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The Homegrown-Components Edition Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Apple Plans To Drop Key Broadcom Chip To Use In-House Design, by Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

Apple Inc.’s push to replace the chips inside its devices with homegrown components will include dropping a key Broadcom Inc. part in 2025, according to people familiar with the situation, dealing a blow to one of its biggest suppliers.

As part of the shift, Apple also aims to ready its first cellular modem chip by the end of 2024 or early 2025, letting it swap out electronics from Qualcomm Inc., said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. Apple had been previously expected to replace the Qualcomm part as soon as this year, but development snags have pushed back the timeline.

Thunderbolt 4 Vs Thunderbolt 3 Vs USB4, by Simon Jary, Macworld

Apple has changed its MacBook connection standard from Thunderbolt 3 to “Thunderbolt / USB 4”.

What does this mean? What is the difference between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4? And then what is USB 3?

Why Is The Mac Pro?, by Michael Simon, Macworld

So if the Mac Pro isn’t the fastest Mac you can buy now and the new model won’t be significantly faster when it launches later this year, why does it even exist?

Stuff

Apple Maps Launches New Parking Feature In U.S. And Canada, by Joe Rossignol, MacRumors

In partnership with parking platform SpotHero, Apple Maps now provides parking information for more than 8,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Parking availability can be filtered based on EV charging, wheelchair accessibility, and more.

Apple Promotes Unsend iMessage And Action Mode With New iPhone 14 Ads, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Apple on Monday shared two new iPhone 14 advertisements on its YouTube channel. While one of them highlights the new Action Mode for videos, the other promotes a feature introduced with iOS 16 for every iPhone user, which is Unsend iMessage.

iOS 16.2 Once Again Breaks Gapless Playback For Apple Music Users, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

iOS 16.2, which was released to the public in December, appears to have once again broken gapless playback for iPhone and iPad users. According to complaints from a number of users on Apple’s support forums and Reddit, gapless playback with the Music app has been broken since iOS 16.2 was released.

Structured 3.0.1 Review: No Frills, Attractive Daily Planner, by Catherine Cargill, AppleInsider

While some need a robust daily planner app that's rich in features, others prefer a minimal approach to scheduling their day. The Structured app is for the latter, offering an uncomplicated way to stay on track with daily tasks and remember appointments.

Facades App Now Lets You Catalog Every Apple Store You've Ever Visited Around The World, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

For those who are aficionados of Apple Retail Stores just like Steeber, Facades now has a feature that lets users keep track of all the Apple Stores they visit. The app also lets you generate and share a nice card detailing how many stores you have visited and which one was the most recent.

Notes

iPhone Exports From India Double To Surpass $2.5 Billion, by Sankalp Phartiyal, Bloomberg

Apple Inc. exported more than $2.5 billion of iPhones from India from April to December, nearly twice the previous fiscal year’s total, underscoring how the US tech giant is accelerating a shift from China with geopolitical tensions on the rise.

[...]

But moving out of China, where Apple has built a deep supply chain for close to two decades, isn’t easy. A Bloomberg Intelligence analysis estimated it would take about eight years to move just 10% of Apple’s production capacity out of China, where roughly 98% of the company’s iPhones are being made.

A Top Apple Subscriptions Executive, VP Services Peter Stern, Is Leaving The Company, by Claire Atkinson, Insider

Peter Stern, who had been helping establish Apple's presence in sports rights in addition to running Apple TV+, has informed colleagues that he is exiting Apple to spend more time on the East Coast, according to a source close to the executive. Stern, whose title is VP Services, is leaving at the end of the month.

Apple is reorganizing its Services unit and Stern's responsibilities will be split into three separate divisions, according to two people familiar with internal conversations at Apple. One of those executives will be Oliver Schusser, who is currently in charge of Apple Music.

Bottom of the Page

I certainly hope that Apple still want to make products that are the best products for a small segment of customers. The cancellation of iPhone mini, as well as the rumored cancellation of iPhone SE, seems to indicate Apple does not want to, though, and that makes me sad.

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Thanks for reading.