Epic 'Fortnite' battles, a last Intel iMac, and $2 trillion -- Apple's August 2020 in Revi...
Apple would have liked you to associate August 2020 with it reaching $2 trillion in valuation, its new iMac launch, or with its Apple Music radio revamp. Unfortunately, it did also get into a little scrap with Epic Games which will take years to resolve in full.
Shown on the new 27-inch iMac. Left: Tim Cook. Right: A shot from Epic Games's "1984" parody
In July 2020, you'd have had to be a fan or at least a gamer to have given "Fortnite" much thought. Then throughout August, however, it became practically impossible to avoid hearing Epic Games's decrying about Apple, Apple's decrying of Epic, and countless pundits weighing in one side, the other, or occasionally both. Both sides seemed immediately intractable, yet the points and the disagreement moved about a lot while still staying fundamentally the same.
You can check out the story so far in our continually updated story about just who has said what and where it's all got to. Or you could listen to our special correspondent, Steve Jobs.
Watch this minute from the D8 conference in 2010. For the most part, Jobs described this dispute that would arise ten years later.
Ten years is a long time and the world has changed since Steve Jobs said this. Everything he said is broadly the same, everything about Apple's position is still spot on, but now it's not just one developer complaining. Right or wrong, championing the consumer or jumping on a bandwagon, everyone who can line up against Apple was lining up against Apple in August 2020. And they didn't stop in September, either.
Since the key to the dispute is concerned with the cut of profits Apple charges developers, it is chiefly developers who are complaining. But alongside the small and the medium-sized developer, there is now also Microsoft -- in the form of the company's official position but also with founder Bill Gates taking a swipe at Apple.
There is also Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg calling Apple "aggressive," and saying with a straight face that its "unique stranglehold as a gatekeeper... blocks innovation, blocks competition."
Artwork for the celebration of Woz's 70th.
Under his watch, Apple has successfully introduced a slew of services, and in August we learned that he personally has become a billionaire. We also learned something of how Cook's leadership style has reshaped Apple.
You can be sure that Cook would put Apple's success down to the people who work there, more than any particular service or any particular product. And throughout August we had evidence of how certain people have always been key.
So alongside his own income -- and his donations to charity -- there were reasons to celebrate Apple people. On August 11, you were cordially invited to attend Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's "surprise" 70th birthday.
And Phil Schiller had his long history with the company recognized as he became an Apple Fellow.
"It has been a dream come true for me to work at Apple, on so many products I love, with all of these great friends -- Steve [Jobs], Tim [Cook], and so many more," he said. "I first started at Apple when I was 27, this year I turned 60 and it is time for some planned changes in my life."
"I'll keep working here as long as they will have me, I bleed six colors," he continued, "but I also want to make some time in the years ahead for my family, friends, and a few personal projects I care deeply about."
It got pretty rave reviews in this month, too, but hanging over it was the fact that Apple Silicon is coming. Even in August, before the new Apple Silicon Macs began launching, it looked likely that this new iMac could well be the final Intel-based one. So for all its much improved specifications, optional improved screen, improved everything, you have to hesitate before buying it.
The new 27-inch iMac is superb. Although it's also based on Intel, not Apple Silicon.
Unless your work needs meant that you were about to pull the trigger on buying an iMac Pro, in which case you should have seriously looked at the new iMac instead.
There was also a revision to the 21.5-inch iMac, but even Apple didn't claim it was significant enough to call it a new model. The sole thing that has changed is that there is no longer an option to buy one with a spinning hard disk.
Instead, every configuration comes with an SSD drive, starting with a 256GB one. Finally, Apple has removed its last spinning drive and now the 21.5-inch iMac is still too small, too underpowered next to its 27-inch sibling, but at least it's got faster storage.
It looked as if the update to Apple's video editing software Final Cut Pro X would be a shrug, too, as it leaped from 10.4.8 to 10.4.9. That's not even a point update, it's a point-point update, and yet it was far more significant and useful than it seemed.
That was partly because Final Cut Pro X 10.4.9 comes with settings to help you rapidly change video formats to fit the various demands of different social media platforms. Although speaking of social media...
Over the next few weeks, we got a steadily increasing certainty that the service, and others including WeChat, will be banned but we didn't get much detail. And whether you agree that TikTok is in some unspecified way a threat to America or not, the devil was in the details.
Tim Cook and President Trump
TikTok is one thing, and much of the month was taken up with assorted stories about how the ban would be scrapped if the company was sold to an interested US firm -- variously Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, and even Walmart. But ultimately it is going to be a WeChat ban that could hurt Apple.
And maybe it will hurt very badly. Now we know that the ban would keep being postponed, but back in August, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was the first to try putting a figure on the effects of a ban. He reckoned that an all-out ban would cut Apple's iPhone sales in China by 30%.
This was pointed out to the White House, whose initial considered response was -- genuinely -- "Whatever." Reportedly, the Administration did then later tell Apple and other companies that the ban won't stop them including it in the Chinese edition of the App Store.
You heard it from them first, and very probably also last, that iPhones are "notoriously faulty" timepieces. Apple would tell you that it maintains its whole time.apple.com global server system, but, no, West's team knew better.
Except when they needed to, as we learned all of this because the team was allegedly 14 seconds late trying to file West's presidential campaign ballot in Wisconsin.
It's possible that his presidential bid may not have been altogether serious, but if you're more interested in hearing about him, we recommend his music.
And if between June 30, 2015 and August 18, 2020, we'd have also recommended you listen out for him on Beats 1, now it's different. West's music is likely to appear instead on the rebranded Apple Music 1. Or at least it is more than the entirely new Apple Music Country, or Apple Music Hits. Those started in August and would be well-established as we headed into September 2020.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
Shown on the new 27-inch iMac. Left: Tim Cook. Right: A shot from Epic Games's "1984" parody
In July 2020, you'd have had to be a fan or at least a gamer to have given "Fortnite" much thought. Then throughout August, however, it became practically impossible to avoid hearing Epic Games's decrying about Apple, Apple's decrying of Epic, and countless pundits weighing in one side, the other, or occasionally both. Both sides seemed immediately intractable, yet the points and the disagreement moved about a lot while still staying fundamentally the same.
You can check out the story so far in our continually updated story about just who has said what and where it's all got to. Or you could listen to our special correspondent, Steve Jobs.
Watch this minute from the D8 conference in 2010. For the most part, Jobs described this dispute that would arise ten years later.
Ten years is a long time and the world has changed since Steve Jobs said this. Everything he said is broadly the same, everything about Apple's position is still spot on, but now it's not just one developer complaining. Right or wrong, championing the consumer or jumping on a bandwagon, everyone who can line up against Apple was lining up against Apple in August 2020. And they didn't stop in September, either.
Since the key to the dispute is concerned with the cut of profits Apple charges developers, it is chiefly developers who are complaining. But alongside the small and the medium-sized developer, there is now also Microsoft -- in the form of the company's official position but also with founder Bill Gates taking a swipe at Apple.
There is also Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg calling Apple "aggressive," and saying with a straight face that its "unique stranglehold as a gatekeeper... blocks innovation, blocks competition."
Apple's $2 trillion market capitalization
It's not as if Apple was exactly laughing all the way to the bank about the App Store or that it doesn't take the dispute with Epic Games seriously. But in this month it must've had a chuckle or two as it became the first US company to hit a $2 trillion market valuation. Some people had thought and said that Tim Cook would struggle as Apple CEO, but good luck finding any of them today.Artwork for the celebration of Woz's 70th.
Under his watch, Apple has successfully introduced a slew of services, and in August we learned that he personally has become a billionaire. We also learned something of how Cook's leadership style has reshaped Apple.
You can be sure that Cook would put Apple's success down to the people who work there, more than any particular service or any particular product. And throughout August we had evidence of how certain people have always been key.
So alongside his own income -- and his donations to charity -- there were reasons to celebrate Apple people. On August 11, you were cordially invited to attend Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's "surprise" 70th birthday.
And Phil Schiller had his long history with the company recognized as he became an Apple Fellow.
"It has been a dream come true for me to work at Apple, on so many products I love, with all of these great friends -- Steve [Jobs], Tim [Cook], and so many more," he said. "I first started at Apple when I was 27, this year I turned 60 and it is time for some planned changes in my life."
"I'll keep working here as long as they will have me, I bleed six colors," he continued, "but I also want to make some time in the years ahead for my family, friends, and a few personal projects I care deeply about."
New iMacs and software
Curiously, August saw a hardware release that was simultaneously great and not that important -- and a minor software update that was huge, at least for certain people. The hardware was a revised 27-inch iMac and in any other month, it would be getting rave reviews.It got pretty rave reviews in this month, too, but hanging over it was the fact that Apple Silicon is coming. Even in August, before the new Apple Silicon Macs began launching, it looked likely that this new iMac could well be the final Intel-based one. So for all its much improved specifications, optional improved screen, improved everything, you have to hesitate before buying it.
The new 27-inch iMac is superb. Although it's also based on Intel, not Apple Silicon.
Unless your work needs meant that you were about to pull the trigger on buying an iMac Pro, in which case you should have seriously looked at the new iMac instead.
There was also a revision to the 21.5-inch iMac, but even Apple didn't claim it was significant enough to call it a new model. The sole thing that has changed is that there is no longer an option to buy one with a spinning hard disk.
Instead, every configuration comes with an SSD drive, starting with a 256GB one. Finally, Apple has removed its last spinning drive and now the 21.5-inch iMac is still too small, too underpowered next to its 27-inch sibling, but at least it's got faster storage.
It looked as if the update to Apple's video editing software Final Cut Pro X would be a shrug, too, as it leaped from 10.4.8 to 10.4.9. That's not even a point update, it's a point-point update, and yet it was far more significant and useful than it seemed.
That was partly because Final Cut Pro X 10.4.9 comes with settings to help you rapidly change video formats to fit the various demands of different social media platforms. Although speaking of social media...
TikTok, China and WeChat
Right at the start of the month, President Trump had announced that he was planning to ban the Chinese-owned social media service TikTok. It seemed to be news to the owners of TikTok who froze with a sandwich halfway to their lips.Over the next few weeks, we got a steadily increasing certainty that the service, and others including WeChat, will be banned but we didn't get much detail. And whether you agree that TikTok is in some unspecified way a threat to America or not, the devil was in the details.
Tim Cook and President Trump
TikTok is one thing, and much of the month was taken up with assorted stories about how the ban would be scrapped if the company was sold to an interested US firm -- variously Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, and even Walmart. But ultimately it is going to be a WeChat ban that could hurt Apple.
And maybe it will hurt very badly. Now we know that the ban would keep being postponed, but back in August, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was the first to try putting a figure on the effects of a ban. He reckoned that an all-out ban would cut Apple's iPhone sales in China by 30%.
This was pointed out to the White House, whose initial considered response was -- genuinely -- "Whatever." Reportedly, the Administration did then later tell Apple and other companies that the ban won't stop them including it in the Chinese edition of the App Store.
Apple needs to focus on technology
Protecting its sales in China is one thing, but this month we learned that all of this attention on politics and services means Apple is falling behind where it matters. We'd not even have known about its technological failings, though, if it weren't for the team working for Kanye West.You heard it from them first, and very probably also last, that iPhones are "notoriously faulty" timepieces. Apple would tell you that it maintains its whole time.apple.com global server system, but, no, West's team knew better.
Except when they needed to, as we learned all of this because the team was allegedly 14 seconds late trying to file West's presidential campaign ballot in Wisconsin.
It's possible that his presidential bid may not have been altogether serious, but if you're more interested in hearing about him, we recommend his music.
And if between June 30, 2015 and August 18, 2020, we'd have also recommended you listen out for him on Beats 1, now it's different. West's music is likely to appear instead on the rebranded Apple Music 1. Or at least it is more than the entirely new Apple Music Country, or Apple Music Hits. Those started in August and would be well-established as we headed into September 2020.
Keep up with AppleInsider by downloading the AppleInsider app for iOS, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos.
Comments
1. If (and it looks like that from the anti trust hearing) Apple exploited their monopoly they need to be regulated.
2. Allowing alternate App Stores does not mean to tear anything down. There will just be competition. All security aspects of the iPhone should remain intact (in contrast to jail breaking).
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-install-amazon-appstore-on-your-android-device/
Once apps are allowed to access another app's file space, there's nothing stopping a malicious app from installing a keylogger in a mobile banking app.
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/blackrock-android-trojan-malware-can-steal-banking-credentials-says-cert-in-2271408
https://nikolanews.com/new-blackrock-android-malware-can-steal-passwords-and-card-data-from-337-apps/
"The federal cyber security agency suggested some counter-measures: do not download and install applications from untrusted sources and use reputed application market only"
"Currently, BlackRock is distributed disguised as fake Google update packages offered on third-party sites, and the trojan hasn’t yet been spotted on the official Play Store."
There's little to no malware on Mac systems but people don't install many apps on desktops and malware is easier to detect as you have access to the filesystem, process viewer etc and Apple is trying to increase Mac security by using similar restrictions. Mobile has a very limited UI. There's no way you'd ever be able to tell if malware was installed.
Apple can isolate untrusted apps or app stores from the rest of the system or treat them as security threats. Google treats them as security threats and that's what led Epic to avoid using an external store on Android because users were getting security warning popups so even if the option was available, they wouldn't use it unless the software was treated as the same level of trust as the system's App Store, which it never can be.
If there was a ruling about Apple's App Store that forced installation of 3rd party stores, this would have the same legal implications for every closed platform. Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo would be allowed to install a store on each other's closed platforms without a fee.
Epic is just bitter about having to pay millions to Apple on what has now been revealed as their biggest market. People were saying Fortnite on mobile is irrelevant as most people play on deskop/console. Epic's latest statement says most Fortnite players are on iOS - 116 million players out of 350 million, more than any other single platform.
Fortnite revenue in 2019 was $1.8b. On the App Store, the amount was $245m. So Epic paid Apple $73m in 2019. The biggest platforms would be PS4, XBox One, Switch, Windows and Mac, Android, iOS. Only the desktop platforms don't charge a fee so they would be paying to every other major platform but only attacking Apple and Google because they have the delusion that mobile smartphone platforms should be treated like desktop platforms.
In addition Apple has control over the sandbox to only allow the operation that was approved by the user.
Apple should probably spend more effort in making people and agencies understand that the app store needs to be locked down and that the so-called "tax" is actually fees that is needed to keep the millions of free apps available and running.
When it comes to clearly explaining what they are doing, Apple seems to be caught on the back foot, which in turn makes them look the big bad boogie man. That is true for the whole iPhone battery fiasco and the app store fees.
Ironically it is those who DO see Andork, Windoze, and the other platforms as alternatives that state Apple has a monopoly, it is their excuse/explanation to themselves for what they hate most, Apple's success.