LTA 125: January 2024

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots

This marathon solo show starts with a few followups, some regulatory and legal news, some HR news, and the highlights from Apple’s services and original content. The four main stories are Apple’s Q1 2024 earnings, Apple’s Cantankerous Compliance in the US & EU, the Mac at 40, and the launch of the Vision Pro in the US. Finally, this epic show finishes with some other quick 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 extends 5G modem deal with Qualcomm until 2027 — www.cultofmac.com/…

• Beeper Mini users find Macs banned from iMessage network — appleinsider.com/… & Apple is restoring Mac users that were banned after using Beeper on iPhone — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple Savings Card interest rate jumps again — 5 Jan Apple Savings APY increases from 4.25% to 4.35% — appleinsider.com/… & 27 Jan Apple Card Savings interest rate shoots up again, now at 4.5% — www.cultofmac.com/…

• Apple's import ban battle with MASIMO rumbled on with quiet a few twists and turns, but the important change is that the stay on the ban was lifted, so Apple were forced to remove the blood oxygen app from newly imported Series 9 & Ultra 2 Apple Watches to keep them on the market, and that will remain the case while the litigation continues — arstechnica.com/…

  • Apple won't license Masimo's patents despite Apple Watch import ban — appleinsider.com/…
  • Related: Apple Watch blood oxygen detection used to save son's life at 14,000 feet — appleinsider.com/…

Regulatory Rundown

• EU hits international big tech with new wave of user safety effort data requests — appleinsider.com/… (Questions regarding how the companies are safeguarding children, elections, and more. These questions are part of the on-going implementation of the Digital Services Act, DSA, not to be confused with the Digital Markets Act, DMA, discussed in detail in the main stories!)

Legal Latest

• Apple finally settles iPhone 7 'loop disease' class action suit — appleinsider.com/… (iPhone 7 & iPhone 7 Plus with payouts of between $50 & $349)

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Children's programming takes a hit as Apple TV+ lays off eight staffers — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple’s reorganization efforts within Siri team leading to layoffs — www.cultofmac.com/… (SanDiego office closing, staff can move to TX or take redundancy)

• Apple finance executive departs to become CFO at Sonos — appleinsider.com/… (Saori Casey ♀)

• 20-year veteran Apple VP of Engineering departs — www.cultofmac.com/… (VP of Engineering DJ Novotney ⚦ → Rivian)

• Changes on Apple's Board:

  • Apple Board of Directors shuffle sees Al Gore & James Bell retire — appleinsider.com/…
  • Wanda Austin to join Apple’s board of directors — www.apple.com/…

• Tim Cook's pay drops to $63 million for 2023 — appleinsider.com/… (Base salary un-changed at $3M, stock options reduced from previous year at Cook's own request)

Apple Services & Original Content Highlights

• Apple Fitness+ launches new workouts and meditation for 2024 — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple Music enhances music parties with collaborative playlists — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple Music Classical will soon expand into Japan, China, Korea, and more — appleinsider.com/… ( Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan)

• AppleTV+

  • Major League Soccer returns to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app — www.apple.com/…

  • Awards season is in full swing again:

    • 'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie' wins four Emmy Awards — appleinsider.com/… (including 'Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special')
    • Apple nabs four Creative Arts Emmys in first ceremony — appleinsider.com/… — 2x Ted Lasso (including Ed Sheeran), Five Days at Memorial & Black Bird)
    • 'Black Bird' scores Apple TV+ it's sole major Emmy award — appleinsider.com/… (Paul Walter Hauser for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie)
    • 'Killers of the Flower Moon' lands single Golden Globe award for Apple — appleinsider.com/… (Lily Gladstone for 'Best Performance by a Female Actor — Motion Picture, Drama')
    • Apple TV+ falls flat at Critics Choice Awards — appleinsider.com/… (16 nominations, but just 1 win — Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Billy Crudup in The Morning Show)
    • 'Killers of the Flower Moon' takes Best Picture at AARP Movies for Grownups awards — appleinsider.com/… (Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons)
    • Apple scores record 13 Academy Award nominations, as culture-moving feature Killers of the Flower Moon lands 10 historic nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress for Lily Gladstone, and Best Director for Martin Scorsese — www.apple.com/… (10 for Killers of the Flower Moon & 3 for Napoleon)

  • Related: Killers of the Flower Moon earns spot as most popular film on streaming — www.cultofmac.com/… (from ReelGood's top-ten)

Main Stories

1. Apple's Q1 2024 Earnings Call — www.apple.com/…

   • This is Tim: Full transcript of Apple’s Q1 2024 analyst call — sixcolors.com/…

   • Apple reports nearly $120B quarter: Full charts — sixcolors.com/…

   • Apple Reports Quarterly Revenue of $119.6 Billion for Q1 2024 — www.macstories.net/…

   • Strong iPhone sales power Apple back to revenue growth — www.cultofmac.com/…

     • Related: Apple overtakes Samsung in global smartphone shipments across 2023 — appleinsider.com/…

   • iPhone up, China down: 7 nuggets from Apple’s earnings call — www.cultofmac.com/…

   • Apple R&D spending flat for the first time in over a decade — sort of — appleinsider.com/…

   • Apple has one active device per four people on the planet — appleinsider.com/… (2.2Bn)

   • Cook 'incredibly excited' about generative AI coming to Apple gear later in 2024 — appleinsider.com/…

2. Cantankerous Compliance ("bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative")

   • SCOTUS declines to hear the Apple -v- Epic case, so the lower court's rulings stand — www.cultofmac.com/… & appleinsider.com/…

     • Post-SCOTUS Ruling, Apple Releases Guidelines for 'External Purchase Links' in iOS Apps (Spoiler: They Still Demand the Same Commissions) — daringfireball.net/… & Apple lets devs use alternate in-app payment options, still takes commissions — arstechnica.com

       • End of so-called anti-steering rule in the US App Store
       • US Developers can apply for a StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement
       • Apps must also offer IAP and still have to follow all Apple's rules
       • Developers still have to pay Apple a commission of 27% or 12% (3% less than normal)

     • Apple bills Epic Games $73 million in legal costs — appleinsider.com/…

     • It seems unlikely this is the end of the matter as Epic is definitely not happy: What's Next for Apple and Epic's Legal Disputes? — www.macstories.net/…

     • Epic says that Apple isn't doing enough to comply with US App Store court orders — appleinsider.com/…

     • Spotify Attacks Apple's 'Outrageous' 27 Percent Commission From External Links — daringfireball.net/…

     • Analysis: Coming to Grips With Apple’s Seemingly Unshakable Sense of Entitlement to Its Commissions From Third-Party iOS Apps — daringfireball.net/…

   • Apple has made some world-wide changes to coincide with it's EU-only changes to comply with the DMA (more on that later!)

     • Apps can now get an entitlement to stream games or other mini-apps within a master app, and can even charge for the child apps via IAP — sixcolors.com/…
     • Developers will get more detailed reports from the App Store

   • Ahead of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) coming into force in March, Apple have detailed how it will comply with big changes coming with iOS 17.4

     • Lead up:

       • EU anti-trust commissioner Margrethe Vestager met with Tim Cook in Apple HQ on 11 Jan — appleinsider.com/…
       • Apple insists to EU antitrust regulators that it runs five App Stores, not one — appleinsider.com/…

     • Apple is enhancing reports about what it knows about EU users in iOS 17.4 — appleinsider.com/… (EU users get more info about their App Store activity and can export it for sharing with 3rd-party app stores)

     • Apple Pay NFC hardware getting opened up to EU financial and banking app developers — appleinsider.com/… (and have provided a mechanism for EU devs to request access to other restricted hardware features)

     • Browsers like Chrome and Firefox can abandon WebKit in EU with iOS 17.4 — appleinsider.com/…

       • There will be a browser ballot on first-launch of Safari, similar to what Microsoft were required to do with Internet Explorer many years ago — www.macstories.net/…
       • Which browsers can be set to default for EU users in iOS 17.4 — appleinsider.com/…

     • 3rd-party app stores are coming within the EU — www.apple.com/…

       • Key points

         • Developers can choose to stay on the existing terms

         • Developers can opt into new EU-terms, within the App Store, within 3rd-party app stores, or both

           • Devs who stay within the App Store will pay lower traditional fees (17% & 10%)
           • All devs will pay a Core Technology Fee regardless of where they sell their app, the feel is currently €0.50 per install per user per year — registered non-profits and government agencies get the fee waived, and regular developers get it waived on the first 1M installs per user per year, with the exception of apps that are app stores
           • 3rd party app stores will be apps distributed via the App Store, and there are rules for acceptance into the App Store
           • All app will get notarised, and apps will be required to continue to abide by the OS's APIs (including ATT), use of private APIs is prohibited, as are attempts to break out of the app sandbox
           • Content moderation of apps in 3rd-party stores is 100% the responsibility of the App Store operator, and Apple's notarisation process will not cover that
           • Compliance is absolutely minimal, with 3rd-party app stores being for iOS only (not iPadOS, watchOS, or tvOS), and confined to the EU (Apple's new App Store rules apply to these 27 countries — appleinsider.com/…)

       • Apple is offering confused Developers 30 minute consultations — appleinsider.com/… (Apple have also provided a fee calculator)

       • Apple's TestFlight system will remain open to all EU developers — appleinsider.com/…

       • The EU's Internal Markets Commissioner Thierry Breton has warned that 'strong action' is coming if the EU find Apple's plans for compliance are insufficient — appleinsider.com/… (the EU will start evaluating the various compliance efforts by all the designated 'Gate Keepers' when the law goes into effect in March)

       • Good Summaries/Explainers:

         • Best short summary: The EU Forces Open Apple’s Walled Garden — tidbits.com/…
         • Apple Details How It Plans to Comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act — www.macstories.net/…
         • Apple has new App Store rules, business terms, and sideloading conditions for EU developers — appleinsider.com/…

       • Analysis & Opinion:

         • Who should stay on and who should leave the EU App Store — appleinsider.com/…

         • Apple changes App Store rules in the EU, and the world watches — sixcolors.com/…

         • John Gruber's takes: Apple’s Plans for the DMA in the European Union — daringfireball.net/… & Two Additional Observations Regarding Apple's Core Technology Fee — daringfireball.net/…

         • Understanding Apple's Response to the DMA — www.macstories.net/… ("A DMA-Shaped Response")

         • Wall St. doesn't seem spooked by the changes: Apple to see little impact from EU regulations, says investing firm — appleinsider.com/… (J.P. Morgan)

         • Cult of Mac interviewed AltStore developer Riley Testut, and he was very happy with the changes — appleinsider.com/…

         • There has been strong criticism from those you would expect — www.cultofmac.com/…

           • Spotify had pre-announced that they would be making alternative payment methods available once the DMA forced Apple to allow it, then, when Apple revealed the details their CEO reacted very angrily and seemed to row back from the earlier promise — appleinsider.com/… & appleinsider.com/…
           • Epic's Tim Sweeney is mad about Apple's EU App Store concessions — appleinsider.com/…
           • Meta joins list of companies that disapprove of Apple's DMA response — appleinsider.com/…
           • Microsoft latest to weigh in on Apple's EU App Store rules with disapproval — appleinsider.com/…

3. The Mac turns 40!

   • The Computer History Museum hosted a three-panel event moderated by David Pogue — Insanely Great: The Apple Mac at 40 — www.youtube.com/…
   • Apple execs praise 'unbelievable' 40 years of Macs — appleinsider.com/…
   • New website showcases high-quality photos of every Mac released — www.cultofmac.com/… (mac40th.com](https://mac40th.com/))
   • Forty years of the Mac, the computer for the rest of us — appleinsider.com/…
   • Look back in time at Apple's original Mac development team — appleinsider.com/…
   • Apple Shares the Secret of Why the 40-Year-Old Mac Still Rules — www.wired.com/…
   • Apple Macintosh Turns 40: A look back at 10 important milestones in the Mac's history — www.intego.com/…
   • A wild and wooly take on the history of Macintosh computers — www.cultofmac.com/…

4. Vision Pro Launches in the US for $3,499 — appleinsider.com/…

   • Apple Releases a Guided Tour of Vision Pro and Shares a Making Of Video — www.macstories.net/… & Get to know Apple Vision Pro with Apple's new video guides — appleinsider.com/…

   • Apple Vision Pro is Available for Walk-In Demos Starting Today — www.macobserver.com/… & Skip the Apple Vision Pro demo queues, soon you'll be able to book a slot — appleinsider.com/…

   • The practical details are revealed:

     • What you need to order Apple Vision Pro from the Apple Store online — appleinsider.com/…

     • Apple Vision Pro storage and AppleCare prices revealed — appleinsider.com/… ($3,499 → $3,899 for 256G → 1TB)

     • What comes in the $3499 Apple Vision Pro box — appleinsider.com/…

     • Prescription lenses for Apple Vision Pro are cheaper than expected — appleinsider.com/… ($99 or $149)

       • Related: How Apple Vision Pro deals with Monovision — and what vision problems it can't deal with — appleinsider.com/…

     • Apple Vision Pro has 16GB of memory, potentially 1TB of storage — appleinsider.com/…

     • Apple Vision Pro screen refresh rate is up to 100Hz, it has Bluetooth 5.3, and more technical details — appleinsider.com/…

     • Damaged Apple Vision Pro repairs cost up to $2,399 — appleinsider.com/…

       • Related: Apple Vision Pro is surprisingly durable in first YouTube drop test — appleinsider.com/… — "This is actually stupidly durable" (repeated drops from ceiling height eventually broke the outer glass screen, but the device continued to function normally!)

     • If your Apple Vision Pro gets stolen, Find My won't help you get it back — appleinsider.com/…

   • There are a lot of native apps & dedicated media on launch day, some notable absences, including companies that have explicitly prevented their iPad app from working on Vision OS — appleinsider.com/… & appleinsider.com/…

     • Apple Details Vision Pro's Launch Day Entertainment Options — www.macstories.net/… & Apple Vision Pro immersive titles have begun showing up in Apple TV app ahead of launch — appleinsider.com/…
     • All the Disney+ 3D movies you can watch on Vision Pro — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Explore the Starship Enterprise with Apple Vision Pro — appleinsider.com/…
     • Cool Vision Pro apps, concepts and experiences available on day one — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • More than 600 new spatial apps and games await Vision Pro — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Microsoft 365 apps will be available on Apple Vision Pro at launch — appleinsider.com/…
     • The best Apple Vision Pro productivity apps at launch — appleinsider.com/…
     • A Survey of Popular Apps Currently Compatible With Apple Vision Pro — www.macstories.net/…
     • Not just Adobe Lightroom, but also Adobe Firefly AI are coming to VisionOS — appleinsider.com/…
     • Netflix CEO says Apple Vision Pro market is too insignificant to bother with — appleinsider.com/… & Netflix says use Safari on Apple Vision Pro, because you aren't getting an app — appleinsider.com/…
     • YouTube and Spotify also won't offer any apps on Apple Vision Pro — appleinsider.com/…
     • There is an Apple Vision Pro YouTube viewer app, but it isn't from Google — appleinsider.com/…
     • Related: Unity adds Apple Vision Pro support for all game developers — appleinsider.com/…

   • There are also hardware accessories already, both from Apple & third parties — appleinsider.com/…

     • Belkin will sell Apple Vision Pro battery clip in time for launch — appleinsider.com/…
     • Apple have released a special USB-C enabled strap for developers, allowing a permanent connection to a Mac while developing — www.macstories.net/… (it's not cheap at $299!)

   • Reviews, reactions, and opinions:

     • Apple Vision Pro: What you need to know beyond the spec sheet and before you buy — appleinsider.com/…
     • Vision Pro review roundup: ‘Magic’ and ‘a revolution,’ but definitely unfinished — www.cultofmac.com/…
     • Apple Vision Pro review roundup: an experience that weighs on you — appleinsider.com/…
     • What Reviewers Have Learned about Apple Vision Pro — www.macstories.net/…
     • John Gruber's review — daringfireball.net/…
     • Joanna Stern's WSJ video review — www.youtube.com/…

Quick Stories

• iOS 17.3 includes a new Stolen Device Protection feature intended to protect from the spike in iPhone thefts were the attackers first steal or social engineer the passcode before steeling the phone and then using the passcode to change the Apple ID password, disable FindMy & lock users out of their data for ever — appleinsider.com/… (I think it's wise to enable it, and so does Adam Angst at Tidbits)
• Apple unveils 2024 Black Unity Collection supporting grantees that inspire resilience and creativity — www.apple.com/… & Vibrant new Apple Watch band and face celebrate Black unity — www.cultofmac.com/…
• Now Shazam can name songs even when you wear headphones — www.cultofmac.com/…
• Windows 11 ARM officially supported by M3 Macs running Parallels Desktop — appleinsider.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.