Apple is objecting to GT Advanced Technologies' financing plan over concerns that it would undermine its existing settlement reached with the bankrupt sapphire crystal supplier last year, reports Re/code. GT Advanced reached a settlement with Apple in October 2014 after failing to produce sapphire crystal of the quality desired by the Cupertino-based company for potential use in future products.
GT Advanced is attempting to restructure by raising $95 million through a loan agreement under the supervision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Hampshire, but the financing plan is contingent upon the company receiving enough insurance money to repair any damage to sapphire furnaces following a fire at its former Mesa, Arizona facility a few months ago.
GT Advanced's inspection equipment damaged in Mesa facility fire last May
Apple argues that GT Advanced already determined damage at the facility to be minimal, adding that the terms of the loan agreement give lenders too much leverage to foreclose on the sapphire furnaces that GT Advanced is supposed to sell in order to repay Apple. A group of GT Advanced shareholders have also reportedly questioned why the company needs to raise money nine months into bankruptcy.
GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy last October after it became clear the company was spending over one million dollars per day to run its operations, despite being unable to produce sapphire acceptably by Apple's standards. The company began winding down its sapphire production and decommissioning the furnaces to prepare them for storage and resale through the end of last year.
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature.
According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple today announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles.
CarPlay Ultra features deep integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in Radio and Climate apps, customizable widgets, and more. The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can also adjust...
President Donald Trump has asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to halt the company's manufacturing expansion in India, in a potential disruption of Apple's plan to shift iPhone production away from China.
"I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said during his state visit to Qatar, according to Bloomberg. "He is building all over India."
"They [India] have offered us a deal where...
Apple this week introduced a new feature designed to allow prospective Apple Music users to import their saved music and playlists from third-party music services to Apple Music.
The feature is either in an expanded testing phase or it has started rolling out, and it is available in Australia and New Zealand according to an Apple Support document. Signs of the transfer option first surfaced...
The first videos of Apple's CarPlay Ultra experience are now available, providing a never-before-seen look at the long-anticipated iPhone-linked infotainment software.
British automaker Aston Martin today shared the first video of Apple's CarPlay Ultra experience in-action, followed by a detailed walk-through of the CarPlay Ultra system on Top Gear's YouTube channel, which provides the...
Apple today released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, the fifth updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 come a little over a month after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. The iOS 18.5 update has a...
On Friday, Epic Games submitted Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and since then, we've been waiting to see if Apple would approve the game and allow it back on the iPhone and the iPad. There's been no word from Apple so far, but Epic Games opted to pull its first App Store review request, and has now resubmitted Fortnite.
Fortnite leaker Shiina shared the news, with the information reposted by...
This is such an interesting story. I really wish someone would do an in depth investigative report on it. For a could years there were so many rumor/news stories about how sapphire was going to be the best thing since sliced bread. When Apple contracted with this company the stories talked about how this was such a game change and that Samsung and other phone makers were going to be years behind the curve on sapphire.
Then seemingly over night Apple pulls its contract and GT declares bankrucy. Then stories come out about how the executives of GT dumped their stocks only weeks earlier. Then, after seemingly after all is lost, Apple announces they're going to repurpose the facilities. Now this fire.
I'm not arguing a conspiracy theory, but I feel like there have been so many interesting twists in the story that it really deserves an in depth look at what really happened here.
Apple's contract to buy GT's equipment and facilities might be null and void because of the bankruptcy filing.
Say, I have $1,000,000 in debt and I sell my 3 yachts to someone for $500,000. Then I declare bankruptcy. According to the law in the United States, I can't give up my property and then declare bankruptcy - this is fraud. The other debtors want their share of the bankruptcy estate (which the yachts were part of. Any transactions in the prior 2 years are looked into and can all be taken back.
Apples contract to buy GT's equipment is *part* of the bankruptcy. It is how Apple is going to be able to recover their investment. Trying to get a loan which uses that same equipment as collateral *after* agreeing to sell them to Apple during the bankruptcy proceedings is more than a little shady.
GT can't be trusted ... they have proven that - they are for the quick money with fishy methods, they have no respect for contracts they sign or anything they promise and blame everyone else for their own failure.
Apple's contract to buy GT's equipment and facilities might be null and void because of the bankruptcy filing.
Say, I have $1,000,000 in debt and I sell my 3 yachts to someone for $500,000. Then I declare bankruptcy. According to the law in the United States, I can't give up my property and then declare bankruptcy - this is fraud. The other debtors want their share of the bankruptcy estate (which the yachts were part of. Any transactions in the prior 2 years are looked into and can all be taken back.
