Let’s Talk Apple — Ep. 91 (March 2021)

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots
• Charles Edge from the Mac Admins Podcast – @cedge318
• Simon Parnell from the Essential Apple Podcast – @serenak
• Nick Riley from the Essential Apple Podcast – @spligosh
• Gazmaz from the My Mac Podcast – @gazmaz

The show starts with a the usual followups and updates on long-running stories. That’s followed by a few quick legal stories, some Apple HR news, and some highlights from Apple’s push into original content. The three main stories are Apple discontinuing the iMac Pro, some other iMacs and the HomePod, Intel’s very mixed messaging towards Apple, and the compromise Apple managed to strike with Russia over their App Pre-installation law. The show ends with a quick rundown of some smaller Apple-related stories that made the news in March.

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

• COVID Update:
  • Apple Maps gets COVID–19 airport information at over 300 destinations — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Apple Maps now includes COVID vaccination locations — www.imore.com/…
    • Related: Apple offering paid time off for employees to get COVID–19 vaccine — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇫🇷 France’s Apple Stores are all closing again thanks to a COVID–19 lockdown — www.imore.com/…
• The build-up to App Tracking Transparency Continues:
  • Former Facebook employees call BS on Facebook’s claim that ATT will harm small businesses — www.imore.com/…
  • Zuckerberg now says Facebook may benefit from iOS 14 privacy changes — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇫🇷 France’s Competition Authority rejected a request from French media companies that ATT be blocked from going into effect, but they will investigate if Apple violates its own rules — www.bloomberg.com/…
  • Apple is warning app developers not to skirt its privacy changes in iOS 14 — www.imore.com/…
  • Snapchat Finds a Workaround for iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Apple Starts Blocking Apps That Use ‘Adjust SDK’ for Tracking — www.macobserver.com/…
  • LinkedIn to stop collecting tracking data before Apple shames it — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: as promised: Apple launches a single hub for privacy labels on its own native apps — www.imore.com/…
• Apple expands Independent Repair Provider program globally — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: 🇺🇸 Apple amongst companies lobbying against [Nevada] Right to Repair bill over data concerns — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: 🇺🇸 A right-to-repair advocate has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a ballot initiative in Massachusetts — www.imore.com/…
• Anti-trust authorities around the world continue to focus their attention on Apple:
  • 🇬🇧 UK to investigate Apple’s App Store over ‘suspected anti-competitive behavior’ — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇫🇷 French startup lobby to file privacy complaint against Apple — www.reuters.com/… & France Digitale Says Apple Users are Shown Personalized Ads Without Consent — www.macobserver.com/…
  • 🇦🇺 Australia extends tech giant probe to Google and Apple browser domination — www.zdnet.com/…
  • 🇰🇷 Apple referred for prosecution in Korea, fined for hampering antitrust investigation — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 The Arizona bill to force Apple and Google to allow third-party payments in app distributed through their stores passed in the State House, then died in the State Senate:
  • Arizona House advances bill targeting Apple, Google mobile app stores — arstechnica.com
  • Arizona bill that would change the App Store disappears during Senate vote — www.imore.com/…
  • Arizona App Store bill only had one definite yes vote before it was pulled, says Commerce Chair — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: Google follows Apple in halving Google Play fees, with one major difference — www.imore.com/… (Everyone gets reduced fees on their first $1M)
  • Related: Apple only losing 3% of App Store revenue after cutting developer fees — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Apple Card investigation finds no evidence of gender bias — www.imore.com/…
• 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 A US-China Trade War development: Huawei to start charging royalties to smartphone makers using its patented 5G tech — www.cnbc.com/…

Legal Latest

• Epic -v- Apple:
  • 🇺🇸 Apple CEO Tim Cook and other execs to testify in Epic Games case — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Epic Games expert witness to endure gruelling 14-hour deposition in trial — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Judge limits courtroom attendance in Epic Games vs Apple case — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇬🇧 Epic Games files another antitrust complaint against Apple in UK — www.imore.com/…
  • Analysis: Epic Games vs Apple: How Economists Are Playing a Key Role in Crucial Case — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Related: Valve releases Steam Link app on Apple’s Mac App Store — arstechnica.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Class Action Lawsuit Over Apple Providing Refurbished Replacement Devices Proceeding to Trial in August — www.macrumors.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Apple now faces a class action suit over its problematic butterfly keyboards — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 A Texas jury has awarded Personalized Media Communications, a non-practicing entity, over $300M of royalties over patent claims relating to Apple’s FairPlay DRM. Apple will appeal — arstechnica.com/…
• 🇧🇷 Apple fined in Brazil for selling the iPhone without a charger — www.imore.com/…
• 🇨🇦 Apple to settle Quebec class-action lawsuit over 2011 MacBook Pro for $5.3M — www.imore.com/…
• 🇬🇧 Apple can’t stop Swatch trademarking ‘One More Thing’, says judge — www.imore.com/…

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Apple is hiring a senior cardiologist to help build future health products — www.imore.com/…
• Apple TV+ hires another entertainment veteran as creative executive — www.imore.com/… & Executive Zennen Clifton Joins Apple TV+ Team — www.macobserver.com/…
• Longtime App Store Developer Relations Boss Ron Okamoto is retiring, and being replaced by Susan Prescott — www.macobserver.com/…
• Analysis: Apple has acquired the most AI companies over the last four years — www.imore.com/…

Apple Services Update

• Apple TV+
  • More Awards Nominations:
    • ‘Servant,’ ‘For All Mankind,’ ‘Amazing Stories’ all nominated for Saturn Awards — www.imore.com/…
    • ‘Ted Lasso’ Earns Award Nominations from the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America — www.macobserver.com/…
    • Apple TV+ Films ‘Greyhound’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ Earn BAFTA Nominations — www.macobserver.com/…
    • Apple TV+ bags two Oscar nominations for ‘Greyhound’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ — www.imore.com/…
  • More Awards!
    • ‘Ted Lasso’ wins all three Critics Choice awards it was nominated for — www.imore.com/…
    • ‘Ted Lasso’ wins Best Comedy Series and New Series at WGA Awards — www.imore.com/…
    • Jason Sudeikis wins a SAG Award for his role in ‘Ted Lasso’ — www.imore.com/…
    • ‘The Banker’ wins ‘Outstanding Independent Motion Picture’ from NAACP — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple continues to sign important deals:
    • Apple TV+ just announced a new partnership with activist Malala Yousafzai — www.imore.com/…
    • Apple have signed a first-look deal with Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment — www.macobserver.com/…
    • Apple signs first-look deal with Natalie Portman’s new production company — www.imore.com/…
  • Some recent Apple TV+ releases are a hits:
    • Billie Eilish documentary drives record Apple TV+ subscriptions — www.imore.com/…
    • ‘Cherry’ starring Tom Holland arrives on Apple TV+ — www.imore.com/… & ‘Cherry’, starring Tom Holland, topped the streaming charts last weekend — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple and Redford Center Launch Youth Filmmaking Challenge on Environmental Justice — variety.com/…
• Apple has added Saylists to Apple Music to help kids with speech-sound disorders — www.bbc.co.uk/…
• Apple Podcasts teams with Common Sense Media for kids recommendations — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Arcade gains more than 30 new games and two new categories — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Maps rolls its speed camera feature out to more countries — www.imore.com/… (The Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Norway & Sweden)

Main Stories

1. Cleaning House
   • The iMac Pro has been discontinued — arstechnica.com
   • Apple has just discontinued more models of its iMac… — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple is discontinuing the original HomePod — www.imore.com/…
2. Intel’s Mixed-messages to Apple
   • Intel has launched an incredibly misleading ‘PC vs. Mac’ website — www.imore.com/…
   • Intel slams Apple over MacBook Air battery lie, owns itself in the process — www.imore.com/…
   • After bashing M1 Macs, Intel wants to build Apple silicon chips — www.imore.com/…
   • Intel CEO says Justin Long attack ads are ‘competitive fun’ with Apple — www.imore.com/…
   • Related: Apple’s M1 chip smashes Intel and AMD in new single-thread benchmarks — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: Does Intel’s new CEO not talk to his advertising team? All evidence suggests not. — www.imore.com/…
3. 🇷🇺 Apple’s ‘Compliance’ with Russia’s App Pre-installation law
   • In 2019 Russia passed a law mandating that smartphones in Russia come with Russian apps pre-installed — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple appear to have found an interesting work-around — rather than actually pre-installing the apps they have added an extra screen to the first-boot process offering Russian users a list of Russian apps to Get.
   • Opinion: Apple bent its rules for Russia—and other countries will take note — arstechnica.com/…
   • Opinion: Has Russia opened an antitrust door that can never be closed? — www.imore.com/…

Quick Stories

• New ‘Apple For Kids’ Page Helps Parents Control Children’s Digital Activity — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple launches ‘Apple Teacher Portfolio’, expands education curriculum — www.imore.com/…
• The next version of iOS will have two new English-language Siri voices, and will no longer default to the female voice, but ask the user instead — techcrunch.com/…
• Apple starts its build-up to Earth Day 2021 (22 April):
  • Apple says 1.2 gigawatts of clean energy produced by 2020 Green Bond projects — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Apple commits to build “grid-scale” energy storage in California — arstechnica.com & Apple is Building a Battery Farm Capable of Storing 240MW — www.macobserver.com/…
  • 110 Apple suppliers moving to 100 percent renewable energy — www.imore.com/…
  • ‘The Year Earth Changed’ to premiere on Earth Day on Apple TV+ — www.imore.com/… & David Attenborough Wildlife Documentary Coming to Apple TV+ — www.macobserver.com/…
• Two sets of new digs in Europe:
  • 🇮🇪 Apple signs deal for new Cork office — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇩🇪 Apple announces new Munich facility focused on 5G and future wireless tech — www.imore.com/…
• Apple announces WWDC 2021 for June 7–11, all-online format — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple releases new Apple Developer app ahead of WWDC 2021 — www.imore.com/…
  • Windows 10 developers can now bring WinUI 3 apps to iPhone and Mac — www.imore.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.