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EU Opens Non-Compliance Investigations into Apple, Meta, and Google
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It is the port connecting to the battery pack. So close enough: https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/31/24057392/apple-vision-pro-battery-lightning-cable But whatever, I am also not trying to convince Jehova’s witnesses, or the ADF:
If Apple would use newborn puppies to charge its iPhones, the Apple Defense Force will still come to Apple’s defense.
But it isn't a charging port and Apple could have easily hardwired this line.
Edit: And I don't think you realize you are on a pro-Apple site.
Many of us are pro Apple but we have become a bit jaded in recent years as Apple seems to be focussing more and more on their share price and less and less on their products...
There was someone once who said something like... "If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making really great products, then the profits will follow.” can't remember who, mustn't be that important.
The EU has brought peace and prosperity to its member countries. What would have to happen for the EU not to be a failure?
1.) but you first indicate everything Apple was doing was going to USB-C. But I just pointed out that with its newest category it is just not true: using some weird mega-Lightning contraption instead.
2.) yes, but pro-Apple does not mean worship Apple, correct?
It is not all black and white (it is like the real world!):
I have a 13 Mini and M1Pro MBP, love both. Apple really hit it out of the parc with the M1, but 8GB Ram/256GB on a 2024 1300+ euro laptop is insanity. I also do not like the lightning port on my 13 mini and Siri is pathetic, but I like the nononse iOS versus Android.
I'm pretty convinced that whenever billion dollar companies are "confused" by the law, they are really just willing to take a degree of legal risk to see what they can get away with.
The level of specificity some people here seem to expect from a broad piece of legislation like the DMA is absolutely unachievable. Where does the Sherman Act, for example, explicitly address the conduct the DOJ is objecting to? Does that make the Sherman Act a bad piece of legislation? No of course not, this is not a city regulation that spells out where you can and cannot park.
As always these things get tested and refined in court over time, but even then plenty of people pointed out that some of Apple's suggested solutions could be problematic. I'm pretty sure Apple's lawyers were among those people as well. How it will turn out we will see, but that's just business as usual.
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1) It does have USBC, though. I'm not sure how an internal connector counts. Never open any electronics because you'll be shocked at the number of proprietary connectors in them.
2) I don't worship Apple; I like and stand by their products because they make my life easier and generally speaking work well.
Someone is jealous of not living in the EU I see 😋
I doubt the EU will still be around in 5 years. The road to hell is paved with good intentions! Does the EU really know anything about technology? What qualifies them to be making these technical decisions? Where is the EU's Smart phone? Apple knows exactly what the EU is doing! Everyone thinks they can run some of the World's most successful tech companies but in reality nothing could be further from the truth!
A bit dramatic much.
But I do agree with a weaker take: the EU has dropped the ball sometimes, often a bit late to the party, so certainly not perfect by any stretch! But the Fairphone is a good example of an "EU" phone. And by the way, you do know that probably one of the most important tech companies in the world (ASML, i.e. the one making the machines that produce the GPU/CPU chips from the big players, such as Apple, Samsung, Intel, nVidia) is founded and located in the Netherlands (i.e. EU)?
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You think the EU will collapse because it forced some tech companies to open up a little?!
With all due respect, this is getting silly.
No you are not getting it! The EU did not earn any of its technical competency or informed decisions making like Google, Meta, or Apple. It will fail because they do not know what the hell it is doing! It is not opening up companies, it is stifling them and forcing them to be mediocre! The EU has too much power to afford to get things wrong and there is no forcing function to correct them either when they get things wrong like the free market system. A perfect example is AI! They do not have the least bit of competency to make decisions about AI yet they are quick to start making decisions that will stifle it and make them fall behind. Absolute power without competency is a recipe for disaster! They are like a backseat driver who have never driven a car before and Apple knows it! Another example is the EU mandating all cars to be electric by 2035 when we all knew the infrastructure and global power supply was never there for that!
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These anti-EU posts read a bit like Russian troll-farm produce, combined with a hint of jealousy.
what is wrong with above statement?
So true. The issue is that the people with some technical competency will not help out here because it doesn’t make financial sense for them to.
"Within 12 months" doesn't mean exactly 12 months.
Apple announced their changes merely 2 months ago (and the law came into effect 18 days ago).
And the EU gave stakeholders time to take them in and provide feedback to the commission.
I'd say opening a market investigation already was pretty quick.
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Gatekeepers getting crafty at finding loopholes deserve moving targets and flexible enough regulations.
PS: If Microsoft can do it (comply), Apple could do it too.
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Who said they got around the rules? You still must establish that they broke the rules through the legal procedure , how, what choices in the leadership structure led to these decisions?
perhaps they already knew they broke the rules on day 1. But is it egregious enough for a 0.1% fine or a 10% fine?
Shall they be hit by one massive fine, or is it 20 individual 5% fines? Etc etc.
these days it's not a very pro Apple site...
we are a long way from interest in rumours of new hardware and software and offering suggestions to improve things.
too often it is dump on Apple and wanting to see Tim and Board sacked and Apple broken up.
Seems that's what a small group want.
And they dont care that many of us bought into the Walled Garden because it offers extra security we cant get elsewhere. That's why we dont want these legislated changes forced on Apple. Let the market and their wallets determine if what Apple does as a business succeeds or not.
Shareholders care about their bottomline. Giving in to the Chinese government won’t hurt customers outside of china and won’t cost Apple money. Complying with the DMA will at best cost Apple a lot of revenue on AppStore sales and at worst up to 20% of their global revenue. As soon as the losses are bigger than potential gains, leaving the EU market will be the better choice for the bottomline.
If Apple gives in too much, other countries will follow suit, effectively ruining revenue. However, playing hardball with the weakest of the big players might pay off in the long run. Or backfire spectacularly, who knows?