Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.
Intel has revealed its upcoming collection of high-specification processors, including a 28-core Xeon processor for professional users alongside its 9th-generation Core processors boasting high core counts. AppleInsider thinks that they could be heading for the modular Mac Pro, which Apple has promised would arrive in 2019.
Apple’s top security officer told Congress on Sunday that it had found no sign of suspicious transmissions or other evidence that it had been penetrated in a sophisticated attack on its supply chain. The letter follows statements on Friday by Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre and on Saturday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that those agencies have no reason to doubt denials from Apple and Amazon that they had discovered backdoored chips.
Some users in Australia are reporting on Reddit and social media that their Apple Watch Series 4 stopped functioning properly on Sunday morning, shortly after the country moved into daylight savings time. Affected Apple Watch units were forced into a reboot loop, which consumed the battery and made it almost impossible to recharge or restart manually.
This week’s MUG Event Calendar is a busy one. Aaron Davis of Apple will visit a Virginia group and Jeff Carlson will discuss iPhone Photography with a Colorado group. Joe Kissell will talk to an Alaska group about, about macOS Mojave, and Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus will put in an appearance at a Pennsylvania group. Adam and Tonya Engst of TidBITS will join MacVoices host Chuck Joiner for a live recording of the show at a New York group, and Chuck will make a virtual visit to a Texas group as well. Other topics for the week include iOS 12, Security Practices, games, genealogy and more.
The first wave of 5G-capable smartphones is going to be arriving in 2019, and although users will not experience those immediate downlink and uplink speed boosts, devices with 5G modems are expected to provide future proofing when it comes to wireless connectivity. However, whether Apple will be launching a 5G-capable iPhone or not, the price of the company’s mobile phone lineup is expected to be retained in that premium bracket, according to WCCFtech.
After The Wall Street Journal reported that Google had hid a Google+ breach for more than six months, the company announced it was shutting down the service for consumers. According to a report in the WSJ, Google discovered a “software glitch” earlier this year that allowed third-party developers access to some 500,000 private profile data since 2015, including “full names, email addresses, birth dates, gender, profile photos, places lived, occupation and relationship status.”
