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Weekly Issues

Adam Engst

#1723: OS release date, iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, Blip file transfer app, do you use the iPhone 15 Pro Action button?

At its Glowtime event, Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 lineup with the innovative Camera Control and Apple silicon necessary to support Apple Intelligence, plus camera improvements and more. The company showed off the Apple Watch…

Adam Engst

#1722: 404 Media, iPhone and iPad trackpad mode, the end of Finale and AnandTech, the start of AppBITS, Stapler

Last week felt like a lull before Apple’s iPhone unveiling on September 9, so Adam Engst took the opportunity to recommend 404 Media as a trusted source for investigative tech journalism. To counter the sad…

Adam Engst

#1721: Apple event on September 9, Apple Podcasts on the Web, iPhone apps on the Mac, comparing RSS-to-email services

Apple has announced an event for 9 September 2024, so we’ll all be very polite and say, “The iPhone 16? We had no idea. What a surprise! And an Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple…

Adam Engst

#1720: Backblaze permissions, watchOS and tvOS updates, more Sequoia permissions requests, CA driver’s licenses in Wallet, iOS 18.1 to open NFC, do you use iPhone apps on your Mac?

In response to public outcry, Apple has pulled back somewhat on the excessive permissions requests in the latest macOS 15 Sequoia beta, but Adam Engst thinks the company is still going too far for no…

Adam Engst

#1719: Sequoia’s excessive permissions prompts, OS bug fix updates, Network Utility resurrected, help track Apple support page changes

Last week, Apple released macOS 14.6.1, macOS 13.6.9, iOS 17.6.1, and iPadOS 17.6.1 to fix problems with turning Advanced Data Protection on and off. In macOS 11 Big Sur, Apple deprecated Network Utility, but DEVONtechnologies…

Adam Engst

#1718: macOS 14.6 and OS updates, Apple Q3 2024 financials, business news reporting poll

Thanks to a flotilla of family visiting, it was a busy week here at TidBITS HQ, but we found time to write up Apple’s release of macOS 14.6 Sonoma and its sibling operating systems. Then…

Adam Engst

#1717: Apple Maps on the Web, how to turn off iCloud Private Relay, Mail/Contacts crash, solar troubleshooting story

We spent last week in troubleshooting mode. Most notably, Apple’s iCloud Private Relay was causing connectivity errors for many users, so we explain how to turn it off temporarily. Also, we report on a reproducible…

Adam Engst

#1716: CrowdStrike takeaways, OS public betas, Steve Jobs’s 1983 predictions, Backblaze restoration drive price increase

Last week’s big tech news—the worldwide PC outage caused by CrowdStrike—affected Apple users only indirectly, but could it happen to Macs or other Apple devices? Adam Engst ponders what Apple users and the tech world…

Adam Engst

#1715: AI powers TUAW zombie reboot, OS 2024 system requirements, social engineering attacks, the Internet in 1994

Public betas of this year’s crop of Apple operating systems—macOS 15 Sequoia, iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and visionOS 2—have just dropped. Can your Apple gear upgrade? If it can, will all…

Adam Engst

#1714: Generative AI Web scraping, persistent task reminders with Due, Authy breach

Generative AI features prominently in this issue. First, Adam Engst links to his Command Control Power podcast discussion that segued from Apple Intelligence to deeper questions surrounding AI. Then, to provide an alternative perspective to…

Adam Engst

#1713: Apple Intelligence security and privacy, Slack for iPhone posting problem, In Your Face persistent notifications, Apple longevity white paper

Curious about the security, privacy, and safety issues surrounding Apple Intelligence? TidBITS security editor and cloud computing expert Rich Mogull explains how Apple Intelligence achieves industry-leading security, privacy, and safety for AI. Adam Engst looks…

Adam Engst

#1712: Pirate Ship shipping service, art immersion on the Vision Pro, more WWDC details, no Apple Intelligence in the EU, Slack reduces free team storage period

This week’s issue straddles the virtual and physical worlds. Michael Cohen rejoins us to report on his tour through the Art Authority Museum, an immersive art experience on the Vision Pro. Returning to the real…

Adam Engst

#1711: Apple Intelligence examined, Apple ID to become Apple Account, block SMS text spam, Apple Pay Later discontinued

This week’s feature article examines Apple Intelligence, the collection of AI-based features the company unveiled at WWDC and plans to roll out slowly throughout the next year. We also look at Apple’s quiet announcement that…

Adam Engst

#1710: New OS features for 2024, corporate miscommunications, upcoming TidBITS server changes, texts from an iPhone thief

Apple’s WWDC announcements will dominate this week’s tech news, and with good reason: the company unveiled a slew of new features and Apple Intelligence, a collection of AI-driven capabilities that will appear over the course…

Adam Engst

#1709: Unsolicited 2FA codes, solving “Failed to personalize” update errors, new features for Kini motion detectors, Apple Hearing Study update

Have you ever received a two-factor authentication code in Messages you didn’t request? That’s a red flag because it could indicate that an attacker has partially compromised one of your accounts. Adam Engst explains what…