Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.
It’s alive! Maybe. According to a tweet from ChargerLab, mass production of Apple’s AirPower has begun at Luxshare Precision, which makes AirPods and USB-C cables. If the long-promised product ever actually arrives, it will be able to charge a Qi-compatible iPhone, an Apple Watch, and a pair of AirPods (in a special wireless charging case) at the same time regardless of where they’re placed on the pad. AirPower hasn’t been priced yet, but guesses have it costing anywhere from $150 – $200.
As noted by MacRumors, Apple continues to aggressively market the iPhone XR, with one of its latest tactics being customized emails to owners of older iPhone models with a trade-in value of the older device and a tech specs comparison with the iPhone XR.
Speaking of marketing, Apple has premiered a mobile-only website selling the 2018 iPad Pro, boiling its advantages down to four main points. AppleInsider has the details.
Apple’s vice president of procurement criticized Qualcomm’s business practices during day four of a California federal bench trial over the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust allegations against the chipmaker Friday, testifying that Qualcomm developed a “stranglehold” over Apple and tried to charge “gouged” chip prices, which pushed Apple to end their exclusive chip supply deal.
A survey by the University of California San Diego Health and reported by JAMA Network finds that most users of Apple’s Health Records, the company’s platform for storing and sharing personal health data between patients and caregivers, find it easy to use and help them understand their health issues better.
As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple Music is no longer allowing subscribers to play different music on a HomePod and iPhone without a family account. Previously,/it was possible to have HomePod playing one music stream while you listened to a different one on your iPhone.
AppleInsider notes that Apple Pay is reportedly poised to arrive in Slovakia and/or the Czech Republic somewhere between late February and early March.
Chip designer Dialog Semiconductor says it managed to hit its fourth-quarter revenue guidance despite a slump in iPhone sales at its main customer Apple.
A California judge has ruled that American cops can’t force people to unlock a mobile phone with their face or finger. The ruling “goes further to protect people’s private lives from government searches than any before and is being hailed as a potentially landmark decision,” according to Forbes.
