Tech

/ A new Bloomberg report says a rumored 12.9-inch iPad Air will work with the biggest Magic Keyboard available today, while the 9th-gen iPad will leave the lineup. By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020. Share this story Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple is reportedly making some changes next year that it hopes will make it easier for people to fit a specific iPad to their needs. For instance, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter today that the next iPad Air will get an M2 chip in addition to the larger second model that’s been rumored. One of the other ways Apple is reportedly tackling the issue is to drop the 9th-generation model that’s b...

/ Plus, in this week’s Installer: iMessage for Android, AI images, Lego Fortnite, and much more By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired. Share this story If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Image: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 17, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage. I also have for you a new Mastodon app, a bunch of new AI tools, a whole new Fortnite universe, an espresso maker, and much more. And I have some thoughts abo...

/ A few companies have tried to find ways to make iMessage work outside Apple’s purview. Beeper succeeded — loudly. Apple fought back. By David Pierce, editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired. Share this story If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Beeper Mini brought iMessage to Android. It didn’t last long.Image: Beeper A few days after the team at Beeper proudly announced a way for users to send blue-bubble iMessages directly from their Android devices without any weird relay servers, and about 24 hours after it became clear Apple had taken steps to shut that down, Apple has shared its take on the issue. The compan...

/ The Tesla 2023 Holiday Update will also add features like Apple Podcasts and multi-stop trip planning via the app. By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020. Share this story Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla will release its 2023 Holiday Update next week with a few big changes, including one that lets Teslas call 911 automatically if the car’s airbags deploy in a crash. On Thursday, the company announced the update is coming next week, and it highlighted other coming features like Apple Podcasts support, rear-screen Bluetooth headset support, an updated version of the park assistance with 3D visuals, and new blind spot indicators. Apple Podcast support joins Apple Mus...

/ The nostalgic event was a strategic decision to get players back into the game, before launching a trio of new experiences beyond battle royale. By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories. Share this story Image: Epic Games You could say that Fortnite is entering a new phase. With the launch of Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival, the game is now more than a popular battle royale — it’s a platform designed to house lots of different kinds of experiences. That shift was preceded by an event that brought the game back to its roots with Fortnite OG, which returned to the original battle royale map alongside classic weapons and vehicles. And tha...

/ Engineers and major companies are pushing a technology called L4S that they say could make the web feel dramatically faster. But how? Illustration by Hugo Herrera / The Verge A few months ago, I downgraded my internet, going from a 900Mbps plan to a 200Mbps one. Now, I find that websites can sometimes take a painfully long time to load, that HD YouTube videos have to stop and buffer when I jump around in them, and that video calls can be annoyingly choppy. In other words, pretty much nothing has changed. I had those exact same problems even when I had near-gigabit download service, and I’m probably not alone. I’m sure many of you have also had the experience of cursing a slow-loading website and growing even more confused when a “speed test” says that your internet should be able to play...

/ Harmonix’s latest music game is available inside of Fortnite, following the launches of Lego Fortnite and Rocket Racing. By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories. Share this story Epic released a trilogy of new games inside of Fortnite this week. It started with Lego Fortnite, continued with Rocket Racing, and is wrapping up today with Fortnite Festival, developed by Guitar Hero studio Harmonix (which Epic acquired in 2021). It’s all part of an ambitious plan to turn Fortnite from a hit battle royale into a platform filled with all kinds of different experiences. And in the case of Fortnite Festival, it’s a full-blown music game inside of Fortnite. Think ...

/ Black Friday pricing has returned on the latest entry-level iPad, and God of War Ragnarök is on a one-day sale for an all-time low. Plus, more deals for your weekend. Plus, it comes in this awesome yellow color.Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge We’ve found Apple’s latest generation of its base-model iPad to be a bit awkwardly priced from the start. At $449 it’s a little close to the much nicer iPad Air and simultaneously a lot pricier than its ninth-gen predecessor. But that all looks different when you knock a Benjamin off of it — because right now you can get the 10th-gen iPad with base 64GB of storage for $349 ($100 off) or expanded 256GB for $499 (also $100 off) at Best Buy until December 11th. This matches its Black Friday best pricing, making it a much better purchase. The 10.9-inch...

Mass Transit Advocates are working across the country to make their communities safer and more accessible for cyclists, but not every effort is successful. By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020. Share this story Illustration by Sisi Kim for The Verge When most people in the US need to go somewhere, they reach for their car keys. There are plenty of reasons for this: driving is easy, it’s comfortable, and it requires very little preparation. But also, it’s hard to do anything else, and maybe the hardest of those hard things is cycling.  But plenty of people do it anyway. Whether by choice or because it’s their only option, millions of Americans bike to get where they’re going — a...

By Thomas Ricker, a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for almost 20 years. I don’t know who needs a battery-powered combination refrigerator, freezer, and ice maker on wheels that can be charged by a solar panel, but I like knowing that you’re out there, wandering the planet with a cocktail in hand while bending Mother Nature to your will. The EcoFlow Glacier is pitched at RV and boat owners or anyone looking to bring modern luxuries into the great outdoors. Its list price starts at $1,099 / €1,199, but that’s before adding extras like a 297Wh battery for a day away from the grid, wheels and telescoping handle to make the 50.7-pound (23kg) unit more portable when its 38-liter (40-qua...