Apple ‘Scary Fast’ Mac launch event: the 4 biggest announcements
Apple’s “Scary Fast” showcase has come to a close. During the launch event, Apple took the wraps off of some brand-new Macs that come equipped with the latest version of the company’s in-house chip.
If you’re curious about all the new products, here’s a roundup of the major announcements from the event.
Image: Apple
As expected, Apple’s M3 chips took the spotlight during this month’s event. The new lineup includes the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips, which Apple says mark the “first personal computer chips” made using the more efficient 3-nanometer process.
In addition to offering a “faster and more efficient CPU,” the trio of chips comes with an updated GPU that supports ray tracing,...
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Apple announces a speedier M3 iMac
The outside isn’t changing much, but the M3 processor will purportedly make this new 24-inch iMac two times faster. | Image: Apple
The 24-inch iMac is finally getting a refresh. At its “Scary Fast” event, Apple announced a new M3 version of the iMac that is supposedly two times faster than its over two-year-old M1 predecessor.
What’s really new this time around is the M3 chip. The M3 has an eight-core CPU, up to a 10-core GPU, with support for up to 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. Supposedly, that ought to translate to a much faster all-in-one. Productivity apps, such as Safari or Microsoft Excel, will run up to 30 percent faster. For creators, the new chip enables up to 12 streams of 4K video, and Adobe Photoshop should also process photos up to two times faster. It also now supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Image: Apple
Ostensibly, the faster processor...
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Apple’s new M3 MacBook Pro marks the end of the Touch Bar
Image: Apple
Apple is finally moving on from the Touch Bar. The company has just announced a new entry-level version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, replacing the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar keyboard. This new model has the standard M3 chip; the 14-inch model previously was only available with the higher-end Pro or Max chips.
The biggest news about this new MacBook Pro is the M3 chip. As rumored, the M3 is a 3nm chip, and Apple is promising some big performance improvements over the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro, including Final Cut Pro rendering that’s up to 60 percent faster. As usual, Apple only shared some selective performance stats, so it’s not entirely clear how much of a jump this new chip might have compared to the old M1 model, let alone...
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Apple’s new M3 chips have big GPU upgrades focused on gaming and pro apps
Image: Apple
Apple is unveiling its new M3 processors today, and all three include big improvements to the GPU side of the chips. The M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max will all offer faster CPU performance, but crucially, the M3 family of chips will include significant changes to the GPU to improve professional apps and gaming performance. All three M3 chips will debut in new MacBook Pro models, with the M3 also part of a new 24-inch iMac.
The base M3 includes an eight-core CPU with four performance cores and four efficiency cores, and Apple claims it’s up to 35 percent faster than the M1 for CPU performance. We don’t know exactly how the M3 compares to the M2, but when Apple announced the M2 last year, it said it had 18 percent faster CPU performance over the...
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Apple’s new high-end MacBook Pro comes in black with up to 128GB of RAM
Image: Apple
Alongside a refreshed iMac and new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro featuring the M3 chip (and sans Touch Bar), Apple is introducing upgraded models of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro and M3 Max processors today. Design-wise, they retain the exact same look and port layout as their predecessors but now come in a new “space black” color that replaces space gray.
The machines raise the bar in several ways, ranging from sheer performance to configurability. For example, the M3 Max MacBook Pro can be ordered with up to 128GB of RAM — a new high for Apple’s laptops. Preorders start today, and M3 Pro models will be available on November 7th. M3 Max units will take a bit longer to ship and are due to arrive sometime later in...
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Sam Bankman-Fried doesn’t recall
Photo Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images
Bankman-Fried gets a shot at his side of the FTX story — then promptly shreds his own credibility with the jury.
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Gambling streams are ‘part of the contract’ for Kick’s newest streamer
Image: Kick.com / Instagram
Nick “Nickmercs” Kolcheff recently inked a reported eight-figure deal with Twitch rival Kick. In a recent livestream, the Faze Clan co-owner and popular Call of Duty streamer said that, as part of his new deal, he will be running gambling streams. “The first question I’ve been seeing is like, ‘Nick, are you gonna do gambling streams?’” he said during his first Kick stream. “We’re gonna do some gambling for sure. It’s part of the contract.”
Kick’s head of strategic partnerships clarified that a gambling clause is not in Kolcheff’s Kick contract. According to a post by gaming and esports reporter Jake Lucky, Nickmercs “has a Stake contract alongside his Kick contract,” referencing Stake.com, a gambling site owned by Kick co-founder Ed...
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Sundar Pichai argues in court that Google isn’t evil, it’s just a business
Photo: Getty Images
You might not expect an antitrust trial focused on Google’s overwhelming dominance in the year 2023 to spend a lot of time talking about Internet Explorer circa 2005. But you’d be wrong.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai spent a good chunk of Monday in a DC courtroom, testifying as part of the ongoing US v. Google antitrust trial. He stood at a podium instead of sitting (apparently he hurt his back), often with a magnifying glass in his hand, pushing his glasses up on his forehead as he squinted down at a binder full of exhibits. One exhibit proved particularly interesting: a letter from Google’s then-top lawyer David Drummond, sent on July 22nd, 2005, to Microsoft’s then-general counsel Brad Smith.
Drummond’s letter concerned the launch of...
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Porsche is adding Google to its cars as VW’s software problems worsen
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Porsche said today that future models would include native versions of popular Google apps, like Maps and Assistant. The German automaker is the latest to support Google built-in, enabling native Android apps with over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
Earlier this year, Porsche said it was considering adopting Google’s software for its in-car infotainment in a sign that parent company Volkswagen was still struggling to fix its software issues. Today, VW said it was planning around 2,000 job cuts at its in-house software provider, Cariad, that will delay the launch of its new architecture, according to Reuters.
It was just a few months ago that VW rolled out an entirely new app store designed to serve its wide portfolio of car brands....
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Bungie delaying Destiny 2 and Marathon games amid layoffs
Marathon and Destiny 2_’s_ The Final Shape have been delayed. | Image: Bungie
Bungie is laying off an unspecified number of staffers as well as delaying two of its forthcoming titles: Marathon and Destiny 2’s forthcoming expansion, The Final Shape. The latter is now expected to launch in June 2024, while the former won’t be expected until 2025.
The layoffs, first reported by Bloomberg, are part of ongoing cuts within Sony’s PlayStation division. There’s no official number just yet, but ex-Bungie employees have begun posting on social media about the layoffs. Sony purchased Bungie last year in a $3.6 million deal that was supposed to see the Destiny developer operate as an independent unit within the company.
The Final Shape is an ambitious new expansion pack for Destiny 2 that is meant to conclude many of the...
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X is officially worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it
Image: Laura Normand / The Verge
Everyone knew that Twitter wasn’t worth $44 billion when Elon Musk bought it a year ago. Now, we know what Musk himself thinks it’s worth today: $19 billion.
On Monday, employees at X were awarded equity in the company at a valuation of $19 billion, or $45 per share, according to internal documents seen by The Verge. That price is a 55 percent discount to Musk’s original purchase price, per the documents, which note that “the fair market value per share is determined by the Board of Directors based on a number of factors in a manner that complies with applicable tax rules.” (Musk is X’s chair and has yet to create a formal board.)
Since he took over Twitter, Musk has said that he wants to model the company’s compensation plan after...
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Sony’s new PlayStation Link earbuds and headset finally have release dates
Image: Sony
Sony has finally announced a release date for its PlayStation-branded Pulse Explore earbuds and Pulse Elite headset. While the Pulse Explore earbuds will launch on December 6th, 2023, Sony’s wireless headset comes out on February 21st, 2024.
Both devices will be available for preorder starting on November 9th in the US, UK, France, Germany, and other European countries. You can preorder the accessories through Sony’s PlayStation direct site and “select” retailers. The Pulse Explore buds are priced at a hefty $199.99, but the Pulse Elite headset costs a slightly cheaper $149.99.
To enable the lossless, low-latency audio that Sony promises with these devices, you’ll need to use the included PlayStation Link USB adapter that plugs into...
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Google once asked Apple to preload its search app on iOS
Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge
In late 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai floated a bold idea to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook had just told Pichai he wanted to be “deep, deep partners, deeply connected where our services end and yours begin,” according to notes from the meeting. Pichai responded with a proposal: What if Apple preinstalled a Google Search app on every iOS device?
Exactly what that would have looked like — a full-blown app, a native widget, some reinvention of the Spotlight feature — is hard to say. But Pichai’s case to Apple, revealed during the CEO’s testimony in the US v. Google antitrust trial today, was simple. Google had seen that the Google app and widget were popular on Android and drove people to do more searching. More Google searches on Apple...
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Mastodon’s latest update makes it easier to follow the news
Image: The Verge
Mastodon, the decentralized Twitter / X alternative, is adding lists to its Android app, according to a blog post from CEO and founder Eugen Rochko. Lists are available as part of the most recent Mastodon for Android update.
“With the new update, you now have the ability to create custom lists and categorize your follows based on specific topics or interests, while removing them from your home feed,” Rochko writes. “This not only helps in decluttering your home feed but also allows you to engage with certain topics on your own terms, when you are ready.” The update also has a redesigned home tab to make it easier to navigate between your home feed, lists, and hashtags, Rochko says.
Image: Mastodon
Rochko didn’t...
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Samsung adds DisplayPort and more Multi View options to second massive Ark monitor
The Ark monitor showing four screens at once. | Image: Samsung
Samsung’s latest massive 55-inch Odyssey Ark monitor is now available to buy in the US for $2,999.99, the company announced today. Like the previous Ark, this is a 4K Mini LED display with a 165Hz refresh rate that aims to replace existing multi-monitor setups with one massive screen that can show a range of different content simultaneously.
On paper, the 55-inch Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen (G97NC), to use its full name, addresses two of our key complaints about the original Ark from last year. For starters, although the total number of video inputs remains the same at four, one of the HDMI ports has been turned into a DisplayPort connector.
Perhaps more importantly, Samsung advertises that the monitor can show a video feed from all four of...
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From the cloud to your computer: a new theory of how software works
Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge
For a while, I really thought I could be a self-hoster. After months of talking to people about platforms and security and what it means that we really don’t own any of the data and apps we use every day, my big plan was to buy a mini PC and run my life off my own device.
A lot of Docker experimentation later, I pretty much gave up. (As one person put it to me, if you ever find yourself typing in an IP address and port number, you’ve officially exited the realm of “things most people will ever do.”) And so this episode of The Vergecast, the fourth and final in our series about connectivity, became about something else. Self-hosting is a nice idea and a totally impractical reality for most people; signing into cloud services and...
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The Google Pixel 7A at $125 off is all treat, no trick
The Pixel 7A may not have the fancier trickery of the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera, but it’s much cheaper for a very good all-around phone. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
It’s nearly Halloween, and there are some scary-good deals on Google Pixel products as well as other great devices and tech accessories.
Starting off, the unlocked Google Pixel 7A is $125 off at Best Buy and direct from Google, dropping it to a new low price of $374. Google’s midrange phone was already a very good value at its full price of $499 when it debuted in the spring, but it’s becoming a better and better value as it continues getting bigger discounts. The Pixel 7A sports a 6.1-inch OLED screen with moderately fast 90Hz refresh, the same Tensor G2 processor found in last year’s Pixel 7 flagships, and wireless charging (which was left out of previous A-model Pixel phones). It’s a great, affordable all-rounder with a very good...
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How to install a Nest Thermostat
Image: The Verge
The Nest Thermostat is a simple, significant upgrade you can make for your home. It’s a smart thermostat that you can program and control from your phone. You can adjust the temperature with your voice through a smart assistant as well as integrate it with other connected devices in your home to do useful things like turn down the heat when you leave home or shut off your HVAC when your smoke alarm goes off. Its smart presence-sensing features can help you use less energy and hopefully save some money. While it costs $129, you might be able to get it for a lot less if your local energy supplier offers a rebate.
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
The Google Nest Thermostat.
In this article, I’ll walk you through...
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How to connect a Nest Thermostat to Apple Home through Matter
Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge
The Nest Thermostat is one of the only smart thermostats that works with the new smart home standard, Matter (see sidebar). This means you can finally add it to Apple Home natively and control it with voice commands using Siri and Apple Home automations. It is also compatible with any other Matter smart home platform, including Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings, although those platforms were already supported by the device through cloud integrations.
Adding the thermostat to Apple Home through Matter is straightforward. Here, I’ll walk you through the process. All you’ll need is a Nest Thermostat and an Apple Home Matter controller — such as a HomePod or Apple TV.
Note that this guide only applies to the Nest Thermostat 2020, not...
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This app is making podcasts more TikTokable
Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Detail, a podcast recording and editing app, is catering to the growing demand for video podcasts with a new multicam recording feature.
Users can record simultaneously from two iPhones to produce a vertical video of two shots stacked on top of each other. It is a format that is optimized for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, which are becoming increasingly important in the podcast space.
Video podcasts have grown in popularity, not least because video clips of podcasts are much more shareable on social media than standalone audio. Shows like Call Her Daddy have been able to create viral moments by leaning on vertical video. Still, those clips usually flip between host and guest, while Detail’s new feature allows both to...
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Apple’s best move is giving us what we want
A bigger iMac has been rumored for a long time — but where is it? | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
Earlier this year, I bought a 15-inch MacBook Air. In many ways, it’s the computer I needed at the time — but in the four months I’ve had it, I must confess, it’s not the Mac I wanted.
What I wanted was the bigger 32-inch iMac that’s been rumored for years at this point. I was tempted by the 24-inch M1 iMac when it launched in spring 2021, but I’ve spent years using a 27-inch monitor and didn’t want to downsize on screen real estate. All the reliable Apple prognosticators said the bigger version was in the works. How long could that take?
It is now October 2023, and I’m still waiting. While a refresh of the 24-inch iMac is rumored for Apple’s “Scary Fast” Mac event tonight, I’m not hopeful a bigger version is on the table.
Rumor mills...
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Western Digital is spinning off its flash memory business as sales decline
Image: Western Digital
Western Digital is splitting into two companies: one for its flash business and another for its hard drive storage products. The company announced the change alongside its earnings results on Monday, noting that spinning off its flash business will allow Western Digital to “realize its full value.”
Western Digital acquired flash memory manufacturer SanDisk for nearly $19 billion in 2016. However, as noted by The Wall Street Journal, this decision will effectively reverse the merger, allowing its flash division to operate as a standalone business. The separation is expected to take place in the second half of 2024.
“Our HDD and Flash businesses are both well positioned to capitalize on the data storage industry’s significant market...
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The autoworker strike is nearly over, as GM makes tentative deal with UAW
Image: Getty
General Motors became the last car company to agree to a tentative deal with the United Auto Workers, ending the nearly seven-week-long strike, Reuters reported. The news came one day after the UAW said it had reached a deal with Stellantis, parent company of Chrysler and Jeep, and several days after Ford.
The strike has roiled the auto industry, costing each of the Big Three automakers hundreds of millions of dollars each week in lost production and throwing cold water on the industry’s shift to electric vehicles. Autoworkers were extending their walkout to include new GM factories, including an engine plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, when the news broke that a deal had been reached.
Previously, the UAW has succeeded in getting GM to...
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Meta’s AI research head wants open source licensing to change
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
In July, Meta’s Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) center released its large language model Llama 2 relatively openly and for free, a stark contrast to its biggest competitors. But in the world of open-source software, some still see the company’s openness with an asterisk.
While Meta’s license makes Llama 2 free for many, it’s still a limited license that doesn’t meet all the requirements of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). As outlined in the OSI’s Open Source Definition, open source is more than just sharing some code or research. To be truly open source is to offer free redistribution, access to the source code, allow modifications, and must not be tied to a specific product. Meta’s limits include requiring a license fee for any...
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The Tsubame Archax is the coolest $3 million mecha on Earth — and soon, the Moon
The multimillion-dollar hypercar business is booming. The world’s ultra-wealthy have dozens and dozens of different outrageously expensive, high-performance toys to choose from, like the Rimac Nevera or the Mercedes-AMG Project One. Some are so extreme, they’re not even street-legal.
But what’s a tech-forward multibillionaire who’s more into anime than motorsports to do with their discretionary fund?
The Tsubame Archax might be the answer. This is, quite simply, a Gundam fan’s dream made a reality: a 15-foot-tall, $3 million mecha that works just like the real thing — well, minus a few pesky details like jet boosters, laser swords, and the neural interfaces explored in many of Gundam’s various (and conflicting) timelines.
Made in Japan
...
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Facebook and Instagram launch a paid ad-free subscription
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
Meta is launching a paid subscription that will remove ads from Facebook and Instagram. The service is available throughout the European Union and will be offered for around €9.99 per month on the web or €12.99 / month on iOS and Android to account for additional fees for those platforms.
The subscription is meant to address concerns by the European Union about Meta’s ad targeting and data collection practices. By making users choose between paying for the service to remove ad targeting or using the service for free but consenting to its data collection practices, Meta believes it will have more clearly and definitively met privacy requirements set by a collection of European data laws, including the Digital Markets Act and GDPR.
Free...
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Resident Evil Village on the iPhone could be a preview of Apple’s gaming future
Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge
It’s incredible that Resident Evil Village plays as well as it does on the iPhone. The game is every bit as captivating as when I first played it on the PS5, and I was blown away by how well it translated to the tinier screen. But the game’s graphics aren’t the most interesting thing going on with this release — I’m much more excited for what it might be teasing for Apple gaming in the future.
Let’s start by talking about Village first. I’ve only played for a little over an hour on a prerelease version of the game on an iPhone 15 Pro Max — long enough to survive the attack by the Lycans in the snowy village. One area the port doesn’t translate well is to the iPhone’s touchscreen. I tried to use the game’s touch controls, but they were...
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