While much of our attention has been focused on iOS 14 over the past weeks, Apple was finishing up some final updates for the iOS 13 series of releases, and this week delivered iOS 13.6 and associated updates for other platforms to the public. New iOS features include audio stories for Apple News+, support for digital car keys, and more.
One incredibly popular story (and in fact one of our most popular stories in years) was about a new Apple support document warning users to be careful about installing physical webcam covers on their Mac notebooks. Other top stories included a major Twitter security breach that saw Apple's official account tweet out a Bitcoin scam, the opening of filing for cash payments in the iPhone "Batterygate" lawsuit, and more.
Check out our video above and read on below for more on all of this week's biggest stories!
Apple Warns Against Closing MacBooks With a Cover Over the Camera
In a new support document this month, Apple has advised customers not to close the lid of a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro with a cover over the webcam, noting that this practice may cause damage to the display and might also interfere with the ambient light sensor and prevent features like automatic brightness and True Tone from working.
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Apple said that customers should instead look for a green indicator light to know when the webcam is active, and decide which apps can use the camera in System Preferences. Apple ensures that the camera is engineered so that it can’t activate without the light also turning on.
Apple Releases iOS 13.6 With Car Key, Apple News+ Audio, and More
Apple this week publicly released iOS 13.6 with a handful of new features, including support for digital car keys in the Wallet app, audio stories for Apple News+ subscribers, and a toggle switch for enabling or disabling the automatic downloading of iOS updates.
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At launch, the Car Key feature is limited to select BMW models manufactured after July 1, 2020, including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4.
Apple also publicly released macOS 10.15.6, watchOS 6.2.8, tvOS 13.4.8, and a HomePod update.
Apple's Twitter Account Hacked by Bitcoin Scammers
Apple, Uber, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West were just some of the high-profile brands and individuals involved in a major Twitter security breach this week.
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All of the compromised Twitter accounts tweeted out a similar message that claimed users could send Bitcoin to a certain address and receive double the amount in return. The hackers appear to have received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency before Twitter took action.
Twitter continues to investigate the breach, which it described as a "coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools."
iPhone Users Can Now File to Receive Around $25 From Apple Over 'Batterygate'
Earlier this year, Apple agreed to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit that accused the company of "secretly throttling" older iPhone models, and affected customers can now claim their share of the settlement.
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Apple will provide a cash payment of approximately $25 to each eligible iPhone owner who submits a claim, with its total payout to fall between $310 million and $500 million. The exact amount that each iPhone owner receives could vary slightly based on the number of claims submitted.
The class includes any U.S. resident who owns or previously owned an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and/or iPhone SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later, and/or an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later, before December 21, 2017. Class members must have experienced "diminished performance" on their devices in order to qualify.
Five Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - July 2020
Each month, we share a video highlighting a handful of Mac apps worth checking out. This month's selections focus on productivity and feature great tools for working from home.
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For more of our Mac app picks, check out our essential Mac apps archive.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Apple wasn't hacked, neither was Apple's Twitter - it was Twitter that was "hacked", and the attacker added a tweet to Apple's feed. Apple did nothing wrong, along with the other 40 or so accounts that suffered the same.
What hyperbole. Would one prefer Apple made a laptop that had loose tolerances? To the critics no matter what Apple does there is a criticism to be had.?I love how Tim Apple's most important task is to make a laptop where you'll break it by using a privacy protecting camera cover. Bravo Genius!
It would be nice if we can start calling people by their proper name. It's Tim Cook. Tim Apple sounds just so damn immature.I love how Tim Apple's most important task is to make a laptop where you'll break it by using a privacy protecting camera cover. Bravo Genius!
True but the larger point is that Apple's account wasn't hacked and media should use correct language when describing what happened. When regular people hear that an account was hacked they assume some degree of negligence by the account holder, perhaps by not securing their account properly. For example, here is the reaction to this story by a pretty high profile twitter account. Such reaction is typical and not at all surprising given the headlines.Technically, Twitter wasn’t hacked. An inside employee gave access to bad actors to take advantage of people.
minor grammatical quibble — “Twitter is no longer a secure platform”. Nothing changed about Twitter. It was never a secure platform, that fact is just now coming to light. Twitter is no[t] [S]longer[/S] a secure platform.Editors: minor grammatical quibble -- "will prevent features like automatic brightness and true tone from working". What other features are there? Could prevent[S] features like[/S] automatic brightness and true tone from working.
Social engineering: This is very bad for twitter. Entire markets could have been maliciously disrupted. Twitter is no longer a secure platform, imo.
Lawsuit: Well I'm eligible for $50. I'll either not take it or take it. I guess I'll take it.
Yep. Has anyone pulled apart their MacBook to confirm that it is impossible for the camera to come on without the light? I can imagine how this could be done, but I’d like someone to confirm that isn’t Apple or an Apple fanboy.Anyone remember the "iSeeYou" security flaw that affected iSight's? They would've been 'engineered' with the same intentions too. It's hard to win back trust.
Funny you should mention the microwave example. I just moved out of a place that had a microwave that would turn on with the door open. In fact, sometimes opening the door would be the thing that turned it on (with everything fully cancelled out on the screen, no timer or anything).The macbook’s camera cannot be powered without the green active light illuminating. It was designed that way. Similar to how a microwave cannot turn on without the door closed.
I looked into it a couple months back when MacBook camera security was discussed. I couldn’t find any articles where someone’s macbook camera was accessed. But if it gives Snowden or Zuckerberg, or yourself solace to cover your camera - have at it.
The macbook’s camera cannot be powered without the green active light illuminating. It was designed that way. Similar to how a microwave cannot turn on without the door closed.This is a fallacy and very misleading. Even Zuckerberg who uses macbooks exclusively, covers his with tape 100% of the time. It's not difficult to access a camera that is connected to a network.
I looked into it a couple months back when MacBook camera security was discussed. I couldn’t find any articles where someone’s macbook camera was accessed. But if it gives Snowden or Zuckerberg, or yourself solace to cover your camera - have at it.