Linked List: October 24, 2022

Monday, 24 October 2022

My thanks to Kolide for sponsoring last week at DF. Kolide is endpoint security and fleet management that takes a different approach from draconian MDMs. They help customers meet their compliance goals — whether for auditors, customers, or leadership — by enlisting the support of end users. Kolide works by notifying your employees of security issues via Slack, educating them on why these issues are important, and giving them step-by-step instructions to resolve them themselves.

For IT admins, Kolide helps you prove compliance via a single dashboard. From there, you can monitor the security of your entire fleet, whether they’re running on Mac, Windows, or Linux. (That’s right: Kolide can finally provide visibility into your Linux users.)

Tim Cook Waved the Checkered Flag at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin ★

I don’t know why people are poking fun at Cook’s flag-waving enthusiasm. This is Tim Cook when he’s very excited.

(Whole thing does make me wonder if it’s a sign that Apple is close to inking a deal to stream Formula 1 races on Apple TV. Update, Minutes Later: Welp, so much for that idea — Disney subsidiary ESPN just this weekend renewed the rights through 2025 for a purported $85M per year.)

Update: Ah, now it makes sense. I had forgotten that back in June, Apple Original Films landed a Formula 1 major motion picture, from director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) and starring Brad Pitt. It’s being pitched as Top Gun: Maverick on a race track, in terms of verisimilitude and a visceral cinematic sense of speed and danger. Pitt was in attendance at the U.S. Grand Prix as well.

Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One Price Increases ★

Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac:

The Apple Music monthly price has been upped by ~$1 for individuals and ~$2 for families. Apple TV+ is rising by $2 (which only has one tier and supports Family Sharing on all plans). Apple One is also going up by approximately $3 per month. This represents the first time Apple has raised the subscription price of Music, TV+ and Apple One in the United States. […]

From an Apple spokesperson:

The subscription prices for Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One will increase beginning today. The change to Apple Music is due to an increase in licensing costs, and in turn, artists and songwriters will earn more for the streaming of their music. We also continue to add innovative features that make Apple Music the world’s best listening experience. We introduced Apple TV+ at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies. Three years later, Apple TV+ is home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers.

Subscription prices are going up industry-wide, no doubt partly due to inflation. But there’s no change in price, apparently, for iCloud+ storage — and no change in iCloud storage capacities, either.

It’s OS Update Day ★

Josh Centers, writing for TidBITS:

Apple has now released macOS 13 Ventura and iPadOS 16 (in the form of iPadOS 16.1) alongside updates to iOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and HomePod Software 16. Let’s discuss what’s new and when you should consider updating, starting with iOS 16.1, since it introduces several features new to the Apple ecosystem. We’ll also discuss Matter, which arrives in these updates, and why it may not matter for home automation just yet.

I’ve updated my devices across the board, with the exception of my Macs. I have no particular or specific concerns about Ventura, I’m just always more conservative about MacOS updates than other devices, because my Macs are so essential for my work.