Technology

Act fast to grab this speedy Eero mesh router with a massive 25% off.

Are you sure you're pronouncing these 12 tech terms right? GIF or JIF, let's fight it out!

Whether you're in an 'oops-forgot-to-charge-my-phone' situation or charging overnight, your iPhone charger needs to be fast. Here are the best USB-C chargers for your iPhone.

If the leaks to date are to be believed, the iPhone 16 Plus will be replaced by the iPhone 17 Air, and the latest rumor coming out of Apple's supply chain is that the 2025 flagship phone will have an upgraded display attached.

According to the usually well-informed DigiTimes (via 9to5Mac), Taiwanese display manufacturer Novatek could start mass production of its next-gen OLED screens during the second quarter of 2025 (April, May, and June).

These OLED screens are said to come with TDDI (Touch and Display Driver Integration) technology built in, which means the same chip handles both output and touch input – which then means thinner and more efficient screens.

And the first customer for these thinner, more efficient screens? Apple, quite possibly, according to DigiTimes. The link is described as "speculation" at this point, but the timings would match – and so would the introduction of a slimmer iPhone model.

The iPhone 17 story so far

The iPhone 16 (Image credit: Future)

Besides the possibility of a thinner and lighter iPhone 17 Air (or Slim), we don't know too much about the handsets coming next year. It's still early days of course: our iPhone 16 review hasn't been up for long, after the series was unveiled last month.

We have heard that the iPhone 17 could arrive with another new button – or rather, that the Action button and the volume buttons could be combined into one, at least on the Pro and Pro Max versions of next year's handsets.

As for the two non-Pro models, they will apparently get screen upgrades that enable an always-on display option, as well as a variable refresh rate for smoother animations and transitions (on top of the other display upgrade covered above).

It could be the iPhone 17 Pro Max that gets the most updates, however: we've heard that it's going to come with more RAM, enhanced on-device AI capabilities, and an upgraded cooling system to further boost performance.

You might also like

• Check out these rumored iPhone 17 specs
• 5 potential reasons to wait for the iPhone 17
• Read our full Apple iPhone 16 Plus review

We tested some of the most popular automatic dry and wet food pet feeders to see which ones are worth the money.

Brazilian superstar's light heavyweight title is on the line in Salt Lake City.

You can restore any text you accidentally deleted on your iPhone, but you'll have to act quickly.

From light to cameras, you really can have a smart home for under $100

It wasn’t long ago that I was sitting in the TechRadar office, talking the ear off of one of my colleagues about how book-style foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold didn’t quite make sense to me. 

I just couldn’t see the utility in a square, mid-sized display running a smartphone operating system – I had been an iPad user for almost a decade, and spending nearly half my life using large tablets had me convinced that nothing could best them for media consumption, reading, and light multitasking. News of the upcoming Huawei Mate XT – the world’s first tri-fold smartphone that expands to a 10-inch tablet – stoked this suspicion even further. But even as I saw my vision of the future unfold, my curiosity for conventional folding phones simmered. 

The thing is, I hadn’t actually used a foldable for any more than fifteen minutes at a time, usually while passing through a busy Samsung store. I’d never really entertained the idea of walking out with a Z Fold of my own thanks to the starting price of $1,899 / £1,799 / AU$2,749, but was always impressed by the construction, design, and possibilities. Maybe – just maybe – my cynicism had emerged from unresolved curiosity.

When given the chance to test out a folding phone long-term, I felt this curiosity reignite. My first hour with the OnePlus Open was spent in a tech-fueled trance as I opened, then shut, then opened it again, completely enraptured by the engineering on display (both literally and figuratively). A few weeks later, and I’m happy to report that I was wrong to doubt folding phones – these things absolutely rock.

More screen, less problems 

If you can't see the crease, is it really there? (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)

The central conceit of the OnePlus Open can be described in two words: big screen. Placing two phones next to each other – as Samsung suggests with its Try Galaxy feature – gives some semblance of the Open’s 7.82-inch inner screen, but using one quickly reveals it to be more than just the sum of its parts. 

Embedded videos in articles and other web pages become actually watchable when the device is unfolded, rather than something to note for later or just scroll past. The form factor makes multitasking realistic, with two apps side-by-side and a third in a floating window. You still won’t be doing complex work on a device like this, but cross-referencing web pages or watching a video in the background feels much more practical than gimmicky.

My first hour with the OnePlus Open was spent in a tech-fueled trance

The inner screen on the OnePlus Open turns the smartphone into a bonafide option for media consumption, rather than a compromise. When passing through the airport on a recent trip away, I could unfold the phone to watch The Penguin at each point of stoppage before simply snapping it shut and into my pocket when things started moving again – I’d never have bothered with the smaller screen of a slab phone or unwieldy size of my 11-inch iPad Pro. The mini-tablet size means more room for decent speakers, too – the Open is rivalled only by the larger iPhones for the best smartphone speakers I’ve ever heard.

The OnePlus Open at full screen (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)

A larger screen means it’s easier to experience this stuff with friends, too. Injecting a smartphone into conversation can be a risk due to the awkwardness of asking someone to squint at a small screen – the Open makes showing a friend a photo or video clip much more enjoyable for all involved, doubly so when trying to share something across a table or across the room. The screen is just large enough to be inviting, and its hinge is a better conversation starter than any app or meme could possibly hope to be. Seeing people experience the fold for the first time still hasn’t gotten old.

I think there’s also something to be said for the level of intent implied by passing someone a device they need to hold with both hands. In fact, I’ve found myself inspired by the Open to think about the way I use my phone. The cover screen remains useful for checking messages, quick Google searches, and taking photos, but even knowing the inner screen is waiting behind a half-second of effort makes me consider whether what I’m doing is worth throwing onto the big screen, and if not, whether I should put down the phone and get back to the real world.

A couple of compromises 

The OnePlus Open (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)

There are, of course, some tradeoffs to using a folding phone. It’s generally accepted that battery life takes a hit, which is understandable if you’re driving the large inner screen more often than not. I found myself needing to charge midway through the day a few times with the OnePlus Open, but could make it through to the late evening most of the time. Additionally, phone makers tend to equip folding phones with objectively worse camera specs than their slab flagship counterparts. For what it’s worth, I found the Open’s camera setup to be very impressive, but photographers may be tempted by the snazzier specs and nimbler ergonomics of a traditional slab phone (see the Galaxy S24 Ultra or iPhone 16 Pro Max). 

I’ve found myself inspired by the Open to think about the way I use my phone

There are also a couple of issues that come with the territory of being foldable. I found a few apps – especially older games like Professor Layton or Plague Inc. – did not respond well to my folding or unfolding of the phone while they were running, and I even experienced some crashes on Instagram when using the Open unfolded. It’s up to app developers to optimize their apps for the foldable platform, but there’s little incentive for them to do so while foldable devices remain a very small niche. And even as someone with large hands, the Open is undeniably large and heavy – I sometimes felt it weighing on my wrist while using it one-handed, and the unique geometry isn’t always the most comfortable to hold. 

Still, though, these feel like small prices to pay for access to a unique, adaptable, and gorgeous device. What surprised me about the OnePlus Open – and what I think probably sets it apart from some of its contemporaries – is just how good it is at being a regular phone. The 6.31-inch cover screen is not much narrower than my trusty old Huawei Mate 20 Pro and certainly feels a lot wider than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6’s strip of a cover display. The Open’s front screen is a bright, high-resolution, high refresh rate panel and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset gives the Open reliably fast performance. 

Do you need a foldable? 

The OnePlus Open next to an iPhone 15 Pro Max (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)

The foldable experience is not one that’s built on necessity. There’s no real need to have Instagram take up six horizontal inches of screen space, to read articles with two hands, to see such a broad smorgasbord of apps in the app drawer – but it is nice.

Arguably, when it comes to modern ultra-premium smartphones, we’re past the point of thinking about necessity anyway. Are most users actually finding the bottlenecks in the iPhone 16 Pro’s A18 Pro chipset? Do shutterbugs reach for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 100x zoom as often as they do the 1x wide lens? Is anyone so impatient as to need the Realme GT5 240W's eponymous charging speed? So much of the joy that comes with improving phone hardware is in how much it improves the small stuff, the things we’ve been doing for years and will do for years to come, and having a mini-tablet display available at a literal flick of the wrist* improves day-to-day web browsing, social media, video, and music much more than I ever expected (*don’t actually open it like this).  

You might also like

• iPhone 17: latest news and rumors for every expected model
• Forget the Galaxy Z Fold 6 – Samsung’s first rollable phone could land next year
• The iPhone 17 Pro could have yet another new button – this time in place of the Action and volume keys

In this early Amazon Prime Day deal, you can save a massive $170 on one of our favorite cordless stick vacuums.

The Toffees look to build on last week's win as they host the Magpies.

Perfctl malware is hard to detect, persists after reboots, and can perform a breadth of malicious activities.

Generative AI famously consumes large amounts of energy due to the extensive computational power required for training models and processing tasks, and this is raising concerns about its contribution to environmental issues such as increased carbon emissions and resource depletion.

Sasha Luccioni, a prominent Canadian computer scientist and AI researcher known for her work on the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, recently discussed the topic at the ALL IN artificial intelligence conference in Montreal.

"I find it particularly disappointing that generative AI is used to search the Internet," Luccioni told AFP on the sidelines of the conference, lamenting the energy costs of using AI for tasks that traditional search engines could perform.

(Image credit: Future) Thoughtful, efficient use of AI

Unlike basic search engines that retrieve existing information, AI models generate new content, requiring significant computing power to train on billions of data points and respond to user requests. Google's AI Overview feature, for example, offers AI-generated snapshots that summarize key points from multiple sources in response to complex queries.

"We are accelerating the climate crisis," Luccioni warned, calling for more transparency from tech companies and urging governments to legislate more effectively once such transparency is achieved.

Recognized by Time in 2024 as one of the 100 most influential figures in AI, Luccioni helped create a tool called "CodeCarbon" in 2020, which enables developers to measure the carbon footprint of their code. This tool has been downloaded over a million times. She is now working on a certification system to label AI models based on their energy efficiency. Comparing the system to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s energy consumption ratings for appliances, she explained: "For a specific task, we can measure energy efficiency and say that this model has an A+, and that model has a D."

While she might be perceived as anti-AI by some, Luccioni is keen to stress that her goal is to promote "energy sobriety" by encouraging users to make thoughtful, efficient use of AI technologies.

More from TechRadar Pro

• AI is already better at analyzing financial reports than humans
• AI hype is at an all time high, but only a few of us actually use it daily
• Why controlled experimentation is a key step in an AI roll-out

Keep your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods topped up with these WIRED-tested docking systems.

The Rings of Power season 3: key information

- Hasn't been officially announced yet
- Showrunners are "working on it", though
- No release date set
- No trailers or other footage revealed
- Many of its primary actors expected to return
- No new cast members unveiled
- Plot details are thin on the ground, but J.R.R. Tolkien's literary works hold some clues about its direction
- Five-season plan expected to be seen through to completion

The Rings of Power season 3 feels like an inevitability at this point. Regardless of whether you like or loathe it, Amazon's Lord of the Rings (LotR) prequel series is one of its biggest TV Original hits so, in our view, a third installment is all but confirmed – especially as work is ongoing on the high fantasy show's next chapter.

Before The Rings of Power is officially renewed for another season, then, you'll want to get up to speed on everything we know about it so far. In this guide, we've rounded up the latest intel on the Prime Video show's third season, including its probable cast, likely story threads, when we think it'll air on the streaming platform, and more.

Full spoilers follow for The Rings of Power season 2. You have been warned.

The Rings of Power season 3 release date prediction

Smiling through the pain of waiting for a season 3 renewal... (Image credit: Prime Video)

The Rings of Power season 3 hasn't been greenlit by Amazon Studios, but it's in active development. In late August, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay told TechRadar they were "working on it" alongside their fellow writers, which means script work is currently ongoing.

Updates have been few and far between since we spoke to the show's co-creators. However, in September, director and executive producer Charlotte Brändström told RadioTimes.com that "there'll be good news soon", which suggests an announcement could be made shortly.

If it's renewed for a third outing, we predict season 3 will debut on Prime Video sometime in mid to late 2026. The Rings of Power season 1 was released on September 2, 2022, while its follow-up launched on August 29, 2024. If filming begins as soon as the forthcoming chapter is announced, we'd expect those in charge of development to maintain its two-year schedule, meaning it should air in August or September 2026.

The Rings of Power trailer: is there one?

Sorry, Galadriel, there won't be a season 3 trailer for a long time (Image credit: Prime Video)

No, and there won't be one until much closer to The Rings of Power season 3's release date, either. We'll update this section once a trailer is available – but, sit tight, because it's going to be a while.

The Rings of Power season 3 cast speculation

Gil-galad and Elrond will return for season 3 (Image credit: Ben Rothstein/Prime Video)

Full spoilers follow for The Rings of Power season 2.

Based on how season 2 ended, here's who we expect to see again in The Rings of Power season 3:

• Charlie Vickers as Sauron
• Morfydd Clark as Galadriel
• Robert Aramayo as Elrond
• Benjamin Walker as Gil-galad
• Ismael Cruz Cordova as Arondir
• Owain Arthur as Durin IV
• Sophia Nomvete as Disa
• Kevin Eldon as Narvi
• Lloyd Own as Elendil
• Maxim Baldry as Isildur
• Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Míriel
• Ema Horvath as Eärien
• Trystan Gravelle as Pharazôn
• Leon Wadham as Kemen
• Tyroe Muhafidin as Theo
• Daniel Weyman as Gandalf
• Rory Kinnear as Tom Bombadil
• Ciaran Hinds as The Dark Wizard
• Markella Kavenagh as Nori
• Megan Richards as Poppy

There are a number of big-name characters who won't return next season. Charles Edwards' Celebrimbor will be the most notable absence, with Eregion's leader and the master smith dying in the season 2 finale. Unless Celebrimbor returns in a flashback sequence, as one of Sauron's disguises (the Dark Lord masqueraded as Celebrimbor during his season 2 showdown with Galadriel), or – as depicted in Tolkien's wider works – his corpse is paraded on a banner as part of Sauron's army in season 3, Edwards won't reprise this role.

Peter Mullan's King Durin III won't be back, either, after Khazad-dûm's former monarch perished in an unwinnable duel with the Balrog known as Durin's Bane. Sam Hazeldine's Adar, Robert Strange's Glûg, and Amelia Kenworth's Mirdania are also on the deceased pile. Adar was murdered by Glûg and a band of orcs after Sauron used his dark magic to turn them against their Lord Father. Meanwhile, Glûg was slain by a furious and impulsive Sauron – in the final throes of the Siege of Eregion – when a legion of Khazad-dûm's dwarven soldiers arrived in the elven city to aid the fleeing elves' escape. Lastly, Mirdania was fatally injured after she was thrown from Eregion's walls by Sauron (although it was made to look like Celebrimbor did it) in season 2 episode 7. She was beheaded by an orc moments later.

We'd be surprised if Míriel and Elendil don't return next season (Image credit: Prime Video)

As for potential newcomers, The Rings of Power season 3 should introduce new characters – those already established in LotR and original creations alike – to bolster the show's already extensive cast ranks. New faces could include Prince Durin's brother, who's set to vie with his sibling for Khazad-dûm's throne, and the nine kings of mortal men – Rhûn's Khamûl the Easterling among them – who'll surely be gifted one of the final nine Rings of Power by Sauron next time around.

Celeborn, Galadriel's presumed dead husband who's been conspicuous by his absence in the show so far, is another option. Celeborn not only plays an integral role in the elves' war to come with Sauron (more on this shortly) but also establishes the realm of Lothlórien with Galadriel in Middle-earth's Third Age, so he seems like a safe bet to appear. We'll update this section once any new characters (and the actors playing them) are announced.

The Rings of Power season 3 story rumors

What lies in store for Gandalf in season 3? (Image credit: Prime Video)

Major spoilers follow for The Rings of Power season 2, plus J.R.R. Tolkien's various literary works.

The Rings of Power season 3's story synopsis hasn't been revealed yet. However, based on what happened in its forebear's final episode – read our The Rings of Power season 2 ending explained piece for more details – and LotR's source material, we can predict what's to come.

Let's start with Sauron. Now he has Fëanor's hammer and is experienced in the art of metallurgy, Morgoth's successor is primed to forge his own ring – the legendary One Ring – next season. It's one of three big wishes that Sauron star Charlie Vickers has for season 3, too; the Australian actor telling TechRadar he sees the One Ring's creation as the "next piece of the puzzle" for Middle-earth's Big Bad.

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Sauron is also set to hand out the nine rings for mortal men, too, after finally acquiring the nonuplet in season 2 episode 8, titled 'Shadow and Flame'. These rings are the ones he's imbued with the greatest amount of dark magic – remember, his literal blood was secretly poured into them – so he'll be able to corrupt and control Middle-earth's human kings more efficiently than the elves (he didn't help to make that trio) and the dwarves (he had a hand in those rings' creation, but their corrupting influence isn't as strong as he'd hoped).

It's unclear who'll receive the nine rings in The Rings of Power. In LotR's canon, Khamûl the Easterling is the only named individual who's gifted one, so Amazon's prequel has creative freedom to distribute them to whomever they want. He's not a king, but our money is on one of them going to season 2's slimiest character in Kemen, i.e. Pharazôn's son.

The elves are going to waaaaarrr! (Image credit: Prime Video)

Sauron won't have everything going his way in The Rings of Power season 3, though. After regrouping at what appears to be the location Rivendell will eventually be built upon, Gil-galad, Galadriel, Elrond, and Arondir rally Eregion and Lindon's remaining forces to halt Sauron's victory procession across Eriador. This marks the official start of The War of the Elves and Sauron, a centuries-long conflict where both sides trade telling blows and devastating losses as they vie for peace and world domination respectively.

Read more of our Rings of Power season 2 finale exclusives

- 'I'm still pretty shocked': The Rings of Power's Daniel Weyman hasn't come to terms with who he's really playing after The Stranger's 'exciting' name reveal
- 'There's an order of events to come': The Rings of Power's Cynthia Addai-Robinson teases 'exciting' but 'tragic' season 3 arc for Míriel
- 'I have no idea': The Rings of Power's Daniel Weyman doesn't know if The Stranger will meet Sauron in season 3, but he's open to it

As mentioned, this war is a protracted one, so we suspect one of the best Prime Video shows' writing team will considerably shorten the length of this conflict to ensure storylines involving its mortal characters – those being humans and dwarves – can still run concurrent to events playing out between the immortal elves and seemingly unkillable Sauron.

Speaking of the dwarves, two major plot threads were left dangling after the season 2 finale. The first involves finding a permanent successor to King Durin III and, while the smart money was on Prince Durin IV becoming Khazad-dûm's new monarch, his brother – Durin IV doesn't have a sibling in Tolkien's works – is also eyeing the subterranean kingdom's royal seat.

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone... (Image credit: Prime Video)

Durin IV, though, has an ace up his sleeve in the dwarven rings. He previously promised his wife, Princess Disa, that he'd never use or wear them but, with his brother garnering support from numerous dwarf lords, Durin and Disa may need to revisit that pact to sway some of his brother's supporters to their cause. Whether that means using the rings themselves or gifting them to the other lords, is currently unclear.

Aside from the familial melodrama, there's also the ever-looming danger of Durin's Bane. It's likely that, following King Durin III's sacrifice, it'll be trapped for the rest of the show. But, as we've said before, The Rings of Power has taken creative liberties with Tolkien's works, so it could rear its ugly head in future seasons.

Nori and Gandalf parted ways in season 2's final episode (Image credit: Prime Video)

Over in Rhûn and Middle-earth's eastern regions, Nori and Gandalf have gone their separate ways. After finding his staff, learning his real name, and reuniting with Tom Bombadil, the latter is ready to master his abilities ahead of his forthcoming showdowns with The Dark Wizard and Sauron. Meanwhile, Nori has headed off for pastures new with Poppy and the Stoor community. We're not sure whether we'll see Nori, Poppy, and the Stoors (not to mention the Harfoots) again, but a reunion between Nori and Gandalf hasn't been ruled out by their actors. It's possible their storyline has been split in two and we'll follow both characters on their individual paths next season.

Moving back west, there'll be plenty of familial and civil war-based drama to come in the realms of men. Indeed, Númenor and Pelargir are set to be the stages upon which more political infighting, not to mention actual battles, will play out.

Watch your back, Kemen (Image credit: Prime Video)

Where Númenor is concerned, Elendil – with the legendary sword Narsil in hand – has fled Armenelos to rally The Faithful, i.e. those still loyal to the elves and the Valar (Middle-earth's angels, essentially), who haven't been imprisoned by the false king Pharazôn. One of those captives is Queen Regent Míriel, who's been accused of being in league with Sauron. However, we don't know yet if, as in the source material, she'll be forced to marry Pharazôn as a Hail Mary move to preserve the peace between The Faithful and The King's Men (those loyal to Pharazôn), or if things will play out differently. Oh, and let's not forget that Isildur is finally on his way back to Númenor. We wonder what he'll make of everything that's happened on the island since he was last there...

Meanwhile, Kemen and a legion of Númenórean soldiers have taken control of Pelargir and are now overseeing the production of a vast fleet of ships for his father. We won't spoil why they're being built, but let's just say it ties into Númenor's eventual downfall. Anyway, based on how this storyline ended in season 2, we don't think it'll be long before Theo, Estrid, and the rest of the Southlands' refugees – maybe with a little help from the Ents they ran into last season, too? – revolt against their newly installed superiors in The Rings of Power season 3.

Is The Rings of Power season 3 going to be the last one?

Will we see Míriel and company return in future seasons of the hit Prime Video series? (Image credit: Prime Video)

Before The Rings of Power's first season aired, Payne and McKay told Time magazine they had a five-season plan for their Lord of the Rings TV adaptation. However, discussing season 2 with TechRadar in late August, they kept referring to the show as a "multi-season" project. 

Does this slight change in terminology mean that five-season blueprint has been revised down to four? With season 2 getting off to an inauspicious start – per Deadline, its three-episode premiere suffered a 50% drop in viewership compared to its forebear – there were some fears that Amazon may renege on Payne and McKay's original master plan.

However, it appears that the five-season outline hasn't been altered, with a Prime Video spokesperson telling The Hollywood Reporter that Amazon "remains committed" to it. With one billion minutes (around 16.7 million hours) streamed in the US, according to streaming experts Nielsen, in its first week on Prime Video, plus 55 million viewers globally in its first month on the platform (per Variety), it seems Amazon's LotR prequel is still popular enough to warrant more entries. Don't expect The Rings of Power season 3 to be the end of the series, then.

For more Prime Video TV show-related coverage, read our guides on Fallout season 2, The Boys season 5, and Invincible season 3.

The Foxes go in search of their first win of the season as they host the Cherries.

This limited-time deal lets you walk away with the 2024 model for only $60.

Sony’s discreet new surround sound system offers incredible immersion for an incredible fee.

The Bees look to protect their unbeaten home record against Gary O'Neil's rock-bottom Old Gold.

Defending champs look to get back to winning ways as they host the Cottagers.