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Moving on…
There is an exodus of people leaving Twitter/X, mostly for BlueSky. For those establishing themselves there, I do have an account. I have also started putting together a "starter pack" for MacAdmins accounts. Let me know if you think I missed someone.
Another option is Mastodon, or more precisely, the Fediverse. I have an account there, too. Building a follow list there can be cumbersome, I have also put together a list of Fediverse accounts I find interesting for the MacAdmins space. You can import the CSV files in the Settings area of your profile. (Thanks to jc0b.) Also, if I missed your account, please let me know.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
⚙️ Apple Updates
Apple’s Find My enables sharing location of lost items with third parties
users can share a secure link with the location of an AirTag or Find My network accessory with others — and soon, with airlines
- Logic Pro: Mac 11.1, iPad 2.1, Logic Remote 1.5.6
- Final Cut Pro: Mac 11.0, iPad 2.1, Final Cut Camera 1.1, What's new (Mac), What's new (iPad)
- Compressor 4.9
- Motion 5.9
- AirPods: Firmware updates 7B21
🔐 Security and Privacy
macOS NotLockBit: Evolving Ransomware Samples Suggest a Threat Actor Sharpening Its Tools
researchers at Trend Micro published a report on a macOS malware sample that had credible file locking and data exfiltration capabilities and masqueraded as LockBit ransomware on successful encryption of a user’s files.
Jamf Threat Labs discovers a new threat targeting macOS
The domains and techniques in the malware align closely with those used in other DPRK malware and show signs that, at one point in time, the malware was signed and had even temporarily passed Apple’s notarization process.
Uncovering Apple Vulnerabilities: The diskarbitrationd and storagekitd Audit Story
an audit on the macOS diskarbitrationd and storagekitd system daemons, uncovering several vulnerabilities such as sandbox escapes, local privilege escalations, and TCC bypasses.
🔨 Support and Tutorials
New hardware models appearing as 21.5 inch iMacs in Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager
As those new machines are purchased by companies, schools or institutions and get loaded into those organization’s Apple Business Manager (ABM) or Apple School Manager (ASM) instances though, new device listings for M4 Mac Minis and M4 MacBook Pros aren’t appearing. What is appearing are 21.5 inch iMacs
Microsoft investigates OneDrive issue causing macOS app freezes
Microsoft is investigating a newly acknowledged issue causing macOS applications to hang when opening or saving files in OneDrive.
Compliance in Small Bites
Beth Johnson on Tech Thoughts
in today's climate of evolving threats, increasing regulation, and high-profile settlements, it's likely that you'll need to get started sooner than you think.
Online privacy with a VPN
a quick review of how you can take a few minutes to set up a free VPN account with Proton, a Swiss provider. You'll be able to ensure that your traffic and data are as secure as possible even if you're on a public, unencrypted Wi-Fi network.
M4 Macs can't virtualise older macOS
It seems that M4 chips can’t virtualise any version of macOS before 13.4 Ventura.
Objective Development Blog
While one of the issues related to DNS lookups has been fixed in macOS 15.1, a new, even more serious one was introduced.
🤖 Scripting and Automation
Regex looks for all Mac models compatible with macOS Sequoia
Bill Smith on GitHub
May not be up-to-date with newly released models
Unable to Verify Message Signature in Mail.app
After manually solving this for a few clients, I knew there should be a way to script it.
♻️ Updates and Releases
VMware makes Workstation and Fusion free for everyone
VMware has announced that its VMware Fusion and VMware Workstation desktop hypervisors are now free to everyone for commercial, educational, and personal use.
🎧 Listen
Apple's role in telemedicine
Dev Rangarajan, the Co-Founder and CMO of MD Exam and creator of Agrarian Design, about Apple's role in telemedicine.
🎈Just for Fun
Draft Emoji List for 2025/2026 Revealed
These possible new emojis include a distorted smiley face, an orca, a treasure chest, several ballet dancers, and a Big Foot-inspired "hairy creature".
🦣 Social Media
Arin Waichulis on LinkedIn
linkedin.com