Macworld You might think that connecting anonymously to a public Wi-Fi network doesn’t reveal much about you. You might be using a VPN (virtual private network) to protect everything you do. But even if you aren’t, the vast majority of websites and email servers (and pretty much all those run by companies) use client-to-server encryption. But what if you could be tracked anyway? Apple has a solution for this as it does for many tracking systems. The company’s trick lies in how Wi-Fi (and ethernet) adapters identify themselves over a local network when connecting wirelessly or via an ethernet cable. Every network adapter has a factory-assigned unique address baked in at the time of manufacture. It’s called a Media (or…

The Upgrade Plus offer applies to both the latest 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. | Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge Best Buy is expanding its monthly financing program, Upgrade Plus, to include more Apple devices, the company announced. Starting today, the program will finance the latest 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros or Apple Watch Ultra to approved customers via Citizens Bank. Much like how Apple lets users “lease” iPhones through its iPhone upgrade program, customers can pay off their iPad Pro or Apple Watch Ultra over an extended period of time. Apple gives iPhone customers 24 months, though, while Upgrade Plus stretches things an additional year. After the three-year period is over, customers have the option of staying in…

Best Buy today announced it has expanded its Upgrade+ program to include the iPad Pro and Apple Watch Ultra. Launched in October in partnership with Apple, the program provides interest-free monthly financing via Citizens Bank for select Apple products purchased from Best Buy in the U.S., similar to Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program. The program is also available for the latest models of the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Studio, and Mac mini, including the new 15-inch MacBook Air. The monthly payments are spread across three years. After 36 months, customers who purchase an eligible iPad Pro, Apple Watch Ultra, or Mac have the options of upgrading to a newer device, paying off the remaining balance of the purchase in…

An iPhone in StandBy mode. | Image: Apple For a lot of developers, watching WWDC is a trepidatious affair where they wait to find out whether they’ve been “Sherlocked” — that is, their apps have been outmoded by Apple building their features into its operating systems. We saw it this year when Apple announced Journal, which many have compared to the third-party app Day One. Last year, it was Continuity Cam, which is a lot like smartphone-as-a-webcam-app Camo, and before that, there was Screen Time, which gobbled up traits from Moment. We’re used to seeing Apple’s new features come from some currently popular app. But it’s less common for Apple to reach back and find inspiration in old, once-ubiquitous tech…

The Sonos Roam is just one of many potential gifts on sale in the run-up to Father’s Day. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Father’s Day is swiftly approaching — and you know what that means. Everyone from The Home Depot to Amazon is hosting a Father’s Day sale in the run-up to the holiday this weekend, and some retailers are even offering better deals than those we saw during Memorial Day. What’s more, a number of those discounts apply to items that will make for great gifts, allowing you to snag a Sonos Roam, the latest AirPods Pro, or Google’s 4K-ready Chromecast at a fraction of the cost. As always, we’ve scoured the web and rounded up…

Apple appears to be preparing an iOS 16.5.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs last week. It's unclear when the update will be released, but it will likely be available either this week or next week. Minor updates like iOS 16.5.1 are typically focused on bug fixes, stability improvements, and security patches, rather than new features. Apple's Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter does not work properly with iPhones running iOS 16.5, but the issue was resolved in the iOS 16.6 beta last month, so a fix is likely to be included in iOS 16.5.1 as well. Apple released the first beta of iOS 17 at WWDC last week. The update…