Intel to Get Advanced ASML Chipmaking Tool Later this Year – Executive

FILE PHOTO: Intel Corporation's Fab 42 microprocessor manufacturing site is seen in Chandler, Arizona, US, October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Nellis/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Intel Corporation's Fab 42 microprocessor manufacturing site is seen in Chandler, Arizona, US, October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Nellis/File Photo
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Intel to Get Advanced ASML Chipmaking Tool Later this Year – Executive

FILE PHOTO: Intel Corporation's Fab 42 microprocessor manufacturing site is seen in Chandler, Arizona, US, October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Nellis/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Intel Corporation's Fab 42 microprocessor manufacturing site is seen in Chandler, Arizona, US, October 2, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Nellis/File Photo

Intel expects to receive its first next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography machine, the High-NA EUV, from Dutch manufacturer ASML later this year, a senior executive at the US chipmaker told Reuters on Friday.

"I was in ASML on Monday. We should be getting that (the High-NA EUV) later this year. They're working on putting it all together and getting it ready. So, so far, so good," Ann Kelleher, Intel's general manager of technology development, said in an interview.

"It should be shipped to us later this year. Our expectation is that by late this year, we will have all the various pieces of the machine so that early next year, ASML will be able to start the assembly of it in Oregon," Intel's development site, she said.



Iran Lifts Its Ban on Imports of New iPhone Models in Place Since Last Year

 The Apple iPhone 16 is displayed at the Apple Fifth Avenue store on Sept. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The Apple iPhone 16 is displayed at the Apple Fifth Avenue store on Sept. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP)
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Iran Lifts Its Ban on Imports of New iPhone Models in Place Since Last Year

 The Apple iPhone 16 is displayed at the Apple Fifth Avenue store on Sept. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The Apple iPhone 16 is displayed at the Apple Fifth Avenue store on Sept. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP)

Iranians will soon be able to get their hands on iPhones 14, 15 and 16 after authorities lifted a ban on new smartphone models by the US tech giant Apple, according to an announcement Wednesday.

The ban on new iPhone models had been in place since 2023 but now, the country's telecommunications minister said authorities are allowing the registration of the new models.

The minister, Satar Hashemi, said on X that the problem of registering new iPhone models on the Iranian market was “solved” and that Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian backed the efforts of the communication ministry toward that goal.

Hashemi did not elaborate but said the import measures would be announced, soon.

Following the 2023 ban, iPhone 13 and older versions could still be imported amid high demand for an item that remains a status symbol for many young Iranians.

While the ban was in place, any iPhone 14, 15 or a newer model brought into Iran would stop working on Iran’s state-controlled mobile phone networks after one month, the time span for tourists allowed to visit the county.

The ban spurred a parallel economy for the older handsets, jacking up prices for the devices as many sought to put their depreciating Iranian rials into any physical commodity. It was a sign of the economic woes plaguing Iran after decades of Western sanctions.

Imports of iPhones have long been a contentious point — government statistics suggest that about a third of Iran’s entire $4.4 billion mobile phone import market consisted of iPhones before the ban.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2020 pointedly criticized iPhone imports though he had previously slammed what he described as all American luxury goods.

“Excessive imports are something dangerous,” Khamenei said at the time, according to a transcript on his official website. “Sometimes this import is a luxury product, meaning there is no need for it. I’ve heard about half a billion dollars were spent to import one type of American luxury cellphone.”

However, other foreign smartphone brands such as Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, Xiaomi and Huawei remain widely available in Iran.