Apple News
Pegatron in talks with Tata to sell its only iPhone plant in India
Marking Taiwanese Pegatron’s latest scale back of its Apple partnership, the company is in advanced talks to hand over control of its only iPhone manufacturing facility in India to the Tata Group, Reuters reports citing “two sources with direct knowledge.”
Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra for Reuters:
Under the deal, which has received the backing of Apple, Tata plans to hold at least a 65% stake in a joint venture that will operate the Pegatron plant near Chennai city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, with the Taiwanese firm providing technical support and holding the rest, one of the sources said.
Tata, one the largest conglomerates in India, will operate the joint venture through its Tata Electronics unit, the second source said.
The Pegatron India factory has around 10,000 employees and makes 5 million iPhones annually. It is the last such facility operated by the firm after it forfeited control of an iPhone plant in China last year to rival Luxshare in a $290 million deal.
Pegatron has for months also been building another iPhone factory at its Chennai campus, and the Tata deal talks include taking over that facility as well, the first source said.
The reasons for Pegatron’s gradual withdrawal from its Apple business, including in India, were not known. Last year, Pegatron said the China plant deal was done to raise capital to “optimise its business”.
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MacDailyNews Take: Aw, Pegatron, the (increasingly antiquated, circa 2010) memories:
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Apple said to release new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad accessories in early May
If you’ve been waiting for new iPads, Apple’s new iPad Pro, iPad Air, Magic Keyboard, and an Apple Pencil are on schedule for early May, according to Bloomberg News.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Altogether, this launch is shaping up to be one of the biggest updates to the Apple tablet in a single day. And it’s a long time coming, especially for the iPad Pro. That model hasn’t had a meaningful refresh since 2018.
For those looking for more specific timing, I’m told the launch will probably happen the week of May 6…
the new lineup should bring a sales boost, but I’m not sure it will solve the iPad’s broader challenges. As someone who often uses a Mac and iPhone — and now a Vision Pro for watching videos — I find the iPad increasingly pointless. The device isn’t good enough to entirely replace a Mac for day-to-day work, and its software still leaves a lot to be desired. Here’s hoping that iPadOS 18 is a big improvement and the device can become a true Mac alternative.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s good to have hopes and dreams, but those who value life shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for Tim Cook’s Apple to magically fix what ails iPad in its 18th OS version.
Software aside, the hardware upgrades to the new iPads represent some of the biggest changes in the product’s history. For the first time, Apple will be moving its tablet screens over to OLED, or organic light-emitting diode, a standard that the iPhone already uses. The technology apparently looks amazing on such large displays — taking what iPhone users have experienced since 2017 to a whole new level. One drawback to the shift: The new models will likely come at higher price points, I’m told. Today’s iPad Pro starts at $799.
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MacDailyNews Take: Are you waiting for new iPads?
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Apple in deal with Shutterstock to use hundreds of millions of images, videos, and music files for GenAI training
After ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, Apple struck an agreement with stock image provider Shutterstock to use hundreds of millions of images, videos, and music files in its library for training, Reuters reports citing “a person familiar with the arrangements.”
Katie Paul and Anna Tong for Reuters:
Reuters spoke to more than 30 people with knowledge of AI data deals, including current and former executives at companies involved, lawyers and consultants, to provide the first in-depth exploration of this fledgling market – detailing the types of content being bought, the prices materializing, plus emerging concerns about the risk of personal data making its way into AI models without people’s knowledge or explicit consent.
The data land grab comes as makers of big generative AI “foundation” models face increasing pressure to account for the massive amounts of content they feed into their systems, a process known as “training” that requires intensive computing power and often takes months to complete.
AI model makers have started hedging risks and securing data-supply chains, both through deals with content owners and via a burgeoning industry of data brokers that has popped up to satisfy demand.
In the months after ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, for instance, companies including Meta, Google, Amazon and Apple all struck agreements with stock image provider Shutterstock to use hundreds of millions of images, videos and music files in its library for training, according to a person familiar with the arrangements.
The deals with Big Tech firms initially ranged from $25 million to $50 million each, though most were later expanded, Shutterstock’s Chief Financial Officer Jarrod Yahes told Reuters… Yahes declined to comment on individual contracts. The Apple agreement, and the size of the other deals, haven’t previously been made public.
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MacDailyNews Take: Deals for training data are one piece of the puzzle that Apple is years behind assembling.
Generative AI chatbots require large, dedicated data centers which will take Apple time (years) to build out, if they are planning on owning this technology instead of just farming it out. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
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Apple Silicon supplier TSMC wins $6.6 billion U.S. subsidy for Arizona chip production
Apple Silicon supplier TSMC has been awarded a $6.6 billion U.S. subsidy and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans for Arizona chip production.
David Shepardson and Stephanie Kelly:
The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it would award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.
TSMC agreed to expand its planned investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona fab by 2030, Commerce said in announcing the preliminary award. The Taiwanese company will produce the world’s most advanced 2 nanometer technology at its second Arizona fab expected to begin production in 2028, the department said.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia, had previously announced plans to invest $40 billion in Arizona. TSMC expects to begin high-volume production in its first U.S. fab there by the first half of 2025, Commerce said.
Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in research and manufacturing subsidies. Lawmakers also approved $75 billion in government loan authority.
TSMC Arizona has also committed to support the development of advanced packaging capabilities through partners in the U.S. to allow customers to purchase advanced chips that are made entirely on U.S. soil, the department said, adding 70% of TSMC customers were U.S. companies.
At full capacity, TSMC’s three fabs in Arizona will manufacture tens of millions of leading-edge chips in 5G/6G smartphones, autonomous vehicles, and AI data center servers, the department said.
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MacDailyNews Take: We imagine a cartoon where aliens are viewing Earth from their ship’s bridge and laughing, “They put all of their advanced chip-making on a tiny island atop a major fault line under threat from a huge communist – ‘remember when we consigned that wretched, failed system to history’s dustbin eons ago?’ – authoritarian state that thinks it owns it! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”
Whatever it takes to bring some real diversification to advanced chip-making for the U.S. and the world.
See also:
• U.S. Senate considers $30 billion in funding to boost domestic chipmaking – March 5, 2021
• Apple supplier TSMC to build multibillion-dollar chip plant in Arizona with Trump admin backing – May 14, 2020
• TSMC expands U.S. manufacturing with $12 billion chip fabrication plant – May 17, 2020
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Apple Watch chief Kevin Lynch moved into company’s AI group
Apple has recently moved Apple Watch project head Kevin Lynch into, and nearly atop, the company’s AI group.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
One of the “palace intrigue” stories that got overshadowed by the Apple car cancellation is the shifting role of Kevin Lynch, who oversaw the project during the last few years.
For about a decade, Lynch reported to Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams. In addition to handling the car duties, he has run software engineering for the Apple Watch under Williams.
In a curious shift, Lynch has now begun to report to John Giannandrea, Apple’s AI chief. Lynch and Williams continue to oversee the Apple Watch, which raises the question: Why was the move necessary?
People close to the matter believe Lynch’s move is meant to bring order to an area that has befuddled Apple: AI.
With AI, it’s no secret Apple has been struggling to create large language models and other tools that can compete with the industry’s best. If Giannandrea ultimately ends up leaving the company, Lynch — who has been due for a promotion to the senior vice president level — could be primed to take his place.
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MacDailyNews Take: Is some accountability for Apple’s current deer-in-the-headlights “we’ll have to license it from Google” situation actually incoming?
Apple pays and has been paying John Giannandrea, Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, millions upon millions of dollars for years. WTF of any import does he really do? WTF of any import has he really delivered? Have you used Siri lately? Yup, it’s still a steaming pile of dogshit.
Where’s Apple’s generative AI, John? “Too hard; too late; look for partners; gimme my paycheck and stock options.” AAPL shareholders need to start asking real questions of these executives, especially those who are supposed in charge of Apple’s “AI Strategy,” when the company clearly has none. How about some accountability for once? – MacDailyNews, March 18, 2024
The consequences of Apple leaderships’ lack of vision will affect the company for years.
Generative AI chatbots require large, dedicated data centers which will take Apple time (years) to build out, if they are planning on owning this technology instead of just farming it out. – MacDailyNews, March 26, 2024
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