Newsletter Archives

• Saying no to patches

  Posted on January 20, 2025 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 22.03 • 2025-01-20

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Both Apple and Microsoft are providing updates and options that are unnecessary.

  The good news for you Apple users is that the company is not taking a page out of Microsoft’s forced-change model and instead is letting us easily opt out of AI features. Clearly, it learned from its 2014 blunder — forcing the U2 album Songs of Innocence to iTunes on all iPhones.

  When you receive a pop-up on your Apple device that supports Apple Intelligence, you get a “Not now” option that allows you to easily dismiss the request. For now, Apple’s AI is still somewhat limited and covers only writing, email, and Siri. More AI capabilities are to come later, but it’s good to see that we can easily opt out.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.03.0, 2025-01-20).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Patch Watch 0x80070643, Apple Intelligence, BitLocker, Copilot, CVE-2025-21297, CVE-2025-21309, Device Encryption, Drive Encryption, KB5050411, Newsletters, Outlook (new), Patch Lady Posts

• Three days of M4

  Posted on November 4, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Will Fastie

  Or were they?

  It turns out that the rumors I mentioned in my Apple article last week were not entirely accurate. With respect to the M4 chips, they were. With respect to the number of days, the count turned out to be three, not five.

  Now I think I know why, which I’ll get to in a moment.

  On the surface, the announcements last week had the M4 chips in common. It’s deeper than that.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.45.0, 2024-11-04).

  Apple Apple Intelligence, Apple M-series chips, Apple M4, iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Pro, Newsletters

• What isn’t coming to your computer or phone

  Posted on November 4, 2024 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley • Comment about this article

  Just because features such as Microsoft Recall and Apple Intelligence are available does not mean you’ll be forced to use them.

  If you remember, Microsoft Recall is a technology that allows users to go back to a point in time and review what they were doing and which webpages they were viewing. Originally planning to release it in June, Microsoft pulled the plug and went back to the drawing board because of strong customer pushback with respect to security.

  Microsoft won’t be rolling out Recall to test on the insider versions of Windows until December. Originally it was supposed to roll out with Windows 11 24H2.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.45.0, 2024-11-04).

  Patch Watch Apple Intelligence, Copilot+ PCs, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Recall, Windows 11, Windows 11 24H2

• 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

• 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