The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Pixel 8 camera specs and a new AI promo video for the phone were posted by 91Mobiles, courtesy of leaker Kamila Wojciechowska, giving us our first real look at how Google will integrate more AI into its flagship smartphones (via 9to5Google). Magic Editor, which the company said earlier this year would come to “select” Pixel phones, is like a supercharged version of Magic Eraser. It enables you to remake any picture you take so it looks like you want it to. That’s shown in a demonstration where a person takes three pictures of a family on a carousel and combines them into one shot so that everyone is smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge This will be a nice family... Continue reading…

I promise digital zoom isn’t as icky as it used to be. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge If you want to hear a love story, ask any photographer about their favorite lens. They’ll probably get a little glimmer in their eye as they tell you about the fast 35mm they carry everywhere or the long portrait lens with the bokeh that hits just right. Camera bodies come and go, but your favorite lens is a lifelong relationship.Phone camera lenses are a different story. They’re built like a regular camera lens — only, you know, tiny — and they’re with us literally everywhere we go. But I don’t know anyone who would wax poetic about the 24mm equivalent wide angle on their iPhone or the 5x telephoto lens on their Pixel. Our relationships with them are much more transactional, and the results have as much to do with the image processing... Continue reading…

A few weeks ago, I expressed how I didn't care about the iPhone 15 series and that I was planning to hold on to my iPhone 14 Pro for an additional year. Though, following the official reveal of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, I decided to let go of my current iDevice in favor of an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Here's why.

The Apple Watch Series 8 bears more than a striking resemblance to this year’s model (surprise, surprise). | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Apple Watch Series 9 has officially landed, bringing with it a few minor improvements under the hood, watchOS 10, and a new Millennial pink(!) color. The new smartwatch is technically the best Apple has ever made, though the updates are all pretty iterative. Thankfully, if you’re looking to pick up an Apple Watch for the first time or make the jump from an earlier model, the last-gen Series 8 is on sale at Best Buy in select styles starting at $279 ($120) or at Amazon for $20 more.So, what exactly do you lose out on opting for the Series 8 over the Series 9? Well, for starters, the Series 9 packs a new S9 SiP chip, which allows for quicker performance, onboard Siri processing, and Apple’s handy double-tap feature. It also features... Continue reading…

Earlier this year, investment bank Piper Sandler published results from an annual survey showing that 87 percent of teens own an iPhone, leaving precious little market for Android device makers to carve up. But Samsung has a new plan to break the kids of their Apple addiction: Get YouTuber and restauranteur Jimmie Donaldson, aka MrBeast, to make content with its phones. Starting with a video where he drives expensive cars around.Samsung writes in its announcement that this will showcase “what’s possible with a Galaxy smartphone for aspiring and professional creators.” The company’s phones get some screen time in the video. There’s a quick mid-video ad read for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a nod to the S23 Ultra while MrBeast drives a... Continue reading…

Our computers contain some of our most sensitive information, whether we're talking about Apple's great laptops or excellent desktops. To make sure your data stays safe, you can lock up certain folders or storage devices using Disk Utility. It's a built-in tool that helps you manage internal and external drives, as well as folders. There are other ways you can encrypt information on your Mac, like with the FileVault encryption feature. But if you're comfortable with Disk Utility and want to secure specific folders or drives, you can do so following the steps below.

You can already pre-order Apple's latest iPhone 15 Pro, which features a 6.1-inch OLED display. Although the display is very similar to last year's model, key upgrades like USB-C and the Action button have made the iPhone 15 Pro a hit so far. But besides these key changes, Apple also changed the dimensions of the iPhone 15 Pro and cut down the size of the bezels. That means if you want to get a screen protector for your new smartphone, you'll need to get one specifically designed for the iPhone 15 Pro.

While the Samsung Galaxy S21+ isn't as impressive as last year's Galaxy S22+ and the current-gen Galaxy S23+, it's still a great phone for most people. It offers flagship-level performance, thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 SoC, a gorgeous high refresh rate display, an impressive triple camera setup, and great battery life. On top of that, Samsung has kept it up to date with the latest software updates, so there's little reason for those of you who already own one to upgrade to one of the newer models.

Apple's latest Macs are some of the computers around because they offer a wide range of well-optimized productivity apps and tools. That's not to mention that they're also decent for gaming and media consumption. However, if you're switching from a Windows PC and trying macOS Sonoma for the first time, then you may feel a bit lost at first. Fortunately, we've got you covered, and we'll be highlighting the things you should expect with this shift.

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge Before I received my first Alexa-enabled smart display as a Christmas gift in 2019, I was not a big fan. I just didn’t feel like I could trust an Amazon device with a camera inside of it. I’d heard about all the privacy concerns, and I was determined to avoid it like the plague.But then a plague really did happen — and right when my mom got sick. And then, suddenly, this device I was once suspicious of became a vital part of our support system. Those people Amazon always claim love Alexa? I somehow suddenly found myself becoming one of them.To be clear, Mom had been sick for years. Mom has Parkinson’s disease, an incurable neurological disorder that affects everything from mobility to memory. At first, she suffered from a few tremors... Continue reading…

The HP Spectre Fold is HP's flagship foldable laptop, possessing both the power and specifications of a laptop but with the lightweight versatility of a tablet. It features a gorgeous 17-inch OLED display that can fold in half, allowing you to use it in various modes, such as book, tent, or tablet. Whether you use the HP Spectre Fold to work or create, it's a device that can adapt to your specific needs and preferences.

Apple recently announced its iPhone 15 lineup. While the Pro models come with a brand-new chipset, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come with a mix of new features and some compromises. The presence of Dynamic Island and the USB Type-C port are the biggest changes in the regular iPhone 15 models, which could definitely help them make it to our best phones list this year. But when compared to the older iPhone 14 Pro, the iPhone 15 lacks a few things, such as a dedicated telephoto camera and a higher display refresh rate. So, should you consider the new iPhone 15 or stick with the older iPhone 14 Pro?