Tag Archives: aapl

Apple Retina MacBook 2016: Intel, Broadcom Inside; NXP Loses?

Heavyweight chipmakers Broadcom ( AVGO ), Intel ( INTC ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ) again dominated as chip suppliers for the Apple ( AAPL ) Retina MacBook 2016, according to an iFixit teardown , which notes the MacBook finally joined its iPhone and iPad cousins in rose gold solidarity. The 12-inch MacBook comes equipped with “a faster processor and zippier flash memory.” Intel again supplied the core processor and an HD graphics card, and both flash-memory NAND chips (256 gigabytes) came from Toshiba. Samsung and Micron Technology ( MU ) split the difference in other memory vectors. Two Samsung chips provide a total 8 GB of RAM, and Micron supplied a single 4 GB DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) chip. Broadcom re-won its touchscreen controller and what iFixit believes to be a wireless chipset, and STMicroelectronics ( STM ) again supplied a microcontroller. Texas Instruments supplied a total of four chips, including a system management controller. The Dallas-based chipmaker showed up six times in the earlier iteration, but the 2016 teardown wasn’t as extensive as the 2015 teardown , iFixit said. Fellow Apple supplier NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) was seemingly ousted from the Retina MacBook 2016 logic board. In the 2015 model, the teardown showed NXP supplied a microcontroller and two interface expanders. Like its 2015 counterpart, the Retina MacBook 2016 earned a 1 out of a possible 10 in repairability from iFixit. The main reason is because the display is a single, fused unit, so “if the display needs replacing, it’ll cost a pretty penny.” In early afternoon trading on the stock market today , shares of both NXP and STMicroelectronics were down 2%, while Intel and Micron stock were each down 1%. Broadcom stock was lower by a fraction, and Texas Instruments stock was up a fraction.

Forget Apple — Here Are 4 Tech Stocks Near Buy Points Pre-Earnings

More earnings reports from big-name companies are due out this week, and positive results could fuel their shares higher. A lot of attention will be on Apple ’s ( AAPL ) earnings late Tuesday, but its stock is in a downtrend. Let’s take a look at four tech stocks with earnings on tap that are trading in or near buy range: Facebook ( FB ), Amazon ( AMZN ), PayPal ( PYPL ) and Baidu ( BIDU ). Facebook reports after the close on Wednesday. Both earnings and revenue are projected to jump 48%. The social media leader is trading 6% below a cup-with-handle buy point at 117.09, and shares are looking to find support at the 50-day moving average again on the stock market today as they dip 0.8% intraday. PayPal also reports late Wednesday, with analysts expecting earnings growth of 20% on a revenue rise of 19%. PayPal is trading just below buy range from an alternate entry at 40.03, and the stock was off 1.3% Monday. It’s also trading 6% below its all-time high as it works on a larger consolidation pattern. Amazon reports after the close on Thursday. Revenue is expected to climb 23%, while the bottom line is projected to swing to a profit of 58 cents a share vs. a 12-cent loss last year. Amazon is still trading in buy range from a cup-with-handle base buy point of 603.34, which it initially broke out of two weeks ago. Shares are currently 11% below their high reached in late December, and they dipped 0.2% Monday. China Internet giant Baidu reports after the close on Thursday as well, with the bottom line projected to fall 10%. Baidu is trading 15% below its 52-week high. Shares have drifted back below a cup-with-handle buy point, but positive results could send shares back within buy range. Baidu was down 1.6% in intraday trade. Meanwhile, Apple is trading 22% below its all-time high reached a year ago and is nearing its downward-sloping 50-day line.

Feds Drop Second Big iPhone Encryption Case Against Apple

For the second time in recent weeks, the Department of Justice has dropped a legal bid to force Apple ( AAPL ) to unlock an iPhone in a criminal investigation. The DOJ said late Friday that it no longer needs Apple’s assistance to unlock an iPhone used by a New York drug dealer, because the phone’s owner provided the passcode. Just last week, Apple asked a U.S. district court judge to dismiss the case, saying the government had failed to demonstrate that it had exhausted all other options before demanding the company’s help, the Wall Street Journal reported . On March 28, the DOJ withdrew its demand that Apple help it hack an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre. The FBI reportedly paid an unidentified third party more than $1 million to unlock the iPhone. Apple has fought government attempts to get it to weaken its smartphone security, saying that would create vulnerabilities that could be exploited by criminals and hackers. The company says it is increasing security on its devices to protect users’ personal data, including financial and health information. The FBI and law enforcement officials are worried that criminals will use the built-in security on smartphones like the iPhone and software apps to “go dark.” They have found sympathetic members of Congress, including Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Burr and Feinstein have proposed legislation called the “Compliance With Court Orders Act of 2016.” As drafted, the legislation would require any individual or company to comply with any U.S. court order and hand over data to authorities, including data that is encrypted. The bill has been roundly criticized by civil liberties and digital privacy groups.