After nearly a decade as the managing editor of TidBITS, Josh Centers is moving on—he reflects on what he’s done and where he’s going. Apple released important security updates for iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13 Ventura, so if you’re running those operating systems, you should update right away. Emergency SOS via satellite sounded like magic when Apple announced it with the iPhone 14 launch, and now the company has shared more about what’s behind the feature. Finally, Adam Engst discusses his recent Apple Store trip and how viewing Apple’s lineup in person changed his thinking about certain products. Notable Mac app releases this week include LaunchBar 6.16, Parallels Desktop 18.1, Zoom 5.12.8, and Lunar 5.8.
iOS 16.1.1, iPadOS 16.1.1, and macOS 13.0.1 Ventura close a couple of concerning security vulnerabilities related to libxml2. Update soon to protect yourself.
How did Apple enable the iPhone 14 lineup to communicate with satellites in low-earth orbit? Through extremely complex engineering and the investment of large quantities of money in satellite company Globalstar.
After nine years, TidBITS Managing Editor Josh Centers is moving on. He reflects on what he’s done and where he’s going.
Adam Engst made his first visit to an Apple Store since before the start of the pandemic and came away with some changed opinions after getting a chance to lay his hands on some recent (and not-so-recent) products. Online ordering is great, but can’t provide the full picture.
Watchlist
Adds support for macOS 13 Ventura plus a new built-in Dark Mode On/Off action. ($29 new, free update, 16.3 MB, macOS 10.14.6+)
Virtualization app fixes a few bugs when running under macOS 13 Ventura. ($99.99 standard edition, free update, 321.2 MB, macOS 10.14.6+)
Brings a variety of additions and bug fixes to the video conferencing app, along with the new Zoom Mail and Zoom Calendar Clients. (Free, 82.7 MB, macOS 10.10+)
Maintenance release with improvements for the display brightness control utility. ($23 new, free update, 19 MB, macOS 11+)