LTA 113: January 2023

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots

This month it’s a rare solo show with just Bart. The show starts with some followups from previous shows, some regulatory and legal news, some Apple HR news, and some news from Apple’s various services before moving on to the five main stories — Apple’s introduction of AI-based audio book narration, SpotHero & Apple Business Connect improving Apple Maps, the new M2 Pro & M2 Max chops and the updated MacMini and MacBookPros containing them, the new full-sized HomePod, and Apple’s Q1 2023 earnings. The show finishes with a quick rundown of some other Apple-related stories that made the news in January.

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!

Updates & Followup

Quick updates to long-running stories the show continues to track, and to stories covered in recent shows.

• Apple ID security key support added in iOS 16.3, macOS 13.2 – Six Colors — sixcolors.com/…
  • How to protect your Apple ID account with Security Keys on iPhone, iPad, or Mac – The Mac Security Blog — www.intego.com/…
  • Five best security keys for iOS 16.3 — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple’s new Crash Detection feature continues to cause problems for emergency services:
  • Apple Crash Detection now causing problems in Minnesota — appleinsider.com/…
  • Apple seeks 911 dispatcher feedback over Emergency SOS skier misfires — appleinsider.com/…
  • iPhone 14 Crash Detection false positives are now a problem in Japan — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple is following through on commitments from last years’s annual shareholders meeting:
  • Apple will start releasing more details about app store removals — appleinsider.com/…
  • Following a consultation process with shareholders, Tim Cook cuts his own salary by 40%, down to ‘just’ about $49M — www.cultofmac.com/…
  • Related: Apple shareholder meeting to be held on March 10 — appleinsider.com/…
  • Related: Apple agrees to audit labor practices ahead of shareholders meeting — appleinsider.com/…
• Complaints against Apple’s anti-union tactics continue to escalate, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have “found merit to charge alleging statements and conduct by Apple — including high-level executives — […] violated the National Labor Relations Act.”, the NLRB try to mediate disputes, so the next step is for the board to try agree remediations with Apple — appleinsider.com/…
• We’ve discussed Apple’s successes with European shows in recent episodes: Apple TV+ is expanding its European production teams — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple continues to diversify its supply chain: Apple starts making AirPods components in India — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple’s first retail store in India takes one step closer to opening — www.cultofmac.com/… (Apple have started hiring)

Regulatory Rundown

• Brazil watchdog investigates Apple over App Store payment rules — appleinsider.com/…
• Spotify have written an open letter to the EU demanding swift action against Apple — appleinsider.com/…
• A report from The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) finds that Google & Apple’s app store policies are “harmful to consumers and developers.” — appleinsider.com/…
• The US Federal Reserve are investigating whether Goldman Sachs provide their consumer credit card customers (including Apple Card customers) sufficient consumer protections — appleinsider.com/…
• Related: Apple hit new record high for lobbying in 2022, but still behind peers — appleinsider.com/… (2022 44% higher than 2021, $9.4M, compared to $9.8M for MS & $10.9M for Google)

Legal Latest

• Masimo -v- Apple: a US administrative law judge in Washington DC has ruled that the Apple Watch infringes on Masimo’s pulse oximeter patent, Apple disagrees, and the case now goes to the US International Trade Commission who will decide what, if anything, to do about the infringement — www.cultofmac.com/…
• Caltech -v- Broadcom & Apple: The US Supreme Court has asked the Solicitor General (executive branch) for their input as they consider Apple & Broadcom’s appeal to be allowed to challenge a lower court’s decision not to allow them question the validity of Caltech’s patent, this is all happening as a re-trial for damages is pending in July in a lower court — appleinsider.com/…
• Korea rejects $1.64 million battery throttling lawsuit — appleinsider.com/… ( Nice to see at least one country be sensible about this whole thing!)

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Services VP Peter Stern leaves Apple after six years — appleinsider.com/… (Was apparently seen by some as a possible successor to Eddie Cue, played a big role in bringing sports to AppleTV+)
• Apple Music chief Oliver Schusser will help lead Apple TV+ — appleinsider.com/… (Already VP of Apple Music & Beats, replacing Peter Stern’s input to Apple TV+)
• Jeff Williams has taken control of Apple’s industrial design team — appleinsider.com/… (Jony Ives’ old role is not being replaced when Evans Hankey leaves)

Apple Services & Original Content Highlights

• Apple Fitness+ adds kickboxing workout, Beyonce artist spotlight, more — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple make it easier for podcasters to publish paid content to ApplePodcasts as well as other platforms with Delegated Delivery – producers can now do the work once and reach paying subscribers on all of the major platforms — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple Music and Apple TV apps launch for Windows 11 — www.cultofmac.com/…
• Apple TV+ short gets Oscar nominations, ‘Emancipation’ shut out — appleinsider.com/… (The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse)
• LG software update brings Apple services to hundreds of smart TV brands — www.cultofmac.com/… (webOS update bringing Apple TV+, Apple Music, AirPlay & the Home app)

Main Stories

1. Apple launches AI narrators for some audiobooks — sixcolors.com/…
   • Only specific genres
   • Marketed to book authors as a cheaper way to get their books into audio
   • Using the feature does not require signing audio book rights to Apple, and the authors are still free to produce traditional audio books later if they wish
   • You can now listen to some of these books, they are labeled in the store as Narrated by Apple Books — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Apple says it is committed to book narrators, expands AI reading anyway — appleinsider.com/…
2. Apple enhances Apple Maps
   • Apple Maps gets parking information with SpotHero integration — appleinsider.com/… (8K+ locations in US & Canada)
     • How to make parking in the city easier with Apple Maps and SpotHero — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Apple launches Apple Business Connect, its own service for businesses to add information about their locations to Apple Maps — www.apple.com/…
     • Businesses can now customize their Apple Maps info & more — appleinsider.com/…
     • With Business Connect, Apple escalates its competition with Google Maps — arstechnica.com
3. New M2 Pro & M2 Max powered Macs
   • Apple produced an event video for M2 Mac mini & MacBook Pro — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple unveils M2 Pro and M2 Max: next-generation chips for next-level workflows — www.apple.com/…
     • First M2 Pro benchmarks prove big improvement over M1 Max — appleinsider.com/… & M2 Pro & Max GPUs are fast — but not faster than M1 Ultra — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple introduces new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro — more powerful, capable, and versatile than ever — www.apple.com/…
     • Apple launches powerful new Mac mini at a lower cost — www.cultofmac.com/… (base model now $599, $100 cheaper)
     • The M2 Mac mini vs the M1 and Intel Versions — www.macobserver.com/… & M2 Pro Mac mini vs Mac Studio – compared — appleinsider.com/…
     • Opinion: M2 Mac mini Review: Whatever you want it to be – Six Colors — sixcolors.com/…
   • Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max, with more game-changing performance and the longest battery life ever in a Mac — www.apple.com/… (14“ & 16” models)
     • How the new M2 Pro and Max MacBook Pros compare to M1 models — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Opinion: 2023 MacBook Pro Review: More of the same, in a good way — sixcolors.com/…
   • New M2-powered MacBook Pros and minis have 8K video, Wi-Fi 6E, dozens of cores — arstechnica.com
   • Entry level M2 Mac mini, 2023 MacBook Pro have slower SSD than predecessors — appleinsider.com/…
   • Related: Mac Pro is Apple’s last Intel computer standing — appleinsider.com/…
4. Apple introduces the new HomePod with breakthrough sound and intelligence — www.apple.com/…
   • Apple resurrects full-size HomePod with hot new features, same old price — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Apple says popular demand brought back the HomePod — appleinsider.com/…
   • Second-Generation HomePod Supports Spatial Audio, Temperature/Humidity Monitoring, and Sound Recognition — tidbits.com/…
   • HomePod 2 can’t join in stereo pair with earlier models — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • New HomePod vs 2018 HomePod – compared — appleinsider.com/… & HomePod head-to-head: How Apple’s new smart speaker compares to original — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Early previewers praise new HomePod’s ‘just wow’ audio — appleinsider.com/…
   • Related: Apple are activating previously un-known temperature and humidity sensors in the HomePod Mini, and all HomePods are getting improved Siri functionality including access to FindMy — appleinsider.com/… & www.cultofmac.com/…
     • What new HomePod temperature and humidity sensors can do for you — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Opinion: HomePod Lives — daringfireball.net/…
5. Apple’s Q1 2023 Earnings Call — www.apple.com/…
   • Apple results and charts: $117.2B quarter is still a step back – Six Colors — sixcolors.com/…
   • This is Tim: Apple Q1 2023 analyst call transcript — sixcolors.com/…
   • Apple Reports First Year-Over-Year Earnings Drop Since 2019 — www.macstories.net/…
   • Tim Cook: iPhone manufacturing shortfall main reason for earnings miss — appleinsider.com/…
     • Related: iPhone 14 Pro finally reaches supply-demand parity — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple says 2 billion of its devices are in active use — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple services have more than 935 million paid subscriptions — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple Services revenue hit an all-time high of $20.8 billion — appleinsider.com/…
   • Opinion: 5 upbeat takeaways from Apple’s optimistic earnings call — www.cultofmac.com/…
   • Apple barely missed earnings targets, so analysts are still bullish — appleinsider.com/…
   • Related Analyst Estimates:
     • IDC: Mac shipments grew in 2022 while PC tanked — www.cultofmac.com/… (market down 16%, Mac up 2.5%)
     • Canalys: Global smartphone shipments fell 17% in the 2022 holiday quarter versus 2021, but the iPhone reclaimed the top spot — appleinsider.com/…
     • IDC: iPhone Christmas sales hit by 15% over production problems & weak demand — appleinsider.com/…
     • Counterpoint Research: Apple collects nearly all of the profit in the worldwide smartphone market — appleinsider.com/… (85%)
     • IDC: Apple made almost half the tablets sold in Q4 2022 (49.2%, up 28.8% YoY to 22.5M units) — www.cultofmac.com/…

Quick Stories

• World Surf League declares Apple Watch as official sports equipment — appleinsider.com/… (Official app, and can be used during competitions)
• Apple celebrate Black History Month — www.apple.com/…
  • Apple celebrating Black History Month with new Apple Watch band, content, donations — appleinsider.com/… (I got the band and I really like it )
  • Apple honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with free book, homepage tribute — appleinsider.com/… (Stride Toward Freedom by King)
  • Apple TV celebrates Black History Month with curation by Dr. Jelani Cobb — appleinsider.com/…
  • Related: Apple racks up 21 nominations for the 2023 NAACP Image Awards — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple Support app gains 3 languages, expands into 118 new regions — appleinsider.com/…
• Apple raising its non-AppleCare battery replacement costs across devices — arstechnica.com (starting March, $20 in general)
• Apple’s MagSafe To Be Incorporated Into Qi2 Wireless Charging Standard — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple releases Lisa source code — sixcolors.com/…
• 20 years of Safari: A visual history — www.cultofmac.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.