MacRumors

The high-end models of the upcoming iPhone 13 lineup, such as the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro and ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max, will feature an upgraded ultra-wide camera with autofocus, compared to the current fixed focal ultra-wide camera on ‌iPhone‌ 12 models, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in an investors note obtained by MacRumors.

Compared to the current fixed-focus lens on the ultra-wide camera on the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup, autofocus on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro and Pro Max will help deliver crisper and sharper images, regardless of the distance a specific subject is from the lens. Kuo has previously stated that the ‌iPhone‌ 13 will feature several other camera improvements, including improved low-light performance.

Looking more long-term, Kuo today shared additional information on the ‌iPhone‌ 14, destined for 2022. According to Kuo, while autofocus on the ‌iPhone‌ 13 ultra-wide camera will be limited to the high-end Pro models only, Apple plans to expand autofocus for the ultra-wide camera to all four models of the iPhone 14 lineup.

In the first edition of his new Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman said Apple is exploring future iPads with larger displays, although he added that a potential release is likely at least a few years away if ever.

An excerpt from Gurman's newsletter, which also covers some reshuffling of the Apple Car team, Peloton working on a heart rate monitor, and more:

I'm told that Apple has engineers and designers exploring larger iPads that could hit stores a couple of years down the road at the earliest. They're unlikely for next year—with Apple's attention on a redesigned iPad Pro in the current sizes for 2022—and it's possible they never come at all. But a big iPad would be the perfect device for many people, including me, and would continue to blur the lines between tablet and laptop.

The current iPad Pro comes in 11-inch and 12.9-inch display sizes. In a previous Bloomberg report, Gurman and Debby Wu said Apple is testing a new iPad Pro with a glass back that would support wireless charging for release in 2022.

Larger display sizes would help further blur the lines between the iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro, which is available with up to a 16-inch display. However, many customers still believe iPadOS does not take full advantage of the iPad Pro's hardware, and Gurman opined that Apple ultimately needs to allow Mac apps and Mac-like multitasking with more flexible arrangements of app windows on the iPad Pro.

Apple last updated the iPad Pro in April with its custom-designed M1 chip, Thunderbolt support, 5G connectivity on cellular models, a mini-LED display on the 12.9-inch model, up to 2TB of storage, up to 16GB of RAM, and more.

In a support document updated this week, Apple shared a list of products that should be kept a safe distance away from medical devices, such as implanted pacemakers and defibrillators, due to potential magnetic interference.

To avoid any potential interference with medical devices, Apple says to keep the products listed below a safe distance away from medical devices — more than six inches apart or more than 12 inches apart if the Apple product is wirelessly charging. Apple says to consult with a physician and the device manufacturer for specific guidelines.

AirPods and charging cases
• AirPods and Charging Case
• AirPods and Wireless Charging Case
• AirPods Pro and Wireless Charging Case
• AirPods Max and Smart Case

Apple Watch and accessories
• Apple Watch
• Apple Watch bands with magnets
• Apple Watch magnetic charging accessories

HomePod
• HomePod
• HomePod mini

iPad and accessories
• iPad
• iPad mini
• iPad Air
• iPad Pro
• iPad Smart Covers and Smart Folios
• iPad Smart Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio
• Magic Keyboard for iPad

iPhone and MagSafe accessories
• iPhone 12 models
• MagSafe accessories

Mac and accessories
• Mac mini
• Mac Pro
• MacBook Air
• MacBook Pro
• iMac
• Apple Pro Display XDR

Beats
• Beats Flex
• Beats X
• PowerBeats Pro
• UrBeats3

Certain other Apple products contain magnets that are unlikely to interfere with medical devices, the support document says.

Earlier this month, the American Heart Association said in a small study of different types of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators, 11 of 14 cardiac devices experienced interference when an iPhone 12 Pro Max was held close to the cardiac device (within 1.5 cm), even when the medical device was still in the manufacturer's sealed package.

"We have always known that magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices, however, we were surprised by the strength of the magnets used in the iPhone 12 magnet technology," said lead study investigator Dr. Michael Wu, a cardiologist at Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brown University. "In general, a magnet can change a pacemaker's timing or deactivate a defibrillator's lifesaving functions, and this research indicate the urgency for everyone to be aware that electronic devices with magnets can interfere with cardiac implantable electronic devices."

In January, research shared in the Heart Rhythm Journal indicated that iPhone 12 models can "potentially inhibit lifesaving therapy in a patient" due to magnetic interference with implantable medical devices. Three doctors in Michigan tested this interaction by holding an iPhone 12 near a patient's implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which immediately went into a "suspended" state for the duration of the test.

Since the iPhone 12 lineup launched in October, Apple has acknowledged that the devices may cause electromagnetic interference with medical devices like pacemakers and defibrillators. However, in its updated support document published on June 25, Apple no longer states that iPhone 12 models are "not expected to pose a greater risk of magnetic interference to medical devices than prior iPhone models."

Apple provides more information on safety in the Important Safety Information sections of the user guides for Apple products.

Adobe this week reminded customers that its Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw apps will no longer be available for download on iOS and Android starting July 19. Adobe plans to stop supporting the apps for existing users on January 10, 2022.

In a support document, Adobe said users can easily migrate to its Fresco app, which combines many Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw drawing and painting tools. All projects created in Illustrator Draw and Photoshop Sketch will be automatically migrated to Fresco after a user signs into the app with their Adobe ID email address.

Existing users can continue to use Photoshop Sketch and Illustrator Draw after July 19, with all artwork and projects remaining available, but Adobe said it will not add any new features or updates to the apps once they are discontinued.

Adobe Fresco first launched on the iPad in 2019 and expanded to the iPhone last year. The app is free on the App Store, with premium features available for $9.99.

This week saw an interesting mix of news and rumors, led by a new report from Ming-Chi Kuo outlining some of his expectations for the 2022 iPhone models.

We also saw the second betas of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, a claim that Apple has already stopped production of the iPhone 12 mini amid slow sales, and a report that Apple is clamping down on some prominent leakers, so read on for details on all of these stories and more!

iPhone 14 May Feature Under-Screen Touch ID

Apple may include an under-screen version of Touch ID on some "iPhone 14" models in 2022, according to credible Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, providing users with an alternative to Face ID.

In a wide-ranging research note this week, Kuo added that a new iPhone SE will be released in the first half of 2022 with 5G support and other new features, while remaining a budget-friendly device. Kuo also expects a 48-megapixel camera on some high-end iPhones next year.

As for this year, iPhone 13 dummy models surfaced this week, offering a closer look at rumored design changes.

Apple Developing a Whole New Kind of MacBook Air

Apple is working on a completely new, high-end version of the MacBook Air for release as early as later this year, according to recent reports.

The new MacBook Air would likely feature a faster iteration of Apple's custom M1 chip for ultra-fast performance in a lightweight design. The current base model MacBook Air with the M1 chip already outperforms a maxed-out Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro in benchmarks.

Apple Seeds Second Betas of iOS and iPadOS 15 to Developers

Two and a half weeks after releasing the first betas of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 following the WWDC keynote, Apple this week seeded the second beta versions to developers. Parallel beta updates for watchOS 8 and tvOS 15 were also released, but we've yet to see a second beta of macOS Monterey.

The second betas of iOS and iPadOS 15 fix a number of bugs, and also introduce a few new features that weren't in the first betas, including initial support for SharePlay functionality in FaceTime and the ability for apps to request access to additional RAM to improve performance.

Check out our tidbits article for more on the changes in the second beta releases, and if you're not a registered Apple developer but you want to try out the upcoming operating system versions ahead of their official launch in the fall, Apple should be releasing the initial public beta versions shortly.

Apple Warns Leakers to Stop Leaking Information

A credible Apple leaker known as "Kang" and a number of other leakers reportedly received warning letters from lawyers representing Apple this week.

"Kang" has been one of the most reliable Apple leakers over the last few years, with several detailed leaks about Apple's future product and software plans that turned out to be correct, and Apple's letter essentially suggests that continued leaks of this nature may result in legal action.

20 Annoyances Apple Fixed in iOS 15 and macOS Monterey

With iOS 15 and macOS Monterey, Apple is adding several quality of life improvements, which are designed to address some of the complaints that people have had with these operating systems for years now.

On our YouTube channel, we recently shared a video highlighting some of our favorite "fixes" that address long-running problems in iOS and macOS, as well as features that bring significant improvements to usability of the platforms.

iPhone 12 Mini Reaches 'End of Life' Earlier Than Expected Due to Low Sales

Following widespread reports that the iPhone 12 mini has experienced poor sales performance, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce this week claimed that production of the device has already ended.

According to TrendForce, the iPhone 12 mini "reached End-of-Life ahead of time," suggesting that Apple and resellers will focus on selling through existing inventory of the device without manufacturing any further units.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Starting with iOS and iPadOS 15 later this fall, hotspot connections from iPhones and iPads will be secured with the improved WPA3 security protocol, offering improved security and upgraded measures in place to prevent password guessing.

WPA3 was announced by the Wi-Fi Alliance in June of 2018 with the goal to "simplify Wi-Fi security, enable more robust authentication, and deliver increased cryptographic strength." On iOS 14, hotspot connections from an iPhone or iPad are secured only with WPA2, and now on updates coming later this fall, connections will be further protected with WPA3.

Apple's products have been able to connect to networks with WPA3 security for several years, but until now, personal hotspot networks set up by those devices have only supported the older and weaker WPA2 standard.

For the typical user, the hotspot connection experience on iOS 15 will remain the same; however, there are added benefits. Despite recommendations to create strong, complicated, and advanced passwords for hotspot connections, many users continue to use simple passwords that may be easily guessed. WPA3 specifically targets such use cases, as it uses "more resilient, password-based authentication" that offers "stronger protections for users against password guessing attempts by third parties."

iOS and iPadOS 15 are currently being tested with developers, with a public beta being planned for later this summer. Check out our guide to see everything that's new.

(Thanks, Noah!)

For this week's giveaway, we're teaming up with BluShark to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a prize pack that includes an aluminum Apple Watch Series 6 and a BluShark Apple Watch Band.

BluShark makes a whole range of Apple Watch bands along with bands for other watches. Apple Watch bands are available in materials that include Leather, Cordura, CanvaSoft, and an AlphaPremier seatbelt weave. All of the bands are affordable, ranging in price from $24 to $78, and there are designs for both 38/40mm models and the larger 42/44mm models. Each band comes with Apple Watch lugs in silver, space gray, or black to match the Apple Watch models.

Leather bands from BluShark come in a variety of fashionable styles and colors. The Rally band, for example, has a perforated design and comes in brown, black, and red, while Italian Calfskin Leather bands are available in blue, black, and gray.

BluShark's Leather Basics bands come in vintage gray, vintage brown, and saddle brown, and each of these has an attractive weathered look and a soft leather design that makes them comfortable to wear. There are also crocodile leather bands, ostrich leather bands, and Two Switch Leather Bands with a classic look.

BluShark's Cordura bands use ultra strong and lightweight Cordura fabric, which is wear resistant and will hold up over time. They're thinly padded with leather so they're comfortable to wear, and they come in black, silver, blue, tan, and orange.

The CanvaSoft bands, available for $24, are made from a soft canvas material that's meant to provide a rugged canvas look without the stiffness that's normally associated with a canvas watch bands. They're 1.9mm thick and designed to be soft and pliable. CanvaSoft bands come in black, gray, and blue.

BluShark's AlphaPremier bands are made from a soft, supple seatbelt weave nylon and are modeled after BluShark's original AlphaPremier bands for traditional watches. The straps are dual-layer and held in place with nylon keepers, with the band available in black, blue, gray, and several striped colors, plus there's a rainbow Pride version.

We have one aluminum Apple Watch Series 6 to give away, with the winner to choose the size, color, and accompanying Sport Band or Sport Loop, plus it will come with one of BluShark's own bands.

To enter to win our giveaway, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

BluShark Giveaway

The contest will run from today (June 25) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on July 2. The winners will be chosen randomly on July 2 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.

Last month, Belkin introduced the Soundform Connect Audio Adapter with AirPlay 2, letting users turn their traditional speakers into AirPlay 2-enabled devices.

MacRumors videographer Dan has now had a chance to spend some time with the accessory, so check out our latest video for a look at the setup process, using standalone speakers via ‌AirPlay‌, and integrating those speakers into a whole-home setup with other ‌AirPlay‌ 2 speakers.

Physical setup is dead simple, with a USB-C port on one side for power and both optical and 3.5mm analog audio out jacks on the other side, letting you easily connect it to your existing powered speakers, receiver, or amplifier.

As is to be expected with ‌AirPlay‌ 2 devices, software setup is simple, with the Home app walking you through the process to get the dongle added to your existing home configuration. Once that's done, it's just a simple matter of selecting it as your audio output destination on your iOS or Mac device.

With ‌AirPlay‌ 2, you can use your newly connected speakers as part of a multi-room setup incorporating other speakers like HomePods, with audio output being synced across all speakers.

Integration with the Home app also gives you the ability to incorporate your speakers into scenes and other automations.

The Soundform Connect Audio Adapter with AirPlay 2 is priced at $99.99, so it's not exactly cheap, but if you got a nice sound system that lacks ‌AirPlay‌ support, this adapter can add some very useful functionality.

The Apple Watch ECG (electrocardiogram) functionality has received regulatory approval in China, giving Apple the all-clear to launch the feature for Apple Watch users in the country.

According to a new document posted today by China's National Medical Products Administration, Apple has received approval for an ECG. The filing doesn't offer any details about when the feature may launch to Chinese Apple Watch users; however, posts on Chinese social network Weibo, spotted by ITHome, suggest that the feature is already live on the latest watchOS 8 betas.

With the Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, and Series 6, users can take an ECG by placing their finger on the Digital Crown while they wear their watch. The Apple Watch, using an array of onboard sensors, reads the electrical pulses from a wearer's heart. The reading, which can be viewed as a PDF through the Health app on the paired iPhone, can detect if a user's heart is out of rhythm and possibly experiencing atrial fibrillation.

ECG on the Apple Watch most recently launched in Australia and Vietnam as part of the watchOS 7.4 update.

This month, "Legends of Kingdom Rush," "Game Dev Story+," "Frenzic: Overtime," "INKS.+," and "Leo's Fortune+" arrived on Apple Arcade, joining the expanding library of almost 200 games already on Apple's exclusive-based mobile gaming subscription service.

While there were no new games in May, in April, ‌Apple Arcade‌ gained over 30 games, including a large number of classic titles such as "Cut the Rope Remastered," "Monument Valley," "Mini Metro," "Fruit Ninja Classic," and more, as well as originals such as "Fantasian," from the creator of the Final Fantasy series. In June, five new games joined the platform in the strategy, simulation, puzzle, casual, and action genres.

June 11: Legends of Kingdom Rush

The first game to arrive on ‌Apple Arcade‌ this month was was Legends of Kingdom Rush, a turn-based combat strategy game set in a medieval fantasy world.

Legends of Kingdom Rush urges players to lead a party of heroes to stop an attacker using an easy-to-learn combat system. The game features unlockable characters including five Legendary Heroes and 11 Companion Heroes, each with different traits. There are over 100 narrative events as players fight their way through lush forests, rugged mountains, and devastated wastelands.

Players strategically move their heroes on a hex-based grid to best fit their skills and the wider combat tactic, and there is the option to switch and match heroes and companions to make a perfect match for each battle.

June 17: Game Dev Story+

Game Dev Story+ is a classic simulation game that allows players to manage their own video game company as they try to create a bestselling game.

In the simulation, players can develop their company's own games console, change staff member's positions, hire new people into jobs like programmer or sound engineer, and train them to develop skills. As staff gain more experience, they unlock a wider array of game genres and content to develop. Players can try to find the most popular combinations and develop for the latest platforms for the best chance of success.

June 18: Frenzic: Overtime

Frenzic: Overtime is an ‌Apple Arcade‌ Original puzzle game, featuring fast-faced gameplay, multiple game modes, and the ability to play in either landscape or portrait mode.

Life on the factory floor at Frenzic Industries can be a bit chaotic as players assemble Power Cores for the new ZAPBOTs. As players meet their shift goals in a timely manner, they'll be promoted to more rewarding positions on the assembly line. Players will face over 45 levels, multiple gameplay modes and hundreds of mini-goals as they uncover the secrets of Frenzic Industries, and ultimately, save the world.

The game offers over 45 levels, hundreds of mini-goals, tips and strategy advice from an in-game InfoBot, powerups to increase your abilities, and more.

June 25: INKS.+ and Leo's Fortune+

The last games of this month are INKS.+ and Leo's Fortune+, two fan-favorite games that have joined ‌Apple Arcade‌'s growing selection of classic content.

INKS.+ is an award-winning new take on the classic pinball game, combining pinball with tactical challenges, all while allowing players to see colors burst out as the ball smashes around the canvas, building up in vivid layers and recording a visual history of your game as you perfect your score.

INKS.+ features over 100 unique tables, balanced gameplay, canvases that tell the story of your individual games, and the ability to share favorite levels and highscores.

Leo's Fortune+ is another classic iOS game, offering a platform adventure game where players seek to hunt down the mysterious thief that stole their gold by following a trail. Players must voyage through mossy forests, arid deserts, pirate cities, and snowy mountains while surviving traps and solving physics-based puzzles through 24 levels.

It appears that Leo's Fortune officially launches today, but it may have been available for some users a few weeks ago on June 11.

Coming Soon: Solitaire Stories

There are five games slated to arrive on ‌Apple Arcade‌ soon, including "Angry Birds Reloaded," "Doodle God Universe," "Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City," and "Jetpack Joyride+." "Solitaire Stories" is the first game set to arrive next month, expected as soon as July 2.

Legends of Kingdom Rush, Game Dev Story+, Frenzic: Overtime, INKS.+, and Leo's Fortune+ are available on the App Store now. Keep an eye out throughout July for more new games.

‌Apple Arcade‌ is priced at $4.99 per month with a one-month free trial available to test it out. Apple also has a one-year subscription option available for $49.99 per year, a savings of $9.89 over the monthly price, and it is also available as part of all tiers of Apple One, starting at $14.95 per month.

Today marks the launch of Apple's new Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds, with pre-orders beginning to arrive to customers and same-day pickup now available at select Apple Stores in the United States and Canada. Additional retailers like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart are also selling the earbuds, which come in white, black, and red.

Priced at $149.99, the Beats Studio Buds feature a compact round design without any "stems" dropping below the ears. Like the AirPods Pro, the Beats Studio Buds feature active noise cancellation, and when you need to hear the world around you, you can switch to Transparency mode by pressing and holding the Beats logo button on either earbud.

Apple shared several new Beats Studio Buds support documents today:

• Set up and use your Beats Studio Buds
• Charge your Beats Studio Buds
• Reset your Beats Studio Buds
• Beats Studio Buds Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode
• If your Beats Studio Buds are lost

While the Beats Studio Buds support one-touch pairing for both Apple and Android devices via Bluetooth, they don't include Apple's H1 or W1 chip, so they're missing some AirPods features like automatic switching between Apple devices.

Other key features of the Beats Studio Buds include up to five hours of listening time per charge with active noise cancellation turned on, hands-free "Hey Siri" support, IPX4-rated sweat and water resistance, Find My support, and a USB-C charging case. To learn more about the Beats Studio Buds, make sure to read our in-depth hands-on review.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Google has announced its is rolling out Google Fi's built-in VPN service to iPhone subscribers, giving iOS users another way to ensure that their connection is secure and private on a cellular or Wi-Fi network.

The rollout is a little later than expected, having previously been touted for release in the spring, and Google has said in a tweet that not all ‌iPhone‌ on Google Fi users will have immediate access to the VPN feature. However, the company says it should be widely available "over the coming weeks."

Using the VPN, users can stream, browse, and download over an encrypted, private connection, which is especially important for unsecured public Wi-Fi. As well as encrypting all traffic between a computer and the internet, VPNs also prevent websites from tracking a user's location by masking their IP address.

Google Fi's VPN rollout comes ahead of a new upcoming online privacy feature from Apple called Private Relay. Exclusive to paying iCloud+ subscribers, Private Relay is not being advertised as a VPN by Apple nor is it a like-for-like replacement for one, but it does encrypt Safari browser traffic and uses multiple relay "hops" or proxies to securely route that data and keep it private.

Apple is taking a major stride that will allow developers to improve the performance of their apps on iPhones and iPads, by giving apps the ability to access more of a device's memory or RAM starting later this fall.

Currently, apps are limited to the amount of RAM they can use, regardless of the amount available on the device. For example, despite the highest-end M1 iPad Pro featuring 16GB of RAM, on iPadOS 14, apps are limited to only use 5GB. 16GB of RAM is the highest amount of RAM ever offered in an iPhone or iPad, and the 5GB limitation means that apps aren't able to utilize even half of what the iPad Pro has to offer.

In the second betas of iOS and iPadOS 15, released to developers yesterday, Apple is introducing a new entitlement that developers may request that will expose their apps to more memory. Apple says that this entitlement will inform the system that an app "may perform better by exceeding the default app memory limit." Apple's developer documentation doesn't specify how much extra RAM an app may be exposed to and also says this is limited to "supported devices."

Add this entitlement to your app to inform the system that some of your app's core features may perform better by exceeding the default app memory limit on supported devices. If you use this entitlement, make sure your app still behaves correctly if additional memory isn't available.

While Apple doesn't specify the amount of extra RAM an app may request, the wording of the documentation, which advises developers to use a function to "determine the amount of memory available," suggests the ceiling of memory apps may request may be relatively high.

It's unlikely that Apple will allow developers to utilize the full amount of memory on a device. While that scenario may be useful for high-end professional apps on the iPad Pro, it would significantly slow down the system and make it harder to multitask with different apps. Users of the iPad Pro, and more so recently thanks to the M1 iPad Pro, have complained that iPadOS is limiting the true potential performance of the iPad.

Despite many users' hopes, iPadOS 15 didn’t introduce any significant features that took full advantage of the hardware of the iPad, specifically the M1-powered iPad Pro. However, the ability for apps to request access to more on-device RAM will go a long way in apps being able to utilize even more of what a device has to offer.

The new entitlement is available for developers to test, but it won't be made available to apps on the App Store until this fall when iOS and iPadOS 15, alongside watchOS 8, tvOS 15, and macOS Monterey are made available.

Western Digital is advising owners of its My Book Live storage drives to disconnect them from the internet until further notice, following reports from around the world that some devices have been compromised and wiped clean by malicious software.

The WD My Book Live is the company's network-attached storage device with the book-style design that can stand upright on a desk. The drive is typically connected to computers via USB and connects to a local network via ethernet. Meanwhile, the WD My Book Live app lets users access their stored files remotely through Western Digital's cloud servers.

As reported by BleepingComputer, My Book Live and Live Duo device owners on Thursday began flooding Western Digital's support forums with reports that all of their files had been mysteriously deleted and that they could no longer access the device via the offical app or a browser.

"I have a WD My Book live connected to my home LAN that's worked fine for years," wrote the first poster in a now-long thread. "I have just found that somehow all the data on it is gone today, while the directories seems there but empty. Previously the 2T volume was almost full but now it shows full capacity."

When they attempted to log in using the drive's web dashboard, the drive told them they had an invalid password. Many other owners have also confirmed that their device has been hit with the same issue. "All my data is gone too," another user said. "I am totally screwed without that data... years of it."

Following further reports, a pattern has gradually emerged in shared device logs that points to a remote command initiating a factory reset on affected devices beginning at around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and continuing throughout the night.

Western Digital has advised customers in a new support notice to disconnect their My Book Live devices while the company investigates the destructive attacks. The company has since told BleepingComputer they are actively investigating the attacks but do not believe it was a compromise of their servers.

"Western Digital has determined that some My Book Live devices are being compromised by malicious software. In some cases, this compromise has led to a factory reset that appears to erase all data on the device. The My Book Live device received its final firmware update in 2015. We understand that our customers' data is very important. At this time, we recommend you disconnect your My Book Live from the Internet to protect your data on the device. We are actively investigating and we will provide updates to this thread when they are available."

If the company is correct in saying its servers haven't been hacked, it's unclear how so many My Book Live accounts could be compromised at or around the same time. We've asked for more information from Western Digital regarding the matter and will post an update to this story if we hear anything back, but the advice for device owners for now is clear: Disconnect your My Book Live.

Facebook has confirmed rumors that it is testing the ability for Instagram users to post to the picture-based social media platform using a web browser on a desktop computer.

With its focus on sharing photos taken with a smartphone camera, Facebook-owned Instagram has long been a mobile-centric social network that lacks many of its basic features in its web browser incarnation, including the ability to post.

In May, the first leaked images of web-based Instagram post creation tools surfaced, showing the ability to natively drag and drop photos and videos from a desktop computer for upload, as well as options to crop the content, apply filters, and compose accompanying text for publishing to feeds.

No official comment was forthcoming that could shed light on what appeared to be early internal testing of the feature. However, following another series of images shared courtesy of social media consultant Matt Navarra, Facebook has now publicly confirmed via Bloomberg that the feature is indeed in the works.

"We know that many people access Instagram from their computer," said Facebook spokeswoman Christine Pai. "To improve that experience, we're now testing the ability to create a Feed post on Instagram with their desktop browser."

There's still no word on an official Instagram app built specifically for iPad, but presumably a browser-based way of posting would offer an alternative option for tablet users.

Apple seeded the second betas of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to developers today for testing, and in addition to SharePlay being enabled in FaceTime, there are some other smaller changes and details that we've gathered up below.

First and foremost, Apple has fixed a long list of bugs in the second betas, as outlined in the release notes. For example, Apple has resolved an issue that caused iCloud Private Relay to function unexpectedly and more. The release notes also indicate the second beta of iPadOS 15 is not available for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro (WiFi + Cellular) released in 2015, although Apple did not provide a reason why.

There's a new Apple Maps icon visible in the second betas, with the Interstate 280 shield removed from the bottom-right corner.

As noted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the second beta of iPadOS 15 allows users to swipe from the bottom right to open the Quick Note toggle using a finger. This feature was announced at WWDC earlier this month, but it required an Apple Pencil in the first beta.

There are also new Memoji outfits and customization options, user interface tweaks across Safari and other apps, and a new splash screen for the redesigned Weather app, so be sure to check out the MacRumors forum thread with a running list of changes in the second betas.

As a developer beta, iOS 15 is officially only available to those enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, which costs $99 per year. A free public beta will be available in July, and the software update will be released in the fall.

Let us know in the comments section if you spot any other changes.