Technology

Online tech repair guide and parts retailer iFixit has published its latest teardown for the new 2021 MacBook Pro and reveals at least one small win for reparability: the ability to replace the battery pack modules. The battery modules in the new MacBook Pros, much like many mobile devices, are now attached via adhesive strips with pull tabs. This makes it easier to remove them, as long as none of the tabs rip while pulling. The trackpad needs to also be carefully removed to reach the remaining pull tabs. Image: iFixit Batteries in MacBook Pros used to have their own frame or shell, which made them easier to install or remove via screws or locking tabs (although that takes more interior space). Starting in 2012, Apple wanted to make laptops thinner, so battery structures were removed to sa...

It’s rare that you need to get into geopolitics at the outset of a smartphone review, but it’s impossible to avoid with the Honor 50. It’s the first Honor-branded device to release outside of China since the brand spun out from parent company Huawei last year. It means that despite Huawei’s continued presence on the USA’s entity list, Honor is now able to include Google’s apps and services on a new phone. Having access to these services, which include critical parts of the Android ecosystem like Google Play in addition to apps like Google Maps and YouTube, means that the Honor 50 is the first Honor phone in years to actually have a shot at being a viable purchase for customers outside of China. Its midrange starting price of €529 (about $616) doesn’t hurt, either. But while leaving its for...

Two Netflix employees at the heart of the Dave Chappelle controversy have filed labor charges against the company, alleging the streaming giant retaliated against them for engaging in protected activity. B. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager, was fired while organizing a walkout related to Netflix’s support of Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer, which has been widely condemned as transphobic. Terra Field, a trans software engineer, was suspended after posting a viral tweet thread about the issue. Netflix said it fired Pagels-Minor for allegedly leaking confidential information — a charge they have categorically denied. The company said Field was suspended for attending a director-level meeting she wasn’t supposed to, though it reinstated her after finding no ill intent. In the ...

I can’t say I expected there to be more news about Apple’s $19 Screen Polishing cloth, but here we are. Not only has iFixit given it the teardown treatment and a (perhaps slightly tongue-in-cheek) repair score, but it’s apparently become one of Apple’s hardest-to-get products. And yes, to reiterate, we are still talking about a cloth made to clean your devices’ screens. As noted by The New York Times, the 6.3-inch-sided square of fabric is now backordered, with Apple’s website saying that you won’t get it for 10-12 weeks, meaning it’ll get delivered sometime between January 7th and January 21st, 2022. If you order pretty much any configuration of the redesigned MacBook Pro that the cloth launched with, you’ll get your custom-built laptop at least a week before you get your cleaning cloth —...

Nintendo is closing its Redwood City, California and Toronto, Canada offices, the company confirmed in a statement to The Verge. Kotaku reported on the closure of the Redwood City offices earlier on Friday. Here is the company’s full statement on the decision: Nintendo of America headquarters are in Redmond, WA, and Vancouver, BC. We are moving more of our employees and operations into those headquarters and will be closing small satellite offices in Toronto, ON, and Redwood City, CA, over time. Devon Pritchard, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs and Publisher Relations for Nintendo of America (NOA), will assume interim leadership of Sales, Marketing and Communications following the departure of Nick Chavez. Ms. Pritchard will oversee strategy and execution of sales, marketing and ...

Intel is building dedicated gaming graphics cards, due out in Q1 2022, and we may have just gotten our first look at the big one, the Arc Alchemist. Here are some leaked images from YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead (via Videocardz): Arc is Intel’s new GPU brand, designed to compete with Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon, and the Arc Alchemist is the first GPU in the company’s roadmap that’s actually scheduled to release. The company had previously built the Intel DG1 to test the GPU waters, but that was a comparatively weak card, based on the Xe LP (low-power) graphics architecture, and consumers couldn’t actually buy it. This new card is part of Intel’s Xe HPG roadmap (high-power / gaming) and is said to deliver performance akin to an Nvidia RTX 3070 thanks to 512 execution units (EUs) and 16GB o...

Roku is launching a new independent developer kit that will allow developers to “experiment with and customize their devices” in personal-use capacities. Roku says it hopes the IDK will lead to innovation around internet-of-things applications, such as connecting a Roku device to a thermostat or game development. Roku unveiled its plans for the new IDK at its online developer summit this week. The company made it clear in an announcement about the IDK that its Roku SDK will remain the primary channel development kit for commercial applications but said that the new developer kit “enables developers to explore the platform’s capabilities and personalize their Roku experience.” The company isn’t quite clear on how developers will use the new IDK, Roku’s VP of content partnerships Tedd Cittad...

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Twitter is allowing all iOS users to Super Follow select creators. The feature, first released in September and only available in the US and Canada, allows users to monetize their Twitter account and create exclusive content through monthly subscriptions. Twitter first announced Super Follows in February and rolled it out to select creators in September. Within the first two weeks, subscribers had contributed around $6,000, according to SensorTower. It’s Super Following time –– everyone globally on iOS now has the option to Super Follow select creators. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 28, 2021 Users interested in Super Follows have to meet the minimum requirements, according to the Super Follows policy. They have to be 18 or older, have at least 10,000 followers, have tweeted a...

Meta has announced that the studio behind VR workout game Supernatural will be joining the company, adding to the roster of studios owned by what used to be known as Facebook’s Oculus division. The company says that Within, the company behind Supernatural, will continue to work on the popular fitness app and will also help Meta’s Reality Labs “enhance future hardware to support VR fitness apps.” Meta scooping up Within isn’t necessarily a surprise move: it’s spent the last few years acquiring tons of popular VR studios, like Lone Echo devs Ready at Dawn, the team behind Beat Saber, and others working on projects that some have called the VR versions of Fortnite and Roblox. Given Meta’s focus on its headsets as workout tools (Supernatural even got a callout in its Connect keynote on Thursda...

The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania will be allowing students enrolled in its executive education program in blockchain to pay for tuition in cryptocurrency. Beginning today, the tuition payment database, alongside credit cards and PayPal, will offer students the option of paying with Bitcoin, Ethereum or the USDC stablecoin. Wharton is the second college in the United States to accept crypto tuition payments, the first being King’s College located in New York in 2014. The university has partnered with crypto exchange platform Coinbase to process the payments. Though the platform typically charges a 1 percent fee, it has been waived for students. Right now, the option to pay in crypto is only available to those enrolled in the six-week “Economics of Blockchain and...