Tenmetsu makes the iPhone’s rear-facing flash more like a pro flashlight

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 12, 2020

In addition to being a phone and an internet communications device, the iPhone could be described as a digital multitool. A great example is the handset’s rear-facing LED flash, which doubles as a flashlight when we find ourselves stranded in the dark.

Out of the box, a stock iPhone supports use of the aforementioned LED flash as a flashlight via the Lock Screen Quick Action button or the dedicated Control Center module. Users may also adjust the LED brightness in steps if they wish. Unlike a lot of flashlights on the market today, however, the iPhone’s LED flash seems lackluster in the feature department. That’s where a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Tenmetsu by iOS developer Plat-Ykor comes into play.

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Exploit PoC targeting up to iOS 13.7 released

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 11, 2020
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

If you’ve been paying any attention to the iOS & iPadOS security research side of things recently, then you might’ve caught wind about a kernel bug discovered by Mohamed Ghannam (@_simo36) that held the capacity to pwn iOS & iPadOS 14.1 and below. Unfortunately, Ghannam later revealed that the bug didn’t work on iOS or iPadOS 14, and instead that it would only support variants of iOS & iPadOS 13.

While the aforementioned circumstances were indeed a bummer for those who’d been looking forward to a potential exploit release for iOS & iPadOS 14, the good news is that Ghannam officially released a kernel exploit proof of concept (PoC) dubbed 'OOB Events' on Wednesday with instructions for achieving kernel task port (tfp0) on iOS & iPadOS 13.7:

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The best free reference apps for your iPhone and iPad

Sandy Writtenhouse ∙ November 11, 2020
Dictionary.com Word of the Day on iPhone

If there’s a handy spot to have references at your fingertips, it’s your iPhone or iPad. Physical books still hold a place in many people’s hearts but no one walks around with dictionaries, encyclopedias, and phone books nowadays.

So if you’re in the market for good references for school or work, you’ll like this list of the best free reference apps for iPhone and iPad.

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Windows emulation for M1-powered Macs is in active development, Parallels confirms

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 1, 2020

When Apple announced the switch away from Intel chips this summer, many people have been wondering about Boot Camp's future. And while Apple has only said that Boot Camp will not work with the new M1-powered Mac computers, companies that build virtualization software may provide a solution down the road. Parallels Desktop, a popular virtualization app for Mac systems with Intel chips, announced today that a new version of the app that can run on these new Mac computers equipped with the Apple M1 chip is in “active development.”

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The new MacBook Air keyboard has dedicated keys for Spotlight, Dictation, DND and Emoji

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 11, 2020

Apple's just-refreshed MacBook Air with the new Apple M1 laptop chip that was announced yesterday features an updated media key layout in the function row, with the new shortcuts for Dictation, Spotlight and Do Not Disturb functions replacing the previous keys for adjusting brightness and invoking the Launchpad feature. Also, there's now a dedicated Emoji key.

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Apple discontinues Intel-based MacBook Air, other models still available with Intel chips

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 11, 2020

With its new M1 laptop chip and related hardware updates to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini, Apple has now stopped selling MacBook Air configurations with Intel processors in order to focus exclusively on the new models that are powered by the M1 chip. As for the Mac mini and MacBook Pro, some Intel-based configurations continue to be offered by Apple.

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