CultCast #247 - Kahney’s Shady Banana Tree Holdings INC

This week: what new hardware will Apple bestow upon us at the iPhone 7 event next week?  Don’t miss our predictions!  Plus: new video shows iPhone 7 Plus in the wild;  and we explain Apple’s Irish tax woes, then argue about it.   This episode supported by   Build a beautiful, responsive website quick at Squarespace.com.  Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful. Easiest   Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them.  Learn why and get $50 towards any mattress at Casper.com/cultcast.   We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.   On the show this week @erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney   What do you think we’ll see at Apple’s iPhone 7 event?  Join us on Reddit! https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCultCast/comments/505z3f/the_apple_event_is_on_september_7_what_are_we_all/   Intro, who needs a desk? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVUGFUhFj94   Decoding Apple’s blurry iPhone 7 invite http://www.cultofmac.com/443579/decoding-apples-blurry-iphone-7-invite/   Apple sends out invites for iPhone 7 event on September 7 http://www.cultofmac.com/443570/apple-sends-out-invite-for-september-7th-iphone-event/

• Apple just sent out press invitation to a special event to be held September 7 at 10 a.m. Pacific. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are expected to be unveiled at the event.
• A dual-lens camera on the iPhone 7 Plus could be the most groundbreaking new feature added this year. Other additions are likely to include a new pressure-sensitive Touch ID button, a faster A10 processor, an improved camera on the iPhone 7 Plus, and a new casing with fewer antenna lines. The iPhone 7 will also boast faster LTE, a bigger battery and more.

  Apple will package Lightning EarPods and adapter with iPhone 7 http://www.cultofmac.com/443774/apple-will-package-lightning-earpods-and-adapter-with-iphone-7/

• A new image circulating online, purporting to be insert documentation for the upcoming iPhone 7, appears to confirm that Apple will be bundling Lightning EarPods as part of its next-gen handsets.

  New video shows working iPhone 7 Plus in the wild http://www.cultofmac.com/443859/new-video-shows-working-iphone-7-plus-in-the-wild/#more-443859

• Notorious Apple leaker Sonny Dickson posted a short video of the three plus-size iPhones this morning, confirming many of the rumors that have claimed this year’s update won’t contain any huge design changes.
• The back of the iPhone 7 Plus in Dickson’s video reveals that the device will indeed come with a highly anticipated dual-lens camera, though it won’t pick up a Smart Connector

  Tim Cook: Apple’s tax bill will have a ‘harmful’ effect on investment in EU http://www.cultofmac.com/443656/tim-cook-apples-tax-bill-will-have-a-harmful-effect-on-investment-in-eu/ http://www.businessinsider.com/what-just-happened-to-apple-explained-2016-8

• Tim Cook has written an open letter addressing Apple’s enormous tax bill
• The European Union recently ruled that Apple owes  €13 billion ($14.52 billion) in back taxes
• Cook also states that suggestions Apple has an illegal sweetheart deal in Ireland, “has no basis in fact or in law,” confirms Apple will appeal the European Commission’s ruling
• The Irish government has said it is happy with its tax arrangement with Apple and doesn’t want the money.
• Ireland’s finance ministry has sided with Apple, and said it “disagrees profoundly” with the decision.
• The European Commission's issue is really not with Apple but with Ireland.
• The commission is not a tax authority; instead, its job is to maintain fairness between the EU member states.
• Countries are able to set their own tax rates, but country can’t offer something special that's seen as benefiting an individual company.
• In 1991,  Ireland (who’s economy was struggling) signed off on a plan in which Apple would move money to a stateless "head office”.
• "Apple entered into a deal with Ireland to not pay tax on all those profits,” and Apple paid "an arbitrarily small amount to Ireland in return for a promise to keep jobs in Ireland.” (The kept 6000 there.)
• Low corporate tax was one way Ireland improved its economy and attracted big companies, and Apple was one of the early companies to benefit.