Microsoft says everyone can remove the password from their Microsoft account and use other methods to sign in starting today. The company rolled out the option to enterprise users earlier this year.

Rather than having to remember a password or using a password manager, you'll be able to use the Microsoft Authenticator app, Windows Hello, a security key or SMS or emailed codes. You'll be able to sign in to services such as Outlook, OneDrive, Microsoft Family Safety, and even Xbox Series X/S without a password. Microsoft is rolling out the option to everyone over the next few weeks as it gears up for the launch of Windows 11 on October 5th. 

Once you have installed the Authenticator app and linked it to your account, you can switch off your password. Go to your Microsoft account settings, then Advanced Security Options and Additional Security. From there, you can switch your account to a passwordless one. Then, follow the prompts and approve a notification on the Authenticator app to seal the deal.

You can re-activate your password at any time, but other login methods may be far more convenient and secure. Not only are passwords a cybersecurity minefield, they're time-consuming to enter and, at best, annoying to deal with.

It'd be welcome to see other services ditch passwords if they can offer users alternative, secure methods of logging in. Until then, turn on two-factor authentication wherever possible, and get a password manager and use unique passwords for all of your accounts.

Microsoft has just rolled out an update fixing 66 security vulnerabilities as part of this month's Patch Tuesday. One of them addresses a critical zero-day vulnerability that's being actively exploited by hackers using Office files containing malicious ActiveX controls. A few days ago, Microsoft issued a warning about the flaw after being notified by security researchers who discovered that bad actors are exploiting it by tricking potential victims into opening malicious Office files. Upon being opened, the file automatically launches a page on Internet Explorer, which contains an ActiveX control that downloads malware onto the victim's computer.

When Microsoft published the warning, it didn't have a fix yet and only asked users to make sure Microsoft Defender Antivirus or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are switch on. Both programs can detect attempts to exploit the vulnerability. It also advised users to disable all ActiveX controls on Internet Explorer. The vulnerability known as CVE-2021-40444 affects Windows Servers from version 2008 and Windows 7 through 10. Security researchers proved that the exploit is 100 percent reliable, and all it would take to infect a computer is to open the file a hacker sends. Now, the new update will make sure the flaw can't be exploited anymore.

In addition to patching CVE-2021-40444, the update also fixes two other critical flaws. As The Register notes, it fixes two remote code execution vulnerabilities for Windows WLAN AutoConfig Service and Open Management Infrastructure.

Apple kicked off its fall hardware release slate with “California Streaming,” an event dedicated to its newest iPhone and Apple Watch models. And while those devices obviously headlined the event, the company also announced a new iPad and iPad mini. Here’s everything the company showed off on Tuesday.

iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple

The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max include a host of improvements aimed at content creators, including a more capable camera system and a new Cinematic mode that can blur the background of your videos while keeping the subject in focus. However, the enhancement that’s most likely to get current iPhone owners to upgrade is the addition of Apple’s ProMotion display technology. The feature allows the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max to adjust the refresh rates of their displays up to 120Hz for smoother scrolling. The Pro lineup starts at $999, with pre-orders scheduled to open on September 17th and general availability to follow on September 24th.

iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini

Apple

Apple’s more affordable pair of iPhones didn’t get as many upgrades as their Pro siblings, but the ones they did receive are still notable. Internally, the devices feature the company’s new A15 Bionic chips and bigger batteries. Apple also redesigned its TrueDepth camera array to make it smaller, leading to a less prominent but still noticeable notch on both devices. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will start at $799 and $699 when they go up for pre-order on Friday and then go on sale on September 24th.

Apple Watch 7

Apple

The Apple Watch is about to get bigger yes, but perhaps the more important story with the Series 7 is that Apple has made the wearable more durable. The Series 7 is the first Apple Watch to include dust resistance. The screen is also more crack-resistant thanks to the refreshed design. When it arrives sometime this fall, the Series 7 will start at $399.

iPad mini

Apple

After two and a half years without a refresh, Apple’s iPad mini got a substantial update on Tuesday. In short, the company took essentially everything that made the 4th-generation iPad Air so compelling and gave it to its smallest iPad. We’re talking about an updated design, USB-C connectivity, support for the company’s second-generation Apple Pencil and a brighter and more colorful display, among various other upgrades. You can pre-order the iPad mini starting today for $499 before it ships on September 24th.

iPad

Apple

It may not look different from the company’s previous entry-level tablet, but the 9th-generation iPad includes some handy upgrades. The most important of those is a new 12-megapixel front-facing camera with an ultra-wide lens that comes with the iPad Pro’s Center Stage feature. The inclusion of Center Stage allows the camera to crop into the subject intelligently so that they’re always at the center of the frame. The 9th-generation iPad will start at $329 when it becomes available on September 24th.

Everything else

Outside of new hardware, Apple announced it will release iOS 15 on September 20th. It will also push out iPadOS 15 and watchOS 8 that same day. Last but not least, the company said it plans to update Fitness+ to make it easier for users to take part in shared virtual classes with friends and family members.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

The iPhone 13 could make your mobile footage look a lot more like Hollywood films. Apple's new phones feature cinematic mode, which can mimic the focus capabilities from professional cameras. It can automatically focus your video scenes on specific subjects — for example, making someone in the foreground look completely clear, while everyone in the background is blurred out. Even better, cinematic mode is smart enough to push focus to someone in the background if a foreground character looks at them. And, of course, you'll also be able to manually choose focus points if you want.

Apple

Apple says cinematic mode is possible thanks to the iPhone 13's A15 Bionic processor. As usual, the company claims it's far faster than competing mobile chips (50-percent better, in this case), which opens the door for entirely new software features. The iPhone 13's camera also has optical image stabilization tech from last year's 12 Pro Max, along with far better sensors, all of which help make cinematic mode possible. 

It's unclear just how advanced cinematic mode is at this point. But if it works as advertised, it could be a major upgrade for home videos and pros looking to shoot with iPhones. Professionals can also take their footage to another level with the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, both of which support ProRes video. 

At this point, it looks like cinematic mode could go the way of portrait capabilities, a feature that every smartphone maker will race to replicate. (And yes, we know that first arrived on Android phones.)

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

As we expected, Apple unveiled its new iPhone 13 series at its "California Streaming" event today, and they include a pair of more-premium Pro flagships. Tim Cook called the series the "most Pro iPhone ever," and the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max have larger, faster screens, smaller notches and new designs.

Most significantly, Apple is bringing a new Super Retina XDR display with 1,000 nits of brightness for better outdoor reading. The company said this is the brightest screen on iPhone ever, and it's 25 percent higher than before. It's also the first time the company's ProMotion is available on iPhone, bringing adaptive refresh rates of up to 120Hz to the Pro series. Most phones in the market with similar refresh rates also use adopt adaptive displays to increase speeds for smoother scrolling when you're doing things that benefit from it more, like scrolling or playing games. When you're just looking at static images, the refresh rates drop to as low as 10Hz.

Like the regular and mini iPhone 13s, the Pro series also use the company's new A15 Bionic chipset that brings improved graphics and neural processing, as well as new video encoder and decoders. With the updated CPU, Apple also added camera features like a Cinematic Mode for video capture, which is powered by machine learning for intelligent focusing on the fly.

Apple

The company also upgraded the Pro's camera system, bringing better hardware like a new 77mm telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, as well as a new ultrawide setup with autofocus and a larger f/1.8 aperture. This will yield a 92-percent improvement in low light, Apple said. As for the primary "wide" camera, it now features a f/1.5 aperture and 1.9-micron pixels, for what the company said is its largest sensor yet. 

Combined with improved image signal processing through the A15 Bionic chipset, the iPhone 13 Pro cameras can shoot at up to 6x optical zoom with macro photography support as well. For the first time, too, Apple's ProRes for full-resolution editing will be supported on the iPhone on this year's Pro models.

The iPhone 13 Pro series also features "the most pro design," according to the company, and comes in four colors, including a new Sierra Blue hue. Its front has a 20 percent smaller camera system, and stainless steel trim that surrounds the sapphire crystal lenses on the rear triple sensors. It's also rated IP68 for water resistant, while the internals have been redesigned, like the regular iPhones.

The A15 Bionic chip is also supposed to bring better battery performance, and the company promised the iPhone 13 Pro Max will last 2.5 hours more than last year's model, making it the longest-lasting iPhone ever. The iPhone 13 Pro is supposed to see a 1.5 hour boost compared to the iPhone 12 Pro. As for the specifics: the iPhone 13 Pro has a 6.1-inch screen while the Pro Max sports a 6.7-inch display, and they start at $999. The new phones will be available on September 24th, with pre-orders starting Friday the 17th.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

The iPhone mini is staying in Apple's lineup for at least another year. At its California Streaming event, the company announced its base model iPhone will once again come in two sizes. And like its bigger sibling, the iPhone 13 mini features the company's latest system-on-a-chip, the A15 Bionic. According to Apple, the 5nm chip includes nearly 15 billion transistors. 

Critically, Apple claims battery life is noticeably improved on its latest iPhones, particularly on the new mini model. Compared to its predecessor, the company says most users should get an hour and a half of additional battery from the iPhone 13 mini. That increase in uptime comes courtesy of the phone's A15 Bionic chip, more efficient internal components and software optimizations the company has made under the hood.    

Developing...

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Apple's fitness subscription service will soon make it easier for you to take a virtual class with friends and family. The new feature, dubbed Group Workouts, will arrive on Apple Fitness+ later this fall and it will be powered by Apple's SharePlay feature in iOS 15.

Apple announced SharePlay when it previewed iOS 15 a few months ago and it allows you to do things like watch a video with friends while on a call. Similarly, the feature will allow Apple Fitness+ users to take exercise classes with contacts, regardless of their location. During the class, you'll see some of your friends' fitness data on your screen as well as when they close their activity rings. And the feature will support up to 32 people at once, so you could have a yoga party with all of your extended family.

Apple's bringing a handful of smaller updates to Fitness+ this fall as well. Pilates workouts will come to the service, as well as guided meditation routines that will also be available in audio-only format. Winter sports fans may want to check out Apple's collection of workouts dubbed "getting ready for snow season," which appear to prep the body for activities like skiing and snowboarding.

Most new features will be available when watchOS 8 and iOS 15 launch, although we may have to wait a bit longer for Group Workouts because it's unclear if SharePlay will be fully available in the first version of iOS 15. Apple stated in August that SharePlay viewing would likely be delayed until later in the fall. Apple Fitness+ will also be available in 15 new countries this fall, with workouts available in English with subtitles in six different languages.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Apple isn't worried about 13 being an unlucky number. The company just unveiled its latest generation of smartphones, the iPhone 13, and is giving us the rundown on all the changes to this year's models right now. Unsurprisingly, it looks nearly identical to last year's iPhone 12, but our first glimpse of it showed a 20 percent smaller notch on the front for Face ID as well as a redesigned back camera module — but by and large, it's visually nearly identical to the iPhone 12.

More crucially, the iPhone 13 also has a bigger battery, something that should be welcome for both phones, particularly the iPhone 13 mini. Yep, Apple is keeping the smaller phone around this year. Both phones also have brighter displays this year, but Apple says most iPhone 13 mini users will get an extra 1.5 hours of usage, while the standard iPhone 13 will last 2.5 hours longer than the iPhone 12. Given that battery life was probably one of the biggest downsides of last year's iPhones, this should give users a little relief.

As usual, the new iPhone features Apple's latest A-series chip, and this year it's the A15 Bionic processor. It's a 5nm chip with nearly 15 billion transistors that Apple says is 50 percent faster than its competition.

As for the cameras, Apple has a new wide camera sensor and lens; Apple says its the largest camera sensor it has ever put into a dual-camera system on its phones, and it has bigger pixels than the prior phone. The iPhone 13 is also getting the sensor-shift optical image stabilization system that first came to the iPhone 12 Pro Max last year — having this system available on a much more inexpensive phone will be a nice boost. There's also a new ultra-wide camera sensor, as well.

Apple has made a video a big focus in recent years, and that's the case with the iPhone 13 as well. The company is showing off a new mode called "cinematic mode," but they haven't said exactly what that's all about yet. We did get to see it in action in a clip they showed, and it seems that it lets the camera move focus seamlessly between the foreground and background. As Apple says, focus transitions will move focus automatically and follow character's attention so that it knows where to direct your attention. Naturally, you can still tap to change focus at any time.

5G support for the iPhone 13 has been expanded, as well — the antenna system works on more carriers than ever. By the end of the year, Apple says 5G will work on 200 carriers in 60 countries.

As for pricing, Apple kept things the same this year: the iPhone 13 mini starts at $699, while the iPhone 13 starts at $799. Both phones come with 128GB of storage (doubled from a year ago), which is another major upgrade over last year's model. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple didn't say when the iPhone 13 would arrive — but maybe we'll hear about that after the iPhone 13 Pro update.

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

Apple's basic Watch design has remained largely unchanged since its 2015 debut, but that's about to change. The company has introduced the Apple Watch Series 7 with a new (if long-rumored), more seamless design with larger 41mm and 45mm cases, including larger, more durable screens to match. There's also a wider variety of colors. Green, anyone? The update takes advantage of the bigger displays, with more information and new watch faces.

As for durability? Series 7 is the first Apple Watch with a dust resistance rating (IP6X), making it better-suited to mountain climbing or the beach. The screen itself is more crack-resistant, so you won't have to panic quite so much after a fall. 

Developing...

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.

After two and a half years without a refresh, Apple is at long last revamping the iPad mini. The 8.3-inch all-screen device has slimmer bezels and rounded corners, and it leaves no space for a physical Home button. As with last year's iPad Air, you'll now find the Touch ID sensor in the power button. The Lightning port is gone too, with a USB-C port taking its place.

The screen is a liquid retina display with 500 nits of brightness, a P3 wide color gamut, anti-reflective screen coating, True Tone, and full lamination. The iPad Mini now has stereo speakers, so watching video on it could be much better this time around.

Apple has moved the volume buttons to the top of the device, and there's an intriguing reason for that. The latest tablet can accommodate a second-gen Apple Pencil.

Apple

Developing...

Follow all of the news from Apple’s iPhone event right here.