-in on-device generative AI and other new AI-driven features. – MacDailyNews, February 14, 2024
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Apple preps biggest update to iPad Air lineup ever
Apple is widely expected to introduce a new 12.9-inch iPad Air model at its just-announced “Let Loose” special event on May 7th. That will make the iPad Air available in two display sizes, the same as the iPad Pro lineup.
In an interesting twist, analyst Ross Young reported recently that the 12.9-inch iPad Air will actually use a mini-LED screen instead of LCD. This is the same display technology currently used in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Meanwhile, the 10.9-inch iPad Air will retain the same LCD panels as the current-generation model.
This will set the 12.9-inch iPad Air apart from the 10.9-inch model. Also worth keeping in mind is the fact that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro will move past mini-LED and switch to OLED this year.
The new iPad Air will reportedly feature a long overdue design change. Apple is expected to reposition the front-facing FaceTime camera from the top bezel to the landscape side for the first time. This matches a design change that Apple made to the iPad 10 in 2022.
This means that when the iPad Air is held in landscape mode – or used with the Magic Keyboard – the front camera is properly aligned at the top of the device.
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MacDailyNews Note: The event will live stream via Apple.com, the Apple TV app, and Apple’s YouTube channel.
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Apple to hold ‘Let Loose’ special event on May 7th
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7th at 7am PDT / 10am EDT.
Apple is widely expected to announce new iPad Air and iPad Pro models, both in two display sizes, alongside updated Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard accessories.
https://macdailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/240423_let_loose_event.mp4MacDailyNews Note: The event will live stream via Apple.com, the Apple TV app, and Apple’s YouTube channel.
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Apple TV+ debuts trailer for critically acclaimed comedy ‘Trying’ season four, premieres May 22nd
Today, Apple TV+ unveiled the trailer for season four of its heartwarming, critically acclaimed comedy series “Trying,” starring BAFTA Award nominee Esther Smith and SAG Award nominee Rafe Spall. “Trying” will return for its eight-episode fourth season on Wednesday, May 22 on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through July 3rd.
In this exciting new season, we fast-forward six years to discover that Nikki (Smith) and Jason (Spall) are experienced adopters having built a lovely little nuclear family, enriched by an extraordinary support network. However, as their teenage daughter, Princess (Scarlett Rayner), starts to yearn for a connection with her birth mother, Nikki and Jason find themselves confronted with the ultimate test of their parenting skills.
In addition to Smith and Spall, the ensemble cast is led by Sian Brooke, BAFTA Award winner Darren Boyd, and welcomes Rayner and Cooper Turner.
“Trying” is created, written and executive produced by Andy Wolton, and executive produced by BAFTA Award nominee Josh Cole, Sam Pinnell and Chris Sussman. The series is produced by BBC Studios.
The trailer features the brand new single from London-based pop star BEKA, titled “Forever.” BEKA helms this season’s soundtrack with original songs set to debut in each episode. She follows Maisie Peters and Bear’s Den who wrote and performed the soundtracks for “Trying” season two and season three, respectively.
The first three seasons of “Trying” are now streaming globally on Apple TV+.
Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries, and series have been honored with 480 wins and 2,142 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in June 2022, “If you like “Ted Lasso,” we highly recommend “Trying,” an extremely likable, nuanced, gem of a series.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
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Does Apple need a true low-end iPhone?
Apple spent years and billions of dollars creating the $3,500 Vision Pro, a device that won’t become a major moneymaker for years and one that is now suffering from waning enthusiasm. Apple needs a true entry-level iPhone to revive growth, Mark Gurman says.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Until Apple can produce a lighter-weight model with a less intimidating price tag, the headset will remain a niche product.
But I do think there’s way to revive growth without creating an entirely new device. The company’s best course of action might be developing a cheaper version of the iPhone and making a renewed push into emerging markets.
Its first attempt at making the device more affordable was cutting the price of year-old models by $100 when new versions debuted. Apple then rolled out the iPhone 5c in 2013, but that model was mostly just the prior version wrapped in colorful plastic — at the same $100 discount.
Apple tried again in 2016 with the iPhone SE… Next year, Apple is planning to upgrade the SE, moving to an all-screen design that makes the device look more like a modern smartphone. But with a faster chip and premium materials, you can bet the price will stay well above $400.
If Apple wants to get serious about emerging markets, it should develop a an iPhone more in the range of $250. Now, that’s not something Steve Jobs would probably do, but going downscale could be what the company needs right now.
Apple could get the cost down by using an all-screen LCD approach — rather than the costlier OLED display on current iPhones — and reduce the number of cameras. The device would sport an older but still capable chip, and perhaps a plastic shell (that still retains Apple’s industrial design). And the company could limit sales of the phone to emerging economies.
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MacDailyNews Take: For over a decade now, and without a true low-end iPhone, Apple’s iPhone is the most-desired smartphone in emerging markets.
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