On Thursday, Apple announced that it has opened its iPhone repair process to include used components.
Today’s news adds all components — including the battery, display and camera — which Apple requires to be configured for full functionality.
“‘Parts pairing’ is used a lot outside and has this negative connotation,” Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, tells TechCrunch.
“I think it’s led people to believe that we somehow block third-party parts from working, which we don’t.
Ternus cites a recent UL Solutions study as evidence that third-party battery modules, in particular, can present a hazard to users.
Apple has added another AI startup to its acquisition list with Canada-based DarwinAI, which specializes in vision-based tech to observe components during manufacturing to improve efficiency, Bloomberg reported.
DarwinAI had raised over $15 million in funding across various rounds from investors including BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund, Honeywell Ventures, Obvious Ventures, and Inovia Capital.
BDC Capital and Obvious Venture didn’t comment on the story at the time of writing.
As Bloomberg noted in its report, apart from helping with manufacturing efficiency, DarwinAI uses techniques to make AI models smaller and faster.
This could be useful for on-device generative AI features Apple hopes to introduce in iOS 18 this year.
Since launching its self-repair program in August 2022, Samsung has been aggressively adding new devices to the mix.
Another upgrade this week brings the current offering up to 50 products (when you factor in variants like the Plus and Ultra), including smartphones, tablets, TVs, laptops, monitors, soundbars and even a projector.
There are 14 new devices in all, including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Tab S9 series, the Galaxy Book 2 series and the aforementioned projector, Freestyle 2.
The news also finds Samsung adding a number of different parts options, including speakers, the SIM tray, side key and volume buttons on Galaxy phones and tablets.
Samsung’s approach is generally more in line with Google’s in terms of access to tools and parts.
The EV tax credit is about to get better, and also harder to findThe federal tax credit for electric vehicles is about to change in one particular way that will make it far more attractive to buyers.
Vehicles qualify for a $3,500 credit if the automakers follow certain guidelines on where they source battery materials, and another $3,500 provided they stick to similar rules for battery components.
As a result, General Motors said this week only its Chevy Bolt will qualify for the full tax credit starting January 1.
Ford, meanwhile, said only its F-150 Lightning will qualify for the full $7,500 credit.
The Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring SUV will be eligible for half of the credit, while the Mustang Mach-E, Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring plug-in hybrid and E-Transit van won’t.
In spite of their simplistic appearance, soft robots are actually very versatile and can be used for a variety of different tasks. For example, they could be used as assistants…
