If you pay for iCloud+ and rely on Private Relay to hide your IP address while browsing, you might want to pay attention to this one. New research by security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, first reported by 404 Media, reveals that Private Relay doesn’t hide your IP address as well as Apple claims.
Private Relay is supposed to route your Safari traffic through a two-hop relay so nobody, not even Apple, can connect your identity to the sites you visit. The problem lies in how passkeys work. When a website asks your device to verify a passkey, your iPhone’s credential service fetches the validation file directly, bypassing Safari and Private Relay. Since the request never touches your browser’s protected traffic, the website receiving it sees your real IP address instead of the relay’s.
Mysk explained the scope of the issue plainly, telling 404 Media that “any website that supports, or pretends to support, passkeys” can access this information, even with Private Relay switched on. The researchers also noted in their own research post that because the fetch comes from the “device’s real IP address either way,” there is currently no way around it while using Safari with Private Relay turned on.
This isn’t the first privacy hiccup for Apple’s paid iCloud+ features either. Just last month, it was reported that Apple’s Hide My Email tool was quietly exposing users’ real email addresses, a bug the company reportedly knew about for over a year before fixing it.
The silver lining here is that regular VPNs are not affected, since they encrypt your entire device’s traffic at the system level instead of just your browser. If you use Private Relay for anything sensitive, it might be worth switching to a full VPN until Apple sorts this out. Apple has told 404 Media that it is looking into the researchers’ findings, so hopefully a fix isn’t too far away.
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.