The vehicle won’t have a fully autonomous driving or self-driving feature, but it will be able to drive itself on highways…reports Asian Lite News
Apple has reportedly delayed the launch of its electric vehicle, referred to as the ‘Apple Car’, until 2026 and is expected to be priced under $1,00,000.
Apple is scaling back its vision for the self-driving electric vehicle, reports Gizmochina.
This vehicle’s project is known as ‘Titan’ and it seems to have been in limbo for the past few months.
Initially, the iPhone maker intended to create an automobile with no steering wheel or pedals, allowing passengers to sit facing one another in a limousine-style vehicle.
However, the project has now been reduced in scope and will have a more traditional design with a driver’s seat, steering wheel and pedals.
The vehicle won’t have a fully autonomous driving or self-driving feature, but it will be able to drive itself on highways.
It will provide sufficient autonomy for users to play games or view videos while driving down the road, but will request you to take over when you’re in a city or during bad weather.
Since the tech giant has trimmed back the amenities and technologies for the vehicle, Apple Car will now cost under $100,000 instead of the over $120,000 that it was first expected.
The vehicle’s design is still being worked on by the company, but it will be finished by the end of next year.
Following that, the list of features for the car is expected to be finished by 2024, and testing will start sometime in 2025 ahead of the Apple Car’s expected launch in 2026.
Apple is planning to shift iPad manufacturing to India as the company looks to move up to 30 per cent of its manufacturing outside of China…reports Asian Lite News
As Apple plans to shift more iPhone production away from China to India, it is now reportedly looking to also move the production of some iPads to India to keep its supply chain healthy amid Covid-related disruptions.
Apple has “talked to Indian officials about locating some iPad manufacturing in the country as US-China relations sour and China’s Covid crackdowns snarl supply chains,” reports CNBC, citing sources.
Apple is planning to shift iPad manufacturing to India as the company looks to move up to 30 per cent of its manufacturing outside of China.
The report said that no concrete plans have been made yet, “but if the effort is successful, it would expand Apple’s footprint in the country”.
Apple did not comment on the report.
In India, Apple iPads logged an impressive 34 per cent growth (on-year) in India in the second quarter (Q2) and the company sold over 0.2 million devices in the country, according to CMR.
Apple iPad (Gen 9) and iPad Air 2022 accounted for a lion’s share of the iPad shipments, according to the CMR Q2 data.
The tech giant is also fast forwarding its manufacturing plans in India and Vietnam in the wake of China unrest over zero-Covid policy which has severely disrupted its supply chain, leading to an acute shortage of new iPhone 14 Pro models.
The Wall Street Journal reported over the last weekend that the company is “telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam” in order to “reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn”.
The China upheaval, which hit its key supplier Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory last month resulting in violent protests, means “Apple no longer feels comfortable having so much of its business tied up in one place,” the report said, citing analysts and people in the Apple supply chain.
Apple aims to ship 40-45 per cent of iPhones from India compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to famed analyst Ming-chi Kuo.
Kuo has predicted that iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter this year are likely to reach around 70 million to 75 million units, nearly 10 million less than market projections before the China turmoil.
Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025, according to J.P. Morgan.
Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, with iPhone SE.
The tech giant manufactures some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 at the Foxconn facility while iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are being assembled at the Wistron factory in the country.
In a fillip to India’s thrust on local manufacturing, Apple earlier this year kicked off the production of new iPhone 14 in India, a first for the tech giant as it narrows down the manufacturing period of new iPhones in the country to cut dependence on China…reports Asian Lite News
Apple is fast forwarding its manufacturing plans in India and Vietnam in the wake of China unrest over zero-Covid policy which has severely disrupted its supply chain, leading to an acute shortage of new iPhone 14 Pro models.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is “telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam” in order to “reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn”.
The China upheaval, which hit its key supplier Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory last month resulting in violent protests, means “Apple no longer feels comfortable having so much of its business tied up in one place,” the report said, citing analysts and people in the Apple supply chain.
Apple aims to ship 40-45 per cent of iPhones from India compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to famed analyst Ming-chi Kuo.
Kuo has predicted that iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter this year are likely to reach around 70 million to 75 million units, nearly 10 million less than market projections before the China turmoil.
The top-of-the-line iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models have particularly been hit hard, according to him.
Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025, according to J.P. Morgan.
In a fillip to India’s thrust on local manufacturing, Apple earlier this year kicked off the production of new iPhone 14 in India, a first for the tech giant as it narrows down the manufacturing period of new iPhones in the country to cut dependence on China.
Buoyed by the ease-of-doing business and friendly local manufacturing policies, Apple’s ‘Make in India’ iPhones will potentially account for close to 85 per cent of its total iPhone production for the country this year, according to industry experts.
The import of iPhones to India is likely to come down to 15 per cent this year (from 50 per cent in 2019), while domestic manufacturing by the Cupertino-based tech giant is set to go up substantially to 85 per cent, according to market intelligence firm CyberMedia Research (CMR).
With the iPhone 14 series, Apple’s iPhone production in India is slated to jump from 7 million iPhones in 2021 to touch a new milestone of around 12-13 million iPhones in 2022.
As per CMR, the contribution of domestic iPhone manufacturing in India jumped from 50 per cent in 2019 to 73 per cent in 2021.
In the meantime, the percentage of imported iPhones to India decreased from 50 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2020, 27 per cent in 2021 and around 15 per cent this year — showing a significant make in India’s boom for Apple.
Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, with iPhone SE.
The tech giant manufactures some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 at the Foxconn facility while iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are being assembled at the Wistron factory in the country.
Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook has ignored questions on violent protests in China which have hampered iPhone production at its key suppliers’ factories in the country.
Fox Business asked Cook several questions as he arrived on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, to meet lawmakers late on Thursday.
Cook refused to comment on whether he supported the Chinese people’s right to protest and his thoughts on the factory workers beaten by authorities.
The Apple CEO also remained silent on whether he stood by his company’s business dealings with the Chinese Communist Party.
Cook was in Washington to meet with Republican leaders this week, as the House Judiciary Committee will look into antitrust issues related to the App Store.
Tim Cook(twitter)
The AirDrop feature allows users to share content between Apple devices. The tool was used widely during Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Earlier this month, an update to Apple iOS included an additional AirDrop feature applying only to iPhones sold in mainland China.
Under the update, iPhones can now only set their AirDrop to receive messages from “everyone” for 10 minutes before switching off.
The other settings allow for file-sharing between “contacts only” or “receiving off.”
Amid Covid-related protests in China, Apple is facing growing iPhone shortages.
According to reports, the company has seen $165 billion in market value erosion since last week on concerns of weak holiday sales.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro models’ shipments may reportedly drop by 20 million in the fourth quarter (Q4).
Some iPhone users report Face ID not working post iOS 15.7.1 upgrade
When Apple first introduced digital car keys in 2020, iPhone users were able to share them via iMessage, Apple’s instant messaging service..reports Asian Lite News
Apple has announced that iPhone users can now share car keys in the Wallet app with non-iPhone users, starting with Google Pixel devices.
With iOS 16.2 software, users will be able to share digital car keys with non-iPhone users.
According to TechCrunch, the company said that this capability will extend to other devices with Android 12+ in the future.
The company added that it has been working with the Internet Engineering Task Force and other industry players to establish a standard for sharing digital keys across platforms.
The digital car keys can be shared via email, text message and WhatsApp.
When Apple first introduced digital car keys in 2020, iPhone users were able to share them via iMessage, Apple’s instant messaging service, according to the report.
According to an Apple post, digital car keys can usually be added to the Apple Watch (Series 5 or later or the Apple Watch SE) with the latest version of watchOS.
Apple’s digital car keys are one of many features that allow users to carry less stuff around.
Meanwhile, Apple also rolled out a new iOS 16.1.2 update for its devices, which includes significant security fixes and improves the reliability of the crash detection feature for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro users.
Apple and Meta (formerly Facebook) are at the loggerheads over privacy changes in iOS and App Store…reports Asian Lite News
Amid the ongoing Elon Musk and Apple tussle, Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has once again slammed the iPhone maker for its App Store content moderation policies that present “a conflict of interest”.
Addressing the New York Times DealBook conference, Zuckerberg said that “it is problematic for one company to be able to control what app experiences end up on a device”.
He said that the “vast majority of profits in the mobile ecosystem go toward Apple”.
Tim Cook(twitter)
On Musk being the new Twitter owner, the Meta CEO said “it’ll be very interesting to see how this plays out”.
After his meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Musk on Thursday said that they have “resolved” misunderstandings over the micro-blogging platform possibly being removed from the App Store.
Apple and Meta (formerly Facebook) are at the loggerheads over privacy changes in iOS and App Store.
Facebook is struggling to patch its ad-tracking systems after Apple brought tough privacy changes in its App Store.
Apple introduced the “Ask App not to Track” prompt as part of iOS 14.5 in 2021 which has had a significant impact on various companies, including Meta which said that Apple iOS privacy changes will cost it a whopping $10 billion in 2022.
Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, released in April 2021, came with an App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature that has affected digital advertising for tech giants.
According to the WSJ report, Apple’s privacy move resulted in a “sharp business slump that has shaved approximately $600 billion from the company’s (Meta’s) market value in less than a year”.
A Meta spokesman said that the company has “made significant changes over the past five years to protect people’s data while also allowing businesses of all sizes to grow”.
Over the past few years, India has made rapid strides in the manufacturing sector as well as the electronics industry segment as part of its resolve to not remain dependent on the thin supply chain emanating from China…reports Asian Lite News
Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025 as per J.P. Morgan Analysts’ reading of the last month and Apple Inc recently announced its plan to produce 5 per cent of latest model – iPhone 14 this year in India is much earlier than anticipated.
It is considered that this is the tech giant’s strategy to diversify manufacturing and relocating its plant outside of China amid mounting geopolitical tensions and the global supply chain “de-risking” which is underway because of China’s “zero-Covid” policy, but India is the desired destination shows a significant milestone in the history of the company and India’s preparedness, past performance especially its remarkable resilience during and after the second wave of Covid-19 and competency as well.
It is a known fact that an overwhelming majority of the world’s electronics and electrical equipment and manufacturing has remained limited to a few select countries like China.
Apart from the well-researched factors like a cheaper and larger workforce, it has also been so because of business-friendly ecosystem in such nations. However, with the looming pandemic and supply chain constraints that were seen over the last couple of years, the detrimental effects of any industry’s overdependence on China or any one nation for that matter were clearly seen by the world.
Severely hampering the interests of the larger population, the disturbances in the lone supply chain from China has had a domino effect as well. Many countries far-off have had to pay a heavy price. Taking lessons from what the globe faced in these last couple of years, the world has been actively trying to secure other locations and countries to establish their manufacturing units and usher in a new era of electronics manufacturing and equipment as well.
Over the past few years, India has made rapid strides in the manufacturing sector as well as the electronics industry segment as part of its resolve to not remain dependent on the thin supply chain emanating from China. The hugely-successful tech and innovation giant Apple announced that their biggest unit to manufacture iPhones will be coming up in Hosur, Bengaluru employing about 60,000 people single-handedly. Of these, the first 10 per cent i.e. 6,000 employees would be tribal women from Jharkhand who have undergone training in making these select iPhone mobile devices. This further provides opportunities to not only rural folk but also the tribal sisters that has remained outside the mainstream until now.
In this context, it is not a surprise that Apple’s major supplier Foxconn has recently announced its collaboration with the Indian giant Vedanta to establish a semiconductor manufacturing unit in Gujarat. With this plant functioning, India would enter the elite club of 5 nations that have the ability to manufacture glass and semiconductors as well.
Therefore, it becomes a noteworthy milestone and indeed a revolutionary step that these global giants are finally making their presence felt instead of just seeing potential in India.
“Geopolitics and geo-economics are undergoing a sea change. The world is looking to adopt a China Plus One strategy and India is clearly in a sweet spot. This is India’s moment,” said Anil Agarwal, the Chairman of Vedanta.
Following the mounting geopolitical tensions emanating from China and the consequent cut in production of mobile devices by multiple non-Chinese tech platforms, tech and business analysts have reported that the tech giant Apple was looking for ways to move about 5 per cent of iPhone production and 25 per cent of all Apple production including of Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Airpods, away from China towards India – the second-biggest smartphone market in the globe.
This is a result of dampened sales outlook, fears of an incoming recession as well as the efforts of tech giants to shift production towards more peaceful and stable systems like India. From an industries and manufacturing point of view, India has become much more lucrative than earlier with new-age policies and business outlook apart from reduced red-tapism and streamlined single-window clearances amidst the erstwhile bureaucratic hurdles in place. This single step would be able to create a huge ecosystem for India’s ancillary industries as well.
India, which is world’s fifth largest economy, has been striving hard to position itself as an attractive manufacturing and exports hub for multinationals.
Slashing the corporate tax rates in September 2019, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said: “If Apple and its entire ecosystem move to India, it will have a greater effect on other companies” and it happened. The rising focus on India can be attributed to India’s operating conditions and cost competitiveness in terms of value. In addition, the country has proven success in meeting outsourcing requirements that laid favourable ecosystem for MNCs. It has earned the trust of several nations around the world with true spirit of hard work, professionalism and ethical practices. It has a large domestic market and plentiful low-cost talent pool.
Apple Inc. has been manufacturing iPhones at Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur factory in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu since 2017. Apple gets iPhones made by electronic giants – Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron in India. Apple has already outsourced the making of iPhones India to Tata Electronics’ Plant in Hosur that is expanding its facility and roping in one of the contract manufacturer of iPhone. Now, India is all set to get the biggest Apple Inc. iPhone manufacturing unit in the same town.
In furtherance of the announcement that the workforce at the manufacturing unit would quadruple over the next couple of years, the expansion of current facilities and scaling up of production output have also been reported by various sections of the media. In turn, this is surely bound to lead to further investment and the establishment of many new ventures as well. With the potential to improve livelihoods of thousands of individuals as well as put India on the global electronics map, the government has been ramping up support for its agenda of self-reliance or atmanirbharta through many such government policies and regulations as well.
With a renewed focus on research & development in this sector, this inward-looking approach of the Indian government has ensured that our domestic manufacturing capabilities are given enough of a support to stand up and deliver in case the need so arose. Playing a significant role in innovation, this effort to develop India into a manufacturing hub with an entrepreneur-friendly ecosystem would help both the nation and the world as well.
The company said that paid accounts are growing faster than transacting accounts, so the penetration of paid accounts is increasing…reports Asian Lite News
Apple now has 900 million paid subscriptions on the platform which doubled in just three years, the company CEO Tim Cook has announced.
The company said that paid accounts are growing faster than transacting accounts, so the penetration of paid accounts is increasing.
“We have a great subscription business, 900 million paid subs now on the platform and growing very fast. We doubled in 3 years. This is the part that is really interesting to us because we really believe that the engine for services growth is there, foreign exchange is a temporary thing and the fundamentals are very good,” Cook said during the company’s earnings call for the September quarter.
Services notched a September quarter record as well with a revenue of $19.2 billion.
“We reached another record on our installed base of active devices, thanks to a quarterly record of upgraders and double-digit growth in switchers on iPhone. Across nearly every geographic segment, we reached a new revenue record for the quarter,” said Cook.
On silicon-related supply constraints, he said these issues were not significant in the quarter.
“I want to acknowledge that we are still living through unprecedented times. From war in Eastern Europe to the persistence of Covid-19, from climate disasters around the world to an increasingly difficult economic environment, a lot of people and a lot of places are struggling,” said the Apple CEO.
“Through it all, we’ve aimed to help our customers navigate through the challenges while giving them the tools to drive progress for themselves and their communities,” he added.
Apple also announced new initiatives and investments aimed at promoting climate solutions for communities and decarbonising the global economy…reports Asian Lite News
San Francisco, Oct 25 (IANS) Tech giant Apple on Tuesday called on its global supply chain to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use a holistic approach to decarbonisation.
Apple also announced new initiatives and investments aimed at promoting climate solutions for communities and decarbonising the global economy.
“Fighting climate change remains one of Apple’s most urgent priorities and moments like this put action to those words,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“We’re looking forward to continued partnership with our suppliers to make Apple’s supply chain carbon neutral by 2030. Climate action at Apple doesn’t stop at our doors, and in this work, we’re determined to be a ripple in the pond that creates a bigger change,” he added.
According to Apple, its worldwide corporate operations have been carbon neutral since 2020, and the company is laser-focused on achieving its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral throughout its entire global supply chain and the life cycle of every product.
As part of Apple’s supplier engagement, the company is partnering with its worldwide supply chain to urge accelerated action to achieve carbon neutrality for their Apple-related corporate operations, it added.
Additionally, the company encourages suppliers to address greenhouse gas emissions beyond Apple production.
The company is also offering a suite of free e-learning resources and live training through its “Clean Energy Programme” that will help suppliers meet their commitments and go even further.
This will also allow work closely with its suppliers and local partners to identify effective solutions for renewable energy and carbon removal.
Moreover, customers in the US can now play a role in decreasing the carbon footprint of iPhones with Clean Energy Charging.
Starting this month, the feature is available in the US through iOS 16 that will look at the source of electricity during expected charge times in order to optimise for cleaner energy sources such as solar or wind, according to a report.
Google rolls out widgets for iOS 16 Lock Screen on iPhones
Apple introduces ‘Clean Energy Charging’
San Francisco, Oct 25 (IANS) Apple has introduced a new feature called “Clean Energy Charging” to iOS 16.1-enabled iPhones that will allow users to cut down on their carbon footprint.
Those who prefer cleaner charging methods can use Clean Energy Charging, which selectively charges when low-carbon electricity is available.
Clean Energy Charging works together with “Optimised Battery Charging” to learn users charging habits. It engages only where the user spends the most time and regularly charges their iPhone for long periods, such as at home or work, according to the tech giant.
It doesn’t engage if users charging habits are variable or if they are in a new location, such as when travelling.
Clean Energy Charging is available only in the US, and it is enabled by default when users set up their iPhones or update to iOS 16.1. Users can disable it by going to Settings, Battery, Battery Health and Charging and then turning off Clean Energy Charging.
Whenever Clean Energy Charging suspends charging, an alert appears on the lock screen letting users know when their iPhone will be fully charged.
When the user needs their iPhone fully charged sooner, tap “Charge Now” after holding the notification for a few seconds, it added.
Along with Clean Energy Charging, iOS 16.1 also features live activities, wallet key sharing, lock screen/home screen customisation, matter support, delete wallet app, battery percentage in the status bar, screenshot UI, and more.
‘NAND’ is flash memory, a key component found in all electronic devices such as smartphones, personal computers, and servers…reports Asian Lite News
Amid political pressure, tech Giant Apple has suspended plans to use memory chips made by China’s Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) in its products, media reports said.
According to Nikkei Asia, the move comes when the latest round of US export controls was imposed against China’s tech sector.
The report said that Apple had already certified YMTC’s 3D NAND flash memory for use in iPhones before the US government tightened export restrictions against China earlier this month. However, YMTC’s chips, which the government subsidises, were initially planned for Apple to use by this year on account of them being at least 20 per cent less expensive than those of its competition, supply chain executives were quoted as saying.
‘NAND’ is flash memory, a key component found in all electronic devices such as smartphones, personal computers, and servers.
Due to the tighter controls, tensions with Beijing have increased since companies who do not provide the needed information within 60 days may be blacklisted. Moreover, the US Commerce Department investigated the YMTC over whether it violated Washington’s export controls by selling chips to Huawei, which is already blacklisted.
In the company’s forthcoming AR gadgets, iris scanning is likely to be used to recognise a user when they put on the headset…reports Asian Lite News
Tech giant Apple’s upcoming AR (augmented reality) headsets may use iris scan instead of Face ID or Touch ID to identify people.
In the company’s forthcoming AR gadgets, iris scanning is likely to be used to recognise a user when they put on the headset, reports AppleInsider.
“The capability will make it easier for multiple people to use the same device and allow them to quickly make payments inside the headset,” quoted in the report.
“Just like iPhones, it allows people to confirm payments using scans of their fingerprints or faces”, it added.
It is expected that iris scanning will enable Apple Pay use, if it is used as a new biometric method for user authentication.
The design of the upcoming AR device is expected to feature mesh fabrics, aluminium, and glass. It is likely to be thinner and lighter than Meta’s new Quest Pro.
The screen of the headset will be able to function at low refresh rates, much like the iPhone and Apple Watch, which have always-on screens. It would be specifically for battery conservation in the case of the headset.
It is rumoured that the company is working on three different AR headsets.
The one of the headgear is likely to launch in 2023. It might cost up to $3,000 and include a pair of 4K OLED panels as well as 15 side-facing camera modules.
