Mainstream and technology media report that stalkers and criminals use AirTags to track unsuspecting people and aid in car theft. Do a handful of anecdotes truly reveal a broader pattern?

USB-C was supposed to make connectivity easier. Instead, it has acquired a profusion of footnotes, exceptions, and labeling that can leave average users frustrated—and with the wrong cable. USB 4 and Thunderbolt 4 are our last best hope.

Apple has sued the notorious NSO Group and will be funding two prominent research groups that specialize in discovering and describing cyber surveillance attacks. These moves appear to be the first step in a new strategy against companies that weaponize operating system flaws to profit off surveillance.

With iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and Safari 15 for macOS, you can add two-factor authentication codes directly to password entries. When you log into a website or app later, the token auto-fills, saving fuss.

You’d think that three separate continuous file-archiving systems would have been enough to protect Glenn Fleishman from his own mistake after modifying a file whose original he wanted to see. Unfortunately, circumstances conspired. His cautionary tale offers a lesson.

Glenn Fleishman’s 14-year relationship with Quicken 2007 finally ended this year. But it took a dead motherboard, an old Mac mini, and a conveniently timed tip for him to break with his accounting software past.

Chipolo previously offered trackers that operated only via its own network. The company’s new Chipolo ONE Spot instead relies entirely on Apple’s Find My network—with all its advantages and limitations.

We have many choices now for boosting coverage and throughput on our home Wi-Fi networks. The main determinants on the path you might pick? Cost, complexity, and installation hassle.

Apple is piercing the privacy veil on our devices to protect children. The company claims its efforts won’t open up a Pandora’s Box in the interests of averting sexual exploitation of children or recognition of sexual material handled by children under 18 when a parent wants oversight. But it’s a big change from its previous absolutist stance in favor of user privacy.

Anyone using FTP or SFTP to connect to their Web site or other servers should consider a tweaky but significant security upgrade that swaps passwords for encryption keys.

Apple says that the dangers of allowing customers to load arbitrary apps are too severe and that the iOS App Store is a bulwark against ransomware, device hijacking, the invasion of children’s privacy, and other problems common on Android.

New services and features in operating systems coming later this year will improve security and privacy for everyone using Apple products, even outside the Apple walled-garden ecosystem. iCloud+ even adds anonymized browsing.

Apple’s new AirTag trackers have provoked considerable interest about their potential for misuse. That’s why your iPhone or iPad can alert you if you’re being tracked by one, with or without your knowledge. We detail exactly when and why.

A little-noticed fact about M1-based Macs has started to get some attention. If the Mac’s internal drive is dead or fully erased, you can’t boot from an otherwise valid external drive. Why would Apple make that choice? Security, security, security.

Apple’s new tracking devices have a lot of potential uses: some good and some not so good. We look at a number of likely scenarios and how they could play out.