Adam Engst examines the iPhone 16e, Apple’s new “budget” model that replaces the iPhone SE with a larger, pricier device—technically superior yet disappointing for fans of compact iPhones and no match for the iPhone 16. Apple has disabled Advanced Data Protection for iCloud in the UK, apparently in response to a secret government demand for backdoor access. Glenn Fleishman explains Apple’s decision and the broader implications. Glenn also dives into how Tailscale can provide secure, remote access to your home network without fiddling with DHCP reservations and port forwarding, much like the Back to My Mac feature that disappeared in macOS 10.14 Mojave. Finally, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of ProVUE Development’s appearance at the very first Macworld Expo. Notable Mac app releases this week include 1Password 8.10.62, Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 2.6, Audio Hijack 4.5, Hazel 6.0.4, Little Snitch 6.2.1, and Mimestream 1.6.1.
The United Kingdom has secretly demanded that Apple enable backdoor access to all iCloud data stored by any user worldwide. In apparent response, Apple has disabled its higher-grade iCloud protection for UK users, although it is illegal for the company to admit that.
The iPhone 16e debuts as Apple’s least expensive model, displacing the iPhone SE. Adam Engst examines how it measures up to the iPhone SE and iPhone 16.
Remember Back to My Mac, which let you access your network from afar? There’s a new game in town. Tailscale creates a secure virtual LAN for your devices that lets you access your own resources and share that access with groups, working around NAT connections that often make inbound connections fragile, erratic, or impossible.
Watchlist
Password manager now requires a minimum of macOS 12 Monterey. ($35.88 annual subscription, free update, 4.8 MB, macOS 12+)
Brings a variety of page management improvements to Publisher and machine learning features to Photo. (Various prices new, free update, various sizes, macOS 10.15+)
Improves the recently added Transcribe functionality and removes its beta labeling. ($64 new, free update, 32.4 MB, macOS 14.4+)
Automation and cleanup utility adds support for the Brave and Vivaldi browsers. ($42 new, free update, 27.5 MB, macOS 10.14+)
Improves connection identification in the Network Monitor. ($59 new, free update, 40.9 MB, macOS 14+)
Brings improvements and bug fixes to the Gmail-specific email app. ($49.99 new, free update, 11.6 MB, macOS 12+)
