Apple makes minor changes to laptop range, kills off 12โ MacBook
More info on how the A&A laws were shoddily constructed
Zoom realises their mistake and will remove built-in webserver on Mac
One manโs opinion on moving from Mac to Windows in 2019
Cheap Geforce RTX2060, refurb Samsung S9 & iPhone 8, 3TB portable HDD
Apple has quietly re-jigged their laptop lineup overnight. The 12" MacBook is no longer a thing, getting removed from the Apple website like it never existed. There's refurb stock and resellers probably have a few lingering, but yeah, no more new ones. The MacBook Air got a small price reduction and gets the True Tone display feature from the MacBook Pro. All the MacBook Pros now have a Touch Bar as the Touch Bar-less model has been discontinued. SSD upgrade pricing has been lowered, but it's still overpriced - $200 to go from 128GB to 256GB???? Grrr.
Government documents obtained by the ABC via freedom of information laws outline how the tech industry was barely consulted before the Assistance and Access laws were passed. The usual big fish (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook) were given a heads up, as were the telcos, but that's it. Their feedback wasn't even listened to and civil liberties groups (Electronics Frontiers Australia, Digital Rights Watch, etc.) weren't consulted at all. Meanwhile, the Assistance and Access laws are now being used by the AFP as a way to subvert journalist protections contained in other national security laws. Nice work everyone.
Yesterday we read about Zoom's macOS app installing a webserver that leaves your webcam vulnerable to abuse, so Zoom can re-install itself without any user interaction, due to a change in how Safari handles opening apps via links. We also saw Zoom's sad response, saying that there's nothing to see here as that behaviour is intended. After 24 hours copping abuse from angry nerds, Zoom has changed their stance and the next update to the macOS app will remove the built-in web server. Proof that public shaming can work if you want a stubborn company to do something.
I think many Mac users have been tempted by Windows lately, with a superior, cheaper selection of hardware and an OS that's not that shit these days. Owen Williams has a nice blog post from April about moving from Mac to Windows in 2019. He goes through what he likes about Windows (WSL/bash, touchscreens, Windows Hello) and what he doesn't like (the hodgepodge of new & legacy Windows UI elements). Nice read if you're a Mac user that hasn't touched Windows in a while. I personally don't mind Windows these days and use Windows on a laptop, but still come crawling back to macOS at home.
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Refurb Samsung Galaxy S9 64GB - $579 at Boost, with a bonus $30 SIM starter kit
Seagate 3TB portable external HDD - $99 from Officeworks
Refurb iPhone 8 64GB from Hulii - $569 delivered with a 6 month warranty
๐ถ Burn In Hell - Rocket Science
๐ The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.
The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.โ