Immediately after spyware-maker Connexxa's infamous app "Assistenza SIM" was caught abusing the iOS enterprise certificate to bypass Apples App Store guidelines, the iPhone-maker revoked its enterprise certificate, making it un-installable on iOS devices
San Francisco: Immediately after spyware-maker Connexxa's infamous app "Assistenza SIM" was caught abusing the iOS enterprise certificate to bypass Apples App Store guidelines, the iPhone-maker revoked its enterprise certificate, making it un-installable on iOS devices.
Security researchers at the US-based IT security company, Lookout, revealed that the app could steal contacts, videos, photos, real-time location data from users' devices and tap their phone calls as well, The Verge reported on Monday.
The iOS enterprise certificate, that is meant "solely for the internal distribution of apps within an organisation" otherwise, allowed the "Assistenza" app to bypass the Apple certification and stay accessible for downloads through phishing sites outside the App Store.
Details on exactly how many users were targeted by the app and how much information was accessed remain undisclosed.
In 2018, the app was discovered on Android with root access to the smartphones of several users.
Before the app was brought into Google's notice and removed from PlayStore, the spyware developers could read Wi-Fi passwords, emails as well as data from apps like Facebook, Gmail, WhatsApp, Viber and WeChat.
All this time, the developers have been disguising the app to pretend to be carrier of helpline apps from Italian and Turkmenistani mobile operators, which could help users get in touch with them.
Raising questions on Apple's pride over its security measures and App Store policies, a bunch illicit apps that use enterprise certificates offer pirated content, porn, gambling and all kinds of materials.
Recently, Facebook gathered Apple's attention when it began paying people to install a "Facebook Research" Virtual Private Network, which collected user's private phone and web data without their consent.
Google was also found to have been running a similar programme and in response, Apple briefly revoked the certificate used by Google and Facebook to push updates on their apps, the report added.
(Reuters) - Shopify Inc raised its 2019 earnings forecast and posted a surprise quarterly profit on Tuesday on strong demand for its software that helps retailers sell goods online, sending its shares up 7 percent to a record high.
The company has stepped up its spending to stay ahead in a competitive market by launching a new line of point-of-sale hardware and plans to roll out Shopify Pay to rival Alphabet Inc’s Google Pay and Apple Inc’s payments services.
Shopify, founded a little over a decade ago as an online store to sell snowboard equipment, makes its money by charging online merchants a monthly fee for using its technology and helping them run their online businesses.
The company, which counts Kylie cosmetics, Nestle SA and Unilever Plc among its 800,000 customers, also hopes to boost its merchant database under its premium “Shopify Plus” offering.
The Ottawa-based company said it now expects full-year adjusted operating income of $20 million to $30 million, above the $10 million to $20 million it forecast earlier.
Revenue is expected in the range of $1.48 billion to $1.50 billion, also above the $1.46 billion to $1.48 billion it estimated earlier.
However, net loss widened to $24.1 million from $15.9 million a year earlier, as costs surged 50 percent to $216.1 million.
Excluding items, the company earned 9 cents per share, compared with a loss of 5 cents estimated by analysts, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Revenue for the quarter rose to $320.5 million, beating estimates of $309.4 million
The company now says forcing users to routinely reset passwords at pre-set time intervals doesn't work as well other security options.
Microsoft last week recommended that organizations no longer force employees to come up with new passwords every 60 days.
The company called the practice - once a cornerstone of enterprise identity management - "ancient and obsolete" as it told IT administrators that other approaches are much more effective in keeping users safe.
"Periodic password expiration is an ancient and obsolete mitigation of very low value, and we don't believe it's worthwhile for our baseline to enforce any specific value," Aaron Margosis, a principal consultant for Microsoft, wrote in a post to a company blog.
In the latest security configuration baseline for Windows 10 - a draft for the not-yet-in-general-release "May 2019 Update," aka 1903 - Microsoft dropped the idea that passwords should be frequently changed. The Windows security configuration baseline is a massive collection of recommended group policies and their settings, accompanied by reports, scripts and analyzers. Previous baselines had advised enterprises and other organizations to mandate a password change every 60 days. (And that was down from an earlier 90 days.)
No longer.
Margosis acknowledged that policies to automatically expire passwords - and other group policies that set security standards - are often misguided. "The small set of ancient password policies enforceable through Windows' security templates is not and cannot be a complete security strategy for user credential management," he said. "Better practices, however, cannot be expressed by a set value in a group policy and coded into a template."
Among those other, better practices, Margosis mentioned multi-factor authentication - also known as two-factor authentication - and banning weak, vulnerable, easily-guessed or frequently revealed passwords.
Microsoft is not the first to doubt the convention.
Two years ago, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce, made similar arguments as it downgraded regular password replacement. "Verifiers SHOULD NOT require memorized secrets to be changed arbitrarily (e.g., periodically)," NIST said in a FAQ that accompanied the June 2017 version of SP 800-63, "Digital Identity Guidelines," using the term "memorized secrets" in place of "passwords."
Then, the institute had explained why mandated password changes were a bad idea this way: "Users tend to choose weaker memorized secrets when they know that they will have to change them in the near future. When those changes do occur, they often select a secret that is similar to their old memorized secret by applying a set of common transformations such as increasing a number in the password."
Both the NIST and Microsoft urged organizations to require password resets when there is evidence that the passwords had been stolen or otherwise compromised. And if they haven't been touched? "If a password is never stolen, there's no need to expire it," Microsoft's Margosis said.
"I agree 100% with Microsoft's logic for enterprises, which are who uses [group policies] anyway," said John Pescatore, the director of emerging security trends at the SANS Institute. "Forcing every employee to change passwords at some arbitrary period almost invariably causes more vulnerabilities to appear in the password reset process (because there are now frequent spikes of users forgetting their passwords) which increases risk more than the forced password reset ever decreases it."
Like Microsoft and NIST, Pescatore thought periodic password resets are the hobgoblins of little minds. "Having [this] as part of the baseline makes it easier for security teams to claim compliance, because auditors are happy," Pescatore said. "Focusing on password reset compliance was a huge part of all the money wasted on Sarbanes-Oxley audits 15 years ago. Great example of how compliance does not*equal security."*
Elsewhere in the Windows 10 1903 draft baseline, Microsoft also dropped policies for the BitLocker drive encryption method and its cipher strength. The prior recommendation was to use the strongest available BitLocker encryption, but that, Microsoft said, was overkill: ("Our crypto experts tell us that there is no known danger of [128-bit encryption] being broken in the foreseeable future," Margosis of Microsoft contended.) And it could easily degrade device performance.
Microsoft also asked for feedback on another proposed change that would dump the forced disabling of Windows' built-in Guest and Administrator accounts. "Removing these settings from the baseline would not mean that we recommend that these accounts be enabled, nor would removing these settings mean that the accounts will be enabled," Margosis said. "Removing the settings from the baselines would simply mean that administrators could now choose to enable these accounts as needed."
Computer scientists at the University of California San Diego have developed FitRec, a recommendation tool powered by deep learning, that is able to better estimate runners' heart rates during a workout and predict and recommend routes. The team will present their work at the WWW 19 conference May 13 to 17 in San Francisco.
Researchers trained FitRec on a dataset of more than 250,000 workout records for more than 1,000 runners. This allowed computer scientists to build a model that analyzed past performance to predict speed and heart rate given specific future workout times and routes.
FitRec also is capable of identifying important features that affect workout performance, such as whether a route has hills and the user's level of fitness. The tool can recommend alternate routes for runners who want to achieve a specific target heart rate. It also is capable of making short-term predictions, such as telling runners when to slow down to avoid exceeding their desired maximum heart rate.
The team was able to develop the tool partially because they were among the first to collect and model a massive fitness dataset for academic research. But developing FitRec was no easy feat as the fitness dataset has a huge number of workout records, but only a small number of data points per individual.
"Personalization is crucial in models of fitness data because individuals vary widely in many areas, including heart rate and ability to adapt to different exercises," said Julian McAuley, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego.
"The main challenge in building this type of model is that the dynamics of heart rates as people exercise are incredibly complex, requiring sophisticated techniques to model," researchers added.
To build an effective model, computer scientists needed a tool that uses all of the data to learn but at the same time can learn personalized dynamics from a small number of data points per user. Enter a deep learning architecture called long short-term memory networks (or LSTM), which the researchers adapted to capture the individual dynamic behaviors of each user in the dataset.
Researchers fed the networks a subset of a public dataset from endomondo.com, an app and website that function as a workout diary. After cleaning up the data, researchers wound up with more than 100,000 workout records to train the networks.
They validated FitRec's predictions by comparing them with existing workout records that were not part of the training dataset.
In the future, FitRec could be trained to include other data, such as the way users' fitness levels evolve over time, to make its predictions. The tool could also be applied to more complex recommendation routes, for example safety-aware routes.
But in order for the tool to be used in commercial fitness apps, researchers would need to have access to more detailed fitness tracking data and deal with various data quality issues.
With the couple recently selling Syntel to French technology services major Atos SE for $3.4 billion, their fortunes are going to see a sharp turnaro
Syntel co-founders, Bharat Desai and his wife Neerja Sethi, have seen their rankings dive on the Forbes Richie Rich lists in the past few years. Desai, who was ranked the richest Indian-American in the World Billionaires list in 2014, came in at No. 1999 in the 2018 rankings. Similarly, Sethi ranked 21st on the magazine's list of America's 60 self-made richest women, down from rank 14 in 2015.
But with the couple recently sellingSyntelto French technology services major Atos SE for $3.4 billion, their fortunes are going to see a sharp turnaround. According to The Times of India, they jointly held a 57 per cent stake in the company, which means that they will walk away with nearly $2 billion from the all-cash deal expected to close by the end of this year. That's a pretty impressive way to end a journey that Desai and Sethi embarked on 38 years ago, when they started Syntel from their apartment in Troy, Michigan.
Kenya-born Desai, who grew up in India and graduated from IIT-Bombay, reportedly moved to the US in 1976 as a programmer for Tata Consulting Services. After working there briefly, he went on to pick up an MBA degree from the University of Michigan. It was here that he met Sethi and the duo decided to start an IT company while they were still studying.
At an entrepreneur event in 2013 in Delhi, Desai reportedly said that "I always wanted to run a business of my own. I was a horrible employee and could not live by anybody else's rule. So, the best way was to start my own company. My wife is the toughest board member." He had further stated he knew the IT services industry would grow significantly and with the right moves, "we could outpace overall growth."
The report adds that Syntel, modelled along the lines of TCS in some ways, was set up with an initial investment of just $2,000 in 1980. It went on to post revenues of $30,000 in its first year and got a massive boost when it signed on General Motors as a client. Though it started out as an IT staffing company, it soon evolved into a firm providing IT applications services. In 1992, it opened the first of its multiple India Global Development Centers, and five years on the company not only went public but also managed to grow its turnover to the $100 million milestone. It is currently nine times bigger - Syntel raked in nearly $924 million in 2017.
In April, after releasing its first quarter results, the 23,000-employee company had said that it expects revenue of $920-960 million in 2018, based on an exchange rate assumption of Rs 65 to the dollar. But if the dollar continues to remain as strong as it is currently, the figures will likely move up.
Yet, despite all this, Syntel failed to soar to heights of tech giants. Consider Infosys for instance. Though it started just a year after Syntel, today it is India's second largest IT services firm with over $10 billion in revenue, 10 times that of Syntel.
Desai and Sethi had a dream run in the years leading up to the dotcom bust - including bagging the 2nd spot in Forbes' "200 Best Small Companies in America" rankings - but then Syntel's share price plunged in 2000-2001.
The company recovered and its share price rallied an impressive 1766 per cent on the NASDAQ between 2001 and 2015, before running into rough weather again. In 2016, the stock plunged from $46 to about $19 per share in just over two months after the company declared a special cash dividend of $15 per share in September 2016.
"The special cash dividend will be funded through dividends to the Company by U.S. subsidiaries, the one-time repatriation of approximately $1.24 billion of cash held by the Company's foreign subsidiaries and a portion of borrowings under a new senior credit facility," the company had said at the time, adding, "In connection with the one-time repatriation, the Company expects to recognize a one-time tax expense of about $264 million (net of foreign tax credits) in the third quarter of 2016."
In the bargain, the company also had to downgrade its earnings per share outlook to a loss, which prompted a massive selloff of the stock, from which it is yet to fully recover. Nonetheless, the share prices have jumped nearly 110 per cent in the past year, which partly explains the price now paid by Atos.
While certainly not a panacea for its Android fragmentation issue, Google is planning to force Android developers to use newer app code in order for their apps to be accepted in its Play Store.
In a blog post this week, Google stated that it will make three changes to the Google Play Store, beginning next year with requiring developers to target more recent Android API levels for new and updated apps.
In early 2018, the Play Store will also begin adding a small amount of security metadata on top of each Android Application Package (APK) to further verify app authenticity. Unlike Apple, which has strict application policies for its App Store, Google has been far more lenient as to what developers can upload to its Play Store.
Jack Gold, principal analyst J. Gold Associates, said the move is good for Google, but it's also positive for end users.
Users of older Android devices who try to download apps often find they won't run, as they are targeted at a newer Android version. Conversely, some new device owners try to download apps that were built for devices one, two or more generations old and also find they don't work, or they don't work very well.
"So, it accomplishes both more stringent conformance to Android versions/APIs, as well as providing a way for users to distinguish old vs. new apps," Gold said.
Android OS adoption rates as of Nov. 9.
The rules change also gives users who own older devices and want newer apps an incentive to upgrade, since the apps may not run on their current models.
"This is very frustrating to users and a major headache for Google... and a challenge for corporate IT," Gold said, explaining that there are a large number of older, not fully compatible devices running various versions of Android.
"Requiring new apps to be in compliance with a certain level of API is an attempt to eliminate the above scenarios," Gold said. "It's also a way to segment apps in the Play Store and give users a better understanding of current versus outdated, or at least older, apps."
Apple
Lastly, Google's change to its Play Store rules puts handset vendors on notice that they have to be in compliance with the APIs if they decide to do a customized version of Android for their particular device.
In August 2019, Google Play will also require that new apps and app updates with native libraries provide 64-bit versions in addition to their 32-bit versions.
The schedule is as follows:
August 2018: New apps required to target API level 26 (Android 8.0) or higher.
November 2018: Updates to existing apps required to target API level 26 or higher.
2019 onwards: Each year the targetSdkVersion requirement will advance. Within one year following each major Android release, new apps and app updates will need to target the corresponding API level or higher.
The Play Store rules update, however, will not fix the longstanding issue of OS fragmentation created by wireless carriers who control when and how upgrades are pushed out.
"Carriers typically do not allow OS upgrades until they are fully tested and vetted by the carrier. Many devices, even though theoretically possible to upgrade, never get an upgrade because the carriers don't approve it," Gold said. "So Google's hands may be tied on this."
Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT services exporter, has bagged a $2.25 billion outsourcing contract from television ratings company Nielsen. The deal, largest ever secured by an Indian IT firm, will top up the existing contract until 2025. US-based consumer research firm had first awarded a $1.2 billion contract to the Mumbai-based company in 2007 for 10-year period. In 2013, Nielsen extended its ongoing contract with TCS by three years until 2020 and more than doubled the value to $2.5 billion.
TCS when Chandrasekaran moved out to join Tata Sons as Chairman in February. As per the new deal, the terms of the agreement have been extended for an additional five years so as to expire on December 31, 2025, with three one-year renewal options granted to Nielsen, the media research company said in a regulatory filing to the US SEC.
"Nielsen has committed to purchase services from TCS from the Effective Date through the remaining term of the Agreement (the 'Minimum Commitment') in the amount of $2.25 billion, including a commitment to purchase at least $320 million in services per year from 2017 through 2020, $186 million in services per year from 2021 through 2024, and $139.5 million in services in 2025," it added.
The filing stated that the Mumbai-based firm will globally provide Nielsen with professional services relating to IT - including application development and maintenance - BPO, client service knowledge process outsourcing, management sciences, analytics, and financial planning.
"At present, digital accounts for 20 per cent of our revenue, and that is primarily where our growth agenda is. Over time, it will become 80 per cent," the 46-year-old CEO had told Business Today's Nevin John.
"Technology has become central to the products and is normally 60 per cent of costs. With the disruptions, we have got a play in both, which comes to 75 per cent of the overall expenditure of the companies," Gopinathan had said.
In the second quarter, TCS generated 51.9 per cent business from North America, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. India accounted for 6.3 per cent. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) was the largest vertical with 33 per cent business, followed by retail and consumer packaged goods (11.9 per cent). TCS has 37 large clients (over $100 million revenue).
TCS posted 9.35 per cent growth in consolidated income at Rs 122,187 crore in 2016/17. The profit rose 8.3 per cent to Rs 26,357 crore. But in the first six months of this financial year, the income rose just over 2 per cent to Rs 61,903 crore, while profit fell 4 per cent to Rs 12,410 crore, mainly due to rupee appreciation and higher wages. The average market value of the company was Rs 4.67 lakh crore in the October 2016-September 2017 period.
When Chandrasekaran took over as the CEO in October 2009, TCS' consolidated revenue was Rs 30,000 crore. It is now over Rs 1 lakh crore. Profits rose from Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 24,000 crore during his tenure. The five digital forces - mobility, big data, social media, cloud computing and robotics - changed the way TCS operated as Chandrasekaran and his team showed agility to adapt.
TCS first went past Reliance Industries in valuation in May 2012. For the next seven-eight months, both were neck and neck, but TCS took off from there and continued widening the gap till 2015. Since then, the gap has reduced. RIL overtook TCS in 2017/18 after consolidating the customer base of its telecom business, Reliance Jio.
Hypervisors often get overlooked as a technology in favor of the flashier concept ofvirtualization, but you can’t get to the fun of virtualization until you understand what a hypervisor does within a computing system.
While the benefits of virtualization and cloud computing may now seem like old hat within the IT infrastructure, that wasn’t always the case, and it is hypervisor technology that has helped drive innovation in the world of cloud computing.
Hypervisor definition
A hypervisor is a process that separates a computer’s operating system and applications from the underlying physical hardware. Usually done as software although embedded hypervisors can be created for things like mobile devices.
History of hypervisors
In the late 1960s and through the 1970s, most virtualization and hypervisor work was seen on mainframe computers developed by IBM, for use in building time-sharing systems, testing new operating system ideas or even exploring new hardware concepts. The virtualization aspect allowed programmers to deploy and debug without jeopardizing the stability of the main production system and without having to deploy additional costly development systems.
Jumping ahead to the mid-2000s, hypervisors took center stage when Unix, Linux and other Unix-like operating systems began to utilize virtualization technologies. Reasons for the growth of hypervisors and virtualization included better hardware capabilities, which would now allow a single machine to do more simultaneous work; cost-control efforts that led to consolidation of servers; improved security and reliability due to hypervisor architecture improvements; and the ability to run OS-dependent applications on different hardware or OS environments. In addition, in 2005, CPU vendors began adding hardware virtualization to their x86-based products, extending the availability (and benefits) of virtualization to PC- and server-based audiences.
Benefits of hypervisors
Even though VMs can run on the same physical hardware, they are still logically separated from each other. This means that if one VM experiences an error, crash or a malware attack, it doesn’t extend to other VMs on the same machine, or even other machines.
VMs are also very mobile – because they are independent of the underlying hardware, they can be moved or migrated between local or remote virtualized servers a whole lot easier than traditional applications that are tied to physical hardware.
There are two types of hypervisors, creatively named Type 1 or Type 2. Type 1 hypervisors, sometimes called “native” or “bare metal” hypervisors, run directly on the host’s hardware to control the hardware and manage the guest VMs. Modern hypervisors include Xen, Oracle VM Server for SPARC, Oracle VM Server for x86, Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware’s ESX/ESXi.
Type 2 hypervisors, sometimes called “hosted hypervisors,” run on a conventional OS, just like other applications on the system. In this case, a guest OS runs as a process on the host, while the hypervisors separate the guest OS from the host OS. Examples of Type 2 hypervisors include VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VirtualBox and Parallels Desktop for Mac.
In the enterprise data center space, consolidation has resulted in three major vendors on the hypervisor front: VMware, Microsoft and Citrix Systems.
Containers vs. hypervisors
In recent years, container technology has grown in popularity as a possible replacement for hypervisors, as they can place more applications into a single physical server than a virtual machine can.
“VMs take up a lot of system resources. Each VM runs not just a full copy of an operating system, but a virtual copy of all the hardware that the operating system needs to run. This quickly adds up to a lot of RAM and CPU cycles. In contrast, all that a container requires is enough of an operating system, supporting programs and libraries, and system resources to run a specific program,” says Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols in this 2016 Network World article.
Security concerns and practical uses of VMs, however, mean that containers won’t necessarily replace hypervisors/VMs, but rather companies will use a combination of both, according to Vaughan-Nichols. On the security issue, some feel that containers are less secure than hypervisors, due to containers only having one OS that applications share, while VMs isolate not only the application, but the OS as well. If an application gets compromised, it could attack the single OS in a container, affecting other applications. If an application in a VM gets compromised, only one OS on that server would be affected, not other applications or OSes on the VM. Marvin Waschke writes about this issue in this InfoWorld blog post.
Hypervisor security concerns
While hypervisors can be considered more secure than containers by some measures, that doesn't mean there aren't security concerns associated with hypervisors. For example, in theory hackers can create malware and rootkits that install themselves as a hypervisor below the OS. Known as hyperjacking, this process can be more difficult to detect, as the malware could intercept operations of the OS (for example, entering a password) without anti-malware software necessarily detecting it, because the malware runs below the OS.
Debate continues whether it would be possible to detect the presence of a hypervisor-based rootkit. Some have implemented the concept – the SubVirtand Blue Pill malware – while others have demonstrated a hypervisor-layer anti-rootkit called Hooksafe, which provides generic protection against kernel-mode rootkits.
Hypervisor expansion
The concept of hypervisors hasn’t just been limited to server operation. Storage hypervisors, for example, take the same concept and apply it to data storage. A storage hypervisor can run on physical hardware, as a VM, inside a hypervisor OS or within a larger storage network. Just like hypervisors, a storage hypervisor can run on specific hardware or be independent of the hardware.
In addition to storage, hypervisors are key for other virtualization efforts, including desktop virtualization, OS virtualization and application virtualization.
What is an embedded hypervisor?
Embedded hypervisors support the requirements of embedded systems. These are different from hypervisors that target server and desktop applications. The embedded hypervisor is designed into the embedded device from the outset, rather than loaded subsequent to device deployment.
While desktop and enterprise environments use hypervisors to consolidate hardware and isolate computing environments from one another, in an embedded system, the various components typically function collectively to provide the device’s functionality. Mobile virtualization overlaps with embedded system virtualization, and shares some use cases.
The Mac mini is Apple’s entry-level desktop Mac. It’s slower than Apple’s other desktop computers—the iMac and the Mac Pro—but it remains fast enough for general-purpose use. Apple targets first-time Mac users with the Mac mini, but longtime Mac users like the price and use the Mac mini as a server or an entertainment Mac connected to a TV.
The Mac mini models that Apple currently sells were originally released in October 2014. Three years is a long time to call a computer “new.” Apple has made no mention of its plans for the Mac mini, unlike the company’s other neglected desktop computer, the Mac Pro. Apple CEO Tim Cook did tell a MacRumors reader that the Mac mini is "an important part of [Apple's] product line going forward." Cook did not elaborate on what Apple's plans are.
Still, there’s only one other Mac available for under $1,000: the MacBook Air. If you’re still interested in the Mac mini, you can learn more here about its features, specifications, prices, and more.
Mac mini: Specifications
Apple sells three Mac mini models.
$499: 1.4GHz dual-core Core i5 CPU, 4GB of memory, 5,400-rpm 500GB hard drive, integrated Intel HD Graphics 5000 GPU.
$699: 2.6GHz dual-core Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, 5,400-rpm 1TB hard drive, integrated Intel Iris Graphics.
The Mac mini does not include a display, keyboard, or mouse, so you’ll have to provide your own. Or you can customize your order to include these devices as extra-cost options.
Since the Mac mini lacks an optical drive, you need to buy an external USB optical drive if you want to read or burn CDs and DVDs.
The Mac mini has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It also has four USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, and an SDXC card slot. It also has a gigabit ethernet port, in case you want to connect to a wired network.
To connect a display, you can use the HDMI port or a Thunderbolt 2 port. You might have to buy an adapter if your display doesn’t have either HDMI or Mini DisplayPort (which connects to the Mac mini’s Thunderbolt port). If you own a display with VGA and/or DVI output, you’ll need either the Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA Adapter ($29 on the Apple Store) or the Mini DisplayPort-to-DVI Adapter ($29 on the Apple Store).
Mac mini: Speed
The Mac mini won’t set any speed records. It’s among the slowest Macs in Apple’s lineup. But don’t judge its performance too harshly. For general use (writing, email, Web, social media) and for editing short videos, the Mac mini does just fine.
Macworld’s buying advice
For new Mac users switching from a PC, the Mac mini is an excellent machine, if you don’t mind not having the latest processors. It’s a great choice for shoppers on a budget, or for someone who wants a second computer in the home. It handles everyday usage well. If, however, you want to use a Mac as a production machine for video editing or some other task that requires substantial processing power, consider an iMac.
Your Apple gear wasn’t cheap. And if you drop your iPhone, your iPad stops turning on one day, or your Mac’s hard drive just ups and dies on you, getting it repaired probably won’t be cheap either.
Apple includes a one-year limited warranty with all hardware so if there’s a manufacturing defect, you’ll be covered. To also protect against accidental damage, plus extend the original warranty for longer and enjoy free tech support, you can opt to purchase AppleCare+. Here’s what it is, what it covers, and what you can expect to pay. Is AppleCare+ worth it? Only you can decide for your own situation, but this should be everything you need to know to make a smart choice.
General AppleCare+ information
If you’ve never even heard of AppleCare, start here! Otherwise, feel free to skip to the sections that cover your particular devices.
AppleCare is Apple’s term for its warranty programs. Every Apple device comes with a certain stretch of AppleCare warranty service and phone/chat support for free, typically one year for the warranty and 90 days of phone support. You can pay to extend that protection for longer, which is called AppleCare+.
Do I have to buy AppleCare+ at the same time as the product?
No. If you already know you want it, buying AppleCare+ with the product is a good idea, just so you don’t forget. When you’re shopping at the Apple store and Apple.com, you’ll be offered AppleCare+ at checkout, and authorized Apple resellers can offer AppleCare+ too.
But you have some time. Generally you get 60 days from the purchase date to buy AppleCare+ (only 30 days if you’re in Japan), and Apple has a page where you can check your exact device’s eligibility.
Apple
Still, to buy AppleCare+ after the fact you generally have to run a diagnostic test on the device in question, so Apple knows it’s in good working order. And no matter when you buy your AppleCare+ plan, the coverage starts from the day you bought your device. So you don’t get an “extra” two months of coverage if you wait two months to buy the plan.
How do I buy AppleCare+ for products I didn’t buy directly from Apple?
The easiest way is online. Apple’s site has a page to Check Your Service and Support Coverage. Enter your device’s serial number here, and it’ll tell you if you can still buy AppleCare+ and walk you through the process of purchasing and registering your plan.
Keep in mind that buying an AppleCare+ plan after the fact often means you have to complete a diagnostic test on the device. After all, Apple has to make sure you’re not trying to buy coverage on a device that’s already broken. So do it right away, just in case.
Can you buy AppleCare+ for refurbished products?
You can! Apple offers a range of refurbished items on its website, and they’re all backed by the same one-year warranty as new products. Plus, you can buy AppleCare+ for a refurbished item just as you can with a new one.
How do I check how much time is left on my AppleCare plan?
Head to Apple’s Check Your Service and Support Coverage page, and enter your device’s serial number. You’ll find out how much time you have left on your AppleCare plan, and if you can still buy AppleCare+ for this device.
If there’s no Apple store near me, is AppleCare+ a bad idea?
No, you can still use AppleCare+ if you can’t make it to the Apple store. You have several options, actually.
Apple retail stores. If you can get to an Apple store, you can even make a reservation for AppleCare+ service.
Drop off at the UPS Store. Apple can provide you with a Repair ID number for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod needing service, and you can take it to any UPS Store in the U.S., which will ship the device to Apple at no cost to you. When Apple finishes the repair, you get the device back in the mail, again with no shipping fee.
Direct mail. Alternatively, Apple will send you a box and shipping labels for you to ship any Apple product back to them for repair. Apple pays the shipping both ways.
Onsite service. If the problem is with a desktop Mac, Apple can sometimes even send an authorized repair technician to you.
DIY. If the problem is relatively small, Apple can sometimes just send you a part, like a new iPhone charger or Apple TV remote.
How am I supposed to survive without my device while Apple is repairing it?
Apple
Apple offers an Express Replacement Service for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. When you use Express Replacement, Apple goes ahead and sends you a new device right away, and you don’t have to mail in your broken device until you receive it. Conditions apply, but ask Apple about it when you contact them and they can let you know if you qualify.
What if I sell the product before AppleCare+ runs out?
AppleCare is transferable! If you’re selling an Apple product before the included AppleCare plan expires, the buyer gets the remaining protection. If you buy an extended AppleCare+ plan and then sell the product, the remaining time left in the AppleCare+ goes along with it. So AppleCare+ can be a selling point when you’re unloading your used devices on the secondary market!
To transfer an AppleCare plan, you have to provide the buyer with your proof of purchase (receipt), the plan confirmation and contract, and also notify Apple by email, fax, or mail. Apple needs to know the plan’s agreement number, the device’s serial number, and the new owner’s contact info. Full details are in the terms and conditions.
Does AppleCare cover loss or theft?
No. AppleCare+ never covers loss or theft of your device. Some cell carriers and third-party insurance companies offer plans that do cover loss or theft, but AppleCare+ only covers defects and accidental damage.
Is AppleCare+ only for U.S. customers?
No! Well, AppleCare+ plans for iPhone and iPad purchased in the United States and Canada are only valid in the United States and Canada, but other Apple devices (Apple Watch, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, and Apple displays) provide global coverage. Service options do vary between countries, but any AppleCare service is always performed by authorized techs with genuine Apple parts.
Obviously, you should always read the full agreement before you purchase any warranty or insurance.
Can I cancel an AppleCare+ plan?
Yes you can. If it’s within 30 days of purchasing the plan, you’ll get a full refund minus any service you received. Outside of 30 days, you’ll get a prorated refund, minus any service, minus a fee of $25 or 10% of the prorated refund, whichever is less. Call Apple at 1–800-MY-APPLE to ask how.
AppleCare+ for iPhone
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The iPhone is covered in glass, easy to drop, and goes everywhere with you. No wonder iPhones break so frequently! Here’s the skinny on buying some extra protection.
How much does AppleCare+ cost for iPhone?
It varies by the size of the device. The iPhone SE is the smallest iPhone and the cheapest for AppleCare+, at $99. AppleCare+ for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, and new iPhone 8 is $129. And for the Plus-sized iPhones, AppleCare is $149.
For the iPhone X, prepare to pay $199 for AppleCare+, since it’s got a new OLED screen and all the extra TrueDepth cameras and sensors.
All AppleCare+ plans for iPhone include two years of coverage and tech support.
I bought my iPhone with the iPhone Upgrade Program. Doesn’t that have AppleCare+ included for free?
It’s included, but it’s not free. The cost of the two-year AppleCare+ plan is divided among the 24 loan payments you agree to pay. (But at least you aren’t charged interest.)
If you upgrade your phone after a year, your two-year loan starts over again, but you still get the second year of AppleCare+ on the new phone. Read the iPhone Upgrade Program terms for more detail. The iPhone Upgrade Program is a loan, so again, be sure to read all the fine print before you sign up.
What does AppleCare+ for iPhone cover?
For the iPhone, AppleCare+ extends your warranty coverage from one year to two, and extends phone and chat support from 90 days to the full two years as well.
You also get up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage for a relatively low service fee. If you’ve only damaged the screen, a screen replacement is only $29. But if the iPhone has other damage, the fee is $99. iPhones are eligible for the Express Replacement Service, letting you request a replacement device in the mail before you send your original damaged device in for repair.
So let’s say you drop your iPhone on the corner, which breaks the screen but also dents the enclosure enough that Apple can’t fix just the screen—that’s a $99 repair. If the screen shatters but the rest of the phone is relatively unscathed, $29.
The warranty against defects covers the phone as well as the battery and the included headphones and accessories. Accidental damage can include almost anything, such as water damage, drops, running the thing over, your kid pours paint into the Lightning port—as long as you only have two incidents (or less) in the two year coverage period.
What doesn’t AppleCare+ for iPhone cover?
Loss and theft. If your main concern is loss or theft, be sure to use a strong passcode, keep it backed up, and enable Find My iPhone (which also engages Activation Lock). That way, if your device does “wander off,” you’re more likely to get it back or at least not lose important data.
You might also want to check your homeowner’s and renter’s insurance policies to see if they cover stolen electronics. Some cell phone service providers’ own insurance plans cover loss and theft, but it’s relatively rare.
What about the iPod touch?
Yes, Apple offers AppleCare+ for the iPod touch. It’s $59 to extend the warranty from one year to two, with two years of tech support too. Up to two incidents of accidental damage are covered for a $29 service fee, plus tax.
Should I get it?
If you’re going to buy AppleCare+ on anything, it’s probably going to be your iPhone. But it’s not always a slam dunk.
For example, I broke my iPhone 7 screen recently, and Apple was able to do a same-day screen replacement at the Apple store. I don’t have AppleCare+, so Apple charged me the “full” price for the screen repair, which was $129. But if I’d paid $129 for AppleCare+ ahead of time, the repair would cost me $29. That means I actually paid less for the screen repair out of warranty. But if I broke the same iPhone again within the two years, the second $29 screen repair would put me way ahead.
So really it depends on how careful you are with your iPhone. Do you use a case? Avoid action sports? Rarely drop your phone? Or are you a total klutz who’s broken every phone you’ve ever owned? Be honest with yourself and proceed accordingly.
AppleCare+ for iPad
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Whether you agree that an iPad can replace a laptop, its AppleCare+ plan certainly is cheaper than AppleCare+ for a Mac—and iPads are eligible for Apple’s speedy Express Replacement Service too.
How much does AppleCare+ cost for iPad?
No matter which model you buy, AppleCare+ for iPads is $99, for two years of repair coverage and phone support.
What does AppleCare+ for iPad cover?
AppleCare+ extends an iPad’s hardware warranty from one year to two. Tech support is extended from 90 days to two years, so you can call or chat with an Apple rep to get help with iOS, iCloud, and Apple apps.
You also get two incidents of accidental damage coverage, with a service fee of $29 for a broken screen, or $99 for any other damage, plus tax. AppleCare+ covers the iPad as well as its battery and included accessories like the power brick.
What doesn’t AppleCare+ for iPad cover?
Loss and theft are never covered by AppleCare. Check with your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance to see if those policies offer you any protection.
Should I get it?
This answer might hinge on how you use your iPad. My $329 iPad, for example, almost never leaves my house—but I also share it with a 5-year-old who doesn’t always treat it like an expensive and fragile device. Still, our iPad is mostly for entertainment, so I’m living (dangerously?) without AppleCare+.
On the other hand, if I was a road warrior with a $1,000 iPad Pro that I relied on every day to make my living, I’d be more likely to shell out the $99 for AppleCare+, which, again, is cheaper than AppleCare+ for most iPhones or any Macs.
AppleCare+ for Macs and Apple displays
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Apple doesn’t sell its own Apple-branded displays anymore, and AppleCare+ for Macs might seem like a bargain if you’ve ever paid hundreds to get a laptop serviced—or overkill if you’re an iMac user who’s never run into a problem.
How much does AppleCare+ cost for Macs?
For Macs, AppleCare+ offers three years of service protection and phone support, and the price varies by model.
Mac mini: $99
iMac: $169
iMac Pro: $169
Mac Pro: $249
MacBook: $249
MacBook Air: $249
13-inch MacBook Pro: $269
15-inch MacBook Pro: $379
Apple also had a separate AppleCare+ plan for its desktop displays, like the Cinema Display and the Thunderbolt Display, but those displays are no longer sold.
What does AppleCare+ for Macs cover?
The plan extends the original warranty from one year to three years, which covers you for defects that aren’t your fault. Phone and chat support is extended from 90 days to three years as well.
AppleCare+ for Macs also includes two incidents of accidental damage for a lower service fee than you would pay for an out-of-warranty repair. If you damage just the screen or the Mac’s enclosure, it’s $99, and all other damage is $299, plus tax.
For Macs, your computer is covered, plus the battery, power adapter and other included accessories, RAM, AirPort, and even Apple’s USB SuperDrive.
What doesn’t AppleCare+ for Macs cover?
It doesn’t cover loss or theft. Your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance might, depending on your policy.
Should I get it?
For Macs, AppleCare+ makes more sense if you’re buying a laptop and you’re worried about the screen, or you just tend to be rough on your computers. Desktop Macs probably aren’t as important to cover, since the likelihood of, say, dropping one is a lot less. Still, Macs have a long life, so you may decide three years of (transferable) protection is worth the extra cost.
AppleCare+ for Apple Watch
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Apple offers two tiers of AppleCare+ for the Apple Watch. Since they cost so much, the special edition watches (Edition, Hermès, and ceramic) already come with two years of warranty support, AppleCare+ extends that to a third year.
How much does AppleCare+ cost for Apple Watch?
Either $49 or $99, depending on the model.
The Series 3 watches in aluminum start at $329 for GPS, and $399 for GPS + cellular. AppleCare+ is $49, which extends the included one-year warranty to two.
The Series 3 watches in stainless steel start at $599 for GPS + cellular. AppleCare+ is $49, extending the one-year warranty to two.
The aluminum Apple Watch Nike+ editions in Series 3 also start at $329 for GPS and $399 for GPS + Cellular. For $49, AppleCare+ extends the one-year warranty to two.
The Apple Watch Edition Series 3 in white or gray ceramic start at $1299. AppleCare+ is $99, extending the included two-year warranty to three. (Solid gold Apple Watches too, but those haven’t been sold in a while.)
The stainless steel Apple Watch Series 3 Hermès edition watches range from $1149 to $1399 because of their elaborate leather bands. AppleCare+ is $99, which extends the two-year warranty to three.
Apple still sells the Series 1 watch in aluminum for $249/$279. AppleCare+ is $49, extending the warranty from one year to two.
What does AppleCare+ for Apple Watch cover?
The cheaper Apple Watches come with 90 days of tech support and a one-year limited warranty. AppleCare+ extends both to two years for $49.
The more expensive watches (Edition, Hermès, ceramic, gold) already include two years of limited warranty and tech support. A $99 AppleCare+ plan extends both for a third year.
All Apple Watches are eligible for Express Replacement Service, so you aren’t without an Apple Watch while you wait for your repair. The plan covers the watch, its battery, the magnetic charging cable, and the power adapter. Apple Watch Editions came with a fancy magnetic charging dock that’s also covered.
AppleCare+ for all Apple Watches covers up to two incidents of accidental damage. The service fees are $69 for regular and Nike+ models, and $79 for Edition and Hermès models, plus tax.
What doesn’t AppleCare+ for Apple Watch cover?
Loss and theft! Are you noticing the pattern?
Should I get it?
It’s pretty difficult to get an Apple Watch repaired anywhere but the Apple store, as we found out. The Apple Watch is designed to be tough, so most users hopefully shouldn’t have problems. But if you’re paranoid or accident prone, or you just love the idea of Express Replacement Service so you never miss a step, AppleCare+ is there.
AppleCare Protection Plan for Apple TV
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Your Apple TV is probably the last thing you’d buy an extended warranty for, but Apple is happy to sell you one! Since it doesn’t cover accidental damage, they don’t even call it AppleCare+. It’s just the AppleCare Protection Plan for Apple TV.
How much is the AppleCare Protection Plan for Apple TV?
It’s only $29, both for the regular Apple TV and the brand-new 4K edition. That gets you two years of warranty coverage and tech support.
What does the AppleCare Protection Plan for Apple TV cover?
The Apple TV itself, the Siri Remote, and even the Apple AirPort router you use with it, if you bought it within two years of the Apple TV. Tech support by phone or chat includes help with setup, connecting to Wi-Fi, iCloud, renting or buying from iTunes, AirPlay, and even connecting to third-party streaming services.
What doesn’t it cover?
Loss and theft, including losing the remote. (But if the remote stops working, that’s covered.) There’s also no coverage for accidental damage (spills, drops, earthquakes, fires) or cosmetic damage. But it’s an Apple TV. It just sits there.
Should I get it?
Nah. I mean, you could. But you probably don’t need to, unless you really want the tech support.
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