The IT Nerd

Earlier today, Apple release watchOS 11.6.1 and iOS 18.6.1 which re-enabled support for those who had dormant blood oxygen sensors in their Apple Watches. This is a big deal for Americans as they have been without the feature since 2023, while the rest of the world has this feature.

Now I downloaded these updates and I noticed nothing that was any different than usual. Which is that you test your blood oxygen level using your Apple Watch and the result is displayed on your Apple Watch. For US customers it’s different. When you test our blood oxygen levels on Apple Watch, instead of displaying the measurement on the Apple Watch, you’re directed to the Health app on your iPhone for the results because that’s where the results are calculated.

So Apple is playing a bit of a game here to bypass the patent that Masimo has when it comes to this sort of thing. My guess is that Apple is going this route to make sure that they sell as many Apple Watches as possible in the US when the new models hit the streets this fall. Plus not having blood oxygen available in the US likely hamstrung their Vitals feature which gives you an indication of whether you’re coming down with something or you’re fine. I’m open to alternate theories so post away in the comments below with yours.

Users of the Apple Watch in the US have not have had the ability to use the blood oxygen monitoring feature since late 2023 due to a legal fight with a company named Masimo. You can catch up on all the events here. But earlier today, that fight seems to have taken a bit of a plot twist. Earlier today, Apple posted this on their website:

Now that implies that they have done the work required to get around the Masimo patent. Meaning that Masimo did not get paid to go away. But there are still questions about how this “redesigned blood oxygen feature” will work. And if Apple watch users will get this software update. I think we’ll get the answers to both those questions at 1PM EST today as that’s when these updates will be released. I’ll be poking around these updates once I get them installed. Assuming that Canadians will get these updates of course. But if you have any feedback about them, please leave a comment below.

This past Sunday my wife and I needed to pick up something in the Toronto suburb of Vaughn. I punched the address into Apple Maps and started to drive. But the route took us to Highway 407 which is a local toll road. Now I didn’t clue into that until we were approaching that road. And at that point we figured that we’d just eat the toll cost as it would have taken much longer to detour. Now what was weird about this was the fact that Apple Maps on my iPhone and my wife’s iPhone are set to avoid toll roads. So this should not have happened. But this post on MacRumors seems to indicate that this is a bug:

Since at least July 4, Apple Maps has failed to treat the privately-owned Highway 407 ETR in the Toronto, Canada area as a toll road, according to complaints from affected users. This issue is not limited to any particular device or software version, with users experiencing the problem across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and web.

Since Apple hasn’t released a software update for a while, this has to be a back end issue. Thus one can assume that Apple can fix this easily whenever they decide to get around to it. Until they feel like fixing it, I would check any route that Apple Maps closely to make sure that you’re not routed on to Highway 407 when you don’t want to be.

Researchers have found the Atomic macOS Stealer (AMOS) now has an embedded backdoor allowing hackers to maintain persistent access to a victim’s Mac, run arbitrary tasks from remote servers, and gain extended control over compromised machines.

More info here: https://moonlock.com/amos-backdoor-persistent-access

Ensar Seker, CISO at threat intel company SOCRadar, commented:

“The evolution of AMOS into a dual-purpose threat, infostealer plus backdoor marks a critical escalation in macOS-targeted malware. What makes this particularly concerning is the shift from quick data theft to long-term persistence and remote control, which dramatically increases the attacker’s dwell time and options. This is no longer just about stealing saved passwords; it’s about full-scale surveillance, data exfiltration, and even lateral movement into connected enterprise environments.

Given that AMOS is now only the second known backdoor operating at this scale on macOS, following a North Korean state-linked campaign, it signals that macOS is no longer flying under the radar. Enterprises with mixed-OS environments need to treat macOS endpoints as equally high risk and ensure EDR coverage, script execution controls, and user behavior monitoring are in place.”

This is a dangerous evolution in this malware which you should pay attention to. You can avoid being a victim by avoiding downloads from unverified sources and avoiding pirated software. In other words, good computer hygiene should keep you safe.

Apple fanboys are likely freaking out right now as iCloud appears to be down for many based on DownDetector:

Apple’s system status page confirms this with the following services being impacted:

• iCloud Mail
• iCloud Web Apps
• iCloud Storage Upgrades
• iWork for iCloud
• Photos

Whatever is going on, it wasn’t the only outage that Apple had today. There was a separate outage issue that impacted Apple’s business users, with Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple School Manager being taken out. Clearly Apple isn’t having a good day today and I hope that this outage is resolved quickly. Because hell hath no fury like a scorned Apple Fanboy.

UPDATE: This now appears to be fixed.

Owners of the 2023 Mac Mini might be eligible for a repair program that Apple started up. This program is supposed to cover a “no power on” issue with the Mac. And as usual, Apple claims that only a small number of Macs are affected by this. You’ll excuse me if I am dubious of that because affected Macs were manufactured between June 16, 2024 to November 23, 2024. Given how popular that Mac is, it is highly unlikely that the number of affected units is small.

In any case, if you own one of these Macs, you should go to this website and see if your serial number is affected. If it is, then this same website will direct you as to what you need to do next. I checked my Mac Mini and found that it wasn’t affected. But you should check yours to make sure that you’re not affected. Because this is a program that will only last three years, and you should want to get this addressed sooner rather than later.

I have to admit that the Apple Time Capsule was brilliant as when used with Apple’s Time Machine backup utility, it gave users a very easy way to back up their Macs. However, Apple killed the Time Machine product in 2018. After that Apple very recently deprecated the venerable Apple Filing Protocol that Time Machine relied upon. Though it was still present in macOS. Now it seems the final nail in Time Capsule support has been driven in based on this:

So the way that I interpret this, whatever major version of macOS that ships after Tahoe will not support Time Capsule or any other backup solution that supports either Apple Filing Protocol or Server Message Block version 1. Likely because Apple is removing support for both in macOS. That may be a problem for some users who still rely on these solutions for backup as the path forward is to move towards using a Network Attached Storage device or NAS from a brand like Synology or QNAP that supports Server Message Block version 2 or 3. Ideally version 3 as that is way more secure that version 2.

Here’s the first problem with this. Since migration from a Time Capsule to a NAS isn’t exactly an straightforward process for the average user, many users may have to abandon their backups on their Time Capsules and start fresh on a NAS.

That’s not going to be cool for some.

Another thing to consider is that Apple broke Time Machine in macOS Sequoia and as I type this still hasn’t fixed it completely. So that’s a bigger problem for users of Time Machine might have to deal with if Apple hasn’t addressed this by the time they kill Apple Filing Protocol. Though in theory, they have a year to get that sorted.

Now in farness, Apple has dropped a ton of hints about this scenario over the years. But the thing is the only people who listen to those hints are people who are deeply in the tech space like I am. Or people who read sites like this one. Those people would have migrated off Time Capsule devices, or if you use a NAS like I do, turned off Apple Filing Protocol support and moved to Server Message Block version 3 ages ago. However Joe Average user is going to be shocked when they hear about this and won’t know how next to proceed. Thus someone like me will get a phone call, or these people will visit their local Apple Store hoping that someone can answer their question. Thus the next year or two might be very interesting for Apple as they navigate this.

When Apple Silicon launched in 2020, Apple included a way for Intel apps to still work on Apple Silicon. That was was Rosetta 2. And it was a godsend for developers as they could take their time to make their apps compatible with Apple Silicon. However the side effect of that is that some developers didn’t make their apps compatible for whatever reason. Instead they relied on Rosetta to allow their apps to work.

Well, those developers may have to get their butts into gear to change that. I say that because Apple announced via their Platforms State of the Union that developers have until macOS 28 to get their apps running natively on Apple Silicon. That’s a two year deadline. And to be frank, I am surprised that this deadline is that long. Apple Silicon has been a runaway success for Apple. Thus I expected Apple to try and kill off Intel support as early as next year. But I guess they must be concerned that there would be backlash from this. Regardless, this combined with this announcement that macOS Tahoe won’t support Intel Macs at all means that the end is near for Intel Macs.

Apple announced the next versions of all their operating systems yesterday at WWDC. And developer betas are now available. And while it is very tempting to put “the new hotness” on your phone, you’d be best advised not to. Here’s why:

1. Developer betas are for developers who are investing time and effort to ensure that their apps are good to go when these operating systems get released in the fall. The side effect of that is that these developer betas are often very unstable. But developers are fine with that as they are typically using these on devices that are not their primary device. Meaning that any instability is a non issue for them. That’s not the case for the average user who has and relies on their only iPhone and the apps on it. And if you’re that person, you should steer clear of this beta.
2. Now if you’re thinking of jumping onto the public beta when that hits the streets in July, you should skip that as well. While that beta is likely to be more refined than the developer beta, it’s still going to be buggy as well. The only way I would ever suggest that anyone install a public beta is if they have a second device that they can use with it. Even then I would still steer clear.

Now if after all of that, you’re insistent on installing a beta, I would strongly recommend that you back up the device that you plan on installing the beta on. That way you can fall back to a known good version of the operating system in question if you need to. But honestly, unless you’re an app developer or something, leave the beta testing to them.

Frequent readers of this blog will know that I’ve been saying for a while that if you own a Intel powered Mac, you should invest in an Apple Silicon one sooner rather than later. I’ve said this in 2023, 2024, and just recently. Now Apple has seemingly put the final nail in the coffin of Intel Macs by announcing that macOS Tahoe which was previewed yesterday at WWDC is going to be the last version of macOS for Intel Macs.

Now Intel Macs will continue to get critical security updates. How long they get those updates is an open question. But there will be zero new features for Intel Macs. And what often happens is that third party developers will stop developing software for Intel macs. Maybe not instantly, but that will happen.

So if you own an Intel Mac, now is the time to make the move to an Apple Silicon Mac. I say now because I predict that a lot of people will ignore this and then be caught out in some way when an app that they need won’t work or something like that. You don’t want to be in the position of having to “panic buy” a Mac, so planning out your transition to Apple Silicon now is the way to go.

Consider yourself warned.