Apple delivers desktop, mobile OS updates, patches dozens of security holes

This week Apple released software revisions for its desktop, mobile, watch, and TV operating systems, along with application updates and security patches. MacOS Monterey got bumped to version 12.3, bringing with it 60 security fixes, eight of which involved potential arbitrary code execution. The desktop OS update also …

[Mayday]

Been looking forward to this one.

First time I've looked forward to an OS upgrade for quite a while.

Want to see how well Universal Control goes. Been using copy and paste between devices for as long as its been out and I quite like it.

If I don't post here tomorrow then that means it didn't go too well and my lappy and iDevice quiver have all gone to shit.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Been looking forward to this one. Meh at best.

I really don't see the point of going through all the hassle with Apple Updates until the final year end version of Monterey is released, (on the release of the next version of MacOS). I prefer to stick to last year's major release, and for older kit, where I can, I'm still on aligned on High Sierra (and happy with it) and it's magnitudes faster on similar hardware to Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur.

Much prefer Apple HFS+ to APFS, because there is such a lack of third party apps (if any) that can read and enlarge/shrink APFS file systems. Paragon Hard Disk Manager can see a partition is APFS, but can't do much with it.

Everything after High Sierra, is pretty much bloat, superficial eye-candy. I couldn't care less about dynamic desktop backgrounds, that change with the day. The way Apple hyped Universal Control in the recent keynote, felt the same as Apple hyping dual/triple display, yet that has been around since the Matrox Parhelia-512 days, 20 years ago and longer if you count dual display on the Matrox 550. You'd think no else had ever thought of it beforehand, the way Tim Cook professes about such things.

KVM Solutions aren't new, maybe this will be better, but it's marginal at best.

Cut to the chase...

I'd much rather Apple announced extended support for High Sierra and up, due to Covid, the constant product refresh / churn when at times many Apple users were twiddling their thumbs due to lockdown is getting tedious. Much of the Apple kit bought in 2019 really hasn't been fully utilised and is heading for landfill soon enough.

Plus, the fact that lockdown hasn't been a cash cow for everyone, keeping up with Apple's product refresh is hard work if you're a developer. The latest Xcode requires Mojave.

I get it, they are pushing the M1 transition through, and there is little mercy for Intel users, but we buy this stuff, and the push for profit is at the expense of Apple's 'real' users, not their superficial influencer YouTube crowd.

In a word, Tim Cook, give people some slack to catch up.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Been looking forward to this one. Meh at best.

Much of the Apple kit bought in 2019 really hasn't been fully utilised and is heading for landfill soon enough.

Weirdly, my 2019 Intel MacBook is as happy running the betas as my mini M1..

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Been looking forward to this one.

I'm on the beta path and have been playing with it for a while. It works, but if you have a large screen (which I have) you'll have to check where MacOS has placed the iOS screen.

I would have liked it for the iPhone too, I'm not as thumb-dextrous as the tweeting and instagramming younger generation :).

[DS999]

Glad they got Face ID working with face masks

Just in time for pretty much everyone to have lifted mask mandates/recommendations!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Glad they got Face ID working with face masks

.. but quite early on they added a verification feature via the Watch which did the same thing on partial recognition. Maybe they've sold enough Watches now?

[Dan 55]

Re: Glad they got Face ID working with face masks

Be interesting to know what banks think about allowing card payments with partial recognition. Or maybe they don't particularly care judging by their efforts in other areas when it comes to security (yeah, SMS is fiiine...).

[marcellothearcane]

Re: Glad they got Face ID working with face masks

Banks probably don't care - after all, they issued contactless bank cards that don't even need to be removed from your wallet (or pocket).

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/contactless-payment-card-theft-how-is-the-data-stolen-and-what-can-i-do-to-protect-myself-10409319.html

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Glad they got Face ID working with face masks

You mean just in time for a special Apple iMask, to go with the technology.

[Anonymous Coward]

UC. List of prerequisites reads like a Reader's Digest Prize Draw. Exclusions apply, (aplenty).

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212757

Universal Control system requirements

Universal Control requires a compatible Mac using macOS Monterey 12.3 or later and a compatible iPad using iPadOS 15.4 or later:

MacBook introduced in 2016 or later

MacBook Pro introduced in 2016 or later

MacBook Air introduced in 2018 or later

Mac mini introduced in 2018 or later

iMac introduced in 2017 or later, plus iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

iMac Pro introduced in 2017

Mac Pro introduced in 2019 or later

Can be paired with only these iPad devices:

iPad Pro (all models)

iPad (6th generation) or later

iPad Air (3rd generation) or later

iPad mini (5th generation) or later

Additional requirements

Each device must be signed in with the same Apple ID using two-factor authentication. ** Universal Control does not support Managed Apple IDs. ** Each device must be within 10 meters (30 feet) of each other and have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Handoff turned on. ** Your iPad must not be sharing its cellular connection and your Mac must not be sharing its internet connection. **

If yu geet throogh alll thaat,., itss theen youu reealiise youurr maacbouk iss ona witth aa buttteflyy keeybooard!!?!

[macjules]

“gender-neutral voice”

Speaking as someone still blissfully fast asleep, I.e. not “woke”, could a kind individual help me out here and explain what a gender-neutral voice is?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: “gender-neutral voice”

If it's anything like phoning Barclaycard or Natwest's automated system (the same off-the-shelf system), with a 20-minute+ current wait time, (once quieter times are now just as busy) a gender-neutral voice, is a voice designed to make you think dark dystopian negative thoughts about where we're all heading with our overuse of technology.

It's not gender-neutral, but it certainly isn't female either. If anything, I imagine someone at Dignitas having this type of voice as they welcome you, for a bout of euthanasia.

Even with these new features Apple has rolled out, you'd think Universal Control would be a fairly simple concept to get your head around, until you see the list of prerequisites.

[Dan 55]

Re: “gender-neutral voice”

This. Make of that what you will.

[Craig 2]

Re: “gender-neutral voice”

Will they come with GPP though?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: “gender-neutral voice”

Having listened to the options, I have decided I'll stay old fashioned and label it as "camp".

I'm OK with gender. My GPS runs a female voice for the same reason as my wife's GPS is set up with a male voice: easier to ignore if traffic gets busy and you have to pay attention :).