As Apple continues to fight legislation that would make it easier for consumers to repair their iPhones, MacBooks, and other electronics, the company appears to be able to implement many of the requirements of the legislation, according to an internal presentation obtained by Motherboard.
According to the presentation, titled “Apple Genuine Parts Repair” and dated April 2018, the company has begun to give some repair companies access to Apple diagnostic software, a wide variety of genuine Apple repair parts, repair training, and notably places no restrictions on the types of repairs that independent companies are allowed to do. The presentation notes that repair companies can “keep doing what you’re doing, with … Apple genuine parts, reliable parts supply, and Apple process and training.”
Though I’m not a financial reporter, I did used to cover payments and I’m a huge points hound. Some of the benefits (and caveats) of Apple Card are worth examining a bit more.
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This week, we got to see what Apple thinks is a solid ‘version 1’ of its credit card offering. Yes, this is a V1, and Apple is going to be iterating on the concept with new features and benefits.
Why? Well, simply put, this feature has saved people’s lives. Genuinely. And now it’s available in Hong Kong and 19 European countries (including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), it’s only going to save more.
Today's update brings enhanced Apple Pencil functionality, coinciding with the addition of Apple Pencil support on the new iPad Air and the fifth-generation iPad mini.
Apple is again using humor to get across a serious message. Its latest video has a young man using his iPhone to answer a personal question, and assures him that he isn’t being tracked while he’s doing so.
Alfred, the superb productivity app from imaginatively-named developer Running with Crayons, recently celebrated its 9th birthday. Here’s a birthday tribute that explains why Alfred 3, the latest version, has become one of my favorite and most-used apps.
Gboard 2.0 for iOS today adds a slew of customization options for the keyboard ranging from backgrounds, keys, and even the glide swipe trail.
With this upgrade, the ABI is now stable on Apple platforms, so Swift libraries are now incorporated into every future release of MacOS, iOS, WatchOS, and TVOS. Because developers will no longer have to include these libraries, applications will now be smaller and easier to build.
Major tech corporations have launched AI “ethics” boards that not only lack diversity, but sometimes include powerful people with interests that don’t align with the ethics mission. The result is what some see as a systemic failure to take AI ethics concerns seriously, despite widespread evidence that algorithms, facial recognition, machine learning and other automated systems replicate and amplify biases and discriminatory practices.
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For people directly harmed by the fast-moving and largely unregulated deployment of AI in the criminal justice system, education, the financial sector, government surveillance, transportation and other realms of society, the consequences can be dire.