Nowadays, it's nearly impossible to be online for any period of time without being bombarded with adverts for VPNs. They're everywhere. From big-name players to small upstarts, it feels like there's a continuous roundabout of new and old VPNs desperate to advertise to us, and in turn secure their business in protecting our internet traffic. VPNs can be an essential tool online and have helped protect the security and privacy of their users everywhere, from warzones to coffee shops. VPNs are now big business, but it's become harder than ever to pick through the marketing and understand exactly what a VPN can and can't do for you.

When purchasing a new PC, matching components, especially the CPU and GPU is crucial. For example, an RTX 4090 is an extremely powerful card, but if you pair it with a measly Core i3-13100F, it’ll sit by idly waiting on the processor in most scenarios, leading to a lot of wasted potential. However, there are various exceptions to that, which makes the task of matching a CPU and a GPU no easier than navigating one of the labyrinths in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Intel’s deleted presentation takes aim at one of AMD’s latest CPUs. | Image: Intel Intel has accused AMD of “selling half-truths to unsuspecting customers” by using its Zen 2 architecture in some of its latest Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors. In a now-deleted presentation to system integrators, Intel’s “Core Truths” largely focuses on AMD’s Ryzen 5 7520U mobile processor and its confusing and somewhat misleading naming.AMD revealed a new naming scheme for its Ryzen 7000 series last year, with the first digit referring to the model year, the second for the segment, and the third revealing the architecture. At first glance you might look at the Ryzen 5 7520U naming and think it’s a mid-range CPU from AMD, with the 7 meaning it’s the latest. But the Ryzen 5 7520U is actually based on AMD’s older Zen 2 architecture,... Continue reading…

The latest Apple Watches feature larger designs, with the Ultra models boasting 49mm displays. This makes it possible to comfortably view more complex pages and interact with advanced apps from our wrists. Snapchat is one of the popular iPhone apps, and many users may wonder how to install it on their Apple Watches. Unfortunately, Snapchat doesn't officially offer a watchOS 10 app, which makes using the service on Apple's wearable tricky. There are a couple of workarounds, however.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Several groups mainly tackling climate change and disinformation said the Biden administration’s approach to artificial intelligence regulation does not respond to AI’s impact on the climate and how it can be used to spread disinformation. The groups sent a letter to the White House urging the Biden administration, including national climate advisor Ali Zaidi, to add more climate-centered policies in its AI executive order released earlier in October. Seventeen groups signed the letter, including Accountable Tech, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Climate Action Against Disinformation, Greenpeace USA, and the Tech Oversight Project.The letter accuses the administration of neglecting AI’s impact on spreading disinformation on... Continue reading…

Microsoft announced a plethora of new Surface devices during the September event this year, including the Surface Hub 3. And if you've pre-ordered one for your business, you won't have to wait a lot to get your hands on it, as Microsoft has started shipping the Surface Hub 3 devices.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Now that Apple has released a preview of the next iOS update, Anker says its upcoming Qi2-compatible wireless chargers will provide faster 15W charging for iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and iPhone 15 devices. Apple has not responded to a request for comment, but presumably, this support will extend to all Qi2 chargers. The only problem left is that despite companies like Anker, Belkin, and Mophie all announcing Qi2-compatible hardware a few months ago, there are no certified products available for purchase yet.Third-party chargers that work with iPhones at the same rate as MagSafe-branded tech is the way we’d hoped things would work, considering the updated Qi2 spec’s Magnetic Power Profile brings in magnets and authentication contributed by... Continue reading…

If you've ever wanted to become a smartphone power user, then you've probably come across the likes of Termux. It's an Android terminal emulator and Linux environment app, and some people have used it to develop Python scripts and even run Minecraft servers from their smartphones. Now you can take that a step further though with a rooted Pixel 6, a regular Pixel 7, or a regular Pixel 8 thanks to Nestbox by XDA Senior Member kdrag0n, available on his Patreon. There are hopes it'll work on more devices in the future, but for now, it's a Pixel exclusive.

Image: Kino Halide cofounder Ben Sandofsky has a message for everyone who’s asked if video capture will be added to the popular iPhone photography app: “Never.” Lux, the development team behind Halide, is instead working on Kino — a new, dedicated video capture app for iPhones that aims to provide professional recording features now that Apple supports log video encoding. Its release is scheduled for February... if all goes as planned.Just as the Halide photography app was released in 2017 to coincide with Apple adding RAW support for iPhone, Kino’s development was prompted by Apple announcing support for log video encoding in September, a format that allows more detail to be preserved for post-production color grading. In Sandofsky’s own words,... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.The dust is still settling on Spotify’s latest round of layoffs. On Monday, Spotify announced it was cutting 17 percent of its workforce, or approximately 1,500 employees, as a means of making the company even more efficient. This round of layoffs dwarfs the past two this year, with the company cutting about 600 employees in January and another 200 employees (mostly from podcasting) in June. Details are still coming out, but it appears the cuts are impacting people across the company, from product to content to advertising.“I realize that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large given the recent positive... Continue reading…

Image: Reddit A Reddit bug is allowing slurs to get added to Reddit URLs — and those URLs occasionally appear prominently on Google.Content warning: the following story includes mentions of a slur.Here’s what we’ve observed. While Googling something related to a lighthearted debate in The Verge’s Slack, one staffer found that some of the Reddit links that surfaced had a subdomain with unexpected characters and a slur before reddit.com: https://2goback-[f-word].reddit.com/r/[rest of the URL]. Despite the additional characters, the link points to Reddit (though the page had the Old Reddit layout).The slur didn’t just appear for that query. A Reddit site search on Google for the subdomain reveals a bunch of links from different subreddits that have... Continue reading…

When it comes to high-performance CPUs like the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, ensuring optimal thermal conductivity is crucial. Thermal paste plays a pivotal role in maintaining the efficiency and longevity of your processor. From budget-friendly options to premium selections, our list covers the best thermal pastes tailored for the 7800X3D, ensuring your CPU operates at peak performance under various conditions.