What’s the best student laptop? We asked students

The Dell XPS 13 is one of the best laptops for high school and college students. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Shopping for a laptop can be stressful — doubly stressful if you or your children will be learning online for the first time. Kids of different ages have a range of different laptop use cases and different needs. And as the choices for best laptop and best Chromebook evolve, so do students’ needs. So I spoke to some experts on the subject: students themselves.

My recommendations here are meant to accommodate a variety of preferences and price ranges. But they’re a jumping-off point rather than an exhaustive list: every student is different. Before making a decision, you’ll want to make sure you read reviews and try out devices yourself if you can. I’ll do my best to keep this article up to date with items that are in stock.

Best laptop...

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Mario Kart Tour has crossed the finish line

Image: Nintendo

Nintendo and game publisher DeNA will discontinue creating new content for the mobile game Mario Kart Tour starting October 4th, Video Games Chronicle reports. The move indicates Nintendo may be pivoting its focus away from mobile games.

The companies will release new Mario Kart Tour content as a part of its Anniversary Tour starting September 20th. Following the Battle Tour’s launch on October 4th, however, the company will only release old content.

“No new courses, drivers, karts, or gliders will be added following the Battle Tour starting 04/10/2023,” Nintendo wrote in a message to players, though the company did not explain why. “We hope you continue to enjoy playing Mario Kart Tour.”

Mario Kart Tour recently became Nintendo’s second...

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Starfield: all the news about Bethesda’s massive space RPG

Image: Bethesda Game Studios

Getting lost in space with Bethesda’s next big game.

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How to move Fitbit to your Google account

By 2025, it’ll be mandatory to use a Google account with Fitbit. | Illustration: Samar Haddad / The Verge

The Fitbit to Google account migration has started. This isn’t a big deal if you’re new to Fitbit or are about to buy a new Fitbit / Google Pixel device. You’ll be prompted at setup to log in with your Google account. But what does this mean if you’re a legacy Fitbit user?

Technically, you don’t have to do anything “until at least 2025.” Google and Fitbit both say they’ll give ample warning and a clear timeline before they start shutting down Fitbit account support. However, once Fitbit account support ends, using a Google account will be mandatory. That means if you don’t ever want to merge your Fitbit and Google accounts, it’s time to start shopping for an alternative fitness tracker.

If you know that you’re sticking with a Fitbit...

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ESPN’s standalone streaming channel is included in Charter and Disney’s new deal

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Disney and Charter have resolved the carriage dispute that blocked millions of viewers from watching ESPN, ABC, FX, and other Disney-owned networks. The two companies reached a deal on Monday, which includes bundling the upcoming ESPN streaming channel with Spectrum’s TV Select Plan.

As part of the deal, Disney Plus’ ad-supported plan will also come included with the Spectrum TV Select package, while ESPN Plus will be given to Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers. There still isn’t a timeline for when Disney could launch ESPN’s standalone streaming service, but it’s been something Disney has been considering for quite some time now.

The standalone service differs from ESPN Plus in that it would offer the full range of content available...

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The Logitech Reach is an articulating webcam you can point at what you want

Logitech has announced the Logitech Reach, an articulating webcam intended to make for better, more interactive remote meetings, online tutoring, and livestreams. Logitech will crowdfund the camera through Indiegogo Enterprise at first, which it told The Verge in a briefing is how it will refine the design and decide on pricing. The company hasn’t announced when the campaign will start, but it may price the Reach between a “discounted” $299 and $399, per a survey on its site.

While the articulating arm is new, the camera itself isn’t; it’s one of our favorites: the 1080p, 60fps $170 Logitech Streamcam. You can replace it, albeit only with another Streamcam, but at least you won’t need to buy a whole new contraption if the camera breaks....

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Microsoft’s new Xbox Mastercard includes points you can redeem on games

The Xbox Mastercard. | Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is launching an Xbox credit card later this month that will be available exclusively to Xbox testers in the US. The Xbox Mastercard is a no annual fee credit card issued by Barclays, and purchases made using the card will generate points that can be redeemed on Xbox games and add-ons.

“With the Xbox Mastercard credit card, players can earn card points with everyday purchases to redeem on games and add-ons at xbox.com,” explains Dave McCarthy, CVP of Xbox player services. “The Xbox Mastercard will be available exclusively to Xbox Insiders in the 50 United States beginning on September 21, with availability to all Xbox players in the 50 United States coming in 2024.”

The Xbox Mastercard isn’t linked to Microsoft Rewards, so it’s...

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Our favorite Anker wireless power bank for MagSafe iPhones is now $30 off

The handy power bank charges your phone wirelessly, and its unfolding kickstand can even hold a larger iPhone. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Tomorrow is iPhone 15 announcement day, but even though all signs are pointing to Apple switching from Lightning ports to USB-C, you can get a great deal today on the best wireless charging power bank that works on any recent (and future iPhone). The Anker 622 MagGo Magnetic Battery is selling for just $39.99 ($30 off) at Amazon or from Anker by using code WSCP8CTHC9 at checkout.

The 19.25Wh / 5,000mAh charger can wirelessly power a compatible iPhone at 7.5W, which isn’t as fast as true 15W MagSafe but offers much more juice at a much lower price than Apple’s official MagSafe Battery Pack. The MagGo’s unfolding kickstand is strong enough to hold even a Max-sized iPhone, and it recharges via USB-C. That USB-C port also offers...

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Starfield is a ‘bizarrely worse experience’ on Nvidia and Intel, says Digital Foundry

Image: Bethesda

Starfield is one of the most demanding games on PC that we’ve seen recently, with even the RTX 4090 paired with AMD’s latest Ryzen 7800X3D just about hitting 60fps on average at 4K with all the settings maxed out. As reviewers and testers scramble to figure out why Starfield is so heavy, the experts over at Digital Foundry have discovered some obvious differences between AMD and Intel / Nvidia systems.

“If you’re on Intel and Nvidia you’re getting a bizarrely worse experience here in comparison to AMD GPUs in a way that’s completely out of the norm,” explains Alexander Battaglia in a detailed 32-minute tech analysis of Starfield on PC.

AMD is Starfield’s “exclusive PC partner,” with Bethesda and AMD engineers working to optimize the game...

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Who is the Apple Watch Ultra really for?

Maybe, the Ultra is just for anyone who wants it.

When I first saw the Apple Watch Ultra, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Apple’s sizzle reel had weatherbeaten explorers trekking up snow-capped mountains, running across deserts, and diving into the depths of the ocean. This was an Apple Watch for the intrepid explorer, which arguably few tech journalists swarming the Ultra models at the Steve Jobs Theater were. In fact, I’d contend that most people aren’t hardcore outdoors enthusiasts who need 49mm titanium cases, a sapphire crystal lens, WR100 water resistance, and EN13319 certification for diving.

That’s why, in my review, I called the watch aspirational. I stand by that, but having lived with the Ultra for a whole year, I’m still not exactly sure who the Ultra’s true audience is.

T...

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AI voices are taking over the internet

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

You may not think of it this way, but you probably hear AI voices all the time. When you’re talking to Alexa or Siri, that’s a model trained on human speech to be able to say almost anything. Did you ever have a celebrity give you directions on Waze? AI. And every time you watch TikTok and you hear that slightly too chipper voice speaking the captions aloud, that’s AI all the way down. Heck, Apple’s AI will even read you a romance novel before you go to bed.

AI systems are getting good at turning text into believable speech in almost any language and almost any voice. And on this episode of The Vergecast, the first in our three-part miniseries on AI, that voice is mine. We trained a bunch of different AI bots with the sound of my voice —...

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Gaming conglomerate Embracer Group might sell the studio behind Borderlands

A screenshot from the game Borderlands 3_._ | Image: Gearbox Software

Embracer Group is reportedly looking at selling off Gearbox Entertainment, the maker of Borderlands, as the gaming conglomerate searches for ways to make money following the collapse of a major funding deal earlier this year. Reuters reports that Embracer is already shopping the studio around but warned that “a deal may not happen.”

This is the latest dip in the rollercoaster ride that has been Embracer’s last few years. The company has pieced together an immense gaming and entertainment portfolio through a nonstop series of acquisitions, which has brought together the comics group Dark Horse, Tomb Raider maker Crystal Dynamics, and franchising rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, among other properties.

Obviously, this cost a...

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Qualcomm extends iPhone modem deal amid Apple chip delays

Qualcomm will continue to supply iPhone 5G modems for the next three years. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

It looks like Apple could still be relying on Qualcomm modem chips for its next few generations of iPhones. On Monday, Qualcomm announced the two companies had extended a modem supply agreement (that was originally set to expire this year) until 2026, suggesting that Apple is experiencing further delays with developing its own in-house 5G modem chips.

No specific iPhone models have been mentioned, though Qualcomm said the new agreement will cover “smartphone launches in 2024, 2025, and 2026.” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that this doesn’t mean we won’t see Apple’s custom chip in the next three years, however, as the company has been planning a gradual rollout of the new component. By 2026, Qualcomm is now expecting it will supply 20...

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The Apple Event Quiz

Note: This content is not displaying properly in Apple News. Please use this link instead.

Apple’s product events have always been more than sales pitches — they’re essentially technology entertainment: presentations that run as long as feature films and make bold promises about how technology is changing and why Apple’s new products are (supposedly) the ones leading the charge. The events are undeniably popular. Apple’s last iPhone event, in September 2022, has 31 million views on YouTube alone.

If you’re here, you’ve certainly seen coverage of Apple’s keynotes. Maybe you’ve tuned in live for a few of them (or a whole bunch, as all of us at The Verge have). We dug through our memories for some trivia questions to see just how well you...

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Apple’s Lightning connector was the first great port — and USB-C might be the last

RIP Lightning. You were proprietary, which was annoying, but you were so easy to plug in. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The Lightning connector really only had two jobs: be tiny and be foolproof. Apple developed the new port for the iPhone 5, which at the time was simultaneously the largest, thinnest, and lightest iPhone the company had ever made. That made every millimeter of space and milligram of weight matter. For nearly a decade, Apple’s go-to connector had been the 30-pin Dock Connector, which was positively gigantic — about four times the size of a standard Micro USB plug. The Dock Connector was also fragile and a bit fussy. You had to stick the cable in just so in order to get the little hooks on the end to attach to the port. After a decade of Dock Connector, Apple needed something better.

When Apple introduced Lightning at its annual fall event...

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Sony launches ‘foster care’ program for its aging robot dogs

A rehoming pound for preloved robot pups. | Image: Sony

Sony is launching a new sustainability program to ensure that even robot dogs are for life, and not just for Christmas. Five years after releasing the ERS-1000 Aibo — a reboot of its popular line of “autonomous entertainment” robot dogs from the late 90’s — Sony Japan is now launching an “Aibo foster parent program” to help ERS-1000 owners who have cancelled their Aibo Cloud Plan to donate the gadget to a worthy cause.

According to a machine translation of the Japanese press announcement, Sony will test and repair ERS-1000 units donated to the program before providing them to medical facilities, nursing homes, and other organizations that could benefit from emotional support robots like Aibo. Sony says it plans to charge Aibo “foster...

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Let the robot vacuum wars begin: the newest Roombas tackle the competition’s biggest issues

Surprise! More robot vacuums. iRobot launches its new j9 Plus robot vacuum line, featuring a new auto-empty dock that can refill the robot’s water tank. | Image: iRobot

iRobot’s newest robot vacuums are smarter and more powerful, and the mopping bot can scrub your floors more deeply. At least, that’s what the company is claiming as it launches its newest flagships: the $1,399 Roomba Combo j9 Plus vacuum / mop and the $899 j9 Plus vacuum. Both models are available to pre-order now at irobot.com in the US and Canada. iRobot also launched two midrange robot vacuums that can mop last week.

iRobot is clearly feeling the pressure from its many, many competitors. These latest models focus on bringing more smarts, power, and scrubbing action to keep up with the likes of Ecovacs, Roborock, and Dreame, who are launching ever more fantastical home cleaning bots.

The new Roomba Combo j9 Plus is the first robot...

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Meta sets GPT-4 as the bar for its next AI model, says a new report

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta has been snapping up AI training chips and building out data centers in order to create a more powerful new chatbot it hopes will be as sophisticated as OpenAI’s GPT-4, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company reportedly plans to begin training the new large language model early in 2024, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg evidently pushing for it to once again be free for companies to create AI tools with.

The Journal writes that Meta has been buying more Nvidia H100 AI-training chips and is beefing up its infrastructure so that, this time around, it won’t need to rely on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to train the new chatbot. The company reportedly assembled a group earlier this year to build the model, with the goal of speeding...

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WhatsApp is working on cross-platform messaging

Illustration: The Verge

A WhatsApp for Android beta update (version 2.23.19.8) that came out today contains a new screen called Third-party chats, reports WABetaInfo. For now, the screen is neither functional nor accessible by users, according to WABetaInfo. But its title is a strong clue that this is likely the first step to opening Meta’s encrypted messages app to cross-platform compatibility.

The beta comes just days after the European Commission confirmed that WhatsApp owner Meta meets the definition of a “gatekeeper” under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires communication software like WhatsApp to interoperate with third-party messaging apps by March 2024. WABetaInfo tweeted a screenshot of the screen:

WhatsApp beta for Android...

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Disney is releasing a very expensive 100-movie Blu-ray collection

The Verge

Disney is releasing a 100-film Blu-ray collection on November 14th called the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection (via The Wrap). Preorders will start on September 18th at Walmart.com, and we regret to inform you it will cost $1,500, according to The Wrap.

The collection includes movies from both Disney and Pixar, all crammed into three volumes of discs that span Disney’s entire feature film history from 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to this year’s Elemental.

What’s really impressive is how little filler this package seems to have. Scrolling through the list that The Wrap published, it has every single movie I’d have wanted to see, like all of the Toy Story movies, both of The Incredibles, The Black Cauldron, Frankenweenie,...

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Dynamic Island isn’t such an exciting destination after all — and that’s okay

The iPhone 14 Pro’s Dynamic Island is expected to land on all iPhone 15 models this year.

Exciting is overrated, anyway.

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I never want to be apart from my home espresso machine

There are many like it, but this Breville Barista Express is mine.

Zen and the art of espresso machine maintenance.

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How to use the new web-based editing tools in Google Photos

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge

Google Photos isn’t just a place for storing and sorting your photos and videos — both the web interface and the mobile apps come with a slew of image editing tools so you can spruce up and enhance your pictures before sharing them with the wider world.

Google regularly updates these editing tools, and a significant upgrade just arrived on the web. There are new features here (some of which were previously available only on the Android app), including preset color profiles and more granular control over existing features such as brightness and contrast adjustment.

All you need to do to try them out is open your browser and navigate to Google Photos. Open an image, click the edit button in the top-right corner (it looks like a series of...

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A new-old camera, Clubhouse pivots, and smart home apps galore

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 5, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, first of all, hi, hello, welcome, and second of all, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been reading about the remarkable pettiness of Disney CEOs and the crypto world’s most obvious scams, watching a whole lot of US Open tennis and this wild home-renovation show that’s all about VR, drafting fantasy football teams, nodding vigorously at this story about the scourge that is Rotten Tomatoes, trying to figure out how to keep my car off the internet after reading this new Mozilla study, shouting from the rooftops that everyone needs to stop using LastPass and change all their...

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Elon Musk’s X is suing California over its online moderation reporting bill

Illustration: The Verge

Elon Musk’s X Corp. is suing the state of California over AB 587, a state bill requiring social media platforms to report to the state attorney general, semiannually, how they’re tackling moderation of certain categories of speech. The complaint alleges that the bill violates federal and state free speech laws because it “compels companies like X Corp. to engage in speech against their will,” as they’re forced to settle on definitions for “politically-charged” issues like hate speech or racism.

X Corp.’s complaint explains that it’s “difficult to reliably define” hate speech, misinformation, political interference, and other content categories. It adds that defining them is “often fraught with political bias” because there’s no accepted...

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Get Hulu with live TV for a major discount during Disney’s Charter spat

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Disney has announced that until October 11th, it will offer a three-month deal on Hulu plus Live TV for $49.99 per month. The $20-a-month discounted subscription, which includes the ad-free tiers for Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, comes right as the final weekend of the US Open championships gets underway and the first NFL games of the season happen.

Disney’s Hulu trial is well-timed, given its spat with Spectrum leaving cable customers with legally dubious options for watching some of the year’s biggest sports events.

That includes tennis player Daniil Medvedev, who last week said he had to use pirate streams to watch the US Open while playing in it since the hotel TVs were connected to Spectrum. Medvedev, who won the tournament in 2021,...

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Grid’s framed, disassembled gadgets are up to 40 percent off this weekend

Finally, the kind of treatment Nintendo’s 34-year-old handheld deserves. | Image: Grid

Happy Saturday, dear readers! If you’re anything like me, chances are you have a soft spot for older tech, specifically the kind of borderline-ancient gadgets and gizmos that often find their way to the landfill or the shoebox under your bed. If so, I’m here to tell you that Grid Studio is running an anniversary sale through Sunday, September 10th, offering discounts on an assortment of framed, nostalgia-inducing gadgets.

In terms of what’s available, you have some options. The original Game Boy and iPhone 4S — which are on sale for $169 ($130 off) and $99 ($70 off), respectively — are surely the star of the show at 40 percent off, but you can still save 15 percent on a range of other aging, oft-forgotten tech with offer code T15. This...

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PowerPoint co-creator Dennis Austin is dead at 76

A screenshot from a 2015 video interview, titled Oral History of Dennis R. Austin, that was published by the Computer History Museum. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

Dennis Austin, who co-created PowerPoint, passed away at his home in Los Altos, California, on September 1st, reports The Washington Post. His son, Michael Austin, said he’d had lung cancer that had metastasized to his brain, according to the Post. He was 76 years old.

Austin studied engineering at several universities, including MIT and UC Santa Barbara, before going to work as a software developer, eventually joining the software company Forethought and co-developing PowerPoint. The company released the software in 1987, and Microsoft bought the company just a few months later. Austin served as PowerPoint’s primary developer from 1985 to 1996 when he retired.

The Washington Post notes that Michael Gaskins, PowerPoint’s other...

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Can you guess how many apps we have on our phones?

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

As you can imagine, there are a lot of interesting — and occasionally off-the-wall — conversations that take place on The Verge’s Slack channels, especially when the weekend is on its way. One of them occurred recently, when reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy happened to ask how many apps people had on their phones. The reaction was immediate — and actually rather telling. It turns out you can find a lot about a person when you talk to them about their phone — and their apps.

If you’re at all curious about how many apps some of The Verge’s staffers have on their phones (and their excuses for that number) — read on.

I currently have 31 apps on my iPhone 12 Mini. I’m pretty aggressive about only keeping apps that I actually use on a regular...

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Why is it so hard to find a good PopSocket alternative?

This one that I got off Amazon for $20 is alright. But it doesn’t do everything I need it to. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

I like big phones, but I cannot lie. They come with tradeoffs. Namely, despite having large hands and piano fingers, my iPhone 14 Pro Max doesn’t always feel secure in my grasp. That’s fine when I’m in bed, surrounded by soft blankets and pillows. It’s less fine when I’m trying to text one-handed on public transit or running errands.

I first encountered this problem with my first Big Phone, the iPhone XS Max. Get a PopSocket, everyone said. So I did. I had to begrudgingly admit it worked, even if they were ugly as sin. I even upgraded to a PopWallet Plus. But like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun. I’d thought because my original PopSocket had never fallen off, the PopWallet Plus was safe.

It was not.

Photo by...

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