The FBI has asked Israeli firm Cellebrite to assist in unlocking the San Bernardino iPhone. Cellebrite’s website says it offers mobile forensics solutions, but if they’re in the business of cracking the encryption on iPhones than that’s a different ball game. According to one forensic expert, the hardware-based approach of NAND mirroring could prove to the most viable option for accessing the data on the device, with Ars Technica telling us about how it all works.
First impressions of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro from Ars Technica note a number of minor changes to the Smart Cover. The True Tone display is very subtly different to a regular iOS display, as you might expect, and while you can use the larger iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard with the smaller iPad Pro, things look a little silly but work just fine — perhaps even better, thanks to the larger size of the latter.
THe 9.7-inch iPad Pro has an embedded Apple SIM as well as a slot for a regular ol’ nano SIM. TechCrunch explains that, depending on which version you buy and where you buy it from, the built-in Apple SIM can be locked to a particular carrier. As far as I know, that’s not an issue in Australia due to Apple SIM only being supported via international roaming agreements and not by any local telco.
The latest version of OS X Server contains references to an “early 2016 MacBook”, reviving rumours of an updated version of Apple’s ultraportable.
IOS 9 and OS X El Capitan now have access to two-factor authentication for your Apple ID, which is a substantial security upgrade over the two-step verification you may be currently using.
The Verge reports Google is making their own iOS keyboard, which will integrate Google Search (obviously), gesture-based typing, and GIF searches.
The fourth-generation Apple TV has been jailbroken, but only if you’re running tvOS 9.0 or 9.0.2. Amusingly, TechCrunch notes that this is more of a moral victory than anything else, as there are currently no compelling reasons to jailbreak the new Apple TV.
Kirk McElhearn writes about the changes in iTunes 12.3.3 — although it’s not the massive overhaul some where expecting, there are still a few niceties worth mentioning.
A teardown of a fake MacBook charger reveals the dangers within, with Ken Shirriff telling us about the lack of quality on the counterfeit, as well as the lack of safety flaws.
Walt Mossberg says that the next iPhone had better be crazy good. The iPhone SE is nice and all — a throwback to times with smaller screens — but it’s hardly anything to get excited about, unless you were hanging onto your old iPhone 5/5s.
Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/03/thursday-morning-news240316/