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Apple renews hit space drama ‘For All Mankind’ for season five, reveals new ‘Star City’ spinoff series
Following its critically acclaimed fourth season, which has been praised as “the best-written show on all of television” and “superior sci-fi,” Apple TV+’s hit, award-winning space drama series “For All Mankind” has landed a renewal for season five.
Additionally, Apple TV+ and “For All Mankind” creators Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi will expand the “For All Mankind” universe with a brand-new spinoff series, “Star City,” which will be showrun by Nedivi and Wolpert. Both series are produced for Apple TV+ by Sony Pictures Television.
“Our fascination with the Soviet space program has grown with every season of ‘For All Mankind,’” said executive producers Wolpert and Nedivi. “The more we learned about this secret city in the forests outside Moscow where the Soviet cosmonauts and engineers worked and lived, the more we wanted to tell this story of the other side of the space race. We could not be more excited to continue building out the alternate history universe of ‘For All Mankind’ with our partners at Apple and Sony.”
“With each new season, ‘For All Mankind’ continues to build out a fascinating world and capture global audiences through high quality storytelling that has been so skillfully developed by Ron, Matt and Ben,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+. “There is so much to explore, and we, along with our partners at Sony, can’t wait to dive into this next chapter of the engrossing ‘For All Mankind’ universe.”
A robust expansion of the “For All Mankind” universe, “Star City” is a propulsive, paranoid thriller that takes us back to the key moment in the alt-history retelling of the space race — when the Soviet Union became the first nation to put a man on the moon. But this time, we explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, showing the lives of the cosmonauts, the engineers and the intelligence officers embedded among them in the Soviet space program, and the risks they all took to propel humanity forward. “Star City” is created by Wolpert, Nedivi, and Moore. Nedivi and Wolpert serve as showrunners and executive produce alongside Moore and Maril Davis of Tall Ship Productions.
Since its global debut, “For All Mankind” has been widely acclaimed as “one of the best shows on television,” and season four holds a perfect 100% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“For All Mankind” is created by Emmy Award winner Moore, and Emmy nominees Wolpert and Nedivi. Wolpert and Nedivi serve as showrunners and executive produce alongside Moore and Davis of Tall Ship Productions, as well as David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, Seth Edelstein and Kira Snyder. “For All Mankind” is produced for Apple TV+ by Sony Pictures Television.
The latest season of “For All Mankind” rocketed the series into the new millennium. In the eight years since season three, Happy Valley has rapidly expanded its footprint on Mars by turning former foes into partners. It’s now 2003, and the focus of the space program has turned to the capture and mining of extremely valuable, mineral-rich asteroids that could change the future of both Earth and Mars. But simmering tensions between the residents of the now-sprawling international base threaten to undo everything they are working toward.
All four seasons of “For All Mankind” are now streaming globally on Apple TV+.
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 been honored with 482 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: Well-deserved!
“For All Mankind” imagines a world in which… the space program remained the cultural centerpiece of America’s hopes and dreams.
Imagine that. – MacDailyNews, October 16, 2019
As we wrote back in February 2016:
A U.S. President with true leadership abilities would immediately boost NASA’s budget ten-fold (at the very least) and patiently explain to the naysayers why it is important to push the envelope and that NASA’s budget, even with a ten-fold increase, is barely a drop in the ocean.
There hasn’t been a U.S. President with a vision of the future beyond his own term(s) and the nu… guts to stand by his beliefs in the face of PITA whiners who want every single last cent to blow on wasteful, redundant boondoggles (which somehow magically materialize into waterfront homes for lobbyists) since… we can’t remember when.
Imagine a Steve Jobs as U.S. President 30, 40 years ago. People would be living on the moon and Mars today with outposts on Europa.
It’s been 43 years, 1 month, and 28 days since man last set foot on the moon. Every person on earth should be profoundly embarrassed by that fact.
“The United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by those who moved forward, and so will space.” — President John F. Kennedy
“There are so many benefits to be derived from space exploration and exploitation; why not take what seems to me the only chance of escaping what is otherwise the sure destruction of all that humanity has struggled to achieve for 50,000 years?” — Isaac Asimov
“Earth is too small a basket for mankind to keep all its eggs in.” — Robert A. Heinlein
“It’s too bad, but the way American people are, now that they have all this capability, instead of taking advantage of it, they’ll probably just piss it all away.” — President Lyndon B. Johnson, overheard during a visit to the Apollo 7 crew in training, 1968.
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Apple fixes iPhone bug that suggested Palestinian flag when some users typed ‘Jerusalem’
Apple has fixed a bug that suggested the Palestinian flag emoji when some users searched for the word “Jerusalem” in the emoji keyboard.
Samantha Murphy Kelly for CNN:
On Tuesday, the company addressed the bug with the latest beta software release of iOS 17.5, just a few days after it said it was working on a fix.
Apple’s previous update was introduced on March 21, but the recent discovery of the bug upset some users on social media. In one April 9 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 at the time 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, however, Apple’s machine-learning technology determined the suggested emoji based on analyzing texts from millions of its users…
In 2017, the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, reversing decades of American foreign policy.
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MacDailyNews Take: Again, 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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Maxim Group issues ‘Hold’ on Apple stock, cites over-dependence on China
Maxim Group on Wednesday initiated coverage of Apple (AAPL) with a “Hold” rating and $178 price target. Apple is too dependent on China, from a sales and supply-chain standpoint, and it is overweight a single product, the iPhone, when it comes to its near-term operating results, the firm says.
Emilio Ghigini for Investing.com:
The firm’s assessment points to several challenges that they believe could restrain Apple’s stock performance.
Among these challenges are Apple’s significant reliance on China for both sales, which accounted for 18.9% of the company’s total in fiscal year 2023, and its supply chain operations.
The analysis also highlighted Apple’s dependence on a single product line, noting that the iPhone represented 52.3% of the company’s operating results in the same fiscal period. This over-reliance on the iPhone is seen as a potential risk factor for the company’s near-term financial health.
Furthermore, Maxim Group is closely observing a range of factors that could potentially lead to a period where Apple’s stock does not appreciate in value, which they refer to as a “prolonged dead-money period.” The issues under scrutiny include the ongoing scrutiny and potential impact of antitrust and regulatory challenges, a possible demand imbalance for consumer electronics, and increasing competition in the tech sector.
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MacDailyNews Take: While Maxim is not wrong about Apple’s over-dependence on China, that 12-month AAPL target price is hopefully way too low.
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Apple CEO Cook’s visit to Indonesia is all about China
Apple will consider building an assembly facility in Indonesia, CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday after meeting President Joko Widodo, who hoped the tech giant would increase its local production by partnering with domestic firms. Cook’s visit to Indonesia is all about China, Jack Denton writes for Barron’s:
“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it’s something that we will look at,” Cook said at a press conference, according to Antara. “I think the investment ability in Indonesia is endless.”
Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, and not the first to receive positive signs of investment from Cook during his visit to the region. Apple’s CEO said on Monday that the company would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam.
Most of the company’s product assembly takes place in China, which has become a pressure on Apple amid rising U.S.-China tensions and broader worries about decoupling trade. A new manufacturing base in Indonesia could help Apple diversify its supply chain and reduce some of its reliance on China.
Halo Indonesia, apa kabar? Sate Ayam with iPhone photographer Sofyan Pratama was a perfect way to start my time in Jakarta! Looking forward to meeting even more of Indonesia’s creative community and developers while I’m here! pic.twitter.com/jh8NnCHctJ
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 16, 2024
iPhone Photographer Nyimas Laula introduced me to a celebrated ancient Indonesian art form today at the Wayang Museum. Thank you to all the wonderful performers! pic.twitter.com/zaaPh1ppO0
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 17, 2024
The creative community in Indonesia is exciting and growing! I spent time with five content creators today – Joerdy, Bertus, Malvin, Indra, & Verren – who are sharing their passion for technology and helping inspire a new generation of creators. pic.twitter.com/R8gZJE20NG
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 17, 2024
Proud to visit our Apple Developer Academy in Jakarta to celebrate the accomplishments of the current developer class & more than 2,000 alumni. We're looking forward to opening a new Academy in Bali to support even more developers. Thank you Indonesia for a great visit! pic.twitter.com/X9tuOghOgL
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 17, 2024
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MacDailyNews Take: Again, the more of Apple’s assembly that’s free of CCP-controlled China, the better.
• Apple cannot divest their dependence on China quickly enough (because they started years too late). – MacDailyNews. August 17, 2022
• Diversify, diversify, diversify – especially away from CCP-controlled China. – MacDailyNews, October 19, 2022
• The time to accelerate plans to move production out of China was November 9th 2016, but, hey, six years late is better than never! – MacDailyNews, December 4, 2022
• The less dependence Apple has on China, the better. – MacDailyNews, December 12, 2023
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who opened relations with China in the early 1970’s, just before his death in 1994 remarked on China: We may have created a Frankenstein.
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Apple considering an assembly facility in Indonesia
Apple will consider building an assembly facility in Indonesia, CEO Tim Cook said on Wednesday after meeting President Joko Widodo, who hoped the tech giant would increase its local production by partnering with domestic firms.
Reuters:
Apple chief executive Tim Cook arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday after visiting Vietnam. He met with Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, and will inaugurate its fourth developer academy on the island of Bali.
“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it is something that we will look at,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.
Apple has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, but since 2018 it has been setting up app developer academies, which including the new academy have a total cost of 1.6 trillion rupiah ($99 million).
Indonesia’s industry minister, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who also attended the meeting, told reporters that if Apple decided to build manufacturing facility in Indonesia, it would have the capacity to produce for export.
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MacDailyNews Take: Diversifying production away from China is a Good Thing.
• Apple cannot divest their dependence on China quickly enough (because they started years too late). – MacDailyNews. August 17, 2022
• Diversify, diversify, diversify – especially away from CCP-controlled China. – MacDailyNews, October 19, 2022
• The time to accelerate plans to move production out of China was November 9th 2016, but, hey, six years late is better than never! – MacDailyNews, December 4, 2022
• The less dependence Apple has on China, the better. – MacDailyNews, December 12, 2023
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who opened relations with China in the early 1970’s, just before his death in 1994 remarked on China: We may have created a Frankenstein.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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Apple TV+ series ‘Franklin’ spotlights Benjamin Franklin’s greatest achievement
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.
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.
Craig Bruce Smith for TIME Magazine:
Franklin, his key, and his kite have graced everything from portraits to postage stamps to tea cups and tank tops for centuries. He was arguably the most famous man in the world. But those flashes of electricity loom so large that they have unfortunately blinded many from Franklin’s greatest achievement: the signing of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France.
That’s why it’s most welcome and important that Apple TV’s new eight-part series, Franklin, starring Michael Douglas, sheds light on something besides lightening.
Franklin offers a nuanced and generally accurate take on the alliance that brought France into the American Revolution and the 1783 Treaty of Paris that concluded the war.
The 79-year-old Michael Douglas convincingly plays a septuagenarian Franklin and brings in some of the Franklin-esque humor that was sorely lacking in Ken Burns’ version—historically accurate fart jokes and all.
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MacDailyNews Take:
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Apple stock drops as analyst calls growth outlook ‘anemic and/or negative’
Apple stock fell again in Tuesday trading after a Wall Street firm lowered its estimates for the company’s March quarter following channel checks that showed lower iPhone sales and weakness in China.
Patrick Seitz for Investor’s Business Daily:
Needham analyst Laura Martin cut her estimates for Apple’s fiscal second quarter, but maintained her buy rating on Apple stock. She noted that the consumer electronics giant faces significant headwinds.
“Apple’s anemic and/or negative growth outlook, along with expected cost increases to fund GenAI (generative artificial intelligence), are the biggest gating factors preventing new investors from buying AAPL, based on our conversations,” Martin said in a client note.
The channel checks showing lower iPhone sales were partially offset by slightly higher-than-expected revenue from iPad and Mac computer sales.
For the March quarter… she is modeling Apple earnings per share of $1.51, down 1%, on total sales of $90.8 billion, down 4%, for fiscal Q2. Analysts polled by FactSet are looking for earnings of $1.51 a share on sales of $90.7 billion.
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MacDailyNews Note: Martin maintained price target on Apple stock of $220.
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Apple faces $8 billion in profit risk, other problems – analyst
Apple’s stock has been under pressure for most of the year and, besides iPhone’s sales issues in China, investors might want to take note of other potential issues ahead, a Wall Street analyst says.
Karishma Vanjani for Barron’s:
Shares are down 12% this year compared with a 6% gain for the S&P 500… [A]nalysts predict March quarter sales will fall 4.3% from the year earlier. Apple has abandoned its decade-long effort to produce cars and the latest data showed iPhone shipments dropped almost 10% in the first quarter.
Closing arguments in an antitrust case against Google’s monopoly on internet search are first, from May 1-3. The case targets the roughly $18 billion in estimated payments made to Apple every year for Google’s default placement for search on Apple devices.
“The potential punishment that would have the greatest impact on Apple would be for the judge to forbid the payment for default search placement arrangement,” wrote Evercore’s Amit Daryanani on Tuesday. He estimated about $8 billion in fiscal net income is at risk for Apple.
The Justice Department, in a separate March lawsuit, has also contended that Apple violated antitrust laws to cement the iPhone’s dominant position in the smartphone market using various strategies. Daryanani doesn’t see a material impact to Apple’s revenue from this challenge.
The government could lose both cases.
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MacDailyNews Note: Analysts’ consensus is currently looking for Apple to report $1.51 EPS (vs. $1.52 YoY) on revenue of $90.7 billion (vs. $94.8 billion YoY) for its second fiscal quarter. Apple will report Q224 results on Thursday, May 2, 2024 after market close.
[I]n the March quarter a year ago, we were able to replenish channel inventory and fulfill significant pent-up demand from the constraints. We estimate that this impact added close to $5 billion to the March quarter’s total revenue last year. When we remove this impact from last year’s revenue, we expect both our March quarter total company revenue and iPhone revenue to be similar to a year ago. – Apple CFO Luca Maestri, May 4, 2023
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Apple TV+ announces new thriller series ‘Down Cemetery Road,’ starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson
Apple TV+ on Tuesday announced new thriller series “Down Cemetery Road,” starring and executive produced by Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Emma Thompson (“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” “Sense and Sensibility”) who plays struggling Oxford private eye Zoë Boehm, alongside Golden Globe and two-time Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson (“Luther,” “The Affair,” “His Dark Materials”) as Sarah Tucker, who becomes obsessed with the whereabouts of a child she believes to have gone missing. Morwenna Banks (“Funny Woman,” “Miss You Already,” “Slow Horses”) serves as lead writer and executive producer.
“‘Down Cemetery Road’ has all the hallmarks of Mick Herron’s funny and acerbic writing, and I’m delighted we will be bringing it to life for Apple TV+ with such a stellar cast,” said Jay Hunt, creative director, Europe, Apple TV+, in a statement. “Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson will make it an unmissable companion piece for ‘Slow Horses’ on our service.”
When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a girl disappears in the aftermath, neighbor Sarah Tucker becomes obsessed with finding her and enlists the help of private investigator Zoë Boehm. Zoë and Sarah suddenly find themselves in a complex conspiracy that reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.
The series is executive produced by Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta and Tom Nash at 60Forty Films, alongside executive producers Banks, Thompson and “Down Cemetery Road” author Mick Herron. Natalie Bailey (“Audrey,” “Bay of Fires,” “Run”) serves as lead director for the series.
“Down Cemetery Road” joins the recently renewed multi-BAFTA Award-nominated espionage drama “Slow Horses” on Apple TV+. “Slow Horses,” on which Banks also wrote, is based on Herron’s celebrated “Slough House” book series and stars Academy Award winner Gary Oldman.
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 482 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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Major Apple supplier TSMC first-quarter profit expected to rise 5% on strong AI chip demand
Major Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the dominant producer of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications, is expected to report a 5% rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday thanks to strong AI chip demand.
Reuters:
The world’s largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from a surge towards AI that has helped it weather the tapering off of pandemic-led electronics demand and pushed TSMC’s stock to a record high.
TSMC is set to report a net profit of T$217.2 billion ($6.71 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, according to an LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 22 analysts. SmartEstimates give greater weighting to forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.
That compares to the first-quarter net profit of T$206.9 billion last year.
TSMC last week reported a 16.5% rise in first-quarter revenue, beating market expectations and at the high end of the company’s own guidance.
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MacDailyNews Take: Can’t wait until they’re stamping our M4 SoCs for shipping Macs!
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Apple TV+ series ‘Silo’ Season 2 is in the can
Silo is the story of the last ten thousand people on earth, their mile-deep home protecting them from the toxic and deadly world outside. However, no one knows when or why the silo was built and any who try to find out face fatal consequences. Rebecca Ferguson stars as Juliette, an engineer, who seeks answers about a loved one’s murder and tumbles onto a mystery that goes far deeper than she could have ever imagined, leading her to discover that if the lies don’t kill you, the truth will.
And now, series star Rebecca Ferguson says Silo Season 2 is in the can and Seasons 3 and 4 are in the planning stages.
Chris McPherson for Collider:
Rebecca Ferguson, the star of Apple TV+’s critically acclaimed series Silo, has revealed ambitious plans for the show’s future, hinting that the final two seasons might film at the same time, potentially wrapping up the series in a dramatic finale, as she exclusively revealed during a chat with Collider‘s Steve Weintraub to talk about the hit series. The dystopian series, based on the bestselling Wool trilogy by Hugh Howey, has been a critical hit and one of Apple TV+’s best-received shows.
The lush, big-budget adaptation has expanded the scope of Howey’s universe, planning to stretch the three-book series across four televised seasons. Discussing the intended lifespan of the series, Ferguson noted that they’ve already got an ending in sight, and that there were plans in motion to film the final two seasons concurrently to get the work done as efficiently as possible.
I believe that the show has an ending, and I know when that is. So that’s the answer. You will find out when the show is done. To be honest, I don’t think it’s a secret. The books are the books. It’s three books, and the three books are divided into four seasons. So I believe, unless any Apple person is gonna jump on, I think we’re absolutely fine with saying Season 1, we’ve done. Season 2 is shot and coming out, and we’re now looking at green-lighting Seasons 3 and 4. And I think we would film them maybe together, and that would be the end. – Rebecca Ferguson
Silo‘s second season hasn’t yet been given a release date. You can see the first season on Apple TV+ now.
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MacDailyNews Take: Here’s the official trailer:
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Apple Original Films lands ‘Bread & Roses’ documentary, premieres June 21st on Apple TV+
Apple Original Films has landed the global rights to new feature documentary “Bread & Roses” that explores the resistance of a group of Afghan women against the Taliban.
The film is produced by Excellent Cadaver’s (“Causeway”) Jennifer Lawrence and Justine Ciarrocchi, alongside human rights advocate and executive producer Malala Yousafzai’s (“Joyland”) production company Extracurricular, and director Sahra Mani (“A Thousand Girls Like Me”). Following its celebrated debut at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, “Bread & Roses” is set to premiere globally on Apple TV+ on June 21.
Apple Inc.:
“Closing girls’ schools in Afghanistan is not just a matter of feminist concern; rather, it is a matter of international security,” said director and producer Sahra Mani. “The Taliban recognizes that the children of educated mothers are difficult to indoctrinate and are less susceptible to becoming their future soldiers. Ensuring that girls’ schools remain open in Afghanistan is crucial for the preservation and safety of our entire world.”
“Bread & Roses” offers a powerful window into the seismic impact that the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 2021 had on women’s rights and livelihoods. The film follows three women in real time as they fight to recover their autonomy. Mani captures the spirit and resilience of Afghan women through a raw depiction of their harrowing plight.
“Bread & Roses,” an Eyan Foundation presentation in association with Extracurricular, is produced by Lawrence and Ciarrocchi with Mani, alongside executive producers Yousafzai and Farhad Khosravi. Mani directs the film.
“Bread & Roses” joins the award-winning slate of Apple Original documentary films, including Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim’s “STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” which recently swept the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with five wins, alongside four Emmy Awards; Emmy Award-nominated “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me,” a uniquely raw and intimate documentary spanning her six-year journey into a new light; a new upcoming documentary film about the groundbreaking life and career of seven-time Formula One world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton; and many more.
About Apple Original Films
Momentum around the Apple Original Films slate continues to grow since the debut of Apple TV+ four years ago. In addition to Apple making history as the first streaming service to land the Academy Award for Best Picture with “CODA,” Apple Original Film “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” also earned the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, and earlier this year “Killers of the Flower Moon” landed 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Highly anticipated Apple Original Films include an upcoming Jon Watts thriller starring Academy Award winners George Clooney and Brad Pitt who will both produce under Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures and Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment; “Blitz,” from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen; an untitled Formula 1 feature film starring Brad Pitt from director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer; 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 Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
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Truth Social to launch streaming platform on Apple’s iOS, Android, and Web
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., operator of the social media platform Truth Social, announced today that after six months of testing on its Web and iOS platforms, the company has finished the research and development phase of its new live TV streaming platform via the Truth Social app for Apple’s iOS, Android, and Web and will begin scaling up its own content delivery network (CDN).
Trump Media & Technology Group:
TMTG plans to roll out its streaming content in three phases:
• Phase 1: Introduce Truth Social’s CDN for streaming live TV to the Truth Social app for Android, iOS, and Web.
• Phase 2: Release stand-alone Truth Social over-the-top (“OTT”) streaming apps for phones, tablets, and other devices.
• Phase 3: Release Truth Social streaming apps for home TV.
The streaming content is expected to focus on live TV including news networks, religious channels, family-friendly content including films and documentaries; and other content that has been cancelled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed on other platforms and services.
“We’re excited to move forward with the next big phase for Truth Social,” said TMTG CEO Devin Nunes. “With our streaming content, we aim to provide a permanent home for high-quality news and entertainment that face discrimination by other channels and content delivery services. There is a lot of great content that simply can’t find an audience for unjust reasons, and we want to let these creators know they’ll soon have a guaranteed platform where they won’t be cancelled.”
Much like the Truth Social platform, the Company’s CDN is intended to operate efficiently, cost-effectively and independent of Big Tech. The network is designed to be user friendly, incorporating cutting edge technology to optimize speed, performance, and security for video streaming while minimizing interruptions. TMTG’s CDN is expected to greatly enhance and expand Truth Social, an iconic Trump brand whose free-speech mission resonates deeply with its community of users and supporters.
About TMTG
The mission of TMTG is to end Big Tech’s assault on free speech by opening up the Internet and giving people their voices back. TMTG operates Truth Social, a social media platform established as a safe harbor for free expression amid increasingly harsh censorship by Big Tech corporations.
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MacDailyNews Note: TheTruth Social social media app can be found here on Apple’s U.S. App Store.
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Apple CEO Cook vows to increase investment in Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Apple CEO Tim Cook Cook met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Tuesday and said that Apple wants to further boost quality investment and cooperation activities in the country, according to state-owned media VTV.
Quynh Nguyen for Bloomberg News:
Vietnam has seen about a fourfold increase in companies assembling Apple products over the past decade.
The Cupertino, California-based company, in a statement, said the company is increasing its commitments to Vietnam by an unspecified amount. Apple has spent nearly 400 trillion dong ($16 billion) in the country since 2019 through its supply chain partners, the company said.
Cook, who landed in the capital city of Hanoi Monday morning, has visited with Vietnamese programmers, content creators and singers during his two-day visit to the nation’s capital of Hanoi, local media reported.
Developers CollaNote & ELSA Speak walked me through how they use Apple products to help customers boost productivity and learn. Bootloader Studio shared the new app they’re working on for Vision Pro. All three are fantastic examples of Vietnam’s fast growing developer community! pic.twitter.com/YjOxyB6qTJ
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 15, 2024
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MacDailyNews Take: More from Cook about his visit to SRV via X:
Halo Indonesia, apa kabar? Sate Ayam with iPhone photographer Sofyan Pratama was a perfect way to start my time in Jakarta! Looking forward to meeting even more of Indonesia’s creative community and developers while I’m here! pic.twitter.com/jh8NnCHctJ
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 16, 2024
Hanoi Star School is a shining example how educators are incorporating iPad into the classroom in meaningful ways. Thank you Principal Nhan, educators, students & Giang Oi for letting me join your environment lesson where we learned ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle. pic.twitter.com/Qpe5LHZmtA
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 16, 2024
Thanks to the very talented VietMax for showing me how iPhone and iPad fit into his dance and street art workflows, and to rapper Suboi for sharing her newest song in Spatial Audio! It was incredible to see the energetic Vietnamese hip-hop culture! pic.twitter.com/OrckdJSZV3
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 15, 2024
Phuong Vu and his team are wildly creative. They showed me how they use iPhone, iPad, and Mac to bring everything and anything from their imagination to life in Nirvana Space – an artistic workshop like no other! pic.twitter.com/jpsjLsnv6O
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 15, 2024
Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi is as beautiful as it is iconic! It was amazing to spend time with Duy and see his creative process using Cinematic mode on iPhone 15 Pro. pic.twitter.com/5INkRcew1r
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 15, 2024
Xin chào, Vietnam! Thank you to the very talented musicians My Linh and My Anh for such a warm welcome. And I loved the egg coffee! pic.twitter.com/vBGwatuXG1
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 15, 2024
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Apple Developer Academy expands to Bali, Indonesia
Today Apple announced it will open Indonesia’s fourth Apple Developer Academy in Bali, expanding on its investment to increase opportunities for developers, students, and entrepreneurs looking to embark on careers in the region’s growing iOS app economy.
Since Indonesia’s first Apple Developer Academy launched in Jakarta in 2018, Apple has opened academies in Surabaya and Batam, and more than 2,000 aspiring developers have completed the program. As a testament to the academy’s impact, 90 percent of its graduates have gone on to find meaningful employment in various sectors spanning education, e-commerce, transportation, sustainability, and more.
“We’ve seen many times over that a line of code can change the world — and in Indonesia, we’re investing in the creativity and skills of people determined to prove it,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “We’re excited by the growing developer community in Indonesia, and we look forward to investing in the success of even more coders with our fourth academy in the country.”
The academy’s nine-month program covers the basics of coding, as well as areas such as design, marketing, and project management, empowering students with the full suite of skills needed to become world-class entrepreneurs and developers. To encourage cross-cultural exchange, the Bali campus will accept applications not just from Indonesia, but across the globe, regardless of educational background or coding experience.
The academies in Indonesia have welcomed students from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds. To date, the cohorts have comprised students from over 90 cities across Indonesia, ranging between 18 and 50 years old, each of whom brings new ideas and life experiences to app designs and business plans.
Alumni can also participate in other Apple educational programs and resources, such as the Apple Developer Center in Singapore and Apple Entrepreneur Camp which offer additional mentorship, inspiration, and insights from Apple experts and engineers.
Since the first Apple Developer Academy opened in Brazil, the program has grown to more locations around the world, including Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and the U.S.
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MacDailyNews Take: More info about Apple’s developer resources here.
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Apple removes the first iOS Game Boy emulator released under new App Store rules
Over the weekend, developer Mattia La Spina launched iGBA as one of the first retro game emulators legitimately available on the iOS App Store following Apple’s rules change regarding such emulators earlier this month, but Apple has since pulled the app.
Kyle Orland for Ars Technica:
As of Monday morning, though, iGBA has been pulled from the App Store following controversy over the unauthorized reuse of source code from a different emulator project.
Shortly after iGBA’s launch, some people on social media began noticing that the project appeared to be based on the code for GBA4iOS, a nearly decade-old emulator that developer Riley Testut and a partner developed as high-schoolers (and distributed via a temporary security hole in the iOS App Store). Testut took to social media Sunday morning to call iGBA a “knock-off” of GBA4iOS. “I did not give anyone permission to do this, yet it’s now sitting at the top of the charts (despite being filled with ads + tracking),” he wrote.
GBA4iOS is an open source program released under the GNU GPLv2 license, with licensing terms that let anyone “use, modify, and distribute my original code for this project without fear of legal consequences.” But those expansive licensing terms only apply “unless you plan to submit your app to Apple’s App Store, in which case written permission from me is explicitly required.”
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MacDailyNews Note: Testut said via Mastodon, “To be clear, I’m not pissed at the developer. I’m pissed that Apple took the time to change the App Store rules to allow emulators, and then approved a knock-off of my own app…”
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Apple Music team in ‘crunch mode’ ahead of Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ album release
Ahead of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” new album release on April 19th, the Apple Music team is in crunch mode getting all of the associated content ready.
Apple Music released a new game on the streaming platform to commemorate April 13 — the number associated with Taylor Swift — to tease her 11th era that will be released overnight Thursday when the clock strikes midnight eastern time.
Fans can search for a word a day in the lyrics throughout one of her five new playlists. The full message will be revealed on April 18. And like with her custom voice memos on the platform, Swift is in on the action.
On Saturday, Taylor Nation (Swift’s marketing team) sent out a post tagging Apple Music. On Taylor Nation’s story there was a glitch effect pointing Apple Music users to the song, “Glitch” where there were six capital letters hidden in the lyrics revealing the secret word.
While the world anticipates the new music, Apple Music is in crunch mode getting all of the associated content ready.
Fast-forward to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday night. The team at Apple Music will huddle in their offices on both coasts of the U.S. to watch their “Tortured Poets” hard work get released to the masses.
During all major album releases, threads on Slack channels light up as Apple Music employees communicate the rollout. At the stroke of a new day, the music label releases the album, which streams through the platform and is paired with the content Apple spent months cultivating. The process, at this point, is seamless, but all hands are on deck to ensure the new artwork, lyrics and, of course, music are being consumed without any glitches.
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MacDailyNews Take: All hands of deck for what will be, quite likely, Apple Music’s biggest album release of the year.
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Apple CEO Cook visits Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Hanoi on Monday, starting a two-day visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a key manufacturing hub for the company, during which he is expected to meet students and content creators, according to Socialist Republic of Vietnam state media.
Reuters:
Cook will also meet users of Apple products to better understand how they are employed, online newspaper VietnamNet said.
Apple would boost its connection with local suppliers, clean water projects and education opportunities, it quoted Cook as saying on arrival.
Last week, more than 60 human and environmental rights bodies pressed Apple in a letter to take action on Vietnam’s detention of climate experts, with activist organisations urging it to weigh in on the matter, given its manufacturing links.
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MacDailyNews Note: Apple manufactures iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam and suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
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Apple TV+ announces explosive new documentary event ‘Hollywood Con Queen,’ featuring the unbelievable story of one of Hollywood’s biggest scams, to premiere May 8th
Apple TV+ on Monday announced a series order for riveting new three-part documentary series “Hollywood Con Queen,” from Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Chris Smith (“Tiger King,” “Fyre,” “100 Foot Wave”). Based on the original reporting of investigative journalist Scott Johnson, and his book published by Harper Collins, “Hollywood Con Queen: The Hunt for an Evil Genius,” “Hollywood Con Queen” explores the shocking story behind one of Hollywood’s biggest scams. The series is set to debut globally on Apple TV+ on May 8, 2024.
A mysterious figure dubbed the ‘Con Queen’ impersonates the industry’s most powerful women, luring unsuspecting victims to Indonesia with the promise of a life-changing career opportunity. The ‘Con Queen’s’ marks exhaust their personal finances in pursuit of a big break, while being exploited in a perverse psychological game spanning the globe. The scam eventually draws the attention of veteran investigative journalist Johnson of The Hollywood Reporter, and dedicated private investigator Nicole Kotsianas, formerly of K2 Integrity, who set out to find the truth only to discover a story more strange than they could have imagined.
“Hollywood Con Queen” is produced for Apple TV+ by Library Films, with Smith serving as director and executive producer alongside executive producer Ben Anderson. Johnson serves as consulting producer.
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 482 wins and 2,142 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ted Lasso” and historic Oscar Best Picture winner “CODA.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
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Apple’s iPhone orders in March 2024 were better than expected – Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is bullish on what they see as better than expected iPhone order volume across Apple’s supply chain in recent weeks.
Mike Wuerthele for AppleInsider:
[Morgan Stanley analystErik Woodring notes that the firm’s Greater China team has raised June quarter iPhone builds — which will partially encompass the fall iPhone 16 cycle.
The investment firm does note that Apple has had the worst start in a calendar year in a decade. At the same time, that in recent weeks there has been an upside to previous predictions, up to 5 percent more than previously predicted.
Woodring’s positive estimates are derived from conversations with Foxconn. They are then paired with strong interest in older iPhone model sales in emerging markets, and stability everywhere other than China.
The note points out that there is a March quarter revenue upside to the estimates, and potentially less June-quarter downsides than previously predicted.
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MacDailyNews Take: Morgan Stanley maintains its $220 price target on Apple shares.
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