Let’s Talk Apple — Ep. 75 (November 2019)

Panel:

• Bart Busschots (host) – @bbusschots
• Simon Parnell from the Essential Apple Podcast – @serenak
• Nick Riley – @spligosh

The show starts with a look at some followups to stories from previous months before jumping into some notable numbers released in November. Next is a single legal story and three HR stories. The five main stories are an alleged gender bias in AppleCard credit limits, the removal of Vaping apps from the App Store, Apple’s Russian woes, the new 16″ MacBook Pros, and Apple’s complicated relationship with US President Donald Trump. The show finishes with a quick rundown of some other Apple-related stories that made the news in November.

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!

Followups

• Apple’s purchase of Intel’s mobile chip business has completed — www.imore.com/…
  • Intel says it sold its modem business to Apple at a ‘multi-billion dollar loss’ because Qualcomm ‘strangled competition’ — www.businessinsider.com/…
  • Related: Apple says it remains committed to fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licensing of SEPs — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: Apple and Intel file antitrust lawsuit against patent troll — www.imore.com/…
• As expected, Checkra1n ,the first jailbreak based on the checkm8 iOS boot loader bug has been released — arstechnica.com/…
• Indian government says Apple is expanding its operations in the country — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: The iPhone was the top-selling premium smartphone in India in Q3 2019 — www.imore.com/…
• According to reporting from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple have changed their development process for iOS 14 in an attempt to stop a recurrence of the very bumpy iOS 13 roll-out discussed in last month’s show — www.bloomberg.com/…
  • Related: iOS 13.2.2 Stops Killing Background Apps — tidbits.com/…
  • Related: Apple releases iOS and iPadOS 13.2.3 — arstechnica.com
  • Related: Apple to fix macOS email encryption bug in future software update — www.imore.com/…
• The EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said many concerns have been raised with the commission regarding ApplePay — www.imore.com/…
• Apple’s investment in a revolutionary new Aluminium smelting process starts to pay off: Apple has just bought its first ever batch of carbon-free aluminum — www.imore.com/…

Notable Numbers

• Positive AppleWatch Numbers:
  • Apple Watch shipped 6.8 million units in Q3 2019, up 51% from last year — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple Gets Closer to 50% Share of Smartwatch Sales — www.macobserver.com/…
  • 35% of iPhone users have a smartwatch, compared to just 16% of Android users — www.imore.com/…
• Good news for Apple from the enterprise market:
  • Every company in the Fortune 500 uses Apple products… it’s not hard to see why — www.imore.com/…
  • IBM: Employees using Macs 22% more likely to exceed expectations compared to those using Windows — www.imore.com/…

Legal Latest

• Apple -v- VirnetX takes another turn as the US Court of Appeals has vacated the damages awarded to VirnetX by a jury and sent it back to the lower court Texas to decide whether to re-calculate the damages or to hold a damages-only trial — www.imore.com/…

Apple HR & Acquisition News

• Kim Rozenfeld Steps Down As Apple Head Of Current Programming & Unscripted, Segues To First-Look Deal — deadline.com/…
• Apple hires pro-Trump lobbyist Jeffrey Miller in its latest attempt to avoid trade tariffs — www.imore.com/…
• Apple hires National Geographic’s former director of podcasts as it pushes towards original content — www.imore.com/…

Main Stories

1. Aledged gender-bias in AppleCard credit limits
   • The New York Department of Financial Services have opened an investigation into Goldman Sachs following Tweets alleging gender bias in how AppleCard credit limits are set — www.imore.com/…, NY regulators investigating Apple Card after viral complaint of sexism — arstechnica.com & www.macobserver.com/…
   • Goldman Sachs will re-evaluate Apple Card credit limits after gender bias accusation — www.imore.com/…
   • Elizabeth Warren says that if Goldman Sachs can’t explain its Apple Card algorithm, it shouldn’t use it — www.imore.com/…
   • Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherod Brown press for examination into Apple Card gender bias claims — www.imore.com/…
   • Related: AppleCard does continue to mature and improve:
     • Apple Card Beginning to Show Up on Credit Reports — www.macrumors.com/…
     • Nike Joins the 3% Cash Back Club for Apple Card — www.macobserver.com/…
2. Apple has removed all Vaping apps from their App Store and updated their terms to exclude any new vaping apps
   • After CDC Report Apple Removes 181 Vaping Apps — www.macobserver.com/…
   • PAX hopes Apple will reconsider its decision to ban vaping apps from its App Store — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: L’Affaire Vaperware — daringfireball.net/…
3. Russian Woes:
   • Apple Obeys Russian Demand to Change Crimea in Apple Maps — www.macobserver.com/…
     • Apple responds to Crimea outcry, says it will take “a deeper look” — www.imore.com/…
     • Related: Facebook made to ‘correct’ user’s post as Singapore flexes fake-news muscle — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/…
   • Putin signs law making Russian apps mandatory on smartphones, computers — www.reuters.com/…
     • Apple: new Russian phone sales legislation is ‘equivalent to jailbreaking’ — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple Threatens To Pull Out Of Russia Market Come 2020 — www.ibtimes.com/…
4. Apple have released new 16" MacBook Pros — arstechnica.com/… & www.imore.com/…
   • Apple Removes 15-inch MacBook Pro for Sale — www.macobserver.com/…
   • The troublesome Butterfly Keyboard has been replaced by a re-designed scissor-switch keyboard based on the popular Magic Keyboard. The change has been mostly positively received — www.imore.com/… & www.imore.com/…
     • Check out iFixit’s initial look inside the new 16-inch MacBook Pro keyboard — www.imore.com/…
     • Not only is the 16-inch MacBook Pro’s keyboard likely more reliable, but it’s quieter, too — www.imore.com/…
     • Apple’s Phil Schiller on reinventing the new MacBook Pro keyboard — www.cnet.com/…
     • Opinion: People won’t stop complaining about the MacBook Pro keyboard and it’s for a good reason — www.imore.com/…
   • Tech Specs:
     • A Look at the 16-Inch MacBook Pro’s Tech Specs — www.macobserver.com/…
     • MacBook Pro 2019: Specs compared — www.imore.com/…
     • 16-inch MacBook Pro benchmarks show marked improvement over 15-inch model — www.imore.com/…
   • The new 16" MacBook Pro earned a 1/10 from iFixit, which is not surprising — www.imore.com/…
   • Reviews:
     • 16-Inch MacBook Pro First Impressions: Great Keyboard, Outstanding Speakers — daringfireball.net/…
   • Related: Apple confirms Mac Pro, Pro Display XDR will arrive in December — www.imore.com/…
   • Related: Apple fails to end MacBook ‘butterfly’ keyboard class action — www.reuters.com/…
5. Trump & Apple — it’s complicated!
   • President Trump toured the Texas factory that manufactures MacPros with Tim Cook — www.macobserver.com/…
   • President Trump claims he ‘opened’ Apple’s 6-year-old Mac Pro plant in Texas yesterday — www.imore.com/…
   • Tim Cook Appears Alongside Trump in Re-Election Campaign Ad Shot in Mac Pro Plant in Austin — daringfireball.net/…
   • Apple CEO Tim Cook vows to fight for DACA until his ‘toes point up’ — www.imore.com/…
   • Tim Cook Urges United States to remain a member of the Paris Agreement — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: How Apple’s Tim Cook Mastered Donald Trump — www.forbes.com/…
   • Opinion: China, Russia, Trump, and Apple – Explained — www.imore.com/…
   • Opinion: Trump Gives U.S. Business the Ukraine Treatment — www.nytimes.com/…

Quick Stories

• Apple Releases Smart Battery Case for iPhone 11 and 11 Pro with Dedicated Camera Button — www.macstories.net/…
  • X-ray teardown shows just how smart the iPhone 11 Smart Battery Case is — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Clips 2.1 Brings Animoji and Memoji — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple support document confirms 2019 13-inch MacBook Pro shutdowns — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Awards:
  • Apple celebrates its first ever Apple Music Awards, Billie Eilish wins big — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple celebrates the best apps and games of 2019 — www.imore.com/…
  • Apple Reveals 2019’s Most Popular Podcasts — www.macobserver.com/…
• AppleWatch’s use in medical research continues:
  • Stanford Medicine publishes paper on its Apple Watch Heart Study — www.imore.com/…
  • Enroll in Apple’s three new landmark health studies using the new Research app — www.imore.com/…
• Apple breaks ground on new campus in Austin, Texas — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Rebuilds Privacy Site With ‘Everyday Apps Designed For Your Privacy’ — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple Pay Express is now live for TfL rides in London — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: How to Turn on Apple Pay Express Transit Mode in iOS 13 — www.macobserver.com/…
• Apple to give $1 to (RED) for Apple Store purchases made with Apple Pay — www.imore.com/…
  • Related: Apple has raised more than $220m to help (RED) fight AIDS, says Tim Cook — www.imore.com/…
• You can now buy Sony’s Dualshock 4 controller from Apple.com — www.imore.com/…
• Apple Music’s new Replay feature shows your most listened to songs, albums and artists — www.imore.com/…
• Apple working on ‘next generation of media apps for Windows’ — www.imore.com/…
• Sony updates some 2018 and 2019 TVs to support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit — www.imore.com/…