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…

In macOS Sonoma, coming this fall, Apple introduces Game Mode which automatically gives games top priority on the CPU and GPU of your Mac, lowering usage for background tasks. And it dramatically reduces latency with wireless accessories, like AirPods and your favorite controllers, for responsiveness you can feel. Apple also has a secret weapon for bringing PC games to Mac: DirectX 12 support. Christina Warren for Inverse: Buried in the [WWDC] keynote was a macOS feature that Apple should have called out with more fanfare: DirectX 12 support for macOS. As PC gamers already know, this software support means the floodgates are open for some real games — not that casual Apple Arcade stuff — on Mac. Maybe, just maybe,…

In macOS Sonoma, coming this fall, Apple introduces Game Mode which automatically gives games top priority on the CPU and GPU of your Mac, lowering usage for background tasks. And it dramatically reduces latency with wireless accessories, like AirPods and your favorite controllers, for responsiveness you can feel. Apple also has a secret weapon for bringing PC games to Mac: DirectX 12 support. Christina Warren for Inverse: Buried in the [WWDC] keynote was a macOS feature that Apple should have called out with more fanfare: DirectX 12 support for macOS. As PC gamers already know, this software support means the floodgates are open for some real games — not that casual Apple Arcade stuff — on Mac. Maybe, just maybe,…

Macworld Microsoft has released details on a security vulnerability that the company discovered in macOS Ventura. The vulnerability, which Microsoft dubbed “Migraine,” involved Apple’s Migration Assistant and allows a hacker to get by macOS’s System Integrity Protection and get access to the data on the Mac. In a blog post, Microsoft provides the technical details on how Migraine works. Apple’s SIP provides security for macOS to stop unauthorized root access, but the Migration Assistant app has a privilege that allows it to have unrestricted root access. Microsoft created a modified version of Migration Assistant that takes advantage of this exploit, but the modified app had to be used while the Mac’s Setup Assistant is in debug mode. Microsoft’s researchers were…

Macworld Thanks to Apple’s move to its own chips, the Mac has been on a roll recently, after a frustrating spell of bad keyboards, poor ports, and overheating with pre-M1 Macs. But not all of those old Macs are bad–many of them are actually still cherished by their owners. For example, the Intel-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air were tremendously popular and held down the fort on the affordable end of the MacBook lineup for many years. These laptops may not be considered “modern” by the new standards set by Apple, but they are still supported with the latest version of macOS. They were somewhat upgradeable, easy to fix, and had tons of spare parts available. Within the secondhand…

Apple on Monday failed to convince a U.S. appeals court that security startup Corellium infringed its copyrights by simulating its iOS operating system to help researchers find security flaws in Apple devices. Apple’s iOS 16 Blake Brittain for Reuters: The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Corellium lawfully recreated Apple’s system under the U.S. copyright doctrine of fair use, furthering scientific progress by aiding important security research. Florida-based Corellium’s software allows users to run iOS on non-Apple devices and inspect and modify the operating system in ways that allow security researchers to search for vulnerabilities more effectively. Apple sued Corellium for copyright infringement in South Florida federal court in 2019. Apple unsuccessfully tried to buy Corellium for nearly $23…