Shanghai has been on lockdown for almost two months, due to its worst COVID-19 breakout since 2020. Apple supplier Quanta Computer, located in Shanghai, is facing backlash from mostly low-wage workers demanding more freedom from these lockdown restrictions.
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Update: The files also include an image that shows the I/O of a new MacBook Pro with USB-C, HDMI, and an SD card slot on the right-hand side of the machine.
A hacker group called REvil is currently in the process of blackmailing Apple supplier Quanta for about $50 million. The group claims to have thousands of leaked files that include information about upcoming Apple products.
9to5Mac has had a look at some of the files already released. The documents include technical specifications for Apple’s upcoming Apple Silicon MacBook Pro, with the codenames J314 and J316. These specs corroborates previous reports that the new MacBook Pro will feature MagSafe, HDMI and an SD card slot.
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While we were all focused on Apple’s special event today, the company was facing an unusual situation. The group behind the REvil ransomware claims to have confidential information about the engineering of Apple’s products, threatening the company for money in order to not release these files.
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A sketchy supply-chain report from Digitimes claims that the second-generation Apple Watch will enter mass production in the second quarter of this year. The report also repeats earlier claims that Apple Watch shipments have fallen below Apple’s own forecasts, stating that the company has decided against adding Foxconn as a second manufacturer for this reason.
Apple originally considered shifting some second-generation Apple Watch orders to Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), but decided to keep all the orders with Quanta as volumes will not be high, the sources noted.
Supply-chain rumors always need to be treated with a great deal of caution, and both Quanta and Foxconn unsurprisingly declined to comment. However, the 2nd-gen timing does tie-in with what our own sources tell us (coincidentally!). We expect Apple to update the Apple Watch in March with new band options rather than new hardware, with a full hardware refresh announced in September.
Apple has so far declined to provide sales figures for the Watch. Deep discounts have fueled speculation about lower-than-expected sales, but there has been no consensus on likely numbers. Asymco’s Horace Dediu recently predicted that Apple will hit 21M sales in the first 12 months, amounting to around $8B in revenue.
There is a small possibility that strong holiday quarter sales may prompt Apple to share numbers for the first time later today, but we’re not holding our breath.
Apple is reportedly planning to ship the first successor to the Apple Watch sometime next year around the second or third quarter, according to Chinese media source UDN. The report cites comments made during a meeting with Barry Lam, chairman and founder of Quanta Computer, an Apple Watch manufacturer. While it’s no surprise that Apple would be planning to introduce the Apple Watch 2 in 2016, a third quarter release would mean a launch two years after the first model was introduced and roughly a year and a half since it went on sale.
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If you’ve been waiting impatiently for your Apple Watch to arrive, there may be some good news today. Quanta vice chairman CC Leung reportedly said that while the company had struggled to meet orders to date, the company’s capacity problems have been solved and production is now fully up to speed.
Because of labor shortages during the Lunar New Year holidays, Quanta was forced to borrow manpower from other manufacturers and was only able to deliver limited shipments in the first quarter. However, Quanta already has sufficient capacity to manufacture all the orders and should see a giant contribution from its wearable device business in the second quarter.
While not identifying the Apple Watch by name, there seems little doubt that this is the ‘wearable’ in question …
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A report by Taiwan’s United Daily News claims that Apple supplier Quanta will begin mass-production of the Apple Watch in January, echoing an earlier supply-chain rumor from September. It claims that the initial production run will be between three and five million units.
The report says that there have been ‘breakthroughs’ in yield issues, and that the company increased its production staffing from 3000 to 10,000 workers in the second half of the year, with further recruitment ongoing …
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Apple has already previewed the Apple Watch at this month’s iPhone event and the unreleased wearable is currently on display in Paris’s Collette, but Apple hasn’t shared specific availability details for the Apple Watch beyond saying ‘early 2015’. A rumor from the Asian supply chain shared by Apple Daily (via GforGames) claims Quanta Computer out of Taiwan will kick off mass production for the Watch for Apple in January 2015…
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DigiTimes is reporting today that Pegatron may be picking up contracts for production of upcoming iMacs with “upstream supply chain players revealing they sent iMac components to Pegatron recently.” Both Pegatron and Apple’s current partner for Mac production, Quanta, aren’t commenting on the rumor, but perhaps Apple could be looking to add additional partners to produce its next round of iMacs after experiencing significant delays following the launch of its latest iMac refresh.
While Quanta produces the majority of Apples Mac lineups, Pegatron is already an Apple manufacturing partner for iOS devices. However, last month the company came under fire when a report from China Labor Watch alleged poor working conditions at several Pegatron facilities in China.
During this morning’s Senate hearing regarding Apple’s tax strategies, Apple CEO Tim Cook provided opening statements regarding Apple’s perspective on the issues. Notably, during a time in which Cook was discussing Apple’s United States-based operations and strategies, the Apple CEO said that Apple’s upcoming Made-in-the-USA Mac line will be assembled in Texas…
Following the release of Apple’s “2012 Supplier Responsibility Report,” Apple announced it would be the first technology company admitted to the Fair Labor Association. The FLA will “independently assess facilities in Apple’s supply chain,” and then publish its independent findings online. Apple announced through a press release today that the first audits have officially started with FLA President Auret van Heerden and his team beginning inspections at Foxconn City in Shenzhen. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the audits are “unprecedented in the electronics industry”:
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