Macworld All attention might be on iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, but Apple hasn’t stopped working on its current crop of operating systems. And if you’re not running the betas, you need to know that Apple just shipped a slew of updates to fix some critical security holes. In all, Apple pushed 10 updates on Wednesday: iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1; iOS 15.7.7 and iPadOS 15.7.7; macOS Ventura 13.4.1, macOS Monterey 12.6.7, and macOS Big Sur 11.7.8; Safari 16.5.1; and watchOS 9.5.2 and watchOS 8.8.1. That covers more than a decade of devices going back to 2013 and includes the iPhone 6s, Apple Watch Series 3, and the original 12-inch MacBook. All of the OS updates fix the same vulnerability:…

Macworld I have spent the last couple of decades writing about new features in Apple’s operating systems. Tens of thousands of words about new items, large and small, that enhance the experience of using a Mac, iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices. And yet this past weekend, I was reminded that most users simply don’t notice new features, even when they’ve been available for years. If you’re reading this column right now, you’re one of the most well-educated people on the planet about Apple stuff. But your friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances? They might never know about flashy new operating-system features unless you personally show them off. It’s one of Apple’s most vexing problems: keeping devices relatively simple while also…

Apple on Wednesday released the second beta of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 for developers to test. As with all new betas for major point updates, the software includes a number of small tweaks and changes as Apple refines the operating systems ahead of their launch. iOS 17 upgrades the communications experience with Contact Posters, a new stickers experience, Live Voicemail, and much more. Some of the changes in the second beta include: • A new Live Activities feature that allows users to stay on top of things happening in real time, right from their Lock Screen. • A new motion effect for Live Photo wallpaper that makes the Lock Screen feel more dynamic than ever. • The ability to add widgets to…

With new operating system updates released on Wednesday, Apple has fixed a pair of serious zero-day security bugs that the company says “may have been actively exploited.” Andrew Cunningham for Ars Technica: One of the vulnerabilities, CVE-2023-32434, is a kernel-level flaw that can allow apps to “execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges.” The other, a WebKit bug labeled CVE-2023-32439, can allow the execution of arbitrary code after processing “maliciously crafted web content.” The iOS and iPadOS 16.5.1 updates also fix a non-security bug “that prevents charging with the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter.” The updates aren’t just coming to iPhones, iPads, and Macs running the latest operating systems. Updates fixing the same bugs have been released for iOS and…

Macworld “Passkey” is the name for a simplified login process to websites that arrived in its full glory later this year with macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16, and iPadOS 16. A passkey relies on broadly supported industry standards to let you carry out an encrypted login with almost no effort on your part after the initial setup. You can try a passkey without installing the public betas of these upcoming operating systems, as Apple built passkey support in a preview form into Safari across all its operating systems in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and Safari 15 with macOS 12 Monterey. With the full release of passkeys in a few weeks or months, and Google and Microsoft’s announced support for compatible technology, you’re…

Macworld All attention might be on iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma, but Apple hasn’t stopped working on its current crop of operating systems. And if you’re not running the betas, you need to know that Apple just shipped a slew of updates to fix some critical security holes. All told, Apple pushed eight updates on Wednesday: iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1; iOS 15.7.7 and iPadOS 15.7.7; macOS Ventura 13.4.1, macOS Monterey 12.6.7, and macOS Big Sur 11.7.8; and watchOS 9.5.2 and watchOS 8.8.1. That covers more than a decade of devices going back to 2013 and includes the iPhone 6s, Apple Watch Series 3, and the original 12-inch MacBook. All of the updates fix the same vulnerability: Kernel Impact: An…