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• The iPhone SE 4 might be rebranded
• A new iPhone 16E name has been rumored
• Expect a launch around March time

The next iPhone announced by Apple is expected to be the iPhone SE 4, probably around March time – but the latest rumors suggest the handset will go by another name when it's officially introduced into the world.

Tipsters Majin Bu and FIxed Focus Digital both say that the phone will be called the iPhone 16E, which of course ties in with the naming of the four iPhone 16 handsets already available, having been launched by Apple in September.

Neither of these sources have perfect track records, and rumors are by their very nature not guaranteed to be true, so bear that in mind. However, it's a naming scheme move that doesn't seem to be beyond the bounds of plausibility for Apple.

Majin Bu has also posted a rendering of a case that's supposedly for the iPhone SE 4 (or iPhone 16E), though it doesn't really tell us anything more than previous leaks have: that the phone's design will be largely based on the iPhone 14 from 2022.

What's in a name?

Based on what my source has reported, it seems that the new iPhone that Apple will unveil in 2025 will not be called iPhone SE4, but iPhone 16E. It should feature a design similar to the iPhone 14, with an OLED display and an action button. The available colors will be white and… pic.twitter.com/Vm8DCh1Xo0December 31, 2024

We've had three iPhone SE handsets so far – the SE stands for Special Edition – and the most recent was the iPhone SE 3 launched in 2022. Apple has simply called all these handsets the iPhone SE, without attaching numbers to them.

What makes this rumor more likely is that Apple hasn't been afraid to change up the monikers it gives to its iPhones down the years. In previous years we've had the iPhone X, the iPhone XS, and the iPhone XR, for example.

Have a read through our iPhone SE (2022) to get up to speed with what the latest version of this handset offers. The idea is that you get some key iPhone components, plus the latest iOS software updates, for a more mid-range price.

The next version of the device should bring with it some noticeable upgrades, including an OLED screen, the introduction of Face ID for the first time on an SE handset, and a bump up to 8GB of RAM – meaning the phone will be able to support Apple Intelligence features.

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"Onex", se encuentra junto a su motocicleta en una estación de gasolina en Connecticut, durante un paseo el 17 de marzo de 2024.
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Los Aztec Rebels son un club de motociclistas con sede en el sur del Bronx, donde Eddie Lucero, el presidente del club, dice que puedes ser un hombre de familia y un líder en tu comunidad.

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The Aztec Rebels are a motorcycle club based out of the South Bronx where Eddie Lucero, the club's president, says you can be a family man and a leader in your community.

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Last year, as the winter months rolled in here in the UK, and in the US, I gave you my list of seven board games that were guaranteed to help you survive the long, dark evenings without needing to reach for your phone, boot up your PC, or turn to a screen of any kind.

It proved super-popular with TechRadar readers, so I’m back this year with six new board game recommendations – and one returning entry that’s so good I had to give it another shout-out – for you to sink your teeth into.

As before, my suggestions take into account a range of group sizes, play styles, and experience levels, so you can be sure that you’ll find something that will entertain you and your friends, family, or flatmates this January. If you’re looking for more recommendations than you can also read through the seven games I recommended last year.

You'll find links under each entry to online stores where you can buy these games, though if you have an independent board game shop local to you, I’d recommend that you shop there. These stores are an excellent resource for finding games in a way a faceless monolith like Amazon never can be, and if they have an in-store play space you might be able to try a game before you buy it – and the staff can also usually help you parse any rules you might be unsure about.

Arcs

(Image credit: Future / Leder Games)

For Black Friday the TechRadar team in the UK congregate in Bath in south-west England so we can all work together to coordinate our coverage of the event, and while I’m there I always try to make the short train journey to Bristol so I can visit Excelsior, a comic and board game store.

While browsing its shelves, searching for a new game to take home, I asked a couple of the assistants for a recommendation, and no sooner had the words left my lips than they replied “Arcs” – and I think their enthusiasm convinced a few other patrons to buy the game too.

From the team behind Root – the hit cutesy woodland fantasy game – Arcs takes us to the stars with a sci-fi strategy game for two to four players that’s probably the most complex title on this list, but which is well worth your time.

Using Arcs’ variation of typical playing cards you simultaneously take actions, vie for ‘Initiative’ (going first, which is very important tactically) and declare ambitions (how you score points). The result is that this chunky game is filled with variety and a little controlled luck courtesy of the battle dice, and it feels like every action really counts – either because you're claiming domination, or positioning yourself to blow your foes away in a round or two provided your opponents don't scupper your plans.

There are also additional Lore and Leaders cards which add new mechanics to the base game if you’re looking to spice things up once you're used to Arcs’ challenges.

It's not a game for 5pm on Christmas Day when everyone is a little tipsy or falling asleep in front of the TV, but Arcs is sure to excite board game aficionados looking to devour a new game that will easily make an evening fly by.

• Check out Arcs on Amazon

Railroad Ink

(Image credit: Future)

Yes, I recommended this game last year, but as I said then, “if I could only play one board game for the rest of my life I’d pick Railroad Ink.”

Starting with identical blank boards ready to be filled in with dry-erase markers, players are tasked with creating the best network of roads and railway tracks they can to score the most points at the end of seven rounds (six if you use bonus dice).

The design and shape of the railroads you can draw is determined by dice; one player rolls the four (or six) of them at the beginning of each round, but everyone shares their results to draw the same pieces of road or railway. Theoretically this means every player could score an identical amount of points if they draw the same pattern, but in all my games I’ve never seen this happen. And it becomes even harder to just copy everyone when you use optional bonus dice or the limited-use four-way junctions players can rely on at any time.

Railroad Ink is easy to learn, games are fairly quick, and with its many expansions you can mix things up with rivers, forests, and meteor strikes (to name a few) in a package that I simply adore.

When it comes to which base game box to buy, the Deep Blue or Blazing Red editions are best because they can support six players, while Yellow and Green only support four (though they do include extra rules and bits to make up for it). Each box includes custom dice, which makes purchasing all four worthwhile, but the best standalone option is the Underground expansion pack, which adds a whole extra network of tunnels to work around – if you have enough boards you can play using the underground and overground layers simultaneously, bringing a level of complexity that’s perfect for players who’ve spent a lot of hours with this game.

• Check out Railroad Ink on Amazon

Carcassonne

(Image credit: Future / Klaus-Jürgen Wrede)

This year’s oldie-but-goodie is Carcassonne (named after the medieval fortified town from which the game also draws some stylistic inspiration in its setting), which I affectionately describe as a competitive jigsaw puzzle. It’s an excellent option for newcomers to the world of ‘proper’ board games, yet still a delight for veterans, making it an excellent alternative to the (let’s face it) drab games of Monopoly some families will force themselves to endure over the holidays.

Players take it in turns to draw tiles from a randomized stack, with each one featuring some combination of city walls, roads, fields or other structures (if you’re playing with expansions), and place them into the map of Carcassonne that you’re collectively creating. When you place a tile you can choose to also place one of your Meeple (a wooden cutout in a humanoid shape) onto a feature shown on the tile, and once the feature is complete – say your road has a start and an end, or your city wall completes an unbroken loop (and the space inside is filled in) – you collect your Meeple and score points.

When you run out of tiles the player with the most points wins.

By carefully placing tiles in tactical ways you can attempt to steal features, and their associated points, from another player, or you can form alliances by working with your opponents to inflate the size of a feature, so that you can claim an equal share of the massive point total it amasses.

This relaxed friction between players leads to some light-hearted competition that doesn’t feel quite as cut-throat as other games out there – though if you prefer that more cut throat edge, or simply want to expand your Carcassonne experience, I’d highly recommend The Princess & The Dragon, The Tower, and the Traders & Builders expansions from the game’s long list of options.

The Princess can distract your opponent’s Meeples and remove them from a feature, while the Dragon can eat them, making it easy to yoink unfinished features from your foes; similarly, the Tower lets you arrest Meeples with the goal of ruining your opponents’ plans. Traders & Builders invites a little more cooperation, with Goods that you can earn for completing a city (even if another player owns it), or a Builder who lets you take a second turn if you add a tile to the feature they are scoring on.

• Check out Carcassonne on Amazon

Magic: The Gathering

(Image credit: Future / Wizards of the Coast)

The first of two suggestions on this list which push the concept of ‘board game’, Magic: The Gathering is far and away my favorite TCG (trading card game), and its recently launched Foundations set has made it much more accessible for newcomers.

Magic pits you against other players in a battle of spell-casting where you hurl bolts of lightning, summon powerful creatures, and wield incredible artifacts – all represented by cards you draw from your deck, or library as the game calls it. If you can make your opponent run out of life, run out of cards in their library, or achieve one of a few other more niche win conditions, you emerge victorious.

While Magic has a consistent set of underlying rules, it has different ‘formats’ which mix up the card pool and impose different deck-building restrictions. The main one I play is Commander, Magic’s most popular and casual format. Instead of a one-on-one match it’s a three-or-more-player free-for-all (four is the ideal amount, five is doable, six or more is too chaotic). Commander players each rely on a 99-card deck of unique cards, ignoring Basic Lands (Magic’s resource system, kinda like Energy in Pokemon). Your 100th card is your Commander, a Legendary creature who you can always call upon to aid you, and who defines the theme and colors of your deck.

Wizards of the Coast has made preconstructed Commander decks for several years that you can play with right out of the box, and some of its 2023 and 2024 releases are actually quite powerful – I’ve even seen someone open one of these premade decks, shuffle it up, and then run away with a game against decks which cost several times more. Now, Foundations is bringing some newfound accessibility to Magic’s more competitive formats with a Beginner Box designed to teach players the game, and a 350-card Starter Collection which will give you an excellent starting point for a Standard deck (60 cards, four copies of a spell maximum), a Pauper deck (like Standard but with only ‘Common’ cards), or your own custom Commander deck.

That’s not to mention Magic’s Universes Beyond sets – decks and packs containing cards from non-Magic IP like Assassin's Creed, Fallout, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and in 2025 Spider-Man and Final Fantasy – which you might find make the game more enjoyable, as you’re getting to play as Edward Kenway or Frodo Baggins or The Tenth Doctor rather than someone from Magic’s unfamiliar cast.

Grabbing the Beginner Box as an entry point to play with your partner, or a handful of Commander decks and learning to play with a group of friends, will be an excellent way to spend the winter months. And if you do want to venture outside I’m sure your local game shop will be able to help you get to grips with the game, and they’ll likely host regular events at which you can meet other players – if you ever attend an event at Brighton’s Dice Saloon you might even play a game against me.

• Check out the Magic The Gathering store at Amazon

Dungeons & Dragons

(Image credit: Future / Wizards of the Coast)

My second pick for a ‘board game’ which slightly bends the definition, Dungeons & Dragons is excellent every year, but in 2024 its latest book releases make it a better time than ever to finally try the legendary tabletop RPG.

If you’ve somehow never heard of this game, Dungeons & Dragons is the fantasy tabletop game, and sees players take on the role of elvish warriors, dwarven spell casters, and human rogues (or whatever class and species combination you want) to face off against monsters in an adventure controlled by a Dungeon Master (DM).

What is so special about 2024 though? Well, the new Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide have been released. I have both, and while they don’t change a massive amount rules-wise (but what they do tweak does seem to be for the better based on my experience from my campaign so far) they boast clearer and more beginner-friendly explanations of Fifth-Editon’s core rules and concepts. Whether you’re a new player or a new DM, these books are a more solid foundation to build your knowledge on compared to the 2014 releases.

Additionally, one of my favorite adventure books ever has been released this year: Quests from the Infinite Staircase. Not only is it a love letter to D&D’s history, with a collection of adventures inspired by classic books released in the 80s; I feel it’s perfect for so many different kinds of campaigns, which makes it an easy pick up for any kind of DM.

I’m using the Infinite Staircase as inspiration for my current game – relying on this sprawling mass of doorways to other worlds as the glue for a collection of loosely connected one-shots, as I’ve found my group’s session cadence doesn’t suit a more typical campaign adventure.

That said, it could also slot into a more grand narrative which develops over time – perhaps one arc of your campaign has your heroes accidentally end up on the staircase and face one of the book’s adventures – or maybe you could build upon an adventure to craft a campaign – as while the main quests are aimed at levels 1 to 13, their conclusions and some additional details pave the way for quests and combats that would better suit more seasoned heroes.

Or if you’re new and just want a simple place to start, the book’s stories work as phenomenal one-shots – short one or two session-long games that are ideal for new DMs and players who want to get a taste of D&D without over committing right away.

I could write so much more, but know that over this holiday period, whether you’re gathering together in-person or online over Discord to play a game, you couldn’t do much better than Dungeons & Dragons.

• Check out the Dungeons and Dragons store at Amazon

13 Beavers

(Image credit: Future / Format Games)

I always like to recommend a more dedicated family-friendly game on this annual list, one that’s easy to grasp for younger players, or inebriated adults who’ve enjoyed a bit too much mulled wine (remember folks, drink responsibly).

This year I’m recommending 13 Beavers.

You are in a race to reach Beaver Paradise, and to move forward you must correctly guess if the next card in the deck is higher or lower than the last card revealed (with numbers ranging from 1 to 13). Guess correctly and you take a step forward; guess incorrectly and you must float all the way back to your dam. You can reposition your dam by choosing to end your turn early before drawing the next card, or if the card is the same as the previous one (i.e., you draw a five and the card before that was also a five) your turn ends and you build a dam where you are.

@norollsbarred

♬ original sound - NoRollsBarred

There are a few luck-based twists and challenges you’ll face along the way, but by far my favorite is the Tempting Tunnel (which is highlighted in the No Rolls Barred clip above). Found near the beginning of the board’s map, this shortcut takes you to practically the end of the river, mere spaces from Beaver Paradise. All you need to do to pass through is correctly guess the exact number on the next card (a roughly 1-in-13 chance), but if you’re incorrect not only is your turn over, but your dam breaks and you return to square one.

Is 13 Beavers the world’s perfect board game? Nope. But it is ridiculously fun and silly, and sometimes that’s all you need from a game to have a great time.

• Check out 13 Beavers on Amazon

Sheriff of Nottingham

(Image credit: Future / CMON)

Last but by no means least is Sheriff of Nottingham. You and your fellow players are all merchants of Nottingham, attempting to bring your wares into the city in order to sell them and make the most money. However the Sheriff (who players take it in turns to take the role of) is keeping a close eye on everyone to make sure they aren’t smuggling any contraband amongst their apples or wheels of cheese.

Each round has the merchants stashing cards in their pouches, which the Sheriff can choose to inspect or let through unchallenged. If they search the bags and find anything they shouldn't, the Sheriff discards any contraband and collects a fine, but they must pay a fine if the merchant was telling the truth. Merchants can try to convince the Sheriff to leave them alone in exchange for money, or offers to be more lenient when they're the Sheriff in a few turns.

This game is at its best when players lean into the role-play aspect, and offer more interesting bribes than merely “I’ll give you two coins to leave my produce alone.” Instead, try offering the Sheriff a bribe to open someone else’s pack to spoil their game plan (or trick the Sheriff into paying a hefty fine), or blatantly admit that you have contraband, but offer the Sheriff their pick of something you’ve smuggled in exchange for them turning a blind eye. Heck, even double-cross the sheriff to up the stakes.

If you always think hyper-tactically and take the risk-averse or non-emotional approach it can sap the enjoyment out of the Sheriff of Nottingham experience. Instead, lean into your Sheriff and Merchant persona, and see how your gameplan fares – you might not end up winning, but you’ll have a much more enjoyable time.

• Check out Sheriff of Nottingham on Amazon

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 1.

Apple TV Plus was crowned our Streaming Service of the Year of 2024 for good reason. The streamer consistently delivers high-quality content month after month. For January 2025, there are four standout TV shows we're especially eager to watch. New seasons of three already-popular titles and a new mystery-thriller that has all the makings of a binge-worthy box set.

As one of the best streaming services, we have high expectations for Apple TV Plus in 2025. Luckily, it looks like it’ll continue to shine by offering a diverse range of genres, perfect for cosy nights during the chilly winter season. These four highlights are just a glimpse of what’s making its way onto our watchlist.

With January release dates to mark on your calendar, there’s plenty to look forward to in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, you can check out the best Apple TV Plus movies and best Apple TV Plus TV shows already available.

Severance season 2

Fans have been waiting years for a new season of Severance, and this January it finally lands (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

• Age rating: TV-MA
• Creator: Dan Erickson
• Arriving on: 17 January 2025

Widely regarded as one of the best sci-fi TV shows in recent years, fans will be thrilled to know that Severance season 2 is finally here. Arriving on January 17, 2025, the new season promises to pick up right where it left off – on one unforgettable cliffhanger.

The series follows Mark Scout (played by Adam Scott), who leads a team at the mysterious company Lumon Industries. Employees in Mark’s department undergo a procedure called “severance,” which splits their memories between their personal lives and work lives, supposedly to create the perfect work-life balance.

But, as you’d expect, tampering with the human mind on such a scale comes with staggering consequences. Honestly, the less we reveal, the better – this show is a mind-bending, mysterious, and thrilling experience with a stellar cast and a truly unique premise.

Prime Target

Leo Woodall (The White Lotus, One Day) plays maths whizz Edward in new Apple TV Plus show Prime Target (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

• Age rating: PG-13
• Creator: Steve Thompson
• Arriving on: 22 January 2025

Prime Target is a brand new title from Apple. It follows the story of Edward Brooks (played by Leo Woodall who you might recognize from The White Lotus and One Day), a bright young maths postgraduate who is on the brink of a new discovery. His research into the patterns of prime numbers has the potential to unlock a key to control every computer system in the world. But as he gets closer, he learns that someone is determined to shut his idea down.

Enter Taylah Sanders (played by Quintessa Swindell). She's an NSA agent who becomes an unlikely ally for Edward as they work together to uncover a conspiracy at the center of his research. We're expecting this show to be a crime-meets-mystery-meets-thriller with some twists and turns.

Eva the Owlet season 2

Eva (voiced by Vivienne Rutherford) in the show Eva the Owlet, which is getting a second season this coming January 2025 (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

• Age rating: TV-Y
• Creator: Annabeth Bondor-Stone and Connor White
• Arriving on: 24 January 2025

If you're looking for a kid-friendly new addition to your Apple TV Plus library, you'll only have to wait until 24 January 2025, when a new season of animated show Eva the Owlet lands on the platform.

Eva the Owlet follows Eva, a spirited young owl who loves adventure. Living in the woodland world of Treetopington, she’s always dreaming up big ideas and sharing them with her best friend, Lucy, who lives right next door. It's fun, cute and an easy watch with kids if you've already binged all of the other new shows on this list.

Mythic Quest season 4

Ian Grimm and Poppy Li star in Mythic Quest, a TV show about a video game design company (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

• Age rating: TV-MA
• Creator: Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob McElhenney
• Arriving on: 29 January 2025

For those who haven't seen the first three seasons, Mythic Quest takes viewers behind the scenes of a fictional video game studio, where a quirky team works to maintain the world’s most popular multiplayer game of the same name.

Led by the visionary, but often egotistical, creative director Ian Grimm (played by Rob McElhenney of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame), the team has to navigate the chaos of office politics, creative clashes, and the high tension of the gaming industry. It's a must-watch if you like comedy shows, you're already a fan of Rob McElhenney or you're just interested in the gaming industry. The highly-anticipated fourth season is the last big show to land on Apple TV Plus in January 2025, catch it on the streamer on the 29th.

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We’re filling out our CES 2025 prediction bingo cards at TechRadar right now, and I’m going to lose - because mine just has 25 boxes that all say ‘new Lenovo ThinkBook Twist’.

Yeah, I’m probably not getting what I want from Santa for CESmas this year, which is the return of Lenovo’s boldest (and weirdest) laptop design, the ‘twistable’ ThinkBook. What that basically means is that the display hinge is mounted in the exact center of the panel base, and can rotate on an axis - letting you spin the screen around and ‘close’ the lid to turn it into a tablet.

We reviewed the old ThinkBook Twist way back in 2013 and thought it was pretty decent, even though today the form factor has been made effectively redundant by 360-degree hinges for an easier and more intuitive switch into ‘tablet mode’. But that’s not the one I really want, no: I want a new-and-improved version of the award-winning ThinkBook Plus Twist I saw at MWC 2023, which had displays on both sides of the lid: a conventional OLED touchscreen, and a full-color E-Ink panel on the reverse.

Weird and wonderful

I know, this is an extremely silly design for a laptop at first glance. I’m not here to dispute that; watching Windows 11 run at about four frames per second on an E-Ink display was a bizarre experience, even if it did technically function fine.

But E-Ink has fantastic potential as an alternative to more power-hungry (and therefore less environmentally damaging) display types. It’s also gentler on the eyes, and works great for any activity that doesn’t demand a high refresh rate; Lenovo calls spinning the display around to use the E-Ink panel as the primary screen ‘typewriter mode’, which as a writer I find strangely endearing.

The ThinkBook Plus Twist looks like this with the lid closed - don't worry, that E-Ink display is surprisingly durable. (Image credit: Future)

Of course, a more practical use for this sort of external E-Ink display is to display information while the laptop is in sleep mode with the lid down; since E-Paper panels only require electricity when they’re changing what appears on the screen, it can show you the time, battery life, local weather, notifications and more without you even needing to open the laptop up - and all while using virtually no power.

The future of E-Ink

In ‘standard mode’ with the lid open and the OLED display facing you, the ThinkBook Plus Twist just feels like an ordinary - though fairly premium - Lenovo laptop, capable of doing everything you’d expect. But when flipped into typewriter mode, that power-guzzling OLED panel shuts off, significantly boosting your battery life for lengthy writing stints away from a wall outlet.

I want to see more laptop makes - and the tech industry as a whole - commit more to the electronic paper format. E-Ink was revolutionary, but since its debut, it’s stagnated somewhat, largely relegated to overpriced Kindles.

Yet it has such potential: I can envisage many use cases beyond simple handheld devices. Every time I drive into a certain nearby city after dark, I get positively flashbanged by an enormous LED billboard that I loathe with a deep, fiery passion. But if that billboard was made using E-Paper, it would not only be less blinding (thus making the road safer and reducing local light pollution) but it would also use less electricity. If more tech companies take the time and effort to invest in this technology’s improvement, that could become a reality.

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