COVID-19

Apple’s supply chain is being badly hit by COVID-19 lockdowns in China, with the situation getting worse, say analysts. It follows Apple production being halted at three key suppliers, affecting iPhone, iPad, and Mac assembly. This has already seen shipping dates slip for build-to-order MacBook Pro models.

The worst-case scenario could see iPhone production falling behind by as many as 10 million units …

The latest COVID-19 lockdown measures in China have seen Apple production halted at three key Chinese suppliers. One of these in particular could significantly hit iPhone availability.

Assembly of iPhones, iPads, and Macs has been suspended in the electronics production hubs of Shanghai and Kushan …

Shenzhen iPhone production was forced to shutdown at two Foxconn facilities due to a new COVID-19 outbreak – but has now partially restarted.

Although the Chinese government ordered the city into complete lockdown for at least a week, it has now granted an exemption to Foxconn to use the same ‘closed loop’ system used by other companies in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic …

Update: The app is a secondary one popularly used for electronic check-ins at venues, distinct from the government app which uses the Apple/Google API.

German police have misused a COVID-19 contact tracing app data by apparently faking an infection at a restaurant in order to obtain details of potential witnesses.

The joint Apple/Google API used by the government app can’t be abused in this way, as it doesn’t track locations, but a separate app for QR code check-ins was misused …

The exec who was the Apple exposure notification lead when he headed up the company’s strategic health initiatives has described his frustrations with attempting to persuade governments to adopt the technology.

He says that the situation in the US remains a mess today, and that the single biggest missed opportunity was a federal exposure notification app …

Apple’s return-to-office plans have met with objections from some employees, who want the flexibility to continue working from home full time, but a new poll suggests that the Cupertino company has hit the sweet spot in its proposal for three days a week in the office.

A poll of 1,900 US adults found that this was what the average professional employee considers ideal …

COVID-19 contact tracing apps built on the joint Google/Apple exposure notification API have saved thousands of lives in some countries, but have largely proven ineffective in the US.

A report examining data from the apps finds that many states didn’t even get as far as creating one; take-up was low; and very few users bothered to log infection in the app, rendering it useless …

It’s less than a week since a succession of record highs saw Apple stock close in at $150, but investors have seen AAPL slide to $142.45 in the past few days.

AAPL hit $149.76 on July 15 before starting a decline that accelerated yesterday …

A poll has revealed that many Brits are deleting the contact tracing app in order to avoid the risk of being asked to self-isolate.

The behavior is in part enabled by an odd decision around digital COVID vaccine passports …

The NHS contact tracing app used in England and Wales is having its settings adjusted to send fewer COVID-19 exposure alerts, as England prepares for the end of lockdown on July 19.

Currently, users are alerted if a contact tests positive after they spent at least 15 minutes within two meters (6.5 feet) of them …

The path to getting a UK contact tracing app was a rather tortuous one. The country initially decided to ignore the joint Apple/Google API and develop its own app. Having wasted literally millions of pounds doing so, it then reversed course and decided to build the COVID-19 API into an NHS app.

Unfortunately, my experience suggests that even the API-powered app doesn’t work too well in practice …

An IATA Travel Pass app is expected to go live sometime within the next couple of weeks, enabling travelers to prove to airlines that they have received COVID-19 vaccinations and/or tested negative for the infection.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for airlines, representing almost 300 of them …

A Taiwanese Apple supplier has warned that the global chip shortage will worsen without a massive increase in COVID-19 vaccinations on the island.

The comment was made as the world’s leading chip testing company was forced to suspend production following a COVID-19 outbreak …

Apple is helping A-series and M1 chipmaker TSMC get COVID-19 vaccines for its employees after an appeal for help from the Taiwanese government, according to a new report today.

Taiwan had long had an excellent record at keeping the pandemic under control on the island – with zero cases for eight months straight – but that record has now come to an abrupt end …

British researchers suggested back in February that the NHS contact tracing app saved thousands of lives in England and Wales. Some were skeptical, noting that the claim was based on extrapolation rather than hard evidence, but peer review has now backed the claim.

As we noted last time, the privacy protections built into the coronavirus contact tracing API by Apple and Google made it challenging to measure the impact of the app …

AAPL revenue grew a remarkable 21% in the holiday quarter, the company setting new records for both revenue and profit. One notable Apple analyst suggests that the good news is set to continue, and is forecasting 15% year-on-year growth when the company reports its fiscal Q2 earnings later this month.

Horace Dediu says the story is a remarkable contrast to some of the doom-and-gloom predictions made when the pandemic first hit …