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Shareholders at Apple rejected a proposal to end its diversity, equity, and inclusion program despite pressure from Republicans and President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday (Feb. 25), shareholders at Apple voted to reject a proposal to end the tech giant’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program. The proposal was presented by the conservative think tank known as The National Center for Public Policy Research. The group was hoping to coerce Apple to eliminate its DEI policies, using the agenda of President Donald Trump as an example to follow. The final tally was 8.84 billion votes to reject the proposal, with 210.45 million votes for it.
“We’ve never had quotas or targets for Apple. Our strength has always come from hiring the very best people and then providing a culture of collaboration, one where people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives come together to innovate,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a question and answer session at the meeting. He did acknowledge the pressures from Trump and other GOP supporters, adding that “as the legal landscape around these issues evolves, we may need to make some changes to comply, but our North Star of dignity and respect for everyone and our work to that end will never waver.” Apple disclosed in 2022 that three-fourths of its workforce were white and Asian, and two-thirds of the workforce were men. Its DEI policies are concentrated on initiatives that aid Black entrepreneurs and others of color, created in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.
The National Center for Public Policy Research also presented a similar proposal to Costco Wholesale last month, which the shopping giant also rejected strongly. Despite companies such as Meta and Google rolling back some of their DEI initiatives, it’s estimated that roughly half of the corporate leaders surveyed since Jan. 20 about eliminating those programs are not planning to follow suit.
President Trump wasn’t pleased with Apple’s decision, blasting them in a Truth Social post: “Apple should get rid of DEI rules, not just make adjustments to them. DEI was a hoax that has been very bad for our country. DEI is gone!!!” The National Center for Public Policy Research’s proposal to Apple cautioned that they could be subject to lawsuits by the Trump administration, but Cook signaled that Apple is forming legal protections.
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Source: picture alliance / Getty / Apple
This iPhone issue doesn’t sound like a bug to us, but Apple is treating it as such. A viral TikTok video shows the iPhone’s dictation tool displaying Trump when someone says “racist.”
Spotted on The Verge, Apple is aware of the so-called bug after the viral TikTok caught fire on social media on Tuesday. In a statement to both the New York Times and Fox News, the company confirmed the bug: “We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers dictation, and we are rolling out a fix as soon as possible.”
The Verge has tried to reproduce the bug, but it did not happen during their attempts.
According to Apple, the issue involves what the company describes as a “phonetic overlap” between “Trump” and “Racist.” However, according to someone who was part of the Siri team, this smells like a well-orchestrated prank from someone who worked at Apple.
Per The Verge:
The company told Fox News that other words with an “r” consonant are also occasionally affected. But John Burkey, who formerly worked on the Siri team at Apple, told the Times that Trump’s name appearing “smells like a serious prank” that could have been purposefully carried out by someone internally.
Apple is seemingly scrambling to fix the issue because it happened after Apple announced it would be investing $500 billion in the United States to help alleviate the pain Orange Mussolini’s stupid tariffs will inflict on the company.
There is already a 10% tariff on imported goods from China and a 25% tariff on chips coming into the United States.
Also, Tim Cook already kissed Donald Trump’s ring, personally donated to Trump’s inauguration fund and attended the sh*t show.
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / TikTok
TikTok is back in the Apple Store and Google Play stores for US users.
The popular social media platform officially returned to Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store for US users on Thursday after the companies removed it on Jan.19.
A federal law banning TikTok as of Jan.19 because TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, failed to divest its ownership of the app forced both companies to pull it from their US stores. Failure to adhere to the law by still hosting or distributing TikTok in the US would result in penalties, $5,000 per user or $850 billion in fines because the platform boasts it has 170 million US users. Hence, it’s not surprising both companies yanked the app from their stores.
TikTok gained an ally in Donald Trump, who initially spearheaded the app’s banning before he lost his reelection bid to Joe Biden. Unfortunately, after returning to the White House, Felon 47 signed an executive order on Jan.20 instructing his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, not to enforce the ban for 75 days.
The executive order also instructed Bondi “to issue a letter to each [TikTok] provider stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct’ as of Jan.19 throughout the 75-day extension.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Bondi sent Apple and Google letters on Thursday.
In a blog post, TikTok celebrated its return to both stores: “The TikTok app is now available for download from the App Store and Google Play. Our U.S. users can download the latest version of our app and continue to create, discover, and share what they love on TikTok.”
How The TikTok Ban Jig Played Out
What a turn of events following TikTok’s loss in its appeal to the Supreme Court, claiming the ban was in direct violation of the First Amendment.
Following the court’s decision, TikTok shut down on Jan.18, a day before the ban was supposed to start, before restoring service after Donald Trump vowing not to enforce the ban. When US users opened the app, they were greeted by a message telling them the app was back thanks to Orange Mussolini.
Users on X, formerly Twitter, have been reacting to the app’s return to the Apple Store and Google Play store; you can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. Serious question
5. Accurate
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty / Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg told the world how he really feels about Apple as a company and a brand. Spoiler alert: he didn’t have anything nice to say.
Engaging in tech bro-talk with Joe Rogan on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience on Friday, Zuckerberg dropped his opinion on Tim Cook’s Apple.
The Meta CEO criticized Apple for its lack of innovation and criticized the company for what he described as “random rules.”
“On the one hand, [the iPhone has] been great, because now pretty much everyone in the world has a phone, and that’s kind of what enables pretty amazing things,” Zuckerberg said. “But on the other hand … they have used that platform to put in place a lot of rules that I think feel arbitrary and [I] feel like they haven’t really invented anything great in a while. It’s like Steve Jobs invented the iPhone, and now they’re just kind of sitting on it 20 years later.”
Apple’s Lack of Improvements On New iPhone Models Is Hurting Sales According To Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg, who was slammed last week for ending “fact-checking” on Meta and was blessed with a bunch of outrageous fake headlines, continued digging into his rival, sharing he feels customers are no longer rushing to upgrade their iPhones is due to lack new features in new models, resulting in struggling sales of the once mighty smartphone.
“So how are they making more money as a company? Well, they do it by basically, like, squeezing people, and, like you’re saying, having this 30% tax on developers by getting you to buy more peripherals and things that plug into it,” Zuckerberg added. “You know, they build stuff like Air Pods, which are cool, but they’ve just thoroughly hamstrung the ability for anyone else to build something that can connect to the iPhone in the same way.”
Zuckerberg Feels Apple “Traps” Its Customers In Their Ecosystem
He further explained that the company that Jobs built avoided pushback from other companies by claiming its main goal was not to violate its customers’ privacy and security, a problem he feels could be fixed by Apple fixing its protocol and improving security by using better encryption.
Zuckerberg continued, “It’s insecure because you didn’t build any security into it. And then you’re using that as a justification for why only your product can connect easily.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s take on Apple. A must watch. I love Apple products. Always have. However, his take on how they haven’t come up with something truly innovative is spot on. A few examples:
1) AirPods Max 2 … they just added a USB-C charger. Other than that, it’s the same thing… pic.twitter.com/h6Z0bO2jCQ
— Antonio Reza (@theantonioreza) January 11, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Mark Zuckerberg Shared His Opinion On The Failed Apple Vision Pro
Zuckerberg had more to say. He also discussed Apple’s current flop, the Apple Vision Pro. He did give them credit for their attempt at entering the VR space with its spatial computing device, but that’s as far as his compliments went.
“I think the Vision Pro is, I think, one of the bigger swings at doing a new thing that they tried in a while,” Zuckerberg said. “And I don’t want to give them too hard of a time on it, because we do a lot of things where the first version isn’t that good, and you want to kind of judge the third version of it. But I mean, the V1, it definitely did not hit it out of the park.”
He continued, “I heard it’s really good for watching movies.”
Well, damn.
He also added that “they shipped something for $3,500 that I think is worse than the thing that we shipped for $300 or $400.
Mark Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan podcast, said that Apple Vision Pro is worse than the Meta Quest: ‘They shipped something for $3,500 that I think is worse than the thing that we shipped for $300 or $400.’ pic.twitter.com/W0T4G4gqCC
— Nathie (@NathieVR) January 13, 2025
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Users on X, formerly Twitter, have been reacting to Zuckerberg’s comments. Surprisingly, many agree with him but accuse him of not truly being innovative.
Mark Zuckerberg is correct here and I can also add that Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t created anything at all
He bought Instagram and some other app and stole The Facebook
He’s just Elon Musk that washes up every day https://t.co/Rd8bhhv6yv
— many nigga face god (@brantweezy) January 13, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
You can see more reactions to Zuck’s thoughts on Apple below.
1. Hmmmmmmm
3. Well damn
5. Some folks agree with Mark Zuckerberg
6. Truth hurts sometimes
8. Let Mark know how you really feel
10. S A L T Y
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Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty / Apple / Tim Cook
You can now add Tim Cook to the growing list of big tech CEOs who have decided to kiss the orange menace, Donald Trump’s ring.
Donald Trump just got $1 million from Tim Apple, oops, we mean Tim Cook, for his upcoming inauguration, Axios exclusively reports.
According to the website, Cook will personally donate the money to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, according to sources close to the matter told Axios.
Axios reports the donation “reflects a long, collaborative relationship between Trump and Cook that included many meetings during Trump’s first term, and dinner at Mar-a-Lago last month.”
Sources told Axios that the Alabama native’s reasoning for the $1 million donation is that he believes the inauguration—which Trump famously skipped out on because he’s a sore loser and pushed the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him—continues to be a great American tradition, and his generous gift is in the spirit of unity.
Axios also notes that Apple, a massive contributor to the US economy and the largest taxpayer in the country, will not be sending Orange Mussolini any money.
Cook joins other big tech CEOs, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Uber, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Tim Cook Is Getting Cooked
While he means well, social media is not trying to hear about “unity,” especially regarding the divider-in-chief who makes it his business to sow discord and push conspiracies.
Senator Elizabeth Warren didn’t bite her tongue to the news, writing in a post on X, formerly Twitter, “It’s no secret why Apple’s CEO is sucking up to Donald Trump: Republicans are planning more corporate tax cuts that would give Apple an extra $2.7 billion in handouts.”
It’s no secret why Apple’s CEO is sucking up to Donald Trump: Republicans are planning more corporate tax cuts that would give Apple an extra $2.7 billion in handouts. https://t.co/mzMM3tl2WT
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 4, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Warren is not alone in cooking Tim Cook on X. The gallery below shows more reactions.
1. We all collectively considered chucking our iPhones at the news of Tim Cook’s donation
2. A worthy headline to perfectly describe what is going on
3. Damn Tim, they calling you a sellout
6. Ruh Roh
7. It might be
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Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Apple / Siri
If Siri recorded your private conversation, you can expect a payment as part of a $95 million Apple settlement agreement.
Spotted on The Verge, Apple has agreed to a $95 million settlement with users whose conversations were “inadvertently” recorded by Apple’s intelligent voice assistant, Siri, and listened to by human employees.
Bloomberg reports that pending approval by a judge, eligible parties could receive up to $20 per device for up to five Siri-enabled devices.
Per The Verge:
If approved, the settlement would apply to a subset of US-based people who owned or bought a Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV between September 17th, 2014 and December 31st, 2024. A user would also need to meet one other major criteria: they must swear under oath that they accidentally activated Siri during a conversation intended to be confidential or private. Individual payouts will depend on how many people claim the money, so if you apply, you could end up receiving less than the $20 maximum cap.
The Origins of The Class Action Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit against Apple began as a result of the 2019 report from The Guardian claiming Apple third-party contractors “regularly hear confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex” while working on Siri quality control.
A whistleblower revealed that even though Siri activates using wake words, there were occasions where that was not the case, noting something as simple as the sound of the zipper could activate Siri.
In response to The Guardian’s report, Apple said only a few Siri recordings go to contractors. It also apologized and vowed to stop keeping recordings.
In the lawsuit, a minor and other plaintiffs said that Siri recorded them on various occasions, sometimes without them even saying a word.
Apple is not alone. Google is also involved in a similar lawsuit.
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Source: Apple / Apple Vision Pro
This news shouldn’t shock anyone, but many people did not spend $3,500 on the Apple Vision Pro headset, and now, reportedly, the company that Steve Jobs built is sitting on a stockpile of the device and will no longer be producing it.
According to a report by The Information, initially published in October 2024 and broken down by Kotaku, Apple supplied enough parts for 500K Vision Pro headsets in October but only sold around 370K units.
The failure to meet sales estimates meant that “tens of thousands of undelivered parts” were sitting in the warehouse and would no longer be needed.
The report states that Apple has manufactured enough parts to meet the Vision Pro’s expected lifetime sales, which fell short of initial projections.
Eurogamer points out that the current numbers align with a report published by the UK Financial Times last summer, where components suppliers claimed they expected to make fewer than 400k units.
Per Eurogamer:
That same report claimed Apple had significantly scaled back its internal sales targets for the headset due to production difficulties, after previously expecting at least 1m sales in 2024.
Apple has reportedly struggled to easily produce the Vision Pro’s two micro-OLED displays for each eye, as well as the device’s outward facing lens.
Welp.
Apple Should Have Saw This Coming
The writing was on the wall when Apple unveiled the Vision Pro. During the reveal event, a video of the crowd reacting to the $3,500 price tag immediately went viral, and should have let the tech selling the device would not be as easy as pushing a yearly iPhone model on its loyal customers.
While it was a valiant attempt, Apple took amassivee swing in the market with its spatial computing device but couldn’t compete with Meta, which has found a sweet spot with the $300 to $500 price points for its Meta Quest headsets.
Apple is still reportedly working on a much more affordable version of the Vision Pro, but based on this news, we don’t expect to see it any time soon.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Looking to upgrade your tech for the holiday season? AT&T is offering a deal on the iPhone 16 Pro where you can save by trading in an eligible device.
The discount comes in the form of monthly bill credits, meaning the savings are spread out over a set period, typically 36 months. You’ll pay the full price of the iPhone 16 Pro upfront, but the trade-in credit within 3 billing cycles will be applied as monthly bill credits, reducing your overall cost. This allows you to enjoy the new device right away while benefiting from savings over time rather than a one-time discount. With up to $1,000 in credits over 36 months, it’s an affordable way to upgrade.
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Whether you’re shopping for a new phone, smartwatch or tablet, AT&T has great deals to keep you up to date with the latest tech. Plus, you’ll have access to flexible payment plans, discounts with trade-ins and a variety of devices to choose from. For those looking to upgrade your tech or finding a gift for someone special, AT&T makes it easy to get an iPhone 16 while saving you money.
Keep scrolling to learn more about AT&T’s iPhone 16 holiday offer.
Unlock Savings for the Holidays: AT&T’s iPhone 16 Trade-In Deal
AT&T’s iPhone trade-in deal makes a great gift for the tech lover in your life, offering up to $830 off the iPhone 16, based on your trade-in device.
The process is simple: first, check if your phone qualifies for trade-in. The phone must have a minimum trade-in value of $230 to qualify for up to $1,000 off the iPhone 16 Pro. Your new iPhone must be purchased on a 36-month 0% APR installment plan with payments up to $44.45/month. Well-qualified customers may pay $0 down because they meet AT&T’s criteria, but others might need to make a down payment if their credit history requires it. You’ll also need to be on or switch to an eligible postpaid unlimited plan, which starts at $75.99/month, along with taxes and a $35 activation fee.
Apple/AT&T
Apple iPhone 16 Pro
Without the trade-in deal, the iPhone 16 Pro is available for $27.78/month and the iPhone 16 Pro Max for $33.34/month on AT&T’s 36-month installment plan. These prices showcase the full cost of the devices, paid in equal monthly installments, with no trade-in discounts applied.
The iPhone 16 Pro is available in four different colors: Desert Titanium, Black Titanium, White Titanium and Natural Titanium. From 1 GB to 1 TB, you can find the storage solution that suits your needs.In addition to the iPhone 16 Pro deal, you can also get an Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen and an iPad 10th Gen for $0.99/month with qualifying purchase. The Apple Watch can be discounted for up to $264.36, and the iPad for up to $464.36, both spread across 36 monthly bill credits. These devices must also be purchased on a 36-month 0% APR installment plan.
Apple/AT&T
Apple Watch SE, 44mm (second generation)
Apple/AT&T
Apple iPad (tenth generation)
To qualify for this offer, you need to activate a new line for both the Apple Watch and iPad. Plus, you’ll also need a postpaid plan, starting at $10.99/month for the Apple Watch and $20.99/month for the iPad.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Whether you’re looking for a great holiday gift for someone special in your life, or yourself, we found a deep discount to make shopping a joy — especially for music lovers.
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On sale for $89 (reg. $159) at Walmart, the Beats Studio3 Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones are a premium pair that delivers clear and rich audio with deep and booming bass to listen to music and podcasts on-the-go (when paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth). They’re also sleek and stylish, as a bold fashion and audio statement.
And since the Beats Studio3 Headphones are from Walmart, you’ll get them shipped to you for free if you’re a Walmart+ member. Otherwise, your cart has to be more than $35 to get free shipping.
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If you’re not a member, then you’re in luck. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of everything the retailer’s rewards program has to offer with perks such as free, fast delivery; fuel discounts’ streaming access to Paramount+ to watch hit originals; additional savings with early access deals and much more.
Meanwhile, Walmart+ also comes with access to SiriusXM for all sorts of talk radio and music — including popular channels, like “SiriusXM Hits 1” for pop hits from Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, SZA, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
Beats by Dre
Lowest Price ever
Beats Studio3 Wireless Over-Ear Noise-Cancelling Headphones
$89
$159
44% off
Aside from high-quality audio, the Beats Studio3 Headphones sync to Apple iPhone and Android smartphones alike. The wireless headphones also feature seamless and automatic connection with all sorts of Apple products — thanks to their built-in Apple W1 chip, which is the very same chip in Apple AirPods.
In addition, these headphones offer up to 12 hours of battery life on a single charge. In fact, if you’re on a time crunch, the headphones have ‘Fast Fuel’ features, which gives you three hours of playback time with just a 10-minute quick charge.
The Beats Studio3 Wireless Over-Ear Noise-Cancelling Headphones are on sale for $89 (reg. $159) at Walmart and come in three colors — Black, shadow gray and white — all for the same price.
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.
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Source: Anadolu / Getty/ Apple
Is this a sign that the dreaded green/blue bubble battle is finally ending? Apple is finally allowing Android users to send message reactions to iMessage users.
Spotted on The Verge, Apple is finally coming around. The company is no longer acting bougie on this matter. The company now acknowledges Android users by correctly showing their reactions to messages.
Like when iMessage users send “tap backs” to each other, the Android message reaction will finally appear next to the message instead of as a separate message.
The Verge confirmed the fix was live by running tests.
Per The Verge:
The Verge sent test messages and emoji reactions between iPhones running iOS 18.1 and different Android phones, confirming both devices now display reactions as intended. It’s unclear when this change happened or whose side — Google or Apple — had to make adjustments to get it working.
When RCS first launched widely on iOS in September, message reactions from Android users still weren’t being displayed correctly on the iPhone, even though they worked the other way around. We reached out to both companies for comment but did not hear back before publication.
Is Apple Finally Coming Around To Android Users?
Apple’s movement on the RCS fix is surprising due to how stubborn the tech giant, run by Tim Cook, was on the matter. Lately, Apple has been pushed to make a number of changes to its devices, like using USB-C, after China and the EU applied pressure on the American-based company.
Apple has not been shy about its stance on the green/blue bubble issue, with Tim Cook even telling someone that they should buy their mother an iPhone if they wanted to communicate properly with them due to video message quality between the two devices looking like crap.
At the time, Cook said it was not Apple’s top priority, but maybe it is now.