The post Apple is Warren Buffett’s biggest investment coup ever appeared first on MacDailyNews. Warren Buffett’s biggest investment coup during his 58 years of leading Berkshire Hathaway is Apple. With Apple’s market value now above $3 trillion, Berkshire Hathaway’s stake in the world’s most valuable company (some 915 million shares) is worth $176 billion, more than five times its cost of $31 billion. 

Andrew Bary for Barron’s:

How did Buffett do it? He recognized Apple’s strengths and bought the shares inexpensively… While he is known for moving away from a deep-value investment approach—favored by his mentor Benjamin Graham—to growth stocks, he is disciplined in what he pays.  

When Buffett was accumulating what has become a nearly 6% stake in Apple from 2016 to 2018, he was paying about 15 times earnings when the stock traded at a split-adjusted price in the low $30 area. 

Buffett, 92, recognized seven years ago that Apple wasn’t just a technology hardware company deserving a low price-to-earnings multiple, but a consumer and services company with a sticky customer base and phenomenal brand. 

Buffett remarked at the time that one reason he bought the stock was that when he would take his grandchildren to an Omaha Dairy Queen (owned by Berkshire), they would be glued to their iPhones.

MacDailyNews Take: Investor’s could do worse — much worse — by not simply following Buffet’s investments and advice.

Those who have iron stomachs in the face of risk, year after year, can make multiple millions of dollars with relatively very little invested, if they go “all in” on the right company long term.

Diversification is… a protection against ignorance. — Warren Buffett

On December 20, 1996, when Apple announced the acquisition of NeXT and the return of Steve Jobs, an Apple share sold for 18-cents.*

In April 2003, Apple shares sold for 20-cents each.* Even as recently as January 07, 2019, Apple closed at just $35.64*!

Anyone who invested in AAPL, even in later years, without the loss-making hedges in the name of diversification, sports an incredibly better annualized return than, for example, “legendary investor” Peter Lynch’s 29.2% (which is rather laughably weak when viewed by long-term, mainly AAPL investors).

The actual “legendary investors” would be those who began buying AAPL upon the return of Steve Jobs, never stopped buying AAPL year after year, reinvested dividends in AAPL every quarter, never wasted money on diversification in the name of “mitigating risk,” but who instead went “all in” on AAPL and never sold a share.

Diversification, in the absence of investing perfection (which does not exist), also does an excellent job of mitigating big, life-changing profits.

*Prices adjusted for splits and dividend distributions.

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The post Apple’s 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is an easy decision for any creative who wants a larger beautiful display appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple in June introduced the 15-inch MacBook Air, the world’s best 15-inch laptop. With an expansive 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display, the incredible performance of M2, up to 18 hours of battery life, and a silent, fanless design, the new MacBook Air brings power and portability — all in the world’s thinnest 15-inch laptop.

With an all-new six-speaker sound system, the 15-inch MacBook Air delivers immersive Spatial Audio, along with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, MagSafe charging, and the power and ease of macOS Ventura for an unrivaled experience. the 15-inch MacBook Air is now available for order.

Gareth Bevan for Digital Camera World:

With the introduction of Apple Silicon starting with the M1 chip, Apple really kicked the MacBook Air up a notch and made it a serious contender as the best laptop for photo editors who wanted the most portable machine possible that also had the power to get things done.

For years, Apple users have been asking for a larger version of the MacBook Air, and finally, Apple has relented to pressure (or market forces) and given fans what they want with the introduction of the MacBook Air 15-inch model, which Apple’s current M2 generation of Apple Silicon.

It is pretty clear Apple wants creators to spend on its MacBook Pro lineup, but when the M2 chip in the Air series is this good, anyone except high-end creators would be more than catered for by either size of the MacBook Air.

Apple continues to knock it out of the park with its screens. The 15-inch screen on the Air 15 is simply stunning, full of deep rich color and showing off MacOS’ blend of smooth yet sharp UI. The 15-inch screen is a dream to edit photos and videos on, with the additional space, it is easier to get Photoshop, Premiere, and Lightroom’s ever-expanding selection of panels and windows all on screen at once, making it faster and more convenient to edit more directly from the laptop…

The MacBook Air 15 is probably the best laptop currently on the market for most people, and a superb decision for any photographer, videographer, or creative who wants a larger gorgeous screen, combined with enough power to comfortably run the latest editing software, and all wrapped up in a lightweight package that can easily slip into a backpack.

MacDailyNews Take: Even better, the Apple Store on Amazon is currently offering the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air starting at $1,199 (8% off).

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The post Expect Apple’s flagship iPhone 15 Pro Max to get a price hike – analyst appeared first on MacDailyNews. Supply chain checks suggest that the production schedule for the iPhone 15 is on track, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max is rumored to be more expensive than ever before. In a note to investors, Jeff Pu of Haitong International Tech Research has shared his insights on the iPhone 15 production schedule, predicted assembly volumes, and the potential for a price increase.

Mike Wuerthele for AppleInsider:

Pu expects mass production to begin in earnest in August. This is essentially on schedule…

[Pu] is expecting Apple to produce about 84 million units. He does not go into model breakdown — but does say that the iPhone 15 Pro Max, or iPhone 15 Ultra, whichever Apple decides to call it — is expected to be popular in the early days. This is not a radical claim. Historically speaking, the “pro” models are the most in-demand in the first five months, with the balance shifting after the new year passes.

Given the inclusion of new features in that highest-end iPhone, Pu is expecting a price hike on the model. He doesn’t delve specifically into why or how much, but rumors have been claiming that the largest iPhone 15 Pro will have features that the smaller iPhone 15 Pro does not.

The most likely feature addition to the iPhone 15 Pro Max beyond an obviously larger battery and a bigger screen is a periscope lens granting a higher optical zoom than in older models. An outside possibility is a new sensor, which if accurate, would improve low-light performance in the iPhone 15, as well as better image quality across the board.

MacDailyNews Take: iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to offer, naturally, a larger display and battery, but the tentpole feature will be the inclusion of a periscope lens offering the highest optical zoom ever available in an iPhone. The Pro models are also said to exclusively offer the A17 Bionic, Apple’s first 3nm chip, which also account for their premium pricing. At launch, Apple will sell as many iPhone 15 Pro models as they can make.

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The post Apple’s latest ‘Shot on iPhone 14 Pro’ film stars lucha libre Huracán Ramírez appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple has debuted its latest “Shot on iPhone 14 Pro” feature, which spotlights the smartphone’s camera capabilities. The film, dubbed Huracán Ramírez vs. La Piñata Enchilada, features lucha libre Huracán Ramírez.

Steve Vegvari for iPhone in Canada:

The film is a surprising 13 minutes long. Starring Huracán Ramírez, it tells the story of the fighter who comes out of retirement to fight an evil foe. “Lucha Libre legend Huracán Ramírez is back to face a terrible threat— an evil piñata that is terrorizing all,” the video’s description reads.

On top of being impressively composed and shot, Huracán Ramírez vs. La Piñata Enchilada is quite entertaining.

This ‘Shot on iPhone 14 Pro’ feature utilizes the filming capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro with the use of rigs, accessories, and editing software. Huracán Ramírez vs. La Piñata Enchilada was shot by Tania Verduzco and Adrián Pérez, who are commonly referred to as “Los Pérez.”

MacDailyNews Note: Here are the film and its behind-the-scenes “making of” featurette:

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The post Writers’ strike likely to delay season two of hit Apple TV+ series ‘Silo’ appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple TV+ in June announced a season two renewal for Silo, the acclaimed, world-building drama based on Hugh Howey’s bestselling trilogy of dystopian novels, but it’s likely to be delayed due to the ongoing writers’ strike.

Tom Power for TechRadar:

Given its popularity, it wasn’t surprising to see Silo get renewed for a second season in mid-June. However, while work had begun on the series’ next batch of episodes prior to Apple green-lighting its sophomore outing, Silo won’t be back on one of the best streaming services any time soon. That’s due to the writers’ strike, which has brought Hollywood to a standstill since the start of May.

At the UK junket for Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One, where Ferguson reprises her role as Ilsa Faust, I asked Silo‘s main star if she’d spoken to Silo‘s showrunner Graham Yost about its next installment. Surprisingly, Ferguson admitted that script work was already well underway on Silo season two. Understandably, though, writing had been postponed for the time being over the writers’ strike.

“We did a lot of work prior to things to the strike happening,” Ferguson told me. “Silo season two is happening, but it’s moving forward with the sensitivity that we can’t use any writers. What we have, we can work with, and what we don’t have, we can’t work with. And we stand in solidarity with them [the writers] as well.”

MacDailyNews Take: Based on the first season of Silo, season two will be worth the (extra) wait!

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The post Apple’s App Store removes predatory lending apps in India appeared first on MacDailyNews. Apple has removed several predatory lending apps from its App Store in India this week, days after media and app store shoppers questioned the legitimacy of those services.

Manish Singh for TechCrunch:

Pocket Kash, White Kash, Golden Kash, and OK Rupee are among the apps that Apple pulled from the store this week. The apps offered fast-track lending to consumers in India, climbing to the top 20 of the finance list on the App Store in recent weeks. But they also levied outrageously superfluous charges, according to hundreds of user reviews.

The lenders also employed downright unethical tactics to get the borrowers to pay back.

“I borrowed an amount in a helpless situation and […] a day before repayment due date I got some messages with my pic and my contacts in my phone saying that repay your loan otherwise they will inform our contacts that your not paying loan,” a user review from last month said.

The apps — whose developers had strange names and suspicious websites — were littered with hundreds of similar reviews, some sharing even more alarming threats that they allegedly received from the lenders.

Wtf is this, a personal loan app called Kash is threatening to send morphed nude photos of their customer to her entire contact list?! pic.twitter.com/5LcsukVgef

— Sandhya Ramesh (@sandygrains) July 3, 2023

MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, these apps do not adhere to Apple’s App Store rules and, thankfully, Apple has quickly removed them. How responsive would some third-party app store be?

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]

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The post Apple’s Irish tax escrow account has lost almost a billion dollars in the last year appeared first on MacDailyNews. The amount available at the end of the day for either Apple or the Irish government from lengthy legal proceedings over the company’s Irish tax affairs lost almost a billion dollars in the last year ahead of the final ruling. If the EU wins, the sum will be handed over to the Irish government; if the EU loses, it will be returned to Apple.

The Irish Times:

A quick recap: the State set up the escrow account in 2018 to hold €14.3 billion of alleged back taxes and interest that the European Commission ordered it to collect from Apple, even as the State and the iPhone maker appealed the matter before the courts in Luxembourg.

Apple and the Government won their case in 2020, with the General Court in Luxembourg deciding that the commission failed to show to “the requisite legal standard” that the US tech giant secured an unfair tax advantage in the decade to 2014.

A hearing on the commission’s appeal against that decision was heard by the European Court of Justice last month, with the court’s advocate general set to deliver his influential opinion on November 9th – ahead of a final ruling.

The escrow account is mainly made up of investments in euro-zone government bonds, rather than cash. The Department of Finance said on Wednesday that a further €259 million was knocked off the fund’s value last year, to bring it down to less than €13.4 billion.

MacDailyNews Take: When Apple wins, it should be compensated for the lost value of their money as it languished in escrow while mired in poorly performing euro-zone government bonds.

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The post Beleaguered Samsung’s Q2 profit craters 96% appeared first on MacDailyNews. Beleaguered Samsung Electronics, peddler of pretend iPhones, reported a disastrous 96% plunge in second-quarter operating profit on Friday as the South Korean dishwasher maker estimated its operating profit fell to 600 billion won ($459 million) in April to June, from 14.1 trillion won a year earlier in a brief preliminary earnings statement.

Reuters:

It would be Samsung’s lowest profit for any quarter since a 590 billion won profit in the first quarter of 2009, according to company data.

Shares in Samsung fell 1.4% in early morning trade, underperforming a 0.6% drop in the wider market.

Samsung is due to release detailed earnings on July 27.

In the January-March quarter, the company reported a whopping 4.58 trillion won loss in its chip business as memory chip prices fell further and its inventory values were slashed. But in the second quarter, losses in Samsung’s memory chip business likely shrank due to more sales of DRAM chips, used in PCs, mobile phones and servers, analysts said.

Analyst outlooks for Samsung’s mobile profits in the third quarter were mixed as consumer sentiment in the global smartphone market remained weak…

Revenue in April to June likely fell 22% from the same period a year earlier to 60 trillion won, Samsung said in the statement.

MacDailyNews Take: Gee, that’s too bad.

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The post Apple preps measured, appointment-only sales of Apple Vision Pro appeared first on MacDailyNews. Early next year, Apple is planning a retail launch of its Vision Pro headset in America with appointment-only sales and in-store promotions in its retail store chain.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

The company will designate special areas in the stores with seating, headset demo units and tools to size accessories for buyers. While the device will be sold at all of Apple’s roughly 270 US locations, the company is planning the sections for the Vision Pro initially at stores in major areas — such as New York and Los Angeles — before rolling them out nationwide, according to people with knowledge of the plans.

Apple said it will offer the headset in other countries at the end of 2024. The company is discussing the UK and Canada as two of its first international markets with Asia and Europe soon after, although a final decision hasn’t been made, according to the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal matters. Apple engineers are working to localize the device for France, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, the people said.

Apple will also sell the Vision Pro through its U.S. web store in early 2024 before expanding online elsewhere…

To push the category to more consumers, Apple is working on a cheaper model as well as a second-generation Pro version for release by 2026.

MacDailyNews Take: Although the user experience is said to be very intuitive (you already know how to use visioOS), with multiple head bands and light seals in different sizes and optional Carl Zeiss prescription lenses for those who need them, it makes sense for Apple to start with a very measured rollout in order to maximize early adopters’ satisfaction.

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