Apple’s satellite future

Hey everyone, it’s Mark. Apple is planning a series of upgrades to its satellite features for the iPhone and its smartwatches. Also: The company is nearing a $1 billion-a-year deal to power a revamped Siri with a custom Google Gemini model, and Apple is readying the first low-cost MacBook in a bid to compete with Windows laptops. 

Last week in Power On: Apple is set to kick off its 50th anniversary with the first $140 billion quarter. 

Power On is now exclusively for Bloomberg.com subscribers. Get the full Power On newsletter every week — plus unlimited access to every featured article and a Q&A with me — when you subscribe to the Tech Newsletter Bundle.

The Starters

Apple’s satellite features menu on an iPhone. Source: Mark Gurman

When Apple Inc. prepares to enter a new product category, it typically starts with a sweeping vision — then scales back its ambitions to get something practical to market.

Consider the Apple Watch. The company originally imagined a medical lab on your wrist, but the first model barely went beyond heart-rate tracking. Over time, Apple added capabilities such as irregular heart rhythm notifications and sleep apnea detection. And it’s working toward offering continuous blood-pressure and blood-sugar monitoring, inching closer to that initial vision.

Headsets tell a similar story...

Want to send in questions?
Email me, ask on the Power On Discord, or you can always send me a tweet or DM @markgurman.

News tips?
I’m on Signal at markgurman.01; Telegram at GurmanMark; or ProtonMail at markgurman@protonmail.com.

Get Tech In Depth and more Bloomberg Tech newsletters in your inbox:

• Cyber Bulletin for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage
• Game On for diving deep inside the video game business
• Screentime for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley
• Soundbite for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends
• Q&AI for answers to all your questions about AI