We’ve survived Apple’s iPhone 17 event and we’re here to dive into all of the news. In this bonus episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham recap all of Apple’s new hardware and try to determine if the iPhone Air has any substance behind all that style. It’s certainly more attractive than we thought, but is that alone worth giving up on multiple cameras and better battery life from the iPhone 17 Pro?  

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Credits

Hosts: Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Nathan Ingraham
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/engadget-podcast-making-sense-of-apples-iphone-17-event-012707428.html?src=rss

Cindy Cohn, who has led the Electronic Frontier Foundation as Executive Director for the past decade and has been with the organization for over 25 years, will step down by mid-2026. The digital rights group is launching a search for her successor. From a press release: “It’s been the honor of my life to help EFF grow and become the strong, effective organization it is today, but it’s time to make space for new leadership. I also want to get back into the fight for civil liberties more directly than I can as the executive director of a thriving 125-person organization,” Cohn said. “I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve built and accomplished. One of our former interns once called EFF the joyful warriors for internet freedom and I have always loved that characterization.” “I know EFF’s lawyers, activists and technologists will continue standing up for freedom, justice and innovation whether we’re fighting trolls, bullies, corporate oligarchs, clueless legislators or outright dictators,” she added. […]

Cohn said she made the decision to step down more than a year ago, and later informed EFF’s Board of Directors and executive staff. The Board of Directors has assembled a search committee, which in turn has engaged leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates to conduct a search for EFF’s new executive director. Inquiries about the search can be directed to EFF@russellreynolds.com. The search committee hopes to hire someone next spring, with Cohn planning to remain at EFF for a transition period through early summer.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

This is a video of the four guitarists of 40 Fingers (let me join and we can be 48.5 Fingers) performing a lovely acoustic fingerstyle cover of David Bowie’s ‘Life On Mars’ in a desert that’s very reminiscent of Mars. I should know, because I’ve been there. “Mars?” Did you know it’s red from all the blood spilled during an ancient alien war? I’m joking, it’s all cheese.

Microsoft is diversifying its AI portfolio by integrating some of Anthropic’s AI features into Office 365 apps. “The move will blend Anthropic and OpenAI technology in the apps, after years in which Microsoft primarily used OpenAI for the new features in Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint,” reports Reuters. From the report: Developers making Office AI features found Anthropic’s latest models performed better than OpenAI in automating tasks such as financial functions in Excel or generating Powerpoint presentations based on instructions, the report said, citing one of the two people involved in the effort. Microsoft will pay its cloud rival Amazon Web Services to access the Anthropic models, according to the report. AWS is one of Anthropic’s largest shareholders.

OpenAI’s launch of GPT-5 is a step up in quality but Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 performs better in creating Powerpoint presentations that are more aesthetically pleasing, the report said. Microsoft plans to announce the move in the coming weeks, while the price of AI tools in Office will stay the same, the report said. “As we’ve said, OpenAI will continue to be our partner on frontier models and we remain committed to our long-term partnership,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Now that we’ve seen the actual iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models — they were revealed at the Apple iPhone event today — it’s time to decide if you’re ready to upgrade to one of the newer devices. If you watched Apple’s keynote or pored through Engadget’s liveblog, you probably noticed the Air and 17 Pro share quite a few similarities — many of the specs are identical, or nearly so. 

For starters, both run the new A19 Pro chip, giving each of them a performance edge over the non-Pro A19 in the baseline iPhone 17. And their screens, bodies and basic feature sets — high-refresh ProMotion screens, Apple Intelligence, scratch-resistant Ceramic Shield front and back, Camera Control button, MagSafe wireless charging — are all largely aligned, too. And there’s only a $100 delta in their price tags, with the iPhone Air starting at $999 and the iPhone 17 Pro at $1,099. 

But these two phones have two very different audiences. The Pro, as usual, is designed to be the no-compromise iPhone, while the Air is much more of a fashion statement. It’s the thinnest iPhone ever, and that comes with some notable compromises. 

To that end, let’s take a deep dive on the key areas where the newly introduced iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro diverge. (For more of today’s Apple releases, check out our hands-on with the new AirPods Pro 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11.)

Size and weight

The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest phone yet, at just 5.6mm thick. In comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro is 8.75mm thick — that’s more than 3mm thicker than the Air! I’m almost certain the Air would get lost between my couch cushions on day one. 

When it comes to the screen size, the iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch display, which is larger than the 17 Pro’s 6.3-inch screen. (If you want larger still, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a whopping 6.9 inches diagonally). But the screen tech uses the identical Super Retina XDR technology with all the same bells and whistles — ProMotion high refresh rate, P3 color gamut, True Tone. They should look pretty much identical. 

As for weight, the Air with its titanium casing tips the scales at just 5.82 ounces (165 grams), while the iPhone 17 Pro weighs 7.27 ounces (206 grams) with an aluminum chassis. That’s a tad more than the iPhone 16 Pro’s weight of 7.03 ounces (199 grams), probably due to the newer model’s larger battery.

If you decide to upgrade to the 17 Pro Max instead, it has a larger 6.9-inch display and weighs a whopping 8.22 ounces (233 grams).

But long story short, the Air’s superthin design and wispier weight is pretty much the reason you’re buying this phone.

Cameras

Here’s where the biggest differences lie: the cameras. While the iPhone 17 Pro has three rear 48MP cameras, the iPhone Air has just one (also 48MP, though it serves as two cameras in one). Here’s what they include:

iPhone 17 Pro rear cameras: The Pro boasts a triple array “Pro Fusion camera system,” where the three 48MP cameras combine to offer .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x optical zoom options. The Pro also offers macro photography, spatial photos and can shoot in ProRAW image mode. Video offerings are also full-tilt, with 4K Dolby Vision video recording up to 120fps, along with a litany of sophisticated options that will appeal to more serious video shooters (ProRES Raw, Genlock support, cinematic mode and more).

iPhone Air rear camera: By comparison, the Air has a single 48MP Fusion camera system that delivers only 2x optical zoom in addition to standard. That also means it lacks even the ultrawide (.5x) mode found in the baseline iPhone. Video recording is similarly limited to just half the Pro’s framerate, albeit still in 4K Dolby Vision.

Both phones have the new Center Stage 18MP front-facing “selfie” camera, which eliminates the need to rotate your phone to take a landscape photo. You instead just tap to expand the field of view. And when others join the photo, the camera automatically expands the view. And when you’re on a video call, the camera uses artificial intelligence to adjust the frame. They also both offer Dual Capture, so you can shoot from the front and back cameras simultaneously. 

Still, the camera compromises are arguably the Air’s biggest shortfall. Don’t get this phone if you like long zooms, ultrawide shots or top-notch video quality.

Battery life

Battery life ratings should always be taken with a grain of salt. That said, Apple claims the Air will deliver up to 27 hours of video playback and can get up to a 50% charge in 30 minutes. The good news is that basically matches the battery claims of last year’s iPhone 16 Pro. The bad news is that it falls well short of the new and improved battery specs on this year’s 17 Pro. That model is rated up to 33 hours of video playback and up to a 50% charge in just 20 minutes with a 40-watt charger. 

Apple

Now, unlike the cameras, there’s a workaround for the Air’s shorter battery life. Apple offers an add-on iPhone Air MagSafe battery which snaps on to the Air’s backside and gets you up to 40 hours of video playback. But it costs $99 and fattens up your superthin phone — doesn’t that kinda get you back to square one?

Price

The iPhone Air starts at $999, which matches the price at the 256GB tier of the iPhone Plus model it’s replacing (which just so happens to be my favorite). So that’s $100 more than the starting price of last year’s 128GB Plus, but with the storage doubled, I guess I can’t complain too much.

For 512GB, it’ll cost you $1,199; and if you splurge on 1TB, you’ll be paying $1,399. And the Air is available in four lighter color palettes.

On the other hand, the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 with 256GB, which is just $100 more. You can also choose 512GB for $1,299 or 1TB for $1,499. (The iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at $1,199 for 256GB and goes up to $1,999 for 2TB.) The Pro comes in only three colors, though the Cosmic Orange is unusually bold for the iPhone Pro line.

iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Pro: How to choose

As I suggested above, the iPhone Air is certainly eye-catching, but you really need to make sure you’re ready to accept those camera and battery compromises. The iPhone 17 Pro is much more of a “no compromise” choice, albeit one that’s less of a looker (depending on how you feel about that new “camera plateau” at the top). That said, remember you can always default to the baseline iPhone 17, which is arguably better than ever — and has some nice feature one-ups on the Air, to boot.

If I were choosing between the Air and the Pro, I know which one would be the clear winner for me — but I’ll leave that decision up to you because I’m holding out (and hopeful) for a foldable iPhone in 2026. In the meantime, you can check out Engadget’s initial hands-on impressions of the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and baseline iPhone 17, as well as our full reviews of those models coming in the near future. 

Full specs comparison

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/iphone-air-vs-iphone-17-pro-which-one-is-right-for-you-001538431.html?src=rss

An anonymous reader quotes a report from 404 Media: Employees at Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services received an email Tuesday morning with the subject line “AI Deployment,” which told them that ChatGPT would be rolled out for all employees at the agency. The deployment is being overseen by Clark Minor, a former Palantir employee who’s now Chief Information Officer at HHS. “Artificial intelligence is beginning to improve health care, business, and government,” the email, sent by deputy secretary Jim O’Neill and seen by 404 Media, begins. “Our department is committed to supporting and encouraging this transformation. In many offices around the world, the growing administrative burden of extensive emails and meetings can distract even highly motivated people from getting things done. We should all be vigilant against barriers that could slow our progress toward making America healthy again.”

“I’m excited to move us forward by making ChatGPT available to everyone in the Department effective immediately,” it adds. “Some operating divisions, such as FDA and ACF [Administration for Children and Families], have already benefitted from specific deployments of large language models to enhance their work, and now the rest of us can join them. This tool can help us promote rigorous science, radical transparency, and robust good health. As Secretary Kennedy said, ‘The AI revolution has arrived.'” […] The email says that the rollout was being led by Minor, who worked at the surveillance company Palantir from 2013 through 2024. It states Minor has “taken precautions to ensure that your work with AI is carried out in a high-security environment,” and that “you can input most internal data, including procurement sensitive data and routine non-sensitive personally identifiable information, with confidence.”

It then goes on to say that “ChatGPT is currently not approved for disclosure of sensitive personally identifiable information (such as SSNs and bank account numbers), classified information, export-controlled data, or confidential commercial information subject to the Trade Secrets Act.” The email does not distinguish what “non-sensitive personally identifiable information” is. HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from 404 Media. […] The agency has also said it plans to roll out AI through HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that will determine whether patients are eligible to receive certain treatments. These types of systems have been shown to be biased when they’ve been tried, and result in fewer patients getting the care they need.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Previously seen folding laundry, this is a video of a humanoid robot demonstrating its dexterity by autonomously loading a dishwasher. That’s cool, but I don’t really mind loading and unloading the dishwasher. The dishwasher really does all the heavy lifting as far as washing dishes is concerned. What I really want is a humanoid robot that goes to work and does my job and doesn’t complain and gets promotions and gives me all the money it earns while I happy hour all day. I’d join the waitlist for that robot.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian revealed the company has already made billions from AI by monetizing through consumption-based pricing, subscriptions, and upselling. “Our backlog is now at $106 billion — it is growing faster than our revenue,” said Kurian, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference in San Francisco. “More than 50% of it will convert to revenue over the next two years.” CNBC reports: Kurian said some people pay Google by consumption, giving the example of AI infrastructure purchased by enterprise customers. “Whether it’s a GPU, TPU or a model, you pay by token — meaning you pay by what you use,” he said. Tokens represent chunks of text that a AI models process when they generate or interpret language. Some people use customer service systems, paying for it by what Kurian called “deflection rates.” Such rates are priced based on the business value customers get — things like uptime, scalability, AI features and security. Google Cloud also provides tools like a “deflection dashboard,” that customers can use to track and manage agent interactions. Last month, Google won a $10 billion cloud contract from Meta spanning six years. Meta had largely been reliant on Amazon Web Services for cloud infrastructure, though it also uses Microsoft Azure.

Some customers pay for cloud services by way of subscriptions. “You pay per user per monthly fee — for example, agents or Workspace,” said Kurian, referring to the company’s Gemini products, which has its own subscription tiers with various storage options, and the Google Workspace productivity suite, which also has several subscription tiers. Google One, a popular personal cloud storage subscription, offers a basic monthly service to users for $1.99 a month. Earlier this year, the company offered a new subscription tier called “Google AI Ultra,” which offers exclusive access to the company’s most “cutting edge” AI products with 30 terabytes of storage for $249.99 per month. Kurian gave an example of Google Cloud’s cybersecurity subscription tiers, saying “we’ve seen huge growth in that.”

Kurian said that upselling is another key aspect of Google Cloud’s strategy. “We also upsell people as they use more of it from one version to another because we have higher quality models and higher-priced tiers,” Kurian said. He said that once customers use Google’s AI services, they wind up using more of the company’s products. “That leads customers who sign a commitment or contract to spend more than they contacted for, which drives more revenue growth,” he added. Kurian says it is capturing new customers more quickly too. “We’ve seen 28% sequential quarter-over-quarter growth in new customer wins in the first half of the year,” said Kurian, adding that nearly two-thirds of customers already use Google Cloud’s AI tools in a meaningful way. “Selling to existing customers is always easier than selling to new customers, so it helps us improve the cost of sales,” Kurian said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple’s most famous chips are the A- and M-series processors that power its iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but this year, its effort to build its own wireless chips is starting to bear fruit. Earlier this spring, the iPhone 16e included Apple’s C1 modem, furthering Apple’s ambitions to shed its dependence on Qualcomm, and today’s iPhone Air brought a faster Apple C1X variant, plus something new: the Apple N1, a chip that provides Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support for all of today’s new iPhones.

Apple didn’t dive deep into the capabilities of the N1, or why it had switched from using third-party suppliers (historically, Apple has mostly leaned on Broadcom for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth). However, the company’s press releases say that it should make Continuity features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop more reliable—these features use Bluetooth for initial communication and then Wi-Fi to establish a high-speed local link between two devices. Other features that use a similar combination of wireless technologies, like using an iPad as an extended Mac display, should also benefit.

These aren’t Apple’s first chips to integrate Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology. The Apple Watches rely on W-series chips to provide their Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity; the Apple H1 and H2 chips also provide Bluetooth connectivity for many of Apple’s wireless headphones. But this is the first time that Apple has switched to its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip in one of its iPhones, suggesting that the chips have matured enough to provide higher connectivity speeds for more demanding devices.

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The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress shows U.S. high school seniors’ math and reading scores at their lowest in decades, with nearly half failing to reach basic proficiency in math and one-third below basic in reading. The Associated Press reports: A decade-long slide in high schoolers’ reading and math performance persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 12th graders’ scores dropping to their lowest level in more than 20 years, according to results released Tuesday from an exam known as the nation’s report card. Eighth-grade students also lost significant ground in science skills, according to the results from the National Assessment of Education Progress.

The assessments were the first since the pandemic for eighth graders in science and 12th graders in reading and math. They reflect a downward drift across grade levels and subject areas in previous releases from NAEP, which is considered one of the best gauges of the academic progress of U.S. schools. “Scores for our lowest-performing students are at historic lows,” said Matthew Soldner, the acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics. “These results should galvanize all of us to take concerted and focused action to accelerate student learning.” […]

In reading, the average score in 2024 was the lowest score in the history of the assessment, which began in 1992. Thirty-two percent of high school seniors scored below “basic,” meaning they were not able to find details in a text to help them understand its meaning. In math, the average score in 2024 was the lowest since 2005, when the assessment framework changed significantly. On the test, 45% of high school seniors scored below “basic” achievement, the highest percentage since 2005. Only 33% of high school seniors were considered academically prepared for college-level math courses, a decline from 37% in 2019.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Reddit has addressed a problem where the description of subreddits originally written by moderators appeared differently—and, often, inaccurately—on Reddit’s Android app. For weeks, the problem was largely suspected to be caused by Reddit clumsily using generative AI to create new subreddit descriptions. However, Reddit says that the changes were the fault of a bug tied to its AI-powered translation technology.

Reports of subreddits suddenly having inaccurate summaries when viewed on Reddit’s Android app started surfacing on Reddit a couple of weeks ago. On August 29, a moderator reported on the r/ModSupport subreddit for moderators that the r/ThronesAndDominions subreddit’s description changed from “The wayward adventures of Dylan Carlson and the band Earth” to “The crazy adventures of Dylan Carlson and the band Earth.” The problem got more attention when r/actuallesbians’ Android app description described the community as “a place for straight and transgender lesbians …” instead of “a place for cis and trans lesbians …”

Other complaints followed, including from r/autisticparents, a subreddit for parents with autism whose description was changed to say that it is a group for “parents of autistic children.” A moderator who asked to be referred to by their Reddit username, Paige_Railstone, described the confusion that the changes brought to their subreddit:

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You may have missed it during the high-profile launch of the iPhone 17, but Apple has extended the free trial of its satellite services for the iPhone 14 and 15. The satellite features include Emergency SOS via satellite, which lets you connect to emergency services when you have no mobile or wifi coverage. This feature can also automatically contact emergency services in case your Apple Watch detects a hard fall or a vehicle crash.

Initially launched with the iPhone 14, this feature is offered for free for up to two years with a new iPhone. During the September 2025 iPhone event, Apple announced that it’s extending satellite features for one more year for people who have iPhone 14 and iPhone 15. The announcement only excludes the iPhone 16 because it’s only been one year since its launch, and the service is available for free for at least two years.

As long as you activated your iPhone 14 or 15 in a country that supports Apple’s satellite features before 12 a.m. PT on September 9, 2025, you can use those features for free for another year. At the moment, satellite features for iPhones are available in the following regions:

• United States

• Canada

• France

• Germany

• Ireland

• United Kingdom

• Australia

• Austria

• Belgium

• Italy

• Luxembourg

• Netherlands

• New Zealand

• Portugal

• Spain

• Switzerland

• Japan 

At the time of writing, Apple hasn’t revealed any pricing details for satellite features after this free trial expires. If your iPhone was purchased outside the regions mentioned above, you may still be able to use satellite features if you visit any of the countries where they are available. However, iPhones purchased in Armenia, Belarus, China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia do not have satellite connectivity features at all. 

While the focus of satellite messaging largely remains on contacting emergency services, you can also use these features to text anyone when you have no cell service. If you’re wondering how to use your iPhone’s satellite features, you can check out Lifehacker’s guide to using Emergency SOS via satellite.

There’s a lot to like about the new iPhone lineup: new selfie cameras, a new unibody frame and a even a super-thin iPhone, if that’s your thing. All of the new phones share one important upgrade you might have missed during Apple’s 72-minute livestream, though: they all start at 256GB of storage.

For the first time in four years, Apple raised the base-level storage on its entire iPhone lineup. Since the iPhone 13, Apple’s phones have started at 128GB for the cheapest configuration. Now, the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and iPhone Air will start with double that capacity.

It’s about time.

While 128GB may sound like a decent amount of storage, it hasn’t made sense as a base amount of storage for some time, particularly for Pro-level phones, which have much more powerful cameras. Apple has seemingly understood this for a while: for the last two years (when the iPhone 15 lineup launched), the Pro Max versions have started at 256GB. But there’s absolutely no reason that only people buying the most expensive iPhone should get a storage bump.

Because I write about tech, my friends and family often ask me for help “fixing” various problems with their phones. (I spend most of my time reporting on the social media industry, so usually this involves me just Googling their specific issue and muddling through.) I’ve lost track of the times friends have asked me for help fixing things that boil down to the fact that they simply don’t have enough storage left on their phone. And, almost every time, they only have the minimum 128GB of storage that’s come standard since the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 line.

But no one wants to hear: “you don’t have enough storage, you need to delete stuff.” One of my friends recently vowed to never buy the cheapest iPhone again, after I explained that paying for extra iCloud wouldn’t address her issues around local storage.

But if you can afford it, paying for a storage upgrade is still worth it. Yes, paying the $200 extra for 512GB for $400 more for 1TB on the Pro series (which now maxes out at $1999 for 2TB) stings. It makes an already-expensive phone feel like an even bigger investment. But as someone who shelled out for a 512GB iPhone 14 Pro three years ago, I have no regrets about paying that extra premium.

I’m currently using about 295GB of my allotted storage and have never once had to think about whether I need to clear out my downloaded media or if I have enough storage to shoot photos of my nephew in ProRAW Max or record cinematic videos on vacation. I plan on keeping this phone at least another year and I expect I’ll still have plenty of storage left by the time I do decide to upgrade (extra storage also helps a bit with resale or trade-in value). 

But, if you just can’t bring yourself to pay extra for more capacity — and I get it, I really do — jumping from 128GB to 256GB will still be a meaningful bump. You might not notice it right away, but it should give most people a lot of extra time before they start seeing those dreaded “storage almost full” pop-ups.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/all-of-the-new-iphones-start-with-256gb-of-storage-finally-222415353.html?src=rss

Earlier this year, I typed up an open letter to Apple, giving the company my unsolicited (but completely free of charge!) suggestions on what it could do to improve its entry-level smartwatch, the Apple Watch SE. Now that the iPhone event has concluded I wanted to see if anyone over in Cupertino took my advice. 

I asked for a bigger screen, a faster processor and faster charging. I said flashier materials weren’t necessary, nor was an always-on display. I also didn’t think the watch needed to have every last health sensor. But on-board Siri would be nice. The Apple Watch SE 3 has some of what I asked for, but not everything. Still, at the same $250, this is looking like a pretty tempting budget smartwatch.

The screen is still small but the processor is top of the line

I compared the display on the SE Gen 2 to my old Apple Watch Series 4 and they were about the same size. It’s usable, but after wearing the Series 10, or even the Series 9 for a while, the screen feels dinky. Down to the pixel, the size on the SE 3 is the exact same on the Apple Watch SE gen 2, with a 759 square millimeter display area. Sigh. 

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

But! The same S10 chip that’s going into the new Series 11 will ship inside the Apple Watch SE 3, too. That means the budget smartwatch will be able to handle watchOS 26 features like Workout Buddy and Live Translation, just like its pricier siblings (an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone still needs to be nearby, as it does with the other wearables). 

That new chip will also enable the useful double tap gesture as well as the new wrist flick move that dismisses notifications — something I find surprisingly useful as an inveterate notification-clearer. You also get on-board processing of Siri requests. No more excessive tapping just to start a timer. Both the gesture and Siri support are things I’d hoped a new SE would have. So, yay!

Apple

AOD isn’t critical, but faster charging is

In my experience with smartwatches, an always-on-display is a nice to have, but not crucial if the screen lights up quickly enough when I lift my wrist. But Apple went ahead and added the feature. So that’s a bonus. 

I also said we could do without a brighter screen, and Apple agreed. Like the SE Gen 2, the SE 3 has a maximum brightness of 1000 nits — that’s plenty. I can easily read the time and other pertinent info in bright sunlight on such a screen, and feel no need for the extra blaze of the Series 11’s 2000 nits. 

The most critical ask was faster charging. The SE Gen 2 charged… so… slowly… It took over two hours to juice up. Which, for me, made it completely unusable as a sleep tracker, since I couldn’t recharge it while I got ready for the day (something I could do with every other recent smartwatch I’ve tested). Thankfully, Apple fixed the problem. The SE 3 can go for 8 hours after just 15 minutes on the charger. Hallelujah. 

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Sensors, case materials and the rest

The big news for the flagship Series 11 watch was a feature that can detect hypertension. The Apple Watch SE 3 can’t do that. Nor does it have the sensors for the ECG app. As I said in my letter, it’s OK if my watch isn’t a doctor’s office. The SE 3 can track your heart rate during workouts and can deliver the new sleep score if you wear it to bed. Plus Apple added temperature sensors that can help with ovulation predictions and the like. That’s more than enough health data gathering for a budget smartwatch. 

While there was talk of a plastic version of the SE, that didn’t happen. Instead, the SE 3 is made from an aluminum alloy, just like the base model Series 11 — similar durability is a nice consideration for any budget model. 

And it’s still just $250! When the Apple Watch SE Gen 2 came out back in 2022, Engadget’s Cherlynn Low called it “the best smartwatch $250 can buy.” With all the improvements Apple has added, that praise may now be an understatement. 

So maybe the Apple folk didn’t read my letter. But enough good stuff came to be that I’ll pretend they did. It’s always nice to feel heard.  

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-acquiesced-to-my-apple-watch-se-3-demands-mostly-220726287.html?src=rss

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to many Apple fans to learn that Apple announced two new Pro iPhones at its “Awe Dropping” event today. Like previous iPhone series, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max offer the best specs and the most features you can get in an Apple phone right now, including the new pro camera system. But there’s something new about this year’s Pro series that isn’t a perk. In fact, for many, it’s going to be a bit of a bummer: It’ll likely cost you more to buy a Pro iPhone this year.

Ever since Apple launched the iPhone X in 2017, the company has priced its premium smartphone starting at $999. The iPhone XS, the iPhone 11 Pro, and so on have all started at a grand. No longer. The iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max starts at a whopping $1,199. It seems the new iPhone Air, Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever, now takes that $999 price point.

Here’s the full pricing breakdown for the Pros, determined by storage size:

• iPhone 17 Pro (256GB): $1,099

• iPhone 17 Pro (512GB): $1,299

• iPhone 17 Pro (1TB): $1,499

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (256GB): $1,199

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (512GB): $1,399

• iPhone 17 Pro Max (1TB): $1,599

• iPhone 17 Pro Max: (2TB): $1,999

Let’s put aside the fact that Apple will sell you an iPhone for $2,000, if you want one. $1,100 itself is a lot for a smartphone, especially when there are so many options on the market that are far less expensive. Apple knows this, of course. During the event, the company made a point to highlight the entire current iPhone lineup, which now starts with the iPhone 16e at $599. If all you want is an iPhone that does the things you expect an iPhone to do—take photos, send iMessages, place FaceTime calls—you might consider looking there. If you want the Pro perks, though, it’s going to cost you at least nearly double that, and more than you might have expected last year.

Raising prices by taking away choice

However, looks are a bit deceiving here. It’s not that Apple is raising prices on the iPhones themselves. If you wanted an iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB yesterday, that would have cost you $1,099, too. The same logic goes for the pricing on the 512GB version, or the 256GB model of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. These prices, with respect to storage, match between iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro lines. Only two things are new here: The iPhone 17 Pro Max has a 2TB option, and the 128GB variants are now missing.

That’s really the issue at hand: Apple is bumping up the base storage of its iPhones this year, without adjusting the prices. It’s not a decision without reason: 128GB doesn’t last long, especially on a Pro iPhone with three 48MP cameras. But now, that $999 option is gone. It might not cost any more to get a 256GB Pro iPhone this year than it cost last year, but it does cost more to pick up a Pro iPhone overall. $100 more, to be exact.

When I first saw the news that the iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099, I assumed the Trump administration’s tariffs were to blame. After all, the tariffs have already caused companies to raise prices to compensate for the increased import duties. It really seemed like only a matter of time before Apple decided to make its products more expensive. This pricing decision could still very well be a result of those tariffs, as Apple could have made the 256GB iPhone 17 Pro $999 if it wanted to. But price increases could certainly be worse. In addition to leaving the cost of storage sizes the same, the company did not adjust the pricing of other products, including AirPods Pro 3 ($249), Apple Watch Series 11 ($399), Apple Watch SE ($249), Apple Watch Ultra 3 ($799), and iPhone 17 ($799).

If you’re someone who always buys additional iPhone storage, these prices won’t phase you. But for the customers who stick with the base models of Apple’s Pro phones, the iPhone 17 Pro is going to be more expensive than ever.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom’s Hardware: Intel has removed its chief executive officer of products, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, as part of a major shake-up of the executive branch of the embattled chip firm, according to Reuters. This is part of new CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s plan to reshape the company under his leadership, flattening the leadership structure so he makes more of the important decisions about day-to-day operation. […] Holthaus is the latest high-profile figure at Intel to get the axe, ending a 30-year career at Intel, but a mere 10 months in her CEO of products role, and a temporary position as co-CEO after the previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, suddenly left in 2024. “Throughout her incredible career, Michelle has transformed major businesses, built high-performing teams and worked to delight our customers,” Tan said in a statement. “She has made a lasting impact on our company and inspired so many of us with her leadership. We are grateful for all Michelle has given Intel and wish her the best.”

Intel has said Holthaus will remain with the company in an advisory role, but her position will not be filled by anyone else. What Intel is doing, though, is bringing in executives from elsewhere, including one who worked at Tan’s previous endeavour, Cadence. Srinivasan Iyengar joined the company in June and will take on the role of head of a new central engineering division. This group will focus on developing a new custom silicon business for external customers. Although Intel’s fabrication business has been one of its worst-performing in recent years, and there are still talks of it selling large portions of it, it’s found a new lease of life following U.S. government investment and Bu Tan’s leadership. With Iyengar’s new role, though, it’s possible we’ll see Intel designing chips for customers, rather than merely producing them. That could see it compete against the likes of Broadcom and Marvell. With Tan pushing for a faster, leaner business overall, Iyengar will report directly to him in his new role. Intel also announced that it had acquired the services of former executive vice president of solutions engineering at Arm, Kevork Kechichian. He’ll begin heading Intel’s datacenter group, and brings years of experience at ARM, NXP Semiconductor, and Qualcomm.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple’s “Awe Dropping” iPhone event today went big on hardware, debuting new AirPods Pro and Apple Watch models, as well as the entire iPhone 17 line. But despite a few token mentions while discussing chips, the event hardly touched on AI.

That’s a big change of pace after last year’s iPhone 16 reveal, which focused heavily on the launch of Apple Intelligence. Does this mean that Apple’s still lagging behind on AI, or is Apple actually ahead of the curve by downplaying the tech industry’s latest trend?

Just a touch of AI

With one specific exception, Apple didn’t announce any new Apple Intelligence features during today’s event. Given the company continues to lag behind on bringing general AI to Siri—something it promised an entire phone generation ago, but still hasn’t made good on—that might not actually be all that surprising.

Instead, AI was largely kept to the periphery of today’s event. There was some discussion of using Siri to look up information about Apple products (functionality that is already available), and Workout Buddy, an AI-powered health helper that’s already been announced and is set to launch with watchOS 26. Otherwise, AI was largely used only to puff up the new A19 and A19 Pro chips, which do have improved neural engines, supposedly for use with a finalized Apple Intelligence. 

As for when we’ll actually see anything of the sort, it’s still unclear. The biggest nod to AI during today’s conference came early on, when Apple noted that you’ll be able to use its live translation features to have a multilingual discussion using the AirPods Pro 3. But even this feature seems to be built on top of Apple’s existing translation AI, even if the AirPods Pro 3 version does come with a unique translation activation gesture, and seems to be a bit more seamless. 

Mum’s the word on the everyday Apple Intelligence integration everyone’s still waiting for, however, including that more contextually aware voice assistant. Yes, the company’s new hardware seems powerful enough for AI, but on the software side of things, you’d be excused for assuming Apple has left the race.

Has Apple given up on Apple Intelligence?

Despite making a big deal of AI during the iPhone 16 launch, most of Apple’s AI features to date have been fairly low key, letting you use its models to generate new emoji or, embarrassingly, forward questions to ChatGPT. There’s little in the way of integrating AI into everyday use, as Google has done with Gemini on Android. And the features that are present haven’t always been glowingly received—the company actually had to kill its AI notification summaries for news apps after they continually misrepresented headlines.

Today’s event presented an opportunity to give Apple users some confidence in the company’s AI efforts, especially with competitors already introducing seemingly impressive features like real-time phone call translation, complete with voice cloning. Leaving AI largely unmentioned makes it feel like Apple would rather we all forget about what it said the iPhone 16 would do, even as it tries to sell us on its successor.

Is the company still working on actually utilizing those impressive new neural engines, or is it just quietly hoping to put that whole Apple Intelligence thing behind it?

What’s going on behind the scenes?

Supposedly, Apple Intelligence is still in active development, but timelines for actually shipping any software are still unclear, which probably goes a long way toward explaining its absence during today’s event. According to a report this summer from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company was late to the ball with investing in AI, not believing it was ready for market until ChatGPT’s launch in 2022. Since then, it’s tried to catch up, but things don’t seem to be going well.

Basically, while Siri makes the most sense as the chief way you’d access Apple’s AI, the truth is that it already handles a number of more basic tasks, like reminders and alarms. According to Gurman, Siri’s AI actually works decently well on its own, but the company is having trouble integrating it with the more bread-and-butter classic Siri. And (rightly so, in this reporter’s opinion), it’s hesitant to release an AI-powered version if that means breaking existing features.

That didn’t stop the company’s marketing arm from going forward with advertisements last year, though, which has left it in a bit of an awkward position. Gurman says Siri’s AI upgrade has now been delayed “indefinitely.”

Does that mean Apple really has given up on Apple Intelligence (or at least for all but the most minor features)? Well, it’s still building AI hardware into its phones, so the company’s certainly doing some future-proofing. But the truth is, it’s probably a lot less sure about what’s to come than it used to be.

The limits of AI

If you can’t beat it, kill it: Shortly after Gurman’s report this June, Apple’s own researchers published a study criticizing its AI competition. The paper accused advanced “large reasoning models” from companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, which attempt to take on complex problems by breaking them down into more manageable steps, of suffering from “complete accuracy collapse” when presented with sufficiently difficult problems. 

On the surface, that sounds understandable: We can’t expect perfection from AI just yet. But the idea proposed a limit on what AI could do. The paper argued that less powerful, more traditional large language models performed better on low complexity tasks, which raises the question: if the most advanced AI models right now can’t handle the difficult stuff, and are worse on the simple stuff, what use are they at all?

In other words, it’s possible that the tech industry as a whole doesn’t know where to take AI right now, since its current best efforts don’t seem to be capable of reliably accomplishing what they’ve been built to do.

Apple’s study followed a similar one that also questioned those less-advanced models, saying they simply rely on “sophisticated pattern matching.” So while they might be better than the reasoning models on simple tasks, the limits of their uses remain unclear.

With this in mind, it would make sense if Apple decided to back off on Apple Intelligence for now. While other companies are certainly ahead of Apple in the AI race as it currently exists, if the iPhone maker is right, the likes of Google and Samsung might soon find themselves running into diminishing returns. It’s hardly the first time someone has warned of the potential collapse of the AI bubble.

Which leads into what’s probably the biggest reason Apple avoided AI during its presentation: It didn’t need it.

Do people even want AI in their devices?

Apple’s iPhone 17 event stands in stark contrast to Google’s Made by Google event from late August. Where Apple’s keynote went deep into hardware specs, Google’s glossed over those details. And where Apple largely ignored AI, Google’s put it center stage.

There’s no doubt about it: The Pixel 10 line’s AI is certainly more advanced than the iPhone 17’s. It can use AI to touch up a photo that’s been zoomed in over 100 times, and there’s that voice cloning translation I brought up earlier. But there are caveats to consider.

Frankly, when I actually got my hands on the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro, the AI, while more fleshed-out than Apple Intelligence, still felt like a novelty. The 100x zoom warps your photos and gives you scenes that look like they’re from an alternate universe, and the voice translation during phone calls requires the person you’re calling to be on the same model of phone as you, which highly limits its usefulness. I ended up caring more about the same old, same old when it comes to phones: battery life, the thickness of the device, how hot it gets under a heavy load, and how good the cameras are.

I’d wager I’m not alone. And as such, it was actually refreshing to see Apple focus more on the bread-and-butter specs of their devices, rather than flashy AI features I’m likely to only use once or twice. The competition is better at Apple than AI right now, yes, but if the company’s research is anything to go on, it seems like Cupertino might be betting on the fact that AI may have run its course, both in how much even the best the tech can do, and in how much people care about it.

The future of Apple Intelligence

So, is Apple Intelligence cancelled? It probably depends on how consumers respond to the iPhone 17 versus its more AI-centric competition. If Apple can continue to sell its phones just as well without pouring millions into developing AI features it’s already behind on, then yes, I could see it quietly letting most of its AI programs die, while hoping we all forget about what it said the iPhone 16 would be able to do. It wouldn’t be the first time the company has announced a product only to abandon it shortly thereafter.

But the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Right now, Apple does rely on ChatGPT integration to help make up for its AI-deprived Siri. In continuing to build its phones with powerful neural engines, it’s enabling them to keep working with third-party tools as they continue to develop. Your iPhone will probably still have AI functionality in the future, but I wouldn’t bet on it getting significant new Apple-driven AI support anytime soon. Apple Intelligence will likely soldier on, but don’t be surprised if it’s a lot more modest and integrated with tech from other companies going forward.