iPhone Duo Crackgate Juli Clover (forum): Some iPhone Duos are already experiencing hinge issues that cause display cracks, based on photos shared on Reddit and the MacRumors forums. Almost all of the display faults are right along the hinge, and most result in a line of bright pixels across one side of the screen. Juli Clover (iFixit, Hacker News): iFixit commented on some of the display failures people have been seeing, suggesting they could be caused by pressure, a trapped particle, repeated bending, or a manufacturing defect. It may not be that the display has physically snapped, because a wiring problem can cause the same effect. Where most of the faulty units are experiencing issues, the hinge has a different shape. The failure spot is also near where the accordion cable passes by and where several edges meet, which could be leading to a concentration of stress in that spot. Terrence O’Brien: Social media and the iPhone Duo subreddit are filled with reports of Apple’s foldable failing quickly and in spectacular fashion. Some users report having the phone for only a few hours before the hinge seems to catch on something, then audibly crack and break the screen. Tellingly, the cracks all seem to happen in the same place. YouTuber CuriousHagi was able to reproduce the cracked screen during some durability testing of the iPhone Duo. Then he pulled it apart to try and find the culprit. What he found is that the Duo’s hinge is quite complex, consisting of a gear-like central hinge and two different types of linking hinges. The piece that broke is one of the links in the middle of the phone that happens to be thinner than the links below or above it, and it snapped at a small notch where it would be weakest. He also found marks where the hinge met the support plate, indicating where it may have gotten caught. Mark Gurman: In these cases, customers reported hearing a crunching sound when unfolding the phone, followed by a large crack forming along the center crease. Some users also experienced a white patch or other display malfunction on the right side of the screen. […] Apple acknowledged the issue in a statement, saying it was “aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units.” Juli Clover: It is our understanding that some of the images of alleged cracking are AI-generated, which makes it harder to determine the actual scope of the problem. Many of the iPhone Duos experiencing issues cracked in the same place on the lower half of the inner display. The crack is along the hinge, and users say there is a stuck feeling and sometimes a popping noise just before the damage appears. Previously: iPhone Duo Reviews iPhone Duo Apple Responds to Project Zero https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/30/iphone-duo-crackgate/ #iphoneduo #duocrackgate #juliclover #duoapple #duoreviews #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Russia Wants User Data From Apple Hartley Charlton (Hacker News): Apple faces Russian data retention and disclosure requirements after being added to the country's state surveillance registry, Bloomberg reports. […] Those obligations cover correspondence and messages containing audio or video. Companies must also keep information identifying users and recording the transmission of their communications within Russia for three years. I guess this could include iMessage, iCloud mail, iCloud Photos, and perhaps iCloud backups. I have not seen whether they want an iCloud Advanced Data Protection backdoor. William Gallagher: That data must be stored on servers within Russia, and it must be turned over to the country’s security services as required. Neither Apple nor Microsoft has yet commented publicly on the new requirements. Previously: Russia Gets Apple to Turn Off App Store Payments Russia Blocks FaceTime, Snapchat, and Roblox UK Again Wants iCloud Backdoor Apple Removes VPN Apps From Russian App Store iOS to Offer Pre-Installed Apps in Russia Apple Storing Russian Users’ Data on Local Servers A Hard Bargain for Apple in China https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/30/russia-wants-user-data-from-apple/ #apple #russia #appstore #icloud #appleremoves #applestoring #getsapple #backdoorapple #advanceddata #dataprotection #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Australia: App Marketplaces, External Payments, No Fees/Audit Hartley Charlton (Hacker News): Australia’s Federal Court today ordered Apple to allow competing app stores, direct app downloads, and alternative payment services for Australian users from March 1, 2027. […] Apple must let users find, download, install, and update apps through competing marketplaces and websites without charging for access or obstructing their use. Developers must receive the necessary tools on substantially the same terms as for App Store distribution, and Apple cannot penalize them for using competing stores or payment services. Developers will also be able to offer alternative payments and link to other ways to pay, including within App Store apps. Apple cannot require them to offer its own purchasing system alongside alternatives, report those transactions, or allow Apple to audit them. Apps will be notarized, but Apple cannot collect fees on purchases not made through the App Store. This seems like the best antitrust result yet. This will take effect on March 1, 2027 unless blocked by Apple’s appeal or request for extension. Marcus Mendes: Today’s order follows a ruling last year that Apple violated Australian competition law by restricting alternative app distribution and payment methods, in a lawsuit brought by Epic Games similar to its long-running legal battle with Apple in the US. […] Justice Beach described the latter two actions as “a paradigm example of Apple’s enforcement of its restrictive terms, in contravention of” section 46 of Australia’s Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which prohibits corporations with substantial market power from engaging in conduct that has “the purpose, or has or is likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition” in that market. […] When it comes to Apple’s wins in the decision, the list is much slimmer. Judge Beach rejected Epic’s request to extend the court’s injunctions worldwide and allowed Apple to maintain security scanning and notarization requirements for apps distributed outside the App Store. And while Apple must permit competing app marketplaces on iOS, it is not required to distribute them through its own App Store. […] Finally, the court ordered Apple to pay 85% of Epic’s legal costs incurred through the original trial[…] Nick Heer: It seems unsustainable to keep dripping out rule changes one country at a time, especially as many of them slightly differ in the details even when regulators’ overarching aims are similar. The reasons for the company’s stubbornness — namely: security and privacy — become much less believable as a growing number of regions require alternative distribution channels, essentially without issue. Apple should just rip off the bandage and do Gatekeeper for iOS. Hartley Charlton: Fortnite will return to Australia’s App Store today, Epic Games told Reuters, after a federal court ordered Apple to allow eligible Epic apps back onto the store. Previously: South Korea Fines Apple Over App Store Taiwan: 26% App Store Fee New EU App Store Terms to Comply With DMA Apple Proposes 15% External Purchase Fee UK CMA Proposals for External Payments and NFC Fortnite Returns to the App Store Except in Australia Brazil: App Marketplaces and External Payments Japan: App Marketplaces, External Payments, New Fee Structure Australian Court Finds iOS App Store Monopoly https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/30/australia-app-marketplaces-external-payments-no-fees-audit/ #appstore #apple #appmarketplaces #australia #fees #audit #epicgames #payments #court #hartleycharlton #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Taiwan: 26% App Store Fee Apple: Apple is making changes to the Taiwan storefront of the App Store, following discussions with the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission. As of October 31, 2026, the commission rate for standard Apple In-App Purchase and paid app transactions will be 26% on the Taiwan storefront of the App Store on iOS and iPadOS. Juli Clover (Marcus Mendes): Apple normally charges a lower rate for Small Business Program members, but the announcement about the Taiwan commission changes doesn't include that information. Previously: South Korea Fines Apple Over App Store Australia: App Marketplaces, External Payments, No Fees/Audit Lower App Store Fees in China Japan: App Marketplaces, External Payments, New Fee Structure EU App Store Tiers and Core Technology Commission https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/30/taiwan-26-app-store-fee/ #appstore #appmarketplaces #externalpayments #fee #storeaustralia #taiwanfair #newfee #feestructure #fairtrade #commission #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

South Korea Fines Apple Over App Store Marcus Mendes: South Korea’s Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) announced today a series of fines and corrective orders against Apple and Google over violations of the country’s Telecommunications Business Act. Specifically for Apple, the KMCC imposed a fine of 20.81 billion won (approximately $15.5 million) and ordered the company to revise its App Store policies regarding payment methods and app review procedures, as well as prevent what it referred to as “discriminatory commission” practices from recurring. […] In essence, the decision centers around three violations: forcing specific payment methods, unfairly delaying app reviews, and imposing discriminatory commissions. Previously: Taiwan: 26% App Store Fee Australia: App Marketplaces, External Payments, No Fees/Audit South Korea Raids Apple Offices South Korea Investigates App Store StoreKit External Purchase Entitlement for South Korea Apple Refuses App Store Changes for South Korea South Korea App Store Bill https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/30/south-korea-fines-apple-over-app-store/ #southkorea #appstore #auditsouth #koreainvestigates #officessouth #storechanges #businessact #applerefuses #appmarketplaces #telecommunicationsbusiness #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Xcode 27.2 Apple (xip, downloads, Xcode Releases): Xcode 27.2 includes Swift 6.4 and SDKs for iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2, watchOS 27.2, macOS 27.2, and visionOS 27.2. Xcode 27.2 supports on-device debugging in iOS 17 and later, tvOS 17 and later, watchOS 10 and later, and visionOS. Xcode 27.2 requires a Mac running macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later. […] When used via Sidecar or a MacBook with Touch, Device Hub now sends touches on the iPad screen to the remote device as touches. This allows you to use multi-finger gestures such as pinch and rotate to test your applications. […] Projects that use APIs specific to iOS 27.1 show compile errors when building for Mac Catalyst (“undeclared identifier”, “not found”, “has no member”, “cannot find”, and similar errors). […] macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS SDKs in Xcode 27.2 incorrectly report 27.1 as a valid deployment target. Builds and other functionality might have unexpected behavior if this deployment target is used. Ron Elemans: Every time I open a complex Storyboard in Xcode 26 or newer, the Inspector panel decides at a certain moment to resize to full window width. The only way to continue working is to hide the whole Inspector, resizing back doesn’t work. Feedback Assistant shows “Recent Similar Reports: Less than 10” for at least a year. This is probably Apple language for “Deal with it, otherwise stop using dinosaur tech and switch to SwiftUI” (FB23611443). Previously: Xcode Projects for the Command Line and Coding Agents Xcode 27.1 Xcode’s New .xcproj Files Are JSON https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/30/xcode-27-2/ #xcode #tvos #watchos #xcodeprojects #ios #visionos #agentsxcode #maccatalyst #inspector #devicehub #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

eMudhra Intermediate CA Compromise Dan Goodin: Security personnel around the world are on high alert Tuesday following the discovery of eight TLS certificates with private keys so weak they could allow anyone to mint trusted browser and app credentials for any site on the Internet. As of late morning Tuesday, browser makers and some major apps and programming languages had blocked all eight of the intermediate certificates. […] “This will be a massive cleanup job, bigger than Heartbleed,” Filippo Valsorda, a cryptography engineer and a cryptography maintainer for the open source Go programming language, told Ars. “There will be a very, very long tail, IoT devices, Docker containers, forgotten Linux machines, unmaintained CLI tools that shipped their own copy of the roots (which is common in some ecosystems, like Python). Also, Linux distributions are still rolling out updates, some of them are not ready yet, and then system administrators will need to apply them to a lot of machines.” […] The compromised eMudhra keys were defective at a level that’s challenging the imagination of many of the engineers studying the incident. A normal size for a NIST P-384 elliptic curve cryptography private key contains roughly 384 bits of entropy, a size allowing almost 2384, or a number with 116 digits, different possibilities. The private key sizes of the compromised keys ranged from 3 to 8 bits. Astonishingly, the private keys were 4, 56, 66, 115, 155, 156, 230, 237. […] Ben Cartwright-Cox, director of BGP.tools, said: “My guess is that it’s example code that accidentally leaked to production, but hard to know. But it’s bonkers that no one noticed.” Apple (Hacker News): On 19 October 2026, Apple began blocking these 12 certificates on Apple devices. Updates to certificate configuration data are sent to devices automatically and as needed, so you don’t need to install a software update to get this change. Apple is making additional updates to this block, which will also be delivered automatically. On 23 October 2026, Apple also began blocking the emSign ECC Root CA - G3. […] On Mac, some command-line tools included with macOS or the Xcode Command Line Tools (including curl, git, python3, ruby, perl, and openssl) check certificates against /etc/ssl/cert.pem. For certificates that chain to a root CA certificate in this file, these tools don’t check Apple’s block or whether the certificate has been revoked. This file will be updated in a future macOS update. If you use these tools and don’t want to wait for the update, you can remove root CA certificates from the file. […] These steps affect every tool that uses /etc/ssl/cert.pem. Afterward, tools that use only this file might not be able to verify some websites whose certificates chain to these root CA certificates through intermediate CAs that weren’t affected. emudhra.we-have-a-problem.com (Hacker News): Apple has warned that until it ships its own fix, a macOS update may replace /etc/ssl/cert.pem. You may need to repeat these steps after each update. See also: Filippo Valsorda, Howard Oakley, and TidBITS-Talk. Previously: macOS 27.2 https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/29/emudhra-intermediate-ca-compromise/ #apple #compromise #intermediate #tools #emudhra #root #tuesday #filippovalsorda #linux #october #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

MacBook Pro (PROLED XDR Display) Apple (technology overview, Hacker News, MacRumors, 9To5Mac, ArsTechnica, Slashdot): Apple today introduced the all-new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, featuring breakthrough tandem OLED technology that delivers game-changing front-of-screen performance. Available in 14- and 16-inch models, MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display offers a visual experience unlike any other, transforming pro workflows with up to 2000 nits peak HDR and SDR brightness, an industry-leading 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio for exceptional detail, a 120Hz variable refresh rate, and a wider color gamut covering both P3 and Adobe RGB for brilliant colors. The new MacBook Pro also introduces intuitive Touch capabilities on the Mac for the first time, opening up a whole new dimension for pros to interact with their content, from manipulating 3D models to playing musical instruments onscreen. The Dynamic Island now comes to Mac, serving as the home for Spotlight, Live Activities, and Siri AI. And with up to 24 hours of battery life in thinner and much lighter 3- and 4-pound designs, MacBook Pro is more portable than ever, empowering pros to take their work wherever inspiration strikes. Featuring M5 Pro and M5 Max, Apple’s most powerful chips ever built for a pro laptop, along with up to 128GB of unified memory and now up to 16TB of blazing-fast storage, the new MacBook Pro delivers speed and capability for the most demanding workflows. […] Crafted specifically for the Mac, every touch interaction feels incredibly responsive and refined. Everyday tasks are simple and intuitive, allowing users to scroll through a webpage with a natural swipe; pinch to zoom in on a photo; drag and drop slides from one presentation to another; and double-tap a window to fill the screen, or flick to tile it into place. And the touch sensor is built directly into the display panel — not layered on top of it — reducing latency so users feel like they’re touching the content itself. Touch also introduces entirely new ways of working for pro users. Graphic designers can now use the entire display as their canvas, no longer constrained by the area of the trackpad when drawing; musicians can play software instruments right onscreen; and app developers can test how Touch performs in their iOS and iPadOS apps directly on the MacBook Pro display. […] The 14-inch MacBook Pro now weighs half a pound less at 3 pounds, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro weighs just 4 pounds — 0.7 pounds lighter than before. Both models feature a slimmer design enabled by OLED’s more efficient display stack, with the 16-inch model nearly a millimeter thinner and the 14-inch model half a millimeter thinner. Juli Clover: Pricing on the MacBook Pro starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch model and $3,399 for the 16-inch model. The base configurations have an M5 Pro with 24 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. This all sounds technically impressive, but these Macs don’t really interest me. I don’t need the better display; I rarely use the internal one, anyway. And I don’t want to touch my display; it seems less efficient, with horrible ergonomics, and I don’t want to get gunk on it. I do like that the new MacBook Pros are a bit lighter, seemingly with no compromises. The Dynamic Island does seem better than the Notch, but the problem with the Notch is mostly software, not hardware. There’s no indication that the software will be better, though at least the Dynamic Island is smaller. What would I rather see in a new MacBook Pro? A smaller trackpad, a rounder front edge, more USB ports, Face ID, cellular. John Gruber: So I’m just wondering if tomorrow’s new touchscreen OLED MacBooks aren’t replacements for the current MacBook Pros, but instead are the start of a new MacBook family with another name. I don’t think they’d call them MacBook “Duos”, because they’re not two-in-one devices. MacBook “Ultras”, maybe — with the same specs as the MacBook Pros but more expensive displays? But “Ultra” seems like a wrong name for a MacBook because Apple’s M-series Ultra chips are (to date at least) desktop only. It’d be weird if the M5 Ultra is exclusive to the Mac Studio while the MacBook “Ultra” maxes out with the M5 Max. So maybe they just are the new MacBook Pros and this first OLED/touch generation uses the same chips as the ones from March? “Ultra” never made sense, so I wondered whether Apple would add some other moniker like “Touch” or “Studio.” It turns out not, but “PROLED XDR Display” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, so something like “MacBook Touch” may end up being the defacto name, anyway. Hartley Charlton: The iconic glowing rear Apple logo is returning to the MacBook Pro with the latest model, Apple today announced. John Voorhees: The MacBook Pro does not, however, support the Apple Pencil. John Ternus: We’re glowing with excitement over the new MacBook Pro. You’ve gotta touch it to believe it. Tim Cook: We brought Touch to the Mac! Steven Levy (MacRumors): This turnaround is a big deal to Apple fans. Ternus shrugs off the drama. “The Mac is first and foremost an indirect input device, built around the trackpad and keyboard. But I think there’s times when it’s comfortable and handy to have touch.” […] When I met with Apple executives Johny Srouji and Greg Joswiak this week to discuss the touchscreen MacBook Pro, you bet I invoked Schiller’s list of concerns. (Apple’s reps chose not to make Schiller, who now holds the title of “Apple Fellow,” available for an interview. In fact, they laughed when I asked.) It wasn’t only Schiller drawing a red line. In 2021, Ternus told journalist Joanna Stern, “The Mac is totally optimized for indirect input. We haven’t really felt a reason to change that.” “Ten years is a very, very long time,” says Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer. “Many things have changed, whether it’s the display technology, the custom silicon, et cetera.” Eventually, he told me, the confluence of chips, display tech, and software architecture “met our bar.” […] Joswiak, who holds Schiller’s old title of SVP of worldwide marketing, concedes that touch was overdue, at least for users with sophisticated needs. Its pro customers—engineers, scientists, software developers, and media creators—were impatient with Apple for its failure to let them interact directly with the screen. “Most pros own an iPad, and almost every pro owns an iPhone,” Joswiak says. “So this is something that they’re natural with. There’s a generation of young creators and young people using our MacBook Pros that expect to touch.” Jason Snell: Another question I had coming into this event was just how much effort Apple would make to adapt the macOS interface for touch. The answer is: A little, but not a lot. When you touch the screen, the interface makes subtle adaptations—more spacing in menus, more feedback when selecting and dragging items—but what it doesn’t do is flip into some new Touch Mode that looks and behaves totally unlike the Mac. Federico Viticci: Here is the same contextual menu on macOS activated via pointer (left) and touch macOS automatically detects touch input and spaces out items a little bit more in the UI TheRealAlex: So I need to know what is the reason you need a Touchscreen on your […] Laptop? What are you doing? Paul Haddad: The PROLED (🤮) display seems to have all the expected specs for a high end OLED. The sub pixel layout is unusual, at least I haven’t seen any others with this style. It’s an interesting choice since standard RGB is the next “big thing” with desktop OLEDs. I wonder if Apple re-added sub-pixel rendering to the OS or just don’t bother since the PPI is high enough to maybe not matter. See also: Mac Power Users Talk. Previously: Developing Mac Apps for Touch MacBook Pro (M6, 2026) iMac 2026 Golden Gate and the Notch Mac Studio 2026 Mac mini 2026 macOS Touch The Problem With the Touch Bar An Ultralight MacBook and Other Apple Silicon Roads Not Taken MacBook Neo MacBook Pro 2026 MacBook Air 2026 Apple M5 Pro and M5 Max The Dynamic Island Big Sur Not “Preparing” for Touch Macs New MacBook Pros and the State of the Mac https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/28/macbook-pro-proled-xdr-display/ #proledxdr #macbookpro #xdrdisplay #touch #mac #apple #adobergb #dynamicisland #oled #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Developing Mac Apps for Touch Design for touch on Mac (via Jeff Nadeau): Discover the key design considerations for updating your app for touch on macOS. We’ll explore the touch gestures now available on Mac, how system gestures work, how to size controls and touch targets while keeping your app great with a pointer and keyboard, and how to adapt hover interactions. Finally, we’ll dive into the expansion behaviors of native controls like steppers, dials, and sliders, and what that means for your app. Bring Touch to your Mac app: Discover how to add touch capabilities to your Mac app. Explore how to transition from classic mouse tracking APIs to modern gesture recognizers and touch-native controls. Find out how to optimize hit targets, implement multi-touch interactions, and manage system gestures to deliver an incredible touch experience. To get the most out of this session, watch Design for Touch on Mac. Bring Live Activities to Mac: Discover how to drive Live Activities from your Mac app. Explore how Live Activities appear in the menu bar and Dynamic Island. Learn how to define your data model, create compact and expanded views with SwiftUI, and drive interactive updates using App Intents. Written documentation is “coming soon.” Previously: MacBook Pro (PROLED XDR Display) Golden Gate Release Candidate macOS Touch https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/28/developing-macos-apps-for-touch/ #touch #app #jeffnadeau #activities #appintents #dynamicisland #goldengate #xdrdisplay #gaterelease #releasecandidate #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

visionOS 27.2 Juli Clover (release notes, security, no enterprise, developer): Apple today released visionOS 27.2, the first big update for the visionOS 27 operating system that runs on the Apple Vision Pro. […] The visionOS 27.2 update provides bug fixes and security updates, per Apple’s release notes. Previously: visionOS 27 https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/10/27/visionos-27-2/ #juliclover #visionos #applevision #pro #previously #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit