Apple News
Apple is nearing production of powerful AI-focused M4 chips for Mac
Apple is nearing production of M4 chips and is planning to release its first Macs with the components later this year, Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The big focus will be supporting on-device artificial intelligence, which requires a hefty amount of processing power.
The company is planning three main variations of the M4: a base chip dubbed Donan; higher-end versions codenamed Brava that will replace the M3 Pro and M3 Max; and an M4 Ultra dubbed Hidra. At the end of last year, Apple released a regular M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max, but an M3 Ultra hasn’t come to market. (Apple could choose to wait until the M4 line for a new Ultra, but it’s worth noting that an M3 variation does exist internally.)
Here are the Mac models Apple is working on and when it expects to introduce them (as always, release plans could shift):
1. A low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4, coming around the end of 2024.
2. A 24-inch iMac with the M4, also expected around the end of the year.
3. New 14-inch and 16-inch high-end MacBook Pros with M4 Pro/Max chips, due between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
4. A Mac mini in both M4 and M4 Pro configurations, coming between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
5. New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs, slated for around spring 2025.
6. A Mac Studio with a high-end M4 chip, coming around the middle of 2025.
7. A Mac Pro with an M4 Ultra chip, due in the second half of 2025.
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MacDailyNews Take: Those new MacBook Pros can hopefully debut before this Christmas because they’ll be big sellers!
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iPhone shipments drop 9.6% YoY as Samsung overtakes Apple – IDC
According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, global smartphone shipments increased 7.8% year over year to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24). While the industry is not completely out of the woods, as macroeconomic challenges remain in many markets, this marks the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth, a strong indicator that a recovery is well underway.
“As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, in a statement. “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter. While IDC expects these two companies to maintain their hold on the high end of the market, the resurgence of Huawei in China, as well as notable gains from Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus, and vivo will likely have both OEMs looking for areas to expand and diversify. As the recovery progresses, we’re likely to see the top companies gain share as the smaller brands struggle for positioning.”
“The smartphone market is emerging from the turbulence of the last two years both stronger and changed,” said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, in a statement. “Firstly, we continue to see growth in value and average selling prices (ASPs) as consumers opt for more expensive devices knowing they will hold onto their devices longer. Secondly, there is a shift in power among the Top 5 companies, which will likely continue as market players adjust their strategies in a post-recovery world. Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past two years and Transsion is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets. In contrast, while the Top 2 players both saw negative growth in the first quarter, it seems Samsung is in a stronger position overall than they were in recent quarters.”
Top 5 Companies, Worldwide Smartphone Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q1 2024
(Preliminary results, shipments in millions of units)
Source: IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, April 15, 2024
Notes:
• Data are preliminary and subject to change.
• Company shipments are branded device shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.
• The “Company” represents the current parent company (or holding company) for all brands owned and operated as a subsidiary.
• Figures represent new shipments only and exclude refurbished units.
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MacDailyNews Take: Apple only sells premium smartphones, not glorified feature phones to pad shipment numbers like Samsung and the myriad other Android phone peddlers. That Apple held the top smartphone shipment position at all was an anomaly and a testament to iPhone’s strength.
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Apple denies violating U.S. court order in Epic Games lawsuit
Apple on Friday said it did not violate a court order governing its App Store and urged a California federal judge to reject a request by Fortnite-maker Epic Games to hold it in contempt.
The Apple filing criticized what it called an attempt by Epic to make Apple’s “tools and technologies available to developers for free.”
Epic, it said, wanted the court “to micromanage Apple’s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability.”
Epic largely lost its case against Apple, but Rogers in 2021 ordered Apple to give developers greater freedom to guide app users to alternative payment methods for digital goods.
Epic said in a court filing last month that Cupertino, California-based Apple was in “blatant violation” of the court’s injunction. It pointed to Apple’s imposition of a 27% fee on developers for some purchases, which the video game maker said makes links for alternative payment options “commercially unusable.”
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MacDailyNews Take: The court never told Apple how much it could charge developers who wish to use Apple’s App Store to advertise lower places elsewhere.
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Apple TV+ dramedy ‘Government Cheese’ picks up three new stars
Bokeem Woodbine, Sunita Mani, and Adam Beach have joined the upcoming Apple TV+ dramedy “Government Cheese,” Variety reports Friday.
They will star in the series alongside previously announced lead David Oyelowo as well as Simone Missick. Variety exclusively reported the show was in the works at Apple in June 2022.
Based on the short film of the same name by Paul Hunter, “Government Cheese” follows Hampton Chambers (Oyelowo), described as “a man recently released from prison who struggles to keep his criminal past at bay and win back his family, all while processing moments of divine intervention that seem to happen with increasing frequency.”
Woodbine ‘s recent TV credits include the “Halo” series at Paramount+, “Ripley” at Netflix, and “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” at Hulu…
Mani previously starred in the Apple film “Spirited” alongside Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell and also appeared in the streamer’s series “Servant.” Beach is known for his roles in films like “Windtalkers,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Smoke Signals,” “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” and “The Power of the Dog.”
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MacDailyNews Take: “Government Cheese” has yet to be officially announced by Apple.
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Apple working to fix iPhone suggestion of Flag of Palestine when some type ‘Jerusalem’
Apple is working to a fix a bug in its latest iOS software that suggests the Palestinian flag emoji when some users search for the word “Jerusalem” in the emoji keyboard.
Samantha Murphy Kelly for CNN:
The company told CNN it is aware of a bug within predictive emoji in the keyboard and is working on a fix that will be made available in the next iOS update.
Apple’s latest software, iOS 17.4.1, was introduced on March 21, but the recent discovery of the bug upset some users on social media. In one post on X viewed more than 2.3 million times, an iPhone user questioned whether Apple was aware of the error – and whether it was intentional. Apple said the issue was a mistake and not coded into the keyboard intentionally.
But the user, who said she was Jewish, provided a long list of other cities that don’t surface a flag when entered into the emoji search box.
It’s possible Apple’s machine-learning technology determined the suggested emoji based on analyzing texts from millions of its users. Apple declined to elaborate on the cause.
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MacDailyNews Take: As Apple’s machine-learning technology also powers Siri, the Simple Jack of personal assistants, anything and everything is possible at any random time.
Hanlon’s razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
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Dow plummets 500 points as sell-off intensifies amid U.S. inflation concerns
Stocks sold off and the Dow dropped 500 points Friday as U.S. inflation and geopolitical worries once again weighed on investor sentiment.
CNBC:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 465 points, or 1.2%. The S&P 500 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite pulled back by 1.6%.
JPMorgan Chase shares declined more than 5% after the banking giant posted its first-quarter results. The bank said net interest income, a key measure of what it makes through lending activities, could be a little short of what Wall Street analysts are expecting in 2024. CEO Jamie Dimon also warned about persistent inflationary pressures weighing on the economy.
Oil prices continued their rise on reports that Israel is preparing for a direct attack by Iran this weekend, in what would be the biggest escalation of tensions in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last October. U.S. crude was last at $87.11 a barrel.
That, coupled with fresh U.S. imports data, added fuel to inflation concerns that have put pressure on the market.
Consumers are also growing worried about the persistent inflationary pressures. The consumer sentiment index for April came in at 77.9, below the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 77.9, according to the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers. Year-ahead and long-run inflation expectations also ticked up, reflecting frustrations over sticky inflation.
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MacDailyNews Take: Again, the Fed stopped raising rates too soon.
As we wrote in February 2023, “When certain quarters, including the Fed, delude themselves and others that ‘inflation is transitory’ and waste at least a year before doing a mere portion of what is necessary* (interest rate hikes), the price will be paid for being delusional and late.”
‘Tis best to get a handle on inflation, if you know how, while you still can. – MacDailyNews, May 11, 2021
Stop the misguided crusade against domestic energy production and profligate federal spending and inflation will be stopped dead in its tracks. It’s not difficult. – MacDailyNews, May 11, 2022
For new generations, sometimes tough lessons have to be retaught and learned the hard way. As we go through this, remember: It’s always darkest before the dawn. – MacDailyNews, July 14, 2022
Inflation is repudiation. — Calvin Coolidge
When a business or an individual spends more than it makes, it goes bankrupt. When government does it, it sends you the bill… [which] comes in two ways: higher taxes and inflation. Make no mistake about it, inflation is a tax and not by accident. — Ronald Reagan
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Apple shares look to retake key level
Apple shares look to retake a key level as the stock rose in above-average trading volume for the second straight day on a news report that the company plans a big AI-focused refresh of its Mac and iPhone lineups this year.
Patrick Seitz for Investor’s Business Daily:
In morning trades on the stock market today, Apple stock climbed as much as 1.9% to 178.36. With the move, it rose above its 50-day moving average line near 177.
However, the gains faded. Apple stock was last up nearly 1% at 176.60.
On Thursday, Apple stock surged 4.3% to close at 175.04. The move happened after Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to overhaul its entire lineup of Macs with processors that have artificial intelligence capabilities. The new Mac computers will use M4 chips, its latest family of processors designed in house, Bloomberg said.
Also, Apple is looking to add AI features to its iPhone 16 lineup this fall, analysts say.
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MacDailyNews Take: The AI features for the iPhone are more important to Apple’s share price than the Mac.
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Average Apple Watch user runs/walks equivalent of a marathon in 334 days
Based in Boston at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Apple Heart & Movement Study researchers feel the city buzzing with spring energy as a significant day draws near – Patriots’ Day. Celebrated on the third Monday of April, it’s a state holiday for Massachusetts that commemorates pivotal battles from the American Revolutionary War. Key to the celebrations is the annual Boston Marathon. Runners, spectators, and enthusiasts from around the globe converge on Boston and its surrounding areas to partake in this iconic event, making it one of New England’s most anticipated sporting events.
In this update, the Apple Heart & Movement Study team analyzed walking and running workouts recorded throughout the study to share insights on just how far the study’s participants are moving and what training and cardio fitness look like for those who have reached that marathon (26.2 miles) milestone.
Apple Heart & Movement Study:
Since the Apple Heart and Movement Study’s launch in November 2019 through January 1st, 2024, there have been over 197,700 participants who recorded at least one walking workout and about 99,400 with at least one running workout. Over 50% of participants who recorded either exercise achieved a 5k (5.0 kilometers = 3.1 miles) distance or more at least once in each respective category.
For people new to running, the 5k is a popular distance to work up to, with more and more races geared towards charity, inclusivity, and general health and wellness. It is a great distance for novice runners and those interested in building up faster speeds alike, without heavy endurance training needed to cross the finish line.
While running or walking a marathon in a single period may seem unachievable to many, consistent physical activity is a great goal to have overall. One question our team asked was if all the running and walking workouts were to be added up in a given period, how long would it take Apple Heart and Movement Study participants to reach the 26.2-mile marker? We did this for last year’s Boston Marathon month, April 2023.
A total of 76,114 participants in April 2023 logged at least one walk or running workout. Within the month, 17,376 (22.8%) participants recorded a summed distance of 26.2 or more miles. In addition, we estimated the number of days it would take each of the 76,114 participants to complete a marathon based on the frequency of walks or runs and the distance they traveled that month.
Based on April’s data, half of our participants would walk and/or run 26.2 miles in 90 days or fewer. The average speed is a bit slower, 334 days per marathon – due to a long tail of participants who infrequently log a run or walk. Note that our method may tend to underestimate true distance traveled because we only consider walks or runs that were part of a workout logged and shared with AH&MS. Apple Watch can automatically detect a run or walk, but not all participants configure their Apple Watch to do this.
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MacDailyNews Note: Before iPhone and Apple Watch, conducting large-scale health studies has been time-consuming and expensive. Now, Apple Watch and iPhone capture meaningful health information, including signals from your heart, your level of motion and activity, and your sound exposure levels throughout the day. With Apple’s Research app, designed for privacy, volunteering to help advance medical understanding has been greatly simplified. You just sign up for a study (or studies) right from your iPhone. If you meet the criteria for a given study, you’re in!
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Apple TV+ renews hit series ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,’ plans multiple spin-offs
Apple TV+ this week announced that its broadly acclaimed, global hit Monsterverse series “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” from Legendary Entertainment, has been renewed for a second season. On the heels of its monstrous success, Apple TV+ has also struck a new multi-series deal with Legendary Entertainment, which includes a second season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” and multiple spinoff series based on the franchise.
“‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ has left an indelible imprint on the hearts, minds and imaginations of audiences around the world, led by the brilliance of Chris, Matt, Kurt, Wyatt and the incredibly gifted and talented cast and creative team,” said Morgan Wandell, head of international development for Apple TV+, in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited for viewers to not only have the chance to experience even more thrills in season two, but to embark on epic, new journeys in the franchise as we expand Legendary’s Monsterverse.”
Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco, and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later when Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga — spanning three generations — reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.
The upcoming season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is executive produced by showrunners and co-creators Chris Black and Matt Fraction, along with Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures, and Matt Shakman, Andrew Colville and Jen Roskind. Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita executive produce on behalf of Toho Co., Ltd., the owner of the Godzilla character. Toho licensed the rights to Legendary Entertainment for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” as a natural byproduct of their long-term relationship with the film franchise.
The first season of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is now streaming globally on Apple TV+.
Ten years strong, Legendary’s Monsterverse is an expansive story universe of cross-platform experiences centering around humanity’s battle to survive in a world facing a catastrophic new reality — the monsters of our myths and legends are real. Beginning in 2014 with “Godzilla,” and continuing with “Kong: Skull Island” in 2017, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” in 2019, “Godzilla vs. Kong” in 2021, and most recently the record-breaking “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” which topped the box office with $380 million and counting after two weeks of release and still playing in theaters, the Monsterverse has accumulated over two billion at the global box office and expanded into the highly successful event series, Legendary’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” for Apple TV+. Including an interconnected world of video games, graphic novels, toys and live experiences, the Monsterverse represents epic entertainment on the largest possible scale.
Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have earned 480 wins and 2,142 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
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MacDailyNews Take: An easy renewal decision.
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News of Apple’s AI-focus unleashes $112 billion stock surge
The stock market has punished Apple this year for failing to offer a generative AI (GenAI) solution to help power its future growth. The shares caught a bid Thursday after news broke of AI-focused next-gen Apple Silicon.
Subrat Patnaik and Ryan Vlastelica for Bloomberg News:
Apple’s decision to overhaul its Mac computer line to focus on artificial intelligence, as reported by Bloomberg, struck a chord with investors, sending the stock up 4.3% and adding $112 billion in value in its best performance in nearly a year.
Before Thursday’s announcement, the stock was down 15% from its record high set in December, wiping out more than $460 billion in market value. Trading close to its cheapest level in about a year, bargain-hunters clearly could justify taking a chance on Apple’s latest stab at AI relevance.
Sustaining this momentum, however, will depend on Apple’s ability to deliver on the promise of growth. For the Cupertino, California-based tech giant, that likely means getting AI into the iPhone.
Apple has paid mightily for its recent stagnation. It’s one of the weakest performers among the so-called Magnificent Seven this year, trailing only Tesla Inc. That has made it relatively cheap.
The underperformance reflects the lack of a defined AI strategy and several quarters of weak trends, despite the company’s strong financial position and proven revenue generation.
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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote on February:
Apple is clearly not as innovative as it was under Steve Jobs who even started the company’s work on Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, but the company — thanks to Jobs and Cook’s subsequent management of iterations of products and services conceived during Jobs’ tenure — now has more than enough money to make up for Cook’s lack of vision.
Until it gets another visionary leader (fingers crossed; Apple’s history has shown – cough, Sculley, Spindler, cough – that the next CEO could be far, far worse than the very competent caretaker Cook), Apple can afford to miss things like generative AI – which they clearly did – and then use its huge war chest to catch up – which they’re doing right now (fun times and 80-hour weeks inside Apple Park!) – and, hopefully, surpass rivals (or at least be as good). Apple will very likely unveil their catch-up work within months (this June at WWDC 2024) in iPhones (and iPads, Apple Watches, etc.) with built-in on-device generative AI and other new AI-driven features. – MacDailyNews, February 14, 2024
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Apple loses attempt to throw out UK lawsuit over App Store fees
Apple’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit valued at nearly $1 billion was rejected on Friday, with a judge ruling it must face allegations it charged more than 1,500 UK-based developers unfair commission fees on purchases of apps and other content.
Sam Tobin and Martin Coulter for Reuters:
Sean Ennis, a competition law professor and economist, is spearheading the case, which was filed at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) last year and alleges Apple charged developers unfair commissions of up to 30%.
Apple has faced mounting pressure from regulators in the U.S. and Europe over the fees it charges third-party developers distributing apps via the App Store. The company says 85% of developers on its App Store do not pay any commission at all.
Apple’s lawyer Daniel Piccinin argued at a hearing in January that developers cannot have a claim in the UK unless they were charged on purchases made through the UK App Store. But Apple’s bid to throw out that part of the case was rejected by Judge Andrew Lenon in a written ruling on Friday.
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MacDailyNews Take: How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? Apple incurs costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to over one billion users. — MacDailyNews, June 10, 2022
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Apple stock has best day since last May
Apple shares climbed 4.3% on Thursday to a share price of $175.04 having their best day since May 5, 2023. Still, Apple shares are down more than 5% so far this year.
On Thursday, JPMorgan analysts wrote that sentiment over Apple shares is improving with hedge fund investors, partially due to its recent stock slide.
Despite some negative trends around iPhone sales in China, and recent reports of canceled projects such as its effort to build a car, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee said investors may be more comfortable with its current valuation after recent losses and the potential to benefit from AI.
The JPMorgan analysts predicted a strong iPhone sales cycle in 2026 due to forthcoming AI features… Separately, Apple is also preparing new Mac laptops and desktops with next-generation “M4 chips” that emphasize AI, according to a report Thursday from Bloomberg.
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MacDailyNews Take: Nice day. Let’s build on this momentum!
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Apple TV+’s ‘Franklin’ is a future award-winner, thanks to Michael Douglas
Apple TV+ in March announced that “Franklin,” a new limited series starring and executive produced by Academy, Emmy and AFI Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Douglas, will premiere globally on Apple TV+ with the first three episodes of its eight-episode season on Friday, April 12, followed by one new episode every Friday through May 17, 2024.
Michael Douglas and Noah Jupe star in “Franklin,” premiering April 12, 2024 on Apple TV+.
Based on Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” “Franklin” explores the thrilling story of the greatest gamble of Benjamin Franklin’s career. In December 1776, Franklin is world famous for his electrical experiments, but his passion and power are put to the test when — as the fate of American independence hangs in the balance — he embarks on a secret mission to France.
At age 70, without any diplomatic training, Franklin convinced an absolute monarchy to underwrite America’s experiment in democracy. By virtue of his fame, charisma, and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers and hostile colleagues to engineer the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the peace treaty with England in 1783.
The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin’s most vital service to his country, without which America could not have won the Revolution. Diplomats and historians still regard it as the greatest single tour of duty by an ambassador in our nation’s history.
Set in the 18th century, when Benjamin Franklin was convincing the French government to recognize America’s independence from Britain, this decadent period piece comes out firing on all cylinders.
Built around a magnetic central performance from Douglas, Franklin is an ever-expanding web of intrigue, double-dealing and clandestine connections spread across eight episodes.
As Michael Douglas moves into his elder statesman era, Franklin reveals an actor with every instrument at his disposal. Drawing on his wealth of experience over 50 years of crafting characters, Douglas plays the title character as a man of disarming intellect who is comfortable in every environment. Benjamin Franklin is revealed to be a cunning tactician, charming rogue and beguiling presence — as well as the driving force behind the Apple miniseries.
Like Apple’s miniseries Manhunt, which focused on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, Franklin feels like a fully fleshed out period drama. That focus on quality comes through consistently in every Apple project, and it’s that principle which makes Franklin so good. They might not hit a home run every time, but there is no denying their desire to champion unique voices in an industry that actively avoids risk. Anyone looking for something unique or who is a fan of quality historical drama will want to stream Franklin at the first opportunity, as Douglas’ performance might earn him an Emmy nomination — and it would be no surprise to see the Apple TV+ project pick up some behind-the-scenes Emmy recognition as well.
The drama also stars Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”) as Temple Franklin, Thibault de Montalembert (“Call My Agent!”) as Comte de Vergennes, Daniel Mays (“Line of Duty”) as Edward Bancroft, Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) as Madame Brillon, Eddie Marsan (“Ray Donovan”) as John Adams, Assaad Bouab (“Call My Agent!”) as Beaumarchais, Jeanne Balibar (“Irma Vep”) as Madame Helvetius and Theodore Pellerin (“There’s Someone Inside Your House”) as Marquis de Lafayette.
In addition to Douglas, the creative team includes Emmy- and WGA Award-winning writer and executive producer Kirk Ellis (“John Adams”) and Emmy, WGA and Pulitzer Prize Award-nominated writer and executive producer Howard Korder (“Boardwalk Empire”). Emmy and DGA Award-winning director Tim Van Patten (“Masters of the Air,” “The Sopranos”) serves as director and executive producer. Richard Plepler produces through his EDEN Productions, Tony Krantz through Flame Ventures, Philippe Maigret and Mark Mostyn also executive produce. Stacy Schiff also serves as co-executive producer. “Franklin” is a co-production between ITV Studios America and Apple Studios.
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MacDailyNews Take:
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Apple preps dramatic overhaul of entire Mac line powered by AI-focused M4 chips
Looking to boost sluggish computer sales, Apple is preparing to overhaul its entire Mac line powered by a new family of M4 Apple Silicon processors designed to highlight artificial intelligence features.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple is looking to update every Mac model with it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced.
The new Macs are underway at a critical time. After peaking in 2022, Mac sales fell 27% in the last fiscal year, which ended in September. In the holiday period, revenue from the computer line was flat… Apple also is playing catch-up in AI, where it’s seen as a laggard to Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and other tech peers. The new chips are part of a broader push to weave AI capabilities into all its products.
Apple is aiming to release the updated computers beginning late this year and extending into early next year. There will be new iMacs, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac minis — all with M4 chips… As part of the upgrades, Apple is considering allowing its highest-end Mac desktops to support as much as a half-terabyte of memory. The current Mac Studio and Mac Pro top out at 192 gigabytes…
The big focus for Apple this year is to add new artificial intelligence features across its products. The company is planning to preview a slew of new features at its June developer conference. A large swath of those features are designed to run on the devices themselves — rather than in remote servers — and speedier chips will help drive those enhancements. Apple is also planning to make AI-focused upgrades to this year’s iPhone processor.
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MacDailyNews Take: Just bought a new M3-powered Mac? Our sympathies.
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Force restart your Apple Watch to resolve ‘Ghost Touch’ issue
In a memo shared with Apple Authorized Service Providers, Apple advises that the “Ghost Touch” bug that affects the Apple Watch Series 7, Series 8, Series 9, and the Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2 can be resolved by force restarting the device.
Service providers have been told not to replace watches for the ghost touch problem, instead instructing customers to fix the issue through a force restart.
AASPs have also been asked to make sure affected Apple Watches are running the latest version of watchOS.
A fix for the ghost touch issue was added in watchOS 10.4, so presumably that version of the software addresses the issue on all impacted models. If not, the wording of Apple’s memo suggests a further fix will be coming in the near future.
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MacDailyNews Note: To force restart, hold down the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
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Investors have historically underestimated Apple’s gross margins – BofA
“Investors have historically underestimated Apple’s gross margins and it appears that it is happening again,” BofA Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan writes in a note to clients.
Investors have found plenty of reasons to sour on Apple Inc. shares this year, sending them down more than 12% over the course of 2024 to date even as the S&P 500 SPX has advanced 8%.
But what if Wall Street is missing the point on Apple — again? That’s an issue BofA Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan explored in his latest note to clients as he looked at how investors have gotten things wrong on Apple shares in the past.
The company’s long-term margin potential remains compelling, according to Mohan, and if you go back a few years, you can see Wall Street’s tendency to lowball its projections there. For example, in 2018, the consensus view forecast was for 39% gross margins for fiscal 2023, but Apple recorded 44% for that period.
Now, looking forward, he thinks the company could drive about 180 basis points of gross-margin upside on the product side of the business, as well as 150 basis points of upside in services over the coming years.
“Consumers are opting for more higher-end devices (higher price), but we also expect Apple to raise pricing of individual hardware devices over time, which can be accretive to gross margin,” Mohan wrote.
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MacDailyNews Note: Mohan maintains a “Buy” rating and $225 price tragte on Apple shares.
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Hedge Funds show interest in Apple as valuation moderates – JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts say that Apple is drawing interest from hedge fund investors as a slump in its shares reduces the stock’s valuation premium amid hopes for AI-linked upgrades to its iPhones and other devices.
Subrat Patnaik for Bloomberg News:
The technology giant’s shares have fallen 13% this year, badly trailing the broader market. The company is grappling with weak sales in China and a Justice Department suit accusing Apple of violating antitrust laws, taking aim at its lucrative services business.
Apple is seen as trailing peers when it comes to artificial-intelligence offerings and the company has been looking for partners like Google to add AI features to its iPhones. This prospect is also boosting sentiment as there’s growing appetite for AI-led iPhone enhancements, according to JPMorgan.
“Hedge fund investors are increasingly warming up to the opportunity of the AI upgrade cycle,” although questions remain around whether that will kick in with iPhones to be introduced later this year or in 2025, analysts led by Samik Chatterjee wrote in a research note Thursday.
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MacDailyNews Take: The potential for an iPhone 16 super cycle depends on how well Apple marketing sells its GenAI bandaid (licensing from Google, Baidu, etc.) as it works (for years, likely) to catch up with its own generative AI solution.
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Apple TV+ debuts trailer for sci-fi series ‘Dark Matter,’ starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly
Today, Apple TV+ unveiled the trailer for its new sci-fi thriller “Dark Matter,” starring Joel Edgerton alongside Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, Dayo Okeniyi and Oakes Fegley. Based on the blockbuster book by New York Times bestselling author Blake Crouch, the new nine-episode Apple Original series will premiere globally on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on May 8, followed by one new episode every Wednesday through June 26, 2024.
Hailed as one of the best sci-fi novels of the decade, “Dark Matter” is a story about the road not taken. The series follows Jason Dessen (played by Edgerton), a physicist, professor and family man who — one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago — is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.
Crouch serves as creator, executive producer, showrunner and writer alongside executive producers Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl for Matt Tolmach Productions. Edgerton also serves as executive producer. “Dark Matter” is produced for Apple TV+ by Sony Pictures Television.
“Dark Matter” joins a growing offering of broadly acclaimed, global hit sci-fi Apple Original series including the hit, epic saga “Foundation,” which was recently renewed for a third season, as well as “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” “Silo,” “For All Mankind,” “Invasion” and more.
Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have earned 480 wins and 2,142 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
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MacDailyNews Take: Looks like another sci-fi winner for Apple TV+!
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Apple will approve used parts in iPhone repairs
Apple on Thursday announced an upcoming enhancement to existing repair processes that will enable customers and independent repair providers to utilize used Apple parts in repairs. Beginning with select iPhone models this fall, the new process is designed to maintain an iPhone user’s privacy, security, and safety, while offering consumers more options, increasing product longevity, and minimizing the environmental impact of a repair. Used genuine Apple parts will now benefit from the full functionality and security afforded by the original factory calibration, just like new genuine Apple parts.
“At Apple, we’re always looking for new ways to deliver the best possible experience for our customers while reducing the impact we have on the planet, and a key part of that means designing products that last,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, in a statement. “For the last two years, teams across Apple have been innovating on product design and manufacturing to support repairs with used Apple parts that won’t compromise users’ safety, security, or privacy. With this latest expansion to our repair program, we’re excited to be adding even more choice and convenience for our customers, while helping to extend the life of our products and their parts.”
The process of confirming whether or not a repair part is genuine and gathering information about the part — often referred to as “pairing” — is critical to preserving the privacy, security, and safety of iPhone. Apple teams have been hard at work over the last two years to enable the reuse of parts such as biometric sensors used for Face ID or Touch ID, and beginning this fall, calibration for genuine Apple parts, new or used, will happen on device after the part is installed. In addition, future iPhone releases will have support for used biometric sensors. And in order to simplify the repair process, customers and service providers will no longer need to provide a device’s serial number when ordering parts from the Self Service Repair Store for repairs not involving replacement of the logic board.
Apple will also extend its popular Activation Lock feature to iPhone parts in order to deter stolen iPhones from being disassembled for parts. Requested by customers and law enforcement officials, the feature was designed to limit iPhone theft by blocking a lost or stolen iPhone from being reactivated. If a device under repair detects that a supported part was obtained from another device with Activation Lock or Lost Mode enabled, calibration capabilities for that part will be restricted.
As device longevity increases, Apple believes it’s important that a device’s second or third owners have access to its full part and repair histories. With Parts and Service history, located within Settings on iOS, Apple is the only smartphone company that transparently shows owners whether their device has been repaired and provides information about the parts used. This fall, Apple will expand Parts and Service History to additionally show whether a part is a new or used genuine Apple part.
This upcoming enhancement to Apple’s repair processes is another step forward in the company’s commitment to improving access to safe and affordable repairs. In the last five years, Apple has nearly doubled the number of service locations with access to genuine Apple parts, tools, and training to more than 10,000 Independent Repair Providers and Apple Authorized Service Providers. For those who have the relevant experience repairing electronic devices, Self Service Repair gives access to the manuals, genuine Apple parts, and tools used at Apple Store and Apple Authorized Service Provider locations. Launched in 2022, Self Service Repair now supports 40 Apple products in 33 countries and regions, and 24 languages.
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MacDailyNews Take: Great news for owners of broken iPhones going forward!
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Apple drops term ‘state-sponsored’ attacks from its threat notification policy
Apple has warned its users in India and 91 other countries that they were possible victims of a “mercenary spyware attack,” ditching the phrase “state-sponsored” it used in its previous alerts to refer to such malware attacks.
Reuters:
The company had previously said on its website that its threat notifications were designed to inform and assist users who might have been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers.”
But Apple’s latest update posted on the website on Wednesday said the threat notifications were designed to help users “who might have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks.”
It also noted that such attacks have been historically associated with state actors, including private companies developing mercenary spyware on their behalf, such as Pegasus spyware from Israeli firm NSO Group.
Apple’s removal of the term “state-sponsored” from its description of threat notifications comes after it repeatedly faced pressure from the Indian government on linking such breaches to state actors, said a source with direct knowledge.
Apple held extensive talks with Indian officials before releasing the latest set of alerts, the source added. It was not clear if other governments have also raised similar concerns.
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MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s revised support page now reads:
Apple threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks.
Apple threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, likely because of who they are or what they do. Such attacks are vastly more complex than regular cybercriminal activity and consumer malware, as mercenary spyware attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices. Mercenary spyware attacks cost millions of dollars and often have a short shelf life, making them much harder to detect and prevent. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks.
According to public reporting and research by civil society organizations, technology firms, and journalists, individually targeted attacks of such exceptional cost and complexity have historically been associated with state actors, including private companies developing mercenary spyware on their behalf, such as Pegasus from the NSO Group. Though deployed against a very small number of individuals — often journalists, activists, politicians, and diplomats — mercenary spyware attacks are ongoing and global. Since 2021, we have sent Apple threat notifications multiple times a year as we have detected these attacks, and to date we have notified users in over 150 countries in total. The extreme cost, sophistication, and worldwide nature of mercenary spyware attacks makes them some of the most advanced digital threats in existence today. As a result, Apple does not attribute the attacks or resulting threat notifications to any specific attackers or geographical regions.
If Apple detects activity consistent with a mercenary spyware attack, it notifies the targeted users in two ways:
• A Threat Notification is displayed at the top of the page after the user signs into appleid.apple.com.
• Apple sends an email and iMessage notification to the email addresses and phone numbers associated with the user’s Apple ID.
These notifications provide additional steps that notified users can take to help protect their devices, including enabling Lockdown Mode.
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