Apple Ups Bug Bounty Payouts, Expands Access to All Researchers and Launches macOS Program

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Apple is introducing an expanded bug bounty program that covers macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iCloud as well as iOS devices, Apple's head of security engineering Ivan Krstić announced this afternoon at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.

Apple introduced its bug bounty program for iOS devices in August of 2016, allowing security researchers who locate bugs in iOS to receive a cash payout for disclosing the vulnerability to Apple. Prior to now, non-iOS devices were not included, a move that has previously been criticized by the security community.


Apple's lack of a macOS bug bounty program made headlines earlier this year when a German teenager initially refused to hand over details of a major macOS Keychain security flaw because Apple didn't have a payout. While he did ultimately provide the info to Apple, he said that he hoped his refusal would inspire Apple to expand its bug bounty program, which the company has indeed done.

With the launch of the new macOS bug bounty program, Apple is opening its bug bounties up to all researchers later this year and it is increasing the maximum size of the bounty from $200,000 per exploit to $1 million depending on the nature of the security flaw. A zero-click kernel code execution with persistence will earn the maximum amount.

Researchers who discover vulnerabilities in pre-release software before general release can quality for up to a 50 percent bonus on top of the base bug bounty amount.

As reported earlier this week, Apple also plans to provide vetted and trusted security researchers and hackers with "dev" iPhones, aka special iPhones that provide deeper access to the underlying software and operating system that will make it easier for vulnerabilities to be discovered.


Apple is providing these iPhones as part of its new iOS Security Research Device Program, launching next year. Apple's aim with these new bug bounty efforts is to encourage additional security researchers to disclose vulnerabilities, ultimately leading to more secure devices for consumers.

(Thanks, Steve!)


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'Apple Music for Artists' Analytics Dashboard Now Available for All Artists

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Apple's "Apple Music for Artists" dashboard, aimed at musicians, is out of beta and now available for everyone, reports The Verge.

First launched in January 2018, Apple Music for Artists offers up a detailed dashboard with an artist's current number of plays, spins, song purchases, music video views, daily listeners, and album purchases, with built-in tools to provide data dating back to June 2015.


An insights panel highlights milestones like all time number of plays, playlists a song has been added to, purchases of specific songs, and cumulative purchases, while a global map is designed to allow musicians to click on any of the 115 countries where Apple Music/iTunes is available to see purchase history.

Data for individual cities is included, such as top songs in each city, with further demographic breakdowns available, and another feature lists all of the Apple-curated playlists where an artist's songs appear.

During the beta testing period, Apple added integration with Shazam, allowing artists to see their Shazam info like the top shazamed cities and countries.

When the Apple Music for Artists feature first launched, Apple invited a few thousand artists to test it out, but now, it's available to all artists that have content on the Apple Music and iTunes platforms.

Along with the web dashboard that displays analytics info, Apple has also released a standalone Apple Music for Artists app on the iPhone, which is designed to let their artists view their stats anywhere.

Tag: Apple Music

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Apple Releases Fifth Public Betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS

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Apple today released the fifth public betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS to its public beta testing group, one week after seeding the fourth public betas and a day after seeding the sixth developer beta.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 13 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.


Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. Before installing a beta, make sure to create a full encrypted iTunes backup or an iCloud backup.

iOS 13 is a major update to the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone and the iPad, but this year, iOS 13 and iPadOS, the version of iOS 13 that runs on the iPad, are separate downloads as they've been split up.


iPadOS is identical to iOS 13 in almost every way, though there are some iPad-specific features such as new multitasking capabilities. For the most part, the two operating systems share the same features.

iOS 13 introduces a long list of new features. Dark Mode changes the entire look of the operating system, shifting it from light to dark, while an overhauled Photos app makes it easier to relive your memories with new Days, Months, and Years viewing options.


There's a new photo editing interface that makes it easier to edit photos than ever before, plus there are new tools to work with and options to edit the intensity of the built-in filters. You can edit video right in the Photos app for the first time, and on the newest iPhones, there's a new High-Key Mono lighting effect and an option to adjust the intensity of Portrait Lightning effects.

iOS 13 adds a less obtrusive volume HUD, a new Find My app that combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends and lets you track your devices even with they don't have an LTE or WiFi connection. A Sign In with Apple feature (not yet active) gives you a convenient and data safe way to sign into apps and websites, providing an alternative to Facebook and Google sign in options.


Maps has a new street-level "Look Around" mode and a Collections feature for making lists of places, Reminders has been entirely overhauled to make it more functional, there's a profile feature in Messages along with new Memoji and Animoji stickers, and Siri has a new voice.

There are a ton of additional new features and changes coming in iOS 13, and for a full rundown of what you can expect, make sure to check out our iOS 13 roundup.

Related Roundups: iOS 13, iPadOS

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Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of tvOS 13 to Public Beta Testers

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Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 13 update to its public beta testing group, one week after seeding the fourth public beta and shortly after seeding the sixth developer beta of tvOS.

Public beta testers can download the new update by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.


Those who want to beta test the software can sign up to do so on Apple's beta testing website.

tvOS 13 includes a new Home screen that's aimed at making it easier to find new content, with support for autoplaying videos to show off new TV shows, movies, and apps, similar to Netflix.

Multi-user support is new in tvOS 13, letting each member of the family have their own customized Apple TV interface with separate recommendations, music playlists, and Watch Now lists. A new Control Center lets you swap between profiles.

tvOS 13 gets the Apple TV ready for Apple Arcade, Apple's new gaming service that's coming to the Apple TV, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year. Apple Arcade will offer unlimited access to more than 100 new and exclusive games, for one subscription fee.

Apple Arcade preparations include support for the Xbox Wireless Bluetooth Controller and the PlayStation DualShock 4 Controller, both of which can be connected to an Apple TV over Bluetooth.

Apple is also adding new under-the-sea themed screensavers made in partnership with the BBC Natural History unit, also known for "Blue Planet," and the new software brings support for a picture-in-picture mode that lets you watch TV while doing other things on the Apple TV.

For more on what's new in tvOS 13, make sure to check out our tvOS 13 roundup.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12, tvOS 13

Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

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Apple's HomePod Estimated to Have Just 5% of Smart Speaker Market Share in U.S.

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Apple's HomePod accounted for just 5 percent of the estimated 76 million smart speaker installed base in the United States in the second quarter of 2019, according to new data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

Amazon continues to be the number one smart speaker vendor in the U.S., followed by Google. Amazon Echo devices accounted for 70 percent of smart speakers in the United States during the quarter, while Google Home devices accounted for 25 percent.


The smart speaker market has seen strong growth, with the U.S. installed base of 76 million speakers up nine percent from 70 million units in the March 2019 quarter. Growth is also up significantly compared to last June, when there were an estimated 50 million smart speakers in the United States.

"While the biggest growth in the market for smart speakers is in the holiday fourth quarter, Amazon Echo and Google Home continues to grow their installed bases in the past couple of quarters," said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "The market grew by 9% in the second quarter, and more than 50% year over year. Including Apple HomePod, all three major producers have maintained steady shares of the market in the past year. Continued aggressive pricing of the entry-level models seems to continue to encourage new customers to try a smart speaker and existing owners to consider adding more devices to their home.

Most people who own smart speakers have less expensive models like the Echo Dot and the Google Home Mini, with these units accounting for more than 50 percent of smart speakers in the U.S. during the quarter.


Though Apple has dropped the price of the HomePod from $349 to $299, the smart speaker is still significantly more expensive than speaker options from Google and Amazon, which has left Apple struggling to gain a foothold in the market.

Amazon's Echo Dot, for example, is priced at $50, but it is often available at even lower prices during sales and promotions. The same goes for the Google Home Mini, which is also priced at $49.

Rumors have suggested that Apple is considering a more affordable version of the HomePod that could be priced as low as $150, but it's not clear if and when Apple might release such a speaker.

CIRP's data is estimated and is based on a survey of 500 U.S. owners of Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod devices surveyed from July 1 to July 10 who owned one of the devices as of June 30, 2019.

Related Roundup: HomePod

Tag: CIRP

Buyer's Guide: HomePod (Neutral)

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TrendForce: 16-Inch MacBook Pro Will Hit Shelves This Fall

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Apple's rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will be released in the third quarter, aka early fall, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.


An excerpt from TrendForce's press release on notebook market share:

According to the 3Q outlook for notebook shipments, demand for Chromebooks remains strong thanks to the back-to-school period; at the same time, we see new products hitting shelves, such as Apple's 16-inch MacBook, Dell's products with 16:10 aspect ratio, Asus's dual-screen laptop, as well as various gaming laptops in increasingly hot demand.

The report describes the notebook as a 16-inch MacBook, but this very likely refers to the 16-inch MacBook Pro, as all other reports have indicated.

TrendForce is at least the fifth source to claim that a 16-inch MacBook Pro is coming in the fall, alongside TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin, DigiTimes, and the Economic Daily News, but reports have been conflicting about a September or October release month.

In the fall, Apple typically unveils new Macs in October. The company has hosted Mac- or iPad-centric media events in October in five of the past seven years, including 2016 and 2018, allowing it to focus on the iPhone, Apple Watch, and sometimes the Apple TV and accessories at its September event.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro will feature an all-new design, including a more reliable scissor mechanism keyboard, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The notebook is also rumored to feature narrower bezels, perhaps allowing the 16-inch display to fit in a notebook with a similar physical size as the current 15-inch model.

Meanwhile, Jeff Lin believes the 16-inch MacBook Pro will feature a 3,072×1,920 resolution and be powered by Intel's 9th-generation Coffee Lake Refresh processors, suggesting the notebook will be configurable with up to an 8-core Core i9 processor in line with the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Last year, Apple hosted its Mac and iPad Pro event on October 30, so we could be under two months away from the 16-inch MacBook Pro reveal.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

Tag: TrendForce

Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)

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Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 (2019) Launched in India with 5,100mAh Battery, Snapdragon 429 SoC

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