Tech Digest daily roundup: Macbook Pro models offer ‘unrivalled power’
The new MacBook Pro models are here. While they look just the same as the ones released in late 2021, the performance has been enhanced, thanks to the latest additions to the Apple-made silicon chips. Until last week, if you wanted a MacBook pro in 14in or 16in screen sizes, you could choose between the M1 pro and M1 max processor. Both were extremely fast, and way more powerful than the laptops they replaced, which had Intel processors. Now, the laptops have either the M2 pro or the even faster M2 max chips in them. Independent
Microsoft says it has “rolled back a network change” it thinks may be linked to tens of thousands of worldwide users being unable to access its services, including Teams and Outlook. Downdetector, which tracks website outages, showed more than 5,000 people in the UK had reported the email service Outlook was inaccessible. Other services including Teams and Xbox Live were also reported as not working. Microsoft said it was “monitoring the service” as the change takes effect. BBC
Polestar has only been a standalone brand for five years – but the Chinese-owned Volvo offshoot is already introducing a significant facelift to its first bespoke electric car, the Polestar 2. Described as a ‘2024 model year’ update, the refresh is designed to bring the electric fastback more into line with the evolved family look seen on the recently launched 3, while also incorporating improved electric motors, revised batteries and a significant addition to the drivetrain options that help to deliver improved range, faster-charging rates and increased performance. Autoexpress
Apple has issued an emergency patch for older kit to fix a WebKit security flaw that Cupertino warns is under active attack. On Monday, Apple released iOS 12.5.7 for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and sixth-generation iPod touch. It also updated iOS and iPadOS 15 and 16, but it appears that, at least as of now, attackers are only going after devices running the very-old iOS 12. If you have one of these older devices, we’d suggest updating to the new iOS immediately as the vulnerability that it fixes, tracked as CVE-2022-42856, sounds like a nasty one. The Register
Several types of cancer have been found to alter the smell of urine, but for the first time experts have found ants have the ability to detect the scent. In their findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, they said these insects could be used as a cost-effective way to identify cancers in patients. Sky News
The entire of the US “No Fly List” has been exposed online by a Swiss hacker who reportedly found three sensitive files stored on an unsecure cloud storage server. One of the files contains the information of more than 1.5 million entries into the list, which covers individuals who have been barred from travelling to or from the US. The data was found out of boredom, according to a blog post written by the hacker, known online as maia arson crimew, which saw her searching Shodan for exposed Jenkins servers. Tech Radar
