Vergecast: the specs and ports announced at Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ event

Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel discusses the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.

_This week on The Vergecast,_Nilay, along with _Verge_managing editor Alex Cranz and deputy editor Dan Seifert, discusses all the announcements from Apple’s Peek Performance event this week — including an updated iPhone SE with 5G, the new Mac Studio desktop computer, an iPad Air with an M1 processor, and the 27-inch 5K Studio Display monitor.

Keep listening for an explainer on the state of 5G in phones like the iPhone SE, a rundown of specs (and ports) in the Mac Studio, and of course, some wild theories about the future of computers....

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Amazon’s Smart Air Quality Monitor could be a lot smarter

This inexpensive indoor air quality monitor can only say, not do

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The new iPad Air with M1 is already up to $70 off at Walmart

Image: Apple

The new iPad Air with the M1 processor was just announced three days ago at Apple’s Peek Performance event (preorders went live this morning), but Walmart already has a stellar deal. The retailer has the 64GB Wi-Fi model of the new iPad Air in select colors for $559, a savings of $40 compared to Apple’s price.

If you need more storage, the 256GB Wi-Fi model has an even bigger discount of $70, dropping the price to $679 from its normal price of $749. This is not the first time we have seen Walmart come in hot with discounts on a new iPad preorder, but if past occasions are anything to go by, it may not last long.

The scheduled shipping date of the new iPad directly from Apple is March 18th, but these discounted preorders have a slightly...

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You can now install Windows 11 on a Surface Duo if you’re feeling brave

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If you own Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Duo device and you’re feeling a little experimental this weekend, you can now install Windows 11 on it. Engineering student Gustave Monce has been working on getting Windows 11 on the Surface Duo for months, and he’s now posted a guide to dual-boot Windows and Android on the original Surface Duo.

_Neowin_notes that you’ll need a 128GB variant of the Surface Duo, and you’ll be effectively installing Windows 11 on ARM alongside the original install of Android. If you’re hoping to use Windows 11 as your daily driver, be prepared for almost nothing to work, though. While Windows 11 boots on the Surface Duo, touch controls, networking, cellular data, and the cameras are all non-functional. This...

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Amazon’s latest Echo Show 5 is $30 off

The Echo Show 5 is ideal for a bedside nightstand. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

It’s Friday, so it’s nearly time to put this busy week in the books. We hope you have a chance for some rest and relaxation this upcoming weekend, and we’ve got a couple deals for you that may help.

First off, you can give your bedside nightstand an upgrade with a second-gen Amazon Echo Show 5 for $54.99 at Amazon or Best Buy. It’s just $10 away from its all-time low price, but it’s $30 cheaper than the regular price of $84.99. This little smart display with a 5.5-inch screen can go anywhere around the house (so long as there’s a power plug nearby), but the ideal spot is near your bed where it can show and tell you the weather or news right as you wake up. It’s also a key part of any Alexa-infused smart home setup, because what’s better...

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What platforms know — but don’t tell us — about the war on Ukraine

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Brandon Silverman knows more about how stories spread on Facebook than almost anyone. As co-founder and CEO of CrowdTangle, he helped to build systems that instantly understood which stories were going viral: valuable knowledge for publishers at a time when Facebook and other social networks accounted for a huge portion of their traffic. It was so valuable, in fact, that in 2016 Facebook bought the company, saying it would help the institutions of journalism identify stories of interest to help their own coverage plans.

But a funny thing happened along the way to CrowdTangle becoming just another tool in a publisher’s analytics toolkit. Facebook’s value to publishers declined after the company decided to de-emphasize news posts in 2018,...

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CNN Plus will launch March 29th

CNN Plus will debut March 29th | CNN/Warner Media

CNN Plus, the streaming platform from the cable news giant, will debut in the US on March 29th, the company said Friday in a news release. For early subscribers — those who sign up in the first four weeks of its launch— the service will cost $2.99 per month, and they’ll lock in that price for as long as they subscribe. The standard price will be $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year.

CNN unveiled plans for its streaming service last July and has announced programming that includes daily versions of weekly CNN shows, all-new shows, and original series and movies. Subscribers will also have access to CNN’s library of content. The company has said it will continue to have a single CNN app, with a section for CNN Plus subscribers to access the...

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The patchwork groups sharing gender-affirming underwear patterns

Illustration by Lyssa Park / The Verge

Mel Martinez’s dad had an unusual (and very much unofficial) title in the Air Force: stitch bitch. Decades later, that title — given to the many men whose duties included sewing — has now become something of a rallying cry for queer sewists like Martinez, who put gender affirmation at the center of their creations. Martinez and many others are updating their craft to subvert status quo designs that don’t quite fit, building, instead, a world of underwear, lingerie, and intimates in which everybody (and body) is welcome.

“I have always been really particular about the way clothes fit; I have very sensitive skin and some skin allergies and some sensory stuff,” says Martinez, who uses both they and she pronouns. In the realm of underwear,...

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Green phones, ranked

Green phones are having a moment. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

“So, is there some kind of promotional tie-in?” My husband was searching for answers. “No. They’re just green phones.” This was not a satisfying answer, so he continued.

“Is it an environmental thing? Like are they made out of recycled plastic or something?”

Also no, I informed him. They’re just regular phones, but green.

“Oh, I bet it’s for St. Patty’s Day!” It also seemed unlikely that Apple would time the release of a new phone color for what is more or less an unofficial binge drinking holiday in this country, but I conceded that it was possible, given the mid-March timing.

Earlier this week, Apple announced some really interesting new hardware, including a new desktop for creatives and a display that doesn’t cost a fortune. It also...

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Real Deal

Photo Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Creators are making their own IRL cards based on Inscryption’s deck-building video game

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Russia threatens Instagram ban in response to Meta allowing violent threats against soldiers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Russian officials have called on Instagram to be banned and for parent company Meta to be designated an “extremist organization,” according to Russian news agency Interfax and state-owned news agency TASS.

As reported by Interfax, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office says it has filed a petition “to recognize Meta Platforms Inc. as an extremist organization and ban its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.”

Separately, TASS reports that the head of the Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, Alexander Khinshtein, has called on Instagram to be banned if reports that Meta adjusted its moderation policies to allow users to call for violence against Russian soldiers are true. State communications agency Roskomnadzor also i...

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How to preorder Apple’s new iPad Air

The new iPad Air comes in five colorways, including a new shade of blue. | Image: Apple

As expected, preorders have officially opened up for the newest iPad to hit Apple’s lineup: the 2022 iPad Air. Announced alongside the new iPhone SE and Mac Studio during the company’s “Peek Performance” event on March 8th, the new base model starts at $599 and will be available beginning March 18th. You can, however, preorder the iPad Air starting today, March 11th, from Apple, Best Buy, B&H Photo, and a handful of other retailers.

The iPad Air boasts the same M1 chip found in the latest iPad Pro, as well as 5G connectivity and a USB-C port that allows for faster data transfer speeds. Apple says its 8-core CPU is up to 60 percent faster than the A14 Bionic processor in the 2020 iPad Air, too, and its 8-core GPU should provide two times...

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The Flash and Aquaman 2 pushed back to 2023

Ezra Miller as The Flash. | Image: Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has done a big reshuffle of its upcoming film slate in a move that sees both The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom delayed to 2023. The Flash is now due to release on June 23, 2022 (over seven months later than its original November 4th opening date) marking the first time Ezra Miller will play the character in a title role, while the _Aquaman_sequel will open on March 17th, 2023, three months later than its previously planned December 16th release date, _Variety_reports.

_Variety_notes that pandemic-related production delays are to blame for both films being pushed back. But the delay is just the latest of many to have hit The Flash, which at one time Warner Bros. had hoped to release way back in 2018. The overlapping...

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How to preorder the new iPhone SE

At its “Peek Performance” hardware event, Apple announced the third-generation iPhone SE. It’s similar in many ways to the 2020 version, with a 4.7-inch screen that’s surrounded on top and bottom by thick bezels. Notably, it’s still the only iPhone that Apple sells with Touch ID biometrics. But it has received three big enhancements since the last-gen phone, and you can probably guess one of them from the name: 5G, claims of better battery life than the previous SE, and Apple’s modern A15 Bionic processor that’s in the iPhone 13.

We’ll have a full review of the phone on the site soon. But if you’ve arrived at this page, it’s because you want to know how much the iPhone SE with 5G is going to cost, when you can get it, and whether...

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Razer’s new streaming accessories help make you sound and look better

The 4-channel Razer Audio Mixer. | Image: Razer

Razer’s trio of new products are aimed at making you sound and look your streaming best. While you’re at a desk, Razer’s $249.99 Audio Mixer offers four channels of audio control along with a variety of audio processing options, and the new $299 Key Light Chroma will keep you lit during streams. But if you’re looking for something more mobile and portable, then Razer is also launching a $99 Seiren Bluetooth lapel mic for on-the-go vlogging.

The Audio Mixer offers an all-in-one interface for controlling audio during broadcasts, and competes with the likes of TC Helicon’s GoXLR. The bulk of its interface is taken up with four sliders, each controlling one audio channel, which allow you to set the relative volumes of your microphone with...

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Google, Apple, Meta and others call on Texas to drop anti-trans legislation

The top line of the advert placed in the Friday edition of the Dallas Morning News.

Google, Apple, and Meta are among more than 60 companies asking Texas governor Greg Abbott to abandon recent legislation that defines gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors as “child abuse.”

In a full-page advertisement published in the Friday edition of the _Dallas Morning News,_the companies call on leaders in Texas to “abandon efforts to write discrimination into law.”

“This policy creates fear for employees and their families, especially those with transgender children, who might now be faced with choosing to provide the best possible medical care for their children but risk having those children removed by child protective services for doing so,” states the ad. “It’s not just wrong, it has an impact on our...

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WhatsApp’s new browser extension is aimed at making web chats more secure

WhatsApp says its web interface is growing increasingly popular. | Image: Meta

Code Verify is a new browser extension from WhatsApp parent company Meta that aims to improve the security of WhatsApp’s web version, the company has announced. The extension works by verifying that the contents of WhatsApp’s web version haven’t been tampered with. The aim is to make it a lot more difficult for a would-be attacker to compromise data or the privacy of WhatsApp’s end-to-end encrypted messages when using the browser-based version of the service.

The extension follows the launch of WhatsApp’s multi-device beta last year. This aims to make using the messaging service from devices other than your primary phone easier and more seamless. Since the feature’s launch, WhatsApp says it’s seen an increase in people accessing its...

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EU and UK launch antitrust investigation into Google and Meta’s adtech dealings

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google and Meta are being investigated by antitrust regulators in the EU and UK over “Jedi Blue” — a deal between the two firms that critics say allowed them to block smaller tech companies from gaining a foothold in the online ad market.

In a press statement, the European Commission said it was concerned that the September 2018 agreement “may form part of efforts to exclude ad tech services competing with Google’s Open Bidding programme, and therefore restrict or distort competition in markets for online display advertising.” It’s therefore opening a formal antitrust investigation.

The UK’s Competition Market Authority said it was also investigating the deal, with CMA chief Andrea Coscelli stating: “We’re concerned that Google may...

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Facebook allows posts with violent speech toward Russian soldiers in specific countries

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Facebook and Instagram have instituted a temporary change in policy that allows users in some countries to post content that’s usually forbidden, including calls for harm or even the death of Russian soldiers or politicians. The change first surfaced in a report by Reuters, citing internal emails to moderators. In them, the outlet reports mods are told that calls for the death of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will be allowed, as long as they don’t contain threats toward others or “indicators of credibility” like saying where or how the act will take place.

In a statement sent to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, “As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily...

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Google’s CTO of Android tablets sees tablet sales passing laptops ‘in the not too distant future’

Image: Google, The Android Show

After seemingly forgetting that Android tablets existed for a while, Google is suddenly very invested in the market. Android 12L is in development to support larger-screened devices, and one of the platform’s co-founders, Rich Miner, has rejoined the team with the title “CTO of Android tablets.” Now, speaking to developers during an episode of Google’s The Android Show, Miner explained the opportunity the company is seeing (via 9to5Google).

Miner references the introduction of Android tablets in 2011 and how apps like media players scaled to fit them easily without much investment, but then growth “kind of stagnated.” Now, he cites data showing growth took off pre-COVID in late 2019 and has continued to rise, with more keyboard...

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Aerospace startup reveals new modular lunar rover for carrying people and cargo on the Moon

The FLEX rover prototype | Image: Venturi Astrolab

Today, aerospace startup Venturi Astrolab revealed its new interplanetary rover designed to transport cargo and people across the surface of the Moon — and eventually Mars. The company says it plans to build a fleet of these rovers over the coming decade to help NASA and commercial companies establish a long-term presence on the Moon.

Called FLEX, for Flexible Logistics and Exploration, the rover can crouch down and lift payloads up from the surface of the Moon, carrying them under its belly before depositing them at their intended location. With its “modular payload concept,” it can carry many different types of objects, so long as they are built to an agreed-upon standard of size and shape. In keeping with its name FLEX, the rover can...

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T-Mobile introduces a credit check-free version of its 5G home internet

Prepaid customers will have to shell out $100 for the 5G gateway. | Photo by Mitchell Clark / The Verge

T-Mobile has announced a new plan for its 5G home internet service, which won’t require applicants to undergo a credit check. The prepaid service will carry T-Mobile’s Metro branding, and customers will be able to sign up for it at Metro retail locations. This brings a prepaid option to T-Mobile’s $50 a month service, which doesn’t have any data caps or contracts, which could be appealing to users who don’t have great internet options available from traditional ISPs.

It’s good to see that T-Mobile is offering an option that doesn’t require credit approval (especially given the state of credit reporting in the US). However, there are a few significant gotchas worth noting if you’re looking into the service. With the postpaid non-Metro...

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Activision is bringing Call of Duty: Warzone to mobile

Warzone_is coming to mobile phones._ | Image: Activision

Activision is bringing its hit battle royale shooter Call of Duty: Warzone to mobile phones, the company announced Thursday. “We are creating an all-new, AAA mobile experience that will bring the thrilling, fluid and large-scale action of _Call of Duty: Warzone_to players on the go,” Activision said in a post on its website.

According to the post, this mobile Warzone will be a “large-scale, battle royale experience” that’s built “natively for mobile with cutting-edge technology designed to entertain gamers around the world for many years to come.” However, it seems as if the game is still early in development, as the post advertises several job openings and doesn’t include screenshots, video, or even an estimated release timeframe....

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Go read this Vanity Fair piece about Grimes and her secret baby with Elon Musk

Grimes and Elon in 2018 | Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Huffington Post

Sometimes journalists get lucky and discover information while reporting a story that they did not expect to find — a document or report, maybe even evidence of prior misdeeds. But I can’t recall ever reading a feature where the reporter discovers a previously undisclosed baby, as Devin Gordon did in his Vanity Fair profile of the singer Grimes, the former partner (she says they have split again but remain friends) of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The two welcomed their first child — a son who they gave an unusual name — in May 2020.

But as far as the general public was aware, the couple only had the one child. Gordon soon discovers otherwise. As he’s interviewing Grimes in her new home, he thinks he hears crying but brushes it off....

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Why blackouts are dangerous to Ukraine’s nuclear sites

The sun sets over the horizon highlighting the electricity pylons of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Region, southeastern Ukraine, July 9, 2019.  | Photo credit should read Dmytro Smolyenko/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is increasingly threatening the vital connections between Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and the electric grid. The nuclear sites rely on outside electricity to keep critical safety systems running — but those links are fraying as reports come in about power lines damaged during the conflict.

Fuel at nuclear sites generates tremendous heat. Without cooling systems, which typically rely on an external power source to run, that fuel could melt down and catastrophically release radioactive materials. There are several layers of backup systems that would need to fail for such a worst-case scenario to go down. But fighting and power losses in Ukraine have experts increasingly worried about the country’s nuclear...

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Rivian says it delivered nearly 1,000 electric trucks in 2021

Image: Rivian

Rivian, the buzzy electric vehicle company backed by Ford and Amazon, delivered 909 vehicles to customers in the fourth quarter of 2021, the company said in its second earnings report since its historic IPO last year. The company says it has delivered a total of 920 vehicles in 2021.

Rivian reported a negative gross profit of $383 million over the last three months and $465 million over the course of the whole year. Revenues were $55 million in 2021, and the company said it recorded a net loss of $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter.

“the supply chain will be a fundamental limiting factor in our total output”

With supply chains constrained and the global chip shortage continuing to batter the auto industry, Rivian is maintaining a modest...

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Twitter makes it harder to choose the old reverse-chronological feed

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Twitter is rolling out a change that, frustratingly, makes it a bit more difficult to see your chronological feed.

The design change, which lets you swipe between your Home (algorithmically served) and Latest (reverse chronological) timelines, was announced Thursday. To set it up, you tap the sparkle icon in the top right corner, and you’ll see the option to pin your “Latest timeline,” and if you select that, you’ll see both “Home” and “Latest Tweets” tabs at the top of the iOS app. If you use pinned lists on the iOS app, the layout might look familiar. The feature is available first on iOS, and it’s coming “soon” to Android and the web, Twitter says. (The company began testing the feature in October.)

The Home and Latest timelines...

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This update just made your Roomba i3 smarter

The Roomba i3 now has smart mapping capabilities. | Image: iRobot

iRobot’s excellent, more affordable Roomba i3 robot vacuum received a firmware update this week that gives it new powers. Existing users and anyone who picks up the $349.99 Roomba i3 can now use smart maps to tell their robot exactly where to clean.

This feature, which lets you send the bot just to vacuum a specific room or rooms rather than everywhere it can reach, was previously only available on the more expensive s9, j7, and i7 Roombas in iRobot’s top-of-the-line range.

The update follows through on iRobot’s promise that its iRobot Genius software will make your robot smarter at no extra cost to you. Smart mapping, which is done without a camera, lets the vacuum learn your home’s floor plan, so you can direct it specifically where...

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How to manage your Android lock screen

The lock screen of your Android phone can be very useful, showing notifications and letting you access certain features without having to unlock your phone first. (Something that may be even more useful if you’ve got a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro and are still having problems with the fingerprint sensor.)

Here are some ways you can tweak the settings for your lock screen. These were tested using a Pixel 6 running Android 12; as always, different Android phones can have somewhat different procedures.

Enable lock screen notifications

First, you can choose whether you want to show both alerts and silent notifications, show alerts only, or not show any notifications at all.

• Go to your phone’s settings (usually, by swiping down from the top and...

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Google will send air raid alerts to Android phones in Ukraine

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Android users in Ukraine will get air raid alerts directly on their phones before expected attacks happen near them, Google announced today. In an updated blog post, the company said it’s working with the Ukrainian government to roll out an alert system for Android phones in the country. The feature was first spotted by XDA-Developers.

“Tragically, millions of people in Ukraine now rely on air strike alerts to try to get to safety,” Google says in the announcement. The Android pings will be based on the alerts already being sent by the Ukrainian government, and it’s adapted from a system built for quickly sending warnings about earthquakes, according to Dave Burke, vice president of engineering for Android.

Google has already been...

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