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We've known for a while that the first extended reality (or XR) headset from Samsung and Google would debut in 2025. During an event on Tuesday night, Samsung at long last shared more details about the first Android XR device that you'll be able to purchase. 

The company got really wild and original with the headset's name. You're truly not going to believe what it's called... Actually, it's got the most unsurprising name of all time: Galaxy XR. What's more, you can buy the headset right now in the US and Korea for $1,800. That's just over half of what the Apple Vision Pro costs.

Aside from an Android-powered headset that looks very much like an Apple Vision Pro, you might be wondering exactly what you'll be getting in return for forking over 1,800 smackeroos. As expected, Galaxy XR is powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset. Qualcomm worked with Samsung and Google on the headset.

The micro OLED display has 29 million pixels (6 million more than the Apple Vision Pro), a resolution of 3,552 x 3,840 and 96 percent of the DCI‑P3 color gamut — four percent more than the Vision Pro. Where Apple does have Samsung beat on the display front is with the refresh rate: the Galaxy XR tops out at 90Hz and the Vision Pro can hit 120Hz. 

Galaxy XR has dual high-res passthrough cameras to support mixed reality use, six other external cameras for tracking things in the environment and two eye-tracking sensors. The device supports iris recognition for unlocking the headset and entering passwords in some apps. As with the Vision Pro, you can capture 3D photos and video using the headset. 

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

The cameras allow for hand tracking and gesture control, though it's possible to operate Galaxy XR with physical controllers as well. If you prefer, you can pair a keyboard and mouse to the headset or link it to your PC and access your desktop that way.

The dual speakers support Dolby Atmos and there are six microphones built in. As for battery life, Samsung says you'll get up to two hours of general use and 2.5 hours of video playback on a charge. That matches the original battery life promises of the original Vision Pro, but Apple said its latest model (which has the new M5 chipset) offers an extra 30 minutes or so of usage.

The interpupillary distance of the Galaxy XR's optics is 54~70mm, and it's possible to buy insertable prescription lenses if needed. As for connectivity, the headset supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Even with a forehead cushion attached, Galaxy XR weighs 545g (1.2lbs), while the latest Apple Vision Pro has a minimum weight of 750g (1.7lbs). The Galaxy XR's battery pack — as with competitor's offerings, the battery is external — weighs 302g (0.7lbs). 

Samsung claims the Galaxy XR was designed with comfort in mind. "The headset’s ergonomically balanced frame distributes pressure across the forehead and the back of the head, minimizing facial discomfort while providing steady support," the company said in a press release. There's also a detachable light shield that you can employ to block out external light.

Google/Unity What you can actually do with Galaxy XR

There are no prizes for guessing that Google's generative AI chatbot Gemini is at the heart of Android XR. "Android XR is the first Android platform built entirely for the Gemini era, and we are incredibly excited to take a significant leap forward today with the launch of Galaxy XR," Sameer Samat, Google's president of Android Ecosystem, said.

Every Google Play Store app works out of the box on the headset, though of course Google has reworked some for mixed reality. You can use Gemini to navigate Google Maps and ask for personalized recommendations while checking out 3D visuals with Immersive View. Google Photos can bring an extra dimension to 2D photos and videos via auto spatialization.

On YouTube, you can ask Gemini to find videos and tell you more details about what you're watching. And, while using the passthrough mode, you can look at any object in your environment and use Circle to Search to look up more info about it. Google has also made new versions of Google TV, Chrome and Meet (because what is mixed reality for if not conference calls?) for Android XR.

Multitasking is a factor here as well. The operating system allows users to have multiple, resizable apps open at once. These can be arranged in a virtual space, or you can simply ask Gemini to do that for you.

On the entertainment front, you'll be able to stream shows and movies in 4K in a virtual theater setting. You'll have access to a library of 180-degree and 360-degree VR content, and you can view 3D content via a "spatial" tab. Some streaming platforms have reworked their apps for Android XR, including Crunchyroll, HBO Max and Peacock. 

There's a multi-view option for watching sports, with apps from the likes of MLB and Fox Sports available. With Adobe's Project Pulsar (an immersive video editing app), you'll be able to add 3D depth to videos and seemingly place captions behind subjects with ease, if that's something you're interested in.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Galaxy XR has games too. NFL Pro Era — an NFL-licensed virtual reality title that's also on Meta Quest, PlayStation VR and Windows — is available for Android XR. So too is Inside [JOB] by Owlchemy Labs (Vacation Simulator, Job Simulator). For compatible games, Samsung says Gemini can offer real-time coaching, tips and "enhanced gameplay experiences."

The arrival of Galaxy XR is an important next step for Google and its grand vision of an Android XR ecosystem. But the company isn't stopping with headsets. It's also making smart glasses, a product category that Meta has been trying to conquer. Samsung and Google are working with Warby Parker on Android XR smart glasses. At I/O earlier this year, we got some hands-on time with a prototype of Google's Android XR glasses.

Once again, Galaxy XR will run you $1,800, and Samsung is offering financing options. The Galaxy XR Travel Case and Galaxy XR Controller will each run you $250 — at those prices, they almost need financing options too. Ouch. 

Anyone who buys Galaxy XR by the end of this year will get an Explorer Pack at no extra cost. This includes 12 months of access to Google AI Pro, YouTube Premium and Google Play Pass. The NFL Pro Era, Project Pulsar, Calm and Asteroid apps are bundled in too. You'll also get NBA League Pass access for the 2025-26 season in the US or 12 months of the Coupang Play Sports Pass in Korea. Charging $1 for each of the first three months of YouTube TV seems a little cheap considering the outlay for Galaxy XR, but it's still a decent perk. YouTube TV typically costs $83 per month. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/google-and-samsungs-first-android-xr-headset-is-the-1800-galaxy-xr-020004449.html?src=rss

Brian Haidet, a scientist creating videos on YouTube under the handle AlphaPhoenix, showed off a camera in a new video that can capture footage of a laser pointer at the speed of light. The camera is an update on a previous design that could capture footage at one billion frames per second, but it comes with a major caveat: it can only shoot one pixel at a time.

Haidet's camera is made from a gimbal-mounted mirror, two tubes, a simple lens, a light sensor and some Python code to tie it all together. Pointed at a laser pointer, the camera's able to capture a beam of light at two billion frames per second, showing it smoothly traveling between mirrors, with speeds that vary depending on where the camera is in relation to the laser pointer. "Light moves about six inches, or 15 centimeters, per frame of this video," Haidet says. "This beam of light is traveling at the Universe’s speed limit. Light in any reference frame will never move any faster or any slower than this speed."

Pixels had to be tiled together to create what looks like normal video footage.Brian Hadet

While it's theoretically possible to create a more traditional camera that can capture footage at two billion frames per second, as Haidet explains, you can't do it with the tools most people have in their garage. His solution was to capture one pixel at a time, and then tile that footage together to create something viewable. According to Haidet, "if all these videos are synchronized and we take many, many, many, one pixel videos, we can tile these videos next to each other and play them all back at the exact same moment and give something that looks like a video." 

While it's not the same thing as a true two billion frames-per-second camera, "that's just a significantly more expensive way to do it," Haidet says, "and it really wouldn't get us any better of a result."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/someone-made-a-camera-that-can-shoot-at-two-billion-frames-per-second-202259391.html?src=rss

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri and Snap CEO Evan Spiegel will have to testify in an upcoming trial that deals with social media safety and whether the executives' platforms are addictive. A Los Angeles judge ruled that the three men will need to testify in the trial set to begin in January, according to CNBC.

"The testimony of a CEO is uniquely relevant, as that officer’s knowledge of harms, and failure to take available steps to avoid such harms could establish negligence or ratification of negligent conduct,” Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl wrote. As CNBC points out, the January trial will be closely watched as it's the first of many lawsuits alleging harms to young social media users that will head to trial. 

Lawyers for Meta and Snap had argued that the executives should be spared from testifying at the upcoming trial. Meta's lawyers reportedly argued that forcing testimony from Zuckerberg and Mosseri would "set a precedent" for future trials. Meta is currently facing numerous lawsuits over alleged harms to younger users of its platforms. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Snap is also facing a number of lawsuits over alleged safety issues. In a statement, the law firm representing Snap said that the judge's order "does not bear at all on the validity of Plaintiffs claims" and that they "look forward to the opportunity to explain why Plaintiffs' allegations against Snapchat are wrong factually and as a matter of law. "

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-adam-mosseri-and-evan-spiegel-ordered-to-testify-in-trial-over-social-media-addiction-190500907.html?src=rss

Players aren't the only ones facing higher price tags from Xbox. According to a report by The Verge, Microsoft has upped the cost of the Xbox Development Kit from $1,500 to $2,000. That's a 33 percent jump in cost for these custom hardware kits, which are essential for devs to make and test games for release on the console. 

"The adjustment reflects macroeconomic developments," Microsoft said in an email sent to Xbox devs and seen by The Verge. "We remain committed to providing high-quality tools and support for your development efforts." Although the macroeconomics in question are almost certainly the tariffs enacted by the US, it appears this is a blanket increase that will impact developers in other countries as well. The new kit costs appear to be effective immediately. 

The change caps off a series of price increases for the Xbox ecosystem. Game Pass prices recently rose, with the Ultimate tier now costing $30 a month compared to the previous $20. And Microsoft has upped the cost of the Xbox twice this year, once in May and again in September. Between these additional expenses and the little matter of cutting thousands of gaming jobs earlier this year, a lot of us are giving up on Xbox before Microsoft can disappoint us yet again.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/microsoft-increases-the-price-of-xbox-dev-kits-by-500-190000419.html?src=rss

Netflix, no stranger to adapting games into streaming hits, has announced that it's partnering with game publisher Asmodee to create new TV shows and films based on the board game Catan, with multiple projects already in development. While the streamer has primarily specialized video game adaptations, the belief in post-Barbie Hollywood is that any recognizable IP could be the source of a future TV show or movie.

In Catan, players are tasked with collecting resources and building out a civilization on a remote island, with multiple ways to win or obstruct fellow players from doing the same. It's not too hard to imagine the game being converted into some kind of competitive reality TV show, though apparently animated and live-action narrative projects are also on the table. "Anyone who has played Catan knows [that] the intense strategy and negotiation at the core of the game has endless opportunities for some serious drama," Jinny Howe, Netflix's head of scripted series for the US and Canada, shared in the press release announcing the deal.

Whichever Catan project ultimately heads into production, Netflix says it'll be produced by Darren Kyman from Asmodee, Pete Fenlon from Catan Studio, and Guido and Benjamin Teuber, the sons of Catan creator Klaus Teuber. If Asmodee sounds familiar, it might be because Netflix has partnered with the publisher in the past. Exploding Kittens, another Asmodee published game, was adapted into both a mobile game for Netflix Games and an animated series with the help of its original creators.

Catan joins a Monopoly adaptation and several shows based on video games at Netflix, including the recently released Splinter Cell: Deathwatch and an upcoming series based on the Assassin's Creed franchise.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflix-is-adapting-catan-into-movies-and-tv-shows-185133712.html?src=rss

GM is ending production of the Chevy Brightdrop electric van, according to portions of a transcript of a recent earnings report published by The Verge. The decision was made due to slowing demand in the EV market, as hundreds of Brightdrop vans have begun piling up in dealer lots.

“This is not a decision we made lightly because of the impact on our employees,” CEO Mary Barra said in the earnings call. “However the commercial electric van market has been developing much slower than expected, and changes to the regulatory framework and fleet incentives has made the business even more challenging.”

Those changes to the regulatory framework she mentions likely refer to the recent disappearance of the federal EV tax credit. The policy offered prospective buyers a $7,500 tax credit and was supposed to wind down in 2032, but the Trump administration killed it back in September as part of the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill. Brightdrop vans were also eligible for a $7,500 rebate for commercial EVs under 18,000 lbs, which went away along with the tax credit.

In other words, Brightdrop electric vans are simply too expensive for most consumers. They started at $74,000. The double discount brought the starting price down to $59,000, but that's gone now. Additionally, rival Ford's E-Transit van starts at $51,600.

GM first launched the Brightdrop vans back in 2021, and this seemed to be a serious attempt to capture the commercial EV market. The company made its own fleet management software and inked deals with Walmart, FedEx and others. Money is money, however, and not too many commercial customers have an extra $15,000 laying around to make up for those lapsed credits and rebates.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/gm-to-end-production-of-its-chevy-brightdrop-electric-vans-183622673.html?src=rss

When AI tools first began proliferating around the web, worries about deepfakes quickly rose alongside them. And now that tech such as OpenAI's recently released Sora 2 is getting more capable and more widely available (and being used exactly as irresponsibly as you might have guessed), both famous and ordinary people may want more control over protecting their likenesses. After teasing the feature last year, YouTube is starting to launch a likeness detection tool to combat unwanted deepfakes and have them removed from the video platform. 

Likeness detection is currently being rolled out to members of the YouTube Partner Program. It's also only able to cover instances where an individual's face has been modified with AI; cases where a person's voice has been changed by AI without their consent may not be caught by this feature. To participate, people will need to submit a government ID and a brief video selfie to YouTube to ensure they are who they say they are and give the feature source material to draw from in its review. From there, it works similarly to YouTube's Content ID feature for finding copyrighted audio, scanning uploaded videos for possible matches that the person can then review and flag infringing videos for removal.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/youtube-is-rolling-out-likeness-detection-tool-to-combat-deepfakes-175917315.html?src=rss

Apple's war of words with Europe over its Digital Markets Act (DMA) is bleeding into the court system. Bloomberg reports that the company criticized the regulations at the General Court in Luxembourg. The European Commission is currently conducting its first formal review of the law. Apple lawyer Daniel Beard told the court reviewing the DMA that it "imposes hugely onerous and intrusive burdens."

The language echoes Apple's go-to framing of the regulations as an anti-consumer, anti-privacy hardship on the nearly $4 trillion company. "Over time, it's become clear that the DMA isn't helping markets," the company wrote in a September blog post. "It's making it harder to do business in Europe." Apple even cited porn as one of the law's alleged dangers. "For the first time, pornography apps are available on iPhone from other marketplaces — apps we've never allowed on the App Store because of the risks they create, especially for children."

Apple also claimed the DMA caused it to delay several features. These include AirPods Live Translation, iPhone Mirroring in macOS, and the Visited Places and Preferred Routes features in Maps.

The iPhone maker asked the EC to repeal the law in September. In response, the commission essentially told the company to shove it. "Apple has simply contested every little bit of the DMA since its entry into application," EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier said. He added that the EC had "absolutely no intention" of ditching the law.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is challenging the DMA on three fronts. First is its requirement that rival hardware (like earbuds and smartwatches) work with the iPhone, which Apple claims is a security risk. The company also objected to the App Store's inclusion under the rules and a probe into whether iMessage should have been included.

In response, EC lawyer Paul-John Loewenthal highlighted Apple's immense power in Europe. He said the company's "absolute control" over the iPhone has led to "supernormal profits" in markets where competitors can't possibly compete on equal footing.

"Only Apple has the keys to that walled garden," Loewenthal told the court. "It decides who gets it and who can offer their products and services to iPhone users. And through such control, Apple has locked in more than a third of European smartphone users."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-steps-up-its-attacks-on-europes-dma-regulations-175332390.html?src=rss

OpenAI's long-rumored browser has a name, and you can try it out today — provided you're an Apple user. ChatGPT Atlas is available to download on macOS, with the company promising to bring it to Windows, Android and iOS soon. Atlas integrates ChatGPT directly within the browser interface, allowing users to engage with the chatbot while they're surfing the web — no need to jump between different tabs or copy and paste content. 

When you select a text field, an icon will appear that allows you to prompt ChatGPT. OpenAI demoed this feature in Gmail where an employee asked the chatbot to polish an email he was writing to a colleague. Naturally, a prompt bar will also appear when you open a new tab, and you can open a sidebar where you can converse with ChatGPT at any time. 

The more you use Atlas, the more ChatGPT will "remember" about your preferences. One of the benefits of this is that you'll be able to more easily filter through your search history. For instance, you can write "re-open the shoes I looked at yesterday," and ChatGPT will know the specific website you want to look at again. Browser memories are optional, and if you decide to enable the feature, you can manage them through the settings menu, and just like any other browser, you can delete your history or go surf the web using an incognito mode. OpenAI also says it won't use the content users browse to train its future models.    

Atlas also includes an agent mode where ChatGPT can surf the web for you and complete tasks. The feature builds on the Operator tech debuted at the start of the year, and is currently available as a preview within the browser that Plus, Pro and Business accounts can try out. "It can help you book reservations or flights or even just edit a document that you’re working on,” said Adam Fry, product lead for ChatGPT Search, during the livestream where OpenAI announced Atlas. 

"Tabs are great but we haven't seen a lot of browser innovation since then," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the start of the livestream. “This is just a great browser all-around — it’s smooth, it’s quick, it’s really nice to use.”

Rumors that OpenAI was working on its own web browser first surfaced in July. With today's announcement, the company joins an already competitive market. A number of companies, including Opera and Perplexity, released their own "agentic" browsers earlier this year. Of course, then there's also Google, which plans to integrate its Gemini AI assistant more deeply into Chrome, the world's most popular browser, over the coming months. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openais-ai-powered-browser-chatgpt-atlas-launches-on-macos-today-170735742.html?src=rss

Google just announced several updates for its digital telecom provider, Google Fi. It's introducing AI-enhanced audio for better sound quality during calls. The company says this will ensure "optimized audio quality for every call, so you can confidently take calls from a windy park or busy cafe." This feature rolls out sometime in November.

Google Fi is getting HD/HD+ calling, which should also improve the overall audio quality. The service will soon automatically connect to Wi-Fi when available, with the company touting "seamless, secure switching." As for security, each call and text goes through a VPN. There's no extra cost for this service and it doesn't count against the pre-existing data allocation.

The platform will also soon let users make calls and send texts from any web browser. This is coming in December and will feature a new interface with full RCS support, allowing folks to add hi-res photos and videos to message threads.

Finally, Google is integrating Gemini into the platform to create an AI-powered billing summary. The company says this offers "simple, easy explanations of all your billing statements." The feature has been in a beta for a while and Google says users have given it "high positive sentiment."

These tools are accompanied by a limited-time promo for new subscribers, amounting to 50 percent off for 15 months when bringing in a phone. The discount is only available for the Unlimited Premium and Unlimited Standard plans.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/google-fi-will-start-using-ai-to-make-calls-sound-better-170025805.html?src=rss

There was no massive event announcing the M5 MacBook Pro, not even a short promotional video for social media. Instead, Apple dumped all of its new M5 devices on us with a few press releases, a clear sign that there's not much to celebrate this year. But while the new 14-inch MacBook Pro appears to be more of the same on the surface, it also features an impressive graphics upgrade that makes it a decent choice for gaming. And it retains everything I already love about the MacBook Pro: It's still a well-designed machine that's sturdy, fast and offers tons of battery life.

What's new in the M5 MacBook Pro

The star of the show is Apple's new M5 chip, which sports a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU and 16 Neural Engine cores. While the company claims it's 20 percent faster than the M4 for multi-threaded applications, the biggest upgrade is the GPU, which is up to 60 percent faster when it comes to games and professional apps. The M4 was no slouch when it came to gaming and media rendering, but the M5 is a more tempting upgrade for anyone using an M1 MacBook Pro or older.

Otherwise, it's like I said: more of the same. There's the 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display which offers up to 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits of HDR, as well as ProMotion’s smooth 120Hz refresh rate. (Unfortunately, we’ll likely have to wait until next year for an OLED option.) The aluminum case is still rock solid, and the excellent keyboard and trackpad haven't changed a bit. Last year's 12MP Center Stage webcam also makes a return, along with the superb six-speaker sound system.

The port situation is also solid. On top of the MagSafe 3 charging connection, there are three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a full-sized SDXC card reader, HDMI and a headphone jack. (It would be nice to see a gigabit Ethernet port though. That's the one accessory I still regularly connect to almost every laptop.)

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget In use: The best gets even better

Before I get to the benchmarks and other performance metrics, it's worth pointing out just how pleasant the 14-inch MacBook is to use. Its aluminum frame is smooth to the touch, its screen is bright enough to use in direct sunlight and it always feels blazing fast. While its 3.4-pound frame is noticeably heavier than the 2.7-pound MacBook Air, it's still easy to travel with. And you can certainly tell that the additional weight translates into raw power, especially as you start to stress the MacBook Pro and hear its fans gently spin up. While the MacBook Air is built to be as thin as possible, the MacBook Pro is built to get work done (and look good while doing so).

Based on my testing with popular benchmarks and a few games, the M5 MacBook Pro is noticeably faster than the M4 model in tasks that rely on the GPU and NPU. Otherwise, though, it's hard to tell a difference when it comes to basic tasks like booting into macOS, browsing the web and dealing with email. My review unit was equipped with 32GB of RAM, so it had a bit more breathing room than the base model with 16GB of memory. (Pro tip: If you're planning to keep the MacBook Pro for four years or more, it makes sense to get at least 32GB of RAM. You can't upgrade the memory down the line like older laptops, since it's baked directly into the M5 chip.)

Computer

Geekbench 6

Geekbench 6 GPU

Cinebench 2024

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5, 2025)

4,310/18,003

48,840

197/1,034 | GPU: 6,143

Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M4, 2024)

3,797/14,571

37,869

172/979 GPU: 3,770

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro, 2024)

3,925/22,456

70,197

178/1,689 GPU 9,295

Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max, 2024)

3,202/21,312

92,344

143/1,686 GPU 13,182

In Geekbench 6, the M5 MacBook Pro was around 500 points faster than the M4 model in single-threaded tasks, and nearly 3,500 points faster for complex multi-threaded work like video rendering. Thanks to the M5's new graphics hardware, it also tested far better in the Geekbench 6 GPU test, reaching around 11,00 points faster than the M4. I noticed a similar result in Cinebench 2024: The M5 MacBook Pro's CPU scores were slightly better than before, but the GPU score was nearly twice as fast as the M4.

For real-world gaming performance, I turned to Lies of P, which also surprised me with some major leaps. With the M4 MacBook Pro, I could only get a steady 60 fps with the highest graphics settings in 1080p. With this M5 model, I was able to play at the highest resolution (3024 by 1890) between 70 and 75 fps. It was even smoother as I scaled down the resolution: The MacBook Pro hit 85 to 95 fps in 1,440p and up to 140 fps in 1080p. Those results are in line with what I'd expect from a gaming notebook that costs well over $2,000, which is in line with the $2,200 retail cost of our review unit.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget

I still wouldn't recommend a MacBook Pro for anyone who wants to play tons of games, but it's heartening to see Apple making progress on that front. There are more new AAA games hitting the app store, and the M-series chips are fast enough to run most of them well. But the M5 is the first time I'd consider Apple's hardware equivalent to a PC running a video card like NVIDIA's RTX 5070.

The M5 MacBook Pro retains the impressive battery life from the previous model, reaching 34 hours and 30 minutes while looping an HD video. I could also use it for more than two full days of work with nothing much stressing the GPU. And once again, the MacBook Pro never feels very hot, even under an intensive workload. The fans are audible, but they don’t get as annoying as the helicopter-like fans from the old Intel MacBook Pros.

Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Should you buy the M5 MacBook Pro?

If you're looking for a powerful laptop that can handle most heavy-duty workloads, the MacBook Pro will certainly suit your needs. But the difficult choice now is deciding between this 14-inch M5 model, the existing M4 Pro and Max systems, or waiting a few months for the upcoming M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. If you're rendering video and 3D content all day, you're likely better off working with Pro and Max chips, but you'll have to wait several months to see the new M5 options. If you absolutely need a workhorse MacBook Pro today, you'll have to settle for the M4 Pro and M4 Max (which are still far faster than the base M5 chip). But for most creatives, the M5 MacBook Pro offers an impressive balance of power and portability.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-m5-14-inch-review-a-huge-graphics-upgrade-for-creators-and-gamers-170009179.html?src=rss

Aura just announced the Ink, a 13-inch color e-ink photo frame. The company says it's the "thinnest e-paper frame available" that is "designed to join a gallery wall or stand alone." Aura isn't kidding here. This thing is just 0.6-inches thick.

One of the primary pain points of traditional digital photo frames is that many require constant power via an outlet. This creates an aesthetic problem, as one has to figure out a place to tuck away a power cord. Some modern frames operate via battery, but they don't last all that long.

The Aura Ink, however, features a rechargeable battery that powers the device for three full months. That's a really good metric and is likely due to the decreased power demands of e-ink.

There's another problem that Aura looks to have solved here. Color e-paper has a limited palette with access to just six different hues. That's just the nature of the technology. This doesn't always make for the most pristine images.

The company is getting around this limitation via a proprietary dithering algorithm that "expands the appearance of the display’s six-color ink system into millions of tones, creating the illusion of full-color photographs." I haven't gotten a look at this frame in real life, but the marketing images look gorgeous.

Aura

There's also an integrated front light that highlights photos. The company says this light has been designed to boost contract and automatically adjusts to ambient conditions. It also shuts off at night because the opposite would be kind of creepy.

The Aura Ink ships with a wall-mount and a tabletop stand. Now onto the bad news. This is high-end technology with a high-end price tag. The frame costs $500. Aura is a reputable company, however, as its Carver Mat model topped our list of the best digital picture frames. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/aura-just-announced-an-incredibly-thin-color-e-ink-photo-frame-163734237.html?src=rss

It felt like half of the internet was dealing with a severe hangover on October 20. A severe Amazon Web Services outage took out many, many websites, apps, games and other services that rely on Amazon’s cloud division to stay up and running. That included a long list of popular software like Venmo, Snapchat, Canva and Fortnite. Even Amazon's own assistant Alexa stuttered, and if you were wondering why the internet seemed to be against you — you weren't imagining it. The good news is that, Amazon announced by 6:53PM ET on October 20 that it resolved the "increased error rates and latencies for AWS Services."

The company said it "identified the trigger of the event as DNS resolution issues for the regional DynamoDB service endpoints." It ran into more problems as it tried to solve the outage, but it was eventually able to fix everything. "By 3:01 PM [PT], all AWS services returned to normal operations," it said. 

At about 4:30PM ET on October 20, things seemed to be returning back to normal. Apps like Venmo and Lyft, which were either slow to respond or completely nonresponsive before, were appearing to behave smoothly. 

As of 1:15PM ET on October 20, multiple services were unavailable, including asking Alexa for the weather or to turn off lights in your home. The Lyft app was also slower to respond than usual, and Venmo transactions were not completing.

According to the AWS service health page at the time, Amazon was looking into "increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS services" in the US-EAST-1 region (i.e. data centers in Northern Virginia) as of 3:11AM ET on Monday. By 5:01AM, AWS had figured out that a DNS resolution issue with its DynamoDB API was the cause of the outage. DynamoDB is a database that holds info for AWS clients. 

At about 12:08PM ET, the company posted a small statement that reiterated the above and added that the "underlying DNS issue was fully mitigated at 2:24 AM PDT." According to the notice, some Amazon "customers still continue to experience increased error rates with AWS services in the N. Virginia (us-east-1) Region due to issues with launching new EC2 instances." Amazon also said Amazon.com and Amazon subsidiaries, as well as AWS customer service support operations have been impacted.

“Amazon had the data safely stored, but nobody else could find it for several hours, leaving apps temporarily separated from their data,” Mike Chapple, a teaching professor of IT, analytics and operations at University of Notre Dame, told CNN. “It’s as if large portions of the internet suffered temporary amnesia.”

As of 6:35AM, AWS said it had fully mitigated the DNS issue and that "most AWS Service operations are succeeding normally now." However, the knock-on effect caused issues with other AWS services, including EC2, a virtual machine service on which many companies build online applications.

At 8:48AM, AWS said it was "making progress on resolving the issue with new EC2 instance launches in the US-EAST-1 Region." It recommended that clients not tie new deployments to specific Availability Zones (i.e. one or more data centers in a given region) "so that EC2 has flexibility" in picking a zone that may be a better option.

At 9:42AM, Amazon noted on the status page that although it had applied "multiple mitigations" across several Availability Zones in US-EAST-1, it was "still experiencing elevated errors for new EC2 instance launches." As such, AWS was "rate limiting new instance launches to aid recovery." The company added at 10:14AM that it was seeing "significant API errors and connectivity issues across multiple services in the US-EAST-1 Region." Even once all the issues are resolved, AWS will have a significant backlog of requests and other factors to process, so it'll take some time for everything to recover.

Many, many, many companies use US-EAST-1 for their AWS deployments, which is why it felt like half of the internet was knocked offline on Monday morning. As of mid-morning, tons of websites and other services were sluggish or offering up error messages. Outage reports for a broad swathe of services spiked on Down Detector. Along with Amazon's own services, users reported issues with the likes of banks, airlines, Disney+, Snapchat, Reddit, Lyft, Apple Music, Pinterest, Fortnite, Roblox and The New York Times — sorry to anyone whose Wordle streaks may be at risk.

Sites like Reddit have posted their own status updates, and though they don't explicitly mention AWS, it's possible that the services' paths may cross somewhere in the pipelines.

AWS offers a lot of useful features to clients, such as the ability for websites and apps to automatically scale compute and server capacity up and down as needed to handle ebbs and flows in traffic. It also has data centers around the world. That kind of infrastructure is attractive to companies that serve a global audience and need to stay online around the clock. As of mid-2025, it was estimated that AWS' share of the worldwide cloud infrastructure market was 30 percent. But incidents such as this highlight that relying on just a few providers to be the backbone of much of the internet is a bit of a problem.

Websites affected by Amazon Web Services outage

Sites and services that were affected by the AWS outage include:

• Amazon

• Amazon Alexa

• Bank of America

• Snapchat

• Reddit

• Lyft

• Apple Music

• Apple TV

• Pinterest

• Fortnite

• Roblox

• The New York Times

• Disney+

• Venmo

• Doordash

• Hulu

• Grubhub

• PlayStation

• Zoom

Update, Oct 20 2025, 10:57AM ET: This story has been updated to include a short list of services affected in the intro.

Update, Oct 20 2025, 11:17AM ET: This story has been updated to include a reference to Reddit's own status update website.

Update, Oct 20 2025, 1:15PM ET: This story has been updated to include a paragraph reflecting the status of popular services like Lyft, Venmo and Alexa, based on our editors' personal experiences as of this time.

Update, Oct 20 2025, 3:15PM ET: This story has been updated to include a short statement from Amazon describing a timeline of events, when the underlying issue was mitigated and what parts of Amazon have been impacted.

Update, Oct 20 2025, 4:30PM ET: This story has been updated to reflect the status of services like Venmo and Lyft as of Monday afternoon.

Update October 20, 2025, 9:21PM ET: This story has been updated with Amazon's latest update that says the issue has been resolved.

Update, Oct 21, 2025, 11:18AM ET: Added a list of sites and services confirmed to have been affected by the AWS outage. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/amazons-aws-outage-has-knocked-services-like-alexa-snapchat-fortnite-venmo-and-more-offline-142935812.html?src=rss

Nintendo has another livestream planned for the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Kirby Air Riders. This one takes place on October 23 at 9AM ET. That's less than a month before the game will be available for purchase.

The company also says the stream will be a full hour, which is a heck of a long time to spend on just one game a few weeks before launch. It's worth noting, however, that Kirby Air Riders is a Masahiro Sakurai title.

Join us on Oct. 23 at 6 a.m. PT for a second #KirbyAirRiders Direct with director Mr. Sakurai. The livestreamed presentation will last roughly 60 minutes and feature more info on the upcoming #NintendoSwitch2 game.

Watch here: https://t.co/MS7fAYcd3R pic.twitter.com/nkPcQDYQd5

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 21, 2025

This is the guy that made the Super Smash Bros. franchise. He loves making long videos about minutiae in his games. Just about every character on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster got a fairly substantial reveal video and he has made all kinds of content about the various mechanics on that game.

To that end, the previous Kirby Air Riders livestream from August was 45 minutes long and included a fairly deep dive into game mechanics. We don't know what this stream will spotlight but we can't wait to find out.

For the uninitiated, Kirby Air Riders is a Switch 2 exclusive that stars the lovable and eternally-hungry puffball Kirby. It's a racing game and a follow-up to the Gamecube original, Kirby Air Ride. It'll be available on November 20. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/theres-another-kirby-air-riders-direct-livestream-on-october-23-at-9am-et-150344862.html?src=rss

Amazon is reportedly moving towards an era of unprecedented automation that would put half a million jobs in the US at risk. According to a series of interviews and internal documents referenced in an extensive report from The New York Times, Amazon executives expect to sell twice as many products by 2033. But by scaling up its robotics operations believe it could avoid the 600,000 hires it would otherwise have to make to keep up with the demand.

According to the report, documents show that the ultimate aim of Amazon’s in-house robotics department is to automate 75 percent of all operations, and if it is successful in making 160,000 fewer hires by 2027, the company would reportedly save 30 cents on each item it packs and delivers to customers in the US. Amazon recently celebrated deploying its 1 millionth robot, a fleet it has been adding to since unveiling its first fully autonomous mobile robot in 2022.

Despite already pushing ahead with building warehouses that employ few humans, the NYT report claims that Amazon is planning for the eventual impact on affected communities and the potential backlash by participating in local events to establish a reputation as a "good corporate citizen." The internal documents also discuss the avoidance of terms such as "automation" and "AI" in relation to robotics, suggesting instead that executives use terms like “advanced technology” instead. They even consider replacing using "cobot" instead of "robot" as the former implies a collaborative relationship with humans.

In a statement to the NYT, Amazon called the plans it cited incomplete and not reflective of its overall hiring strategy. It denied that its community efforts were related to its automation plans and said it’s not insisting that its executives refrain from using certain terms. The company added that it planned to hire 250,000 people for the imminent holiday season, but wouldn’t say how many of these would be permanent hires.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/new-report-leaks-amazons-proposed-mass-automation-plans-144822790.html?src=rss

Yet another streaming platform is asking people to dig deeper into their wallets and pay more to keep using the service. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has jacked up the prices of all HBO Max plans, 16 months after the last increase to the ad-free offerings. 

The entry-level, ad-supported plan is now $11 per month (an extra $1) or $110 per year ($10 more). HBO Max Standard will run you an extra $1.50 per month at $18.49 or $15 per year at $185 for the annual plan. As for the HBO Max Premium option, subscribers will now have to pay $23 per month (up by $2) or $230 for an annual plan (an increase of $20).

The new prices kick in immediately for newcomers. Existing monthly subscribers will start paying more as of November 20 (whenever their next billing cycle starts on or after that date). Yearly subscribers will be notified about the price changes 30 days before their plan renews.

WBD CEO David Zaslav suggested in September that price increases were on the way, along with a stricter crackdown on password sharing. "The fact that this is quality — and that’s true across our company, motion picture, TV production and streaming quality — we all think that gives us a chance to raise prices," Zaslav said. "We think we’re way underpriced."

The company announced the price increases on the same day that Disney is making several Disney+ plans more expensive. As it happens, some of the Disney+ bundles that are going up in price include HBO Max. 

News of the price hikes comes just as WBD sticks a For Sale sign out on its lawn. It was reported this month that the company turned down an acquisition offer from Paramount Skydance for being too low. WBD has now confirmed that "multiple parties" have expressed interest in buying some or all of the company, and that it's now conducting "a review of strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value."

In June, WBD announced plans to split into two companies. As things stand, Warner Bros. will retain the namesake film, TV and game studios, as well as New Line Cinema, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max. Discovery Global will have all of the other live cable channels, such as CNN, HGTV, Cartoon Network, Discovery and TLC (it will also be saddled with the lion's share of WBD's debt). That split is slated to take place by mid-2026, but WBD said on Tuesday it would consider other options. 

"The Warner Bros. Discovery Board will evaluate a broad range of strategic options, which will include continuing to advance the company's planned separation to completion by mid-2026, a transaction for the entire company or separate transactions for its Warner Bros. and/or Discovery Global businesses," WBD said in a press release. "As part of the review, the company will also consider an alternative separation structure that would enable a merger of Warner Bros. and spin-off of Discovery Global to our shareholders."

WBD hasn't set a deadline or timetable for completing this review. But given the whole HBO Max naming debacle, it might take the board quite a while to make its mind up.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/hbo-max-is-getting-even-more-expensive-starting-today-143939446.html?src=rss

Samsung is partnering with Perplexity to bring the startup’s AI Search engine to its smart TVs. If you own a 2025 Samsung TV, you can start using the app today. The company will bring the software to older 2024 and 2023 sets later this year via an OTA update. As part of today’s announcement, Perplexity is also offering free 12-month subscriptions to its Pro plan. To redeem the offer, you’ll need to scan the QR code that appears within the new app.

As mentioned, Perplexity is an AI search engine. Before OpenAI, Anthropic and others added similar capabilities to their chatbots, Perplexity’s offering was novel, giving users a way to search the web more deeply than even Google allowed at the time. Things have gotten even more competitive in recent months, with Google going all in on AI Mode in Search. Still, if you want to try different, it’s worth seeing what Perplexity has to offer. The company’s Samsung TV app allows users to both type and use their voice to ask questions.

No matter how you slice it, this is a curious partnership. Perplexity doesn’t have a great reputation, even when you consider the broader AI industry. In August, Cloudflare accused the company of scraping websites it wasn’t supposed to be. Later that same month, two of Japan’s largest media companies sued the company for copyright infringement, alleging it not only stole information from them but also attributed falsehoods to them. And just last month, Merriam-Webster sued Perplexity as well, again alleging copyright infringement.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/perplexity-made-a-tv-app-and-its-coming-to-samsung-sets-143000479.html?src=rss

Apple is back with the latest version of the iPad Pro, and like the iPad Air earlier this year the surface-level changes are minimal. Like that iPad Air, there’s a new chip on board here. It’s the M5, which was also added to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and Vision Pro. There are new Apple-designed networking chips: the N1 handles Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, while the C1X handles 5G connectivity. Both of those chips debuted in the iPhone Air last month, so this is the first time they’re in an iPad. Finally, the iPad Pro supports fast charging for the first time; you can get to a 50 percent charge in about 30 minutes using a 60W power adaptor.

Compared to the redesign Apple introduced with the M4 iPad Pro in 2024, this is very much a minor spec bump. It makes sense for Apple to ensure the iPad Pro has its most performant chips as soon as they are released. If you’re charging customers upwards of $1,000 for an iPad Pro, it had better be on the bleeding edge. (The 13-inch iPad Pro I'm testing with 1TB of storage and 5G connectivity costs $2,099, plus the $349 Magic Keyboard.)

As such, the iPad Pro M5 is fairly easy to understand. Want a new iPad Pro? You’re now getting exactly what Apple offered a week ago, plus some impressive performance gains for specific tasks. Almost no one who bought an M4 iPad Pro should upgrade to this one, but anyone using an older model will find a ton to appreciate here.

And while the hardware hasn’t radically changed, iPadOS has. The recent iPadOS 26 release introduced an entirely new multitasking system, a significantly improved Files app and more support for background processes, to name just a few of the highlights. Those things are best appreciated on a powerful device with a large screen like the 13-inch iPad Pro M5 I’m reviewing here. For years, the question that has dogged the iPad Pro is when its software would match up to its undeniably impressive hardware. I think the combo of iPadOS 26 paired with this hardware is a winner, but as always the price is going to be a sticking point.

M5

As mentioned, the M5 chip is the big change for the iPad Pro, and if you’re coming from a device older than last year’s M4 model you can expect a big performance increase when you start pushing the envelope of what you can do.

Before getting into the nitty gritty, here’s a rundown of what’s different from last year. Probably the most significant change is that the M5’s GPU now includes a “neural accelerator” on each of its 10 cores, an architectural tweak that’ll unsurprisingly give the chip more muscle when using the GPU for AI-related tasks. Beyond the neural accelerators, the GPU is also up to 30 percent faster in graphics performance, and the third-generation ray-tracing engine here is up to 45 percent faster in apps using ray tracing.

Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

The standard CPU cores (four performance, six efficiency) are also faster than last year’s model, though less dramatically so. That’s not a surprise, as each successive M-series chip has gotten similar modest performance gains over the years. (Note that the iPad Pros with 256GB or 512GB of storage only get three performance cores. They also come with 12GB of RAM compared to the 16GB in configurations with more storage, but that’s more than the 8GB of RAM in the last generation’s equivalent options.) The Neural Engine has been upgraded, as well. Apple is also promising big gains in memory bandwidth, which now hits 153GB/s (nearly 30 percent higher than on the M4). Finally, read/write speeds to storage are up to two times faster than in last year’s model. 

Doing some benchmarking with the Geekbench 6 and Geekbench AI apps show the expected major gains for GPU and AI performance. Single-core and multi-core CPU tests with Geekbench 6 come in at about 15 percent and 10 percent better than the iPad Pro M4, but GPU performance has increased more than 32 percent.

Things are more dramatic when you look specifically at the Geekbench AI results. The app offers three scores (single precision, half precision and quantized) and can be run on three different chip backends (CPU, GPU and Neural Engine). When running the CPU- and Neural Engine-based benchmarks, the M5 only bested the M4 by single-digit percentages. But when using the GPU, the M5’s single-precision score was 22.4 percent better than the M4. Half precision and quantized performance was even more impressive — the M5 scored 85 percent and 101 percent better than the M4, respectively. 

The story this tells is that unless you’re hitting your GPU hard with AI tasks, the M5 isn’t massively better than the M4. Not a huge surprise, and most people who shelled out for an iPad Pro in the last 18 months should still be plenty happy with their purchases. But those GPU scores show off exactly where the M5 can stretch its wings compared to its predecessor. 

As I’ve only had the iPad Pro M5 for less than a week, I’m still comparing the M4 to M5 iPad Pro on specific AI-focused tasks and in certain apps and will update this review with more details later this week.

The caveat with all of this is that while the M5 is incredibly powerful, it’s also overkill for most things that people are going to use an iPad for. An iPad Pro with the M2 chip from 2022 still feels plenty responsive for most standard tasks that don’t require exceptional speed or power. Yes, there are definitely people buying an iPad Pro and maxing out its impressive capabilities, and those who do so will appreciate the performance here. But for everyone else, the M5 alone isn’t going to change how you use the iPad Pro on a day-to-day basis.

Apple's 13-inch iPad Pro M5 is on the left; the 11-inch iPad Pro M4 is on the right. Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Hardware and display are still stunning

Anyone upgrading from an iPad Pro older than last year’s M4 model is in for a treat far beyond sheer performance. The iPad Pro M5 is physically identical to the prior one, but that doesn’t matter because I think this is still the single most impressive device Apple makes. I went deep into the many changes Apple made last year in my review of the iPad Pro M4, and everything I said there still applies.

But to recap, the iPad Pro is extremely portable despite its performance chops. Apple made it about 20 percent thinner and about a quarter-pound lighter than the iPad Pro models Apple sold from 2018 through 2023. This radically improves the experience of using it. If you’re holding it like a tablet, the 13-inch model is now light and thin enough to be comfortable for extended use without having to put it down. Doing anything with the on-screen keyboard while holding it is still pretty awkward and the 11-inch option still feels like the best size for hand-held tasks. But the 13-inch iPad Pro I’m reviewing is noticeably easier to hold than the iPad Air because of its reduced weight and slimmer profile.

The only complaint I might have about that thinness is it prevents Apple from shoving a bigger battery in here. The iPad Pro M5 gets the same 10-hour battery life rating (for surfing the web or watching videos) that every iPad has gotten since the tablet was released in 2010. But in recent years, Apple has, to some degree, stopped focusing on making every device as thin as possible at the potential expense of things like performance or battery life. Clearly, performance isn’t an issue here. But the same people who value extended battery life in a thicker device when using things like the MacBook Pro might feel the same here.

Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

That’s a valid opinion, but a tablet is meant to be held in your hands and carried around with you even more so than a laptop, so I understand why Apple values portability over extending the iPad Pro’s battery life. Plus, the iPad Pro M5’s fast-charging capabilities make it pretty easy to extend its life. Using Apple's new 40W Dynamic Charger that can automatically step up to 60W, I got from 23 percent to 70 percent in 35 minutes. That’s a tad slower than the 50 percent charge in 30 minutes Apple claims, but we’re well within the “close enough” range.

One thing I didn’t get to test last year with the iPad Pro M4 was its durability. The tablet’s extremely thin design reminded people of past Apple devices that had had some issues with flexing. After over a year with the previous iPad Pro, I’m not at all worried about this one. I’ve taken an iPad Pro M4 all around the US and internationally with no issues. Granted, it’s usually in its keyboard case, but I’ve also traveled with it in the basic Smart Folio Apple sells and have seen no evidence of bending. I also don’t remember seeing any reports about durability issues from owners over the last 18 months, so I wouldn’t worry about its long-term durability.

I don’t have a great read on how long the iPad Pro M5 lasts away from its charger just yet — in the first few days with a new device it’s often downloading a lot of data from backups and doing some optimizing, thus not giving you a great feel for how long it’ll usually last. But so far, performance seems similar to the iPad Air M3 and iPad Pro M4 I’ve reviewed recently. I was getting between seven and eight hours while using the Magic Keyboard, and I’m guessing that I’ll blow past the 10-hour estimate when watching locally-stored video. More details on that to come.

Nathan Ingraham for Engadget

Performance, check. Design, check. The third thing that continues to impress me about the iPad Pro is its screen. It quite simply has the nicest display I have ever seen on a portable device, be it a laptop, phone or tablet. Apple’s tandem OLED display (two OLED panels layered on top of each other) is the same in all respects as it was last year. That means the 13-inch screen has a 2,752 x 2,064 resolution (264 ppi) and standard brightness that can hit 1,000 nits, or up to 1,600 nits peak for HDR content. Aside from the OLED display, the only display improvements the iPad Pro has that the iPad Air doesn’t is ProMotion support for 120Hz refresh rates as well as a nano-texture glass option for the 1TB and 2TB models.

To be clear, though, the iPad Pro’s screen is in a completely different ballpark than the one on the iPad Air. Between the much faster refresh rate, high brightness levels, completely dark blacks and wonderful contrast, there’s no question this screen far surpasses what you’ll find on any other iPad. Professionals who do detailed work in video, photography, drawing with the Apple Pencil Pro or graphic design will appreciate all of these features. But it also makes something like kicking back on a plane to watch a movie more enjoyable.

Nathan Ingraham for Engadget iPadOS 26

In last year’s iPad Pro M4 review, I wrote: “Apple has shown no indication it’s going to make iPadOS more like a Mac.” As such, I recommended people not buy an iPad Pro unless they were happy with the limitations that have been inherent to iPadOS for a long time. It took Apple until this summer, but its latest updates rendered my earlier words invalid. With iPadOS 26, Apple pretty much said “screw it” and addressed nearly every big software complaint users have had.

As a quick refresher: apps still open in full screen by default, but you can now grab the corner and resize it to any shape you see fit; you can then stack up as many windows as you want in that view. Apps are also much better at remembering their size and position on your screen than ever before. If you swipe up and dismiss all the apps you’re working with and then re-open one, it’s right in the same place you left it. If you want to throw something back in full-screen, the familiar “stoplight” controls from the Mac are available for easy window management.

You can swipe up and hold for a second from the bottom of the screen to enter Expose, which shows every open window in your view. Swiping right shows all the full-screen apps you have open. If you have an app in full screen, you can switch back to a windowed app that’ll just float on top of what you’re working in. There’s also a menu bar at the top of the screen that makes it easy to access advanced controls for whatever you’re using.

As I said when I first started testing out iPadOS 26 in the summer, the end result of all these changes is that your iPad (no matter which kind) will feel significantly more capable with this software update. And there are other features that power users will appreciate, like a significantly improved Files app. Since it’s easier to have multiple windows, moving things around or dragging and dropping things into apps is a lot simpler. And there are improved sorting options as well, while PDFs finally open in the new Preview app rather than within Files .

Background task capabilities have also been significantly expanded. For example, Final Cut Pro can now render video in the background, whereas before, switching to a different app would put the lengthy and intensive process on pause. And developers can tap into this API to use it for their own apps, too.

I can’t say for sure that this will answer all the complaints of various iPad Pro owners out there, but I think Apple has gotten about as close as it can without just putting macOS on the device and calling it a day. Even with the big updates to iPadOS, an iPad Pro isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people will still choose a traditional laptop. But the iPad has always offered a pretty unique blend of power and portability, and with better software it’s a more viable option than ever.

Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Wrap-up

My viewpoint on the iPad Pro hasn’t changed since last year. I still find it a wildly impressive device that is unlike much else you can buy. Just like the last model, it has Apple’s newest chip, the best display Apple has made (aside from its $5,000 Pro XDR monitor) and a physical design that feels almost impossible given how much technology is crammed inside. It’s truly delightful, and it’s even more capable than before thanks to the combination of iPadOS 26 and the M5 chip.

However, I still can’t stomach that price. $1,299 for a 13-inch iPad with 256GB of storage, no 5G connectivity and no Magic Keyboard is a lot of money, even if it is as capable as a similarly-priced laptop. Given the incredible technology inside of the iPad Pro, I can understand why it’s so expensive. And it's powerful enough that some buyers will be able to use it for three, four, even five years before they feel the need to update, which makes the up-front investment a little less burdensome. It's not the kind of device you need to replace annually, that's for sure. But unless you are going to use it as your main computer — all day, every day — and know exactly what benefits you’ll get from the iPad over a more traditional laptop, you’re probably better off buying an iPad Air and saving yourself a lot of money.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/tablets/ipad-pro-m5-review-speed-boost-130046249.html?src=rss

Meta is launching new tools aimed at trying to protect Messenger and WhatsApp users from potential scams. The company says its teams have "detected and disrupted" nearly 8 million accounts associated with scam centers in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines since the beginning of 2025. It has also taken action on over 21,000 Pages on Facebook pretending to be customer support services of legitimate companies. But much still needs to be done to squash scams, specifically those targeting the elderly who may not be as tech-savvy or may not be aware of the scammers' latest schemes. 

On WhatsApp, the company will start showing users warning notices if they attempt to share their screen with someone not on their contacts list during a video call. Scammers sometimes get their targets to share their screens in order to steal sensitive information. In the warning window pictured below, Meta tells users outright to only share their screens with people they trust, since they will be able to see anything displayed on their phones, including their banking info. 

Meta

The company is also testing advanced scam detection tools in Messenger chats for mobile. When a user receives a potentially scammy message, a warning notice will pop up, telling them the message is suspicious and that they can forward it to Meta for an AI review. If Meta AI detects a potential scam, it will show the user a list of common scam signs, such as job offers in exchange for money, job offers promising fast cash and work from home offers for jobs that can't possibly be done remotely. It also reminds users not to wire transfer money or send gift cards, which are very common methods scammers use to steal money from their victims. At the bottom of the page, users will have the option to report and block the account that sent them the message. 

Meta didn't say when the new Messenger warning tool will roll out widely. For now, it's encouraging users to set up passkeys for quick identity verification and to run Security Checkup to review their security settings and get recommendations, including updating their passwords. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-will-warn-whatsapp-and-messenger-users-against-scams-120048067.html?src=rss

If you're not a big fan of the, well, glass in iOS 26's Liquid Glass interface, Apple has apparently heard you. The latest iOS 26.1 Beta 4 has a new toggle that lets you apply a "tinted" setting to boost the opacity of elements and add contrast, making them stand out better against the background, MacRumors reported. "Choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. Clear is more transparent, revealing the content beneath. Tinted increases opacity and adds more contrast," the description states.

The new toggle (Settings > Display and Brightness on iPhone or iPad and System Settings > Appearance macOS) is a rare instance of Apple altering course on a design based on user input. The company said the setting was added as many beta users desired a more opaque option for Liquid Glass. That's putting it mildly, as you may have noticed on social media or Reddit. 

Apple

The setting is more noticeable on some areas of iOS than others. Toggling it from clear to tinted changes everything throughout iOS and affects apps and lock screen notifications as well. Other new changes in the latest beta include a Camera swipe toggle, a new slide-to-stop feature for alarms and timers, Settings updates, new Apple Intelligence languages and a new Apple TV app icon. If you're in the beta program, you can download the latest version now. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/ios-261-beta-4-lets-you-make-liquid-glass-frosted-110021700.html?src=rss