Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.
In today's Techpresso:
🗓️ Leak reveals 2025 and 2026 Mac timelines
💥 US hits China with 100% tariff and software ban
💰 10 major banks explore a joint stablecoin
🔕 Chrome now silences notifications from sites you ignore
🤖 Instagram head counters MrBeast on AI fears
🏴☠️ Microsoft warns of new payroll pirate scam
🎁 + 8 other news you might like
🔮 + 6 handpicked research papers and tools
🗓️ Leak reveals 2025 and 2026 Mac timelines LINK
A leak tied to macOS Tahoe development has revealed Apple's hardware timeline, which reportedly begins with a base model M5 MacBook Pro scheduled for a late 2025 debut.
The timeline then continues into early 2026 with an M5 MacBook Air, followed by high-end M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models shipping with later updates to macOS 26.
Further out, the leak indicates Apple is planning redesigned M6 Pro and M6 Max MacBook Pro models that are expected to introduce a thinner chassis and an OLED display to the lineup.
💥 US hits China with 100% tariff and software ban LINK
The U.S. government is setting 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and introducing export controls on 'critical software' from November 1st, a direct response to China's latest trade policy.
Beijing's new rule mandates government approval for exporting items containing rare earth materials such as samarium and terbium, affecting multiple industries like consumer electronics and chip manufacturing.
The undefined term 'critical software' may target AI development frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow, in addition to essential tools such as compilers, firmware, and embedded system code.
💰 10 major banks explore a joint stablecoin LINK
Ten major banks, including Goldman Sachs and Citi, are working together to explore issuing a joint stablecoin that would operate as a "1:1 reserve-backed form of digital money".
The proposed digital token is designed to run on a "public blockchain" and would be pegged to a basket of G7 currencies, which includes the US dollar, euro, and yen.
According to the group's statement, the initiative will check if a new industry-wide product can deliver the benefits of digital assets while enhancing competition and maintaining full regulatory compliance.
🔕 Chrome now silences notifications from sites you ignore LINK
Chrome on Android and desktop will automatically disable browser notifications from websites you haven't interacted with recently, expanding on the browser’s existing Safety Check feature for permissions.
This change will not revoke notifications for installed web apps but instead targets sites with low user engagement that are found to be sending a high volume of alerts.
Google will inform users when it is removing notification permissions, allowing them to change the setting back or turn off this new auto-revocation feature completely if they prefer.
🤖 Instagram head counters MrBeast on AI fears LINK
Adam Mosseri countered MrBeast’s fears by stating generative AI models won’t replace big productions but will instead reduce the cost of producing content to basically zero for most creators.
The Instagram head explained that much of the platform's future will be "hybrid" content, using AI tools in the workflow rather than being made up of purely synthetic content.
He also suggested society must change, saying kids need to grow up understanding that just because they see a video doesn't mean it actually happened in the real world.
🏴☠️ Microsoft warns of new payroll pirate scam LINK
The Payroll Pirate scam uses phishing emails and adversary-in-the-middle tactics to steal employee login credentials and bypass multi-factor authentication for HR portals like Workday.
Once inside a victim’s profile, the attackers change payroll configurations to divert direct-deposit payments from the employee's bank into an account that the scammers control.
To hide their activity, the attackers create new email rules that automatically block any notifications Workday sends about recent changes made to the direct-deposit payment information.
Other news you might like
- The Nobel Committee is investigating a potential leak after Polymarket correctly predicted the 2025 Peace Prize winner hours aheadLINK
- The underdog AI startups on a16z's top 50 listLINK
- Apple close to acquiring 11-person AI startupLINK
- Bose SoundTouch home theater systems regress into dumb speakers Feb. 18LINK
- Google boasts 1.3 quadrillion tokens each month, but the figure is mostly window dressingLINK
- Microsoft lets bosses spot teams that are dodging CopilotLINK
- How close are we to solid state batteries for electric vehicles?LINK
- People regret buying Amazon smart displays after being bombarded with adsLINK
Latest research and tools
Windows Subsystem for FreeBSD: an experimental project that enables the FreeBSD operating system to run inside the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) environment.LINK
Modeling the human body in Rust: a computational model of human biology for the simulation, analysis, and diagnosis of biological systems.LINK
Patina: a Rust implementation of UEFI firmware that replaces components written in C to improve the security and stability of system firmware.LINK
A recent study on prompt engineering: impolite prompts consistently get better results from large language models than polite ones.LINK
Less is More: An LLM that outscores Claude Sonnet 4 while being 50.000x smaller: a new language model reportedly achieves better scores than Claude Sonnet 4 despite being 50,000 times smaller in size.LINK
Large Language Models and Gambling Addiction: this paper explores how AI could create new risks for people with gambling problems, but also how it might be used to help them.LINK
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