Apple announces a new MacBook Pro, tech stocks take a dip and Uber Eats shuts down in seven markets.
Here’s your Daily Crunch for May 4, 2020.
1. The 13-inch MacBook Pro gets Apple’s much-improved keyboard
Following in the footsteps of the MacBook Air and 16-inch Pro, Apple’s 13-inch Pro model is finally getting the company’s much improved keyboard. It’s probably not enough reason for recent MacBook buyers to upgrade, but it could push the indecisive over the edge.
The updated system is available through Apple’s site as of today, priced starting at $1,299 (or $100 for qualified education buyers).
2. Tech stocks open lower ahead of another busy earnings week
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is off 0.55% this morning, putting it 13% off its record highs set this year, but also up 29% from its recent lows. Meanwhile, the Bessemer-Nasdaq cloud index is off 0.85% today after shedding nearly 3% in last week’s final trading session.
3. Uber Eats exits seven markets, transfers one as part of competitive retooling
Uber Eats is shuttering its on-demand food offering in the Czech Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Ukraine. It’s also transferring its Uber Eats business operations in the United Arab Emirates to Careem, its wholly owned ride-hailing subsidiary that’s mostly focused on the Middle East.
4. AWS engineer Tim Bray resigns from Amazon following worker firings
As many Amazon workers called out sick for a May Day Strike, Tim Bray was spending his final day at the company. The VP and Distinguished Engineer at Amazon Web Services announced today that May 1 was his final day with the retail giant, citing Amazon’s firings of vocally critical employees.
5. As COVID-19 dries up funding, only drought-resistant cannabis startups will survive
TechCrunch recently spoke to Schwazze CEO Justin Dye, who’s hoping to create a healthier, vertically integrated cannabis company. He told us that during the COVID-19 crisis, cannabis companies must hunker down — once the skies start to clear, capital will be available to the survivors. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
You can now debunk thousands of coronavirus-related hoaxes with a few texts on WhatsApp. Users can test the chatbot by either saving +1 (727) 2912606 as a contact number and texting the word “hi.”
7. This week’s TechCrunch podcasts
The Equity team discussed a new funding round for design platform Figma, then put out a (slightly) shorter episode about recent earnings reports. Meanwhile, Original Content had episodes reviewing the Netflix action movie “Extraction” and the comedy improv show “Middleditch & Schwartz.”
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