The team behind the "Checkra1n" jailbreaking tool for iOS has released version 0.11.0 of its software with support added for iOS 14, but only on a limited number of devices.
checkra1n 0.11.0 is now available, adding support for iOS 14 on A9(X) devices and below.
In a statement accompanying the announcement of the software release, the team said that it needed "more time to work around a new security mitigation" added by Apple before it could support jailbreaking iOS 14 on newer devices.
In iOS 14, Apple added a new mitigation to SEPOS on A10 and above (except on Apple TVs and iBridge): if the device was booted from DFU mode and the Secure Enclave receives a request to decrypt user data, it will panic the device. Since checkm8 does not give us control over the Secure Enclave, this is not trivial to workaround. However, with the recently published blackbird vulnerability, we are able to get control of the Secure Enclave on A10 and A10X and disable this mitigation. Support for A10 and A10X devices is being worked on and is expected to be ready in the coming weeks.
As a result of the security mitigation, the new version of "Checkra1n" works for iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 on the following devices.
The team said it hoped to support newer devices in the coming weeks, with support for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X to "be addressed in a future statement."
"Checkra1n" is made by the same security researchers responsible for last year's "checkm8" exploit, which was found on nearly every chip made by Apple and paved the way for a permanent, non-patchable jailbreak on hundreds of millions of affected iOS devices.
"Checkm8" was the first publicly available boot room exploit for iOS devices since the iPhone 4 in 2010.
On Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration moved to replace its acting chief scientist with a full-time hire. Ryan Maue, a hurricane researcher who has worked for a number of private weather companies, is taking over the position being vacated by Craig McLean.
Apple CEO Tim Cook this evening spoke at The Atlantic Festival where he discussed privacy, antitrust issues, remote work, and his relationship with United States President Donald Trump.
Cook's interview starts at about 15 minutes into the video
On the topic of the ongoing U.S. antitrust investigation into Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, Cook said that "big companies deserve scrutiny," something that's "fair but important" for the American government. He said he has "no issue" with Apple being investigated, and that he hopes people will ultimately hear Apple's story and come to see that the company is not a monopoly.
I think that big companies deserve scrutiny. And I think that's not only fair but important for the system that we have in America. And so I have no issue at all in Apple being put underneath the microscope and people looking and probing. My hope is that as people heard our story and as they continue to hear our story that it will become as apparent to them as it is to us that we have no monopoly. There is no monopoly here.
We're in very, very competitive markets like smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets and personal computers. These things are fiercely competitive. They're basically street fights for market share. Our core strategy as a company to make the best not the most... that basic strategy will never produce a monopoly. It's very rare, almost impossible for the best to become the most as well. Somebody will choose a commodity product and there's enough people that will buy the commodity product that it will have more share. And that's true in all of the different fields we're in.
I'm hoping people heard that and heard how we conduct ourselves because this is very important to us. We always do what we believe is right and conduct ourselves with the utmost integrity and professionalism. I hope that that came across and that we can unpeel from this investigation.
On his relationship with Trump and what it's like interacting with the President, Cook said that he views the specific conversations he's had with Trump as "private conversations" and wouldn't get into what's been discussed, but he did reiterate something he's said several times before: that it's better to be involved than not to be part of the conversation.
I believe that it's much better to be involved, whether you're in agreement on an issue or I think it's even more important to engage when you disagree on something. And so what we do at Apple is we focus on policy. We don't focus on the politics. And so it keeps us out of the sort of the daily scrum of politics and keeps us very focused on the things that are very important to us.
As for the shift to working from home for many Apple employees, Cook said "it's not like being together physically" and that he can't wait for "everybody to be able to come back," confirming that Apple is not going to be one of those companies that lets employees work from home long term.
Cook did, however, say that "some things" work really well virtually, and so that things aren't going to return to just how they were.
In all candor, it's not like being together physically. And so I can't wait for everybody to be able to come back into the office. I don't believe that we'll return to the way we were, because we found that there are some things that actually work really well virtually. But things like creativity and the serendipity that you talk about, these things, you depend on people kind of running into each other over the course of a day. We have designed our entire office such that there are common areas where people congregate and talk about different things. And you can't schedule those times.
And so I think the vast majority of us can't wait until we can be back in the office again. You know, hopefully that occurs sometime next year, who knows exactly what the date may be. We've got about 10-15 percent working today in the office. I'm in the office at different points during the week as well, but the vast majority, 85 to 90 percent of the company is still working remotely.
Cook's full interview, which also goes into detail on Apple's view of how the United States has responded to COVID-19, climate change and the California wildfires, privacy, international policy, his future plans, and more can be watched through the YouTube video up above from The Atlantic.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News 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.
You know, the importance of waterproof tech has waned in recent months. Rain has become my defacto signal of a lazy stay-home day, and the frequency of neighborhood pool parties took a nosedive this summer, though some are throwing caution to the wind regardless of today’s circumstances.
Apple is planning to accelerate its adoption of mini-LED displays for iPad and MacBook, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a research note, Kuo says that Epistar was expected to be the exclusive supplier of mini-LED chips to Apple in 2021; however, development of the technology by Sanan Optoelectronics has progressed better than expected and it will also begin supplying Apple next year.
Competition will purportedly drive down Apple's cost for mini-LED display dies from $75-$85 to about $45. Kuo expects 30-40% of iPad shipments and 20-30% of MacBook shipments in 2021 to use mini-LED displays. That's up from 10-20%.
Apple is planning to accelerate its adoption of mini-LED displays for iPad and MacBook, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
