Wedbush: Apple/Tech Hit from Dropping Russia a “Rounding Error”
Earlier this week, Apple suspended sales of its hardware in Russia, due to the war Russia started with Ukraine. While no one has said they think Apple did the wrong thing, Apple watchers may wonder what the move will cost the company’s bottom line. Not an amount worth worrying about, according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. Apple 3.0 ran part of a note he wrote. The way he sees it:
…the exposure to large tech stalwarts such as FAANG names and the software/chip ecosystem is a rounding error relative to the global footprint with our estimates that if the US tech world pulled the plug on Russia it would have a 1%-2% revenue impact in a worst case scenario.
If you’re wondering where he stands on Apple’s move. He likes it, it seems, and he’d like to see more. Quoting his note again:
With Apple’s move this week to ban the sales of its products in Russia we expect more tech stalwarts to head down the same path and pull the plug on Russia over the coming weeks given the horrific atrocities seen coming out of Ukraine.
Even if Apple does lose money, Ives thinks money will understand. After addressing the worst-case-scenario loss of 1% to 2%, Ives says, “This is a move the Street would gladly applaud given the heartbreaking Ukraine invasion by Russia that is playing out in front of the world’s eyes.”
Ives has an “Outperform” rating on Apple shares, a price target of $200, and a heart.
Munster: Apple Hardware Waits Improve. Next Week’s “Peek” Will Change That.
Loup Ventures principal Gene Munster says Apple products are easier to get these days than they were a couple of months ago. He also says that’s going to change after next week’s “Peek performance.”
There’s a lot going on in the world, so you might not have heard. Apple is holding a socially distanced product event next Tuesday 8 March. The announcement for the event included the words “Peek performance.” Items expected include a 5G-enabled iPhone SE, an updated iPad Air, and maybe something in an Apple Silicon Mac.
That’s a decent amount of stuff, and it may take a while to get. Apple 3.0 ran part of a post from Mr. Munster. He says supply of Apple product “has improved 2x since January 23rd.” According to the analyst, the “improvement is inline with [his firm’s] expectations and inline with [Apple’s] guidance.” And it’s about to get wrecked. Munster says “new products will be released in the next month and will result in supply headwinds spilling into the June quarter.”
In fairness, that does start in less than a month.
As for where current hardware stands:
Availability for iPhone 13 shows as “same day”
Availability for Apple Watch shows as “same day”
The wait for a new MacBook Pro stands at seven-days, down from 24-days at the end of January
iPads still require a lot of patience. The average wait for one of those is 29-days. Not great, though it is down from the 44-day wait tracked by Loup Ventures at the end of January
Apple Kicks Off Entrepreneur Camp for Hispanic and Latin Founders
News of a new Entrepreneur Camp underway from Apple. 9 to 5 Mac says Apple this week launched “its inaugural Entrepreneur Camp for Hispanic and Latin founders.” According to the piece, the company invited leaders and developers from nine app companies from the US, Brazil, Guatemala, and Portugal to “build the next generation of cutting-edge apps.” What’s weird is, it sort of seems like they already have. Apps represented include:
Cuca Catch from Brazil
Encantos from the United States
Falou from Brazil
Gamma Fighter from the United States
Memoria from Brazil
Sinq from Brazil and Portugal
Tripify from Brazil
Wakeout! from Guatemala and the United States
Yoga Wake Up from the United States
Memoria is the only one that’s not in the App Store already, according to the report. Of course, the Entrepreneur Camps aren’t Developer Camps. They’re Entrepreneur Camps. It’s right there in the name. Entrepreneur Camps are less about making apps than making apps successful, so it makes sense that the apps are already out there.
Speaking of the incoming crew, Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, was quoted as saying:
We are so excited to bolster the impact of Entrepreneur Camp with the addition of this new cohort for Latin technologists… It’s an honor to support these founders and developers on their journeys as they build amazing apps that connect, inform, and inspire us.
Apple TV+ Outs First Look for “Ptolemy Grey”
“The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” premiers next week, and Apple TV+ has posted a first look at the Samuel L. Jackson series. iMore says the Cupertino-streamer put up a video, taking viewers “behind the scenes of the upcoming series…” When the show was first announced, a piece from Deadline described it, saying:
Ptolemy Grey [is] a 91-year-old man forgotten by his family, by his friends, by even himself. On the brink of sinking even deeper into a lonely dementia, Ptolemy experiences a seismic shift when he’s given the tremendous opportunity to briefly regain his memories, and uses this precious and fleeting lucidity to solve his nephew’s death and come to terms with his past.
All of that is one week in your future. “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” premiers next Friday 11 March on Apple TV+. You can catch a trailer for the show and take a dive deeper with the first look below.
“Peek performance” Apple Event Announced for 8 March
By now, you’ve heard the big news for 8 March: There’s a new Activity Challenge for Apple Watch.
I’m kidding. I mean, there is a an Apple Watch Activity Challenge for 8 March, but that’s not the big news. The big news is that Apple is holding a socially distanced media event to talk about… something.
TechCrunch was among the many sites spreading the word on Wednesday - that Apple had sent out invitations to a thing that either no one can go to or everyone can go to, depending on how you think of it.
The announcement itself is pretty simple. It features a black field with an Apple logo on it. That logo kind of looks like a tunnel, replete with Apple’s rainbow colors of old. Under the logo are the words “Peek performance,” which - one assumes - is a play on words. While that term spoken would sound like speaking of the height of performance, the spelling “P-E-E-K” implies getting a short look or first look at something heretofore unseen.
Expanding a tiny bit on the invitation art, Apple SVP Marketing Greg Joswiak hit Twitter with a short, sleek video. That featured a bare stage - bare except for a floating AR Apple logo. The Tweet included the message, “Peek performance. March 8th. See you there. #AppleEvent"
From the Twitter Feed of Greg Joswiak
Peek-a-Huh?
As for what we’ll see, we’ve talked about that a time or two. The guy who originally pegged the 8 March date, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, has said he’s expecting a 5G-enabled iPhone SE, an updated iPad Air, and maybe some sort of Apple Silicon-powered Mac.
Of course, it is an Apple event announcement, and people can’t help trying to read between the pixilated lines. A piece from 9 to 5 Mac suggests:
The “Peek performance” tagline could be referring to the possibility that Apple provides a teaser look (“peek”) at one of the new ultra-powerful Mac Pro or iMac Pro models, even if they aren’t yet ready to be shipped.
They also put out the possibility of a “peek” at Apples’ AR/VR/MR/XR multiverse headset. The site does, just as quickly, kill that idea, though. The way they see it:
…unless Apple has a major surprise in store, this seems unlikely. The latest reports indicate Apple Headset won’t ship until the end of this year at the earliest. Furthermore, any sort of teaser/preview would likely happen at the developer-focused WWDC, because Apple needs developers to adopt its realityOS platform in order for the headset to be a success.
Who’s Reality Is It, Anyway?
As it has done for the last several event announcements, Apple added a touch of augmented reality flair to yesterday’s heraldry. A piece from MacRumors says if users hit Apple's events website using an iPhone or an iPad, they can have the same tunnel-esque Apple logo featured in the Joz Twitter post floating in their own home or office or wherever the heck they happen to be. To access it, MacRumors says:
Tap on the colorful Apple logo on the page to open Apple's AR viewer, which allows you to scan the area around you and see the animated logo in action. You can also view it in "Object" mode to get a clearer picture of what it looks like.
No Peeking, Yet
And now, we wait five or six days. The “Peek performance” event is scheduled for Tuesday 8 March at 10 AM Pacific/1 PM Eastern - other times other places, consult your local star-chart. The event will be streamed on Apple’s events site. The company has also put up a placeholder image on the YouTube.
Google Bringing Bay Area Workers Back to Office in Early April
As Mountain View goes, so goes Cupertino? CNBC says search and advertising giant Google is calling workers back to the office. According to the report:
Google said it will end the voluntary work-from-home period and start having employees in the Bay Area and several other U.S. locations return to the office starting the week of April 4.
The report had John Casey, Google VP of global benefits, saying in an email to employees:
It’s been a long and challenging two years since the vast majority of our people started working from home… But the advances in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in cases that we continue to see, and the improved safety measures we have implemented across our Bay Area sites now mean we can officially begin the transition to the hybrid work week.
The company is anticipating having folks in the office three-days-a-week and working from home for two.
Apple tried to bring people back to the office in some capacity last summer. That was met with resistance. Return plans were shelved indefinitely last December, as the world met the rise of the Omicron variant. One can’t help wondering whether it will follow Google’s suit.
Apple Gear Shoots Up and Dries Up in Russia
With global sanctions and no more supply headed their way, the price of Apple gear in Russia has gone insane. We heard yesterday that Apple has stopped sales of items in Russia. It’s also stopped supplying authorized resellers with stuff to sell. Now a piece from iMore says remaining inventory is going through the roof. The piece has the Russian outlet iPhones.ru saying:
Some time after Apple's announcement of the temporary suspension of sales of its equipment in Russia, non-chain stores and individual sellers sharply raised prices.
According to iMore, the “cheapest iPhone 13, the mini,” was selling from more than US$800 on Wednesday. Apple Watch Series 7 units were selling for over $1,700. A 1TB iPhone 13 Pro Max was going for $2,700. The high end M1 iPad Pro was over $3,000. And Apple’s most expensive MacBook Pro was nearing a price of $10,000.
Russian Apple Authorized Reseller Closes “Temporarily”
With no new hardware coming in, Apple’s largest authorized reseller in Russia has closed its doors. Officially, the closure is temporary, though it’s kind of hard to see how that could be. Another piece from iMore says re:Store has locked the doors on its one store in Prague, its one store in Kyiv, and its 42 stores in Russia. As recently as last week, re:Store sold “Apple's entire range of products,” including the latest iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and Macs. It also sold gadgets and accessories made by companies other than Apple, so… that might happen again?
iMore has re:Store saying in a statement:
The decision to close re:Store stores today is temporary and is caused by the need to assess the current situation on the market. In the near future, the stores will continue their work as usual.
From Russia, with Dumb: Man Destroys Super Old iPad to Protest U.S. Sanctions
From the Twitter Feed of Francis Scarr
A question from the land that brought you Freedom Fries: Does it make one feel better or worse to know that, no matter where you go, you’ll find at least some of the same types of idiots as the place you left? William Gallagher at Apple Insider has written an editorial about a video that was digitally smuggled out of Russia. That might make it sound a bit more cloak-and-dagger than it was.
Francis Scarr posted the video to Twitter. Scarr’s Twitter bio puts him in Moscow with @BBCMonitoring, “watching Russian state TV so you don't have to.” The video he posted has some middle-aged, Russian speaking dude beating an iPad with a hammer. He’s apparently protesting punishing sanctions leveled against Russia as it tries to level Ukraine. According to Scarr, the guy in the video says:
Here's our response to American sanctions! We don't fear you! We'll live without your nice 'pretty' things!
This as he destroys the iPad, then hands the hammer to a kid, who also takes a whack at the iPad. Gallagher points out that the kid, who looks to be about ten, is younger than that iPad.
Also, the older of the two cut himself on the iPad’s shattered screen. Also, beating up on the tablet’s battery could start a fire. Also, his posture and body language make him look like one of the ape-people in the first part of 2001: A Space Odyssey, only not as evolved.
Performative crap.
Seriously… you tell me.
Apple Maps Gets Hazard and Accident Reporting in France
Apple Maps has turned on some features for France. Apple Insider says Cupertino’s answer to cartography will now let users report hazards and accidents in that country. What they can’t report is speed zones. That feature is prohibited in France, according to the report.
Beats + Stüssy = Limited Edition Pill+ Revival
Image via Stüssy
If you’re bummed that you never got a Pill+ speaker from Beats, you’ve got another chance. After discontinuing the device in mid-January, a piece from Engadget says the standalone speaker is back in a special edition. According to the report, Apple subsidiary “Beats has partnered with the street fashion label Stüssy on a limited edition” unit. No Pills. No pluses. The revived model is called “Stüssy and Beats By Dr.Dre.”
Except for the name and design, the device is the same as the discontinued version. As for cost, despite the special edition nature and the fashionable brand on top of the fashionable brand, it actually sails in at a lower price. Engadget says the speaker will “be available to order through Stüssy's website for $185 starting March 4th at 1PM Eastern…” That is less than the Pill+ speaker’s original price of $230.
Apple TV+ Orders Second Season of “The Afterparty”
If you hate to see “The Afterparty” end, take heart. Ahead of the season-one finale this Friday, Apple TV+ issued a press release Wednesday, saying a second season has been ordered. In case you’ve forgotten, the Cupertino-streamer says:
…“The Afterparty” is a genre-defying series centered on a murder mystery at a high school reunion. Each episode explores a different character’s account of the fateful evening in question, all through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller’s perspective.
One assumes the case at the center of season one will be solved with Friday’s finale. Apple says in the episode, “Maggie, an unexpected witness, will emerge to help Detective Danner piece together the true story behind Xavier’s demise.”
As for next season, all Apple has said about season two is that there will be one, and that Detective Danner, played by Tiffany Haddish, will be back on the case!
Apple TV+ Releases Trailer for “Slow Horses”
Image via Apple
I must confess - most of what I’d heard about the upcoming Apple TV+ series “Slow Horses” left me a little flat. It looked like a dark, dreary spy thriller. Personally, I’m fine with a little less dark and dreary in #thesetimesinwhichwelive.
This is what’s great about trailers. Apple released one for the show on Wednesday, and it looks great. Dark and dreary is built in. But the show looks… funny. Anyway, Gary Oldman looks funny in it. According to a piece from The Mac Observer:
“Slow Horses” is a humorous espionage drama that follows a dysfunctional team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 known un-affectionately as Slough House. Mr. Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the leader of the spies.
He seems to care. And really seems to wish he didn’t. Kristin Scott Thomas also stars, with a turn from Jonathan Pryce as well. The first two episodes hit Apple TV+ on Friday 1 April. Others will follow, one at a time, for the next four Fridays for a total of six episodes. Between now and then, you can catch the trailer below.
Apple Watch Activity Challenge Issued for International Women’s Day
Next Tuesday is International Women’s Day, and Apple is marking it with exercise. Actually, you’re supposed to mark it with exercise. Apple will mark that by giving you some imitation doodads. MacRumors brings us word of the challenge. It’s got Apple saying:
March 8 is a day to celebrate women around the world! Earn this award by doing any workout for 20 minutes or more. Record your time with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to Health.
Do so and you get a virtual medallion. You also get a bunch of animated stickers to stick in messages and send to friends. Or anyone you send messages to.
Apple Stops Sales in Russia, Removes RT and Sputnik from Non-Russian App Stores
Apple is done with Russia for the time being - at least from the outside. 9 to 5 Mac says the Cupertino-company has pulled the Russian information apps RT News and Sputnik News from the App Store and stopped all product sales in the country. John Paczkowski, tech and business editor at BuzzFeed News, posted a statement from Apple on the issue to Twitter. That had the company saying:
We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and stand with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence. We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region.
We have taken a number of actions in response to the invasion. We have paused all product sales in Russia. Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. Apple Pay and other services have been limited. RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia. And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.
We will continue to evaluate the situation and are in communication with relevant governments on the actions we are taking. We join all those around the world who are calling for peace.
The report points out that Apple’s moves do a lot of what Ukraine deputy prime-minister Mykhailo Fedorov had asked the company to do. Late last week, Fedorov called on Apple “to stop supplying Apple services and products to the Russian Federation, including blocking access to App Store!” Fedorov thought that might upset youth and the “active population of Russia” enough to lean on Putin’s government to end the invasion. Some of that Fedorov got. 9 to 5 Mac says while the company has stopped product sales in Russia and stopped its disinformation pipelines through the App Store out of the country, “the App Store in Russia remains available.”
Cook Emails Apple Employees Regarding Crisis in Ukraine
It was not only the world-at-large that Apple addressed on Tuesday. Apple Insider says the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, also emailed employees on the situation. Starting off with words of concern, Apple is more than matching those with money. Quoting the email:
Apple is donating to humanitarian relief efforts and providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis. We are also working with partners to assess what more we can do. I know that many of you are eager to find ways to support as well, and we want to help amplify the impact of your donations. Starting today, Apple will match your donations at a rate of 2:1 for eligible organizations, and we will make this retroactive for donations to those organizations since February 25.
Cook concluded the email, saying:
This moment calls for unity, it calls for courage, and it reminds us that we must never lose sight of the humanity we all share. In these difficult times, I take comfort in knowing that we are united in our commitment to each other, to our users, and to being a force for good in the world.
Apple Retail Ups COVID Testing for Vaccinated Employees
Strange goings on in Apple Retail regarding testing and COVID-19. iDownloadBlog highlights a Bloomberg report. According to that, vaccinated employees will need to self-test for COIVD-19 twice a week, up from the previous once a week, but they don’t have to tell anyone how the test comes out. In a message sent to employees on Tuesday, Apple is said to have said:
Based on what we’ve learned from our testing pilot, everyone will now be required to self-test twice per week, regardless of vaccination status… In addition, if you were submitting your test results for verification, you’re no longer required to do so.
Maybe the thinking is if you were conscientious enough to get vaccinated, you’d be conscientious enough to tell people if you test positive?
iDownloadBlog says all of this is being done with an eye toward dropping masks for both customers and employees. While mask mandates are falling for Apple Retail shoppers in various parts of the country, Apple says “team members should continue to wear a face mask in store.” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said last week that Apple was looking to make that change for employees in the near future, though no announcement about that so far.
Apple Seeds Fifth Round of OS Betas to Developers
Work on future operating systems continues. A few pieces from MacRumors on Tuesday had Apple releasing the fifth betas of iOS/iPadOS 15.4 to developers, along with the fifth betas of macOS Monterey 12.3, watchOS 8.5, and tvOS 15.4. Those same betas hitting Apple’s public testing program today seems a pretty safe bet.
Open Web Advocacy: A Stump for Competing Browsers on iOS
Ahead of the launch of iPhone in 2007, Apple had an idea for how developers could develop for the revolutionary device: Web apps. And boy did developers hate that. What they wanted was to be able to install apps natively, and thus was born the jailbreak community. A year later, when Apple introduced the App Store (with its 30% commission), there was - seriously - much rejoicing.
15 years later, a group of software engineers out of the UK are angry with Apple… for holding back web apps. The Mac Observer says the group has launched Open Web Advocacy, a movement to “challenge Apple’s ban of third party browsers on iOS and encourage the adoption of web apps…” According to TMO, the group’s three top priorities are:
Apple Browser Ban. Apple’s ban of third party browsers on iOS is deeply anti-competitive, starves the Safari/WebKit team of funding and has stalled innovation for the past 10 years and prevented Web Apps from taking off on mobile.
Deep System Integration. Web Apps need to become just Apps. Apps built with the free and open web need equal treatment and integration. Closed and heavily taxed proprietary ecosystems should not receive any preference.
Web App Equality. All artificial barriers placed by gatekeepers must be removed. Web Apps if allowed can offer equivalent functionality with greater privacy and security for demanding use-cases.
Are there no other browsers on iOS? Eh, yes and no. The piece had Open Web Advocacy organizer Bruce Lawson telling The Register:
The motive of the group is to try to persuade Apple that they need to allow other browser engines on iOS, so the iOS can be a better platform for developing stuff for the modern web. Because at the moment, every browser on iOS, whether it be badged Chrome, Firefox or Edge is actually just a branded skin of Safari, which lags behind [other browsers] because it has no competition on iOS.
The Mac Observer offers a bit of clarification on that, saying:
All third party browsers have to use WebKit, the open source rendering engine used in Safari. Safari has features that other mobile browsers don’t such as full screen videos, full screen games, web app installation, Apple Pay, extensions, and in-app browsers. iOS WebKit browsers are also missing over 30 APIs.
“Jon Stewart” Head Writer Leaves for Overall Deal with 20th Television
Chelsea Devantez - Image via IMDB
“The Problem with Jon Stewart” is out one head writer. The Hollywood Reporter says Chelsea Devantez has left the Apple TV+ unscripted series for an overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television. The multi-year deal will see Devantez “write and produce comedy projects and supervise other writers,” according to the Reporter report.
Apple TV+ Announces Sam Esmail Series “Metropolis”
Still from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis - Image via britanica.com
News of a new series from Apple TV+ that makes me a bit uneasy. The Cupertino-streamer issued a press release Tuesday, announcing a series inspired by the 1927 silent classic Metropolis. Apple says the “series will be written and directed in its entirety by [Sam] Esmail…” Esmail is probably best known as the creator of the series “Mr. Robot.”
No word on anything about the “Metropolis” project, except for who created it and that it’s happening. I love Metropolis. This makes me nervous. I’ll not be taking questions at this time.