Technology

Apple launched a new Magic Mouse today, March 8th, 2022. It’s a slick-looking black version. It also still has its charging port on the bottom — meaning that six and a half years after its introduction, Apple still seems to think that the best way to charge the mouse is by flipping it over (rendering it useless) and plugging in a Lightning cable. Here’s a little secret: I copied and pasted most of that last sentence from an article I wrote about this exact issue nearly a year ago, when Apple introduced a whole line of colorful Magic Mice and had the opportunity to change how they charge, but didn’t. Apple has kept this charge-on-the-bottom design since October 2015. “Like a beetle with its legs in the air” My former Verge colleague Nick Statt ridiculed the mouse’s design the December after...

As US gas prices hit record highs in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it seems like electric vehicles may not be a safe haven for those looking to save money. That’s because Russia plays an important part in the production of the nickel that ends up in batteries used by many electric vehicles — a metal that’s rocketed up in price even faster than oil. On February 25th, nickel was trading on the London Metal Exchange for around $24,000 a ton, according to The Wall Street Journal. By March 8th, it was trading at $80,000 (down from a peak of over $100,000), and the London Metal Exchange had suspended trading. There are a few reasons for the massive uptick in price — because it’s 2022, there are financial shenanigans involved, but it’s also impossible for the market to ignore the fact...

Apple’s iOS 15.4 is arriving next week after being in development since the beginning of the year. While Apple didn’t share an exact release date, the software update is expected to roll out halfway through the month on March 18. The update will include a slew of exciting new features, beginning with a revamped Face ID that allows users to unlock their iPhones while wearing a face mask. A beta version of the feature, which was tested last month, was proven to work well. Users will be able to enable the feature in their settings, though they’ll have to re-register an image of their face. Apple is also introducing a tool called Tap to Pay. This will allow more businesses to charge customers via their iPhone, and functions as an alternative to the device’s Square card reader plug-in. Oth...

Following a host of late-breaking rumors, Apple officially announced a new Mac during its “Peek Performance” event today, adding another machine to its expanding desktop lineup. Each configuration of the Mac Studio, as it’s called, will feature either Apple’s M1 Max or its new M1 Ultra processor and will start at $1,999 and $3,999, respectively. Apple also introduced the forthcoming Studio Display, a new monitor designed as a companion to its new desktop machine, one that starts at $1,599. Both devices are available for preorder starting today and will begin shipping on March 18th. If you’re looking to preorder the Mac Studio or the monitor ahead of our reviews, we’ve compiled a list of retailers currently offering the new devices. Where to buy the new Mac Studio with M1 Max While we didn’...

Apple has just finished its Peek Performance event, where it introduced a new version of the iPhone SE with its latest mobile processor and 5G, a new desktop Mac aimed at creative professionals, and an external monitor that doesn’t have a $5,000 starting price (finally). If you’re looking for a quick round-up, here are the biggest announcements Apple made in its hour-long presentation. Apple now has four chips in its M1 lineup.Image: Apple Apple announced a new addition to its Apple Silicon lineup, with the M1 Ultra. The TL;DR is that it’s basically two M1 Max chips put together, supporting up to 128GB of RAM. Apple says it’s eight times faster than the standard M1 chip. The M1 Ultra will be available in the Mac Studio and likely in the Mac Pro that Apple teased as an upcoming announcement...

As if things couldn’t get more ridiculous at the online mortgage lender Better.com, where 900 people were laid off over a Zoom call this past December, the company reportedly issued another wave of layoffs by inadvertently notifying employees via its payroll app, as first reported by TechCrunch. According to TechCrunch, the company was supposed to announce this round of layoffs on March 8th but later pushed it back to March 9th after news of the original date got out. Better apparently forgot to change the date on its accompanying Workday app, though — unsuspecting employees reportedly saw severance checks appear in the app at 12AM on March 8th. Better CEO and co-founder Vishal Garg was criticized for firing hundreds of employees over a single Zoom call on December 3rd of last year and all...

Apple just introduced the third-generation iPhone SE, and it has some nice improvements, including support for sub-6GHz 5G and an A15 processor. But Apple is also claiming it has longer battery life, and it seems that’s in part because the phone has a physically larger battery — a fact about the new iPhone SE that the company confirmed on background in a group briefing with reporters. Apple hasn’t shared the battery capacity, so we’ll have to wait for teardowns to see exactly how much juice it has. But comparing the new SE’s tech specs page with the old one, Apple is promising some decent improvements. For the third-generation SE, Apple is promising up to 15 hours of video playback, up to 10 hours of streaming video playback, and up to 50 hours of audio playback. The old SE, on the other h...

During its Peek Performance event on Tuesday, Apple introduced new green color options for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. A new “Alpine Green” colorway will be available for the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, and a standard “Green” option will launch for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini. While new colors will launch, each iPhone is still the same model that Apple previously launched in September. The new green color options will join an expanding list of finishes for the iPhone 13, which includes Starlight, Midnight, Blue, Pink and Product Red, and the iPhone 13 Pro, which comes in Silver, Graphite, Gold and Blue. Apple’s new color announcement marks the company’s latest mid-cycle update to an iPhone — during its Spring Loaded event in April 2021, the tech giant debuted a new pastel purple c...

Apple on Tuesday unveiled several new updates to its existing iPad Air, iPhone SE and iPhone 13 lineup at the Peek Performance event in Cupertino, California. In addition, the tech giant also introduced two new devices– the Mac Studio and Studio Display — alongside an all-new, powerful M1 Ultra chip. Here are all of the biggest announcements from Tuesday’s showcase: 1. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro are now being offered in sleek new shades of green A new “Alpine Green” colorway will be available for the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, and a standard “Green” option will launch for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini. While new colors will launch, each iPhone is still the same model that Apple previously launched in September. The new green color options will join an expanding list of finishes for...

In addition to an array of existing product updates, Apple on Tuesday unveiled two all-new devices called the Mac Studio and Studio Display. The company said during its Peek Performance Event that the new devices work together or separately to update the speed and efficiency of any studio workspace. The compact Mac Studio is meant to be a companion to existing displays and is powered by either the M1 Max or the new M1 Ultra chips. It fits under most displays at 7.7-inches squared and 3.7 inches tall, and includes an impressive thermal system that allows the device to stay cool and quiet during heavy workloads. The device has an array of ports that make it easy to connect to external storage or displays. The back of the device includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports to connect displays and high-p...

During its Peek Performance event on Tuesday, Apple introduced a new iPhone SE with an upgraded A15 Bionic chip. Notably, A15 Bionic, the same chip used in the iPhone 13, features a 6-core CPU, which is 1.8 times faster than the iPhone 8, along with a 4-core GPU. The device’s 16-core Neural Engine is capable of running 15.8 trillion operations per second, according to the company, which supplies the device with faster machine learning computations for third-party apps and unlocks new features including Live Text in the Camera app and on-device dictation. The iPhone SE arrives in three new colorways — Midnight, Starlight and (PRODUCT)RED — and features the “toughest glass in a smartphone”, which is rated IP67 for water and dust resistance and also appears on the back of the iPhone 13. As pa...