Latest news with #iPhone8Plus
Fox News
30-03-2025
- Fox News
Is your iPhone really hacked? Or is it those fake security alerts?
We want to warn you about a scam you might encounter on your iPhone. While browsing, you might suddenly see a warning message claiming that your device has a virus. These pop-ups are scams meant to deceive you into thinking your iPhone has been compromised. Fake Apple virus warnings, security alerts and messages are all tactics used to prompt you to call a number or click on a malicious link. Bonnie from El Paso, Texas, reached out to share that she experienced the same issue. "I've received two pop-ups on my iPhone 8 Plus in the past couple of days. Says my IPhone has been hacked, gives option to hit OK. I just shut my phone down. How can I avoid this? I'm guessing it's another of the MANY scams???" To protect yourself from these scams and ensure your iPhone remains secure, it's essential to understand how these fake alerts work and what steps you can take to prevent them. The scam typically appears as a pop-up message saying something like, "Apple Security Warning on iPhone, Virus Detected." Though it may look convincing, this is a scam. In reality, there is no such thing as a legitimate Apple security alert on an iPhone or iPad. It's also important to note that these fraudulent pop-ups aren't exclusive to your iPhone. They can appear while you're browsing the web as well. For example, you might come across a McAfee antivirus pop-up on your computer, falsely claiming that your device is infected and that your McAfee subscription has expired. Some scam alerts may display a deceptive X or Close option that appears to be a close button but actually redirects you to a phishing site. To safely remove these fake warnings, follow these steps instead: You can now reopen Safari. If you didn't interact with the fake virus warning, your iPhone should be fine, and the scams should no longer appear. Here are some steps you can take to avoid these scams and protect your device. 1. Don't interact with the pop-up: If you see a pop-up like this, do not click "OK" or any other buttons. Instead, close the tab or the app where the pop-up appeared. 2. Enable pop-up blockers: Go to Settings > Apps > Safari and make sure Block Pop-ups is turned on. This will help prevent these types of pop-ups from appearing in the future. 3. Update your iPhone's software: Ensure your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS. Updates often include security patches that protect against new threats. Go to Settings > General > Software Update to check for updates. 4. Avoid clicking on suspicious links and install strong antivirus software: Be cautious about clicking on links in emails, text messages or websites that seem suspicious or come from unknown sources. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices. 5. Enable fraudulent website warning: In Settings > Safari, make sure Fraudulent Website Warning is turned on. This feature helps protect you from visiting known malicious websites. 6. Use a personal data removal service: Consider using a personal data removal service to reduce your exposure to scams and phishing attempts. These services help delete your information from data aggregator sites, making it harder for scammers to target you. By removing your personal data from the internet, you can significantly reduce the risk of being targeted by malicious actors. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a personal data removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. Check out my top picks for data removal services here. In the end, protecting your iPhone from fake virus warnings is all about being aware of these scams and taking a few simple precautions. By following the steps we've outlined and keeping your device updated, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to these tactics. Stay safe, and remember, if something looks suspicious, it's always better to err on the side of caution. Do you think Apple does enough to protect users from scams and fake virus warnings? Let us know by writing us at For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Follow Kurt on his social channels Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions: New from Kurt: Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
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WIRED
27-02-2025
- WIRED
The iPhone 16e Has Killer Battery Life but Questionable Value
The iPhone 16e isn't for me. If you're an avid tech enthusiast and Apple fan, it's probably not for you either. It's for the person holding onto an iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X, ready to upgrade because their more than seven-year-old smartphone isn't working too well nowadays. They want a new phone, and it just needs to be an iPhone. A part of my brain won't stop thinking about whether this nearly once-in-a-decade upgrade for these folks wouldn't be better served if Apple had included its nice-to-have amenities, like MagSafe or the ultra-wideband chip for improved AirTags tracking. Even lacking these features, the price of the iPhone 16e feels $100 too high considering the many excellent competing phones in this bracket. It also makes the iPhone lineup confusing—it's $170 more than Apple's previous iPhone SE that's no longer available. I have spent much of my time this past week using the iPhone 16e and thinking about its $599 MSRP, which naturally must mean that something is awry. This may not matter much to people in the US, who favor purchasing through carriers that subsidize the cost, though they're still paying for a $600 (locked) phone spread over a few years. But when the used iPhone marketplace is healthy and thriving, it feels as though anyone considering an iPhone 16e will find better value with an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro. Cell Boost The best iPhone 16e feature? Battery life. Considering this is a 6.1-inch iPhone, which historically perform the lowest in battery tests, this is a welcome surprise. With average use over the past week, I struggled to bring the phone below 50 percent. (It usually hovered around 51 or 49 percent by bedtime.) Yes, that means the iPhone 16e has better battery life than the iPhone 16. On one particular day when I used it for GPS navigation, music streaming, and picture snapping, it was left with around 30 percent before bed. And another busy day, I hit nearly nine hours of screen-on time and had 15 percent in the tank. That's excellent. It's still not the best iPhone battery life in the lineup—that'd be the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Plus—but it's enough to keep that battery anxiety at bay when you're out and about. Apple claims this battery boost is in part thanks to the first-ever Apple-designed C1 modem inside the phone. Apple spent years building this connectivity chip to reduce its reliance on partners like Qualcomm, and it seems to have paid off. I didn't experience any issues with cellular connectivity over the past week with the AT&T eSIM Apple provided, though this also could depend on region. (I'm in New York City.) I ran speed tests via Ookla on various phones alongside the iPhone 16e and did not find anything out of the ordinary. That said, remember Antennagate? We'll have to wait and see how the C1 modem performs in the hands of far more people across the world.
