More than half of organizations have at least one device running on an out-of-date operating system, according to mobile device management firm Jamf.

For its latest Security 360 Report, Jamf anonymously examined a sample group consisting of over 150,000 Mac devices, discovering a concerning trend of poor security hygiene.

Over the last year, researchers found 53% of organizations discovered they had devices with critically out-of-date operating systems.

Meanwhile, 95% of applications that the team assessed contained at least one medium-severity vulnerability, with 62% requesting dangerous permissions and 21% containing privacy-impacting behaviours.

A quarter of organizations said they'd had a user fall victim to a phishing link, while 18% reported that users had connected to risky unsecured public networks.

Jamf warned that advanced threat groups are stacking vulnerabilities to create sophisticated exploits and targeting at-risk users.

Through zero-click and browser attacks, Apple and Android devices remain an active threat vector. An attack on WhatsApp users through an image-parsing vulnerability (CVE-2025-43300) and the weaponization of vulnerabilities through JavaScript have allowed spyware groups to proliferate through one-click attacks.

“Our goal with this research is to spread awareness among security leaders regarding the risks impacting their organizations so that they can ensure threat detection, compliance enforcement and response capabilities are aligned with their Mac and mobile devices,” said Michael Covington, vice president of portfolio strategy at Jamf.

“Avoidance of a holistic, proactive approach to Mac and mobile security places any organization at unnecessary risk."

macOS threats are diversifying

In terms of macOS environments, the threat landscape is more diverse than ever before.

Despite Apple's use of security measures such as Gatekeeper, System Integrity Protection (SIP), and Transparency, Consent, and Control (TCC), 44% of devices experienced malicious network traffic and 26% of organizations were hit by cryptojacking attacks.

Last year, trojans were the top adversarial attack strategy, representing about half of all attacks – a big change from 2024 when infostealers and adware topped the list.

All told, Jamf said trojans, infostealers, adware, and potentially unwanted applications accounted for 90% of all attacks on Mac devices. PuAgent was the most common family of malware, at 16.41%.

More than half (58%) of organizations are running Macs with a critically out-of-date OS, while 73% of evaluated Mac devices contained at least one vulnerable application.

"Organizations across all sorts of industries choose Mac to keep their employees productive, secure and happy," said Jamf technical writer Hannah Bien.

"The popularity of Mac hasn’t gone unnoticed; attackers are creating targeted attacks specifically for Mac. These attacks change constantly. Infostealers are evolving, establishing persistence and taking more data than ever before. Advanced threat groups remain a significant danger."

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OpenAI wants more people to code with Codex, so it’s rolling out an app for macOS and making the AI coding tool available to free users for a limited time.

The Codex app for macOS lets coders run multiple AI agents at once and work with agents over long-running tasks, the company explained in a blog post.

OpenAI first unveiled Codex in April 2025, updating it with new features in September and unveiling a fresh model just weeks ago.

The release comes amid competition from rival AI developers, in particular GitHub Copilot, Anthropic Claude Code, and Google's recently released free coding agent Jules.

"The Codex app changes how software gets built and who can build it — from pairing with a single coding agent on targeted edits to supervising coordinated teams of agents across the full lifecycle of designing, building, shipping, and maintaining software," the company noted.

OpenAI said its models were now able to manage complex, long-running tasks, meaning developers are now searching for ways to organise those AI efforts.

"The core challenge has shifted from what agents can do to how people can direct, supervise, and collaborate with them at scale — existing IDEs and terminal-based tools are not built to support this way of working," OpenAI added.

What users can expect with Codex

Codex is designed to act as a “command center for agents”, according to OpenAI, helping streamline multi-tasking across different projects and allowing users to review agents’ work.

"It also includes built-in support for worktrees, so multiple agents can work on the same repo without conflicts," OpenAI explained.

"Each agent works on an isolated copy of your code, allowing you to explore different paths without needing to track how they impact your codebase. As an agent works, you can check out changes locally or let it continue making progress without touching your local git state."

The company stressed that the system was built with security in mind, with agents only allowed to edit files in the designated folder or branch, and asking for permission to run commands that require elevated permissions.

OpenAI said Codex will generally be available via higher-end, paid-for subscriptions, including ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu.

However, for a limited time it will also offer Codex via ChatGPT Free and Go in order to "show more people what's now possible".

OpenAI added that it would double rate limits on paid-for plans for a limited time too.

Beyond coding

The Codex app can do more than manage code generation, according to OpenAI. Using its previously announced "skills" the tool can gather information, solve problems, write and more, all controlled via the new app.

OpenAI said it had developed hundreds of skills to help development teams, ranging from triaging bugs to deploying to the cloud and creating documents.

"You can explicitly ask Codex to use specific skills, or let it automatically use them based on the task at hand," OpenAI noted.

For example, OpenAI said it used Codex to develop a racing game. Beyond code development and testing – which it did by playing the game – they also used an image generation skill and a web game development skill.

The game was created using one single – but complex and detailed – prompt, with a selection of follow-up prompts to finish the work.

These skills can be automated and scheduled, in particular to run repetitive tasks such as triaging daily issues, checking for bugs and more.

Pick a personality

After the release of GPT-5, OpenAI had to walk back changes to the "personality" of its chatbot – and it clearly heard that feedback.

For Codex, developers will be able to choose a "personality" they prefer to work with on a daily basis.

However, there's only two to start: a blunt, terse and pragmatic style, or a "more conversational, empathetic one".

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The Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4 has a lot more riding on it this year. With the looming end to Windows 10 support fast approaching, a mass hardware refresh is expected. The system requirements for Windows 11 call for more powerful laptops. Here, Apple senses an opportunity; a chance to capture more users, particularly those at smaller and newer businesses.

You can get the latest MacBook for $1,599 (£1,599) with the basic configuration (16GB RAM and 512GB storage). Or you can pay $133.25 per month for 12 months – business customers will likely enjoy a discount for bulk purchases.

Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4: Design

There is a level of tidiness to Apple's hardware that few vendors can match. It's what makes its iMac screens popular for front-of-house use, or its Mac Mini machines adorable and minimalist. And its MacBook designs have influenced other vendors for almost two decades.

As such, nothing much has changed on the design compared to the M3 MacBook, though everything is neat and elegant with a smooth satin finish. The latest MacBook Pro is made from 100% recycled aluminum, with 90% recycled steel in the keyboard feature plate and 35% (or more) recycled plastic in 15 components, according to Apple. It comes in the traditional silver or (like our review unit) the more understated 'Space Black'. It looks and feels like a serious business machine, while still holding great appeal for consumers.

At 1.6kg the Pro is fairly heavy; it's a sizable hunk of laptop, and robust enough to give to employees without concern. There's a sturdy feel to the chassis and next to no flex in the lid. All in all, a solid machine that can handle the rough and tumble of remote working.

Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4: Display

As ever, Apple's Liquid Retina XDR display is on the MacBook Pro, and it's superb. Our review unit is the 14.2in model, with a 3024 x 1964 resolution and a 'ProMotion' 120Hz refresh rate that's buttery smooth. You can get a 16in model for $1,000 more, but the 14in is a good size for most office workers.

We measured the Pro's ability to reproduce colors in the sRGB color space, using the laptop's default color mode, and were left largely impressed. It hit 96% for color coverage and 98.9% for volume, with 70.1% for DCI P3. All very good scores (anything over 94% is excellent), matching the M3 MacBook Pro.

The panel can get extremely bright, too. Apple suggests it can sustain a brightness level of 1,000 cd.m2 with regular SDR content, though we only measured its peak brightness as 636.83 cd/m2 in the default setting.

Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4: Keyboard and trackpad

Typing on the MacBook Pro M4 is a dream with an excellent keyboard. Travel is a little on the shallow side, but the individual key action is great with nice positive click feedback and very little bounce or flex in the base. Once you get up to a decent typing speed, you'll notice a lovely sound – almost comforting – that the keys emit. Like a muffled drum. Pure bliss.

Its trackpad, too, is rather pleasurable. It's big, which is always useful, and highly responsive, also useful. We particularly like the single finger taps and the multi-touch gestures. However, the most lovely thing about it is the refined force feedback engine, which works so effortlessly, letting you click or double click with an easy prod in the tip left corner.

Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4: Specs and performance

When you look at what changes year on year with the MacBook Pro (and Air, or iPhone, or iPad, and so on), the Apple chip often shows the biggest improvement. And the M4 processor is another industry-leading laptop chip; it comes with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and a 16-core neural engine. There is also the normal 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD (other configurations are available).

It feels powerful; there is no amount of tabs or applications we could run that would truly test its limits. However, in Geekbench 6, the M4 Pro scored 3,899 for single-core workloads and 15,234 for multi-core. Strangely, that is a significant increase for single cores and a minor drop for multi-threaded versus the M3 MacBook Pro (3,184 and 15,704, respectively). But, still, vastly more than anything else on the market.

For our looped video test, we set the display brightness to 170 cd/m2, turn the machine on airplane mode, and run a 20hr looped video until the battery runs out. Astonishingly, the MacBook Pro M4 outlasted the 20-hour video with 4% left on its battery – there is no other laptop, tested by ITPro this year, last year, or seemingly ever, that has that level of staying power.

And, as with all PCs now, we must talk about AI for productivity. On the Pro, we have Apple Intelligence, which can do most of the stuff your Copilot+ PCs can, but with a few Apple additions and tweaks. You can use it to customize your desktop, add apps you the top right of the screen. Summarize and transcribe emails. And also, if you have an iPhone to match, you can scan documents onto the MacBook Pro, which can then be automatically read and edited with the text translator. Nothing groundbreaking, but we did find it very useful.

Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4: Is it worth it?

Whatever configuration you get, no matter the price, the MacBook Pro 14in M4 is worth it. As a consumer device, it is amazing. As a work laptop, it is phenomenal – a surefire way to please your employees. If you have a BYOD strategy and those devices are iPhones, then it is even more appealing. Those with M3 models might have reason to stay put, but anyone with an M1 (or older) will be getting a vastly more powerful machine and a battery life you'll scarcely believe.

Apple MacBook Pro 14in M4 specifications

Apple has unveiled the new Mac Mini sporting an overhauled and even smaller chassis with souped-up internals, promising the latest version of its compact desktop is “small but fierce”.

The new model features Apple’s much-lauded M4 and M4 Pro chips, which is significant considering the Mac Mini did not get an M3 version, so the performance boost should be dramatic.

Apple said users can expect the new Mac Mini to deliver 1.8x faster CPU performance and 2.2x faster GPU performance over the M1 model.

All versions of the new Mac Mini will now ship with 16GB of RAM, with 8GB now deemed insufficient for modern workloads.

Apple also noted the M4 and M4 Pro chips will support hardware-accelerated ray tracing for the first time, which will be a boon for creatives.

Apart from the silicon, the biggest change is the size of the new Mac Mini, coming in at just five-by-five inches - a footprint that is less than half the size of Apple’s previous design.

Apple said it has implemented a new air flow system and “innovative thermal architecture” in the design to accommodate thermal throttling concerns with the limited space.

Apple’s new Mac Mini goes carbon neutral

The new Mac Mini marks an important milestone for Apple, being the first carbon neutral Mac with an over 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with materials, manufacturing, transportation, and customer use.

The latest Mac Minis will offer a slightly altered port lineup too. The front has a 3.5mm headphone jack and two USB-C inputs, with a gigabit ethernet, HDMI, and three Thunderbolt 4 ports round the back.

Users that spring for the more expensive M4 Pro model, will enjoy higher data transfer speeds with the Thunderbolt ports on the rear upgraded to Thunderbolt 5.

The M4 Mac Mini will start at £599 for 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD and £799 to double the storage capacity to 512GB.

The M4 Pro version, with a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU, will start at £1,399 and will come with 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.

Apple is capitalizing on the burgeoning mini PC market

It’s been well over a decade since Apple last gave the Mac Mini a design overhaul, and it appears to be doubling down on the ‘mini’ part of its name. The timing of the announcement and the size of the machine could be seen as strategically shrewd by Apple.

The refresh also includes an M4 chip, bringing the Mini in line with both Apple’s MacBooks and iPad ranges. And, also positioning its product near the top of the mini PC market, which is seeing significant growth through gaming, small business adoption, digital signage, and remote work.

The market for mini PCs was valued at $21.1 billion in 2022 and market reports suggest its continued growth could reach $33 billion by 2032.

The return of LightSpy malware has prompted warnings from security experts over the potential risk to businesses running macOS devices. 

LightSpy malware first rose to prominence in 2020, but this variant only targeted iOS devices, whereas new research claims this new version was built to compromise Apple’s desktop machines.

The updated version of LightSpy was initially discovered by Blackberry, but the security and IoT company claimed the malware still targeted mobile devices, whereas a later report by SMB security specialist Huntress claimed this was incorrect and the new version in fact affects Apple’s desktop operating system.

Huntress’ report, issued on 25 April 2024, challenged Blackberry’s assertion, arguing the sample referred to by Blackberry only targets the macOS platform. 

By way of evidence, Huntress pointed to the fact that the sample’s binaries were all compiled for the x86_64 architecture, which precludes the ARM architecture used in iPhones.

Huntress also contested Blackberry’s claims the new threat campaign is predominantly targeting individuals in Southern Asia, arguing this claim is based solely on the fact that the malware sample was uploaded in India.

To remove any doubt, Stuart Ashenbrenner and Alden Schmidt of Huntress tested this by running the ‘file’ command against the macOS and iOS samples.

Ashenbrenner and Schmidt found that although the structure of the implant is the same in both variants, the macOS version appears to be more refined than the iOS version. 

Both versions used a dropper to load a series of dynamically loaded modules (dylibs), similar to DLLs on Windows, which are responsible for most of the malware’s malicious capabilities.

But the report noted the new version of LightSpy boasts significantly improved operational security (opsec), more mature development practices, and generally better organization.

For example, the iOS version stored its C2 information in plaintext, whereas its MacOS counterpart uses a plugin manifest which should help prevent static detections.

What businesses need to know about LightSpy malware

In its weekly threat intelligence report, security firm Check Point said the spyware’s resurgence indicates “an escalation in cyber threats against macOS users”, noting the sophisticated techniques it is employing such as payload encryption and dynamic module loading.

Huntress said Apple is clearly aware of this elevated threat level and has introduced a number of new features to try and shore up the platform, including a Lockdown Mode that will reduce functionality to limit the target’s attack surface.

Apple also recently brought in additional restrictions for its transparency consent and control (TCC) framework, which manages access to sensitive data stored on macOS devices.

Huntress included some detection opportunities for businesses looking to safeguard their devices, providing a full list of the indicators of compromise (IOC) for all of the key elements of the updated variant.

Ashenbrenner and Schmidt also created a number of rules for the YARA and Sigma detection tools to help businesses freely detect core parts of the macOS LightSpy’s variant including the implant, loader, and dylibs. 

This includes a private rule to assist in paring down detections to Macho binaries, and businesses should remember that without this private rule in place the other rules will not run.

MacOS users are being targeted by a new malware variant disguised as a signed productivity application called ‘OfficeNote’. 

The malware is a new version of XLoader, an infostealer, and botnet that has been lurking on various platforms for years. It was spotted on macOS in 2021 in Java form. 

Apple has since stopped shipping the Java Runtime Environment by default, thus limiting the attack surface. However, XLoader has responded and returned as a native application that looks very much like an office productivity app. 

A user could easily be duped into downloading ‘OfficeNote’ thanks to its branding, which bears a distinct resemblance to Microsoft’s Office productivity suite. Researchers at SentinelOne also noted that the application, bundled inside a standard Apple disk image, had been signed on July 17, 2023 - although Apple has since revoked the signature. 

Attempting to execute ‘OfficeNote’ generates an error. However, in the background, the malware drops its payload and installs a persistence agent. Once up and running, the payload attempts to steal clipboard data, as well as browser information if the victims are using Firefox or Chrome – researchers say the malware seems to be ignoring Safari. 

Researchers also noted that the malware appears to have been widely distributed, with multiple submissions appearing on VirusTotal throughout July 2023. The Mac version is also being offered on crimeware forums for rental at $199 per month - or $299 for three months - a substantial premium over Windows variants of XLoader, which start at $59 per month. 

Despite the revocation of the signature, SentinelOne’s researchers stated that “Apple’s malware blocking tool, XProtect, does not have a signature to prevent execution of this malware at the time of writing”. 

While XLoader has long been a threat, this new variant, and its productivity disguise, is a clear indicator that threat actors are targeting macOS business users in particular. 

Researchers said: “This latest iteration masquerading as an office productivity application shows that the targets of interest are clearly users in a working environment”. 

Apple hardware has continued to be targeted during 2023, with versions of the LockBit encryptor targeting machines using Apple Silicon turning up in April and new spyware threats identified in July. Recent research from Proofpoint also showed the speed with which threat actors could port Windows malware to macOS in an effort to thwart security controls.

A recent report from Malwarebytes also noted that, although still rare, Mac malware was on the rise. In July, Michael Covington, VP of portfolio strategy at Jamf, told ITPro that “attacks against Apple devices were changing, both in terms of intensity and purpose”.

Communications company Zoom has released a patch to address a flaw that allowed threat actors to control a victim’s operating system on macOS.

The Zoom client has limited permissions as far as access to critical system files is concerned. However, once installed the Zoom auto-update function would run in the background continuously, with superuser privileges.

In normal circumstances, this would simply check for updates from Zoom to install. Upon receiving one, the Zoom updater would run a process to verify that the update bore a cryptographic signature from the company, and was, therefore, a legitimate file to run.

Objective-See founder Patrick Wardle discovered that any file, renamed with Zoom’s cryptographic certificate, would be accepted by the updater as a legitimate Zoom file. As a result, threat actors could use the Zoom updater to run any file as a superuser.

As a result of the flaw, Zoom for macOS had unwittingly become a launchpad for privilege escalation attacks, in which a threat actor with limited access to a victim’s machine uses an exploit to gain elevated privileges that give them greater control. In the case of the Zoom flaw, threat actors could use the updater to delete or amend key system files, with the superuser privilege granting almost unlimited access to the machines of victims.

An update, released on August 13 by Zoom, has now appeared to have fixed the problem. On its security bulletin, the company identified the issue being fixed as “a vulnerability in the auto-update process".

“We released an update to address the newly reported vulnerability for the macOS auto updater in the Zoom Client for Meetings for macOS version 5.11.5 and are evaluating additional security enhancements,” said a Zoom spokesperson, in a statement to IT Pro.

This is not the first flaw found with Zoom's macOS app, with an update released earlier this year addressing an issue in which the microphones of users continued to be accessed by the Zoom client even after a meeting had ended.

Wardle exposed the flaw publicly during his talk ‘"You're M̶u̶t̶e̶d̶ Rooted’ at the Def Con hacking conference on August 12, stating that he had made the company aware of it through the proper channels as far back as December 2021.

In the months that followed, the company was reportedly slow to act. On August 9, a patch designated CVE-2022-28751 was released, but Wardle found that the exploit was still achievable after the patch through an unspecified extra step.

Since the update, Wardle has voiced his approval on Twitter, stating “Mahalos to @Zoom for the (incredibly) quick fix!”. He also detailed the key change that the update brings, namely that the Zoom installer now invokes a function called lchown to modify the update file’s permissions, rather than the updater running at constant superuser privilege.

This article was updated to include a statement from Zoom.

MacOS users have been warned that a new spyware has been discovered using a previously undocumented backdoor to steal sensitive data from compromised Macs.

Lifting sensitive data such as keystrokes, screen captures, and email attachments, the spyware uses public cloud storage such as Yandex Disk, pCloud, and Dropbox as its command and control (C2) channel. Although such use of cloud storage has been observed in Windows malware, researchers noted that this is an unusual tactic in the Mac ecosystem.

The malware, coded in Objective-C, was discovered by ESET researchers who named it 'CloudMensis' in a blog post. The method by which the malware first compromises the Macs of its victims is still unknown.

Lack of clarity around this delivery mechanism, as well as the identity and goals of the threat actors, has prompted researchers to warn all MacOS users to be cautious and keep systems up-to-date. However, as it has currently been seen to affect only a limited number of systems, CloudMensis has not currently been labelled high risk.

Once present on a victim’s Mac, the first stage of CloudMensis downloads a second stage from public cloud storage, and both are written to disk. Once installed, CloudMensis receives commands from its operators through this cloud storage, and sends encrypted copies of files through it.

A total of 39 commands can be activated allowing the malware to, among other things, change its configuration values, run shell commands, and list files from removable storage.

To bypass macOS’ privacy protection system Transparency, Consent and Control (TCC), CloudMensis adds entries to grant itself permissions. If the victim is running a version of macOS predating Catalina 10.15.6, CloudMensis will exploit a known vulnerability (CVE-2020-9943) to load a TCC database that it can write to.

Metadata uncovered by ESET indicated that the threat actors behind the spyware are individually deploying CloudMensis to targets of interest, rather than spreading it as far as they can.

No clues to the intended targets have been found in the metadata, and the use of cloud storage as its C2 makes the threat actors behind it difficult to identify. ESET accessed metadata from the cloud storage services in use that indicates that the unknown threat actors began to send commands on February 4, 2022.

“We still do not know how CloudMensis is initially distributed and who the targets are,” said ESET researcher Marc-Etienne Léveillé, a member of the team that is looking into CloudMensis.

“The general quality of the code and lack of obfuscation shows the authors may not be very familiar with Mac development and are not so advanced. Nonetheless, a lot of resources were put into making CloudMensis a powerful spying tool and a menace to potential targets.”

No zero-day vulnerabilities have been identified as in use by the group, so Macs that are regularly updated are potentially at lower risk.

MacOS malware is typically rarer than Windows malware, for a multitude of reasons including the fact that the larger market share of Windows PCs gives cybercriminals a better target.

Apple has acknowledged the threat of spyware such as Pegasus, and is set to introduce a new ‘Lockdown Mode’ on iOS, iPad OS and macOS in the autumn.

Any number of reasons could arise for you to take a screenshot on your MacBook or iMac. Perhaps you want to save evidence of a business expense, or capture images of an IT issue that you can attach by email. Luckily, there are several ways to take a screenshot in MacOS, with a range of options to cater to your individual needs.

Different types of macOS screenshot

To see all your screenshotting options, use the shortcut Shift + Command + 5. This opens up the screenshot menu (pictured below) from which you can select a range of choices.

These include a button to capture the entire screen, capture a manually-selected window, or capture a selected portion of a window by clicking and dragging. Also included in the menu are options to take a screen recording of the entire screen, or of a selected portion of the screen.

Any screenshots or screen recordings will by default be saved directly to the desktop, but you can change this to any folder of your choice by selecting 'options' from the menu and selecting your folder of choice under the 'Save to' heading.

Screenshot shortcuts in MacOS

If you want to take screenshots without first opening the screenshot menu each time, all the actions within the menu have a dedicated keyboard shortcut.

To capture the entire screen, press Shift + Command + 3. This will take a screenshot of the entire screen or, if you have multiple monitors connected, separate screenshots of every screen at the same time.

If you just want to quickly take a screenshot of part of the screen, say a portion of a webpage, you can use the shortcut Shift + Command + 4.

To access the menu, as covered above, press Shift + Command + 5.

If you need to take a screenshot of the touch bar on your MacBook, perhaps to show off your shortcut layouts, use the shortcut Shift + Command + 6.

To take a screenshot of a particular portion of the screen, press Shift + Command + 3 and the mouse cursor will change into a small target symbol. Once this has happened, click and drag anywhere on your screen and a grey box will appear. Drag further to increase its size and change its shape. Everything inside the box will be converted into a screenshot.

What apps can I use to take a screenshot on my Mac?

If the built-in tools Apple includes within macOS aren't doing it for you, you're in luck - there are a range of third-party apps and utilities that offer additional functionality beyond the default options. Many are completely free, and you can find some of our favourites below.

Shottr

Don't let the fact that it's free fool you: Shottr is worth a mention for its powerful range of features. These include scrolling screenshots, the ability to pixelate portions of your screenshots, and even the ability to work as a screen ruler.

Skitch

Another free app, Skitch is produced by the makers of Evernote and boasts good compatibility with its parent app. It's a good option for anyone already familiar with the functionality of Evernote, which works well in the Mac architecture as a result of its clean design and organisational capabilities. It offers good annotation options, with an easy-to-use UI for editing screenshots to your heart's content.

CleanShotX

Where CleanShotX falls down against the others in price, costing a comparatively large $29, it more than makes up for it in functionality. It currently boasts over 50 tools including scrolling screenshots, recording GIFs, powerful screen annotation, pinning screenshots and even hiding select desktop icons from your screenshots at will. The app is quite the silver bullet for any screenshot and screen annotation task.

LightShot

This free option is similar to Skitch in many ways, running as an extremely lightweight program available through the App Store. One notable quality of life feature that comes as default with LightShot is users being asked to choose a folder to save each screenshot in whenever they're taken, which could either be seen as a hurdle to fast-paced screenshotting or as a powerful antidote to the desktop clutter that the native screenshot settings on macOS generates.

Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) today, covering updates related to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS and macOS.

Craig Federighi, SVP of software engineering at Apple, kicked off the virtual conference with the unveiling of iOS 14. Federighi debuted exciting new features such as App Library, which organizes a user’s apps in one simple, easy to navigate view. Widgets have also undergone a redesign and can now be resized and added to the home screen.

Federighi also introduced new features related to Messages. Per today’s events, iPhone users can now pin conversations in Messages, making them much easier to locate than before. Inline replies in group conversations were also introduced.

Today’s event also included the launch of CarKey, a way to wirelessly unlock and start your car using an iPhone. The first car supported by CarKey will be the 2021 BMW 5 Series, which is scheduled to come out next month.

Apple also unveiled iPad OS 14. Photos and Music are now equipped with a sidebar that lets users move between different sections within the app, while the Apple Calendar has more controls on the top of the screen too. Today’s event also saw the introduction of Universal Search for iPads.

watchOS 7 received updates too, including additions like a rebranding of the Activity app to Fitness. watchOS 7 will also feature sleep tracking that’ll allow users to set a bedtime and wake-up alarm using the existing Apple Watch vibration alarm.

Meanwhile, a new Wind Down mode will work with the iPhone to snooze notifications when users are getting ready to head to bed.

Apple also announced a new alliance with Amazon and Google. As part of this alliance, Apple has open-sourced HomeKit. Other updates to HomeKit include the use of facial recognition based on tags in the Photos app. Facial recognition works with HomePod and can announce who is at the door while displaying live views via Apple TV.

Apple also introduced macOS Big Sur. According to the company, the new operating system is the biggest redesign since it introduced macOS 10 and borrows several elements from Apple’s iOS, including a customizable Control Center.

With the update, officially known as macOS 11, Apple also redesigned Mail, Photos, Notes and iWork and introduced a number of new Catalyst apps.

Perhaps the most exciting part was Apple's official announcements that it will switch to its own processors for future Macs. These new Apple-designed chips, dubbed 'Apple Silicon, promise new levels of performance and reduced power consumption compared to the current Intel processors used in MacBooks and iMacs.

The chips will be equipped with features unique to Mac but will share a common architecture across product lines. This means iPhone and iPads apps will run natively on macOS for the first time.

Apple's annual developer conference, WWDC, has been and gone. Alongside a new version of iOS and other assorted goodies, the company wowed attendees with the latest iteration of its desktop operating system, macOS High Sierra.

But what can we expect from the new software? We've run down the new features, as well as the release date and other info.

Latest news

12/04/2018: 32-bit iOS apps will stop working, says Apple

Apple is warning users that their 32-bit applications will stop working soon

As of midnight, last night, users of MacOS 10.13.4 will see an alert whenever they launch 32-bit software for the first time when running the current MacOS version.

The alert tells users that their 32-bit software will soon stop working. When a 32-bit app is started users will see this message: "This app needs to be updated by its developer to improve compatibility." There will also be a "learn more" link that takes them to an Apple support page with more information.

According to a support document by Apple, it began the transition to 64-bit hardware and software technology for Mac over a decade ago, and is working with developers to transition their apps to 64-bit. It added that at its last WWDC in 2017, developers were warned that macOS High Sierra "would be the last version of macOS to run 32-bit apps without compromise".

"Starting with macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, apps that have not been updated to use 64-bit processes produce a one-time alert when opened. This gives users advance notice that they are running 32-bit software, which will not be compatible with macOS in the future," said the support document.

While users can still use 32-bit software today with "no adverse effects", there may be problems in the future. It added that "final transition dates have not yet been established", but now would be a good time to see if there are64-bit versions of applications for users.

Apple said that users can check for 64-bit compatibility through the system report feature.

"From the Apple menu, choose About This Mac, then click the System Report button. From the system report, scroll down to Software, then select Applications. When you select an individual application, you will see a field titled "64-bit (Intel)". "Yes" indicates 64-bit; "No" indicates 32-bit," said the document.

Apple has already completed its 64-bit transition in iOS, with similar messages displayed to iPhone and iPad users before iOS 11 was launched.

04/01/2018: Despite the recent news that a serious design flaw reportedly present in all Intel's CPUs made in the last 10 years could leave devices running such chips vulnerable to hackers, Apple has reportedly already ironed out the issue in the latest release of macOS. According to software developer Alex Ionescu, Apple introduced a fix for the CPU flaw in the release of macOS 10.13., and there are additional tweaks set to be introduced in macOS 10.13.3, which he said is currently in beta testing.

Additionally, AppleInsider has claimed that "multiple sources within Apple" said updates made in macOS 10.13.2 have mitigated most security concerns associated with the CPU vulnerability, giving good reason to believe any potential bugs, namely Spectre and Meltdown, are not a threat to Mac operating systems.

Nevertheless, the chip design flaw shouldn't be taken lightly. The vulnerability allegedly affects all systems running Intel x86 chips and is present across all popular operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, but is currently under embargo, meaning the full details of the bug are yet to be officially announced.

If left unpatched, the bug allows normal user programs, such as database applications and JavaScript in web browsers, to distinguish some of the layout or contents of protected kernel memory areas of the chips. This could present a particular problem for owners of older hardware that doesn't support macOS High Sierra.

The major problem for users who can install the patch, however, is it will cause declines in performance for the affected machines by as much as 30%.

07/12/2017: Apple has released a new update to its High Sierra operating system that offers a permanent fix to the widely reported root password bug and several other improvements to security and enterprise features.

MacOS 10.13.2 should put an end to the problems that have plagued Apple over the past few weeks. The discovery of a critical password exploit in November led to a botched update that not only failed to provide a permanent fix to the issue but also broke file-sharing for many users.

Alongside a fix to the password bug, where users who typed 'root' into a user login prompt without a password gained access to the device, the update also adds a number of improvements to the mail app, including the removal of a number of S/MIME encryption bugs, and some fixes to the Intel graphics driver, which was causing unexpected crashes for some users.

There are also a handful of improvements to enterprise features, including bug fixes to the Mac App Store when using proxy connections, and improved compatibility with SMB home directories.

Performance has also been improved when using credentials stored in the Mac keychain, there's now better compatibility with third-party USB audio devices, and VoiceOver navigation has been improved when viewing PDF documents.

As with any update, it's worth backing up your data before you install it. Version 10.13.2 is available through the "Updates" section of the App Store app.

04/12/2017: Apple's password bug returns on High Sierra update

Apple's patch to address a serious password bug on macOS High Sierra may not have fixed the original problem, with the flaw reappearing for some users.

The tech giant intended to plug a hole in High Sierra version 10.13 that would allow anyone with physical access, or remote access through a software client, to bypass security screens and grant themselves admin privileges, simply by typinig in "root" as their username and leaving the password field blank.

Apple issued the patch almost immediately last week, but once updated, users began to notice they could no longer authorise their connections to their file-sharing client, which is used by both personal and business users.

Unfortunately, it now appears that the order in which users apply the patches may cause the original password exploit to return, according to Wired. Users who had not yet upgraded their systems to the latest High Sierra 10.13.1 build, but had downloaded and applied Apple's security patch, told Wired that the "root" bug resurfaces when they install the newest OS system.

Even if some users reinstall the security patch after upgrading, there are many other users who will be unaware of the issue and are left open to the vulnerability, Thomas Reed, a researcher at Malwarebytes, told the publication.

"I installed the update again from the App Store, and verified that I could still trigger the bug. That is bad, bad bad," said Reed. "Anyone who hasn't yet updated to 10.13.1, they're now in the pipeline headed straight for this issue."

It's not exactly clear how many users have been affected by this particular bug, as there's no data on how many people installed the patch prior to upgrading to the latest version of High Sierra.

Aside from being forced to apologise to users over the password bug, Apple has also faced criticism after malicious code was discovered hiding on the High Sierra OS shortly after its launch, thought to be capable of stealing the contents of a user's keychain without a password.

30/11/2017: Apple's hasty High Sierra password patch breaks file sharing

In a frantic effort to fix a newly discovered password bug in MacOS High Sierra, Apple managed to break another feature that allowed users to share files across a network.

An update was hurried out yesterday to address a major security flaw affecting its root password that allowed anyone to gain admin-level access without having to input a code. This meant that not only could someone look at your files if they had your machine, but potentially anyone with remote access could do the same.

However, once the patch was installed, users began reporting that they were unable to access file sharing or authenticate their machines, affecting both business and personal users.

Apple has acknowledged the problem and is presumably working on a patch to fix the bug it created with the first. Let's hope there's not a third.

In the meantime, Apple has put together a guide on how users can get around the problem, however, it requires the use of command line prompts.

1. Open the Terminal app, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.2. Type sudo /usr/libexec/configureLocalKDC and press Return.3. Enter your administrator password and press Return.4. Quit the Terminal app.

29/11/2017: Apple users, beware: a developer has spotted a serious flaw in MacOS High Sierra.

Anyone can unlock admin-level access without a password, simply by typing "root" in the username, and tapping "enter" multiple times, leaving the password field empty. The flaw applies to the most recent version of MacOS, High Sierra 10.13.1.

That means anyone can access your computer if they have access to the machine, and, in theory, it could also be exploited by anyone with remote access to your machine.

Apple said: "We are working on a software update to address this issue." In the meantime, the company suggested setting a root password to prevent unauthorised access, with instructions on how to do so here.

The flaw was first spotted by developer Lemi Orhan Ergin, who reported it over Twitter.

There, he's been criticised for not following so-called responsible disclosure rules by alerting Apple first, but defended by others, who pointed out that he was only warning users of Apple's flaw. Plus, to use Apple's Bug Reporter system, you need to be a developer with an Apple ID.

06/10/2017: Just weeks after its release, a developer discovered a major vulnerability in Apple's latest OS.

Matheus Mariano, a Brazilian software developer, discovered a serious vulnerability in macOS High Sierra, specifically with its new file system, Apple File System (APFS), which was designed to have better encryption and efficiency.

The bug plainly reveals the passwords of encrypted APFS volumes when you click "show password hint" while in Disk Utility. On his blog explaining how he found the bug, Mariano wrote: "I really don't know how this went unnoticed by Apple (and anyone else)."

According to Felix Schwar as reported by The Inquirer, the bug is expected to only affect Macs with SSD storage. Those who did not create a password hint or do not use Disk Utility should not be affected either.

Apple quickly released a new update to rectify the issue as well, so those already with the macOS High Sierra 10.13 will be protected from the bug. Along with the new update, Apple released a support document which outlines how to protect data if the password rather than the password hint is being shown on an encrypted APFS volume.

Apple's support document also that states the new update fixes another vulnerability that could allow hackers to access usernames and passwords within Keychain as well as makes other improvements.

26/09/2017: A US security researcher reportedly discovered a zero-day vulnerability in Apple's new macOS High Sierra operating system mere hours before it was scheduled to release.

The vulnerability, which was unearthed by Patrick Wardle, chief security researcher at Synack, was shown to affect a Mac's Keychain, allowing a user to extract passwords without a master login.

The former NSA hacker posted a video on Monday demonstrating the flaw working on High Sierra, but it is thought that older versions of both macOS and OS X are also affected.

Using a custom made "keychainStealer" application, Wardle was able to demonstrate an exploit that allows hackers to peer into a Keychain of saved passwords, exposing everything from social media accounts to saved credit card numbers.

Wardle claims that the exploit could be embedded into legitimate-looking apps to pull passwords from unsuspecting users. Speaking to ZDNet, he said: "If I was an attacker or designing a macOS implant, this would be the 'dump keychain' plugin."

"Apple marketing has done a great job convincing people that macOS is secure," added Wardle, "and I think that this is rather irresponsible and leads to issues where Mac users are overconfident and thus more vulnerable."

Wardle reported the bug to Apple earlier this month, but it appears a fix has yet to make its way into a High Sierra patch.

"MacOS is designed to be secure by default, and Gatekeeper warns users against installing unsigned apps, like the one shown in this proof of concept, and prevents them from launching the app without explicit approval," said Apple in a statement to CNET.

"We encourage users to download software only from trusted sources like the Mac App Store, and to pay careful attention to security dialogs that macOS presents."

Despite Apple's advice, Wardle claims that signed apps can also be used to exploit the bug, meaning the code could be hidden inside legitimate apps downloaded from the store.

Unfortunately for Wardle, Apple's bug bounty programme, which can award up to $200,000, doesn't cover macOS exploits.

25/09/2017: The new macOS High Sierra is set to be released today, following Apple's preview of its operating system update at WWDC in June.

Mac users can enjoy a host of new behind-the-scenes tweaks and upgrades including a new Apple File System, which is available to every Mac with all-flash internal storage. It has an advanced architecture, is more responsive and Apple claims it is more safe and secure.

Through High Sierra, developers can now also create virtual reality experiences on the Mac for the first time, as long as they have the new iMac with Retina 5K display, the new iMac Pro coming in late 2017, or any supported Mac with an external GPU. There's optimised support for SteamVR and the HTC Vive, too.

It's also easy to share any file in iCloud Drive with a simple link. When you send the link, the recipient simply needs to click on it to begin working, much like other cloud services such as Google Drive.

Video editors will be pleased to see the update brings in HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), which can compress videos up to 40% better than H.264. Videos will stream better and take up less space while preserving the same video quality.

There's new features in the Photos app, a new web browsing experience in Safari and even a faster way to browse Mail. Safari also keeps unexpected and unwanted autoplay videos from playing, although you can authorise certain sites to autoplay these kind of videos too.

Finally, Siri is more expressive, with a more natural voice, and she also can learn your music preferences by seeing what you listen to on Apple Music.

Apple announced the new update in June at WWDC and announced the date of the release during its Apple event in Cupertino two weeks ago. It did not mention the release date during its livestream, but instead quietly updated its website to show it there.

At the event, Apple announced the launch of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. The iPhone 8 was available from last Friday, although it met a somewhat muted reception around the world. The short queues for the device have been put down to the iPhone 8's biggest sibling launching in November, the iPhone X, with more customers choosing to wait longer to spend more money on the 999 flagship phone.

Features

Virtual Reality

macOS High Sierra is more of a behind-the-scenes refresh rather than a brand new OS, but there are still some standout new features in the update. The biggest of these is a heavier focus on VR, with heaps of new support for SteamVR, which is currently being optimised by Valve to run on Macs. Unity and Epic are also doing the same with their own VR engines, and HTC has also said its Vive headset will be compatible with High Sierra.

Metal 2

Apple also revealed its updated developer platform known as Metal 2. This promises to make it easier to tap into the GPU power of the Mac range, featuring a new API that adds support for machine learning, speech recognition and natural language processing for the development of apps.

Apple File System (APFS)

The Apple File System will also be a feature on the new OS, a highly sought after addition that will modernise file storage on Macs. It will drastically improve performance on file transfers and backups, as well as provide a one-stop place for accessing locally stored content and data held in third party apps such as Box and Dropbox.

Safari

Safari also sees a significant performance boost under High Sierra, delivering up to 80% faster speeds over major rival Google Chrome, according to Apple's own statistics. It will also include a new Auto Blocking feature that blocks auto-play videos on websites, as well as a Split View mode for the Mail app.

Photos

The Photos app now has a new Edit view that allows users to fine-tune the colours and contrast of an image, and will also, for the first time, grant direct access to third-party publishing services from within the app. So far Animoto, Shutterfly and Wix are confirmed Apple partners, with more likely to be added nearer full release.

Name

Ever since 2013, Apple has named its macOS releases after locations and landmarks in its home state of California. We've already had Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite and Mavericks.

As this latest release focuses on behind-the-scenes tweaks, rather than brand new user facing features, Apple has decided to name it 'macOS High Sierra' (essentially macOS Sierra 2.0).

Release date

High Sierra will officially be available on 25 September.

Apple first unveiled High Sierra at its WWDC 2017 event in San Jose on 5 June, which also signaled the release of the developer preview build.

A public beta of the OS is planned for the end of June, although no specific date has been announced. Following a short beta period, it will soon be available.

Previous news

12/09/2017: Apple reveals macOS High Sierra to release on 25 September

Apple has announced that it plans to release macOS High Sierra on 25 September.

The announcement was made via its website and the upgrade will be free.

The name of the update was released at WWDC and features a number of tweaks to the operating system. Updates include a new Apple file system, a new HEVC video codec to make videos smaller and Apple VR support.

The announcement was not made during Apple's livestream, where it announced the iPhone 8, iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 3, but was instead an update on the website.

05/06/2017: Apple today announced the latest update for its desktop operating system. Instead of introducing major new user-facing features, the company instead opted to focus on behind-the-scenes tweaks and upgrades. To reflect this, Apple has opted to call the release 'High Sierra', rather than using a new name.

One of the biggest changes is a heap of new support for VR technologies. SteamVR is being optimised by Valve to run on macOS High Sierra, Apple announced, with Unity and Epic doing the same for their VR content creation utilities. On top of that, the HTC Vive will also be adding support for macOS, giving Apple fans their first taste of desktop VR.

This is partly powered by the launch of Metal 2, Apple's second-generation hardware acceleration API for graphics. In addition to increased performance, developers will have access to machine learning toolkits and Thunderbolt 3-powered external GPUs.

High Sierra also introduces HEVC, a new video codec designed to help with the quality and compression of high-definition 4K video. The move is designed to make 4K video even more flexible, and new macOS devices will even feature hardware acceleration for HEVC video.

Another major announcement was the news that macOS High Sierra will bring the Apple File System to the Mac for the first time. APFS is optimised for modern, high-capacity storage technologies, and improves performance for file transfers and backups. It also helps with data security and reliability, providing crash protection and native encryption. APFS is designed to be future-proof in terms of compatibility with future storage technologies, but also fully compatible with the older HFS file system.

According to Apple's own benchmarking, Safari is the world's fastest browser available on High Sierra, delivering 80% faster speeds than its rival Google Chrome. The OS will also introduce an 'Auto Blocking' feature, which, as the name suggests, will block video ads that automatically play on websites. It will also allow for a 'Split View' option for email, and improved management options for imported files, such as category search and facial recognition.

The Photos app has also seen some major improvements, including a new Edit view that allows for the fine-tuning of colours and contrast, as well as tools for editing live videos with animated effects. It will also for the first time support third-party extensions, granting users access to publishing services like Animoto, Shutterfly and Wix from within the Photos app.

High Sierra is available in developer beta today, while a public beta is planned for later this month. The OS is expected to arrive as a free upgrade this autumn.

Apple unveiled its thirteenth major desktop operating system, Sierra, at WWDC in June 2016, surprising some by ditching the OS X naming convention in favour of a return to Mac OS, or, rather macOS as it is now.

The OS was made generally available as a free upgrade in September 2016.

Here you can find out everything you need to know about the new operating system and its latest updates.

macOS Sierra: latest news

23/03/2017: Night Shift mode has made in appearance on Macs in macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 8, which has started rolling out to developers and public beta users.

Night Shift mode, which first appeared on iOS 9.3 reduces the blue light coming from Macs, which means your sleep will hopefully not be disturbed by the blue spectrums radiating from your device.

"Night Shift adjusts the color of your display after sunset," Apple's Night Shift blurb explained. "Many studies show that exposure to bright-blue light in the evening can affect your circadian rhythms and make it harder to fall asleep. After sunset, Night Shift will shift your display colors to the warmer end of the spectrum, making the display easier on your eyes. In the morning, your display returns to its regular settings."

Those testing out Apple's newest OS can enable Night Shift mode by heading to the Display settings from Preferences. If you don't want to enable it forevermore, but just for the time being, you can do this from the Notifications Centre or Siri.

Other new features in the beta include updates to Siri, with a wider range of sports updates such as Indian Premier League or the International Cricket Council.

MacRumors also revealed Apple has released new languages to its dictation tool, better support for PDFs with its PDFKit API and iCloud Analytics options.

macOS Sierra: name

It was widely rumoured beforehand, and those rumours proved accurate - Apple has changed the naming convention of its desktop operating system. Ditching the 'OS X' label, the company has instead reverted back to the name used in its first products: macOS.

This brings the desktop software back into line with the rest of Apple's 'xOS' family, such as iOS, tvOS and watchOS. However, Apple is still naming the different iterations after areas of California, with the first edition of the new macOS labelled 'macOS Sierra'.

macOS Sierra: features

MacOS Sierra introduces a raft of new features for desktop users, including new functionality through Siri. Apple's virtual assistant now lives in an icon in the app dock and can also be launched via keyboard shortcut.

As expected, Siri can perform all the functions available to iOS users, such as web searching and messaging. This will also include any functionality introduced by developers making use of the new open Siri SDK.

In addition, users can take advantage of Siri to perform complex file queries, including multiple criteria, all using conversational language.

There are also numerous productivity features introduced in macOS Sierra too. Macs now support automatic unlocking, using your Apple Watch to verify your identity and unlock your Mac.

The Universal Clipboard function is cross-device compatible, meaning that users can access data they've copied on any of their Apple devices. iCloud Drive also lets users access all their files from any of their Mac devices, including files stored on the desktop.

Optimised storage allows users to free up space on a hard drive by moving older or less used files to iCloud.

The OS also supports Apple Pay, although you will need to have a paired iPhone or Apple Watch to actually authorise the payment. Apple Pay buttons will appear on supported sites and will prompt you to authorise purchases by scanning your fingerprint on your connected device, or on the touchbar of the new MacBook Pro.

There is also a picture-in-picture mode that will display a small window running a video that stays on top of the screen and is open at all times. Picture-in-picture works with web vide and Apple will provide an API to developers to make this feature available to visitors.

Finally, third-party apps and programs will now support browser-style tabs, allowing you to group multiple instances of the same program into one window.

macOS Sierra: price & release date

For the past several years, the latest version of Mac OS X has been available as a free upgrade to users of the previous version of the operating system and the latest macOS release isn't any different.

MacOS Sierra arrived to Apple users on 20 September 2016. Prior to this, Apple released a public beta available to anyone on 7 July. The golden master version for developers - approximately the same OS that released on 20 September, was released on 9 September.

macOS Sierra: previous news

17/02/2017: Microsoft has added support for the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar to its Office for Mac software, allowing users to take advantage of touch-based shortcuts.

In Word, the Touch Bar hosts a variety of shortcuts, including the ability to change paragraph and text formatting, insert objects and hyperlinks, and copy and paste. It can also launch 'Word Focus Mode', a new mode that makes your document full-screen and removes all ribbons and toolbars.

In Excel, users can access the most recently used functions via the Touch Bar, as well as borders, cell colours and recommended charts, for easy formatting and layout.

The new shortcuts for PowerPoint users are built predominantly around managing the graphical elements of a presentation, including the ability to reorder and rotate objects. When in presentation mode, the Touch Bar can also be used to control your slides, and features a timer to make sure you stay on schedule.

Finally, Outlook has been updated to feature the most frequently-used email and calendar commands. Not only that, but it will also display a list of recent documents when composing an email, allowing you to include them as an attachment or link. The Touch Bar will display your daily schedule too, from where you can join a Skype for Business meeting.

The update adds a greater level of business functionality to the Touch Bar, increasing the utility of a feature that was initially in danger of being little more than a gimmick.

21/09/2016: MacOS Sierra is finally available to Mac users via the Mac App Store.

The update brings with it a slew of iOS-like features. Among the highlights are Auto Unlock with Apple Watch, Universal Clipboard, Desktop and Documents Sync, Picture in Picture mode, a customised version of Siri (voice assistant) for Mac and many others.

The update also brings Apple Pay to the Mac. You will still need an iPhone or iPad with Touch ID to complete a transaction but it now means that websites can offer the payment method for online shopping via the Safari browser.

The Photos app also gets new search and highlights options to match updates in iOS 10. iMessage on the Mac also gets larger emojis and web page previews.

The latest version of Apple's desktop operating system is the firm's first rebrand of operating system since Mac OS 9.

The following Macs will be able to download and install MacOS Sierra: MacBook (late 2009 and later), iMac (late 2009 and later), MacBook Air (2010 and later), MacBook Pro (2010 and later), Mac Mini (2010 and later) and Mac Pro (2010 and later).

The update is available from the Mac App Store.

Apple has introduced a 'Report Junk' feature that addresses the spam issue users have encountered in their iCloud calendars, according to 9to5Mac.

Over the past few weeks, Apple users have reported that invites to spam events were randomly appearing on their iCloud calendars.

These spam invites, usually sent from email addresses with Chinese names, were advertising deals on products such as Ray-Ban sunglasses or Ugg boots.

This issue originated from spam emails, as Apple's devices automatically scanned users' inboxes and notified them of calendar invitations present inside.

Users were therefore notified of these invites promoting sales, present within spam emails that had made their way into their inbox.

The new 'Report Junk' option can currently only be accessed through the iCloud calendar web app, but according to 9to5Mac, Apple might extend this feature to both iOS and Mac-based Calendar apps in upcoming updates.

Users who wish to delete and report a spam invite can go to iCloud.com, log in using their Apple ID, click on the invite in question and flag it by clicking Report Junk.

The option is only available for calendar invites from senders who are not within a user's contact list.

01/12/2016: Apple apologises for calendar spam

Apple has apologised for an issue with its Calendar app that led to iCloud users being spammed with events related to supposed Black Friday deals on products such as Ray-Ban glasses, Uggs Boots or Pandora bracelets.

The issue originated from spam emails, as Apple's iOS and MacOS operating systems scan users' inboxes and notify them of any calendar invitations.

The idea behind the feature is that users will automatically have events mentioned in emails noted down on their calendar, but in this case spam messages advertising sales of counterfeit consumer products have also been automatically generating invitations.

Some users also received spam invitations to edit reminders or view photo groups.

In a statement sent to Rene Ritchie, editorial director of the news blog iMore, Apple wrote: "We are sorry that some of our users are receiving spam calendar invitations. We are actively working to address this issue by identifying and blocking suspicious senders and spam in the invites being sent."

There is currently no way of only blocking these specific messages on iOS and MacOS, but users can get rid of them by blocking automatic in-app Calendar notifications.

How to get rid of spam calendar events notifications 1. Go to iCloud.com and login to your account2. Go to the calendar section3. Click on the cog button on the bottom left corner and then on Advanced4. Change Invitations from 'In-app notifications' to 'Email to..'

This will ensure you receive calendar invites as emails other than notifications within the Calendar app.

Apple has rolled out an update to patch up Java vulnerabilities on its Mac OS X computers.

According to the company, the Java SE 6 update would fix vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to remotely execute code on a victim's system.

The patch fixes flaws in Mac OS X 10.6 upwards, including Lion and Mountain Lion, the newest operating system to hail from Cupertino.

While Apple maintains SE 6 and has issued a fix for it, software giant Oracle controls the maintenance and development of SE 7 on OS X, Windows and Linux.

Oracle has also put out a patch for SE 6 on Windows and Linux. Standalone applications and server installations of Java are not affected by the problem.

Oracle has been slow to issue a patch drawing criticism from the security community who said the firm knew about the flaw long before any security update was issued.

Oracle has also been under fire for releasing a patch, which was later found to contain a serious exploit.

The problem has raised serious questions over the security of Oracle's Java platform, leading many to suggest that users and IT professionals should limit use or remove the code from systems altogether.

A mutated version of a Trojan designed to incapacitate Mac OS X Lion anti-malware has been found, F-Secure Security Labs revealed yesterday.

Its recent analysis found Trojan-Downloader:OSX/Flashback.C can disable the automatic updater component of XProtect, the built-in OS X anti-malware application Apple provides in its operating system.

The research lab first discovered Trojan-Downloader:OSX/Flashback.A in September, posing as a Flash Player installer.

But the latest iteration of the Trojan also targets the update facility of XProtect that enables the automatic update of malware definitions, rendering it useless and the OS vulnerable to new, undefined attack vectors.

"Attempting to disable system defences is a very common tactic for malware and built-in defences are naturally going to be the first target on any computing platform," wrote F-Secure researchers in a blog post.

Flashback.C works by decrypting the .plist file and binary paths of XProtectUpdater hardcoded in its body. The malware then drops the XProtectUpdater daemon, enabling the malware to overwrite both files with a specified character.

F-Secure found these actions wipe out certain key files required by XProtect to automatically receive future updates.

The security firm advised users to run virus and malware scans to find the particular infected files and eliminate Flasback.C. It also detailed the way to remove a specific entry from two files located within Safari and Firefox .plist files.

Flashback.B, discovered last week, performs a "vmcheck" and aborts itself if virtualised instances of OS X are found. Apple introduced its virtual client capability with the release of Lion earlier this year.

The security firm said at the time that the move was designed to anticipate and hamper researchers' efforts to use virtualised environments during analysis as the number of Mac-targeted threats continues to grow.

A variety of new threats targeting Mac users emerged last year, with a significant number of Mac OS X threats rearing their ugly heads.

An Intego report has looked back at thre various threats affecting Apple technology, which are often believed to be inherently more secure than other systems.

For instance, there was the HellRTS piece of malware, which ooened a backdoor to allow remote users to take control of infected Macs.

Spyware affecting Macs was also spotted last year, such as OpinionSpy, a tool that was designed to collect data on users browsing habits.

It was not intended to be malicious, Intego explained, but it contained features that could open backdoors and inject code into applications.

The security company also picked up on a Mac version of the Koobface worm.

Whilst Mac OS X is more secure than Windows, Intego said, the Apple operating system still has its flaws.

Last year, Apple issued 38 security updates for Mac OS X, Apple software and company hardware.

"Apple has to constantly keep on its toes to issue several dozen security updates each year, to Mac OS X in general, as well as to specific parts of Mac OS X that are often found to contain vulnerabilities," the Intego report read.

A Panda Security report from last year discovered Mac OS vulnerabilities had skyrocketed.

Indeed, threats affecting the Apple OS had increased by over five times in less than a year.

Apple will launch the Mac App Store on 6 January and will it available in 90 countries straight away.

The App Store experience will be brought to Mac OS X users and will feature free and paid-for apps covering a range of categories, including education, games and productivity.

The store, which had been announced by Apple earlier in the year, works in the same way as on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Developers get 70 per cent of sales revenue from their apps and are not charged for free apps.

"The App Store revolutionised mobile apps," said Apple chief executive (CEO) Steve Jobs.

"We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can't wait to get started on 6 January."

Developers were able to start posting apps for the store in November.

Apple is due to have another big year of launches in 2011, with the latest operating system, nicknamed Lion, expected to be made available in the summer.

The next iteration of the iPad is also rumoured to be ready for February, just in time to go head-to-head against the RIM Playbook.

Mac OS vulnerabilities have increased by over five times in less than a year, according to Panda Security figures.

In 2009, 34 vulnerabilities were detected in the Mac OS and thus far in 2010 this has risen to 175.

The platform can also be affected by 170,000 macro viruses for Windows, Panda said.

Furthermore, there are 5,000 classified strains of malware that specifically target Apple systems and the increased focus of hackers on the Cupertino company's products has led Panda to launch its Antivirus for Mac.

It offers protection against all kinds of malware that can affect Mac OS, Mac OS X, Windows and Linux, protecting the Apple OS itself and preventing users from transmitting malware to other operating systems.

"Mac security was something Panda had to address," said Ivan Fermon, senior vice president of product management at Panda.

"We believe this is the right time to launch a product like this, given that Apple is becoming globally more popular for various reasons (among others, due to the success of other devices, such as iPad) and could now start to be targeted by hackers."

Two different scan engines have been included in Panda Antivirus for Mac, one being an on-access scan, designed to protect the computer at all times and alert to any security incident.

The on-demand scan allows users to launch scans of the complete system or specific components and the anti-virus product can also scan Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod.

"We would even say that today, the Windows operating system is more secure than Mac, simply because Microsoft has been working proactively on security for many years," Fermon added.

"As the Apple system has yet to be seriously threatened, it may contain more vulnerabilities than those we are aware of, which could be exploited to launch zero-day attacks similar to those against Windows."

At the time of publication, Apple had not given a statement on the Panda figures.

This week saw the launch of a range of new Apple systems, including the new MacBook Air.

Mac users will be able to use Microsoft's Windows 7 before the end of the year, Apple has said.

Apple's Boot Camp, which lets Mac computers dual boot Apple and Windows operating systems, users will be able to use Windows 7 - but only if their Mac runs the latest Apple OS Snow Leopard.

"Apple will support Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate) with Boot Camp in Mac OS X Snow Leopard before the end of the year," the firm said on its website.

"This support will require a software update to Boot Camp," it added.

A series of Mac computers, including iMacs and MacBook Pros, released in 2006 will not support Windows 7, despite supporting XP and Vista. Microsoft has said that any computer that supports Vista will be able to run Windows 7.

Apple refreshed its MacBook lineup earlier this week, as Microsoft unveiled the new Windows 7 operating system.

Click here for our head-to-head comparison of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard.

Microsoft will roll out five fixes for Patch Tuesday next week, fixing critical vulnerabilities in different versions of Windows.

In its advisory ahead of the patch rollout, Microsoft said that the updates would fix remote execution flaws in versions of Windows XP, 2000, Vista and Servers 2003 and 2008. These vulnerabilities could allow a hacker to run code on a targeted machine.

It won't fix a recent problem over Microsoft's IIS (Internet Information Services) server, which would likely be fixed in a future out-of-band update, or the next Patch Tuesday.

"Of the five critical patches, two will require mandatory restarts causing some level of disruption within the enterprise," said Andrew Clarke, vice president of security firm Lumension, in a statement.

Apple also released a new version of Java for Mac OS X, to fix multiple flaws that also could have led to remote execution attacks.

Apple has confirmed it will be launching its latest operating system this Friday.

Snow Leopard, otherwise known as the Mac OS X v10.6, was rumoured to be released on 28 August after it appeared briefly on Apple's website but the company refused to confirm it.

Now Apple has released a statement saying this is definitely the date for the eagerly anticipated OS.

It will be available as an upgrade from the Leopard OS for $29 (17.59) with pre-orders being taken from today.

Read IT PRO's Need to Know cheat sheet on Snow Leopard here.

Trend Micro is the latest security firm to warn about the threat of malware targeting the Apple Mac operating system (OS) and the iPhone platform.

It follows warnings by the likes of vendors Sophos and Kaspersky that Apple's increased market share could mean that criminals will see Mac computers as more of a potential target.

In Trend Micro's 2009 Forecast, the company predicted an increase in attacks against Apple Mac computers during the second half of this year.

Rik Ferguson, solutions architect at Trend Micro, said that this was due to simple economics the popularity of the Apple Mac OS was increasing at a faster rate than it has ever done before.

He said: "It's become a lot more mainstream, so it offers a greater return on investment [for the malware writers]."

The vendor also said the malware writers would be encouraged by the fact that the majority of Macs did not come with anti-virus software installed by default, unlike the majority of Windows-based PCs which do so.

Apple has been accused of sending mixed messages about whether Mac users needed to install anti-virus software on their systems. A post which suggested that Mac users install anti-virus was deleted from the Apple website, but it was revealed later that this wasn't a retraction and that Apple had already had this message up for some time previously.

Recently, a copy of iWork posted on BitTorrent sites was found to be infected with a trojan, but not before thousands of users had downloaded it. Others continue to download it, even though there are warnings not to.

"Users of non-mainstream OSs in general have over the years taken comfort in the security they have in being a minority base," added Ferguson.

"They haven't been a very large attack target until now, and that has led them to the conclusion that their OS' are safe."

Ferguson also believes that the iPhone has helped boost mobile internet use, drawing increased attention from criminals.

"The large target audience and the usability and acceptance of the mobile web is again creating a target where it didn't use to exist," he said.

Apple had not responded to our request for comment at the time of publication.

Believe the statistics, and Microsoft Windows in its many guises is an operating system in decline. Recent numbers have suggested that, for the first time in well over a decade, it has less than 90 per cent of the total operating system market, and its chief competitor isn't the one that's been garnering the majority of the headlines.

For all the discussion of the merits of Linux, it still accounts for less than one per cent of all operating system use, a bewildering number given the column inches it attracts and the myriad of alternatives that are available. Yet its market share has remained minimal for some time, and there's no clear breakthrough on the horizon.

Instead, though, it's Mac OS that's gradually growing in popularity.

According to the numbers for January 2009, as released by Net Applications, the market share of Mac OS was up to 9.9 per cent (admittedly this statistic is centred around internet-connected machines).

Given that this is fuelled by a few months now of consecutive growth, it's expected that it'll be breaking the 10 per cent mark imminently. Of course, much of this is inevitably down to the gradual increase in market share of the Apple Macintosh format itself. But it nonetheless begs the question: can Apple's operating system have a future of as a business desktop?

Designer

For the design and creative industries, the answer right now as it has been for many years is a big, fat yes. These are the areas of business where Apple has continually held a strong foothold, even while the Macintosh format itself was floundering and looked rudderless.

No matter how much PC manufacturers and software producers have targeted these professional industries, they've nonetheless steadfastly remained the foundation on which Apple continues to build its Macintosh business.

And thus, when Apple's credibility and popularity bounced back fuelled initially by the iMac and then subsequently the likes of the iPod it did so with a small but loyal comfort blanket already in place.

Since the late 90s, Apple has gradually grown its market share, and the emergence of Apple stores, and Intel-powered Macintoshes, has continued that trend.

And yet you walk around the vast bulk of non-creative industries, and there's barely a Macintosh to be found, with Windows-laden PCs still the mainstay of the majority of businesses.

Costly

Given the general level of user satisfaction with an Apple machine on their desk, why is this so?

Put simply, cost. It's little secret that many users find the Apple interface easy to use and interact with, and a good number will likely prefer it to the Windows alternative were they given the choice. But they never will be. For while a Windows PC can be bought and installed for less than 300 a seat (before you get to office and security software costs), the cheapest Mac currently a Mac Mini comes in at nearly 100 more.

Even before businesses were hit by the state of the world financial market, that's a hefty premium to pay for a tool to do simply office work, and understandably, the vast majority opt for the cost effectiveness of a PC, whether they have format loyalty or not. Thus, the Mac operating system never gets much of a look in for the mundane, day-to-day chores that the PC is simply cheaper at doing.

Apple shows little intention of attempting to break down the mass market business sector, either. This is a pity: like it or lump it, but Mac OS would bring a variety and choice to the sector, and in terms of sheer usability, it's likely to earn itself friends.

Yet to try and compete with the PC in the average office would mean a substantial shift in the Apple business model, one the firm has understandable reluctance at embarking upon. Simply, the manner of the PC marketplace, with multiple manufacturers competing on a cutthroat level with one another, makes it a brutal environment where cost is concerned.

For Apple to begin to attack that sector, would immediately see it sacrificing its premium brand identity, a gamble that could have far-reaching ramifications for the company.

Hackintosh?

But there is, of course, another option. And that's for Apple to release a version of the Mac operating system for PCs. The internet is awash with stories of people who have attempted to do this with existing software, and some have enjoyed success, too. That's unsurprising given the Intel architecture that Apple Macintoshes are running on, which could look equally at home in the belly of a PC.

Yet Apple is keen to control its market space, and has shown no interest quite the contrary in releasing its operating system for a platform other than the Macintosh. Currently it's embroiled in a legal battle with Psystar over so-called Hackintoshes, that have seen the Apple operating system installed onto non-Apple hardware.

Granted, the legal process takes in more than just the operating system, but Apple has made its displeasure clear over a third party company installing the Mac OS operating system onto its hardware. The legal case is going, and may be for some time yet, so it remains unclear whether Psystar will unlock the ability to install Mac OS onto its machines long term. But given the manner and ferocity in which Apple is fighting the case, this will run and run.

And that alone gives a clear indication that the business desktop space is not a place that Apple is keen to reside. It's probably, right now, a wise strategy, but it does nonetheless limit just how far the Mac OS market share is likely to grow.

With Windows 7 set for release later this year (or so it seems), Microsoft's flagship product is set to get a jolt in the arm that could see Apple's market share retreat back to a level a good deal below 10 per cent.

Right now, of course, the irony is that Apple makes it possible to run Windows on a Mac using its Boot Camp software. But its current strategy of producing a premium product with the price to match means that, short of a court ruling or two going against it, Apple won't be competing in the mass market business space for a very long time.

In part two of our interview, security guru Eugene Kaspersky talks about new and emerging uses for mobile phones (such as identity and payment solutions) will make them even more of a target for security wrong doers.

He also warns about how the Mac OS will become an increasing target for virus writers in the future - a topic also covered in this week's podcast.

A recently updated technical note on Apple's web support site has recommended that users install anti-virus software.

The quietly published note appears to be an admission by Apple that no operating system is safe from the threat of the malware writers, which includes Mac OS.

Apple said it "encouraged" the widespread use of multiple anti-virus utilities, to make the virus writing process more difficult.

It recommended Intego VirusBarrier X5, Symantec Anti-virus 11 and McAfee VirusScan.

Recently, Arbor Networks reported it found a new example of Apple Mac OS X called OSX/Jahlav-A, which could be downloaded from a malicious website.

A fake website would be created containing a video which produces a messages saying you don't have the right codec to run it. The site offered an EXE file if you ran Windows and DMG (disk image) using an Apple Mac, which both resulted in a malware download.