426: Invisible Touch

Most of hardware introduced last week is released today, as well as 27.3 betas this week. New APIs for Apple Business and Apple School Manager and what to do about URL imposters.

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Invisible Touch

If you pre-ordered one of the new devices that Apple has introduced over the last weeks, it is likely something will arrive today. Very curious to hear the experiences.

Apple also reported their numbers this week. (Surprise, they were “great.”)

📰 News and Opinion

Catch Me If You Curl

Marriott Library, Apple Infrastructure:

This post is about what happens when an unaffiliated website adopts the name of a trusted open-source project.

⚙️ Apple Updates

• Apple School Manager and Apple Business APIs changelog (webhooks!)
• Classroom 3.8 for iPad and Classroom 2.8 for Mac

macOS updates are already waiting for the newest Macs

Howard Oakley:

If you’re about to receive any of the following new Macs, Apple has just released model-specific updates to macOS Golden Gate 27.2

So, the iPhone Duo reserves the 27.1 update number for all platforms all by itself, but three different new Mac models still get the annoying hardware specific macOS update with the same version number, but a different build.

🔐 Security and Privacy

Black October: The haystack doubled… but what about the needles?

John Crooks, The Iru Blog:

If you've been anywhere near security social media this month, you've heard the language. "Black October." A "vulnerability tsunami."

Binance attack: how DPRK targets developer laptops

Jamf Blog:

the incident “may involve a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container”

🔨 Support and Tutorials

Managing Local Network access settings on macOS Golden Gate using Blueprints in Jamf Pro

Rich Trouton:

One of the management options Jamf Pro provides with Blueprints for macOS Golden Gate is using DDM declarations to manage Local Network access settings. On earlier versions of macOS, these settings had not been manageable and users needed to click Allow or Don’t Allow when prompted.

Passkeys are the future of signing in. Here's how they work.

Jonathan Hogue, Iru Blog:

For you, the practical upshot is this: there's nothing for your users to create, nothing for them to remember, and nothing for you to reset.

From packaging to declaring: the next generation of Mac app deployment

Michael Managhan, Jamf Blog:

The next generation of app deployments is the App Lifecycle Management Engine (ALME). It delivers a curated catalog of non-App Store Mac apps through blueprints

Install an older version of macOS on an Apple silicon Mac

Howard Oakley:

when you want to install an older version on an Apple silicon Mac, the process becomes more complicated, and if you’re unlucky won’t work at all.

These are great instructions. However, Howard does not mention DFU Restore, which is fair. DFU Restore requires a second Mac and is not a trivial workflow. While it is an extremely useful workflow for techs and admins, it is not so well suited for end users.

🤖 Scripting and Automation

HCS Toolkit for Mac

HCS Technology Group:

Mac admin work is scattered across Terminal commands, scripts and half a dozen browser tabs. HCS built one app that pulls it together.

JAMFGetDDMInfo

Scott Kendall:

GetDDMInfo provides a SwiftDialog-powered interface for inspecting DDM deployments, Blueprint status, software update declarations, activation failures, invalid configurations, and device-level DDM information.

Krampus - A Santa sync server

Kai Obendrauf, Jacob Burley:

Introducing Krampus, a sync server for Santa.

Measure macOS time-to-patch with Fleet

Kitzy, Fleet blog:

Fleet doesn't keep a history of version changes, but every Mac keeps its own: macOS logs each update it installs, with a timestamp, in /Library/Receipts/InstallHistory.plist.

♻️ Updates and Releases

• iMazing Profile Editor 2.3.2: release notes, download
• Munki 7.4.1
• Mac Health Check 5.0.2 (blog post)
• SUMB 2.0.3
• quickpkg 2.1
• nanocmd v0.7.1
• jamf-cli v1.35.0
• JamfDash 1.1
• Particulars 71
• Notifier 4.0
• Checkpoint 2.10.0
• Boxing Day 2026.11.02
• Box of Apples-3.4.5
• JamfCheck v2.4.1
• Mac Monitor v3.0.0
• Terraform Provider Jamf Platform 1.8.0

🎧 Listen

Apple’s October 2026 Updates: Touchscreen MacBook Pro, M6 iMac, and a Revamped iPad Mini

Command Control Power:

Joe and Jerry discuss Apple’s October 28, 2026 product event, focusing on the new “MacBook Pro with Pro LED XDR display,” Apple’s first touchscreen Mac

How rising Apple costs are reshaping the trade-in market

Apple @ Work:

Rebekah Griffiths, VP Product Management and Strategy for Device Lifecycle Solutions at Assurant joins the show to talk about how rising costs and lengthening macOS viability are affecting the Apple buyback market in the enterprise.

🎈 Just For Fun

Eucalypt

Basic Apple Guy:

a tiny little collection of wallpapers for your Apple devices inspired by the colourful bark of eucalyptus trees.