iphone 16 pro

Pixel 11 doesn't meet the GrapheneOS security standards and may be skipped

We have a partial port of GrapheneOS to the Pixel 11 series after a week of work on it. We're unable to complete the port due to lack of support for ARM hardware memory tagging in software, firmware and near certainly hardware. It appears Google cut an important security feature to save money. ARM hardware memory tagging (MTE) is used by GrapheneOS across the entire base OS including the kernel and every standard base OS process. It's only temporarily disabled for a few device-specific processes. It greatly improves protection against nearly all remote exploits and many local exploits. Pixel 8 launched with hardware MTE support in October 2023. We integrated it into our hardened_malloc project and began using it across the OS later that month. Android and the Pixel OS never started using it by default. Android Advanced Protection Mode in Android 16 enables it for a few processes. Apple's Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) is an always enabled feature on the iPhone 17. It's simply a high quality implementation of MTE using the latest standard extensions. It uses MTE in the most secure mode in the kernel and a large portion of userbase. They did a very good job integrating it. Apple's MIE and Android 16+ AAPM don't use MTE for user installed apps unless those explicitly opt in. GrapheneOS enables it for more apps automatically and has a toggle for users to opt-in for every user installed app. There's a per-app toggle to opt-out for incompatible apps which is uncommon. Neither iOS or Android encourage app developers to opt into MTE and other more aggressive security features used in the base OS. Apple's docs warn developers of performance and stability issues. Even Signal doesn't opt-in. Our approach enables forcing using MTE in the standard allocators regardless. Pixel 11 does have security improvements including moving to post-quantum secure verified boot (ML-DSA) and replacing Samsung Shannon IMS with AOSP IMS. Titan M3 should significantly improve protection against data extraction in Before First Unlock state. It's too bad they ruined it by cutting MTE. Pixel 11 series is a lot more expensive for an incremental improvement to the CPU, the same underpowered GPU and reduced RAM for the Pro base models. They finally caught up to the last generation of Qualcomm cellular radio. It's overpriced, the upgrades aren't impressive and losing MTE is appalling. Compared to the Pixel 11, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has 40% higher single threaded CPU performance, 80% higher multi threaded performance, over 100% higher GPU performance and a far better cellular radio. It also finally has MTE. The next gen is what will be in the first Motorola with GrapheneOS. Pixel 9a and earlier (including Nexus devices) were the Android Open Source Project reference devices. Pixel support was removed from AOSP with Android 16. It's now harder to support Pixels than many other devices and massive progress towards open source firmware and driver libraries was discarded. Compared to the stock Pixel OS, GrapheneOS ships AOSP patches months earlier and Linux kernel patches many months earlier. However, we rely on them for firmware and most driver updates. We also want to move to new kernel branches earlier. These things can be improved with our Motorola partnership. We strongly recommend against buying Pixel 11 devices. Pixel 8, 9 and 10 have much better overall security for GrapheneOS. Pixel 10 is cheaper with similar hardware and MTE. Pixel 11's Titan M3 should improve BFU security for users without a strong passphrase, but losing MTE craters AFU security. We haven't determined what to do about this situation. It may be best for us to skip the Pixel 11 series devices. We can shift our focus entirely to the upcoming Motorola devices instead. Pixel 10a was really a 9th gen Pixel, so hopefully the Pixel 11a does the same with 10th gen and includes MTE.

android 413 16

Rules for affording a home

rules for affording a home 1. no avocado toast 2. no starbucks 3. no iphones 4. no spending 5. wait, why aren't you buying diamonds and having babies? 6. why am i going out of business? 7. please go back to buying stuff 8. pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase 9. you don't have enough money? 10. you need me to pay you more? 11. \#nObOddYwAnTsToWoRk 12. i know, we need more babies 13. ... 14. let's ban abortion 15. ??? 16. profit 17. capitalism is great :)

politicalmemes 362 7

Welcome to the era of gangster tech regulation

**Our tech overlords all have problems, and they want to buy the solutions.** President Donald Trump is being sworn in today, and we are about to find out what happens when the government is actually as corrupt as our most brain-rotted conspiracy theorists imagine. “[Trump Inauguration, Awash in Cash, Runs Out of Perks for Big Donors](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/08/us/politics/trump-inauguration-donors.html),” *The New York Times *reported, somewhat inaccurately. Sure, the Trump people ran out of VIP tickets, but that’s not what the donors were buying. This is pure, obvious corruption — the kind that used to trigger shame, back when we were a populace that could still experience that emotion.  **So what are these men buying?** Our tech overlords all have problems, and they want to buy the solutions. I guess it was easier than making products people actually like. “[First Buddy](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1856073530137526564)” Elon Musk spent [at least a quarter of a billion dollars](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/us/politics/elon-musk-trump-rbg-election.html) electing Donald Trump. Corporations and wealthy donors [have sent half a billion more](https://www.axios.com/2025/01/15/trump-windfall-fundraising-500-million) since he was elected. Amazon, Google, Uber, Microsoft, and Meta [donated $1 million each](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/11/trump-big-tech-inauguration-zuckerberg-bezos-google/) to Trump’s inauguration, as did Apple’s Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. (Joe Biden’s inauguration [hardly received](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/17/24345244/elizabeth-warren-senator-press-big-tech-trump-donations) this kind of largesse.) “In the first term, everybody was fighting me,” [Trump said in December](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/16/trump-softbank-ceo-masayoshi-son-100-billion/).  “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.” Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, the three wealthiest men on Earth, are [reportedly attending the inauguration;](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/elon-musk-jeff-bezos-mark-zuckerberg-attend-trump-inauguration-rcna187642)they were to be seated with elected officials and cabinet nominees, [before the ceremony was moved indoors](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/who-is-attending-trump-inauguration-2025/). (Cook is also [reportedly attending.](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/15/us/politics/mark-zuckerberg-donald-trump-inauguration.html)) Musk [will have office space in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/us/politics/elon-musk-white-house-trump.html) next to the White House, according to *The New York Times*.  So what are these men buying? Real market opportunities are rarer than they used to be. Tech executives and investors have become openly resentful about their products’ [societal repercussions](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/technology/myanmar-facebook-genocide.html) and [an unconscionable lack of adulation from the citizenry](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/opinion/marc-andreessen-trump-silicon-valley.html). Zuckerberg in particular seems bored with Facebook, his major moneymaker, and has been searching for a new toy.  He spent [at least $46 billion](https://fortune.com/2023/10/27/mark-zuckerberg-net-worth-metaverse-losses-46-billion-earnings-stock/) plus [the cost of a company rebrand](https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22745234/facebook-new-name-meta-metaverse-zuckerberg-rebrand) on the  Metaverse, only to find that his Big New Thing didn’t have legs. His latest Big New Thing is AR glasses, which are heavily reliant on whatever AI (and, likely, tariff) policy Trump will dictate.  **Perhaps nobody has spent more to buy a break from public scrutiny than the crypto industry** Nearly every major tech company has at least one lawsuit pending. Apple [has an antitrust suit pending](https://www.theverge.com/24107581/doj-v-apple-antitrust-monoply-news-updates). Google [just lost one](https://www.theverge.com/23869483/us-v-google-search-antitrust-case-updates). There’s also a Federal Trade Commission suit that could [peel Instagram and WhatsApp off Meta](https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/13/24295637/meta-must-face-ftc-antitrust-trial-instagram-whatsapp). Trump cares little about the actual purpose of antitrust enforcement: making companies compete for customers with good products. All the pending litigation is just leverage for Trump to punish anyone who doesn’t fall in line. And Silicon Valley is more disinterested in consumers than ever. “Get out of jail free” is a pretty famous card in the game of Monopoly, after all. Perhaps nobody has spent more to buy a break from public scrutiny than the crypto industry. “The crypto guys are just blowing it out,” an [anonymous Trump advisor told *Axios*](https://www.axios.com/2025/01/15/trump-windfall-fundraising-500-million). “It used to be $1 million was a big number. Now we’re looking at some folks giving like $10 \[million] or $20 million.” They want a friendly Securities and Exchange Commission. Venture capitalist and PayPal Mafioso David Sacks has already been named as a “crypto czar.” And there’s a pending executive order to name crypto “a national imperative or priority — strategic wording intended to guide government agencies to work with the industry,” [according to Bloomberg.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-16/trump-plans-to-designate-cryptocurrency-as-a-national-priority?sref=M8H6LjUF) We may even be about to witness our very [first presidential meme coin pump-and-dump](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-19/trump-s-memecoin-creates-billions-from-thin-air-before-dc-return).  Crypto is good for little besides crime and gambling, and less regulation means more chances for people to get scammed by the next FTX. (Speaking of gambling, [Robinhood donated $2 million](https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6366142969112) to the Trump inaugural fund.) On top of that, the executive order means a higher likelihood of crypto getting shoveled into new government projects — whether it’s useful or not. Crypto capture could even extend to soft-pedaling enforcement of the assorted criminal industries that rely on it. Then there’s the taxes, of course. The billionaires don’t want to pay them, and Trump is [amenable to that](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-tells-billionaires-ll-keep-taxes-low-50-million-fundraising-gala-rcna146748). Scott Bessent, [nominated for Treasury Secretary](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/scott-bessent-treasury-secretary-nominee-tax-cuts-rich-1235238195/), said “the most important economic issue of the day” was making sure tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy stayed in place. Bessent is [accused of being a tax dodge himself](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/15/senate-democrats-memo-scott-bessent-tax-dodges-00198567). **Mass privatization could make things even more profitable for the tech industry** But that’s all small potatoes. The real money is in the military. The venture capitalist Marc Andreessen — also a board member of Meta and major investor in X — has been recruiting Trump administration staffers and even influencing Defense Department and intelligence agency hiring, [*The Washington Post* reports.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/13/andreessen-tech-industry-trump-administration-doge/) As usual, he’s [given the game away by bragging about it on a podcast.](https://youtu.be/g4jWb-0nj44?t=3057) Silicon Valley investors generally have been [bullish on defense tech](https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/defense-tech-highs-2024-anduril-chaos/) like industry poster children Anduril and Palantir. (a16z is a major Anduril backer, and both companies are founded and owned by some of the Valley’s earliest MAGA faithful.) They want to shift Pentagon spending away from old-school contractors like Lockheed Martin, which appears to be so freaked out that when the “Big Tech Alert” X account noted it had unfollowed Musk, [the Lockheed account DM’d ](https://x.com/BigTechAlert/status/1879885385171644744)to say it was “inadvertent.” Musk’s SpaceX has a [number of contracts](https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2023/09/27/spacex-inks-first-us-space-force-defense-contract-worth-up-to-70-million/)with the [US military](https://thedefensepost.com/2024/10/22/spacex-us-military-satellites/) and [intelligence agencies](https://spacenews.com/spacex-secures-new-contracts-worth-733-5-million-for-national-security-space-missions/), including the [so-called Starshield satellites](https://www.space.com/spacex-starshield-space-force-contract). He’s used his influence to meddle in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and has [even reportedly taken phone calls](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/elon-musks-shadow-rule) from Vladimir Putin. The military’s interest in artificial intelligence has also inspired a new race for everything from building out data centers to providing cloud computing. Musk’s xAI, something of an also-ran next to OpenAI, Meta, and Google, could legitimize itself with DoD contracts. [Andreessen has already expressed his displeasure](https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/24/24204706/marc-andreessen-ben-horowitz-a16z-trump-donations) with Joe Biden’s [executive order on AI](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/10/30/executive-order-on-the-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence/), which will likely be repealed.  **This isn’t a friendly clown car all these men have packed themselves into** The AI goldrush likely also interests Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon — as well as an array of startups. [As early as 2017](https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/13/24320632/openai-elon-musk-lawsuit-sam-altman), OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman wrote to Elon Musk that the company should aim for a “Government project (when: ??).” (I’ve heard rumors that OpenAI asked for government funding around then; Microsoft also r[eportedly pitched DALL-E](https://theintercept.com/2024/04/10/microsoft-openai-dalle-ai-military-use/) to the military in 2023.)  Microsoft has the most to lose in these negotiations — [Senators Ron Wyden and Eric Schmitt have expressed concerns](https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/lawmakers-urge-pentagon-to-diversify-cybersecurity-vendors-a-25401) that the Defense Department is too dependent on it as a vendor. CEO Satya Nadella has [already made a pilgrimage to Mar-A-Lago](https://www.semafor.com/article/01/15/2025/trump-musk-dined-with-microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-at-mar-a-lago) to grovel before Trump and Musk. Mass privatization could make things even more profitable for the tech industry. [Data/research stuff](https://time.com/7013685/google-ai-deepmind-military-contracts-israel/) is an obvious bonanza, but [Musk’s criticisms of the F-35 program](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/musk-f-35-criticisms-trump-admin-cuts/) suggest much broader targeting. Greater military investment in drones, for instance, would likely benefit Anduril. Musk already makes rockets, which means it’s a short leap for SpaceX to make missiles. And should the Trump administration carry out [its mass deportation threats](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/18/trump-military-mass-deportation), there will doubtless be demand for more databases, mass tracking, and detention centers. But this isn’t a friendly clown car all these men have packed themselves into. Their interests simply do not align. Zuckerberg is the biggest beneficiary of a TikTok ban and has[ practically begged Trump to punish Apple for him](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/10/24341117/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-joe-rogan-lies). Trump may have [changed his mind](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/01/15/trump-tiktok-ban-executive-order/) on banning TikTok, though, perhaps because [a major conservative donor](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/14/trump-tiktok-billionaire-donors-00146892) owns a 15 percent stake. Apple is dependent on Chinese manufacturing and needs exemptions from the [Trump administration’s promised tariffs](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-15/trump-tariffs-would-mean-pricier-iphones-or-lower-apple-profit?sref=M8H6LjUF). Andreessen has asked [for the breakup of Google](https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/24/24204706/marc-andreessen-ben-horowitz-a16z-trump-donations), which is now appealing its monopoly judgment. Everyone wants to steal contracts from Microsoft. Jeff Bezos and Musk are rivals for space contacts.  If we know anything from Trump’s first term, it’s that he loves people jockeying for his favor. Sure, that means mess, but it also means funny bedfellows. For instance, everyone hates the EU’s regulatory regime. It’s easy to imagine Zuckerberg, Musk, and Cook teaming up to get Trump to defang the EU’s Digital Services Act — and then immediately turning on each other. Being in Trump’s good graces is a zero sum game, and the prize is that the clown car is eventually going to go right over a cliff. **Selective legal enforcement puts every company under a sword of Damocles** Keeping Trump happy could be expensive, but cheaper than legal battles. Selective legal enforcement puts every company under a sword of Damocles — make the wrong move and [you can be cut to shreds](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/19/24347325/tiktok-service-providers-penalties-apple-google-orcale-trump) by lackeys in Congress or [the FCC](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/7/24338125/meta-mark-zuckerberg-fact-checking-censorship-brendan-carr-trump). Just look at [TikTok’s fawning appeals to Dear Leader](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/19/24347345/tiktok-makes-more-kissy-faces-at-trump). The Supreme Court has upheld the TikTok ban, but if Trump only punishes the people he doesn’t like, [nothing happens to TikTok](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/19/24347463/trump-plan-to-save-tiktok-from-ban). (Crucially, the law’s still on the books to keep [other Chinese competitors](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/16/24345175/rednote-tiktok-alternative-divest-ban-law-trump) in line.) Did I mention [TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew got a front-row invite to Trump’s inauguration](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tiktok-ceo-attend-inauguration-front-row-seat-trumps-invite) from the man himself? I suppose I have to explain why this makes the US a shittier place to live, given the “savvy” cynicism I’ve seen about how it’s all rotten here already. Tech companies, padding their bottom lines, have made their experiences worse, a phenomenon so widespread and well-recognized that now there’s [slang for it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification). Whether the scandals are scams, child predation, worker exploitation, or violations of user privacy — pick your poison — Trump has offered tech a way to buy itself out of consequences. That makes life tangibly worse for everyone who isn’t a billionaire.  There are those who will say that this is good — that the corruption is happening in the open instead of the shadows. But public, open corruption allows even more rottenness to fester in secret. Consider all the strongman governments; besides their advances in bribery, what did they innovate? **Silicon Valley’s leaders fashion themselves as titans of industry, but what they’re really building is a golden age of grift.**

technology 349 13

Apple Shares Full iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Repair Manuals

> Following today's launch of the new [iPhone 16](https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/iphone-16/) models, Apple has shared repair manuals for the [iPhone 16](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120652), the [iPhone 16 Plus](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120662), the [iPhone 16 Pro](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120803), and the [iPhone 16 Pro Max](https://support.apple.com/en-us/120828). The repair manuals provide technical instructions on replacing genuine Apple parts in the ‌iPhone 16‌ models, and Apple says the information is intended for "individual technicians" that have the "knowledge, experience, and tools" that are necessary to repair electronic devices.

technology 322 51

Let's discuss how to efficiently promote Lemmy to potential new joiners

To follow-up on the [Reddit thread](https://feddit.org/post/7074664) yesterday, here are a few elements that can be interesting to discuss. #### Link to specific instances and apps rather than just saying Lemmy Just quoting "Lemmy" or pointing to join-lemmy.org can lead to a very unintuitive and clunky experience, as people can just end up randomly on a very small and/or outdated instance. Recent post by a new joiner 9 days ago, they had to change server 2 times to get a satisfying experience: https://lemmy.world/post/24220536. Using something like "Lemmy has 42k monthly active users - https://discuss.online/ if you want a server located in the USA (content is still accessible from any server, the most difference latency) - https://sopuli.xyz/ if you want a server located in the EU - https://vger.app/ if you want an app Feel free if you have any questions" Can already point them in one direction, and avoid them getting lost in the too many options. If people want to debate the choice of those two instances, I'll add my thought process in the comments. #### The Lemmy feed looks as depressing as Reddit's All, and how to mitigate that Some feedback I received when promoting Lemmy the way above > Just checked out lemmy to see if it’s different from reddit. Im very disappointed lmao. > First post I see is a comic about cultural appropriation with an ifunny watermark. Next are several posts about the proton vpn ceo “going full maga.” And finally a post I saw on Reddit days ago that is ragebait making fun of the cybertruck. > Yikes. It’s the same exact thing. -- > Lemmy still has a pretty obnoxious tankie problem. Even if you block the .ml instance, pretty much every thread about US politics or world news on any major instance gets hijacked by the same handful of trolls and their associated vote bots. Hopefully this will become less of a problem as more sane people join, but just as a word of caution, be aware that you will be called western imperialist scum by a bunch of 14 year olds. -- > Lemmy is utter rubbish, it's as if their entire userbase consists of the top layer of scum carefully siphoned off from the Reddit cesspool. It got the worst of the annoying political echo chamber and "very smart" argumentative users from Reddit. > I just clicked on half a dozen random Lemmy servers, and all of them had at least one link about Trump in the top 5 posts. Even ones that seem like they're supposed to be about tech. > Normal humans want the Reddit of 10+ years ago back. We don't want to use a different site colonized by the same modern day Redditors we loathe interacting with. -- To be fair, you can't say they're wrong. Open https://discuss.online/ , by default you'll be set on All - Active. Out of the first 9 posts you see, 8 are about T or M, the last one being a meme. What I try to do in such instances is to give something like "While politics are important, you can still very much block them. Here are an example of some communities that can interest you: - https://discuss.online/c/casualconversation@lemm.ee - https://discuss.online/c/foodporn@lemmy.world - https://discuss.online/c/superbowl@lemmy.world - https://discuss.online/c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works - https://discuss.online/post/15026558 for 20 non-political communities" I also wrote a long post about that issue that you can read here https://old.reddit.com/r/RedditAlternatives/comments/1fmuk7o/post_to_address_the_usual_criticism_about_lemmy/ As a side note, I recently started a discussion on [!fedigrow@lemm.ee](https://lemm.ee/c/fedigrow) about a potential political-free instance for new joiners, feel free to have a look: https://feddit.org/post/6819084 #### Lemmy is too small, 42k monthly active users is nothing Discuit, the centralized alternative to Reddit, currently counts 181 weekly active commenters: https://discuit.net/DiscuitMeta/post/NlAdOWAp You can also mention that NodeBB is now federating with Lemmy: - https://feddit.org/post/7035166?scrollToComments=true - https://community.nodebb.org/topic/71fe3f89-361c-4716-a79e-de02f94b3113/test-from-lemmy-to-nodebb That's all for now, happy to discuss in the comments. Note: if you're not interested in promoting Lemmy, feel free to hide this post, you are able to do this on specific posts if your instance is running 0.19.4 and newer

fediverse 249 157