>It said that rules under the act affected the way it provided users access to apps. “Pornography apps are available on iPhone from other marketplaces – apps we’ve never allowed on the App Store because of the risks they create, especially for children,” it said.
Oh the children card! Too bad you do ship such an app with your device since forever, it's called a Browser!
Apple calls for changes to anti-monopoly laws and says it may stop shipping to the EU
If that happens, then the demand is big enough that companies would import millions of iPhones from other regions and sell them in the EU.
For warranty service, the company would ship the phones back to the original country where Apple sold them.
Then, if that causes Apple too much trouble, then Apple would have to detect that the phone had been spending most of the time in the EU, and refuse to provide free servicing under warranty.
> Among the requirements of the DMA is that Apple ensures that headphones made by other brands will work with iPhones. It said this has been a block on it releasing its live translation service in the EU as it allows rival companies to access data from conversations, creating a privacy problem.
This sounds bogus right? If all the headphones can do is transmit audio via first party operating system features how is this creating a data privacy issue? How are headphones going to exfiltrate data unless they have their own Wi-Fi connection or application that can serve as a bridge? Just disallow both.
> delayed features are leading to a worse experience for users
If they want to play fast and loose with the lack of consumer protections in the US market, by all means! Delayed features actually lead to a BETTER experience over here in the EU.
Everyone will have to come to Switzerland to buy their apple gear. We have the live translation feature now.
There's a few other countries in Europe where it's released but their vat is much higher. I think apple normalizes prices across countries but every now and then it's cheaper to buy apple gear here. There was even a time when iPhones were cheaper here than in the USA because of some exchange rate issues.
> “Pornography apps are available on iPhone from other marketplaces – apps we’ve never allowed on the App Store because of the risks they create, especially for children,”
Why are they going to this now ? Nobody is holding apple responsible for that. It's just another 'think of the children' fear mongering while with the other face they want to be able to record everything without explicit consent or with some guadrails ?
Apple can adapt if they want to participate in the EU market, like others have. They seem to think that it works like their lobby groups in the US.
Just waiting for Macron to receive an expensive plaque from 'Tim Apple'.
This is great so long as the EU keeps its spine and doesn’t budge. Apple has behaved like a petulant child with the DMA and there’s zero chance their shareholders will willingly drop such a significant revenue %. The EU holds a lot of sway here, just don’t blink first please.
> “The DMA means the list of delayed features in the EU will probably get longer, and our EU users’ experience on Apple products will fall further behind,”
That's an Apple problem, they're the ones going to lose market share to competitors offering those experiences.
Samsung already has live translation, including in calls.
In any case, I find it interesting that Palantir and Thorn are much better at lobbying the EU against its interests than Apple and other companies on much smaller and less relevant issues.
> Samsung already has live translation, including in calls.
Samsung isn't large enough to be considered a gatekeeper under the DMA. They're exempt from the rules Google and Apple have to follow.
Also I believe Samsung's in-person live translation feature is tied to their Galaxy earbuds hardware. This would be non-compliant if they were classified a gatekeeper.
If Samsung suddenly had to follow the same rules Apple does they'd either have to open up the API or pull this feature from the EU.
Company that makes vast profits from its monopoly over a digital market is against legislation to stop companies from exploiting monopolies over digital markets.
This reminds me that recently I was trying to find any and all headsets that implement well into the Apple Ecosystem, then I remembered that Apple owns Beats, while I dont usually care about Beats, I wanted over the head headphones that were not an arm and a leg, only one out of all their headsets going on years now has some support, and it was really confusing figuring out if its even the latest ones. This is a product wholly owned by Apple and even that doesn't get access to Apple's Bluetooth magic? Wild.
I'm not spending the cost of an entry level Mac (nearly) on headphones, that's just insane to me. An entry level Macbook Air is $50 more. That is wild to me. I've never spent that much on Headphones, and if it aint a DAC headset, I just can't justify it.
I do wonder, how much of what Apple is doing is proprietary, and patented? Or is the fear that Apple could not patent it, and competitors will realize they could do the same for other ecosystems?
Pretty scary for Apple shareholders. They're basically saying that the extremely expensive hardware alone isn't enough to make a profit anymore? They're that reliant on the app store monopoly now?
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 56.2 ms ] threadThanks in advance.
Sincerely,
The EU.
Oh the children card! Too bad you do ship such an app with your device since forever, it's called a Browser!
If that happens, then the demand is big enough that companies would import millions of iPhones from other regions and sell them in the EU.
For warranty service, the company would ship the phones back to the original country where Apple sold them.
Then, if that causes Apple too much trouble, then Apple would have to detect that the phone had been spending most of the time in the EU, and refuse to provide free servicing under warranty.
That’s an interesting can of worms for Apple.
This sounds bogus right? If all the headphones can do is transmit audio via first party operating system features how is this creating a data privacy issue? How are headphones going to exfiltrate data unless they have their own Wi-Fi connection or application that can serve as a bridge? Just disallow both.
If they want to play fast and loose with the lack of consumer protections in the US market, by all means! Delayed features actually lead to a BETTER experience over here in the EU.
There's a few other countries in Europe where it's released but their vat is much higher. I think apple normalizes prices across countries but every now and then it's cheaper to buy apple gear here. There was even a time when iPhones were cheaper here than in the USA because of some exchange rate issues.
[0]: https://msk-apple.ru/
[1]: https://apple-com.ru/
Why are they going to this now ? Nobody is holding apple responsible for that. It's just another 'think of the children' fear mongering while with the other face they want to be able to record everything without explicit consent or with some guadrails ?
Apple can adapt if they want to participate in the EU market, like others have. They seem to think that it works like their lobby groups in the US.
Just waiting for Macron to receive an expensive plaque from 'Tim Apple'.
That's an Apple problem, they're the ones going to lose market share to competitors offering those experiences.
Samsung already has live translation, including in calls.
In any case, I find it interesting that Palantir and Thorn are much better at lobbying the EU against its interests than Apple and other companies on much smaller and less relevant issues.
Samsung isn't large enough to be considered a gatekeeper under the DMA. They're exempt from the rules Google and Apple have to follow.
Also I believe Samsung's in-person live translation feature is tied to their Galaxy earbuds hardware. This would be non-compliant if they were classified a gatekeeper.
If Samsung suddenly had to follow the same rules Apple does they'd either have to open up the API or pull this feature from the EU.
I don't think it's about Samsung not being "large enough"; Samsung has basically the same market share as Apple does in Europe according to https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/europe.
I am shocked!
I'm not spending the cost of an entry level Mac (nearly) on headphones, that's just insane to me. An entry level Macbook Air is $50 more. That is wild to me. I've never spent that much on Headphones, and if it aint a DAC headset, I just can't justify it.
I do wonder, how much of what Apple is doing is proprietary, and patented? Or is the fear that Apple could not patent it, and competitors will realize they could do the same for other ecosystems?
Flippin' Symbian phones from early 2010's are more capable and yet they are the ones we call "dumbphones"...