Lit Apple Mac, iPhone, iPad User Group

[sandysgeek]

Apple announces a way to buy stuff by tapping iPhones together

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about Apple Pay during an Apple special event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, Calif.



Apple announces new Tap to Pay feature that turns iPhones into contactless payment terminals



Apple has officially announced a new Tap to Pay feature for iPhone. This feature, coming later this year, will allow businesses to use their iPhones to “seamlessly and securely” accept Apple Pay payments with a simple tap. The feature will also work for contactless credit cards and debit cards, as well as other digital wallets.


New Tap to Pay feature for iPhone

The most interesting part of this new feature from Apple is that the company is actually teaming up with third parties and making the platform available to app developers and other payment platforms. Apple says that Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone this spring, including via an update to the Shopify Point of Sale application.

What this means is that this won’t be a native iOS feature, but rather Apple is opening the NFC chip up in the iPhone to third-party payment platforms to create applications that enable Tap to Pay technology.

Apple explains:

Tap to Pay on iPhone will be available for payment platforms and app developers to integrate into their iOS apps and offer as a payment option to their business customers. Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their business customers, including the Shopify Point of Sale app this spring. Additional payment platforms and apps will follow later this year.

The feature is slated to launch sometime “late this year” in the United States. Once the platform is open, merchants will be able to accept contactless payments through a supporting iOS app on an iPhone XS or later.

It will work by the merchant prompting the customer to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch to pay with Apple Pay, their contactless credit or debit card, or another digital wallet near the merchant’s iPhone. The payment then will be securely completed using NFC technology.

Apple Pay VP Jennifer Bailey had this to say about the announcement of this new Tap to Pay feature:

“As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. “In collaboration with payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we’re making it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes – from solopreneurs to large retailers – to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business.”

Apple promises to “work closely with leading payment platforms and app developers across the payments and commerce industry… to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to millions of merchants in the US.” At this point, there is no news on expansion outside of the United States.

Billy Alvarado, Stripe’s chief business officer, said:

“Whether you’re a salesperson at an internet-first retailer or an individual entrepreneur, you can soon accept contactless payments on a device that’s already in your pocket: your iPhone. With Tap to Pay on iPhone, millions of businesses using Stripe can enhance their in-person commerce experience by offering their customers a fast and secure checkout.”

Stripe has launched a landing page for this new feature, allowing businesses to express their interest in Tap to Pay on iPhone for Stripe Terminal.

This feature was first reported by Bloomberg earlier this year and it comes after Apple acquired Mobeewave in 2020 for around $100 million, a startup that had been developing a way to accept card payments on smartphones via contactless technology.

Apple says that Tap to Pay on iPhone will launch in an “upcoming iOS software beta.” It will be available to participating payment platforms and their app developer partners via new SDKs.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple to double sick days, boost other benefits for U.S. retail workers

Apple addresses retail employee complaints with changes to vacation time and paid sick days, more

People walk past an Apple retail store in New York City.



Apple is dramatically improving the benefits it offers both part-time and full-time retail employees in the United States. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple is implementing more generous policies for sick time and vacation time, while also offering parental leave for part-time employees for the first time.

The latest round of changes will go into effect on April 4 for workers in the United States. Apple confirmed the updates via a spokesman and said they were “were in development for several months.” There is no word on when or if these changes will expand to Apple retail workers in other countries.

The new benefits include, courtesy of Bloomberg:

• Doubling paid sick days for both full-time and part-time workers. The days can be used for mental health leave and taking family members to the doctor. This change will give full-time workers 12 paid sick days, instead of six.
  
  
• Workers will receive more annual vacation days, beginning at three years of employment instead of five.
  
  
• Part-time employees will now get as many as six paid vacation days for the first time. Another first: They’ll get paid parental leave. That benefit will cover up to six weeks and will include the ability to gradually ramp up work time for the first four weeks back.
  
  
• Part-time workers also will get access to discounted emergency backup care for children or elderly family members.

As the Bloomberg report points out, these changes come as Apple faces an increasingly tight labor market. Apple, as well as many other companies, have faced labor shortages and employee retention issues. This move also follows Apple giving out a rare company-wide bonus to retail employees last fall.

The changes also come after some Apple retail employees walked out in protest on Christmas Eve last year. At the time, Apple employees were demanding a handful of changes, including hazard pay, healthcare premium coverage, and more.



As of September, Apple said it had 154,000 employees around the world, although that figure includes international workers and the company’s corporate workforce in addition to retail employees in the U.S.

 

[sandysgeek]

Safari Team Asks for Feedback Amid Accusations That 'Safari Is the Worst

Safari Team Asks for Feedback Amid Accusations That 'Safari Is the Worst, It's the New IE'


Apple's Safari and WebKit team has asked for feedback on Twitter amid criticisms of the browser's bugs and missing support.

Jen Simmons, an Apple Evangelist and developer advocate on the Web Developer Experience team for Safari and WebKit, Tweeted that "Everyone in my mentions [is] saying Safari is the worst, it's the new IE." This led her to ask users for feedback, preferably highlighting specific bugs and instances of missing support that inhibits websites and apps.

Also counterproductive, pointing to bugs from several years ago, complaining about them over & over & over. Let’s talk about current bugs. Currently missing or partial support for new features. Let us know what’s most important to you. What do you want us to tackle first? — Jen Simmons (@jensimmons) February 8, 2022

Simmons also urged users who notice bugs that are "several years old and not fixed" to contact her with a link from bugs.webkit.org or a Feedback number from Apple's Feedback Assistant so it can be looked into more closely. The call for feedback has largely been received positively.

Safari has been met with complaints from some users in recent years over the browser's bugs, user experience, and website compatibility. The problems reached fever pitch last year when Apple unveiled a substantial redesign for Safari at WWDC, which was met with widespread criticism that accused the changes of being "counterintuitive." After months of tweaking the ambitious redesign in response to feedback, Apple eventually gave up on the changes just before the public release of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, reverting to the previous Safari design by default.

Apple has also been criticized for demanding apps that browse the web to use the WebKit framework and WebKit ********** on iOS and iPadOS, a policy that effectively bans non-WebKit based browsers. This has caught the attention of regulatory agencies, including the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which said that "due to the WebKit restriction, Apple makes decisions on whether to support features not only for its own browser, but for all browsers on iOS." A previous tweet from Simmons appears to suggest the importance of maintaining the WebKit restriction.

Gosh. Catching up with tech Twitter this morning and there seems to be an angry pocket of men who really want Safari to just go away. Do we really want to live in a 95% Chromium browser world? That would be a horrible future for the web. We need more voices, not fewer. — Jen Simmons (@jensimmons) February 7, 2022

Following consultation with developers, the CMA is considering forcing Apple to reverse the ban on non-WebKit based browsers to allow for more competition. It is unclear if Apple's latest push for feedback is related to the growing regulatory pressures around Safari.

 

[sandysgeek]

Mac malware spreading for ~14 months installs backdoor on infected systems

Mac malware UpdateAgent only gets better over time.

Mac malware known as UpdateAgent has been spreading for more than a year, and it is growing increasingly malevolent as its developers add new bells and whistles. The additions include the pushing of an aggressive second-stage adware payload that installs a persistent backdoor on infected Macs.

The UpdateAgent malware family began circulating no later than November or December 2020 as a relatively basic information-stealer. It collected product names, version numbers, and other basic system information. Its methods of persistence—that is, the ability to run each time a Mac boots—were also fairly rudimentary.


Person-in-The-Middle attack

Over time UpdateAgent has grown increasingly advanced. Besides the data sent to the attacker server, the app also sends “heartbeats” that let attackers know if the malware is still running. It also installs adware known as Adload.

Once adware is installed, it uses ad injection software and techniques to intercept a device’s online communications and redirect users’ traffic through the adware operators’ servers, injecting advertisements and promotions into webpages and search results. More specifically, Adload leverages a Person-in-The-Middle (PiTM) attack by installing a web proxy to hijack search engine results and inject advertisements into webpages, thereby siphoning ad revenue from official website holders to the adware operators.

Adload is also an unusually persistent strain of adware. It is capable of opening a backdoor to download and install other adware and payloads in addition to harvesting system information that is sent to the attackers’ C2 servers. Considering both UpdateAgent and Adload have the ability to install additional payloads, attackers can leverage either or both of these vectors to potentially deliver more dangerous threats to target systems in future campaigns.

Before installing the adware, UpdateAgent now removes a flag that a macOS security mechanism called Gatekeeper adds to downloaded files. (Gatekeeper ensures users receive a warning that new software comes from the Internet, and it also ensures the software doesn’t match known malware strains.) While this malicious capability isn’t novel—Mac malware from 2017 did the same thing—its incorporation into UpdateAgent indicates the malware is under regular development.


UpdateAgent’s reconnaissance has been expanded to collect system profile and SPHardwaretype data, which, among other things, reveals a Mac’s serial number. The malware also started modifying the LaunchDaemon folder instead of the LaunchAgent folder as before. While the change requires UpdateAgent to run as administrator, the change allows the trojan to inject persistent code that runs as root.

The following timeline illustrates the evolution.

Enlarge 1,838px × 1,064px


Once installed, the malware collects the system info and sends it to the attackers’ control server and takes a host of other actions. The attack chain of the latest exploit looks like this:

Enlarge 1,345px × 584px


UpdateAgent masquerades as legitimate software, such as video apps or support agents, that is spread through pop-ups or ads on hacked or malicious websites. Users apparently must be tricked into installing UpdateAgent, and during that process, Gatekeeper works as designed.

In many ways, the evolution of UpdateAgent is a microcosm for the macOS malware landscape as a whole: malware continues to become more advanced. Mac users should learn how to spot social engineering lures, such as unsolicited popups appearing in browser windows that warn of infections or unpatched software.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple Support app for iPhone and iPad adds new ‘price estimates’ feature, more

Apple Updates Support App With Repair Cost Estimates in Some Locations


Apple today updated its Apple Support app designed for the iPhone and iPad, introducing a new feature that provides price estimates for common repairs in select locations.

Apple is rolling out a new update to the Apple Support app for iPhone and iPad. This update brings the app to version 4.5, and it includes new features for getting price estimates for common repairs, in addition to new ways that explain your device’s problem getting “relevant support options.”

With today’s update, there’s a new option on the main screen of the app called: “Tell us what’s happening.” If you tap this, you can quickly type your device’s problem out “in your own words” and you’ll be shown “relevant support options.”

Apple also explains that the Apple Support app will now show you “price estimates for common repair topics.” This should mean that you aren’t presented with a surprise repair quote, so long as you properly describe and categorize your problem in the Apple Support app.

Here is the full change log for today’s update to Apple Support:

• Tell us what’s happening in your own words to get relevant support options
  
  
• See price estimates for common repair topics in select locations
  
  
• App now available and translated for users in Ukraine
  
  
• Performance enhancements and bug fixes

You can download the latest version of the Apple Support app on the App Store for free.

 

[sandysgeek]

Nurse speaks out after Apple Watch detects major health change

Nurse speaks out after Apple Watch detects major health change months ahead of diagnosis

We’ve heard a number of stories over the years about how the Apple Watch has proactively alerted users to potentially life-threatening health problems. Now, a nurse based in Australia is speaking out after she realized data from her Apple Watch could have helped her detect a “rare thyroid problem” after “months of worsening symptoms” much sooner.

In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, Lauren Rebecca explained that she was diagnosed with thyroiditis in December. This diagnosis, however, came after months of symptoms including fatigue, temperature sensitivity, and weight gain.

At first, Rebecca attributed these symptoms to burnout and being rundown after serving as a nurse through much of the COVID-19 pandemic. In December, however, the symptoms got bad enough that she paid a visit to her doctor.

An ultrasound of her neck then revealed that she “had half of her thyroid missing,” which is described as “a rare congenital defect known as Thyroid hemiagenesis which only affects about 100 Australians.” This led to Rebecca developing thyroiditis, which is when the thyroid gland becomes inflamed and causes the symptoms from which she was suffering.

Fast forward to February, two months after the diagnosis and much longer after the onset of symptoms, Rebecca took a look at the Apple Health app. As an Apple Watch user, the Health app had a variety of information available, including the record of a “dramatic change in her health that if she had known, would have prompted her to seek medical help.”

“I genuinely just went on it to see if everything was turned on,” she said.

“I saw that there were alerts at the top of the app that had never come through as notifications because I didn’t have notifications turned on … I looked through it and that’s when I could see the trend that my Vo2 max had dropped, literally in a matter of days.”

Vo2 max indicates how well your body is absorbing oxygen during exercise, with the drop meaning Lauren could suddenly not take in oxygen as well as she had previously.

Rebecca then took to TikTok to share her findings, using it as an opportunity to encourage fellow Apple Watch users to enable all of their notifications. “Instead of me waiting for the symptoms to get really bad, I could have gone to the doctor back in October, when there was this dramatic drop in a matter of days,” Rebecca explains in the TikTok.

 

[sandysgeek]

Police confirm ongoing hostage situation unfolding at Apple Store in Amsterdam

Update: Amsterdam Police have now confirmed that the hostage involved in this situation is safe. “Dozens” of other people who had been hiding in the Apple Store have also been able to safely leave. Apple’s website indicates the store will be closed until at least Friday.

Since the start of the hostage situation in the Apple Store on Leidseplein, several people have been able to leave the building.

We can confirm that the hostage-taker is from the Apple Store. He lies on the street and with a robot he is examined for explosives. From a distance, police officers control him with firearms. The hostage is in safety.

Dozens of people who have previously been able to leave the Apple Store are being collected by police officers. They go to a police location for a witness statement and of course for aftercare such as Victim Support.

The Amsterdam Police Unit has confirmed an ongoing robbery turned hostage situation occurring at the Apple Store located in Leidseplein. In a message posted to Twitter, the Amsterdam Police said that there is a “hostage situation” at the Apple Store, but that it is not sharing any further details at this time “for the safety of those involved.”

This situation has been ongoing for over two hours, with the robbery first being reported at 5:40 pm local time. Local media reports indicate that the incident began with an armed robbery, but eventually turned into a hostage situation with one person being held at gunpoint.

Videos and images posted to social media show a massive police presence at the Apple Store, which is located in Leidseplein. Police have advised people in the area to shelter in place and to avoid sharing any additional video and imagery on social media for the time being. Buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Apple Store have been evacuated.

The latest statement from the Amsterdam Police Unit (translated) is below:

In the Apple Store on Leidseplein there is currently still a hostage situation. For the sake of the safety of data subjects, we are reluctant to share information.

We would like to ask people with a view of the Apple Store building to be cautious about publishing images or live streams, for the safety of those involved and our police efforts.

Amsterdam Police added in a followup tweet posted in English that it is “not able to share information about the situation and/or actions taken by the police” to “ensure the safety of all people involved.” Apple has not commented on the situation.

You can learn more in local news coverage from sources like NOS, AT5, iCulture, and De Telegraf. We will update this story as the situation progresses.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple spotlights app addressing maternal health inequities

Apple newsroom’s latest feature is all about an iOS app focused on shrinking the inequalities surrounding pregnancy and infant loss. Poppy Seed Health advocates to help birthing people through postpartum care. It provides 24/7 access to doulas, midwives, and nurses regarding birthing, postpartum, pregnancy, and infant loss support.

It started from a personal experience

Simmone Taitt founded Poppy Seed Health after experiencing multiple pregnancy losses of her own. After each circumstance, she found herself going to the internet for support.

Taitt eventually stumbled upon a doula messaging board which she fondly remembers as a “virtual bear hug”. This led her to become a doula herself and inspired her to start Poppy Seed Health.

“Everything I’ve done personally as a doula, between my own lived experiences and what I experience with my own clients, informs Poppy, from the way that we’ve built the technology, to the look and feel of the app.”

Simone Taitt, Poppy Seed Health’s founder and CEO

After launching last year, Poppy focuses on being a safe space for birthing people to access accurate information and support at any stage of their pregnancy. The app prides itself on its diversity, as half of its users identify as BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+.

The app has a matching algorithm that pairs users with the right care at the right stage of their journey. In addition, it will soon match users with providers based on race, ethnicity, language, and LGBTQIA+ identification preferences.

Poppy Seed Health is a $29 monthly subscription and free to anyone receiving Medicaid. Currently, 30% of its users are on Medicaid and 75% use the app’s free information services.

“I went from getting bit by the startup bug and loving technology, to truly building it myself,” Taitt says. “And understanding that technology is so much bigger than just the people who are actually building it. It’s the entire ecosystem coming together to make technology accessible.”

 

[sandysgeek]

What Apple announced during today’s ‘Peek Performance’ event

Apple on Tuesday held its special online event “Peek Perfomance,” at which the company announced the third-generation iPhone SE, iPad Air 5, and a brand new Mac Studio desktop computer along with the new Apple Studio Display. Read on as we detail everything Apple announced on March 8.

Green iPhone 13

Although the iPhone 13 is no longer a brand new product, Apple took the opportunity to bring its 2021 smartphones back into the spotlight during its special March event. Both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro got new models in shades of green.

iPhone 13 and also iPhone 13 mini are now available in a new rather dark-toned Green color. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, on the other hand, are now available in the Alpine Green color, which is quite similar to the Midnight Green from the old iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Both the Green iPhone 13 and Alpine Green iPhone 13 Pro will be up for pre-order this Friday and will be available in stores starting March 18.


3rd-gen iPhone SE

Apple has announced the long-awaited third-generation iPhone SE. The new generation of Apple’s entry-level smartphone model retains the classic iPhone design with a Home button but brings the more powerful A15 Bionic chip, 5G support, and improved cameras.

While keeping the same display with a 4.7-inch LCD panel, Apple says iPhone SE is now built with a stronger glass. Inside, the new iPhone SE features the A15 Bionic chip – the same as the iPhone 13 lineup. This makes the 2022 iPhone SE up to twice as fast as the iPhone 8 with the A11 chip.

The battery lasts two hours longer than in the previous generation iPhone SE, and the new phone supports 5G networks (although it lacks the superfast mmWave technology). With Deep Fusion, Smart HDR, and Photographic Styles, the 12-megapixel camera is capable of taking better pictures on the new iPhone SE.

iPhone SE 3 will be available on March 18, with pre-orders starting on March 11. It will retail for $429, a $30 price increase than the second-generation iPhone SE.


iPad Air 5

Apple has officially announced an updated iPad Air with M1 chip during today’s event. The design is the same as the previous-generation iPad Air, but now it comes in new colors – including Pink and Starlight.

The most notable update to the iPad Air this year is the addition of the M1 chip. In terms of performance, the M1 chip is about 50% faster than the A15 Bionic and 70% more powerful than the A14 Bionic (which is the one in the fourth-generation iPad Air).

Other improvements made to the iPad Air 5 include the new 12-megapixel, front-facing camera with Center Stage, a USB-C port twice as fast as the previous one, and support for 5G networks.

iPad Air 5 will be available on March 18 with pre-orders starting on March 11. Prices start at $599.


Mac Studio

Apple has announced a new desktop computer called Mac Studio. The machine represents a new category between Mac mini and Mac Pro. It features a design based on the Mac mini but with a taller body to support the more powerful hardware and also a better cooling system.

By default, Mac Studio comes with the M1 Max chip, the same one found in the high-end models of the 2021 MacBook Pro. A more expensive option lets users customize Mac Studio with M1 Ultra – a new chip that combines two M1 Max chips working together.

The new Mac has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-C ports, SD card reader, 10Gb Ethernet port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. You can customize Mac Studio with up to 128GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage.

Mac Studio is now available for pre-order. The official release is on March 18. Prices start at $1999.


Studio Display

“Studio Display” or “Apple Studio Display” is a new external monitor from Apple that joins the lineup alongside the Pro Display XDR. While Pro Display XDR targets super professional users, Studio Display is designed for users who need a great display for use at home or at work.

Apple Studio Display has a 27-inch LCD panel with 5K resolution. Customers can also get a nano-texture display option to reduce glare. It features an all-aluminium enclosure with thin bezels and integrated stand with up to 30-degrees of tilt. A tilt-and-height adjustable stand is also available as an add-on option.

Unlike the Pro Display XDR, Apple Studio Display features a built-in 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage support. The new display also has three built-in microphones and six internal speakers capable of providing Dolby Atmos sound.

Studio Display comes with three USB-C ports and a Thunderbolt 4 port for video and power. The new display goes on sale on March 18 with prices starting at $1599.

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple services are down for some users​

• Many Apple services, including the App Store, Apple Arcade, Music and Maps and other apps are experiencing outages.
• The company’s status page, which typically shows how severe an outage is, is also offline.

It’s not just you, multiple Apple services are currently down. According to the Apple System Status page, at least 23 services are facing an outage since 10:32 am PT. Down Detector and many Twitter users pointed out this outage before Apple.

People are also struggling with tasks such as searching for artists on Apple Music, sending images on iMessage, accessing iCloud, or the Arcade page on the App Store.


According to a Reddit post, this outage is affecting even more Apple services than we thought such as iCloud.com, developers page, Apple Music Lyrics, Apple Maps, Apple Fitness+, iCloud Private Relay, FaceTime, Apple TV app, and even the Find My network.


In February, an outage affected iCloud servers, FaceTime, and more, but since then the company hasn’t been affected by an interruption on its services. Today’s outage, however, appears to be one of the most widespread outages to happen in a while, impacting Apple’s full range of services.


Here are the services currently down:

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that even Apple corporate and retail internal systems are down too, “limiting remote work and retail operations like product pick-ups and repairs.”

 

[sandysgeek]

Apple's Craig Federighi Explains Why iOS Auto-Updates Often Arrive Several Weeks Late​

When it comes to downloading iOS software updates, Apple users can be reasonably divided into two camps: Those who manually seek out updates the moment Apple releases them, and those who are happy to let their device's Automatic Updates feature take care of everything in the background with minimal input on their part.

If you want to ensure your iOS devices are updated as soon as new releases are available, you should do manual iOS updates. The indirect advice comes from no less a source than Apple SVP of software engineering, Craig Federighi.

If you instead rely on automatic updates, you could be waiting days or weeks …

Federighi answered an email from a Reddit user.

I wrote an email to Craig Federighi who is the senior vice president of software engineering at Apple to ask him about explanation how does exactly iOS auto-update feature actually works. I was inspired to ask him after reading some Reddit posts and news online about customers complaining that iOS auto-update feature working slow (sometimes even whole month after iOS update release they receive a notification) or not working at all (in my case included).

Apple’s software chief said that the delay to automatic updates was a feature, not a bug.

Mateusz,
We incrementally rollout new iOS updates by first making them available for those that explicitly seek them out in Settings, and then 1-4 weeks later (after we’ve received feedback on the update) ramp up to rolling out to devices with auto-update enabled.
Hope that helps!
Craig

Another user in the thread suggested that having auto-updates apply immediately would also place too great a strain on Apple’s servers.

Do you really expect over a billion devices to immediately start hammering the **** out of Apples servers to download an update the moment it’s released? Staged rollouts for that quantity of devices has basically always been a thing.

Other users suggested the same may be true of app updates, which can also take a significant amount of time to trigger automatically.

Some days I’ll look and some apps have updated recently, but I’ll have 30 or 40 apps with updates from the last week or two. This has definitely been happening for the last 2 or 3 years. I’m sure they used to update themselves overnight.

Given the number of iPhones and iPads in the world, it's not hugely surprising to hear that Apple's software update strategy proceeds in a staged rollout. By implementing an intentional delay of between 1-4 weeks for users with auto-updates turned on, Apple adds a level of protection for its servers so they aren't easily overloaded when a new version of iOS is released.

Still, it's interesting to learn that Apple also considers its auto-update feature to be a safeguard when things go wrong: If early adopters report serious bugs with the software, Apple still has a window of opportunity to resolve any server-side issues or pull the update entirely before the wider user base has automatically downloaded it.

In a somewhat related point, made by several Redditors, Apple hasn't explained why some app auto-updates are also sometimes very late to be delivered to users, but perhaps the reasoning is the same: Server protection and an ability to action feedback before a wider rollout is complete.