Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) - @bbusschots
• Charlotte Henry from The Addition - @charlotteahenry

The show starts with the usual followups and updates on long-running stories. That's followed by one notable number, some some Apple-related legal news, a little Apple HR & acquisitions news, and some highlights from Apple's services. The three main stories are the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), a great night for Apple at the Oscars, and Apple's 'Peek Performance' event. 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!

[audio mp3=”https://media.lets-talk.ie/lta/lta103.mp3”]

Updates & Followup

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

• 🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to affect the Apple community:
  • Apple adds Ukraine UNICEF donation buttons to News app and apple.com — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇷🇺 Apple suspends advertising on the App Store in Russia — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇷🇺 Russian cards to stop working on the App Store March 10 — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇷🇺 Apple Keeps App Store Open for Russia, Sparks Controversy — www.macobserver.com/…
  • 🇷🇺 Russia threatens to nationalize Apple, seize assets — www.imore.com/…
  • Ukrainian developer MacPaw has released a free Mac app for checking apps for links to Russia — research.macpaw.com/…
  • 🇷🇺 Apple returns opposition voting app to App Store in Russia — www.imore.com/…
• Apple’s 2022 annual shareholders meeting:
  • Shareholders approve Apple’s executive pay despite protests — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple shareholders defy company, approve civil rights audit plans — www.imore.com/…
    • Related: 🇺🇸 Apple Now Employs 50% of US Staff from Underrepresented Communities — www.macobserver.com/… (🌍 also 89% increase in women employed globally)
• 🇺🇸 Arizona First State to Accept ID in Apple Wallet at TSA Security — www.macobserver.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Apple Business Essentials Rolls Out to All SMBs in the US With AppleCare+ Option — www.macobserver.com/…
• Asahi Linux Publishes First Alpha Release for Mac M1 Products — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple-backed smart home standard Matter delayed until Fall 2022 — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Regulatory pressure continues on Apple: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has backed the American Innovation and Choice Online Act which is working its way through the Senate. The bill aims to make it illegal for platforms to “unfairly preference” their own products/apps in their stores — 9to5mac.com/… & arstechnica.com/…
• AirTag Competitor Tile Launches Scan and Secure Feature to Fend Off Suspicious Tracking — www.macobserver.com/… (It does less than Apple’s Android app)
• 🇮🇳 Apple doing more manufacturing in India
  • iPhone 13 production to start in India next month as Foxconn probation ends — www.imore.com/…
  • Pegatron to begin iPhone 12 production in India next month — www.imore.com/…

Notable Numbers

• 🇺🇸 New survey reveals staggering commitment of U.S. teens to Apple — www.imore.com/… (87% own an iPhone, 87% expect next phone to be an iPhone, and 72% have AirPods)

Legal Latest

• 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇩🇪 WiLAN and Apple have settled their long-running patent dispute (filed in 2014) with a ‘multi-year licensing deal’. While Apple lost the case, they’ve twice succeeded in having the penalty itself overturned ($145M in 2018, and $85M in February), which explains the motivations for both sides to settle — www.reuters.com/…
• 🇺🇸 Epic -v- Apple:
  • Apple have filed their 135-page submission on their appeal of the limited aspects of the case they lost in the initial judgement — it’s longer and more detailed than most such submissions — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple backed by Roblox, Koch group, security experts in Epic Games fight — www.imore.com/…
  • California Attorney General Files Brief in Epic v Apple Row, More Groups Support Apple — www.macobserver.com/… (The CA AG supports neither side, simply stresses the importance of competition)
• 🇺🇸 Apple To Pay $14.8 Million to Paid iCloud Storage Subscribers for Class Action Settlement — www.macobserver.com/…

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• 🇬🇧 Apple have acquired the UK banking startup Credit Kudos in a move appears to lay the foundations for AppleCard being rolled out in more countries (🤞) — www.cnbc.com/…
• Ford poaches Apple’s ‘vice president of people business partners’ — www.imore.com/… (Jennifer Waldo)
• Apple is paying up to $200,000 in bonuses to try and keep its talent — www.imore.com/…

Apple Services Highlights

• Apple Maps:
  • 🇨🇦 Apple have rolled out their improved maps for the three Canadian cities Montreal, Toronto & Vancouver — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇬🇧 Apple Maps teams with mapping backpacks are working their way through pedestrian-only parts of London, Birmingham & Manchester in the UK — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Apple partners with Haas Alert to add real-time safety data to Appel Maps — www.imore.com/… (As best as I can tell Haas only cover the US)
  • Related: Google Maps for iOS Updated with Better Navigation and Apple Watch Support — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple Fitness+: Apple Adds Postpartum Workouts to Fitness Plus — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple Music: You can now share a clip from Apple Music in an Instagram message — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Podcasts: Apple Podcasts will soon tell creators how many people follow them and more — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Pay:
  • 🇦🇷 🇵🇪 Apple Pay arrives in Argentina and Peru — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇲🇩 Apple Pay arrives in Moldova — www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. 🇪🇺 The EU Commission, EU Parliament & Council of Ministers strike a deal on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), an EU directive aimed at tackling anti-trust concerns around big tech.
   • The law will only apply to gatekeepers that provide core platform services (browsers, OSes, market places, app stores, messaging services, etc.)
   • To be designated a gatekeeper a company must both:
   • Have a market cap of €75Bn or annual revenue of €7.5Bn
   • Have at least 45M active weekly users in the EU
   • Have at least 10K active business customers in the EU
   • Gatekeepers will have extra responsibilities, and there will be explicit prohibitions
   • While there is agreement between the three parties needed to pass the act, the technical wording has not been finalised.
   • The most significant impacts on Apple appear to be:
     • Additional choices on iOS/macOS since gatekeepers must “allow users to freely choose their browser, virtual assistants or search engines”.
     • Apple may be forced to provide APIs to allow smaller messaging services interoperate with Messages. EU officials have said they want end-to-end encryption to be a part of these integrations.
     • It seems clear Apple will be forced to allow alternative payment mechanisms, and probably some kind of alternative to the app store, but probably not wild-west side-loading, with Commission staff talking about “multiple safe and secure app stores” rather than full-on side-loading.
     • Apple may also have to share more AppStore sales data with developers.
     • The ban on ‘self preferencing’ will probably have some effect on how Apple treats its own apps in the AppStore.
     • Apple will probably be forced to open up access to things like the NFC chips in iPhones & iPads since gatekeepers are required to give developers ‘fair’ access to ‘supplementary functionalities’ on mobile devices. (I wonder if that could extend to the W1 radio too?)
   • The Commission’s Press Release — www.europarl.europa.eu/…
   • A good summary: Europe says yes to messaging interoperability as it agrees on major new regime for Big Tech — techcrunch.com/…
   • EU doubles down on new law that could force Apple to allow side-loading and more — 9to5mac.com/…
   • Apple Needs to Promote Cross-Platform Messaging, Make iMessage Play Nicely with ‘Smaller’ Apps — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Related: Apple have announced a new entitlement developers of so-called Reader Apps (provide magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, or video as primary app functionality) can apply for to allow them add a link for users to sign up and manage their account outside of the app (this is to comply with a recent Japanese 🇯🇵 court ruling) — www.imore.com/…
   • Related: 🇳🇱 the Dutch case rumbles on:
     • Apple racks up NINTH Dutch fine over App Store, submits new proposal — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple to face yet another fine in the Netherlands, still doesn’t comply with App Store laws — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple makes fresh bid to comply with Dutch App Store rules, still plans to appeal — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple submitted updated compliance plans — daringfireball.net/…
       • No more separate binary
       • Clearly defined criteria for external payment providers
       • Improved warning modal dialogue (more factual, less hyperbolic)
   • Related: 🇪🇺 🇳🇱 A newly formed non-profit foundation, the Consumer Competition Claims Foundation, headquartered in the Netherlands has filed a class-action suit against Apple on behalf of all EU Apple users, claiming the AppStore rule have cost EU consumers €5Bn since 1 September 2009 (based on an assumption that prices would be 25% lower if iOS was open). As best as I can tell this foundation was set up in March 2022, and the only thing it’s doing is this case — www.imore.com/…
2. Apple TV+ movie ‘CODA’ wins three Oscars including Best Picture — www.imore.com/…
   • Best Picture (first ever streaming service win), Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Siân Heder)
   • ‘CODA’ topped the streaming charts last week after its Oscar win — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Rereleases CODA in Theaters, Features Captions for Deaf and Hard of Hearing — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Related — Other Apple TV+ Awards:
     • Troy Kotsur wins Best Supporting Male for ‘CODA’ at Film Independent Spirit Awards — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple TV+ film ‘CODA’ makes yet more history with two BAFTA Film Awards — www.imore.com/… (Best Adapted Screenplay & Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur)
     • Apple TV+ show ‘Ted Lasso’ sweeps the 2022 Critics Choice Awards comedy categories — www.imore.com/… (Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Jason Sudeikis, Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Hannah Waddingham, and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Brett Goldstein)
     • Apple TV+ bags two PGA Awards for ‘Carpool Karaoke’ and ‘For All Mankind’ — www.imore.com/… (The For All Mankind award was for their AR/VR companion experience For All Mankind: Time Capsule)
     • Apple TV+ titles scoop WGA, PGA, CAS awards — www.imore.com/…
     • ‘Ted Lasso’, ‘CODA’, scoop Artios Awards for Apple TV+ — www.imore.com/…
   • 🇬🇧 Related: Sky offers three months of free Apple TV+ for Sky VIP customers — www.imore.com/…
3. Apple’s Peek Performance Event
4. How to re-watch Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ special event — www.imore.com/…
5. Here’s everything Apple announced at its March 8, 2022 ‘Peek Performance’ event — www.imore.com/…
6. New green versions of the iPhones 13 & 13Pro released — www.imore.com/…
7. Apple Unveils Fifth-Generation iPad Air with M1, 5G, and Center Stage — tidbits.com/…
   • New iPhone SE with same design but A15 chip & 5G — www.imore.com/…
     • New iPhone SE benchmarks reveal massive leap in performance — www.imore.com/…
     • New iPhone SE does not support the fastest 5G technology — www.imore.com/…
     • New iPhone SE 3 survives drop tests just like an iPhone 13 — www.imore.com/…
     • 🌱 The new iPhone SE will be Apple’s first product to use carbon-free Aluminium produced in Canada 🇨🇦 by ELYSIS using hydro power and a new process that releases oxygen rather than CO2. This is the first time carbon free aluminium is being produced at an industrial scale anywhere in the world — www.imore.com/…
8. 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 🇧🇷 🇯🇵 🇲🇽 🇵🇷 🇰🇷 🇬🇧 AppleTV is getting Friday Night Baseball (matches and a live sports show), and at least initially, it’s free, though only available in a small handful of countries (USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea & the UK) — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple and Major League Baseball announce first 12 weeks of “Friday Night Baseball” doubleheader schedule beginning April 8 — www.apple.com/…
   • Apple paid $87 million annually to bring ‘Friday Night Baseball’ to Apple TV+ — www.imore.com/…
9. Studio Mac & Display replace 27" iMac, at least for now
   • Apple revealed details of a new ultra-fast chip, the M1 Ultra, made up of two M1 Max chips directly connected by an interconnect so the OS sees them as one big chip — www.imore.com/… * Leaked benchmark confirms M1 Ultra Mac Studio is the fastest Mac… ever — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple announced a new MacStudio computer with M1 Max or M1 Ultra chips — arstechnica.com/… * Clarifying the Lack of Mac Studio SSD Upgradability — tidbits.com/… * Real-life performance tests reveal staggering power of M1 Ultra Mac Studio — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Studio Display: Release date, price, features, and more! — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple says it is working to fix poor Studio Display webcam performance — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Studio Display To Offer Basic Functionality for Incompatible Devices — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Apple’s Studio Display brings ‘Hey Siri’ support to some older Macs — www.imore.com/…
   • Turns out Apple can swap your Studio Display’s stand after purchase after all — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple can remove the Studio Display’s power cable, but you really shouldn’t — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple updates Logic Pro & MainStage with support for new Mac Studio — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple updates Boot Camp to add support for its new Studio Display — www.imore.com/…
   • The display proves to be an iOS device with 64GB storage, only 2GB of which are in use — www.imore.com/… & www.macobserver.com/…
   • Related: Apple ditches the 27-Inch LG UltraFine 5K Display from its online store — www.imore.com/…
   • Related: Samsung undercuts Apple’s Studio Display with new M8 monitor — www.imore.com/…
   • iFixit’s teardown gives the MacPro a 6/10 repairability rating (high for Apple products), and shows the Studio Display has a very iMac-like cooling system to deal with all the heat from that big internal power supply — arstechnica.com/…
   • Apple releases new colors for Magic Keyboard, Mouse, and Trackpad — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple discontinues 27-inch iMac following Apple event — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple confirms new Mac Pro is on the way in rare tease at March 8 event — www.imore.com/…
     • Related: Apple’s Mac Pro claims a quiet spec bump Radeon Pro W5500X GPU, 512GB SSD — www.imore.com/…

Quick Stories

• Apple released iOS 15.4 & macOS 12.3 with some notable new features — arstechnica.com/…
  • FaceID unlock with a mask on iOS
  • Universal Control on both
• Apple have released a new Cosmophones version of the Beats Studio3 headphones in partnership with entertainer Kerwin Frost — www.imore.com/… (I think they look very pretty 🙂)
• 🇧🇪 🇨🇭 🇳🇱 Apple rolls out HomePod mini in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands — www.imore.com/…
• Some Education News:
  • 🇺🇸 Apple has announced Apple Learning Coach, a program to teach teachers to teach teachers to use Apple technology to teach — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple School and Business Manager will soon support Google Workspace — www.imore.com/…
• 🌱 🇩🇰 Apple to expand its Viborg, Denmark data center and capture heat energy for the city — www.imore.com/…
• Apple publishes 2022 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: Apple announces $50 million Supplier Employee Development Fund — www.imore.com/…
• Peloton now allows heart rate monitoring with Apple Watch — www.imore.com/…
• 📌 Apple will hold its Q2 2022 earnings call on Thursday, April 28 — www.imore.com/…
• 📌 Apple announces an online WWDC 2022 for June 6 through June 10 — www.imore.com/…
  • Applications now open for WWDC’s Swift Student Challenge — 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.

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.