Hardware

Apple Watch SE technical specifications

Aside from the new flagship Apple Watch Series 6, Apple also announced a newer budget wearable dubbed the Apple Watch SE at its September 15, 2020 Time Flies event.

If you’re curious about what this cost-efficient option might be packing under the hood, then you’ve come to the right place. This column will outline all the new wearable’s technical specifications in one convenient and easy-to-digest piece.

Apple Watch Series 6 tech specs

When Apple kicked off its Time Flies event on September 15, 2020, most people already knew from the name that it would be Apple Watch related. Apple used the event to unveil two new Apple Watch models, including the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE, along with some other new hardware.

In this piece, we’ll outline all the detailed technical specifications for Apple’s sixth generation Apple Watch to help you determine if this will be right upgrade for you.

How to set your default printer and change its name and location on Mac

Set Default Printer Change Name Location on Mac

If you use more than one printer with your Mac, it’s important to know how to choose the default printer. This is useful if you take your Mac to your physical office, school, or library and then return to your home office. And if you share your Mac and printer with others, giving a name and location to your equipment is also helpful.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to set your default printer as well as change its name and location on your Mac.

Luca Todesco teases SEPROM code execution with checkra1n

Nearing the end of last month, the Pangu Team took the stage at MOSEC 2020 to discuss a plethora of interesting topics, one of which really stood out from the rest. We’re of course talking about the unpatchable hardware based SEPROM vulnerability that targets a device’s secure enclave processor (SEP).

It wasn’t long after the SEPROM vulnerability was discovered and notes about it were published that famous hackers like Luca Todesco of the checkra1n team began tinkering with it. In fact, it was only yesterday that Todesco Tweeted some particularly eye-catching photos of checkra1n integration on an iOS device and of a T2-equipped Mac running the vulnerability as shown by the Touch Bar’s OLED display:

CPUTool lets iOS jailbreakers underclock their CPU and GPU

Apple doesn’t provide much by way of power savings on the iOS platform apart from the Low Power Mode feature and the use of general common sense with regard to reducing battery drain. Fortunately, those looking for more than what Apple seems willing to provide out of the box might be in luck as of this week.

Ra1nbox is a NanoPi Neo2-powered box that can deploy checkra1n without a computer

The checkra1n jailbreak is driven by a powerful bootrom exploit that can’t be patched with a software update from Apple, and with that in mind, it’s easy to see why some people may opt to use checkra1n over some of the other jailbreaks available, such as unc0ver for example.

While it’s a great jailbreak, Windows users have relentlessly expressed dissatisfaction about having to borrow friends’ Macs or run Linux on their machines. With no certain ETA for a Windows-based checkra1n release, third parties are now cooking up interesting solutions. One is Ra1nbox, a small and portable box powered by a NanoPi Neo2 that can be used to deploy the checkra1n jailbreak from anywhere without the need for a computer.

New solder-on cable allegedly permits DFU mode entry on Apple TV 4K

One of the most substantial things to happen in the jailbreak community in the past decade was the release of @axi0mX’s hardware-based checkm8 bootrom exploit. This exploit can’t be patched by Apple in a software update, and it essentially guarantees the jailbreakability of several of Apple’s devices using the A5-A11 SoC for life.

While checkm8 is already being used in the checkra1n jailbreak for handsets ranging from the iPhone 5s to the iPhone X, it’s also true that the same exploit can be used to jailbreak compatible Apple TV units. The newest Apple TV, on the other hand, purportedly sports a hidden Lightning port that would necessitate a special adapter to utilize for such an exploit.

Twelve South offers premium charging for iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods

My nightstand is fraught with cables. Other Apple enthusiasts may suffer the same fate. I'm looking at an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods charging cables, along with a lamp and clock. It's cluttered, at best, and not uncommon to have all devices charging at once. After becoming flustered with the mess, I turned to Twelve South to help solve some of my cable woes. I was also running out of room on the table top. My thanks to Twelve South for sending three of their top chargers for comparison.

Element Case’s Black Ops Elite case for iPhone 11 Pro looks great, but costs a small fortune

Going beyond the familiar world of traditional rubber, silicone, or TPU smartphone cases, I often find myself experimenting with substitutions that seem vastly out of the ordinary. While testing such cases for the brand-new iPhone 11 Pro, I happened upon the Element Case Black Ops Elite, which in my opinion, certainly lives up to the notion of being extraordinary.

Element Case’s Black Ops Elite case is built from a bevy of premium materials that you won’t find in most run of the mill iPhone cases, including a hard anodized aluminum frame that gets bolted into a sturdy G10 backplate, and a Dropshock-equipped TPU inner shell lined with a premium felt interior that gives your iPhone all the pampering and protection it needs.

iPhone XS smacks iPhone 11 Pro in app launching speed test

Apple’s annual iPhone unveiling typically includes the introduction of an all-new SoC with modest speed improvements, with this year’s focus being the A13 Bionic chip. At the Keynote, Apple’s vice president of silicon manufacturing Sri Santhanam said that all mechanisms of the A13 Bionic chip would be nearly 20% faster than its predecessor; but is this the case?

Now that the iPhone 11 Pro is readily available to those who pre-ordered or tried their luck at local retail stores, it should come as no surprise that these numbers are being put to the test. In one example, YouTube personality EverthingApplePro compared the app launching performance of the iPhone 11 Pro to the previous-generation iPhone XS with astonishing results:

iBSparkes’ tfp0 exploit works on Apple’s new A13 Bionic-equipped handsets

Matrix code hacked iPhone.

The first round of iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max pre-orders started delivering to antsy customers late this week, with the bulk of those arriving today (Friday, 20th). While most people will use their shiny new device as it comes, a smaller percentage are actively anticipating the idea of jailbreaking it. Fortuitously, such an idea might not be too far out of reach.

Renowned security researcher @iBSparkes purportedly succeeded in deploying a tfp0 exploit on his brand-new A13-equipped handset. The hacker shared his experience via Twitter early this morning: