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The Run-Locally Edition Thursday, April 25, 2024

Apple Releases New Family Of Open-source Efficient Language Models As AI Work Progresses, by Chance Miller, 9to5Mac

Ahead of iOS 18’s debut at WWDC in June, Apple has released a family of open-source large language models. Called OpenELM, Apple describes these as: a family of Open-source Efficient Language Models.

In its testing, Apple says that OpenELM offers similar performance to other open language models, but with less training data.

Apple’s New AI Model Hints At How AI Could Come To The iPhone, by Emilia David , The Verge

Apple has been quiet about its plans for generative AI, but with the release of new AI models today, it appears the company’s immediate ambitions lie firmly in the “make AI run locally on Apple devices” realm.

Apple Needs To Become A Software Company Again, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

But if Apple can manage to infuse AI into its operating systems in ways that make them more appealing, and by happy coincidence, it requires faster processors and more memory, that’s going to motivate a round of hardware upgrades. And that’s good for Apple, because while OS updates are free, new iPhones absolutely are not.

I’m not thrilled about the idea of replacing my Apple hardware, but I’d rather do it because I’m motivated by an awesome AI-based feature than because I’m tired of the color of my laptop or the shape of my iPhone.

On Security

Apple Declares War On Adload Malware, by Howard Oakley, The Eclectic Light Company

This week’s security data update to XProtect is unique in the magnitude of its changes. In a single update, the Yara detection rules used by macOS to check for malware have grown by 20% with the addition of 74 new rules, all of them aimed at a single target, Adload. Apple’s security engineers are clearly determined to get the better of that old adware and bundleware loader.

Apple In Courts / Apple In EU

Say Goodbye To Your iPhone? Maybe, If Antitrust Regulators Have Their Way, by Giovanna Massarotto, The Hill

The ingenuity of U.S. tech companies has changed the way we shop, search and interact online — in other words, how we live. If we look at Europe, we can see the how antitrust efforts are prone to stifle innovation. Europe’s antitrust agency has already punished Apple and Google (twice) for antitrust violations and recently introduced a new law to enforce (by default) remedies to make large tech companies’ products more open, including Apple iPhones. The market there isn’t amenable to innovators like Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs or Alexander Bell. Thus, the more vigorous European antitrust and regulatory approach against large tech companies like Apple might not be the pro-competitive antidote consumers really need or want.

Spotify Submits A New Update To Apple With Pricing Information For EU Users, by Ivan Mehta, TechCrunch

Spotify said Wednesday that it has submitted a new version of its app for EU users with pricing information and basic site information. Critically, the version doesn’t contain the link to the website.

The Growingly Granular & Increasingly Tedious Apple/Spotify Rift, by M.G. Siegler, Spyglass

At some point, you have to wonder if this back-and-forth is as tiresome for the EU as it is for the rest of us to watch unfold. They should make a clearer ruling one way or another. Right now, Apple would seem to be following the letter of the law, but Spotify is arguing that they're not following the spirit of the law. In the US, a court would likely tell Spotify to get lost with such an argument, but the EU clearly cares about spirits and such. So around and around we go. Like a record, baby. Right 'round, right 'round.

Stuff

Apple Launches “Made For Business” In Select Stores Around The World, by Apple

Beginning in May, a special Today at Apple series titled “Made for Business” will offer small business owners and entrepreneurs free opportunities to learn how Apple products and services can support their growth and success. Led by small business owners, the sessions will highlight how these organizations have used Apple products such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac — along with resources such as Apple Business Connect, Apple Business Essentials, and Tap to Pay on iPhone — to build their businesses, reach customers in new ways, and push their organizations forward.

Downgrading iCloud+ Storage? Be Sure To Retrieve Your Files Properly, by Glenn Fleishman, Macworld

Apple’s fees for iCloud+ storage tiers are a sore point among enough people that I’ve seen the question come up repeatedly: How can I be sure I have a local copy of all my files if I want to reduce my iCloud+ storage payment or stop paying for iCloud storage at all?

This Time Management App Works Across All Your Apple Devices And Will Make Planning Your Days A Piece Of Cake, by Becca Caddy, iMore

If you’re looking for a way to track your time during the day – or even keep track of the way your whole team at work spends their day – then Tyme 3 is a tool that’s designed to not only give you more visibility about how you spend your time but, with all of those newfound insights, it could enhance your productivity in the long run too.

WhatsApp For iOS Is Rolling Out Passwordless Logins With Passkeys, by Wes Davis, The Verge

One more app joins the passwordless future we’ve been promised. WhatsApp says it’s now rolling out support for passkeys in the iOS version of the app. With the feature enabled, users of Meta’s encrypted messaging app can use iPhone biometrics for login — that is, Face ID or Touch ID — or their phone’s passcode.

Apple Vision Pro Gains Apple Arcade Games Crossy Road Castle And Solitaire Stories, by Juli Clover, MacRumors

Apple Arcade games Crossy Road Castle and Solitaire Stories are set to launch on the Vision Pro headset tomorrow, adding two additional popular games to Apple's first head worn device.

Notes

DRC Accuses Apple Of Using Illegally Exploited Minerals From Conflict-torn East, by Le Monde with AFP

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using "illegally exploited" minerals extracted from the country's embattled east in its products, lawyers representing the African country said Thursday, April 25.

[...]

The Paris-based lawyers for the DRC accused Apple of purchasing minerals smuggled from the DRC into neighboring Rwanda, where they are laundered and "integrated into the global supply chain".

The Man Who Killed Google Search, by Edward Zitron, Where's Your Ed

These emails are a stark example of the monstrous growth-at-all-costs mindset that dominates the tech ecosystem, and if you take one thing away from this newsletter, I want it to be the name Prabhakar Raghavan, and an understanding that there are people responsible for the current state of technology.

These emails — which I encourage you to look up — tell a dramatic story about how Google’s finance and advertising teams, led by Raghavan with the blessing of CEO Sundar Pichai, actively worked to make Google worse to make the company more money. This is what I mean when I talk about the Rot Economy — the illogical, product-destroying mindset that turns the products you love into torturous, frustrating quasi-tools that require you to fight the company’s intentions to get the service you want.

Bottom of the Page

If I can go through a day without talking (physically) to another person (excluding family, of course), I consider that a very good day. Alternative, I play a game with myself to see how long I can last through the day without talking to someone else.

Which is my way of saying that I am not that excited with all these generative AI stuff. And I am not that excited that I may have to pay for all these extra CPUs and GPUs and what-nots in the next Apple devices that I want to buy just so I can have Siri to chit-chat on the devices.

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Thanks for reading.