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  • Apple Fast Facts | CNN

    Apple Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at Apple, Inc, creator of the Mac computer and the iPhone.

    The corporate headquarters are in Cupertino, California.

    As of September 2023, the company reported that it employs approximately 161,000 people full-time.

    April 1, 1976 – Apple Computers, Inc. is founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Their first product is the Apple I personal computer.

    June 1977 – The Apple II is released.

    December 1980 – Apple conducts an initial public offering of 4.6 million shares at $22 per share.

    January 1983 – Apple introduces the Lisa, a new brand of personal computer.

    January 22, 1984 – The Macintosh computer is introduced with a futuristic commercial that airs during the Super Bowl.

    1985 – Apple discontinues the Lisa after a disappointing run, and Jobs leaves the company.

    December 1996 – Apple buys Jobs’ company, NeXT Software.

    1997 – In the wake of corporate shakeups and a sales slump, Apple welcomes Jobs back as interim CEO.

    August 15, 1998 – The iMac, a streamlined personal computer, debuts.

    January 2000 – Jobs becomes permanent CEO.

    January 9, 2001 – iTunes is introduced.

    October 23, 2001 – The iPod MP3 player makes its debut.

    January 2003 – Apple releases the Safari web browser.

    April 28, 2003 – Apple introduces the iTunes Music Store.

    January 2006 – Apple rolls out its first Intel-based computers, the iMac and the MacBook Pro.

    January 9, 2007 – The iPhone is unveiled.

    March 2007 – Apple TV hits stores.

    January 27, 2010 – The iPad is announced.

    June 6, 2011 – Apple announces iCloud, an online media storage system.

    August 24, 2011 – Jobs resigns as CEO. Tim Cook takes his place.

    October 5, 2011 – Jobs dies after battling cancer.

    February 6, 2013 – Apple announces that iTunes has reached a milestone of 25 billion songs sold.

    May 28, 2014 – Apple announces deal to buy Beats for $3 billion.

    June 9, 2014 – Apple conducts a stock split, bringing the price down from $647.50 to $92.44.

    September 9, 2014 – Apple unveils the Apple Watch, a wearable device.

    December 16, 2014 – Apple wins an antitrust lawsuit brought by eight million iPod owners who alleged that Apple abused its monopoly power in the music industry to force out competition.

    June 8, 2015 – Apple unveils Apple Music, a streaming music service, live radio station and social network.

    February 3, 2016 – A jury orders Apple to pay $626 million in damages after finding that iMessage, FaceTime and other Apple software infringed on another company’s patents. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2010 by the company VirnetX, accuses Apple of violating four patents, which mostly involve methods for real-time communications over the Internet.

    February 16, 2016 – Apple refuses to comply with a California judge’s order to assist the FBI in hacking the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman. A public letter signed by Cook states why the company is refusing to abide by the government’s demands.

    March 28, 2016 – The Department of Justice says the FBI has “successfully retrieved the data stored on the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone,” and is dropping the case against Apple, since it no longer needs the company’s help.

    August 30, 2016 – The European Union rules that Apple must pay Ireland $14.5 billion in back taxes. According to the EU, Ireland had been giving the tech company a break on taxes for more than two decades. Ireland’s finance minister issues a statement criticizing the EU’s ruling and declares that the country does not play favorites with a lower tax rate for certain companies. In a letter, Cook says he anticipates the EU’s tax ruling will be reversed on appeal.

    September 12, 2017 – Apple unveils the iPhone X, alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – all of which support wireless charging. The iPhone X will also feature facial detection technology, no home button, a 3D camera and an edge-to-edge screen.

    December 21, 2017 – Apple issues a statement saying that it has used software updates to limit the performance of older iPhones that may have battery issues that would cause them to turn off suddenly.

    December 28, 2017 – Apple apologizes to customers for how it rolled out an update that can slow down older iPhones. It is offering cheaper battery replacements to make up for it.

    June 15, 2018 – Oprah Winfrey signs a multiyear deal with Apple to create new original programming.

    August 2, 2018 – Apple becomes the first American public company to surpass $1 trillion in value.

    October 10, 2019 – In a memo to employees, Cook defends Apple’s decision to pull a map app that Hong Kong protesters used to track police, saying that it had been used in ways that “endanger law enforcement and residents in Hong Kong.”

    November 1, 2019 – Apple TV+, a subscription streaming service containing original programming, launches.

    November 4, 2019 – Apple announces a $2.5 billion financial package to help address the housing crisis in California, which has worsened in part because of the rapid growth of tech companies.

    July 29, 2020 – Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, CEO of Google’s parent company Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg all testify before a House subcommittee on anti-trust to address concerns that their businesses may be harming competition.

    August 20, 2020 – Apple reaches the $2 trillion market value mark.

    November 18, 2020 – Apple agrees to pay $113 million to settle an investigation by states including California and Arizona over how Apple wasn’t transparent about its iPhone battery problems that led to unexpected device shutdowns.

    December 14, 2020 – Launches Apple Fitness+, a service built around Apple Watch.

    November 23, 2021 – Apple files a lawsuit against NSO Group and its parent company, accusing the Israeli firm of violating a federal anti-hacking law by selling potent software that clients have used to spy on Apple customers. The lawsuit alleges that NSO’s spyware, known as Pegasus, and other malware have caused Apple monetary and property damages, and violated the human rights of Apple users along the way.

    January 3, 2022 – Apple becomes the world’s first company valued at $3 trillion.

    May 10, 2022 – Apple announces that it is ceasing production of the iPod.

    June 18, 2022 – Workers in Maryland vote to form the first-ever labor union at one of Apple’s US stores.

    June 30, 2023 – Apple’s stock ends trading valued at $3 trillion, the only company ever to reach that milestone.

    December 18, 2023 – Apple announces plans to stop selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in US due to a patent dispute. In January 2024, a federal appeals court denies the company’s motion to temporarily pause the ban while it appealed the US International Trade Commission ruling.

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  • PlayStation head Jim Ryan is stepping down | CNN Business

    PlayStation head Jim Ryan is stepping down | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is stepping down from the company, Sony announced Wednesday.

    The Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO will be retiring in March 2024 after 30 years in the PlayStation business.

    Sony Group Corporation president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will assume the role of SIE chairman next month to “support” the transition, and will take over as interim CEO once Ryan retires.

    Ryan joined SIE in 1994 and was appointed CEO in 2019. He had previously held senior positions at the company including president of SIE Europe, head of global sales and marketing at SIE and deputy president of SIE.

    Ryan led the launch of the PlayStation 5, which the company said is PlayStation’s most successful platform.

    “I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America,” Ryan said in a statement. “I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world.”

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  • What to expect from Apple’s iPhone 15 reveal | CNN Business

    What to expect from Apple’s iPhone 15 reveal | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Apple is expected to debut its iPhone 15 lineup Tuesday at the company’s annual September keynote event, and it could introduce the biggest change to the phone’s design in 11 years.

    The press event, which Apple teased with a “wonderlust” tagline, will take place at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, and will be livestreamed on its website, starting at 10 a.m. local time.

    Although the annual iPhone event has become formulaic over the years, announcing incremental changes to battery life, camera system and displays, this year Apple is expected to introduce USB-C charging to its smartphones for the first time. The change could ultimately streamline the charging process across various devices and brands.

    But the company will have to show off more than just a new charging system to get users to upgrade. Last month, Apple’s sales fell for the third consecutive quarter. iPhone revenue came in at $39.7 billion for the quarter, marking an approximately 2% year-over-year decline.

    Here’s more of what to expect:

    Apple has previously switched its iPads and MacBooks to USB-C charging, but now may be the time for the company to finally make the change on iPhones. The move would come less than a year after the European Union voted to approve legislation to require smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers and other small devices to support USB-C charging by 2024. The first-of-its-kind law aims to pare down the number of chargers and cables consumers must contend with when they purchase a new device and to allow users to mix and match devices and chargers even if they were produced by different manufacturers.

    “This is arguably the biggest disruption to iPhone design for several years, but in reality, it is hardly a dramatic move,” said Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight.

    Last year, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, publicly stressed the value and ubiquity of the Lightning charger, which is designed for faster device charging, but noted “obviously we will have to comply” with the EU mandate. The Lightning charger was introduced in 2012.

    The change to USB-C would also likely usher in a wave of charging accessories, potentially in various colors. It’s possible iPhone users will also pay up for a USB-C wall adapter because it will be a different size connector.

    The entire iPhone 15 lineup is rumored to get the “Dynamic Island” feature — an interactive home for alerts, notifications and various controls — that replaces the notch on top of the screen. The tool launched on the higher-end iPhone 14 Pro models last year.

    Although there are few other rumors circulating about its entry-level iPhone models, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models are expected to get a handful of new features, according to a Bloomberg report. This may include a rear-facing periscope lens, which allows for more optical zoom, and a titanium casing to make the device up to 15% lighter and thinner. The Pro models are also expected to get Apple’s latest A17 chip – the first with 3 nanometer technology, which could deliver faster processing and a longer-lasting battery.

    The lineup is also expected to come in various new colors, as hinted at in the Apple logo featured in the event’s invitation, including navy and updated shades of gray, white and silver.

    In June, Apple introduced the Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset that the company says will usher in a new era of “spatial computing.” Yoram Wurmser, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, believes the company will tease “some new features and deeper collaborations” to drum up excitement ahead of its 2024 launch. (It’s also possible Apple could announce a launch date). The headset blends both virtual reality and augmented reality, a technology that overlays virtual images on live video of the real world. The headset is Apple’s biggest, and riskiest, product launch in years.

    New AirPods, Apple Watches and software release dates

    The company typically unveils its latest Apple Watches alongside the iPhone each year, so it’s likely we’ll see the debut of the Apple Watch Series 9 and possibly its next-generation Ultra 2 smartwatch, its more rugged wearable for serious sports enthusiasts. According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on a full revamp of its smartwatch for next year’s Apple Watch Series 10, so this year’s updates will be relatively minor.

    In addition, Apple is expected to show off its next-generation AirPods with a new charging case that will work with USB-C cables. It’s also likely to announce launch dates for its next-generation operating systems for the iPhone, iPads, Mac computers and Apple Watch.

    In May, for example, Apple showed off a slew of new tools coming to iOS 17, such as a more accurate autocorrect, a new feature called Live Voicemail that will transcribe a caller’s message in real time, and a NameDrop tool that lets users share their contact information by holding two iPhones close together. The iPhone’s phone app will also reposition the hang up button to the bottom right of the screen, next to other functions.

    With the new iPhone expected to take center stage, many analysts don’t anticipate Apple will release new iPads or Mac computers until October. And despite rivals Samsung and Google doubling down on foldable devices, Apple is still not expected to unveil a similar version this fall.

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  • Atari 2600+ sees its future in retro gaming | CNN Business

    Atari 2600+ sees its future in retro gaming | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    The Atari home video game system took the late1970s and early 1980s by storm, complete with faux wood paneling and a classic joystick with a big red button. Rival systems eventually surpassed the video-game pioneer but its iconic status, and fans, remained.

    Atari has been working to rebuild a lot of goodwill among those fans and within the broader video game industry ever since its new CEO Wade Rosen came on board in 2021.

    With Rosen at the helm, the company is taking a closer look at its own history to chart its future, releasing remastered or reimagined versions of its classics like “Missile Command” and “Centipede,” producing the critically acclaimed “Atari 50” interactive documentary, and introducing its soon-to-be released retro console the Atari 2600+.

    “I think the 2600+ has legs because there’ll be new content, new games coming out but also additional ways to play these games and to make them accessible to larger communities,” Rosen told CNN. “Do I think these things are going to replace modern consoles? Absolutely not. There’s like no way that would happen, nor would they need to. They’re radically different things.”

    The retro console arrives in November at a $130 price point and in a more compact version. While it comes packaged with 10 games in a single cartridge, the console will also play new titles and work with original Atari 2600 and 7800 game cartridges.

    Atari is reimagining the classic

    According to Rosen, retro games complement the times and reimagined Atari titles like “Haunted House,” arriving in October, or new, original games like “Days of Doom,” available now, reflect a speedy, pick-up-and-play style characteristic of the early days of the hobby.

    For instance, the remastered “Haunted House” is an elaborate stealth game where players evade colorful ghosts and monsters – but it retains the exploration mechanics of its namesake that simply featured floating eyes roaming a dark, 2D maze.

    What people want in video games has changed radically, Rosen noted, explaining that these experiences “are designed for an age of complexity,” he said. “Back when we had simplicity, I wanted 200-hour games with huge quests and branching narratives and all these things, and now I’m like: ‘I can do a couple of those a year, but life doesn’t allow for it very much.’ “

    In this photo taken on August 12, 2017, a visitor poses with a T-shirt depicting an Atari 2600 video game console from the early 1980s, during the Retro.HK gaming expo in Hong Kong.

    The company’s Atari Recharged line also takes classics like “Yar’s Revenge” and spruces them up for a modern audience. And its acquisition of Nightdive Studios earlier this year added new franchises to Atari’s stable of remasters like “Turok” and the upcoming “System Shock.”

    The recent “Atari 50” release actually did something different while mining nostalgia — it established the genre of the interactive video game documentary. The company looked at decades of its history, and invited viewers of the doc to become players.

    “As we come to view games as art, more and more, I think people want to understand all the pieces that went into that and all the history around it, but yet the medium is games so we probably should interact with it in a different way,” Rosen noted.

    While not in the company’s plans as yet, the Atari CEO also showed enthusiasm for a hypothetical handheld system that can play its retro games on the go like a Nintendo Switch.

    “I guess short answer, yeah, if there’d be an appetite for it. I’d worry the cartridges would be a little too big. That would be really fun,” he said.

    As the successor to Atari’s home console crown, Nintendo, pushes forward with its Switch system, and newer players like Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation 5 traffic in blockbuster, Triple-A games this holiday season, the Atari 2600+ retro console (but not a handheld yet) will join the scrum. It’s set to launch November 17.

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  • Google’s antitrust showdown: What’s at stake for the internet search titan | CNN Business

    Google’s antitrust showdown: What’s at stake for the internet search titan | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Google will face off in court Tuesday against government officials who have accused the company of antitrust violations in its massive search business, kicking off a long-anticipated legal showdown that could reshape one of the internet’s most dominant platforms.

    The trial beginning this week in Washington before a federal judge marks the culmination of two ongoing lawsuits against Google that started during the Trump administration. Legal experts describe the actions as the country’s biggest monopolization case since the US government took on Microsoft in the 1990s.

    In separate complaints, the Justice Department and dozens of states accused Google in 2020 of abusing its dominance in online search by allegedly harming competition through deals with wireless carriers and smartphone makers that made Google Search the default or exclusive option on products used by millions of consumers. The complaints eventually consolidated into a single case.

    Google has maintained that it competes on the merits and that consumers prefer its tools because they are the best, not because it has moved to illegally restrict competition. Google’s search business provides more than half of the $283 billion in revenue and $76 billion in net income Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recorded in 2022. Search has fueled the company’s growth to a more than $1.7 trillion market capitalization.

    Now, the company is set to defend itself in a multiweek trial that could upend the way Google distributes its search engine to users. The case is expected to feature testimony from high-profile witnesses including former employees of Google and Samsung, along with executives from Apple, including senior vice president Eddy Cue. It is the first case to go to trial in a series of court challenges targeting Google’s far-reaching economic power, testing the willingness of courts to clamp down on large tech platforms.

    “This is a backwards-looking case at a time of unprecedented innovation,” said Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker, “including breakthroughs in AI, new apps and new services, all of which are creating more competition and more options for people than ever before. People don’t use Google because they have to — they use it because they want to. It’s easy to switch your default search engine — we’re long past the era of dial-up internet and CD-ROMs.”

    The trial may also be a bellwether for the more assertive antitrust agenda of the Biden administration.

    In its initial complaint, the US government alleged in part that Google pays billions of dollars a year to device manufacturers including Apple, LG, Motorola and Samsung — and browser developers like Mozilla and Opera — to be their default search engine and in many cases to prohibit them from dealing with Google’s competitors.

    As a result, the complaint alleges, “Google effectively owns or controls search distribution channels accounting for roughly 80 percent of the general search queries in the United States.”

    The lawsuit also alleges that Google’s Android operating system deals with device makers are anticompetitive, because they require smartphone companies to pre-install other Google-owned apps, such as Gmail, Chrome or Maps.

    At the time the lawsuit was first filed, US antitrust officials did not rule out the possibility of a Google breakup, warning that Google’s behavior could threaten future innovation or the rise of a Google successor.

    Separately, a group of states, led by Colorado, made additional allegations against Google, claiming that the way Google structures its search results page harms competition by prioritizing the company’s own apps and services over web pages, links, reviews and content from other third-party sites.

    But the judge overseeing the case, Judge Amit Mehta in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, tossed out those claims in a ruling last month, narrowing the scope of allegations Google must defend and saying the states had not done enough to show a trial was necessary to determine whether Google’s search results rankings were anticompetitive.

    Despite that ruling, the trial represents the US government’s furthest progress in challenging Google to date. Mehta has said Google’s pole position among search engines on browsers and smartphones “is a hotly disputed issue” and that the trial will determine “whether, as a matter of actual market reality, Google’s position as the default search engine across multiple browsers is a form of exclusionary Conduct.”

    In January, meanwhile, the Biden administration launched another antitrust suit against Google in opposition to the company’s advertising technology business, accusing it of maintaining an illegal monopoly. That case remains in its early stages at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

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  • Apple confirms that a bug and some apps are causing iPhone 15 models to overheat | CNN Business

    Apple confirms that a bug and some apps are causing iPhone 15 models to overheat | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Apple is working on a software fix following reports that some of its new iPhone 15 models are overheating.

    The company told CNN the current overheating issues are not a safety risk and will not affect the long-term performance of impacted iPhone models. It also emphasized that iPhones have internal protections for components to help regulate the temperature if it gets too high.

    Apple also told CNN there are several circumstances that are causing its next-generation lineup to heat up. User complaints started to circulate after the latest iPhones hit stores on September 22.

    “We have identified a few conditions which can cause iPhone to run warmer than expected,” Apple told CNN in a statement.

    To start, overheating can occur with some recently updated third-party apps, causing them to “overload the system,” the company said. Those apps include Instagram, Uber and arcade racing game Asphalt 9.

    “We’re working with these app developers on fixes that are in the process of rolling out,” Apple said in a statement.

    It also said it discovered a bug in iOS 17 impacting some users, and plans to roll out a software update to address the issue. It did not comment on when the fix will be made available.

    In addition, Apple said the device may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of “increased background activity.”

    Apple’s support page warns users that a device can get hotter when restoring it from a backup, using graphic-intensive apps, streaming high-quality video, and charging it wirelessly.

    “These conditions are normal, and your device will return to a regular temperature when the process is complete or when you finish your activity,” the company states on the website. “If your device doesn’t display a temperature warning, you can keep using your device.”

    The news comes as demand for the iPhone 15 appears strong. Leading up to launch day, analysts at firms such as Wedbush Securities reported iPhone 15 pre-orders tracking better than originally expected, with a heavy demand on its premium iPhone 15 Pro offerings, especially the Pro Max. Delivery and shipment times have moved to late October through mid-November for various Pro models.

    The new iPhones come as Apple reported in August that sales fell for the third consecutive quarter. iPhone revenue came in at $39.7 billion for the third quarter, marking an approximately 2% year-over-year decline, as users update their devices less often.

    But according to Wedbush estimates, about 250 million iPhones have not been upgraded in more than four years. Advancements made to the processor, camera and charging system, along with discounts from mobile carriers, could be more than enough reason for users to finally upgrade this year.

    The iPhone 15 Pro starts at $1,099, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,199. Apple’s entry-level iPhones, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, cost $799 and $899, respectively.

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  • A look back at every iPhone ever | CNN Business

    A look back at every iPhone ever | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    The iPhone redefined the term “cell phone.” Apple’s trademark product revolutionized the mobile phone industry, shifting from flip phones and keyboards to large screens and powerful cameras.

    With 1.2 billion units reportedly sold, the iPhone is arguably the most popular tech device in the world.

    With Apple set to unveil the iPhone 15 on Tuesday — chock full of rumored new features like a USB-C charging port, new colors and better battery performance — here is a look back at every iPhone to hit stores.

    Apple releases the original iPhone, a much-anticipated device that combines an iPod, phone and what then-company chairman Steve Jobs calls an “internet communicator.”

    “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two-and-a-half years,” Jobs told the crowd when unveiling the new $399 product, a 16 GB phone with a relatively terrible 2.0 megapixel camera and relatively large 3.5” screen.

    Customers queue outside the Apple Store in London for the launch of the iPhone 3G on July 11, 2008.

    With the second version of the iPhone, Apple introduces the App Store and 3G connectivity. The new device, half the cost of the original iPhone, sold more than 3 million within a month, far outpacing its predecessor and expectations.

    An Apple Store customer plays with the new iPhone 3Gs on June 19, 2009 in San Francisco, California.

    The 3GS introduces capabilities to record videos, as well as basic voice control (though Siri is still years away). The first “S” update to the iPhone also doubles the storage system, offering users an upgraded 32GB.

    An Apple employee demonstrates

    A completely redesigned device hits the shelves: thinner and sleeker with a better battery, camera and screen, the iPhone 4 starts to resemble the phone many of us use today. And with the addition of a front-facing camera, selfies and FaceTime calls enter into the chat.

    “I grew up with the Jetsons dreaming about video phones,” said Jobs at the announcement. “It’s real now.”

    An Apple customer demonstrates the voice assistant program on his newly purchased iPhone 4s outside of an Apple Store in New York City on October 14, 2011.

    Apple introduces the world to Siri, its now-iconic voice assistant, and the iMessage feature that allows iPhone users to message each other freely. Users are also given iCloud, making it possible to automatically sync all Apple devices.

    A newly released Apple iPhone 5 sits on a coffee shop countertop next to Apple's lightning connection cable in September 2012.

    With the iPhone 5 comes the Lightning cable, a shift away from the larger charging port used in Apple’s original iPhones and iPods. The 5 also gets a larger screen and LTE connectivity, making the phone much faster than its predecessors.

    The new iPhone 5S is displayed during an Apple product announcement at the Apple campus on September 10, 2013 in Cupertino, California.

    The 5S added the Touch ID feature, Apple’s first foray into biometric data usage as a replacement for passwords. Apple iPhone fans are also offered gold versions for the first time.

    A woman uses her smartphone in front of a display for the Apple iPhone 5C outside the company's store in the Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan, on September 20, 2013.

    In a flash of colorful plastic glory, the iPhone 5C hits the markets as a low-cost alternative to the 5S. Available in green, blue, pink, yellow and white, the 5C is shortlived. Apple discontinues the product a couple of years later.

    A woman touches an iPhone 6 Plus as it sits next to an iPhone 6 after they went on sale at the Apple Store in Sydney on September 19, 2014.

    2014: iPhone 6/6Plus, bigger and bendier

    The first Plus option comes out, offering a much taller, thinner phone – but also one more prone to bending. Customers are quick to complain about bending iPhones after the 6/6Plus hit the market.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook introduces the iPhone 6s during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California on September 9, 2015.

    Apple releases the 6S and 6S Plus with a rose gold option, as well as adds new features like 3D touch and doubled memory capabilities. Plus, the bend problem is fixed.

    The new iPhone SE is seen on display during an event at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California on March 21, 2016.

    Taking a step back, the iPhone SE is a cheaper, smaller device than the 6S, giving customers a chance to enjoy Apple’s phones at a much lower cost.

    The lightning connecting port is seen on an Apple Inc., iPhone 7 Plus during an event in San Francisco, California, on September 7, 2016.

    In traditional Apple fashion, the company does away with the traditional headphone jack, forcing customers to buy dongles that adapt older headsets or lightning-plug earbuds. The 7 is also the first water-resistant iPhone. It features a more static home button that cannot be pressed down, only touched, and the first dual camera lens with portrait mode.

    Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple, speaks about the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus during an event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, on September 12, 2017.

    Apple moves away from its tradition of releasing S versions on off years, instead leaping right to the 8 and 8Plus. This is the first iPhone to support wireless charging.

    The new iPhone X is displayed during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus on September 12, 2017 in Cupertino, California.

    Goodbye home button, hello notched screen. The X revolutionizes the Apple product once again for its 10th anniversary, turning the iPhone into something that looks very similar to today’s versions. An extra lens also added portrait mode to the front facing camera, a fan favorite for iPhones to come.

    People handle the new Apple iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max during a media tour at an Apple office in Shanghai, China, on September 21, 2018.

    After a massive physical overhaul with the X, Apple releases a largely unchanged Xs and XS Max other than an internal hardware update. Displays also became edge to edge, maximizing screen space.

    The new Apple iPhone XR is displayed during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theater on September 12, 2018 in Cupertino, California.

    Announced alongside the XS, the XR is smaller and cheaper, though still larger than the 8 Plus. And although it comes with only one back camera lens, the phone is available in six colors like blue, yellow and red.

    A woman holds an iPhone 11 Pro Max while giving a live broadcast after it went on sale at the Apple Store in Beijing, China, on September 20, 2019.

    The 11 also offers six colors to choose from, as well as better dual camera capabilities with ultra-wide len options. Starting at $699, it is one of Apple’s cheaper core line phones. Meanwhile, the 11 Pro and Pro Max boast a three-lens camera and Apple’s most advanced retina display to date.

    An Apple iPhone SE smartphone is seen on August 5, 2020.

    In a throwback to its older devices, Apple shrinks down its phones to put out the SE second generation, complete with a now-retro home button. Even at a lower cost, the SE is tricked out with some of Apple’s flashiest features like an advanced camera and wireless charging.

    The Apple iPhone 12 Mini is seen on display at the Apple flagship store during a product launch event in Sydney, Australia, on November 13, 2020.

    The iPhone 12 mini is smaller than the usual iPhone but packs a powerful punch. With all of the features enjoyed by the iPhone 12 minus a little size and some battery life, the mini gives people everything they want while taking up less space in their pocket.

    A customer tries out an iPhone 12 Pro Max at the Apple flagship store during a product launch event in Sydney, Australia, on November 13, 2020.

    With the iPhone 12 series, Apple continued to upgrade its camera and display, plus introduce its proprietary MagSafe charging options. The 12 has two camera lenses while the Pro and Pro Max have three plus night mode and enhanced zoom range. The 12 and the 12 Pro are the same size, while the Pro Max is significantly larger. The 12 series also marks the end of Apple including an in-box charger with each iPhone purchase.

    Customers walk past a digital display of the new green iPhone 13 Pro inside the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, on March 18, 2022.

    The iPhone 13 stays at the same price as the iPhone 12 with double the storage space, as well as featuring a much smaller top notch. Battery life and camera features are also majorly improved. The mini continues to be a powerful phone in a small package, and the Pro and Pro Max offer even better cameras.

    Apple iPhone SE 3 smartphones are seen during the sales launch at the company's flagship store in New York City on March 18, 2022.

    The SE is back and better than ever, though still complete with a home button and Touch ID. It enjoys a lot of the same features seen in the higher-end iPhones: potrait mode, HD video, long battery life, et cetera.

    Customers queue at the Apple Fifth Avenue store for the release of the Apple iPhone 14 range in Manhattan, New York, on September 16, 2022.

    2022: iPhone 14 series, goodbye, Mini- and SIM cards

    Doing away with the iPhone Mini for the Pro, Apple brings back the larger Pro, as well as adds a slew of safety features like Emergency SOS via satellite. The Pro and Pro Max feature a “Dynamic Island” top notch that free floats from the top of the phone to better integrate into whatever is going on onscreen, as well as a better camera and display. A physical SIM card tray is also gone with the 14, pushing users towards eSIMs only.

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  • Why everyone’s phone will alarm at 2:20 pm ET on Wednesday | CNN Business

    Why everyone’s phone will alarm at 2:20 pm ET on Wednesday | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    If you hear a screeching alert go off on your cell phone – and everyone else’s cell phone – this Wednesday at 2:20 pm ET, don’t panic.

    The federal government said it will conduct on Wednesday afternoon a nationwide test of its Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The EAS portion of the test will send an emergency alert to all radios and televisions, while the WEA portion of the test will direct alerts to all consumer cell phones.

    “The purpose of the Oct. 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is conducting the test in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission, said in a statement.

    Here’s what to know.

    Beginning at approximately 2:20 pm ET this Wednesday, all wireless phones should receive an alert and an accompanying text message that reads: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

    The free text message will be sent in either English or Spanish, depending on the language settings of your device. The text will be accompanied by a unique tone and vibration that is meant to make the alert accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, FEMA said.

    The test will be broadcast by cell towers for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 2:20 pm ET, FEMA said. During this time, all compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless providers participates in WEA tests should receive the text message.

    Meanwhile, all radios and televisions will also broadcast a test emergency alert at the same time as part of the broader test. This message, which will run for approximately one minute, will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”

    As the agency has said, no action is required by you after you receive the emergency alert test on your phone or hear it through the radio or TV.

    Wednesday’s test is set to be the seventh-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System – the alerts that are sent through radio and television broadcasters. It is the third nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alerts, but only the second to be sent to consumer cellular devices.

    The most-recent test run of both systems took place in 2021. The first-ever test of the Emergency Alert System occurred more than a decade ago, in 2011.

    There have indeed been multiple high-profile mistakes, attributed to errors at the state-level, associated with mobile emergency alert systems that hit cell phones.

    Perhaps the most infamous incident was a 2018 misfire in Hawaii that set off a wave of short-lived panic across the state. On the morning of January 13, 2018, a Hawaii state emergency management worker accidentally pushed the wrong button in the emergency operation center, sending out a false warning alerting of an incoming ballistic missile threat. The employee who pushed the wrong button was ultimately fired, state officials said.

    And earlier this year in Florida, state emergency management officials issued an apology after Floridians were awoken at 4:45 a.m. by a test emergency alert sent to their phones. State officials said the test alert was meant to run only on TV and not meant to disturb anyone who was sleeping. Florida also said it was ending its contract with the software company blamed for shooting off the pre-dawn test alert to cell phones.

    Last year, a FEMA official told CNN that vulnerabilities in software that TV and radio networks around the country use to transmit emergency alerts could potentially allow a hacker to broadcast fake messages over the alert system. The agency at the time urged operators of these devices to update their software to address the issue. The advisory did not say, however, that alerts sent over text messages could be impacted. The official also said at the time that there is no evidence that malicious hackers have actually exploited the vulnerabilities.

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  • Here’s why Apple’s charger switch is such a big deal | CNN Business

    Here’s why Apple’s charger switch is such a big deal | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Apple retired its Lightning charger on Tuesday exactly 11 years to the day it was first announced.

    The effort marks a milestone moment for the company by finally adopting USB-C, a universal charging system. That’s noteworthy not only because Apple has been resistant to do so for years but because it’s about to make charging that much easier for its customers.

    But, as with most things, there’s a catch: The switch to a universal standard means Apple is giving up control of its wired charging ecosystem, and identifying good chargers from bad ones won’t be obvious to many consumers.

    At its iPhone 15 event, the company announced all of its next-generation smartphones will launch with USB-C charging, and so will the latest iteration of its AirPods Pro. Although Apple has previously switched its iPads and MacBooks to USB-C charging, it has been resistant to making the change on the iPhone until now.

    The switch would come less than a year after the European Union voted to approve legislation to require smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers and other small devices to support USB-C charging by 2024. The first-of-its-kind law aims to pare down the number of chargers and cables consumers must contend with when they purchase a new device, and to allow users to mix and match devices and chargers even if they were produced by different manufacturers.

    Now Apple customers can use the same USB-C chargers to power their iPhones, iPads and Mac computers — no more scrambling to find the right charger for each device. Charging can also occur between devices, such as connecting a low-battery iPhone to a fully-charged iPad, or similarly between different brands.

    “This is arguably the biggest disruption to iPhone design for several years, but in reality, it is hardly a dramatic move,” said Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight.

    Last year, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, noted the value and ubiquity of the Lightning charger, which is designed for faster device charging, but noted “obviously we will have to comply” with the EU mandate.

    “We have no choice, like we do around the world, to comply with local laws, but we think the approach would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government [have] that perspective,” Joswiak said at the time.

    The EU’s decision is part of a greater effort to tackle e-waste overall, but could it generate more in the short term as people phase out their Lightning cables. Although Apple has voiced environmental concerns over what happens to old Lightning chargers, it has financial reasons for pushing back on the change, too.

    Apple introduced the Lightning charger alongside the iPhone 5 in 2012, replacing its existing 30-pin dock connector with one that enabled faster charging and had a reversible design. It also ignited a related accessories business, requiring users to buy a $30 Lightning adapter to connect the device to older docks, alarm clocks and speaker systems.

    “For Apple, it was all about being in control of its own ecosystem,” said David McQueen, a director at ABI Research. “Apple makes good money from selling Lightning cables and its many related accessories.”

    The new iPhone 15 is displayed during an Apple event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park on September 12, 2023 in Cupertino, California. Apple revealed its lineup of the latest iPhone 15 versions as well as other product upgrades during the event.

    It also takes a financial cut from the third-party accessories and cables that go through its Made For iPhone program. “Moving to USB Type C would take away this level of control as USB-C is a much more open ecosystem,” McQueen said.

    Apple is now selling a new $29 USB-C to Lightning adapter to allow people to connect their existing Lightning accessories to a USB-C-enabled iPhone or iPad to charge or share data. Similarly, Apple introduced a $29 dongle back in 2012 to connect the iPhone 5 – the first phone with its Lightning charger – to old docks, alarm clock radios and speaker systems.

    The new Apple iPhone 15 Pro, with EU ordered USB-C charger, is displayed amongst other new products during a launch event at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on September 12, 2023.

    The move to USB-C won’t likely be an incentive for people to upgrade, but it could sway some consumers who have been resistant to the iPhone over its charging limitations, according to Thomas Husson, a vice president at Forrester Research.

    Considering many mobile devices already use USB-C, including Apple’s own iPads and MacBooks, access to charging wires shouldn’t be too hard or costly.

    But knockoffs abound, and some USB-C chargers are much safer than others. Some may provide too much power, and others not enough. Some can regulate the flow of electricity and data to your phone – and others can’t. Among CNN Underscored’s top recommendations for USB-C chargers are from big brands, including Anker, Belkin, Apple, Amazon and Google.

    “Given how widely USB-C has been used in other devices, it’s hard to imagine that customers will be totally caught out by this switch, and in the long term, it’s likely to benefit them, with a universal charging system having some very obvious upsides,” Wood said.

    Apple also said a dedicated USB-C controller will allow for transfer speeds of up to 20 times faster than with USB-2 technology for the iPhone 15 Pro.

    Retiring the Lightning cable could even generate, in the short term, a surge of e-waste as iPhone users toss their useless Lightning cables in a drawer. But Apple told CNN it has an existing “robust” recycling program where you can bring in used chargers and cables. It’s also possible to look for a local e-waste recycling center or Best Buy store for environmentally friendly options.

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  • Did your cell phone make a screeching noise today? Here’s why | CNN Business

    Did your cell phone make a screeching noise today? Here’s why | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Today was the day for the US government’s big emergency alert drill, which sent a test message to every TV, radio and cell phone in the nation.

    Starting at approximately 2:20 pm ET on Wednesday, the federal government began conducting a nationwide test of its Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The EAS portion of the test sent an emergency alert to all radios and televisions, while the WEA portion of the drill sent an alert to all consumer cell phones.

    The test was being conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission. Its purpose was to ensure that the systems in place continue to be an effective means of warning the public about emergencies at a national level.

    Essentially, what this means is that hundreds of millions of cell phones around the country made a screeching alert noise at approximately the same time today, beginning around 2:20 pm ET. Radio and TV stations also blared a test alert at around the same time. But there was no action required from you after receiving the free message — it was just a test.

    Here are answers to all of your burning questions about today’s emergency alert test.

    While some recent models of mobile phones may include a setting to opt-out of tests and alerts, none of these settings will affect the 2023 national test, FEMA has said.

    That means if your mobile phone was on and receiving service from a participating wireless provider, you will likely received the national Wireless Emergency Alert test, the agency added.

    There are, however, three conditions which would prevent the cell phone alert from getting delivered to a device. If your phone is turned off, has airplane mode switched on, or is not connected or associated with a cell tower, then it did not receive the message.

    Survivors of domestic violence and people in abusive relationships often have a secret or emergency phone that they don’t want their partner or others to know about. On a call with reporters Tuesday, a senior FEMA official said the agency was aware of these concerns stemming from survivors of domestic violence and their allies. The official recommended that people who do not want a secret phone to be revealed to turn their phone completely off ahead of the 2:20 pm ET test — and not to turn it back on for thirty minutes, or until after 2:50 pm ET.

    If you wanted to be cautious, you could also wait until you are in a safe place before turning your phone back on.

    Educators are braced themselves for some disruption this afternoon, as the test impacting cell phones occurred during school hours for most of the country.

    On the call with reporters, the senior FEMA official recommended that educators, as much as possible, try to use this as a teaching opportunity about federal emergency management and preparedness initiatives.

    The national test cannot be used to monitor, locate or lock your phone, FEMA has said. The test is also using broadcast technology and does not collect any of your data.

    All cell phones should have received an alert and an accompanying text message that reads: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

    The free text message was sent in either English or Spanish, depending on the language settings of your device. The text was accompanied by a unique tone and vibration that is meant to make the alert accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, FEMA has said.

    The test was broadcast by cell towers for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 2:20 pm ET, FEMA said. During this time, all compatible wireless phones that were switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless providers participates in WEA tests should have received the text message.

    Although the test will be transmitting for approximately 30 minutes, you should only have received the alert message once.

    Meanwhile, all radios and televisions also broadcast a test emergency alert at the same time as part of the broader test. This message, which ran for approximately one minute, stated: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”

    Can the emergency alert impact my body?

    In short: No. There are a number of false claims circulating online with regard to the test alert, including some conspiracy theories that incorrectly allege the sound emitted as part of the national test can impact your body at the cellular level. This is false.

    “FEMA is not aware of any adverse health effects caused by the audio signal,” the agency has stated.

    And while this is a national test, it uses the same technology and infrastructure that state and local authorities rely on to send localized Amber Alerts or extreme weather warnings, a senior FEMA official emphasized to reporters on Tuesday. In a frequently asked question sheet released by FEMA ahead of Wednesday’s test, the agency stated: “The audio signal that will be used in the National Test is the same combination of audio tones that has been used since 1963 in the original Emergency Broadcast System.”

    If you have a mobile phone that was switched on, not on airplane mode, within range of an active cell tower and on a network where wireless providers participate in Wireless Emergency Alerts then you should have received the test message on Wednesday afternoon by 2:50 pm ET.

    If you are trying to figure out why you did not receive an alert when you should have, or have any other feedback on the test, members of the public can write to the email address: FEMA-National-Test@fema.dhs.gov.

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  • China says it hasn’t issued any ban on Apple’s iPhone | CNN Business

    China says it hasn’t issued any ban on Apple’s iPhone | CNN Business

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    Beijing/Washington
    CNN
     — 

    China hasn’t issued any laws or rules to ban the use of iPhones or any other foreign phone brand, a Chinese government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

    “We have always been open to foreign companies and welcome them to seize the opportunities and share the fruits of China’s economic development,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference in Beijing.

    She added that China has noticed “many media reports on the security incidents of Apple’s iPhone,” and that the country “attaches great importance to information and cyber security.”

    Mao did not elaborate. She also urged foreign cellphone companies in China to follow the country’s privacy laws and to prevent “any person or organization” stealing data stored in their customers’ phones.

    Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that China had banned the use of iPhones by central government officials, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The report triggered a drop in Apple’s shares -— the stock suffered its largest daily loss in a month.

    The White House said on Wednesday it was watching the developments with “concern.”

    “It seems to be a piece of the kinds of aggressive and inappropriate retaliation to US companies that we’ve seen from the PRC in the past, that’s what this appears to be,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, told reporters during a news conference, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

    “But the truth is, we don’t have perfect visibility on exactly what they’re doing and why, and we certainly would call on them to be more transparent about what they’re seeing and what they’re doing,” he said.

    Over the past few months, a growing list of American and international consulting companies have been ensnared in Beijing’s widening crackdown on what it perceives as national security risks.

    In March, Chinese authorities closed the Beijing office of Mintz Group, an American corporate due diligence firm, and detained five of its local staff. The company was later fined about $1.5 million for allegedly conducting unapproved statistical work in the country.

    In April, police questioned staff at the Shanghai offices of global consulting giant Bain & Company. A few weeks later, state media released details of multiple raids on the offices of Capvision, an international expert network firm with headquarters in Shanghai and New York, by state security forces.

    Apple is one of the highest profile and most established American brands in China. It is the largest foreign market for the company’s products, and Chinese sales represented about a fifth of the company’s total revenue last year. Apple hasn’t replied to a request for comment.

    The company doesn’t disclose iPhone sales by country, but analysts at research firm TechInsights estimate that there were more iPhone sales in China than in the United States last quarter. Apple also produces the majority of its iPhones in Chinese factories.

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  • Google unveils Pixel 8 built for ‘the generative AI era’ | CNN Business

    Google unveils Pixel 8 built for ‘the generative AI era’ | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    There’s nothing particularly new about Google’s latest-generation Pixel 8 smartphone hardware. That’s why the company is pushing hard to tout its AI-powered new software, which Google says was built specifically for the “first phone of the generative AI era.”

    At a press event in New York City, Google

    (GOOG)     showed off the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro devices, which largely look the same as the year prior, albeit with more rounded edges. But inside, its new G3 Tensor chip unlocks an AI-powered world aimed at simplifying your life, from asking the device to summarize news articles and websites to using Google

    (GOOG)     Assistant to field phone calls and tweaking photos to move or resize objects.

    The 6.3-inch Pixel 8 and the 6.7-inch Pixel 8 Pro comes with a brighter display, new camera system and longer-lasting battery life. The Pixel 8 is available in three colors – hazel, rose and obsidian – and starts at $699, about $100 less than the baseline iPhone 14 with the same amount of storage. (That’s about $100 more than last year’s Pixel 7).

    Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 Pro – which touts a polished aluminum frame and a matte back glass this year – now has the ability to take better low-light photos and sharper selfies. It starts at $999 – the same price as the iPhone 15 Pro – and is available in three colors: bay, porcelain and obsidian.

    Although these upgrades are mostly incremental, the AI enhancements and related features may appeal to tech enthusiasts who want the latest version of Android and an alternative to Apple or Samsung smartphones.

    At the same time, Google’s Pixel line remains a niche product. Its global market share for smartphones remains about 1%, according to data from ABI Research. Google also limits sales to only a handful of countries, so keeping the volume low has been strategic as Google remains predominantly a software company with many partners running Android.

    Reece Hayden, an analyst at ABI Research, said Google is looking to establish itself as an early market leader amid the “generative AI-related hysteria,” which kicked into high gear late last year with the introduction of ChatGPT. Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as text and images, in response to user prompts.

    “[Adding it to the Pixel] creates further product differentiation by leveraging internal capabilities that Apple may not have,” said Hayden.

    He expects this announcement to be the first of many similar efforts coming to hardware over the next year, especially among brands who’ve already made investments in this area.

    Here’s a closer look at what Google announced and some of the standout new AI features:

    A Google employee demonstrates manual focus features of the new Google Pixel 8 Pro Phone in New York City, U.S., October 4, 2023.

    Google showed off a handful of photo features coming to its Pixel line, including Magic Editor which uses generative AI to reposition and resize a subject. Similarly, a new Audio Magic Eraser tool that lets users erase distracting sounds from videos.

    Another tool called Best Take snaps a series of photos and then aggregates the faces into one shot so everyone looks their best. And a a new Zoom enhanced feature lets users pinch to zoom in about 30 times after a photo is taken to focus in on and edit a specific area.

    The company said these efforts aim to “let you capture every moment just how you want to remember it.”

    Although the tools intend to give users more control over their photos, some analysts like Thomas Husson at market research firm Forrester believe it will be harder to distinguish between what’s real and what’s not.

    “The fact that Google refers to a ‘Magic Eraser’ will blur the distinction between real photos and heavily edited ones,” Husson said. But he warns an uptick in deepfake apps already makes it hard to decipher the authenticity of some shots. “You don’t really need Google AI for that.”

    The company said Google Assistant will now sound more realistic when it engages with callers. Google’s screen call tool already lets Assistant field incoming calls, speak to callers and determine who’s on the line before pushing it through to the user. But its robotic voice will sound increasing more natural, the company said.

    Google is also bringing the capabilities of its Bard AI chatbot to Google Assistant, so it will be able to do more than set an alarm or tell the weather. With its new generative AI capabilities, it will be able to review important emails in a user’s inbox or reveal more about a hotel that popped up on their Instagram feed. Assistant will also be able to understand user questions in voice, text and images.

    “With generative AI on the scene, it’s really creating a lot of new opportunities to build an even more intuitive and intelligent and personalized digital assistant,” Sissie Hsiao, general manager for Google Assistant and Bard, told CNN.

    In addition to making Assistant more useful, the tool will make it easier for more users to interact with Google’s six-month-old Bard on interfaces they may already frequently engage with. Last month, Google rolled out a major expansion of Bard, allowing users to link the tool to their Gmail and other Google Workspace tools and making it easier to fact check the AI’s responses.

    Google launched Assistant with Bard to a small test group on Wednesday, and it will be more widely available to Android and iOS users in the coming months.

    AI is also getting smarter on the Pixel Watch 2 ($349), its second-generation smartwatch. Users can use Bard capabilities via an upgraded Google Assistant watch app to ask it how they slept and get other health insights.

    In addition, the Pixel 2 features a new heart rate sensor, which works alongside a new AI-driven heart rate algorithm, to provide a more accurate heart rate reading than before. But Hayden said he doesn’t think more AI will add too much more to its existing value proposition.

    “Smart watches already include a fair amount of AI, and Pixel is no different,” he said.

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  • Apple just killed the iPhone Lightning connector. What to do with your old chargers | CNN Business

    Apple just killed the iPhone Lightning connector. What to do with your old chargers | CNN Business

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    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free, here.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    At long last, Apple is killing its proprietary Lightning port in the iPhone 15 and embracing a charging cable that’s compatible with non-Apple products. That’s one less extra cord cluttering your nightstand. One less thing to forget when packing for a weekend getaway.

    But the move, hastened by a European regulatory mandate passed last year, is a largely symbolic measure that comes years after most other gadgets switched to USB-C. And it won’t do much to shrink the mountains of e-waste piling up around the globe.

    “I would classify the EU law and Apple as an evolution, not a revolution,” says Marian Chertow, a professor of industrial environmental management at the Yale School of the Environment.

    When the European Commission passed the directive last year,  it cited two motivations: First, everyone agrees that it’s super annoying to have so many cables lying around. Second, having a common charger across devices — whether they’re made by Apple or Samsung or Garmin or whoever — would “significantly reduce electronic waste.”

    Apple initially pushed back, of course, partly because selling extra Lightning cables made it lots of money. But it also said the waste argument was misguided, and that the promise of wireless charging would make the cable issue moot. (Still, the company ultimately said it would comply with the common cable rules.)

    Retiring the Lightning cable could even generate, in the short term, a surge of e-waste as iPhone users toss their useless Lightning cables in a drawer. (Which, to be clear, isn’t recommended. Apple says it has a “robust” recycling program where you can bring in used chargers and cables. You can also look for a local e-waste recycling center or Best Buy store for environmentally friendly options.)

    Big-picture, though, the impact on the mountains of global e-waste will likely be minimal.

    There are about 66 million tons of electronic waste generated each year, says Ruediger Kuehr, head of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research in Bonn, Germany. Charging cables, he said account for “a few hundred thousand tons.”

    “When we look to the pure numbers, it’s close to nothing,” Kuehr said. “But we nevertheless think it’s a very important step in order to make people … aware of the issue we are facing.”

    E-waste is a growing problem that has yet to enter the mainstream consciousness. Most of it ends up where it shouldn’t — in our closets and junk drawers — which means more materials such as copper, gold and platinum have to be mined to produce new products.

    “You can make money out of it, but you have to really do a lot of steps,” Kuehr says. “This is not understandable for the consumer in comparison to all the other waste streams.”

    Nearly 80% of all e-waste generated around the globe is not properly treated, he said.

    Whether the EU rule actually reduces waste is beside the point if it can push Apple and other manufacturers to help close the loop by making it easier to refurbish and recycle old products.

    And to Apple’s credit, the company has been “a leader in scraping off rare earth metals from its reuse pile to recover these expensive materials,” Chertow says, noting that last year Apple said it was reusing more than two-thirds of the aluminum it needed. “These days, waste experts find that “reuse” is most often a better path than recycling as more can be recovered.”

    —CNN’s Samantha Murphy Kelly contributed to this article.

    Enjoying Nightcap? Sign up and you’ll get all of this, plus some other funny stuff we liked on the internet, in your inbox every night. (OK, most nights — we believe in a four-day work week around here.)

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  • India arrests Chinese smartphone executive in fraud probe | CNN Business

    India arrests Chinese smartphone executive in fraud probe | CNN Business

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    New Delhi/Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    An executive at Vivo, one of China’s top smartphone makers, has been arrested in India in connection with a money laundering probe, raising fears of a renewed crackdown on Chinese businesses in the country.

    Guangwen Kuang, the head of administration at Vivo India, was taken into custody on Tuesday by India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), his lawyer, Mudit Jain, told CNN. The ED is the country’s main financial crimes investigation agency, responsible for probing money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.

    Kuang, a Chinese national, was arrested alongside three other people and would be held in custody for three days, according to a court document shared with CNN by Jain.

    One of the other detainees was a person who had helped Vivo set up its offices in India, and the other two were accountants, according to the document.

    In a statement to CNN, a Vivo spokesperson confirmed that one employee had been arrested and vowed that the company would “exercise all available legal options.”

    “The recent arrest deeply concerns us,” the representative said. “Vivo firmly adheres to its ethical principles and remains dedicated to legal compliance.”

    Allegations of money laundering against Vivo were first made in July 2022, when the ED said it had carried out searches at 48 Vivo locations in the country and seized $60 million from the company’s bank accounts.

    The agency accused Vivo of tax fraud and said the firm had remitted 624.8 billion rupees ($7.9 billion), mostly to China.

    “These remittances were made in order to disclose huge losses in Indian incorporated companies to avoid payment of taxes in India,” the ED said at the time.

    The company said at the time that it was cooperating with the investigation.

    The raids came two months after India seized more than $700 million from another big Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi, which was also accused of moving money out of the country illegally.

    Xiaomi denied wrongdoing, saying all its operations were “firmly compliant with local laws and regulations.”

    Xiaomi and Vivo are hugely popular with Indian consumers, both ranking in the top three of the country’s vast smartphone market behind Samsung.

    Despite the regulatory crackdown, Vivo is still India’s second biggest smartphone brand, commanding 17% of the market in the second quarter, according to Counterpoint Research.

    Xiaomi, meanwhile, has seen its market share slip from 19% to 15% in the same period.

    Relations between China and India soured significantly after a deadly clash at their shared contested border in 2020. Authorities in India later banned Chinese apps and subjected deals with Chinese firms to greater scrutiny.

    Since then, tensions between India and China have continued to simmer.

    Vivo’s troubles this week prompted a swift reaction in Chinese media. State-run tabloid Global Times accused India of “rising protectionism.”

    The executive’s detainment appears to signal a “hardened crackdown on Chinese companies,” the outlet said in a report Wednesday.

    China’s embassy in India has previously warned that the probes of Chinese firms in India risked damaging its reputation among foreign investors and have disrupted “normal business activities.”

    — Vedika Sud contributed to this report.

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  • Apple’s sales fall for the third consecutive quarter | CNN Business

    Apple’s sales fall for the third consecutive quarter | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Apple said Thursday that its revenue slipped 1% to $81.8 billion for its quarter ending July 1, marking the third consecutive year-over-year drop in quarterly revenue for the world’s most valuable company.

    There were some bright spots, however. The company said its services revenue reached a new all-time high of $21.2 billion. The services business — which includes Apple Music and Apple TV+ — is an increasingly important revenue driver for Apple.

    Moreover, Apple’s results narrowly beat Wall Street’s estimates for revenue and profit.

    iPhone revenue came in at $39.7 billion for the quarter, marking an approximately 2% year-over-year decline. Mac revenue was $6.8 billion for the quarter, a 7% drop, and iPad revenue was down nearly 20%. (The new iPad Air launched in the same quarter last year.)

    Shares of Apple ticked down by more than 1% in after-hours trading Thursday. But the stock has climbed some 50% from the start of the year.

    In a statement accompanying the earnings results, CEO Tim Cook touted the rosy services figure and strong performance in emerging markets.

    “We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during the June quarter, driven by over 1 billion paid subscriptions, and we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone,” Cook said.

    On a call with analysts Thursday, Cook added, “We continue to face an uneven macroeconomic environment, including nearly four percentage points of foreign exchange headwinds.”

    “Looking ahead, we’ll continue to manage for the long term, always pushing the limits of what’s possible and always putting the customer at the center of everything we do,” Cook said.

    Apple’s June quarter is typically the slowest of the year for the tech giant, which usually unveils new iPhone models in September. Customers often hold out on upgrading until the new models are released. The quarter also ends before back-to-school shopping and the lucrative December holidays.

    The latest earnings report also comes as PC and smartphone sales slump, after an initial surge seen in the early days of the pandemic. Global PC shipments fell 16.6% last quarter, according to preliminary data from Gartner released last month. Worldwide smartphone shipments, meanwhile, dropped 7.8% last quarter compared to the same period the previous year, according to separate preliminary data from market research firm IDC last week.

    “Like other major tech companies, even Apple is suffering from the negative impact of a worsening macro backdrop and ongoing supply chain woes, though it has done a better job of navigating through the challenging environment,” Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com, said in a note Thursday evening. “Investors appear to be reacting to the slight miss in iPhone sales, but I wouldn’t read too much into it as many consumers are holding out until the next iPhone release.”

    Looking forward, Apple’s CFO Luca Maestri said on the call that the company expects its quarter ending in September year-over-year revenue performance “to be similar to the June quarter,” assuming macroeconomic outlook doesn’t worsen.

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  • 6 takeaways from Apple’s iPhone 15 event | CNN Business

    6 takeaways from Apple’s iPhone 15 event | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Apple unveiled its iPhone 15 lineup along with other major updates during its September keynote event on Tuesday.

    The company announced it will switch to USB-C charging from its proprietary Lightning charging cable with the iPhone 15, marking a milestone for the company by adopting universal charging. The change aims to ultimately streamline the charging process across various devices — and brands.

    The company also showed off its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches, with new colors and features including gesture control, and a new iteration of its AirPods Pro wireless earbuds, also with USB-C charging.

    The iPhone charger update, along with changes to its design and camera system, comes as Apple looks to give consumers more reasons to upgrade their iPhones. Last month, Apple’s sales fell for the third consecutive quarter. iPhone revenue came in at $39.7 billion for the quarter, marking an approximately 2% year-over-year decline, as people update their devices less often.

    Apple on Tuesday said it will not raise prices for the iPhone 15 lineup, which could further incentivize users to upgrade.

    Here are the main takeaways from Apple’s Tuesday event:

    The latest iPhones are packed with subtle but significant design changes. To start, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max now feature a titanium casing, allowing the design to be slimmer and thinner than before.

    Other design changes on the premium models include a more-advanced 48 megapixel main camera with a larger sensor and a new telephoto lens for 5x optical zoom camera, exclusively on iPhone 15 Pro Max. The new Pro models’ design also features contoured edges and a customizable Action button, which gives the ring/silence button additional controls, from starting a voice memo to writing a note.

    Meanwhile, the basic iPhone 15 phones now include updated image stabilization for taking photos and videos, 2x optimization and updated portraits with richer color and better low-light performance. They will also come with the “Dynamic Island” tool – home to alerts, notifications and other controls, in place of the notch – which were previously only available on the iPhone 14 Pro.

    The iPhone 15 lineup also includes an Ultra-Wideband chip to power a handful of new features, including one that makes it easier to find friends who share their location in crowded areas.

    The iPhone 15 comes in 5 colors (white, black, pink, green and yellow) and in two sizes: A 6.1-inch screen for the iPhone 15 and 6.7 inches for iPhone 15 Pro.

    The iPhone 15 will start at $799, and iPhone 15 Pro will start at $999. The iPhone 15 models will be available for pre-order on Friday and for sale in stores on Friday, September 22.

    Perhaps the biggest change coming to the iPhone 15 models is that they will now use a USB-C charging cord, ending an 11-year run with Apple’s proprietary Lightning charging cable.

    Now Apple customers can use the same USB-C chargers to power their iPhones, iPads and Mac computers — no more scrambling to find the right charger for each device. Apple said a dedicated USB-C controller will allow for transfer speeds of up to 20 times faster than with USB-2 technology for the iPhone 15 Pro.

    The new iPhone 15 models will now use a USB-C charging cord, ending an 11-year run with Apple's proprietary lightning charging cable.

    The switch would come less than a year after the European Union voted to approve legislation to require smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers and other small devices to support USB-C charging by 2024. The first-of-its-kind law aims to pare down the number of chargers and cables consumers must contend with when they purchase a new device, and to allow users to mix and match devices and chargers even if they were produced by different manufacturers.

    Apple will also sell a $29 USB-C Lightning adapter to let people connect their existing Lightning accessories to a USB-C-enabled iPhone or iPad to charge or share data.

    The company told CNN that iPhone users can recycle their old Lightning chargers via its in-store recycling program.

    Apple Watches are displayed during an announcement of new products on the Apple campus Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif.

    Apple kicked off Tuesday’s event by announcing the new Apple Watch Series 9, which features Apple’s in-house silicon chip and ultrawideband connectivity. The updated Apple Watch will let users log health data with their voice, use “name drop” to share contact information by touching another Apple Watch and raise their wrist to automatically brighten the display. The Series 9 will come in colors such as pink, navy, red, gold, silver and graphite.

    Apple also showed off the second iteration of its rugged Ultra smartwatch line, featuring the updated S9 custom chip and a new UWB chip. It also features more information on the display for more intensive tracking.

    The Apple Watch Series 9 will start at $399 and the Ultra is priced at $799. Customers can place orders today and they will be available on September 22.

    Apple on Tuesday announced the new Watch Series 9, with new gesture controls and improved connectivity.

    Apple is introducing an innovative and unique way to control its new lineup of smartwatches. The Watch Series 9 and high-end Ultra 2 watch will include a new gesture control called Double Tap, allowing allow users to tap their index finger and thumb together twice, to answer or end phone calls, play and pause music, or snooze alarms. The hand gesture can also scroll through widgets, much like turning the digital crown.

    The company said Double Tap is enabled by an enhanced neural engine that processes data from sensors and machine learning, and by monitoring the change in blood flow when two fingers are tapped together. It is available starting next month.

    A similar hand tap will be used to control the Vision Pro mixed reality headset when it launches next year.

    Apple’s next-generation software for the iPhone will be available to download starting on Monday, September 18. In June, the company showed off a slew of new tools coming to iOS 17, such as a more accurate autocorrect, a new feature called Live Voicemail that will transcribe a caller’s message in real time, and a NameDrop tool that lets users share their contact information by holding two iPhones close together. The iPhone’s phone app will also reposition the hang up button to the bottom right of the screen, next to other functions.

    The update will also bring adaptive audio to the AirPods Pro, which will adjust the noise cancellation and volume based on a user’s surroundings, and introduce conversation mode, which customizes the sound of what you’re listening to and softens when you start speaking to someone nearby.

    The iPhone 15 Pro is displayed after its introduction on the Apple campus, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif.

    Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of environment, policy and social initiatives, said that the company’s Watch Series 9 will be Apple’s “first-ever carbon-neutral product,” thanks to efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and to offset emissions with carbon buybacks. She said this has been certified by an independent third-party.

    Doubling down on sustainability initiatives, Jackson also said the tech giant will no longer use leather in any new Apple product, including watch bands.

    Instead of leather, Apple said it will begin using a new textile that it is calling “fine woven.”

    Fine woven will be made of 68% post-consumer recycled content, giving it a significantly lower carbon footprint than leather, Apple said.

    “Beyond expected improved performance and incremental innovation embedded into Apple’s new products, it is great to see Apple communicate on sustainability as a new competitive advantage — especially with Apple’s first carbon neutral products,” Forrester Principal Analyst Thomas Husson said in emailed commentary following the event.

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  • Apple continues its sweep to roll out USB-C to more devices | CNN Business

    Apple continues its sweep to roll out USB-C to more devices | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Apple

    (AAPL)     quietly announced its next-generation Pencil that works with iPads and now includes USB-C charging.

    The change comes nearly a month after Apple retired its Lightning charger, a milestone moment toward universal charging amid pressure from EU regulators.

    Like previous models, the third-generation Apple Pencil is intended for taking notes, sketching and marking up documents. It also supports the hover feature, which allows users to preview and switch between different tools and app controls, when used with a 12.9-inch iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) and 11-inch iPad Pro (4th generation). The price is $79, down $20 from the second-generation Apple Pencil and $50 less than the original.

    The biggest change to the latest model comes to the charging system, which is noteworthy not only because the company has been resistant to making the switch for years but because it’s about to make charging that much easier for its customers.

    At its iPhone 15 event in September, the company announced all of its next-generation smartphones and new AirPods Pro will launch with USB-C charging. Apple previously switched its iPads and MacBooks to USB-C charging, but the push to finally add it to iPhones came less than a year after the European Union voted to approve legislation to require smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers and other small devices to support USB-C charging by 2024.

    The first-of-its-kind law aims to pare down the number of chargers and cables consumers must contend with when they purchase a new device and to allow users to mix and match devices and chargers even if they were produced by different manufacturers. In doing so, however, Apple will give up control of its wired charging ecosystem, and identifying good chargers from bad ones won’t be obvious to many consumers.

    Although Apple does not break out its Pencil sales numbers, David McQueen, a director at ABI Research, estimates about 42 million have been sold since it launched in 2015, considering 420 million iPads have been sold since then (assuming 10% or fewer of these consumers have bought an Apple Pencil).

    “I’d have to think it’d be this low because of its relatively high price, high-end use case, and the availability of much cheaper alternatives that are capable of working with iPad,” he said.

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  • India restricts laptop, PC imports to boost local manufacturing | CNN Business

    India restricts laptop, PC imports to boost local manufacturing | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    India has placed restrictions on the import of computers and laptops in a surprise move from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has been trying to encourage domestic manufacturing in the tech sector.

    Importers will now need to apply for licenses in order to bring laptops, tablets, personal computers and other electronic devices into the country, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. Previously, the import of such items was unrestricted.

    The ministry didn’t provide a reason for the change in rules, however Modi has aggressively pushed his “Make in India” campaign, which promotes local manufacturing in a bid to create more jobs. It follows a similar curb on smart TV imports in 2020.

    India’s electronic imports stood at $19.7 billion in the April to June period, up 6.25% from the same period in 2022, according to Reuters.

    CNN has contacted Apple

    (AAPL)     and Samsung

    (SSNLF)    , top laptop sellers in the South Asian country, for comment but has not yet received responses.

    India’s push to manufacture domestically comes at a crucial time for the world’s most populous nation, as companies look beyond China to secure crucial supply chains.

    India’s working-age population is expected to hit one billion over the next decade, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Its large and young labor force makes the country a big draw for global companies seeking alternative manufacturing hubs to China.

    Earlier this year, India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, said Apple was already making between 5% and 7% of its products in India.

    “If I am not mistaken, they are targeting to go up to 25% of their manufacturing,” he said at an event in January.

    In June, US chipmaker Micron

    (MICR)     announced a new factory in the western state of Gujarat, calling it the country’s first semiconductor assembly and test manufacturing facility.

    The venture will see Micron invest up to $825 million and create “up to 5,000 new direct Micron jobs and 15,000 community jobs over the next several years,” according to the company.

    Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker and a key supplier to Apple, is also looking to expand its manufacturing operations in India.

    Last month, it abruptly announced it was exiting an ambitious $19.4 billion joint venture with Vedanta

    (VEDL)    , an Indian metals and energy conglomerate, to help build one of the country’s first chip factories.

    But, the company said it was still committed to investing in Indian chipmaking and was applying to a government program that subsidizes the cost of setting up semiconductor or electronic display production facilities in the country.

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  • Apple to issue iPhone 12 update in France after sales halted over radiation levels | CNN Business

    Apple to issue iPhone 12 update in France after sales halted over radiation levels | CNN Business

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    Paris
    CNN
     — 

    Apple plans to update iPhone12 software for users in France after the country’s regulators ordered a pause on sales of the 2020 model over radiation concerns.

    “We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators. We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France,” an Apple (AAPL) spokesperson told CNN Friday.

    France’s National Frequency Agency, the ANFR, ordered Tuesday an immediate withdrawal of the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it exceeded European radiation exposure limits. The ANFR also ruled that for iPhone 12s already in use, Apple must adopt “all necessary corrective measures to bring the telephones into conformity as soon as possible” or it would have to recall the devices.

    Apple told CNN Friday that the suspension of sales was related “to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern.”

    “Since it was introduced in 2020, iPhone 12 has been certified and recognized as meeting or exceeding all applicable SAR regulations and standards around the world,” Apple said.

    SAR is a measure of the rate of energy absorption by the body from the source being measured, according to the French regulator. But experts and regulators generally say not to worry.

    “After discussions and as requested by the ANFR, Apple has assured me that it will be rolling out an update for the iPhone 12 in the next few days,” France’s minister for the digital economy Jean-Noel Barrot posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday.

    The French regulator is preparing to rapidly test this update, “which will eventually bring the model in line with the European standards applied in France” and subsequently allow Apple to resume sales, he added.

    The sales suspension came on the same day Apple unveiled the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Pro, its newest iterations of the iconic product, at its annual keynote event in California.

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  • iPhone sales in China shrink as US political tensions grow | CNN Business

    iPhone sales in China shrink as US political tensions grow | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Demand for Apple’s new iPhone 15 lineup is weaker in China than for last year’s models, according to analysts.

    Sales for the iPhone 15 are down 4.5% in China compared to iPhone 14 sales in the first two weeks after its launch, according to Counterpoint Research. Separately, Bloomberg reported on Monday financial firm Jefferies said iPhone 15 sales dropped by a double-digit percentage following strong customer demand for Huawei’s new Mate 60 smartphone line.

    Apple

    (AAPL)     shares fell 0.08% following the reports.

    The reports come amid a floundering Chinese economy, a struggling housing market, and more competition among higher-end vendors in China, particularly from Chinese device manufacturer Huawei.

    “We’re seeing a lot of nationalism right now as Chinese consumers who think they’ve been wronged by the US government and sanctions are gravitating toward the Mate 60 and that is edging into Apple volumes,” Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint, told CNN.

    At the same time, China remains very important to Apple as it is the largest market behind the US. Fieldhack said he doesn’t believe Huawei will surpass Apple right now in terms of smartphone sales but expects continued interest in the Mate 60 will continue to “eek” into Apple’s numbers.

    “Apple made a lot of gains during its launch period last year, where it became number one in China,” he said. “Things looked strong but now, with the political tension and competition, that is a reason for concern.”

    However, the Phone 15 lineup is up about 10% year-over-year in the US, according to Counterpoint. That’s strong growth for Apple considering sales fell for the third consecutive quarter in August, ahead of the iPhone 15 launch.

    The latest iPhone 15 devices come with a slimmer design, a more-advanced main camera system and a customizable Action button, which gives the silence button additional controls, from starting a voice memo to writing a note. Perhaps the biggest change coming to the models is that they will now use a USB-C charging cord, ending an 11-year run with Apple’s proprietary Lightning charging cable.

    This isn’t the first time the Mate 60 has made headlines since its late August launch. In September, the US government sought more information about the Mate 60 Pro’s 5G Kirin 9000s processor reportedly developed specifically for the manufacturer. Its debut shocked industry experts who questioned how the company could make such a chip following sweeping efforts by the United States to restrict China’s access to foreign chip technology because of perceived national security concerns.

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