If you can pull off a very specific iPhone hack, Apple has a million dollars for you.
Apple announced a big changes to its bug-bounty program it launched in 2016. The biggest is a new $1 million reward if you find a very specific exploit.
The $1 million will go to security researchers (or group of researchers) that are able to carry out a “zero-click full chain kernel execution attack with persistence,” Techcrunch reports.
If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. It’s an attack that would result in the hacker getting to the core of Apple’s operating system, iOS, and gaining control of the iPhone in question without any user interaction. If someone (or several someones) are able to pull the hack off and share how they did with Apple, they’ll get $1 million.
The new challenge was presented by Apple during the Black Hat cybersecurity conference being held in Las Vegas this week. Black Hat is currently the world’s leading information security event. Held in Las Vegas, the week starts with four days of technical training. followed by a two-day main conference. The conference ended yesterday on August 8th.
Beyond the new top prize, Apple also announced that it’s extending the bug-bounty program to include not just iOS, but also macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
In the past, hackers have reportedly refused to alert Apple to security bugs without receiving any kind of bounty. By offering a cash prize for those platforms as well as iPhone, the company is setting itself up to potentially be able to work better with the hackers and security researchers that typically search for and find exploits.
The bug bounty program, which was previously invite-only, is also now available to any researchers that would like to participate, which should widen the number of people looking for those issues. Additionally, Apple will be offering a 50% bonus to any researcher that is able to find an exploit in the beta or developer preview version of the operating system prior to its public release.
That $1 million is a pretty substantial prize. The bounty is the largest reward being offered by a major tech company and is a dramatic increase from the top reward of $200,000 previously offered by Apple for finding exploits in iOS.
Apple’s new bug-bounty programs are expected to become available later this year.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.