Ireland

iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via satellite service expands to more countries

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Apple launches free Emergency SOS via satellite on all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models
iPhone 14 can now communicate with satellites in more countries.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple is expanding iPhone 14’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature to more countries. The feature is now available to iPhone 14 owners in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Ireland starting today.

Emergency SOS was only available in the United States and Canada so far. Apple previously confirmed the feature would expand to more countries in December.

Apple’s plan for $1 billion Irish data center isn’t dead yet

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Irishcenter
A mock up of Apple's proposed data center in Ireland.
Photo: Apple

Apple seems to be reviving plans to build a $1 billion data center in Athenry, Ireland.

It looked like the project was dead after Apple said in 2018 that “delays in the approval process” forced it to make other plans. But the company has now submitted a second application to extend planning permission.

Ireland’s data protection boss questions Apple over Siri privacy

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Siri Lights
How private are your conversations with Siri?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is questioning Apple over privacy concerns raised by an ex-contractor who transcribed users’ Siri requests in an effort to improve the voice assistant’s functionality.

Former Apple contractor Thomas le Bonniec this week said Apple should be “urgently investigated” over Siri data collection. It seems that the EU’s data protection authorities are listening.

Disney+ racks up 5 million downloads on launch day in Europe

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Disney+ has finally landed in the UK.
Photo: Apple

The Disney+ mobile app is off to a roaring start in Europe and the UK just days after it launched earlier this week.

Third-party app analytics firm App Annie revealed that the Disney+ app has been downloaded over 5 million times on launch day, possibly thanks to millions of residents having to shelter-in-place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Apple’s $15 billion in back taxes won’t help Ireland during COVID-19

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International governments plan to rethink tax rules for the ‘digital age’
The cash is right there -- but not for the taking.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

Ireland is not allowed to use the 14 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in disputed back taxes it collected from Apple to help boost its economy during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.

Yesterday, the leader of the opposition Sinn Féin party, Mary Lou McDonald, said the Irish government could “right this minute” reach into the escrow account where the funds are held and use them to help workers. However, Taoiseach politician Leo Varadkar says that simply isn’t the case.

2 new cases of coronavirus reported at Apple’s Irish HQ

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Apple's headquarters in Cork, Ireland.
This brings total number of cases to at Hollyhill office to three.
Photo: Jan Zuppinger/Flickr CC

Two more cases of coronavirus have been detected at Apple’s Ireland HQ in Hollyhill, County Cork, a report published Friday by Irish news outlet The Echo.

This brings the number of COVID-19 cases reported at the Irish Apple offices to three. The first case was confirmed by Apple on Tuesday.

Apple confirms an employee at its Cork, Ireland, campus has COVID-19

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Apple-Store-logo
This takes the total number of cases in Ireland to 24.
Photo: Laurenz Heymann/Unsplash

Apple on Tuesday confirmed that an employee at its Cork, Ireland, campus has contracted COVID-19.

The employee is now in self-isolation while Apple is deep cleaning all its offices, and some workers have been asked to remain at home while further assessments are carried out. Apple insists, however, that the risk to others is low.

Apple’s Foundation series will be Ireland’s largest-ever production

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Troystudios
This is where the bulk of Foundation's filming will take place.
Photo: Troy Studios

Apple’s TV series adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s science fiction novel trilogy, Foundation, is set to become the largest studio production in the history of Ireland.

During a press conference today, Screen Ireland revealed that Apple will create more than 500 jobs when it begins production on Foundation later this year. With its gigantic budget and epic world-building plot, Apple clearly thinks Foundation could be its answer to Game of Thrones, which was also shot in Ireland.

Tim Cook calls for global overhaul of corporate taxes

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Tim Cook delivers the goods at Apple's iPhone 11 event.
Cook says worldwide corporate tax reform is "desperately" needed and that Euroepan privacy regulation needs tightening.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook called for worldwide corporate tax reform Monday, saying the tech giant “desperately” wants the system to be fair.

Speaking in Ireland at an awards event, Cook said he thinks “logically everybody knows it needs to be rehauled. I would certainly be the last person to say that the current system or the past system was the perfect system.”

Ireland will award Tim Cook for 40 years of Apple investment

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Tim Cook talks diversity, sustainability, and coming out as gay
Cook’s award shelf is quickly running out of room.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to receive a Special Recognition Award for the company’s 40 years of investment in Ireland, the IDA confirmed to Cult of Mac.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will present Cook with the accolade on January 20 in Dublin. It may be met with criticism from some as Apple continues to pay back €13 billion in unpaid Irish taxes.

Politicians receive frightening threats over canceled Apple data center

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Politicians receive frightening threats about cancelled Apple data center
Apple cancelled the data center project last year.
Photo: Apple

A former councillor who supported Apple’s bid to build a $960 million data center in Athenry, Ireland, confirms that he was sent frightening threats about Apple’s decision to cancel the project.

Apple officially ditched its plans for a giant data center in County Galway last year. However, the threatening letters — sent to a number of politicians — demand that the data center is approved.

Fund containing Apple’s giant EU tax bill lost $18 million last year

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
The escrow contains Apple's massive $16 billion fine.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The escrow fund containing the massive $16 billion fine Apple was commanded to pay by the EU declined by $18 million last year.

The funds are being held in an escrow account while appeals by Apple and Ireland make their way through the court. In the meantime, the money is invested — but, at least based on last year, not as successfully as hoped.

Ireland probes Apple’s compliance with strict EU privacy rules

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Anti-robocall bill is one step closer to being passed into law
EU law sets strict privacy rules, and it’s the job of an Irish commissioner to be sure Apple is following them.
Photo: rawpixel.com/Pexels CC

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner is looking into whether Apple is following all the requirements of the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation privacy law.

The DPC has three investigations going into Apple’s business practices, each covering a different aspect of the GDPR legislation. There are far more ongoing probes into how Facebook handles user privacy.

Apple’s clever tax practices make it Ireland’s biggest company

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And the winner is Guinne.. no, obviously it's Apple!
Photo: Scott Thompson/Flickr CC

Move over Guinness, hold the Jameson’s, and don’t even think about Kerrygold. When it comes to Ireland’s biggest company, no-one holds a candle to, err, Apple.

You know, that company headquartered in California, which builds products in China, and sells them everywhere on the planet.

Construction halts on Apple data center in Denmark

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Irishcenter
A mock up of Apple's proposed data center in Ireland.
Photo: Apple

Construction has been abandoned on Apple’s new data center in Denmark, according to local reports.

“There is no life” at the site after hundreds of workers for main contractor Exyte were sent home. It is believed Apple has terminated its agreement with the company following a dispute.

Apple’s aborted data center still causing problems in Ireland

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Politicians receive frightening threats about cancelled Apple data center
The data center as it would have looked.
Photo: Apple

Endless delays may have caused Apple to ditch its plans for a giant data center in County Galway in Ireland, but the repercussions are still being felt.

Galways’s Supreme Court will sit in March to hear an appeal regarding whether An Bord Pleanála, the independent planning body, “breached its legal obligations” by approving the first part of the proposed $960 million Apple development.

Ireland won’t be sued over Apple’s giant tax bill

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Apple's headquarters in Cork, Ireland.
Apple's headquarters in Cork, Ireland.
Photo: Jan Zuppinger/Flickr CC

The European Commission has decided that it won’t sue Ireland over delays in recovering a 13.1 billion euro ($15 billion) disputed tax bill from Apple.

The European Court of Justice action against Ireland was initiated in October 2017 after the country failed to get Apple to pay up one year after the European Union handed Apple the massive tax bill.

Apple makes last payment on $16.7 billion in Irish back taxes

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money
Even given Apple's $1 trillion valuation, $16.7 billion in back taxes is a big chunk of money Apple hopes it will get back.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple has now transferred all €14.3 billion it has been ordered to pay Ireland for back taxes. The cash will stay in an escrow fund while Ireland tries to convince the EU that Apple should get its money back.

This is part of an on-going saga with the EU accusing Ireland of being a tax haven, and Apple caught in the middle.

Tim Cook talks taxes and failed Irish data center in new interview

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brand intimacy
Apple CEO Tim Cook likes to get close to the fans.
Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a quick stop in Ireland this week where he promised the country he’s interested in it for more than its sweet tax rate.

The company’s relationship with Ireland has been rocky the last year. Apple scrapped plans to build a billion-dollar data center and lost its tax deal, but Cook says he’s still as committed to the country as ever.

Tim Cook opens new Apple office in Cork, Ireland

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Irish flag
Apple has been based in Cork since 1980.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook is in County Cork, Ireland today, opening the new expansion of Apple’s Hollyhill site — creating many jobs in the process.

Apple is Cork’s largest private employer, having had a presence in the area for decades. It is home to Apple’s only wholly owned manufacturing facility in the world, building “made-to-order” iMacs for customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Apple starts paying off its massive $16 billion European tax bill

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple's payment means EU will drop may drop its lawsuit against Ireland.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has transferred the first 1.5 billion euro ($1.18 billion) installment of its $16 billion fine ordered by the European Union, reflecting back taxes the company supposedly hasn’t paid.

The payment was confirmed today by Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe. In response to Apple paying up, EU authorities are reportedly open to dropping a lawsuit against Ireland for failing to do more to chase Apple’s debt.

U.S. can’t help Apple in its fight against EU

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
U.S. government won’t be able to aid Apple in its fight against European Union.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The U.S. wanted to be in Apple’s corner for its battle against the European Union, but a ruling from the EU’s highest court means that the United States is going to have to keep its distance.

The court upheld a previous December decision from a lower court, stating that the American government has not proved that it has any direct interest in the state aid case against Apple.