MacRumors

Apple has scaled back its Apple Car project and the company no longer plans to release a fully self-driving vehicle, reports Bloomberg.

Apple wanted to create a self-driving car without a steering wheel or pedals, but has decided that such a plan is not feasible at the current time. The vehicle will have guided driving features that work on highways, but it will not be able to operate entirely on its own at all times.

The car will have an Apple-designed custom processor to power AI functionality, similar to the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The chip is equivalent to four of the highest-end Mac chips and is nearly production ready. It will include a custom array of lidar sensors, radar sensors, and cameras, which will be able to provide the car with positioning information, lane data, and orientation compared to people and objects.

Apple will use the cloud for some AI processing, and the company is considering a remote command center that could assist drivers and control cars from afar during emergencies. It may also offer its own insurance program to companies. Apple's scaled-down vehicle will feature steering wheels and pedals, like a normal vehicle. It will allow customers to do things like watch movies or multitask while on highways. The car will provide alerts when it is time to switch to manual controls for city streets or in poor weather, with the self-driving component perhaps limited to the North America at launch.

The Apple Car project has undergone several shifts in development scope since Apple started it way back in 2014. Apple initially planned for a full vehicle, then in 2016, rumors indicated plans for a car had been shelved and Apple would instead develop some kind of autonomous driving system for other vehicles.

By 2020, plans for a full vehicle with autonomous driving capabilities were back on, with Apple testing self-driving technology in SUVs in the San Francisco Bay Area, but it seems the full autonomous driving features are not going to be ready when the first Apple Car launches.

The Apple Car team has also gone through several leadership changes, and at the current time, AI and machine learning chief John Giannandrea is heading up the Apple Car project, and Kevin Lynch, known for his work on the Apple Watch, is also overseeing work on the car.

While rumors suggested that the car could launch as soon as 2025, it is now expected in 2026 at the earliest, with Apple aiming to sell a consumer model for under $100,000.

Apple today announced it is providing developers with an additional 700 price points for App Store apps, allowing apps to be priced as low as 29 cents, or as high as $10,000. Developers who want to price their app above $1,000 must submit a request to Apple to help prevent meaninglessly expensive apps from being released on the App Store.

In total, developers will have the ability to select from 900 price points, with the 100 highest price points available upon request only. The new price points will increase incrementally, including every 10 cents up to $10, every 50 cents between $10 and $50, and so forth. Rounded price endings will also be available (such as $0.90 or $1.00), along with prices that begin with two repeating digits (such as ₩110,000 in South Korea.)

In August 2021, Apple promised that it would expand the number of App Store price points as part of a $100 million settlement with developers.

Apple is also making it easier for developers to manage foreign exchange rate changes by allowing them to choose their preferred storefront as the basis for automatically generating prices across the App Store's other 174 storefronts and 44 currencies. For example, Apple says a Japanese game developer who receives most of their business from Japanese customers can set a price for the Japan storefront, and have their prices outside of the country automatically update as foreign exchange and tax rates change around the world. Developers will still be able to define prices per storefront if they desire.

Apple says the new price points and foreign exchange rate management option will be available for apps offering auto-renewable subscriptions starting today, and for all other apps and in-app purchases in "spring 2023."

Apple periodically updates prices in certain App Store regions based on changes in foreign exchange rates and taxes. Starting in 2023, the company says developers with paid apps and in-app purchases will be able to set local territory pricing, which will not be impacted by these automatic price adjustments from that point onwards.

Apple earlier today announced a new feature coming to Apple Music that will allow users to sing along to their favorite songs, either alone or with friends and family. The new feature will be a perfect fit ahead of the holidays and parties; unfortunately, there is one big catch.

‌Apple Music‌ Sing will only work with the latest Apple TV 4K model, which was announced in October, according to Apple's press release earlier today. The limitation will mean customers of older ‌Apple TV‌ models will miss out on the new feature. ‌Apple Music‌ Sing will also be available on the iPhone 11 and later and the third-generation iPad Pro and later.

It's unclear why only the latest ‌Apple TV‌ is supported, especially since ‌Apple Music‌ Sing is ideal on a large TV screen with friends and family gathered around. Compared to older models, the new ‌Apple TV‌ 4K has the A15 Bionic chip and support for HDR10+. ‌Apple Music‌ Sing will be available later this month.

Apple today announced Apple Music Sing, a new feature in ‌Apple Music‌ that lets users sing their favorite songs with adjustable vocals and more.

‌Apple Music‌ Sing will utilize ‌Apple Music‌'s real-time lyrics to allow users to sing to their favorite songs using adjustable vocals, background vocals, and duet view to allow more than one singer.

Apple Music Sing includes:

• Adjustable vocals: Users now have control over a song’s vocal levels. They can sing with the original artist vocals, take the lead, or mix it up on millions of songs in the Apple Music catalog.
• Real-time lyrics: Users can sing along to their favorite songs with animated lyrics that dance to the rhythm of the vocals.
• Background vocals: Vocal lines sung simultaneously can animate independently from the main vocals to make it easier for users to follow.
• Duet view: Multiple vocalists show on opposite sides of the screen to make duets or multi-singer tracks easy to sing along to.

As part of the new feature, ‌Apple Music‌ will also be debuting over 50 new playlists focused on "all of the epic songs, duets, choruses, and anthems that have been compelling people all around the world to sing."

‌Apple Music‌ Sing will be available on iPhone, iPad, and the new Apple TV 4K and will be available to ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers worldwide later this month at no additional charge.

Microsoft is looking to build a "super app" that incorporates a messaging platform, shopping, web search, and news into a single app, an apparent attempt to go after Apple and Google's app store platforms.

According to a report today by The Information, Microsoft has been in the early stages of building a "super app" at the direction of the company's CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella has reportedly instructed teams at Microsoft to better integrate Bing, the company's search engine, into other services and apps, such as Microsoft Teams and Outlook, as a groundwork for the "super app."

While it isn't clear whether Microsoft will ultimately launch such an app, the people with knowledge of the discussions said CEO Satya Nadella has laid the groundwork by pushing the Bing search engine to work better with other Microsoft mobile products. For instance, he has directed Bing to integrate with Microsoft's Teams messaging and Outlook email apps, making it easier for customers to share search results in messages. A spokesperson for Microsoft didn;t comment for this article.

Microsoft is not an entirely consumer-oriented company, with most of its business coming from selling software and corporate sales. Microsoft has reported ambitions to become more consumer-friendly, offering services directly to customers, such as the "super app." Microsoft has failed to acquire large apps and social media platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest in the past, which could have been part of the company's larger plans.

Today's report also sheds some interesting new light on Microsoft's unsuccessful attempts in the past to outbid Google to become the default search engine
on iPhone. Google pays Apple billions each year to stay the default on ‌iPhone‌, and while users can change it, the default setting puts Microsoft's Bing at a disadvantage. According to The Information, Microsoft has had high-level talks with Apple to try and outbid Google as the default search engine but failed each time.

Microsoft has periodically bid on Apple's mobile search contract, according to a former employee briefed on the situation, but Google has won the deal every time. The negotiations have typically taken place directly between Nadella and top Apple executives behind closed doors, leaving many top Microsoft executives in the dark about the process, this person said.

The report notes that Microsoft in 2012 ran a public relations campaign to show how Bing was more usable for people with a vision disability compared to Google. The public relations stunt was not "enough to win Apple's approval."

Pixelmator 3.2 "Lumière" went live on the Mac App Store today, and the latest major update to the popular image editing app brings the ability to edit videos, along with other notable feature additions.

Version 3.2 of the app lets users make quick edits to videos, such as trimming, cropping, and color adjustment, and lets users combine them with text, images, and shapes, apply masks, and more, without leaving Pixelmator Pro.

To make editing easier, the interface now includes on-canvas video controls with which users can play, mute, scrub, and set the poster frame of videos in multi-video compositions.

As part of the support for video editing, the update also comes with support for new video and animated image formats including MP4 and QuickTime Movie, as well as the ability to open and export animated GIFs and PNGs. Videos can be exported with variable quality, adjustable frame rate, and using a range of compression types, including Apple ProRes.

In addition, the update also brings a new category of 4K movie title templates and adds cinematic social media templates designed specifically for creating moving designs.

Users can personalize the templates by changing the placeholder video, choose from alternative elements and colors created for each template individually, and more. Or they can also combine existing still-image templates in Pixelmator Pro with their own videos to create animated social media posts and other designs.

Additional improvements in Pixelmator Pro 3.2 include the ability to open and edit Live Photos as videos, and big improvements to Motion file format support, including the ability to export Motion files with video layers.

Pixelmator Pro 3.2 Lumière is available exclusively from the Mac App Store as a free update for existing users and $19.99 for new customers, 50% off its usual price of $39.99.

After publishing a series of press releases today announcing HomePod mini availability in several additional countries later this month, Apple has updated its Danish regional store to indicate the smart speaker will launch in Denmark in spring 2023, priced at 899 Krone.

Denmark was originally expected to see a local ‌HomePod mini‌ launch in tandem with Finland, Norway, and Sweden, based on the fact that Siri on HomePod was updated earlier this year to support those countries' respective languages.

The speaker launches in Finland, Norway, and Sweden on December 13. However, for whatever reason, Apple customers in Denmark will have to wait for a few more months. Meanwhile, in a surprise twist, Apple today also announced ‌HomePod mini‌ availability in South Africa, on the slightly later date of December 19.

First released in October 2020, the ‌HomePod mini‌ is currently available in 20 countries and territories, including the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

(Thanks, William!)

Google search queries on desktop will now return results in a continuous scroll instead of being divided into several pages, the company announced today (via The Verge).

The change is reminiscent of the way modern social media feeds work, although Google's version isn't quite the "infinite scroll" that social network users will be familiar with. Google says a search will now return six pages of results in a single scroll, before offering users a "See more" button to show additional results.

For as long as most people will remember, search results have been divided over several linked pages that users click through to continue browsing. Google claims continuous scroll will make browsing results quicker and easier, although some users are likely to miss how pages often act as a natural breaker for them to consider whether they have all the information they need.

Google says the change is rolling out first for English searches originating in the US. The company added continuous scroll to its namesake mobile app in October, so it's likely the feature will expand to other countries and languages in future.

Apple is facing a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco by two women, one of which claims her ex-boyfriend used an AirTag to track her without her consent, reports Bloomberg.

Since their release in April 2021, the use of Apple's AirTags has raised concerns among privacy groups and law enforcement that the trackers could be used for illegal tracking. Apple has built several safeguards to protect against unwanted tracking, but according to the new lawsuit, those safeguards are "inadequate."

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, claims that the safeguards in place, which include alerting iPhone users if an unknown ‌AirTag‌ is found to be following them, are "woefully inadequate, and do little, if anything, to promptly warn individuals if they are being tracked." The other woman in the lawsuit says her husband placed an ‌AirTag‌ in her child's backpack in order to track her. The two women are requesting an unspecified amount of damages and accusing Apple of releasing an unsafe product.

An ex-boyfriend of one of the women who filed the lawsuit planted an AirTag in the wheel well of her car and was able to find out where she had moved to avoid his harassment, according to the proposed class-action complaint filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco. The other woman said her estranged husband tracked her movements by placing an AirTag in her child's backpack.

Apple has addressed concerns that AirTags could be used for unwanted tracking, including updates announced in February 2021, which included improved detection for unknown AirTags, louder AirTags alerts, and more. "‌AirTag‌ was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person's property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products," Apple said in a February 2021 press release. "Unwanted tracking has long been a societal problem, and we took this concern seriously in the design of ‌AirTag‌," it continued.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple will label Wi-Fi-only and cellular models of the third-generation iPad mini as obsolete products in a few weeks, according to a memo sent out earlier today obtained by MacRumors.

Currently, only a specific cellular variant of the ‌iPad mini‌ 3 is marked as obsolete, but this will soon change. The third-generation ‌iPad mini‌ kept the same design as its predecessor but included improved performance thanks to the A7 chip and a Touch ID home button.

Apple designates products as obsolete seven years after they were last on sale. All hardware service is discontinued for obsolete products, and service providers are not able to order parts for obsolete devices.

Apple today announced it has launched its self-service repair program in Europe, extending the program beyond the United States for the first time.

Customers in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK can now purchase genuine Apple parts, and consult repair manuals, through the Apple Self Service Repair Store. Apple says customers who wish to complete their own repairs will be able to perform many of the most common repairs for the iPhone 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineups, and Mac notebooks with Apple silicon.

To conduct a repair, customers will first need to review the repair manual for their product and the specific repair on Apple's support website. After, they'll be able to order the required parts and tools from the Self Service Repair Store and begin the repair. All the tools and parts offered in the store undergo "extensive testing to ensure the highest quality, safety, and reliability," Apple says.

While customers must order the parts needed for the repair, Apple will provide a $49 kit that includes all the essential tools required to conduct repairs for customers. The rental kit will be available to customers for one week before they're needed to be sent back to Apple and are shipped free of charge. This rental option offers flexibility to customers who may not want to fully own and purchase tools for just a single repair.

The program is part of Apple's efforts to "further expand access to repairs," according to the company. Still, Apple cautions that the "vast majority" of customers should still visit a professional repair provider, such as an Apple Store, to ensure their devices are repaired safely and reliably. Over the last three years, Apple has expanded its repair network, including over 3,000 Independent Repair Providers and more than 5,000 authorized service providers worldwide.

The HomePod mini will be available in Finland, Norway, and Sweden from Tuesday, December 13, Apple has announced via press releases.

Priced at 1,249 Norwegian krone/Swedish krona and 109 euros, the ‌HomePod mini‌ will be available in white, blue, orange, yellow and space gray.

The ‌HomePod mini‌ delivers 360-degree sound, uses Apple's voice assistant Siri, has built-in Thread support and support for the Matter smart home standard. Two of the speakers can also be connected to form a stereo pair. Apple rolled out support for ‌Siri‌ in Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian on the HomePod earlier this year.

‌HomePod mini‌ is compatible with iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or later and iPod touch (seventh generation) with the latest version of iOS, iPad Pro, iPad (fifth generation or later), iPad Air 2 or later and iPad mini 4 or newer with the latest version of iPadOS.

Update: Apple says ‌HomePod mini‌ is also coming to South Africa, albeit on the slightly later date of December 19. (Thanks, Ludolph!)

Apple violated federal law by holding mandatory anti-union meetings and interrogating and coercing employees at an Atlanta retail location, according a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that was shared by Bloomberg.

Back in May, employees at the Cumberland Mall retail location planned to hold a union election in June, with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) organizing the store. The CWA withdrew its request to hold an election, accusing Apple of "repeated violations" that made a "free and fair election impossible."

In a statement shared by Bloomberg, the CWA said today that "Apple executives think the rules don't apply to them," equating Apple's tactics to "psychological warfare."

The NLRB said that it will issue a complaint if Apple does not settle, and it would be the second such complaint. The NLRB issued a complaint against Apple in September after Apple used the same anti-union tactics at a New York store. The NLRB is not able to assess penalties, but it is able to seek policy changes and informational remedies.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple Store employees at the St. Louis Galleria location this week decided not to unionize, rejecting unionization in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board, reports Bloomberg.

Employees said that they did not believe the union would provide "anything complementary to Apple's culture and existing benefits," which suggests that Apple's efforts to improve benefits to stymie unionization have been successful. Apple in February increased paid sick days and vacation days, and in June, improved working conditions by increasing time limits between shifts, limiting late night shifts, and not scheduling employees to work for more than five days in a row.

Workers at the store said they do not want to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the labor group that was aiming to organize the store. 66 of 90 employees said they "do not want to join the union and do not support the union in any manner."

IAM in November dropped plans for a vote for unionization, blaming "anti-union practices and increased hostility towards workers" at the time. Employees claim that IAM dropped unionization efforts after learning about the petition. "The majority of employees at this ‌Apple Store‌ do not wish to work with the IAM," said the employees. They also said that they "do not believe that a union is required at this time."

Workers said that union opposition was not influenced by management, even though Apple has been accused of engaging in anti-union behavior. Apple in October refused to provide new benefits to a unionized store in Maryland, and employees there were told that they would need to negotiate benefits with Apple through the union.

Apple's head of retail Deirdre O'Brien has warned employees that unionization would make it harder for Apple to introduce changes. "We have a relationship that is based on an open and collaborative and direct engagement," she said at the time. "Which I feel could fundamentally change if a store is represented by a union under a collective bargaining agreement."

As of now, two U.S. Apple Stores have opted to unionize, and employees at several other Apple retail locations are considering unionization.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

iOS 16.1 was released in September with support for Live Activities in third-party apps. The feature allows iPhone users to stay on top of real-time events, such as a sports game or a food delivery order, right on the Lock Screen. Live Activities are also displayed in the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

In June, Apple previewed Live Activities support for Uber, Starbucks, and Nike Run Club, but we are still waiting on these apps to roll out this functionality.

Fortunately, it appears that Uber and Uber Eats are now preparing to support Live Activities. Both of the apps were updated in November and now display a Live Activities toggle in their respective menus in the Settings app. The feature is not yet functional for public use in either app, but Uber might be doing testing internally.

Live Activities will make it easy to track the status of an Uber ride or an Uber Eats delivery on the Lock Screen or in the Dynamic Island. There's still no timeframe for the feature launching in these apps, but support is clearly in the works.

Other popular third-party apps with Live Activities support include Flighty for flight tracking, FotMob for World Cup scores, Sports Alerts for sports scores, Citymapper for public transit, ParkMobile for parking, and CARROT Weather for weather forecasts. Apple's TV app will also support Live Activities for select sports games starting with iOS 16.2, which is currently in beta and expected to be released later this month.

(Thanks, Youssef Salem!)

Due to production issues at Apple supplier factories in China, the iPhone 14 Pro and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max are backordered and basically out of stock at every store. If you were planning to gift or receive an ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro model for the holidays and didn't already get one, you're basically out of luck because they're gone until late December.

In fact, with the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro delays and rumors of some very enticing features for the high-end iPhone 15 models, you may just want to wait until September 2023 to upgrade. We've outlined some of the features that you can expect, which may just be new additions you want to hold out for.

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra

Part of the reason that the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro Max are so in demand this year is that Apple packed them full of features the standard ‌iPhone 14‌ models just didn't get. Faster processors, better cameras, and the Dynamic Island make the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro far more appealing than the iPhone 13-like ‌iPhone 14‌ models, and the same trend will continue for the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro.

In fact, Apple may ramp things up even further by giving the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max a better feature set than the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro, and rumors suggest that it could even get a name to reflect the change - ‌iPhone 15‌ Ultra. If you like the latest and greatest, it might be worth waiting for Apple's highest-end ‌iPhone‌ to date.

USB-C

The entire ‌iPhone 15‌ lineup is expected to transition to USB-C instead of Lightning in 2023, so if you're a fan of using a single charger for your Mac, ‌iPhone‌, and iPad, the ‌iPhone 15‌ models will be appealing.

Apple is making this change to comply with a European law that requires smartphones and electronics to use a common charger, but it wouldn't make sense for the company to create a USB-C iPhone just for one region, so customers worldwide will benefit.

All ‌iPhone 15‌ models will get USB-C, but rumors right now suggest that the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models will support higher-speed data transfers. If, for example, Apple integrates Thunderbolt 3 support into the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models, transfer speeds could hit 40Gb/s. With just USB 3.2, we can expect 20Gb/s speeds.

Faster A17 Processor

The A16 was limited to the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models, and the A17 is expected to be exclusive to the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models. The A17 could be the first chip built on TSMC's next-generation 3-nanometer node, which would allow for increased performance and reduced power consumption.

Periscope Camera Lens

Apple is working on improved optical zoom enabled through periscope lens technology, which could be limited to the iPhone 15 Ultra. Periscope lenses are expensive and take up space, which is why Apple might use it as motivation to get people to spring for the highest-end ‌iPhone‌.

With periscope lens technology, Apple could offer as much as 10x optical zoom, up from 3x in the current ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models. Other manufacturers like Samsung have implemented these longer-range telephoto lenses, pairing it with digital zoom for impressive 100x zoom capabilities.

Solid State Buttons

The ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models could get additional Taptic Engines that would facilitate solid-state volume and power buttons that feel like buttons, but actually aren't. This is the technology that Apple uses for the MacBook Pro's touchpad, so it feels like you're pressing down on a button, but there's no physical button press mechanism.

This is a feature rumored for the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models and it could allow for additional features when pressing certain buttons and it could improve water resistance, though just how the solid state buttons will be taken advantage of remains to be seen.

Other Rumors

There are other rumors about the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models, some of which are more reliable than others. Here's what we've heard:

• More durable titanium chassis.
• Curved rear edges that replace the existing squared off design.
• Qualcomm 5G modem chip.
• No Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
• No under-display Face ID.

Read More

Want to keep up with everything that's expected for the ‌iPhone 15‌? Follow our iPhone 15 roundup, which we update regularly as new rumors come out.

Apple today revealed the top podcast episodes, shows, channels, and subscriptions that listeners engaged with in the Podcasts app throughout 2022. Crime Junkie, The Daily, and Dateline NBC were the top three overall podcasts of 2022, and among new shows, The Deck, Fly on the Wall, and The Thing About Helen and Olga topped the charts.

Shows with the most subscribers include Morbid, SmartLess, and American Scandal, with Apple also providing breakdowns by free and paid channels. Full lists are below.

• Top Shows of 2022
• Top New Shows of 2022
• Top Subscriber Shows of 2022
• Top Followed Shows of 2022
• Top Shared Shows of 2022
• Top Shared Episodes of 2022
• Top Subscriber Channels of 2022
• Top Free Channels of 2022
• Top Non-English Shows of 2022

Audiochuck, which produces Crime Junkie and The Deck, was the most popular podcaster in the United States, and The New York Times had the most Top Shows of 2022 with The Daily, This American Life, and Serial. Speaking of Serial, "Adnan Is Out" was the top shared podcast episode of the year.

Apple's year-end charts are available to listeners in almost 100 countries and regions, so they're worth checking out if you're looking for something new to listen to.

Apple last week named "Slow Burn" by Slate as the first ever Apple Podcasts Award winner, and since then, the show has become the number one history podcast, hitting the top charts across all categories in over 100 countries.

Apple is considering manufacturing some of its iPads in India as it works to cut down on its reliance in China, reports CNBC. Apple has discussed relocating some iPad manufacturing to India with Indian officials, but there are hurdles to overcome, such as manufacturing expertise.

There have been no "concrete plans" established as of yet, but discussions are ongoing, and Apple is motivated to expand manufacturing in countries outside of China. Sources that spoke to CNBC warned that India has a lack of "highly skilled talent and individuals with expertise in building highly complex devices," which could slow down Apple's efforts.

Transitioning some manufacturing to India has been Apple's plan since 2017. The company began with producing some older iPhone models like the iPhone SE in the country, and has slowly ramped up ‌iPhone‌ manufacturing. The launch of the iPhone 14 models marked the first time that Apple used India for the manufacturing of flagship iPhones, and some of the ‌iPhone 14‌ models are assembled in India.

Apple supplier Foxconn has also been investing in India, and Apple is said to be aiming to produce approximately 25 percent of iPhones in India by 2025. Other Apple suppliers such as Wistron and Pegatron have expanded to India to help Apple expand manufacturing outside of China as part of a long term goal.

Apple has been criticized for its reliance on China, which has become a major issue in 2022 with rising tensions between the U.S. and China and the ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns in the country. Right now, Apple's ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models are in short supply due to restrictions at Foxconn manufacturing facilities that resulted in worker riots and protests.

In November, Apple confirmed that ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro and Pro Max shipments would be lower than expected due to the issues at the Foxconn facility. Foxconn is responsible for manufacturing approximately 70 percent of the ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models. Apple could see a significant hit to holiday revenue as a result, and shipments are not expected to return to normal until late December at the earliest.

While Apple has been working to reduce its presence in China for many years, The Wall Street Journal said over the weekend that Apple's plans to shift production to other countries like India and Vietnam have accelerated. Apple is telling its suppliers to "plan more actively" for assembling iPhones in other countries.