Techtober continues with a deep dive into Apple’s latest MacBook Pros, powered by the new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. Cherlynn and Devindra also chat about what’s new with the Pixel 6, and Mr. Mobile himself (Michael Fisher) joins to break down the Surface Duo 2. It turns out Microsoft needed more than a year to fix all of the problems with its dual-screen phone.
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’s new MacBooks with M1 Pro and M1 Pro Max – 1:37
Google finally details Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro’s specs – 23:22
Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 is inconsistent and buggy – 38:41
Facebook may be changing its name – 1:04:05
Facebook Portal Go Review – 1:05:05
Finally, you can post to Instagram from desktop – 1:06:02
Samsung had yet another Unpacked event – 1:06:23
Also in events: Razer, DJI – 1:07:35
We have a trailer for the Uncharted movie – 1:07:56
Mel Brooks is doing History of the World: Part II for Hulu – 1:09:19
Fisher Price made a version of its toy phone that actually makes calls – 1:10:14
Working on – 1:11:25
Pop culture picks – 1:12:26
Video livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar Guests: Michael Fisher Producer: Ben Ellman Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos,Luke Brooks Graphics artists: Luke Brooks, Kyle Maack Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien
After a long run of teasing the RGB-lit Zephyr mask, Razer is finally ready to sell it to die-hard fans — or possibly cosplayers. The Zephyr costs $100 or there’s a $150 Starter Pack with three replacement filter kits. Alas, the Starter Pack is already listed as "out of stock," and the mask by itself is still "coming soon."
Yes, you can customize the lighting through a companion app, but the highlight is a dual-fan active air filtration system with N95 filters — something I’d never thought I’d be writing about a Razer device.
Microsoft’s dual-screen ambitions continue to struggle. Upgraded hardware and a new Glance Bar don’t mean much when the Duo 2 is still plagued with inconsistent, finicky software. The new triple-camera array is held back by an atrocious camera app, and thermal issues cause the device to hang. All of this will cost you $1,500.
Yes, Sony is finally releasing an Uncharted movie after trying to make one for over a decade. Sony Pictures included a handy reminder at the end of the trailer about a remastered bundle of Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy that's coming to PlayStation 5 and PC in early 2022.
Gaming chairs have proliferated over the past few years, and until now, they’ve tended to be overpriced and visually unappealing. Think: lurid colors, Bond villain lair aesthetics and giant drink holders. As Buyer's Guide Editor Kris Naudus puts it, Razer’s new Enki chair is still a bit over the top, but at least it’s a more affordable kind of over the top.
It costs $100 for six months, double the current premium tier price.
NVIDIA has unveiled its next-generation cloud gaming platform called GeForce Now RTX 3080 with "desktop-class latency" and 1440p gaming at up to 120 fps on PC or Mac. The service is powered by a new gaming supercomputer called the GeForce Now SuperPod and, at $200 for a year, costs double the price of the existing Priority tier, which recently doubled to $100.
Sony has finally revealed its mainstream $2,500 Alpha A7 IV full-frame mirrorless camera, and it looks to have been worth the wait. Borrowing technology from the recent A1 and A7S III models, it has some substantial improvements over the A7 III introduced well over three years ago. There’s an all-new 33-megapixel sensor, 4K 10-bit 60 fps video, new AI autofocus tricks and a lot more, including some new live streaming and sharing features, though they're not quite up to the level we've seen on other recent cameras. You can do video and audio streaming over USB-C at up to 1080p 60 or 4K 15p if resolution is a priority over smooth video.
The A7 IV is clearly a massive leap forward for Sony's "basic" full-frame mirrorless camera series, putting it on par — or ahead of — most rivals. The only deterrent is the $2,500 price tag ($2,699 with a kit lens), which is $500 more than the A7 III cost at launch.
We help you narrow down the multitude of choices available.
With the pandemic still upon us and Work From Home directives continuing, a monitor is one of the most important computer buying decisions you can make. Luckily, there’s never been more choice, and we’ve seen vast improvements in color accuracy, size and resolution since our last update. Steve Dent is here to help with your buying decision. Do you need HDR, and if so, how bright should your monitor be? What size do you need? Let’s dive in.
Amazon's deal of the day is all about Samsung today, with products on sale ranging from laptops to Galaxy S smartphones to storage. That includes a 30 percent discount on Samsung's thin and pretty 13.3-inch Galaxy Book Pro laptop with an OLED display (on sale for $840), the Galaxy S21 Plus smartphone at $750 ($250 off), and the Galaxy Watch 4 priced at $220 — $90 off the regular $310 price.
Some of the best deals are on Samsung's laptops. The Galaxy Book Pro stands out not just because it's pretty, thin and light but because of that gorgeous AMOLED display. The 13.3-inch model in "Mystic Blue" is the standout deal, priced at just $840 for a savings of $360 (30 percent). It weighs in at just 1.92 pounds, offering an Intel 11th-gen Core-i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and 21 hours of battery life.
Another great option that's far more on the budget side is Samsung's 11.6-inch Galaxy Chromebook 4, available for $179 or 28 percent off. It comes with 64GB of storage, 4GB RAM, Gigabit WiFi, Chrome OS and an HD Intel Celeron Processor N4000.
As for smartphones, the deals are focusing on Samsung's high-end Galaxy S21 models. First up is the Galaxy S21 Plus that comes with a big 6.7-inch Full HD+ display and variable refresh rate up to 120Hz. It's just as capable under the hood, with a Snapdragon 888 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, 8K video and 5G capability. The regular price for that model is a cool $1,000, but you can get one today in Phantom Violet or Phantom Silver for $750, a 25 percent savings.
If you want the very best Galaxy device, that would be the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The camera in particular is more capable, with a 108-megapixel sensor and Samsung's 100X "Space Zoom," along with 8K video and other features. It's got a larger, higher-resolution 3,200 x 1,440 display, a bigger battery, and more RAM and storage (12GB and 256GB, respectively). Normally priced at $1,200, that model is available at $950 in Phantom Black or Phantom Silver, 21 percent off the normal price.
Next up is watches and wireless earphones. We found Samsung's latest Galaxy Watch 4 model to be the best Android watch you can get, in part because it's using a new version of Wear OS built in collaboration with Google. It looks nice, offers comprehensive health tracking, has a bright and crisp screen, supports more third-party features and offers Samsung's touch-sensitive rotating bezel. Amazon's $220 sale price is not only the cheapest we've seen, but you get a free wireless charger, to boot.
In our Engadget review, we said that Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro were its best earbuds yet, thanks to the comfy fit, good sound quality and wireless charging capability, with the main drawbacks being mediocre battery life and the lack of an iOS app. Amazon's selling them today for $140, which isn't quite the lowest price we've seen, but still a good 30 percent off. If you're willing to risk it, you could hold out for possibly a better Black Friday deal in about a month.
Finally, if you're looking for storage, Samsung has you covered there, too. Samsung's T7 portable SSDs are popular for their relative portability and incredible USB 3.2 Gen2 write/read speeds of around 1,000 MB/s/1,050 MB/s — ideal for video editing and fast storage transfers. The T7 portable 1TB model is a particularly good deal, priced at $130 instead of $170 for a savings of 24 percent.
And if you need a smartphone storage bump without compromising performance, Samsung's EVO Select microSDXC UHS-I cards deliver 100MB/s, allowing fast photo transfers and video capture. The Samsung 512GB EVO Select model is now on sale for $55, for a savings of 21 percent.
iFixit has taken apart the Apple Watch Series 7 and showed that despite having minimal changes on the outside, it does feature some big upgrades underneath. As we mentioned in our review, the main difference between this device and the Series 6 is its slightly bigger display, Now, iFixit's teardown shows that its display uses touch-integrated OLED panel or "on-cell touch," which debuted with the iPhone 13.
The website says the move is unusual for Apple, since it typically introduces new display tech — such as OLED, always-on and variable refresh rate — on the lower-volume Apple Watch first instead of the other way around. According to the former Apple engineers iFixit worked with for this teardown, this new display may have caused production delays and made the company release the device later than it would've liked.
When the tech giant first announced the Series 7 in September, it didn't have a concrete release date. The former Apple engineers said that usually signals delays, and the most likely culprit was the manufacturing hiccups caused by the Watch's display. "[S]creens have some of the most complex supply chains and assembly processes in the industry," the website explained. In addition to using new technology, Apple also made the display bigger and gave it a refractive edge to make the sides look like they're slightly curved.
iFixit also found that the model's battery is larger than its predecessors. That doesn't translate to longer battery life, though, since the device's larger screen likely uses more power. There are a few other more minor changes compared to previous versions of the Watch. You can see the whole teardown on iFixit's website, along with more photos of what's inside the Series 7.
Back at the start of the year, Google gave Meet hosts the ability to mute everyone in a call all at once. Now, the company has a solution for situations that require more nuance and control. It’s introducing an audio and video lock feature that allows hosts to turn off the microphones and cameras of select participants, in which case they can’t turn them back on until they’re allowed to do so again.
Anyone using a version of Meet on Android or iOS that does not support audio and video locks will be removed from the call if the host enables the feature. If they try to join one such call, they’ll also be prompted to update their app. Google has begun rolling out the tool to rapid release domains today. Scheduled release domains will start getting access to it beginning on November 1st. The locks should be particularly useful for corraling rowdy participants, but some hosts may also find it helpful for encouraging specific individuals to participate more often.
The redesigned MacBook Pro might be more powerful than you think, provided you have the right configuration. Apple has confirmed to Engadget and MacRumors that the 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Max chip can invoke a previously hinted-at "High Power Mode." While the company was shy on details, macOS Monterey beta code suggested the mode would "optimize performance" for demanding tasks in return for the possibility of more fan noise.
This could be frustrating if you buy either the 14-inch MacBook Pro or a 16-inch system with the M1 Pro. This isn't surprising, though. Features like this by their nature drive up power consumption and heat, and Apple may want to make sure there's enough battery and thermal headroom (that is, a larger enclosure). The M1 Max is also a better fit for a mode like this than the M1 Pro — there's simply more performance to unlock.
If you do buy a higher-end MacBook Pro, though, this could be particularly helpful. Many pro users have moments when they need performance at all costs, such as a hurried video export or last-minute code compile. High Power Mode might help finish those tasks on time while putting a ceiling on noise in most situations.
Less than a year after it first started testing live audio rooms, Twitter is opening up Spaces to nearly everyone. Starting today, anyone on Android and iOS can host a Space, no matter how many people follow them. As of this past May, the feature was open to any Twitter user with more than 600 followers. At the time, the company said it put that limit in place to ensure a “good experience.” Now that the option is available to all Android and iOS users, you can start your own audio room by tapping on the compose button and then the Spaces icon.
One more mic check...the option to host a Space is now rolling out to everyone on Android and iOS!
New to Spaces? Here’s a thread to help you out… (1/7)
If there’s a reason Twitter waited almost a year to make hosting Spaces available to everyone, it’s because the company has spent the last few months adding features that enhance the experience significantly. Twitter recently added a topics tool that allows you to add pre-defined tags to make your audio room easier to find. It also recently added a co-hosting feature you can use to recruit people to help you with moderation. Those are all things that should make Spaces more appealing to first-time users.
Shortly after Microsoft released Windows 11 earlier this month, AMD warned that the OS could slow down apps on systems with Ryzen processors. The chipmaker promised to fix the bugs, and now AMD and Microsoft have issued patches that should do just that.
The latest chipset driver (version 3.10.08.506) should take care of the UEFI CPPC2 issue, which in some cases didn't "preferentially schedule threads on a processor’s fastest core," AMD said. That could have slowed down apps that are sensitive to CPU thread performance. AMD noted that the problem was likely more noticeable in more powerful processors with more than eight cores and 65W or higher Thermal Design Power (TDP).
Meanwhile, Microsoft is rolling out a software update tackling a bug that increased L3 cache latency. The issue impacted apps that need quick memory access, which in turn caused CPUs to slow down by up to 15 percent. The patch, Windows 11 update KB5006746, will be available starting today, but at the time of writing, a page containing instructions for installing it isn't yet live. You should be able to install it via Windows Update too.
Innersloth has been promisingfor months that it will bring Among Us to Xbox and PlayStation sometime this year. Sure enough, the Mafia-style social deduction game is coming to PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on December 14th.
Just like on PC, Among Uswill be included with Xbox Game Pass on consoles. Those on PlayStation, meanwhile, will get an exclusive Ratchet & Clank cosmetic at a later date. Among Us has crossplay support, so you'll be able to play with friends across PC, Nintendo Switch and mobile.
Innersloth also revealed details about the physical editions of Among Us for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. Along with the base game and all of the DLC, the $30 Crewmate Edition includes a poster of the Skeld map, stickers and a holographic card. That version will hit Europe on December 14, Japan and South Korea two days later, and then the US, Canada and Latin America on January 11th.
The $50 Impostor Edition includes the same gear as the Crewmate package, along with a purple crewmate plush, an enamel pin and a lanyard. The $90 Ejected Edition comes with even more goodies, including a steelbook case, a beanie and, best of all, a fleece blanket. Both of those editions will ship in spring 2022.
Among Usexploded in popularity in 2020, two years after its debut, as Twitch streamers and YouTubers started playing it en masse. People were also looking for ways to connect with their friends during COVID-19 lockdowns and, for many, lying to their buds about what they were doing in Among Us' med bay fit the bill perfectly. It's coming to Xbox and PlayStation just in time for more people to play and argue with their loved ones over the holiday season.
Google plans to bring Android’s work profile feature to more devices. If you’re not familiar with the tool, it separates your work and personal apps from one another and adds a toggle to your phone you can use to disable the former when you need to disconnect.
When you flip the switch, any work-related apps you have installed on your device can’t send you notifications and access your location. It also silos the data from your personal apps, ensuring that your company’s IT department can’t access your personal information.
At the moment, the tool is only available to enterprise customers, but starting in 2022 Google will begin rolling it out to Workspace users. It then plans to make it available to other identity providers. “This will eventually allow anyone using Android for business purposes to separate work and personal apps in one interface and pause all work-related apps in one click,” the company said. The feature’s expansion should be of great help to business owners and freelancers but nearly anyone can benefit from having a better work-life balance.
