LTA 144: August 2025

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bartb.ie

August is the so-called ‘silly season’, and it shows, with just two main stories, but lots more detail than usual in the other regular segments. Starting as usual with feedback and followups the most notable developments are in the secret UK encryption case and the Apple-Epic saga, there are some more regulatory problems for Apple, just one legal story, then the usual HR news before checking in on Apple’s services and original content where there is a very notable price change to discuss. The two main stories are Tim Cook’s ‘Made in America’ charm offensive, and Apple’s US blood oxygen workaround. As usual the show finish with a few smaller stories that made the month’s news.

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.

• The UK's super-secret case against Apple got significantly more confusing in August:

  • Reminder: under the UK's so-called snooper's charter the government can secretly order technological changes and it is a crime for the recipients of the recipients of such orders to admit they received them. The only think we know for absolute certain is that Apple removed it's Advanced Data Protection feature from UK users because it as not longer able to offer it.
  • The last we had heard about the story was reporting from the FT in London that the UK government was trying to find a face-saving way to back out of the whole thing.
  • The first development in late August was a Tweet from the US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard saying UK had dropped their attempt to get at the data of US residents, but there was no official confirmation from the UK government, or from Apple, and ADP remains unavailable in the UK — appleinsider.com/…
  • The media initially took this one short and vague Tweet as proof the whole things was over, but just a week later the FT returned with another bombshell of a story — they have seen Apple's submissions for a secret court hearing on the whole thing and it is set for early 2026. Not just that, but the British governments demands are reported to go far beyond just a back door in ADP — appleinsider.com/…
  • So, we end the month like we started it, none the wiser as to how all this will play out
  • Probably Related: FTC draws hard line on foreign-driven censorship & data demands for Big Tech — appleinsider.com/…

• August was a relatively quiet month in the Apple -v- Epic saga:

  • An Australian court has ruled that Apple & Google's app stores are anti-competitive, but there are no details yet of what exactly that will mean — appleinsider.com/…

  • Nothing substantial happened in the US case, just some ground work preparing for what ever remaining court dates there will be:

    • Two industry groups have filed Amicus briefs in Apple's appeal of injunction forcing them to open up the US app store stating the judge went too far when when she ruled that simply putting a lawyer's name on a document did not automatically make is privileged (and citing this was a common tactic to attempt to avoid accountability) — appleinsider.com/…
    • The storied venture capital firm Y Combinator has also filed an Amicus brief, though this one defending Epic — appleinsider.com/…
    • The American Antitrust Institute think-tank has also filed an Amicus brief, also against Apple so in favour of Epic — appleinsider.com/…
    • Apple ended the month by filing a brief with the appeals court claiming the entire injunction is unconstitutional — appleinsider.com/…

• August was a relatively quiet month in Trump Tariff news:

  • Appeals court shoots down 'reciprocal' tariffs, will still hit iPhone 17 launch — appleinsider.com/… (ruling does not come into force until 14 October to give time for an appeal to be filed)
  • Another TACO: Over 150% China tariff rate delayed by 90 days, 30% still in effect for iPhone season — appleinsider.com/…

• Some more details have emerged about how Japan's new Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) will affect Apple, as well as the App Store changes discussed last month, they will also have to offer an EU-like browser ballot — www.cultofmac.com/…

• August was a good month for Apple in India:

  • Present Trump doubled the tariffs on India (25% → 50%) as punishment for buying Russian oil, but Apple is exempt — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Five Apple factories in India will build iPhone 17 for the US — www.cultofmac.com/… (as per a Bloomberg report)
  • Apple's new store expands official support & sales to a third location in India — appleinsider.com/… (Apple Hebbal in Bengaluru)
  • Apple has broken its India annual sales record, and more growth is coming — appleinsider.com/… (Bloomberg reporting based on an unnamed person familiar with the figures)

Regulatory Rundown

• When the UK passed it's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) that trigged an investigation into Apple and Google by the country's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to determine if those companies have Strategic Market Status, who have now found that Apple & Google do indeed have that status, bringing them under tighter regulations similar to Gatekeeper status under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) — www.macobserver.com/…

  • Apple threatens UK with delayed features if EU DMA-like regulations introduced — appleinsider.com/…

• Google Allowed to Keep Chrome and Continue Paying Apple $20 Billion for Search Placement — tidbits.com/…

  • My take: Technically there is a change since the ruling says Google can't demand their search engine be exclusive in their contracts with browsers, but they can keep paying to be the default and for every referral, so browsers are incentivised to make Google the default anyway to maximise revenue, so no real change, at least not unless and until another search engine offers better rates.

• German Court Blocks Apple’s Carbon Neutral Claims for Apple Watch — www.macobserver.com/… (purely on a technicality regarding a specific off-set, not on any broad principle)

• Apple App Store Faces Formal Antitrust Investigation in Colombia — www.macobserver.com/…

• France's unnecessary iPhone 12 RF patch is spreading across Europe — appleinsider.com/…

Legal Latest

• Elon Musk baselessly suing Apple for Grok's position on the App Store — appleinsider.com/…

  • The best description of the legal arguments being made — www.macobserver.com/…

  • Elon Musk's antitrust claims refuted by Apple citing curation for safe discovery — appleinsider.com/…

  • Opinion: Musk is wrong and has only influence on his side in a childish App Store spat — appleinsider.com/…

  • Opinion: Elon Musk sues Apple and OpenAI, revealing his panic over OpenAI dominance — arstechnica.com/…

    At this point appearing to be genuinely panicked about OpenAI's insurmountable lead in the chatbot market, Musk has specifically alleged that an agreement integrating ChatGPT into the iOS violated antitrust and unfair competition laws. Allegedly, the conspiracy is designed to protect Apple's smartphone monopoly and block out AI rivals to lock in OpenAI's dominance in the chatbot market.

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• AI remains the focus of Apple's HR news:

  • Apple starts hiring AI engineers for a new Answers, Knowledge and Information team — appleinsider.com/…

  • Apple Loses Sixth AI Leader to Meta’s Superintelligence Push — www.macobserver.com/… (Frank Chu who oversaw AI infrastructure, training & search)

  • Four more employees depart Apple, join other AI efforts — appleinsider.com/…

    • Most notably: Apple’s Robotics Research Head Joins Meta’s Reality Labs — www.macobserver.com/… (Jian Zhang)

  • Related: Apple machine learning privacy workshop talks help promote AI security — appleinsider.com/…

  • Related: Xcode 26 beta 7 adds GPT-5 & Claude account support — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple TV+ senior executive Chris Parnell poached by Paramount — appleinsider.com/… (was a senior creative executive working on original content)

• Apple denies its Fitness chief is bullying his team as an employee sues — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple Sues Ex-Employee for Stealing Apple Watch Secrets for Oppo — www.macobserver.com/…

Apple Services & Original Content Highlights

• Apple TV+:

  • Apple have increased the monthly cost of a stand-alone AppleTV+ subscription by 30% ( $9.99 → $12.99), the first price-rise in two years — www.cultofmac.com/…

    • The change is not for everyone, but for "new customers in the U.S. and select international markets as of today" — tvline.com/…

    • Note that the annual price remains the same, as Gruber reports, this strongly encourages annual sign-ups over monthly ones — daringfireball.net/…

      The usual rule-of-thumb for subscriptions of any sort seems to be to charge 10× the monthly rate for an annual subscription. That’s exactly where the TV+ month/annual prices were before today. Now, the annual subscription price isn’t just a little bit cheaper than 12× the monthly price ($156), but a lot cheaper.

    • Also note Apple One has also not changed price, so is now an even better offering — www.cultofmac.com/…

  • 'F1: the Movie' is now available to rent or buy — appleinsider.com/… (next release will be streaming on Apple TV+)

  • 'Ted Lasso' now flies the friendly skies on United's in-flight entertainment system — appleinsider.com/… (along with Severance, Shrinking, Slow Horses & Silo)

  • Apple TV+ show 'Trying' will be free on the BBC soon — appleinsider.com/… (first Apple show to get syndicated this way, nice way to keep monetising the growing back-catalogue)

• **Apple Music:

  • Apple Music migration tool will finally help U.S. Spotify users switch — appleinsider.com/… ( was only available in Australia & New Zealand)

    An Apple Support document update spotted by MacRumors says the migration tool is now available in the UK, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, and Mexico, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

  • Apple partners with TuneIn to stream radio stations to 75 million users — www.cultofmac.com/…

• Apple Arcade adds fun new content, including NFL Retro Bowl ’26, Jeopardy! Daily, and an exciting update to Hello Kitty Island Adventure — Apple PR

• Apple Maps now helps cyclists navigate Hong Kong and Taiwan streets — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple Wallet ID Support Expands to Montana — www.macobserver.com/…

Main Stories

1. Apple really focused on it's made in American push in August:

   • Apple started the month with a big PR event in the White House announcing an additional $100Bn investment in US manufacturing — www.macstories.net/…

     • $500Bn → $600Bn over the next 4 years

     • Additional investments are into Apple's American Manufacturing Program which covers 10 US-based manufacturers (Amkor, Applied Materials, Broadcom, Coherent, Corning, GlobalFoundries, GlobalWafers America AKA GWA, Samsung, Texas Instruments AKA TI)

     • The first investment to be detailed is in Corning, which will now make the glass for US-bound iPhone and Apple Watch screens — www.cultofmac.com/…

     • During the event President Trump announced a plan to announce a 100% tariff on semiconductor imports, but said companies like Apple who invest in the US would be exempt — appleinsider.com/…

       • TSMC, Apple's biggest chip provider confirmed they understood themselves to be exempt — www.macobserver.com/…
       • By the end of the month it was still a threatened tariff not an actual one — appleinsider.com/…

     • Tim Cook expertly buttered up President Trump by presenting him with a huge gaudy gold and glass trophy (an engraved Corning Gorilla Glass disk set in a gold base made from 24K Utah gold) — appleinsider.com/…

     • The trophy, and the private conversations the whole spectacle enabled seem to have worked, at least for now, Tim Cook has succeeded in getting President Trump understand that iPhone final assembly can't just be moved to the US, and that it's better for Apple to source high-value components from US manufacturers instead — appleinsider.com/…

       "He makes many of the components here, and we've been talking about it, and the whole thing is set up at other places, and it's been there for a long time, so in terms of cost and all [on Apple's difficulties bringing final assembly to the United States]. But I think we may incentivize him enough that one day he'll be bringing that — but he brings most of the stuff — look, he's not making this kind of an investment anywhere else in the world, not even close." — Trump at the White House event where he was presented with his glass and gold trophy

     • Tip of the Hat for the best Headline: Trump wanted a US-made iPhone. Apple gave him a gold statue. — arstechnica.com/…

     • Opinion: Gold, Frankincense, and Silicon — daringfireball.net/… (I agree with Gruber's take)

       Faulting Cook for playing ball and kissing Trump’s ring (among other things) is like faulting a local business for paying into a protection racket — one in which the cops are complicit, and the whole scam exists at the behest of a crooked mayor. Moral rectitude can feel good, but not so much when the cops are burning your store to the ground. There is no authority to appeal to for help when the highest office in the country is running the protection racket.
       …
       US manufacturing, on the other hand, is a point of genuine alignment between Trump’s desires and Apple’s interests and ethics

   • Apple Partners with Samsung to Launch New US Based Chip Technology — www.macobserver.com/… (likely camera sensors, but no details announced)

   • Apple chips to be made at newly opened Texas Instruments plant — appleinsider.com/…

   • The good-will and buttering-up continued right to the end of the month with Tim Cook attending a White House dinner where both he and Trump spoke — appleinsider.com/…

     "I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing advanced manufacturing here. … I think that says a lot about your focus and your leadership and your focus on innovation, I also want to thank you for helping American companies around the world. This is a very key, key thing. … We're all, we are all different in some ways, but we all believe in the power of technology to improve people's lives, and that is the thing that binds us all together." — Tim Cook

2. Apple Watch getting blood oxygen sensor back after 18 month absence — appleinsider.com/… ( Apple PR)

   • Apple found a loop-hole! Masimo's patent covers devices that have the sensors, display, and processing on the device, so Apple is only using the sensor on US Apple watches now, and sending the raw readings to the paired iPhone for both processing and display (within the Health app) — daringfireball.net/…

   • Masimo responds by suing US Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) — www.macobserver.com/… & appleinsider.com/…

     TMO: The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, claims CBP violated the Administrative Procedure Act and due process protections when it issued an internal advice ruling on August 1. According to Masimo, the agency overturned its own January decision without notifying the company or allowing it to respond.
     Apple Insider's description of Masimo's Argumment: The CBP crossed a line by effectively making a ruling in the patent dispute, instead of leaving it to the ITC, Massimo believes. Furthermore, the CBP didn't give Massimo an opportunity to participate in discussions.

     • An insightful analysis from John Gruber: daringfireball.net/…

       The CBP’s investigation centered around whether the Masimo patents were “limiting” — which seems to mean a device that does all these things: the sensors, the computation of results, and the display of results. Masimo argued that the patents weren’t limiting, and apparently made no argument for how the import ban on Apple Watches should stand if the patents were found by CBP to be limiting. The CBP asked the International Trade Commission — the outfit that instituted the import ban — whether they considered the Masimo patents to be limiting, and the ITC responded yes, they did, that that was the entire basis of the import ban.

   • CPB have filed a motion to dismiss the Masimo case against them — www.macobserver.com/…

     The government maintains that Masimo must first take its objections to the International Trade Commission. If the ITC rules against Masimo, the company can appeal to the Federal Circuit. Customs said Masimo cannot sidestep this process by filing directly in district court.

Quick Stories

• Apple’s $2.5B Housing Plan Shows More Progress Than Meta, Google — www.macobserver.com/…

  Six years after the three companies announced large-scale commitments, Apple has spent more than $1.6 billion of its $2.5 billion plan, funding the creation or preservation of over 10,000 affordable housing units, offering financial help to at-risk residents, and supporting first-time homebuyers.

• Apple brings its Self Service Repair program to Canada — appleinsider.com/… (now 34 countries & 25 languages)

• Beats Solo 4 launches special Ruby Red JENNIE edition — appleinsider.com/…

• Apple's September event will be held at 13:00 EST on the 9th of September and is titled Awe Dropping — arstechnica.com/…

  • How to find the Easter egg in the new Apple event logo — 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.