News on the sidelines week 10 - 16 January

 Major iPad 11 upgrades, new Apple Watch SE XNUMXrd generation launch, Apple's smartphone market share drops as Chinese rivals rise, millions of iPhone users' location data leaked, iPhone processors to be manufactured in the US for the first time, and other exciting news on the sidelines…

Reminders and Tasks New Features of ChatGPT

OpenAI has announced the addition of a new feature called “Tasks” to the ChatGPT application, where users can now receive reminders for their upcoming tasks. This new service supports one-time or recurring reminders, and users can set these reminders using simple and natural conversational language.

ChatGPT can now perform a variety of tasks such as sending a weekly news summary, providing daily 15-minute workouts, reminding the user to practice the language, sending a daily joke, creating an evening meal plan, and reminding about upcoming events such as birthdays. This service is currently available to Plus, Pro, and Teams plan subscribers as a beta, and will be made available to all ChatGPT users in the future.

Potential Changes in Monitoring of US Tech Companies in Europe

The official spokesman announced For the European Union Investigations into the activities of major technology companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google are ongoing. He explained that there is no truth to the news that talks about stopping or changing these investigations. He added that meetings will be held soon to discuss the progress of these investigations and their developments.

Meanwhile, tech CEOs like Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg have been seen warming up to President-elect Donald Trump, raising questions about the future of the investigation, especially after Trump said in October that he “would not allow” the EU to harm American companies.

The European Union fined Apple $2024 billion in XNUMX for anti-competitive practices against third-party music services. Apple has made changes to its App Store rules in Europe in response to regulators’ demands, but with leadership changes at the European Commission, priorities in dealing with these issues may shift.

Apple supports new technology to develop artificial intelligence systems

Apple has joined a new alliance developing a high-speed connectivity technology called UALink, an advanced technology that enables data transfer at high speeds of up to 200 gigabits per second. Alibaba and Synopsys have also joined the alliance, and they will work together to develop this technology, which is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2025.

Becky Loeb, Apple’s director of platform engineering, explained that this technology holds promise for solving connectivity challenges and expanding the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Apple currently uses M2 Ultra chips in its AI servers, and is expected to move to M4 chips this year. The company is also developing a chip specifically for AI servers to achieve faster performance.

iPhone processors to be manufactured in America for the first time

Apple is close to starting mass production of its first US-made chips at TSMC’s Arizona plant. The report says the plant has successfully completed trial production and is currently in the final stages of testing the quality and performance of the chips.

The factory will produce A-series chips used in the iPhone, particularly the A16 Bionic used in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, as well as the S9 chip used in the Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Location data of millions of iPhone users leaked

Technical sources revealed that Gravy Analytics, a data analysis company, was exposed to a serious security breach earlier this month. Hackers were able to access the company’s servers using an unauthorized access key, which led to the leaking of sensitive information about millions of users.

Investigations revealed that the company was collecting information about users’ locations through ads that appear in popular apps such as Flightradar and Tinder. This process takes place every time a user opens one of these apps, where their geographic location is recorded with high accuracy. Cybersecurity experts confirmed that the leaked data clearly reveals users’ movements and travels, without any protection for their privacy or concealment of their identities.

In a move to protect against such breaches, security experts advise iPhone users to turn off app tracking through their phone’s privacy and security settings. This prevents ads from obtaining a unique device identifier and linking location data to it. Initial findings suggest that users who have already taken this step have not had their data affected by the leak.

Apple's smartphone market share falls as Chinese rivals rise

New data from Counterpoint Research reveals that Apple’s share of the global smartphone market will decline to 18% in 2024, compared to 19% the previous year. The company recorded a 2% year-on-year decline in sales, despite a 4% growth in the smartphone market, while Chinese companies such as Xiaomi achieved a remarkable 12% growth during the same period.

The lack of Apple AI features, especially in China, appears to have weighed on iPhone 16 sales. However, Apple has maintained strong growth in emerging markets such as Latin America, and has seen increased demand for the Pro models, with the Pro and Pro Max models expected to exceed 50% market share in China by Q2024 XNUMX.

While Samsung maintained its lead in the global smartphone market, buoyed by strong demand for its AI-powered S24 series, Chinese companies Huawei, Honor and Motorola emerged as the fastest growing among the top 10 smartphone manufacturers. Apple has been rolling out AI features since October via software updates, but reports suggest that this has not prompted users to upgrade their devices, with more updates expected in April.

Apple Watch SE 3rd Generation Launched With New Design

Apple is preparing to launch the third-generation Apple Watch SE later this year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports, suggesting it will have a new look. Gurman previously reported in September that the new watch could come in a colorful plastic body, similar to the iPhone 5c, despite some challenges the company faced in switching from aluminum to plastic. The watch is expected to appeal to parents looking for an affordable Apple Watch for their kids, with the current model starting at $249. The new watch, expected to launch in September, will feature a faster processor than the current model, which was launched in September 2022.

iPad 11: Major AI Upgrades from Apple

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman revealed that the next generation of the basic iPad will support Apple’s suite of artificial intelligence features, thanks to two major upgrades: the A17 Pro processor and 8GB of RAM. The iPad 11 is expected to launch in March or April, keeping the same design as the current iPad 10, which was cut to $349 in May 2024.

With the iPad 11, AI features will be available on all current-generation iPads. Gurman also expects the 11- and 13-inch iPad Airs to get an M4 processor in the spring, along with new Magic Keyboards. As for the iPad Pro, hardware updates aren’t expected until late 2025 or early 2026.

Miscellaneous news

◉ Apple releases third beta of upcoming watchOS 11.3 and tvOS 18.3 updates for testing purposes. The third beta comes a week after the second beta.

◉ Apple has stopped signing iOS 18.2, which means iPhone users can no longer downgrade to this version after upgrading to iOS 18.2.1. This typically happens two weeks after the update is released, to ensure devices stay on the latest versions with security improvements. The iOS 18.2.1 update included bug fixes, while iOS 18.2 introduced features like Image Playground and Siri integration with ChatGPT.

◉ Sonos, the home audio company, has announced that its CEO Patrick Spence is stepping down after eight years at the helm. The resignation comes after the company faced a major failure after launching a new version of its app in May 2024. The company has appointed Tom Conrad, a board member and former executive at Snap and Pandora, as interim CEO. The new app has caused widespread technical problems, including the removal of key features like sleep timers and alarms, as well as connectivity issues and slow performance, which has led to a 16% drop in revenue and a 13% drop in its stock price. In a letter to employees, Conrad reiterated his intention to return the company to its basics while looking to expand beyond home speakers.

◉ Apple’s annual shareholder meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 25. Shareholders of record through January 2, 2025, will be able to attend, vote, and ask questions. The meeting will vote on re-electing the board of directors, approving executive compensation, and appointing Ernst & Young LLP as its public accountant. While these meetings don’t usually reveal major future plans, they can have some interesting information, as happened last year when Tim Cook talked about the potential of artificial intelligence.

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