Category: Apple Insider

Regular as clockwork, Apple takes time in the fall to launch a swathe of new products intended for consumers to buy during the following holiday shopping period. As a very lucrative time of year for the company, Apple puts a lot of effort into its fall events, showing off as many new items as possible.

While primarily centered on its iPhone product line, Apple does take time to look at other complementary products and services.

Here’s what you can expect from Apple’s fall 2022 effort.

Apple’s usual cadence for its fall launches is to hold at least one special event, with at least one taking place in the September of that year. You must return to 2011 to encounter a year without a September event.

The September launch usually won’t be the only one, as over the last ten years, there have been seven October events and one November event.

As Apple has held October events in 2020 and 2021 as part of a slickly-produced pre-recorded video stream prompted by COVID-19, it seems probable that there will be at least two events in the fall lineup.

While other fall events cover many different Apple products, with later events generally handling Mac-related subjects, the iPhone usually dominates the September event. The exception for the last decade was 2020, when the September event focused on the Apple Watch and iPad lines, while October dealt with iPhones and HomePod mini, and November was the Mac month.

While Apple usually waits until two weeks into the month for its September event, it has already confirmed it will be doing so on September 7.

That still leaves some room for interpretation for the October event. With Apple generally leaving a one-month gap, an early October event is possible.

As for whether there could be a third, that would depend on how Apple’s product lineup is presented in the September event, as well as if Apple leaves any obvious lineup gaps in the October one.

The biggest story each year is that of new iPhone models. However, the story for 2022 may be one talking about a lack of updates, rather than of ground-breaking changes.

For the iPhone 14, Apple is expected to bring out two models as usual, but with a big shift in size. Instead of an iPhone and iPhone mini, there will instead be the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max.

Rumors and supposedly leaked diagrams point to models having 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, echoing the sizes of the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Despite the larger size, the Max model will share the specifications of its non-Pro stablemate.

What will change on the outside could be the camera bump, which could be made to be smaller.

Internally, it seems that Apple could be sticking to the same A15 chip for its non-Pro lineup instead of upgrading to an A16, but it could still have some processing improvement. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the RAM of the standard models could jump from 4GB to 6GB.

Other features that may stay the same can include a lack of ProMotion, the return of the notch, the Lightning port, and the same 12MP camera system. That said, there could still be some improvements.

For example, the iPhone could gain Center Stage support for video calls. The Macro mode from the iPhone 13 Pro lineup may also make the jump for 2022.

A late August report claimed that there could be a key improvement, in terms of power. A 30W fast charging capability has been touted, a significant jump from the 20W of the iPhone 13.

On the more outlandish side, long-term rumors of Apple introducing satellite service to its devices floated again in late August, after SpaceX and T-Mobile said they would bring satellite internet to cellphones. However, Apple has reportedly already handled hardware development for the feature back in the days of the iPhone 13, and that only signing up with a partner scuppered its introduction.

For colors, claims include green, purple, blue, black, white, and red will be on offer.

Apple’s use of a space theme could point to actually introducing the feature in its hardware in 2022, and if so, the iPhone 14 stands a good chance of getting it.

There has also been speculation that one other change could be the price. In July, it was speculated that supply chain cost increases will be passed onto consumers, which could increase the base cost of models by as much as $100.

While the September event will almost certainly involve iPhones, it seems that most eyes will be watching the changes in the Pro models, not the iPhone 14.

As for when to expect the iPhone 14 to actually ship, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts it could launch earlier than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. The claim is an extrapolation from Apple’s positive Q3 2022 outlook from its July results.

Kuo also reckons that announcing and shipping the iPhone as soon as possible could minimize the impact of any risk to demand prompted by a global recession. However, Kuo didn’t offer when the actual release could take place.

The Pro lineup of iPhones get the most significant upgrades each year, and for 2022, that probably remains the case.

Once again, rumors point to two models, consisting of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, complete with 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays. Leaked diagrams indicate they should be practically the same size and shape as the year-ago models.

The first noticeable change from the iPhone 13 lineup is the display, as rumors indicate Apple will switch to an always-on version. Such a feature will provide at-a-glance details for users without waking and illuminating the entire screen, saving battery.

That display will also apparently switch out the notch for a pill-and-hole cutout, significantly reducing how much of the display is wasted by the onboard TrueDepth camera array.

However, late August rumors say that Apple may not go with the pill-and-hole motif, and instead switches to a long i-shaped cutout instead. it would serve the same purpose as the pill-and-hole, except there would be a small screenless gap connecting the two sections.

The iPhone 14 Pro models could switch the notch for a pill-and-hole cutout instead.

The cameras may also get a massive upgrade, with the use of a 48-megapixel wide camera sensor. The change could result in the ability to record 8K-resolution video and create more detailed 12-megapixel images using a process called pixel binning.

Rumors propose that the A16 could be reserved just for the Pro line, which will provide a performance increase over the A15 non-Pro models, despite having identical 6GB memory allocations.

The Pro lineup should also get the same 30W power boost and supposed satellite service as its non-pro counterpart. On the subject of color schemes, the Pro line will apparently be sold in green, purple, silver, gold, and graphite.

The proposed $100 increase for the non-Pro models may also appear in the Pro range, if only for consistency. However, Apple may still seek to avoid the sticker shock associated with a starting price of $1,099.

If true, this could really work in Apple’s favor. Analysts firmly believe that pent-up demand for iPhone upgrades, as well as fewer changes to the iPhone 14 lineup, should push consumers to buy the iPhone 14 Pro range instead, and with the Pro Max the biggest beneficiary.

As for when it will arrive in consumer hands, analyst Kuo’s comments suggest it could be earlier than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 releases, but there’s little to really go on for that.

The timing is also backed up by another report, claiming Apple has finished developing what will be the version of iOS 16 that will be released to consumers.

A good contender for launch alongside a new iPhone, the Apple Watch Series 8 can expand the Apple Watch range into three variants, bringing out a Pro version alongside the standard and Apple Watch SE.

Leaks say the standard edition will not get much in the way of a redesign and will appear to be similar to the Apple Watch Series 7 in many respects. This includes aluminum and stainless steel cases in 41mm and 45mm sizes.

However, there have also been claims of a third size, with a larger display resulting in an Apple Watch with a size of about 47mm. This third one may be the supposedly rumored “Pro” variant.

A render of the potential Apple Watch Series 8

Anticipated to be more rugged than usual, the Pro model will be more capable of use in sports and fitness, complete with a more durable casing, possibly titanium. The durability could come at a cost, with one report claiming the Pro model could start from around $900.

As part of the design, the Pro model could have some design cues taken from the iPhone 13, such as a flat display and an updated exterior design.

As a larger model, there have also been some claims Apple could bring out larger bands to work with the bigger overall design. Using larger band sizes may result in bands that would work with the 44/45mm models being too small to properly fit the bigger wearable device, though there are some conflicting rumors about this potential change.

On the inside of the standard and Pro models, Apple is thought to be introducing body temperature measurements for the first time, enabling fever detection. While an update to the S8 chip is planned, it is also believed that the chip update won’t be that much faster than the current-gen S7.

The iPad often appears during the September event, and depending on Apple’s launch plans, it could easily be launched in September or an event later in the season.

However, reports about an early September 7 event indicate that it won’t feature the iPad family, and instead will concentrate on the iPhone and Apple Watch. An October launch event is more probable for the iPad lineup.

It’s entirely plausible that Apple could launch an iPad during September but delay the release until October, but a later reveal is more likely.

One of the big points of evidence for this is Apple itself, as it has decided to skip iPadOS 16 entirely, and confirmed that iPadOS 16.1 will be the first public release, heavily pointing towards an October introduction for new products.

The tenth-generation iPad is rumored to sport an all-new design for once, as its entry-level nature means it hasn’t been the subject of changes overall. For the tenth version, renders and leaks point to the use of an all-new design.

Flat iPad Pro-like sides could point to Apple Pencil 2 support, as well as bringing the tablet more in line with Apple’s modern aesthetic. The casing could introduce slimmer bezels around the display, as well as a new rear camera module, but the Touch ID Home button may continue to survive for another year.

There have been claims of a bigger display for the base model, along with the unusual rumor that Touch ID could shift to a side button and the FaceTime HD camera could move to the side. The latter point would fit in with the idea of a larger screen, but the repositioned camera seems improbable.

Inside, it could use the A14 chip, with support for 5G networks, Bluetooth 5.0, and Wi-Fi 6.

The 10th-gen iPad may get a facelift, and a new camera module.

Along with the iPad update, changes could also be afoot for the iPad Pro, albeit not as seismic in nature.

For a start, the M1-equipped tablet lineup could see a change over to using M2. This would be a natural progression for the product line, adding enhanced video features.

With AirPods on its third generation, it’s about time that the AirPods Pro get an update. Luckily enough, rumors point in that direction as well.

In May, it was reckoned that an update to the personal audio devices would occur in the second half of 2022, most likely via a fall event.

While rumors claim that there could be two events, dividing the catalog into iPhone and Apple Watch for September’s event and iPad and Mac for October’s, it is unclear what will happen for AirPods. It’s plausible that, since they’re so closely linked to iPhones as accessories, Apple could include them in the September event.

Among the supposed changes to the model is the inclusion of a stemless design, departing wildly from the existing AirPods aesthetic.

Renders of AirPods Pro without stems.

There have also been older claims that there will be some form of fitness tracking functionality, but later assessments have doubted their inclusion. Rumors have also suggested the use of a microphone in the charging case, a form of hearing aid functionality, and a case speaker to assist with Find My recovery.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo offered a prediction on August 9 that AirPods will have USB-C charging cases in 2023, however, AirPods Pro 2 will continue to ship with a Lightning-based charging case.

The changes for the AirPods Max may not necessarily be as significant. Rumors say there are changes on the way, but limited more to new color options than feature updates.

Apple launches many products in the fall, far beyond this list. For the purposes of this article, we have dealt with just the products we believe Apple will show during a September event.

Rumors do claim new Mac models are on the way, such as a New Mac mini or more M2 MacBook Pro releases. However, Apple doesn’t usually launch them in September but instead waits for an event occurring at a later time.

Reports claiming there will be two events put Apple’s Mac changes alongside the iPad for an October event while leaving September’s for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

There are also long-standing rumors about the Apple mixed-reality headset, but such a ground-breaking release would see Apple holding a completely separate launch event. It would have too much ground to cover if it sandwiched the headset alongside other launches.

There’s also speculation that the launch of the headset won’t be until 2023.

Updated: August 21 with new event rumors.

Updated: September 3 with more event rumors.

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With the original Kishi, Razer came to market with a compact device in partnership with Gamevice. While some liked the compact style — and others did not. The back was flexible and as time went on, the market started favoring more rigid designs.

After a few years, Razer is back to try to conquer the market. Launching only a few weeks after the Android version, we’ve been testing with our iPhone 13 Pro.

With this update, the Kishi V2 is more in line with current gaming controllers that turn your iPhone into a Nintendo Switch-style portable gaming device. Controller grips are on the left and right, sandwiching your iPhone in the middle.

The back of the Kishi V2 expands, allowing it to fit over any iPhone. This includes the massive iPhone 13 Pro Max.

iPhone 13 Pro in Razer Kishi V2

Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro has a notoriously large camera bump that has caused a ton of issues with existing accessories but Razer was able to avoid this issue. It designed the Kishi V2 to fit the 13 Pro without any issues and should even fit the rumored upcoming iPhone 14 lineup.

Razer Kishi V2 design

All buttons on the Razer Kishi V2 use new ultra-responsive micro switches, the same ones Razer uses on its Wolverine V2 gaming controller. They have a small, yet noticeable click when the buttons are pressed. There isn’t as much button travel as on the Wolverine though.

Button closeup

These buttons take very little pressure to trip them which is good and bad. On one hand, it means you can click the buttons very rapidly in tense battles, yet on the other, we’d like to see slightly more feedback than the small click. It can feel muddled when pressing fervently.

Other buttons include a dedicated button for screenshots as well as launching the Razer Nexus app — more on that in a moment. The controller can capture full-resolution screenshots or screen recordings at 1080p.

Charge your iPhone with the Lightning port

On the button of the right grip is an Apple-certified Lightning port. This lets you charge your iPhone while playing games as the controller connects over its integrated Lightning connector.

Intended to be used with the Kishi V2, the Razer Nexus app provides firmware updates for the controller, remapping functionality for the macro buttons, and a discovery center for new games.

Nexus breaks down all the games into various categories. Simulation, education, racing, family, and more categories are available. Find a game you like, click on it so you can see more screenshots, and read about it, before jumping into the App Store.

Apple does limit what apps can do which makes launching apps annoying. It has to kick you to the App Store to launch games rather than launching them directly. It’s a privacy restriction that makes sense but adds additional steps to getting to the game quickly.

Razer Nexus app

The problem with the Nexus app is its game recommendations seem very poor. There are some odd games it recommends and it doesn’t highlight some of the biggest games on the platform. Oceanhorn 2, Roblox, PUBG mobile, Sonic, Apex Legends, Rocket League Mobile to name a few.

Hopefully, Razer updates this app to make it much more full-featured and with better recommendations.

Most controllers have a trigger and a bumper on both the left and the right but Razer has a small bonus button. Denoted as L4 and R4 — L3 and R3 are the designators for pressing the joysticks — these buttons can clone any of the other controller’s buttons.

L4 on the Razer Kishi V2

To remap the buttons, you use the aforementioned-Razer Nexus app. Open the app manually or by tapping the dedicated Razer Nexus button on the controller. Then tap the hamburger icon at the top-right to bring up the settings.

Remapping buttons

When you tap the remapping button, you can see the L4 and R4 buttons and all available assignments. The idea is that depending on the game you’re playing, it may be helpful to remap something like reload, sprint, or handbrake to these small buttons instead of their original location.

Maybe in a game, you have to hold the X button down nearly the whole time. Moving to hit A, B, or Y means having to let go of the X button. Remapping X or the other buttons to L4 and R4 can vastly improve your gaming performance.

The closest competition to the updated Razer Kishi V2 is the Backbone One. It launched after the original Kishi but it left Razer with some ground to make up.

The Backbone One was almost universally deemed the most superior iPhone gaming controller. Razer wants to challenge that.

Backbone One Playstation Edition versus Razer Kishi V2

Both devices look shockingly similar and connect to your phone almost the same way. Since the Backbone One launched pre-iPhone 13 Pro, it doesn’t fit perfectly and the company has started to offer an additional adapter that helps the bump not get in the way. Razer fits like a glove out of the box.

Another difference is for us, we like the feel of all the buttons on the Razer Kishi V2 while the Backbone has some buttons that rely on a membrane switch rather than all the performance micro switches. That gives them a slightly mushy feeling on the Backbone One.

Razer also offers the additional programmable L4 and R4 buttons that Backbone lacks. For us, the Razer is the better controller but Backbone One does offer a better app experience and has a headphone jack for wired listening.

You can’t go wrong with either the Backbone One or the Razer Kishi V2. We like the Kishi V2 as our go-to device for gaming because of the button feel and programmable buttons. The app experience can always be improved on down the line and isn’t our go-to method for discovery anyway.

Razer Kishi V2

We’ve tested racing games, first-person shooters, platformers like Jetpack Joyride 2, and several others in our time with both controllers. It’s a massive difference from using on-screen controls.

Racing with Razer Kishi V2

Especially when going mobile, these all-in-one controllers are much more useful as they hold your phone at the same time and take up less space in your bag. If you’ve been looking around for a reliable controller that caters to high-level gamers as well as casual gamers, the Kishi V2 is it.

• Dedicated buttons or screenshots and screen recordings
• Nexus app for game discovery and mapping buttons
• Programmable L4 and R4 buttons
• New micro switch buttons for a more tactile feel
• Passthrough Lightning connector and MFi-certified

• Nexus app game discovery is pitiful
• No headphone jack

In a Tweet on Wednesday, Tim Cook offered Apple’s support for the region.

At the height of the flooding, a third of Pakistan — an area the size of Wyoming — was underwater, according to NBC News. The flooding has killed over a thousand people and displaced half a million others.

The damage is estimated to cost $10 billion.

Apple routinely donates money to humanitarian efforts around the globe.

In March, Apple partnered with UNICEF to help provide relief for families affected by the crisis in Ukraine.

In October 2021, Apple donated money to help communities recover from the severe flooding in northern China.

The product comes in two varieties. First, a 65W option will offer devices up to 65W of power using a single port, or up to 45W from port and 20W with a second port, in case charging multiple devices is needed.

The second variation, a 45W charger provides up to 45W of power from a single port. It can also provide up to 25W from one port and up to 20W from a second port when using both at once.

Belkin’s charging result was achieved by using a USB-C to Lightning cable in the company’s internal testing. Real-world results may vary depending on multiple factors, such as smartphone model, device age, and usage environment.

In addition to USB-C Power Delivery, which fast charges a device over a USB cable, the charger uses Programmable Power Supply (PPS). This technology provides the right amount of power to devices by adjusting the voltage and current in real-time, depending on a device’s charging status.

This, combined with the gallium nitride (GaN) material in the charger, aims to reduce overheating during a charge, a common issue when using a fast charger. Belkin says the BOOSTCHARGE PRO is optimized for Apple and Samsung devices, as well as the Nintendo Switch.

THe 65W BOOSTCHARGE PRO variant is available for for $49.99, while the 45W BOOSTCHARGE PRO can be purchased for $39.99.

The seven-year study, which has secured $37 million in funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, aims to tackle the use of blood thinners, a medication typically used to prevent atrial fibrillation (AFib). It is thought that between 2.5 million and 5 million people in the U.S. are affected by AFib, which can potentially result in a stroke, heart failure, and death.

Blood thinners are the common method of treatment, but it can cause problems including dangerous bleeding. Sustained use of blood thinners can be a health risk in itself, and also expensive, so a reduction in using them could help cut costs to patients as well as save lives.

A seven-year study, a partnership between the American Heart Association and Northwestern Medicine, will attempt to use the Apple Watch to try and do just that, by monitoring the hearts of patients. The Apple Watch has an ECG and a number of heart-related notifications, including detecting an irregular heart rhythm, which the study plans to use.

The Rhythm Evaluation for AniCoagulaTion (REACT-AF) trial will compare the existing standard of care for patients with a history of AFib against a second group, one that will use time-delimited anticoagulation that will be provided for a brief period, reports Yahoo! Life. This second group will use the Apple Watch and an accompanying iPhone app to manage treatment and to monitor progress.

As part of the study, Apple will be donating hardware and helping develop applications that the study will use. This will include a custom algorithm that will check heart rhythms at a higher frequency than normal, according to Stat News.

Under the trial, the Apple Watch will tell patients to take blood thinners if it detects atrial fibrillation lasting several hours, and to continue doing so until the highest risk of stroke has passed. The process will be entirely automated, without intervention by a physician.

“For many of us physicians who primarily take care of patients we see the inadequacies of some of the treatment recommendations,” Director of the Center for Arrhythmia Research at Northwestern University Rod S. Passman said. Passman saw that blood thinners helped many patients, but others didn’t benefit, and ended up exposed to danger.

“The concept of targeting individuals during high-risk periods grew out of that experience,” Passman added.

Apple VP of Health Dr. Sumbul Desai said in a statement “Heart health has always been a core focus of Apple Watch and we’re thrilled to explore another opportunity for the powerful sensors in Apple Watch to help patients better manage their AFib treatment through the REACT-AF study.”

If successful, the trial could be extremely beneficial to Apple, which has repeatedly promoted the heart-related features of its wearable device. It has also been credited with saving numerous lives with its features, and has also been used in a number of other health studies.

The Apple Watch has previously been used as part of an Apple Heart Study in collaboration with Stanford Medicine, though that study was used to generally analyze the use of the technology, rather than a specific medical use case.

Another Heartline study by Johnson & Johnson and Apple is also looking into ECG and irregular rhythm notifications and if the risk of stroke can be reduced.

With back-to-school shopping in full swing and the Sept. 7 Apple Event on the horizon, big box retailers are slashing the price on 13-inch, 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro retail configurations, delivering record low prices in many cases. For the best MacBook Pro deals on CTO models, pay a visit to our Mac Price Guide, where every spec is eligible for exclusive savings in addition to markdowns on AppleCare.

Here’s a rundown of the latest specials:

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There are plenty more deals going on today in the Apple space, including exclusive discounts on MacBook Air models. Here’s an overview of the special offers running this week:

A keen mountain bike rider, Ryan McConnaughey of Spring Valley, California, was a regular visitor to trails in Jamul. However, one daily ride in April involved an accident that would change his life.

Recounting the incident to 10News San Diego, McConnaughey explains the accident took place about 40 minutes into the evening ride. “It was a steep section. My bicycle went forward, and I went over the handlebars, headfirst into the ground,” he said.

After the impact to his helmet-protected head, the rider ended up on his back, and immediately knew that it was a serious issue. “I didn’t have movement from my neck down,” he explains.

“I knew for sure that I need to get medical attention as quickly as possible. My brain kind of kicked into survival mode,” he adds. Realizing his iPhone was in his backpack and unreachable, McConnaughey remembered “I’m wearing my watch.”

Primarily used by the rider as a fitness tracker, he used the Apple Watch to ask Siri to call a friend who knew his location. Both McConaughey and his friend called 911 for assistance, with the rider then placing a call to his girlfriend’s voicemail.

“Didn’t know what was going to happen. Just wanted to say goodbye,” he told his girlfriend in the three-minute message.

After being located and airlifted to hospital, several surgeries to his shattered vertebrae in his neck led to him being diagnosed a quadriplegic. After months at a spinal cord rehabilitation facility in Colorado, McConnaughey has since returned home.

“That watch saved my life. No doubt about it. No way anybody would have found me. I never would have thought I’d be using an Apple Watch to make a life-saving phone call,” McConnaughey concludes.

McConnaughey’s story is the latest to proclaim the Apple Watch had a hand in saving lives. In January, an Apple Watch placed an automatic emergency call to police in Hermosa Beach, after a man took a hard fall off an electric bike, while in September 2021, it summoned an ambulance for a man in Singapore following a hit-and-run incident.

Apple announced this scanning technology on August 5, 2021 to appear in iCloud Photos, iMessage, and Siri. These tools were designed to improve the safety of children on its platforms.

At the time, these tools would release within an update for watchOS, iOS, macOS, and iPadOS by the end of 2021. Apple has postponed since then, removing mention of CSAM detection in iCloud Photos and posting an update to its Child Safety page.

And then, the complaints started. And, they started, seemingly ignorant that Microsoft had been scanning uploaded files for about 10 years, and Google for eight.

Apple had also already been doing so for a few years, with a server-side partial implementation even before the iOS 15.2 announcement. Its privacy policy from at least May 9, 2019, says that the company pre-screens or scans uploaded content for potentially illegal content, including child sexual abuse material. However, this appears to have been limited to iCloud Mail.

Likely in response to the massive blowback from customers and researchers, in September 2021, Apple said that it would take additional time to collect input and make improvements before releasing its child safety features for iCloud Photos. It kept some initiatives going, and followed through with Messages and Siri.

In Messages, iOS warns children between 13 years and 17 years old included in an iCloud Family account of potentially sexually explicit content detected in a received text. For example, if the system detects a nude image, it automatically blurs it, and a popup appears with a safety message and an option to unblur the image.

For children under 13 years, iOS sends parents a notification if the child chooses to view the image. Teens between 13-17 can unblur the image without the device notifying parents.

Child communication safety in the Messages app

Siri, along with search bars in Safari and Spotlight, steps in next. It intervenes when an Apple user of any age performs search queries related to CSAM. A popup warns that the search is illegal and provides resources to “learn more and get help.” Siri can also direct people to file a report of suspected child abuse material.

Finally, iCloud Photos would also detect and report suspected CSAM. Apple’s plan was to include a database of image hashes of abuse material for on-device intelligence. This National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) database aims to ensure that Apple platforms only report child abuse material already found during law enforcement investigations.

Apple says that the event of a false positive match is rare, saying that the odds are one-in-a-trillion on any given account. There is also a human review team that makes the final call on whether to notify law enforcement or not, so the slope doesn’t immediately end with a police report.

The detection tools in iCloud Photos were the most controversial. As one example, an open letter penned by Edward Snowden and other high-profile people raises concerns that certain groups could use the technology for surveillance. Democratic and authoritarian governments could pressure Apple to add hash databases for things other than CSAM, such as images of political dissidents.

Child safety feature in Siri

Indeed, the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that it had already seen this in action, saying: “One of the technologies originally built to scan and hash child sexual abuse imagery has been repurposed to create a database of “terrorist” content that companies can contribute to and access for the purpose of banning such content.”

The slippery slope does have bumps on it, however. In August 2021, Apple’s privacy chief Erik Neuenschwander responded to concerns in an interview, saying that Apple put protections in place to prevent its technology from being used for content other than CSAM.

For example, the system only applies to Apple customers in the U.S., a country that has a Fourth Amendment barring illegal search and seizure. Next, since the technology is built directly into its operating systems, they have to apply to all users everywhere. It’s not possible for Apple to limit updates to specific countries or individual users.

A certain threshold of content must also be met before the gears start turning. A single image of known CSAM isn’t going to trigger anything, instead, Apple’s requirement is around 30 images.

Apple published a document of frequently asked questions in August 2021 about the child safety features. If a government tried to force Apple to add non-CSAM images to the hash list, the company says it will refuse such demands. The system is designed to be auditable, and it’s not possible for non-CSAM images to be “injected” into the system.

Apple says it will also publish a Knowledge Base with the root hash of the encrypted database. “users will be able to inspect the root hash of the encrypted database present on their device, and compare it to the expected root hash in the Knowledge Base article,” the company wrote.

Security researchers can also assess the accuracy of the database in their own reviews. If the hash of the database from an Apple device doesn’t match the hash included in the Knowledge Base, people will know that something is wrong.

“And so the hypothetical requires jumping over a lot of hoops, including having Apple change its internal process to refer material that is not illegal, like known CSAM and that we don’t believe that there’s a basis on which people will be able to make that request in the US,” Neuenschwander said.

Apple is right to delay the feature and find ways to improve the accuracy of its system, if needed. Some companies that scan for this type of content make errors.

And one of those problems was highlighted recently, by a fairly monumental Google screw-up.

A major example of flawed software happened on August 21 with Google. The New York Times published a story highlighting the dangers of such surveillance systems.

A father in San Francisco took a picture of his toddler’s genitals at his doctor’s request due to a medical problem. He sent the image through the health care provider’s telemedicine system, but his Android phone also automatically uploaded it to Google Photos, a setting the company enables by default.

Flagged as CSAM, even though the image wasn’t known as CSAM at that point, Google reported the images to law enforcement and locked every one of the father’s accounts associated with its products. Fortunately, police understood the nature of the images and didn’t file charges, although Google didn’t return his account access.

Google Photos on the App Store

Google’s detection system doesn’t work exactly like Apple’s technology. The company’s support page mentions hash matching, such as “YouTube’s CSAI Match, to detect known CSAM.”

But as shown in the medical case, Google’s algorithms can detect any child’s genitals, in addition to hashes from the NCMEC database. The page mentions machine learning “to discover never-before-seen CSAM” that obviously can’t distinguish between crime and innocence.

It’s a big problem and one of the reasons why privacy advocates are so concerned with Apple’s technology.

And yet, Apple’s implementation of CSAM detection in iCloud Photos is only a matter of time, simply because its system strikes a middle ground. Governments can’t tell Apple to include terrorist content into the CSAM database.

The delay is only due to public outcry; Apple’s mistake was in its initial messaging when announcing the feature, not with errors within the detection system.

In a report from February 2022, security company PenLink said Apple is already “phenomenal” for law enforcement. It earns $20 million annually by helping the US government track criminal suspects and sells its services to local law enforcement. Leaked presentation slides detailed iCloud warrants, for example.

Apple makes no secret of how it helps law enforcement when presented with a subpoena. Examples of information Apple can share include data from iCloud backups, mail stored on its servers, and sometimes text messages.

Governments worldwide are constantly developing ways to increase online surveillance, like the Online Safety Bill the UK introduced in May 2021. A proposed amendment to the bill would force tech companies such as Apple to detect CSAM even in end-to-end encrypted messaging services. Apple would have to move this scanning to on-device algorithms to screen iMessages before it encrypts and uploads them.

Thus far, Apple has managed to fight efforts from the US to build backdoors into its devices, although critics refer to iCloud Photo scanning as a backdoor. The company’s famous fight with the FBI has kept Apple customers safe from special versions of iOS that would make it easier to crack into devices.

Whether an iOS 16 update brings iCloud Photo scanning or not is unclear, but it will happen someday soon. After that, Apple customers will have to decide if they want to continue using iCloud — or move to an end-to-end alternative solution. Or, they can turn off iCloud Photos, as Apple assured everyone that the detection process only happens with its syncing service.