Contract manufacturer Pegatron is allegedly set to soon move iPad and MacBook manufacturing out of China amid an escalating trade war between the US and China.
China
Apple teams up with China’s Alipay on interest-free financing for new iPhone purchases
Apple has teamed up with China's Ant Financial Services Group, which owns the AliPay mobile payments network, and several local banks to offer an interest-free loan to customers who are looking to purchase a new iPhone through the company's local online store. The goal is to sharply lower the monthly sums Chinese customers have to pay for brand-new iPhones.
A tiny custom screw: the issues Apple will face if it moves iPhone assembly back to America
The vast majority of iPhones and Macs are manufactured and assembled in China so when Apple in 2012 announced that its partner Flextronics would produce the Mac Pro chassis at its manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, some people were expectedly skeptical.
Watch Apple’s short film celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year
Ahead of Chinese New Year which falls on February 5, Apple's official YouTube channel yesterday released a short shot-on-iPhone film about the taste of home.
Titled "The Bucket" and done by acclaimed director Jia Zhangke, the video asks the question: "What gifts would your parents prepare when your Chinese New Year visit comes to an end?".
It invites the viewer to capture the taste of home this Chinese New Year with their iPhone.
The taste of homeAnd here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu-TqfxpfgU
Apple has also posted a pair of behind-the-scenes videos in which the author sheds some light on how slowing time with the Slo-mo camera feature makes emotions last longer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRn6SutCmcU
"Use Slo-mo to prolong and savor the taste of home this Chinese New Year," Apple advises. In the following making-of video, Jia discusses bridging the gap between his subject matter and audience through the Depth Control feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lYFWtSIPiM
"Use Depth Control to get closer to the taste of home this Chinese New Year," says Apple.
Shot on iPhone, but...These short films were all shot on the new iPhone XS.
As we saw with other Apple-commissioned clips, third-party accessories for filmmaking were most likely used in the making of these clips to stabilize footage, capture aerial scenes and more, with color-correction and editing likely done in professional video editing apps.
Prime examples of such professionally done videos include recent short films about a teenage athlete from American Samoa and Japan’s extravagantly decorated trucks, called "decotora," that attempt to highlight low-light photography improvements of the latest handsets.
Shot on iPhone contestThree days ago, Apple announced a contest inviting iPhone users from around the globe to submit their best shots for a chance to be featured on billboards, in retail stores and online.
Submissions will be accepted from January 22 to February 7, and Apple says a panel of judges will be selecting 10 winning photos.
Apple to pay licensing feesResponding to criticism by the artistic community that it will use select works from the winning iPhone photographers on billboards without compensation, Apple has since updated the content announcement to acknowledge that winning artists will be paid for their work.
"Apple believes strongly that artists should be compensated for their work," reads the updated press release. "Photographers who shoot the final 10 winning photos will receive a licensing fee for use of such photos on billboards and other Apple marketing channels."
What do you think about these new shot-on-iPhone ads?
Let us know in the comments down below.
In China, you can ask HomePod to tell you a story
HomePod in China includes an interesting storytelling feature for children, unavailable elsewhere, that permits kids to ask the Siri assistant to tell them a story.
HomePod became available in China last Friday, January 18, but this feature was tucked away as a side-note in Apple's press release announcing HomePod's debut in China.
“In China, Siri on HomePod also offers storytelling for children, just say 'Hey Siri, tell me a story',” reads the announcement.
The feature is also being advertised on Apple's HomePod webpage in Chinese, but no further information is provided as to how this works and what the limitations are, if any.
At any rate, this isn't the only China-specific features for the Siri speaker—with the new Artist of the Week program, for instance, Apple Music on HomePod showcases newly discovered talent across greater China.
New artists from mainland China include Corsak, Chace, Lucie Cheung, Gong, Dean Ting and Lu Xianghui while the popular playlists include "The A-List International Pop," "Today’s Hits," 'Best of the Week," "The A-List Mandopop" and "Mandopop Replay", containing recent Mandopop hits from the past five years.
HomePod is available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, China and Hong Kong in White and Space Gray.
HomePod will be available in mainland China and Hong Kong starting Friday
Following HomePod's launch in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico and Spain, Apple announced yesterday that the Siri-powered wireless speaker will be available in mainland China and Hong Kong starting this coming Friday, January 18.
Apple slashes iPhone XR prices for resellers in China by about $100
Following its revised revenue guidance blamed on poor iPhone performance in China, Apple has now slashed prices of the iPhone XR models in the country in an effort to revive sales.
It’s not just Apple: Samsung too could blame China for its first operating profit drop in 2 years
While Apple took a lot of beating over a shock announcement saying the company would miss its quarterly guidance by billions of dollars, rival Samsung is now expected to report tomorrow a twelve percent annual drop in quarterly operating profit for the first time in two years.
Is China stealing Apple’s technology secrets?
Could China be really stealing Apple's technology secrets?
Chinese businesses urging employees to boycott Apple after Huawei CFO arrest
The spiraling trade war and escalating tensions between the United States and China have resulted in a recent arrest of Huawei's Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, but now China is striking back.
Apple confirms iOS 12.1.2 circumvents Qualcomm patents in China
Apple's acknowledged that the iPhone-exclusive iOS 12.1.2 software update has indeed circumvented a pair of Qualcomm patents—in spite of Qualcomm's claims to the contrary.
Qualcomm claims Apple’s most recent iOS 12.1.2 update hasn’t circumvented its patents
Even though Apple has not officially confirmed that the latest iOS 12.1.2 update does pack in fixes for a pair of Qualcomm software patents that were supposed to remove any infringing functionality, Qualcomm told Reuters yesterday that the Cupertino firm remains in violation of a Chinese court’s orders to stop selling iPhone 6s through iPhone X in the country.