The XPS 13 Plus is one of the boldest laptops I've ever seen. It's like Dell sent a computer back in time from the future, Terminator-style. It has a keyboard that stretches from edge to edge, with no gaps between the keys. The haptic trackpad is hidden underneath the wrist rest, and the capacitive function key row keeps things looking clean, without the annoying shape-shifting keys from Apple's Touch Bar.

With all of those features, and the most computing power ever in a 13-inch Dell ultraportable, the XPS 13 Plus should be perfect, right? Well, not quite. It's an admirable achievement, but it also feels like Dell's designers emphasized style over usability.

Take that haptic trackpad, for one. When I first got my hands on the XPS 13 Plus last December, I was both floored by its unconventional touchpad design and worried that it could lead to headaches. It's definitely intriguing: When the computer is on, the piezo motors in the trackpad area deliver the sensation of clicking without moving at all. But when it's off, the wrist rest is just a silent slab of Gorilla Glass.

Of course, haptic trackpads aren't new. Apple's been using them for years, and they've finally started popping up in other Windows laptops like the Surface Laptop Studio. Technically, they can make laptops more reliable since they can't trap gunk like normal trackpads. But on the XPS 13 Plus, that technology feels even stranger. There's no easy way to tell when you're in the trackpad zone without pressing down or looking for a moving mouse cursor. With other notebooks, you can feel a clear difference between the trackpad and wrist rest. That's not something we think about often, but it goes a long way toward making us feel confident as we browse the web or scroll through documents.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

On the XPS 13 Plus, just right-clicking often feels like trial and error. Is my finger too far to the left? Too much toward the right? Doing something so simple shouldn't be frustrating, especially not with a laptop that's meant to represent the future of computing design. The invisible trackpad basically feels like a party trick: something that can impress your friends but will mostly make your life harder. Even after using the XPS 13 Plus for a week, I still find myself missing the trackpad often, especially if I try to do any complicated finger gestures.

The XPS 13 Plus's keyboard is far more successful. It spans the entire width of the computer, and it has practically no gaps between the keys. We saw something similar on HP's 2019 Spectre x360, but Dell's machine goes even farther to the edge. The result is something that feels luxurious to type on — finally, my large hands can spread out like they do on a desktop keyboard. It would be nice to have more than just a millimeter of key travel, but the overall typing experience still feels responsive.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

After seeing the trackpad's haptic functionality in action, it's not hard to imagine future keyboards using similar mechanisms to deliver a deeper typing sensation. That technology could also help the XPS 13 Plus's function row feel a bit more like traditional keys while still being covered under Gorilla Glass. I didn't mind the capacitive function row — at least the keys stayed in place, unlike the Touch Bar — but I wish it was more visible outdoors. It tends to get washed out in direct sunlight, or if you're wearing sunglasses. (One Engadget staffer has also had to replace the capacitive function keys on his ThinkPad Carbon X1 several times. That could be a sign of Lenovo’s build quality, or it could point to capacitive buttons not being very durable.)

Aside from these features, the XPS 13 Plus mostly looks like a typical XPS 13 when it's closed. There's the machined aluminum case, which looks as premium as ever and feels plenty sturdy. If you look closely, you'll notice there's no headphone jack, just two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connections on either side. That's something Dell also removed from this year's XPS 13, and it remains a baffling decision. And no, I don’t think the new quad-speaker array makes up for that (it sounds fine, but it’s nothing miraculous).

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

While Dell includes a USB-C to headphone adapter in the box, along with a Type-A adapter, there's no way to charge the computer if you have those both plugged in. If Apple can squeeze a 3.5 millimeter jack in the new MacBook Air, which weighs the same 2.7 pounds as the LCD-equipped XPS 13 Plus, Dell really has no excuse. (The OLED model is a tad heavier at 2.8 pounds.)

While we're talking about screens, if you want to get a 4K or OLED screen in an XPS this year, the 13 Plus is your only option. The standard XPS 13 only has 1080p LCD options. Our review unit is equipped with the 3.5K OLED touchscreen model, which offers a decent 400 nits of brightness. It looks as great as all the other XPS screens we've seen, with excellent color and deep black levels, but I'm more curious to see how the 500-nit 4K OLED variant performs. Our review model's display was just fine outdoors, but a bit more brightness would make it look better in direct sunlight.

This being an XPS 13, the Plus also sports Dell's razor-thin InfinityEdge screen bezels. The effect of having an almost border-less screen is still astounding, but I wish Dell had managed to push things even more with this supposedly futuristic design. It's hard to tell the difference between the Plus and the standard XPS models from 2020. At least the webcam situation is a bit better. The top screen bezel is thicker than the others because it houses a 720p webcam and a Windows Hello IR module for secure logins. I would have liked to see it reach 1080p, but this camera still looks more vibrant than what we've seen from Dell before.

The last major upgrade in the XPS 13 Plus is something you can't even see. Under the hood, it's powered by Intel's 28-watt 12th-gen processors, whereas last year's XPS 13 had 15-watt 11th-gen chips. More power means more performance – this is the small XPS for someone who wants to do serious work. The standard XPS 13 is still around, but it's now running 9-watt 12th-gen chips, which Dell claims are as fast as the previous 11th-gen CPUs. We haven't tested the smaller XPS 13 yet, but it's clear that Dell is positioning it as a more efficient system for less demanding consumers.

Our review unit was equipped with Intel's Core i7-1280P, the fastest chip available for the XPS Plus. It's a hybrid 14-core CPU made up of six performance cores and eight efficiency cores. That sounds impressive on paper, and it proved itself worthy in our benchmarks. In GeekBench 5, the XPS 13 Plus outpaced gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 15 and ASUS Zephyrus Duo, and it came close to the much larger XPS 15.

Not surprisingly, it also outclassed Lenovo's new Yoga 9i, another ultraportable running Intel's Iris Xe graphics, in Cinebench R23. That GPU doesn't help much when it comes to games, though. I could barely get Halo Infinite running in 1080p, though I'm sure a less demanding game like Overwatch would be more playable.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

We tested the XPS 13 Plus in its "Ultra Performance" thermal mode, which spins up the fans and lets it run a bit hotter. But for simpler work, you can put it in quiet mode to reduce heat and noise. In its default "optimized" cooling mode, the laptop felt too warm to use on my lap outside. To be fair, it was well above 90 degrees Fahrenheit in Atlanta, so I won't hold that against the XPS 13 Plus too much. I wish the battery life was more impressive, though. The system only lasted 12 and a half hours during our benchmark in optimized mode, and a paltry nine and half hours in performance mode. In comparison, the 2020 XPS 13 kept trucking for almost 16 hours.

For years, we've recommended the XPS 13 to people who wanted to get basic work done, whereas the more powerful XPS 15 and 17 were better suited to creatives who needed to edit video or audio. With the XPS 13 Plus, Dell finally has a 13-inch ultraportable that can throw down some processing power. The only question is if anyone actually wants that on a smaller screen. At this point, it seems best suited for someone who's in the market for a souped-up XPS 13, or who wants to experiment with a futuristic design. Personally, I'd recommend testing out the XPS 13 Plus before committing to it. Its invisible trackpad may look cool, but it could easily become a headache for daily use.

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The XPS 13 Plus starts at $1,200 with a 512GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, and a 1,920 by 1,200 (FHD+) LCD monitor. As usual, I'd suggest bumping up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD for $1,499 if you're planning to keep the laptop for four years or more. And if you want OLED, expect to spend at least $1,799.

Ultimately, I have to give Dell credit for once again attempting to push laptop designs forward with the XPS 13 Plus. Like the InfinityEdge Display before it, there are plenty of great ideas in this computer that competitors may end up adopting. I just hope Dell considers dealing with the potential usability issues eventually (and maybe throw in a headphone jack too). If you're trying to show us the future of computing, don't make it feel like a step backward.

Last month, Instagram started testing a full-screen display for photos and videos. And we didn’t like it. Now, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri says the test will be wound down over the next couple of weeks. “For the new feed designs, people are frustrated, and the usage data isn’t great,” Mosseri said to Platformer.

He added: “When you discover something in your field that you didn't follow before, there should be a high bar — it should just be great,” he said. “You should be delighted to see it. And I don't think that’s happening enough right now."

Instagram brought in the full-screen feed and larger number of recommended posts to compete with TikTok and to contend with the pivot from photos to videos. The time spent by people watching Reels grew by 30 percent last quarter, and Mosseri said users' gradual embrace of video was happening, regardless of Instagram’s own movements.

In an earnings call on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said around 15 percent of the posts people see on Facebook (and even more on Instagram) are recommended by algorithms. Zuckerberg expects the volume of recommended posts to double over the next year or so.

— Mat Smith

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NASA’s plan to bring rock samples back from Mars involves space helicopters

It was so impressed with Ingenuity, NASA’s making two more space helicopters.

NASA has altered the Mars Sample Return Program meant to bring back the rock samples the Perseverance rover has been drilling and collecting from the Jezero crater. Instead of sending a rover to the red planet like originally planned, the program will use Perseverance itself and send over two helicopters. The Earth Return Orbiter and Sample Retrieval Lander will take off in fall 2027 and summer 2028. Their journey to and from the red planet will take years, so the samples aren't expected to arrive on Earth until 2033.

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The PS5 finally gets 1440p support

The feature is in beta but will likely be available to all soon.

The PlayStation 5now supports 1440p, at least for gamers with access to its beta software. While the console has supported 1080p and 4K output from the start, 1440p support is still a much-requested feature by players who use monitors instead of TVs. However, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which rolled out for the console in April, is only available for 1080p and 2160p. VRR gives the screen the ability to sync its refresh rate with the game for a smoother experience. It's not quite clear why it's not available for 1440p output.

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Senate deal would revive EV tax credits for GM, Tesla and Toyota

The Inflation Reduction Act would also offer credits for used EVs.

Engadget

Automakers might just get the EV tax credit extension they've been hoping for. Senators Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin may have agreed on an Inflation Reduction Act that would replace the 200,000-unit cap on federal EV tax credits with a system that would restore those perks for GM, Tesla and Toyota. According to Bloomberg sources, the new approach is a compromise that would switch to price- and income-based limits, drop union manufacturing requirements and even offer credits for used EVs.

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Google Pixel Buds Pro review

With noise cancellation, the company’s best earbuds yet.

Engadget

Google’s latest Pixel Buds are its best yet, due mostly to the company finally checking a missing box: active noise cancellation. They do cost more, however, but the sound quality impresses, and there’s a host of handy features, like hands-free access to Assistant. There are a few shortcomings, but they remain Google’s best buds yet. Read on for our full verdict.

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After Meta's revenue shrank for the first time in its history, the company has reportedly told publishers it will no longer pay for content to run in Facebook's News Tab, according to Axios. "Most people do not come to Facebook for news, and as a business it doesn't make sense to over-invest in areas that don't align with user preferences," a spokesperson said in a statement.

Facebook spent around $105 million on such deals, paying $20 million to The New York Times, $10 million to The Wall Street Journal and $3 million to CNN, according to Axios. Facebook struck the deals back in 2019 as it boosted its investment in news and even hired journalists to direct traffic to the news tab. 

Facebook also promised to pay partner sites including The Guardian and The Economist for news in the UK when it launched the News Tab there late in 2020. Shortly after that, it signed a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to pay for content in Australia, after the Australian Parliament passed a law requiring Facebook and Google to do so. 

Along with Google, Facebook has taken criticism for drawing ad dollars away from dedicated news sites. That has contributed to the failure of a quarter of US news sites over the last 15 years, according to Poynter, with the professional journalism vacuum often been filled by false or misleading news on Facebook. 

Twitter's $3 subscription now costs $5 a month. The social network has sent out an email notifying existing subscribers that Twitter Blue has raised its prices for new members, but as early adopters, the monthly amount they're paying will remain the same until October. In the email posted by social media consultant Matt Navarra and first spotted by The Verge, the company said early adopters will also be notified at least 30 days before the new monthly price takes effect for their accounts. 

The company didn't elaborate on the reason behind the price increase and only said in the email that it will help Twitter build new features subscribers have been asking for, improve upon the ones it already has and sustain its mission of supporting journalism. It also said that it's currently creating a "more frictionless reading experience" and launching new experimental features in Twitter Blue Labs for those who choose to stick around even with the higher subscription price.

Twitter launched its subscription service in the US back in November, unlocking additional features for the website's most dedicated users. Some of its features can be very useful, including the ability to Undo tweets, which is the closest thing to an "edit" button at the moment. It also allows members to browse news without ads and gives them access to the latest features the website is testing.

In its second quarter earnings report for 2022, Twitter said it has seen a sharp rise in the number of regular users on the website. The bad news was that it didn't translate to more money for the company. It posted a net loss of $270 million, which it blamed on the economic downturn and the uncertainty surrounding Elon Musk's takeover. If you'll recall, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion back in April and the social network quickly accepted, but they've been at odds since then. In July, Twitter sued Elon Musk for attempting to back out of the acquisition, and now the two parties are going to face off in an expedited, five-day trial beginning in October.

At the end of its fiscal year in May, Sony was fairly bullish on gaming sales, predicting sales of 18 million PlayStation 5s for 2022 after selling 11.5 million in 2021. The company also expected a "significant" revenue increase over 2021 due to a boost across "all categories."

In its latest earnings drop, however, the company has revised its profit forecast down by 16 percent from 305 billion yen ($2.3 billion) in May to 255 billion yen ($1.9 billion), "due to an expected decrease in sales of first party titles," it wrote. The company also chalked up the drop in revenue to higher expenses due to its acquisition of Bungie Studios closing earlier than expected. 

Sony didn't say anything about its PS5 console forecast, but it sold 2.4 million units this quarter compared to 2.3 million in the same quarter last year (21.4 million units to date). That means it must sell over 5 million units on average for the next three quarters to meet its May forecast — something it has never done before. In May, however, Sony said that it will finally be able to ramp up production to meet PS5 demand as supply chain issues ease — though as it stands now, the consoles are still in short supply. 

On the software side, things also went south as Sony sold just 47.1 million titles, including 6.4 million first party games, compared to 63.6 million titles and 10.5 million first-party games in the same quarter of 2021. On top of that, PlayStation Plus users dropped slightly from Q4 (47.3 million instead of 47.4 million), and monthly active users also dropped from 106 to 102 million. Sony introduced the new higher-priced PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers in June, but it has yet to reveal the impact of those — hopefully, we'll learn more next quarter.

Looking ahead, Sony has a few major titles on the horizon that could perk up software sales, including God of War Ragnarokcoming November 9th, and The Last of Us Part I remake arriving on September 2nd. On the hardware side, the PSVR 2 has been revealed but isn't expected to arrive until next year.  

The next quarter will be a lot more interesting for Sony's gaming division, as PS5 sales will show if it's been able to ramp up production. Game sales will also be notable, as the steep drop this quarter bodes ominously for the industry as a whole. 

The US federal courts' document filing system was attacked by three hostile foreign actors, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler has told fellow lawmakers. According to Politico, Nadler made the first public disclosure of the cyberattack at a committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department’s National Security Division (NSD). The attack happened as part of a bigger security breach that led to a "system security failure" way back in 2020. Nadler has admitted during the hearing, however, that the committee only learned about the "startling breadth and scope" of the breach this March. 

Matthew Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, has testified at the hearing and said his division is "working very closely with the judicial conference and judges around the country to address this issue." As you can guess, lawmakers are worried about how many cases were impacted by the breach and how exactly the issue had affected them. "[T]his is a dangerous set of circumstances that has now been publicly announced, and we need to know how many…were dismissed," committee member Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee told Olsen. When asked if the breach had affected any of the cases the NSD had handled, Olsen said he couldn't think of any in particular. 

There's still a lot of information about the breach that's kept under wraps — Senator Ron Wyden even wrote to the Administrative Office of the US Courts to express concerns about the fact that "the federal judiciary has yet to publicly explain what happened and has refused multiple requests to provide unclassified briefings to Congress." As Politico notes, though, the US Courts admitted in January 2021 that its Case Management/Electronic Case Files system was breached and even changed its filing procedures for sensitive documents. The publication also points out that this breach wasn't a part of the massive SolarWinds hacks, which are being blamed on a Russian state-sponsored group known as Nobelium.

Olsen said the Justice Department's investigators will keep the committee updated about any new developments, so we'll likely hear more information about the data breach in the future. 

After a strong quarter earlier this year, Apple is continuing to break records. According to the company's financial results posted today, it's reporting a revenue record of $83 billion, an increase of 2 percent from the same period last year. Apple also said it reached an all-time high for its installed base of active devices "in every geographic segment and product category." However, the company's profits are down by a whole 11 percent, and while it continued to see growth in its iPhone sales, revenue from Macs and wearables dropped.

It's worth noting that Apple's recently announced MacBook Air with M2 chip only started shipping this month, so the numbers for Macs are likely to increase next quarter. Considering the devices the company is expected to launch in the fall, it's also possible consumers are holding out for new products and waiting out the ongoing inflation. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release “This quarter’s record results speak to Apple’s constant efforts to innovate, to advance new possibilities, and to enrich the lives of our customers.” The company's CFO Luca Maestri added “Our June quarter results continued to demonstrate our ability to manage our business effectively despite the challenging operating environment."

The company is holding a call at 5pm ET to shed light on its results and answer questions from the investor community, and we'll update this post with any newsworthy findings.

Legislation aimed at boosting US chip production has cleared its last major hurdle. The House of Representatives has passed the CHIPS and Science Act in a 243-187-1 vote, leaving just the reconciliation process and President Biden's signature before the bill becomes law. The equivalent Senate measure passed 64-33 in a vote one day earlier.

The Act is a dialed-down version of previous bills, but promises significant help for American semiconductor manufacturing. It offers more than $52 billion for US chipmakers as well as tax credits for domestic factories. In a statement, the President claimed the bill would lower product costs, create "high-paying" jobs and reduce the country's dependence on foreign chip sources.

Earlier approaches drew objections from both sides of Congress. Republicans were concerned the reconciliation bill would include unrelated climate, health and tax elements. They also said it risked funding Chinese manufacturing. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, has expressed concerns the bill might reward chip manufacturers already rolling in cash, and was the only non-Republican in the Senate to vote against it.

The CHIPS and Science Act isn't expected to affect production in the short term. It will take companies years to build new factories and otherwise upgrade facilities to tackle chip shortages and improve manufacturing independence. If things play out as its supporters imagine, however, CHIPS will hopefully decrease the severity of future supply chain crunches.

You don't have to wait until the fall to have an idea of what AMD's Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs will be like — the company has unintentionally provided clues of its own. Videocardz and Gizmodo note AMD's resource page contained a since-removed list of early Ryzen 7000 processor models. The focus is primarily on higher-end chips, including two Ryzen 9 variants (the 7900X and 7950X), one Ryzen 7 (the 7700X) and a Ryzen 5 model (the 7600X). There's no Ryzen 3 chips, although that last part isn't shocking when AMD has historically focused on enthusiast parts in the early stages of CPU rollouts.

The list didn't include technical details. In its Computex demo, however, AMD showed a 16-core CPU that reached a 5.5GHz clock speed. That might represent the Ryzen 9 7950X. All of the 7000 series will be based on a new Zen 4 architecture that delivers twice the Level 2 cache per core, maximum boost speeds above 5GHz, AI acceleration and support for technologies like DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0. You'll need an AM5-compatible motherboard to make the leap, but AMD is promising a 15 percent or higher increase in single-threaded performance.

It's still unclear when the Ryzen 7000 desktop line will ship, or how much it will cost. You'll also have to wait longer if you're hoping for high-end laptop CPUs, as AMD won't deliver Dragon Range until 2023. Even so, the teaser gives you an idea of what to expect when Zen 4 finally reaches stores. AMD isn't reinventing its product strategy, so you can plan your PC upgrade accordingly.

Outer Wilds is getting a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrade on September 15th, and it'll be free for anyone who already owns the game on PS4 or Xbox One. Outer Wilds is a brilliant open-world mystery about exploring strange planets and unlocking the secrets of an endless time loop that's consumed the solar system, and it first landed in 2019. It's the first console and PC game out of indie studio Mobius Digital, and it's picked up a handful of prestigious accolades since launch, including Best Game at the 2020 BAFTA Games Awards.

Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye, a big and beautiful bit of DLC for the game, landed in September 2021. The native PS5 and Xbox Series upgrade will hit 60fps. It's unclear whether Echoes of the Eye will be included.

The Switch version of Outer Wilds is set to come out after the new upgrade in September, and this is a delay from its original release window of this summer. Mobius Digital made all of these announcements during today's Annapurna Interactive showcase.