Tim Hardwick
Tim is a Senior Editor at MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2016. Formerly a magazine journalist, his work has appeared in over 30 newsstand print publications and online brands covering a range of topics, from the latest trends in technology to the mysteries of ancient history.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Tim Hardwick's Articles
'Poison Tap' USB Device Hijacks User Data From Screen-Locked Macs
A developer has created a $5 device that can hack into screen-locked Macs and potentially other computers as long as a web browser is left running on the desktop.
Samy Kamkar made a YouTube video showing what happens when his creation hacks into a target computer. Called a "Poison Tap", the device runs on a Raspberry Pi Zero which plugs into a computer's USB port.
Once attached to the...
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Apple Watch Owners Challenged to Earn Thanksgiving Day Activity Achievement
Apple is celebrating Thanksgiving this year by urging U.S. Apple Watch owners to bag a special achievement by recording a minimum walking or running distance on Thursday, November 24.
Available through the Activity app this morning, the Thanksgiving Day Challenge is the first activity challenge of its kind from Apple, and includes a share-able Messages app sticker as an enticement to get out ...
Amazon Offers $100 Discount on 13-inch MacBook Pro Without Touch Bar
Amazon has slashed $100 off the official price of Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar, offering the machine at $1,399 instead of $1,499, presumably for a limited time.
Spotted by AppAdvice, the discount is for the stock 13-inch model, which comes with a 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage.
Meanwhile, for anyone still debating whether a Touch Bar ...
Claridge's Hotel Reveals Festive Installation by Apple's Jony Ive
Apple design chief Jony Ive and longtime collaborator Marc Newson's take on the London hotel Claridge's Christmas tree has been revealed – and perhaps not surprisingly, there's not a bauble in sight.
Mayfair's landmark festive tree has been drawing crowds since 2009, when notable designers began creating the seasonal decoration each year. But Ive and Newson's interpretation takes the...
Some 15-Inch MacBook Pro Models Misreporting Intel Iris Pro 580 Graphics
Several MacRumors readers have discovered that System Information readouts on some 15-inch MacBook Pro units appear to suggest they are running Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics, rather than Intel HD Graphics 530 as advertised in Apple's tech specs.
The strange inconsistency was first found on some demo units running in Apple Store showrooms, leading some readers to suggest Apple was running...
Russian Authorities Order Internet Providers to Block LinkedIn Website
Russia's communications regulator has blocked public access to LinkedIn after an earlier court ruling found the social networking firm to have violated data storage laws (via Reuters).
LinkedIn, which has over 6 million registered users in Russia, becomes the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities after falling afoul of the country's stringent data storage laws, which...
Apple Explores Potential Chat Interactions With Siri in Messages Threads
Apple is looking into integrating its Siri virtual assistant into the company's Messages platform, according to a patent published today, enabling the AI to provide directions, retrieve movie times, and assist with peer-to-peer payments, among other potential uses.
Picked up by AppleInsider, Apple's application for a "Virtual assistant in a communication session" appeared on the U.S. Patent...
Amazon Prime Membership is $79 Tomorrow Only, £59 for U.K. Customers Starting Today
Amazon is set to cut its Prime annual membership price from $99 for a year to $79 on Friday, November 18. The one-day sale will run from 12am ET until 11:59pm PT and is only available for new members.
Amazon customers in the U.K. can take advantage of a similar promotion beginning today: Anyone who signs up for Amazon Prime between now and the end of Friday will receive a year's subscription...
Facebook Halts Collection of WhatsApp User Data Across Europe
Facebook has temporarily halted the collection of WhatsApp user data across Europe after pressure from privacy watchdogs, according to the Financial Times. The move follows news last week that the social media company, which owns the popular chat platform, agreed to pause data collection in the U.K. while a government probe there inquired into WhatsApp's privacy policy.
The Irish Data...
Teardown of 13-inch MacBook Pro With Touch Bar Reveals 'Cosmetic' Speaker Grilles [Updated]
iFixit has published a teardown of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and discovered a few interesting differences compared to Apple's new lower tier MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar. Both 13-inch models have the exact same dimensions, but the Touch Bar machine weighs 20 grams less, which iFixit puts down to the laptop's smaller battery.
As expected, Apple's new MacBook Pro is not designed...
Apple Patent Hints at Next-Generation AirPods With Biometric Sensors
Apple today was granted a patent that essentially updates an older wearable sports and health tracking device invention with features similar to those found in the company's new AirPods wireless headphones.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple patent on Tuesday with the title "Sports monitoring system for headphones, earbuds and/or headsets", which AppleInsider notes is...
WhatsApp Gains End-to-End Encrypted Video Calling
WhatsApp messenger service is today officially rolling out end-to-end encrypted video calling to over 1 billion users of the app across the globe (via TechCrunch).
Video calling had recently been spotted in beta versions of the Facebook-owned chat service on Android, but the feature is now becoming available across all platforms.
Tapping the call button in the top right corner of an open...
Amazon Music Unlimited Rolls Out Across Germany, Austria, and the U.K.
Amazon's streaming music service has gone live in the U.K. and will roll out to Germany and Austria later today, according to TechCrunch.
Amazon Music Unlimited launched in the U.S. last month to compete with the likes of Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music, which just got a revamp. Amazon Prime members in the U.K. will pay £7.99 per month or £79 per year, while non-Prime members can ...
Revamped Google Play Music Streams Content Based on User Location, Activity, and Time of Day
Google today announced an overhaul of its Google Play Music streaming platform, with new contextually aware, opt-in music recommendation features that promise a more personal music listening experience.
Building on its stated aim of helping users find the right music for any moment, Google says the fresh take on its streaming service is "smarter, easier to use, and much more assistive", thanks ...
Snapchat's Video Spectacles on Sale via 'Snapbot' Vending Machines
Snapchat's video-recording Spectacles became available to buy in the U.S. on Thursday, not online or in stores, but from pop-up vending machines.
Called 'Snapbots', the giant vending machines will dispense the Spectacles in either Black, Coral or Teal, and allow customers to try them on virtually using a built-in augmented reality display.
For those unfamiliar with Snapchat's first...
Spotify App Accused of Thrashing Storage Drives With Excessive Data Writes
Spotify's desktop music streaming app has been accused of putting an unnecessary burden on users' machines by continuously writing massive amounts of data to local storage, even when the app is idle.
Over the last five months, multiple users have posted about the problem in Spotify's official support forum, as well as on Reddit, Hacker News, and elsewhere. Users claim the Spotify app has been...
Classic Strategy Game 'Rome: Total War' Now Available on iPad for $9.99
Feral Interactive announced today that classic strategy game Rome: Total War is now available on iPad for a one-time purchase of $9.99.
The third title in the Total War series, Rome was hailed by MacRumors sister site TouchArcade as "not only one of the best strategy games ever, but one of the best PC games, period".
In what's considered the highlight of the series, players get to take...
PayPal iOS App Update Brings Siri Integration to Send and Receive Money
PayPal has updated its iOS app to include Siri integration with support for a variety of languages across 30 countries.
In a post on its official blog, PayPal announced that users of the digital payment service will be able to use Apple's voice-activated AI personal assistant to send and request money among friends and family.
With so many P2P transactions happening during such a busy...
Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls For Unity in Memo to Staff Following Trump Victory
Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out a memo to all U.S. Apple employees on Wednesday reassuring them that the company would "move forward together" following Donald Trump's surprise election win this week.
In the memo, obtained by BuzzFeed, Cook did not name Trump, but pushed back against some of his more divisive rhetoric uttered during the campaign by re-affirming Apple's commitment to diversity.
Te...
Viber Messaging App Now Lets Businesses and Brands Interact With Users
Popular messaging app Viber today launched a new commercial account format to enable businesses and brands to communicate with users (via TechCrunch).
Approximately 1,000 Public Accounts including the likes of the BBC and The Weather Channel were launched with the v6.5 update, allowing users to subscribe to them and share stories with users in their contacts list.
Public Accounts are also ...
