Tag: Apple

Apple may launch a folding iPad in 2024: Apple analyst

According to a recent report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to launch a foldable iPad in 2024. According to Kuo, the next iPad will not be released this year, and mass manufacturing of the new iPad Mini will start in Q1 of 2024.

These iPads will be manufactured by Anjie Technology and will contain a carbon fiber kickstand at their back.

Apple will “continue benefiting from the growing trends of foldable devices, equipped with kickstands in the future,” said Kuo.

It’s likely that the kickstand Kuo mentioned will be fixed in the iPad case since foldables can easily stand without the need for a kickstand. On the other hand, the foldable iPad might not be as stable and need a kickstand at its back for support.

While the tech giant is currently experiencing a 15 per cent decline in tablet shipments, analysts believe that the release of the first foldable iPad will be a big break for the company.

The bigger displays and OLED panels of the new iPad Pro tablets, which were also introduced, are likely to make them broader for hand usage.

A foldable tablet can significantly improve portability because it can be difficult to carry usual tablets because they often do not fit in pockets. Apple users will soon be able to carry their iPads with ease thanks to the folding iPad.

February 2, 2023
Apple CEO Tim Cook requests and receives a 40% salary cut

Apple chief executive Tim Cook will see his annual salary package trimmed by up to 40 per cent this year.

According to reports, Cook asked for a reduction in pay after receiving criticism from shareholders.

He received a total “target compensation” from Apple’s compensation committee of $49 million for 2023.

According to details, a global economic slowdown and supply chain issues caused the iPhone manufacturer’s shares to drop precipitously in 2022.

“The Compensation Committee balanced shareholder feedback, Apple’s exceptional performance, and a recommendation from Cook to adjust his compensation in light of the feedback received,” Apple said in a filing with a US financial watchdog.

Still, Cook’s annual basic salary will remain unchanged at $3 million, as well as a bonus of up to $6 million.

The biggest difference in his salary package is how he will be awarded shares in the company.

The company granted him $75 million worth of shares in 2022, half of which were based on how well Apple performed on the stock market.

For this year his stock award target has been slashed to $40 million, with three-quarters of that dependent on share performance.

The target for Cook’s compensation for 2022 was $84 million, although his actual total pay for last year was $99.4 million. That figure included $630,600 in personal security costs and $712,500 for his use of a private jet.

Earlier, Apple shareholders were asked by a top investor advisory group to vote against Cook’s pay package.

In a letter to investors, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said there are “significant concerns” over the “design and magnitude” of the package.

According to reports, Cook’s pay was surprisingly 1,447 times more than the wage of an average Apple employee.

Cook became Apple’s chief executive in August 2011, just weeks before the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

The 62-year-old’s personal wealth stands at around $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

January 14, 2023
Apple may launch iPhone 15 Pro without physical lock and volume buttons

Ming-Chi Kuo, a renowned analyst and source of Apple-related rumours, predicted that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max may not include any physical, clickable, conventional buttons when they were first released in October of last year.

And Kuo is back at it again, basically repeating the same facts. His most recent survey of Apple’s supply chain partners indicates that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are still expected to go on sale without clickable buttons in the second half of this year.

https://twitter.com/9to5macPro/status/1613236746451386371

Both phones will instead use solid-state buttons that will be assisted by extra taptic engines to mimic the sense of physical buttons when pressed.

As the only provider of the controller IC for the Taptic Engine’s solid-state buttons, Cirrus Logic is the business that stands to gain the most from Apple’s decision.

If customers like Apple’s fake buttons, according to Kuo, other firms may follow suit and add haptic buttons to their phones.

January 12, 2023
WhatsApp will stop working on older smartphones after December 31

Every year, WhatsApp discontinues support for specific devices that are considered obsolete. After December 31, the Meta-owned messaging platform will no longer be available on more than 40 smartphones, including two older iPhones.

WhatsApp is discontinuing support for devices and operating systems that are rarely used and quite old. The messenger currently supports Android 4.1 and higher, iOS 12 and higher, and KaiOS 2.5.0 and higher.

GizChina has compiled a list of 49 phones that will no longer be able to operate WhatsApp after December 31.

Apple: iPhone 5, iPhone 5c

Samsung: Galaxy Ace 2, Galaxy Core, Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3 mini, Galaxy Trend II, Galaxy Trend Lite, Galaxy Xcover 2

LG: LG Enact, Lucid 2, Optimus 4X HD, Optimus F3, Optimus F3Q, Optimus F5, Optimus F6, Optimus F7, Optimus L2 II, Optimus L3 II, Optimus L3 II Dual, Optimus L4 II, Optimus L4 II Dual, Optimus L5, Optimus L5 Dual, Optimus L5 II, Optimus L7, Optimus L7 II, Optimus L7 II Dual, Optimus Nitro HD

Sony: Xperia Arc S, Xperia miro, Xperia Neo L

Huawei: Ascend D, Ascend D1, Ascend D2, Ascend G740, Ascend Mate, Ascend P1

Given that the majority of individuals use the latest recent smartphones, very few people may be impacted by WhatsApp’s expiration. However, it’s time to upgrade if your phone is on the aforementioned list.

December 29, 2022
Apple may allow third-party app stores on iOS to make the iPhone more open

To meet EU standards outlined in the Digital Markets and Services Act, Apple intends significant improvements to iOS and other services.

According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple will redesign its platform to “open up key elements,” allowing users of the iPhone and iPad to download applications from third party app stores and websites.

Only the 27 European Union member states are expected to experience the changes, which would pave the way for a potential expansion of the services to other areas.

As corporations have time until 2024 to completely comply with the Digital Markets Act, plans for the changes are probably going to launch with iOS 17 in 2023. The implementation also includes adding new web browsing engines to iPhones and iPads as well as expanding access to the NFC chip, camera, Find My Network, and AirTag.

Gurman noted that even if developers choose not to make their apps available through the App Store, Apple still intends to charge them.

Both the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act aim to enhance privacy protection, foster fair competition, and do away with some intrusive targeted advertising. The first act, which is meant to provide improved interoperability with less significant competing services, is where Apple’s activities mostly come under.

Let’s say Cupertino chooses not to follow the regulation when it becomes effective on January 1, 2024. In that situation, regulators may impose a penalty equal to 10 per cent of the entire global turnover, up to 20 per cent for recurrent infractions.

December 17, 2022
Apple steps up iPhone 14 production shift from China to India

In an attempt to expand its manufacturing base outside of China, Apple has recruited another assembly partner for the iPhone 14 production lineup in India, according to Bloomberg.

Following Foxconn, which started making the iPhone 14 models in India in September, Taiwanese contract maker Pegatron will manufacture the model in the country.

The iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and most recently the iPhone 14 are all produced at Apple’s Taiwanese assembly partners Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron’s iPhone manufacturing facilities in India. The production of the most recent model has seen a significant reduction in the time between Chinese and Indian output from months to weeks.

In the five months since April, Apple has exported $1 billion worth of iPhones from India. Despite being modest by Chinese standards, India’s rising iPhone production indicates Apple’s willingness to invest there as a rival to China’s dominance in electronics assembly, which has recently been weakened by the latter’s zero-COVID policy.

Following an epidemic at the factory, which resulted in the metropolis of nearly 10 million people being shut down, Foxconn’s major Zhengzhou plant, which employs about 200,000 people, has been subject to the same limits. According to one report, when COVID-19 rules in China become more stringent, iPhone production might decrease by as much as 30 per cent the following month.

Despite the coincidence of events, Apple’s long-term production development plans in India are unrelated to China’s lockdown issues, even though they do serve to emphasise the company’s utter reliance on only one nation.

Apple is playing a long game by shifting its production lines away from China, one that won’t have a significant influence on its supply chain for many years. According to a recent Bloomberg article, it would take eight years to relocate just 10 per cent of Apple’s production capacity from China, where over 98 per cent of iPhones are still produced.

November 4, 2022
Apple witnesses highest sales growth in PC segment

Apple MacBooks are increasingly being purchased by more people. Apple’s sales have significantly increased compared to the previous year, despite the fact that it offers the most expensive products in the global tech market.

This is a blatant example of why customers tolerate the fact that the company sells everything at a heftier price tag but also offers top-notch quality at the same time.

The PC market experienced a 15 per cent fall in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, and it has now repeated itself, according to market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC).

In 2022, Lenovo continues to dominate the PC industry, followed by HP and Dell. Apple comes in at number four, while ASUS is positioned at the bottom of the top 5. The only firm on the list to experience a 40 per cent growth over that time was Apple; all the others had a decline.

The most recent IDC report reveals a further 15 per cent decline in PC shipments. For clarity, servers, tablets, and 2-in-1 convertibles are not considered “PCs” in this research; only desktops, laptops, and workstations are.

Positively, the overall number of shipments to consumers and distributors was 74.3 million, down from the previous quarter but up from Q1.

In 2022, it was still difficult to find PC components, which led to price increases and higher Average Selling Prices (ASP) for all computers. However, the ASP decreased in Q2 and Q3, which Linn Huang, research vice president of Devices & Displays at IDC, claims is a sign of “a market in retreat.”

October 12, 2022
Apple forced to switch to USB-C chargers as EU approves law

A new regulation mandating the adoption of a standard charger for electronic gadgets was approved by European lawmakers on Tuesday.

The rule was passed by the European Parliament, and if it becomes law, it will require that by the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets, and cameras sold in the EU incorporate USB Type-C charging ports.

This could have an impact on businesses that do not already employ USB Type-C, like Apple and others. The iPhone uses Apple’s exclusive Lightning charger. Theoretically, if Apple wanted to sell its iPhones in the EU, it would have to include the standard charging method.

The more recent iPads and MacBooks from Apple already include USB-C connections.

More than ten-year-old charge regulations are still undergoing the EU legislative process, thus they are not yet in effect.

The legislation was approved in June by the European Commission, the EU’s executive body. Now, it has received approval from the European Parliament. It now has to receive the final approval of the European Council, which is made up of representatives of the governments of EU nations, in order to become law.

The guidelines, according to EU legislators, would cut down on waste because users won’t have to buy a new charger every time they buy a new device. According to the EU, this will decrease the manufacturing and disposal of new charges.

Technically, if the legislation is approved, consumers will be able to charge compatible iPhones with a Samsung USB Type-C charger.

According to a news release from European Parliament member Alex Agius Saliba, “This future-proof law allows for the development of innovative charging solutions in the future, and it will benefit everyone — from frustrated consumers to our vulnerable environment.”

October 5, 2022
Apple to manufacture iPhone 14 in India

As the tech behemoth shifts some of its production away from China, Apple Inc. announced on Monday that it will produce its newest iPhone 14 in India.

J.P.Morgan analysts predict that by 2025, Apple may relocate a quarter of its iPhone production to India.

At an event earlier this month, the company unveiled the newest iPhone 14, emphasising safety improvements over glitzy new technical features—with the exception of a new watch designed with adventure in mind.

“The new iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities. We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” Cupertino-based tech giant said in a statement.

The analysts predict that Apple would shift roughly 5 per cent of iPhone 14 production to India starting in late 2022. India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world, after China.

In a report last week, JPM analysts predicted that by 2025, Apple may produce one in every four iPhones in India.

September 26, 2022
Apple fixes iMessage and FaceTime bugs in iPhone 14 series with new iOS update

Many purchasers were excited to get their hands on the new Apple iPhone 14 series when it was released. However, the new gadgets also include a major iOS upgrade, which implies that there are some issues.

The Cupertino-based company has now released a new support document in which it notifies purchasers about the troubles that the new iPhone 14 series is experiencing. According to the brand’s support manual, the latest 2022 iPhone models have various issues with popular basic apps such as FaceTime and iMessage. Furthermore, the business noted that both of these apps are affected by more than one problem.

One of the problems, it appears, makes receiving texts and phone calls difficult. Another notable issue is that when sending a text, green chat bubbles appear instead of blue chat bubbles. Other issues include people receiving messages from the wrong profile and conversations in Messages, which appear as two separate threads.

Read more: iPhone 13 Pro Max Vs. iPhone 14 Pro Max comparison: Everything you need to know

However, the majority of these issues have been resolved with the iOS 16.0.1 update, which has been rolled out for all iPhones that are eligible for the current software version. So, once you have your hands on a fresh new iPhone 14 series, it’s recommended that you update it right away during the first setup procedure. If it doesn’t work, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

September 18, 2022