Apple’s security ecosystem has received a slew of updates as the tech major keeps pace with demand for more robust protection on devices and services.
The updates, released at the California-based company's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, are designed to further safeguard users by incorporating “powerful” new protections on their devices.
These will be included in the latest versions of Apple’s operating systems, expected to be rolled out in September alongside the launch of the next iPhone. The National tried a number of these features on the latest public beta version of iOS 17.
Securely surfing Safari
To prevent unwanted access by other users sharing a device, private browsing windows on Safari, Apple’s web browser, will lock by default.
This allows a user to keep tabs open and come back to them by unlocking with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode.
Apple will also introduce a feature that will stop tracking in Safari: private browsing will completely block known trackers from loading on pages visited.
Another feature, called link tracking protection, will remove “trackers”, or the gibberish set of characters appended to the URLs of sites visited.
Picture-perfect permissions
Apple has created a new permission protocol that prevents apps from accessing certain data from a device.
For example, because giving apps permission to access the photo library means potentially giving up lots of sensitive information, Apple will allow access only to specific photos that users choose by letting apps embed a photo picker.
On screen sharing, or sharing content across multiple displays of Apple devices, a new system interface has been built for Macs that gives better transparency and control over when a screen is shared and what parts of it are shared.
This will allow for even easier screen-sharing, while leaving out content that users do not wish to show.
Apple will also be rolling out new tools for developers, which are intended to give them more information on the data practices of their partners so they can provide more accurate privacy nutrition labels, which are the information Apple provides on how apps handle user data.
Sensitive content warnings
In 2021, on iOS 15.2, Apple introduced Communications Safety, which detected highly sensitive or inappropriate images and videos – nudity, in particular – being sent from or received in iMessages, in order to prevent children from viewing them.
In iOS 17, Apple has boosted this in the form of a Sensitive Content Warning, which basically extends the feature to AirDrop, FaceTime and contact posters on the phone app.
Sensitive images are scanned and detected within the device, meaning that no indication of the detection of these leaves the device and Apple does not get access to the messages.
Communications Safety and the upcoming Sensitive Content Warning are both opt-in features that can be toggled within settings. The former has only been available in select countries, but it will now be available globally. Also, later this year, it will be activated by default for users under 13 years old.
It is unclear whether this feature will be extended to third-party apps, as it is only currently available for Apple’s native apps. But the company is working with certain developers by sharing with them the underlying technology it uses for on-device detection.
Watch on automatic lockdown
Lockdown Mode, which Apple introduced last year to help protect users from state-sponsored cyber attacks, has been extended to provide even more high-level protections.
On iOS 17, it will now be able to block automatic connections to 2G cellular networks and automatic joining of Wi-Fi networks that are potentially insecure, as well as unsafe media sharing and PDF viewing, among others.
Additionally, turning on Lockdown Mode on an iPhone automatically activates it on a paired Apple Watch, with notifications also sent to any Macs and iPads of the specific user to ensure end-to-end protection.
Sharing is caring (for privacy)
AirDrop, Apple’s proprietary wireless sharing service, will feature Name Drop, which allows one-to-one sharing of contact details by holding iPhones near each other, ensuring that information is shared only with the intended recipient. Photos and website links may also be shared using this method.
Live Voicemail, meanwhile, will let users see a live transcription from a caller who starts to leave a message, without answering the call. At any time this is happening, the user can opt to pick up the call.
The logic behind this is that Live Voicemail helps stop scam and spam calls using on-device processing, according to Apple: calls identified as such won’t appear as Live Voicemail, and will be declined.
An additional feature, Silence Unknown Callers, will redirect calls from unknown numbers to Live Voicemail without ringing.
Vision Pro
Vision Pro, Apple’s first dive into the mixed reality headset race, promises to protect user privacy, according to Apple, sharing the same security features the company uses such as privacy permissions, data protection camera, microphone indicators and privacy nutrition labels.
The device has Optic ID, which Apple says is a new secure authentication system that allows a user to instantly unlock the device and authorise purchases.
Apple guarantees data is encrypted, meaning it never leaves the device and is accessible only to the secure enclave processor.
Its eye tracking is designed to protect where a user looks while using apps before interacting with any content. Data using this isn't shared with Apple or third-party apps or websites, as it is processed at the system level.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fixtures
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWednesday%2C%20April%203%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EArsenal%20v%20Luton%20Town%2C%2010.30pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EManchester%20City%20v%20Aston%20Villa%2C%2011.15pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EThursday%2C%20April%204%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ELiverpool%20v%20Sheffield%20United%2C%2010.30pm%20(UAE)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
BIG SPENDERS
Premier League clubs spent £230 million (Dh1.15 billion) on January transfers, the second-highest total for the mid-season window, the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said in a report.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Result
Arsenal 4
Monreal (51'), Ramsey (82'), Lacazette 85', 89')
West Ham United 1
Arnautovic (64')
PRISCILLA
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Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20TV%204K%20(THIRD%20GENERATION)
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Company%20profile%20
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Disturbing%20facts%20and%20figures
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Naga
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Federer's 11 Wimbledon finals
2003 Beat Mark Philippoussis
2004 Beat Andy Roddick
2005 Beat Andy Roddick
2006 Beat Rafael Nadal
2007 Beat Rafael Nadal
2008 Lost to Rafael Nadal
2009 Beat Andy Roddick
2012 Beat Andy Murray
2014 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2015 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2017 Beat Marin Cilic
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
Chris%20Jordan%20on%20Sanchit
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UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
