Apple Risks $14 Billion Tax Bill in Setback at Top EU Court

Sony will be going to UK court over allegations of ripping off consumers with its PlayStation Store. 

Apple has plans to start mass producing various wireless chips, and eventually, all of them will be arranged in a single package, saving considerable internal space while improving power efficiency. Unfortunately, that plan appears to be a distant dream because the technology giant’s custom Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips were supposed to arrive in 2025. Sadly, just like the problems encountered with its in-house 5G modem, Apple’s troubles continue in this regard too.

X (formerly Twitter) has once again found itself in troubled waters courtesy its billionaire owner, Elon Musk. Ever since the Israel-Hamas conflict began, the social media platform has been filled with hate posts, propaganda, and misinformation. But recently, brands have pulled the plug on advertising on the platform citing antisemitism as a big reason. Recently, IBM, Disney, Warner Bros., Discovery, and EU pulled ads, and now Apple has joined the list as well, as per a report. Incidentally, the big chunk of the advertisers exiting came after company owner Elon Musk replied in support of a post accusing Jewish people of hating white people.

Monarch: Legacy of Monstersis one of the year’s best surprises.

Apple has long sought to launch its in-house 5G modems for various products, starting with the iPhone, in an effort to reduce reliance on Qualcomm as it pushes towards a custom chip development strategy. Unfortunately, the California-based giant has faced more than its fair share of roadblocks, with the latest report stating that the company continues to encounter problems with its development, pushing the launch timeline to late 2025 or early 2026.

Google has been pushing Apple to adopt RCS for years, and the Cupertino giant has resisted the idea. Apple appears to have changed its mind and stated that the support for Rich Communication Services or RCS standard will arrive next year on all iPhone models. We suspect the company will implement changes in iOS 18 for compatible models. RCS will boast many benefits in the messaging scheme, particularly with Android.

For the last decade, nothing has kept people loyal to—or trapped in—the Apple ecosystem more than iMessage. Apple's messaging app creates a harsh divide between other iPhone users (beautiful blue bubbles, messages sent over data, integrated file sharing and encryption and more) and Android users (green bubbles, ancient unencrypted SMS) whose presence in a group chat would ruin everyone else's access to those advanced features. If Apple was ever going to bring down the walls around iMessage, I figured it would be a dramatic moment in one of its annual keynotes—not on a random Thursday, which happens to be today.

With rising pressure from European regulations, Apple might allow users to sideload apps on their iPhones next year. If you are unfamiliar, sideloading refers to downloading apps from outside Apple's stock App Store, giving users more options while compromising security. Prominent industry analyst Mark Gurman claims that Apple could allow app sideloading in the first half of 2024. This is not the first time we have heard details on the matter, as Apple has legally worked to move away from the decision for the past few years.

 Apple Inc. is set to challenge the European Union's fresh crackdown on Big Tech's dominance in the first of what is expected to be several appeals against the Digital Markets Act.

Apple has announced the Swift Student Challenge for 2024, where students and young developers can participate and create new innovative apps. The challenge will allow them to be a part of Apple's developer program. It will start in February 2024 and students can submit their apps on Apple's developer site. Know more about the challenge, its eligibility, rewards and more.

Apple Inc. agreed to pay $25 million to settle a Department of Justice case alleging that the iPhone maker illegally discriminated against US citizens in hiring. 

Apple has finally caved to the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, and expects to bring some changes to the App Store policies to comply with the EU’s new ruling. Evidence that the company has decided to alter its platform regulations comes in the form of a 10-K financial form, with details present under the ‘Business Risks’ section. This effectively means that the App Store might finally be open to third-party platforms and the possibility of iMessage being interoperable with other messaging services, along with other changes.