Apple emits macOS, iOS, iPadOS patches for 'exploited' security bugs

User topics

Article topics

Other stories you might like

We sat through Apple's product launch disguised as a dev event so you don't have to

M2 chip teased plus MacBooks, iOS 16, macOS 13, watchOS 9 and more

Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Mon 6 Jun 2022 // 21:36 UTC

WWDC Apple opened its 33rd annual Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday with a preview of upcoming hardware and planned changes in its mobile, desktop, and wrist accessory operating systems.
The confab consists primarily of streamed video, as it did in 2020 and 2021, though there is a limited in-person component for the favored few. Apart from the preview of Apple's homegrown Arm-compatible M2 chip – coming next month in a redesigned MacBook Air and 13" MacBook Pro – there was not much meaningful innovation. The M2 Air has a full-size touch ID button, apparently.
Apple's software-oriented enhancements consist mainly of worthy but not particularly thrilling interface and workflow improvements, alongside a handful of useful APIs and personalization capabilities. Company video performers made no mention of Apple's anticipated AR/VR headset.

Continue reading
A great day for non-robots: iOS 16 will bypass CAPTCHAs

A bot says what? Apple relies on IETF standards to remove annoyance, citing privacy and accessibility

Laura Dobberstein Tue 21 Jun 2022 // 11:45 UTC

Apple has introduced a game-changer into its upcoming iOS 16 for those who hate CAPTCHAs, in the form of a feature called Automatic Verification.
The feature does exactly what its name alludes to: automatically verifies devices and Apple ID accounts without any action from the user. When iOS 16 ships later this year, it will eliminate the frustrating requirement to select all the stops signs in a photo or decipher a string of characters.
The news was mentioned at Apple's 33rd annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) along with the usual slew of features designed to enhance the functionality of iPhones.

Continue reading
Telegram criticizes Apple for 'intentionally crippling' web app features on iOS

Native code or nothing thanks to Safari's approach to web apps

Richard Speed Tue 14 Jun 2022 // 14:00 UTC

A week after confirming plans for Telegram Premium, the messaging platform's CEO, Pavel Durov, is again criticizing Apple's approach to its Safari browser for stifling the efforts of web developers.
Durov would very much like his web-based messaging platform, Telegram Web, to be delivered as a web app rather than native, but is prevented from offering users a full-fat experience on Apple's mobile devices due to limitations in the iOS Safari browser.
There's no option for web developers on Apple's iPhone and iPad to use anything but Safari, and features taken for granted on other platforms have yet to make it to iOS.

Continue reading
Workers win vote to form first-ever US Apple Store union

Results set to be ratified by labor board by end of the week

Katyanna Quach Mon 20 Jun 2022 // 21:38 UTC

Workers at an Apple Store in Towson, Maryland have voted to form a union, making them the first of the iGiant's retail staff to do so in the United States.
Out of 110 eligible voters, 65 employees voted in support of unionization versus 33 who voted against it. The organizing committee, known as the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE), has now filed to certify the results with America's National Labor Relations Board. Members joining this first-ever US Apple Store union will be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).
"I applaud the courage displayed by CORE members at the Apple store in Towson for achieving this historic victory," IAM's international president Robert Martinez Jr said in a statement on Saturday. "They made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees across the nation who had all eyes on this election."

Continue reading
Apple lets devs in South Korea switch payment providers – with a lot of legwork

iPhone seller makes changing to a third party payment platform expensive and difficult. We're shocked. Shocked

Richard Speed Fri 1 Jul 2022 // 03:57 UTC

A crack in Apple's walled garden appeared yesterday as the iPhone vendor opened up an option for alternative in-app payment processing within apps distributed in South Korea.
The commission levied by Apple for in-app transactions, which can be up to 30 percent, has long irked app developers. Epic Games famously went before US courts to protest Apple's rules and lost.
South Korea's lawmakers, however, took matters into their own hands and targeted Google and Apple with a law requiring both to open their app stores to third party payment options. Google made its update at the beginning of the year, effectively cutting its service fee by four percent.

Continue reading
Apple's guy in charge of stopping insider trading guilty of … insider trading

He had one job

Laura Dobberstein Fri 1 Jul 2022 // 04:58 UTC

One of Apple's most senior legal executives, whom the iGiant trusted to prevent insider trading, has admitted to insider trading.
Gene Levoff pleaded guilty to six counts of security fraud stemming from a February 2019 complaint, according to a Thursday announcement from the US Department of Justice on Thursday.
Levoff used non-public information about Apple's financial results to inform his trades on Apple stock, earning himself $227,000 and avoiding $377,000 of losses. He was able to access the information as he served as co-chairman of Apple's Disclosure Committee, which reviewed the company's quarterly draft, annual report and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

Continue reading
The App Gap and supply chains: Purism CEO on what's ahead for the Librem 5 USA

Freedoms eroded, iOS-Android duopoly under fire, chip sources questioned – it's all an opportunity for this phone

Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Sat 2 Jul 2022 // 10:07 UTC

Interview In June, Purism began shipping a privacy-focused smartphone called Librem 5 USA that runs on a version of Linux called PureOS rather than Android or iOS. As the name suggests, it's made in America – all the electronics are assembled in its Carlsbad, California facility, using as many US-fabricated parts as possible.
While past privacy-focused phones, such as Silent Circle's Android-based Blackphone failed to win much market share, the political situation is different now than it was seven years ago.
Supply-chain provenance has become more important in recent years, thanks to concerns about the national security implications of foreign-made tech gear. The Librem 5 USA comes at a cost, starting at $1,999, though there are now US government agencies willing to pay that price for homegrown hardware they can trust – and evidently tech enthusiasts, too.

Continue reading
FTC urged to probe Apple, Google for enabling ‘intense system of surveillance’

Ad tracking poses a privacy and security risk in post-Roe America, lawmakers warn

Jessica Lyons Hardcastle Mon 27 Jun 2022 // 18:44 UTC

Democrat lawmakers want the FTC to investigate Apple and Google's online ad trackers, which they say amount to unfair and deceptive business practices and pose a privacy and security risk to people using the tech giants' mobile devices.
US Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and House Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) requested on Friday that the watchdog launch a probe into Apple and Google, hours before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, clearing the way for individual states to ban access to abortions.
In the days leading up to the court's action, some of these same lawmakers had also introduced data privacy bills, including a proposal that would make it illegal for data brokers to sell sensitive location and health information of individuals' medical treatment.

Continue reading
Apple offers improved Linux support in macOS Ventura

Penguin fans will be able to use Rosetta 2 to run x86 binaries in forthcoming update

Liam Proven in Prague Thu 9 Jun 2022 // 20:00 UTC

Apple is extending support for its Rosetta 2 x86-64-to-Arm binary translator to Linux VMs running under the forthcoming macOS 13, codenamed Ventura.
The next version of macOS was announced at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference on Monday, and the new release has a number of changes that will be significant to Linux users. The company has disclosed the system requirements for the beta OS, which you can read on the preview page.
One level of Linux relevance is that macOS 13 still supports Intel-based Macs, but only recent ones, made in 2017 and later. So owners of older machines – including the author – will soon be cut off. Some will run Windows on them via Bootcamp, but others will, of course, turn to Linux.

Continue reading
Apple update approach 'not realistic' in enterprise, but login 'shim' gets thumbsup

JumpCloud SME report also finds remote workers getting better at following best security practices

Richard Speed Mon 20 Jun 2022 // 10:45 UTC

Not many people are talking about Apple's recent WWDC from an enterprise standpoint. But identity and machine management tool maker JumpCloud says a "shim" to connect "the login to the device through to the Safari browser" is a notable development.
JumpCloud provides identity services, which is why chief strategy officer Greg Keller zeroed in on the feature, which his company details further in its latest IT trends report.
The result, said Keller, was "an even more powerful login experience into these devices."

Continue reading