by Tech Talk | Feb 24, 2023 | Articles
Apple has a moonshot-style project under way that dates back to the Steve Jobs era: noninvasive and continuous blood glucose monitoring.
The goal of this secret endeavor — dubbed E5 — is to measure how much glucose is in someone’s body without needing to prick the skin for blood. After hitting major milestones recently, the company now believes it could eventually bring glucose monitoring to market, according to people familiar with the effort.
If perfected, such a breakthrough would be a boon to diabetics and help cement Apple as a powerhouse in health care. Adding the monitoring system to the Apple Watch, the ultimate goal, would also make that device an essential item for millions of diabetics around the world.
There’s still years of work ahead, but the move could upend a multibillion-dollar industry. Roughly one in 10 Americans have diabetes, and they typically rely on a device that pokes the skin for a blood sample. There are also patches from Dexcom and Abbott Laboratories that are inserted into the skin but need to be replaced about every two weeks.
Apple is taking a different approach, using a chip technology known as silicon photonics and a measurement process called optical absorption spectroscopy. The system uses lasers to emit specific wavelengths of light into an area below the skin where there is interstitial fluid — substances that leak out of capillaries — that can be absorbed by glucose. The light is then reflected back to the sensor in a way that indicates the concentration of glucose. An algorithm then determines a person’s blood glucose level.
Hundreds of engineers are working on the project as part of Apple’s Exploratory Design Group, or XDG, a previously unreported effort akin to Google X. It’s one of the most covert initiatives at the famously secretive Apple. Even fewer people are involved in it than the company’s self-driving car undertaking, overseen by the Special Projects Group, or the mixed-reality headset, which is being developed by its Technology Development Group.
A spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.
The company has tested the glucose technology on hundreds of people over the past decade. In human trials, it has used the system with people who don’t know if they’re diabetic, as well as people with prediabetes and type-2 diabetes. It has compared its own technology to standard tests on blood drawn from veins and samples taken from a prick in the skin, known as capillary blood.
Apple’s system — more than 12 years in the making — is now considered to be at a proof-of-concept stage, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the project is confidential. The company believes the technology is viable but needs to be shrunk down to a more practical size.
Engineers are working to develop a prototype device about the size of an iPhone that can be strapped to a person’s bicep. That would be a significant reduction from an early version of the system that sat atop a table.
One of Apple’s goals for the technology is to create a preventative measure that warns people if they’re prediabetic. They then could make lifestyle changes to try to avoid developing type-2 diabetes, which occurs when a person’s body doesn’t use insulin properly. Apple’s regulatory team has already held early discussions about getting government approval for the system.
But there’s a reason it’s considered a moonshot goal. Numerous start-ups — and some of the world’s largest companies — have tried and failed to develop a noninvasive monitoring system. In 2014, Google announced plans to make smart contact lenses that could measure blood glucose through teardrops. It shelved the complex project in 2018.
Apple’s senior executives believe this problem is one that it’s uniquely positioned to crack, given the company’s expertise in hardware and software integration — along with its deep pockets. CEO Tim Cook, chief operating officer Jeff Williams and Apple Watch hardware head Eugene Kim all have a hand in the project, and it’s already cost hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the people familiar with the situation.
The Apple Watch has gradually become more of a health tool. The first model, launched in 2015, included a heart-rate sensor but was more focused on fitness tracking. The device gained the ability to take electrocardiograms, or ECGs, from the wrist in 2018. It also can now sense body temperature — for women’s health tracking — and calculate blood oxygen levels.
The glucose system will rely on a slate of Apple-designed silicon photonics chips and sensors. The company tapped TSMC to build the main chip to power the feature. TSMC, a key Apple partner, already builds the main processors inside of iPhones, iPads and Macs.
Before shifting to TSMC, Apple had worked with Rockley Photonics Holdings to develop the sensors and chip for the technology. In 2021, Rockley publicly disclosed its work with Apple, stoking interest in the supplier. Apple later ended the partnership, and Rockley filed for bankruptcy last month.
While Apple has made major technology strides on the glucose effort, it suffered a recent setback: the group’s leader, longtime scientist and engineering executive Bill Athas, passed away unexpectedly at the end of 2022. The work is now led by a few of Athas’s top deputies, including managers Dave Simon and Jeff Koller. They report to Johny Srouji, Apple’s chips chief.
Before becoming part of the XDG team, the project was cloaked in even more secrecy: it operated as its own start-up called Avolonte Health that was, to any outside observer, unaffiliated with Apple.
The start-up was run out of a small office building in Palo Alto, about 20km from Apple’s headquarters. Team members had Avolonte employee badges, rather than ones from Apple. That strategy kept Apple’s work under wraps during human trials, as well as its efforts to gain patents and line up partners.
The project began in 2010 when Apple purchased a start-up named RareLight that touted an early approach to noninvasive blood glucose monitoring.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, dealing with his own health problems, directed the iPhone maker to buy the company. Apple tapped Bob Messerschmidt, RareLight’s founder, to kick off its own work on a glucose monitor, which was initially codenamed E68. Messerschmidt now runs a health company called Cor Health.
The deal ultimately happened because of “Jobs’s vision of health care combined with technology”, he said in an interview. Former senior Apple hardware executives Bob Mansfield and Michael Culbert were also driving forces behind the project, people involved said.
Messerschmidt was replaced as the project head in 2011 by Apple veteran Michael Hillman, who left in 2015. Upon his departure, Avolonte Health wound down and the endeavour became part of Athas’s XDG. The team now works near the Apple Park headquarters. — Bloomberg
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by Tech Talk | Oct 27, 2022 | Articles
Meta Platforms Inc. criticised Apple Inc. for changing its App Store terms to take a portion of social-media advertising revenue, saying the iPhone maker was “undercutting others in the digital economy.”
The policy change, disclosed this week, requires users and advertisers to make an in-app purchase when they pay to “boost” posts in apps like TikTok and Meta’s Instagram.
Apple takes a commission of as much as 30% on in-app purchases, meaning a company like Meta would lose a portion of its ad revenue to the iPhone maker.
“Apple previously said it didn’t take a share of developer advertising revenue, and now apparently changed its mind,” Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, said in a statement Tuesday.
“We remain committed to offering small businesses simple ways to run ads and grow their businesses on our apps.”
Apple, which is building its own advertising business, said that requiring an in-app purchase for boosts is just an extension of its existing policies — and that other apps already comply.
“For many years now, the App Store guidelines have been clear that the sale of digital goods and services within an app must use in-app purchase,” the company said in a statement.
“Boosting, which allows an individual or organisation to pay to increase the reach of a post or profile, is a digital service — so of course, in-app purchase is required. This has always been the case and there are many examples of apps that do it successfully.”
Other social media companies with the option to boost posts, including TikTok and Twitter Inc., also didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to Apple’s policy, apps for the sole purpose of letting marketers purchase ads and manage campaigns across different media — say, television and billboards, in addition to apps — aren’t required to give a cut to Apple.
But “digital purchases for content that is experienced or consumed in an app, including buying advertisements to display in the same app (such as sales of ‘boosts’ for posts in a social media app) must use in-app purchase,” the company said.
For instance, if an influencer pays Instagram to promote a personal post to more viewers via the iPhone app, Apple would take a cut, according to the new rules.
The social media companies haven’t yet said how they will be complying with the change.
Social media companies are already reeling from the impact of recent privacy changes to Apple’s iOS software, which requires that companies ask users for explicit permission to gather data about them.
Meta, which relies on such data to better target ads, has said that the change will trim $10 billion from this year’s revenue.
Still, the policy for boosts could be the first time Apple gets a cut of ad revenue directly. Apple has previously touted advertising as an area where it lets developers take in as much revenue as they want from their customers. — Bloomberg
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by Tech Talk | Oct 26, 2022 | Articles
Apple said it would make fresh investments to set up solar and wind projects in Europe and called on its suppliers to decarbonise operations related to the production of iPhones and other products.
The company in 2020 had pledged to remove carbon emissions from its entire business, including products and its sprawling supply chain — which spans from Vietnam to Brazil — by 2030.
The iPhone maker will now require its supply partners to report on progress on carbon neutrality goals, specifically so-called scope 1 and scope 2 emissions reductions, related to the production of Apple products and will audit their progress annually.
More than 200 suppliers, representing 70% of Apple’s direct manufacturing spending and including Corning, Nitto Denko, SK Hynix, STMicroelectronics, TSMC and Yuto, have committed to using clean power such as wind or solar for all Apple production, Apple said.
Apple had previously asked suppliers to commit to 100% renewable energy for Apple’s production.
“We’re determined to be a ripple in the pond that creates a bigger change,” CEO Tim Cook said. Apple has been carbon neutral for its global corporate operations since 2020.
Many multinational companies are increasingly looking into global supply chains to reduce their carbon footprint as climate change becomes a bigger focus for investors and regulators.
Apple said the European investments are part of a strategy to address about 22% of its carbon footprint coming from the electricity customers use to charge their devices.
With the construction of new projects in Europe, the company is aiming to power all Apple devices on the continent with low-carbon electricity, it said.
In total, the planned investments will add 3GWh/year of new renewable energy on the grid, Apple said. — Reuters
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by Tech Talk | Oct 13, 2022 | Articles
One of Apple’s most senior executives is leaving after he turned up in a viral video on TikTok making an off-colour joke that he fondles “big-breasted women” for a living.
In the video, published on 5 September, Apple’s Tony Blevins was approached by TikTok and Instagram creator Daniel Mac as part of a series where he asks owners of expensive cars their occupations. The executive was stopped by Mac while parking a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, an out-of-production sports car that fetches hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When asked what he does for a living, Blevins said: “I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women, but I take weekends and major holidays off.” He also touted that he has a “hell of a dental plan”.
In reality, Blevins is Apple’s vice president of procurement and is in charge of striking deals with suppliers and partners. He recently worked on the company’s satellite agreement with Globalstar, led negotiations over cellular modems with Qualcomm and Intel, and has been in charge of driving down the costs of many critical parts that go into Apple’s mobile devices.
After an internal investigation into the matter, Blevins’ team — which included about half a dozen direct reports and several hundred employees — was removed from his command, according to people familiar with the situation.
Blevins, a 22-year veteran of Apple, confirmed the incident, saying the encounter took place on 18 August. “I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humour,” he said.
An Apple spokesman said on Thursday that Blevins is departing the Cupertino, California-based company.
Blevins has been part of a roughly 100-person group of vice presidents at Apple and one of only about 30 executives that report to either CEO Tim Cook or chief operating officer Jeff Williams. Williams has been Blevins’ boss for much of his career, though he briefly reported to Sabih Khan, Apple’s senior vice president of operations, according to the people.
It was Williams’ decision for the company and Blevins to part ways, one of the people said. The operating chief will oversee Blevins’s old team, at least for now, according to the person.
The TikTok video was taken at a car show that Blevins attended last month in Pebble Beach, California. His remarks in the 25-second clip reference a line from the 1981 movie Arthur, where main character Arthur Bach describes his own career: “I race cars, play tennis and fondle women, but I have weekends off and I am my own boss.”
The video garnered more than 40 000 likes on Instagram and 1.3 million views on TikTok. After the clip was published, some members of Apple’s operations and procurement teams reported it to the human resources department, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the situation is private. The company then launched the investigation, they said.
The video became a topic of discussion among Apple employees in recent weeks, with some expressing anger about his comments — especially given that other executives, including Cook and Williams, have publicly championed workforce diversity and the empowerment of women — according to the people. The video has also begun to spread among employees at some of the company’s key suppliers.
Blevins’ departure opens up a void at Apple. He’s been integral to the company’s success over the past two decades, according to employees with knowledge of his work, helping Apple fatten its profit margins and get access to core technologies before rivals. He may be difficult to replace, given his understanding of Apple’s supply chain and his negotiating skills, they said.
The Wall Street Journal described him as Apple’s chief cost cutter in a 2020 feature story, saying he goes by “the Blevinator”. — Bloomberg
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by Tech Talk | Sep 29, 2022 | Articles
Apple is backing off plans to increase production of its new iPhones this year after an anticipated surge in demand failed to materialise, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Cupertino, California-based electronics maker has told suppliers to pull back from efforts to increase assembly of the iPhone 14 product family by as many as six million units in the second half of this year, said the people, asking not to be named as the plans are not public. Instead, the company will aim to produce 90 million handsets for the period, roughly the same level as the prior year and in line with Apple’s original forecast for the northern hemisphere summer, the people said.
Demand for higher-priced iPhone 14 Pro models is stronger than for the entry-level versions, according to some of the people. In at least one case, an Apple supplier is shifting production capacity from lower-priced iPhones to premium models, they added.
Apple had upgraded its sales projections in the weeks leading up to the iPhone 14 release and some of its suppliers had started making preparations for a 7% boost in orders. The success of the company’s marquee device has implications for wide swathes of the tech industry, with suppliers including TSMC and Hon Hai Precision Industry depending on sales of iPhones and related devices as key revenue drivers.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, is in an economic slump that’s hit its domestic mobile device makers and also affected the iPhone’s sales. Purchases of the iPhone 14 series over its first three days of availability in China were 11% down on its predecessor the previous year, according to a Jefferies note on Monday.
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