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Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., speaks during an Economic Club of New York event in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. Nadella discussed the responsibility tech companies need to take over the future of artificial intelligence.
Mark Kauzlarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Personal computers with Windows have made sounds to indicate errors since the 1980s. With Windows 11, Microsoft has revamped those sounds to make them less stressful.

Windows remains the world’s most popular operating system, accounting for about 14% of Microsoft’s $168 billion in annual revenue. But it isn’t always easy for Microsoft to keep its hundreds of millions of customers happy, as they have widely varying opinions of what Windows should be — including what it should sound like.

The designers of Windows 11 took inspiration from an approach called calm technology, which was described by two employees of the Xerox PARC research lab more than two decades ago. “Calmness is much needed in today’s world, and it tends to hinge on our ability to feel in control, at ease, and trustful,” Microsoft’s Christian Koehn and Diego Baca wrote in a blog post. “Windows 11 facilitates this through foundational experiences that feel familiar, soften formerly intimidating UI, and increase emotional connection.”

Calm technology also informed the development of the sounds of Windows 11, said Matthew Bennett, who crafted the sounds, following contributions to Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Windows 11 stands out from its predecessors and its competitors by allowing people to use one group of sounds to match with light visual themes, and a different group that goes along with dark themes. The sounds are similar, which means people can recognize them as they switch between modes, but slightly different. Applying a dark theme generally makes the sounds softer. They seem to echo, as if in a large room.

“The new sounds have a much rounder wavelength, making them softer so that they can still alert/notify you, but without being overwhelming,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in an email. Just like we rounded UI [user interface] visually, we rounded our soundscape as well to soften the overall feel of the experience.”

People can change the default sounds by opening the Settings app and going to “Sound > More sound settings.” But plenty of people will keep using the default sounds, just as many people who open Microsoft Word will end up using the default font.

Bennett, who left Microsoft in February after 12 years at the company, spelled out several changes the company made to its system sounds with Windows 11 during the course of multiple interviews. (Each of the audio files below contains the new sound, followed by its Windows 10 predecessor.)

Default Beep

When something goes wrong — for example, you look for text on a website and it isn’t there — and your PC needs to give you a heads up, Windows 11 won’t make as much of a fuss as Windows 10. The new sound, comprising three rising notes, starts at a lower pitch than the trill that it replaces, and it doesn’t linger as long afterward, Bennett said.

The notes aren’t simply played by a piano or marimba. Bennett said the sounds are “digitally sculpted” and designed not to evoke a musical instrument. That way, they’re less likely to get negative associations in various cultures around the world, he said.

Calendar Reminder

Four rapid ascending notes let you know an event is coming up. The arrangement is vastly simpler than the seven-note predecessor, which Bennett has described as having a clear beginning, middle and end.

After Windows 10 arrived in 2015, people ran it in schools and offices, where background noise could deafen some of the Calendar Reminder sound. Then the coronavirus pandemic forced workers, teachers and students to stay home, where there might be fewer distractions. The new sound demands less attention in those environments.

Desktop Mail Notification

When you receive an email in Windows 11, you hear three quick notes going downward. The new version is slightly faster — the one in Windows 10 included four notes and sustained for a moment at the end — and registers a lower pitch.

It’s more of a gesture, reminiscent of a piece of mail arriving in an inbox, and less of a voice-like snippet. “I read it as, “Message for you,'” Bennett said.

Device Connect, Device Disconnect, Device Failed to Connect

These areas of the next generation of Windows refer back to the stripped-down effects that appeared in Windows Vista and remained available in Windows 7, Bennett said. Anytime you plugged a mouse, a joystick or another peripheral into a USB port, or removed it, or the computer didn’t recognize the device, those 2000s-era operating systems made two abbreviated, guttural noises.

Windows 10 veered from that concept a bit with additional notes and varying melodies. Each of the Windows 11 sounds goes back to the idea of two simple notes, albeit in a more friendly fashion than their predecessors from the 2000s.

An upward tone conveys that the connection worked.

Going down means you’ve successfully unplugged.

And two sounds imply an error, sort of like how parents who speak a variety of languages will quickly say “uh-uh” to warn their children not to do something, Bennett said.

Instant Message Notification, Message Nudge

Sounds for calendar events and emails can play frequently on Windows PCs, but sounds that indicate new instant messages are far less frequent, Bennett said.

But they’re still there, and in Windows 11, they’re simpler. Three descending notes go off to mark a new message, instead of a chirp that goes up and then down. The Windows 10 message sound was meant to stand out from the mail sound to reflect the different rhythm of messaging, Bennett said. Now that distinction is more subtle.

The point of the Message Nudge is to signal the arrival of a new message coming in through a program that’s you’re currently using, but perhaps in a different conversation, Bennett said. In Windows 11 you hear one note and then a slightly lower note. It’s shorter than the sharp Windows 10 sound, which amounts to a miniaturized version of the Instant Message Notification sound in that operating system.

Notification

This sound, which comes up in concert with certain “system toast” boxes on the side of the screen, has also received a makeover. There are two slightly ascending notes that are close together, instead of four notes that rise and then fall. The sound is shorter, and the final note isn’t sustained for so long.

Windows User Account Control

When a program asks for permission to make changes to your PC, Windows 11 shows a prominent dialog box on your screen and plays a sound. The outcome can have security implications, hence the notification.

In Windows 11 the sound is an up-down-up pattern that comes in at a lower pitch than the down-up-down chime. It’s less all-hands-on-deck and more you-might-want-to-check-this.

So far, much of the new feedback on the new sounds has been positive, after Microsoft began circulating Windows 11 builds to testers in June.

The company will release Windows 11 more widely later this year.

WATCH: How Microsoft is creating a new ‘cloud PC’ category with Windows 365

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Here’s where Apple makes its products — and how Trump’s tariffs could have an impact

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Here's where Apple makes its products — and how Trump's tariffs could have an impact

Apple’s iPhone 16 at an Apple Store on Regent Street in London on Sept. 20, 2024.

Rasid Necati Aslim | Anadolu | Getty Images

Apple has made moves to diversify its supply chain beyond China to places like India and Vietnam, but tariffs announced by the White House are set to hit those countries too.

U.S. President Donald Trump laid out “reciprocal tariff” rates on more than 180 countries on Wednesday.

China will face a 34% tariff, but with the existing 20% rate, that brings the true tariff rate on Beijing under this Trump term to 54%, CNBC reported. India faces a 26% tariff, while Vietnam’s rate is 46%.

Apple was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Here’s a breakdown on Apple’s supply chain footprint that could be affected by tariffs.

China

The majority of Apple’s iPhones are still assembled in China by partner Foxconn.

China accounts for around 80% of Apple’s production capacity, according to estimates from Evercore ISI in a note last month.

Around 90% of iPhones are assembled in China, Evercore ISI said.

While the number of manufacturing sites in China dropped between Apple’s 2017 and 2020 fiscal year, it has since rebounded, Bernstein said in a note last month. Chinese suppliers account for around 40% of Apple’s total, Bernstein said.

Evercore ISI estimates that 55% of Apple’s Mac products and 80% of iPads are assembled in China.

India

Apple is targeting around 25% of all iPhones globally to be made in India, a government minister said in 2023.

India could reach about 15%-20% of overall iPhone production by the end of 2025, Bernstein analysts estimate. Evercore ISI said around 10% to 15% of iPhones are currently assembled in India.

Vietnam

Vietnam has emerged in the past few years as a popular manufacturing hub for consumer electronics. Apple has increased its production in Vietnam.

Around 20% of iPad production and 90% of Apple’s wearable product assembly like the Apple Watch takes place in Vietnam, according to Evercore ISI.

Other key countries

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Xiaomi delivers record cars in March as winners emerge in China’s EV race

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Xiaomi delivers record cars in March as winners emerge in China's EV race

A Xiaomi store in Shanghai, China, on March 16, 2025.

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Chinese electric carmakers Xiaomi, Xpeng and Leapmotor each delivered nearly 30,000 or more cars in March, roughly twice several of their fellow startup competitors.

It’s a sign of how some automakers are pulling ahead, while BYD remains the market leader by far.

Xiaomi delivered a record number of electric vehicles in March, exceeding 29,000 units, the company announced on social media. That topped its prior run of delivering more than 20,000 vehicles in each of the past five months.

The SU7, Xiaomi’s flagship model, was involved in a crash on a highway on Tuesday that left three dead. The automaker on Tuesday afternoon released a statement on Chinese social media that the vehicle was in navigation on autopilot mode before the accident.

Based on preliminary information, the road was obstructed because of construction. The driver took control of the car but collided with construction infrastructure. Xiaomi added in the release that investigations were underway.

That came two weeks after the automaker announced on March 18 its goal to deliver 350,000 vehicles this year. There are also talks of the automaker expanding its second EV factory in Beijing to meet demand, Bloomberg reported on March 18. Xiaomi did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Its competitor Xpeng in March delivered 33,205 vehicles, the fifth consecutive month it has delivered over 30,000 units per month and reflecting a 268% surge in deliveries from the same month last year. March is also the fifth consecutive month the company has delivered over 15,000 units of the Mona M03.

Leapmotor delivered 37,095 vehicles, reflecting a 154% year-over-year growth. The Stellantis-owned automaker last month launched U.K. sales of two electric vehicle models, the T03 and the C10.

Li Auto delivered 36,674 vehicles in March, a 26.5% year-over-year increase, but fewer than every month in the second half of 2024. The company’s cars had gained early traction with Chinese consumers since most come with a fuel tank for charging the vehicle’s battery, reducing anxiety about driving range.

Tesla takes two of three top spots in China's most popular EV list

BYD sold 371,419 passenger vehicles in March, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 57.9%. Its overseas sales volume also hit a record high of 72,723 units in March.

In the same month, the automaker unveiled its “Super e-Platform” technology, which boasts 400 kilometers (roughly 249 miles) of range with five minutes of charging. The company in February also announced that it was integrating DeepSeek artificial intelligence to develop “DiPilot,” its advanced driver-assistance system.

Across the board, major companies across China’s electric car industry reported deliveries rose last month, indicating a pick-up in demand from the seasonally soft first two months of the year.

U.S. automaker Tesla sold 78,828 electric vehicles in China in March, marking a 11.5% year-over-year decline in growth.

Other Chinese carmakers saw growth in deliveries but some still struggled to break through the 20,000-unit mark.  

Nio delivered 15,039 vehicles, a 26.7% year-over-year growth, but well below the number of cars delivered in the months of May to December last year. Nio-owned Onvo, which markets its electric vehicles as family-oriented, in March recorded 15,039 units in deliveries.

Geely-owned Zeekr delivered 15,422 vehicles in March, increasing by 18.5% year over year. The company last month announced its rollout of free advanced driver-assistance technology to local customers in a bid to compete in the market.

Aito, as of April 2, has not published its delivery numbers for March. The automaker, which uses Huawei tech in its vehicles, on social media had reported monthly deliveries of 34,987 and 21,517 in January and February, respectively.

Quarterly performance

On a first-quarter basis, BYD remained in the lead with 986,098 vehicles sold. The automaker, which overtook Tesla in annual sales last year, surpassed the U.S. EV giant in battery electric vehicles sales this quarter.

Tesla sold 172,754 vehicles in China in the first quarter this year, according to monthly delivery numbers published by the China Passenger Car Association.

Xpeng also reported strong growth, with a total of 94,008 vehicles delivered in the quarter ending in March, reflecting a 331% year-over-year growth.

Leapmotor saw quarterly deliveries more than double to 87,552 units from 33,410 units the same period in 2024, according to publicly available numbers the company published.

However, Li Auto and Nio reported weaker growth than their competitors in the first quarter of the year.

Nio saw 42,094 vehicles delivered in the three months ended March 2025, an increase of 40.1% year over year. Li Auto saw a slower year-over-year growth of 15.5%, with a total of 92,864 vehicles delivered.

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De minimis trade loophole that boosted Chinese online retailers to end May 2

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De minimis trade loophole that boosted Chinese online retailers to end May 2

A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.

Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order shutting the de minimis trade loophole, effective May 2.

Trump in February abruptly ended the de minimis trade exemption, which allows shipments worth less than $800 to enter the U.S. duty-free. The order overwhelmed U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees and caused the U.S. Postal Service to temporarily halt packages from China and Hong Kong. Within days of its announcement, Trump reversed course and delayed the cancellation of the provision.

Wednesday’s announcement, which came alongside a set of sweeping new tariffs, gives customs officials, retailers and logistics companies more time to prepare. Goods that qualify under the de minimis exemption will be subject to a duty of either 30% of their value, or $25 per item. That rate will increase to $50 per item on June 1, the White House said.

Use of the de minimis provision has exploded in recent years as shoppers flock to Chinese e-commerce companies Temu and Shein, which offer ultra-low cost apparel, electronics and other items. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said it processed more than 1.3 billion de minimis shipments in 2024, up from over 1 billion shipments in 2023.

Critics of the provision say it provides an unfair advantage to Chinese e-commerce companies and creates an influx of packages that are “subject to minimal documentation and inspection,” raising concerns around counterfeit and unsafe goods.

The Trump administration has sought to close the loophole over concerns that it facilitates shipments of fentanyl and other illicit substances on the claims that the packages are less likely to be inspected by customs agents.

Temu and Shein have taken steps to grow their operations in the U.S. as the de minimis loophole has come under greater scrutiny. After onboarding sellers with inventory in U.S. warehouses, Temu recently began steering shoppers to those items on its website, allowing it to speed up deliveries. Shein opened distribution centers in states including Illinois and California in 2022, and a supply chain hub in Seattle last year.

WATCH: President Trump signs executive orders for reciprocal tariffs

Pres. Trump signs executive orders for reciprocal tariffs

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