The post China plays a trump card in the chip war, but Apple chip production unaffected so far appeared first on MacDailyNews. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Apple’s contract chipmaker, said it doesn’t expect any immediate impact on its production from China’s decision to restrict the export of two metals widely used in semiconductors and electric vehicles.

Ben Blanchard and Roger Tung for Reuters:

In a move that a top Chinese trade adviser warned was “just a start,” Beijing said on Monday it would limit exports of products made from the minor metals of gallium and germanium to protect national security. That followed the U.S. decision to impose export restrictions to curb China’s access to key technologies used for artificial intelligence.

Taiwan is a major producer of chips used in everything from smartphones and cars to fighter jets, supplying companies like Apple and Nvidia.

“After evaluation, we do not expect the export restrictions on raw materials gallium and germanium will have any direct impact on TSMC’s production,” Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely,” it added, without elaborating.

MacDailyNews Take: We’ll see if China does anything more with its rare earths export quota, but when they cut rare earths exports in 2010 amid tensions with the United States, it resulted in greater efforts by companies outside of China to produce the metals and China’s global market share dropped precipitously from 97% in 2010 to about 60% in 2019.

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The post Apple is ‘working with EU’ on third-party app stores for iPhone, iPad, etc. appeared first on MacDailyNews. Craig Federighi, VP of software engineering at Apple, that Apple is “working with the EU” to comply with EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) which takes effect on March 6, 2024 and requires Apple to provide a means for sideloading apps; in other words: allowing access to third-party app stores for iPhones, iPads, etc.

Filipe Espósito for 9to5Mac:

Bloomberg reported last year that Apple was gearing up for a major change in how the iOS ecosystem works. More specific, the company would allow sideloading for the first time on iOS.

The system would still establish some security requirements for software distributed outside of the App Store, similar to what already exists on the Mac. Bloomberg later reported that Apple would allow sideloading exclusively in European Union countries, and 9to5Mac corroborated that report by finding unused code in iOS 16 to restrict new features based on a user’s location.

See also: Apple’s iOS has secret new scheme to restrict features based on geolocation – April 26, 2023

Multiple Apple executives joined John Gruber’s “The Talk Show” live after WWDC. And during the podcast recording, Craig Federighi said that “we want to make sure that whatever we do is the right thing for our customers” and that Apple is “working with the EU” to discuss compliance…

If iOS eventually gets sideloading, this will certainly be a big deal. But at the same time, Apple will try its best to make sure that the feature goes unnoticed by most users… If the rumors are true, sideloading will only be available in countries where Apple has been forced to allow it.

MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last year:

Those who want safety, security, and privacy will stick to Apple’s App Store, but a single point of control is always a danger, especially when it comes to capricious censorship (see: pre-Musk Twitter, Apple’s App Store in China, etc.).

Yes, Apple’s App Store revenue will take a hit, but there are new products for new markets on deck (AR/VR headsets, AR glasses, Apple Car, etc.) that will more than make up for any loss of App Store exclusivity.

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The post China’s CCP censors take aim at Apple’s AirDrop appeared first on MacDailyNews. On Tuesday, the China’s Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) proposed draft regulations to cover any service that uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other technologies to create a short-distance network for transferring content. That category would include Apple’s AirDrop as well as derivatives found in Google’s Android and in Chinese phones from Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo, the South China Morning Post reports.

Nicholas Gordon for Fortune:

Features like Apple’s AirDrop, which allow smartphones to transfer content directly to other users nearby, may soon be restricted in China under new rules proposed by the country’s top internet regulator.

If implemented, services would need to undergo a security assessment before adding features that affect “public expression and social mobilization.” Users would also need to provide their real names and other identifying information in order to use these features, similar to other online services in China.

Providers would be required as well to report the dissemination of information deemed to be harmful, and not display preview thumbnails and screenshots without the user’s consent.

The CAC wrote that it was proposing these rules to “maintain national security.” The rules are now subject to a monthlong public consultation process.

“The core aim is to ensure that all the information transmission can be traced in case problematic things happen,” Gao Fuping, a professor at Shanghai’s East China University of Political Science and Law, told the South China Morning Post.

MacDailyNews Take: Justice Potter Stewart put it so well: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.”

The bottom line is that the Chinese government is so deathly afraid of its own citizens that they’re (quixotically) trying to keep them from being exposed to new ideas, fearful that one day they’ll think for themselves. Wonder why? (smirk) — MacDailyNews, November 7, 2019

When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie. ― Yevgeny Yevtushenko

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The post China’s CCP censors take aim at Apple’s AirDrop appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The post China’s CCP censors take aim at Apple’s AirDrop appeared first on MacDailyNews. On Tuesday, the China’s Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) proposed draft regulations to cover any service that uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or other technologies to create a short-distance network for transferring content. That category would include Apple’s AirDrop as well as derivatives found in Google’s Android and in Chinese phones from Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo, the South China Morning Post reports.

Nicholas Gordon for Fortune:

Features like Apple’s AirDrop, which allow smartphones to transfer content directly to other users nearby, may soon be restricted in China under new rules proposed by the country’s top internet regulator.

If implemented, services would need to undergo a security assessment before adding features that affect “public expression and social mobilization.” Users would also need to provide their real names and other identifying information in order to use these features, similar to other online services in China.

Providers would be required as well to report the dissemination of information deemed to be harmful, and not display preview thumbnails and screenshots without the user’s consent.

The CAC wrote that it was proposing these rules to “maintain national security.” The rules are now subject to a monthlong public consultation process.

“The core aim is to ensure that all the information transmission can be traced in case problematic things happen,” Gao Fuping, a professor at Shanghai’s East China University of Political Science and Law, told the South China Morning Post.

MacDailyNews Take: Justice Potter Stewart put it so well: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself.”

The bottom line is that the Chinese government is so deathly afraid of its own citizens that they’re (quixotically) trying to keep them from being exposed to new ideas, fearful that one day they’ll think for themselves. Wonder why? (smirk) — MacDailyNews, November 7, 2019

When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie. ― Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post China’s CCP censors take aim at Apple’s AirDrop appeared first on MacDailyNews.