macOS

Security researcher Filippo Cavallarin has publicized what he says is a way to bypass the Gatekeeper security functionality of macOS. The bypass remains unaddressed by Apple as of last week’s macOS 10.14.5 release.

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Late last year, Microsoft announced that its Edge browser would be coming to macOS, but without a timeline. Now, the Canary and Dev builds of the Chromium-based Edge browser have leaked before Microsoft’s official announcement and are available to download from the company’s servers.

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I’ve been managing macOS in an enterprise environment since 2009, so I was around during the “stable” periods of Snow Leopard, as well as what others would call unstable periods. One of the common themes I’ve heard in my technology circles over the past few years is that macOS has become less stable. I manage 100s of Mac laptops at the moment, and I would estimate I’ve been responsible for 1,000+ devices over the past ten years. So, I think I’m qualified to discuss the current state of macOS stability.
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Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and Apple is celebrating and promoting accessibility in a few different ways. The App Store has multiple features highlighting developers, athletes, and creatives, and also has feature for the top accessibility apps for vision, hearing, speech, learning, physical and motor, and more.

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Following the announcement of new speculative execution exploits that target Intel CPU architecture, Apple has posted a new document on its website that explains how customers with computers that are ‘at heightened risk’ of attack can enable full mitigation. Full mitigation is not enabled by default as it is probably an excessive amount of security for the average user, and it comes with big performance penalties.

In its tests, Apple recorded up to a 40 percent drop in performance with full mitigation activated. This is because enabling MDS protection involves disabling hyper-threading entirely, and adds additional barriers when the processor switches contexts.

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We previously discovered the new standalone Music app to be included in the next major version of macOS, 10.15. In that post, we mentioned the new Music app would be made using Marzipan, that lets iOS apps run on the Mac. Recently, sources familiar with the development of the OS reached out, correcting that information.

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Last week, 9to5Mac reported that Screen Time, and many other iOS features, are coming to the Mac this year. Following our report, designer Jacob Grozian has imagined what Screen Time might look like on the Mac when macOS 10.15 is released this year.

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It’s undeniable that one of the best characteristics of every Apple product is its display. Apple ships computers – from iPads to iMacs – with great quality, well calibrated displays that can be used for professional work which requires a great level of fidelity. Now, it appears Apple is working a new Mac and iPad display feature to launch with macOS 10.15.

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Clicker for Netflix is a new app for macOS that aims to improve the experience of watching Netflix on your app. The app enables powerful Touch Bar controls, Menu Bar control, and more. Unfortunately, some of the inherent limitations of Netflix on a Mac – such as 4K playback – remain.

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The big news this week is that this fall may finally be the beginning of the end for iTunes. 9to5Mac’s Gui Rambo independently confirmed that the next major version of macOS will introduce standalone Music and Podcasts apps on the Mac. iTunes is expected to stick around for now, which suggests Apple’s new apps won’t include every legacy feature, but iPad-based versions of Music and Podcasts would actually introduce features to the Mac that aren’t available yet.

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A German video editor has created a concept video (below) showing what he describes as ‘a simple and efficient macOS.’ What is depicted is a macOS/iOS hybrid, in which traditional app windows are largely replaced by iPad-style split-screen views.

Thomas Weinreich argues that the old desktop metaphor is no longer relevant today …

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During the “It’s show time” event in late March, Apple announced that the TV app would be coming to the Mac soon. This naturally sparked discussions about whether Apple would be bringing its other media apps to the Mac, finally splitting up iTunes into distinct applications.

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Apple this afternoon has seeded the first beta of macOS 10.14.5 to developers. The update is available to developers through the System Preferences app on macOS.

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Apple yesterday released macOS 10.14.4 to the public with features such as automatic Dark Mode in Safari, Apple News+, and more. On the other hand, the update also seems to include one frustrating bug related to authenticating Gmail accounts through Apple Mail.

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During its “It’s Show Time” event at the Steve Jobs Theater today, Apple announced that the latest versions of its operating systems will be released later today. The updates will include support for the new services announced during the event, including News+, with the magazines and exclusive content offerings.

Update: iOS 12.2 is now available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

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