Apple is Falling Behind
and it's not just in the world of generative AI

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Good morning! āļø *Tim Cook voice*
Appleās Q3 earnings arenāt great, iOS 17 re-releases, Apple is falling behind, and more!
Estimated reading time: 3.4 minutes
šĀ Poll
Last week, I asked: what is your battery capacity?

Iām at 91% on my 14 Pro
Here were some of my favorite replies:
ā87%, It's so annoying how fast battery capacity drops soon after buying my device.ā Oof, I hope thatās not a 14 series..
āiPhone 12 on 84%. It's probably just because I use my phone too much, but I've definitely been noticing my phone running out a little too quicklyā Yep, about time to replace that battery/phone.
āMy iPhone Xs is on 88% but I have had it since 2019 šš»ā Impressive!
This week: Do you charge your iPhone overnight? Why or why not?
Do you charge overnight? |
š« Ā Apple is Falling Behind

Last month, Mark Gurman mentioned that Apple is internally testing a generative AI chatbot and that they could make a āsignificant AI-related announcementā in 2024.
But according to Ming-Chi Kuo, thereās no sign of that coming next year. He said this:
The progress of Appleās generative AI is significantly behind its competitors, so I donāt expect Apple to talk too much about AI on the earnings call.
At present, there is no sign that Apple will integrate AI edge computing and hardware products in 2024
However, during Appleās Q3 earnings call on Thursday, Tim Apple gave us some reassurance that Apple isnāt as behind as it seems.
Weāve been doing research across a wide range of AI technologies, including generative AI, for years. Weāre going to continue investing and innovating and responsibly advancing our products with these technologies to help enrich peopleās lives.
Obviously, weāre investing a lot, and it is showing up in the R&D spending that youāre looking at.
iPhone 15 hype is also falling

In this same report, Kuo mentions that iPhone 15 demand is expected to be even lower than that of the iPhone 14, despite the switch to USB-C.
Although the Q422 iPhone shipments had declined due to the shutdown of Hon Haiās Zhengzhou factory in November 2022, most component shipment plans didnāt change significantly in 4Q22.
Unless the demand for the iPhone 15 is better than market expectations after launch, most of the suppliers will face growth pressure in 2H23 as the demand for iPhone 15 is lower than that of iPhone 14.
And Kuo also reiterates that the 2024 shipment forecast for the Vision Pro headset is still quite small, so itās unlikely to play a role in Appleās stock price.
Appleās Fall iPhone Event

9to5Mac just reported a potential date for Appleās upcoming Fall event where they will introduce the iPhone 15 lineup. Itās a pretty obvious guess based on history (itās the same date I predicted back in January), but still good to see some trusted rumors finally coming.
Multiple sources told 9to5Mac that mobile carriers have been asking employees not to take days off on Wednesday, September 13th due to a major smartphone announcement
Last yearās iPhone event was held on September 7th, which is also a Wednesday
If this date is accurate, expect pre-orders to begin on Friday, September 15th and a launch on September 22nd
Keep in mind, the Pro models might be delayed, so that release date is still up in the air for now
š³ Appleās Q3 Earnings are Meh.

Apple just announced their fiscal Q3 2023 earnings and while analysts predicted a very disappointing quarter, the actual results werenāt terrible..but also not good.

Appleās Q3 revenue of $81.80 billion was down 1% from last year, making this the 3rd consecutive quarter of lower year-over-year revenue - the first time since 2016.
The good news? Services are growing at 8% YoY, and that is the highest margin product Apple offers.
Are you invested in AAPL stock? Vote in the poll below and let me know if you plan on selling any time soon
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š² iOS 17 Re-Release, Downgrades, Screen Time & More

Apple has acknowledged that Screen Time is still broken despite claiming to have fixed it in iOS 16.5 (it was even in those release notes).
The bug consists of restrictions being lifted on devices in a Family Sharing group without the parent being notified.
This still persists in the latest iOS 17 Beta
As a side note: Chinese regulators just recently proposed rules that would limit the screen time for those under the age of 18 to a maximum of 2 hours per day. Thatās one way to fight social media addiction!
AirTags 2

Ming Chi Kuo has said that the 2nd generation of AirTags will likely go to mass production in Q4 of 2024.
I believe that spatial computing is a new ecosystem that Apple wants to build, using Vision Pro as the core to integrate other devices, including AirTag 2.
iOS 17 Re-Release & iOS 16 Downgrades

iOS 17 Beta 4 was re-released for Developers this week in order to line up the build number with iOS 17 Public Beta 2
Apple also stopped signing iOS 16.5.1, meaning that you can no longer downgrade to that version
š°Ā Quick News Bites
Apple Cardās Savings account reaches over $10 billion in deposits
Sonos Move 2 leaks with 24-hour battery, stereo sound, line-in support
Rumor: Apple Watch Series 9 to be available in new color option alongside black titanium Ultra
Apple wants a Vision Pro research software engineer to build science apps
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Until next week, āļø
- Brandon
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