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• Focal Utopia Main 112 and 212 studio monitors have landed
• UM 112 is a three-way monitor; UM 212 is a 3.5-way design
• This is a high-end audio brand, and Utopia Main's pricing reflects that

French audio specialist Focal needs no introduction from me (but see the phenomenal Diva Utopia or Aria Evo X floorstanding speakers if you'd like a refresher), and now the celebrated hi-fi brand is introducing something a little different. It's something the company is proudly calling Utopia Main, and it's a new range of studio monitors pitched specifically at engineers, musicians, producers, and other audio professionals – as long as they've got fairly deep pockets…

Focal tells me that each component in the two models (one a three-way pair; the other a 3.5-way option) has been carefully crafted for these models alone, and when Focal directs you to new technology such as an "M-shaped membrane" on the all-new 5-inch midrange unit, plus a "W-membrane Beryllium tweeter", it's worth taking note – this company has produced some of the finest-sounding audio equipment we've ever heard. (Have I ever told you about the Focal Celestee or Focal Bathys? I suppose I have now.)

The company also tells me that many elements within its Utopia range have been in development since 2017 and that Utopia Main marks "the most significant milestone" for Focal’s pro division since its inception.

Looking for Utopia, in the Main

The UM 112 above are the slightly less-expensive of the two models (Image credit: Focal )

Shall we dig just a little deeper into Focal's technical wizardry? I won't try to simplify the workings in the Utopia Main press release, which state: "Force submitted to a membrane is determined by the equation F=B*l*i, where B is the magnetic field within the voice coil, l the length of the coil and i the current". But I can tell you that for the first time ever, Focal's Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) technology has been integrated to the high-frequency driver. According to Focal, this halved the Total Harmonic Distortion – aka those pesky unwanted intonations in an audio signal – at 3kHz, a high-treble frequency.

As well as this, the voice coil diameter was increased to 25mm, for better heat dissipation. Then, there are the patented amplifiers of the three-way UM 112 and 3.5-way UM 212. These use a combination of lesser-seen Class H amplification (which typically modulates the supply voltage to the output devices, so that it's never higher than necessary to support the signal) with a current-mode amplification. Focal says that by controlling the current in the amplification stage (instead of the voltage), engineers have been able to directly control the force submitted to the membrane, and all-but-eliminate any additional unwanted audio articles and nasties.

I'll tell you one thing: I've heard the large, floor-standing Diva Utopia, and although they're too high-end for our dedicated buying guide, they're still some of the best stereo speakers money can buy. If the Utopia Main range can perform anywhere near as commandingly and insightfully in a smaller, studio-friendly package, they'd get my vote for reference recording.

Pricing? Of course, but get ready: Focal UM 112 is priced at $30,000 / £22,000 (so around AU$43,000), while the Focal UM 212 will set you back a cool $50,000 / £38,000 (or nearer AU$75,000). Two for the wish-list, then…

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• New Satechi hub simplifies storage and ports for Apple Mac Mini
• Offers to preserve wireless strength while cooling Mac Mini
• Users can enjoy high-speed storage with budget-friendly expandable solutions

Satechi has unveiled its latest innovation for Apple fans: the Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure, designed exclusively for the 2024 Mac Mini.

This new Stand & Hub supports up to 4TB of M.2 NVMe SSD storage as well as multiple SSD sizes, including M.2 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 while offering 10Gbps transfer speeds to ensure quick access to files and media.

This Stand & Hub is a cheaper option for storage upgrades compared to Apple’s built-in upgrades, and while the speeds may not rival Apple’s onboard SSDs, they should be more than sufficient for everyday use, making this a decent alternative for those on a budget.

Designed for the 2024 Mac Mini

The new Satechi Mac Mini M4 comes with an aluminium design that mirrors Apple’s design, but is also smaller than its predecessor, rendering older stands incompatible.

Modern Apple devices, including the Mac Mini M4, often omit older ports, leaving users reliant on adapters - the Satechi hub addresses this by reintroducing three USB-A ports, positioned on the front for ease of access.

Its front-facing ports make it easier to connect frequently used peripherals without reaching around the back of the device. The aluminium casing is paired with heat-dissipating vents which keep the device cool while preserving wireless signal strength, a critical factor for modern connectivity needs. It also incorporates a patented technology to ensure optimal airflow and heat dissipation.

Upgrading to 4TB using Apple’s internal storage upgrades could cost over $1200. Satechi’s hub provides a more affordable alternative, allowing users to purchase and install their own SSDs.

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• Silo Season 3 is going to be a lot less dark than season 2
• In the meantime, "crank the brightness up" on your TV
• Season 3 will include more locations and even sunshine

If – like us – you've just binged the second season of Silo, one of the very best Apple TV Plus shows, you'll be very familiar with its big problem: the darkness.

I don't mean darkness in the sense of bleakness or horror, although Silo season 2 did serve up some of that. I mean literal darkness, the darkness that made watching the second season feel for long periods like Apple had forgotten to pay the lighting crew and decided to go ahead and film entire episodes with nothing more than a candle and the torch app on an old iPhone.

The good news? The darkness is going away for season 3 – and we presume for future seasons that have been confirmed to be coming. Or at least, some of the locations aren't going to be in down deep in the dark.

Bringing Silo into the light

The news comes via TV Line, who spoke to Silo showrunner Graham Yost and presumably said, "hey Graham, how about making a season we can actually see this time, huh?" Because Yost has shared the welcome news that the lighting will be much brighter in the third season of Silo.

That's not to say he's sorry about making a show so dark my brother ended up upgrading to one of the best TVs to watch it. According to Yost, "it's just the way it plays" when you're making a season set largely underground in locations that are written as having limited or no power. "When we showed the first episode on a big screen in London, it looked fantastic, because motion picture screens are very bright. So I just encourage everyone to crank up the brightness [on your TV], and you’ll see a difference."

So what's changing for season 3? In a word, locations. The next season will also go into much more detail about the origins of the silos and the events that made them necessary. "We will be outdoors, and we will be in the world, and there will be sunshine." Sunshine! But don't expect to turn down the brightness too often, because Yost also confirms that – very mild spoiler ahead – we'll also be returning to Silo 17.

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At CES 2025, Samsung unveiled its next flagship OLED TV, the Samsung S95F. While the fanciest feature may be the highly impressive OLED Glare Free 2.0 reflection-reduction coating, there were two other elements that Samsung shouted about: a new 83-inch size option (along with the 55-inch, 65-inch and 77-inch sizes already available); and the promise of dazzling brightness at up to 4,000 nits.

Given that in our testing of the best OLED TVs, we have yet to measure one that makes it past 2,000 nits of brightness, I had to know more about this, and I spoke to Samsung about exactly what to expect.

One reason I wasn't sure about it was that the new 83-inch model doesn't use the same Samsung QD-OLED screen technology as the other sizes; instead, it uses a W-OLED panel, made by LG Display. Samsung didn't confirm this, but given the brightness claims, it must be the latest-generation 'four-stack' OLED panel from LG.

Samsung says that every size of S95F will have the same level of performance, including the promise of hitting 4,000 nits of peak HDR brightness. However, Samsung specified that this claim is definitely an extreme one – something the panel is capable of doing in real life, but it's unlikely to happen much. The company told me this can be hit in a 3% HDR window for a few seconds, and will presumably require a particular image mode to achieve.

The more useful real-world measurement, and no less impressive in that context, is that Samsung says all models will be able to hit 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness in a 10% window, and this can be sustained.

(Image credit: Future)

That is still higher than we've measured from any OLED TV to date, and really brings OLED TVs into line with the best mini-LED TVs for peak brightness (at least, the mainstream ones – not the likes of the Hisense 110UX and its claims of up to 10,000 nits).

Fullscreen brightness for this year's OLED TVs seems to be improved as well – there's talk of the S95F jumping to just under 400 nits, from about 320 nits for the S95D. The LG G5 flagship OLED promises a 40% jump in fullscreen brightness, which would put it at about 350 nits.

However, those figures are still much lower than higher-end mini-LED TVs, which can hit 500-600 nits of fullscreen brightness, which is why we rate them as the best TVs for sport, where brightness across the whole screen is important, in order to make everything bright and vibrant at once, and to beat reflections (although that's what Samsung's Glare Free coating is supposed to help with).

Time to drop the old concerns?

In the past, when Samsung has mixed QD-OLED and W-OLED panels at different screen sizes, it's given us a big headache. Take the Samsung S90C OLED TV, which we rated at the best TV overall for a long time… at least, at most sizes. Just like the Samsung S95F, that set came in 55-inch, 65-inch, 77-inch and 83-inch sizes – and the three smaller sizes were made with a Samsung QD-OLED screen, while the 83-inch size was an LG W-OLED panel.

The problem was that, at the time, the mid-range QD-OLED screens were far brighter than LG's mid-range W-OLED screens, so we basically just had to say that we didn't recommend the 83-inch size, because we felt that the 83-inch LG C3 was better value given that it used the same panel.

So in the past, every time I heard that Samsung was using different panel types at different sizes for one of its OLEDs, I got an instant migraine. We knew the performance of these panels, and we knew they couldn't be equivalent.

But Samsung says that's not the case in the S95F. I was told very confidently that the promise of 4,000 nits of extreme peak brightness and 2,000 nits of sustained peak brightness will apply to the 83-inch W-OLED size as well as the QD-OLED size.

Obviously, we're aiming to measure and confirm this ourselves – I can only hope we're about to get our hands on it sooner rather than later, because the S95F is absolutely one of the most exciting TVs of 2025.

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• Four models with up to 8 drivers
• Launching 21 January 2025
• $599 to $1,699 (about £499 / AU$965 to £1,399 / AU$2,739)

There's a new name in the high-end earbuds market: Dark Matter Audio Labs, or DMA Labs for short. And if its first four in-ear monitors sound as good as they look, they could be pretty spectacular.

The firm sounds a bit like an audio A-Team, a group of industry veterans from "multiple custom in-ear monitor brands" with many years of audio engineering experience and live music tours under their collective belts. And the promise here is "superior fit and exceptional sound signatures".

DMA Labs IEMs: key features and pricing

(Image credit: DMA Labs)

There are four models at a range of prices from $599 to $1,699. And they're certainly striking. The four models are:

• DM2H Hybrid Dual-Driver Custom IEM with 1x dynamic driver and 1x balanced armature driver – $599
• DMA3 Triple-Driver Custom IEM with 3x balanced armature drivers – $899
• DMA6 Six-Driver Custom IEM with 6x balanced armature drivers – $1499
• DMA8 Eight-Driver Custom IEM with 8x balanced armature drivers – $1699

We don't have more detailed specifications for details, such as frequency response and sensitivity, but we'd expect that to be available in a few days time when the IEMs officially launch and the official website goes live.

They look like strong competitors to more rarefied models in our list of the best wired earbuds based on looks alone – who doesn't want something that looks like a nebula in their ears?

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When you're stuck with deciding what new movie or TV show to watch next, you can always rely on Hulu to help you make those tough decisions. But there's nothing more frustrating when our favorite titles are removed from the platform, and there's another wave of titles lined up to leave one of the best streaming services in February 2025.

As it has been in past everything leaving Hulu lists, the platform is only removing movies in February 2025 so if you're a fan of the best Hulu shows, then you can rest easy this month – I wish I could say the same for movies fans. And though there's a mere 22 titles on the Hulu chopping block, these unfortunately include two of our best Hulu movies – the striking body horror flick Titane (2021), and the visually stunning Spencer (2021), which earned Kristen Stewart an Oscar nod.

The only upside is that there's still ample time for you to catch them before February arrives and Hulu's new monthly titles take their places. You can read all the titles leaving Hulu in February 2025 below.

Everything leaving Hulu in February 2025

Leaving on February 3

Beans (movie)
The Beta Test (movie)

Leaving on February 7

Flee (movie)
Spencer (movie)

Leaving on on February 11

Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday (movie)
Rogue Agent (movie)

Leaving on February 14

Oscar Peterson: Black + White (movie)
Venus As a Boy (movie)

Leaving on February 15

Titane (movie)

Leaving February 17

Hold Your Fire (movie)
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (movie)
The Feast (movie)

Leaving on February 18

Spin me Round (movie)
To Catch A Killer (movie)

Leaving on February 24

The Last Rite (movie)

Leaving on February 25

Watcher (movie)

Leaving on February 28

Moby Doc (movie)
The Big Scary 'S' Word (movie)
Savior for Sale (movie)
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (movie)
Shit & Champagne (movie)
Show Me the Picture (movie)

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• An iOS 19 leak suggests the iPhone Camera app will get a big redesign
• Mock-ups based on the leak point to a simplified, Vision Pro-inspired look
• iOS 19 is expected to get a full launch in September

The iPhone's Camera app has been treated to a generous helping of new features over the past few years, from Photographic Styles to Apple ProRaw. But one thing Apple forgot to do is organize them in a way that makes intuitive sense. Fortunately, a new iOS 19 leak suggests it'll finally be rectifying that later this year.

iOS leaks are quite rare, so I'm treating this new one with caution. But the source, the YouTube channel Front Page Tech, isn't known for outlandish, unsourced rumors. And talking about its mockups (based on inside contacts at Apple), the channel says “I can say with 100% certainty that what I showed you is real”.

So what exactly is new? Well, if the iOS 19 leak is true, Apple will soon be replacing the confusing mess that is iOS 18's cluttered Camera UI with a cleaner, simplified look that's inspired by the Apple Vision Pro.

For me, the Vision Pro influence is less interesting than the simple fact that Apple appears to have finally tidied up the cluttered interface. Gone is the thumb-tiring row of eight modes for photos and videos, with those lists instead hidden inside a simple photo and video toggle.

(Image credit: Front Page Tech)

This does mean that some camera features will be a little more out-of-sight – for example, did you know that the QuickTake feature lives inside the shutter button for one-touch burst shots and video? But that's definitely the direction the Camera app needs to move in. Hopefully, iOS 19 also fixes the arrow at the top of the app, which confusingly opens a draw of icons at the bottom of the screen. I'd wager that a lot people don't even know those settings exist.

The Camera app's cluttered top bar also seems to have been given a welcome makeover, according to this iOS 19 leak. It seems we'll be getting a more obvious way to choose video specs like resolution and frame-rates. Presumably, Apple will still find somewhere for shortcuts to Action Mode and focal lengths, which seem to be missing from this mockup. But overall, I'm fully onboard with the refresh – apart from one thing...

The missing link

The mockup from Front Page Tech (above) shows how Apple might be splitting the current long row of options into separate Photo and Video lists with a toggle. (Image credit: Front Page Tech)

I've been hoping that iPhones might get a Pro photo mode for a few years now, but there's unfortunately still no sign of one in these iOS 19 leaks. Apple has shown signs of moving in that direction with video, but only with separate apps like Final Cut Pro for iPad.

To be fair, Apple has added a lot of pro-friendly photo features to iOS, many of which are hidden in its Settings menu. I've rounded up a lot of those tweaks in my guide on how to set up your iPhone 16 (or iOS 18 phone) to take great photos in 2025.

But one simple solution to hiding the Camera app's clutter would be to have a toggle that flips it between 'point-and-shoot' and 'Pro' mode. The iOS 19 redesign looks like a solid point-and-shoot experience, but a Pro mode (perhaps mapped to the Action button) could quickly turn it into something like a Fujifilm X100VI by bringing up extra controls like manual focus or focus peaking.

That would be my ideal Camera app setup, effectively making the iPhone two cameras in one. But it's possible that Apple is concerned about 'Sherlocking' some of the best camera apps like ProCamera, Halide or Camera Obscura, which could be seen as a faux pas considering many have starred in its annual App Store Awards.

Still, even if Apple resists adding a full Pro mode to its Camera app, the refresh illustrated in this iOS 19 leak looks like a step in the right direction. And who knows, maybe it does hint at a wider iOS refresh that would see it get its biggest visual makeover since iOS 7 back in 2013...

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