This is bad

Apple's M-series chips have a serious encryption flaw.

Uh-oh.

Researchers discovered a pretty bad flaw in some Apple M-series processors, which power several generations of Macs and iPads.

The flaw reveals encryption keys, and could be used by hackers to get credit card information or read encrypted messages.

Worse, it’s baked into the Apple silicon itself — a hardwired fault that can be patched, but at significant cost to performance.

However, there are ways to protect yourself if you own an affected machine. Read the details here.

Also in today’s newsletter:

  • The DOJ’s antitrust case against Apple is monumental: It’s the biggest legal challenge Apple has ever faced. But the case is based on old practices, and is surprisingly weak.

  • Bluetti’s portable power stations are things of beauty, and the latest are well-protected from dust and rain.

  • I’m still puzzled how CdkeySales can sell Windows for so cheap.

  • Cult of Mac writer David Snow is a fan of Soundcore’s inexpensive but excellent earbuds and headphones -- which are up to half off in a big sale.

  • Yesterday’s poll showed this newsletter’s readers think the DOJ should stay away from suing Apple for antitrust. Only one reader voted that Apple should be sued. See the results below.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

A message from CdkeySales

A message from Bluetti

Tweetz o’ the day

One more thing ...

For most things in life, the range between best and average is 30% or so. The best airplane flight, the best meal, they may be 30% better than your average one. What I saw with Woz was somebody who was 50 times better than the average engineer. He could have meetings in his head. The Mac team was an attempt to build a whole team like that, A players. People said they wouldn’t get along, they’d hate working with each other. But I realized that A players like to work with A players, they just didn’t like working with C players. At Pixar, it was a whole company of A players. When I got back to Apple, that’s what I decided to try to do. You need to have a collaborative hiring process. When we hire someone, even if they’re going to be in marketing, I will have them talk to the design folks and the engineers. My role model was J. Robert Oppenheimer. I read about the type of people he sought for the atom bomb project. I wasn’t nearly as good as he was, but that’s what I aspired to do.

— Steve Jobs, 2011.

Today’s poll

How old is your iPad?

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Results from yesterday’s poll: Should Apple be sued for antitrust?

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