Amazon's Fire HD tablets are still worthy options if you just want a competent media consumption device for as little money as possible, and within that lineup, the Fire HD 10 provides the best value for most. This is especially the case when the device is discounted, and as of this writing the 10.1-inch slate is back on sale for $75 at Amazon and Best Buy, among other retailers.
While this isn't the absolute lowest price we've seen — the tablet was briefly available for $55 at Target earlier this year — it does match the price we saw during last year's Black Friday sales and Amazon's latest Prime Day events. The 32GB model here technically has an MSRP of $150, though a handful of smaller discounts have dropped its average street price closer to $130 in recent months.
This is a nice price for what was already one of the better values on the tablet market. Like Amazon's other Fire tablets, the Fire HD 10 is a no-frills device: It's largely made of matte plastic, the speakers and cameras are mediocre, and very little about its performance or design feels as premium as what you'd get from even an entry-level iPad. But for the money, it's all good enough if you're just looking for casual web browsing, ebook reading, video streaming, and Alexa stuff. Its eight-core MediaTek Helio P60T processor and 3GB of RAM won't blow anyone away — don't expect much in the way of gaming — but it can handle the basics without consistent slowdowns, and it's generally more fluid than the lower-cost models in the Fire lineup.
Similarly, the 10.1-inch panel isn't the brightest or most vibrant you'll see, but it's plenty fine for $75. Again, its 1920 x 1200 resolution is a firm step-up from the lower-res Fire 7 or Fire HD 8, and simply having more real estate makes it more pleasing for video streams and quick Zoom calls. The tablet gets a good 12-ish hours of battery life per charge, and it charges over USB-C. While the discounted model here only has 32GB of built-in storage, you can expand that with a microSD card. (A version with 64GB of storage is also on sale for $95.)
The caveat with any Amazon tablet is, as always, software. Amazon's Fire OS is still a forked version of Android that lacks access to the Google Play Store — and thus, native Google apps like Gmail or YouTube — and frequently pushes you toward the company's own apps, services and online store. There are still lock screen ads, and it still costs a $15 fee to get rid of them. It remains easy enough to sideload the Play Store and its more expansive app library, but that's clearly not the most user- or security-friendly solution. Instead, a Fire tablet will work best if you stick to Amazon apps like Kindle and Prime Video, popular apps like Netflix or basic web browsing. All that said, the OS is still fairly robust when it comes to parental controls and supporting multiple user profiles, and there's still a handy "Show Mode" that can essentially turn the tablet into an Echo Show-like smart display when you're not holding it.
The deal here comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon tablets. The Kids and Kids Pro versions of the Fire HD 10, for instance, are both back to their all-time lows at $120. Those come with large protective bumper cases (the Pro's is a bit slimmer), two-year warranties and a year of Amazon's Kids+ child-focused content service, though their hardware is otherwise identical, and it's worth noting that you can set up a kid-friendly profile on the base Fire HD 10 as well.
The Fire HD 10 Plus, meanwhile, is on sale for $105, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. That one adds another gigabyte of RAM and wireless charging support, which are nice upgrades — particularly if you want to use that smart display functionality — but nothing we'd call essential for most people in the market for a good affordable tablet. We'll also note that the Fire 7 is down to a new low of $42, but we'd recommend waiting for the recently-updated Fire HD 8 and its altogether superior hardware to go on sale if you're simply looking for the cheapest usable slate.
Some of the biggest deals in tech right now come courtesy of Samsung Week, a sales event running through November 1st, in which the electronics giant has discounted a wide swath of their current-model devices. We're seeing record low prices almost everywhere — as in, lower than Amazon's October Prime Day deals. Google dropped some compelling offers of their own, with a third off the Pixel 6a and 25 percent off their Pixel Buds Pro. We also found Halloween sales from JBL, XBOX and PlayStation with discounts on older models and titles. Amazon's Echo devices are also on sale, with the Echo, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 5 all at least 40 percent off. Here are all the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Google Pixel Buds Pro
Back in July, we named the Pixel Buds Pro Google’s best earbuds yet, giving them a score of 87 in the review. This week they hit their lowest-yet price of $150 on Amazon, that's even lower than it was for October's Prime Day and a full $50 off the MSRP.
Our senior news editor, Billy Steele, was particularly impressed with the punchy bass and solid noise cancellation, noting that the active noice cancellation (ANC) is a new feature for Google's latest buds. Our tests matched Google's claims of seven hours playback with ANC on and around 11 hours with it off. A fully charged case will more than double those times and the case can be charged wirelessly, unlike the non-pro (A-Series) model.
The controls let you access the Google Assistant, skip tracks, activate ANC, take calls and more with on-board taps and presses that are fully configurable. While they don't yet offer spatial audio, the audio still felt spacious. One reservation we noted in our review was the $20 price bump from the previous model. Now that you can save $50, it's a good time to dive in.
The Galaxy Watch 5, our current top pick for an Android smartwatch, dropped to a near-lowest price since Samsung released the wearable back in August. Both sizes are $30 off, bringing the 40mm model to $250 (Bluetooth model) and the larger 44mm to $280. Our wearables expert Cherlynn Low gave the Watch 5 a solid 85 in her review, confirming that "for Android users, this is the best smartwatch around." The heftier, outdoor-focused Pro version of the Watch 5 earned an 86 in the same review and it's currently on sale for $400 for the Bluetooth version. Both sizes of the LTE-enabled models are $70 off.
As Samsung's current flagship watch and at just a few months old, this is a rare discount for the Galaxy Watch 5. As part of Samsung Week, the discount will likely go away after November 1st. So if you're an Android user itching for the best tracking and coaching you can put on your wrist, you might want to check out the deal.
If you like the idea of having something other than a black void staring back at you when your TV is off, this is the week to go for Samsung's The Frame TV. We're seeing a discounts that go up to $1,000, depending on screen size, with the big-but-not-too-big 55-inch model at $998 (that's $500 off). The home theater-style 85-inch model is where you see the $1,000 savings, bringing the price down to $3,298.
When on, the TV delivers a vivid, quality image, and has an intuitive Tizen OS-powered smart TV experience. Even at a discount, The Frame isn't cheap, so it's best for those who care what their walls look like (or really don't vibe with black mirrors).
I have one of these myself and can attest to the realism of the effect. With an anti-reflective glass, light-adjusting output and a thin, flush-mount profile (thanks to a separate CPU) The Frame really does look like a piece of art hanging on the wall. An $8-per-month subscription is required to access the very extensive and curated Art Store, without it, there's a smaller subset of art to display, or you can use your own photos.
Samsung is also discounting their Galaxy Tab S8 to $550 for Samsung Week. That's 22 percent off and just five bucks more than the lowest-ever price. We gave high marks (85) to the mid-range Tab S8+, but like our reviews writer Sam Rutherford noted, "there are two kinds of Android tablets: Samsung's Galaxy Tab S line and everything else."
The Tab S8 is the most affordable of the Tab S8 lineup, even when it's not on sale, due to its smaller screen size (11 inches). You still get the power to treat your tablet like a PC, using Dex mode that switches from a standard Android interface to a more powerful desktop-like view. The improved Qualcomm Snapdragon chip makes the S8 speedy and responsive, and the included S Pen feels great in the hand and makes for satisfying doodle sessions and easy note taking.
The all-day battery means you won't have to stop what you're doing to find an outlet (though that capacity takes a noticeable dip with graphics-heavy tasks like streaming or gaming). With its bright display and full-sounding speakers, it's a great pick for a premium tablet — and now it's at a less-premium price.
True, it's not the latest model Pixel, that honor goes to the just-released Pixel 7, but the Pixel 6a is still a great smartphone in its own right — and honestly, it's less than six months old. If you're not one to queue up for midnight releases, you can save a hefty $150, snagging a great phone for $299.
Our hands-on review honored it with a score of 89, with our deputy reviews editor calling it "easily one of the best phones for the money." Now that you'll be handing over less money, the 6a is looking even better.
While the Pixel 6a is a mid-range smartphone, we gave it high marks for its impressive 12-megapixel cameras, vivid OLED screen with tough Gorilla Glass 3 protecting the screen and a whopping battery — delivering 19+ hours in our tests, crushing Apple's iPhone SE budget model. There's no wireless charging and the refresh rate isn't as fast as possible at just 60Hz, but for under $300 it's an impressive entry.
Depending on which AI assistant you prefer, now may be a good time to get a couple more Alexas managing your space, with steep discounts on three different Echos. At half-price, Amazon's fourth-generation Echo smart speaker drops below the discount offered for October's Prime Day, down to just $50.
Upon its debut, we reviewed the fourth-generation Echo and gave it an 89, praising the surprisingly formidable sound coming out of a relatively diminutive unit. We found that two speakers delivered a better listening experience than just one — and now that the $100 price point has been halved, getting two is an easier move. The speaker puts Alexa front and center and its abilities continue to improve and adapt to what users want in an AI, though the assistant is far from perfect, sometimes requiring a few goes to find the music tracks asked for in our tests.
If you prefer a display on your smart hub, the current-model Echo Show 8 is selling for $70, which is the same price it went for during Prime. The smaller, nightstand-friendly Echo Show 5 is nearly 60 percent off at $35. And if you want to get two Show 5s, use the code SHOW52PK after adding two to your cart and pay just $60 for the pair at checkout. We reviewed both units at once last year when they came out and gave the 8 an 87 and gave the 5 an 85.
We like it when a discount applies to every colorway of a product, which is the case with this deal on Beats Studio Buds. The newer Ocean blue, moon grey are 40 percent off at Amazon, right alongside red, white, and black. The discount puts them at $90, a new low that beats their October Prime Day price. When the Studio Buds came out last year, our own Billy Steele gave them a score of 84, particularly noting their balanced sound, unobtrusive size and in-ear comfort.
They'll give you eight hours of listening time on their own and a total of 24 hours with a fully (non-wirelessly) charged case. They deliver reliable active noice cancellation and are rated to withstand a sweaty workout. Best of all, they're OS agnostic, pairing as happily with your iPhone as with your Android device. We think these buds give premium earbuds a run for their money at the $150 list price — at 40 percent off, they're really pulling their weight.
We called the Jabra Elite 3 buds "the new standard for affordable wireless earbuds" in our review last year and right now they're back down to $50 — that's just $3 more than their lowest ever and an impressive $30 discount off the MSRP. While they're not going to compete with premium offerings, say from Bose or Sennheiser they're an impressive set of budget buds.
They'll pair with iOS or Android devices and have a compact design that's comfortable in the ear. Their IP55 water resistance is perfect for working out and the on-board controls are reliable push buttons (as opposed to touch panels). There's no ANC or wireless charging and, again, the sound can't compare to premium versions, but if you're looking for a low cost pair of earbuds that will deliver admirable sound quality, these might be your new set.
No one likes running out of juice, and a wall charger isn't always around, which makes Anker's 622 a great backup for iPhone users. This week, the price dropped to $45 which is 25 percent off the MSRP and the lowest we've seen it. The portable battery pack delivers wireless charging with magnets that align with the iPhone 12, 13 and the new iPhone 14.
In our test, we found a fully charged Anker 622 charged an iPhone 13 from empty to about 80 percent in just a few hours. What's more is you can use your phone while it charges. With the on-board, fold-out kickstand you can even prop up your iPhone (landscape or portrait) and watch your IG Reels hands-free.
Note that just the grey and blue versions are at this price point right now, but it's a nice price for an extra charge on your phone, no matter where you are.
Amazon just took 54 percent off a two-pack of their Blink Mini indoor security cameras, lowering them to $30 for the pair. That's the same low they hit during Prime Day a few weeks ago, which means if you want to add cameras to your smart home set up, now might be the time. T
The Blink cameras take clear and sharp 1080p images and offer the ability to see, hear and talk to whatever or whomever moves into view. They're motion activated and pair up with your Alexa-enabled smartphone or other Alexa home devices (like the Echo Shows, above). This particular set is wired, so you won't have to swap out batteries, but you'll need to factor in wall-outlet access when setting them up.
Rather see what's going on outside your home? The Blink Outdoor cameras are also on sale, with a single camera going for $60 (40 percent off) and a three-pack coming in at $125 (half price). These happen to be our current favorite wireless security cameras, even when they're full price. The cams also pair up with Alexa and can be mounted anywhere there's something to attach them to, even somewhere they'll get rained on.
All Hallow's Eve doesn't get the same love, sale-wise, as other holidays do, but JBL has decided the right way to celebrate spookiness is with a Halloween Sale on a bunch of their earlier model speakers and headphones. We named the Flip 6 a top pick for portable Bluetooth speakers in 2022. The JBL Flip 5 is the previous year's model, but still delivers 12 hours of playtime and a IPX7 water-resistance rating that can handle a dip in three feet of water. During the sale, the Flip 5 is 46 percent off, bringing it down to $70, which is a pretty decent price for high-output sound packed up in a fairly rugged case that can go anywhere you do.
When the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE debuted, we gave it an 84, calling it a refined gaming notebook that "delivers all the power you'd want from a large gaming notebook" — without any unnecessary bling. Amazon is offering the Triton 500 SE at a $500 discount, which is about $60 lower than we've ever seen it and definitely the lowest it's dipped since coming out in April of this year.
The large, 16-inch screen delivers smooth and gorgeous graphics, thanks to the inclusion of Intel's 12th-gen Core i9 processor and NVIDIA's latest RTX 3080 Ti GPU. Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar particularly liked the Triton's performance, noting that it was often on par with the more expensive Razer Blade. He also liked the fact that the laptop could easily transition from gaming den to an office meeting since its clean metallic design is free of any flashy (or downright obnoxious) decoration.
While the keyboard and trackpad weren't the best, and the speakers sounded a little tinny, that may not be an issue if you're planning on plugging in peripherals. The "bag bundle" deal comes with an unassuming black slip case, but the real draw is the $500-savings on a high-performance gaming laptop.
We'd be remiss if we didn't include something for the kiddos (and the kiddos at heart) by mentioning two Halloween sales on older, dark, creepy, gory or otherwise holiday-appropriate game titles. Both Playstation and Xbox are running sales with discounts up to 80 percent on titles like Witcher 3 (80 percent off at XBOX), Resident Evil 3 (70 percent off at PS) and Dying Light 2 (40 percent off, both stores).
We called Apple's latest MacBook Air "near-perfect" in our review back in July when the ultraportable laptop came out. It remains one of the best general-purpose laptops we've tried and right now Amazon has it for $1,049 a savings of $150 over the list price.
We were particularly impressed with the overall lightness of the Air, weighing just 2.7 pounds. It's also much more balanced that previous models as Apple's done away with the wedge shape and gone for a uniform thickness. The screen is beautiful, the speakers are great and the performance of the M2 chip makes the laptop plenty speedy.
The battery lasted over 16 hours in our tests — more than enough for a full work day plus a streaming unwind afterwards. This is the 256GB configuration, which should be fine for most use cases, as long as you're not trying to edit huge video files on a regular basis. The discount only applies to the midnight and silver colorways, but if didn't necessarily have your heart set on the starlight hue, you can nab this all-purpose workhorse for a sweet discount.
Sonos just launched a 20-percent-off sale covering bundles of their soundbars, speakers and subwoofers. If you've been thinking about upgrading the sound from your smart TV to something a little more room-filling, this is worth checking out.
We're big Sonos fans, giving 85+ scores to both the Arc and the Beam in our hands-on reviews. Both of those are covered in different configurations during the bundle sale. Here's a fuller breakdown of what's on offer:
Sonos Beam (Gen 2) + 2x Sonos One SL for $678, down from $847
Sonos Arc + 2x Sonos One SL for $1,038, down from $1,297
Sonos Beam (Gen 2) + Sonos Sub (Gen 3) for $958, down from $1,198
Sonos Arc + Sonos Sub (Gen 3) for $1,318, down from $1,648
Sonos Beam (Gen 2) + Sonos Sub (Gen 3) + 2x Sonos One SL for $1,277, down from $1,596
Sonos Arc + Sonos Sub (Gen 3) + 2x Sonos One SL for $1,637, down from $2,046
Apple can rarely leave well enough alone. A year ago, I thought each of the four tablets in the iPad lineup was differentiated well from the others, and it was fairly easy to see what features you got as things got more expensive. The new 10th-generation iPad throws a wrench in things, though. It’s a complete redesign from last year’s model that cribs heavily from the iPad Air while also bringing a handful of compromises to upsell potential customers on Apple’s more expensive tablets.
But the new iPad also contains a few puzzling decisions and a $120 price hike — the base model now costs $449. Muddying the waters further, last year’s iPad remains available at $329. And while I think the improvements Apple made to the 10th-generation iPad are significant, I’m not sure how many people in the market for an inexpensive tablet will find these changes worth their cash.
Unlike last year’s iPad, which looked essentially identical to the basic tablet Apple has been selling since 2017, this year’s model has been completely redesigned. The Home button is gone, Touch ID has moved to the lock button, the bezels are smaller, the display is bigger, the edges are squared off and the front-facing camera has been moved to the iPad’s landscape edge. It’s a significant set of changes — but only if you haven’t seen an iPad Pro or Air in recent years. Apple has been making tablets with most of these design elements since 2018, so it’s not exactly a fresh look. While it’s slightly thicker and larger than the iPad Air I reviewed earlier this year, it feels essentially identical in the hand, with the exact same size screen.
A14
Inside the iPad is an A14 Bionic chip (first seen in 2020’s iPhone 12 lineup), a modest update over the A13 in last year’s model. It’s a strong performer, but it wasn’t all that slow to begin with. Of course, if you’re going to raise the price, you had better increase the performance. My modest work needs (Slack, Safari, Google Docs, Todoist, Gmail, etc.) didn’t tax the iPad in the least. Nor did any of the Apple Arcade games I played, and more advanced tasks like editing RAW photos in Lightroom or transcoding and exporting 4K video clips in 1080p were similarly smooth. Sure, the A14 trails the M1 in the iPad Air and the M2 in the new iPad Pro, but the vast majority of iPad buyers will be plenty happy.
There is one catch with the A14: this iPad can’t use the new Stage Manager multitasking and window-management features that are in iPadOS 16, as they’re limited to iPad Pro models from 2018 and later or the M1-powered iPad Air.
As for battery life, Apple continues to meet or exceed its 10-hour estimate it provides for every iPad. This model lasted 11 hours and 45 minutes while playing back a movie purchased from the iTunes Store. I didn’t quite hit 10 hours when using the iPad and its keyboard for work all day long, but it was close enough that I’m not complaining. Of course, more intensive tasks like gaming or editing video will reduce that time significantly.
Screen
Compared to last year’s iPad, the screen here is definitely bigger, but not better in any measurable way. It’s the same 10.9 inches as the iPad Air (up from 10.2 inches), and that does make working with multiple apps feel a bit less cramped. And a bigger screen in a body that’s essentially the same size is always a nice improvement. But, this display still lacks a lot of the niceties you’ll find on the Air. Specifically, the display isn’t laminated to the front glass, it’s missing an anti reflective coating and it doesn’t support the P3 wide color gamut.
These missing features were easier to ignore when it cost $329, but this new iPad only costs $150 less than the Air. That’s not to say this display is bad, but it’s clearly the worst in the iPad lineup — and its deficiencies are a lot more glaring at a higher price. I noticed the air gap between the screen and cover glass less than I expected, but it was a lot more noticeable when I held the iPad in my hands and moved compared to using it with the Magic Keyboard Folio.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Keyboard
Speaking of the keyboard, the new iPad has its own redesigned accessory here. The Magic Keyboard Folio is two separate pieces: a back that magnetically attaches and has a kickstand, and a keyboard that attaches to the side of the iPad. It then uses the Smart Connector located on its edge to sync and power the keyboard.
The folio design has one big deficiency compared to the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air and Pro. That keyboard is much better for lap typing. The folio, on the other hand, is not nearly as stable on your lap. Fortunately, the typing experience itself is much better than the old Smart Keyboard Cover that works with last year’s iPad. These keys have 1mm of travel, there’s a 14-key function row up top (the first Apple-made iPad keyboard to offer them) and the trackpad is large and responsive. It’s even bigger than the trackpad on the more expensive Magic Keyboard.
While I don’t care to use a folio-style keyboard on my lap, it was totally fine for long typing sessions at my desk. And the bigger trackpad and function keys are major improvements that I hope to see implemented on other iPad keyboards soon.
The elephant in the room is that this keyboard costs a truly painful $250; this means that the basic iPad with 64GB of storage and this Magic Keyboard Folio would cost $700. That’s a wild amount of money, and you could get an iPad Air and the second-generation Apple Pencil for just a little bit more, or pick up a solid Windows laptop if you’re going to be doing a lot of typing.
Cameras
Apple also made some significant improvements to the camera system on the new iPad. It now has the same 12-megapixel back camera as the Air. It’s not the best camera out there; as I always say, chances are good the camera on the phone in your pocket is better. But for anyone who wants to shoot video, it now offers 4K capture while last year’s model maxed out at 1080p.
More significant is the front-facing camera. Oddly enough, it’s exactly the same as last year’s – with one notable exception. Apple finally put the front-facing camera on the landscape edge of the iPad, which means your face will actually be centered if you’re taking a video call with the iPad in its keyboard folio (or just propped up with the kickstand). Amazingly, this iPad is the only one with this feature. The iPad Pro, the best tablet Apple sells, still has its camera on the portrait edge. Basic iPad buyers win out here.
Pencil
As you have already likely noticed, Apple has made some compromises to keep this iPad from infringing too much upon the Air and Pro. Nowhere is that more obvious than the fact that this tablet still uses the first-generation Apple Pencil, introduced way back in 2015. While the original Pencil is still a capable tool for drawing and note-taking, it has a number of issues. It has a built-in Lightning connector on the back; to charge it, you literally plug it into the Lightning port on your iPad (or use a dongle to connect it to a cable). It’s a very awkward setup, compounded by the fact that you can easily lose the cap that covers the charging end of the Pencil. It’s also a perfect circle, which means it rolls away easily, and there’s nowhere to store the Pencil on the iPad itself when you’re not using it.
All these problems persist. But now, the iPad uses USB-C for charging – which means there’s no Lightning port to plug the Pencil in for charging. Instead, you have to attach the Pencil to a new Lightning to USB-C adapter, plug that mess into a USB-C cable, and then plug that into your iPad. It goes without saying, but: this is far from a good experience. Yes, it’s good that people who have an original Apple Pencil can still use it, but the much-improved second-generation model is the future. It has a flat edge that snaps magnetically onto the side of the iPad for charging and storage, solving all the problems I outlined.
Every other iPad Apple sells (besides last year’s budget model) uses this accessory now, making this an obvious case of upsell. The second-generation Pencil is so superior to this setup that I would recommend anyone who is interested in using the Apple Pencil just buy the iPad Air instead. For $150 you get a more powerful processor, a significantly better Pencil experience, and a better screen.
iPadOS 16
iPadOS 16 was just released a few days ago, but I’ve been dabbling with it in beta for months. It’s mostly made of of tweaks that came to iOS 16 a month ago, with features like unsending and editing messages, undo send and scheduling messages in Mail, an iCloud Photo Library you can share with your family members, extensive collaboration features, the ability to copy text straight from a video and a number of other features we’ve covered in the past.
None of these things fundamentally change the experience of using an iPad, but there are still a number of useful features here. Of course, the one thing that does change the iPad experience is Stage Manager, the new multi-tasking and windowing system. But that’s only available on iPads with the M1 or M2 chip (as well as a few older iPad Pro models). As such, this new iPad is limited to the same Split Screen and Slide Over multitasking capabilities Apple has offered for years now. Given the smaller screen and the fact that Stage Manager is going through some growing pains, this likely won’t be a huge loss for most people.
How does it fit?
In a vacuum, the new iPad is an obvious improvement over its predecessor in a number of ways. By that measure, it’s probably worth the extra cash Apple is asking for it. A bigger screen, better cameras, a more powerful chip and a more modern design are all solid, and in some cases badly needed updates.
But putting it in context with the rest of Apple’s iPad lineup makes it a harder sell. If you have an older iPad, you’ll need new accessories, and both the iPad and keyboard folio cost more than older options. And Apple didn’t upgrade the Pencil, which isn’t bad if you already have one — but it’s going to have to cut the cord on the old one at some point, and this would have been a smart time to do so.
If you want the basic iPad experience and don’t want to spend too much money, last year’s model is still easy to recommend. And if you’re an artist who wants to make extensive use of the Apple Pencil, you’re better off saving up for the iPad Air or Pro.
This iPad is more like an “Air lite,” and it’s a common strategy for the company. In 2020, Apple took the iPad Pro design and put it in the iPad Air and subsequently bumped the price. Now Apple is doing that again, taking the Air design, putting it in the base model, and making it more expensive. My hope is that within a year or two, Apple adds support for the second-generation Pencil to this model and cuts the price below $400 again. That would make for an iPad that is easy to recommend. But for now, despite a number of improvements, this iPad is sandwiched between two models that probably make more sense for most buyers.
Apple earned plaudits for making the iPhone 14 more repairable compared to its predecessors, but the question of who can make those repairs remains. It appears the company has added an additional, seemingly-unnecessary layer of friction to the process of replacing a broken display. Much like in 2019, even genuine Apple screens are causing repaired iPhones to malfunction. Sources within the third-party repair community, who have asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, say that while tearing an iPhone 14 may be easier, getting it to work properly after is considerably harder.
Our sources say the new issue centers on the iPhone 14’s Always-On Display (AOD), which uses the phone’s two Ambient Light Sensors (ALS) to calibrate display brightness. In order to conserve battery life, when at night or when the phone is in your pocket, the display will shut down, leveraging the automatic brightness. If your display breaks, and you don’t use an Apple-authorized service center to replace it, however, the ALS shuts down, leaving the screen permanently black unless you can remember the position of the slider, and then you’ll be stuck manually adjusting your brightness.
(The Ambient Light Sensor has been an issue with previous iPhone releases, down to where its controller was sited. On the iPhone 12, for instance, it was mounted on a sensor flex itself that leant itself to mechanical failure. On the 13, it was moved to a new component cluster, reducing the risk of it breaking unexpectedly. Our source says that the iPhone 14’s sensor is in a similar place, and so any failure must be a software-related issue.)
YouTuber Hugh Jefferys posted a video about the problem, swapping the logic board between two brand new iPhones (both for the 14 and 14 Pro). Despite the fact that every component is new and Apple-made, the phones erupted into a chorus of error messages and broken features. FaceID, Battery Health, True Tone and Auto Brightness, as well as the forward-facing cameras are all disabled. When Jeffreys swapped them back, the problems persisted, and the phones were only “fixed” after he had downgraded to iOS 16.0.
The cause of this failure is Apple’s policy of “Parts Pairing,” tying individual components to the phones that carry them. A display – a commonly broken part – will have a unique ID logged in its hardware that the iPhone checks for whenever it boots. As far as the phone is concerned, it will only work properly if it has its “own” display attached, and if it’s not detected, it won’t work. Users will instead see a bunch of error messages urging them to go to their local Apple support technician. These messages will, eventually, stop, but your device will be marked as hosting unauthorized components.
The only way to prevent this is for an Apple-authorized technician to manually sanction the pairing with an in-house software tool. Our source said that this process requires a technician connecting to Apple’s private network over the internet, a process that is kept “under lock and key” by the company. Until the iPhone 13, there was a workaround for this with third-party repair stores using custom EEPROM programmers. These devices would read the part ID code from the paired display and write it to its replacement, which would often be a refurbished, genuine Apple-made display. Unfortunately, while this worked on previous iPhones, it does not remedy the issues for the iPhone 14.
The result of this is that repair stores outside of Apple’s own network will soon be left unable to make repairs on any new iPhones. The costs of joining Apple’s network, however, are high enough that many businesses have had second thoughts about doing so. “The Independent Repair Programme (IRP) is not profitable enough, as an independent repairer, to maintain as a retail operation” said one individual who asked not to be named.
Apple has been historically resistant to the idea that users should be able to fix their own gear. It has backed anti-Right to Repair groups and tries to keep all repairs within its own service process. That has led to situations where Apple grossly overcharged for basic repairs that did not require a machine to be sent away to be serviced. The most infamous example, as reported byCBC, was when a Genius Bar quoted $1,200 to make a fix a third-party store charged $75 for.
Apple withholds repair manuals and spare parts from third-party stores, despite the volume of iPhones that require basic fixes, like display and battery replacements. Instead, the only non-Apple outfits that can fix iPhones are Authorized Service Providers (ASPs) where Apple can exert some control. The company’s critics say boxing out third parties who can make simple repairs and forcing people back to the Genius Bar helps turn a tidy profit. Apple denies this, and told the US Antitrust subcommittee that in 2019, since 2009, “the costs of providing repair services has exceeded the revenue generated by repairs.” Although Apple did not explain if that constitutes the whole of its repair operations, or just those made under warranty.
But the company, through a combination of regulator and activist pressure, has been forced to loosen its grip on repairs. In 2019, it said it would allow third-party repair stores to become “verified,” enabling it to receive the same tools, parts and manuals as its ASPs. The process subsequently expanded this program to include Mac repair as well as for iPhones (and iPads). And, on November 17th, 2021, the company announced a self-service repair program where it would make tools, parts and manuals available to users.
This process, however, as detailed in depth by The Verge, revealed that enabling a user to fix their own iPhone display on Apple’s terms wasn’t that easy. The company handed over 79 pounds of tools, including a hot plate to melt the glue holding the display in place. If that wasn’t bad enough, the repair isn’t validated until the iPhone is connected to Apple’s own service team, which can then set the new part as legitimate. And in order to do it, a user has to lay down a deposit of $1,200 to ensure they return the tools within seven days.
The end result of this is that consumers have to pay a significantly higher price to keep their iPhone running than they should, or could. In one example, a third-party store that used genuine Apple displays charged around £140 ($157) to repair an iPhone 11 display, whereas that same repair at an Apple-authorized store would cost closer to £220 ($247). Compare that to aftermarket display replacements, made by third-party companies, which are priced at £95 ($106).
Jason Eccles is General Manager of SimplyFixIt, a chain of independent repair stores across Scotland. “The idea that someone can buy a device outright, but the manufacturer can still control the functionality of it for years to come is mind-blowing,” he said. “It’s frustrating for us, because we want to offer the best possible repair, but Apple appears to have arbitrary rules around what we can do, sometimes even creating new issues with iOS updates.” Eccles does not have an issue with iOS devices knowing that it was repaired with aftermarket parts, however. “Consumers getting relevant information in iOS that a component has been replaced is a good thing, but I think it’s difficult to say that reducing the functionality of the phone, even if we use genuine parts, is good for customers.”
Eccles added that it’s important to repair existing equipment from a sustainability standpoint as much as anything else. “We still regularly repair MacBooks and iMacs that are ten years old,” he said, “it shows plenty of Apple devices are out there that would be perfectly usable after a little repair.” Not to mention that responsible independent repair technicians should be welcomed by Apple with open arms. “If everyone had to pay £349 ($403) for a new screen, there would be a lot more people switching to Android for their next phone. Apple might not want to admit it, but we’re helping people stay in their ecosystem.
iFixit has tested and confirmed the issue to Engadget, saying that there is an issue related to the always-on display. Liz Chamberlain, iFixit Director of Sustainability, said that the practice of using software locks is an “insidious threat to repair as we know it.” And that this new issue is a greater demonstration of the fact that “repairability requires the ability to access software locks, not just hardware.” She added that, either by accident or intention, Apple has “proved [it] can’t be trusted with a parts pairing kill switch.” And that unless lawmakers step in to ensure there is a federally protected right to repair, there’s the possibility that Apple could “disable all phones that have undergone independent repair.”
Engadget contacted Apple for a comment on the story but none was made available by the time of publication.
If there’s a hope, it’s that pushes for Right to Repair legislation on both sides of the Atlantic make strong progress. Earlier this year, President Biden said it was a common problem that a person owns a product, but doesn’t “have the freedom to choose how or where to repair [it.]” And the FTC has recently moved to enforce legislation that sees major manufacturers – including Harley Davidson – from using warranty provisions to prevent owners seeking independent repair for their products.
And the EU, currently taking the lead in many elements of tech regulation, is also looking at laying down better right to repair provisions. Its “Ecodesign” initiative is in its infancy right now, but will focus on producing rules that will ensure devices sold there are more repairable. One of the key clauses in its earliest draft is to provide “appropriate information for users, repairers and recyclers” (Para 4). And that these requirements are designed to enable “repair operations by end-users,” (Para 15), something Apple allows, but doesn’t make easy. We can only hope, that when these rules are agreed, that the balance of power is swung back towards user repair.
This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into Apple’s latest iPad and iPad Pro. The new base iPad seemingly justifies its price, but it also leaves out plenty of consumers who were well-served by the old $329 iPad. We hope that model sticks around for a long while. Also, we discuss if anyone needs M2 power in an iPad Pro (why not just get a MacBook?!), and we prepare for Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. (Note: When this episode was recorded, his acquisition wasn’t finalized yet.)
Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Apple seems to be weathering the financial storm, albeit with a few hitches. The company reported a record high revenue of $90.1 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter, with a net profit of $20.7 billion. While those were only slight increases versus the same period last year (revenue was up 'just' 8 percent), they came despite a rough economic climate and near-flat revenue growth in the previous quarter.
The issues mainly stem from mixed performance across Apple's lineup. It won't surprise you to hear that the iPhone 14 debut helped fuel the company's mobile revenue ($42.6 billion versus last summer's $38.9 billion), but other segments were volatile. While the MacBook Air M2 helped Mac revenue jump 25 percent to $11.5 billion, iPad sales dropped sharply — they fell to just under $7.2 billion versus nearly $8.3 billion a year earlier. And while services like Apple Music and TV+ set a new record of $19.2 billion, that's only a mediocre bump versus the $18.3 billion from a year ago. Sales for the Apple Watch and smart home devices grew solidly from $8.8 billion to $9.7 billion.
The customer base appears to be strong, at least. During Apple's earnings call, CFO Luca Maestri noted that roughly half of Mac and iPad buyers were new to the platform. The company also touted an all-time (but unspecified) high for the number of active devices. CEO Tim Cook added that phone sales were strong despite tight supply constraints for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
The fall (Apple's first fiscal quarter of 2023) could be rosier. Apple introduced new iPads in October this year where it released updated models in September last year, so we'd expect a bump in sales for the tablet lineup. Cook added that last year was "unusually strong" thanks to the iPad Pro M1 launch. The iPhone 14 family had also been available for just eight days during the fourth quarter, so overall iPhone sales should improve.
Apple isn't out of trouble yet. It's still hiring more cautiously, and supply issues (including for the Apple Watch Ultra, Cook says) may dog the company for a while. It's also unclear how people will take to devices like the iPhone 14 Plus, which didn't ship until this month. All the same, Apple may be happy. The computer market tanked 19.5 percent during the quarter, according to Gartner estimates, while Canalys believes smartphone shipments dropped 9 percent. If those figures are reasonably accurate, Apple is thriving simply by avoiding sharp declines in most categories.
On October 25th, Apple started displaying more ads in the App Store, particularly in the "Today" tab and at the bottom of app listings. Since then, multiple developers have complained about getting ads for gambling under their listings' "You Might Also Like" section, when they have nothing to do with their applications. One of those developers was Marco Arment, who posted a screenshot on Twitter showing gambling advertisements on the App Store page for his podcast app Overcast. Other developers reported having the same issue and made it clear that they weren't OK with casino ads in their product pages. Now, Apple has told MacRumors that it has "paused ads related to gambling and a few other categories on App Store product pages."
Now my app’s product page shows gambling ads, which I’m really not OK with.
Apple shouldn’t be OK with it, either.
The App Store has corrupted such a great company so deeply. They make so much from gambling and manipulative IAPs that they don’t even see the problem anymore. https://t.co/MnNlf7k0kT
That's pretty much Apple's whole statement. It's not quite clear if the tech giant intends to resume serving gambling ads after the backlash dies down — Apple didn't expound on its decision, and the word "pause" seems to suggest that the change is only temporary. As MacRumors notes, people have been criticizing Apple for serving casino ads as a whole and not just because they're being served within app listings. Florian Mueller of the FOSS Patents blog also argued that by putting ads in app pages, Apple is forcing developers to pony up money to buy those ad spaces. That's because if they don't purchase them, competitors could use them and take potential customers away.
Apple has sold ads in the App Store for years, but the ads space in the Today tab used to be reserved for a curated list of recommendations from Apple's editorial team. Meanwhile, the "You Might Also Like" section where ads are now displayed at the bottom of listings contained suggestion cards for similar apps. Since Apple allows advertisers to target categories different than their own, though, casino ads can show up just about anywhere on the App Store.
Nothing’s second attempt at wireless headphones come in a carry case that tries to combine a cosmetics packaging aesthetic with the glossy white, transparent style of its other devices so far. The Ear Stick, priced at $99, works best with the company’s phone (of course) but will happily work with any Android device or iPhone. The Nothing Ear 1 buds were eye-catching and surprisingly capable true wireless earbuds that offered tech like active noise cancellation (ANC) at a competitive price – although that’s since gone up.
While the Nothing Ear Stick is cheaper than its predecessor, these buds lack ANC. There are no silicone buds this time around, so you can expect more noise bleed-through, too, although some headphone wearers may find them a more comfortable fit. Nothing says it tested the new headphones with 100 pairs of ears. But I prefer silicone buds, so I’m looking forward to trying the Stick and forming my own opinion. The buds are still, thankfully, IP54 dust-, water- and sweat-resistant. One of the drawbacks of Nothing’s Ear 1 was occasionally patchy connectivity, both when pairing with your device and talking on calls. With the Ear Stick, the company has redesigned the antenna and shifted it further away from the face to reduce signal blockage.
Nothing
The company has also worked to improve sound quality, both listening and speaking. For the latter, there are now three high-definition mics (up from two mics on the Ear 1) that work with algorithms to filter out louder background noises and what it says is “wind-proof and crowd-proof.” Regarding audio quality, there’s a new 12.6mm custom dynamic driver inside each bud. A new feature called Bass Lock Technology will detect how much bass is lost during wear and adjust the equalizer automatically. You can also tweak the equalizer settings (with presets for different kinds of audio) from a new companion app. There are gesture controls on each headphone's tips, which can also be reassigned in the app.
Nothing says the Stick will offer up to seven hours of playback between charges, with 29 hours of total playback with the case. In a pinch, 10 minutes in the case should offer up to two hours of playback.
If you already own the see-thru Nothing Phone 1, many of these settings and features are already baked into the device, accessible by a widget in the Android phone’s drop-down menu. For other devices, a new Nothing X app will act as a settings hub for all of the company’s peripherals. The Ear stick will go on sale at 5:30 AM ET, on November 4th, directly from Nothing’s online store and other retailers, including Farfetch.
Sony isn't just upgrading its wireless earbuds with eco-friendly plastic. The company now promises that its LinkBuds, LinkBuds S and WF-1000XM4 models will receive multipoint audio support this fall. As with some rival buds, this lets you juggle the audio between two Bluetooth devices. You can switch to a call on your phone while you're watching video on your tablet, for instance.
The improvement requires new firmware available through Sony's Headphones Connect app. The LinkBuds family will get the multipoint update by November, while the WF-1000XM4 should make the leap sometime this winter.
As The Vergepointed out, the WF-1000XM4 upgrade is somewhat unexpected. Sony started selling that model in mid-2021, and hadn't even teased the prospect of a multipoint update. While the news still won't be much consolation if you own budget buds like the WF-C500, this at least ensures that you won't feel left out if you splurged on wireless audio in the past year.
The upgrade gives Sony an edge over some of the competition, at least. While you'll get seamless audio switching on challengers like Apple's AirPods lineup, you're frequently limited to one brand's ecosystem. Sony's multipoint functionality could make more sense if you don't want to be tied to certain platforms or products just to avoid wading through Bluetooth device menus.
At WWDC 2022 earlier this year, Apple announced a bunch of gaming improvements rolling out with iOS 16, including support for Nintendo's Joy-Con and Pro controllers. Now, you'll also be able to use Nintendo's modernized retro gamepads with your iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and even Apple TVs. Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has discovered that iOS 16.1 and tvOS 16.1 supports Nintendo's SNES-style Switch controllers, a modern version of their classic counterparts with wireless connection and a USB-C port for charging.
In his tweet with a video demonstrating the capability, Troughton-Smith said he believes that the Apple platforms now support the N64 and NES controllers for the Switch, as well. MacStories ran its own tests and confirmed that the SNES-style controllers also work with the iPad OS 16.1 and macOS Ventura. In addition, the publication was able to use the modern N64 controller with Apple's devices. The gamepads show up in Bluetooth settings when they're pairing mode like any other device.
Neat, iOS/tvOS 16.1 support the official BT/USB-C Super Nintendo controller for the Switch 😄 I don’t have the N64 or NES versions to test with, but I believe they are supported now too 🎮 pic.twitter.com/mfkTIHpXun
The Apple App Store doesn't support video game emulators, so you'll still have to fire up your Switch to play your games for the console and its subscription service. But as AppleInsider notes, you can use these gamepads for the Apple Arcade and other supported titles in the App Store.
