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The Friday before the 26.0 release
As expected, Apple introduced new iPhones, watches and AirPods this week at their event. They also announced the 26.0 system updates will be released next week Monday, Sep 15, 10am PDT. Ready?
They chose to stick with the iPhone numbering, so the iPhone 17 (Pro, Pro Max), iPhone Air (no number), Apple Watch series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch SE 3 will run iOS 26. The iPhones have an A19 (Pro) chip, with an N1 chip for Wifi, Bluetooth and Matter/Threads, as well a C1X cellular modem on the iPhone Air (no number). Curious why they shied away from uniform, consistent numbering for the hardware, but not the software.
Also relevant: there will be new Terms and Conditions for Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager that need to be approved on September 22.
📰 News and Opinion
How Tim Cook sold out Steve Jobs
There’s a tech industry habit of second-guessing “what would Steve Jobs have done" ever since he passed away, and most of the things people attribute to him seem like guesses about a guy who was very hard to predict and often inconsistent. But recently, we have one of those very rare cases where we know exactly what Steve Jobs would not have done.
Mac Admins Foundation Teams Up With Phobio for Recycling Program
Declarative device management (DDM) has these same concepts of device channel and user channel
⚙️ Apple Updates
Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices
MIE is built right into Apple hardware and software in all models of iPhone 17 and iPhone Air and offers unparalleled, always-on memory safety protection for our key attack surfaces including the kernel, while maintaining the power and performance that users expect. In addition, we’re making EMTE available to all Apple developers in Xcode as part of the new Enhanced Security feature that we released earlier this year during WWDC.
🔐 Security and Privacy
Learn about ChillyHell, a modular Mac backdoor
Jamf Threat Labs performs a deep dive on the modular malware that has been mysteriously maligning macOS since 2021.
🔨 Support and Tutorials
Another Simple Package: Policy Banner
Next installment in my series of posts where I share the re-write of my packaging book. In this part, we build another fairly simple package, but also add a postinstall script.
Securing Mac Studio & iMac Power Bricks with Custom 3D Printed Mounts
In the Marriott Library, we manage a number of Mac Studio and iMac systems for patron use. Ensuring the physical security, accessibility, and usability of these devices has presented several logistical challenges.
Declarative device management user channel and device channel
Rich Trouton on DerFlounder
Declarative device management (DDM) has these same concepts of device channel and user channel
Managing Safari extensions on macOS Sequoia using Blueprints in Jamf Pro
Rich Trouton on DerFlounder
One of the management options Jamf Pro now provides with Blueprints is using DDM declarations to manage the extensions which can used by Apple’s Safari web browser.
🤖 Scripting and Automation
Event Notifications from JamfUploader - Slack, Teams, and now Jira
this week I have added an issue creator for Atlassian Jira. The new addition seemed like a good excuse to properly talk about these useful notifier post-processors.
♻️ Updates and Releases
🎧 Listen
Apple’s Jeremy Butcher on what’s new for IT with macOS 26 and iOS 26
Jeremy Butcher from Apple, who leads product marketing for enterprise and education, joins the show to talk about all the latest enhancements for IT and security teams with macOS 26, iOS 26, and the backend IT services that allow for the deployment and management of devices in the enterprise.
This “insidious” police tech claims to predict crime
we speak with Emily Galvin-Almanza, cofounder of Partners for Justice and author of the upcoming book “The Price of Mercy,” about predictive policing, its impact on communities, and the dangerous outcomes that might arise when police offload their decision-making to data.