Apple news and analysis | TechCrunch

Spotify and Epic Games call Apple’s revised DMA compliance plan ‘confusing,’ ‘illegal’ and ‘unacceptable’

Sarah Perez — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 18:59:19 +0000

Count Spotify and Epic Games among the Apple critics who are not happy with the iPhone maker’s newly revised compliance plan for the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Shortly after Apple announced the updated version on Tuesday, including loosened restrictions along with the addition of two more fees, Spotify shared a statement with TechCrunch […]

This Week in AI: OpenAI’s talent retention woes

Kyle Wiggers — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 17:05:00 +0000

Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. This week in AI, OpenAI lost another co-founder. John Schulman, who played a pivotal role in the development of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, has left the company for rival Anthropic. Schulman announced the news on X, saying that his decision stemmed from a desire to deepen […]

Apple Intelligence’s writing tools stumble on swears and controversial topics

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:00:09 +0000

Apple's Writing Tools feature will show a message notifying you that AI-generated suggestions might not be of the highest quality when tackling certain topics.

Apple’s new Safari feature removes distracting items from websites

Ivan Mehta — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 17:24:22 +0000

Safari’s newest feature, Distraction Control, can remove distracting elements from a website. The feature follows Arc Browser’s addition of Boosts last year, which similarly lets users remove features from a site and further customize its appearance. Apple is rolling out the early version of the feature this week through new developer betas of iOS 18, […]

TechCrunch Minute: The iPad was the surprising star of Apple’s sales numbers

Anthony Ha — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 16:00:00 +0000

For once, the iPad was the highlight of Apple’s latest sales numbers. The company said in its third-quarter earnings report that iPad sales increased year-over-year, from $5.8 billion to $7.2 billion. The reason for that growth is probably new versions of the iPad Air and iPad Pro, which were announced in May. Turns out that […]

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sells half its Apple stock

Anthony Ha — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 20:15:36 +0000

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cut its Apple holding by around half, to $84.2 billion, according to an SEC filing. While Apple remains the firm’s largest stock holding by far, Buffett had already reduced its stake by 13% earlier this year, hinting that he didn’t mind selling “a little Apple” for tax reasons. Berkshire Hathaway made […]

Zuckerberg and Jensen show off their friendship, while an AI necklace covets yours

Cody Corrall — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 20:15:00 +0000

A fireside chat between Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg at SIGGRAPH 2024 took some unexpected turns. What started as a conversation about the capabilities of Nvidia GPUs and Zuckerberg’s vision of an AI chatbot future quickly became a more casual affair — including a swap of custom-made jackets, a rare F-bomb from the Meta CEO, […]

iPad sales help bail out Apple amid a continued iPhone slide

Brian Heater — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 21:31:50 +0000

In spite of a drop for the quarter, iPhone remained Apple’s most important category by a wide margin.

How to enable Apple Intelligence on your iPhone

Ivan Mehta — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 17:32:40 +0000

If you are on the developer beta, you can only use Apple Intelligence features if your language is set to U.S. English and region is set to U.S.

Apple brings Apple Intelligence with iOS 18.1 dev beta, but there are a lot of limitations

Ivan Mehta — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 05:10:56 +0000

Users who have signed up for iOS 18’s developer beta can now get the first taste of Apple Intelligence as the company has released some features of its AI suite via an update released on Monday. The company revealed Apple Intelligence at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, but the first set of developer […]

Apple says it took a ‘responsible’ approach to training its Apple Intelligence models

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 00:31:39 +0000

Apple has published a technical paper detailing the models that it developed to power Apple Intelligence, the range of generative AI features headed to iOS, macOS and iPadOS over the next few months. In the paper, Apple pushes back against accusations that it took an ethically questionable approach to training some of its models, reiterating […]

Apple reaches its first contract agreement with a US retail union

Anthony Ha — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 17:37:56 +0000

Two years ago, workers at an Apple Store in Towson, Maryland, were the first to establish a formally recognized union at an Apple retail store in the United States. Now they’re the first to reach a tentative contract agreement. According to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, which […]

OpenAI comes for Google with SearchGPT

Cody Corrall — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 17:05:00 +0000

OpenAI is testing SearchGPT, a new AI search experience to compete directly with Google. The feature aims to elevate search queries with “timely answers” from across the internet and allows the user to ask follow-up questions. The temporary prototype is currently only available to a small group of users and its publisher partners for testing […]

Apple reports iCloud Private Relay global outages for some users

Jagmeet Singh — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:55:55 +0000

iCloud Private Relay has not been working for some Apple users across major markets, including the U.S., Europe, India and Japan.

Apple signs the White House’s commitment to AI safety

Maxwell Zeff — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:45:39 +0000

Apple joins 15 other tech companies — including Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — that committed to the White House's rules for developing generative AI.

Apple cuts iPhone price in India amid China slowdown

Manish Singh — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 10:58:21 +0000

Apple has reduced prices of its iPhone models in India by 3-4% following a cut in import duties in the South Asian market.

Alternative app store AltStore PAL adds third-party iOS apps in wake of EU Apple ruling

Aisha Malik — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 19:17:54 +0000

AltStore, an alternative app store, has launched its first batch of third-party iOS apps in the European Union. The rollout comes a few months after the company launched an updated version of its app marketplace in the EU. AltStore PAL arrived as a response to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is forcing Apple to […]

Apple Vision Pro debuts immersive content featuring NBA players, The Weeknd and more

Lauren Forristal — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 20:14:59 +0000

Apple on Thursday announced its upcoming lineup of immersive video content for the Vision Pro. The list includes behind-the-scenes footage of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, an immersive performance by The Weeknd, new series, films, concerts and more. The headset launched in February with more than 150 3D movies and immersive titles. Apple is adding […]

What is Apple Intelligence, when is it coming and who will get it?

Brian Heater — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 16:47:31 +0000

Apple Intelligence was designed to leverage things that generative AI already does well, like text and image generation, to improve upon existing features.

Kandji raises another $100M for Apple device management as valuation rises to $850M

Ron Miller — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

At a time when many startups have struggled to raise money and keep their heads above water, Kandji, an Apple device management platform, has been an exception. Founded in 2019, it has raced through its funding rounds like a precocious child, raising over $188 million along the way. Today it added to that total with […]