Most people don’t spend much time thinking about motherboard rear I/O when they’re building a PC, and that makes sense. You sort by the socket you need, check to make sure it has the internal expansion you want, make sure the VRMs aren't atrocious, and then move on. Rear I/O gets a quick look at best from most buyers, and honestly, it deserves more than that. Rear I/O determines how much easy expansion is possible, and unlike internal expansion, it's something that you'll likely be interacting with every single day.

The MCON includes an adhesive-backed ring for phones that aren’t MagSafe- or Pixelsnap-ready. | Image: OhSnap The MCON is the closest to a Swiss army knife that a controller can be. No, it doesn’t contain a can opener, but it makes up for it with a surprising array of features. Once you attach your MagSafe- or Pixelsnap-ready phone to the top plate, pressing a button along its top edge satisfyingly pops your phone up to reveal a full suite of controls, including TMR sticks made by GameSir. The MCON launched for $150, but you can get it for $99.99 through its manufacturer, OhSnap — the same amount that backers paid for the “super early bird” discount during the MCON’s 2025 Kickstarter campaign.OhSnap MCON controllerWhere to Buy: $149.99 $99.99 at OhSnapI only recently received an MCON controller for testing, but it didn’t take long to appreciate that its button layout is a bit more ergonomically-friendly than other phone controllers I’ve tried. I’m also a fan of the MCON’s two fold-out palm grips because they make it easier to use the shoulder buttons.You can use the MCON with devices that don’t have magnets, too. OhSnap includes an adhesive-backed ring that you can stick to the back of any iPhone or Android phone. @verge The viral Ohsnap MCON spring-loaded pocket gamepad is nearly here and I’m toying with an early sample! The snap is satisfying, the controls are surprisingly great, and gosh can it pair with lots of Bluetooth devices including the Nintendo Switch 2. But it’s also surprisingly thick (due to a big MagSafe pad) and comes with a $150 price tag! I also had slightly peeling magnets on my samples, but Ohsnap says that’s already fixed for mass production. #todayimtoyingwith #ohsnap #mcon #gaming #gametok ♬ original sound – The Verge

What inner life? | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images I admit, this is an innovation I did not see coming: Silicon Valley has invented the philosophical zombie from the classic thought experiment "lol how crazy would it be if there were a philosophical zombie."Until recently, the philosophical zombie was a concept closely associated with Australian philosopher David Chalmers, who defines it as "someone or something physically identical to me (or to any other conscious being), but lacking conscious experiences altogether." Chalmers' zombie twin is identical to him functionally and psychologically - except that he feels nothing. This is different from a Hollywood zombie, which has "little capac …Read the full story at The Verge.

For almost two hours last week, Meta employees had unauthorized access to company and user data thanks to an AI agent that gave an employee inaccurate technical advice, as previously reported by The Information. Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said in a statement to The Verge that "no user data was mishandled" during the incident. A Meta engineer was using an internal AI agent, which Clayton described as "similar in nature to OpenClaw within a secure development environment," to analyze a technical question another employee posted on an internal company forum. But the agent also independently publicly replied to the question after analyzin …Read the full story at The Verge.

I was watching a YouTube video of someone walking through their UX design process, and instead of using the usual tools like Miro, they mentioned Excalidraw for quickly mapping ideas and roughing things out. It wasn’t framed as anything special, just something they used for early thinking processes before the design work gets more polished in another app. It looked like a very minimal, fast, low-effort, yet practical tool, and I had to give it a shot.

When I was a kid, there was always a wide variety of retro consoles in my house, including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and even more obscure early systems, like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, due to the fact that I have two significantly older brothers and a dad who's always been into gaming.

If you pay for 2Gbps internet speeds but then in your bedroom you get 40Mbps, you might feel slightly frustrated. As a result, you're ready to drop $600 on your quad-band mesh system, but the real culprit is likely the $0 fix you're ignoring.

BYO power. | Image: Hermès Over a decade after Apple first partnered with Hermès for a special Apple Watch collaboration, the French luxury goods maker has released a new collection of leather-wrapped charging accessories for Apple's mobile devices. The most expensive option is a multi-device wireless charger in a case made from the brand's signature gold-colored calfskin leather that will set you back $5,150. For comparison, a 14-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,699.At the other end of the collection's pricing spectrum - which is still far from cheap - is the $1,250 Hermès Paddock Solo charger featuring a wireless charging puck wrapped in the same calfskin leather and …Read the full story at The Verge.

Sony’s WF-1000XM6 are on sale in both color options. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Sony’s WF-1000XM6 are the best noise-canceling wireless earbuds you can buy, but they’ve been hard to recommend over the last-gen model because of the price. While the older version is often on sale for $248, the update costs $329 — and has never before been marked down. That’s why this deal is worth paying attention to: right now, Sony’s WF-1000XM6 are on sale for about $298 ($31 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and directly from Sony, marking their first discount.Sony WF-1000XM6 earbudsWhere to Buy: $329.99 $298 at Amazon $329.99 $298 at Best Buy $329.99 $299.99 at SonySony’s WF-1000XM lineup has long been among our favorite wireless earbuds, and the latest model simply builds upon what already works so well. In his review, my colleague John Higgins noted they block out noise even more effectively, outperforming both the Bose Ultra Earbuds and AirPods Pro when it comes to tuning out nearby conversations. They also sound as impressive as ever, delivering clean, well-balanced audio with richer bass than their predecessor, along with continued support for Sony’s LDAC codec so music retains more detail. Sony has added a new listening mode designed to make audio less distracting by mimicking the effect of background music in a cafe, which is helpful if you rely on music to help you focus. Beyond sound and noise cancellation, the buds remain well-suited for everyday use. Battery life remains top-notch, lasting up to eight hours on a single charge or up to 24 hours with the wireless charging case. For comfort, Sony continues to include swappable foam ear tips in multiple sizes, and will send silicone tips for free if the foam ones don’t work for you. That said, getting the best noise cancellation and sounds depends on achieving a secure fit with one of the included foam ear tips, which our reviewer struggled with. Read our Sony WF-1000XM6 review.

With Crimson Desert releasing today, people worldwide are tucking into this new title to see what the hype is about. In fact, our sister website, The Gamer, has already published a 150-hour review of the game and gave it a very respectable score. But what if you don't have either a copy of the game or a PC beefy enough to run it? Well, Maingear has a solution for you, but you may not want to sit on it for too long, as there will only ever be 30 of them.

If there's one thing I really appreciate about Linux, it's the package managers. Honestly, it's something that cannot be overstated enough when comparing the OS against Windows to those who have yet to try using one. Once you've spent some time with Linux package management, returning to anything else feels like stepping back onto a more chaotic front with less control, security, and, worst of all, sanity. Look, installing software on Windows is perfectly fine for most people, but it's not the best way to do it.

Anthropic Claude has been having its moment lately. Shortly after being labeled a supply chain risk by the Pentagon, it shot to the top of the Apple App Store for the first time, dethroning OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to reports, free active users on Claude have increased by over 60% since the beginning of 2026, and the number of people signing up daily has quadrupled.