Following a series of rumors, Snapchat today launched the latest version of its connected sunglasses, the Spectacles. The company says that the new pair of Spectacles have a smaller profile, so they're slightly less bulky on the face than the original.
Additionally, Snapchat is pitching the new Spectacles as a go-to summer accessory for its users thanks to added water resistance. Snapchat's web page for the device says that users will be able to wear them at pool parties and on rainy days, and they "can even take a photo or video in shallow water."
We want Spectacles to be the simplest and easiest way to make memories from your point of view, and we appreciate all of your thoughtful feedback — many of these improvements were inspired by you!
The second version of the Spectacles has improved audio, and can record clips that last up to 30 seconds long by tapping a button on the left side of the frames, like the original pair. Pictures can be captured now as well by tapping and holding the same button. Snapchat says the HD transfer process to the mobile app is "up to four times faster," and the Spectacles can take up to 150 videos or 3,000 photos before needing to import to the Snapchat app.
Snapchat is also now offering Spectacles in prescription and polarized lenses through a partnership with Lensabl, only for users in the United States. The new Spectacles are available to order today in the U.S., UK, Canada, and France for $149.99. Colors include Sapphire, Onyx, and Ruby, and each option has two lens shades to choose from.
iOS 11 and later include a neat built-in dictionary feature that lets you quickly look up the definition of words on your iPhone or iPad, even if an internet connection is unavailable.
It's a handy recourse if someone breaks out a "big word" during a conversation, or you come across an expression in a book or on the web that you don't quite understand.
There are a couple of ways to access the dictionary which we've outlined below. Keep them in mind, and with a little luck, you won't have to consult a physical dictionary, a third-party dictionary app, or an online definition service the next time you want to know the meaning of a word.
How to Get a Word Definition
On your iOS device, swipe right on the Lock screen or Home screen to display the Today view. Alternatively, swipe down on the Home screen to invoke the Search screen.
Tap the search field if it isn't already active, and begin typing the word that you want to define. (You can also tap the microphone icon and say the word – if you know how to pronounce it.)
Read the dictionary definition preview that appears in the search results, or tap it to see the extended definition.
In our experience, these definitions can occasionally get mixed up with Wikipedia suggestions from Siri. If you want to increase the chances that you get a dictionary definition first, go to Settings -> Siri & Search and toggle off Suggestions in Search.
How to Look Up a Word Within an App
If you come across a word you don't know in a document or email, or even when browsing the web, use the following method to look up its definition.
Tap and hold your finger on the word to highlight it.
Tap Look Up in the pop-up menu.
Read the dictionary definition preview that appears in the Look Up results, or tap it to see the extended definition.
If you don't see any word definitions in the search results, it's likely you haven't got any dictionaries installed on your iOS device.
To remedy this, scroll down to the bottom of the results screen and tap Manage Dictionaries. You'll be presented with a list of dictionaries available to you. Simply tap the ones you want to download and they'll be automatically installed on your device.
The next time you look up a word, you'll get individual definitions from every dictionary that's installed. Note that you can add and remove dictionaries at any time by ticking/unticking them in Settings -> General -> Dictionary.
Finally, if you're seeking a more feature-rich lexical resource to explore words and phrases, check out the Terminology app for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
Intel is planning to supply Apple with 70 percent of the modem chips that will be used in the 2018 iPhone lineup, according an unnamed source that spoke to Fast Company. Qualcomm will allegedly provide the rest.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously suggested Intel might be Apple's sole supplier for LTE modems in 2018 given Apple's ongoing and increasingly tense legal battle with Qualcomm, while The Wall Street Journal said Apple might use Mediatek and Intel chips to avoid working with Qualcomm, but Fast Company says that's not the case.
Intel will supply the lion's share of the chips, but because 2018 is the first year that Intel is fabricating its own chips using its 14-nanometer process, Fast Company's source says Apple plans to continue to use Qualcomm chips in 2018.
Given that technological transition, Apple is apparently waiting to see how well Intel fulfills this year's order. If Intel underdelivers, Qualcomm will make up the balance on top of the 30% it's already planning to provide. There's also a chance that if Intel can produce enough chips on time and on budget it could get more than the planned 70%, our source says.
Intel is reportedly not hitting its expected modem chip yield rates at the current time, with just over half of chips produced coming out in an acceptable quality. Intel engineers are, however, confident that yield rates can be pushed up before production ramps up in the summer months.
While Intel may not be Apple's sole supplier for modem chips in 2018, if its chip production speeds up and kinks are worked out, Apple will transition solely to Intel for its 2019 iPhone lineup, effectively cutting ties with Qualcomm.
Apple first adopted Intel chips in the iPhone 7, released in 2016, moving away from Qualcomm as its sole supplier. Since early 2017, Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in a bitter legal battle, which has led to Apple's efforts to cease using Qualcomm chips all together.
When Sonos introduced the new Sonos One back in October, the company confirmed it would add AirPlay 2 support to Sonos speakers later in 2018.
At the time, Sonos did not specify which of its devices would support the new protocol, but Sonos has offered some clarification in the form of a new blog post that includes AirPlay 2 details.
According to Sonos, native AirPlay 2 support will be available on the Playbase, the newest version of the Play:5, and the Sonos One.
Older Sonos speakers will not support AirPlay 2 on their own due to processor limitations, but they can be paired with the Playbase, the Play:5, or the Sonos One to enable AirPlay 2 functionality. A Sonos Play:1 grouped with a Sonos One, for example, will support AirPlay 2.
The computing platforms and software architecture in some of the older Sonos players like Play:3 and Play:1 simply don’t have the horsepower to support AirPlay 2. The original Play:1, for example, has about 1/16th the processing power of its modern equivalent, the Sonos One. But by taking advantage of newer Sonos hardware, we’re able to make AirPlay 2 funtionality available throughout the house on speakers old and new.
Apple thus far has not released AirPlay 2, despite the fact that it was first introduced as a feature of iOS 11 back in June of 2017. AirPlay 2 functionality was initially included in iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3 betas, but it was pulled ahead of the release of those updates.
AirPlay 2 functionality is now included in iOS 11.4 and tvOS 11.4, but it is not yet clear if the features will be included in the final version of the software.
Starting with macOS Sierra in 2016, Apple introduced support for Siri on the Mac, allowing you to access the personal assistant across all of your Apple devices for the first time.
Siri on Mac can actually do quite a few useful things that aren't available on iOS devices, and because the technology is still rather new on Apple's desktop and laptop machines, we thought we'd highlight some of the most useful Siri commands on the Mac.
Siri on Mac can be accessed from the menu bar, the dedicated Siri app that can be added to the dock, or through a keyboard shortcut like Command + Space. You can manage your Siri preferences and options by opening up System Preferences and choosing "Siri" from the options at the bottom of the window.
One of the simplest and most useful ways to use Siri is to open apps without accessing the dock or finding the app in the applications folder. You can ask Siri to "open the Calendar app" or "open Evernote."
Open works with any app on your Mac, and it also works with websites and files. Some sample commands:
Open MacRumors.com
Open Google.com
Open the Applications Folder
Open the iCloud Drive folder
Siri's "Show Me" command on macOS works hand in hand with the series of open commands. You can ask Siri to show you all kinds of files stored on your Mac, which makes it easier to search for specific content. You can also ask for files within apps like Photos. Some sample commands:
Show me my most recent files
Show me files from June 2017
Show me photos from April 2017
Show me photos from last week
Show me files from today
Show me privacy settings
Show me network settings
Siri is also interactive and can be used to turn settings on your Mac on and off, just like on iOS devices. Siri can turn on Night Shift, activate Bluetooth, turn off Wi-Fi, and more. Some sample commands:
Turn off Wi-Fi
Turn on Bluetooth
Activate the screensaver
Turn up the volume
Turn down the brightness
Go to sleep
Change my wallpaper
Another useful way to use Siri on the Mac is to get information about the Mac itself. You can ask Siri questions about the hardware installed on your Mac. Some sample commands:
How fast is my Mac?
What processor does my Mac have?
Tell me about my Mac
What is my Mac's serial number?
How much RAM does my Mac have?
How much storage do I have?
Siri can, of course, answer simple queries and provide information, just like you can do on iOS. Commands like "What time is it?" and "What's the weather?" are available, as are more complicated requests like "Find me a good restaurant nearby" or "Get me directions to the mall."
Do you use Siri for Mac? What are the most useful commands you've found? Let us know if we've missed any in the comments below.
Concert discovery app Bandsintown Concerts received a major update today, introducing native Apple Music integration to allow Apple Music subscribers to listen to music without needing to leave the Bandsintown app.
For those unfamiliar with Bandsintown, it's a website and app that's designed to allow users to discover when their favorite bands are performing live in their local area.
When you search for a performer in the Bandsintown app, or look for nearby concerts, you can now select an artist and listen to their catalogue of music to decide whether or not to purchase tickets to an event.
Bandsintown says the new feature is designed to help fans discover more artists, attend more shows, and help artists grow their fanbases.
Bandsintown managing partner Fabrice Sergent said the company is "thrilled" to offer fans access to Apple Music. "Promoting artist discovery is very important to us, and Apple Music subscribers can now browse and listen to an artist's catalog without having to switch between apps."
In addition to introducing Apple Music support, the new update to the Bandsintown iOS app also adds tools to make it easier for customers who do not currently subscribe to Apple Music to sign up for an account.
Though native Apple Music integration is new to the Bandsintown Concert app, it has previously worked with Spotify and Soundcloud.
Apple Music integration is available in the latest version of the Bandsintown Concerts app, which can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Jam City's highly anticipated game in the Harry Potter universe, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, saw a worldwide launch this morning on iOS and Android devices.
In Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, players are able to take on the role of a student at Hogwarts, going to classes, learning spells, building friendships, and making decisions in an "encounter system" that influences each player's personal story in Hogwarts castle.
Jam City co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolf said in early April that the company's goal with the game is to "make players really feel for the first time like they're attending Hogwarts."
The game takes place in the 1980s before Harry Potter attended Hogwarts, so players won't run into iconic characters like Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and others, but well-known professors and minor characters will be present to provide an engaging Hogwarts experience.
Jam City's new game uses six voice actors that starred in the Harry Potter movies, including Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall), Michael Gambon (Professor Dumbledore), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Sally Mortemore (Madam Irma Pince), Gemma Jones (Madam Pomfrey), and Zoe Wanamaker (Madam Hooch).
It's important to note that Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Mystery is not the promised Niantic augmented reality game that's also set in the Harry Potter universe. That app, titled Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is said to take cues from Pokémon Go, allowing players to explore real-world neighborhoods to discover, fight, and capture the fantastic beasts of the Harry Potter series.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite does not have a release date as of yet.
Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Mystery can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Snapchat today announced the launch of Snappables, which are new Snapchat Lenses that are designed to allow Snapchat users to play augmented reality games with their friends.
Interactive Snappable lenses are located right near other Snapchat Lenses in the Lens Carousel and can be accessed by tapping the icon on the left side of the capture button.
To use a Snappable, tap the Snappable icon and then follow the on-screen directions.
Some of the available Snappables let you create a dance party or a rock band with friends, while others are more game-like in nature and can be controlled through facial expressions, touch, and motion. You can play a game where you fight virtual aliens, for example, and then send a Snap to a friend to play along.
According to a Snapchat spokesperson, Snappables are the beginning of a new type of augmented reality experience on Snapchat. Prior to now, Lenses have focused on transforming your look or the world around you, while Snappables are sharable AR experiences.
In other Snapchat-related news, Snapchat parent company Snap is said to be planning to introduce new Spectacles later in the week. Little is known about the new glasses, and it's not yet clear if they will feature major design changes.
Snapchat can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
The iOS 11 operating system is installed on 76 percent of devices as of April 22, according to statistics Apple shared today on its App Store support page for developers.
That's up 11 percentage points since January 18, when iOS 11 was installed on 65 percent of devices, and 24 percentage points since November 6, when iOS 11 was installed on 52 percent of devices.
19 percent of devices continue to use iOS 10, while 5 percent of devices use earlier versions of iOS, such as iOS 9. Many of these devices are likely older and unable to be updated to the newest version of iOS.
iOS 11 adoption rates have been growing steadily, but adoption has been markedly slower than iOS 10. In February of 2017, for example, iOS 10 was installed on nearly 80 percent of active devices.
iOS 11 has been plagued by high-profile bugs and issues like the HomeKit bug, the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, and most notably, the iPhone slowdown controversy that saw Apple throttling the performance of older iPhones. Though not directly related to iOS 11, it's likely people shied away from updating after reading about the issue.
The 11 percent uptick in iOS 11 adoption from January to April can be attributed to the launch of iOS 11.2 in December and iOS 11.3 in March, both of which were major updates introducing key new features.
iOS 11.2 brought Apple Pay Cash and faster 7.5W wireless charging for Apple's newest devices, while iOS 11.3 included a new battery health tool, ARKit 1.5, a Health Records feature, and many other smaller changes.
iOS 11.4, which is in the works, is another update that could spur adoption, as it will introduce Messages on iCloud and AirPlay 2 if the features currently in testing make it into the release.
Customers may be wary of iOS 11, leading to somewhat slower adoption rates, but Apple's iOS 11 install base is beyond impressive compared to Google's adoption numbers for its latest operating system update.
As of April 16, just 0.5 percent of Android devices are running the newest version of Android Oreo, and only 4.6 percent of devices total have Oreo installed. The majority of Android users continue to run Android Lollipop, Marshmallow, and Nougat, operating systems that came out in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively.
Continuing its string of sales this week, Best Buy today launched a new 4-day sale that will end Saturday, April 28 at 11:59 p.m. CT. A variety of Apple products are included in the sale, including iPhone X, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iPad, with MacBook Pro prices in particular at about the lowest we've ever seen.
For the MacBook Pro, students and parents of students can get the latest model with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB hard drive for $1,399.99, down from $1,799.99. The $50 Student Deals bonus applies to all current-generation Mac notebooks.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Check out more information on the discounts in the list below:
iPhone X - Save up to $499.99 with eligible trade-in with Verizon
MacBook Pro - Save $350–$400 / as low as $1,399.99 with Student Deals
MacBook Air - Save $250–$300 / as low as $699.99 with Student Deals
Best Buy also still has a few ongoing trade-in offers for those interested in iPad or Apple Watch. For the iPad, you can get a minimum $125 Best Buy gift card when trading in select previous-generation iPad models. The Apple Watch offer nets you $70 or more to put toward an Apple Watch Series 3 when you trade in any working Apple Watch in-store only.
Head over to Best Buy to shop all of the 4-day sale's discounts, and then visit our Deals Roundup for more information on other sales and offers happening this week.
Lexus has announced that its first vehicle with CarPlay will be available in September 2018 at dealerships across the United States.
2019 Lexus ES
That vehicle will be the new 2019 Lexus ES, equipped with an eight-inch display controllable via a knob in the center console. The sedan also features Siri Eyes Free and Amazon Alexa voice control, but lacks Android Auto support. An optional navigation system with a 12.3-inch widescreen display will be available.
CarPlay will also be a standard feature in the all-new 2019 Lexus UX crossover, but that vehicle doesn't go on sale until December 2018.
Lexus has previously said its CarPlay implementation is wired, so an iPhone must be connected via USB. BMW remains the only automaker to offer wireless CarPlay in new vehicles, despite the functionality being introduced in 2015. Alpine Electronics sells an aftermarket wireless CarPlay system for other vehicles.
Lexus and its parent company Toyota first announced plans to offer CarPlay in January, after years of holding out on the platform. Toyota's rollout will begin with the 2019 Avalon, available in May at dealerships in the United States, to be followed by the 2019 RAV4 and 2019 Corolla Hatchback later this year.
Toyota and Lexus plan to expand CarPlay to several other 2019 model year vehicles with Entune 3.0 and Enform 2.0 systems respectively. The rollout will likely include the yet-to-be-announced 2019 Camry and 2019 Sienna, given the 2018 models of those vehicles are already equipped with Entune 3.0 systems.
A spokesperson for Toyota and Lexus previously told MacRumors that they do not currently plan to offer CarPlay in pre-2019 vehicles.
Google launched its redesigned Gmail web interface today, introducing several new features including some the company trialed in its Inbox for Gmail app. The launch is a phased rollout, so not all users will have immediate access to all the changes listed below, and those who do will need to opt-in to them.
The major visual difference comes in the form of a new right-hand sidebar that provides multiple options for customization. Users can choose to add Google Calendar, Google Keep, or Google Tasks in the side window, or collapse it completely and focus only on their inbox. Likewise, the left-hand panel can be collapsed now, too.
The inbox view has also been updated with the ability to perform actions on messages without opening them. Hovering over an email with the mouse cursor displays buttons to archive, delete, mark as read, and a new "snooze" feature.
Opting to snooze an email hides the message until later in the day, tomorrow, or later in the week. The function has been brought over from Inbox for Gmail, but currently there doesn't seem to be any way to activate it for an email that's currently open.
Google has also introduced a new AI-powered feature that "nudges" the user to follow up and respond to messages it thinks are important, offering up quick reminders for them to take action. Also, the smart reply function has been brought over from the Gmail mobile apps, allowing users to respond to emails quicker.
In addition, Gmail is rolling out a number of security/privacy features in the coming weeks, one of which is a new confidential mode. This lets the sender set a time-limit in which a message can be accessed, should the email contain sensitive information. It works by sending a link to the content in your inbox that the recipient clicks, rather than sending the content in the email itself.
There will also be a new two-factor authentication (2FA) option for confidential individual messages, which means recipients can be asked to authenticate with a passcode via SMS message before they're granted access to the content of an email.
Elsewhere, Gmail now includes integrated rights management (IRM), which allows business users to block the forwarding, copying, downloading, or printing of specific messages, offering a welcome extra line of defense against accidentally sharing certain emails.
Also new under the hood are a series of machine learning algorithms to help protect users from phishing scams. The user-facing element of this redesign comes in the form of warning banners and color-coded alerts.
In tandem with the web interface redesign, Google is also launching a new Google Tasks mobile app later today on both iOS and Android. For more information on the new Gmail web features, click here.
In the Notes app in macOS, it's possible to float individual notes over other windows so that they stay visible regardless of which application is active.
This makes for a convenient way to reference an existing note while writing an essay or report, for example. It also comes in useful if you want to take notes when researching something online. Keep reading to learn how it's done.
Amazon today updated its Alexa app for iOS devices to introduce iPhone X compatibility, allowing the app to be displayed full screen on the longer display of the iPhone X.
Prior to today, the Amazon Alexa app displayed unattractive black bars at the bottom and top of the app, so this should be a welcome change for Amazon users who have an iPhone X. The addition of Alexa support comes just over a month after Amazon promised the update was in the works.
The Alexa app for iOS is designed to be a companion to Alexa devices, allowing iPhone users to set up and manage Alexa-enabled equipment.
While many popular apps have been updated with support for the display of the iPhone X, there are still some notable holdouts even months after the release of the new smartphone. Inbox by Gmail, for example, continues to lack iPhone X support, as do several Apple apps, including iTunes Connect, iTunes Remote, and AirPort Utility.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is attending the first state dinner of the Trump administration, which is honoring French president Emmanuel Macron, according to CNN. Cook is accompanied by Apple vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives Lisa Jackson.
Guests at the dinner, which is taking place in the White House State Dining Room, will dine on a goat cheese gateau with tomato jam and buttermilk biscuit crumbles, a rack of spring lamb with Carolina Gold rice jambalaya and a burnt cipollini onion soubise, and a nectarine tart with crème fraîche ice cream.
Other state dinner attendees, aside from President Donald Trump and Melania Trump along with President Macron and his wife, include Vice President Mike Pence, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Rupert Murdoch, Olympic curler John Shuster, hockey player Meghan Duggan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Approximately 150 guests are attending.
Cook has met with Trump several times in the past, attending a December 2016 tech summit and a meeting of the American Technology Council put together by Trump. Most recently, Cook was in Washington D.C. to meet with Senators Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Richard Burr (R-North Carolina).
Update: Cook will have a private meeting with Trump in the Oval Office at 1:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, according to a copy of his schedule obtained by Bloomberg and other media outlets.
Update 2: Trump has now confirmed the meeting and says the discussion will be focused on trade agreements between the United States and other countries.
Looking forward to my meeting with Tim Cook of Apple. We will be talking about many things, including how the U.S. has been treated unfairly for many years, by many countries, on trade.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2018
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Grayshift, the company that makes the GrayKey iPhone unlocking boxes that have been sold to multiple law enforcement agencies across the United States, recently suffered a data breach that allowed hackers to access a small portion of the GrayKey code, reports VICE's Motherboard.
Last week, unknown hackers leaked portions of the GrayKey code and demanded two bitcoin from Grayshift with the threat of additional data being leaked. According to Motherboard, the code in question "does not appear to be particularly sensitive," but Grayshift did confirm that a "brief" data leak had occurred.
Indeed, Grayshift told Motherboard in a statement "Due [to] a network misconfiguration at a customer site, a GrayKey unit's UI was exposed to the internet for a brief period of time earlier this month."
"During this time, someone accessed the HTML/Javascript that makes up our UI. No sensitive IP or data was exposed, as the GrayKey was being validation tested at the time. We have since implemented changes to help our customers prevent unauthorized access," the statement added.
Grayshift says that no sensitive IP or data was exposed, and Motherboard confirms that the leaked code appears to be related to the user interface that displays messages on the GrayKey, but it's clear that Grayshift security is not airtight, raising questions about what kind of data might be accessible to hackers.
The GrayKey is a small, portable gray box equipped with dual Lightning cables. An iPhone is plugged into one of the cables to install proprietary software that's able to guess the passcode to an iPhone in as little as a few hours to a few days, based on the strength of the passcode.
GrayKey, which is priced starting at $15,000, can crack the latest iPhones running modern versions of iOS, including iOS 11. While the box is designed to provide law enforcement officials with easy access to locked iPhones for criminal investigations, there have been fears that the GrayKey technology could fall into the wrong hands.
The box has been sold to multiple law enforcement agencies across the country, and the data breach that Grayshift suffered, however inconsequential, is not at all reassuring for those who are worried about the security of the GrayKey boxes. The underlying functionality that allows the GrayKey to crack iPhones could be discovered and replicated, and the GrayKey boxes themselves are said to download data from cracked iPhones, which could also be at risk in a data breach.
According to Motherboard, Grayshift has not paid the extortionists their two bitcoin fee, as the Bitcoin addresses provided have received no funds. An additional Bitcoin address promising to provide interested parties with GrayKey information has also not received funds.
Grayshift says that "changes" have been made to help customers prevent unauthorized access to GrayKey boxes in the future, but Motherboard discovered another exposed GrayKey device broadcasting similar code.
Using the computer search engine Shodan, Motherboard found a seemingly exposed GrayKey device, broadcasting similar chunks of code to the open internet.
"To brute force a complex alphanumeric passcode, upload a custom password dictionary. If a dictionary is not uploaded, GrayKey will not attempt to brute force custom alphanumeric passcodes," one section of the apparent device's code reads.
The technology used for the GrayKey will likely be outdated at some point through updates to the iOS operating system, but as far as we know now, it's still functional for even the latest versions of iOS and the newest iOS devices, including the iPhone X.
Those worried about GrayKey and similar technologies can implement stronger and more secure passcodes and passwords that are more difficult to guess through brute forcing to prevent these kinds of tools from working. A 6-digit numeric passcode, Apple's default, can be guessed in as little as 11 hours, but an 8-digit numeric code can take over a month, while a 10-digit numeric code can take years.
Security experts recommend alphanumeric passcodes that are at least seven characters long with numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and symbols included. The longer the password, the more secure it is from GrayKey-style guessing methods. For more information on Grayshift's data breach, check out Motherboard's full report.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Apple has stopped offering financing options to customers in the United Kingdom, as indicated by the elimination of its UK financing page, which was removed from the UK Apple site this afternoon.
Apple previously allowed customers in the UK to sign up for financing on Apple products through PayPal Credit or Barclays when checking out from the online Apple Store. PayPal Credit could be used on purchases with a £99 minimum, while Barclays was available for purchases over £399.
When making a purchase through the Apple site in the UK, there are now no financing options to select at checkout, and the finance pages that were previously available now redirect to the main UK site.
Apple also continues to offer financing options for educational institutions in the UK, and financing on iPhones continues to be available through the UK iPhone Upgrade Program in partnership with Barclays.
Verizon, the largest carrier in the United States by subscriber count, saw a monthly subscriber increase of 260,000 during the first quarter of 2018, reports Bloomberg, largely due to an increased number of smart watch activations.
The company actually lost phone and tablet subscribers last quarter, but the dip in subscribers did not hurt its bottom line because of smart watches, wearables, and other connected devices like vehicles.
Image via Bloomberg
Verizon says it added a total of 359,000 subscribers who are using smart watches and other devices during the quarter, making up for the loss of 24,000 phone customers and 75,000 tablet customers.
There was no breakdown in the number of activations by specific device, but Verizon's jump in smart watch subscribers comes following the September release of the Apple Watch Series 3, the first Apple Watch with LTE connectivity.
The Apple Watch Series 3 allows customers to use the Apple Watch sans iPhone for the first time, as it has its own cellular connection. Verizon and other carriers charge customers $10 per month to add a smart watch to an existing smartphone plan.
Verizon shared the numbers during its first quarter 2018 earnings results, released this morning. Verizon stock has since surged as much as 3.6 percent.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
to shop all of the 4-day sale's discounts, and then visit our 
