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2020 MacBook Air with M1 chip
Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple is holding a launch event on Monday to announce new products, like a redesigned MacBook Pro.

Apple has a chance to drive continued momentum to its Macs ahead of the holiday shopping season, especially since it’s expected to announce more computers that run on its own chips instead of Intel’s processors.

Recent computers that run on the company’s powerful M1 processor have “fueled” Mac growth, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in June. In the most recent three quarters ending in June 2021, Apple sold $26 billion in Macs, up nearly 33% from the $19.59 billion it sold in the same period last year. “In fact, the last three quarters for Mac have been its three best quarters ever,” Cook said in June.

Before the pandemic, which drove new computer sales, many customers and analysts worried Apple was neglecting the Mac in favor of newer, faster-growing businesses like its Apple Watch and iPhones. But Mac computers remain essential for Apple. It’s only possible to develop iPhone apps on a Mac through Apple’s Xcode software, for example, and Mac remains a larger business than iPad.

Last month, Apple announced and subsequently released new iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches, leaving Apple’s line of Macs as the remaining major product line that hasn’t been updated this fall. The larger 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple’s highest-end laptop, hasn’t been updated since 2019 and currently uses Intel processors instead of newer Apple chips.

Here’s what to expect on Monday.

A completed transition

If Apple announces new MacBook laptops on Monday, it will be the culmination of a two-year transition to completely revamp the entire Mac lineup.

Since 2019, Apple has been replacing Intel processors inside Macs with its own processors, called M1, which provide longer battery life and allow Apple to more tightly integrate its hardware and software. Apple’s chips also enable new features while still providing enough power to run demanding applications.

So far, Apple has released four different Macs using its new chips: The MacBook Air, the Mac Mini, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the redesigned 24-inch iMac.

Apple is likely to emphasize the advantages of its own chip, as it has done during the past several Mac launch events. Expect a new name for the M1 chip if Apple makes significant performance improvements. It could call it the M1X or M2, depending on how Apple wants to market the processor improvements.

Apple has reportedly been prepping a redesign for its high-end MacBook Pros with its own chips and new ports, including space for an HDMI cable to connect the laptop to monitors, and a magnetic charger, according to Bloomberg. Also in the works is an iMac with a bigger screen and a Mac Mini desktop with more power, according to the report.

On Monday, Apple is also likely to provide a release date for macOS Monterey, the latest version of the Mac software, which was announced in June but has not yet been officially released.

More ports

Touch bar on the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro
Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple’s Mac growth has also been driven by changes the company has made to address some longstanding consumer issues with some products.

Between late 2017 and the second fiscal quarter of 2020, Apple reported eight out of 10 quarters of flat or negative annual growth in its Mac business. Growth started taking off in 2020.

In 2015, Apple introduced a thinner keyboard design for its laptops, often called “butterfly keyboard.” In the coming years, the thinner keyboard became standard in Apple’s line of laptops.

But the keyboard was plagued by reports that it was unreliable, and that crumbs or dust could make certain keys “sticky” and fail to register or type certain letters twice. Apple has an ongoing service program to fix malfunctioning butterfly keyboards manufactured from 2015 through 2019 for free. It’s also facing a class-action lawsuit over whether it knew that the keyboards were defective.

During this period, the biggest new feature addition to Apple’s laptops was the Touch Bar, a strip of touchscreen that replaced the function keys. However, many users found it frustrating and less useful than regular keys. Software developers never flocked to create software for the touchscreen, and Apple’s recent M1 MacBook Air doesn’t have it.

Simultaneously, Apple significantly reduced the number of ports on its laptops, streamlining them into a few USB-C connectors. Users complained that they needed adapters, often called dongles, to attach things like mice and external monitors to the laptops, which sometimes used older USB-A connections. The dongles that Apple made were expensive, often costing more than $20 per adapter. The company temporarily slashed prices on adapters in 2016 after users complained.

That could change on Monday. Apple’s new MacBook Pro design could include an HDMI port for connecting the laptop to external monitors or TVs, an SD card port for photographers, and a new version of its MagSafe magnetic charger, addressing many complaints from professional users, according to Bloomberg. Apple’s 2017 MacBook Air was the last laptop to feature MagSafe charging, even though customers liked it.

Apple has started to reverse some of the Mac design decisions it made over the past decade. The M1 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro now have a more traditional keyboard with deeper keys. Both computers have received positive reviews. The laptops still use USB-C ports for charging, but Apple’s new iMac desktop, the first redesign since 2015, has a new kind of magnetic power adapter.

A surge in PC sales

Apple iMac M1 2021
Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple’s Mac business has been boosted by a global surge in PC sales during the Covid-19 pandemic as schools, businesses, and individuals bought new laptops and desktops to go to school or work from home.

Earlier this year, at its peak, PC sales (including Windows) had their highest year-over-year growth in 20 years, according to research firm Gartner. Research firm IDC said PC sales jumped 55% year-over-year in the first quarter. Analysts covering the PC industry and component makers said at the time that they were optimistic that there had been a permanent shift in PC sales trends.

But the pandemic-related PC surge may be coming to a close. In the third quarter, typically a boom time because of back-to-school sales, the U.S. PC market shrunk for the first time since the first quarter of the pandemic, according to market researcher IDC.

Apple’s computer shipments grew 10% during the third quarter, according to IDC, but the pandemic trends that lifted all manufacturers seem to have slowed significantly. Before the pandemic, PCs were one of the slowest-growing tech markets, with several years of flat growth in the past decade.

Apple hopes shiny new Macs can buck that trend.

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EBay shares soar after Meta allows listings on Facebook Marketplace in U.S., Europe

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EBay shares soar after Meta allows listings on Facebook Marketplace in U.S., Europe

A sign is posted in front of the eBay headquarters in San Jose, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Shares of eBay soared 8% Wednesday as Meta said it will allow some listings to show up on Facebook Marketplace, its popular platform connecting consumers for local item pickups and more.

EBay stock reached its highest level since November 2021.

The rollout will begin with a test in Germany, France and the United States, where buyers will be able to view listings directly on Marketplace and complete the rest of their transactions on eBay, Meta said in a release.

The partnership could provide a boost to eBay’s marketplace business, which has struggled to compete with e-commerce rivals like Amazon, Walmart, Temu and even Facebook’s own marketplace platform that lets users buy and sell items.

EBay has recently embraced niche categories like collectibles and luxury goods to try and keep buyers and sellers returning to its site. CEO Jamie Iannone told CNBC in an October interview that shoppers were coming to the site, known for its used and refurbished goods, as they sought out discounts amid a rocky macroeconomic environment.

Meta’s move is an attempt to appease the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, after the regulator fined the company 797 million euros ($821 million) in November for tying its Marketplace product to the main Facebook app.

Read more CNBC tech news

At the time, the Commission said that Meta’s bundling of Marketplace with Facebook could mean competitors are effectively “foreclosed” given the distribution reach of the platform. Facebook counts more than 3 billion users globally.

The Commission also said that Meta imposes “unfair trading conditions” on other online classified ads service providers who advertise on its platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram. It added that these conditions allow Meta to use data generated from other advertisers to benefit Marketplace.

Meta appealed the ruling at the time, saying that it “ignores the realities of the thriving European market for online classified listing services.”

“While we disagree with and continue to appeal the European Commission’s decision on Facebook Marketplace, we are working quickly and constructively to build a solution which addresses the points raised,” the company said Wednesday.

EBay touted its integration with Facebook Marketplace as a way for the e-commerce site to “increase exposure to our sellers’ listings, on and off eBay, as part of our strategy to engage buyers and deepen customer loyalty.”

Facebook in 2023 announced a similar partnership with Amazon that lets users browse and purchase products without leaving the app.

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Additional reporting by CNBC’s Annie Palmer.

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Amazon workers in North Carolina to vote on unionization next month

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Amazon workers in North Carolina to vote on unionization next month

An Amazon employee works to fulfill same-day orders during Cyber Monday, one of the company’s busiest days, at an Amazon fulfillment center in Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 2, 2024.

Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo | Getty Images

Amazon warehouse workers at a site in North Carolina will vote next month on whether to join a union, setting the stage for the company’s latest labor battle.

Workers at the Garner, North Carolina, facility will cast their ballots from Feb. 10 to Feb. 15, according to a Tuesday post on X by Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment, the group seeking to organize staffers. Representatives from Amazon and the National Labor Relations Board didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Known as CAUSE, the grassroots group led by current and former employees has been working to organize Amazon employees at the warehouse, which is located in a suburb about 10 miles south of Raleigh, for the past three years.

If the election is successful, the warehouse, known as RDU1, would be only the second Amazon site in the U.S. to unionize. Workers at Amazon’s largest warehouse in New York City voted to join the Amazon Labor Union in 2022, but the group struggled to negotiate a contract with Amazon, and last June, the ALU voted to affiliate with the Teamsters.

A handful of union elections were held at Amazon warehouses in the U.S. in recent years but employees have either rejected unionization or the results continue to be disputed in lengthy court battles. Last November, a federal labor judge ordered a third rerun election at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, after ruling the company improperly interfered in the vote.

Read more CNBC Amazon coverage

CAUSE filed for a union election last month, saying in a press release that 30% of workers at the North Carolina site signed union authorization cards, which is the necessary threshold to trigger an NLRB vote. Organizers are seeking to boost wages and improve working conditions.

The union filing comes after Amazon delivery and warehouse workers went on strike at nine facilities last month to push the company to come to the bargaining table, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents the employees. The action was intended to snarl Amazon’s operations during the busiest holiday shopping period of the year, referred to as peak season. An Amazon representative told Reuters the company expected to see a limited impact on deliveries from the strike.

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Apple’s inaccurate AI news alerts shows the tech has a growing misinformation problem

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Apple's inaccurate AI news alerts shows the tech has a growing misinformation problem

Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images

An artificial intelligence feature on iPhones is generating fake news alerts, stoking concerns about the technology’s ability to spread misinformation.

Last week, a feature recently launched by Apple that summarizes users’ notifications using AI, pushed out inaccurately summarized BBC News app notifications on the broadcaster’s story about the PDC World Darts Championship semi-final, falsely claiming British darts player Luke Littler had won the championship.

The incident happened a day before the actual tournament’s final, which Littler did go on to win.

Then, just hours after that incident occurred, a separate notification generated by Apple Intelligence, the tech giant’s AI system, falsely claimed that Tennis legend Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.

The BBC has been trying for about a month to get Apple to fix the problem. The British state broadcaster complained to Apple in December after its AI feature generated a false headline suggesting that Luigi Mangione, the man arrested following the murder of health insurance firm UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York, had shot himself — which never happened.

Apple was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. On Monday, Apple told the BBC that it’s working on an update to resolve the problem by adding a clarification that shows when Apple Intelligence is responsible for the text displayed in the notifications. Currently, generated news notifications show up as coming directly from the source.

“Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback,” the company said in a statement shared with the BBC. Apple added that it’s encouraging users to report a concern if they view an “unexpected notification summary.”

The BBC isn’t the only news organization that has been affected by Apple Intelligence inaccurately summarizing news notifications. In November, the feature sent an AI-summarized notification wrongly claiming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested.

The mistake was flagged on the social media app Bluesky by Ken Schwencke, a senior editor at investigative journalism site ProPublica.

CNBC has reached out to the BBC and New York Times for comment on Apple’s proposed solution to its AI feature’s misinformation issue.

AI’s misinformation problem

Apple touts its AI-generated notification summaries as an effective way to group and rewrite previews of news app notifications into a single alert on a users’ lock screen.

It’s a feature Apple says is designed to help users scan their notifications for key details and cut down on the overwhelming barrage of updates many smartphone users are familiar with.

However, this has resulted in what AI experts refer to as “hallucinations” — responses generated by AI that contain false or misleading information.

“I suspect that Apple will not be alone in having challenges with AI-generated content. We’ve already seen numerous examples of AI services confidently telling mistruths, so-called ‘hallucinations’,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at tech-focused market research firm CCS Insights, told CNBC.

In Apple’s case, because the AI is trying to consolidate notifications and condense them to show only a basic summary of information, it’s mashed the words together in a way that’s inaccurately characterized the events — but confidently presenting them as facts.

“Apple had the added complexity of trying to compress content into very short summaries, which ended up delivering erroneous messages,” Wood added. “Apple will undoubtedly seek to address this as soon as possible, and I’m sure rivals will be watching closely to see how it responds.”

Generative AI works by trying to figure out the best possible answer to a question or prompt inserted by a user, relying on vast quantities of data which its underlying large language models are trained on.

Sometimes the AI might not know the answer. But because it’s been programmed to always present a response to user prompts, this can result in cases where the AI effectively lies.

It’s not clear exactly when Apple’s resolution to the bug in its notification summarization feature will be fixed. The iPhone maker said to expect one to arrive in “the coming weeks.”

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