A small number of Apple's iPhone 15 models manufactured in India could be available on launch day for the first time, according to a report from Bloomberg. Apple has built iPhones in India since 2017, but it has typically taken up to a year to ramp up production. This time, a small number built in India could go on sale immediately in that nation and some other regions. 

It's been known for a while now that Apple contractor Foxconn would manufacture more iPhone 15 models than before at a facility in Tamil Nadu, India. It's part of Apple's plan to diversify manufacturing in the face of supply chain risks due to tensions between the US and China. The number of units available on launch day from India will reportedly depend on the availability of components manufactured elsewhere and Foxconn's ability to ramp up production. 

Apple has only built a fraction of its iPhones in India, and production has typically lagged behind China by six to nine months. That changed with the iPhone 14, as Foxconn (and another manufacturer, Pegatron) were able to start manufacturing in India within the same month of the official release. Apple intends to eventually shift 25 percent of its production to the nation. 

Recent conflicts between the US and China haven't impacted Apple much, likely because Foxconn and other suppliers in the nation employee millions of people. It also has followed China's laws, removing thousands of illegal apps like VPNs. However, recent actions in the country to ban iPhones and other foreign devices for government officials have left the company more vulnerable than usual. Apple also sells a large number of phones in China, accounting for about 19 percent of its total revenue.

Apple is set to release the iPhone 15 today at its Cupertino HQ, reportedly with thinner bezels, a titanium frame, USB-C charging and more. We're also likely to see updated watches and Airpods, along with its latest iOS 17, watchOS 10 and iPadOS 17 operating systems. 

As part of Samsung's fall sale event, you can get a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 for as little as $100 with a new phone purchase. The phones eligible for this bundle deal include the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.

The Watch 6, which debuted in August at a starting price of $300, is effectively getting a $200 price drop in this deal. That might be compelling if you already need a new phone and are on the fence about a smartwatch.

The exact savings you can get with a purchase will vary depending on the size of the watch and if you choose a Bluetooth or LTE model. The basic 40mm size with Bluetooth connectivity will run $100 as part of the bundle, while upgrading to 44mm will cost $110, down from $330. On the LTE side of things, the 40mm and 44mm varieties go for $120 and $130, respectively. That top-spec version technically shaves $250 off the retail price, so spend a little more, save a little more.

For those that don’t need a watch, you can alternatively get the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro for $130 off with your purchase. The Buds 2 Pro, which comes in white, purple, or graphite, normally sells for $230 but can now be purchased for $50 with a phone. However, if both a smartwatch and a new pair of wireless earbuds don't tickle your fancy, you can add a Galaxy Tab S9 to your Android collection instead. You can save up to $230 on the 256 GB beige tablet. It originally goes for $920, but with this deal will only cost $690, but only if you get the Galaxy S 23 Ultra.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Apple’s iPhone 15 event is upon us, as we say goodbye to the old and hello to the new. You can watch the stream right here and marvel at the spate of announcements beamed live from Cupertino. The keynote, subtitled “Wonderlust”, begins promptly at 1 PM ET, or 10 AM in the sunny environs of Apple’s California’s campus. As always, we’ll also have in depth coverage on each announcement as they happen.

So what’s the company planning on unveiling? It’s a September keynote, typically referred to as the fall iPhone event, so the iPhone 15 will almost certainly take center stage. You can expect the typical offerings, with a standard iPhone 15, an iPhone 15 Plus, a high-end iPhone 15 Pro and the even higher-end iPhone 15 Pro Max (which might get rebranded to iPhone 15 Ultra.)

As for specs, leaks indicate that the iPhone 15 will kick off the USB-C era, finally eschewing the proprietary Lightning port. This move comes after European regulations forced Apple to adopt a more universal port standard. Since the company must comply to satisfy EU standards, the rest of the world will likely also reap the benefits of going with USB-C. Screen size should remain static and the top-tier models will likely still boast the company’s ProMotion, its rebranding of a 120Hz variable refresh rate display. All four models are rumored to get the Dynamic Island feature that launched with the high-end iPhone 14 options.

The iPhone 15 should get most of the attention here, but this is an Apple event, so expect the unexpected. New Apple Watch editions typically accompany iPhone releases, so look out for Apple Watch Series 9 and a refresh of the Apple Watch Ultra. Rumors swirl that the forthcoming smartwatches will feature a brand-new processor, the first major CPU upgrade since 2020.

AirPods are likely to get an unexciting refresh, with a switch from Lightning to USB-C being the standout feature. Software suites should also get some attention, including iOS 17, watchOS 10 and, potentially, iPadOS 17. It’s likely that macOS Sonoma will get more details and a concrete release date.

Finally, the uber-expensive and uber-cool Apple Vision Pro is set to launch early next year, so the keynote will likely show off some new features or software in development for the mixed-reality headset. Keep this page open and ready to go for the stream.

On the eve of Apple's big fall iPhone event, Qualcomm announced it will continue to provide the company with 5G smartphone modems through 2026. It’s an indication that while Apple has successfully scaled up its chipset manufacturing efforts and ended its reliance on Intel, the company hasn’t been able to do the same with 5G radios as yet.

However, it seems Qualcomm believes Apple will eventually be able to manufacture its own 5G radios at enough scale. Qualcomm only expects to supply around 20 percent of the components Apple will need for its 2026 iPhones.

It’s been clear for a while that Apple intends to build its own modems and bring more of the iPhone supply chain in house. It bought Intel’s mobile modem business for $1 billion four years ago, getting its hands on useful patents and knowledgeable staff in the process, as The Wall Street Journal notes. However, any plan to manufacture its own smartphone modems at scale evidently hasn’t come to pass yet.

The latest arrangement has no bearing on a patent license agreement between the companies that’s been in effect since 2019. That pact has a six-year term with the option to extend it by two years. The latest accord between the two sides has likely been in the works for some time, given that new iPhones with Qualcomm modems will be hitting shelves in the coming days.

The latest WhatsApp beta contains a new screen called Third-party chats that may allow it to work with other messaging apps, WaBetaInfo has reported. While the page is blank, its presence could signal that WhatsApp is getting such a feature ready in order to comply with the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). 

In July, the EU announced that seven tech giant "gatekeepers" with over $7.5 billion in turnover — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok owner ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft and Samsung — must comply with all of the EU's new digital market rules. A key tenet of the DMA is that gatekeepers are prohibited from favoring their own services and must allow interoperability with third parties. Last week, the EU Commission designated key apps subject to the rules, including Meta's messaging apps, WhatsApp and Messenger. 

That means Meta must make WhatsApp work with other third-party messaging apps like Signal and Telegram starting in March 2024. That will allow users of those apps to contact people on WhatsApp, even if they don't have a WhatsApp account — though WhatsApp users will supposedly be able to opt out. There's no news yet about what kind of features will be available with cross-messaging, though end-to-end encryption will supposedly be preserved, according to WaBetaInfo. 

Apple's iMessage app isn't (yet) one of 22 key services mentioned under the DMA, so Google's dream of having Apple support RCS messaging may not happen soon. However, the App Store will be impacted. Apple is reportedly set to allow third-party app stores and sideloading in iOS 17, and both Microsoft and Epic Games are preparing their own stores for iOS mobile apps. We're likely to learn more about that tomorrow evening (September 12th) at Apple's iPhone 15 event, when it will take the wraps off of iOS 17.  

Labor Day sales have ended, Amazon's next Prime-related sale isn't until October and Apple won't announce new products (and likely discount older ones) until next week. In this in-between time, there are still a few worthy deals out there for those looking to save some coin on new tech. Some of our recommended Anker hubs and chargers are seeing up to 50 percent discounts while KitchenAid stand mixers are hitting the lowest prices we've seen this year. Disney+ Basic plans are just $2 for the next three months and Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Max is 51 percent off. Apple's AirPods Pro and the 15-inch MacBook Air have both returned to their all-time lows and Samsung's still-brand-new Galaxy Z Fold 5 is $300 off. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.

Disney+ Basic

If you cancelled your Disney+ streaming service, or have yet to give it a go, you can get the Basic plan for $2 per month for three months. The deal runs though September 20 and only applies to subscribers in the US. Basic is the company's ad-supported tier, typically $8 a month, which means you'll save a total of $18 over the course of the promo. The deal comes just as Disney prepares to raise the prices of its ad-free subscriptions, with Disney+ Premium jumping by $3 to $14 monthly on October 12th. Hulu's ad-free plan will also go up by $3 per month to $18. If you want both ad-free services, you can opt for the new Duo Premium, a bundle that combines both top-tier plans into a single $20-per-month package.  

Apple AirPods Pro

Apple's AirPods Pro are back on sale for $199 at Amazon and Walmart. That matches the lowest price we've seen for these yet and both retailers have offered this deal quite a few times lately. That could have something to do with Apple's upcoming iPhone event next week, during which we anticipate the announcement of AirPods Pro with USB-C charging cases, instead of Lightning. The charging port may be the only difference, but if you want to wait until the 12th to make your decision, that's understandable. In any event, we think the current generation of the AirPods Pro are the best companion for iPhone users and gave the buds a solid 88 in our review when they came out last September.  

Anker sale

As part of a larger Anker sale at Amazon, the 332 USB-C Hub is nearly half price, down to $18 instead of the $35 list price. There's even a clickable $2 coupon that'll make it even cheaper. It has an HDMI port that'll output 4K video at a 30Hz refresh rate, two data-and-power USB-C ports and two USB-A ports. It taps into the host with a built-in USB-C cable and can support pass-through charging to deliver up to 85 watts to your laptop as you use it. 

Also on sale is the Anker 313 Wireless Charging Stand, which we like as a budget option in our wireless charging guide. Its list price is $20, but the sale brings it to just over $15. Keep in mind it doesn't come with a power adapter brick and tops out at 10W for Android phones and 5W for iPhones. But you aren't likely to find a reliable stand-and-charger combo for less. One last device to note is Anker's USB-C Nano II 735 Charger, which is 15 percent off for the sale. After some extensive testing, we named this the best 65W charger you can buy. It's got three ports, a compact size and performed admirably when juicing up smartphones, laptops and a gaming handheld. 

Samsung monitor sale

One of our favorite monitors under $200, Samsung's T35F, is on sale right now as part of larger Samsung monitor sales at both Amazon and B&H Photo. The T35F is down to $129 at Amazon and $130 at B&H Photo, which is within a dollar of the all-time low price we've tracked. The 27-inch, 1080p display is ideal for work and light gaming, with a 75Hz refresh rate and an IPS panel that gives better color accuracy, picture quality and viewing angles than cheaper panel types.   

Kitchen Aid sale

A few different KitchenAid appliances are on sale at Amazon this week, including our top pick for a cordless immersion blender, the KitchenAid Cordless Variable Speed Hand Blender. It's now $80 as opposed to its typical $100. The stick is easy to use, has a built-in safety switch and instead of discrete speed settings, the 180-watt motor adjusts with a squeeze of the trigger. 

If you've been thinking about a new stand mixer, today might be the time to buy as most colors of KitchenAid's Artisan series tilt-head Stand Mixers are seeing some sort of discount, putting many at the $380 mark, which is the lowest price we've seen so far this year. This particular mixer is one of the gadgets we recommend in out kitchen tech guide because it's durable, powerful and works with a huge array of attachments. Plus it looks pretty stylish on a countertop. The mixers are also on sale directly from KitchenAid. 

Xbox Wireless Controllers

If you worry you might wear out your gamepad playing Starfield, now might be a good time to pick up a spare. The Xbox Wireless Controller is down to $45 at Microsoft right now. That's a dollar more than they went for two weeks ago at Walmart and Amazon, and about $6 more than the all-time low during last year's Black Friday sales. Its a comfortable enough controller, with a dedicated share button and connectivity that's fairly speedy with Xboxes, Windows PCs and Android devices. It uses AA batteries instead of a rechargeable battery pack, though you can buy one separately for $25. 

If you want a rechargeable gamepad and lots of extra features, check out Microsoft's Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, which is down to $140 at the Xbox site and at Amazon. That's just $2 more than its all-time low. It features adjustable-tension joysticks, a charging dock, four swappable paddles and extra thumbsticks.  

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

Saumsung's new foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is currently $300 off at Amazon, bringing it down to $1,500 instead of $1,800. That's certainly not cheap but still a pretty early discount, as the phone only came out last month. In his Engadget review, Sam Rutherford questions whether Samsung is squandering its head start in the foldable space, with a phone that's not terribly different from its predecessor. But Sam nevertheless appreciated one of the more noticeable upgrades, the Flex Hinge, which creates a much thinner profile when the phone is folded, helping the phone to fit better in your hand and open more smoothly than before. You also get a brighter screen, improved battery life and better performance that makes game graphics look "downright silky."

Samsung's other new foldable, the smaller Galaxy Z Flip 5 is also on sale, but only in the higher-capacity 512GB size. That phone is down to $920 instead of the $1,120 list price. It's our current favorite foldable for multitasking in our smartphone guide and it earned an 88 in our review. 

Apple Watch Series 8

The Apple Watch Series 8 is on sale at Amazon again, down to $310 for the 41mm model in Midnight and (Product)Red colorways. That's not quite the rock-bottom $280 the smartwatch sold for during Prime Day in July, but it's the lowest price we've tracked outside of that sale. The Series 8 is our current favorite smartwatch overall because it combines a slew of helpful health and fitness tools with useful apps, customizable features and, naturally, excellent integration with your iPhone. Of course, the sale may be in response to Apple's upcoming iPhone event, in which we expect the company to announce at least two new Apple Watches. 

Apple 15-inch MacBook Air M2

The 15-inch MacBook Air Laptop with the M2 chip is still just $1,099 for the entry-level configuration at both Amazon and at B&H Photo. Apple's latest laptop has fallen to this price a few timesbefore, and it matches the all-time low. The 15-inch screen represents a bigger version of the already-great MacBook Air, but as Engadget's Nathan Ingraham said in his review, the extra real estate helps to make the most of the M2's processing power and makes it "one of the best Apple laptops" he's used in a long time. This model comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. If you need more room and opt for the 512GB capacity model, that's also $200 off at Amazon and B&H, putting it at $1,299, also an all-time low.   

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max

Along with a couple other Amazon Fire TV streaming devices, the 4K Max stick is on sale right now. It's down to $27, which is a 51 percent discount and just $2 more than it sold for during Prime Day. Two other streaming dongles are also on sale: the standard, HD-compatible Fire TV Stick is down to $25 instead of $40, and the set-top Fire TV Cube is down to $120 as opposed to $140.

The 4K Max has speedy loading and response times and can show you live feeds of your smart cameras and doorbells with a picture-in-picture view. It also supports Wi-Fi 6 and bakes Alexa's help right into the remote. 

Crucial MX500 1TB SSD

Crucial's MX500 1TB SSD is our favorite 2.5-inch SATA drive in our guide to the best SSDs and right now its 52 percent off at both Amazon and directly from Crucial. It delivers excellent performance, with sequential read speeds of 560MB/s and is a great value at its $85 list price. At just $48, that value gets even better. Another pick from the same guide, Samsung's 970 EVO Plus iTB SSD, is also on sale, currently down to $50, which matches its lowest all-time price. We thing that one is a good choice for people buying their first Gen3 NVMe drive. 

Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed 

In our guide to 60 percent keyboards, we named the Razer BlackWidow v3 Mini HyperSpeed the best option for a model with arrow keys. Right now Amazon is selling it for half price, making it $90 and the lowest price so far. Extra arrow keys make it a 65 percent keyboard instead of a 60 percent, but it's still compact enough to give you room on your desk. You can buy it with one of two switch types: clacky and tactile or liner and silent. Unfortunately, the linear model isn't seeing the same deep discount as the tactile version, with just a 27 percent off sale. 

Mophie Powerstation Pro AC

Mophie's Powerstation Pro AC is one of our favorite accessories for MacBooks and its currently down to the lowest price we've seen yet. Typically $200, the sale brings it to $172. In addition to Two USB-C ports and a USB-A slot, it includes an AC outlet so you can power non-USB items like printers, lights or other peripherals. The massive 27,000 mAh battery translates to about 100 watt hours, which is the maximum allowed in your airplane carry-on (keep in mind spare lithium ion batteries are not allowed in checked luggage in any size). In our tests, the Pro AC boosted a 16-inch MacBook Pro from 10 percent to 75 percent in just under 90 minutes, and that's while the laptop was under heavy use. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

For Samsung, bigger is often better. The company led the way in popularizing the gigantic smartphones most of us now use, so it’s no surprise that it’s also made some shockingly large tablets recently. In this year's Galaxy Tab S9 series, there are 11- and 12.4-inch models that line up well with Apple's two iPad Pros. And then there's the $1,200 Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra, a 14.6-inch behemoth that's nonetheless thin and light for its size.

Android tablets have long been a tough sell, thanks to the fact that relatively few developers bother to optimize their apps for larger screens. And tablets this big are not exactly easy to hold, either. Those facts have been top of mind as I tried to figure out who, if anyone, should buy the S9 Ultra. Despite my skepticism, Samsung's mammoth of a tablet did manage to surprise me with its utility in a few specific cases.

Hardware

When I pulled the S9 Ultra out of its box, I was immediately struck by its svelte footprint – it’s only 0.21 inches thick and weighs 1.6 pounds. In usual Samsung fashion, the tablet feels impeccably solid and well-made. Sure, it's just a big slab of glass and metal, but what can Samsung reasonably be expected to do to innovate here? The tablet form factor is pretty settled at this point. What's most important is that Samsung made the device so thin without it feeling fragile.

That's backed up by the S9 Ultra's IP68 water- and dust-resistance certification; Samsung says this is its first Galaxy S tablet with that rating. It was a pretty big deal when companies started making water-resistant phones, but it feels a lot less necessary here. That said, if you want to watch movies in your bathtub, you can feel secure that you won't immediately destroy your tablet if it takes a dip in the water with you.

The S9 Ultra is dominated by its huge 14.6-inch AMOLED touchscreen. With a 2,960 x 1,848 resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio, it’s great for watching movies but far too tall to comfortably use in portrait mode. That quibble aside, it looks outstanding, with extremely bright, vibrant colors and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It also supports HDR10+, which can make watching movies even more stunning. Samsung is well known for its mobile displays, and the one on the S9 Ultra is another exceptional offering.

Samsung managed to fit excellent speakers into the S9 Ultra as well, making it a great overall option for watching movies and shows while you're, for example, sitting in isolation with Covid. I don’t know how companies are able to make such solid speakers in super-thin devices, but I’m glad it’s becoming commonplace on higher-end tablets like this and the iPad Pro.

There are a few other minor things to note about the S9 Ultra. You’ll find a pair of front-facing cameras on the long edge of the display: one standard and one ultrawide, both with 12-megapixel sensors. There’s a tiny notch in the screen to make room for them – it’s small, and I mostly forgot about it, but it’s there. On the back are a 13-megapixel standard camera and an 8-megapixel ultrawide option. The front cameras worked well for a handful of Google Meet calls I took on the device, and the back ones are serviceable as well. But tablet photography is ridiculous, even more so with a device this large. As I always say, just use the phone in your pocket.

Also on the back is a magnetic strip that holds and charges the included S Pen stylus. It’s not the most intuitive place to store the S Pen, and it’s not the easiest target to find when you’re retrieving the pen or putting it back. But I got used to it pretty quickly and the stylus reliably stayed attached to the back of the S9 Ultra.

Tablet mode

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Since the S9 Ultra doesn’t come with a keyboard case, I first set out to use the massive device as a pure tablet. This… was not my favorite experience. But first, some positives: the S9 Ultra’s screen is outstanding, as are the speakers, which made a great portable movie theater. And the S9 Ultra’s aspect ratio meant most content I watched filled almost the entire display.

The S9 Ultra is well-equipped for more intense tasks than watching movies. its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor (paired with 12GB of RAM on the model I tested) is powerful enough for basically everything I tried. Running Adobe Lightroom was a pretty great experience, as there’s plenty of room for the various tools on one side and a huge, detailed preview of everything you’re doing on the other. Samsung doesn’t offer any battery life estimates, but I got well over 11 hours of use in tablet mode, and the device lasted days on standby. Unless you’re using it for hours every single day, you won’t have to charge it too often.

Another use case for the S9 Ultra is as an artist's canvas. The S Pen is an excellent stylus, and Samsung has years of experience tuning its performance. The S Pen is incredibly responsive – the company says latency has been reduced to 2.8 milliseconds, and I certainly felt no lag while testing it. I’m no visual artist, so I haven’t been able to really push the limits of what the S Pen and various Android software can do, but the combo of a low-lag pen and the S9 Ultra’s massive screen make it a powerful tool for visual artists, provided you can find the right software.

Unfortunately, the sheer size and width of the S9 Ultra means it wasn’t the best for other content consumption. First off, the tablet clearly wasn’t designed to be used in portrait mode – it’s just too tall. This is a problem I’ve found with other Android tablets that use similar aspect ratios, but most of those had smaller screens that are a little more manageable. That’s not the case here, and it just feels downright odd to use – elements at the top are too far away to comfortably interact with.

Things are marginally better in landscape mode, but the main issue with the S9 Ultra is the fact that there still aren’t a lot of Android apps suited to such large screens. Some apps (like Instagram) would only open in portrait orientation, while others like Slack simply have too much wasted white space. Google has done a great job of making its own apps look pretty great on tablets, and a handful of other key apps I use like Spotify and Todoist are also well adapted. But the S9 Ultra just isn’t designed for things most people use tablets for like browsing, messaging, sending emails, playing games and so forth. If that’s what you’re interested in, the 11-inch Galaxy Tab S9 will be a more comfortable device to use that also costs less. The S9 Ultra is proudly a niche device and you’ll want to know exactly how to use it before buying one.

Dex mode

My experience with the S9 Ultra changed once I paired it with Samsung’s $200 “Book Cover Keyboard Slim” and a Bluetooth mouse and started running the tablet in Dex mode. This completely changes the interface from the touch-focused Android UI to something more like Windows or Chrome OS.

Dex mode reminded me a lot of using a Chromebook. There’s a navigation bar at the bottom that shows any open app, and you can pin things there to get back to them quickly. As this is an Android tablet, all the apps you have access to here come from the Google Play Store or Samsung’s own app store. Historically, the main issue with Android tablets is how few Android apps are built to take advantage of bigger screens, and that’s still the case now.

But, since Dex lets you resize any app, you can make things fit properly in windows without wasting space. For example, the Slack app still doesn’t have a left-hand sidebar on Android, unlike on desktop or iPadOS. That’s annoying, but at least I can make Slack narrower, like a phone-sized app that doesn’t have a ton of wasted white space. And apps that do have multi-column interfaces, like basically all of Google’s first-party software, are downright pleasant to use.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

My main complaint with the S9 Ultra in Dex mode is the fact that Chrome for Android isn't quite as capable as the desktop version. That lets you use extensions, has more features and more reliably renders sites the way you’d expect. Most things render well, but you may also end up getting tossed into a version of the site designed for mobile phones, not huge tablets. But one unexpected bright spot was discovering that I could run the full web version of Slack in Chrome, an experience that's a lot better than using the Android app.

Battery life is a bit worse in Dex mode, which wasn’t a huge surprise given how many apps I was quickly jumping between. The tablet lasted for around six hours when I was using it as my full-time work device – not terrible, but worse than a lot of similarly-priced laptops.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Wrap-up

Despite the number of intriguing use cases I found for the S9 Ultra, it’s a niche device that won’t make sense for most people, largely because of the price. That’s not a bad thing; niche devices exist for a reason, and some people will be well-served by this massive tablet. But $1,200 for the S9 Ultra (plus $200 for the keyboard case, or $350 if you want an integrated trackpad) is a ton of money to spend unless you have very specific ideas on how you’ll use this tablet. It doesn’t make sense for me, as I prefer a smaller tablet that I can easily use handheld and then drop into a keyboard case for getting work done. Still, for some, the combo of Dex mode, a keyboard and the S9 Ultra’s big, beautiful screen might make sense.

Most people would be better off spending their money on a different device, though. As impressed as I am with Dex, you can easily get a laptop that can run far more software for less money. And while I think the iPad is a better choice for most people looking for a tablet, those who prefer Android should consider Samsung’s own 11- and 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S9 and S9+, as they offer basically the same specs, high-quality design and excellent screens for less cash. But if you’re interested in having a massive tablet with a great stylus and solid productivity chops, the S9 Ultra might be worth opening your wallet for.

Following Huawei's surprise launch of the seemingly 5G-capable Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro smartphones last week, the Chinese firm has today unveiled two more devices: the Mate 60 Pro+ and the Mate X5 foldable. Huawei was largely limited to 4G connectivity on its handsets since the US sanctions, but with this latest wave of smartphone launches, the company has been intentionally secretive about its choice of radio. Sources told Engadget that these are indeed 5G devices — as supported by Chinese blogger Vincent Zhong's speed test on the new foldable, which reached a download speed of over 1Gbps (you'll see that there is no 5G indicator on the screen).

It's likely that both phones are also powered by Huawei's mysterious HiSilicon Kirin 9000S, the 7nm process node of which has raised concerns on whether the local chip supplier, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has violated US sanctions to access foreign chip-making technology. Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comments about the specs of these new phones or the chip.

A recent Kirin 9000S teardown conducted by TechInsights for Bloomberg confirmed SMIC's 7nm process, which was thought to be impossible given the import ban on key manufacturing equipment — namely the EUV lithography machines from Dutch firm ASML (Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography). Before the US import ban, Huawei relied on TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) for its 5nm process, which was enabled by ASML's machines.

It is unlikely that SMIC procured such advanced machinery from ASML — at least not directly — without raising alarms. According to Bits & Chips, ASML CEO Peter Wennink recently expressed that "the Mate 60 Pro shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as the restrictions essentially forced the Chinese to double down on innovation." Thus implying that SMIC could well have developed its own high-end lithography machine. 

Benchmarks conducted by Chinese tech blog Geekerwan suggest that the Kirin 9000S' performance is close to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888, meaning it's around two generations behind. The site added that the CPU here features one big core and three middle cores based on Huawei's own "TaiShan" architecture, in addition to four little cores based on Arm's efficient Cortex-A510. As a bonus, the Kirin 9000S is the first mobile processor to support multi-threading — running eight cores with 12 threads, though apparently apps will require further optimization to make use of this feature. As for the GPU, Huawei added its own Maleoon 910, which is allegedly on par with the one in the Snapdragon 888.

Huawei

Much like the Mate 60 Pro, the higher-end Mate 60 Pro+ supports satellite call service by China Telecom and satellite messaging using BeiDou. The only notable differences (that we can see for now) are the different "nanotech metallic double dye process" and better rear cameras. As for the Mate X5 foldable, it's almost identical to the super slim Mate X3, except for the switch to Huawei's fancier Kunlun Glass on the external screen (hence a 2g bump in weight), as well as the slightly tweaked appearance of the rear camera island. Huawei has yet to reveal prices for either model, though pre-orders will start at 6:08PM local time today.

If all four of Huawei's latest smartphones are indeed powered by Kirin 9000S, it would suggest that Huawei is confident with its chip yield — potentially adding a further blow to the US sanctions. Rumors suggest that we'll be hearing more about these devices towards the end of September — conveniently avoiding the iPhone 15 rush.

As the consumer tech world shifts its gaze towards Apple’s expected iPhone 15 launch next week, Google appears determined to make sure you don’t forget it has new Pixels in the pipeline. The company posted a sneak peek of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro on YouTube, revealing that the phones will be available for pre-order the same day they’re announced: October 4.

Google’s video is little more than a design tease, as it doesn’t showcase or detail any specific features or specs for the handsets that will soon replace the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Google also posted a new Google Store landing page today that shows the Pixel 8 / 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2. 9to5Googlenoticed that the image’s alt text describes the displayed models’ colors as Rose and Porcelain.

The upcoming Pixels have popped up several times lately in what many suspect are intentional leaks to try to cut into Apple’s limelight. Earlier this week, the company posted (and removed) a 360-degree Pixel 8 Pro simulator that allowed visitors to spin the virtual device around and view it from every angle. That “leak” confirmed previously rumored features like a temperature sensor, physical SIM slot and three of its available colors (blue, porcelain and black). The company also published a photo of a person holding a porcelain-colored Pixel 8 Pro on the same day Apple sent out iPhone event invites.

Other leaks have pointed to the higher-end Pixel having a 50-megapixel main camera (that lets in 50 percent more light) and a 64-megapixel ultrawide camera made by Sony. In addition, a 5,000 mAh battery and 27W max charging speed are expected.

Google plans to reveal the devices in an event on October 4 in New York City. “You’re invited to an in-person Made by Google event where we’ll introduce the latest additions to our Pixel portfolio of devices,” reads Engadget’s invitation.

Apple just announced that nearly every iOS app will automatically publish the Vision Pro store by default, which the company says will give early adopters access to “hundreds of thousands of iPad and iPhone apps.” This will be in addition to whatever actual Vision Pro apps launch on the official store.

Most apps can easily run on Vision Pro, but you won’t get a full futuristic experience. Instead, you’ll see what you’d normally see on your phone or tablet, just blown up via a fake screen in front of you. Apple says that “app experiences can easily extend to Apple Vision Pro from day one — with no additional work required.”

This is slightly underwhelming when you consider the usual apps, like Facebook, but actually provides some real benefits. This means, for instance, that every streaming app will automatically be available at launch, so you can watch whatever you want on the headset’s virtual screen. Incidentally, the screen can occupy a relative width of 100 feet, so those lightsaber battles on Ahsoka will really pop. Marry that with the comfort-forward lightweight design and you’ve got yourself one heck of an entertainment machine, and that’s before uniquely-made streaming apps begin showing up.

On the developer side, there’s a forthcoming visionOS beta launching this fall so devs can test their apps to make sure they work. Additionally, this toolset will allow developers to make adjustments to maximize integration with the headset. It’ll also let you know if your app isn’t eligible for some reason, though most will be.

Now onto the why of this. The Apple Vision Pro is set to be a niche product for at least the first generation, due to the exorbitant price tag and limited use case scenarios, so exclusive apps could be scarce at launch. This allows Apple to sort of inflate the Vision Pro app store numbers to entice consumers. It could also pressure some of the larger developers out there, like Meta, to push through features exclusive to the headset. No matter the reason, one of the primary clarion calls whenever any new technology is announced is a cry for backwards compatibility, and well, this’ll do it.

For the uninitiated, the Apple Vision Pro is the company’s forthcoming mixed-reality headset. It boasts eye-tracking, so you can control apps via minute ocular movements, and an OLED screen on the exterior to display a digital recreation of your eyeballs for others to interact with. It’ll cost a whopping $3,500 when it launches next year, which is equatable to purchasing seven Meta Quest 3 VR headsets.