NLRB Certifies Maryland Apple Store Union Vote
Apple Towson Town Center - Image via Apple
29 JUNE 2022 - It’s felt official for a few days now, but the Apple Towson Town Center union is now officially official. Apple Insider says the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) “has certified the union election for more than 100 Apple store employees” for the location, just outside of Baltimore, MD.
Having joined with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE) will henceforth be known as IAM-CORE. An exec from the union is quoted in the piece, saying:
IAM-CORE members feel that the opportunity to collectively bargain with Apple will enhance their workplace and continue to advance Apple's standing as one of the world's most innovative companies. IAM-CORE continues to organize from coast to coast to bring a greater voice on the job to Apple workers.
Pace Quickens for Next Round of Minor Apple Software Updates
29 JUNE 2022 - Apple seems to be barreling toward the next round of minor software updates. Apple Insider ran a piece Tuesday saying that the fourth betas of iOS 15.6, iPadOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7, and tvOS 15.6 were out to developers. When I went looking for news of a macOS update, I instead came across a piece from MacRumors that said the iOS and iPadOS betas were already out to Apple’s public testing program. So… look under your seat or something.
“Duck & Goose” Waddle Into Apple Stream on Friday 8 July
29 JUNE 2022 - If the streaming service that rocks the cradle will one day rule the world, Apple’s making another play at domination. That’s kind of a dark way of saying - new kids’ show for Apple TV+!
The Cupertino-streamer issued a press release Tuesday, announcing a trailer and a release date for “Duck & Goose.” It’s about a duck. And a goose. “Inspired by the New York Times bestselling books by Tad Hills,” Apple’s press release says:
…”Duck & Goose" is a preschool series that celebrates the unique camaraderie of Duck and Goose, two best feathered friends that don’t always see beak to beak. That is until they discover that embracing and appreciating each other's differences can help them think up entirely new ideas to help solve everyday challenges, both big and small.
The show hits Apple TV+ on Friday 8 July. Between now and then, you can catch the trailer below.
DigiTimes: Component Shipments Begin for Next Round of iPhones
28 JUNE 2022 - When it comes to product rumors, I’m not a huge fan of DigiTimes. When it comes to the supply chain though, they strike me as worth listening to. And so, it is worthy of note that that site says components for the next round of iPhones have started shipping. MacRumors highlights a paywalled DigiTimes piece that says:
Component suppliers have kicked off their shipments for the next-generation iPhone series slated for launch in September, according to industry sources…
The MacRumors piece then went into rumors about the upcoming hardware, which I’m not overly into. After early starts and restarts for assembly hires, I’m personally just glad to hear of movement in the supply chain.
Unionization in Retail: Seeking Alpha Sees Apple as Bellwether
Apple Towson Town Center - Image via Apple
28 JUNE 2022 - As Apple goes, so goes Starbucks? That’s sort of the question posed by a piece from Seeking Alpha (via Apple Stocks). A little over a week ago, Apple Towson Town Center became the first Apple Store in the states to form a union. Apple had a week after that to challenge the store’s union vote, something it apparently declined to do. Now, Seeking Alpha indicates that Apple’s action (or inaction) on the vote may be a bellwether for corporate America. Noting the push at other Apple stores toward unionization, the piece points out that:
…the implications likely extend beyond just Apple and its expansive retail operations in the United States. The push for worker organization has been a key trend across many of the nation’s largest employers, including Starbucks, Amazon, Alphabet, and more.
The piece says the push for unions hit big around the start of the pandemic in 2020. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says such moves returned to normal levels in 2021. “As Apple and many others contend with pushes to organize,” Seeking Alpha says, “those rates may once again be on the rise.”
SCOTUS Declines to Hear Apple Appeal Over Qualcomm Patents
28 JUNE 2022 - A case between Apple and Qualcomm is dead for now, with the US Supreme Court declining to hear an appeal from the Cupertino-company. Apple and Qualcomm were at each other’s throats in 2019 over a slew of tech used by Apple over which Qualcomm held (and holds) patents. A piece from 9 to 5 Mac says the two companies settled their multi-billion lawsuit on the day they were due in court three-years ago.
While that settlement “covered tens of thousands of Qualcomm patents,” 9 to 5 Mac says Apple wanted to contest two of those. According to the report:
…Apple’s request to challenge the validity of the two patents, however, was decided in favor of Qualcomm. Apple then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which dismissed the appeal on the basis that Apple “lacked standing to pursue the matter because of the settlement.”
Here’s the thing though: The settlement runs out in 2025 or 2027, depending on whether it’s extended. Apple wants (or wanted) the question of the two patents decided now so it won’t have to worry about being sued over them again in three-to-five years.
With the supreme court’s declination, the sword of Damocles hangs out. That said, 9 to 5 Mac points out that Apple is believed to be working on 5G modems of its own, so who knows? Qualcomm’s IP may not be a worry in, say, three-to-five years.
Fortnite “Support-a-Creator” Program Pays Out 5% (Maybe)
28 JUNE 2022 - Hypocrisy, thy name is Sweeney. You know how Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has been put out, let’s say, over having to pay Apple a 30% or 15% commission for sales made through the App Store and having to use Apple’s in-app payment solution? Guess how much Epic’s “Support a Creator” program pays out!
Apple Insider explains what that is, saying:
Epic operates a Support-A-Creator program, which hands participants a Creator Code that players can enter into the game. Purchases made while a code is active on an account gives a small credit to the owner of that code.
Very small. Ridiculously small. 5%. According to the report:
The Support-A-Creator program is open to anyone with over 1,000 followers on a social media program, are aged 13 years or older, can accept the agreement, can abide by Creator Content Guidelines, and can take payment from the company's designated payments platform.
In exchange for agreeing to the terms, creators stand to earn a very low amount in return. In effect, creators can expect to earn $5 per $100 of in-game purchases by supporters using that creator's code.
Furthermore, creators have to earn at least $100 in a 12-month period to be eligible for a payment. If that $100 barrier isn't reached, "any attributed purchases and/or redemptions made by followers during that 12-month period will reset to zero.”
This bleepin’ guy.
Apple Music Live Lil Durk Concert Set for Wednesday 29 June
Rapper Lil Durk - Image via Apple Music
28 JUNE 2022 - If you’re a fan of the modern music that today’s kids think is groovy - news of a new live event from Apple. Apple Insider says Apple Music Live goes live again tomorrow - Wednesday 29 June - with a live concert from rapper Lil Durk.
Apple Music subscribers can catch the show as it happens at 10PM Eastern/7PM Pacific. For folks who miss it live, chances are it will be available to stream at their leisure. The first Apple Music Live event featuring Harry Styles has been available to replay since its live premier on 20 May.
Toni Sacconaghi Watching Apple TV+
28 JUNE 2022 - What do Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi and I have in common? About the biggest thing is we both know how to spell his name, but it turns out there’s something else: We’re both intrigued by Apple TV+.
Barron’s ran a piece Monday highlighting a note from the analyst. That had Sacconaghi laying out some data with no obvious source. For example, the piece had Sacconaghi estimating that the Cupertino-streamer “has between 20 million and 40 million paying subscribers, generating between $1 billion and $2 billion of annual revenue.”
How can we call between 20 million and 40 million “data”? Whatever the case, the amount of money Apple TV+ is pulling in is small potatoes compared to the amount of money Apple makes overall - in fact, he figures Apple is currently losing between a-billion and two-billion dollars a year on the service.
But he does not seem to see that as a waste. Sacconaghi thinks Apple has a couple of plans for Apple TV+. The first is to make money, something he indicates it could do by adding more sports, while the second is to beef-up its overall ecosystem. According to Barron’s, “Sacconaghi thinks the service is particularly interesting as a potential valuable piece in bundled hardware or services offerings.” For now though, the analyst says the Apple TV+ “focus is clearly on quality over quantity, consistent with Apple’s brand…”
Sacchonaghi has a “Market Perform” rating on Apple shares. His price target on the shares is $170.
Apple TV+ Inks First-Look Deal with Maya Rudolph’s Animal Pictures
Maya Rudolph in “Loot” - Image via Apple
28 JUNE 2022 - Apple TV+ seems to like what it’s seen from “Loot.” On the heels of the premier of the Maya Rudolph-led series, a piece from 9 to 5 Mac says the Cupertino-streamer has inked a first-look deal with Rudolph’s production company Animal Pictures.
A first-look deal is pretty much what it sounds like. Apple gets dibs on any series and/or features working their way through Animal Pictures. If Apple’s not interested in a given project, Animal Pictures is set free to shop it around to anyone else who’s interested.
Apple TV+ Close to Deal on Oyelowo Series “Government Cheese”
David Oyelowo - Image via IMDB
28 JUNE 2022 - Apple TV+ is on the verge of getting “Government Cheese.” Variety says Apple’s video streaming service is “nearing a pickup order” for the David Oyelowo-led dramedy. Based on a short film of the same name, Variety says:
“Government Cheese” follows Hampton Chambers (Oyelowo), a man recently released from prison who struggles to keep his criminal past at bay and win back his family, all while processing moments of divine intervention that seem to happen with increasing frequency.
Oyelowo you may know from the films Selma, Jack Reacher, and 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Assuming the “Government Cheese” deal happens, it’ll be the actor’s second turn with Apple TV+. “He is also set to appear in the streamer’s series adaptation of Hugh Howey’s post-apocalyptic ‘Wool’ novels,” according to the report.
Apple TV+ Outs Trailer for “Surface” Ahead of July Premier
“Surface” Premiers Friday 29 July on Apple TV+ - Image via Apple
28 JUNE 2022 - Apple’s next thriller looks to be about a month away, and the Cupertino-company has released a trailer for it. Apple TV+ issued a press release Monday announcing a release date and trailer for the Gugu Mbatha-Raw series “Surface.” Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie, “a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her with extreme memory loss, believed to be a result of a suicide attempt.” But as she works to rebuild her life, she starts to wonder whether what seems to have happened is actually what happened.
Apple says it’s an eight-episode series, though it does not name it a “limited series.” Whatever the case, the first three-episodes land in the stream on Friday 29 July. Between now and then, you can catch the trailer below.
Apple Addresses Roe vs. Wade Reversal
Image by Mark Thomas from Pixabay
27 JUNE 2022 - As had been expected, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe vs. Wade on Friday. As the Los Angeles Times explained (via Apple News+):
The court's conservative majority said the Constitution does not protect the right to abortion, instead leaving the decision in the hands of state lawmakers.
A number of tech companies issued statements on the issue, including Apple. The Cupertino-company’s statement was made public in a Twitter post from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. He quoted Apple as saying:
We support our employees’ rights to make their own decisions regarding their reproductive health. For more than a decade, Apple’s comprehensive benefits have allowed our employees to travel out-of-state for medical care if it is unavailable in their home state.
With abortion becoming illegal in - literally - a single day in many states, there’s renewed focus by some on cycle tracking on Apple devices, including in Apple’s Health app. While there seems to be little concern about Apple mishandling such info, a piece from Apple Insider points out that various apps and devices are able to access information in the Health app. The site suggests checking your settings to see what apps do have access to such info. It’s honestly a good idea for anyone since, as the piece points out:
Unused apps sitting on the iPhone can still update internal databases and sync with the cloud using background processes.
In other words, just because you’re not accessing an app or service anymore doesn’t mean that app or service isn’t accessing your sensitive information. There is a lot of good information in the article - definitely worth checking out: “How to Ensure Apple Health Cycle Tracking Data Stays Private”
US Lawmakers Call on FTC to Investigate Apple and Google Over Ad-Identifiers
27 JUNE 2022 - Hours ahead of last week’s abortion ruling by the Supreme Court, four lawmakers called on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate Apple and Google over mobile tracking. The Wall Street Journal (via Apple News+) had a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.); Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.); Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.); and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D., Calif.) asking the FTC to:
…investigate Apple and Google for engaging in unfair and deceptive practices by enabling the collection and sale of hundreds of millions of mobile phone users’ personal data. These two companies knowingly facilitated these harmful practices by building advertising-specific tracking IDs into their mobile operating systems.
While the letter does acknowledge the ability for consumers to “opt-out” of such data collection today, the lawmakers argue that that’s a relatively recent change for iOS and Android. Quoting the letter again:
By failing to warn consumers about the predictable harms that would result by using their phones with the default settings that these companies chose, Apple and Google enabled governments and private actors to exploit advertising tracking systems for their own surveillance and exposed hundreds of millions of Americans to serious privacy harms.
As for what this means in the wake of last week’s SCOTUS ruling, the lawmakers argued that:
…individuals seeking abortions and other reproductive healthcare will become particularly vulnerable to privacy harms, including through the collection and sharing of their location data. Data brokers are already selling, licensing, and sharing the location information of people that visit abortion providers to anyone with a credit card. Prosecutors in states where abortion becomes illegal will soon be able to obtain warrants for location information about anyone who has visited an abortion provider. Private actors will also be incentivized by state bounty laws to hunt down women who have obtained or are seeking an abortion by accessing location information through shady data brokers.
You know, as long as they’ve got the FTC’s attention, maybe the lawmakers could call for an investigation of, what they themselves call, “shady data brokers?” Also - kind of bummed that the same group of lawmakers didn’t call on the FTC to investigate Facebook, Snap, and other services and developers for actively trying to work around the protections Apple added with App Tracing Transparency.
Maybe that’s coming in a follow-up letter.
Report: Apple Not Fighting Towson Retail Union Vote
Apple Towson Town Center - Image via Apple
27 JUNE 2022 - While Apple would rather retail workers at its Towson, MD store had not joined a union, it doesn’t sound like Apple’s going to try to beat the decision. iMore ran a piece Friday highlighting a Reuters report. That had “a person familiar with the company's plans” saying that Apple would “not challenge the results of [the union] vote…” Instead, the piece says the Cupertino-company “intends to participate in the bargaining process in good faith…”
One imagines that that is the case for a couple of reasons. First, it would look really bad for Apple to gang up on 65 employees. Perhaps the bigger reason this seems likely though, we’ve not heard anything to the contrary. Apple had until last Friday 24 June to challenge the vote. Hard to imagine word would not have gotten out if they’d done so. That said, you won’t hear “yea” or “nay” from the Cupertino-company. “When reached for a response,” says iMore, “Apple declined comment on [the] news.”
Good News/Bad News for Students from Apple
image via Apple
Apple “Back to School” Promo Kicks in for 2022
27 JUNE 2022 - Pluses and minuses for students from Apple. On the plus side: Apple’s annual back-to-school promotion is on again. No AirPods in the US and Canada this time, unless AirPods are what you want. Set for college and university students, a piece from MacRumors says:
This year's promotion offers a free Apple gift card with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad, rather than free AirPods like last year. Apple is also offering students 20% off AppleCare+ plans during the promotion.
The piece says qualified buyers get a $150 gift card when they buy a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac. Students picking up an iPad Air or iPad Pro get a gift card worth $100. In the US and Canada, the “Back to School” promotion runs through Monday 26 September, when we will almost be finished singing bah-di-yah.
Interestingly, AirPods are still the big get for some back-to-schoolers. In an update to its report, MacRumors says:
Apple's Back to School promotion has also gone live in some Asian countries such as India, Singapore, and Thailand, with Apple offering free second-generation AirPods with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad.
Apple Music Price Goes Up in Canada, UK, and US
As for the minus from Apple, it’s actually a plus one-dollar. A report from TechCrunch says the Cupertino-company has raised the price of Apple Music’s student plan. That moves from $4.99 in the US and Canada and £4.99 in the UK, to $5.99 in the first two countries and £5.99 in the United Kingdom.
Hard to imagine a worse time, but okay. TechCrunch reached out to Apple on the price change and got no response. While the new prices are “now visible on Apple’s website,” the piece says Apple “has yet to publicly announce the pricing changes.”
Moses Ingram Joins Apple TV+ Series “Lady in the Lake”
Moses Ingram - Image via IMDB
27 JUNE 2022 - The “Lady in the Lake” has found a replacement. Apple has described the show in the past, saying:
The limited series [Lady in the Lake] takes place in 1960s Baltimore, where an unsolved murder pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz [played by Natalie Portman] to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist and sets her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood, a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.
Lupita Nyong’o had been set to play Sherwood, though she was reported to have dropped out of the project back in May. Now, a piece on iLounge says that role will be filled by Moses Ingram. Though her first IMDB credit only goes back to 2018, Ingram has a few big titles under her belt. Those include the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” the Disney+ series “Obi-wan Kenobi,” and the Apple TV+ film The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Byte Shop Apple-1 Sells for $469,000
Image via RR Auction
27 JUNE 2022 - And finally today, that least of the rare ultra-rare things was sold again last week - as it almost never always is. The Mac Observer says the “Byte Shop” Apple-1 that had been up for bids sold last Thursday for a total of $468,750 - that’s $375,000 to the former owner and $93,750 (25% above the sale price) to RR Auctions, the auction house handling the sale.
News of the auction’s end comes as a major disappointment to people who were thinking of buying the machine for me for no apparent reason. Reached for comment, I’ve expressed a willingness to take half the final sales price in cash. Plus 25% for handling the transaction.
Though I’ve seen nothing official, news of the next sale of these ultra-rare machines is expected to start before the end of this sentence.
Counterpoint: iPhone Grew 1Q22 Share in Shrinking Premium Smartphone Market
24 JUNE 2022 - After saying Wednesday that models of iPhone made up five of the top-ten global smartphone shipments in April, Counterpoint Research is out with more numbers showing iPhone crushing the smartphone space.
Apple Insider highlights Counterpoint’s newest numbers. According to those, iPhone took 62% of the worldwide market for smartphones costing more than $400 in the first-quarter of ’22. That was the Jesus-phone’s highest first-quarter share since 2017, according to the firm. It also represented year-on-year growth for Apple in the segment. Last year, Apple’s first-quarter +$400 share of the global smartphone market was 57%. This year it moved higher, nabbing a 62% share - this as the premium smartphone market shrank 8% year-on-year.
While iPhones took up half the air on the global top-ten list, they left next to no room for anything else in the over-$400 top-five. Running those down:
iPhone 13 - 23%
iPhone 13 Pro Max - 13%
iPhone 13 Pro - 9%
iPhone 12 - 8%
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G - 3%
And you say, “With a name as catchy as ‘Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G,’ how did it do so poorly?”
Bernstein Analyst Sees Short Term Strength for Apple Shares Ahead of Next iPhone
24 JUNE 2022 - You know, people can be annoying. Lots of people. People who stand too close to you at the grocery store. People who kick the back of your seat on a plane or train. Lots of people can be annoying. Today though, I’m thinking specifically about Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi and whoever wrote the piece for Seeking Alpha about Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi.
Well, whoever wrote the headline. “Apple rises as Bernstein says stock could outperform over next few months, citing history,” it says. Everything I follow in the States was up yesterday. I don’t think Apple did that by itself, and I certainly don’t think Sacconaghi talking about Apple created that kind of ripple. Just… stop already.
Sacconaghi has a “market perform” rating on Apple shares. And yet, he thinks Apple shares will outperform the market for the next three-months - just as they’ve done for 14 of the last 15 years. Not these July, August, and September months specifically. Rather, he’s referring to the three-months ahead of an anticipated iPhone release. Those used to be in June or July, now they’re not. According to Seeking Alpha:
With the company likely to announce the iPhone 14 in September, Sacconaghi notes there is “some opportunity for Apple to potentially outperform modestly over the next few months per its historical pattern,” but the analyst added that the risk-reward over the next six months to two years is “neutral to modestly negative.”
Because as far as Sacconaghi is concerned, all Apple does is make iPhones. What’s annoying is, not only does he continue to discount anything Apple does except iPhone, he issued a note earlier this week that seemed to indicate rough sledding for iPhone this year #InThisEconomy. He must be given props on one thing though: consistency. I’m not kidding. All he can see is iPhone. While history tells him that Apple shares are likely to pop headed into the next iPhone, he’s not day trading. He’s advising for the long term. Of course, he’s also been wildly wrong about Apple for years but - you know… he’s consistent!
As mentioned before, Saccanoghi has a “Market Perform” rating on Apple shares. His price target on the shares is $170.