Newsletter Archives

• The October surprise

  Posted on October 28, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Most observers were expecting an Apple event in October. They were wrong.

  Which is not to say there was no surprise.

  On October 15, Apple announced its new iPad Mini. “Announced” may be overstating the case — the Mini didn’t even make it to Apple’s home page, and as I write this on the Friday just prior to our publication, it still isn’t there.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.44.0, 2024-10-28).

  Apple Apple M-series chips, Apple Mac, iPad Mini, Mac mini, Macintosh, Newsletters

• September slumber

  Posted on September 16, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.38 • 2024-09-16

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Apple’s annual late-summer event on September 9, primarily a means of introducing the next great iPhone, could be called humdrum this year.

  It’s not that there were no interesting announcements. It’s just that most were incremental. And some expectations set by Apple’s event this past June were not met.

  The recent event was about iPhones, Apple Watch, and AirPods. The most interesting part? Health.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.38.0, 2024-09-16).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Apple AirPods, Apple Health, Apple Intelligence, Apple Watch, iOS 18, iPhone 16, Newsletters

• Microsoft and Apple

  Posted on July 1, 2024 at 02:39 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft has spent many years, and made huge investments, trying to bring the Apple ecosystem into work environments.

  In 1985, it brought word processing to the Mac. It has provided the means to allow Word and Excel documents to move seamlessly from Windows to macOS. It brought affordable tools to allow small and medium businesses to control and manage iPhones, thus allowing managed service providers to control devices without needing to invest in specific, Apple-centric management tools.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.27.0, 2024-07-01).

  Apple Apple, Business Computing, Email, Intune, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Security, Smartphones, Word Processing

• So how do you patch that?

  Posted on June 29, 2024 at 19:57 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Spotted the other day that Apple ear buds need a firmware update.  On June 25, Apple released a firmware update for “AirPods (2nd generation and later), AirPods Pro (all models), AirPods Max, Powerbeats Pro, and Beats Fit Pro”. The vulnerability is that an attacker in Bluetooth range might be able to spoof the intended source device and gain access to your headphones.

  If you want to check what version you are on, go into Bluetooth, find the airpods and check the version.

  Once you connect your airpods to your phone or ipad (or computer) they will automatically update in the background. (This is pre update). Now comes the fun part. What version of Airpods do I have?

  I personally find that Airpods connect flawlessly for about two to two and half years and then one of the ear phones starts to have issues either with connecting or with the sound.

  Recently I updated to a new LG tv and found that we could connect two bluetooth devices to the TV via the accessibility section. With the airbuds connected, then my Dad can have a slightly louder volume setting and I can have lower volume.

  Do you find that yours only last about two years?

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Apple owns ‘AI’

  Posted on June 17, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Its marketing skills are legend, but the Spaceship has taken it to a new galaxy.

  Everything is about AI now. It’s getting to the point that a loaf of bread at the grocery will be marked “Baked in AI-enhanced ovens!”

  We all know that “AI” is an abbreviation for “artificial intelligence.” But in the keynote address for Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference last week, presenters announced “Apple Intelligence.” No one specifically suggested that Apple would co-opt the abbreviation “AI” — just consider it a fait accompli. And also consider it a spectacularly brilliant marketing move.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.25.0, 2024-06-17).

  Apple AI, Apple Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, macOS Sequoia, Newsletters

• The M1 is dead

  Posted on March 11, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.11 • 2024-03-11

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  With no fanfare, Apple announced two new MacBooks.

  The reason for the lack of fanfare is that Apple had little to say. I expected this move, and I’m not even an Apple expert.

  But there is a key takeaway — there are no longer any Macs with the M1 SoC.

  I’ll get to the lineup in a second, but first I want to share a lovely photo.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Apple Apple, Apple Silicon, MacBook Air, News, Newsletters

• Apple releases several updates for zero days

  Posted on December 11, 2023 at 13:51 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  Apple is once again sending out zero day fixes including backporting fixes to older iPhones.

  Several of these have to do with bugs in webkit and keep in mind that even if Safari is not your default browser, webkit is still in play

  Apple CVE-2023-42883, CVE-2023-42884, CVE-2023-42890, CVE-2023-42897, CVE-2023-42898, CVE-2023-42899, CVE-2023-42914, CVE-2023-42919, CVE-2023-42922, CVE-2023-42923, CVE-2023-42927

• Apple zero days fixed – November 30, 2023

  Posted on November 30, 2023 at 14:11 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  End of the month zero days for Apple
  Apple pushed updates for 2 new zero-days that may have been actively exploited.

  🐛 CVE-2023-42916 (WebKit),
  CVE-2023-42917 (WebKit):
  – iOS & iPadOS 17.1.2
  – macOS Sonoma 14.1.2
  – Safari 17.1.2

  Link at the Apple site

  Apple CVE-2023-42916, CVE-2023-42917, iOS, macOS, macOS Sonoma, Patch Lady Posts, Safari
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