Technology

Fantastic ideas for the coffee snobs, at-home baristas, and commercial-grade caffeine addicts in your life.

This showstopping designer appliance may not be ideal for some recipes, but it gets the job done.

Invisibly to us, insects and other tiny creatures use static electricity to travel, avoid predators, collect pollen, and more. New experiments explore how evolution may have influenced this phenomenon.

A win for the Blues could see them climb into the top four.

• Gemini 2.0 could be arriving in December
• Expect across-the-board performance improvements
• ChatGPT-5 may be launched at the same time

It was only a few days ago we heard rumors around OpenAI launching a next-gen ChatGPT-5 model – rumors dismissed as "fake news" by OpenAI chief Sam Altman – and now we're hearing Google Gemini 2.0 could be made public in the next couple of months.

Like the ChatGPT rumor, this comes from The Verge (via 9to5Google). The last major Gemini upgrade came back in February, when Gemini 1.5 was pushed out. Google uses the Gemini name for both its AI bots, and the underlying models.

What we don't get in this report are any indications of what might be new and improved in Gemini 2.0. If previous releases are anything to go by, expect smarter answers, faster processing, support for longer inputs, and more reliable reasoning and coding.

As per the report, Gemini 2.0 doesn't offer the sort of performance increases its developers were originally hoping for – but the article also notes that this is a trend affecting all large language models (LLM) in general, not just those at Google.

Keeping up the pace

Gemini (the app) runs on Gemini (the AI model) (Image credit: Google)

If Google (and perhaps OpenAI) did indeed launch AI model upgrades before the end of the year, it would be further evidence of the time and resources that companies are investing in artificial intelligence in order to stay ahead.

In recent weeks we've seen new video tools, improved image generation, and bespoke search features launched by AI companies. When next week rolls around, meanwhile, millions of iPhone owners will be able to try out Apple Intelligence for the first time..

That said, we're still waiting for Google to launch the next-gen Project Astra AI assistant we saw demoed at Google I/O 2024 back in May. Project Astra combines multiple inputs and outputs in a more advanced and natural way than ever.

While we have previously spent some hands-on time with Project Astra, it doesn't seem as though it's directly connected to Gemini 2.0 – though it may be powered by it. Of course as soon as anything is made official, we'll bring you the news here.

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My journey to play games like Starfield on anything except an Xbox accidentally proved the console still has its place.

I recently started using an iPhone 15 after five years away from Apple smartphones, and as my prior pieces on the iPhone’s lackluster 60Hz screen and satisfyingly nostalgic form factor may have let on, coming back to iOS has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

There is one thing about the iPhone that I’m unreservedly happy about, though, a feature that I’m happy to call the best in its class.

It’s not the Dynamic Island with its useful notifications, nor the 48MP main camera with its excellent low-light performance, nor the USB-C port with all its interconnectivity – in fact, my favorite thing about the iPhone 15 is something that’s been part of the iPhone lineup since the very beginning.

I’m talking about the humble speaker, situated along the bottom edge of the iPhone 15 and paired with the speaker grille along the top of the screen for stereo sound. I have been continually amazed by how fantastic this tiny dual-channel system sounds, especially compared to the other handsets in my rotating smartphone loadout.

Sounding off

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

As a lover of both music tech and consumer tech, I’ve found myself genuinely confused at how Apple has managed to wring so much bass and presence out of such a physically small speaker, but at full volume I find I’m able to hear songs clearly from any room in the house.

I can clearly remember a time when phone speakers were something of an afterthought, a definitively sub-optimal way of listening to music on a phone. My first ever smartphone, an early HTC One, had a speaker grille about a centimeter wide that sounded predictably atrocious.

However, this didn’t stop me from listening to music on it – I’ve continued to use phone speakers in the years since, mostly just to put something on while I’m doing chores or getting ready to head out.

That said, the iPhone 15 is the first phone I’ve used that I feel offers a proper listening experience, rather than just a way to have something playing.

Lately, I’ve found myself eschewing the Amazon Echo smart speaker and Presonus Eris 3.5 monitors I’ve got dotted around the house for the convenience of the iPhone – it’s physically impossible to replicate the rich sound of a 3-inch speaker with a smartphone, but the iPhone 15 gets close enough that I rarely feel like I'm missing out for background listening.

It’s not that I don’t care about audio quality either – I quite regularly buy music online for the sake of getting the best quality sound and even produce my own music. The blend of simplicity and quality offered by the iPhone is just really tough to beat.

In fact, with the option of proper speakers already in place and portability solved by the iPhone, I find that I’m not tempted by even the best Bluetooth speakers – a necessity in my music listening arsenal in years past.

Overall, the iPhone 15 is a reminder of Apple’s engineering prowess and just how far the phone speaker has come. Audio is rarely the reason a phone makes it to our list of the best phones, but music lovers shouldn’t ignore this underrated aspect of the iPhone experience.

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A couple of years ago, Israeli startup CogniFiber made headlines with Deeplight, a fiber-optic cable which could, “process complex algorithms within the fiber itself before the signal hits the terminal.” At the time, we warned this technology wouldn’t reach end users in the near future, and was unlikely to appear in laptops or smartphones anytime soon.

However, eeNews Embedded is now reporting on Oriole Networks, a UK-based startup using light for a different purpose - to create efficient networks of AI chips.

The technology can reportedly train LLMs up to 100 times faster than conventional methods while drastically reducing power usage, and this research aims to mitigate the growing energy consumption of data centers driven by the rapid expansion of AI workloads and the increasing demand for high-performance computing.

20 years of photonics research

“Our ambition is to create an ecosystem of photonic networking that can reshape this industry by solving today’s bottlenecks and enabling greater competition at the GPU layer. Building on decades of research, we’re paving the way for faster, more efficient, more sustainable AI," said James Regan, CEO of Oriole Networks.

The company's roots lie in optical network research from University College London (UCL) and Oriole’s unique IP is based on the work of founding scientists Professor George Zervas, Alessandro Ottino, and Joshua Benjamin.

The startup has already drawn attention from a number of investors keen to find solutions for AI's increasing energy demands.

With plans to release its early-stage products by 2025, Oriole Networks hopes to reshape AI’s infrastructure by making it faster, more energy-efficient, and ultimately more sustainable.

eeNews Embedded quotes Ian Hogarth, a member of Oriole’s board, and a partner at Plural which led the latest funding round, “Applying 20 years of deep research and learning in photonics to create a better AI infrastructure demonstrates how much more innovation there is to come to help reap the benefits of this technology," he said.

"The team behind Oriole Networks has proven experience in both company building and bringing deep science to commercialization, creating a fundamental shift in the design of next-generation networked systems that will reduce latency and slash the energy impact of data centers on which we now rely.”

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Here are some hints — and the answers — for Connections No. 504 for Oct. 27.

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 27

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1007) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1007) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1007) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1007) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1007) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• C

• S

• B

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1007) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1007, are…

• STUNG
• CLOUT
• SOWER
• BASIS

Today's Quordle serves up a complicated collection of words that may well cause people some difficulties. It was a game that I didn't even try to solve in seven guesses, the best I can ever do with my strategy of playing three set start words; I added BEFOG as an unofficial fourth start word, because I could see there were too many possibilities (and not information) for any of the four answers.

BEFOG gave me the G for STUNG, which could also have been STUNK at that time, plus the B for BASIS. I still needed to spot the repeated S in the latter, but as it turned out there was nothing else that fit.

CLOUT was not so bad, but SOWER… well, it's not exactly a common word, is it? I was certainly glad to get home with a guess to spare, at any rate.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #1007) - the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1007, are…

• CHARM
• STACK
• CREAM
• UNFIT

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1006, Saturday 26 October: DUCHY, CANNY, BLOCK, SMART
• Quordle #1005, Friday 25 October: PRANK, EXIST, RUDDY, PICKY
• Quordle #1004, Thursday 24 October: DAIRY, RALLY, CURLY, LABEL
• Quordle #1003, Wednesday 23 October: DROSS, ANNEX, GRAVE, BROKE
• Quordle #1002, Tuesday 22 October: ADORE, SMITH, AFOOT, LUCID
• Quordle #1001, Monday 21 October: TREAD, NINTH, GRIEF, UNSET
• Quordle #1000, Sunday 20 October: CORAL, WHOSE, HEIST, SOAPY
• Quordle #999, Saturday 19 October: GUSTY, BROKE, ENJOY, HAZEL
• Quordle #998, Friday 18 October: PUPIL, MOCHA, EGRET, NATAL
• Quordle #997, Thursday 17 October: BUILD, BIRTH, LURCH, SASSY
• Quordle #996, Wednesday 16 October: EERIE, SMIRK, HUNCH, EMBED
• Quordle #995, Tuesday 15 October: UMBRA, BRIEF, GRAVY, TORUS
• Quordle #994, Monday 14 October: ROGUE, STORY, EMCEE, AUNTY
• Quordle #993, Sunday 13 October: UNFIT, NYMPH, THUMB, PUREE
• Quordle #992, Saturday 12 October: SAUCY, UNDUE, EGRET, HELLO
• Quordle #991, Friday 11 October: RINSE, ANIME, PUSHY, ZEBRA
• Quordle #990, Thursday 10 October: UNTIL, MARSH, METAL, WINDY
• Quordle #989, Wednesday 9 October: TRIAL, HUSKY, DOWNY, TRADE
• Quordle #988, Tuesday 8 October: TROUT, HATER, BARGE, DOZEN
• Quordle #987, Monday 7 October: CAULK, HALVE, APING, HEATH

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Best of the best

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• FILE
• HIDE
• REAR
• CLASP
• PART
• PROP

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• __ of the __

NYT Strands today (game #238) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: left, 5th row

Last: right, 3rd row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #238) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #238, are…

• CLASS
• PARTY
• LITTER
• LIFE
• CREAM
• CROP
• HEAD
• PICK
• SPANGRAM: PERFECTPAIR

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Wow, this was far harder than the average Strands puzzle. And far more conceptual than many of the most recent games, which have essentially been related words about a topic you may or may not have had experience with. In contrast, this is all about language, really – all eight words are of the format __ of the __, for instance CREAM of the CROP or LIFE of the PARTY, with the first being the 'best' example of the second.

I had no idea what was going on for roughly half of the game, uncovering words at regular intervals but failing to spot any kind of connection between them – or between them and the theme clue of 'Best of the best'. It was only when I found LIFE that it started to make sense. I already had PARTY, and those two words obviously went together. When I found CREAM and then CROP in quick succession it was clear what I needed to do, and I was able to come up with the remaining words without any issues after that. But it's a challenging one, for sure.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, 26 October, game #237)

• ARIA
• BALLAD
• SHANTY
• JINGLE
• LULLABY
• SPIRITUAL
• SPANGRAM: VOCALMUSIC

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #504) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• FRESH
• PRINCE
• BEL
• AIR
• QUALITY
• BAR
• CUTE
• MERMAID
• LUX
• WISE
• TRAMP
• MOOD
• FEELING
• SMART
• MOLE
• RASCALS

NYT Connections today (game #504) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• Yellow: Giving it some attitude
• Green: Atmosphere
• Blue: Quantities
• Purple: [small] blank

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #504) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: SASSY
• GREEN: AMBIENCE
• BLUE: UNITS
• PURPLE: THE LITTLE ___

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #504) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #504, are…

• YELLOW: SASSY CUTE, FRESH, SMART, WISE
• GREEN: AMBIENCE AIR, FEELING, MOOD, QUALITY
• BLUE: UNITS BAR, BEL, LUX, MOLE
• PURPLE: THE LITTLE ___ MERMAID, PRINCE, RASCALS, TRAMP

• My rating: Moderate
• My score: 1 hint

This is a reasonably tricky Connections puzzle, and one that has nothing to do with Will Smith, despite the first four words in the grid reading FRESH PRINCE BEL AIR. Of course the first thing I do every time I play is to use the shuffle function in order to remove any NYT misdirection that might be in there. I'm not sure if it works, because seeing those four words in different places might well suggestion a connection to me – so I have to be careful to look at the board both before and after I shuffle. I take it all too seriously, yes,

Surprisingly, I solved purple first today; the blank connection there, of LITTLE (TRAMP, PRINCE, MERMAID, RASCALS) was fairly obvious, whereas the blue group of BAR, BEL, LUX and MOLE was much more difficult. Yellow and green were both pretty tricky for the supposedly easiest groups, too, so it took me a while to get all of the answers.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, 26 October, game #503)

• YELLOW: FLUSTER FAZE, RATTLE, RUFFLE, THROW
• GREEN: SERIES OF MESSAGES CHAIN, CHAT, CONVERSATION, THREAD
• BLUE: PLACES TO LIE/SIT THAT MOVE CRADLE, HAMMOCK, ROCKER, SWING
• PURPLE: CYLINDER-SHAPED THINGS CAN, ROLLER, SILO, SPOOL

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Having tested ereaders for about seven years now, it's fair to say I've tried most models from the mainstream brands – Amazon Kindle, Kobo, reMarkable, Onyx Boox and PocketBook. These companies make some of the best ereaders and writing tablets, but I am partial to a Kobo because of the user interface and the fact that I can borrow ebooks from public libraries in Sydney, Australia (where I am based). I also have a Kobo Plus subscription.

At present, my daily e-ink device is the Kobo Elipsa 2E – I prefer the writing features over the Kindle Scribe and its interface is far more streamlined than any Onyx Boox device I've tested. It also gets me a screen light that the reMarkable 2 doesn't, so I can read in bed at night or jot down an idea at 2am without turning on the lights.

However, if you were to ask me for a recommendation for an e-paper writing tablet, I'd probably suggest anything but the Elipsa 2E for one simple reason – how the Kobo Stylus 2 feels on the screen. If Kobo can fix one little hardware bit, I dare say all the writing tablets from the Japanese-Canadian brand – the Libra Colour, the Kobo Sage and the Elipsa 2E – would become my most-recommended devices.

That little hardware bit is the stylus' tip or nib.

The Kindle Scribe (left) uses a softer plastic tip for its Pen compared to a hard, conical nib on the Kobo Stylus 2 (right) (Image credit: TechRadar / Sharmishta Sarkar) Softly does it

While most brands use plastic for the styli tips, the Kobo Stylus 2 has a harder point than the ones on Amazon's Basic and Premium Pens, Onyx Boox's Pen Plus, and reMarkable's Markers. The softer plastic makes gliding over the various E Ink screens of the respective writing tablets very smooth, and this is particularly true for the 2022 Kindle Scribe (we are yet to fully test the new 2024 Kindle Scribe).

The Kobo Stylus 2, on the other hand, creates a lot more friction than any other brand I've tested. It's not quite reminiscent of a pen – fountain or ballpoint – on paper because it feels like you are actually writing on a sheet of plastic. Let me be clear, though – the overall writing experience on the Elipsa 2E, the Kobo Libra Colour, even the Sage, isn't too bad; it's just that the other brands do it better.

That said, I think the harder nib might also mean there may not be as much wear and tear compared to the softer pen tips. When I initially started using the Elipsa 2E, I found the Stylus 2 tip began to show signs of wear quite quickly (within days), but it plateaued out after that and, in the year that I've been using it, it hasn't gotten any worse.

That could be because I don't apply as much pressure on pens when writing as I've seen other people do. Take my colleague's experience as an example – Philip uses the reMarkable 2 for notes and "burns through the plastic pen nubs [sic] quicker than expected". So he turned to third-party titanium alternatives which, unfortunately, ended up being a "pen-destroying mistake". I have another friend who wore through the reMarkable's Marker Plus tip in about two months, nearly flattening it! This might sound like a reMarkable thing, but I have seen similar conditions on Kindle Scribe Pens.

The original Kobo Stylus with 2 buttons and no eraser (Image credit: TechRadar) The pen is mightier

Kobo is no stranger to redesigning its digital pen. The first iteration of the Kobo Stylus was a AAAA battery-powered pen, which meant it was a little on the heavy side. Moreover, most people would likely have a spare AA or AAA battery lying around, not necessarily a AAAA. So not only did you need to take into consideration the ongoing cost of nib replacement, but also the battery.

This older pen didn't feature an eraser on the top, but had a button on the side (or is that 'length' on a cylindrical object?) close to where the thumb would be. It also had a second button close to it for using as a highlighter.

The Kobo Stylus 2, which debuted with the Elipsa 2E in April 2023, was a significant improvement over its predecessor. Gone is the battery; instead a USB-C port helps keep it topped up, so it's both lighter and a wee bit thinner in comparison. There's an eraser at the top of the Stylus 2, so it features just one button for highlighting. I also love the touch of white on the eraser – it adds a little something to the design aesthetic I think.

If Kobo is still keen on innovations, the one change I'd really like to see is a softer nib for a potential Stylus 3 that offers a smoother writing experience. Although I hope it doesn't come at the cost of needing to replace it often.

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Spanish rivals meet, with Los Blancos on the brink of history.

Loongson is a major player in China, creating domestic chips for the past 22 years with the goal of providing affordable alternatives to Intel and AMD products. Historically, however, there has always been a noticeable performance gap between its homegrown CPUs and those from outside China.

Now, Fast Technology reports Loongson has been working hard behind the scenes to close that gap and is preparing to launch a trio of fourth-generation CPUs, collectively known as the "Three Musketeers."

Loongson’s first-generation chips included the 3A1000 and 3B1500, followed by the second-generation 3A2000 and 3A3000, and then the third-generation 3A4000, 3A5000, and 3C5000/S/D. The fourth-generation chips are the Loongson 3A6000, 3B6000M, and 3C6000.

Tock-Tock2-Tick

“Loongson follows a development principle based on independently researching core IP to improve single-core general-purpose performance. It adopts a strategy similar to Intel's former 'Tick-Tock' development approach, where 'Tick' refers to process iteration and 'Tock' to architecture and design optimization," Fast Technology's report added.

For this new generation, Loongson has adopted a "Tock-Tock2-Tick" approach, meaning “two rounds of design optimizations before a process iteration,” aiming to maximize the performance of existing mature processes, which are roughly comparable to the international 7nm level.

The Loongson 3A6000 is already available, but very little is currently known about the 3B6000M besides the fact it will integrate GPGPU graphics and computing cores. The 3C6000 server processor has reportedly returned for sample testing and is expected to ship in Q4 2024. What's particularly interesting is that Loongson has developed upgraded versions of the Three Musketeers - the 3A6600, 3B6600, and 3C6600 - as part of the second "Tock."

The 3B6600, which is scheduled for tape-out in the first half of next year, will reportedly also integrate GPGPU graphics and computing cores, like the 3B6000M.

Loongson’s fourth-generation CPUs will integrate high-speed PCIe interfaces, “allowing connections to dedicated graphics cards, network cards, RAID array cards, and more, with a weak southbridge connected via PCIe,” Fast Technology added.

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If you're looking for extra support in a much firmer mattress, then we may have just the thing for you. The Titan Plus by Brooklyn Bedding has what you're looking for and a lot more.

Fire pits bring the heat, but they are about much more than that.

After Apple’s reveal of the M4 chip earlier this year, and its significant performance improvements (which we discuss at length in our M4 iPad Pro review), all eyes are now on what the company has in store for its Mac and MacBook devices, which at the moment are still using M3 chips.

We’ve just had the biggest hint yet that M4-powered Macs are about to drop thanks to Apple's VP of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak, who teased on X that an upcoming ‘week of announcements’ is set to kick off on Monday, October 28. Along with recent rumors surrounding production of the M4 MacBook Air, it looks like it could be a very exciting week for Apple fans - so here’s what we expect to see.

M4 MacBook Pro

(Image credit: Romancev768)

With Apple’s M4 Pro and Max chips yet to be unveiled, this upcoming showcase could be the ideal opportunity to show off the powerful M4 variants, especially as the M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models will almost certainly be revealed, with Apple hopefully highlighting the major performance leap from the previous M3 Pro and Max chips.

Russian YouTuber Wylascom supposedly leaked a new model of the MacBook Pro that comes with the standard M4 chip, which if legitimate, means the base configuration of the laptop will utilize a 10-core CPU and GPU just like the M4 iPad Pro, as opposed to the M3’s 8-core CPU, potentially indicating a new focus on Apple Intelligence (the company’s fledgling attempt at artificial intelligence) - though Wylascom’s info should of course be taken with a grain of salt.

The one change over last year’s M3 version we do hope to see is that the base model of any new MacBook Pro comes with at least 16GB of unified memory rather than 8GB - this will be highly beneficial for gaming, which is becoming a prominent new focus for Mac devices with recent releases like the Resident Evil 4 remake. Of course, any laptop that’s marketed at content creators and professionals in 2024 really shouldn’t be coming with just 8GB of memory.

M4 Mac mini

Expected alongside the M4 MacBook Pro reveal is a redesigned M4 Mac mini, with Apple’s plans to make it the smallest computer it has made - at least, as reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (who has a strong reputation as a reliable leaker of all-things Apple). Its size is expected to be similar to the Apple TV, which should prove to be highly beneficial for those looking for sleek desktop setups.

Fortunately, its unified memory will reportedly be starting at 16GB, and maxing out at 32GB. As we mentioned earlier, 8GB of RAM for Windows PCs and Macs has been criticized as underpowered for a long while, and it will be great to see Apple finally step away from this trend for its M4-powered devices.

M4 iMac

(Image credit: Apple)

Gurman’s reporting (amongst other leaks) has suggested that we’ll also be getting an updated iMac as part of next week’s slate of reveals. Besides the M4 chip itself, there isn’t much we can tell you about the upcoming iMac - although the good news is that Apple is also reportedly ready to unveil its new Magic accessories, which will include a new Magic Mouse.

With the M4 iMac, we would love to see 16GB of unified memory as standard here as well - the M3 model was configurable up to 16GB or 32GB, but the base model only had 8GB, and we really hope that Apple doesn’t repeat this.

Beyond 2024 - M4 MacBook Air

As we mentioned earlier, the M4 MacBook Air is almost definitely still coming - in fact, it’s rumored to be the top priority for Apple’s 2025 release schedule. This makes sense considering the recent poor sales of Mac products, and how popular the MacBook Air is - Apple will likely be keen to announce a new and improved version of its biggest laptop seller as soon as possible (without annoying anyone who has recently bought the M3 model).

As reported by Mark Gurman, the M4 MacBook Air will reportedly remain the same in terms of its design, with the M4 chip being the only major alteration.

This is good news for anyone looking forward to buying a MacBook Air. The difference between 8GB and 16GB unified memory models was very significant on the M3 model, so expect the same to apply to the incoming M4 MacBook Air.

M4 Mac Studio

(Image credit: Future)

Finally, since Apple’s focus is supposedly zeroed in on M4 MacBook Air production for early 2025, the somewhat unloved chunky boy that is the Mac Studio is expected to arrive with M4 at a later date (again, according to Gurman’s sources). The Mac Studio is essentially a powerful mini PC that looks like a bulkier Mac mini, but aimed at creative professionals. It was claimed to be in simultaneous production alongside the MacBook Air, but this has apparently changed - the current expectation is between March and June, so not too long after the MacBook Air.

Do you have a particular Mac product you’re looking forward to? Be sure to let us know on social media - for Apple, the new MacBook Pro is doubtless the main event planned for this incoming ‘week of announcements’, but to be honest we’re more interested in a reimagined Mac mini if it’s truly set to be the smallest computer from Apple.

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• Work on Android in beta form continues
• Android 16 could feature a new notifications trick
• For now it's called Rich Ongoing Notifications

With Android 15 now rolling out to Pixel phones, we can start turning our attention to what's coming with Android 16 – and some digging into the latest beta code for the operating system has revealed a Dynamic Island-style notification system.

This comes from Mishaal Rahman over at Android Authority, and the feature is called Rich Ongoing Notifications. That gives you some idea of what's involved: persistent notifications that show up in the status bar at the top of the screen.

On newer iPhone models, there's a Dynamic Island notification bar that expands to show information such as sports scores, media that's being played, or an arrival time for a cab pickup. It appears Rich Ongoing Notifications will offer something similar.

Evidence of the tweak to notifications has been found in the Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 release, though as usual with betas, there's no guarantee that the feature will make it into a final release or be released in its current form.

Phone chips

How Rich Ongoing Notifications could look (Image credit: Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority)

Here's how it works: apps will be able to put a notification alert or 'chip' in the status bar, with custom text and a custom background color. That chip could then show live information – about a flight arrival time, for example.

For now, the Rich Ongoing Notifications feature hasn't been enabled, though Rahman was able to get it working and create a few mockups showing how the chips would look in action (you can see one of them embedded above).

While this definitely has Dynamic Island vibes about it, the Android Authority report does not that these chips have been around since Android 12, though they've been limited to call handling up to this point.

Expanding the feature to apps and notifications of any kind would mean more flexibility for both developers and users when it comes to getting important information on screen. It's something to keep an eye on during 2025, ahead of the Android 16 launch.

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