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What's in a name?
Mark Gurman reports this week that Apple might change to using year-based version numbers, i.e. the operating systems introduced at WWDC this year will be labeled "macOS 26", "iOS 26" etc. instead of their individual version numbers.
As others have pointed out, this will lead to some short term confusion but should simplify things going forward.
A few questions will remain, which probably will not all be answered at WWDC, though. Will the new iPhone generation that will be announced in September be the "iPhone 17" or "iPhone 26"? Will it have an "A19" chip or "A26"?
Apple Watch has "Series." Except for the very first Apple Watch, which was a generation all on its own… and the Apple Watch SE, which has two generations… and the Apple Watch Ultra, which has numbers...
iPad naming is all over the place.
Even though everyone seems to be using the M-series chip generation to identify their Mac model, Apple has already been using the release year to identify all Mac models except the MacBook Air, where the M-series chip generation is part of the name.
Will there be a "MacBook Pro (2025)" introduced later this year that requires "macOS 26?" Or will this year's MacBook Pro be the "MacBook Pro 26"? Will it have an "M5" chip or "M26"?
Will the new Xcode that comes with the "26" generation of Apple platforms be "Xcode 17" or "Xcode 26"? How about the apps formerly known as iLife and iWork? (they used to have year based names/versions in the past.) Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro?
Will the new year based version numbers be merely cosmetic? Or will the local tools and APIs, such as sw_vers and ProcessInfo report 26.0 as the version number? Note that when Apple switched from 10.x versioning to 11.0 in macOS Big Sur, the early betas still had a lot of references to '10.16', in some cases intentionally so, because that change was more difficult to handle than just skipping ahead a few numbers.
Will the Darwin Kernel version skip one number to match this fall?
Will macOS 26 still have a California Landmark as a namesake? What will the wallpapers be themed like?
📰 News and Opinion
Apple Extends Self-Service Repair to iPads
The announcement is good news, though it’s limited to a few recent iPad models.
🔐 Security and Privacy
Beneath the MASQUE - a dive into Network Relay technology on Apple platforms
A technology that Apple describes as a "modern alternative to VPNs", is in production use today on hundreds of millions of devices and has been embraced by some of the largest players on the internet.
AppleProcessHub stealer
The fact that this malware is hiding inside a .dylib is very unique and interesting. This is not something I’ve seen in malware since the first release of Mac OS X decades ago.
Dissecting the macOS 'AppleProcessHub' Stealer: Technical Analysis of a Multi-Stage Attack
Although this results in a straightforward stealer, we noticed some interesting code in the initial Mach-O and felt it would be a good use case to cover.
Malware campaigns targeting Ledger users
This follows a definite trend lately of Mac malware designed to target owners of cryptocurrency. It seems that can increase your risk of infection on a Mac significantly.
🔨 Support and Tutorials
Using "new" launchctl subcommands to check for and reload launch daemons
With the “new” (non-legacy) subcommands for launchd, there’s the added complication of launch daemons being not only unloaded but also possibly disabled.
Combining Jamf's Setup Manager and macOS Onboarding tools for a rich user experience
Philip Ross on The Digital Desk
If you’re looking at streamlining your onboarding by implementing Jamf Setup Manager, but you need items to run in an active user session, or want to also deliver VPP applications, then this is one option that’s available to you.
Displaying DDM-deployed settings on macOS Sequoia
Rich Trouton on DerFlounder
But where do you go to look for declarative device management (DDM) settings that have been deployed to your Mac? Those can also be looked up via System Settings: General: Device Management
Deploying sudo configurations using Blueprints in Jamf Pro
Rich Trouton on DerFlounder
at WWDC 2023, Apple announced that DDM management included the ability to manage sets of tamper-resistant system configuration files for different system services. […] Jamf Pro’s Blueprints supports managing these services via the Service configuration files component.
🤖 Scripting and Automation
jp-cpe/auto-redeploy-jamf-framework
Automate the redeployment of the Jamf management framework to macOS devices
🎧 Listen
How Apple rode the SaaS wave — now IT has to clean it up
Russell Lester from Tropic about today's SaaS tool sprawl problem, how it impacts finance, and how it impacts IT security.
The Why of Mac Admins Conferences
This week we’re talking with conference organizers about how they think about their events, the challenges that they face, and the future of these critical community events.
Mac Misfires, Backblaze Blues, and the Cost of Bad Support
the hosts of Command Control Power discuss their personal lives and tech experiences, including outdoor activities and everyday tech issues.