Yesterday we learned that Spotify decided to pass on Apple’s new EU terms that would allow it to use alternative payment methods due to the Core Technology Fee. Instead, it submitted an app update with pricing info and details on how to subscribe outside of the App Store without giving users a link. Now Spotify says Apple has unjustly blocked the update and again “defied the European Commission”. more ..read more

Apple is losing another important director as a new report from Bloomberg has just revealed that Frank Casanova, currently senior director and head of product marketing for Apple Vision Pro, is retiring after working at the company for 36 years. more ..read more

Our wait for new iPads is nearly over. Apple today announced a special event for May 7, with the tagline “Let loose.” The event will almost certainly focus on new iPad hardware and accessories, and we want to know: what are you most excited to see? more ..read more

Apple has reportedly acquired Datakalab, a Paris, France-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence compression and computer vision technology. According to French business magazine Challenges, the acquisition was finalized in December. Datakalab described itself as “experts in low power, runtime efficient, and deep learning algorithms” that work on device. more ..read more

Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships” and that this is “just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market.” Warren uses the to-camera piece to voice her support for the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, but has chosen a rather peculiar argument to do so … more ..read more

Apple has pledged to buy US-made chips once TSMC’s Arizona plants come online, but the company may have to pay more for them. TSMC’s chief exec has said that it plans to charge customers more for chips made outside of Taiwan, due to the higher production costs … more ..read more

Apple has an ambitious goal to create a fully carbon neutral value chain for its products by 2030, and every year it charts its progress in its annual Environmental Progress Report. The 2024 report published today highlights a milestone achievement for emissions. Apple says its overall greenhouse gas emissions have more than halved since 2015, down 55%. However, there is still more work to be done as the company will need to attain a 75% reduction to meet its 2030 targets. more ..read more

Almost 100,000 iPhones which Apple paid a contractor to scrap were instead stolen and shipped off to China, according to an in-depth report. Apple sued the company concerned, but now appears to have abandoned the lawsuit, with the report suggesting this is to avoid publicly admitting that it orders the shredding of perfectly usable devices, in stark contrast to the company’s environmental stance … more ..read more

We’re expecting 2024 to be the year Apple builds generative AI features into iOS 18, and the company has announced a $250M investment to support ongoing work in this field. The Apple Singapore campus is growing from one building to three, to provide space for ‘new roles in AI and other key functions.’ Apple says that the expansion and refit will allow for greater collaboration between its growing teams in the country … more ..read more

Tim Cook made a diplomatic comment about the possibility of Apple manufacturing in Indonesia, after the country’s president pressed him on the issue. The country is an important market for Apple, as the world’s 4th most populous country after China, India, and the US. Indonesia is one of a growing number of countries to use the threat of import tariffs as a way to encourage foreign companies to invest in the local economy, and Apple has so far used an indirect method to escape these … more ..read more