On this week’s “Sunday Reboot,” a superb chip subject for Apple to have, regulatory comparisons with oranges, and “Schmigadoon!” will get 12 Tony Award nominations.
Sunday Reboot is a weekly column masking a few of the lighter tales throughout the Apple actuality distortion subject from the previous seven days. All to get the following week underway with a superb first step.
This week, Apple needed to deal with Maryland lawmakers siding with Apple Towson staff after the shop closure announcement, Canada needs Apple to weaken encryption, and Apple failed to cut back the scope of a $4.1 billion iCloud swimsuit within the UK.
A story of two chip struggles
Apple needed to cope with two chip scarcity conditions this week, however with wildly completely different outcomes.
On Tuesday, it was found that Apple had pulled a few of the configuration choices for the Mac mini and Mac Studio. Customers planning to get fashions with mountains of reminiscence had been stopped, as Apple eliminated the 256GB choice from the M3 Extremely Mac Studio.
On the similar time, in the event you needed an M4 Professional Mac mini with 64GB of reminiscence, you’re out of luck. You will have solely the 24GB or 48GB choices accessible.
These have not been the one modifications to the lineup, because the Mac Studio misplaced the 512GB RAM choice in March, and the 256GB SSD model of the M4 Mac mini has equally disappeared.
The upshot right here is that, whereas that is clearly a problem stemming from the worldwide reminiscence disaster affecting your entire tech trade, it’s certainly one of Apple’s methods to keep away from considerably elevating costs. Positive, eliminating high-RAM choices is not the best approach, however the different could be to lift the costs significantly.
By doing this, it might permit the present reminiscence stock to final a bit longer for the fashions, by nonetheless permitting the lower-capacity choices to stay on sale. The decrease reminiscence variants are additionally not going to be as badly affected by the price versus a configuration that’s RAM-heavy in nature.
Some might imagine that this isn’t actually a RAM downside however is Apple making ready to convey out new fashions by reducing down on present inventory. It is a factor we’ve got seen earlier than, however present CEO Tim Cook dinner’s remarks in the course of the current financials point out we cannot be seeing any actual Mac improve choices till September.
The opposite chip subject was certainly one of Apple’s personal making.
The MacBook Neo is just too common for Apple’s personal good.
The MacBook Neo is an especially common mannequin, past Apple’s personal expectations. As a funds MacBook, it has managed to get a lot demand that Apple needed to double its manufacturing plans for the mannequin.
That caused a brand new downside for Apple, within the type of an absence of A18 Professional chips.
The MacBook Neo is affordable for Apple to supply, partly as a result of it depends on using present part stock. It was a recycling effort, utilizing up surplus chips that Apple had already paid for, permitting it to slim down the value to shoppers because it was cheaper to supply.
With the large success of the mannequin, it’s believed that Apple now has to do one other manufacturing run for the A18 Professional chips.
Evidently, whereas Apple has a good suggestion of what could make a product a success, typically it might even shock itself.
Apple and oranges in logos
Huge firms are extraordinarily protecting of their manufacturers, and Apple is among the most defensive. Add the Apple emblem to one thing that is vaguely Apple-like will rapidly end in authorized points from Apple’s legal professionals.
This is sensible, as Apple has a have to pursue anybody misusing its emblems to forestall diluting its value. There’s additionally the entire thing of stopping shoppers from shopping for pretend merchandise that use the model with out authorization.
Nevertheless, typically Apple’s battle over its treasured Apple emblem goes in some unusual instructions.
The newest occasion is a submitting with the EU Mental Property Workplace, attempting to persuade the regulator to not grant a trademark to a different firm. This turned out to be a partly-successful act for Apple, because the trademark can’t be used for keyboards and pc gear.
The emblem being objected to, utilized by keyboard maker Yichun Quinningment Electronics Co., wasn’t an apple, however citrus. It was a round fruit with a high leaf, a bit taken out the right-hand facet, and visual segments and “keys” within the center.
Apple emblem [left], Yichun Quinningmeng’s emblem [right]
You may argue that the cut-out bit is paying homage to Apple’s chunk part, and the leaf is fairly shut, however they are not the identical. The EUIPO admitted that they had been “visually related, however certified that it was “to a really low diploma,” however that was nonetheless sufficient to create a “psychological hyperlink” between the 2 firms for shoppers.
Apple has achieved this a couple of occasions previously, taking up folks submitting fruit-based emblems and complaining of how they’re buying and selling off Apple’s emblem.
Instances have included the Norwegian Progress Occasion that caught an F motif in the course of an Apple, the pear emblem utilized by Prepear, and the battle towards Fruit Union Suisse. Within the final case, that was towards a century-old group that used a crimson apple picture with a white cross for a few years, and Apple complained about an anniversary redesign.
In attempting to work out how far Apple will go over fruit-based emblems, I found there are limitations to its attain. In November 2018, it failed to dam logos for Banana Cellular and Banana Laptop in Europe.
On the time, the EUIPO concluded that an apple will not be a banana.
Cancelled, however nominated
Apple TV reveals are continuously listed as nominees for awards. Generally, these awards come after the present has ended, usually the next 12 months, however there are exceptions.
On Wednesday, “Schmigadoon!” was the recipient of an enormous 12 nominations for the 2026 Tony Awards.
This can be a large achievement, however there are huge asterisks at play right here. The awards weren’t for the present itself, however for the broadway manufacturing.
Apple TV’s ‘Schmigadoon!’
Apple ended the TV model in early 2024, killing it after two seasons regardless of the third already having been written. The recognition of the present wasn’t sufficient to put it aside from persevering with, however it did reside on in theater.
A stage adaptation of the comedy musical arrived in 2025, as a precursor to the Broadway model, which Apple has co-produced.
This is not the primary time the present has gone up for awards. This features a Artistic Arts Emmy in 2022, a Critics Alternative TV award nomination in 2021, and a spot on the American Movie Institute’s “Tv Applications of the 12 months” record for 2021.
With 12 nominations on the Tony Awards, the Broadway musical might find yourself selecting up extra trophies in its stage life following its TV demise.
Who is aware of, perhaps a giant win will persuade somebody at Apple that they made the unsuitable transfer and fee that third season.
Final week’s Sunday Reboot coated Apple’s F1 ambitions, its huge Q2 monetary outcomes, and the return of “Ted Lasso” in August.
