Let’s Talk Apple — Ep. 86 (October 2020)

Panel:

Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots
Mikah Sargent from the Clockwise Podcast and TWiT Network – @mikahsargent
Simon Parnell from the Essential Apple Podcast – @serenak

The show starts with a few followup stories, updates on some Apple-related legal cases, one acquisition, and a quick(ish) overview of news related to Apple’s original content. The three main stories are Apple’s Q4 2020 earnings call, the on-going anti-trust kerfuffle, and Apple’s ‘Hi, Speed’ event. The show ends with a quick rundown of some smaller Apple-related stories that made the news in October.

You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

Followup & Long-running Stories

Apple One is now available – here’s how to get it — www.imore.com/…
- 4TB of iCloud storage is now a thing following Apple One launch — www.imore.com/…
- Apple One customers can get refunds on services they already have — www.imore.com/…
COVID Updates:
Apple Services Updates:
- 🇬🇧 🇨🇦 Apple expands Health Records to UK and Canada — www.imore.com/…
- 🇺🇸 Apple Maps ‘Look Around’ Feature Now Available in Phoenix, Arizona — www.macobserver.com/…
- 🇨🇦 Apple begins testing its improved Maps layout across Canada — www.imore.com/…
- 🇺🇸 Chicago gets in on Apple Pay Express Transit via Ventra Card — www.imore.com/…
- 🇮🇹 Apple have added transit directions for multiple Italian cities: Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Florence, and Venice (it was just Rome until now) — www.imore.com/…
Apple Continues to Roll Out Improved Tools for Developers:
🇮🇳 Apple’s Expansion into India
- The Indian government has approved key Apple suppliers Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron for manufacturing incentives — www.imore.com/…
- Indian iPhone 11 buyers can grab a free pair of AirPods during Diwali — www.imore.com/…
- Apple adds engraving for AirPods, Apple Pencil, iPad, iPod touch in India — www.imore.com/…
- Apple sold 800,000 iPhones in India in Q2, says research firm — www.imore.com/…
- iPhone 12, 12 Pro breaks pre-order records in India — www.imore.com/…

Legal Latest

🇷🇺 Apple sued in Russia over music piracy apps by major labels — www.imore.com/…
🇺🇸 Apple -v- VirnetX: A jury has set the damages Apple owes at $503M (VirnetX had asked for $700M, Apple had argued for $113M), Apple will appeal — www.imore.com/…

Apple HR & Acquisition News

Apple has acquired Spanish AI firm Vilynx who specialise in making video more searchable — www.imore.com/…

Apple Original Content Update

Main Stories

Apple’s Q4 2020 Earnings Call
Antitrust Kerfuffle Update
- Apple -v- Epic Games:
  - In her most recent finding Judge Gonzalez Rogers has re-affirmed her previous decision, Fortnite remains banned from the App store — www.imore.com/… & arstechnica.com/…
    > “In short, Epic Games cannot simply exclaim ‘monopoly’ to rewrite agreements giving itself unilateral benefit”
  - Epic wants the emails of Steve Jobs and Tim Cook as part of its spat with Apple — www.imore.com/…
- Subscription Gaming Services Developments:
  - Apple has removed a 3rd-party app that let users play Google Stadia games on the iPhone because it was connecting WebKit to Bluetooth in a way Apple does not approve of — www.imore.com/…
  - The newly designed Xbox app is officially available for iOS, adds Xbox remote play — www.imore.com/…
    - Related: Microsoft told employees it plans to release a browser-based app for the Xbox Game Pass streaming service next year that will get around Apple App Store rules: ‘We absolutely will end up on iOS’ — www.businessinsider.com/…
  - Amazon has started sending out early access invitations for its Luna cloud gaming service. iOS users can play the games, but via a web app rather than a native app — www.imore.com/…
  - Facebook Cloud Games Launch, But Not on iOS — www.macobserver.com/…
  - Related: Updated PlayStation app launches on Android and iOS, adds native PS Store integration — www.imore.com/… (lets you manage your account, chat, and a few other things, but doesn’t let you play games)
- Anti-trust Investigations Continue:
  - 🇺🇸 A report by Democratic congressional staff based on a 16 month investigation finds that Amazon, Facebook, Apple & Google have monopoly power, and should be broken up and/or regulated more heavily. Apple’s App Store policies were specifically cited. — www.imore.com/…, arstechnica.com/… & tidbits.com/…
    - Apple Rejects Findings of Democrat Staff Antitrust Report — www.macobserver.com/…
    - Related: More research confirms bumper Q3 for Apple’s App Store to the tune of $18B — www.imore.com/…
    - Related: An a filing with the US FTC, Apple has warned that if it were forced to reduce its app store fees, it would ‘materially’ impact financial results — www.imore.com/…
  - 🇺🇸 Apple is tangentially involved in the US DOJ anti-trust suit against Google. One of the complaints in the suit centres on the fees Google pays companies, including Apple, for making Google the default search engines on their platforms. The suit alleges Google pay Apple $12Bn per year — tidbits.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
    - Related: reporting from the FT suggests Apple is developing its own search engine (seems to be a bit of a stretch) — arstechnica.com/…
  - 🇫🇷 Apple’s new privacy measures draw antitrust complaint in France — www.imore.com/…
  - 🇩🇪 Germany Investigates Amazon, Apple Over ‘Brandgating’ — www.macobserver.com/…
  - 🇪🇺 Related: EU Antitrust Chief Says Breaking up Big Tech ‘Doable’, But Warns Against it — www.macobserver.com/…
- Criticism of Apple continues:
  - Phil Shoemaker, a former head of Apple’s App Store, has strongly criticised the company’s ‘Arbitrary’ app store policies, describing them as a ‘weapon against competitors’ — www.imore.com/…
  - ProtonMail CEO Compares Apple In-App Purchase Rules to ‘Mafia Extortion’ — www.macobserver.com/…
  - Microsoft thumbs its nose at Apple with new “app fairness” policy — arstechnica.com/…
Apple’s Hi, Speed Event

Quick Stories

Apple launches AirPods Pro Service Program to address sound issues — www.imore.com/…
Apple announces new Beats Flex wireless headphones for $49 — www.imore.com/…
- Beats Flex review: $50 Apple headphones … ’nuf said — www.imore.com/…
Update for Apple Music on Android brings all of iOS 14’s best features — www.imore.com/…
watchOS 7.0.2 Fixes watchOS 7 Battery Bug Affecting Users — www.macobserver.com/…
- Related: watchOS 7.0.3 Stops Unexpected Restarts for Apple Watch Series 3 — tidbits.com/…
🇺🇸 Apple spent $1.5M on lobbying in Q3 of 2020, less than it did in the same quarter last year, and a lot less than other tech companies like Amazon & Facebook spend — www.imore.com/…
- Apple lobbying the U.S. to possibly bring chip production to the country — www.imore.com/…
- Apple Lobbies Congress on Uyghur Slave Labor Bills — www.macobserver.com/…

Legend

Note: When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.

Emoji	Meaning
🎧	A link to audio content, probably a podcast.
flag	The story is particularly relevant to people living in a specific country, or, the organisation the story is about is affiliated with the government of a specific country.
📊	A link to graphical content, probably a chart, graph, or diagram.
💵	A link to an article behind a pay-wall.
📌	A pinned story, i.e. one to keep an eye on that’s likely to develop into something significant in the future.

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