Techmeme
April 20, 2021, 7:00 PM

Top News

Benjamin Mayo / 9to5Mac:
Apple updates 11" and 12.9" iPad Pros with M1, 8-core GPU, Thunderbolt, up to 2TB storage, 5G, 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and a mini-LED screen on 12.9" model  —  As part of the Apple event today, the company unveiled the new lineup of iPad Pro tablets.  The 2021 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro feature …
Apple:
Apple says the updated M1 iPad Pro starts at $799 for the 11-inch and $1,099 for the 12.9-inch; pre-orders open April 30, shipping in second half of May  —  CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced the most powerful and advanced iPad Pro ever, pushing the limits of what's possible on iPad.
Apple:
iMac with M1 starts at $1,299 for 8-core CPU/7-core GPU in four colors and $1,499 for 8-core GPU in seven colors with Touch ID keyboard, shipping late May  —  iMac offers the best camera, mics, and speakers ever in a Mac, and Touch ID for the first time  —  CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today introduced …
Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Apple updates iMac with M1, slimmer design with two small fans, seven colors, 1080p webcam, six speakers, beamforming three-mic array, and 24-inch 4.5K display  —  Apple has announced a new, redesigned 24-inch iMac, featuring an M1 chip, a 4.5K display, and a range of color options …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Apple officially launches AirTags, an item tracker that works with Apple's Find My app, with one unit for $29 and four units for $99, launching April 30  —  The long-rumored trackers are now official  —  Apple is officially launching a Tile-like item tracker that will work with the company's software and services.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Jon Porter / The Verge:
Apple's new Siri Remote will be sold separately from the new Apple TV 4K for $59 and is backwards compatible with previous Apple TV 4Ks and Apple TV HD  —  It's also available separately for previous Apple TV boxes  —  The Apple TV remote is one of the weakest parts of the company's set-top box …
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Apple refreshes Apple TV 4K with A12 Bionic, high frame rate HDR video, revamped remote with new click pad and buttons, coming in May for $179 and $199  —  Now with the A12 Bionic  —  Apple has just announced a new Apple TV streaming box, replacing the Apple TV 4K that came out in 2017.
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
Apple announces Podcasts Subscriptions for new premium and ad free content, a new Podcasts app design, channels, launching next month in 170 regions  —  Apple has officially an all-new feature coming to Podcasts next month.  Apple Podcasts Subscriptions will allow listeners to directly support podcasters through the Podcasts app.
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Apple will take a 30% cut of revenue generated through Podcasts Subscriptions, dropping to 15% after a year; pricing options start at 49 cents a month in the US  —  Apple hasn't tried to make a business out of podcasting until now.  Will you pay?  —  Apple more or less invented podcasting.
Zac Bowden / Windows Central:
Sources: Microsoft is revamping its Store app on Windows 10 and will let devs submit unpackaged Win32 apps, use third-party commerce platforms in apps, and more  —  Microsoft wants to bring life back to the Store app on Windows 10.  —  What you need to know  — Microsoft is working on a new Store app for Windows 10.
Charlie Osborne / ZDNet:
Internal Facebook emails, accidentally sent to a journalist, show its “long-term strategy” for data scraping incidents, framing it as a “broad industry issue”  —  More scraping incidents are “expected” in the future.  —  An internal email accidentally leaked by Facebook …
Reuters:
FireEye and networking company Pulse Secure say two China-linked hacking groups used a flaw in its VPN devices to target customers in the US defense industry  —  At least two groups of China-linked hackers have spent months using a previously undisclosed vulnerability in American networking devices …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Apple debuts Apple Card Family to let spouses build credit together and extend access to family members over 13, with optional controls, coming to US in May  —  Apple has been slowly building a position for itself as a financial services giant, banked around its digital wallet for storing …
Netflix - Investors:
Netflix reports Q1 revenue of $7.16B, up 24% YoY, and 208M paid memberships, up 14% YoY but below its forecast of 210M; stock down 10%+ after hours  —  April 20, 2021 Fellow shareholders, Revenue grew 24% year over year and was in line with our beginning of quarter forecast, while operating profit and margin reached all-time highs.
Bloomberg:
Sources: Discord has ended talks to sell itself, including rejecting a $12B bid from Microsoft, as it resumes planning for a potential IPO  —  Microsoft Corp. and video-game chat company Discord Inc. have ended takeover talks, according to a person familiar with the matter.
New York Times:
Governments around the world are moving to limit the power of tech companies with an urgency and breadth that no single industry has experienced before  —  Never before have so many countries, including China, moved with such vigor at the same time to limit the power of a single industry.
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple announces a purple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, arriving on April 30 with pre-orders starting on Friday  —  Apple today announced that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini will be available in a new purple color starting April 30, with pre-orders starting this Friday.
Linda Sui / Strategy Analytics:
Strategy Analytics: global smartphone shipments rose to 340M units in Q1 2021, up 24% YoY, representing the highest growth since 2015  —  According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments were 340 million units in Q1 2021, up +24% YoY representing the highest growth since 2015.

Sponsor Posts

Subquadratic:
Subquadratic: the LLM built for 12M-token reasoning  —  SubQ can reason across entire codebases and document sets in one pass with no RAG workarounds.  Read how SubQ 1.1 Small holds near-perfect retrieval out to 12M tokens.
Cape:
Most carriers track everything.  Cape doesn't.  —  Unlimited talk, text & data, 24-hr metadata deletion, network ID rotation, SIM-attack defense, and more.  Switch today and get 29% off for life.
Zoho:
The hidden tax of making employees search, switch, and repeat  —  Employees lose more time to digital friction than organizations often realize.  Searching for information, switching between tools …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
Software's Epic Comeback, Meta's AI Layoffs Blunder, South Korea Stock Market Chaos
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Meta Shifts the Blame + Do Data Center Bans Work? + The Final HatGPT
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Channels with Peter Kafka:
The Weird, Big Business of Microdramas
Media and tech aren't just intersecting - they're fully intertwined. To understand how those worlds work, Peter Kafka talks to industry leaders, upstarts and observers.
Subscribe to Channels with Peter Kafka.
Training Data:
Parallel's Parag Agrawal: Building a New Web for AI Agents
Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications.
Subscribe to Training Data.
Invest Like the Best:
Neil Movva - Making AI 10x Cheaper
The leading destination to learn about business and investing. We do this by showcasing exceptional talent and ideas.
Subscribe to Invest Like the Best.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Connecting the Unconnected: Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 7:00 PM ET, April 20, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks