Mac Format - UK (2020-04)

THE POLL

Log on and see next

issue’s big question!

twitter.com/macformat

facebook.com/macformat

27% 23%

19% 31%

Wireless

charger

USB-C

iPhone

iMac

WE ASKED...

Which rumoured Apple

product are you most

excited about?

AirTags

it wasn’t clear how quickly Apple Stores in

China would fully reopen. Having shipped

3.2 million iPhones alone in December, the

country is a critical market for Apple.

Manufacturing woes

The coronavirus epidemic has also had a

knock-on effect on wait times for several

Apple products, including iPhone and the

Mac Pro, which are either made wholly in

China or source components there.

As we go to press, Apple supplier

Foxconn is expected to have reopened

only around half of its factories, while

Nikkei reported that suppliers including

Luxshare-ICT, Goertek and Inventec,

which makes AirPods, had two weeks’

worth of materials “at most”. This adds to

the already limited supply of AirPods Pro.

To combat these woes, Apple is trying

to shift some of the manufacturing to its

partners in India, Taiwan and Vietnam.

However limited capacities at these sites

means that the company won’t be able

to hit its original sales targets. In a note

to investors issued on 18 February, Apple

said: “Work is starting to resume around

the country, but we are experiencing a

slower return to normal conditions than

we had anticipated. As a result, we do not

expect to meet the revenue guidance

we provided for the March quarter.”

Analyst Ming Chi-Kuo also told

investors that Apple shipment forecasts

could be lowered by 10% for Q1 2020.

Supply chain constraints could also

impact Apple’s iPhone SE2, which is

expected to be unveiled in March as

well as the forthcoming iPhone 12 –

which is expected in September.

macformat.com @macformat

pple looks set to offer ‘unified

purchases’ across iOS, iPadOS

and macOS, if a new feature in

the iOS 13.4 beta is anything to go by.

Developers will be able to offer

buy-once bundles of their apps on iPhone,

iPad and Mac, saving you the hassle

(and expense) of having to buy separate

versions for each device you own. In-app

purchases (IAP) will also be covered by the

move, which is optional for developers.

Other exciting new features discovered

in the iOS 13.4 beta include a CarKey API

that could enable you to lock and unlock

your car using the NFC chip in your iPhone

or Apple Watch, plus new CarPlay features

for third-party apps.

It also looks like iOS 13.4 will finally

deliver iCloud folder sharing – a feature

originally announced at WWDC 2019, but

only just being made available now. Apple

has also added nine new memoji stickers

in the update, and equipped the Mail

toolbar with Move and Flag options.

Unified purchases incoming

iOS 13 beta reveals buy-once bundles for Mac and iPhone apps

A

Battery Health, introduced in iOS 11.3,

allows users to monitor battery capacity.

Supply chain contraints

could also impact

Apple’s iPhone SE

Slowed-down

iPhones cost

Apple £21m

> Apple has been slapped with

a £21m fine for slowing down

old iPhones. The ruling by

France’s Directorate General

for Competition, Consumption

and the Suppression of Fraud

(DGCCRF) also mandates that

Apple will have to display a

press release on its website for

a month. The fine was issued

after the DGCCRF ruled that “a

lack of consumer information

[by Apple] constituted a

misleading commercial

practice by omission”. This is in

relation to the dynamic power

management tool in iOS 10.2.1,

that deliberately slowed down

iPhone 6, 7 and SE models to

extend their battery life.

Workers at an iPhone production facility in China

in the process of assembling an iPhone.

Universal purchases will allow users to buy any

app just once for all Apple platforms.