A8

Jake James publishes work-in-progress exploit achieving kernel R/W on A8-A9 running iOS 15.0-15.2 beta 1

iPhone hacked matrix.

If you’ve been following the developments surrounding iOS & iPadOS security research lately, then there’s no way you could have missed Brightiup’s CVE-2021-30955 kernel bug for iOS & iPadOS 15.0-15.1.1. Soon after the write-up, hackers and security researchers alike began making proof-of-concepts (PoCs), and later came the full-blown exploit from @b1n4r1b01.

S0rryMyBad shares PoC of the bug he used to jailbreak iOS 12 on pre-A12 devices

Just over two weeks ago, security researcher @S0rryMyBad announced the discovery of an exploit for iOS 12.1.2 and below for pre-A12 devices, adding that he would release information about it after Apple patched it in a software update. Fortunately, that time has finally come.

Several hours after Apple released iOS 12.1.3 to the public on Tuesday, @S0rryMyBad made good on his promise by Tweeting a proof of concept screenshot of the bug that he had teased earlier in the month:

Tihmstar opts not to release standalone exploit, instead says “something cool coming”

Matrix code hacked iPhone.

There was no shortage of exciting jailbreak-centric news this past week, but perhaps the most captivating tidbit of all was the announcement that tihmstar was tinkering with an exploit that could hack a subset of devices running iOS 11.2.6-11.4.1 – specifically those with headphone jacks.

It didn’t take long after the initial announcement for tihmstar to share that he had achieved tpf0, which permits arbitrary reads and writes to a device’s kernel memory. On the other hand, a pair of Tweets shared just weekend shed new light on the hacker’s intentions involving said exploit:

Tihmstar achieves tfp0 exploit on iOS 11.4-11.4.1, jailbreaks could soon adopt support

Just yesterday, we reported that hacking guru tihmstar was tinkering with an exploit targeting a subset of iOS 11.4 and 11.4.1 devices that sported headphone jacks. At the time, tihmstar only had kernel read access but was still working on kernel offsets and write access.

But those tides have changed as of Friday. tihmstar has taken to Twitter to announce that he achieved tfp0:

Tihmstar is tinkering with an exploit for iOS 11.4-11.4.1 devices, but there are caveats

If you’ve been waiting patiently on iOS 11.4-11.4.1 for a jailbreak to surface, then you might be in for a treat. Hacking guru tihmstar appears to be tinkering with an exploit that supports these firmware versions, at least on specific devices.

A Tweet shared by tihmstar Tuesday evening denotes how the exploit in question supports iOS versions up to 11.4.1; on the other hand, it also relies on the headphone jack. This caveat means that some devices, like those powered by Apple’s A10 and A11 chips, aren’t supported:

These are Apple’s first HomePod TV ads

Apple’s HomePod became available for pre-order two days ago, and the Cupertino-headquartered company is already hyping it up with four brand-new ads, subtly-named Bass, Beat, Distortion, and Equalizer.

Each name depicts the animation shown at the beginning of each respective video, just before the product itself appears in the frame. You can check them out below:

Meet HomePod, the new Apple speaker

Apple is taking a new responsibility in the world of delivering music to your home by unveiling the HomePod, a new wireless speaker and assistant for your house.

This intelligent new wireless speaker uses similar technology to what’s available in the AirPods, except it’s incredibly more advanced on both the software and hardware ends of things.

Rumor: 4″ iPhone refresh to be named ‘iPhone 5e’ and run A8 chip with 1GB of RAM

The rumored refresh of the four-inch iPhone is widely expected by multiple sources to include Apple's latest A9 chip with two gigabytes of RAM, but now a new rumor published Monday by Chinese-language MyDrivers is pouring cold water on those claims.

According to the site, the handset will actually run the previous-generation A8 processor that powers the iPhone 6 series and won't include twice the RAM as previously suspected. In addition, Apple will apparently market the device under an 'iPhone 5e' moniker, like to suggest that it's actually an enhanced version of the iPhone 5s.

Apple’s rumored 4-inch iPhone 6c apparently won’t run A9 chip after all

Reliable analyst who have been calling for a refresh to the now discontinued four-inch iPhone 5c may have gotten one detail wrong: it sounds like the device, expected to be branded under the 'iPhone 6c' moniker, will run Apple's A8 processor used in last year's iPhone 6 rather than the latest A9 chip powering the new iPhone 6s.

That's what Japanese blog Macotakara, which has a pretty good track record when it comes to Apple leaks, said this morning citing “credible sources” familiar with the device.

iPhone chips infringe University of Wisconsin’s tech, Apple faces $862M in damages

The Apple-designed, TSMC/Samsung-manufactured A7, A8 and A8X mobile chips that power the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices released since 2013 have been found to infringe technology patents owned by the University of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).

As a result, Apple is now facing a damages payout of $862.4 million, Reuters reported yesterday. The aforesaid chips power the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad mini with Retina display, iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 4.

iPad mini 4 performance: faster than last year’s model but slower than the iPad Air 2

I think we all pretty much expected the iPad mini 4 to be a little slower than Apple's still top of the line iPad Air 2, and some new benchmarks from Ars Technica back up that expectation. The iPad mini 4, which received little fanfare during last Wednesday's iPhone 6s event, ships with a new A8 processor and 2GB of RAM.

With its new specs in tow, the iPad mini 4 can benefit from one of the major changes in tomorrow's iOS 9 release—side-by-side multitasking. True, the iPad mini 4 may still come in second place when compared to its larger sibling, but this refresh is a marked improvement over its predecessors.