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Welcome to MacAdmins.news Summer Camp!
The summer months of July and August are looming which means that many MacAdmins are looking forward to some well-deserved time off. For many education admins, this will be the most busy time, as they use the school's down time for necessary updates and restructuring.
Either way, the summer months of the northern hemisphere are really quiet for MacAdmins related news. In the past years the newsletter would go on hiatus for a few weeks, but that lead to monstrous editions right after the break, especially with news about the major iOS and macOS releases in September or October.
This year, instead of taking a complete break for two months, MacAdmins.news will switch to one issue every two weeks for the next two months. (Would that be "bi-weekly," or "bi-monthly?") On the off weeks, that should allow me to catch up on some writing and other projects, or maybe just goof off and enjoy the summer a bit myself.
The other summer camp issues will be published every second Friday on July 12, 26, August 9 and 23. Normal weekly issues will resume on September 6.
Many thanks to new sponsor Alectrona and returning sponsor Mosyle for supporting the MacAdmins.news Summer Camp!
📰 News and Opinion
Apple has announced that features announced at WWDC (Apple Intelligence, SharePlay screen sharing and iPhone Mirroring) will not be enabled in the EU because of the DMA.
It is worth noting, that many features of Apple platforms are already not available in many regions. Obviously, the Apple Vision Pro is only just starting to roll-out into some other countries. After more than two years, Apple Business Essentials is still restricted to the US. Apple News, News+, Fitness+, Cash, Card, and others are also not available in many regions. Here in the Netherlands we had to wait for the mini, before we could purchase a HomePod.
Apple had already said the Apple Intelligence features will be only available for US English at first, limiting its usefulness in other countries, anyway.
Apple might see this as an appropriate negotiation tactic, since the EU commission has found Apple to still be in breach of the DMA. Nevertheless, this stance feels like Apple is holding new features hostage. When you are the underdog, such a behavior might be met with sympathy, but Apple seems to forget that they are now one of the largest mega-corporations in the world. With that position, this looks more like bullying.
Apple delays AI in the EU. Maybe.
For all its focus on privacy – and its genuine victories – Apple is no longer trusted in the way it was. It’s begun to be considered just another big tech company, one that’s prepared to throw its toys out of the pram if it doesn’t get its way. When a company’s value is in the trillions, it’s very hard to credibly say you’re on the side of ordinary people.
European Commission Finds Apple Is in Breach of DMA Rules
The problems cited by the Commission are so far entirely related to in-app referrals for external purchases. The Commission additionally says it is looking into Apple’s terms for third-party app stores — including the Core Technology Fee — but that is not what these specific findings are about.
⚙️ Apple Updates
On a more positive note: in what may be an unprecedented turn-around time from announcement of a management feature at WWDC to release, Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager received updates this week enabling a feature that allows admins to deactivate the Activation Lock on devices registered in ABM/ASM.
- Apple School Manager: Release notes, Guide, Document revision history
- Apple Business Manager: Release notes, Guide, Document revision history
- Apple Business Essentials: Release notes, Guide, Document revision history
- AirPods: Firmware updates 6F8
Disable Activation Lock from Apple Business Manager
This was one of the novelties announced by Apple at WWDC 2024 […] and it has been active for a few hours: it is now possible to disable Activation Lock directly from Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager.
Walkthrough and screen shots of the new feature. Post is in French, but Safari's Translation feature works well
🔐 Security and Privacy
"Poseidon" Mac stealer distributed via Google ads
we observed a new campaign distributing a stealer targeting Mac users via malicious Google ads for the Arc browser.
What do XProtect BehaviourService and Bastion rules do?
This article summarises what XBS is doing as we prepare to upgrade from Sonoma to Sequoia.
🔨 Support and Tutorials
Apple Watch MDM: Revolutionizing Enterprise Mobility
Nice overview of the possibilities and workflows for managed Apple Watches.
Xgrid lives — a new project resurrects the promise of Apple's dead clustering software
Evoking the old Xgrid days, a new project connects Mac Studios together with Thunderbolt cables, and uses them in tandem for massively parallel computing tasks.
By the Numbers: Enforcing Password Policies on Apple Devices
the passcode is one of the first and best lines of defense for those devices. But it's a line of defense that depends on users. Admins can set minimum requirements for those passcodes
🤖 Scripting and Automation
Using Repo Lasso to Submit Pull Requests in Bulk
I created a tool called Repo Lasso aiming to simplify the process of administering GitHub organizations with many similar repositories.
Mac smc_exporter with temperatures for Prometheus - RSKGroup, LLC
One of the data points we want to get notified about is temperature of the computers (especially in relation to the environment).
📺 Watch
🎧 Listen
Zach Wasserman, Fleet, & osquery
Zach Wasserman from Fleet DM joins the podcast this week to talk about software updates, osquery, DDM, and more
Jamf After Dark
Our co-hosts Sean Rabbitt and Kat Garbis invite along Aaron Webb (Sr. Product Marketing Manager - Security), and Suraj Mohandas (VP of Product Strategy) to discuss the new exciting announcements at WWDC 2024.
🎈Just for Fun
A brief history of Mac system fonts
Mac system fonts, something Apple has always devoted great attention to. This article explains a little more of their history.
A brief history of Disk Utility and First Aid
Disk Utility is one of the few utilities bundled in the first public beta release of Mac OS X in 2000 to have survived right the way through to Sequoia.