News items you should check out: March 23

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, occasionally we’ll direct your attention to articles from various other sources worth your time.

° Apple has told Australia’s competition watchdog that it’s “surprised” to hear that some developers have concerns over the App Store and the process in which apps are reviewed, rejected, or approved for distribution on the platform, according to MacRumors.

° Apple manufacturer TSMC will issue bonds worth approximately US$743 million to fund efforts to expand its production, allowing it to make more chips like Apple Silicon, according to DigiTimes.

° In a note to clients — as noted by AppleInsider — Webbush analysts say the iPhone 12 is enjoying high demand and equally high production levels, and the “iPhone 13” could arrive in October.

° Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the Democrat overseeing antitrust legislation, wants to hit Big Tech — including Apple — “with the legislative equivalent of a swarm of drones rather than a single, hulking battleship that would be simpler to defeat,” according to Axios.

° The Elec reports that Samsung Display will convert its OLED line dedicated to its largest customer Apple into one that makes low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) within the first half of 2021, according to market research firm UBI Research.

° Sacremento, California: Patricia Castaneda, 37, of San Carlos, pleaded guilty today to federal program theft, and in a separate case, her brother Eric Castaneda, 36, of Redwood City, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property interstate. Said property included over $4 million worth of Mac laptops stolen from  a private university in Stanford.

° Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish sat down to answer questions about her Apple TV+ documentary, “The World’s a Little Blurry,” in a short YouTube video.

° elago has joined UNIVERSTAR and released the BT21 collection of iPhone, AirPod, AirPod Pro, and Apple Watch accessories.