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If Apple hasn’t yet made the Ethernet network port on your Mac obsolete by not including it, as is the case with most Macs sold today, then it may have accidentally broke the port last week in an OS X kernel extension update. Many users complained about the issue online: they had randomly found their Macs no longer connecting to the Internet and their Ethernet port simply not working. Apple has now officially acknowledged the problem on its support pages. Luckily, the software problem isn’t permanent and the bug can, usually, be easily resolved.

Apple has already fixed the Ethernet software problem for users going forward. Here’s the fix if you were affected …

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If you have a new iPad Pro and have had issues using the new software keyboard, you’re probably not alone. Aside from following the iPhone 6/Plus lead and adding new keys in the space around the QWERTY keyboard, iPad Pro includes a full sized shift key and half-height number keys which in theory require fewer taps to access more characters.

In practice, the new layout requires an adjustment period, to put it mildly, as the keys most frequently accessed are surrounded by targets that you have to avoid tapping accidentally. I’m on day four and getting better, but there’s one embarrassing keyboard bug that had me convinced I was crazy. Turns out I may not be. Here’s the deal:
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Adobe today has rolled out updates to a pair of its iOS apps, adding support for features introduced in the latest version of Apple’s operating system. Adobe Photoshop Fix and Adobe Photoshop Mix have both been updated this evening, the former being bumped to version 1.1 and the latter to version 2.1.

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With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus officially going on sale and delivering to pre-order customers over the weekend, it’s just a matter of time before you smash your display to pieces and drain your battery’s capacity. While some screen breaking and defective batteries might be covered under AppleCare and the 1 year hardware warranty included with all iPhones, otherwise you’ll need to refer to one of these handy guides from our friends at iFixit.
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Apple Watch running the original 1.0 software rather reliably recorded a user’s heart rate every ten minutes. With Watch OS 1.0.1, users noticed that heart rate records were no longer being kept as frequently. This was initially thought to be a bug but Apple has now clarified that this is intended behaviour on its website.

The updated website says that ‘Apple Watch attempts to measure your heart rate every ten minutes, but won’t record it when you are in motion or your arm is moving’. The original version of this feature did not care about arm movement.

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Update: The Guardian notes that the bug also crashes the Apple Watch when you try to reply to a message.

Today news is flying around regarding an iOS bug that causes the Messages app to crash and iPhones to reboot when a certain string of text is received. There isn’t an official fix from Apple yet, but there are a few workarounds and fixes that you can do in the meantime before Apple patches the bug.

Here are a few fixes that users have discovered and sent in:
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Despite its splash and water resistance rating, meaning Apple doesn’t recommend going for a swim with Apple Watch, it does recommend running water over it to clean certain components. One problem it’s anticipating is the Watch’s Digital Crown getting stuck or not running smoothly due to trapped debris, like dust or lotions, between the crown and the Watch’s casing. Apple’s fix: hold your Apple Watch’s digital crown under your sink faucet.

From a new support doc Apple published this week:
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iFixit gave Apple’s iPhone 6 a repairability score of 7, the highest ever for Apple’s flagship and most popular device in their September teardown.  That bodes well for folks who want to take their iPhone repairs into their own hands, though perhaps it’s best to give the Geniuses at Apple a chance to gift you an out of warranty repair before getting your hands dirty.

In any case, today iFixit announced an updated library of 21 repair guides for the iPhone 6 (and 14 for the 6 Plus). The new guides cover everything from replacing the battery to speakers to the glass panel and everything in between. The tutorials walk you through the process and also conveniently provide links to purchase any necessary tools you might not have (hit up their Amazon store for some hefty discounts).

As with any iPhone take-apart, be very careful and be prepared to forfeit your warranty if you screw up.

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Apple has just released a new download for users on OS X Mavericks to address the recently-discovered “Shellshock” bug. Apple previously noted that that only a few Macs were actually impacted by the bug and that most users were protected by default. The company promised to release an update shortly to address those who had manually configured their computers in a way that left them exposed.

For users on older versions of OS X, the Mavericks fix will not work. To secure those systems, there are separate downloads for Lion and Mountain Lion. The patch will likely be available through the built-in OS X Software Update mechanism soon. There is currently no patch for machines running the public or developer builds of OS X Yosemite.

After releasing iOS 7.0.5 at the end of last month to fix network errors for Chinese users, Apple has just released iOS 7.0.6 (Build 11B651) alongside iOS 6.1.6 (build 10b500) for the iPhone 3GS and 4th-gen iPod touch and Apple TV version 6.0.2 with a security fix related to SSL connection verification. 
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We mentioned earlier that some new iPad owners were reporting issues with Wi-Fi. The problem seems to affect all models of the new device with both users of the 4G LTE model and the Wi-Fi-only model experiencing poor Wi-Fi reception. Many forum posters compared Wi-Fi reception with their other iOS devices and MacBooks on the same network:

“My iPad 3rd generation has much worse range than my iPad 1. Two places I use it most My Driveway, and “down the hall at work” iPad 1 (iPhone 4s, and Macbook) all have solid connections. New iPad nothing. not a thing.”

One user reports only receiving good reception within six feet of a router while another claims to have had issues with four different third-generation iPads. The good news is that the fix is likely software related, as many in the forums pointed to temporary fixes like rebooting the device or toggling Wi-Fi on and off. OS X Daily confirmed resetting Wi-Fi and network settings seems to fix the issue for some and provided instructions. In 2010, the first generation iPad had Wi-Fi connectivity issues for some users and Apple eventually issued a software update to fix the problem, which is detailed in this support document. According to Apple, only “a very small number of iPad users” experienced the issue and that seems to be the case with the new iPad as well.

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iOS 5.0.1 was released last week with promises to fix the issue of battery life that has been plaguing many users and some security issues like the Smart Cover hack.

As we originally reported, the update even left some of those without battery issues with quicker battery drains. Over the weekend, even more issues within iOS 5.0.1 have arisen including Wi-Fi signal loss, microphone failures, and cellular network issues.

If you head on over to the Apple Support Forum you’ll find a very long list of issues people are having. The most prominent complaint is still the battery life.  “The recent iOS software update addressed many of the battery issues that some customers experienced on their iOS 5 devices,” Apple said in a statement to All Things Digital. “We continue to investigate a few remaining issues.”

Among the Wi-Fi, microphone, and cellular issues, the other big bug in iOS 5.0.1 has to do with Contacts.app (via CNet). All of the names and numbers associate together inside of Contacts.app, but when making a phone call or sending a text through iMessage, 5.0.1 can’t seem to associate the name with the number as usual.

How’s the upgrade going for you?

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