Quick Takes: Apple Hires a Latin TV Head, New Owner of Reserve Strap Plans to Sue Apple, and More

In addition to our standalone articles covering the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, this Quick Takes column provides a bite-sized recap of other headlines about Apple and its competitors on weekdays.

Friday, March 2

Apple announces hiring of Sony TV's Angélica Guerra as Head of Latin American Programming: Guerra oversaw Sony Picture Television's production business across Latin America, including Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. She will report to Morgan Wandell, Apple's head of international creative development.

apple angelica guerra
Commentary: Apple has poached several Sony executives, including Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, who run the company's new Worldwide Video Programming division. Apple has already placed orders for over 10 original series with well-known actors and producers such as Jennifer Aniston and Steven Spielberg.

Apple hasn't revealed how it plans to distribute its original content, but it will soon. The company could launch a streaming service like Netflix, or it could release the series through its TV app or iTunes. In the past, episodes of Apple's "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" and "Planet of the Apps" were exclusive to Apple Music.

Microsoft releases Soundscape: The app for iPhone uses 3D audio technology to enhance a person's surroundings, helping people with blindness or low vision to explore unfamiliar areas. An audio beacon can be placed on a point of interest, which users hear as they move around.

Soundscape provides information about your surroundings with synthesized binaural audio, creating the effect of 3D sound. It can run in the background in conjunction with navigation or other applications to provide you with additional context about the environment. Your phone, in hand or in pocket, tracks movement using location and activity sensors, and lets you move toward a self-set audio beacon.

Commentary: This is a great example of how technology can improve accessibility. Microsoft still encourages users with vision loss to continue to place their basic awareness of their surroundings and mobility skills as a priority.

California Highway Patrol to use decoy buses in hopes of catching Apple and Google shuttle attackers: A $10,000 reward is also being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible.

apple shuttle bus damage

Photo Credit: Teamsters Joint Council 7

Commentary: Unmarked coach buses have been attacked by pellet guns at least 20 times recently while transporting Apple and Google employees along the Interstate 280, between San Francisco and the South Bay, where each company is headquartered. Hopefully these efforts will help catch the perpetrators.

Apple has stopped signing iOS 11.2.5: It is no longer possible to downgrade an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to software versions older than the latest iOS 11.2.6 update, which fixed a system crashing bug related to a Telugu character.

WiseWear plans to sue Apple over illegal restraint of trade: The technology startup filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday. The company blames part of its demise on Apple, which made changes that prevented the Reserve Strap charging band from working with the Apple Watch's diagnostic port.

reserve strap change
Commentary: WiseWear acquired the original company behind the Reserve Strap last year, well after orders were suspended due to the changes in watchOS, so it's hard to see them having a strong case should they proceed.

For more Apple news and rumors coverage, visit our Front Page, Mac Blog, and iOS Blog. Also visit our forums to join in the discussion.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 10, Apple TV

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macbook pro blue green

When Will Apple Release the M5 MacBook Pro?

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:53 pm PDT by
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall. Design There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple Lumon Terminal Pro

Apple's Mac Site Features Fictional 'Lumon Terminal Pro'

Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site. The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Tuesday March 25, 2025 6:45 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing. Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1. Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Supports 8K Video Recording, Suggests Leaker [Updated]

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:06 am PDT by
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China. Our original article follows below. Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
iOS 18 4 Ambient Music Control Center

How to Use iOS 18.4's New Ambient Music Feature in Control Center

Thursday March 27, 2025 7:45 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works. iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week. To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

'iPhone Fold' to Feature Metallic Glass Hinge That Resists Deformation

Thursday March 27, 2025 4:21 am PDT by
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device. According...

Top Rated Comments

bryan1andersons Avatar
92 months ago
Can I just say, Macrumors, that I really love the format of these posts you've been doing lately. I like how they're grouped and some reason it makes it feel like way more content than if it was several different posts
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StevieD100 Avatar
92 months ago
Using the Service/Diagnostic port
If Apple published the specs to the Diagnostic port then there might be a case to answer. Otherwise, it is use of an interface that Apple is free to change whenever they deem fit.
IANAL etc.
TBH, I'd never base a business on something where I could have the rug removed from underneath me at a moments notice. It might be that others are not a cautious as me.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProwlingTiger Avatar
92 months ago
Why are they broadcasting the tactical details of the CHP operation? It's like: "Hey vandals, guess how we're going to catch you? We're going to BLAH BLAH BLAH!"

Like just keep your mouths shut until they're caught.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
92 months ago
Can I just say, Macrumors, that I really love the format of these posts you've been doing lately. I like how they're grouped and some reason it makes it feel like way more content than if it was several different posts
Yeah, they sort of remind me of early 2000s MacRumors articles that were all really short, except they've been grouped together, preventing an influx of "slow news day" comments that people didn't seem to make as much in the past.

In 2001, this was the longest an MR article would get:



Unrelated: that iPod thing sounds pretty cool.

Attachment Image
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2010mini Avatar
92 months ago
Love the new news format. When will you support Apple News?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
corebeliefs Avatar
92 months ago
Was it a good idea to announce that decoy buses are being used?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)