Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, gave an ominous warning today that the iPhone could go the way of the iPod 10 years from now. From a report: Cue’s remarks came during the Google Search antitrust remedies trial today while discussing how AI has the potential to reshape the tech industry and open the door to new entrants. Incumbents have a hard time … we’re not an oil company, we’re not toothpaste — these are things that are going to last forever … you may not need an iPhone 10 years from now.

Cue went on to say that the best thing Apple did was kill the iPod, a move he said was bold. “Why would you kill the golden goose,” he added. That may seem like a silly thing for Apple to say, given that more than half of its revenue is iPhone sales. But Cue calls AI a “huge technological shift,” and suggests that such shifts can humble companies that once seemed unassailable.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Broadcom has been sending cease-and-desist letters to owners of VMware perpetual licenses with expired support contracts, Ars Technica has confirmed. Following its November 2023 acquisition of VMware, Broadcom ended VMware perpetual license sales. Users with perpetual licenses can still use the software they bought, but they are unable to renew support services unless they had a pre-existing contract enabling them to do so. The controversial move aims to push VMware users to buy subscriptions to VMware products bundled such that associated costs have increased by 300 percent or, in some cases, more. Some customers have opted to continue using VMware unsupported, often as they research alternatives, such as VMware rivals or devirtualization.

Over the past weeks, some users running VMware unsupported have reported receiving cease-and-desist letters from Broadcom informing them that their contract with VMware and, thus, their right to receive support services, has expired. The letter [PDF], reviewed by Ars Technica and signed by Broadcom managing director Michael Brown, tells users that they are to stop using any maintenance releases/updates, minor releases, major releases/upgrades extensions, enhancements, patches, bug fixes, or security patches, save for zero-day security patches, issued since their support contract ended.

The letter tells users that the implementation of any such updates “past the Expiration Date must be immediately removed/deinstalled,” adding: “Any such use of Support past the Expiration Date constitutes a material breach of the Agreement with VMware and an infringement of VMware’s intellectual property rights, potentially resulting in claims for enhanced damages and attorneys’ fees.” […] The cease-and-desist letters also tell recipients that they could be subject to auditing: “Failure to comply with [post-expiration reporting] requirements may result in a breach of the Agreement by Customer[,] and VMware may exercise its right to audit Customer as well as any other available contractual or legal remedy.”

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Wordle became an instant classic almost as soon as it launched, but its simplicity is also the source of a new problem: what to play when you’ve already guessed the day’s word? Fortunately, the years since Wordle’s appearance have blessed us with dozens of other guessing games that borrowed one or more of Wordle’s features—five-letter solutions, or yellow and green squares, or sometimes just the concept of guessing and getting hints to narrow down the possibilities. Here are 14 of the best.

Waffle

Credit: Waffle

Let’s start out the list with a cute and friendly game. Waffle puts six different five-letter words in a grid, and you solve it simply by moving the squares around. It’s tricky to get the job done in the given number of swaps, but you’re never going to be too perplexed—all the letters you need are right in front of you.

Flagle

Credit: Flagle

I was torn on whether to award the geographical spot on the list to Flagle, which uses country flags, or Worldle, which gives you the outline of the country. When I was first compiling this list, I went with Flagle because there used to be two ways to win: In addition to narrowing down the location of the country, you can also reveal tiles of the country’s flag. Unfortunately, Flagle has removed the feature that tells you how far away you guessed in terms of distance, so it’s now just a flag-based game. They’re still both great.

Hurdle

Credit: Hurdle

This is probably the last friendly, straightforward game you’ll see on this list, so enjoy it while it lasts. Hurdle gives you five Wordle-style puzzles each day. You have to solve each to get the next, and then the fifth puzzle gets pre-filled with the four previous solutions as guesses, leaving you just two chances to win the final round.

Absurdle

Credit: Absurdle

Absurdle gets its name because its premise is entirely absurd—and man, does it follow through. The secret word you’re guessing changes to evade your guesses. Its one nod to sportsmanship is that it will abide by its previous hints—so if it tells you that the word contains an R as the first letter, the solution will have an R, but everything else is subject to change. Succeeding at this game means backing the algorithm into a corner until it only has one option left; only then will it admit you won.

Heardle

Credit: Heardle

Heardle is the modern version of Name That Tune!, a game show where participants had to identify a song based on just the first few notes. The songs in Heardle are taken from popular playlists, so it’s also a good litmus test for your own pop culture relevance.

Squabble

Credit: Squabble

In Squabble, we have our first competitive Wordle. (We’ll meet another in a minute.) If you think you’re good at guessing words, you now get the chance to prove it against friends or strangers in real time. Guessing wrong subtracts health from your little meter; guessing correctly refills it. The game continues, going to multiple words if needed, until all but one player has been eliminated. This game isn’t as popular as it once was, so you may wait a while to find enough players for a game with online strangers, but you can still create a game and share the lobby code with your friends for instant fun.

Mordle

Credit: Mordle

If you like Squabble, try the massively multiplayer Mordle. Games can have up to 100 players, but gameplay is simpler because you don’t have to watch their game boards or battle them directly. Just attempt to solve the puzzle yourself, as fast as you can, and find out how many people got to the correct solution before or after you.

Quordle and other multi-Wordles

Credit: Quordle

When Dordle (the double Wordle) first came on the scene, it seemed nightmarish; you’re supposed to solve two Wordles with the same guesses?! But with practice, it’s not hard at all. And so it escalated from there. Quordle is the sweet spot, in my opinion; four is the perfect number of puzzles to solve at once. But Octordle is also fun, and so are Sedecordle and Duotrigordle. Multi-Wordles appear daunting at first, but with so many grids, almost any guess is going to give you a useful hint somewhere.

Antiwordle

Credit: Antiwordle

Antiwordle is probably the most hellish of all the games on this list, and that’s saying something. The rules are the same as the rules for regular Wordle played on hard mode (where you’re required to reuse correct letter guesses). But the whole idea is that you’re trying to not guess the word. Once you get it right, you lose.

Semantle

Credit: Semantle

Word games are, for the most part, games for good spellers. If you can recognize the patterns letters commonly appear in, you’re at an advantage. So if you’ve ever wondered why word games don’t ask you to guess the approximate meaning of a word, Semantle is for you. It’s tough to even begin narrowing it down, but once you do, just aim for words with similar meanings to arrive at the answer.

WordAll

Credit: WordAll

Any time you get your green and yellow squares in response to a guess, what the game is really doing is defining and redefining a pool of words that the solution must be in. (All the words that have an E in the second position and a T in them somewhere other than the third, let’s say.) WordAll gives you a half-played game, pauses it there, and asks you to name all the words in that pool. It’s a fun brain exercise, and will probably make you a more strategic Wordle player.

Artle

Credit: Artle

We’ll back away from words for this one, an art-themed game that shows you snippets of works, all created by the same artist. It’s called Artle, and it will probably teach you things you didn’t know about your favorite artists—and help you discover new ones.

Squardle

Credit: Squardle

If you thought Waffle was cute, Squardle is its evil twin. It’s another crossword-style guessing game, but this time you have to type all your guesses in. That doesn’t sound so bad, until you start trying to make sense of the hints. Each square contains color-coded information about how the letter you guessed fits into the words of the puzzle. Like Microsoft’s Clippy, something intended to be helpful quickly turns confusing and frustrating. Winning this game requires you to use the those hints without letting their proliferation distract you.

Redactle

Credit: Redactle

One word at a time? Six words at a time? Redactle scoffs at all that. It gives you an entire Wikipedia article with most of the words blacked out, in the style of censored government documents. Your job is to guess words; when you guess correctly, those words are revealed in the article. Solving the puzzle means correctly guessing the title of the article—which could be about anything from a historical figure to a mathematical concept.

Starlink last week announced a new deal for its standard hardware kit, giving the satellite dish and Wi-Fi router for free to customers who sign up for a 12-month commitment.

The deal is reminiscent of the hardware rental agreements long used by cable companies, but Starlink’s offer has generated a bit of excitement. Some analysts suggested that the free kits are a reason for the federal government’s $42 billion broadband deployment fund to send grants to Starlink instead of to fiber-to-the-home providers, or that the government should buy Starlink kits at the regular price of $349 each so that Elon Musk’s company doesn’t have to eat the cost.

You may not be surprised to learn that the free hardware kit isn’t really free. But much of the discussion around the offer has ignored the fine details that could make a reasonable Starlink buyer decide to reject the deal. Similarly, policymakers deciding which ISPs should get government money might be wise to remember that fiber provides superior and more future-proof Internet service and that Starlink’s offers to customers could change at any time.

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If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you’ll soon be able to send money to friends and family instantly simply by tapping your devices together. A new peer-to-peer payment feature transfers funds from debit cards in your Samsung Wallet to those stored in a recipient’s digital wallet or their physical tap-to-pay card.

The feature will be available to Samsung Wallet users in the U.S. later this month.

How Samsung Wallet ‘Tap to Transfer’ works

Samsung’s new “Tap to Transfer” feature utilizes NFC technology to connect to debit cards in any digital wallet, meaning you can send cash even if the recipient uses a different third-party app (like Apple Wallet or Google Wallet) or only has a physical debit card. Alternatively, you can transfer money to other Samsung Wallet users by searching for their phone number if they aren’t nearby to tap.

There are a few benefits to Tap to Transfer. First, it doesn’t require everyone to use the same peer-to-peer payment service like Venmo or Cash App, making it easier in situations like splitting dinner bills to move money around to all members of the group and eliminating the hassle of signing up for a new app. It also deposits funds to linked bank accounts in minutes (depending on the bank), so you don’t have to wait days or pay fees for instant transfers. (Note that the debit card in your Samsung Wallet must be a Visa or Mastercard for this feature to work.)

Samsung Wallet, like Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, allows users to store everything from payment cards and IDs to loyalty cards and digital keys to concert tickets and boarding passes. Apple also has a peer-to-peer payment feature called Tap to Cash, but both users must have compatible iOS or watchOS devices with Apple Cash already set up.

Apple is “actively looking at” revamping the Safari web browser on its devices to focus on AI-powered search engines, a seismic shift for the industry hastened by the potential end of a longtime partnership with Google. From a report: Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, made the disclosure Wednesday during his testimony in the US Justice Department’s lawsuit against Alphabet. The heart of the dispute is the two companies’ estimated $20 billion-a-year deal that makes Google the default offering for queries in Apple’s browser. The case could force the tech giants to unwind the pact, upending how the iPhone and other devices have long operated.

Cue noted that searches on Safari dipped for the first time last month, which he attributed to people using AI. Cue said he believes that AI search providers, including OpenAI, Perplexity and Anthropic, will eventually replace standard search engines like Alphabet’s Google. He said he believes Apple will bring those options to Safari in the future. “We will add them to the list — they probably won’t be the default,” he said, indicating that they still need to improve.

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It’s earnings season, and automakers are warning investors about the impact tariffs will have on vehicle pricing. As first reported by Reuters, the cost of Ford’s Mustang Mach-E, Ford’s electric SUV, could rise by as much as $2,000 on some models.

Ford manufactures the Mach-E as well as other non-electric models in Mexico, which are now tariffed when sold in the United States. Aside from the Mach-E, Ford estimates that it will take a $1.5 billion hit from current tariff policy.

The Trump administration has long insisted that tariffs are not paid for by the American consumer, and while the company made clear it was absorbing some of the increased cost, it could not absorb all of it.A Ford spokesperson told Reuters that the price increase is partly due to typical mid-year repricing “combined with some tariffs we are facing. We have not passed on the full cost of tariffs to our customers.”

Despite the administration’s partial acquiescence to automakers last week in softening the blow on auto tariffs, EV makers Rivian and Lucid have said higher costs are coming. Rivian’s CEO shared that he expects vehicle pricing to rise by “a couple of thousand dollars,” while Lucid’s interim CEO said the company was expecting an 8 to 15 percent increase in overall costs due to tariffs.

While EVs have not specifically been the target of these tariffs, this administration has been unusually hostile towards them, and has worked to reverse government-funded EV initiatives, like subsidized expansions to charging infrastructure. Making matters worse, Speaker of the House Brian Johnson all but confirmed to Bloomberg recently that Congress is likely to end the EV tax credit saying, “I think there is a better chance we kill it than save it, but we’ll see how it comes out.”

It’s been posited by industry analysts that Tesla may have the least to lose (and could perhaps even gain) from the current administration’s anti-EV stance, with Elon Musk even saying as such. This is in part due to the outsized effect tariffs will have on competing EV manufacturers like Ford, while Tesla’s substantial domestic production keeps the company mostly insulated.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/ford-will-raise-mustang-mach-e-prices-in-part-due-to-tariffs-164323546.html?src=rss

A four-pack of Samsung SmartTag 2 Bluetooth trackers is available for just $52 at Woot. That’s a record low price and a discount of 38 percent. This pack includes two white and two black trackers. There’s a limit of two packs per customer.

This particular model made our list of the best Bluetooth trackers, and this is particularly true for those already tied into the Samsung ecosystem. We love the design. It’s an oblong fob with a big hole for attaching directly to keys and the like. This is something that Apple AirTags don’t offer out of the box, as you need a case for the purposes of attaching.

These Samsung trackers are also louder when pinged than the AirTag or the Tile Pro. This makes it a bit easier to find something when the time comes. You can also change the tag’s ringtone or double squeeze it to ring the handset, both things that aren’t possible with AirTags.

Setup is simple and we came away impressed with how easy it was to locate lost items out in the wild. The companion app, SmartThings Find, offers an intuitive Google Maps-based interface. We found that alerts triggered reliably when we got around three to eight blocks away from the lost item.

These may be the best trackers for Samsung users, but they are also exclusively tied to the company’s ecosystem. Don’t buy these if you use an iPhone. The finding network isn’t as vast as Google’s Find My Device or Apple’s Find My, but it gets the job done.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/a-four-pack-of-samsung-smarttag-2-bluetooth-trackers-is-down-to-52-at-woot-164134673.html?src=rss

Electronic Arts has confirmed that the next Battlefield game will be revealed this summer, ahead of a launch date some time before April 2026. The news was shared in the company’s Q4 and and financial year 2025 results, published this week.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson called the latest installment in the long-running first-person shooter series a “pivotal step in delivering on our next generation of blockbuster entertainment” and recommitted to a previously announced FY26 release window for the currently untitled game. That means it can’t launch any later than March 2026, when EA’s fiscal year ends.

A launch date before April next year would mean the new Battlefield game will get a bit of room to breathe before the recently delayed Grand Theft Auto 6, which is supposed to arrive on May 26, 2026. Like every other publisher on the planet, EA has likely factored GTA 6 into its own upcoming launch plans for a number of titles. Eurogamer reported earlier this year that Wilson had admitted a willingness to delay games in order to get out of the way of the (unnamed, but heavily implied) competition.

The most recent Battlefield game was 2021’s Battlefield 2042, to which EA has steadily added new content. Back in February, EA launched Battlefield Labs, a community testing initiative that allows registered fans to playtest and give feedback on series fundamentals such as combat, destruction, vehicles and map designs.

EA also confirmed in an investor call that it currently has no plans to increase the price of its games, following the recent Xbox price hike and Nintendo making the decision to charge a whopping $80 for Mario Kart World on its upcoming Switch 2.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-next-battlefield-game-will-launch-sometime-before-april-2026-161521602.html?src=rss

The Drug Enforcement Administration has quietly ended its body camera program barely four years after it began, ProPublica reports, citing an internal email. From the report: On April 2, DEA headquarters emailed employees announcing that the program had been terminated effective the day before. The DEA has not publicly announced the policy change, but by early April, links to pages about body camera policies on the DEA’s website were broken.

The email said the agency made the change to be “consistent” with a Trump executive order rescinding the 2022 requirement that all federal law enforcement agents use body cameras. But at least two other federal law enforcement agencies within the Justice Department — the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — are still requiring body cameras, according to their spokespeople.

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The Golden Globes is expanding beyond film and TV with a new category. It will dole out an award for the best podcast of the year starting at next January’s ceremony. Organizers told Variety that the idea was to recognize the influence and reach of podcasts within the spectrum of entertainment.

Six finalists will be selected from the 25 most popular podcasts across audio and video formats (sorry, middle-aged dads who spent hundreds of dollars on recording gear to grouse about their team in their basement studios). So it’s likely that more celebrities could appear on the show.

Amy Poehler and Trevor Noah have podcasts that are among the 25 largest in the US on Spotify. SmartLess — the show hosted by actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes — is on the list too. As such, the best podcast award feels like a ploy by the Golden Globes to get more stars on the show, which would make it quite funny if, say, The Daily won instead.

It feels like an odd move for the Golden Globes (which started handing out an award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement last year) to wade into the podcasting world. Still, it’s nice to see a mainstream awards ceremony shining a spotlight on podcasts. There are dedicated awards shows for podcasts, but the Golden Globes is putting them on a bigger stage.

Other awards shows have been refining their category lineups. We’ll soon start seeing a long-overdue category for stunt work at the Oscars. On the other hand, it was a little disappointing to see the Emmy for short-form animated program being cut last year due to a drop in submissions.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/the-golden-globes-will-start-giving-an-award-to-the-best-podcast-of-the-year-154905589.html?src=rss

Summer brings sunshine, vacations, outdoor concerts—and the inability to leave your house without accidentally spending 20 bucks. Your budget is never a truly fixed thing. It changes with the state of the economy (hello, tariffs), your paycheck, and even the changing of the seasons. With a bit of planning, you can enjoy all the summer season has to offer without the financial stress. Here are my hacks to create a practical summer budget that lets you make the most of these warmer months without breaking the bank.

Plan around events, not calendar dates

One of the biggest summer budgeting mistakes is thinking in terms of months rather than specific activities. Instead of creating a general “July budget,” break down your summer into the actual events you plan to attend:

• Family beach vacation

• Wedding weekend

• Local festivals

• Holiday celebrations

• Back-to-school shopping

By organizing your budget around specific events, you can allocate funds more precisely and avoid the “where did my money go?” feeling at the end of the month.

Set a weekly “spontaneous spend” cap

Summer weekends often bring impromptu invitations—a backyard BBQ where you need to bring something, a last-minute beach day, or an outdoor concert you just heard about. Rather than letting these spur-of-the-moment activities derail your budget, create a dedicated “spontaneous spend” allowance each week.

Whether it’s $30 or $100, having this pre-approved fun money gives you the freedom to say “yes” to unexpected opportunities without guilt, while still maintaining financial boundaries.

Embrace “themed” savings accounts

I’ve said before that dividing your money into multiple accounts helps you see all your saving goals separately, so they’ll be easier to track. Similar to cash stuffing (where you can only spend money in a certain category from its designated envelope), this approach forces you to be more intentional and disciplined about where your money is going.

Create separate digital envelopes or savings accounts for your major summer expenses: summer travel, kids’ camp costs, recurring happy hour appointments, and so on.

Most online banks let you create multiple savings buckets at no extra cost. By keeping these funds separate from your regular checking account, you’ll resist the temptation to dip into your vacation money for everyday expenses.

Implement the 24-hour rule for summer purchases

When temperatures rise, so does impulse spending on seasonal items like new patio furniture, outdoor gear, or summer fashion. Combat this by instituting a 24-hour waiting period for any non-essential purchase over $50.

Often, the cooling-off period reveals that you don’t actually need that inflatable pool flamingo or designer sunglasses. For larger purchases, extend this to a 48-hour or even 72-hour rule.

Create a summer-specific meal plan

Food costs typically increase during summer months due to social gatherings, vacation eating, and, you know, the temptation of ice-cream trucks. Some ways you can combat this:

• Planning picnic-friendly, portable meals that work for beach days or park outings

• Researching grocery stores at your vacation destination and planning a “first day” shopping trip

• Setting a specific “dining out” budget for vacation days

• Taking advantage of seasonal produce that’s cheaper during summer months

A summer-focused meal plan acknowledges that your eating patterns change with the season while keeping food expenses in check. Plus, it gives you an excuse to get into some new recipes! Check out my colleague Allie Reinmann’s tips for making the most of summer berries, or whipping up a budget-friendly summery shrimp roll.

Audit your subscription services before vacations

Before heading out on summer trips, take inventory of your subscription services. Are you paying for streaming services you won’t use while traveling? Consider pausing memberships like:

• Gym memberships

• Meal kit deliveries

• Beauty box subscriptions

• Digital subscriptions you won’t have time for

Many services offer pause options rather than full cancellations, making it easy to temporarily reduce monthly expenses during your heaviest travel periods.

Build in budget buffer zones

Even the best budget needs flexibility, especially during summer. As you’re estimating travel costs and setting spend caps, add a 15% buffer. Gas prices, summer storms, and all other kinds of unexpected costs always emerge. This buffer creates financial breathing room and prevents minor overages from snowballing into major budget problems.

The bottom line

Summer should be about creating memories, not financial stress. A little preparation now means you can focus on sunshine and fun later—without the looming dread of post-summer credit card bills.

Remember that the best summer budget isn’t necessarily the tightest one, but rather the one that aligns with your priorities and gives you permission to enjoy what matters most to you this season.

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom says AI companies are trying too hard to “juice engagement” by pestering their users with follow-up questions, instead of providing actually useful insights. From a report: Systrom said the tactics represent “a force that’s hurting us,” comparing them to those used by social media companies to expand aggressively.

“You can see some of these companies going down the rabbit hole that all the consumer companies have gone down in trying to juice engagement,” he said at StartupGrind this week. “Every time I ask a question, at the end it asks another little question to see if it can get yet another question out of me.”

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One major surprise in the Trump administration’s “skinny budget” proposal for NASA, released last Friday, was a demand that the US space agency reduce its activities on the International Space Station.

“The Budget reduces the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for a safe decommissioning of the station by 2030 and replacement by commercial space stations,” stated the budget request for fiscal year 2026. “Crew and cargo flights to the station would be significantly reduced. The station’s reduced research capacity would be focused on efforts critical to the Moon and Mars exploration programs.”

The budget proposal estimates this would save $508 million from a budget of about $3 billion annually to support the International Space Station.

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Apple’s latest diminutive desktop, the M4 Mac mini, is on sale via Amazon for more than $100 off. That brings the price of the entry-level model down to just $495. This version includes 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The 16GB/512GB model costs $743 and the 24GB/512GB model is down to $906. Even some of the versions with the slightly more powerful M4 Max chip are on sale.

The M4 Mac mini is a nice little upgrade. We called it “shockingly small” and “incredibly powerful” in our official review of the Pro model. Both of those descriptors stand. The mini is still cute and teensy and the M4 chip is still more than enough for everyday computing tasks and fully capable of more intensive applications.

There are some front-facing USB-C ports, which is always handy with a desktop, and support for up to three external displays. Even the entry-level version offers 16GB of RAM, which is great. The chip is faster than ever, making this an extremely budget-friendly way to get in on the Apple Silicon party.

There are a few more USB-C ports on the back, which is useful, but this unit offers no USB-A ports. The 256GB of storage offered by the base model could get a bit tight, but it’s certainly doable for more casual users. Plus, those ports are always available for an external SSD.

One curious design choice here is that the power button is along the bottom of the rear end. This can lead to some awkward movements when trying to turn it on, as it basically has to be tipped over. Otherwise, this is a great device.

Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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Microsoft announced a pair of ultraportable Surface devices yesterday, both of which differ significantly from their predecessors. There’s the creatively named Surface Laptop 13-inch, which is shrunken down from the previous model’s 13.8-inches, as well as a new version of the Surface Pro, which is down from 13-inches to a 12-inch chassis. Like the rest of the Surface lineup, both are positioned to compete in the same space as Apple’s MacBook Air, which comes in 13-inch and 15-inch varieties, and the latter could even potentially come for the iPad Pro, which hovers around a similar price point. The trick this time around? Aside from being smaller, they’re also cheaper.

The compromises

Along with shrinking the sizes and prices on these new Surface devices, Microsoft has also cut down the specs a bit to match. The 13-inch laptop, available in ocean (a metallic blue), violet, or platinum finishes, slashes the resolution of the previous iteration down from 2304 x 1536 to 1920 x 1280, to accommodate the smaller display. The panel also lacks HDR, and the refresh rate has dropped from 120Hz down to 60Hz. 

The 12-inch Pro model also, notably, doesn’t include a keyboard by default, although this isn’t entirely unique for the Surface Pro. The Surface keyboard has been redesigned, too, and while it still connects magnetically, it lays flat rather than at an angle. Additionally, Microsoft has ditched the included slot for the Surface Pen, which will now attach to, and charge directly on, the back of the Surface Pro itself. Finally, the Pro’s display has also dumped some refresh rate overboard, dropping to 90Hz from 120Hz, although it maintains a 2196 x 1464 resolution.

Also gone from both Surface models are the handy Surface Connect ports with their magnetic attachment points, replaced with standard USB-C 3.2 ports. While this means fewer proprietary cables, it also means that there’s a danger of tripping on the cord and, instead of having the cable easily disconnect, pulling your entire laptop onto the floor. 

Finally, for internals, both of the new Surface devices are built around the 8-Core Snapdragon X Plus chip from Qualcomm. These lose two cores off the default of prior models. Both also default to a respectable 16GB of RAM, though a fairly scant 256GB of storage, with the option to double it to 512GB (the default on prior models) if you’re willing to pay for the privilege. 

Can these budget Surface models hold up against Apple?

Generally, when it comes to raw specs, Apple’s alternatives outclass these new Surface releases, with one caveat. Let’s start with displays.

Here, Apple has more features and supports higher resolutions. The Liquid Retina panel in the MacBook offers HDR with a resolution at 2560 x 1664, although it’s also limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, despite being smaller then the 12-inch Surface Pro, the iPad Pro 11-inch model sports a sharp 2420 x 1668 resolution (which can go up to 2752 x 2064 on the 13-inch version), plus it’s OLED and has a variable refresh rate that tops out at 120Hz. 

As for performance, while the Snapdragon chip in the new Surfaces is certainly efficient, it doesn’t compare favorably to Apple’s M4 chip, which is at the heart of both the latest iPad Pro and MacBook Air. It falls behind in both single-core and multi-core performance, so Apple’s devices have a clear advantage for those that prioritize horsepower.

But one significant difference between the two Surface devices is how they’re cooled, which sees at least one improvement over prior Surface iterations. Like the MacBook Air and iPad Pro, the smaller 12-inch Pro is completely fanless, and the more thermally efficient processor has also allowed Microsoft to remove the vents present in the previous version of the Pro. Sadly, the same can’t be said of the 13-inch Surface Laptop, which still includes fans.

Lower prices

Microsoft’s goal with these new models seems to have been to keep prices as low as possible, so these compromises do come with savings, and here is one spot where PC beats Mac.

Starting prices for these models fall below $1,000 and, most importantly, below the MSRP of the MacBook Air and iPad Pro. The Surface Laptop 13-inch starts at $899 and the Surface Pro 12-inch at $799, while the base MacBook Air retails for $999 for the 13-inch model and $1,199 for the 15-inch model. The iPad Pro, meanwhile, starts at $999 for the 11-inch version and $1,299 for the 13-inch upgrade. If cost is king, the new Surface lineup may be the best fit for you, but bear in mind that there’s only a $100 margin between the base price of the Surface Laptop and the MacBook Air.

That said, upgrades are costly on both sides. Again, adding the keyboard to the 12-inch Pro will add another $150 to your price tag, and bumping the storage up to 512GB will inflate the price another $100, meaning you’re looking at $1,049 for the full package. Similarly, the 13-inch laptop jumps another $100 if you want to increase the storage to 512GB, totaling $999. But upgrading nearly any facet of one of the Apple devices adds up quickly as well; for instance, jumping from 256GB to 512GB of storage on the Air will immediately add $200 to the price tag. 

So, as is common when looking at PC vs. Mac, the question ultimately comes down to price vs. performance. Surface is now more budget-friendly than ever, but there are compromises to keep in mind with those savings. Luckily, the rest of Microsoft’s Surface lineup is still as available as ever, so if you pay up, you can find more performant alternatives to Apple’s machines.

The Surface Laptop 13-inch is available to preorder from Amazon, Microsoft, and other retailers. The Surface Pro 12-inch is also available for preorder from Best Buy, Microsoft, and Amazon, and both models will begin shipping on May 20th. 

Netflix has been gradually culling its library of interactive content for a while now, but Black Mirror’s Emmy award winning Bandersnatch was one of the few survivors. Until now. As spotted by What’s on Netflix, the choose-your-own-adventure film set in a fictional game development studio will be leaving the service globally on May 12.

At the beginning of December 2024, only four of Netflix’s “Interactive Specials” remained, of which Bandersnatch was one. As of today there are only two left. The other is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend, which first debuted back in 2020 and is also being removed imminently.

Netflix’s first interactive effort was 2017’s Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale, but Bandersnatch, which arrived the following year, was the first to be targeted at an adult audience, and arguably the company’s most successful of these experiments. Set in the UK in the mid-80s, it follows a young programmer who sets out to adapt a dark fantasy novel into a story-driven video game, before things inevitably take a dark turn. The film featured multiple endings and branching paths based on the decisions you made, and went on to win two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Which probably leaves you wondering why Netflix is getting rid of it. Back in December, company spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher told The Verge that the technology had “served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas.”

Actual video games still feature prominently in the overhauled Netflix TV app, which the company has been working on since last year and will roll out over the coming weeks and months. It is also experimenting with a vertical video feature on mobile that will include clips and trailers, presumably to appeal more to the native TikTok audience. Just don’t expect to see Bandersnatch in there.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/black-mirrors-bandersnatch-is-leaving-netflix-for-good-144518207.html?src=rss