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Apple this week released its new '27' family of operating systems, but as with all new OS's, there are some bugs, so we recommend you hold-off upgrading your iPhones, iPads and Macs to that, till Apple releases updates to fix the bugs. (It's okay to upgrade Apple Watches and Apple TV's.)

However, because the new operating systems do include a lot of security and bug fixes, Apple has also released 26.7 updates which we encourage you to install ASAP to keep your devices as safe as possible.

For iPhones and iPads, iOS/iPadOS 26.7 includes 122 security and bug fixes, including some critical ones which hackers are now using to gain access to your files and identity. Get it by going to Settings> General> Software Update. Depending on which iPhone or iPad model you have and its configuration, your 26.7 update could be anywhere from 700MB to more than 10GB!

For Macs, Apple has released macOS Golden Gate 27, but we recommend you hold off installing that until bugs are found and fixed in a subsequent update.

But, because macOS 27 includes a raft of security fixes, Apple has released 26.7 updates which we recommend you install ASAP: macOS Tahoe 26.7, and also macOS Sequoia 15.8 for Macs that are too old to be upgraded to Tahoe. The Tahoe 26.7 update includes 148 security and bug fixes, while the Sequoia 15.8 update includes 153 security and bug fixes.

If you have a Mac that cannot be upgraded to Golden Gate, this serves as a gentle reminder that you should look for a newer Mac that can handle the latest operating system, to keep you as safe as possible!

For Apple Watch models, and for Apple TV's, you can go ahead and install watchOS 27 and tvOS 27, which do not have the bugs in the iPhone, iPad and Mac operating systems, so you can take advantage of all the new features, as well as you'll get a raft of security and bug fixes…

If you do, you'll be taken to a real-looking but fake log-in page for your bank, where the overseas scammers are hoping you'll give them your log-in info so they can steal money from you…

NEVER tap on link in texts like this!

Feel free to bookmark that page, as we'll keep updating it with screenshots of the latest scams!

The laptops are powered by an 8th-gen Intel i5 processor, and come with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB NVMe solid-state drive, and are running Windows 11 Pro. These laptops sold new for $1400!

They come with a one-year warranty, and you can buy an extended warranty if you want.

We're big fans of Epson Eco-Tank all-in-one full colour printers because they use bottles (not cartridges) of ink, and the bottles that come in the box with the printers last literally two to three years. Plus, a replacement set of four ink bottles costs about the same as a set of four cartridges from other brands that contain only a fraction of the ink.

You can also save a lot on the cost of the printer by buying a refurbished model through London Drugs; we've had no problem with the many dozens of them that we've helped people buy and install, and they come with a one-year replacement warranty. If you're an LD Extras member you can also buy a three-year extended waranty for 20% off, which we recommend.

This weekend, one of the newest models is on sale at London Drugs:

Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!

Currently, about 75% of all Canadian-to-Canadian internet traffic routes through other countries, with about 64% of that traffic going through the USA.

In an effort to give us more control over our data, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that the federal government will help finance a sovereign, nationwide internet network.

Specifically, Carney called it a “sovereign broadband backbone” and said it would connect Canada from coast-to-coast and the Arctic, as well as establish more direct, secure links to Europe and Asia.

Backbones like this typically form the core of a network, providing high-capacity connections to carry lots of traffic and data between locations.

The remarks came during the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, alongside a pitch to add new tax measures that will reduce the cost of building fibre cables.

The federal government has not yet said how much the project would cost, where new fibre would be built or when construction could begin.

Bell, Rogers, and Telus have all expressed support for the idea.

They're hard to find, but the first few new iPhones have started arriving in Canadian stores, with Apple Stores and big partner stores like Jump+, Best Buy, and Costco getting the first few units.

Carriers and other stores likely won't be getting any till later in the month.

Apple Canada says pre-orders should start arriving within a few days; if you go to order one online now, the Apple Canada website says it won't be delivered till the first to third week of October.

Because of the strong demand and higher component costs, the best deal we can find is once again from Freedom Mobile, where you can save $360 off the $1749 price of an iPhone 18 Pro, or off the $1899 price of an iPhone 18 Pro Max, by buying it along with a two-year $70/month service contract. That's a 20% saving off the 18 Pro, and 19% off the Pro Max.

The per-month price for the new iPhones varies from carrier to carrier…

Freedom Mobile: $29/month for the iPhone 18 Pro and $34 per month for the iPhone 18 Pro Max

Telus: $37.50/month for the iPhone 18 Pro and 40.71 per month for the iPhone 18 Pro Max

Bell: $37.49/month for the iPhone 18 Pro and $40.71 per month for the iPhone 18 Pro Max

Rogers: $37.47/month for the iPhone 18 Pro and $40.70 per month for the iPhone 18 Pro Max

The minimum service plan which you have to be on for 24 months also varies in price depending on the carrier, ranging from $70/month to $100/month.

As for the much-anticipated folding iPhone Duo, pre-orders won't be taken until October 16th…

Apple Watch Series 12 Aluminum

Apple Watch Series 12 Titanium

Apple Watch Series 12 Ceramic

Apple Watch Ultra 4

AirPods 5 (same price as AirPods 4, but now with Active Noise Cancellation built-in)

The first test results are in on Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max phones, and they're easily the fastest phones the testers have encountered, and measurably faster than their top competitor (until next week when the S27 Ultra is released), Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra…

Graphics performance is often where Apple chips lag behind the Snapdragon flagship, but this year the A20 Pro has pushed well beyond what Samsung's flagship phone has to offer. In fact, considering the S26 Ultra was almost neck and neck with the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the fact that the A20 Pro has jumped so far ahead is pretty impressive…

For raw computing and graphics performance, we can't fault the improvement Apple has made. Not only has it put A-series chips back on top, and ahead of Snapdragon, it's made enough of an improvement to graphics performance that Qualcomm and Samsung are going to have to put the effort in for the next generation "for Galaxy" chip.

That said, with the Snapdragon Summit happening next week (September 22 to 24), we won't have to wait long to see what the next generation of Android flagships will be working with!

(See more in Video #41 below)

Apple has updated its out-of-warranty repair pricing in Canada for the new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, with battery replacements and major damage getting more expensive.

Interestingly, for back glass damage repair on an iPhone 18 Pro Max, the price has actually dropped by $30 from that repair on a 17 Pro Max.

For the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple is charging the following:

The biggest jump is under Apple’s “other damage” category, which rises from $1,029 to $1,169.

For the larger iPhone 18 Pro Max, the prices are:

That means most common repairs are holding steady this year, while battery replacements are slightly more expensive and serious damage is where Apple has pushed prices higher. Other damage at $1,239 for the iPhone 18 Pro Max? Ouch. That’s nearly the price of a new iPhone 17 on its own.

If you're considering not paying for AppleCare+, a screen replacement on the iPhone 18 Pro Max will cost nearly $500, while major damage can now run as high as $1,239 before tax.

Telus is taking its fight with the CRTC to the Federal Court of Appeal as the regulator continues looking into whether the carrier’s $15 SIM and eSIM fee breaks new consumer protection rules.

In a 228-page filing dated September 14, Telus is asking the court for permission to appeal an August 14 CRTC ruling on how the case is being handled, claiming comments by CRTC staff suggest that the CRTC had already made up its mind that Telus was guilty even before the formal hearing process had started.

The dispute goes back to new rules that took effect June 12 which banned certain activation and modification fees.

On June 30, the CRTC opened a proceeding involving Bell, Rogers and Telus. Bell was asked to explain its $40 device handling fee, Telus its $15 SIM and eSIM fee, and Rogers its $40 device setup fee, $25 shipping fee and an unspecified SIM charge.

Possible penalties could reach $10 million against a company, plus up to $25,000 against individual officers or directors.

The main CRTC case is still underway; interventions closed August 31 and replies closed September 10. It remains to be seen if the Federal Court of Appeal will agree to get involved.

British Columbia has adopted a new time-zone code to coincide with its decision to remain permanently with year-round daylight time.

The province has begun using Pacific time with the abbreviation of PCT for its new time zone.

The designation replaces the use of PST (Pacific Standard Time) and PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) that were previously used, depending on the time of year.

The change will become noticable on Sunday, November 1, when areas that have not decided to remain on Daylight Time, will 'fall back' one hour to Standard Time.

The most noticable difference for us here in BC will be when watching TV stations from our neighbours to the south, in Washington State, as programs will air one hour earlier than we're used to. Taking a plane or ferry to Washington State will also mean keeping track of the one-hour time difference in the winter. The US House of Representatives passed a bill in July to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, but despite strong lobbying by the US President, it has not yet passed in the US Senate.

Over the next few weeks, phone carriers and phone makers like Apple and Samsung will push out small time zone updates, so our mobile devices will change, or not change, in line with the new reality as we move around.

The challenge will be for people who live or work very close to the US border, such as in places like Point Roberts, Blaine, and Crescent Beach, where phones might jump in time if hey pick up a stronger cell signal from across the border.

Here in Canada, the government of Manitoba, only a few months after saying the issue was not a priority, announced this week that that province will also remain on permanent Daylight Time.

So, here's how Canadian time zones are now, and how they'll be starting November 1:

Canada's communications regulator, the CRTC, says it'll help pay for backup network connections in more communities where a single damaged line can knock out internet and cellphone service.

The CRTC's Broadband Fund will support projects that give these communities another connection if their main one fails. That could mean building a second fibre route so a wildfire or cable cut doesn’t leave a community offline. Communities that depend on satellites could also qualify for a second satellite connection.

The additional $150 million in funding will help rural, remote, and hard-to-reach communities, where repairs can take longer and residents have fewer alternatives during an outage, and where losing service can also cut off access to emergency help.

The CRTC says it'll assess proposals based on factors such as previous outages, the risk of future disruption,s and whether a backup connection could actually keep services running in the event of a wildfire or a landslide.

Applications for Broadband Fund funding round close October 15, 2026.

Microsoft is hosting an event in San Francisco on October 7 on "how local AI will shape the next chapter of the PC." Coming just a few months after NVIDIA announced its first system-on-a-chip for Windows — the NVIDIA RTX Spark — the event seems like the perfect opportunity to share more information about the Surface Laptop Ultra it will power.

Allowing AI agents to handle an increasing amount of normal computer work is a key part of Microsoft and NVIDIA's shared vision for the future of computing. Microsoft has already publicly shown off new hardware that could be part of that future in the form of its Project Solara devices, but computers that are powerful enough to run AI models locally should also do the trick. The Surface Laptop Ultra, using NVIDIA's RTX Spark platform, seems designed for that exact kind of workflow.

Microsoft announced the laptop in June 2026, without sharing details of its availability. Other laptop manufacturers have also introduced their own RTX Spark devices, but we still have no idea how much these things will cost. Microsoft's event could be just the place to finalize all those plans.

Reinstalling Windows often requires local boot media, but the latest Windows Insider build previews a new method to restore Windows 11 devices to factory settings that only requires an internet connection. The update also lets users test upgrades to AutoPlay, desktop customization, File Explorer, and other features.

Windows 11 Insider Beta Preview Build 26220.9343 introduces a new reinitialization option that downloads a factory version of the OS from the cloud. The new feature lets users and IT administrators reset a device without needing a USB stick or a custom image.

Cloud Rebuild is accessible in the Windows Recovery Environment, which users typically see after Windows repeatedly fails to boot. Users can also reach the Recovery Environment via Settings > System > Recovery > Restart now.

After selecting "Troubleshoot" in the Recovery Environment, the option for Cloud Rebuild appears under "Reset this PC." Once the device is connected to the internet through Ethernet or Wi-Fi, users can review the Windows build, edition, and language they wish to install before starting the download.

In addition to enabling a factory reset without USB media or a custom image, Cloud Rebuild also automatically restores drivers, ensuring the device restarts with basic functionality intact. Furthermore, since the feature downloads a fresh build, it works even if the currently installed OS is corrupted.

Cloud Rebuild should become available to all Windows 11 users in an update later this year.

Google’s Gemini app is now officially available for Windows 10 and 11, offering instant AI assistance, creative tools, and integration with Google apps via a native desktop client.

Here are three ways you can use the Gemini app on your PC:

Lightweight and quiet, the app runs without slowing down your PC. This is just the beginning for the Gemini app on Windows, with more native desktop capabilities rolling out over time. The app is available for free globally for Windows 10 and 11. Download the app at Gemini.Google/desktop.

Meta says users control how much access Muse receives. Sensitive actions, such as sending an email or making a purchase, require approval, while passwords and payment details are stored separately so Muse itself cannot see them.

Muse can be accessed through its free dedicated iPhone app (Android version coming soon) app or online at Muse.ai. Meta has also designed the agent to work through WhatsApp, with support for AI glasses coming later.

The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.

The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.

It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying.

The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.

Across the US military and the intelligence community, officials are pushing to weave AI into nearly every facet of their work, from analyzing the huge volumes of raw intelligence the US collects and selecting targets for strikes, to more mundane applications like managing budgeting, logistics and supply chains.

But the episode underscores the profound risks of using this powerful, new and relatively poorly understood technology for targeting in the middle of a war. Analysts have long feared that AI could lead to a catastrophic miscalculation if nation states are relying on poor or corrupted data — the kind of miscalculation that might lead the United States to fire on a Chinese ship based on inaccurate info.

For years, Microsoft and OpenAI have fought to keep certain information out of the public eye in their fight with news organizations that have accused the AI firms of teaming up to violate copyright laws by stealing tons of news content to train AI.

However, now the details that should never have been marked confidential are starting to leak. In a motion for summary judgment that was unsealed this week from news plaintiffs led by The New York Times, internal documents are exposed that news groups alleged show exactly how Microsoft and OpenAI viewed the threat to news before unleashing new AI products like ChatGPT and Copilot.

Perhaps most explosively, Microsoft Director of Applied Science Brent Hecht repeatedly warned in documents that scraping news for AI training was “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” calling it perhaps the “largest theft of labor in human history,” news orgs said. In another document, Hecht contradicted Microsoft and OpenAI’s argument that training AI on news content is fair use, suggesting that the plan to widely scrape news made “a complete mockery of the idea of ‘fair use.’”

Over at OpenAI, ChatGPT head Nick Turley wrote in an internal message that publishers would face an “existential threat” from commercial products trained on news content that can be used to substitute news providers. One Microsoft document even described a “doom loop,” news orgs said, “that will hurt the performance of our models and the entire web at the same time.”

Ning Xu of Tsinghua University captured tiny cilia beating in the airways of a child with a rare respiratory disorder.

A Chinese optical engineer is the winner of this year’s Small World in Motion competition, sponsored by Nikon. Ning Xu of Tsinghua University in Beijing beat out 346 other video entries from 40 different countries with his super-resolution video of the abnormal beating of cilia in the airways of a child with a rare genetic respiratory disorder…

Founded in 2011, the Nikon Small World in Motion competition is a spinoff of the company’s Small World Photomicrography Competition, which has been around since 1974. Both are meant “to showcase the beauty and complexity of things seen through the light microscope”—one through still photographs, the other through photovideography, taking advantage of all the technological advances that now allow users to make movies or time-lapse images through the microscope.

Coming in at just 1mm long—about half the size of a tomato seed—the brain of a fruit fly has 139,255 neurons and 54.5 million connections between them.

Naturally, the first thing that the YouTuber Ro0oney did was…undertake the gargantuan effort of incorporating the fly's real brain structure into Minecraft and translate between the game and its neural model all…to power a bee. It's "real neural science tested in public in a video game." RoOoney accomplished this using the publicly available data from the project that mapped the brain and interviewed scientists about their work and what he'd come up with. They were impressed.

As for whether this meets the definition of consciousness? That's a more open-ended question. A scan of the brain with all of its neurons and connections between them gives you a wiring schematic essentially but not a map of when they fire.

RoOoney has released this experiment as a Minecraft mod called the Fruitfly Brain Mod. This means that anyone who owns Minecraft on a PC and is curious can try it for themselves by going to flyproject.io/minecraft. It's available alongside a browser-based simulation of a fruit fly developed by Dr. Arie Matsliah, a Princeston research scientist.

This is the largest leak yet to impact the games. It uncovers not only cut plans for add-ons (DLCs) for Grand Theft Auto VI but also an early assets of the much awaited successor to the series.

The latest official marketing push for the new game has seen artists uploading never-before-seen concept art for the video game, followed by Spotify announcing its partnership. The soundtrack will be available for purchase separately on CD and Vinyl. This has reignited the debate about Sony's move to a digital-only release model.

The 34-track release will have original recordings from a "genre-defying roster of the most exciting artists in the world", including everything from rapper Travis Scott to Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

The model had started off its game rather promising, then it encounted a Creeper and had a mental break. The model told itself "ALWAYS CARRY CRITICALITEMS withkeepInventory; don'tstoreinunguardedchesteveragain."

Astra also appeared to have gained some kind of post-traumatic stress induced by the incident, telling itself “GREEN tall thing ahead was SUGARCANE, NOT creeper!"

There are now more than 40 of them, and they're in a separate Travel Tech Tips notes, which you can find on our Home Page, or on the toolbar at the top of any of our Notes.

The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.

Check out our new YouTube Favourites playlist #2:

YouTube.com/playlist?list=PLOKnlVLuXE5URgg0ou8uGg4CnHXcou1UA

Our original Favourites playlist maxxed-out at 5000 videos; it's here…

YouTube.com/playlist?list=FLPPpa_PY8rxt-z1RoYZ7QJ

Videos start at #40, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more tech news items above!

40) Watch YouTuber Any Austin conduct a hydrological survey of Grand Theft Auto 5 — yes, really…

41) Watch Apple's iPhone 18 Pro easily out-perform Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra in side-by-side testing by Tom's Guide…

42) Watch a short recap of Celine Dion making her comeback in Paris…

43) Watch Celine sing "All By Myself" during her comeback debut at Arena Plenitude in Paris…

https://youtu.be/YMmGZPlBLX

44) Watch the "Under Studio" crew brilliantly illustrate what happens when people accidentally hit "reply all" on a group email…

45) Watch EU Parliament member Damian Boeselager from Germany respond brilliantly to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's address, welcoming the EU's invitation for Canada to become an "associate member" of the EU…

46) Watch the educational channel xkcd explore what would happen if we somehow teleported the world's oceans to Mars…

Before the surgery, Alan and Suzanne got to explore a bit of beautiful Vieux Montréal, including steak frites at Pinnacle Bistro, and went on a tour with Rick on the St. Lawrence River…

On the recommendation of many of you, Alan and Rick biked in and got delicious smoked meat sandwiches at the (deservedly) famous Schwartz's Deli on Blvd. St. Laurent…