When Apple launched the iPhone 7 Plus, one of the biggest features was the dual-camera system’s Portrait Mode. The mode gives images a DSLR-like background blur, albeit with some hiccups occassionally. Sometimes the effect looks unnatural or just blurs key areas of the photo. On iOS 10, if you didn’t have the option to keep the normal photo enabled under Settings, you might’ve lost a perfectly good moment. It may not have been perfect on day one, but Apple has been making improvements to the effect over various iOS updates....

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted last fall that the next iPad Pro refresh will include Face ID biometric security features first introduced with the iPhone X. Now, new code present in iOS 11.3 beta includes numerous references to unreleased iPad models that support that claim. The evidence is found in iOS code that references an unreleased ‘modern iPad’ which first appeared in iOS 11.2.5 and became more present with iOS 11....

Apple announced in December 2020 that 81% of iPhones introduced in the last four years were already running iOS 14, which is the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system. Now the analyst company Mixpanel says that iOS 14 adoption among iPhone and iPad users has already surpassed 90%. According to recent data from Mixpanel, 90.45% of iOS users have already installed the latest version of the operating system. This is an impressive mark considering that iOS 14 was released in September last year, less than seven months ago....

Apple just released iOS 5.0.1 build number 9A405, a minor update to its mobile operating system fixing (hopefully) the iPhone 4S battery woes. The software arrives just a day following the iOS 5.0.1 release to certain end-users for testing and a week following a developers-only version. In addition to battery fixes, iOS 5.0.1 also enables multitasking gestures on the original iPad (go to Settings > General > Multitasking Gestures), fixes the Smart Cover security flaw, resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud and improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation....

Apple will hold another special event tomorrow, and we expect to see the first Mac with Apple Silicon chips. While we don’t know much about these Macs, Apple confirmed at WWDC 2020 that ARM Macs will be able to run any iOS app — however, things will not be as easy as you might think. Since Apple Silicon Macs will have the same processors as iPhone and iPad, Apple will let users download and install iOS apps on these Macs even if the developer doesn’t offer a specific version of the app for macOS....

While Instagram has largely mastered the Stories format of Snapchat, its IGTV platform hasn’t yet seen the same mainstream success. A new report today from TechCrunch highlights how Instagram is revamping IGTV to be much more like a Snapchat and TikTok hybrid. TikTok has become the biggest iOS app in the world over the last year, topping the App Store download charts for five consecutive quarters. Given the success that Instagram had in blatantly copying features from Snapchat, it’s not surprising at all to see that TikTok is its new focus....

Intel today announced new 7th Gen Kaby Lake processors as part of its CES announcements, some of which could be suitable for use in future upgrades to Mac products. After launching the first of the Kaby Lake chips officially in August, and having a long list of products introduced with the chips since, today the company introduced new processors to round out the lineup that could make their way into both future Mac desktops and MacBooks....

Armie Hammer and Alexander Skarsgård are Universal’s top choices to star in their Invisible Man movie reboot. For years now, Universal has wanted to remake its classic monster properties like Dracula and Invisible Man as part of a modern shared universe (a la the MCU or DCEU). However, they’ve already failed twice to launch such a franchise; first with Dracula Untold in 2014 and then with the Tom Cruise-led The Mummy in 2017....

New in iOS 7 is the ability to make FaceTime Audio calls. FaceTime Audio works internationally and works on a Wi-fi network, or on a cellular connection. Using Facetime Audio sounds nicer than actually using the iPhone to make calls. FaceTime Audio sounds deep, and closer to the actual sound of the voice. Another benefit of using FaceTime Audio is that it is associated with your Apple ID and phone number and is built right into the core operating system....

A flaw in Instagram’s “Download Your Data” tool inadvertently exposed some user passwords, a report from The Information claims. In some instances, user passwords may have been exposed to public view. Instagram is said to have informed affected users via an email. The Information reports Instagram users were informed via email that if they had used the “Download Your Data” tool, their passwords were exposed by being included in the URL of a webpage tied to the tool....

Apple released the second developer beta of iOS 13.3 today and one of the changes includes Safari support for NFC, USB, and Lightning FIDO2-compliant security keys. Apple detailed the official support in the iOS 13.3 beta 2 release notes (h/t Ricky Mondello). There are a variety of options on the market but Yubico was the first to bring a USB-C and Lightning FIDO2 security key to market, making it an easy choice for Apple users with both iPad Pro and iPhone as well as Macs and iPads with Lightning ports....

It’s the 2020 cybersecurity award season! No, hackers and bad guys don’t receive awards — we think a prison sentence is more apropos. But the cybersecurity industry takes this time to acknowledge the thought leaders, innovative companies and educators making a difference in the fight against cybercrime. Not to brag,(OK, I’m bragging) but Infosec is really raking in the trophy hardware this year. You’ll excuse us for tooting our own horn....

Samsung Galaxy S22 is one of the most popular flagship smartphone series released earlier this year. The lineup includes Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, and Galaxy S22 Ultra. The devices came with Android 12 OS with One UI 4.1 skin at the top. Of course, the device will receive the Android 13 update. However, the stable rollout may take a couple of weeks or months as the companies are currently testing the Android 13 build on some of their premium phones....

The offline installation files for Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) are 20-40MB in size depending on which version you need. While this might not seem like a large download for everyone, if you are trying to load this on a 56K dial-up connection it could take a couple of hours. Instead, download it to a disk or thumbdrive using a highspeed connection at another location; such as a library, Starbucks, school, or friend’s house....

Billionaire investor, who gained increasing fame in recent months due to his attempted take over of Dell, has announced via Twitter that his firm has taken a “large position” in Apple: We currently have a large position in APPLE. We believe the company to be extremely undervalued. Spoke to Tim Cook today. More to come. — Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) August 13, 2013 Icahn further added that he had a “nice conversation” today with Apple CEO Tim Cook....

[Update: Added details clarifying understood push/fetch behaviors.] Gmail users rejoice as iOS 11 may have a solution for the long-standing push notification woes. No longer having to rely on a third-party app, users with Google email accounts should be able to jump back onto iOS’ native Mail app. Some time ago, it appeared that Gmail’s push notification service with Mail on iOS hit a snag. Notifications were no longer arriving as quickly as before and suffered significant delays....

Following Apple’s launch of iOS 7.1, the first major update to the OS that featured CarPlay, iBeacon imrpovements, and more, mobile analytics firm Chitika has released some numbers regarding the software’s adoption rate. According to the company’s detailed report, the update saw a 5.9% installation rate during its first 24 hours of availability. The numbers are a little bit BS because obviously a non-zero percentage of users were developers and Apple employees using the 7....

A hacker has released the first public jailbreak for modern iPhones in several years, according to a new report from Motherboard. The report details that with the release of iOS 12.4, Apple accidentally unpatched a vulnerability that it had originally fixed in iOS 12.3, opening the door for this jailbreak to be publicly released for iOS 12.4. Security researcher Pwn20wnd has released a public jailbreak for iOS 12.4, which seemingly works on all recent iPhone models....

iOS 14.3 beta brings lots of new changes and features to the table for both developers and public beta testers. iOS 14.3 gives us our first look at Apple ProRAW image capture for iPhone 12 Pro users, while also bringing forth new changes to Apple Music, Apple News+ Audio, and more. Watch our hands-on video as we explore the top iOS 14.3 beta changes and features. Apple Music Select Apple Music playlists now feature a full-bleed header along with animated artwork The Music app now utilizes system-wide video player Apple News + Audio updates New “Subscriber Edition” insignia in now located in upper right-hand corner of News app....

Apple added this week a new GPU option for the 16-inch MacBook Pro lineup. Customers can now purchase Apple’s high-end notebook with an AMD Radeon Pro 5600M GPU at $800 additional cost from the base model MacBook Pro. But how does it compare with the other GPUs? YouTube channel Max Tech shows exactly that in its newest video, revealing impressive performance gains with this new model. In Geekbench 5 Metal tests, the 16-inch MacBook Pro with 5600M graphics scored 43144, while the previous high-end model with an 8GB AMD 5500M GPU scored 28748....