Author: sick skills

In what will be a blockbuster suit, Apple is suing OpenAI, alleging that two ex-employees, one of whom was Apple’s previous Vice President of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch, maintained an ongoing and successful effort in stealing intellectual property to enrich OpenAI’s development efforts.

In the suit, filed on Friday, Apple goes into some detail about what two named defendants, Chang Liu and previous Vice President of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch Tang Yew Tan have done to draw the company’s ire. Specifically, the suit claims that for months after leaving Apple, they stole and used Apple intellectual property to advance OpenAI’s goals.

And, OpenAI didn’t do anything about it, nor did they respond to Apple asking questions about the hires, the data, and what was being done with it.

Reportedly, Liu failed to return Apple-issued hardware, that was still authenticated to access Apple’s networks. Apple alleges that Liu told a colleague still at Apple that he was planning to access Apple information.

And in doing so, Liu exploited an authentication bug to access Apple’s shared network folders. He then bragged to his colleague that it was “so funny” that this bug existed.

That employee departed Apple in April, after pointing out to Liu that they should communicate over a different secure platform. Specifically, the pair used Line Messenger.

She was hired by OpenAI in April. She is not being sued at the moment.

The filing goes on to claim that over weeks while developing hardware for OpenAI, Liu downloaded what the filing calls “dozens” of files. Specifically:

• Information about unreleased products
• Engineering presentations
• Technical specifications
• Proprietary project data.

Apple’s internal investigations found out that Tan was doing the same after departing Apple, following a 24-year career.

The suit alleges that in the months before Tan left Apple to serve as OpenAI’s Chief Hardware Officer, Tan began emailing himself information about Apple suppliers. He also allegedly directed candidates to bring unreleased hardware components from Apple to their interviews with OpenAI to spill more information that’s more current than what Tan supplied himself.

In those interviews, OpenAI is said to instruct new hires on how to avoid scrutiny when leaving Apple. Specifically, Tan has warned potential hires to not tell Apple that they are headed to OpenAI, and stay at Apple as long as they can before onboarding.

Apple says this, because they say that Tan has sent messages to Apple-issued work devices, and shared a stolen procedural document, detailing Apple’s security policies.

During investigation, Apple said that it reached out to OpenAI to discuss what precautions the AI firm was taking to combat the leak and use of information. OpenAI reportedly did not respond to the inquiry.

While the suit claims that Apple “lacks visibility” on what’s going on, the allegations are detailed. Clearly, Apple is looking for discovery to further emphasize their points, and see how far the issue goes.

“Only OpenAI and Mr. Liu know all the ways they have been exploiting the trove of Apple confidential information he stole, and to the extent they have not concealed or destroyed the evidence of these misappropriations, it will be investigated thoroughly in discovery.”

Apple believes that this is all part of a concerted effort to take and use confidential information.

An Apple spokesperson went on the record about the suit.

“At Apple, our teams are constantly developing breakthrough technologies to create the best products and services in the world, and protecting their work and intellectual property is something we take very seriously. Recently, significant evidence has emerged suggesting individuals employed by OpenAI wrongfully took Apple’s secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. We will always defend our teams’ hard work and innovations, and we are taking all appropriate steps to do so.”

Apple is obviously seeking judgement, an injunction against use and possession of Apple intellectual property, a demand of a return of Apple’s property, damages, and royalties for use of Apple’s intellectual property.

The suit was filed in the US District Court, San Jose Division.

Apple TV is going to be a big presence at Comic Con 2026, with the company set to host a two-hour panel and share a first-look preview for the second season of “Dark Matter.”

Comic Con, which gets underway on July 23 and runs through July 26, will be held in San Diego and will no doubt be as popular as ever. And Apple TV will back up its recent collection of 89 Emmy nominations with a strong showing.

Not only will Apple be present, but it will go so far as to set up a “Silo” multi-sensory installation that will help give Comic Con attendees a feel for life underground.

Apple TV goes big

Deadline reports that the hit show “Widow’s Bay” will be part of a two-hour panel starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 25. The move marks the first time that Apple has taken over Hall H, giving it a stronger presence at the event than in previous years.

While panelists for the “Widow’s Bay” discussion have yet to be confirmed, the show is sure to be a popular addition to the event. Its first season has proven hugely popular with viewers and accounts for a 19 of Apple’s total Emmy nominations.

The discussion will also take in Matchbox, a new action movie starring John Cena. Cena will be in attendance, as will co-star Jessica Biel.

The movie is inspired by Mattel toys and will premiere on October 9 for Apple TV subscribers.

Separately, Apple will also offer a preview of the first episode of the second season of “Dark Matter.” The second season of the sci-fi show will premiere on Apple TV on August 28.

Attendees will be able to check out the special sneak preview in Room 6DE at 10 p.m. on Friday, July 24.

Executive producer Joel Edgerton, cast member Dayo Okeniyi, and the writer of the novel the show is based on, Black Crouch, will all attend the screening.

If “Silo” is more your jam, “The Silo Experience” will be found at The Lot at 1st & J, 450 2nd Ave. It’ll be free for all attendees and the public between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Apple will be cutting support for encrypted Mac OS Extended drives from macOS 28 onwards, but HFS+ will still function — for now. Here’s what you can do about it.

As time rolls on, technologies used to power operating systems like macOS are deprecated in favor of newer versions. While most users will embrace the newer ways of working, users of older installations can sometimes do with a nudge in the right direction.

On Tuesday, Apple’s support pages were updated with a warning affecting Mac users with encrypted MacOS Extended drives, also known as encrypted HFS+ drives. Apple confirmed that support for encrypted Mac OS Extended drives will end in macOS 28, and won’t be supported at all in the future.

While the support page doesn’t explain why Apple is making the change, it does advise that users should do something about it. Specifically, to check their volume’s format and encryption, to see if they need to fix the problem.

This is something that Apple has been warning about since macOS 26, if you happen to be using an affected drive.

To be clear, this is an issue affecting Mac OS Extended disks that are encrypted. Unencrypted HFS+ or MacOS Extended format volumes will continue to work just fine. The writing is on the wall, though.

How to check your drives to see if they are HFS+ and encrypted

Aside from the warning in macOS 26, you can also check if a drive is affected by using Disk Utility.

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Under View in the Menu Bar, select Show Only Volumes.
3. Select the name of the volume in the sidebar.
4. Check the details under the name of the volume on the right. If both “Mac OS Extended” and “Encrypted” are visible, then your drive is affected.

Be aware that only drives that are encrypted and using Mac OS Extended are at issue. If you have one but not the other, the drive is fine.

Solutions: Reformatting and Decryption

To get the drive supported in macOS 28, you will have to modify the drive’s formatting, one way or another. You have two real options: reformat it or decrypt it.

Reformatting

Reformatting deletes all data from the drive, and then formats it. This is a good way to ensure the data is readable in the future, since you can use either APFS or APFS (Encrypted).

Make sure you have sufficient backups of the stored data if you go down this route.

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select the name of the volume in the sidebar. Then click the drive icon with an X on it.
3. On the Scheme pop-up, choose a GUID Partition Map.
4. Click Format, then select a file system. Apple recommends either APFS or APFS (Encrypted).
5. Enter a name, then click Erase and Done.

Decryption

If you want to retain the data without deleting it, you can remove the encryption, converting it into non-encrypted Mac OS Extended or HFS+. Afterwards, you can convert the volume to APFS without erasing it.

Apple warns that this won’t work for encrypted Time Machine backup disks.

1. Connect the drive and enter your encryption password to unlock the volume.
2. Control-click the drive’s icon on the desktop, then select Decrypt.
3. Enter the encryption password again.

You will be left with the drive intact, but with the encryption removed.

At this point, you can use Disk Utility to convert the volume to APFS, keeping the data intact.

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Under View in the Menu Bar, select Show Only Volumes
3. Select the name of the volume in the side bar.
4. Select the Edit menu in the Menu, then Convert to APFS. Click Convert to confirm.
5. After conversion ends, exit Disk Utility.
6. If you want to encrypt the new APFS volume, control-click the drive icon on the desktop, then choose Encrypt. Follow the onscreen instructions.

An Apple format history lesson

Mac OS Extended was introduced as a replacement of HFS, the Hierarchical FIle System, in 1998 as part of Mac OS 8.1. This is why Mac OS Extended is referred to as HFS+.

Since introduction, Apple bolted on multiple changes, including the ever handy file system journaling. However, you can only bolt so many updates to a core technology before the cracks start to show. At some point, it’s better to simply start again from a base point, incorporating everything you added in the previous version to be the default in the new one.

Apple File System (APFS) was introduced in 2016, with it becoming the default drive format in 2017. It improved on Mac OS Extended, as well as adding new features, and it continues to be used until this day.

While today’s news chiefly affects users of encrypted Mac OS Extended volumes, this should serve as a reminder to unencrypted volume users that they should consider moving to APFS sooner rather than later.

At some point, Apple will come for you too.

Apple has released a new firmware developer beta build for AirPods and AirPods Pro, preparing the personal audio devices for upcoming iOS 27 changes.

Apple periodically updates the firmware of its accessories and peripherals to account for new features being added to its operating systems. With iOS 27, macOS 27, and others undergoing testing, that same process also happens for firmware updates.

Tuesday’s new firmware, build 9A5314b, is for the AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods Max 2. The firmware is only available to developers, not to the general public.

The firmware can be downloaded by using the AirPods with an Apple device running iOS 26 or later, iPadOS 26 or later, or macOS 26 or later. There is an option under the AirPods settings interface to enable beta firmware installation.

After enabling it, the update process happens automatically, while recharging and within range of the host device.

Audio changes

While Apple doesn’t state what the firmware is for, it is almost certainly going to enable Apple’s personal audio devices to work properly with changes in its 27-generation operating systems.

Those changes include a redesign of the AirPods settings submenu, including easy-to-read labels and groupings similar to other Settings elements.

A new customizable EQ is also on the way, found under Settings, AirPods, Audio and Routing, then Equalizer.

Apple Watch users will also be able to use Find My to track down a pair of missing AirPods Pro. Lastly, for AirPods Pro 3, the heart rate tracking will now sync with GymKit on supportive exercise equipment.

Apple Watch owners can now finally use the new-and-improved Siri AI, thanks to watchOS 27 beta 3.

At WWDC 2026, Apple’s virtual assistant received a long-overdue upgrade. Siri AI, available on iOS 27 beta, supports contextual awareness and understands natural language, effectively making it an Apple-designed chatbot.

Initially, Siri AI was made available to developers with an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro. With Monday’s watchOS 27 developer beta, however, the revamped digital assistant has made its way to the Apple Watch, in the form of a dedicated Siri app.

Siri AI conversations held on one Apple device will appear across all linked and compatible products. This means that, even though Siri AI is new to the Apple Watch, developers can still pick up where they left off on their iPhone or iPad.

With watchOS 27 beta 3, the Siri app can be launched from the Dynamic App Grid, which acts as the default Home Screen. The Siri app is now front and center, with five surrounding context-aware applications chosen based on the wearer’s routines.

Monday’s developer beta, and watchOS 27, controversially require an Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch SE 3, or newer. Essentially, the operating system only supports six Apple Watch models, as Apple says newer hardware works best with Siri AI.

In this week’s “Sunday Reboot,” scientists somehow say iPhones lowered birthrates, and Musk’s AI prototype story shows that specialist hardware is coming, even if we don’t necessarily want it.

Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get the next week underway with a good first step.

iPhones up, birthrate down, “research” questionable

The iPhone is a mere 19 years old this week, first going on sale on June 29, 2007. It’s old enough to drink in the UK, if not quite in the United States.

Before it flies across the Atlantic to buy a brew from a bar in Basingstoke, some pesky scientists have tried to spoil the party.

Raised on July 1, a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research proposes “Is the iPhone Birth Control?” If we follow Betteridge’s law of headlines, the answer is “No.”

The paper proclaims “National-survey evidence on time use and sexual behavior is consistent with the iPhone reducing in-person interactions, increasing pornography use, and reducing sexual frequency” in the United States

Hearing that for the first time, you’d nod and agree with it. That song from the puppet musical “Avenue Q” is right, and so is the abstract.

However, AppleInsider William Gallagher looked into the report and realized that there are some catches to this assumption.

First, that it’s not really a phenomena associated with just the iPhone. I recall there were many different other devices on the market at the time that were capable of being used in illicit ways.

However, the writers decided to focus on data of AT&T users between 2005 and 2011. That’s two years before the iPhone and the years when it was exclusive to AT&T.

Except it doesn’t really take into account the fact that AT&T also sold many other early smartphones too. Blackberries, the HTC-based AT&T Tilt, the Nokia N75, and others were all buyable from the carrier, not just iPhones.

Even the report writers acknowledge this, saying they don’t claim the iPhone was the sole cause of the post-2007 decline.” Indeed, they say the estimates imply that the modern smartphone played a “sizable role” in the decline of US births.

But, before the puritan complainers can get a word in about how smartphones are evil, and demand retribution from the House of Jobs, the report goes on to work against the implied statement.

Searches for “porn” shot up in 2014, but have gone down to almost 2009 levels again by 2024. Almost as if society had the novelty of trying to access specialist content wherever they want, then the novelty wore off.

It’s an odd report that tries to prove a point, but works against itself in many ways, and with too many asterisks to really be taken seriously.

In which case, was it really a clickbait way to try and secure some grant funding during some downtime? Or maybe some scientists placed bets that they could get it published.

Maybe it was an excuse to get to look at adult material while working without needing to face an investigation from HR.

Either way, Betteridge’s law is maintained once again.

Don’t stop believing in AI devices

People working in the tech editorial space, such as this very publication, are all too familiar with the notion of prototypes being shown to others. Especially if it’s for a future product in a category where there’s no real dominant option.

Cue a story about one of the Elon Musk companies supposedly sharing a prototype with investors for an AI device. SpaceX’s xAI apparently did that, though Musk has since called the claim “utterly false.”

Your mileage may vary on whether or not to blame the extremely rich man, but he did threaten to go all Futurama Bender on the iPhone in 2022. As someone in charge of tech companies with massive resources capable of doing just that, there was every chance that Musk would do it.

He didn’t, but the opportunity was there.

What the modern-day report provides in detail is minimal. It was shown to investors and was thinner than an iPhone.

While Musk’s insistence that it’s not happening puts a downer on things, it does, however, mean that there’s still an appetite for something to happen in that area.

After the Humane AI pin’s crash and burn and the Rabbit R1’s lack of popularity with consumers, companies should be treading carefully. Those were two high-profile AI device failures, and no-one wants to pay for the third.

Rumors and patents certainly point to Apple continuing down the path of a more AI-focused future. Sure, there’s the questionable pendant, and the ever-present smart glasses, but it’s also looking at non-standalone items too.

We have had rumors insisting that the AirPods will get cameras, providing an environmental view for Apple Intelligence running on an iPhone.

The key bit here is that it’s all feeding back to an iPhone. Something that is obviously a device that has a lot of AI prowess, and could do the same job as Humane’s pin if you push it.

The only difference is that AirPods with cameras, or smart glasses with cameras, would enable that sort of functionality without needing to touch the iPhone at all.

The AirPods don’t have to be “smart” in their own right. They only have to pass along data to the iPhone as the actual “brain” of the operation.

You don’t really need a dedicated device, just a way to interface with what already exists.

So, with the hardware side “solved,” there’s the actual AI bit to cover. Again, Apple Intelligence on the iPhone comes to the rescue, but there is another way.

Humane was painful, particularly since you had to pay a $24 per month subscription for the AI bit. We may not have liked paying a subscription for questionable AI back in 2023, but in 2026, we’re intimately aware of how much people are spending on access to ChatGPT and Claude.

Weirdly, it only took a few years and society is perfectly fine with one of the biggest stumbling blocks that Humane ran into.

It’s not hard to imagine OpenAI releasing hardware that taps into ChatGPT’s paid services. You don’t even have to imagine, as your friendly LLM can tell you about the hardware work with Jony Ive.

Humane flopped so OpenAI and others can walk, run, or be a patronizing yes-man that really wants to explain your assumptions back at you with a more academic style.

Musk may deny the existence of an xAI hardware prototype now, but it would be astounding if one wasn’t being actively developed.

Putting Grok access on a device like that isn’t hard to imagine. For Musk, with an eye staring at his finance teams, it seems like a natural progression of the form, and he gets his own iPhone rival to boot.

Just hope that we don’t get headlines in 20 years time about Musk’s prototype lowering the birth rate again.

Last week’s Sunday Reboot talked about Apple TV and its fear of gameshows. That, and a reminder that it is also bad at making gameshows.

Shortly after increasing the lifetime version of the Plex Plan to $749.99, Plex has now introduced a new five-year option. One charging $249.99 for streaming media from your Mac to your iPhone.

On July 1, Plex significantly increased the cost of its Lifetime Plex Plan from $249.99 to a staggering $749.99. While consumers will have missed the boat to get the old pricing, they can still spend $249.99 on something that’s not quite as everlasting.

Subscribers can sign up for a new five-year Plex Pass. The new option, offered alongside the monthly $6.99 and annual $69.99 subscriptions, gives users a lengthy period of usage without paying a regular subscription.

The price, $249.99, will be familiar to users, since it’s the same as the Lifetime Plex Plan pre-price rise.

Good, but not quite great

It does still work out to be a decent deal for Plex users as they’d pay the equivalent of three and a half years of the annual plan for five years of usage. Or just under three years worth of the monthly plan price.

This is a bit of a cost saving for consumers. But it’s not as good as the old Lifetime offer, which did the same thing but without an end date.

The new plan certainly does help soften the blow of the Lifetime price rise to $749.99. But there are still some elements to remember.

The key one is what happens after the five-year period ends. Users will then have to either sign up for a new five-year or equivalent plan, or consider switching to a monthly one instead.

However, they won’t get any grandfathered pricing. Due to the inevitability of price increases over time, you can count on the subscriptions going up in price within those five years.

Consider your streaming choices

In justifying the price rise, Plex admitted that it had previously considered removing the Lifetime Plex Pass altogether. While recurring subscriptions sustain long-term development, the lifetime pass does not, and becomes less useful to Plex as time goes on.

The new pricing of that plan “reflects the real, ongoing value of the software we’re committed to building and maintaining for years to come.”

The severely high price of the Lifetime pass certainly does make buying one of the lower-tier options more attractive to users. Especially the new five-year option.

However, this also serves as an opportunity for users to consider whether to stick with Plex at all.

Other options exist, such as Jellyfin, which is free to use. It offers the same core streaming functionality as Plex, but it requires a little more work to get it up and running.

With iPhone Air 2 rumored to be less than a year away, Apple could turn to better cooling or more cameras to make the ultra-thin phone even more popular than the original. Here’s what’s been rumored, and some other possibilities.

Despite what some vocal online detractors say, iPhone Air has its fans. I’m certainly counted among them.

Early reports said Apple’s thinnest phone was a “failure” and that the second-generation was cancelled. Now that we’re three-quarters of the way through the iPhone Air first-year release cycle, it’s more evident that the phone isn’t a “failure” and a second-generation model is coming.

The iPhone Air is said to be twice as popular as the outgoing iPhone 16 Plus it replaced in the lineup. So it’s not all that shocking to see Apple doubling down on the model.

I think there are a few changes that Apple could implement to generate more fans, and based on the latest rumors, it seems Apple could be on the right track.

Here’s how my time with iPhone Air has been and what features version 2 should adopt.

iPhone Air 2 wish list

With day-to-day use, there’s not much iPhone Air falls short on. It is fast, comfortable, and the battery gets me through the day.

What I do start to notice is when I’m taxing the processor for prolonged periods of time, the top (where the guts of the phone live) can get quite hot. I know I push the phone a bit more than most people, but it’s definitely noticeable.

I know the performance can be boosted with better thermals for tasks like video exports or gaming. To combat this, Apple should add vapor chamber cooling as found on the pro line.

This would not only improve the general performance of the phone, but could help with other features, too. It’s possible that the iPhone Air lacks Cinematic Mode because of the cooling situation on the device, but unless Apple says something, we may never know.

The second thing I’d love to see is a secondary speaker. Currently, iPhone Air has a mono speaker situated at the top of the phone.

At first, I didn’t mind this. In fact, it can be beneficial at times because depending on how you hold your phone, there’s no bottom speaker to be blocked by your finger.

Most videos I watch on mobile are vertical, while actual landscape videos I save for my iPad or television. But after a lot of recent traveling, I’ve been watching more landscape videos on my iPhone Air and that mono speaker is very noticeable.

This is also one of the most common complaints I see in the comments regarding iPhone Air. To make the second go around better, a second speaker needs to be added.

My final request is for a second camera, but not for the same reason that most others want it. Most probably want an ultra-wide lens for capturing new perspectives with photos.

On the other hand, I want the secondary camera to capture spatial content. Two cameras are necessary to capture that stereoscopic spatial footage.

For the past couple of years, I’ve captured a lot of photos and videos to use with Vision Pro. The iPhone Air lacks this capability due to its solo primary camera.

Obviously the Apple Vision Pro isn’t a major hit among consumers. Spatial is something Apple is still heavily invested in, one way or another.

I want to capture spatial content now, versus in the future. These are moments and memories I can’t get back, so if I have the opportunity to capture a few spatial scenes, I want to do that.

There are questions on how this would work on the iPhone Air 2, though. Apple could adopt square sensors, like it did on the front-facing camera with the iPhone 17, but I’m getting into speculation and guessing at that point.

It could be a cool addition though, unlocking portrait or landscape recording in either phone orientation.

Release date

There are a lot of rumors around the iPhone Air 2, but it seems some of my requests may come to fruition. What will be interesting is how Apple pulls them off, such as fitting that second camera module into the plateau, as has been rumored.

Don’t expect iPhone Air 2 to be imminent though. The most recent reporting says Apple is planning a split launch for the iPhone 18 cycle.

We could see iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the “iPhone Fold” in the fall of 2026, Expected in early 2027 are the iPhone 18e, iPhone 18, and iPhone Air 2 land in the first half of 2027. I think that timing makes sense and helps push earlier adopters towards the higher-tier phones.

Between improved battery, a second camera, and any other new features, the iPhone Air 2 may prove even more popular than the first time around. Sounds like we’ll find out in the spring.