Apple will reportedly sell the iPhone as a subscription service

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Apple is reportedly working on selling iPhones and iPads themselves as part of a hardware subscription service, according to a new report from Bloomberg, whose author Mark Gurman writes the service could arrive next year.

The move would fit into Apple’s ongoing push towards subscription services as a whole. Over the past several years, Apple has increasingly been emphasizing recurring subscriptions like Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple News Plus, Apple Fitness Plus, and Apple Arcade as key new revenue streams for the company. Many of those services have already been bundled together into the company’s Apple One bundles, too.

We’ve already seen a similar shift on the hardware front: Apple added a monthly subscription model for its...

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Mandy director Panos Cosmatos’ next film is a nightmare sci-fi romance

Photo by Peter Sabok/COOLMEDIA/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Panos Cosmatos, director of Mandy and Beyond the Black Rainbow, is directing and co-writing a new film alongside screenwriter Maegan Houang. The film, named Nekrokosm, has no premiere date but will be produced and released by A24 in partnership with XYZ Films. It’s billed as a “phantasmagorical fantasy nightmare” — in which “deep within a strange galaxy, two lovers are torn apart as they try to survive a malevolent invasion.”

Houang has written for the excellent Starz sci-fi series Counterpart and the upcoming miniseries Shōgun, while Cosmatosis best known for the 2018 film Mandy, which pitted Nicolas Cage against a violent neo-hippie cult. (A highly memorable chainsaw duel — far from the strangest thing in the movie — was referenced...

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The EPA plans to sunset its online archive

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) logo seen displayed on a smartphone. | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Come July, the EPA plans to retire the archive containing old news releases, policy changes, regulatory actions, and more. Those are important public resources, advocates say, but federal guidelines for maintaining public records still fall short when it comes to protecting digital assets.

“Web services is the language of the government now, [but] we’re not treating it with the same sort of respect that we are paper documents,” says Gretchen Gehrke, one of the co-founders of a group that initially came together to prevent the Trump administration from destroying environmental data. The group, called Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI), is still fighting for public access to resources like the EPA’s online archive.

“We’re...

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How to wipe your Android phone before selling or trading it in

Photo by Vlad Savov / The Verge

About to buy the latest Samsung phone or are you more of a Pixel person? Whether you plan to trade in your old Android phone for a discount on your new phone, sell it on eBay, give it away to a friend, or drop it off for recycling, you’re going to want to wipe it of all your data first by resetting it to factory conditions. Luckily, that’s pretty easy to do.

Before you start, be aware that these instructions were tested on a Pixel 3 running Android 12, but the process for most current Android phones should be pretty much the same. Needless to say, first make sure that all of your data is transferred to your new phone, backed up, or both. Once your old phone has reset, there’s no going back.

• Go to Settings
• Select System > Reset options...

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Samsung’s self-cleaning Jet Bot Plus robot vacuum is half off today

The Samsung Jet Bot Plus and its cleaning station, rendered in a very fake home. | Image: Samsung

Samsung is no stranger to attacking a product category with multiple options at different price points, and offering large discounts on those products is another of its signatures. The robot vacuum space isn’t an exception, with the Samsung Jet Bot Plus — its mid-tier option — available today for $399.99 at Best Buy and Amazon. The Jet Bot Plus offers fairly strong suction, a soft brush that’s especially good for hard surfaces, and a self-cleaning station borrowed from its pricier, AI-infused counterpart. This package usually costs $799, which is a bit much for a robot vacuum that lacks object detection, but the current discount of 50 percent makes the Jet Bot Plus more approachable.

The Jet Bot Plus’ addition of a self-cleaning station...

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Google asks FDA to clear Fitbit for passive heart rhythm monitoring

Image: Fitbit

Google submitted data for a new Fitbit feature that would passively monitor users’ heart rhythms to the Food and Drug Administration, the company announced today.

Fitbit currently can only check for irregular heart rhythm periodically; users have to actively decide to take a reading. The new feature would run in the background and alert people if they’re showing signs of a condition called atrial fibrillation. It’d bring Fitbit’s EKG feature closer to the one on the Apple Watch, which checks the wearer’s heart rhythms on occasion and alerts them if it catches any irregularities.

Fitbit launched a study in 2020 to test its passive heart rhythm technology. Nearly half a million Fitbit users participated in the study, and it flagged...

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Google adds doctors’ appointment availability to search

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google will show the next available appointment with a health care provider directly on search, the company announced today.

The company is working with MinuteClinic at CVS and other unnamed appointment schedulers during the initial rollout, which will start in the coming weeks, product manager Jackie DeJesse said during a press briefing. It will initially only be available in English.

Google

If someone searches for a doctor or a health provider’s office, they’ll see what types of appointments are available and the date of the earliest appointment. A “book” button will direct them to a third-party site to make an appointment.

Searching for a San Francisco MinuteClinic, for example, will show an “appointments”...

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Seven teenagers arrested in connection with the Lapsus$ hacking group

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

City of London Police have arrested seven teenagers due to their suspected connections with a hacking group that is believed to be the recently prolific Lapsus$ group, BBC News reports.

“The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation with its partners into members of a hacking group,” Detective Inspector Michael O’Sullivan of the City of London Police said in a statement to The Verge. “Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with this investigation and have all been released under investigation. Our enquiries remain ongoing.”

Lapsus$ has taken responsibility for some major security breaches

Lapsus$ has taken responsibility for some major security breaches at tech companies, including N...

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USPS is doubling its initial order of electric mail delivery trucks

Photo by Michael Bocchieri/Getty Images

The United States Postal Service announced its initial order of 50,000 next-generation delivery vehicles, 10,019 of which will be battery-electric vehicles. It’s a notable number considering the agency’s resistance to calls for increasing the number of EVs in its future delivery fleet.

Originally, the postal service said it would purchase 165,000 next-generation mail trucks, only 10 percent of which will be battery-electric vehicles. President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats urged the agency to increase the number of EVs, but USPS determined there was no legal reason to change its plans.

Now, the postal service says it will increase its initial order of EVs from 5,000 to 10,019, determining it “makes good sense from an operational...

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Spotify’s 2021 royalty report paints a rose-tinted vision of the music streaming industry

Spotify is continuing its effort to offer some transparency to musicians who are unhappy with its streaming rates. The company updated its “Loud & Clear” website today, providing a breakdown of some 2021 metrics for how artists, publishers, and rights holders actually make money off Spotify streams.

As one might expect, Spotify chooses to call out here are positive improvements over 2020. Spotify paid out over $7 billion to artists, labels, and the other moving pieces of the music industry last year, up from $5 billion last year. Over 16,500 artists’ catalogs earned at least $50,000 in royalties in 2021, compared to 13,400 in 2020, and over 1,000 artists cracked $1 million from Spotify streaming for the first time (versus 870 artists...

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How to use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac

Now you don’t have to enter a password when you wake up your Mac | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

When Apple introduced the ability to unlock iPhones with an Apple Watch, it was a lifesaver for anyone wearing a mask during the pandemic. But the handy feature isn’t limited to your smartphone. You can also use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac and to securely approve app requests.

The feature is called Auto Unlock, and technically, it came to Macs long before Apple decided to apply it to iPhones. That said, you may not have heard of it if you’ve just bought a shiny new Apple Watch or are a recent convert to the Apple ecosystem.

Prepare your Mac

To get started, you’ll want to make sure all your devices are compatible. Your Mac should be a model from mid-2013 or later and running macOS Sierra at the very least. Here’s how you check to...

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Yes, Netflix just got even more expensive

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix’s latest price hikes in the US are starting to come into effect.

Subscribers may have recently been contacted by the company alerting them that the price of their plan will change starting with their next billing cycle. I was recently sent such an email letting me know that my monthly bill would go up starting March 30th, 2022 — but some Netflix users may have already seen their bill increases hit.

Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka told The Verge that the price increases are rolling out to existing subscribers “over weeks,” adding that some subscribers may have already been notified and seen the changes applied.

Netflix first alerted subscribers to its coming price increases in late January. The service’s basic plan now...

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You can spin the gear in Windows 11’s Notepad app and it’s delightful

Image by Tom Warren / The Verge

I’ve just spent an hour spinning the gear in Windows 11’s new Notepad app. Reddit users discovered this delightful addition to Windows 11 recently, and as a daily Notepad user I’m addicted. Not on the level of my 1990s _Solitaire_addiction, but I can’t seem to stop spinning this damn gear every time I open Notepad now. Spin, spin, spin.

I don’t know why Microsoft added this tiny animation that most people will never discover, but I love this little Windows Easter egg. It’s not limited to Notepad either. The latest test versions of Windows 11 include a new Task Manager UI, and there’s a gear you can spin there too. That means every time I go to force crash an app in Task Manager, I’m gonna spend more time than I should spinning the little...

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Dell’s XPS 15 and XPS 17 get 12th Gen chips

Here’s the new Dell XPS 15. Look familiar? | Image: Dell

Dell has announced the 2022 models of its 15.6-inch XPS 15 and 17-inch XPS 17 laptops, and they’re available for purchase starting today. The two devices differ from their 2021 predecessors in one way only: They’re powered by Intel’s newest 12th Gen processors.

Image: Dell

And here’s the new XPS 17.

Both models will be configurable with a Core i5-12500H (12 cores), a Core i7-12700H (14 cores), or a Core i9-12900HK (14 cores). They’ll go up to 64GB of memory and 4TB of storage and will offer options for a 3840 x 2400 touchscreen in addition to an old-school 1920 x 1200 non-touch display. The XPS 15 can also come with a 3456 x 2160 OLED touchscreen

Where the two models differ (apart from their size) is in...

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VW’s Electrify America unveils new ‘human-centered’ EV charging stations

Electrify America

Electrify America, the electric vehicle charging company that’s a subsidiary of Volkswagen, announced plans to install new “human-centered” charging stations in several cities in California and New York, complete with solar panel awnings and a lounge-like waiting area. The company is also rolling out a slimmer, redesigned EV charger aimed at improving the customer experience.

The new multi-charger stations will be installed in several cities throughout 2022 and 2023, including Santa Barbara, San Francisco, San Diego, and Beverly Hills, as well as within the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City.

Charging an electric car isn’t as straightforward as refilling a gas tank. Recharging times can vary depending on the vehicle...

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Samsung’s Freestyle projector doesn’t live up to its $900 price

Samsung’s new portable projector isn’t what I hoped it would be

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PUBG studio inks deal to develop ‘blockchain- and NFT-based games and services’

A screenshot from PUBG: Battlegrounds. | Image: Krafton

Krafton, the studio behind PUBG, has announced a partnership with blockchain company Solana Labs. It says the deal will see the two companies cooperate on the development, operation, design, and marketing of “blockchain- and NFT-based games and services.” Solana Labs develops the Solana blockchain, an Ethereum-competitor designed to offer fast transaction speeds at low cost.

The partnership comes a little over a month after Krafton announced its intention to get into the world of blockchain gaming and said it would be working with Naver Z to build “a new Web 3.0 and non-fungible token (NFT) project aimed at building an NFT metaverse platform.”

“Krafton will continuously see ways to work closely with blockchain companies”

The important...

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What’s on your desk, Makena Kelly?

Working while color-coordinated

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Uber will feature NYC taxi cabs in its app under groundbreaking new deal

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Uber, longtime foe of the taxi industry, has made a deal to integrate New York City’s iconic yellow cabs in its app. The agreement, which is set to go into effect later this spring, means that roughly 14,000 taxis will be able to receive trip requests from Uber customers. (The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.)

As part of the deal, the city’s licensed technology providers, Curb Mobility and Creative Mobile Technologies, will integrate their software with Uber. Yellow cabs, which can be hailed using smartphone apps owned by the two companies, will gain access to Uber’s much larger customer base, which could translate into higher trip volumes and more money for beleaguered cab drivers.

New York City has been a...

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Motorola Edge Plus (2022) review: no gimmicks, but not quite good enough

Just a good, slab-style phone that doesn’t quite stand up to the category heavyweights

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A 14-inch convertible joins MSI’s business laptop lineup

Here’s the E14 Flip. | Image: MSI

MSI has made a number of updates to the Summit Series, its line of high-end business laptops. The Summit E14 Evo, Summit E13 Flip Evo, Summit E16 Flip Evo, and Summit E16 Flip (which is similar to the Filp Evo with a higher-resolution screen and discrete GPU options). There’s also a brand-new model, the Summit E14 Flip Evo, which is a convertible version (meaning its screen can fold backwards into a tablet shape) of the Summit E14 Evo. Interestingly, the 15-inch Summit E15 does not appear to have been updated.

The Summit E14 Flip would be for people who need a screen larger than that of the 13.4-inch E13 Flip Evo but don’t want to jump to a 16-inch model. It also offers a higher-resolution panel than the 13-inch convertible, maxing out...

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Spin’s electric scooters will be available to rent in the Lyft app

Brittani Medeiros

Lyft is integrating Spin’s electric scooters into its app, with the goal of eventually featuring the scooters in all 60 cities where Spin operates in the US.

The move comes amid more consolidation in the micromobility world after Berlin’s Tier Mobility acquired Spin from Ford earlier this month. Lyft, which owns Citi Bike in New York City, continues to operate its own fleet of e-scooters despite many financial headwinds.

Lyft’s partnership with Spin will kick off in Nashville, followed by 13 additional markets throughout April, including Phoenix, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Providence, Raleigh / Durham, Charlotte, Fort Collins, Ann Arbor, Kansas City, and Memphis.

Lyft’s partnership with Spin will kick off in...

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Polestar’s most affordable EV is coming to the US

Swedish electric automaker Polestar is bringing its most affordable model to the US. The long-range, single-motor Polestar 2 may not have as much performance as the dual-motor variant, but it will certainly be more accessible.

The single-motor was previously only available to pre-order in the US. Starting this week, deliveries of this variant are beginning. Interested car buyers can also test drive the EV if they want, at Polestar’s two dozen retail locations around the country.

The single-motor Polestar 2 starts at $45,900, as compared to $51,200 for the dual-motor version. Polestar says the price can get down to $33,400 after qualified federal and state incentives. (The federal EV tax credit is $7,500, while some states, like New...

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iFixit teardown offers a detailed look inside the Mac Studio and Studio Display

The guts of a Mac Studio. | Image: iFixit

iFixit has gotten its grubby mitts on Apple’s new Mac Studio computer and Studio Display, and has taken both apart to learn more about them — including how easily they can be repaired or even upgraded. The Mac Studio in particular has generated some controversy because its SSDs don’t appear to be user-upgradable, despite being fairly easy to access and remove.

There’s one piece of good news from iFixit’s teardown, which is that it _does_appear to be possible to swap out the SSD in a Mac Studio for one of the same size in case the drive fails. But despite there being a second SSD slot accessible, it doesn’t appear to be possible to simply insert an additional second drive to easily upgrade the Studio’s storage yourself. As for whether it...

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OnePlus 10 Pro gets its global launch on March 31st

The OnePlus 10 Pro. | Image: OnePlus

If you’ve been waiting for the OnePlus 10 Pro to launch outside of China, then you don’t have much longer to wait. The company has announced in a tweet that its latest flagship smartphone will launch globally on March 31st at 10am ET, a little over three months after it launched in China. There aren’t many new details to be revealed about the device itself, so the main news of the event will be the phones’ pricing and release date in markets like the US, Europe, and India.

OnePlus announced the 10 Pro’s key specs in January ahead of its launch in China, and since then reviewers have even imported the device to get an early look at what it offers (raising some durability concerns in the process). It’s powered by Qualcomm’s flagship...

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Shortwave just rescued my inbox from the drudgery of Gmail

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

When Google killed its Gmail alternative Inbox in 2018, it promised that several of its ideas would eventually come to Gmail. While some did arrive, most of what made Inbox a success, such as “bundles,” never did. Instead, in the following years, Google has shoehorned its entire productivity suite into Gmail to push people into using the rest of its Workspace services. And it’s about to get worse as Google gears up to roll out a major Gmail update that’s more cluttered than ever.

Gmail’s evolving interface works for those invested in Google’s ecosystem, but it does little to save people from the drudgery of sifting through their messy inboxes every day. It’s easy to see why: it still dumps on you a list of emails with no real structure...

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Forspoken dev says one-second game loads are now a tentative reality on PC

Last Monday, Microsoft declared that DirectStorage would usher in “a new era of fast load times and detailed worlds in PC games.” And while that now seems a little too grandiose, the developer of upcoming tech showcase game _Forspoken_now claims that one-second load times are legitimately in reach.

Speaking at a GDC 2022 presentation about the tech embedded in the PC version of the game, Luminous Productions technical director Teppei Ono says that the Square Enix title will actually load some scenes in one second flat, provided your Windows 11 PC has a NVMe SSD capable of over 5,000MB/sec reads.

That one-second load time is not the case for every scene, and he didn’t actually show us any scenes load in that amount of time — instead, we...

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The best Chromebook deals you can get right now

You can save $150 on Samsung’s excellent Chromebook 2. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

If you’re looking for an affordable laptop alternative, Chromebooks are a great option to consider. Yet there are several kinds on the market these days, and it can be overwhelming to pick the right for you and your needs. Some are better suited toward basic work tasks, for example, while some of the higher-end models can even rival some of the best laptops you can buy. Moreover, just because one Chromebook has more features than the other, doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you, nor is it the best value for your money.

That’s why we’ve curated this comprehensive list of the best Chromebook deals. Here, you’ll find discounts on all kinds of Chromebooks, including those from Samsung, Lenovo, Asus, and more. Each varies in price range and...

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Twitter’s DM search will finally actually help you find conversations

It can now find keywords, not just names.

Twitter announced on Wednesday that its DM search feature has gotten a big upgrade — it can now search through the content of your conversations and return specific messages that contain whatever keyword you type in. Before you could only use it to search for people’s names or the names of group chats, but now if you want to find that one conversation you had with a friend about “chili” you can just type it into the search bar.

Of course, searching for person or conversation names still works, and you can even decide whether you want to see results for people, groups, or messages — handy if the keyword you’re trying to search happens to be someone’s name.

We know you’ve been waiting for the option to search your DMs…

Now you can use...

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A teen is reportedly the mastermind behind the Lapsus$ hacking group

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In recent weeks, the Lapsus$ hacking group has taken credit for accessing company data from Nvidia, Samsung, Ubisoft, Okta, and even Microsoft, and according to a new Bloomberg report, an England-based teenager might be the person heading up the operation.

“Four researchers investigating the hacking group Lapsus$, on behalf of companies that were attacked, said they believe the teenager is the mastermind,” Bloomberg said. However, the teenager, who apparently uses the online aliases “White” and “breachbase,” has not been accused by law enforcement, and the researchers “haven’t been able to conclusively tie him to every hack Lapsus$ has claimed,” Bloomberg said.

The teenager is apparently based about five miles outside of Oxford...

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