Tech

apple-reportedly-plans-updated-m4-mac-mini-that’s-actually-mini

Apple reportedly plans updated M4 Mac mini that’s actually mini

Apple, apple m4, apple m4 pro, Apple silicon, intel nuc, m4, m4 pro, Mac mini, Tech / /

mac nano —

What was “mini” in 2010 is not particularly mini in 2024.

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Apple's M2 Pro Mac mini.

Enlarge / Apple’s M2 Pro Mac mini.

Andrew Cunningham

Apple hasn’t updated its Mac mini desktop lineup since the beginning of 2023, when it added M2 and M2 Pro chips and discontinued the last of the Intel models. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the update drought will end later this year, when the mini will skip right from the M2 to the M4, something he originally reported back in April.

But the mini will reportedly come with more than just new chips: it will also get a new, smaller design, which Gurman says will be closer in size to an Apple TV box (specifically, he says it may be a bit taller, but will have a substantially smaller footprint). The new mini could have “at least three USB-C ports,” as well as a power connector and an HDMI port.

This would be Apple’s first overhaul of the Mac mini’s design since the original aluminum unibody version was released back in June of 2010. That model did include a slot for a built-in SuperDrive DVD burner, something Apple dropped from later models as optical drives became less necessary, but the M2 Mac mini has the same basic design and the same footprint as that Core 2 Duo Mac mini introduced over a decade ago.

Intel and other PC makers have been releasing computers smaller than the Mac mini for years now, starting with Intel’s (discontinued, then handed off) NUC desktops and proliferating from there. Often, these systems would save space by including an external power brick, while the mini has always used an integrated power supply. But the Apple TV, also powered by Apple Silicon chips and also with an internal power supply, suggested that it was possible to design a physically smaller system without making that particular design compromise.

Though the design is changing, Apple’s general approach to the Mac mini is staying the same as it is now. There will be a base model with a regular Apple M4 processor in it, and an upgraded model with the yet-to-be-released M4 Pro in it to help bridge the gap between the low-end mini and the more powerful Mac Studio. If the new mini has dramatically fewer ports than current models, that would also be a point of differentiation, though hopefully it would continue to include enough USB-C ports to support multiple external monitors along with other accessories.

Gurman doesn’t know whether Apple will change the pricing of the Mac mini to go with the new design, though he does think the new mini “may be cheaper to make.”

The new Mac minis will reportedly be available later in the year, though the M4 Pro models could be announced or released later than the standard M4 models. Gurman says that new iMac and MacBook Pro models with M4-series chips could release “as early as this year,” while M4 MacBook Airs would wait for the spring of 2025, and Mac Studio and Mac Pro desktops wouldn’t be updated until “the middle of next year.”

The M4 chip was introduced in this year’s iPad Pro refresh, just a few months after the launch of the M3; this was the first time one of Apple’s M-series processors debuted in anything other than a Mac.

Apple reportedly plans updated M4 Mac mini that’s actually mini Read More »

people-are-returning-humane-ai-pins-faster-than-humane-can-sell-them,-report-says

People are returning Humane AI Pins faster than Humane can sell them, report says

AI, Tech / /
Someone wearing and pressing a Humane AI Pin

Enlarge / The Humane AI Pin.

Humane

Humane AI Pins were returned at faster rate than they were sold between May and August, according to a report from The Verge on Wednesday. The AI gadget released in April to abysmal reviews, and Humane is now reportedly dealing with over $1,000,000 worth of returned product.

The AI Pin is a lapel pin that markets numerous features—like an AI voice assistant, camera, and laser projector—which its creators claim will replace smartphones as a go-to gadget. It costs $700 and requires a subscription that costs $24 per month, not including taxes and fees, for cloud storage, cellular data, and a number.

In June, The New York Times, citing two anonymous sources, reported that Humane had sold 10,000 of its AI devices. But today, only 7,000 sold units have not been returned, The Verge reported yesterday, citing someone “with direct knowledge.” The Verge said it viewed internal sales data showing returns outpacing device/accessory sales of about $9,000,000. Internal data also reportedly revealed that 1,000 AI Pin orders were canceled before they even shipped.

Humane didn’t respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment. Company spokesperson Zoz Cuccias told The Verge that there were inaccuracies in The Verge’s report, “including the financial data.” However, Cuccias declined to share specifics with the publication, saying that Humane has “nothing else to provide as we do not comment on financial data and will refer it to our legal counsel.”

Reportedly exacerbating the problem is that there is currently no way to refurbish and resell the pins. That would mean that thousands of AI Pins are currently sitting as e-waste until the problem is addressed. According to The Verge, problems stem from the pins’ connection to T-Mobile service, which prevents Humane from reassigning returned pins. T-Mobile hasn’t commented on the issue, but an anonymous source told The Verge that Humane is holding on to returned pins in hopes of “eventually” finding a solution.

As a new device category, there was already concern about AI gadgets like the AI Pin or Rabbit R1 becoming e-waste. Worries about the ability of the devices’ companies to last and questions over whether these gadgets would be better as apps suggest that even if Humane found a way to reassign thousands of returned devices, we could still eventually be dealing with a massive pile of obsolete AI Pins.

And there’s plenty of reason to be concerned about Humane’s survival.

Horrible reviews from the start

Humane had hoped to sell about 100,000 units during the device’s first year of availability, an anonymous source told the NYT in June. The alarming sales and return figures reported by the Verge come after the company’s founders, two former Apple employees, accrued a reported $240 million in funding.

As detailed by the NYT in June, sources close to the AI Pin claimed that Humane’s cofounders ignored poor internal reviews and forced the product’s release despite concerns about heat and battery life. In June, Humane warned users against using the pin’s charging case due to a fire risk. Speaking to The Verge this week, Cuccias acknowledged that Humane “knew we were at the starting line, not the finish line” when it released the AI Pin. The company rep noted software updates that have come out in response to negative feedback.

People are returning Humane AI Pins faster than Humane can sell them, report says Read More »

it’s-not-worth-paying-to-be-removed-from-people-finder-sites,-study-says

It’s not worth paying to be removed from people-finder sites, study says

Consumer Reports, data brokers, data privacy, mozilla monitor, mozilla monitor plus, onerep, people finder, people search, Security, Tech / /

Better than nothing but not by enough —

The best removal rate was less than 70%, and that didn’t beat manual opt-outs.

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Folks in suits hiding behind trees that do not really obscure them

Enlarge / For a true representation of the people-search industry, a couple of these folks should have lanyards that connect them by the pockets.

Getty Images

If you’ve searched your name online in the last few years, you know what’s out there, and it’s bad. Alternately, you’ve seen the lowest-common-denominator ads begging you to search out people from your past to see what crimes are on their record. People-search sites are a gross loophole in the public records system, and it doesn’t feel like there’s much you can do about it.

Not that some firms haven’t promised to try. Do they work? Not really, Consumer Reports (CR) suggests in a recent study.

“[O]ur study shows that many of these services fall short of providing the kind of help and performance you’d expect, especially at the price levels some of them are charging,” said Yael Grauer, program manager for CR, in a statement.

Consumer Reports’ study asked 32 volunteers for permission to try to delete their personal data from 13 people-search sites, using seven services over four months. The services, including DeleteMe, Reputation Defender from Norton, and Confidently, were also compared to “Manual opt-outs,” i.e. following the tucked-away links to pull down that data on each people-search site. CR took volunteers from California, in which the California Consumer Privacy Act should theoretically make it mandatory for brokers to respond to opt-out requests, and in New York, with no such law, to compare results.

Table from Consumer Reports' study of people-search removal services, showing effective removal rates over time for each service.

Table from Consumer Reports’ study of people-search removal services, showing effective removal rates over time for each service.

Finding a total of 332 instances of identifying information profiles on those sites, Consumer Reports found that only 117 profiles were removed within four months using all the services, or 35 percent. The services varied in efficacy, with EasyOptOuts notably performing the second-best at a 65 percent removal rate after four months. But if your goal is to remove entirely others’ ability to find out about you, no service Consumer Reports tested truly gets you there.

Manual opt-outs were the most effective removal method, at 70 percent removed within one week, which is both a higher elimination rate and quicker turn-around than all the automated services.

The study noted close ties between the people-search sites and the services that purport to clean them. Removing one volunteer’s data from ClustrMaps resulted in a page with a suggested “Next step”: signing up for privacy protection service OneRep. Firefox-maker Mozilla dropped OneRep as a service provider for its Mozilla Monitor Plus privacy bundle after reporting by Brian Krebs found that OneRep’s CEO had notable ties to the people-search industry.

In releasing this study, CR also advocates for laws at the federal and state level, like California’s Delete Act, that would make people-search removal far easier than manually scouring the web or paying for incomplete monitoring.

CR’s study cites CheckPeople, PublicDataUSA, and Intelius as the least responsive businesses in one of the least responsive industries, while noting that PeopleFinders, ClustrMaps, and ThatsThem deserve some very tiny, nearly inaudible recognition for complying with opt-out requests (our words, not theirs).

It’s not worth paying to be removed from people-finder sites, study says Read More »

you-can-kick-the-alpha-tires-on-system76’s-cosmic,-a-new-linux-desktop

You can kick the alpha tires on System76’s Cosmic, a new Linux desktop

Cosmic Desktop, GNOME, Linux, pop!_os, rust, system76, Tech / /

We’re all part of a cosmic alpha, if you really think about it, man —

A whole new desktop aims to appeal with tiling, themes, and a safer Rust core.

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The app store, terminal window (showing an ASCII Pop!_OS logo), theming options, and other windows on a Cosmic desktop

Enlarge / A little auto-tiling on the Cosmic desktop.

System76

System76 has released an alpha version of its Cosmic desktop environment for Linux and Unix-like systems. The Linux hardware firm isn’t targeting only its customers with its GNOME replacement; it also hopes to get distro maintainers and app makers on board with its Rust-built, UX-focused desktop.

While the Cosmic desktop will be built into the Linux vendor’s Pop!_OS (which is also in the alpha ISO), it’s also available to other systems, as you might expect. System76 provides drop-in instructions for Fedora and Arch Linux installs, among others.

System76 says it is “excited to see COSMIC integration elevate Linux as a whole,” along with what results “from making UX-building more accessible.” By building Cosmic natively in the Rust language, System76 also intends to provide a more stable and memory-safe environment for apps.

Cosmic shows deep attention to tiling, keyboard shortcuts, and panel and dock customization, as has been present on its Pop!_OS. I’m a bit of a boring side-by-side, single-workspace type; Gardiner Bryant on YouTube went deeper into the Cosmic alpha’s tiling, panels, and GTK app acceptance. I found that getting Cosmic into a reasonable shape I could work from, and picking up its keyboard window shortcuts, was easier than with either KDE or GNOME.

One thing System76 made clear in its push for Cosmic is its readiness for more deeply integrated themes. System76 offered a few examples in its press materials, and I must admit a fondness for its over-the-top examples.

  • System76 probably can’t officially offer this theme, what with Internet Explorer logo and other recognizable icons, but it does illustrate the theme potentials.

    System76

  • Answering the eternal software question “Can it run Doom?” even in desktop environments.

    System76

  • This? This is the subtle side of this very Polish-RPG-influenced theme.

    System76

  • If you’re going to hack the net and fight the corpos, you gotta wake your eyes up, choom.

    System76

Promising, but definitely not production

I’ve been using the Cosmic-topped desktop alpha since last week on an also alpha-ish Pop!_OS 24.04 long-term support distribution with Wayland windowing. It’s running on my desktop-ified Framework laptop, since System76 noted that virtual machines would require some hardware acceleration trickery to function properly. It’s definitely an alpha, with lots of things you’d expect to see in the settings and around the system missing or non-interactive.

What I can say about Cosmic, even at this early alpha stage, is that it’s relatively snappy and cohesive compared to other systems I’ve used. The settings app only has six main categories, and one of them is “Desktop,” with robust settings for changing your dock, windows, workspaces, and appearance. I keep a webcam on top of my monitor, with a clamp big enough to hide the time/date combo sometimes perched there by GNOME desktops. Cosmic’s panel controls made it easy to move this to the right and similarly position and style my dock however I like.

Most of what is on display here is not for end users, though, as much as it is for adventurous users, or maybe community distro packagers, looking for a desktop environment carrying far less technical debt than GNOME and KDE. At the same time, that means there will be some tension and scraping between certain apps and this new environment. Slack’s main window on my system is constantly disappearing, and clicking its persistent notification in the tray won’t bring it back. And I’m the type who always remaps his Caps Lock key to Escape, but there’s no place to do that yet, and the Gnome-Tweaks app won’t work, either. Some of this is probably the distribution itself, some of it is Cosmic, and some of it is between the two. (Yes, I’m certain there’s a way to get that keyboard fix with a command or config file, but this is just a test run.)

The Cosmic team says it will next work on settings pages, the Files app, variable refresh rate, and software rendering, among other bugs and refinements. After that comes the hard part of gaining acceptance and installs across the wider open source community.

Listing image by System76

You can kick the alpha tires on System76’s Cosmic, a new Linux desktop Read More »

macos-15-sequoia-makes-you-jump-through-more-hoops-to-disable-gatekeeper-app-checks

macOS 15 Sequoia makes you jump through more hoops to disable Gatekeeper app checks

Apple, macOS 15, macos 15 sequoia, macos sequoia, Tech / /

gate-kept —

But nothing is changing about the kinds of software you can run on your Mac.

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The Mac's Gatekeeper feature has been pushing developers to digitally sign their apps since it was introduced in 2012.

Enlarge / The Mac’s Gatekeeper feature has been pushing developers to digitally sign their apps since it was introduced in 2012.

Apple/Andrew Cunningham

It has always been easier to run third-party software on a Mac than on an iPhone or iPad. Despite the introduction of the Mac App Store a couple of years after the iPhone’s App Store opened, it has always been possible to download and run third-party scripts and software on your Mac from anywhere. It’s one reason why the iPhone and iPad are subject to new European Union regulations about software sideloading and third-party app stores, while the Mac isn’t.

That’s not changing in macOS 15 Sequoia, the new version of macOS that’s due to be released to the public this fall. But it is about to get more annoying for some apps, according to a note added to Apple’s developer site yesterday.

“In macOS Sequoia, users will no longer be able to Control-click to override Gatekeeper when opening software that isn’t signed correctly or notarized,” the brief note reads. “They’ll need to visit System Settings > Privacy & Security to review security information for software before allowing it to run.”

Users (including me) had noticed this behavior in early macOS Sequoia betas, but this note confirms that the change was made on purpose and that the software is working as intended.

What’s changing and what isn’t

To understand what’s changing, it’s helpful to understand how macOS handles third-party apps. Though software can be downloaded and run in macOS from everywhere, Apple encourages developers to digitally sign their software and send it to Apple for notarization, which Apple describes as “an automated system that scans your software for malicious content, checks for code-signing issues, and returns the results to you quickly.” Notably, it is not the same as the app review process in Apple’s App Stores, where humans check submitted apps and can refuse to distribute them if they run afoul of Apple’s rules.

Notarization does come with benefits for users—users can be sure that the apps haven’t been tampered with and can run them with minimal hassle from Gatekeeper, macOS’ app-screening security feature. But it creates an extra step for developers and requires the use of a $100-a-year paid Apple Developer account, something that may not be worth the cost for hobby projects or open source projects that don’t generate much (or any) income for their contributors.

Unsigned, non-notarized software will refuse to run in current macOS versions, but it has always been possible to right-click or control-click the app or script you want to run and then click Open, which exposes an “open anyway” option in a dialog box that lets you launch the software. Once you’ve made an exception for an app, you can run it like you would any other app unless the software is updated or changed in some way.

The section of the Settings app where you'll need to go in macOS Sequoia to allow unsigned apps to run.

Enlarge / The section of the Settings app where you’ll need to go in macOS Sequoia to allow unsigned apps to run.

Andrew Cunningham

Which gets us to what Sequoia changes. The right-click/control-click option for easily opening unsigned apps is no longer available. Users who want to open unsigned software will now need to go the long way around to do it: first, try to launch the app and dismiss the dialog box telling you that it can’t be opened. Then, open Settings, go to the Privacy & Security screen, scroll all the way to the bottom to get to the Security section, and click the Open Anyway button that appears for the last unsigned app you tried to run.

This has always been an option for skirting around Gatekeeper, going all the way back to the days when Settings was still System Preferences (and when Apple would let you disable Gatekeeper’s checks entirely, something it removed in 2016). But it takes so much more time that I never actually did it that way once I discovered the right-click trick. Now, doing it the long way is mandatory.

I don’t want to oversell how disruptive this is—generally once you allow an app to run the first time, you don’t have to think about it again unless the app is updated or otherwise modified or tampered with. Apple isn’t allowing or disallowing any new behavior in macOS. Popular apps from major developers do tend to be notarized, rendering this change irrelevant. And if this change pushes more developers to sign and notarize their apps, that is arguably a win for user security and convenience.

But for most people most of the time, it’s just going to make a minor annoyance into a medium-size annoyance. And among the conspiratorially minded, it’s going to reignite 12-year-old anxieties about Apple locking macOS down to the same degree that it already locks down iOS and iPadOS.

The macOS 15 Sequoia update is currently available to developers and the general public as a beta if you’ve signed up for either of Apple’s beta programs. An early iteration of the 15.1 update with some Apple Intelligence generative AI features enabled is also available to developers with Apple Silicon Macs.

macOS 15 Sequoia makes you jump through more hoops to disable Gatekeeper app checks Read More »

reddit-considers-search-ads,-paywalled-content-for-the-future

Reddit considers search ads, paywalled content for the future

ads, reddit, search, Social Media, Tech / /

Q2 2024 earnings —

Current ad load is relatively “light,” COO says.

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In this photo illustration the Reddit logo seen displayed on

Reddit executives discussed plans on Tuesday for making more money from the platform, including showing ads in more places and possibly putting some content behind a paywall.

On Tuesday, Reddit shared its Q2 2024 earnings report (PDF). The company lost $10.1 million during the period, down from Q2 2023’s $41.1 million loss. Reddit has never been profitable, and during its earnings call yesterday, company heads discussed potential and slated plans for monetization.

As expected, selling ads continues to be a priority. Part of the reason Reddit was OK with most third-party Reddit apps closing was that the change was expected to drive people to Reddit’s native website and apps, where the company sells ads. In Q2, Reddit’s ad revenue grew 41 percent year over year (YoY) to $253.1 million, or 90 percent of total revenue ($281.2 million).

When asked how the platform would grow ad revenue, Reddit COO Jen Wong said it’s important that advertisers “find the outcomes they want at the volumes and price they want.” She also pointed to driving more value per ad, or the cost that advertisers pay per average 1,000 impressions. To do that, Wong pointed to putting ads in places on Reddit where there aren’t ads currently:

There are still many places on Reddit without ads today. So we’re more focused on designing ads for spaces where users are spending more time versus increasing ad load in existing spaces. So for example, 50 percent of screen views, they’re now on conversation pages—that’s an opportunity.

Wong said that in places where Reddit does show ads currently, the ad load is “light” compared to about half of its rivals.

One of the places where Redditors may see more ads is within comments, which Wong noted that Reddit is currently testing. This ad capability is only “experimental,” Wong emphasized, but Reddit sees ads in comments as a way to stand out to advertisers.

There’s also an opportunity to sell ad space within Reddit search results, according to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, who said yesterday that “over the long term, there’s significant advertising potential there as well.” More immediately, though, Reddit is looking to improve its search capabilities and this year will test “new search result pages powered by AI to summarize and recommend content, helping users dive deeper into products, shows, games, and discover new communities on Reddit,” Huffman revealed yesterday. He said Reddit is using first- and third-party AI models to improve search aspects like speed and relevance.

The move comes as Reddit is currently blocking all search engines besides Google, OpenAI, and approved education/research instances from showing recent Reddit content in their results. Yesterday, Huffman reiterated his statement that Reddit is working with “big and small” search engines to strike deals like it already has with Google and OpenAI. But looking ahead, Reddit is focused on charging for content scraping and seems to be trying to capitalize on people’s interest in using Reddit as a filter for search results.

Paywalled content possible

The possibility of paywalls came up during the earnings call when an analyst asked Huffman about maintaining Reddit’s culture as it looks to “earn money now for people and creators on the platform.” Reddit has already launched a Contributor Program, where popular posts can make Reddit users money. It has discussed monetizing its developer platform, which is in public beta with “a few hundred active developers,” Huffman said yesterday. In response to the analyst’s question, Huffman said that based on his experience, adding new ways of using Reddit “expands” the platform but doesn’t “cannibalize existing Reddit.”

He continued:

I think the existing altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive just the way it has. But now we will unlock the door for new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built that may have exclusive content or private areas—things of that nature.

Huffman’s comments suggest that paywalls could be added to new subreddits rather than existing ones. At this stage, though, it’s unclear how users may be charged to use Reddit in the future if at all.

The idea of paywalling some content comes as various online entities are trying to diversify revenue beyond often volatile ad spending. Reddit has also tried elevating free aspects of the site, such as updates to Ask Me Anything (AMA), including new features like RSVPs, which were announced Tuesday.

Reddit has angered some long-time users with recent changes—including blocking search engines, forcing personalized ads, introducing an exclusionary fee for API access, and ousting some moderators during last year’s user protests—but Reddit saw its daily active unique user count increase by 51 percent YoY in Q2 to 91.2 million.

Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica parent Condé Nast, is the largest shareholder in Reddit.

Reddit considers search ads, paywalled content for the future Read More »

report:-apple’s-external-dvd-drive-is-up-burning-discs-in-dongle-heaven

Report: Apple’s external DVD drive is up burning discs in dongle heaven

Apple, MacBook Air, SuperDrive, Tech / /

ashes to ashes, disc to disc —

Other DVD drives are cheap and plentiful, but Apple’s slot-loader was unique.

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Apple's external DVD-burning SuperDrive may be fading away.

Enlarge / Apple’s external DVD-burning SuperDrive may be fading away.

Apple

Apple has always been eager to dump technologies when the company feels they have outlived their usefulness. The original iMac came without a floppy drive. The iPhone 7 came without a headphone jack. Mid-2010s MacBooks and MacBook Pros came with USB-A ports. And the original 2008 MacBook Air came without a built-in optical drive for CDs and DVDs. By the time 2012 and 2013 Macs rolled around, products from the iMac to the MacBook Pro followed suit.

These exclusions have often made Apple’s devices thinner, lighter, sleeker, or some combination of all three. But they’ve also meant that people who still needed those technologies also needed to deal with dongles, adapters, or clunky external accessories hanging off their devices. For the MacBook Air and other modern Macs that needed to read or burn optical discs, that clunky accessory was Apple’s SuperDrive, an external DVD burner that connected via USB.

After 16 years of availability, it looks like the SuperDrive’s run could be coming to an end. As noticed by MacRumors, the drive’s status has shifted to “sold out” in Apple’s online store, a more definitive and permanent-sounding label than the “currently unavailable” status assigned to some other out-of-stock products.

Though it’s been more than a decade since Apple introduced a new Mac with an optical drive built in, modern versions of macOS still have roughly the same level of support for CD and DVD drives that they did back when optical drives were standard-issue equipment. Plug an optical drive into a modern Mac—whether it’s a SuperDrive or a third-party model—and you’ll still be able to burn and rip audio CDs with the Music app, rip or burn CD and DVD image files with Finder or Disk Utility, or burn files to a disc for archiving with the Finder. Even the venerable DVD Player app is still included, though macOS relies mostly on third-party software to handle Blu-ray discs.

Third-party external DVD drives can be had for as little as $20, and external Blu-ray drives start around $50, making the $79 DVD-only SuperDrive an iffy financial proposition. It was also never updated with a USB-C connector, so connecting it to any modern MacBook requires yet another dongle. But Apple’s drive was unique, as it was a metal, slot-loading optical drive from a major manufacturer; SuperDrive clones on Amazon go for $30 or $40 but come from no-name companies and have mixed customer reviews. For now, if the news of its potential demise suddenly makes you want one, the genuine SuperDrive is still in stock at Amazon and Best Buy, among a few other third-party retailers.

We’ve contacted Apple to check on the status of the SuperDrive and will update this article if we receive a definitive response.

Report: Apple’s external DVD drive is up burning discs in dongle heaven Read More »

“do-not-hallucinate”:-testers-find-prompts-meant-to-keep-apple-intelligence-on-the-rails

“Do not hallucinate”: Testers find prompts meant to keep Apple Intelligence on the rails

AI, Apple, apple intelligence, chatgpt, macOS 15, macos 15 sequoia, macos sequoia, prompt engineering, Tech / /

explain it to me like i’m an LLM —

Long lists of instructions show how Apple is trying to navigate AI pitfalls.

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Craig Federighi stands in front of a screen with the words

Enlarge / Apple Intelligence was unveiled at WWDC 2024.

Apple

As the parent of a younger child, I can tell you that getting a kid to respond the way you want can require careful expectation-setting. Especially when we’re trying something new for the first time, I find that the more detail I can provide, the better he is able to anticipate events and roll with the punches.

I bring this up because testers of the new Apple Intelligence AI features in the recently released macOS Sequoia beta have discovered plaintext JSON files that list a whole bunch of conditions meant to keep the generative AI tech from being unhelpful or inaccurate. I don’t mean to humanize generative AI algorithms, because they don’t deserve to be, but the carefully phrased lists of instructions remind me of what it’s like to try to give basic instructions to (or explain morality to) an entity that isn’t quite prepared to understand it.

The files in question are stored in the /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels/purpose_auto folder on Macs running the macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta that have also opted into the Apple Intelligence beta. That folder contains 29 metadata.json files, several of which include a few sentences of what appear to be plain-English system prompts to set behavior for an AI chatbot powered by a large-language model (LLM).

Many of these prompts are utilitarian. “You are a helpful mail assistant which can help identify relevant questions from a given mail and a short reply snippet,” reads one prompt that seems to describe the behavior of the Apple Mail Smart Reply feature. “Please limit the reply to 50 words,” reads one that could write slightly longer draft responses to messages. “Summarize the provided text within 3 sentences, fewer than 60 words. Do not answer any question from the text,” says one that looks like it would summarize texts from Messages or Mail without interjecting any of its own information.

Some of the prompts also have minor grammatical issues that highlight what a work-in-progress all of the Apple Intelligence features still are. “In order to make the draft response nicer and complete, a set of question [sic] and its answer are provided,” reads one prompt. “Please write a concise and natural reply by modify [sic] the draft response,” it continues.

“Do not make up factual information.”

And still other prompts seem designed specifically to try to prevent the kinds of confabulations that generative AI chatbots are so prone to (hallucinations, lies, factual inaccuracies; pick the term you prefer). Phrases meant to keep Apple Intelligence on-task and factual include things like:

  • “Do not hallucinate.”
  • “Do not make up factual information.”
  • “You are an expert at summarizing posts.”
  • “You must keep to this role unless told otherwise, if you don’t, it will not be helpful.”
  • “Only output valid json and nothing else.”

Earlier forays into generative AI have demonstrated why it’s so important to have detailed, specific prompts to guide the responses of language models. When it launched as “Bing Chat” in early 2023, Microsoft’s ChatGPT-based chatbot could get belligerent, threatening, or existential based on what users asked of it. Prompt injection attacks could also put security and user data at risk. Microsoft incorporated different “personalities” into the chatbot to try to rein in its responses to make them more predictable, and Microsoft’s current Copilot assistant still uses a version of the same solution.

What makes the Apple Intelligence prompts interesting is less that they exist and more that we can actually look at the specific things Apple is attempting so that its generative AI products remain narrowly focused. If these files stay easily user-accessible in future macOS builds, it will be possible to keep an eye on exactly what Apple is doing to tweak the responses that Apple Intelligence is giving.

The Apple Intelligence features are going to launch to the public in beta this fall, but they’re going to miss the launch of iOS 18.0, iPadOS 18.0, and macOS 15.0, which is why Apple is testing them in entirely separate developer betas. Some features, like the ones that transcribe phone calls and voicemails or summarize text, will be available early on. Others, like the new Siri, may not be generally available until next year. Regardless of when it arrives, Apple Intelligence requires fairly recent hardware to work: either an iPhone 15 Pro, or an iPad or Mac with at least an Apple M1 chip installed.

“Do not hallucinate”: Testers find prompts meant to keep Apple Intelligence on the rails Read More »

“so-tired”:-disney+,-hulu,-espn+-prices-increase-by-up-to-25-percent-in-october

“So tired”: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ prices increase by up to 25 percent in October

Disney, Disney Plus, ESPN, streaming, Tech / /

The cycle continues —

Not even ad tiers are safe as Disney looks to coax people into bundle packages.

–

The Doctor and Ruby in 1960s

Enlarge / A scene from the new season of Doctor Who, which is streaming on Disney+.

Disney+

Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will get more expensive as of October 17, whether users have a subscription with or without ads. After most recently jacking up streaming prices in October 2023, The Walt Disney Company is raising subscription fees by as much as 25 percent, depending on the streaming service and plan.

Here’s how pricing will look in October compared to now:

Now As of October 17
Disney+ with ads $8/month $10/month
Disney+ without ads $14/month

$140/year		 $16/month

$160/year
Hulu with ads $8/year

$80/year		 $10/month

$100/year
Hulu without ads $18/month $19/month
Hulu and Live TV with ads $77/month  $83/month
Hulu and Live TV without ads $90/month $96/month
Disney+ and Hulu with ads $10/month $11/month
Disney+ and Hulu without ads $20/month No change
ESPN+ $11/month

$110/year		 $12/month

$120/year
Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ with ads $15 No change
Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ without ads $25 No change

Disney didn’t announce any pricing changes for the bundle that contains Disney+, sister streaming service Hulu, and Warner Bros. Discovery’s rival streaming platform, Max.

Based on the updated pricing, Disney is seemingly trying to coax people to sign up for one of its streaming bundles, which combine multiple services for a lower price than if the services were each subscribed to individually. Streaming companies have been trying to use bundles to deter people from frequently canceling their streaming subscriptions. But as we’ve written before, streaming bundles don’t address subscribers’ complaints around incessant price hikes, content quality, confusing packages, or features.

Another price hike

One of the biggest problems that streaming subscribers, especially long-term ones, are facing is ever-rising prices. Disney already increased prices in October 2023, meaning Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ are facing their second price hikes in about a year.

Early reactions online, including on forums like Reddit, show people dissatisfied with streaming price hikes that don’t seem to align with the quality of content available. For example, Reddit user Montysucker wrote: “easy[,] cancel now,” adding:

“The enshittification of media in the last few years is insane and it’s wild how seemingly no one cares anymore about making something that is actually enjoyable to watch and not their egotistic[al] pipe dream.”

Of course, many expressed being overwhelmed with continuing to see streaming prices rise, as Slow_Investment_2211 wrote:

On October 12, 2023, as Variety summarized, Disney+ without ads went up by 27 percent, from $11 to $14 per month. Hulu without ads went up 20 percent ($15 to $18/month). Hulu with Live packages each also increased by $7 at the time, while ESPN+ pricing increased by $1.

Disney paired the price hike announcement with the revealing of new upcoming features for Disney+. However, the new linear channels are little comfort for people who don’t use Disney+.

The new channels will be ABC News Live, which Disney+ users can access on September 4, and channels “focused on preschool content, featuring TV series and shorts available on Disney+.” Disney+ will also get four more channels (or as Disney’s calling them, playlists) that show: 1) “Seasonal Content” from Disney+; 2) “Epic Stories” from big franchises like Marvel and Star Wars; 3) “Throwbacks” with “nostalgic pop culture”; and 4) “Real Life” documentaries.

It’s possible that Disney will introduce more channels to appeal to more users. But with all the price hikes that streaming subscribers have endured over the past few years, many would prefer avoiding price bumps that are partially for extra channels that they may never watch. Charging for unwanted content in media packages that are already priced questionably is reminiscent of cable, something that streaming was initially supposed to replace, not replicate.

Subscribers to Disney’s trio of streaming services will be unlikely to be alone in facing price hikes for long; analysts suspect Netflix pricing will also increase this year.

“So tired”: Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ prices increase by up to 25 percent in October Read More »

sci-fi-writer-and-wordstar-lover-re-releases-the-cult-dos-app-for-free

Sci-fi writer and WordStar lover re-releases the cult DOS app for free

DOS, DOSBox, George R.R. Martin, robert j sawyer, Tech, Word processing, wordstar, wordstar 7 / /

I love it, and I need it, I bleed it —

“Compared to it, Microsoft Word is pure madness”—Anne Rice.

–

WordStar running under emulation

Robert J. Sawyer

WordStar’s most recent claim to fame might be that it’s the word processing application on which George R.R. Martin is still not finishing A Song of Ice and Fire.

But many writers loved and still love WordStar, a word processor notably good for actual writing. As computers moved on from DOS to Windows, and word programs grew to encompass features that strayed far from organizing words on a page, WordStar hung back, whether in DOS emulation or in the hearts of its die-hard fans.

One of those fans is Robert J. Sawyer, an award-winning science fiction author still using the program last updated in 1992. Deciding that the app is now “abandonware,” Sawyer recently put together as complete a version of WordStar 7 as might exist. He bundled together over 1,000 pages of scanned manuals that came with WordStar, related utilities, his own README guidance, ready-to-run versions of DOSBox-X and VDosPlus, and WordStar 7 Rev. D and posted them on his website as the “Complete WordStar 7.0 Archive.”

Why would Sawyer—and Michael Chabon and Anne Rice and Arthur C. Clarke and James Gunn—keep using a DOS program, decades past its last update, with quite a few workarounds needed for modern systems? Because it’s meant to help writers keep on writing. Like Vim or Emacs, it can be used with a system of keyboard commands entirely without a mouse; unlike Vim or Emacs, it is built for words and paragraphs, not code. Sawyer detailed this in an essay on his site, republished on Ars Technica in 2017. WordStar puts powerful commands near your strongest fingers and makes navigating text, bookmarking, and leaving unpublished notes for yourself far easier than WordPerfect, Word, or almost anything since.

As noted by The Register, Sawyer is also taking on the calculated risk of publicly declaring WordStar 7 abandoned. The program’s path from a CP/M app by MicroPro onward is winding, being shoved into a half-baked office suite, acquired by SoftKey, which became the Learning Company, acquired by Mattel, spun off to Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep, and is now the archival property of—well, nobody’s quite sure. The history of WordMaster, WordStar, NewWord, and their offshoots and intermixing is fascinating, with a hospital bedside power-grab, lawsuits, and names like Corel and Xoom you haven’t heard in some time.

The full package

If you download the entire 700-ish MB package, you can see all of this for yourself. Sawyer’s README (included in full on the archive page) details the tweaks he recommends for getting WordStar running in DOSBox-X, like setting the screen to 80 columns and 25 lines of text, picking a good font, and switching CapsLock and Ctrl keys to make use of WordStar’s home-row-oriented shortcuts. There’s even a utility for converting WordStar files to something Word or other modern tools can read, handily named CONVERT.EXE.

I wasn’t able to get WordStar working on Windows, Mac, or Linux; it would boot, but it would complain that it “Can’t find C:WSDSPCH.OVR” and shut down soon after, even when I would cravenly mount and provide DOSBox with full access to my root Windows drive. But I’m a relative newcomer to DOSBox-X, so I’m sure it’s something quite simple—yet profound.

Sci-fi writer and WordStar lover re-releases the cult DOS app for free Read More »

chrome’s-manifest-v3,-and-its-changes-for-ad-blocking,-are-coming-real-soon

Chrome’s Manifest V3, and its changes for ad blocking, are coming real soon

ad blockers, browser extensions, chrome, chrome manifest v3, Google, google chrome, google chrome extensions, manifest v3, Tech, ublock lite, ublock origin / /

Chrome Manifest V3 —

Chrome is warning users that their extension makers need to update soon.

–

Chrome logo, squared off in the style of a popular ad-blocking logo

Ron Amadeo

Google Chrome’s long, long project to implement a new browser extension platform is seemingly going to happen, for real, after six years of cautious movement.

One of the first ways people are seeing this is if they use uBlock Origin, a popular ad-blocking extension, as noted by Bleeping Computer. Recently, Chrome users have seen warnings pop up that “This extension may soon no longer be supported,” with links asking the user to “Remove or replace it with similar extensions” from Chrome’s Web Store. You might see a similar warning on some extensions if you head to Chrome’s Extensions page (chrome://extensions).

What’s happening is Chrome preparing to make Manifest V3 required for extensions that want to run on its platform. First announced in 2018, the last word on Manifest V3 was that V2 extensions would start being nudged out in early June on the Beta, Dev, and Canary update channels. Users will be able to manually re-enable V2 extensions “for a short time,” Google has said, “but over time, this toggle will go away as well.” The shift for enterprise Chrome deployments is expected to be put off until June 2025.

Google has said that its new extension platform was built for “improving the security, privacy, performance, and trustworthiness of the extension ecosystem.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) disagrees most strongly with the security aspect, and Firefox-maker Mozilla, while intending to support V3 extensions for cross-browser compatibility, has no plans to cut off support for V2 extensions, signaling that it doesn’t see the big improvement.

Perhaps the biggest point of friction is with ad blockers. Google has said it “isn’t killing ad blockers” but “making them safer,” in an explanatory blog post. Google noted in November 2023 that Manifest V3 allowed for a greater number, and more dynamic updating, of content-blocking rules in extensions, specifically ad blockers.

But one of the biggest changes is in disallowing “remotely hosted code,” which includes the filtering lists that ad blockers keep regularly updated. Ad blockers that want to update their filtering lists, perhaps in response to pivots by platforms like Google’s YouTube and ad servers, will have to do so through the Chrome Web Store’s review process. Ad-blocking coders see it as an intentional gatekeeping and slowing.

Google said before the initial May push toward V3 that 85 percent of actively maintained extensions in its store had Manifest V3 versions ready. Raymond Hill wrote on uBlock Origin’s GitHub page Friday that there will not be a full version of uBlock Origin that works with Manifest V3, but instead a “Lite” version that is “a pared-down version of uBO with a best effort at converting filter lists used by uBO into a Manifest V3-compliant approach.”

Chrome’s Manifest V3, and its changes for ad blocking, are coming real soon Read More »

nzxt-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-$169/month-to-rent-a-gaming-pc

NZXT wants you to pay up to $169/month to rent a gaming PC

Desktops, gaming, gaming PC, subscriptions, Tech / /

Why own when you can… rent? —

NZXT Flex subscription has “new or like-new” PCs, one-time $50 shipping fee.

–

NZXT gaming PC

Enlarge / NZXT’s subscription program charges $169/month for this build.

NZXT, which sells gaming PCs, components, and peripherals, has a subscription program that charges a monthly fee to rent one of its gaming desktops. Subscribers don’t own the computers and receive an upgraded rental system every two years.

NZXT’s Flex program subscription prices range from $49 to $169 per month, depending on the specs of the system, as you can see below:

The footnote is:

Enlarge / The footnote is: “Specs of PCs subject to change based on availability.”

NZXT

There’s also a one-time setup and shipping fee for the rentals that totals $50. NZXT says it will “likely” charge subscribers a separate fee if they return the rental without the original box and packaging (NZXT hasn’t disclosed how much).

The systems received, per NZXT’s website, will be “new or like-new.” Users may get refurbished systems and should check their rental for any defects, per subscription agreement terms from Fragile, which helps manage the subscription service.

NZXT says subscribers get 24/7 customer support with their subscription. The Irvine, California-headquartered company also says that there are no cancellation fees, and subscribers get a prepaid return label with their rental system. As noted by The Verge, NZXT started promoting Flex as early as February; it’s unclear how much interest it has garnered.

Per the subscription agreement, users can be charged the full retail value of the system if it’s returned damaged or altered (self-upgrades/repairs have limits) and monthly interest rates of 8 percent if they stop paying the monthly fee for over 60 days.

Who’s this for?

In an announcement Wednesday, NZXT looked to frame Flex as a way to make PC gaming more accessible and highlighted use cases where it thinks rental PCs make sense.

In a shared statement, the CEO of esports team FlyQuest suggested there’s a place for rental PCs in esports, which often relies on expensive gear delivered through sponsorships. In a statement, Brian Anderson said: “New hardware is being released frequently, and having access to industry-leading products is vital to staying competitive. NZXT Flex provides us with the confidence that we’ll always have access to the top-of-the-line builds so that we can create content and play at our highest level for our fans.”

The announcement also highlights a supposed customer who said the program let them immediately get a gaming PC that they can’t afford. The program also targets people who only need a high-end PC for a short period or who want easy biennial upgrades.

But for most, rental PCs don’t make much fiscal sense long-term, as monthly fees add up over time. For example, the cheapest plan would cost $758 the first year (including the setup/shipping fee), which is more than various prebuilt gaming PCs and DIY builds.

Subscribers also don’t own the computer. They can get an upgraded system after two years, but in that time, they will have spent $1,466 to $4,106 for hardware that they don’t own. Meanwhile, $1,466 to $4,106 could fetch a quality PC that you could own and continue getting value from beyond two years.

Flex also competes with PC rental programs from companies like Rent-A-Center and Aaron’s that let people rent to own. A few months ago, an NZXT representative confirmed via Reddit that Flex isn’t a rent-to-own program. The rep said that computer buyouts could be allowed but that only a portion of rental payments would apply to the purchase.

Those seeking immediate PC gaming gratification with limited funds also have options in payment plans/financing, used systems, and cloud gaming—all of which have drawbacks but let you compute and play games with hardware that you own.

Recently, more tech brands have been showing interest in trying to draw subscription dollars from consumer gadgets that typically only net a one-time profit. HP, for example, has a printer rental program where you pay to use a printer that you don’t own and that HP tracks. Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber also recently discussed interest in selling a “forever mouse” that people would own but requires a subscription to receive ongoing software updates.

NZXT wants you to pay up to $169/month to rent a gaming PC Read More »