"Apple knew exactly what it was doing and at every turn chose the most anticompetitive option"
A hot potato: A federal judge in California has delivered a decisive blow to Apple's longstanding control over its App Store, ordering the tech giant to immediately halt practices that have limited competition and maintained high commissions on app sales. This ruling concludes a five-year legal battle initiated by Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, which challenged Apple's dominance in the digital app marketplace.
In context: President Trump's 104% tariff on goods imported from China is now in effect. It will have an enormous impact on many US firms, especially Apple, which relies heavily on China to manufacture its iPhones. Trump believes the solution is to start making the handsets in the US, but that would be nearly impossible, especially in the short term. And even if it were, iPhones would likely become much more expensive.
Apple's new entry-level iPhone 16e features the powerful A18 SoC, a great OLED display, and Apple AI features. However, it brings back the notch, has only one rear camera, and lacks MagSafe. If Apple Intelligence isn't a priority (why should it be?), the iPhone 15 costs just $100 more.
The big picture: Apple has introduced a redesigned version of its entry-level iPhone that is also debuting new branding. The iPhone 16e is based on the flat-edge design that Apple reintroduced with the iPhone 12 and comes packed with modern hardware and software capabilities – but at a price point that significantly increases the cost of entry compared to the old SE.