Illustration: Kristen Radtke / The Verge Apple announced Vision Pro, its long-rumored virtual and augmented reality headset, at WWDC 2023. Here’s a timeline of all the details that have emerged about the device over the years and what we know so far. Continue reading…

The Team Coco Radio logo. | Image: Team Coco This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.It’s only Tuesday, and it’s already been a packed week for podcast news. Shortly before hitting publish on this issue of Hot Pod, I got the news that just about every late-night talk show host in America is teaming up with Spotify to launch a limited podcast series about the Hollywood strike. The five hosts: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver, have all had their shows on pause since May due to the Writers Guild strike. Strike Force Five will launch on Spotify and other platforms on August 30th, and the plan is for the limited series to run for at least 12 episodes. Notably, the proceeds from the... Continue reading…

Foldable phones are becoming more prevalent as a serious consideration for the average consumer in 2023, but up until now, it has been mostly Samsung leading the charge. There have been a ton of different foldables debuting in Asian and European markets, but the level of competing in the North American market hasn't been up to par. That is, until now. After a slew of early summer releases, Samsung now has serious threats to its big and small foldables coming from Google and Motorola, respectively. The question is, are those challenges enough to dethrone Samsung as the leader in foldable smartphones in North America?

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Verizon will offer a new $90 monthly cellphone plan called Unlimited Ultimate, announced in an update to the May blog post that announced its myPlan lineup. It offers 60GB of mobile hotspot data (double what you get with the $80 Unlimited Plus plan), 10GB of unthrottled international data, and includes access to the company’s 5G Ultra Wideband network that's a mix of the company’s C-band wireless signal and its faster mmWave 5G. T-Mobile similarly just introduced an expensive new "unlimited" data plan to its Go5G line with the $100 per month Go5G Next plan to complement its C-band spectrum. It offers slightly less hotspot data at 50GB but comes with Netflix Basic and Apple TV Plus and the option to upgrade your phone on a yearly... Continue reading…

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S9 series brings some notable upgrades over the existing lineup, upping the ante again in the Android tablets space. The company has updated all three models this year, which means we also have an upgraded Ultra variant. The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra was already an excellent tablet with powerful internals and a massive 14.6-inch display — so has Samsung done enough to differentiate and make the new Galaxy Tab S9 model stand out? Let's take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra compared to the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra to see what's new in the upgraded tablet and whether you should consider it over last year's model.

Apple first revealed the MacBook Air M2 in mid-2022. This shiny new Mac features a redesigned chassis and overhauled internals with support for macOS Sonoma. It now has a more boxed design, wider range of color options, clearer webcam, and more. If you grab one, make sure to check our list of best apps for Apple silicon Macs. These applications are designed and optimized specifically for the expanding family of Apple M chipsets. You may also want to buy accessories that match the color of your new MacBook Air. This way your entire setup appears as a default set offered by Apple — rather than something you've built by yourself. Below you will find a list of the best accessories that match the color of your MacBook Air M2.

The Steam Deck’s biggest weakness is battery life — and yet somehow, every challenger has failed to raise that bar. The Ayaneo 2 showed us that AMD’s Ryzen 6800U wasn’t ready to compete; the Asus ROG Ally revealed that AMD’s Z1 Extreme couldn’t pull ahead if Asus insisted on matching the Steam Deck’s 40 watt-hour battery pack. But Ayaneo may have an answer: it’s stuffing a 75 watt-hour pack into a larger, heavier handheld called the Ayaneo Kun that — it now claims — can last nearly three and a quarter hours at 15W TDP. That’s nearly double the battery and runtime you’d expect from a Steam Deck at that wattage, though it appears it wasn’t captured while playing a game, exactly. Image: Ayaneo Ayaneo Kun battery... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Continuing the storied tradition of Google’s Pixel devices being some of the most-leaked hardware ever, the as-yet-unannounced Pixel 8 Pro has popped up on a Google Store page. @Android_Setting on Twitter / X pointed out the image on a page promoting Google’s subscriptions and services (Pixel Pass is not among them), showing a man taking a call on a Pixel 8 Pro in Porcelain. Sure, the device looks like the renders and images that have already leaked, including from a supposed internal Google video, but how can we be sure it’s that phone in that color? In a win for accessibility, the tipster notes that the image’s alt-text description removes all doubt, reading, “A person takes a call on a Pixel 8 Pro phone in Porcelain.”We’ll zoom in... Continue reading…

Samsung's latest flagship foldable is finally on sale, and you can grab it through various retailers or your favorite carriers. While you can no longer utilize the preorder benefits to make the purchase easier on your pocket, there still are a few good deals on the Galaxy Z Fold 5. If you're considering picking one up, check out the Galaxy Z Fold 5 deals below and get a free storage upgrade, enhanced trade-in credit, and other goodies.

Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The US government just helped dismantle a massive network of computers infected with one of the world’s most notorious pieces of malware. According to the FBI, a multinational effort led by the US took down Qakbot, a malware that made its way into over 700,000 computers around the globe.Hackers typically target victims with Qakbot by sending them spam emails containing malicious attachments or links. As soon as a victim downloads the attachment or clicks the link, Qakbot infects their computer, which then becomes part of a botnet — or a network of infected computers controlled remotely by hackers. From there, bad actors can install additional malware on their victims’ devices, such as ransomware.Today, #FBI Director Christopher Wray... Continue reading…

Microsoft and Qualcomm first introduced Windows on Arm back in 2017, but it took some time for Arm devices to catch on. The ability to run Windows on Arm-based processors is a big deal. Arm processors offer always-on connectivity, instant wake, and many of them come with cellular connectivity without adding a premium to the price. The first few Windows on Arm devices all had the same processors, which weren't very good.

Chromebooks offer much more than just a web browsing experience in 2023. Just like Windows laptops, Chromebooks now come in all shapes and sizes and are solid options even against MacBooks. There are a wide variety of devices to choose from, including ChromeOS clamshell laptops, convertibles, and even desktop Chromeboxes.