commentzilla

I'm happy to see they are ditching USB-A. I avoid USB-A ports and only buy USB-C / Thunderbolt devices and I use UBC-C / Thunderbolt  to connect directly to HMDI, DisplayPort, etc, since no hub or adapter is needed. A transition I started back in 2019.

gatorguy said:

commentzilla said:

dcgoo said:

Except devices that have GPS on board, use that for tracking location, regardless of the VPN location.  The only device you can get away with that might be a Mac. But even they track location by nearby WiFi networks, even if you aren’t actually using that network for access (that’s how a Mac magically knows what time zone you are in)

Since the article included a graphic of a phone, I can assume using this trick on a phone was your intent.  Unfortunately it will be largely unsuccessful. Most of the interesting apps will fail if you turn off location services. 

GPS is accessed through Apple "Location Services". Even that service is on, iOS will not handover your location unless you enable it on a per app basis. You can also turn off their ability to see across your local network. As I mentioned... The global public IP address of popular VPNs are well know and tracked, which enables Prime or Netflix to block their content from anyone using VPN service. 

"Location Services allows Apple and third-party apps and websites to gather and use information based on the current location of your iPhone or Apple Watch to provide a variety of location-based services. For example, an app might use your location data and location search query to help you find nearby coffee shops or theaters, or your device may set its time zone automatically based on your current location.

To use features such as these, you must enable Location Services on your iPhone and give your permission to each app or website before it can receive location data from Location Services."

SETTINGS > PRIVACY & SECURITY > LOCATION SERVICES (see list of apps requesting location data)

SETTINGS > PRIVACY & SECURITY > LOCAL NETWORK  (see list of apps requesting location data)

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/location-services/

I believe I've read that Apple can uniquely identify your location no matter what masking/VPN service you might use? Of course if you turn off all location services, geo-blocking isn't needed since you aren't going to be streaming anything.

Yes, Apple will have it but your location or local network information (device discovery like WiFi) is not be passed on to 3rd party apps unless you approve it on a per app basis: Netflix, Amazon, etc . You can also disable Safari from passing your location to any website you visit.

Also, unlike Google, Apple does not sell user data. That's Google's business model which built around so called FREE apps and services. Why else would they be FREE?

Add...

SETTINGS > PRIVACY & SECURITY > LOCATION SERVICES > SAFARI WEBSITES  (see list of apps requesting location data)

meterestnz said:

I find that it’s not as simple as the article suggests. I use a VPN always, but in my own country, accessing Prime or Netflix is problematic. On a regular basis I am kicked off Prime or Netflix because I have a VPN operating. I am unable to access until I turn the VPN off. I haven’t researched why this is and I have never stumbled on how to fix it. This article has not offered any insight either. 

The global public IP address of popular VPNs are well know and tracked, which enables Prime or Netflix to block their content from anyone using VPN service. 

radarthekat said:

It still needs a compelling reason to exist.   I don’t see the existing foldable phones providing some key use case that is significantly compelling to justify the added complexity and compromise.  Bendable displays, in terms of entirely folding over, may just remain a solution in search of a problem. 

It's a niche product at best unless they can half the bulk of the device to current phone sizes. But if that's possible then current phones could be half as thick and light, making them even more compelling.

My guess is that the enhanced version which Sherlocks "Grammarly" will be part of an iCloud subscription. Of course that will likely be deemed anti-competitive by the EU  so the EU will miss out on this feature and then complain that missing out is anti-competitive!