O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: webcam

  • Rumor: 2021 MacBook Pro notebooks to feature significant redesign, 1080p webcam, standard 16GB of RAM

    Rumor: 2021 MacBook Pro notebooks to feature significant redesign, 1080p webcam, standard 16GB of RAM

    With Apple’s October 18th event having been officially announced, a flurry of last minute rumors as to the 2021 MacBook Pro have surfaced, the general consensus being that this year’s models will represent the first major redesign for Apple’s pro notebooks since the disastrous 2016 butterfly-keyboard generation.

    Various sources indicate that these new machines will feature a boxier chassis design, a HDMI port and SD card slot, and a ‘M1X’ Apple-designed SoC, aimed at replacing the current 16-inch Intel configs with superior performance and power efficiency. The reliable leaker @dylandkt has stated that these notebooks will also feature a higher-quality 1080p webcam.

    In his tweet, Dylan also stated that the M1X MacBook Pro units will boast 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD as standard for both the 16-inch and the new 14-inch units. This is identical to the current 16-inch Intel MacBook Pro offering.

    Apple is also thought to be removing the 16GB maximum RAM configuration that was supported with the M1-based MacBook Pros. The M1X generation notebooks are thought to have resolved this issue, with Apple offering 32GB of RAM as a build-to-order option.

    In terms of design change, Dylan says that the ‘MacBook Pro’ text in the bottom display bezel has been removed in favor of an overall slimmer bezel design. The display is mini-LED, just like the 2021 iPad Pro.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and @dylandkt

  • Rumor: Apple’s upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro notebooks expected to use identical M1X processor, operate at equivalent speeds

    Rumor: Apple’s upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro notebooks expected to use identical M1X processor, operate at equivalent speeds

    The biggest MacBook Pro may not be the fastest one.

    Per tech leaker @Dylandkt, while Apple is working on both 14-inch and updated 16-inch MacBook Pro notebooks, the two models will use the same M1X chip, thereby providing equivalent speeds across both models.

    While Apple typically includes a discrete GPU in its larger MacBook Pro variants, the lack of a second GPU in other M1 Mac releases, as well as no eGPU support so far for Apple Silicon systems, suggests Apple won’t include the discrete graphics chip in 2021.

    The leaker also warned potential buyers to “expect a notable increase in price for the 14-inch over the 13-inch.”

    Apple’s upcoming MacBook Pro refresh is expected to occur this fall, and despite claims of shortages, both models are anticipated to launch, and be available to buy before the end of 2021.

    The “M1X” chip is rumored to be upgraded to a 12-core CPU and a 16-core GPU, giving a significant performance boost over the M1 chip.

    Additional rumors have cited the use of mini LED backlighting, which would enable higher contrast levels and improved color representation. An upgrade of the webcam has also been tipped, moving from the well-used 720p FaceTime camera to a 1080p variant.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider and @Dylandkt

  • Apple support document cautions users against closing their MacBooks while using a camera cover

    This sort of answers one of the questions of the modern age.

    Apple has released a new support document advising users not to close their MacBook’s lid while using a webcam cover, as this can potentially damage the screen.

    When you close your MacBook’s lid, the space between the screen and keyboard is small, and the added thickness of a webcam cover could damage the screen over time. If your cover is thicker than 0.1mm (the average thickness of printer paper), remove it before closing the lid.

    Apple has advised users to control camera access via System Preferences, and to use the camera indicator light to figure out if the camera is active. Mac cameras are designed in a way that it can’t activate without the green indicator light also turning on.

    You can access this option via the following steps:

    1. Open System Preferences.
    2. Click Security & Privacy, then click Privacy.
    3. Click Camera. If an app has requested access, you can click the checkbox to remove it.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and support.apple.com

  • Apple issues second silent macOS update to address Zoom-based webcam vulnerabilities in RingCentral and Zhumu

    Apple has pushed yet another silent update to macOS to address the Mac hijack vulnerability in RingCentral and Zhumu. These two apps are powered by Zoom, and thus present the same web server vulnerability as Zoom.

    The Zoom vulnerability, which was discovered last week, was addressed by a silent macOS update issued by Apple to remove part of the application’s web server function. Apple has apparently deployed another silent security update to remove web servers installed by RingCentral and Zhumu. As with the update pushed last week, this one does not require any user interaction to install.

    The RingCentral and Zhumu applications, which use the same underlying code as Zoom, also installed their own web server functions in macOS. This function allows users to easily join meetings with one click, but also leaves users susceptible to have their webcam and microphone hijacked.

    Unfortunately, RingCentral and Zhumu aren’t the only video conferencing apps that use Zoom’s code. Apple says that it hopes to patch the vulnerability for all of Zoom’s partner apps in the coming days.

    Last week, Apple noted that it “often pushes silent signature updates to Macs” to remove known malware, but that it rarely publicly takes action against a known app. Issues like these will only increase the prevalence of physical web cam covers.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and The Verge

  • Apple patches “Fruitfly” malware, which relied on pre-OS X system calls

    Apple appears to have nixed the “Fruitfly” malware strain.

    The malware, which has been patched over, relied on antiquated code predating OS X. Although older, the Fruitfly malware had been used in real-world attacks on biomedical research groups according to security software maker Malwarebytes.

    Fruitfly operated by communicating with two command-and-control servers, and can perform actions like typing, webcam and screen captures, and moving and clicking a mouse cursor, Malwarebytes said in a blog post on Wednesday. It also maps other devices on a network and tries to connect to them.

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