It shouldn’t be a big story that a desktop computer has upgradeable internal storage, but with Apple’s cute new 2024 Mac mini, that’s exactly where we are. It’s possible to pop the SSD out after removing a screw, and then switch in a bigger one. We didn’t run into the software blocks we saw in the Mac Studio—we were able to calibrate a higher capacity SSD with Apple Configurator with no problems.
But of course, this being Apple, there’s a catch: the SSD’s proprietary format makes aftermarket upgrades tricky.
I like the way the summaries handle some of my Apple Home notifications — like when I read “Garage changed status multiple times; recently closed” in lieu of a stack of messages about my garage door. The wording changes, but without fail (so far), it’s been right about whether the last thing it did was open or close, so I don’t have to open Apple Home or my garage camera to verify it. (I still do sometimes because LLMs can be lying liars.)
The trouble comes when it’s trying to briefly convey things like text messages, emails, and Slack notifications. They’re usually vaguely in the ballpark, in the same way that saying Cormac McCarthy’s postapocalyptic novel The Road is about a father and son who take a walk together. I guess that’s not wrong, but boy does it miss the point.
Once you allow location access, it will automatically enable a geotagging feature that will tag songs with location data. So, going forward, when you discover songs through the Music Recognition tool, it’ll attach your location to the song history so you’ll be able to place the song in a specific place to remember where you were when you heard it.
The company is gearing up to announce the device as early as March and will position it as a command center for the home, according to people with knowledge of the effort. The product, code-named J490, also will spotlight the new Apple Intelligence AI platform, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is confidential.
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The product will be marketed as a way to control home appliances, chat with Siri, and hold intercom sessions via Apple’s FaceTime software. It will also be loaded with Apple apps, including ones for web browsing, listening to news updates and playing music. Users will be able to access their notes and calendar information, and the device can turn into a slideshow display for their photos.
Apple Music Classical was updated today with CarPlay and Siri support, as well as stability and performance improvements, according to Apple.
Apple today released a new Gold Link Bracelet, which is available for $349. The band was first shown off when Apple introduced new Apple Watch Series 10 models, but it was not available for purchase in September.
In iOS 18, Apple has introduced a clever new way to identify if your iPhone charging setup is running at less than optimal speeds. The new feature appears directly in Settings, making it easy to spot when you're not getting the fastest possible charge.
VMware made its Fusion and Workstation software that creates and manages virtual machines free for personal use earlier this year. Now, the company announced that as of Monday, it’s free for everyone, including commercial customers. Also, the Fusion (for Macs) and Workstation (for Windows and Linux) Pro versions are no longer available for purchase.
The keys are larger and contoured, it supports MagSafe and CarPlay, and a new dedicated action button lets you trigger certain commands. (It's only available for the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max right now, but the company says it will have cases for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus by the end of the year.) The upgrades won't take away from the fact that patience is still a necessity in the beginning. But it's worth it—physical keys rule.
That may leave the technology you choose to use as a last line of defense, says Harlo Holmes, the director of digital security at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. “This is the last recourse of a lot of people in vulnerable positions,” says Holmes. “We’re just going to have to increase our efforts to make sure that people have the best tools in their hands and their pockets to maintain their privacy. And it's going to matter more and more.”
[...] WIRED asked security and privacy experts for their advice for hardening personal privacy protections and resisting surveillance. Here are their recommendations.
Since the early days of iPhones, there are two things that I consciously do not do on my device. I do not turn on push notifications for any apps -- unless I really need the notification. I also do not check emails on my iPhone, and I intentionally do not even set up any email accounts on the device.
So, I simply do not have a lot of notifications on my iPhone, and the notifications that I do receive, I want to read them every single time.
Which means that I really have no use for Apple Intelligence's notification summary and email summary.
Do I feel a little sad that Apple did all these and I don't get to use them? Well, sad, yes, but not because I don't get to use them. Sad because I don't see all the hilariously mistaken summarization of all my personal notifications.
Yes, A.I. fails are the new auto-correct fails, and I don't get to able to screenshots them and tw… er… I mean… toot them.
:-)
~
Thanks for reading.