Image copyrightAppleImage captionThe Safari fault appears to be affecting a range of Apple's devices
Apple believes it has fixed a problem that caused its Safari web browser to crash when users carried out a search via its address bar.
The problem appears to have begun earlier in the day.
Users had complained that they had experienced the bug on both the firm's mobile devices and its Mac computers.
Apple recently updated its iOS and OS X operating systems, but users who had not installed the new versions had also reported the fault.
This would suggest that the immediate cause was a process happening at Apple's data centres. However, some experts have suggested that an additional flaw in Safari itself may have led to the program crashing as it was unable to handle the invalid input.
Apple has not provided a comment about the fault.
But the BBC understands that the fix may take some time to go through for everyone.
Users can, however, speed up the process by clicking on the "clear history and website data" in Safari's preferences.
The issue only impacted people whose "suggestions cache" had updated while they were using the phone between 09:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT.
As a result, Europe-based device owners were more likely to have been affected than those in Asia or the US.
Malicious link
Earlier in the week, it emerged that a web link had gone viral that forced Safari to crash.
The page the browser was sent to used JavaScript to put the software into a loop forcing it to fail.
Image copyrightTwitterImage captionSafari users have complained about the problem on Twitter
However, the more recent problem appears to have been much more widespread, and was replicated by the BBC.
Apple revealed on Tuesday that there are about one billion of its core devices in use.
The vast majority of those may have been affected, although the number also includes its set-top TV boxes and smartwatches, which do not use the browser.
According to connected KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is preparing two major iOS device introductions for the first half of 2016 in the much-rumored 4-inch iPhone and a refreshed 9.7-inch iPad Air 3.
In a Sunday note to investors, Kuo said he expects Apple's upcoming 4-inch iPhone to be met with tepid demand, as the device's form factor and hardware are mostly iterative. Apple is revisiting the smaller handset size after shifting R&D efforts to larger-screened iPhone 6 and 6s models.
The rumored "iPhone 5se" will sport a form factor similar to the outgoing iPhone 5s, but with higher-spec hardware like a 12-megapixel camera and adoption of slightly curved iPhone 6s-style "2.5D" cover glass. Compared to current iPhone 6s and 6s Plus handsets, the new 4-inch version is not expected to boast much in the way of hardware innovations, Kuo says.
Less is known about the upcoming iPad Air 3 and "iPhone 7." Today's note is one of the first to predict a first half 2016 launch window for Apple's refreshed 9.7-inch tablet. In 2014, Apple released the A8X-powered iPad Air 2 in October, though minor hardware upgrades, while solid additions, weren't enough to slow steeply declining in sales.
Kuo has little insight on this year's flagship iPhone, tentatively dubbed "iPhone 7," but notes no surprise innovations in the information he has been able to confirm thus far. This suggests Apple is currently working on evolutionary upgrades in A-series SoC technology, camera resolution, battery life and more.
If Apple follows its usual upgrade cycle, this year's iPhone should bring a revamped design. Multiple rumors suggest Apple is looking to ditch iPhone's 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of a Bluetooth or Lightning solution, while less reliable sources have claimed the handset will be waterproof and feature wireless charging.
As for quarterly shipments, Kuo models iPhone sales at 77 million for the three-month period ended in December. The number sits at the midline of Wall Street expectations.
Looking ahead, tame iPhone 6s demand will drive current quarter iPhone shipments of 43 million units, down 44.2 percent quarter over quarter and 29.7 percent from the same time last year. Apple traditionally sees seasonal headwinds coming off strong holiday sales. Kuo believes the dip in iPhone demand is set to correct to between 42 and 45 million units in quarter two when 4-inch iPhone model production ramps up.
Three days ago Apple released an iOS 9.2.1 update with seemingly arbitrary ‘security updates and bug fixes’ listed in the release notes. As we’ve seen time and time again with these type of software updates, most often these small updates seem to go ignored by the general public. We stress how important it is to keep your device up to date, even with small security updates like this.
As is customary after Apple releases a security update version of iOS, the firms and people that discovered the vulnerabilities are coming out explaining how and why these security updates matter. Apple has already included a breakdown of what security issues were resolved in iOS 9.2.1, but it’s still nice to get a further detailed look into what made the vulnerabilities possible in the first place.
SkyCure, a company helping in threat defense in EMM and MDM solutions, released a blog post this week detailing their discovery while noting that Apple had finally resolved it.
The security issue (CVE-2016-1730) was reported back in June of 2013, but SkyCure notes that it was a more complicated issue to fix than one would imagine. SkyCure’s discovery relates to the way iOS handles cookies when connecting to a malicious captive-enabled Wi-Fi network. You may have seen these types of networks if you’ve ever connected to a hotel, airport or Starbucks network.
On Thursday, security researchers at Zimperium zLabs had also released a report analyzing how their vulnerability (CVE-2016-1722) was discovered. This vulnerability appears to have taken less than two months to resolve. Zimperium’s discovery revolved around a heap buffer overflow in syslogd that would allow an attacker to have elevated privileges or even perform remote code execution (although this would require the device to be on an already trusted Wi-Fi network).
As the desire for better security, privacy, and encryption increases, I welcome the security researchers’ work and Apple’s “minor” update. Even if they don’t include any exciting new features, like new emoji.
Despite a rip-roaring 2015, something peculiar happened this month: Apple's stock value dropped to below $100 for the first time since October 2014.
That was down from a high of just over $132 last May.
As I write this, it's rallying on account of some decent rumours - but it's on Tuesday we'll truly know if 2016 is going to be a tough one for the tech giant.
On the one hand, we're expecting an amazing Christmas with record-breaking revenues, yet again.
But it's Apple's guidance for what to expect in the months to come that investors will be eagerly awaiting. It's here where the company outlines its worries, the issues that keeps it awake at night (or at least, stressed out in the boardroom).
Troubled investors are expecting Apple to say this: For the first time, sales of the iPhone are in decline.
Decline!
The iPhone!
That's a big deal.
New business
According to the latest figures Apple has shared - from October - sales of the smartphone make up 63% of the company's entire revenue. That's before you factor in all the people who then go on to buy apps, subscribe to Apple Music, and do any number of other things with their phone from which Apple takes a cut.
Its other major products don't even come close. The Mac range has bucked a huge industry-wide decline but still only accounts for 13%. The iPad, meanwhile, represents 8% - though this may get a boost thanks to the recently launched iPad Pro, the bigger version that comes with a keyboard and little stylus.
Apple's major new product of recent times has been the Apple Watch. Yet we're still none-the-wiser about how successful that has been, as its performance is lumped into the "other" category, which includes sales of the iPod, Beats headphones and various other things.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionAnalysts believe the Apple Watch is the bestselling smartwatch, but can only estimate its sales figures
Collectively, the "other" products were worth 6% in total.
The watch will have likely been a good performer at Christmas, so Apple may begin to shed some light on how well it is doing. But we'll have to wait and see.
The reliance on the iPhone is what worries investors most. Apple has plenty of repeat business - once hooked in, data shows people are far more likely to stick with Apple than change to another brand like Samsung - but it's now seeing a plateau when it comes to bringing in new customers.
'Bet the house'
Which is why China is so important.
Apple now makes more money in China than it does in the whole of Europe, and it's well on course to overtake the US.
"If China falls so does Apple," says Apple investor Daniel Ives, from FBR Capital Markets.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionApple opened its second store in the Chinese city of Nanjing in January
"They've really bet the house on the China growth opportunity."
Almost all of Apple's gains last year were thanks to Chinese expansion - new stores, and new customers who, until fairly recently, had to make do with awful knock-off imitations of the real deal.
But instability in the Chinese economy has rocked global markets. If China continues underperforming, it may be hard for Apple to continue that growth long-term.
But for the majority of investors and analysts, China doesn't represent a problem - yet.
It's still likely to be Apple's huge growth opportunity throughout 2016.
Case in point: there's currently only 30 Apple stores across the whole of China. California has 53.
Data suggests Apple's primary target in China, the middle classes, are still emptying their pockets with glee - particularly when it comes to buying Apple products.
Predicting the future
Trying to predict Apple's future is a dangerous habit.
It rarely ends well - just ask ex-Microsoft boss Steve "the-iPhone-is-not-a-good-email-machine" Ballmer. And everyone at Blackberry. And Nokia.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionSales of Windows-powered smartphones have lagged far behind those running Apple's iOS
But speculate we must, and here's a summary for what investors and analysts think could happen in 2016.
The iPhone 7 will come out - possibly without a headphone jack - and give iPhone sales a massive kick. (And perhaps headphones sales too, come to think of it.)
A new budget iPhone — called the "5E" - will hit the developing world. This may be a prime product for markets like India where, we learned this week, the company has applied to open up its own-brand stores too.
China will become even more important and show little sign of slowing down, at least where Apple is concerned.
A big acquisition will provide an express route for Apple into a new area. Apple investor Daniel Ives told the BBC that buying Netflix, for one example, would "get Wall Street the most excited".
On the road
And then there's one word that would send Apple's shares soaring in an instant: car.
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage captionApple's chief design officer Sir Jonathan Ive is known to have a passion for cars
Rumours that Apple is making a car have gone from a murmur to shouts in the past six months.
Some predict Apple is looking at making a car, others say the company would be wiser to work with existing car makers to integrate Apple software - something which is already happening with CarPlay, a sort of slimmed down version of iOS designed for driving.
"It always goes back to can they come up with something as powerful as the iPhone," says Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
"And I don't know if that is going to have to have us wait until the car comes out." But she adds: "I don't think investors will ever be happy with Apple,"
The internet is abuzz with news of several iCloud accounts being hacked recently, wherein nearly 220,000 accounts were allegedly exposed to potential compromise. Although avid jailbreakers would be aware of the inherited risks involved with iOS jailbreaking, not many would seem to know of potential ways to protect their device from external threats.
During a recent trip to Silicon Valley, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche told German weekly Welt am Sonntag that Apple and Google have made more progress on automotive projects than he had assumed, Reuters reported Monday.
“Our impression was that these companies can do more and know more than we had previously assumed. At the same time they have more respect for our achievements than we thought,” the executive told the paper.
Zetsche and an entourage of senior managers met with around 70 companies in Silicon Valley though the report didn’t name them.
“There were concrete talks. I will not say anything about the content. It was not just about the fact that there is an innovative spirit in the Valley,” he was quoted as saying.
“We know that already. We wanted to see what drives it, and all the things that can be created from it.” Mercedes-Benz established a research and development center in Silicon Valley twenty years ago.
The facility was headed by Johann Jungwirth, the former President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz, who joined Apple as Director of Mac Systems Engineering in September 2014 before leaving for Volkswagen in November 2015.
Apple’s electric car vehicle, dubbed Project Titan, has been called Silicon Valley’s worst kept secret though the initiative may have suffered a setback as Apple’s long-time veteran and VP of Product Design Steve Zadesky is reportedly leaving the company. He was tasked with spearheading the Cupertino firm’s ambitious automobile efforts.
If the effective power bug taught us anything, it’s that something as simple as a text message can crash your iPhone. Now, there’s an even easier way to cause your phone to shit itself.
The site www.crashsafari.com was created to do exactly what the URL promises: With just four lines of code, the site runs a script that’s able to crash the iPhone’s default browser. (DO NOT CLICK THAT LINK!) The script adds thousands of characters per second into the browser’s address bar, overloading the browser’s memory, heating up the phone, and eventually forcing the iPhone to reboot.
Android devices and other iOS products experience similar problems. If you click the link on Android phone, it begins heating up after about 20 seconds and has problems completing basic commands. Quitting Chrome can stop the problem, but in many cases, a full reboot is the most effective way to deal with the bug.
The bug is equally effective on desktop and laptops. The site runs the exact same script on all versions of Chrome and Safari, overwhelming the browsers with code and causing them to crash. In most cases, you won’t be required to reboot your desktop or laptop because they’re better at dealing with overheating issues than popular smartphones.
Although the link appears to be growing in popularity, a WhoIs lookup indicates that the site was registered on April 29, 2015. Its creator is anonymous according to the registrar information.
The crash safari i prank is similar to a Google Chrome bug we reported on last year. In that instance, the URL was not nearly as memorable and directed users to an open bug ticket on Chromium. The developer that found the Chrome bug revealed it to highlight how easily links can be proliferated. Keep that in mind while you’re spamming your friends with www.crashsafari.com.
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