Apple

Aside from the ports that didn't make the cut, there's something else that Apple's taken away from its new MacBook Pro family: the startup chime. Yep, it's taken out the F-sharp chord that accompanies the boot-up whirr of previous MacBooks, and that's at least partially because the late-2016 MBPs (all three of them), will turn themselves on and boot up when you open them. So while the power button still turns the machine off, there's no need to use it to turn it on.

The release of macOS 10.12.1 was a fairly unremarkable affair... apart from one thing. In addition to the expected fixes and changes, hidden in the code are images relating to Apple Pay that appear to show off the new MacBook Pro -- the updated model that's not due to be announced until the upcoming event on 27 October.

According to well-informed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple might launch a USB-C adapter with MagSafe functionality to return easy-on, easy-off functionality to a fully upgraded MacBook lineup, expected for unveiling at next week's "Hello Again" media event.

Apple is planning to introduce new Macs at an Oct. 27 event, sources confirmed to Recode.

The move had long been expected, given that the company released MacOS Sierra last month but had yet to introduce any new computer models sporting the software. It also comes just in time for Apple to have the new products on sale for the full holiday season.

A person on the MacRumors forums drew attention to the feature after encountering trouble with their phone suddenly shutting down. Powering it back on, they were greeted with an unusual "The Home Button May Need Service" pop-up, plus the software button at the bottom of the screen.

Rebooting initially caused the error message to go away, but soon the phone's Taptic Engine was vibrating three or four times in a row for each button press. Rebooting again left the hardware button non-functional.

Not all wearables will monitor your heart rate accurately. But out of the many devices out there, the Apple Watch (the 2015 version, at least) is one of the better ones, according to a study featured in the peer-reviewed medical journal, JAMA Cardiology.

Enthusiast site Techtastic, citing "reliable sources" claims that the Geekbench 4 tests on the "A10X" device have a single core performance rating of 4236, with a score of 6588 in the multiple core tests.

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus come in at around 3500 for single-core, and 5600 for multi-core tests. A9X devices, like the original iPad Pro come in at around 3000 single-core, and 5000 multi-core.

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has publicly endorsed encryption, saying that it’s good for public safety.

During a yearly meeting for the Utah Technology Council in Salt Lake City, Cook said that “Encryption is one of the things that makes the public safe,” and reaffirmed his company’s unequivocal commitment to privacy and device integrity:

Apple has historically been very guarded and secretive. While this is still true today, the company has definitely become more open after Steve Job's death. Quite frankly, the fact that there are now public betas for both iOS and macOS is mind-blowing for the Apple faithful. Last month, the company even launched its first bug bounty program! Why did Apple soften its guarded position? It had to. As the technology market advances, and security becomes a bigger focus, it is not possible to catch all bugs and vulnerabilities in house.

Apple plans to fix a vunerability in iOS 10 discovered by controversial Russian forensics company Elcomsoft that puts iPhones’ security at risk.

Apple added an alternative password verification mechanism to iOS 10, inadvertently weakening the security of local backups, the company said.