9to5Mac Daily

Apple  and TSMC  chip shortage concerns

By Chance Miller

April 16, 2021

Apple $200M investment

As part of Apple’s continued environmental commitments, the company today announced a new $200 million ‘Restore Fund’ that will develop new financially-viable initiatives to restore forest woodland areas, which removes carbon from the atmosphere.

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The fund aims to generate meaningful financial returns on the investments. Apple hopes that will convince other companies to follow its lead and start up other forest restoration projects.

Apple Pay Express Transit

Public transit users in San Francisco now have a new way to pay. The Clipper card, which is used for most public transit systems in San Francisco, now supports Apple Pay with Express Transit Mode. This was first announced back in February, and it’s now available to everyone.

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The Clipper card is a reloadable smart card used for transit fare payment in the San Francisco Bay Area. It gives access to buses, rails, ferries, and trains from 24 different transit agencies, which includes BART and Muni.

TSMC: Chip Shortages

TSMC is Apple’s primary chipmaker and serves as the exclusive supplier of A-series and M-series Apple silicon chips. The company today reported strong earnings results for the first quarter, with downstream partners such as smartphone, tablet, and laptop makers seeing strong demand as people continue to work from home.

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However, it warned that the global chip shortages will continue for the foreseeable future and well into next year. Naturally, this has concerning implications for Apple’s product rollouts.

iPhone Cases On Sale

Amazon is currently discounting a number of official iPhone 11/Pro/Max cases. You’ll enjoy free shipping across the board as a Prime member or in orders over $25. Our top pick and the most affordable of the batch is the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Silicone Case for $14. Normally fetching $39, today’s offer amounts to 64% in savings, beats our previous mention by $2, and is the second-best discount to date. This is also the lowest price of the year.

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Apple Event April 20

Apple has announced the first Apple event of the year for April 20, and it will be completely virtual. At this event, Apple is likely to announce new iPad Pro models, AirTags, and more. The event will be streamed live from Apple Park starting at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.

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