Apple has "halted the development" of its own WiFi chip that was meant to replace Broadcom's in its devices "for a while," according to Ming-Chi Kuo. The notable analyst explained in a Medium post that he's basing this report on his latest survey of the semiconductor industry's foundries, equipment, packaging and testing. If you'll recall, Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the tech giant was working on its own wireless chips meant for devices slated for release in 2025. While Apple has yet to confirm the report, it's not exactly hard to believe: The tech giant has been taking steps to design and manufacture more in-house components to lessen its reliance on outside companies. 

Kuo said Apple chose to devote most of its resources to developing its next-gen A-series and M-series processors instead. That way, it can ensure that the processors for its iPhones, iPads and MacBooks can enter production over the next couple of years. The analyst also explained that it's riskier for Apple to use its own WiFi chips at a time when companies are switching their devices over to WiFi 6E. "Broadcom will be the biggest winner" in this situation, he said, since the iPhone 15 is expected to feature the new WiFi standard that allows access to the 6 GHz band.

While it's unclear if Apple will ever release its own WiFi chip, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the company's wireless chipset ambition isn't entirely dead. In Kuo's Twitter thread about the report, Gurman chimed in and said that the tech giant is still working on a combined WiFi-Bluetooth chip. Gurman previously said that the tech giant is also working on a chip that combines Bluetooth, cellular and WiFi in a single component, but he didn't say if that one is still under development.

When The Information published a piece last week that said Apple is working on a cheaper mixed-reality headset, one of its sources claimed that the device could use the company's in-house Bluetooth and WiFi chipset. That would allow Apple to keep costs and the device's final retail price low, since it wouldn't have to deal with a third party company's pricing demands. 

Google is rolling out a feature to Android that will add an extra layer of privacy when you browse websites in Incognito mode. The tech giant has revealed in a blog post (via The Verge) that the ability to lock Chrome Incognito sessions behind biometric authentication on mobile is currently making its way to Android users after debuting on iOS. When this feature is switched on, you will have to verify your identity through face or fingerprint authentication every time you return to an Incognito tab after exiting Chrome or navigating away to another app. 

Locked Incognito sessions first became available on Android in 2022 — over a year after Google started testing it for iPhones and iPads — but as an experimental feature you'd have to activate via a flag. Based on 9to5Google's experience using it on Android last year, this feature will show you a gray screen with the Incognito logo at the center when you come back to a tab protected by the privacy feature. You'll then have to tap "Unlock Incognito" to open biometric authentication or choose to verify your identity with your PIN code. 

While the feature isn't available for us yet, you can check out if you already have access to it by tapping on the three-dot menu at the top right corner of Chrome. Open Settings and then go to Privacy and Security to toggle on "Lock Incognito tabs when you leave Chrome" if you already see it as an option. 

Multiple Microsoft 365 services went down for thousands of users around the world, prompting the tech giant to investigate the incident affecting several of its products. In an announcement about the outage posted in the early morning (ET time) of January 25th, the company said users were unable to access its services, including Microsoft Teams, Exchange Online, Outlook, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Graph, PowerBi and Microsoft 365 Admin Center. The tech giant admitted that the outage might not be limited to those products, however, and true enough, over a thousand users also reported having problems with accessing Xbox Live on Down Detector.

In an update to its announcement, Microsoft said it "isolated the problem to a networking configuration issue." The company added that it had to plan its next troubleshooting steps carefully and analyze "the best mitigation strategy" in order to come up with a solution that wouldn't cause any additional impact. By 4:26AM ET, Microsoft tweeted that it "rolled back a network change" that it believed was causing the outage and that it was monitoring its services as they start coming back online. 

Apple's latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro has dropped to its lowest price to date across several configurations. The 512GB version of the tablet, which is powered by an M2 chipset, is $100 off at $1,299. If you'd like to double that storage to 1TB, you'll save $200 off the regular price, as that version has dropped to $1,599. Similarly, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro M2 with 2TB of storage is $200 off at $1,999. These prices are for the WiFi models, but you can also snag the 1TB and 2TB cellular variants for $200 off the regular price. Amazon isn't offering a discount on the 512GB WiFi and cellular version at the minute, unfortunately.

The M2 lineup offers significant CPU and GPU performance boosts over the M1 iPad Pro, based on our testing. The latest generation of Apple chipsets power some neat features on the most recent iPad Pro models, including an Apple Pencil tool called Hover. This allows you to see how apps and other aspects of the user interface will react before you touch the stylus against the tablet. For instance, you may be able to see how colors will blend with each other in watercolor apps before applying the brushstroke. The tablet can also now record video in Apple’s ProRes codec in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second.

All told, we gave the latest iPad Pro a score of 87 in our review. The chip upgrade is a big selling point, especially if you already have an iPad Pro that's a few years old and showing its age. Add in a best-in-class screen and design, as well as great battery life, and the M2-powered 12.9-inch iPad Pro may just be worth your while.

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Mac users who have been waiting for a native version of WhatsApp can now download it without restrictions, WaBetaInfo has reported. The new app is optimized for Mac hardware and built with Mac Catalyst, so it should be faster and more efficient than the current web-wrapped Electron version. You also get a new interface with three panels to easily flip between chats, calls, archived and starred messages, while seeing contacts and interactions at a glance.  

Apple's Catalyst was designed to allow developers to port iOS apps over to macOS or create just one version that can run on either platform. Since the Mac was developed on Catalyst, that lends some hope that a long-awaited version may also come to iOS. In 2021, Meta said that it was expanding multi-device support for WhatsApp, leading to speculation that an iPad app was forthcoming.

Last year, WhatsApp released a native version for Windows 10 that works without the need for a smartphone. It looks much the same as the Mac app and also offers increased reliability and speed.

The native macOS app has been around for several months on TestFlight, but that only offers limited slots for testers. Now that it's in a full beta, though, you can download it directly from WhatsApp's website. 

Microsoft is once again pouring money into OpenAI as part of an expanded partnership. The tech giant is making a "multibillion dollar" investment that will lead to wider uses of OpenAI's technology, as well as stronger behind-the-scenes support. While the two companies are short on specifics, Microsoft says you can expect "new categories of digital experiences" that include both consumer-facing and business products. The developer-focused Azure OpenAI Service will play a role.

The continued union will also see Microsoft boost its investments in supercomputers that accelerate OpenAI's research. Azure will remain OpenAI's sole cloud provider for products, research and services. The exact size of the financial contribution isn't known, but a Bloombergsource claims Microsoft is investing $10 billion over "multiple years."

Microsoft first backed OpenAI in 2019, and returned in 2021. The New York Times notes it "quietly" invested an extra $2 billion since that initial round. The companies have grown closer since their collaboration began. On top of the Azure service, Microsoft has launched OpenAI-powered features that include natural language programming and a DALL-E 2 graphic design tool. OpenAI uses Microsoft's infrastructure to train its best-known systems, including DALL-E 2 and the popular ChatGPT bot. ChatGPT is coming to Azure soon.

There's no mention of some rumored developments, such as building ChatGPT into Bing. However, this expansion may help Microsoft seize a competitive advantage. Google reportedly sees ChatGPT as a threat to its search business, and is believed to be devoting much of its attention to a search chatbot and other AI products despite a reluctance to fully embrace the technology over concerns about copyright. Even if the deeper OpenAI partnership doesn't improve Bing, Microsoft may benefit by forcing rivals like Google to change course.

With its last batch of MacBook Pros, Apple gave its more demanding fans everything they wanted: Tons of ports, lots of power, and genuinely great screens. As usual, the company is following up that major redesign with a straightforward chip upgrade, featuring the new M2 Pro and M2 Max. They're faster, as you'd expect, but they also deliver a few features power users may appreciate, like 8K video output and support for WiFi 6E.

Once Apple locks in a redesign, it typically doesn't mess with a good thing (save for complete disasters like the trashcan Mac Pro). So it's no surprise to see that this year's MacBook Pro 14 doesn't look any different than the 2021 model. It still boasts a gorgeous 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with ProMotion support and a prominent notch housing a 1080p webcam. It has all of the ports you'd actually want, including a MagSafe power connection, three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, HDMI, a headphone jack and a full-sized SD card slot. And the overall shape of the computer remains relatively flat, an evolution of the long-lived unibody MacBook Pro design.

Under the hood, though, the MacBook Pro 14 has been dramatically upgraded. It can be equipped with Apple's new M2 Pro chip, which offers up to a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU, or the M2 Max, which squeezes in a 12-core CPU and 38-core GPU. Much like Intel's new hybrid processors, as well as mobile chips from Qualcomm, Apple relies on a combination of core speeds for its CPUs (the 12-core chips, for example, have eight performance cores and four efficiency cores). The previous M1 Pro and M1 Max topped out with 10 CPU cores and 16 or 32 GPU cores, respectively.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Apple claims the M2 Pro is around 20 percent faster than its predecessor in CPU speeds, and up to 30 percent faster when it comes to graphics. The M2 Max, meanwhile, is up to 30 percent faster than the M1 Max in terms of graphics. We tested the fully-upgraded $3,299 MacBook Pro, which was equipped with the M2 Max chip with 38 GPU cores and 64GB of RAM. It scored around 2,600 points (19 percent) faster in the GeekBench 5 multitasking CPU benchmark, compared to the M1 Max-equipped MacBook Pro 16. It was also 18 percent faster in the GPU-powered GeekBench 5 Compute test and a whopping 60 percent faster than the M1 Max Mac Studio in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme benchmark.

These are phenomenal results if you're planning to use the MacBook Pro to its full potential. But I'll admit, during everyday usage, I didn't notice any major performance benefits over the previous models. That's not really a knock against the new computer, it's more a testament to how much Apple got right last time. Unlike PCs, you probably won't be gaming too much with your Mac, either, so there's less of a reason to chase frequent upgrades. On that note, it's nice to see some modern games with native Mac support. Resident Evil Village easily hits 60fps on the MacBook Pro at full resolution, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same was true for the M1 models.

If you're among the folks dealing with large video encoding or high compute jobs daily, though, it may be worth moving up from the last MacBook Pro. It took me 31 seconds to transcode a minute-long 4K clip into 1080p using Handbrake — but the M1 Max MacBook Pro 16 took a full 10 seconds longer. Extrapolate that to longer jobs and you could be saving yourself some serious time. And if you've managed to hold out with an Intel MBP until now, it's definitely time to upgrade — you'll easily see a night and day difference in speed.

Aside from its performance, the MacBook Pro 14 remains a wonderful workhorse to live with. The MiniLED Liquid Retina display looks fantastically bright, especially when viewing HDR content. Mostly, though, I appreciated the smooth scrolling thanks to Apple's 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate. The six speaker sound system remains excellent, with crisp and punchy audio that's leagues ahead of most other laptops. And I remain impressed with the MacBook Pro's built-in three-mic array. It's no replacement for a dedicated USB microphone, but it sounds great during video calls.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The MacBook Pro's keyboard is certainly better than the old butterfly models, but I wish Apple was able to deliver more key travel. It's still great to type on, to be clear, I'm just feeling a bit spoiled from the mechanical keyboards I've seen in some gaming laptops. The Pro's trackpad remains best in class though, with a large surface area and responsive performance. After testing the XPS 13 Plus last year, which featured an attractive yet hard to use trackpad hidden in the wrist rest, I'm even more appreciative of Apple's clean design. It turns out that being able to feel the difference between the trackpad and the wrist rest is pretty helpful!

Apple is touting better battery life as another major benefit of the M2 Pro and Max chips, and I definitely noticed an improvement. The previous MacBook Pro lasted 12 hours and 36 minutes during our testing, but the new model made it to 15 hours and 10 minutes. That's a healthy step up, especially if you find yourself stuck on a long flight without any working outlets. Apple says that the new MacBook Pros can reach up to 22 hours of battery life, but take note that figure only refers to the 16-inch model.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Just like last time, the 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,999 — a huge leap from the $1,299 13-inch model. I'm still a bit baffled by that MacBook Pro, though. Most mainstream shoppers would be better off with the revamped M2 MacBook Air, while power users might as well bump up to this more powerful 14-inch model. If you're aiming for something bigger, the 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,499. New gear also means the old models will inevitably go on sale, so it's worth keeping an eye on the M1 Pro and Max machines if you're aiming to save some money. Sure, they're a bit slower, but you could put that extra money towards buying more RAM or storage.

It's no wonder Apple announced the new MacBook Pros without much fanfare. It's just a simple spec bump, not the sort of thing most buyers would get too excited about. But for the creative professionals who need the most power possible, it's another reason to stick with Apple instead of jumping to a PC.

As part of an effort to wind down support of Windows 10 Home and Pro, Microsoft is stopping sales of downloads on January 31st, according to a product page spotted by The Verge. That date "will be the last day this Windows 10 download [and all-important license keys] are offered for sale," according to Microsoft. However, it will continue to support Windows 10 with security updates until it's discontinued for good in October 2025. 

"Customers have until January 31, 2023 to purchase Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro from this site," a Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge, while advising customers to purchase Windows 11 instead. However, Windows 10 may still be offered elsewhere from other retailers and OEMs, until Microsoft confirms otherwise. 

Windows 10 was first launched in 2015, and so will be discontinued exactly 10 years later. The company announced the end date in June of 2021 as part of its "modern lifecycle policy," just prior to the launch of Windows 11. The OS received generally good reviews and met with success when it arrived — in part because it replaced Windows 8, which wasn't, er, as warmly received. 

Meanwhile, Windows 11 launched to decent acclaim, with applause for the polish and boos for the weird upgrade restrictions. The minimum system requirements were relaxed soon after launch, but migration from Windows 10 has still been slow, according to recent reports. 

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries took to Twitter on Saturday to share a brief message about the franchise's future. “Halo and Master Chief are here to stay,” 343 said in a statement attributed to studio head Pierre Hintze. “343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great.”

The statement comes after Microsoft confirmed that it would lay off 10,000 employees before the end of March. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, 343 Industries was “hit hard” by the restructuring and lost Halo veteran and creative director Joe Staten – who joined the studio in 2020 to help bring Infinite over the finish line – to Microsoft’s publishing division. Staten’s reassignment follows a handful of other high-profile departures, including that of Slipspace Engine lead developer David Berger and 343 co-founder Bonnie Ross. Schreier couldn’t put a number to the cuts at 343, but he said Infinite’s campaign team was particularly affected by the cuts. Prior to the layoffs, the studio also had a “long-running” hiring freeze in place and had lost a lot of contractors in recent weeks and months. One former 343 staff member blamed the layoffs on "incompetent leadership up top."  

Microsoft released Halo Infinite in 2021 to generally positive reviews, but the game has since struggled to maintain a consistent player base. On Steam, for instance, Infinite is currently averaging about 4,000 players per day, a steep drop from the 100,000 players it was averaging at launch. More than a year after the game’s release, Microsoft also has yet to announce new campaign content for Infinite. Halo fans rightfully have reason to be worried about the franchise’s future.

It seems Google is feeling the heat from OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot has taken the tech world by storm over the last couple months, as it can provide users with information they're looking for in an easy-to-understand format. Google sees ChatGPT as a threat to its search business and has shifted plans accordingly over the last several weeks, according to The New York Times.

The report claims CEO Sundar Pichai has declared a "code red" and accelerated AI development. Google is reportedly preparing to show off at least 20 AI-powered products and a chatbot for its search engine this year, with at least some set to debut at its I/O conference in May.

According to a slide deck viewed by the Times, among the AI projects Google is working on are an image generation tool, an upgraded version of AI Test Kitchen (an app used to test prototypes), a TikTok-style green screen mode for YouTube and a tool that can generate videos to summarize other clips. Also in the pipeline are a feature titled Shopping Try-on (perhaps akin to one Amazon has been developing), a wallpaper creator for Pixel phones and AI-driven tools that could make it easier for developers to create Android apps.

Pichai reportedly brought in Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin last month to meet with current leaders, review AI plans and offer input. The duo hasn't had much day-to-day involvement with the company since 2019, as they're focusing on other projects.

Google has attempted to speed up product approval processes, including checks to ensure that AI-driven tech is fair and ethical, it's claimed. In addition, the company is said to be adjusting the risk levels it's prepared to take on as it rolls out such tech. Priorities for a demo of the search chatbot seemingly include safety, accuracy and blocking out misinformation. However, for the other products and tools Google is working on, it has "a lower bar and will try to curb issues relating to hate and toxicity, danger and misinformation rather than preventing them," the Times reported.

Of late, Google has exercised some caution when it comes to unveiling new products. The slide deck reportedly mentioned "copyright, privacy and antitrust" as the main risks of AI tech. It's said to have noted that solutions were needed to keep out copyrighted material and prevent personally identifiable information from being shared.

Over the last few years, there has been a backlash against Google's handling of AI ethics. Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell, two leading AI ethics researchers, said Google fired them. Gebru and Mitchell accused Google of censoring research that criticizes AI language-learning models, including concerns that they encode biases found in training data. That can result "in models that encode stereotypical and derogatory associations along gender, race, ethnicity, and disability status," the researchers wrote in a paper. Training datasets can include false information as well. Two other prominent ethics researchers left Google early last year, after Gebru and Mitchell's departures.

It's not difficult to understand why Google is said to be in panic mode over ChatGPT. For one thing, earlier this month, reports suggested that Microsoft (an OpenAI investor) plans to incorporate some of the tech powering ChatGPT into Bing. The company said this week that it will soon integrate ChatGPT into the Azure OpenAI Service.

The latest report over Google's response to ChatGPT comes just after the company announced it's laying off 12,000 people. "I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to the strength of our mission, the value of our products and services, and our early investments in AI," Pichai wrote in a memo to staff. "To fully capture it, we’ll need to make tough choices."

The CEO added that the company is preparing to unveil "some entirely new experiences for users, developers and businesses. We have a substantial opportunity in front of us with AI across our products and are prepared to approach it boldly and responsibly."