Google’s annual developer conference not only delivers on the software and web-based announcements but also on whatever hardware it’s been cooking up. In the past, that included smart speakers, phones, Chromebooks and everything else. For I/O 2023, we’re expecting lots of Pixel things. Rumors (and subsequent official teasers) point to Google’s first foldable smartphone, the Pixel Fold, as well as the latest midrange Pixel, the Pixel 7a.

The Pixel Fold will open like a book, similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold. Rumors suggest a 5.8-inch external screen and a foldable 7.6-inch 120Hz internal display. It has thicker bezels than the Z Fold, but it’s supposed to feature a durable, almost-gapless hinge and a battery that lasts 24 hours in normal use. It could cost up to $1,700.

At the other end of the “how much?!” spectrum, the Pixel 7a doesn’t appear too different from its predecessor; it might have a faster 90Hz display and a 64-megapixel main camera. Google reportedly plans to price the new phone at $499 – a little more than last year’s Pixel 6a, but still a fraction of the price of the Pixel Fold.

That’s not all. There is also the Pixel tablet, previewed at Google I/O last year, Android 14 (in testing since February) and maybe even a tease of the Pixel 8? Or even another smartwatch? Just two days to go…

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Tesla unveils Model S Plaid track package that unlocks 200 MPH top speed

It has ceramic brakes.

Tesla has unveiled a $20,000 track package for its Model S Plaid, finally allowing it to reach the 200MPH top speed. The Model S Plaid vehicles the company delivered after they became available could only reach around 163MPH, which is fast, but not 200MPH fast. Turns out Tesla put a limitation on its software to prevent it from reaching its full potential. According to Electrek, the company wanted the vehicle to have bigger brakes first, so they could slow down better. The automaker first started offering the ceramic brake kit for $20,000 back in 2021, but it has yet to start installing it on customers' vehicles.

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The iPhone 15 Pro may not have solid-state buttons

A supplier suggested the parts are delayed.

Engadget

You may recall rumors about the iPhone 15 Pro featuring touch-sensitive solid-state buttons. It now looks like Apple won’t replace the iPhone’s physical buttons for at least another year. In a shareholder letter spotted by MacRumors, Apple supplier Cirrus Logic said, “A new product that we mentioned in previous shareholder letters as being scheduled for introduction this fall is no longer expected to come to market as planned.” Cirrus already provides components for the iPhone’s Taptic Engine, so it’s got the Apple relationship. Cirrus previously told investors it was working on a new high-performance component that would arrive in smartphones sometime in 2023. That’s now less certain, apparently.

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‘Hogwarts Legacy’ adds a spider-free mode

The update arrives in time for the game’s launch on previous-gen consoles.

EA

Arachnophobic Harry Potter fans, rejoice. A new feature in Hogwarts Legacy removes spiders entirely from the game. The update coincides with the title’s arrival on PS4 and Xbox One. The Hogwarts Legacy update (build 1140773) launched Thursday adds the new Arachnophobia Mode to the game’s accessibility options. It changes all enemy spider appearances to a floating meanie with glowing red eyes surrounded by hovering roller skates. (Arguably more terrifying?)

The mode also “reduces and removes spider skitters and screeches,” “removes small spider ground effect spawners” and “makes static spider corpses in the world invisible.”

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Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro are among the best Bluetooth earbuds you can pair with an iPhone – but at $250, they’re expensive. Thankfully, you can frequently find them on sale on Amazon and other retailers. Following a $50 price drop at the start of April, the 2022 AirPods Pro are once again on sale for $200.

Engadget awarded the second-generation AirPods Pro a score of 88 in 2022. They feature one of the best transparency modes of any wireless earbuds on the market, and improved active noise cancellation performance over the original AirPods Pro. They also sound better than their predecessor. Of course, the reason to buy a pair of AirPods Pro is for their hands-free Siri support and tight integration with iOS and the rest of Apple’s ecosystem. Pairing any set of AirPods with an iPhone is easy, as is switching between different Apple devices. About the only area where the 2022 AirPods Pro disappoint is when it comes to battery life. Engadget Senior Editor Billy Steele found the earbuds offer little over six hours of use on one charge, or less than many other premium wireless earbuds.

If the AirPods Pro are out of your budget, it’s worth noting Amazon has discounted other Apple audio products, including the third-generation AirPods. After an 11 percent discount, they’re $150, down from their usual $169 starting price.

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If you’ve been following the Apple rumor mill since last year, you may recall the iPhone 15 Pro has been widely expected to feature a set of touch-sensitive solid-state buttons. It now looks like Apple won’t replace the iPhone’s physical buttons for at least another year. In a shareholder letter spotted by MacRumors, Apple supplier Cirrus Logic said “a new product that we mentioned in previous shareholder letters as being scheduled for introduction this fall is no longer expected to come to market as planned.”

Cirrus is best known for producing a handful of components that go into the iPhone’s Taptic Engine. Apple is the firm’s largest customer, accounting for 79 percent of its revenue in 2022. In November, Cirrus told investors and analysts it was working on a new high-performance mixed-signal (HPMS) component (that’s the same category of part as the Tapic Engine), and that it would arrive in smartphones sometime in 2023. This week, Cirrus said it had “limited visibility” into the product’s future.

Reports suggesting the iPhone 15 Pro would feature a set of solid-state buttons originated from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said last fall the company was planning to replace the physical volume and power buttons on its next flagship phone with touch-sensitive buttons. Last month, Kuo revised his forecast, noting Apple had decided to change plans due to “unresolved technical issues before mass production.” If nothing else, the development is a reminder to treat smartphone leaks with skepticism, particularly those that circulate months and sometimes years in advance of a product’s announcement.

Google's flagship Pixel 7 Pro has been acclaimed for its excellent cameras and smooth 120Hz display, but it also carries a flagship price. Now, you can grab the 128GB model at Amazon for $700 ($200 off), the lowest price we've seen to date. The only caveat is that the deal only applies to one color, but luckily that color is black, or "Obsidian" as Google calls it. 

The Pixel 7 Pro has a lot of refinements over the previous model, making it Google's most polished smartphone to date. It uses the company's own Tensor G2 chip, and while it's not quite as fast as Qualcomm's latest processors, it unlocks some nice AI camera tricks like Super Res Zoom, Photo Unblur and Cinematic Blur features.

Those cameras are among the best in the Pixel 7 Pro's price class, thanks in large part to the new 5X telephoto and ultra-wide-angle lens that has a solid macro function. Meanwhile, the 6.7-inch 120Hz display allows for smooth gaming performance. You can also expect modern features like wireless charging, strong water resistance and an improved design. 

Best of all for many buyers, the Pixel 7 offers Google's bloatware-free Android experience with first crack at updates and exclusive features like Clear Calling and a free VPN. The only downside is a slightly laggy fingerprint reader and temperatures that can get a bit warm under load. If you've been waiting for a deal, $700 is an outstanding price, but it's best to act soon before Amazon's stock is gone. 

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Gamepad maker 8Bitdo unveiled a cheaper version of its beloved Ultimate Controller today. The new Ultimate C 2.4G Wireless Controller is a $30 wireless accessory in purple or green color options. It’s compatible with Windows, Android, Steam Deck and Raspberry Pi.

As its name suggests, the new gamepad connects wirelessly using an included 2.4GHz USB dongle. 8Bitdo describes it as a “simplified” version of the popular Ultimate series of controllers while “offering the same ultimate quality.” As for what “simplified” means, the company appears to have helped scale back production costs by skipping the charging dock (using cable charging instead) and the profile-toggling switch from the more expensive variants. It also doesn’t support the company’s Ultimate Software for customizations.

8BitDo says the gamepad can last up to 25 hours of playtime and recharge fully in two hours. In addition, it supports asymmetrical rumble, although vibration feedback only works on Windows. The controller also works in wired mode and is plug-and-play on PC.

The company expanded into modern console-style controllers last year after making its bones on nostalgic gamepads mimicking classic NES and SNES inputs. The Ultimate line’s design is much closer to today’s Xbox controllers, including asymmetric stick layouts. The more expensive 2.5GHz version is still available for $50, while the Bluetooth variant costs $70. You can pre-order the new model from Amazon ahead of its scheduled May 31st release date.

The latest iPad Pro is one of the best tablets on the market right now. Those looking for a good deal on a 12.9-inch version with more storage than the base 128GB model may be tempted by a new sale. The 256GB variant has dropped by $150 to $1,049. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen to date for this version. It’s the same price as a 128GB iPad Pro, so you’d effectively be doubling the storage at no extra cost.

We gave the tablet a score of 87 in our review, with the design and build, solid battery life and Apple Pencil Hover feature among the aspects that stood out.

The 2022 iPad Pro is Apple's most powerful model to date. It boasts the beefy M2 chipset, so it should handle just about any task you can throw at it with ease. For one thing, it supports Apple's Stage Manager multitasking feature. The tablet has a Liquid Retina XDR screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The display offers up to 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness and up to 1,600 nits for HDR playback.

There's an ultrawide 12-megapixel front-facing camera that's unfortunately positioned on the narrower edge of the screen, which might make things a little awkward for those who prefer to put their tablet in a keyboard dock while taking video calls. On the rear, the iPad Pro has 12MP wide and 10MP ultra wide cameras, as well as a LiDAR scanner.

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro weighs in at 1.5 pounds, which might tire out your arms pretty quickly if you're holding it (you could always place it in a case with a stand, of course). Although this model doesn't have 5G connectivity, it does support WiFi 6E.

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Do you know what the lock icon in your web browser means? If not, you're far from alone. Google now plans to replace the lock next to the address in Chrome with a variant of the "tune" icon you see below. Simply put, most people don't understand it. According to Google's research, only 11 percent of users realize that it refers to HTTPS encryption. Many others think it means the site is trustworthy — a problem when even phishing sites use the technology.

The tune icon doesn't imply trustworthiness, Google says. Instead, it signals that security is the default state. It also invites a click, making it more likely that you'll use site controls. Many people never even realized they could click the lock, according to the company.

Google

Most users will see the replacement icon in Chrome 117 on Android and desktop, which is scheduled to arrive early in September. As you can't tap the icon in Chrome for iOS, Google is pulling the icon entirely on Apple's mobile platforms. If you just can't wait, you can see the icon now in Chrome Canary if you enable the Chrome Refresh 2023 flag.

The change is overdue in some respects. Google defaulted to HTTPS web connections in Chrome 90 two years ago, and that came months after Mozilla made a similar change in Firefox. Over 95 percent of page loads in Chrome for Windows use HTTPS, the company adds. Much like the floppy disk icon sometimes used to represent file saves, the lock is a relic from another era.

TikTok announced today that its revised content monetization program is now available for all eligible creators. Designed to pay more and “unlock more exciting, real-world opportunities,” the Creativity Program Beta launched in February as an invite-only program. Starting today, it’s open to US creators 18 or older with at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days.

TikTok says anyone entering the Creativity Program Beta can’t return to the Creator Fund, the previous monetization system launched in 2020 with an initial $200 million commitment (and a later promise to grow it to $1 billion over three years). However, some influencers have claimed that the Creator Fund only paid a few dollars for videos with millions of views. TikTok didn’t specify how much more the new system pays, but it says it’s based on feedback from the Creator Fund and is designed to “generate higher revenue potential.”

Apart from the follower and recent-view count requirements, the Creativity Program Beta also says participants must “create and publish high-quality, original content longer than one minute.” In addition, the company says eligible creators can track video eligibility in an updated dashboard, where they can also see their estimated revenue and performance metrics.

Apple and Google have announced a partnership to tackle the issue of unwanted tracking through the likes of AirTags and Tile devices. The companies have proposed industry standards "to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices for unwanted tracking." 

The proposal has received backing from Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, Anker's Eufy brand and Pebblebee, as well as a number of safety and advocacy groups. The draft specification includes best practices and instructions for Bluetooth tracker manufacturers on how to implement “unauthorized tracking detection and alerts” for iOS and Android.

Apple and Google submitted the draft specification to the Internet Engineering Task Force, a notable standards development organization. Over the next three months, interested parties will have a chance to review the documentation and weigh in on it. Apple and Google will address feedback from the comment period, then work together to develop a production version of the specification by the end of the year. Future versions of iOS and Android will support the tech.

“Bluetooth trackers have created tremendous user benefits, but they also bring the potential of unwanted tracking, which requires industrywide action to solve,” Dave Burke, Google’s vice president of engineering for Android, said in a press release. “Android has an unwavering commitment to protecting users, and will continue to develop strong safeguards and collaborate with the industry to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth tracking devices.”

“We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — a first in the industry — and we continue to make improvements to help ensure the technology is being used as intended," Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of sensing and connectivity, said. "This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections, and through collaboration with Google results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android.”

There have been numerouscases of Bluetooth trackers being used to stalk people over the last few years, as bad actors have planted such devices on unsuspecting victims. It's not only people that can be unwillingly tracked by Bluetooth devices. According to reports, thieves have used them to steal high-end cars.

Since it debuted its AirTags in 2021, Apple has rolled out some anti-stalking features. For instance, it has updated the devices so they emit as loud a noise as possible at some point after they're separated from their owners. An Android app can also detect AirTags and other Find My-compatible trackers that may have been planted on someone. 

It was reported last year that Google was exploring the idea of OS-level Bluetooth tracker detection, which now seems very likely to happen in the coming months. The company plans to reveal more details about its efforts to combat unwanted tracking at I/O next week. Google is also said to be working on its own Bluetooth tracker, which it may reveal at I/O. 

With an excellent blend of power and portability, Apple's 2021 iPad Mini tablet is a popular choice — but at $500, it's not exactly an impulse buy. If you've been waiting for a deal, the 64GB model is now on sale at Amazon and Target for $400 ($99 off) in four colors, down to the lowest prices we've seen to date.

With its fresh and modern design, solid performance and improved cameras, the iPad mini 2021 earned a solid 89 Engadget review score. It’s easily the smallest (7.69x5.3x0.25 inches) and lightest (0.65 pounds for the WiFi model) of any current iPad, with an 8.3-inch display that’s more comfortable to operate with a single hand.

At the same time, it has similar specs to the iPhone 13, with the same speedy A15 Bionic chip that delivers a big jump in performance over the fifth-gen model. It comes with a larger 8.3-inch display with higher 2,266 x 1,488 resolution than the previous models, and eliminates the physical home button, moving the Touch ID sensor to the power button. The volume buttons, meanwhile, are at the top to make room for Apple Pencil 2 that can be attached to the side magnetically.

Other features include USB-C charging and upgraded cameras with support from Apple's Center Stage feature, keeping you in the center of the frame during video calls. The main downsides are the lack of a headphone jack, limited 64GB of storage on the base model and fairly high price compared to tablets with comparable specs. Amazon and Target have certainly taken the edge off the price, but it's best to act soon before the deal ends.

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