Apple to Invest Over 1 bn Euros in Munich Microchip R&D Hub

The logo of Apple company is seen outside an Apple store in Paris, France, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
The logo of Apple company is seen outside an Apple store in Paris, France, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
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Apple to Invest Over 1 bn Euros in Munich Microchip R&D Hub

The logo of Apple company is seen outside an Apple store in Paris, France, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
The logo of Apple company is seen outside an Apple store in Paris, France, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

US tech giant Apple said Wednesday it planned to invest more than one billion euros ($1.2 billion) in Germany and open Europe's biggest research facility on mobile wireless semiconductors and software.

Apple said it would make Munich its "European Silicon Design Center", creating hundreds of new jobs at a facility for 5G and wireless technologies.

"I couldn’t be more excited for everything our Munich engineering teams will discover -- from exploring the new frontiers of 5G technology, to a new generation of technologies," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

"Munich has been a home to Apple for four decades," he added.

Apple has had a base in Munich since 1981 and now has hundreds of engineers developing microchips at its centers in southern Germany.

The latest investment in the region would "exceed one billion euros in the next three years alone", the company said.

It added that the planned new facility in Munich, slated to open in 2022, would host "Apple’s growing cellular unit, and Europe’s largest R&D site for mobile wireless semiconductors and software".

The announcement comes a day after the EU said it aims to capture 20 percent of the world's semiconductor market by 2030 as Europe looks to become a tech power to rival the US and China.

Under a new roadmap, the European Commission also wants the EU to develop its first quantum computer before the end of the decade in order to be ready for a new era in fast computing.

A key component in everyday products such as cars and mobile phones, semiconductors are currently in short supply worldwide and Europe is dependent on Chinese and American imports in a market estimated at 440 billion euros ($523 billion) a year.

Shortages, caused by changes in supply chains because of the coronavirus pandemic, have forced some major German manufacturers including Volkswagen to suspend production lines.



Windows’ Infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Will Soon Turn Black

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Windows’ Infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Will Soon Turn Black

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Nearly every Windows user has had a run in with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” at some point in their computing life. Now, after more than 40 years of being set against a very recognizable blue, the updated error message will soon be displayed across a black background.

The changes to the notorious error screen come as part of broader efforts by Microsoft to improve the resiliency of the Windows operating system in the wake of last year’s CrowdStrike incident, which crashed millions of Windows machines worldwide.

“Now it’s easier than ever to navigate unexpected restarts and recover faster,” Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft wrote in a Wednesday announcement.

As part of that effort, Microsoft says it's “streamlining” what users experience when encountering “unexpected restarts” that cause disruptions. And that means a makeover to the infamous error screen.

Beyond the now-black background, Windows' new “screen of death” has a slightly shorter message. It's also no longer accompanied by a frowning face and instead shows a percentage completed for the restart process.

Microsoft says this “simplified” user interface for unexpected restarts will be available later this summer on all of its Windows 11 (version 24H2) devices.

And for PCs that may not restart successfully, Microsoft on Wednesday also said it is adding a “quick machine recovery” mechanism. This will be particularly useful for during a widespread outage, the tech giant noted, as Microsoft “can broadly deploy targeted remediations” and automate fixes with this new mechanism “without requiring complex manual intervention from IT.”

Microsoft said this quick machine recovery will also be “generally available” later this summer on Window 11 with additional capabilities set to launch later in the year.