Category: Apple Insider

Parallels showcased an Apple Silicon version of its software at WWDC 2020, but this Technical Preview is the first time the company has made its virtualization app available to M1 Mac users. Parallels is sending invite emails, viewed by AppleInsider, with installation instructions.

The Technical Preview has some strict limits in its current state. It only works on M1 Macs, and you can only install system images of ARM-based operating systems. Intel-based OS images are not supported.

It isn’t clear if the ARM-based Windows install that Microsoft is providing to its testers works in Parallels 16 yet.

Furthermore, the preview is not yet compatible with existing disk images used in previous versions of Parallels. The beta also doesn’t support suspending and resuming virtual machines, and users will need to shut down the VM to close the app.

Parallels is among a group of virtualization software developers scrambling to solve Apple Silicon’s unique challenges. Competing developers behind Docker and VMWare also plan on updating their applications for the M1 chips.

After Apple had announced the first Apple Silicon Macs in November, Parallels said it was “excited to see the performance, power efficiency, and virtualization features” and had promised “tremendous progress” made since the annual conference.

If you own an M1 Mac, you can request access to the Technical Preview here.

The complaint, filed on Wednesday, goer after Google’s alleged stranglehold on the advertising technology market. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit in a clip, though the full complaint is not currently available.

In the announcement clip, Paxton claims that Google uses its monopoly power to control pricing and “engage in market collusion to rig auctions.” He adds that Google has eliminated its competition and “crowned itself the head of online advertising.”

“If the free market were a baseball game, Google positioned itself as the pitcher, the batter and the umpire,” Paxton said.

Multiple other states will join Texas in the lawsuit, though Paxton has yet to announce which other states are involved. CNBC reports that the other states are all Republican-led.

The new complaint follows several months after the Department of Justice lodged its own lawsuit against the search and advertising giant, though the department’s lawsuit focuses on the company’s search business. However, the Justice Department is also investigating Google’s ad tech dominance and could still file a lawsuit for that.

Politico on Wednesday reported that another bipartisan coalition of states, led by the attorneys general of Colorado and Nebraska, could soon launch a third lawsuit against Google.

In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, lead analyst Daniel Ives cites a Nikkei Asian Review report from Tuesday that indicated that Apple plans to produce up to 96 million iPhone units in the first half of 2021.

That bump in production would represent a 30% year-over-year increase in smartphone models produced, and is also well ahead of current Wall Street expectations, Ives wrote.

The analyst said the recent reports echo Wedbush supply chain checks that suggested Apple could ship 230 million iPhone units in 2021. Ives believes that the current trajectory hints at a potential bull case, which could see Apple sell upwards of 240 million units, smashing the previous record of 231 million units shipped in 2015.

All of this is evidence that the proposed iPhone 12 “supercycle” is currently underway, Ives added. The investment bank is continuing to anticipate Apple shipping 80 million iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro units in the initial launch period, with a number in the high-80 millions as a stretch goal.

Wedbush initially believed that 350 million out of 950 million iPhone units are currently in an upgrade opportunity window. With China remaining a central component of the proposed “super cycle,” Ives said that the signs point toward an “unprecedented upgrade cycle for Apple with a major holiday season on the horizon.”

The analyst is maintaining his 12-month price target of $160, based on a sum-of-the-parts valuation on Wedbush’s 2022 AAPL fiscal year estimate. Ives arrives at that estimate by way of a 15x multiple on Services at $1.1 trillion and a 6.5x multiple on the rest of Apple’s hardware business at $1.7 trillion.

A bull case, which Ives believes there is increasing evidence for, bumps that price target up to $200, based on raised 2022 estimates of $1.3 trillion for Services and $2.2 trillion for hardware.

Shares of AAPL are currently priced at $126.81 on the NASDAQ, up 4.13% in intraday trading.

Users who can update to the latest version can wait for the automatic update to begin overnight, or open the System Preferences app and select Software Update. The update arrives alongside iOS 14.3 which also brought support for Apple Fitness .

The macOS 11.1 update includes support for the newly announced AirPods Max which begin shipping to customers December 15. The expensive over-the-ear headphones have many of the same features of the AirPods Pro and connect instantly using your Apple ID.

Apple’s release notes include all changes made with the macOS 11.1 update:

macOS Big Sur 11.1 introduces support for AirPods Max, TV app enhancements, Apple News widgets, and privacy information on the App Store. This release also includes bug fixes for your Mac.

AirPods Max

• Support for AirPods Max, new over-ear headphones
• High fidelity audio for rich sound
• Adaptive EQ adapts sound in real time to the personal fit of ear cushions
• Active Noise Cancellation to block out environmental noise
• Transparency mode to hear the environment around you
• Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking for a theater-like listening experience

Apple TV

• An all-new Apple TV+ tab makes it easy to discover and watch Apple Original shows and movies
• Enhanced search so you can browse by category such as genre and see recent searches and suggestions as you type
• Top search results shown with the most relevant matches across movies, TV shows, cast, channels, and sports

Apple News

• Apple News widgets are now available in Notification Center

App Store

• New privacy information section on App Store pages that includes a developer-reported summary of the app’s privacy practices
• In-game dashboard within Arcade games recommends new Arcade games to play

iPhone and iPad apps on Macs with M1

• New window options for iPhone and iPad apps let you switch between landscape and portrait orientations or expand a window to fill the entire screen

Photos

• Apple ProRAW photos can be edited in the Photos app

Safari

• Ecosia search engine option in Safari

Air Quality

• Available in Maps and Siri for locations in China mainland
• Health recommendations are provided in Siri for the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Mexico at certain air quality levels

This release also addresses the following issues:

• QuickTime Player might quit when opening a movie with a timecode track after upgrading from macOS Catalina
• Bluetooth connection status was not displayed in Control Center
• Reliability of unlocking your Mac automatically with your Apple Watch
• Trackpad scrolling speed may be faster than expected on MacBook Pro models
• LG UltraFine 5K Display may incorrectly display at 4K resolution on Macs with M1

The previous beta periods included bug fixes for Macs using the M1 processor. The second beta released on December 3, and the first on November 17.

Neither the first nor second beta of macOS Big Sur 11.1 indicated there would be new features in the release. It is likely that the improvements will center upon performance and bug fixes, especially considering the influx of Mac hardware using the M1 processors.

“Several team members of the Lionsgate-produced television series Mythic Quest have tested positive for COVID-19. They are currently in quarantine, and other staff members have been notified,” a Lionsgate representative told Variety.

“We are following the extensive health and safety protocols we have in place, and production on the series has been suspended since last Friday when we learned of the positive tests. The health and safety of our ‘Mythic Quest’ team is our highest priority.”

This marks the second cluster of cases in less than two months for the crew. CBS Studios has faced multiple outbreaks in the past four months, with Apple TV+‘s “Mythic Quest,” Sony Pictures TV’s “Call Your Mother,” and CBS Studios’ “Why Women Kill” impacted.

The coronavirus has made production difficult for Apple TV+ over the last several months, with many of its series, including “The Morning Show,” “Suspicion,” and “Foundation” halting production during the initial spike the first half of 2020.

On Thursday, Apple rolled out new updates to its Maps apps, designed to make traversing Canada easier. The new update boasts plenty of features, including faster and more accurate navigation, more precess addresses, better road coverage, and more detailed land cover.

Canada also gains some new street-level imagery in certain locations. Billed as an alternative to Google’s Street View, Look Around now allows users to get a 360 view of Canadian cities like Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and select parts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and more.

Those looking to plan a perfect trip can take advantage of Maps’ “Guides” feature. Guides are curated lists of interesting places to visit, such as restaurants, popular attractions, and hidden gems. Guides are created in partnership with local resources, including Toronto Life and Narcity, and global authorities like Lonely Planet.

Apple has also rolled out several smaller features designed to make Maps better. Those who drive electric vehicles can take advantage of electric vehicle routing, which adds charging stops along a planned route based on current vehicle charge and charger type.

Siri now uses more natural-sounding language when giving directions, making it even easier to get where you need to go.

Maps users can now get real-time transit information, including up-to-date schedules, live departure and arrival times, and busses and trains’ current locations. Currently, real-time transit is available in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and more.

Indoor maps make it easier for users to traverse large buildings such as airports and malls in cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, and more.

Users can also share their ETA to family, friends, and co-workers from within Apple Maps.

It was known early on that the show would star Rose Bryne as the lead character, Shila, an unhappy housewife in a 1980s Southern California beach community. In the series, she finds success through the world of aerobics.

According to Variety Joining the cast will be Paul Sparks (“House of Cards”,) playing a conservative real estate developer who idealizes the concept of the American Mall.

Comedian Rory Scovel will star as Shelia’s husband, a radical Berkley professor attempting to break into politics.

Lou Taylor Pucci (“Evil Dead”) will play a sensitive surfer and aspiring filmmaker.

Della Saba, known for voice work in series like “Steven Universe,” will play an enigmatic aerobic instructor with a hot temper and a mysterious past.

Dierdre Friel, who also stars in Apple TV+’s “Little America,” will play a socially awkward mother at Shila’s daughter’s school, who blossoms into Shila’s friend and confident.

Ashley Liao (“Fuller House”) will play a student who is enamored with Shila’s husband.

“Physical” joins other Apple TV+ comedies, including sports comedy “Ted Lasso” and workplace-meets-gaming comedy “Mythic Quest.”

The 33 vulnerabilities, disclosed by cybersecurity firm Forescout, impact four open source TCP/IP stacks that are used in devices created by more than 150 vendors. Together, the 33 vulnerabilities, which include four critical security flaws, are dubbed “AMNESIA:33.”

According to Forescout, the vulnerabilities cause memory corruption, which could allow attackers to compromise devices, execute malicious code, steal sensitive information, and perform denial-of-service attacks.

Most of the affected devices are consumer-facing products like remote temperature sensors and cameras. However, they can range from simple smart plugs and office routers, to industrial control system components and healthcare appliances.

The seriousness of the flaws, as well as their widespread nature, lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to issue a bulletin advising users and manufacturers of the threat. It recommended defensive measures such as removing critical infrastructure from the internet.

Despite the potential for exploitation, CISA noted that there does not appear to be any active public exploits specifically targeting these vulnerabilities in the wild.

However, one of the worrying aspects of the vulnerabilities is the fact that they exist in open source software, Forescout said. That could mean addressing them much more difficult, since open source software is often maintained by volunteers and some of the vulnerable code is two decades old.

It’ll be up to device manufacturers to identify and patch the vulnerabilities. Though, because some of the compromised code exists in a third-party component, the component’s use must have been documented for device makers to know that it’s there.

Forescout alerted U.S., German, and Japanese cybersecurity authorities in addition to as many of the device vendors that it could.

A full list of the affected devices has yet to be released. The list is said to include Siemens, Genetec, Devolo, NT-Ware, Microchip, and Nanotec.

It’s recommended that users with smart home devices check the manufacturer’s website for the latest patch and security information. Beyond that, it’ll mostly be up to manufacturers to mitigate and resolve the issue.

Apple’s HomeKit protocol itself isn’t affected by the security flaws. However, many devices utilize more than one networking protocol or have multiple home automation system compatibilities, and as such, may be vulnerable to attack should one manifest.