Month: September 2021

• 

  The 6th-generation iPad mini. [credit: Andrew Cunningham ]

The new iPad mini—whether you want to call it the 2021 iPad mini, iPad mini 6, or iPad mini (6th generation)—is easily the best one Apple has ever made. That’s true whether you’re comparing this iPad mini to the last one, or if you’re comparing it to the other iPads Apple sells.

The mini almost always seems to get the short end of the stick on the rare occasions when it’s updated at all. It has been saddled with older, slower processors or inferior screens or dated designs. This iPad mini, on the other hand, has a fully modern design and a cutting-edge Apple A15 chip in it. It’s a fantastic tablet—if you’re the kind of person who is already ride-or-die for the iPad mini.

That’s a big if, because as great as the mini is, its position in Apple’s lineup remains awkward. The $329 iPad (also just updated with a new chip and other tweaks) is a great all-around tablet for kids and price-conscious adults. And the $599 iPad Air 2 is just barely more expensive and has a bigger screen that is a better fit for the computer-y multitasking features Apple keeps adding to iPadOS.

• 

  The new ninth-generation iPad looks just like the last one (and also the one before that). [credit: Andrew Cunningham ]

As a rule, Apple doesn't focus on budget-friendly gadgets. And that strategy has worked well over the last two decades—the company's predilection for premium products at premium prices (not always unreasonable or uncompetitive prices, but premium ones) has paid off in the form of consistently extraordinary revenue and profit margins.

But the handful of explicitly price-conscious devices Apple does sell, including the $329 10.2-inch iPad and the $399 iPhone SE, are some of the most quietly excellent devices it makes. They use processors that were in Apple’s flagship phones just a couple of years ago, rather than mediocre cut-rate chips that were purpose-built for cheap devices. You get years and years of software and security updates, unlike the paltry two years that Google wrings out of phone makers who participate in the Android One program (to pick one example). And while Apple cuts costs by recycling years-old designs and parts, it usually doesn't skimp on construction and materials, so your hardware still looks and feels nice despite being a bit dated.

That’s all you need to know about Apple’s ninth-generation iPad, which you can still pick up for $329 starting September 24. I am sure that more people are going to read our review of the sixth-generation iPad mini, because it’s got a brand-new design and a cutting-edge processor in it. There’s certainly more to say about that device. But a whole lot more people are actually going to buy and use this ho-hum, workaday, plain-old iPad.

Enlarge / Former Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes goes through security after arriving for court at the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building September 17, 2021 in San Jose, California. Holmes is facing charges of conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly engaging in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors with the Theranos blood testing lab services. (credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Jurors in the Elizabeth Holmes trial yesterday heard emotional testimony from Brittany Gould, the first patient called as a witness, who said that one of Theranos’ tests told her in 2014 that she was miscarrying. Gould, who had already been through three miscarriages at the time, heard the news from her nurse practitioner, Audra Zachman.

“She told me your numbers are falling, unfortunately, and that I was miscarrying,” Gould said.

Gould had initially thought she was on her way to a successful pregnancy. Her first test, performed by Sonora Quest on September 30, 2014, reported that a key pregnancy hormone, hCG, was at 1,005, which was suggestive of pregnancy.

Enlarge (credit: Dmitry Chernyshov)

A code execution bug in Apple's macOS allows remote attackers to run arbitrary commands on your device. And the worst part is, Apple hasn't fully patched it yet, as tested by Ars.

Those shortcut files can take over your Mac

Independent security researcher Park Minchan has discovered a vulnerability in the macOS that lets threat actors execute commands on your computer. Shortcut files that have the inetloc extension are capable of embedding commands inside. The flaw impacts macOS Big Sur and prior versions.

"A vulnerability in the way macOS processes inetloc files causes it to run commands embedded inside, the commands it runs can be local to the macOS allowing the execution of arbitrary commands by the user without any warning / prompts," explains Minchan. "Originally, inetloc files are shortcuts to an Internet location, such as an RSS feed or a telnet location; and contain the server address and possibly a username and password for SSH and telnet connections; can be created by typing a URL in a text editor and dragging the text to the Desktop."