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Apple Intelligence was unveiled during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, on June 10, 2024.

Source: Apple Inc.

For years, cybersecurity experts have been predicting the death of the online password as more advanced log-in features, from facial recognition to multi-factor authentication, become more common. But it seems like Apple has accepted that the password isn’t going away anytime soon. Its new Passwords app, introduced at Apple’s WWDC 2024 earlier this week, is one more solution to help protect online accounts and manage multiple logins. It doesn’t change the fact that putting all your logins in one place continues to come with risks.

“Passwords are really hard to kind of get rid of,” said Andras Cser, Forrester vice president, principal analyst.

The new Passwords app for iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro, Mac and Windows, lets users store all of their passwords, including verification codes, app passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, Passkeys and more. The offering is similar to other password managers on the market, including 1Password and LastPass.

“You can’t underestimate the power of having a default solution like this and having password security built in,” said Gadjo Sevilla, eMarketer senior analyst .”That’s probably going to entice the majority of of Apple customers to use the feature. It’s convenient. It’s there. It’s free.”

Passwords are a risky online security method

But that doesn’t change the basic concern about users relying on passwords as a default online security method.

“That’s the move: Obliterate the need for any password manager and just move to one-time passwords based on push notification-based authentication, biometrics or passkeys,” Cser said. “Moving away from passwords is probably the right message, not using free or upgraded password managers.”

Password hacking is on the rise, with IBM reporting a 71% increase in the number of attacks using valid passwords in 2023 compared to 2022. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have made moves to migrate more users to passkeys, which requires another device owned by the user to verify the login through face scans, fingerprints or other codes. This helps get rid of the biggest cybersecurity risk: people tend to have very poor password hygiene, including using the same password across accounts, which means if that password is stolen the hacker would have access to all of them.

Apple’s passkey system, Keychain, is only for products under its iOS operating system. This new Passwords app includes more systems compatibility, including Windows and different types of login verifications. The company did not say it will include any Google or Android passwords, which encompass a lot of accounts. 

Apple WWDC: Privacy updates lock down on facial recognition

Password managers, like the Apple Password app, log different passwords, passcodes and logins securely under a safe account. And they do offer an added layer of protection: research from Security.org found those without password managers are three times more likely to be victims of identity theft. But whether free or paid versions of managers, none completely eliminates risk.

“They are a band-aid or wraparound,” Cser said. “Passwords are very vulnerable, and very much have run their course in protecting any kind of apps or resources and data. So then, it just puts all your eggs in one basket, regardless of who’s tool you pick, right?” 

Apple did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

There are some concerns that if Apple holds all the digital keys to everyone’s password, then it could make people more vulnerable if the company is hacked. It’s not outside the realm of possibility: Apple’s iCloud was hacked back in 2014, leading to many leaks of private celebrity photos. LastPass was hacked in 2022, though customer data was not stolen.

“The one security issue ever is that anyone who gets your Apple ID and your password would get access to your iCloud Keychain or your Password app, because that is really the key authentication needed to safely access those stored passwords,” Sevilla said.

Apple, personal data, and privacy

Still, protecting large amounts of personal data is nothing new for Apple, and it has developed a relatively good track record of building its brand around privacy. It also has a hardline stance against sharing information with unauthorized third-party apps. Earlier changes starting with iOS 14.5 have asked users to opt into data sharing and blocked tracking applications, to the detriment of digital advertising companies reliant on that information for ad targeting like Facebook.

“Apple is a services company,” Sevilla said. “They have billions of credit card numbers. You can’t underestimate the amount of effort they will put into making sure that is locked down, and those are all tied into Apple IDs, Apple passwords. So I guess if you follow that example, they could probably be seen as far more secure than the standalone apps.”

Broader data sharing issues were raised at WWDC about Apple’s partnership with OpenAI, which it is using to allow Siri to access ChatGPT. Some, including Elon Musk, have raised concern that allowing OpenAI access to Apple user data could be a potential security violation. OpenAI uses user data and behavior to train its AI models.

While it may be highly unlikely, with users sharing their passwords with Apple, and Apple sharing data with OpenAI, cybersecurity experts say it presents at least the theoretical risk that OpenAI could use logins to look at personal data for its learning purposes.

Apple reiterated its commitment to data privacy at WWDC 24. Apple Intelligence, its entry into AI, will leverage cloud-based models on special servers using Apple Silicon to ensure that user data is private and secure. If a request needs to go to a cloud server, Apple says it will only send a limited selection of data in a “cryptographically” secure way.

“We’re not going to take that data and go send it to some cloud somewhere,” Apple senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy John Giannandrea said at the event. “Because we want everything to be very private, whether it’s running locally or on a cloud computing service, and that’s the way we want it so we can use your most personal data.”

Elon Musk isn't wrong about Apple AI privacy concerns, says Binary Defense's David Kennedy

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Apple says COO Jeff Williams will retire from company later this year

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Apple says COO Jeff Williams will retire from company later this year

Jeff Williams, chief operating officer of Apple Inc., during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, US, on Monday, June 9, 2025.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Apple said on Tuesday that Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, a 27-year company veteran, will be retiring later this year.

Current operations leader Sabih Khan will take over much of the COO role later this month, Apple said in a press release. For his remaining time with the comapny, Williams will continue to head up Apple’s design team, Apple Watch, and health initiatives, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.

Williams becomes the latest longtime Apple executive to step down as key employees, who were active in the company’s hyper-growth years, reach retirement age. Williams, 62, previously headed Apple’s formidable operations division, which is in charge of manufacturing millions of complicated devices like iPhones, while keeping costs down.

He also led important teams inside Apple, including the company’s fabled industrial design team, after longtime leader Jony Ive retired in 2019. When Williams retires, Apple’s design team will report to CEO Tim Cook, Apple said.

“He’s helped to create one of the most respected global supply chains in the world; launched Apple Watch and overseen its development; architected Apple’s health strategy; and led our world class team of designers with great wisdom, heart, and dedication,” Cook said in the statement.

Williams said he plans to spend more time with friends and family.

“June marked my 27th anniversary with Apple, and my 40th in the industry,” Williams said in the release.

Williams is leaving Apple at a time when its famous supply chain is under significant pressure, as the U.S. imposes tariffs on many of the countries where Apple sources its devices, and White House officials publicly pressure Apple to move more production to the U.S.

Khan was added to Apple’s executive team in 2019, taking an executive vice president title. Apple said on Tuesday that he will lead supply chain, product quality, planning, procurement, and fulfillment at Apple.

The operations leader joined Apple’s procurement group in 1995, and before that worked as an engineer and technical leader at GE Plastics. He has a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.

Khan has worked closely with Cook. Once, during a meeting when Cook said that a manufacturing problem was “really bad,” Khan stood up and drove to the airport, and immediately booked a flight to China to fix it, according to an anecdote published in Fortune.

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Elon Musk lashes out at Tesla bull Dan Ives over board proposals: ‘Shut up’

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Elon Musk lashes out at Tesla bull Dan Ives over board proposals: 'Shut up'

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla, attends the Viva Technology conference at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, June 16, 2023.

Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives to “Shut up” on Tuesday after the analyst offered three recommendations to the electric vehicle company’s board in a post on X.

Ives has been one of the most bullish Tesla observers on Wall Street. With a $500 price target on the stock, he has the highest projection of any analyst tracked by FactSet.

But on Tuesday, Ives took to X with critical remarks about Musk’s political activity after the world’s richest person said over the weekend that he was creating a new political party called the America Party to challenge Republican candidates who voted for the spending bill that was backed by President Donald Trump.

Ives’ post followed a nearly 7% slide in Tesla’s stock Monday, which wiped out $68 billion in market cap. Ives called for Tesla’s board to create a new pay package for Musk that would get him 25% voting control and clear a path to merge with xAI, establish “guardrails” for how much time Musk has to spend at Tesla, and provide “oversight on political endeavors.”

Ives published a lengthier note with other analysts from his firm headlined, “The Tesla board MUST Act and Create Ground Rules For Musk; Soap Opera Must End.” The analysts said that Musk’s launching of a new political party created a “tipping point in the Tesla story,” necessitating action by the company’s board to rein in the CEO.

Still, Wedbush maintained its price target and its buy recommendation on the stock.

“Shut up, Dan,” Musk wrote in response on X, even though the first suggestion would hand the CEO the voting control he has long sought at Tesla.

In an email to CNBC, Ives wrote, “Elon has his opinion and I get it, but we stand by what the right course of action is for the Board.”

Musk’s historic 2018 CEO pay package, which had been worth around $56 billion and has since gone up in value, was voided last year by the Delaware Court of Chancery. Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled that Tesla’s board members had lacked independence from Musk and failed to properly negotiate at arm’s length with the CEO.

Elon Musk can't continue to go down this political path, says Wedbush's Dan Ives

Tesla has appealed that case to the Delaware state Supreme Court and is trying to determine what Musk’s next pay package should entail.

Ives isn’t the only Tesla bull to criticize Musk’s continued political activism.

Analysts at William Blair downgraded the stock to the equivalent of a hold from a buy on Monday, because of Musk’s political plans and rhetoric as well as the negative impacts that the spending bill passed by Congress could have on Tesla’s margins and EV sales.

“We expect that investors are growing tired of the distraction at a point when the business needs Musk’s attention the most and only see downside from his dip back into politics,” the analysts wrote. “We would prefer this effort to be channeled towards the robotaxi rollout at this critical juncture.”

Trump supporter James Fishback, CEO of hedge fund Azoria Partners, said Saturday that his firm postponed the listing of an exchange-traded fund, the Azoria Tesla Convexity ETF, that would invest in the EV company’s shares and options. He began his post on X saying, “Elon has gone too far.”

“I encourage the Board to meet immediately and ask Elon to clarify his political ambitions and evaluate whether they are compatible with his full-time obligations to Tesla as CEO,” Fishback wrote.

Musk said Saturday that he has formed the America Party, which he claimed will give Americans “back your freedom.” He hasn’t shared formal details, including where the party may be registered, how much funding he will provide for it and which candidates he will back.

Tesla’s stock is now down about 25% this year, badly underperforming U.S. indexes and by far the worst performance among tech’s megacaps.

Musk spent much of the first half of the year working with the Trump administration and leading an effort to massively downsize the federal government. His official work with the administration wrapped up at the end of May, and his exit preceded a public spat between Musk and Trump over the spending bill and other matters.

Musk, Tesla’s board chair Robyn Denholm and investor relations representative Travis Axelrod didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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Waymo offers teen accounts for driverless rides

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Waymo offers teen accounts for driverless rides

Waymo announced it is now offering teen accounts for its self-driving car service Waymo One, beginning in Phoenix, Arizona.

Courtesy of Waymo

Waymo announced Tuesday that it is offering accounts for teens ages 14 to 17, starting in Phoenix.

The Alphabet-owned company said that, beginning Tuesday, parents in Phoenix can use their Waymo accounts “to invite their teen into the program, pairing them together.” Once their account is activated, teens can hail fully autonomous rides.

Previously, users were required to be at least 18 years old to sign up for a Waymo account, but the age range expansion comes as the company seeks to increase ridership amid a broader expansion of its ride-hailing service across U.S. cities. Alphabet has also been under pressure to monetize AI products amid increased competition and economic headwinds.

Waymo said it will offer “specially-trained Rider Support agents” during rides hailed by teens and loop in parents if needed. Teens can also share their trip status with their parents for real-time updates on their progress, and parents receive all ride receipts.

Teen accounts are initially only being offered to riders in the metro Phoenix area. Teen accounts will expand to more markets outside California where the Waymo app is available in the future, a spokesperson said.

Waymo’s expansion to teens follows a similar move by Uber, which launched teen accounts in 2023. Waymo, which has partnerships with Uber in multiple markets, said it “may consider enabling access for teens through our network partners in the future.”

Already, Waymo provides more than 250,000 paid trips each week across Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas, and the company is preparing to bring autonomous rides to Miami and Washington, D.C., in 2026.

In June, Waymo announced that it plans to manually drive vehicles in New York, marking the first step toward potentially cracking the largest U.S. city. Waymo said it applied for a permit with the New York City Department of Transportation to operate autonomously with a trained specialist behind the wheel in Manhattan.

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