Sure, the games are fun, but they can also be reliable ways for the companies that offer them to make money from subscriptions. The New York Times puts a some features for its games behind a paywall. Apple’s games are only available to Apple News Plus subscribers. And Netflix is launching a daily word game to bolster its paid subscription for mobile games.
Here’s all of our coverage of news and word games. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to try to finish Connections without throwing my phone into the ocean.
PayPal’s Honey browser extension has been lauded for years as an easy way to find coupons online. But some are calling it a “scam” after a deep dive from YouTuber MegaLag, who accused Honey of “stealing money from influencers.”
The video shines a light on Honey’s use of last-click attribution, an approach to online shopping referrals that gives credit for a sale to the owner of the last affiliate cookie in line before checkout. As MegaLag’s video tells it, Honey takes that credit by swapping its tracking cookie in for others’ when you interact with it.
The company has issued statements saying that it follows “industry rules and practices” like last-click attribution. But creators who may have missed out on money because of it aren’t happy. Some YouTube channels Legal Eagle and GamersNexus are now suing.
Below, you’ll find all our coverage of the controversy.
On September 10th, PlayStation held a “technical presentation” that confirmed the long-rumored PS5 Pro’s existence and souped-up specs, like a buffed GPU, Wi-Fi 7, and support for Sony’s AI-driven upscaling technology, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, or PSSR. It will also come with features like PS5 Pro Game Boost to improve the performance of supported PS4 or PS5 games and enhanced image quality for PS4 games to offer higher resolution on “select” PS4 titles.
The presentation was hosted by PlayStation architect Mark Cerny and lasted a brisk nine minutes before announcing the PS5 Pro’s $699.99 price and launch date on November 7th, 2024. Preorders will start on September 26th.
Earlier this year, sources confirmed to The Verge that developers were being asked to ensure their games were compatible with the improved system, and the rumor mill picked up steam last month with a leaked illustration of what it supposedly looked like. Then, last week, Sony itself may have accidentally or on purpose shared what looked to be a PS5 Pro in its post celebrating 30 years of PlayStation history.
But now, Sony has put those rumors to bed. Stay tuned here for all the updates.
Netflix’s livestreams have only gotten bigger since then, with a hot dog eating contest between storied rivals Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. On November 15th, 2024, a live boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul raked in 108 million average viewers, making it “the most-streamed sporting event ever,” according to Netflix.
Gaming’s first big surprise hit of 2024 arrived early with the release of Palworld. Described by some as “Pokémon with guns,” the game launched in early access on Steam and Xbox in January and sold millions of copies in a matter of days.
The game hasn’t been without controversy — including accusations of plagiarism — but that didn’t slow things down. However, it’s now facing a bigger threat — on September 18th, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announced they filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair, the maker of Palworld.
Keep up with all the latest on Palworld right here.
Google and a number of automakers are spearheading the movement to get automated vehicles on America’s roads. Self-driving cars are street legal in three states, and Google’s fleet has collectively logged over 300,000 miles of time on the road. However, there are several obstacles in the path of widespread adoption, with legal and moral opposition to the concept coming from all corners. Follow this StoryStream to track the technology’s progress as it transitions from experimental testing to consumer reality that could save thousands of lives.
At Microsoft’s New York City event today, it’s announcing an all-new Copilot experience. The new Copilot design includes a new card-based look across mobile, web, and Windows. Copilot is getting more personalized with features like Copilot Vision, which adds the ability to see what you’re looking at, an OpenAI-like natural voice conversation mode, and a virtual news presenter mode that can read the headlines to you.
Windows 11 is getting new features like Phone Link status in the start menu that can show notifications and your phone’s battery life. And both Paint and Photos are getting fun new features like Generative Fill and Erase. Copilot Plus PCs are getting a revamped AI-powered Windows Search that includes a Google Circle to Search-like “Click to Do” feature and the ability to search for a photo using just a text description.
Earlier this year, an exec reorganization put Pavan Davuluri in charge of Windows and Surface and made Mustafa Suleyman the new CEO of AI. Now, a full year after Panos Panay’s abrupt departure, we will find out more about where Microsoft’s “AI PC” push is headed.
You can read all the updates from the event below.
Netflix is making a big push into video games. The company first dabbled in games with interactive titles like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and a Carmen Sandiego game. But starting in 2021, it made gaming a much bigger priority — Netflix hired a former EA exec and let people play a selection of mobile games forfree as part of their subscriptions.
Since then, Netflix’s gaming arm has launched player gamertags and started hiring to develop a “AAA PC game,” while bringing on big names like former Halo lead Joseph Staten. Ubisoft has even announced several games in development for Netflix, including an Assassin’s Creed title to go with a new live-action series the two companies are working on. Netflix also rolled out more big-name titles like Monument Valley and a Tomb Raider roguelike. Most Netflix subscribers haven’t tried its games yet, but that might change soon.
In August 2023, it launched the first tests for its cloud-streamed games that let you play its titles on a TV or on the web, which could help Netflix more easily compete with other non-mobile gaming platforms.
We’ll be watching Netflix’s gaming efforts closely, and you can read our coverage right here.
It may be difficult to believe in this time of Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack, but at one point, Skype was one of the primary ways to make contact with friends, family, and colleagues. First released in 2003 and, after going through several owners, finally purchased by Microsoft in 2011, the app allowed you to make phone calls and eventually video calls over the internet. For its time, it was a major convenience.
Unfortunately, the once-popular app was fated to be neglected and ignored, and it has finally reached its end. Microsoft has announced that it is shutting Skype down on May 5th; current users will be encouraged to move to Teams or to export their data. But although Skype will be gone, the memories it evokes — not to mention the sound of its weird and wonderful ringtone — will stay with many of us for years to come.
Here are some thoughts from The Verge’s staff on Skype’s passing.
“Skype was my lifeline back home.”
In 2006, I was 18 and did a thing only brash teenagers could do: I left the country on my own to live in Japan for seven years. This was before smartphones, when you had to have international calling cards, and my family had only gotten high-speed internet access the year before. On the one hand, I was excited about an adventure in a place where I knew no one and wasn’t fluent in the local language. On the other hand, I was petrified.
Skype was my lifeline back home. All of my high school friends were on it, and it was cheaper than calling my family with expensive international minutes. The call quality wasn’t always great, and the time difference between Tokyo and New York City was tough. But in those early days, it was comforting to set up Skype dates with people who I knew loved me. That distinctive Skype ringtone was a reminder that I could always go home if I wanted to. Nearly a decade later, when my dad had to leave the US to receive more affordable medical treatment in Korea, Skype was the only video chat software he knew how to use. It became the main way I could see him for several months before his health declined.
Eventually, we all moved on to other chat and video apps. My Japanese friends all use LINE, and my Korean family all uses KakaoTalk. FaceTime, Zoom, and Google Meet pretty much cover the rest of my friends. I haven’t thought of Skype in a hot second. But now that it’s going away, I am grateful it was there for me during some of the hardest moments of my life. – Victoria Song, senior reviewer
“Those long-distance calls were expensive if you didn’t use Skype”
Remember the first iPhone? No, not that one. Infogear sold products under the name beginning in 1998. It was acquired by Cisco, which later sold Linksys-branded iPhones. (Yes, there was a lawsuit over it.) I remember reviewing the Linksys iPhone CIT400 — otherwise known as a “Skype phone” — in 2007.
Although there were a couple of competitors, it was relatively unique at the time since it allowed you to use Skype to place voice calls like you would on a normal household phone (remember those?). It was useful because my girlfriend (now wife) was living in Italy. And those long-distance calls were expensive if you didn’t use Skype! – Todd Haselton, deputy editor
“It became a cherished lifeline”
I actually avoided Skype right up until a few years before its demise. I don’t remember it being a popular “thing” in the UK when I was growing up. When I started jobs that required me to make overseas calls, however, it became a cherished lifeline. My mobile carrier outright blocked me from dialing non-UK numbers, and every attempt to correct the issue fizzled out. Instead, I found it was easier and cheaper to just download Skype and use credits when I needed to make those calls. It was good while it lasted :’-( – Jess Weatherbed, news writer
“We were using Skype for a lot of our productions”
When I first started producing podcasts at The Verge in 2015, we were using Skype for a lot of our productions. Before each taping of our show Ctrl-Walt-Delete, I’d sit in our VO booth on Skype with veteran tech journalist Walt Mossberg in DC to make sure his Blue Yeti microphone was still operating with the software.
For our show Verge ESP, I remember having to buy Skype credits to call the phone numbers of guests who didn’t have / want to use a Skype account.
When The Vergecast was live on YouTube every Thursday, we used Skype’s NDI (Network Device Interface) to bring remote guests onto the show, which was the best software for our needs in the live control room at the time.
However, once Zoom took over, that was the end of using the buggy Skype software. – Andru Marino, senior producer
“If a writer couldn’t get to the studio … Skype worked”
For decades now, my partner Jim Freund has been the host of a radio show called Hour of the Wolf on listener-sponsored NYC station WBAI-FM. He talks about science fiction and fantasy, and over the years, he has interviewed a lot of authors.
For many of those years, if a writer couldn’t get to the studio to talk and read from their work, Skype worked. It was easy to use — the most tech-nervous author could be talked through the downloading and registering process — and the quality of the resulting recording was better than you’d get over a phone. And if the writer was overseas, the cost wasn’t as prohibitive as if you’d used the landline.
But as time went on, Skype didn’t keep up. When Microsoft bought it in 2011, Jim was hopeful that this would mean better quality calls and more features — in other words, increased product support and development. However, Skype was, for the most part, ignored. As a result, especially with the increased popularity of Zoom and other apps, it became pretty much forgotten.
These days, if a guest is having trouble installing or understanding the video / podcasting software that Jim uses, and he suggests, “Well, we could use Skype instead,” the current answer is often, “Skype? What’s that?” When he told me that, I knew Skype was a thing of the past. – Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
“All the actual components [were] recorded organic sounds like wind, water, pops, people’s voices,” says [Steve] Pearce. Wind, he says, provided the white noise in a notification. A bubble pop could be recorded from a ketchup bottle, a glass, or a human gasp or gulp. “We don’t like technical things, even though we are a technical company,” he adds.
“If you actually ask people to hum or sing the Skype ringtone, they can’t.”
Ironically, I listened to that ringtone so many times that, almost 10 years later, “doo dee doo, dee doo dee” popped into my head immediately. – Adi Robertson, senior editor, tech and policy
DOO DEE DOO — DEE DOO DEE. – Jay Peters, news editor
The Verge is heading to Barcelona, Spain, for Mobile World Congress 2025. We’re fresh off CES, where we saw plenty of new gadgets, from TVs to gaming handhelds and smart glasses. But, as it says right in the name, MWC 2025 is more focused on… mobile stuff. And it’s for a global audience, which means not everything will make its way to the US.
Expect announcements from companies like Xiaomi and Nothing, the latter of which will unveil the Nothing Phone 3A, and other global phone makers. Larger firms like Samsung and Google will be there, though it’s still unclear if they’ll have news. But we’re still waiting for more details on Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge, so maybe that’ll pop up at the show.
In late September, Automattic CEO and WordPress cofounder Matt Mullenweg started a public dispute with the hosting provider WP Engine, calling the company “a cancer to WordPress.” He accused WP Engine of not contributing enough to the WordPress ecosystem and profiting off of trademark confusion. As a result, WP Engine was blocked from accessing WordPress.org’s servers.
Automattic has since sent a cease and desist order to WP Engine to stop it from using its trademarks, while WP Engine has followed up with a lawsuit that accuses Automattic and Mullenweg of extortion.
The series of events set off a public battle that calls into question the boundaries between WordPress.com host Automattic, the WordPress open-source project, and the nonprofit that’s behind it.
Disney has had a tumultuous run since Bob Iger’s return as the company’s CEO, which came just two years after he handed the reins over to Bob Chapek. Iger has since worked to undo some of Chapek’s changes as the company contends with a streaming-focused future.
Outside of streaming, Iger is hoping to boost Disney’s slate of films and reinvigorate interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But with Iger’s contract set to expire in 2026, a lot remains unclear about what’s next for the future of Disney. Here are all the major changes Iger has made so far.
After months of preparation, Epic Games will finally take on Apple in court in a trial that could fundamentally change the makeup of the App Store. The fight dates back to August, when Epic added a direct payment mechanism to its hit battle royale game Fortnite in violation of Apple’s rules. The iPhone maker quickly removed the game from the App Store, and Epic responded shortly after with an antitrust lawsuit aiming to establish the App Store as a monopoly. The case will finally be brought to trial starting May 3rd.
The trial promises to deliver huge revelations about the inner workings of one of the biggest and most influential companies in the world, with testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Craig Federighi, Phil Schiller, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, and more. We’ve already made some fascinatingdiscoveries from documents published ahead of the trial, and there’s sure to be a lot more news ahead.
The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) has come into force, and it’s meant that some of the world’s biggest tech companies are having to make major changes to how they operate.
The law, which is designed to increase competition in the EU’s digital markets, designates some large online companies and their services as “gatekeepers.” Those that have received the gatekeeper designation — the companies on the list are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft — have to meet strict requirements intended to reduce anticompetitive behavior.
Many members of The Verge’s staff enjoy cooking — and all enjoy eating. Inspired by that admittedly obvious thought, we asked them to say which kitchen tools they most enjoy using these days.
We got a wide and fascinating array of answers. They include gadgets that need to be charged, such as electric kettles, blenders, and smart thermometers, as well as simpler, non-powered tools like egg holders, spreader knives, and wooden spoons. (Sometimes simpler can be better.)
So check out how our writers and editors hone their foodie skills, and let us know in the comments what your favorite kitchen tool is. (And feel free to check out our previous listing of favorite kitchen gadgets.)
Charged gadgets
As new parents, my wife and I heat up water a lot, whether it’s for baby formula or for our third cup of a caffeinated beverage to get us through the afternoon. We used to heat our water in a teapot on the stove — the horror — but after getting an electric kettle over the holidays, our lives have been forever changed. With this, the water heats up way faster, and the kettle turns itself off once the water is too hot, meaning it won’t whistle through the house (and possibly wake the baby).
It’s the only kitchen gadget that has a permanent spot on our counters. Maybe I’ll heat up some tea for myself right now. — Jay Peters, news editor
After realizing we’re not a family who likes to get their hands dirty while cooking (we leave that part to mixers and blenders), an automatic soap dispenser has become one of the most used devices in our kitchen. We opted for a cheap $25 option from Amazon that lets you adjust how much foaming soap is dispensed and lasts for a couple months between charges, but companies like Simplehuman sell pricier $80 versions wrapped in brushed metal or other fancy finishes that could better match your decor. We find we use less soap now that it’s always perfectly portioned out, and buying refills in bulk is much cheaper. There’s now one in every bathroom in our home. — Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter
I may take some heat for this, but anyone who tells you that frozen Junior Mints, M&M’s, or — gasp — Sno-Caps are the perfect companion for an at-home movie night is unequivocally wrong. Popcorn is the true film snack, and Presto’s basic air popper has been my go-to in recent years for quickly whipping up large batches of the timeless treat.
The PopLite doesn’t require oil, nor do you need to shake or stir it like you do traditional stovetop methods. You just toss in the kernels, plug it in, and let the hot air do the work for you. Admittedly, it’s a little loud and bigger than I’d like for a single-use appliance that sits in my pantry, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more foolproof method of making popcorn. Well, unless you’re into prefab bags of Orville Redenbacher. Even I can’t fault you for that. — Brandon Widder, senior commerce editor
For the past few years, the Instant Pot has been a staple in my kitchen. From making rice to slow-cooking stews and even frying up chicken, it can do just about anything. The best part is that the Instant Pot can cook most recipes in a fraction of the time it would take in the oven or on the stove. Rice, for example, takes just six minutes to cook (not counting the amount of time it takes to build pressure), and there’s no fussing with covering the pot or adjusting the heat. Sometimes, it’s just easier — and much less stressful — to let the Instant Pot take the wheel. — Emma Roth, news writer
How often do you blend things? Is it never? Maybe the reason is that taking out, assembling, and cleaning up after a normal blender is just way too much work. Do you know how many sauces I’ve thickened since getting an immersion blender? This thing is small, quick to set up, and you can mostly clean it with just a blast under the faucet. You’re going to blend so many things. — Jacob Kastrenakes, executive editor
My wife and I bought this small blender to make ourselves smoothies and protein shakes. It’s now used to make purees for our baby. C’est la vie. — Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer
A meat thermometer is essential in my kitchen, and I haven’t found one as easy to use as the Typhur InstaProbe. I just flip and probe, and then I have a temperature reading in seconds — there’s no need to press any buttons or fiddle with any settings. I’ve used it for well over a year and haven’t had to change its batteries once; it always just works when I pull it out of the drawer (not the case with other digital alternatives I’ve tried). It’s also waterproof, so it’s easy to clean. — Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, reviewer
Simple tools
One of the first things I did when I got my own place was purchase a food chopper. Perhaps puritan chefs will disagree with my methods, but this saves me so much time. I like to make tikka masala, which requires dicing ginger. If you’ve ever tried to dice ginger, you know that a food chopper would come in handy. This one did break recently, so I’ll probably replace it with a fancier one. — Kylie Robison, senior AI reporter
Spreading knives are fantastic, especially if you make as many sandwiches as I do. The broad, flat blade is perfect for spreading peanut butter, cream cheese, or whatever, and the serrated edge is sharp enough for removing crusts and slicing bagels.
The one I used growing up was a Cutco, a relic of my dad’s brief, unsuccessful stint as a knife salesman. This is not that knife. That knife costs $94 today, which feels like a bit much — even if the one my parents have is still in great shape after 45 years — so I got this Wüsthof instead. The handle isn’t quite as comfortable, but it’s a quarter of the price, so I’ll live. — Nathan Edwards, senior reviews editor
My partner and I have the unfortunate habit of buying interesting foodstuffs with the intention of eventually using them — and then finding them in the back of the fridge two months later, growing something, well, interesting. To try and track what we’ve refrigerated, we tried all sorts of phone and tablet apps, but in the end, what finally worked was a simple, inexpensive, and thin magnetic whiteboard. It sticks to the door of the refrigerator, along with some dry markers, and now we record what entrees and side dishes are in the fridge. As each is consumed, the entry gets erased.
It’s a simple solution, and it’s not perfect. We still occasionally find a scientific experiment blooming in the back of the fridge, but it’s made us a lot less likely to waste food. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
I never realized how much joy I could get from a grater until my partner and I picked up a Microplane last year. Whether I’m zesting lemons or creating big, pillowy clouds of grated parmesan for my pasta, the Microplane is an absolute pleasure to use. We still keep a big, blunt box grater around for the occasional vegetable, but the Microplane’s sharper blades are better for absolutely everything else.
It’s not just us, either — we’ve since gifted this twice, to rave reviews. And if you know me in real life, then I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before a Microplane comes your way, too. — Dominic Preston, news editor
It’s kind of weird how much I like our Gripstics. Bag of chips open? Quick, grab a Gripstic. Kids vibing between two different cereals this week? A well-placed Gripstic will ensure they don’t get all squishy. Tiny package of chocolate chips you used for a recipe that is now kind of open in your cupboard for who knows how long? Just fold the top over, slide a Gripstic on it — the small blue one, thank you — and stop worrying so much.
I don’t know about you or your family’s shopping and eating habits, but try as we might to shop on the outside walls of the grocery store, we inevitably come home with many products packaged in single-use plastic bags. That in and of itself is a frustration, only compounded by those same products going bad if they’re not stored properly. The Gripstics are a simple solution to this universal problem, and one that I’m certain has paid for itself many times over. — Christopher Grant, group publisher, The Verge and Polygon
Pretty much every meal I cook includes garlic, so I genuinely don’t know why it took me so long to get a simple garlic press. But ever since I threw one in the cart absentmindedly on a recent IKEA run, it’s become one of my most-used kitchen tools. I still have to peel the garlic, which I find interminably annoying, but I haven’t had to slice or mince garlic since adding it to my utensil drawer. The press turns the garlic into a kind of mush, and it’s not consistent in the pieces it makes (sometimes larger slivers of garlic get caught around the edges of the press), but for my needs, which is mostly just tossing garlic into a sauté pan or a soup, it’s a dream. — Kristen Radtke, creative director
I love a humble piece of bread and butter, but I hate spreading cold, hard butter on bread. Luckily, I haven’t had to since June 2023, when I finally got an airtight ceramic butter dish to store room temperature butter indefinitely. Am I recommending you do the same? No — I’m not prepared to debate anyone on the science behind keeping butter from spoiling. (The FDA says it can be left at room temperature for only one to two days.) All I will say is that the combination of salted butter, an airtight container, and a pair of kids who help me go through it one well-buttered grilled cheese sandwich at a time, has been more than enough to address my own fears.
There are many options like the small Sweese that I use. It just happened to be the first Amazon pick I didn’t return, because it was the first that fit a single block of Kerrygold almost perfectly. — Sean Hollister, senior editor
My mom bought me this strange-looking juicer. I was skeptical at first, but I love how it folds flat so that it doesn’t catch on the shallow drawer that I store my kitchen spatulas in. And, of course, it works well as a juicer and is pretty easy to clean. — Helen Havlak, publisher, The Verge
Once you get a set of narrow measuring spoons, you’ll never go back. Rather than having to carefully pour a teaspoon or tablespoon of spice into a round measuring spoon that doesn’t fit through the neck of your spice jar, you can just scoop directly from the jar. I absolutely love mine for recipes that require a lot of different spices. This stainless steel set from King Arthur Baking feels solid and has held up well for me despite frequent trips through the dishwasher over the last five years. — Helen Havlak, publisher, The Verge
If you’re a backyard chicken owner (or live in Europeor Asia), this elegant countertop egg holder is an excellent way to display your ladies’ efforts and have easy access to eggs. The Hovico Egg Skelter’s metallic spiral design pushes the oldest eggs to the end so you can use them first. It’s then easy to add the newly laid (or purchased) ones to the top. As a bonus, it doubles as a nice decorative piece for your kitchen counter. (Note: fresh, unwashed eggs do not need to be refrigerated as they have a natural coating.) — Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, reviewer
We have a drawer full of silicon spatulas in our kitchen that I use exclusively for flipping eggs and nothing else. For any other cooking task, I use my beloved wooden spoon. I love that it’s firm but doesn’t scratch ceramic pots and pans, and there is nothing better for deglazing a pan than a wooden spoon, which perfectly scrapes up all the delicious brown bits of a sear after you add a little vinegar or alcohol. While my other spatulas and spoons have broken or the silicone has begun to tear, my wooden spoon is almost indestructible. Bury me with it. — Kristen Radtke, creative director
We all have our favorite stuff. It could be a laptop that you’ve used for several years or the snazzy new one that just arrived last week. It could be the headphones that deliver your favorite music and podcasts, the controller that helps you win your games, or the app that puts a weird background on your Zoom calls.
Of course, we’re not just talking tech. We’re also talking about your favorite coffee maker, the TV shows that you binged through the pandemic, the hiking boots that have never given you a blister, and the immersion blender that your friend gave you for your birthday.
We’ve talked to the people who work at The Verge and asked them to tell us about their favorite stuff, whether it be for working at home, cooking, or playing. Some of these things may be what you already like to use; others may give you ideas of the kind of items you could use for yourself. Either way, we hope you enjoy reading about the things we use and enjoy.
At Samsungâs Unpacked event last month, the company announced the latest smartphones in its Galaxy S-series: the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra. As The Vergeâs reviewer, Allison Johnson, said in her review, âSamsung didnât need to reinvent the wheel.â The company has had solid scores for the last few years, and it looks like its newest iterations revolve around software â most notably, Galaxy AI and photo processing.Â
The S25 Ultra additions include a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens, LOG video, and AI audio processing. If that sounds familiar, it may be because Apple also equipped its iPhone 16 Pro, which was released in September 2024, with similar features. But which one is better?Â
The Vergeâs supervising producer, Vjeran Pavic, breaks it down by category and takes a deeper look at photos and videos taken on both devices for noise, color, sound, and most of all, ease of use. Watch Vjeranâs full review in our latest video, and let us know what you think.Â
The Last of Us has caught our attention ever since the game’s launch on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, but the cordyceps-infested franchise has only continued to grow since then. While The Last of UsPart II came out on the PlayStation 4 in 2020, the first game’s remake launched on PlayStation 5 in 2021. The second part of the game is also getting the PS5 treatment, with a remastered version due out on January 19th, 2024.
The game series was only the beginning, though. The Last of Us has evolved into a hit TV series on HBO and its streaming service Max. After a successful first season starring Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel, the show’s producers are working on a second season for 2025, and details have already emerged about its cast.
Follow along below for all the latest on The Last of Us franchise.
Apple has launched its new iPhone 16E with an updated design, additional features — and no home button or MagSafe charging. This revamped version of the company’s budget phone will be going for $599 and will include a USB-C port, a notch, a customizable Action Button, a fast A18 chip, and lots of extras. So what does that do for those who might have been looking forward to a smaller phone? Is the new Action Button a good thing? Will you miss MagSafe?
We asked the staff of The Verge for their first impressions of the iPhone 16E. Of course, we will be running a full review of the phone, which will ship on February 28th. But meanwhile, here are some of the feelings that the news has generated in some of our iPhone users.
You can’t go Home again
Look, I’m just as much a fan of physical home buttons as anyone, but maybe it’s time we say our goodbyes for good. The swipe-up gestures for unlocking, returning to the homescreen, or managing apps feels natural and fluid now. I sure don’t miss the excessive bezels, and I appreciate the reclaimed screen real estate to enjoy every dot of edge-to-edge OLED goodness I can. And you know what? As much as I hate the notch, it adds more to the overall aesthetic and user experience than it detracts from it, so I’m fine with that tradeoff, too. – Quentyn Kennemer, commerce writer
A customizable Action Button
I love that Apple brought the Action Button to its new affordable iPhone 16E. It’s one of the better hardware features Apple introduced in recent years. It launched on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max and was included on all iPhone 16 models in 2024. I have mine set to launch a flashlight (and use it all the time), but you can set it to launch other apps, too, like Apple Translate, the camera app, shortcuts, and more. I’m sort of surprised Apple included it since previous iPhone SE mid-year launches usually included a newer processor but in a body a few years old. – Todd Haselton, deputy editor, reviews and commerce
MagSafe is missing
That’s a no for me. Not so much for MagSafe charge speed — wired is always faster anyway — but because the magnetic ring is so handy. You can always add a magnetic case, though, so if the camera is decent enough, I guess it’s not the end of the world. – Nathan Edwards, senior reviews editor
OLED at a nice 6.1 inches
As someone who currently wields a 6.7-inch brick of a phone, I’ve started to long for my iPhone 6S days. At 6.06 inches, the iPhone 16E’s screen size seems like the perfect medium between too big and too small. It’s bigger than the iPhone SE released in 2022 but roughly the same as the standard 6.1-inch iPhone 16 (though it’s also 0.1mm narrower and 0.7mm shorter). That will hopefully be a plus for those of us who want to put our phones in our pockets.
And while the iPhone 16E may be (slightly) smaller and cheaper than the iPhone 16, Apple isn’t skimping out on quality: unlike the last iPhone SE, the iPhone 16E comes with an OLED display panel. It’s nice to see Apple bringing some of its premium features to its budget-friendly devices. – Emma Roth, news writer
Speeding ahead with an A18 chip
I’m slightly relieved to see the new iPhone 16E uses the current A18 processor found in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus. Previous iPhone SE models also borrowed the latest chips from the pricier iPhones of their time, but there was a part of me that wondered if Apple might surprise us with something like a last-gen A17. (Remember when the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus got year-old holdovers from the 14 Pro?)
The A18 in the 16E does have one fewer GPU core (four instead of five), but I doubt anyone’s really going to feel that difference. Maybe if you do some side-by-side comparisons with high-end games like Resident Evil 4, but nobody buying an iPhone 16E is going to do that (and apparently nobody’s really buying those games anyway).
Having the latest-gen processor means the iPhone 16E should see years of support, which is one of the benefits of buying an iPhone. And it’s arguably more important these days now that some Android manufacturers have gotten their act together and promised up to seven years of software updates on some of their latest models. – Antonio G. Di Benedetto, reviewer
Bye-bye Lightning, hello USB-C
I love my iPhone 12 Mini, but I’ve also been thinking about upgrading because I want an iPhone with a USB-C port. I probably don’t actually need most of the fancier features on the main iPhone 16 lineup, so the new iPhone 16E seems like it could serve me well for many years.
But do I really want to pay $599 mostly for a USB-C port? My iPhone 12 Mini still works well, especially after I replaced the battery last year. My Lightning cables still work fine for charging, as does my Lightning-equipped MagSafe Duo. I don’t really need a USB-C port for any other reason except convenience.
I think I’m just going to hang on to my iPhone 12 Mini and see what’s in store for the iPhone 17 lineup. But I don’t think I’ll wait much longer to get a USB-C iPhone. – Jay Peters, news editor
An easy unlock with Face ID
At this point, switching between phones is actually pretty simple. Both Android and iOS have made upgrades easy, and you can even switch between operating systems with a cable and a couple of hours. But every time I switch to a device without Face ID or a similar gaze-based authentication system, my muscle memory collapses. Whether I’m paying for stuff, accessing passwords, or trying to lock myself out of social media apps, I use the biometric system more than I realize — and face unlock is faster, more reliable, and just easier. I love the tactility and smashability of a home button, but I’ll happily trade it for that instantaneous, my phone is already unlocked feeling you get from Face ID. – David Pierce, editor-at-large
Now with a notch
This design change means the SE finally feels like a modern take on an affordable phone: extremely powerful, packed with AI (for better or worse), and with a full-screen design that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.
The notch isn’t exactly Apple’s bleeding edge — I guess we’ll have to wait a few more years for the Dynamic Island to work its way down to the SE line — but it brings with it both Face ID and a lot more screen real estate. It is the end of an era, though: there’s no longer any iPhone on the market that has an uninterrupted display. – Dominic Preston, news editor
Only one rear camera? No problem
It isn’t remotely surprising to me that the iPhone 16E only provides one rear camera. Not only does that mirror the 2022 iPhone SE (which sported a 12-megapixel sensor, compared to the iPhone 16E’s beefier 48-megapixel sensor), but cameras also tend to have a noticeable correlation with phone price. This is an ideal choice for people who don’t need all the fancy camera hardware provided on powerful, more expensive flagship phones.
Photography-driven creative folk typicallysplurge on the latest Pro or standard iPhone model anyway or use a dedicated camera. The design and performance of the iPhone 16E have already been modernized in line with most of Apple’s current generational lineup — any more and it might as well just be an iPhone 16. – Jess Weatherbed, news writer
The right price for a proper phone
It’s been a long time since Apple offered an “affordable” iPhone that doesn’t require making massive feature tradeoffs for the price. That seems to be changing in the new $599 iPhone 16E, and it’s about time. The Android ecosystem has had some really nice options around $500 for the past few years from Google, Samsung, and OnePlus — all with big, modern screens, plenty of storage, and night mode in the camera app. That’s just not a combination you could get from a new iPhone for under $800 over the last three years.
Some folks might be disappointed by losing the home button or having to switch to USB-C (one of us… one of us…), but I think bringing a modern feature set to the iPhone SE and keeping the price relatively affordable more than makes up for the loss. I’d love for it to be a bit cheaper, and not offering MagSafe is a weird choice. But this might be the phone that finally gets my husband to upgrade from his XR, and for that, I am grateful. – Allison Johnson, reviews writer
With artificial intelligence being so prevalent across, well, just about everything these days, it’s no small feat for AI developers to make their products stand out among the deluge. Very few have managed to capture as much attention as Rabbit, the AI startup that’s managed to sell 40,000 units of its standalone $199 R1 gadget within eight days of launching the device at CES in January this year.
The AI-powered Rabbit OS behind the Rabbit R1 is essentially a dedicated virtual assistant that’s designed to interact with your favorite apps like a kind of universal controller. The OS is built upon a “Large Action Model” trained to interact with common apps like Spotify and Uber to get things done; from sending messages, controlling music, making online purchases, and more.
At around half the size of an iPhone, the orange Rabbit R1 gadget was designed in collaboration with Teenage Engineering, and features a 2.88-inch touchscreen, a scrolling navigation wheel, and a rotating camera. It’s a little reminiscent of the Playdate handheld game console.
We’re keeping track of all the latest updates surrounding the Rabbit R1 so that nothing gets buried in the hype — providing the device lives up to its sizable expectations.
