Let’s Talk Apple — Ep. 92 (April 2021)

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots
• Lynda Gousha from the Silicon Valley MUG – @llg4cdg
• Chuck Joiner from MacVoices – @chuckjoiner
• Kelly Guimont from App Camp for Girls – @verso

The show starts with the usual followups and updates on long-running stories. That’s followed by a few quick legal stories, some Apple HR news, and some updates to Apple’s various services. The four main stories are Earth Day 2021, Apple opening it’s Find My network to third parties, Apple’s Q2 2021 earnings call, and Apple’s bumper Spring Loaded event. The show ends with a quick rundown of some smaller Apple-related stories that made the news in April.

You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!

Followup

• COVID Update:
  • 🇺🇸 Apple seeks dismissal of $800 million COVID app lawsuit — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Study to see if Apple Watch can detect COVID–19 now taking volunteers — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 All Apple Stores in Michigan have closed due to surge of COVID–19 cases — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple extends in-app purchase exemption for group events through 2021 — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple is launching its own COVID–19 vaccination effort — www.imore.com/…
  • Tim Cook says Apple will donate to support India COVID fight — www.imore.com/…
• We now know that the firm that unlocked the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone for the FBI was not Celebrite as suspected, but Australian company Azimuth — www.macobserver.com/…
• 🇮🇳 iPhone supplier overhauls workings after factory riot — www.imore.com/… (Wistron)
• Apple is letting Parler come back to the App Store — www.imore.com/…
• Anti-trust woes continue:
  • 🇷🇺 Russia fines Apple $12 million for antitrust practices on the App Store — www.imore.com/… (from Kaspersky complaint about restrictions on parental control apps back in 2019, Apple will appeal)
  • 🇦🇺 Australia threatens Apple with regulation over App Store, default apps — www.imore.com/…
  • 🇫🇷 Apple Pay and Others Mean Banks Could be Squeezed Out, French Authorities Warn — www.macobserver.com/…
  • 🇪🇺 EU says Apple Music unfairly competes with Spotify in the App Store — www.imore.com/… (Preliminary finding, now the Commission talk to Apple) & EU says Apple’s 30% cut from rival music providers violates competition law — arstechnica.com
  • 🇺🇸 U.S. House Committee Approve Big Tech Report — www.macobserver.com/…
  • 🇺🇸 Activists Decry ‘Apple’s Stranglehold’ on iPhone Software Following Senate Hearing — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Analysis: Apple Is Not A Monopoly And 10-Year Growth Prospects Are Excellent — seekingalpha.com/…
• Awards Season Continues:
  • Apple TV+ Content Recognized, But Doesn’t Win, at GLAAD Media Awards — www.macobserver.com/… (The son episode of Little America earned Special Recognition)
  • Apple TV+ film ‘Wolfwalkers’ takes five Annie Awards home — www.imore.com/…
  • ‘Servant’ and ‘Greyhound’ take home wins at 68th Golden Reel Awards — www.imore.com/…
  • ‘Greyhound’ and ‘Servant’ Win at Motion Picture Sound Editors Award Winners — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Pixar’s Soul Beats Apple TV+ Film Wolfwalkers in Oscars Animated Movie Battle — www.macobserver.com/…
  • Three Apple TV Plus original series earn BAFTA nominations — www.imore.com/… (Little America, Earth at Night in Color & Tiny World)
• iOS 14.5 finally comes out of beta with two long-awaited features — arstechnica.com/…
  • Apple Watch unlock when wearing a facemask — www.imore.com/…
  • App Tracking Transparency
    • How Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency policy works — arstechnica.com
    • No incentives for iOS 14.5 app tracking allowed, says Apple — www.imore.com/…
    • Apple confirms iOS 14 app tracking option disabled in some cases — www.imore.com/…
    • iOS 14.5: Here’s How to Start Blocking App Tracking — www.macobserver.com/…
    • 🎦 Craig Federighi talks App Tracking Transparency with Joanna Stern — www.imore.com/…

Legal Latest

• Apple Wins New Trial in $506 Million Patent-Damages Award — www.bloomberg.com/… (Over LTE patents, and judge agreed jury was not adequately allowed to consider FRAND)
• A judge has rejected Apple’s motion to dismiss a case arguing that the word ‘buy’ is deceptive for iTunes content, the class action suit will go to trial — Lawsuit Challenges Apple Over ‘Buy’, ‘Rent’ Difference — www.macobserver.com/… & www.imore.com/…
• Apple -v- Epic is about to go to trial
  • Apple, Epic Games lay out detailed arguments for upcoming legal battle — arstechnica.com
  • Apple denied pretrial sanctions against Epic Games over witness disclosure — www.imore.com/… (Judge rules Epic had not broken the rules)
  • Epic Games won’t call on Facebook Gaming Chief in Apple trial — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple scrambles to claw back Small Business Program emails ‘inadvertently’ sent to Epic — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: Fortnite is not coming to Microsoft xCloud because Epic doesn’t want it to — www.imore.com/… & Epic says game streaming services compete with PC. Except when they dont. — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: Microsoft follows Epic Games, boosts developer revenue share to 88% — www.imore.com/…
  • Analysis: How long can Epic afford to throw money at the Epic Games Store? — arstechnica.com
  • Analysis: Epic Games v. Apple: What to know about the biggest trial in tech — www.protocol.com/…
  • Analysis: Three questions that will decide the Epic Games case against Apple — www.theverge.com/…
    1. Is the exclusive App Store a necessary part of iOS?
    2. How is the iPhone different from a PlayStation?
    3. How much control can Apple exert over its hardware?
  • Analysis: Q&A: Experts weigh in ahead of Apple’s battle royale with Epic Games — www.imore.com/…

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Apple TV+ hires two new execs to develop non-scripted content — www.imore.com/… & Executives With Full CVs and Big Award Wins Join Apple TV+ Unscripted Team — www.macobserver.com/… (Erika Clarke from Spotify Studios & Colleen Grogan formerly from Lifetime)
• Diogo Rau, Head of Engineering for Apple Retail, is moving to Eli Lilly — www.imore.com/…
• Apple launches new ‘Careers at Apple’ website — www.imore.com/…

Apple Services Update

• 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 Apple Music TV Arrives in the UK and Canada — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple Music City Charts go live, and you don’t need a subscription to see them — www.imore.com/…
• Apple TV+ has highest average IMDb score of any streaming service — www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. Earth Day: Apple celebrates Earth Day across Apple TV, Podcasts, Apple Watch, more — www.imore.com/… & Apple Celebrates Earth Day 2021 With Curated Content for Customers — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Apple backs President Biden’s climate plans and calls for SEC-backed emissions disclosure — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple announces new $200 million carbon removal initiative — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Releases 2021 Environmental Progress Report — www.macobserver.com/… (Basically “we’re on target to meet our ambitious goals”)
   • David Attenborough’s The Year Earth Changed tops the unscripted program charts — www.imore.com/…
2. Apple Opens the Find My network to third parties — www.imore.com/…
   • VanMoof S3 and X3 e-bikes now support Apple’s Find My network — www.imore.com/…
   • Chipolo becomes first item tracker to support Apple’s Find My network — www.imore.com/…
3. Q2 2021 Earnings Call — www.apple.com/…
   • Apple Q2 2021: Apple sees $89.6 billion in revenue in March quarter — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Crushes Earnings and Revenue for Record March Quarter — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Facing uncharted waters, Apple reports 54% year-over-year revenue increase — arstechnica.com
   • Apple’s Jaw-Dropping Q2 2021 by the Numbers — tidbits.com/…
   • 75% of Apple Watch purchases were from first-time users last quarter — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple now has 660 million paid subscriptions for its services — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Earnings Call Transcripts: Apple CEO Tim Cook on the company’s Q2 2021 earnings — www.imore.com/…
4. Apple’s Spring Loaded Event — www.imore.com/…
   • How to rewatch the April 2021 ‘Spring Loaded’ Apple event — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple announces Apple Card Family — www.imore.com/…
     • Shared Apple Card Users Can Now Build Credit Together — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Apple announces new Purple finish for the iPhone 12 in time for spring — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Unveils Podcast Subscriptions And Redesigns App — www.macobserver.com/…
     • Apple Podcasts Subscriptions: Everything you need to know! — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple will take a 30% cut on its new Podcast Subscriptions service — www.imore.com/…
     • Some of the finer points in Apple’s Podcasters Program Agreement — nathangathright.com/…
     • Related: Spotify begins rolling out new Podcast subscriptions platform — www.imore.com/… (US-only for now, with 100% for podcasters to start, but 5% fee from 2023)
   • Apple announces new Apple TV 4K with A12 Bionic, new remote, and more — www.imore.com/…
     • The new and improved Apple Siri Remote works with your old Apple TV — www.imore.com/…
     • You can’t use that new Siri Remote to play some Apple TV games — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple offers AppleCare Plus for the Apple TV for the first time — www.imore.com/…
     • tvOS 14.5 adds color balancing, new controller support, and more — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple finally releases AirTag, a brand new tiny tracking device for $29 — www.imore.com/… & Apple takes on Tile with AR-ready AirTags tracking devices — arstechnica.com
     • Here’s what happens if you lose an AirTag — www.imore.com/…
     • How Apple designed AirTags to be privacy-first and stalker-proof — www.fastcompany.com/…
     • What to do if you find an AirTag or get an alert that an AirTag is with you — support.apple.com/…
     • AirTag is splash, dust, and water-resistant with a replaceable battery — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple and other brands release slew of AirTags accessories — www.imore.com/…
     • How to replace an AirTag battery — www.imore.com/…
     • Don’t use AirTags to track your kids, says Apple — www.imore.com/…
     • 🎧 an excellent interview with some of the AirTag team: Rene Ritchie: Apple Answers YOUR AirTag Questions! — overcast.fm/…
     • 🎦 AirTag in the wild: MKBHD unboxing and setup — www.loopinsight.com/…
   • Apple announces colorful new iMac with stunning redesign — www.imore.com/…
     • Magic Keyboard With Touch ID Compatible With All M1 Macs, But Only Sold With iMac For Now — www.macrumors.com/…
     • Apple’s new M1 iMac includes a VESA mount option — www.imore.com/…
     • Related: Apple cuts price of 27-inch iMac glass upgrade — www.imore.com/…
   • Apple announces new mini-LED iPad Pro with M1 and 5G — www.imore.com/…
     • The first generation Magic Keyboard works with the M1 iPad Pro after all — www.imore.com/…
     • The M1 iPad Pro is Not Getting macOS, Says Greg Joswiak — www.macobserver.com/…
   • Apple has released a ton of new Apple Watch bands for spring — www.imore.com/…
   • The fine print: What Apple didn’t talk about — sixcolors.com/… & Here are the updates that didn’t make it in Apple’s April 20 livestream — arstechnica.com
   • Here’s everything Apple killed at its ‘Spring loaded’ April event — www.imore.com/…

Quick Stories

• M1 Mac mini quietly updated with optional 10 Gigabit Ethernet port — www.imore.com/…
• Apple updates Clips app with new augmented reality experiences — www.imore.com/…
• 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 Apple rolling out refined App Store search with tags — www.imore.com/… & Apple’s App Store search suggestions are now live for easier discovery — www.imore.com/… (initially just in USA, Canada, UK & Australia)
• 🇺🇸 Apple is committing $430 billion in US investments across five years — www.imore.com/…
  • How Apple is Going to Spend US$430 Billion — www.macobserver.com/…
• 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇩🇪 🇯🇵 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 You can now extend AppleCare+ for the Mac for longer than three years — www.imore.com/… (in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom & the US)

Legend

Note: When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.