Apple store workers in Atlanta file for the company’s first union election

Apple retail workers in Atlanta have voted to unionize. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

An Apple retail store in Atlanta has filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The workers at the Cumberland Mall store, which includes salespeople, technicians, creatives, and operations specialists, would be represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). More than 70 percent of the group of about 100 eligible workers signed the union authorization cards, according to a news release — the minimum required is 30 percent.

If a majority of the workers vote to unionize, the store would be the first unionized Apple store in the US. Their petition now goes for formal review by the NLRB.

“Apple is a profoundly positive place to work, but we know that the company can better live up to their ideals...

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The Nintendo Switch OLED is available at Woot for $25 off today

Nintendo’s Switch OLED model in white with its updated dock and accompanying Joy-Cons. | Image: Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch OLED model is on a special one-day deal from Woot today — the site has dropped the device’s price to the lowest you can find. Woot is selling the white version of the Switch OLED for $324.99 as opposed to its usual $349.99 price point. The deal is set to expire at 1AM ET / 10PM PT. While Nintendo Switch consoles have been readily available for a while now, it’s safe to wager this deal might sell out before time runs out.

If you’re familiar with Nintendo prices, you’ll know that these kinds of discounts don’t come frequently, especially on the premium Switch. This sale puts it within $25 of the standard model, and if you haven’t already jumped into Nintendo’s popular console, the improvements on the OLED model are...

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Amazon CEO says unions are ‘slower and more bureaucratic’ in leaked employee all-hands

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In an all-hands meeting with employees on Tuesday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy addressed the mounting efforts to unionize the company’s fulfillment centers. The discussion was sparked by an employee who asked about the company’s position on unions, per a recording of the meeting obtained by The Verge.

Jassy argued that unionization would make employees of the company feel less empowered. “One of the things that’s unique about Amazon is that we have unusual empowerment for our employees,” he said. “If they see something they can do better for customers — or just for themselves — to get together, get in a room, decide to change it, and change it, and do it quickly. We encourage that type of speed. You know, you’re part of the union it’s much...

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AMD quietly launches new space-saving RX 6400 graphics cards for $159

The Sapphire Pulse RX 6400 is one of the first low-profile RDNA2 GPUs.

If you’re looking for a serious gaming graphics card, look elsewhere — reviewers absolutely dragged the $199 AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT in January, and today’s GPU entry is even weaker. But if you absolutely, positively need to fit a miniature graphics card in a very small PC, the new RX 6400 might be worth a look.

Today, AMD has quietly launched the Radeon RX 6400 with an array of partners including ASRock, Biostar, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX, and we’re actually seeing a few of them retail for that price or close to it, GPU shortage be damned. There’s a $159.99 ASRock Challenger and a $169.99 XFX Speedster SWFT105 in stock at Newegg right now — with a $159.99 Sapphire Pulse card also on the way.

Intriguingly, every one of...

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A year after LG left the smartphone business, Samsung is the big winner

Samsung was well-positioned to scoop up a big chunk of the market share LG left behind with its affordable A-series phones. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

The Galaxy got even bigger

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The biggest announcements at the Meta Quest games showcase

Meta hosted its 2022 games showcase, which was filled with games that you can expect to play on your Quest 2 virtual reality headset at some point this year. Last year’s surprise announcement was the VR port of Resident Evil 4 (which turned out to be far better than expected), but several standout titles seem like they’ll be must-play experiences when they launch. In case you missed out on the showcase, we’ve rounded up the biggest announcements below.

Ghostbusters is coming to VR

The showcase ended with Mark Zuckerberg revealing that a Ghostbusters VR game is in the works for the Quest 2. There aren’t many details (and it’s still in development under a working title) but the game will have players running their own Ghostbusters...

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This AI clone of Reddit’s Am I The Asshole forum will give you the best bad advice

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

First, a necessary disclaimer: don’t use artificial intelligence language generators to solve your ethical quandaries. Second: definitely go tell those quandaries to this AI-powered simulation of Reddit because the results are fascinating.

Are You The Asshole (AYTA) is, as its name suggests, built to mimic Reddit’s r/AmITheAsshole (AITA) crowdsourced advice forum. Created by internet artists Morris Kolman and Alex Petros with funding from Digital Void, the site lets you enter a scenario and ask for advice about it — and then generates a series of feedback posts responding to your situation. The feedback does a remarkably good job of capturing the style of real human-generated responses, but with the weird, slightly alien skew that many...

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This firm made Republicans go viral — now it’s falling apart

Photo illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge; Getty Images

Benny Johnson berated staff, who were often paid late

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Airbnb to sue host of Pittsburgh party where a shooting left two dead

Two people were killed in an Easter weekend shooting at this Pittsburgh Airbnb rental. | Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

After a shooting at an Easter weekend house party at an Airbnb in Pittsburgh left two teenagers dead and another eight people with gunshot wounds, Airbnb says it plans to pursue legal action against the person who booked the party.

“Airbnb strictly bans parties, and we condemn the behavior that is alleged to have prompted this criminal gun violence and the tragic loss of life,” spokesperson Ben Breit said in a statement emailed to The Verge. The booking guest has been permanently banned from the platform, he said. The party was “unauthorized,” Breit added, and was held without the knowledge or consent of the property host.

The shooting happened on Easter Sunday just after 12:30AM, according to Pittsburgh police. Some 200 people were at...

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The Xbox Series X is now available at Best Buy

The Xbox Series X console is available to buy for its usual price of $499.99. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

If you’ve been trying to land an Xbox Series X for a while now, today may be your lucky day. Right now, Best Buy is selling the elusive next-gen console for its usual price of $499.99. Even better, anybody can queue up for the Xbox Series X – not just Totaltech subscribers. However, supply is limited to what your local stores have on hand, so results may vary.

To enter the digital line, make sure you click the “Add to Cart” and be prepared for Best Buy’s site to ask you to verify your details. To give yourself the best chance possible, sign in to your account while in the queue and double-check your shipping and payment details are accurate. Also, keep in mind that if it looks like the console appears to be sold out, don’t give up. Best...

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Best Buy will haul away your old TV and more for $199

Best Buy will take away anything from TVs to old laptops. | Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Best Buy’s offering to take away and recycle your unwanted tech and appliances for a $199 fee. The standalone haul-away service includes the pickup of two large items, like a TV or washing machine, as well as an unlimited number of smaller products, from laptops to printers. Best Buy will then send your products off to a “trusted recycling partner,” where they will be repurposed, repaired, or recycled.

You can view the entire list of products Best Buy will pick up and recycle on its haul-away service page, separated by what it considers large and small items. Best Buy says you’ll have to do all the disconnecting and disassembling yourself, so technicians can actually move it out of your home.

Best Buy’s existing recycling program accepts...

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‘Micronova’ explosions spotted on distant zombie stars

An artistic impression of a micronova explosion on a white dwarf. | Image: Mark Garlick

Star explosions can happen on very different scales, from massive supernovae to plain old novae. Now, scientists think they’ve identified an even smaller way for a star’s surface to explode — dubbed the “micronova.” It’s a type of explosion that occurs in just one region on the surface of some stars, lasting for hours at a time but still packing quite a punch.

Specifically, micronovae occur on a type of zombie star known as a white dwarf. These odd objects are actually the leftover cores of dead stars, remnants of celestial bodies like our Sun that have used up all their fuel and blown most of their materials out into space. White dwarfs are quite small but incredibly dense, sometimes the size of Earth but with the same mass as the Sun....

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Zoom’s gesture recognition now works in its desktop apps

Image: Zoom

Zoom’s reaction emoji are one of the platform’s handiest features, letting you quickly applaud a co-worker or send a heart to a friend. With the latest update to its desktop apps, Zoom is making a couple of those reactions easier to find. Its gesture recognition feature will show a thumbs-up emoji in the meeting when you give one to your webcam, or flag a raised-hand emoji when you raise your hand.

Gesture recognition won’t be news to those who use Zoom’s iPad and iPhone apps, which have supported the same two gestures since last summer. And those who have used it know that it can be as frustrating as it is helpful. Zoom has a tendency to read “I’m scratching my face” as “I’m raising my hand,” and at least in my experience only responds...

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The 2020 iPad Air is available for its lowest price ever at Amazon

The 2021 iPad Pro and 2020 iPad are discounted to their lowest price ever. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

You came to the wrong house if you’re shopping for weed jokes — we only distribute good wholesome content here on Verge Deals. For instance, both the 2020 version of the iPad Air and the 2021 model of the 11-inch iPad Pro are discounted to their lowest prices ever.

The 2020 iPad Air normally costs $749 but is discounted to $599.99 at Amazon. The price will appear to be $649.99, but if you add one to your cart, an extra $50 will get knocked off the final price of this lightweight 256GB tablet.

Alternatively, the 11-inch model of the 2021 iPad Pro usually goes for $800 in its 128GB configuration but can currently be found at Amazon and Best Buy for just $699.99. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this tablet since Black Friday.

Both...

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DuckDuckGo’s browsers and extensions now protect against AMP tracking

DuckDuckGo says it’s now preventing AMP tracking. | Image: DuckDuckGo

Privacy-oriented search engine DuckDuckGo says it will “protect” against tracking by web pages with Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages framework (or AMP) enabled. “When you load or share a Google AMP page anywhere from DuckDuckGo apps (iOS/Android/Mac) or extensions (Firefox/Chrome), the original publisher’s webpage will be used in place of the Google AMP version,” the company said on Twitter. The technology allows Google to track users, DuckDuckGo notes, and forces publishers to use AMP by prioritizing those links in its search results.

AMP technology is bad for privacy because it enables Google to track users even more (which is already a ton).

And, Google uses AMP to further entrench its monopoly, forcing the technology on...

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The best budget laptop of 2022

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge

The best cheap laptops under $800 from HP, Lenovo, and more.

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Sonic Origins launches in June with remasters of four classic games

Sega

In the lead-up to Sonic’s 31st birthday (feel old yet?), Sega has finally revealed the details behind Sonic Origins, a remastered collection of Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. Don’t expect straight ports of these Sega classics, though. In addition to remastered visuals updated for today’s consoles, Sonic Origins includes new achievements, collectibles, animated shorts, and game modes, putting a fresh pair of sneakers on these old classics.

In Sonic Origins, players will be able to choose between playing in classic mode or anniversary mode. In classic mode, players will experience the games in all their original glory and original aspect ratios. Anniversary mode offers a full-screen experience along with...

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Go watch our GoPro Bones review

No battery, no screen, no GPS, no fan, and no metal housing? There’s a lot of stuff missing from the new GoPro Hero10 Black Bones. But then again, a normal GoPro isn’t well-suited for the acrobatics of an FPV drone. So when GoPro sent us a review unit of its new stripped-down Hero10 Black designed for drone pilots, we recruited FPV drone pilot Reza Kurniawan to see if it’s up to snuff — and you can see his flying skills on full display in our video review above.

Kurniawan is the kind of drone enthusiast who inspired the Bones to begin with. He’s been de-casing Hero10 GoPros to decrease their weight from 154 grams all the way down to about 33 grams. The demand for so-called “naked GoPros” has been high enough that it has become a service...

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How to change (or eliminate) your Windows 11 sign-in

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

If you mainly use your Windows 11 computer at home, and you don’t have curious children or roommates who might mess with it, then having to sign in with a password can be a pain in the neck — especially if you have a long, secure, and complicated password.

Thankfully, you have alternatives. If you do take your Windows laptop out occasionally, there are several other ways you can sign in to your laptop that are a little simpler. We’ll also show you how to remove your password altogether (although, to keep your device secure, we recommend that you go with one of the options above rather than eliminating any kind of sign-in).

You also have the option to use a physical security key (usually a USB key) to sign in, but you’ll have to purchase...

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You can now update DualSense PS5 controllers on a PC

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Sony has released an app for Windows 11 and 64-bit Windows 10 computers that lets you update the firmware of its DualSense PS5 controllers. Previously, the update process required you to connect a controller to a PS5 console, which many people don’t yet have the luxury of owning due to the ongoing chip shortage and intense demand. This new app is particularly helpful for PC gamers who want to buy a DualSense to use as a Bluetooth controller.

The app, suitably called “Firmware updater for DualSense wireless controller,” can be downloaded here. And, just like the process on the console, you’ll need to connect the DualSense to your PC with a USB cable.

What you’ll see when you plug in a DualSense that isn’t in need of an...

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The first ‘full-screen iPhone’ could arrive in 2024

The iPhone 13 Mini and iPhone 13. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

When will we see a new iPhone with a totally unimpeded display? In 2024, according to a prediction from well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. By then, says Kuo, Apple could be happy to move both its front-facing camera and Face ID under the screen for its high-end devices, which would make the iPhone 16 Pro the likely first candidate for such an upgrade.

Kuo made this prediction in a pair of tweets, linking back to comments he’d made last month saying Apple was unlikely to release any new iPhones with under-display fingerprint readers in the next two years. (Kuo previously predicted this could happen sometime in 2023 at the earliest.) The reason? Well, Kuo’s framing is that demand for the return of Touch ID was mostly a response to the...

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These luxurious Lord of the Rings books are illustrated by the films’ Oscar-winning designer

If you set out to design the most deluxe version of The Lord of the Rings books imaginable, I think you might end up close to The Folio Society’s latest edition. They’re hardback, obviously, and quarter bound in burgundy leather with silver page tops — the perfect accompaniment for an apartment that smells of rich mahogany.

Most importantly, however, they feature illustrations by Alan Lee, whose conceptual design work on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films helped establish the visual style of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world on the big screen. His work on The Return of the King won him an Oscar in 2004 for Best Art Direction. Lee has contributed a preface to The Folio Society’s edition of these books and has hand-signed each of the 1,000...

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Wildlife photos are a new treasure trove for AI-driven conservation research

Illustration by Melissa Mathieson / The Verge

Computers can see details that humans can’t

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Insteon’s troubles are a smart home tale as old as time

Smart home company Insteon appears to have closed up shop with no warning to its customers. | Image: Insteon

Revolv, Iris, Insignia, Staples Connect, Wink, and now Insteon and iHome: the graveyard of dead or dying smart home ecosystems that promised so much yet failed to deliver is getting crowded. Smart home company Insteon has apparently turned off its cloud servers for good, according to unconfirmed reports from Stacey on IoT, and device maker iHome has also shut down its servers, confirming to The Verge that its iHome cloud services were terminated on April 2nd.

This feels like a good time for a reflection on the state of the smart home. Is it all over? Or is this cloud carnage simply necessary to clear the way for a brave new world, one where the smart home is no longer a curiosity but something that actually matters?

What those companies...

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BMW’s new electric 7 series luxury sedan will start at $120,295

BMW announced a new electric 7 series luxury sedan, the i7 xDrive60. The upcoming EV will have an estimated range of “up to 300 miles” and a starting price of $120,295. Interested car buyers can pre-order the i7 starting today and deliveries are expected to start later this year.

Chock full of high-tech features, like a massive 8K theater screen for rear passengers, BMW is hoping the i7 will become a segment leader in the increasingly crowded luxury electric sedan space. Certainly the automaker’s 7 series has long held the place as the brand’s ultimate expression of luxury (alongside the 8 series). And BMW recently nipped the crown for best-selling luxury brand in the US from Mercedes-Benz, but Tesla is right on its heels.

BMW recently...

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Garmin’s Vivosmart 5 might finally get the touchscreen right

The Garmin Vivosmart 5 adds a practical button to the tracker line. | Image: Garmin

If there’s one thing that Garmin seems to understand better than other wearables companies, it’s that athletes like buttons. And, it looks like the company’s finally added a practical button to its latest fitness tracker, the $149.99 Vivosmart 5.

The Vivosmart 5 is a refreshed version of the Vivosmart 4 that was first launched in 2018. It keeps much of the same design as Vivosmart 4, but instead of an elegant vibe, it opts for a more practical, sportier look. The band itself has a rounded edge, and there’s no more metal border surrounding the display. In its press release, Garmin also emphasized that the display is 66 percent bigger and has larger text so that it’s easier to read. But the biggest difference is that the Vivosmart 5 has a...

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Tesla workers in Shanghai will reportedly sleep and eat in the factory after COVID shutdowns

Tesla’s Shanghai factory previously produced about 2,100 cars a day. | Xinhua/Ding Ting via Getty Images

Tesla is restarting production at its massive Shanghai factory as the city of 25 million begins to ease lockdown restrictions following a substantial COVID outbreak.

According to a report from Bloomberg News that cites internal company memos, the factory will re-open in what’s being called a “closed-loop system” — an approach encouraged by Shanghai authorities to get people back into the workplace while maintaining the country’s zero-covid strategies. Essentially, this means nobody goes in or out: employees will live and work at the factory, with the first “shift” entering earlier this week and expected to stay until May 1st under the city’s current COVID policies.

The Shanghai factory is Tesla’s largest

According to the Telsa memo...

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The latest leak of Google’s upcoming Pixel Watch shows off a familiar design

The latest Pixel Watch render leak looks familiar. | Image: Evan Blass / 91Mobiles

We’ve been hearing rumors about Google’s Pixel Watch for years now, but it does finally seem like pieces for the project are finally falling into place. A purported render of the device shared by Evan Blass over at 91Mobiles lines up with past leaks and rumors, showing a device with a familiar circular design, physical crown, and Fitbit integration.

Of course, there’s also a lot missing from the render. The image doesn’t include the watch’s lugs (which would show how the strap will connect to the face) or give any idea of its overall build. If the image looks a bit funny, though, it’s perhaps because of the watch’s rumored bezel-less design (also seen in mock-up renders shared last year by Jon Prosser).

Interestingly, though, we have...

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Disney Plus has been missing episodes of Agent Carter, DuckTales, and several other shows

Image: Disney

Over the last day or so, Disney Plus subscribers may have noticed that certain episodes of their favorite shows are missing. The folks at What’s on Disney Plus collected a list of some of the shows with known missing episodes early Tuesday, and it’s a long one, including favorites like Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Once Upon a Time, and many others.

Disney commented to Deadline that the “purge” is an accidental glitch it’s working to fix, and we’ve noticed that episodes have been restored for some series, like season one of Agent Carter. Meanwhile, others like DuckTales, or Rocket & Groot, are still incomplete.

Image: Richard Lawler via DisneyPlus.com

An occasional hiccup on a streaming platform is to be...

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Incredibly, your Apple HomePod may now be worth more than its $299 MSRP

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

I thought it was really strange when Apple kept selling the original $299 HomePod months after it got discontinued. But now, it’s starting to make sense — not only are some people still willing to pay a premium for the somewhat smart speaker, they’re willing to pay more than Apple charged for it.

We took a look at eBay sales numbers after spotting 9to5Mac editor-in-chief Chance Miller’s tweet, and we soon discovered it wasn’t just a joke: on average, an Apple HomePod fetched $375 this past week. That’s 25 percent more than Apple charged.

Of course, some HomePods are worth more than others — a used speaker with no box might only net you $220 before eBay fees, but we’ve seen a few factory sealed non-refurbished HomePods sell for over...

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