Apple rolls out new nudity warnings in security upgrade

Apple is using new technology to scan Aussie messages to protect children from harm. Here’s what is changing.

Apple iPhones will detect nude photos in messages and ask underage users if they really want to send them in new child safety software rolling out in Australia in coming weeks.

The tech giant revealed it would introduce the features to iPhones, iPads, Watches and Macs in several countries on Thursday after earlier testing the technology in the United States.

But the warnings, which are optional, won’t tell parents if their children decide to ignore them and send or view pictures after nudity has been detected.

The features, which have been designed to protect children from exploitation and grooming as well as accidental viewing, will not be turned on by default but can be activated by parents in a device’s settings.

Apple will rollout child safety features to its devices in Australia from April 2022.

The Messages feature uses artificial intelligence to detect naked body parts.

If an incoming message includes a potentially “sensitive” photo, the image is blurred and users are warned it could include nudity.

They’re also given the option to “message a grown-up”.

Apple will also deliver warnings to children when sending photos that could contain nudity, encouraging them to think twice before doing so.

All image-scanning will occur on the device, rather than in the cloud, and parents will not warned if their children receive the warnings.

“The feature is designed so that no indication of the detection of nudity ever leaves the device,” the company said in a statement.

“Apple does not get access to the messages, and no notifications are sent to the parent or anyone else.”

An earlier version of the software addition did send parents alerts if children under the age of 13 received or sent potentially nude images.

Apple also shelved plans to scan all iCloud photos for known sexual abuse images after outrage from privacy groups.

APPLE’S NEWEST MAC REVIEWED

Apple’s newest Mac will give you unreasonable expectations of what a computer can do.

It will let you open the largest files in the most demanding software programs one after the other and leave them all open like a virtual messy bedroom.

It will handle multiple streams of 4K video, let you pile track on top of track to recreate that song in your head, and it will whip through full-resolution photos as if they were frames from a video.

Apple Mac Studio can be teamed with the new Studio Display.

It will also operate quietly, like some kind of computing ninja.

These impossibly high standards come at a high cost, of course, but the Mac Studio earns its place at the top of Apple’s product chain.

The source of its power is, of course, Apple’s new generation of silicon chips, the M1 Max and the even more powerful M1 Ultra.

The latter is a 20-core chip that can be customised with a 64-core graphics processing engine, up to 128GB RAM, and eight terabytes of solid-state storage.

The Mac Studio will whip through full-resolution photos as if they were frames from a video.

And with those kinds of specs it’s little wonder that this machine (a) tackles all kinds of media without delay and (b) commands a $12,099 price.

It’s worth noting, too, that you can’t upgrade its RAM yourself.

Our review machine, however, commanded less than half that price and with a 10-core M1 Max chip at the helm, plus 64GB RAM, performed tasks that would make a regular iMac stall.

Apple’s Mac Studio is a powerhouse machine.

The Mac Studio, surprisingly, also addresses the more practical side of computing. It features a new cooling system that barely hums, more ports including six USB-C connections and an SD card reader upfront for those high-res images, and a body that, while a substantial piece of aluminium, only sits 9.5cm high and is easy to accommodate or conceal on a desk.

The Mac Studio was also released alongside the 27-inch, $2499 Studio Display that comes with suitably high specs. They include a 5K resolution, 600 nit brightness, shockingly effective six-speaker sound system, and a 12-megapixel webcam.

With a price tag of a $12,099 the Mac Studio and Mac Display demands great expectations.

When paired, this is an undeniable desk power couple that should please the grumpiest, most demanding media-wranglers.

And that’s the real catch with Apple’s top Mac. It’s designed and priced for people who need a serious machine to create content; devising videos, posters, soundtracks and apps rather than merely wrangling email.

Those who need it or who can afford it, however, are bound to enjoy their new raised expectations.

Originally published as Apple rolls out new nudity warnings in security upgrade