Apple has finally upgraded this ABANDONED product ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 16, 2025 | Read online
# F5 hack, national facial recognition database is back and Apple cuts EU chargers Apple has finally upgraded this ABANDONED product
Edition 2440
"Colour positive of test pattern (2013 expired Kodak UltraMAX 400 35mm film)" (Flickr: Troy Walters)
# The News
### Cybersecurity B2B bigdog F5 is our next lucky cyberattack victim
A “highly sophisticated nation-state” hacker gained long term access to the systems of major cybersecurity provider F5 (Bleeping Computer). The company — which has 48 out of the Fortune 50 companies as its clients, which gives some perspective on how important it is — announced the hack in a US financial filing, saying that the intruders accessed its source code, info on product vulnerabilities and info about how some of their customers are using their products. Again, to get a sense for how serious this is: the regulator SEC allowed F5 to delay the market disclosure!
Australia’s Cyber Security Centre has put out a critical alert for people to patch their products ASAP and be alert (Cyber dot gov dot au)
| rekdt @rekdt |
told my ciso the only way to protect ourselves against the f5 security incident is to remove the f5 key from everyone’s keyboard and i think he bought it….
7:53 PM • Oct 15, 2025
243 Likes 24 Retweets
20 Replies
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### 2025 will be the year of the national facial recognition database FKA the Capability
Australia’s controversial national facial recognition database will be up and running by the end of the year, the government says (IT News). Close to a decade after federal and state governments agreed to pool together facial photos from passports and driver licence databases, the Attorney-General’s Department told Estimates that the National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution will be up and running by the end of the year.
The plan was set back in 2019 when a Coalition government couldn’t pass a bill to allow them to use the data to help agencies “share and access identity information”. A stricter legislative framework was passed by Labor and came into effect at the end of last year. WA will be the first state government to make its licence data available, with “expansion to private organisations expected by early next year” 👀.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Apple’s new laptops will not come with chargers in the EU
Apple’s newly released MacBook Pro will be its first ever released without a charger in the box supposedly because of EU regulations (MacRumors). The tech giant is refreshing its MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and Vision Pro (CNBC) with its new M5 chip which seems pretty sweet (Apple). But if you want a charger to go with that laptop, you’ll have to buy it separately because Apple says it’s getting ready for an EU rule that requires them to give a charger-free option (although it will still have a USB-C to MagSafe cable).
The Sizzle: I’ll be honest, this feels a bit like malicious compliance! I’m sure Apple will argue “all you have to do is also buy the charger separately” and it’s not a huge imposition… but they obviously also know that this is going to insanely piss people off.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (Australian Cyber Security Centre) Labor to crack down on crypto ATMs amid scam surge (The Australian Financial Review, $) More telco customers turning to the Ombudsman for complaint resolution (ACMA) Maincode debuts Matilda AI after ditching 'sovereign' label (Information Age) Missing Meredith (Capital Brief, $) Google's AI lets you try on clothes in Search (Pickr) PAX Aus’25 Wrap Up (techAU) New $207 million ASIC register to reveal hidden owners of Australian businesses (SmartCompany)
Rest of the world:
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Apple has finally upgraded this ABANDONED product
A follow up to the above story and a previous Sizzle edition: after a long delay, I can confirm that Apple’s $29 polishing cloth has been updated to be compatible with the new M5 devices and the iPhone 17 (The Verge). I’d still recommend waiting a bit before upgrading to make sure any bugs are ironed out, though.
ooooo
ahhhh
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
25% Sony cash back (capped at $250) DDPAI 4K Dash Cam Front and Rear - $159 at Amazon AU Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation - $259 at The Good Guys Roborock Qrevo Maxv Vacuum Cleaner White - $846 at Roborock AU Official via Amazon AU
Computing
Up to 40% off at the Daily Clack Fanxiang S910 Pro 1TB Gen 5 NVMe SSD (14,000 MB/s Read 13,000 MB/s Write DRAM Cache) - $164 at Fanxiang AliExpress Apple Pencil Pro - $167 at Amazon AU WD Ultrastar HC520 12TB SAS 3.5" 12Gb/s 7200 RPM HDD - $219 at metrocom Amazon AU GL.iNet Flint 3 (GL-BE9300) Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 Home Router - $248 at GL.iNet US iPad Air 11" M3 Wi-Fi 128GB Space Grey Only - $727 at Amazon AU / Officeworks Samsung Odyssey G7 G75F 40in WUHD 180Hz Curved Gaming Monitor - $1199 at Umart (Down from $1599) Galax GeForce RTX 5070 Ti EX Gamer 1-Click OC - $1249 at Centre Com Samsung 32" Odyssey OLED G8 G80SD UHD 240Hz Monitor - $1399 at Samsung Palit GeForce RTX 5080 GameRock 16GB GDDR7 Gaming Graphics Video Card - $1662 at Futu_Online eBay
Mobile
amaysim Prepaid Mobile Starter Packs at Woolworths SIM Only for $1 $40 Pack for $15 $50 Pack for $18 $99 Pack for $49 $240 Pack for $179 Motorola Moto G86 Power 5G 8GB RAM/128GB Storage - $273 at Kogan & Dick Smith eBay OnePlus Nord 5 8GB/256GB - $592 at OnePlus Official Store via AliExpress REDMAGIC 10 Air 120Hz Gaming Phone (12GB/256GB, SD8 Gen 3) - $730 at Gamegeek AU via Amazon AU 25% off Samsung Galaxy S25 256GB for $1049 512GB for $1199
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
🤖 We love robots at the Sizzle but this newsletter has always been and will always be written by humans for humans.
🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!
💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.
🌐 The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.
🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards.
## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land
The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.
Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 The Sizzle PO Box 351 Bacchus Marsh, VIC 3340, Australia
Powered by beehiiv
Terms of Service