Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Apple has increased the price of most Apple Watch battery replacements, as reported by 9to5Mac. The swaps used to cost $79, but now, for Apple Watch Series 4 devices and newer, you’ll have to cough up $99. You can see the prices for yourself on the company’s Apple Watch Service and Repair website by sifting through different versions and models.It’s unfortunate that some of the battery replacement fees are going up, but I’m also not surprised to see it. Apple bumped up the prices of battery replacements in some iPhones, iPads, and Macs by $20 to $50 earlier this year.Still, paying for a battery replacement can be a good way to get some extra life out of an older device that otherwise works just fine. It’s what I’m personally thinking... Continue reading…

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple says it will release a software update for iPhone 12 owners in France, after regulators ordered a halt of sales of the phone over concerns the device was breaching strict radiation exposure limits.“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators,” says Apple in a statement to Reuters. “We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France.”French regulators ordered a ban of iPhone 12 models earlier this week after testing the handset and finding that its Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) — how much radio frequency is absorbed into a body from a device — exceeded European radiation exposure limits. Belgium said it would review the French findings, with Germany,... Continue reading…

Getting a new laptop in 2023 might be a challenging task to handle for most, as the market offers tons of excellent options with an aggressive price tag that makes it more difficult for people to choose. For instance, Lenovo launched an excellent new collection of laptops in 2023, where Lenovo's Slim Pro 9i and ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 stand out as some of the most powerful options you can get. So, we have decided to compare them to determine which is the best option for you.

Image: Bungie Destiny 2 has one of the worst — and most hilarious — bugs in its history right now, allowing players to create guns with perks that are game-breaking in activities or PvP. Players can put shotgun frames on auto rifles, resulting in a weapon that obliterates someone in PvP in milliseconds due to the hugely reduced time to kill. Bungie, the developer of Destiny 2, says it’s working on a fix.Destiny 2 players have also been crafting grenade launchers with frames from other weapons, sending hugely explosive projectiles toward enemies and PvP players. Bungie currently has extra rewards running for its Grandmaster Nightfall activity, one of the more challenging sides of the PvE environment. This glitch makes that Grandmaster content light... Continue reading…

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge The first week of US v. Google begins with arguments over the power of deals and data. Continue reading…

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Windows never ceases to amaze me. Last month I discovered for the first time that you could pause the Windows Task Manager by holding down the CTRL key and today I’ve stumbled on a special keyboard shortcut that lets you launch LinkedIn, Word, and a bunch of other Office apps.If you’re running Windows try holding down CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + WIN + L. Then watch in bemusement as LinkedIn opens in your default browser. Windows watcher Paul Thurrott posted this bizarre keyboard shortcut on X (Twitter), noting that it’s an operating system hotkey.So why does Windows even have this? It’s all part of the Office key that Microsoft introduced on some of its own keyboards a few years ago. The Office key replaced the usual right-hand Windows key,... Continue reading…

This is not a physical button — and that was the problem. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge We wouldn’t have been totally surprised if Google axed Fitbit entirely after recent woes, but it sounds like the company might be listening instead! 9to5Google is reporting that a Fitbit Charge 6, coming this year, will bring back the physical button.We panned the Fitbit Charge 5 because of its confusing touchscreen user interface, which was itself a replacement for the confusing capacitive button that haunted the Fitbit Charge 4 and 3. (Here’s an entire Button of the Month column about the lesson Fitbit might have learned from that capacitive key.) 9to5Google doesn’t have a lot of details about the new wearable, but “sources familiar with the matter” tell the publication that it “looks exactly like the Charge 5 except for the... Continue reading…

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge Philips Hue Secure is a new smart home security system from the smart lighting company. The system was announced along with some new smart security cameras in August and is now live in the Hue app. However, if you’re a Philips Hue user, you don’t need to buy the new cameras to use the new security features; you just need to update your app to version 5.0.1. The system works with Hue’s existing smart lights, motion sensors, and new contact sensors ($39.99) that monitor doors and windows. When armed, if the system detects motion or other activity, you get an alert and can choose to trigger all your lights to flash and even set off a Star Trek-style red alert. Add in Hue’s new security cameras, and you get the option of triggering their... Continue reading…

The iPhone 15 comes in a small rainbow of pastel colors — and black. | Image: Apple Apple officially announced the new iPhone 15 at its Wonderlust event earlier this week, which is now up for preorder and expected to ship on September 22nd. Much like last year, there’s a baseline iPhone 15, a larger iPhone 15 Plus, and a pair of Pro models known as the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. But while the expected processor bump to a new A17 Pro chip is here for the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max (the standard 15 and 15 Plus get last year’s A16 Bionic), what’s vastly different this time around is the presence of a USB-C charging / data port and the inclusion of Dynamic Island on all new models.While we still have to see how all these new iPhones shape up in our upcoming reviews, early adopters now have a chance to put in their... Continue reading…

Allen is set to appear on stage at the Code conference starting on September 26th. | Photo by Chance Yeh/Getty Images for Allen Media Group / The Weather Channel Comedian and media mogul Byron Allen has reportedly made a $10 billion offer to acquire the ABC TV network, FX and National Geographic cable channels, and local stations from Walt Disney, according to a report from Bloomberg. The publication’s source claims that the offer is “preliminary and could change,” and that Allen would work with banks and private equity firms to finance the deal.Disney has yet to publicly acknowledge Allen’s offer. In a statement published earlier this week, the company said it was “open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses” in response to rumors that it was in talks to sell the aforementioned properties to Nexstar Media Group. Bloomberg’s report claims that Allen may sell off... Continue reading…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Today, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced a €345 million (around $367 million) fine on TikTok for how the company processes the data of children. The fine follows an investigation by the DPC announced in 2021 that looked at TikTok’s compliance with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. Politico reported in August that the DPC was preparing to issue its penalty. The probe focused on a few TikTok features: default account settings; “Family Pairing” settings; and age verification. After consulting with the European Data Protection Board, the DPC found that TikTok set children’s accounts to public by default when they signed up on the platform. That meant that kids’ videos were publicly viewable by... Continue reading…

The iPhone 15 series has been announced and there are a lot of new and exciting features to discuss. At Apple's annual event, the tech giant revealed the latest iPhone, iPhone Pro, iPhone Pro Max, and iPhone Plus. There are additions to each of the phones, including Dynamic Island being standard in ever version of the phone and USB-C charging for all the iPhones, that keep it among the best phones on the market. There are also small tweaks to the sizes, which will impact one of the most critical parts of owning an iPhone: finding the right case.