TechRadar News

Confirming one of Apple's worst-kept secrets, Apple finally unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro in 14-inch and 16-inch models on Wednesday, October 28, in Los Angeles. The news comes just days after Apple unveiled M6-class MacBook Pros. Notably, the new PROLED touchscreen laptops are running M5 Pro and M5 Max Apple silicon.

Apple CEO John Ternus didn't waste much time on stage, quickly announcing the laptops and running through key innovations like the tandem OLED (PROLED) screens and relatively lightweight (3lbs for the 14-inch model and 4lbs for the 16-inch one) before leaving the stage and directing the assembled group of media, analysts, creators, and Apple execs to an adjacent space where I got my first experience ever with a touchscreen MacBook.

Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureYou've been waiting for this

If you read no further, know this: it felt totally natural to tap, swipe, gesture with three fingers, pinch, zoom, and more on a MacBook Pro display. It feels like I've been waiting my whole life to do this on a MacBook (or at least as long as I've been using MacBooks).

As a former Windows user, and more specifically a longtime Surface Pro fan, I'm actually quite used to touching a screen, though maybe not one quite as beautiful as this.

For those unfamiliar with tandem OLED technology, which Apple first introduced a few years ago with the iPad Pro, it sandwiches two ultra-thin, light-emitting OLEDs together. This increases the brightness while maintaining incredibly inky blacks (they're gorgeous). It also allows for a far thinner display panel because you don't need a backlight.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Though there now is a "backlight of a sort. This touchscreen MacBook Pro lineup marks the return of the glowing Apple logo on the back of the display. It lights up when you open the laptop and turns off when you close it (people at the Hollywood, California, event were cheering for that).

I played mostly with the larger, 16-inch model, which still features the expansive, backlit Magic Keyboard and a huge ForceTouch Trackpad, which honestly is gonna get a little bit less use now that a touchscreen is just inches away.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

A pair of large speaker grills sits on either side of the keyboard, though I couldn't hear them over the din of the demo room. As with previous MacBook Pros, there's still an SD Card slot, three Thunderbolt 5 ports, one USB-4 port, HDMI, and the headphone jack.

In my hands, the 4 lb, 16-inch model felt a tad lighter than previous 16-inch MacBook Pros, though the 14-inch (which might be my preference) felt lightweight at 3lbs.

Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureTouch it, touch it, please say you want to

Let's talk, though, about using the touchscreen.

I tried a 3D design app where I used a couple of fingers to spin a model of a guy in battle armor and then a single finger to paint gold on some of the armor.

I opened Maps and used two fingers to spin the map, then pinch-and-zoom.

I used three fingers to swipe through desktops.

I could use two fingers to grab a window, flip it to one side of the screen, and watch it instantly dock itself as a half-screen app (yes, I've done something very similar on a Surface Pro).

I played touchscreen piano with all my fingers.

At no moment did I hesitate and wonder how I did this or that thing. It's obvious. It never felt uncomfortable, and my arm never got tired. Put another way, a touchscreen is a perfect fit for the MacBook Pro family,

Now, you cannot take the screen and flip it all the way to the back of the laptop (something many touchscreen Windows laptops can do). That might be a shame because I could also use my finger to paint and, though I haven't done it yet, draw.

Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / Future

Speaking of which, there is no indication that the touchscreen MacBook Pro supports the Apple Pencil. Honestly, if it can't fold back at least flat, there's no point in this support anyway.

There is, by the way, a Dynamic Island that's basically copied from the iPhone, but I didn't see it do very much.

As I used the touchscreen MacBook Pro, I was not only reminded of my time with the Microsoft Surface Pro but of my initial weeks and even months with the MacBook after I switched platforms. Yes, I found myself touching the inert MacBook screen and had to retrain myself to stop doing it.

Point is, touch was something I reflexively used on the Surface Pro, and I am now certain I will happily use it on the touchscreen MacBook Pro. You probably will, too.

You will pay for the privilege of touch. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with touch starts at $2,899 / £2,899 / AU$4,599, and the 16-inch model starts at $3,399 / £3,399 / $5,499. Pre-orders are live today, and the laptops ship on November 6.

Confirming one of Apple's worst-kept secrets, Apple finally unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro in 14-inch and 16-inch models on Wednesday, October 28, in Los Angeles. The news comes just days after Apple unveiled M6-class MacBook Pros. Notably, the new PROLED touchscreen laptops are running M5 Pro and M5 Max Apple silicon.

Apple CEO John Ternus didn't waste much time on stage, quickly announcing the laptops and running through key innovations like the tandem OLED (PROLED) screens and relatively lightweight (3lbs for the 14-inch model and 4lbs for the 16-inch one) before leaving the stage and directing the assembled group of media, analysts, creators, and Apple execs to an adjacent space where I got my first experience ever with a touchscreen MacBook.

Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureYou've been waiting for this

If you read no further, know this: it felt totally natural to tap, swipe, gesture with three fingers, pinch, zoom, and more on a MacBook Pro display. It feels like I've been waiting my whole life to do this on a MacBook (or at least as long as I've been using MacBooks).

As a former Windows user, and more specifically a longtime Surface Pro fan, I'm actually quite used to touching a screen, though maybe not one quite as beautiful as this.

For those unfamiliar with tandem OLED technology, which Apple first introduced a few years ago with the iPad Pro, it sandwiches two ultra-thin, light-emitting OLEDs together. This increases the brightness while maintaining incredibly inky blacks (they're gorgeous). It also allows for a far thinner display panel because you don't need a backlight.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

Though there now is a "backlight of a sort. This touchscreen MacBook Pro lineup marks the return of the glowing Apple logo on the back of the display. It lights up when you open the laptop and turns off when you close it (people at the Hollywood, California, event were cheering for that).

I played mostly with the larger, 16-inch model, which still features the expansive, backlit Magic Keyboard and a huge ForceTouch Trackpad, which honestly is gonna get a little bit less use now that a touchscreen is just inches away.

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

A pair of large speaker grills sits on either side of the keyboard, though I couldn't hear them over the din of the demo room. As with previous MacBook Pros, there's still an SD Card slot, three Thunderbolt 5 ports, one USB-4 port, HDMI, and the headphone jack.

In my hands, the 4 lb, 16-inch model felt a tad lighter than previous 16-inch MacBook Pros, though the 14-inch (which might be my preference) felt lightweight at 3lbs.

Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureTouch it, touch it, please say you want to

Let's talk, though, about using the touchscreen.

I tried a 3D design app where I used a couple of fingers to spin a model of a guy in battle armor and then a single finger to paint gold on some of the armor.

I opened Maps and used two fingers to spin the map, then pinch-and-zoom.

I used three fingers to swipe through desktops.

I could use two fingers to grab a window, flip it to one side of the screen, and watch it instantly dock itself as a half-screen app (yes, I've done something very similar on a Surface Pro).

I played touchscreen piano with all my fingers.

At no moment did I hesitate and wonder how I did this or that thing. It's obvious. It never felt uncomfortable, and my arm never got tired. Put another way, a touchscreen is a perfect fit for the MacBook Pro family,

Now, you cannot take the screen and flip it all the way to the back of the laptop (something many touchscreen Windows laptops can do). That might be a shame because I could also use my finger to paint and, though I haven't done it yet, draw.

Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / Future

Speaking of which, there is no indication that the touchscreen MacBook Pro supports the Apple Pencil. Honestly, if it can't fold back at least flat, there's no point in this support anyway.

There is, by the way, a Dynamic Island that's basically copied from the iPhone, but I didn't see it do very much.

As I used the touchscreen MacBook Pro, I was not only reminded of my time with the Microsoft Surface Pro but of my initial weeks and even months with the MacBook after I switched platforms. Yes, I found myself touching the inert MacBook screen and had to retrain myself to stop doing it.

Point is, touch was something I reflexively used on the Surface Pro, and I am now certain I will happily use it on the touchscreen MacBook Pro. You probably will, too.

You will pay for the privilege of touch. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with touch starts at $2,899 / £2,899 / AU$4,599, and the 16-inch model starts at $3,399 / £3,399 / $5,499. Pre-orders are live today, and the laptops ship on November 6.

• Amazon urges developers not to blindly focus on AI tool usage
• The era of the "Renaissance Developer" using all kinds of AI is here
• It also urges workers to shun tokenmaxxing, and focus on building a deeper connection with customers

Amazon has told its engineers to look beyond simply using AI to ensure their work gets done, and focus instead on the results of their labor.

In a memo sent to its workforce, the company warned against using “deeply flawed” metrics such as AI token usage or code generation as a measure of team success.

It also cautioned against workers chasing "tokenmaxxing", noting how, "our most prolific engineers have demonstrated that neither the developer role nor their output is defined by the use of AI."

The age of the "Renaissance Developer"

The memo, written by Terk Terkowitz, Amazon VP/Distinguished Engineer, Worldwide, and entitled "An update from Amazon engineering leadership on the role of the developer in the age of AI", signaled the apparent beginning of a new era in how the company defines its workers in the age of AI.

This includes the age of the "Renaissance Developer", who is able to blend AI tools with human judgment and domain expertise "to build entirely new things".

"AI is changing the work of software engineering both more quickly and more fundamentally than these previous trends," Terkowitz noted. "What it means to be a software engineer, and what software engineering even is, is changing quickly and durably."

What this means for Amazon's workers is a focus on "on what is not changing as we evolved the SDE (Software Development Engineers) roles".

This will mean a move away from "deeply flawed" metrics such as token usage or adoption of AI tools, and more focus on the impact on customers, businesses and teams.

The memo urges managers and division heads to make sure that there is "sufficient understanding" among their teams about the benefits AI tools can bring, and told workers to ensure they become "deeply connected" to their customers in order to gain a deeper knowledge of what they really need from Amazon.

"Despite the speed of change, we believe that it is still early. We all need to embrace this change and take the time to learn, or we risk being left behind," Terkowitz concluded.

“We’re just seeing the beginning of AI’s effect on software engineering. While we have a vision for what the future looks like, there’s a lot that’s still emerging. We are certain that whatever future best practices are, AI will be at the center of software engineering practice.”

• Researchers find Bluetooth flaws in warehouse barcode scanners that could provide a foothold into enterprise networks
• Attackers could spoof scanner input, inject keystrokes, and potentially pivot to ransomware or data theft
• Kaspersky urges stronger device authentication, network segmentation, and stricter security controls for warehouse infrastructure

Cybercriminals could use barcode scanners in warehouses to break into IT infrastructure and wreak havoc, security researchers have claimed, urging organizations to take preemptive measures and secure their warehouse grounds before it’s too late.

Kaspersky researchers set out to see if there are any hidden attack vectors on warehouse infrastructure and are now claiming they found one through a barcode scanner model “from a major manufacturer”.

Opening the floodgates

In a report shared with TechRadar Pro, Kaspersky said the vulnerable device has two components: the handheld scanner, and the base station, which is then connected to a workstation, or a separate business system.

The two components communicate via Bluetooth, but apparently there are no authentication methods between the two.

So, in theory, a malicious actor could obtain the Bluetooth address of the base station through passive eavesdropping on Bluetooth traffic. Then, through the established Bluetooth connection, they could send a malicious payload to the base station which simulates keyboard strokes. The base station would “think” the keystrokes are legitimate, coming from the user of the handheld device, and forward them to the connected workstation or separate business system.

“This attack pattern was observed across devices from multiple vendors,” Kaspersky said in its report.

Through this method, a theoretical attacker could gain an initial foothold on a computer within the warehouse network. Obviously, the scanner is only the entry point and not the actual target. The target is the wider network, where malicious actors could conduct reconnaissance, exfiltrate sensitive information, or deploy malware and ransomware.

“Modern retail and logistics are profoundly digital, from enterprise-wide management platforms down to every device in a worker’s hands. This pervasive connectivity means that any technology at any tier can become an entry point for a cyberattack capable of destabilising the entire ecosystem — as our research shows, even a single barcode scanner”, said Sergey Sidorov, Head of Industrial Security Services at Kaspersky.

“The warehouse sector, and the broader retail industry, should treat cybersecurity as a top priority across every layer of their operations,”

Are other devices vulnerable, too?

Kaspersky says the same scenario can be applied to other warehouse devices like Portable Data Terminals (PDR), or thermal printers, to gain access to Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and similar infrastructure.

Therefore, the researchers are urging companies to secure their environments by verifying every new device before it connects to the network, disabling any unused Bluetooth interfaces, enforcing strong authentication mechanisms, segmenting warehouse networks so that only essential connections are permitted, applying security updates to both devices and the WMS as soon as possible, restricting account permissions to the minimum required, and regularly conducting full‑scale attack‑path exercises.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the name of the manufacturer, or how many devices in a series could be susceptible. The researchers are saying the risk is quite large, since these devices are “widely used” in warehousing, retail, and multiple other sectors.

Global e-commerce sales are expected to reach $6.88 trillion this year, making up more than a fifth (21.1%) of total retail sales worldwide.

At the same time, according to logistics research firm Interact Analysis, there are more than 180,000 warehouses in the world, so the attack surface could be significant. But warehouses are not the only sector at risk here. Barcode scanners and related handheld terminals are also widely used in retail stores, manufacturing facilities, hospitals, pharmaceutical operations, and transportation networks.

There is no reliable way to estimate how many organizations are vulnerable, but the possibility of using an everyday operational device to gain access to a connected workstation makes the findings relevant to a broad range of industries.

A brand-new iPad Mini is on the way — and preorders have started. If Apple's latest little tablet is on your shopping list and you're looking for the best place to pick one up, I've gathered together where you can buy one right here, including some of the best preorder deals and trade-in offers.

Announced earlier this week, the eighth-generation iPad mini is a much bigger upgrade than we expected. Headline new features include a sharper, brighter, and more vibrant 8.5-inch OLED Super Retina XDR screen, a powerful A20 Pro chip, improved audio, and IP67 water and dust resistance thanks to the new aluminum design.

All those upgrades do come at a more considerable cost, though, as the iPad mini starts at $699 / £699 / AU$1,099 for the standard WiFi version with 128GB of storage. That's $200 / £200 / AU$300 more than the launch price of the previous iPad mini. There are also 256GB and 512GB versions available if you want more room for files and applications.

With that increase in price, it's more important than ever to find a good deal if you want to preorder the new iPad Mini. Here are the best ones I've found so far from retailers, networks, and mobile operators — and I'll continue adding any new offers when I spot them.

iPad mini preorders in the US

Apple Store: from $699 — or lease from $14.99 a month with Apple Upgrade
The Apple Store is naturally one of the first places to check for new iPad Mini preorders. Without any special discounts, the tablet is simply available to buy from $699. However, if you have a device to trade in, you can get a discount of up to $915. You can also make use of the Apple Upgrade service to lease your iPad Mini from as little as $14.99 a month for 36 months.View Deal

Amazon: Pro and Air available now from $599
Amazon has added the latest Pro and Air models to its landing page dedicated to the iPad lineup. Both the 11-inch and 13-inch versions of the iPad Pro and iPad Air are now available to preorder with delivery expected on May 15. Unsurprisingly, there are no discounts yet, but Amazon has dropped the price of new Apple tech by up to $100 before launch in the past. We'll keep an eye out. Don't worry if you preorder now and a discount is added later as you'll always pay the lowest price before the release date.View Deal

Best Buy: from $399 with trade-in — plus free Best Buy gift card
Best Buy now has the new iPad Mini available for preorder, and as expected, it's got one of the strongest offers from the big retailers. On top of a discount of up to $300 when you trade in an existing iPad, you also get a $50 Best Buy gift card with your order. Not bad to put towards some accessories, or something from the retailer's upcoming Black Friday sale.View Deal

Walmart: iPad Air only from $599
Walmart only has the iPad Air 11-inch or 13-inch available to preorder, so if you want the Pro, you need to shop elsewhere. The retailer does have the new Magic Keyboard available to buy, so it's a little strange that the new iPad Pro isn't in stock too. Nevertheless, no special discounts, bundles or promotions are advertised so this is about as straightforward as it gets when it comes to preorders.

B&H Photo: preorders live from $699
Specialist electronics retailer B&H Photo has the new iPad mini ready to order before the tablets go out for shipping by November 8. I thought this could be a good place to shop, as there have been small discounts of up to $50 on some models during previous iPad launches at this retailer. However, there's no sign of anything like that right now, so full price it is.View Deal

Also check...

• Amazon: preorders TBC
• Walmart: preorders TBC

iPad mini preorders in the UK

Apple Store: from £699 or £58.25 per month – plus, save up to £840 with trade-in
Over in the UK, you can now preorder the new iPad mini at the official Apple Store. The tablet starts at the recommended price of £699, but there is also the option to pay on finance from £58.25 per month at 0% interest if that suits you better and you can keep up with the payments. If you have an existing device you want to trade in, then you can save up to £840, too. That's likely one of the highest trade-in discounts we'll see.View Deal

Amazon: preorders live from £599
Amazon's big store page for the full iPad range has now been updated with the new models with prices starting at £599 for the iPad Air and £999 for the iPad Pro. The mega-retailer doesn't tend to offer trade-in rebates on a lot of products so this likely won't be the best place to shop if you have a device to sell for an upgrade. Instead, the pre-order price guarantee means you'll always pay the lowest price even if a small discount is added before launch.View Deal

Currys: preorders live with free Apple subscriptions
The new iPad Pro or iPad Air are now available at Currys. The devices are full price, as expected, but you do get a handy freebie included with your purchase. Specifically, it's up to three months of Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, and Apple Fitness Plus for free. A decent extra to pair with your new tablet for some streaming, music or gaming.View Deal

EE: available now from £45 per month
UK mobile network EE has the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air to pre-order. You can add either product to your existing mobile contract and pay it off monthly with prices starting at £45 per month for the 11-inch iPad Air. All of these models are 5G ready so a SIM is also included in the price, with data bundles from 5GB to unlimited available to choose from for existing customers.View Deal

Also check...

• Amazon: preorders TBC
• Currys: preorders TBC
• EE: preorders TBC
• Vodafone: preorders TBC

iPad mini preorders in Australia

Apple Store: preorders live – save up to AU$1,370 with trade-in
If you're Down Under, preorders for the new iPad mini are open at the official Apple Store, with a starting price of AU$1,099. Apple AU typically doesn't offer any preorder deals, but if you have an existing device you can trade in, you could save up to AU$1,370 on your new purchase.View Deal

Amazon AU: check the latest availability
Amazon Australia has already set up a massive store page with all the new iPads listed, although each one is shown as currently unavailable. We think that those models will become available to buy from May 15. While Amazon doesn't offer trade-in options, it's typically the best place to shop for an Apple device as you could find it for the best price, even brand-new releases.View Deal

JB Hi-Fi: preorders open
Popular Aussie retailer JB Hi-Fi and kicked off its preorder campaign for the new iPad range, with shipping also commencing on May 15. There are no preorder offers to be had, but JB Hi-Fi has its own trade-in program that could see you save a little money. You can get a quote in-store or online.View Deal

In the year of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Honor Robot Phone, and recently released iPhone Duo, it feels almost blasphemous to hand TechRadar’s Phone of the Year award to the iPhone 18 Pro at the TechRadar Product of the Year Awards 2026, but there is something quietly brilliant about Apple’s latest flagship.

Contrary to those aforementioned headline-grabbers, the iPhone 18 Pro is not a flashy product in almost any way. Heck, it even swaps the Cosmic Orange excitement of the iPhone 17 Pro for a more sophisticated, wine-tasting-in-Sonoma Burgundy shade, as if it wants to emerge from your pocket with as little fanfare as possible.

And yet underneath the iPhone 18 Pro’s muted exterior is a phone so consistently competent that it’s hard to find anything to complain about. Not only is it one of the best camera phones money can buy, but it also brings market-leading performance, a gorgeous OLED display, impressive battery life, and refreshing software simplicity to the table.

The iPhone 18 Pro’s well-roundedness is what makes it a cut above the rest. Sure, you’ll find larger camera sensors on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra or bigger batteries in the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max and Xiaomi 17 Ultra. You’ll even find a variable aperture feature on a handful of Android phones from the last decade (Huawei Mate 50 Pro, anyone?). But if I had to recommend a phone that does everything at an 8/10-level or above, it’s the iPhone 18 Pro.

And I really do mean everything.

In recent years, Apple’s flagships have been excellent phones with embarrassingly limited AI capabilities compared to the competition. But following Siri’s long-awaited glow-up in iOS 27, the iPhone 18 Pro no longer feels like a hamstrung device (don’t let the naysayers fool you — Siri AI is good).

Even if you’re not fussed about AI and are wondering whether the iPhone 18 Pro is a meaningfully different device to the iPhone 17 Pro, I’m inclined to say, “no, but that’s not really the point.” Most people aren’t upgrading from a previous-generation flagship, and Apple is hardly alone in shipping iterative upgrades year after year. The iPhone 18 Pro is familiar but formidable.

Future/Jacob KrolFuture/Jacob KrolFuture/Jacob Krol

I also think the arrival of new form-factor devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo will remind people not to take the iPhone 18 Pro for granted. Consumers have long berated Apple for shipping ‘boring’ new-generation iPhones, and yet critics of the Duo are lamenting its thickness, awkward button placement, and lack of Face ID and Pro camera components.

We’ve been spoiled by the consistency of Apple’s flagship phones, just as soccer star Erling Haaland — who regularly scores 30+ goals every season — is rarely mentioned in conversations surrounding the most exciting players in the world. Haaland’s excellence has been normalized so as not to be exciting anymore: he's the iPhone 18 Pro of the soccer world (Lamine Yamal is the iPhone Duo in this metaphor — I won’t be explaining further).

The question now is: where do candybar flagships go from here? It feels like we’re approaching the end of an era, not only because the margin for year-on-year improvements is as small as it's ever been, but also because foldables are finally entering the mainstream conversation.

What's more, smartphones as we know them might soon be replaced by smartphone-adjacent wearables, especially if OpenAI and Jony Ive get their way.

But if you’re asking me right here, right now, for my pick as the best smartphone of 2026, my answer is the iPhone 18 Pro. It’s the boring choice, but in my opinion, the right one. We've reached ‘peak smartphone,’ and the iPhone 18 Pro is what ‘peak smartphone’ looks like.

I now invite you to (*deep breath*) debate me in the comments.

• SK Hynix just published its Q3 2026 financial results
• These came with a prediction of the RAM crisis lasting until 2030
• After that, expect a further drain on memory supply from "physical AI such as autonomous driving and robotics"

Apologies for bringing you more negative news about the RAM crisis, but we've heard yet another prediction that supply woes are going to last for the rest of this decade.

This time it's SK Hynix (again) weighing in, a memory chip maker that has just issued its latest earnings report, as Wccftech noticed. Profits are booming, unsurprisingly, but SK Hynix also shared its most recent thinking on the RAM crisis, and how likely it is to be a protracted affair.

In the press release for its Q3 2026 results, SK Hynix announced succinctly: "Memory supply shortage to persist through 2030."

That was the title of a section briefing us on the memory shortage, where SK Hynix further observed: "The company assessed that supply … is not keeping pace with the growth of the market. Given technical difficulty of leading-edge processes and the long lead time required to build new production facilities, it expects the structure in which demand exceeds supply to persist through 2030."

The firm also predicted it will sustain its growth and revenue, which exceeded 100 trillion won in Q3 — the first time that's ever happened in a quarter by the way — thanks to enterprise and AI demand in the shorter-term, and "over the mid-to-long term, demand for physical AI such as autonomous driving and robotics."

Analysis: a 'virtuous cycle' for shareholders – a nightmare for consumers

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

It's interesting to note that SK Hynix is forecasting that longer-term demand for memory will be driven by robots or 'physical AI' even if software AI (agents) falls away somewhat as the decade rolls to a close. Micron is predicting the exact same thing, and recently went into even more precise detail in estimating that 'humanoid robots' could need 200GB (or more) of RAM and multiple terabytes of storage in every unit.

So there's similar thinking from the big memory module makers here, but we shouldn't be surprised by that. They need to talk up their future profits, after all, and reassure markets that we aren't in a bubble, so it's only natural that they'd want to make predictions of major future revenue sources to be tapped.

Still, there's clearly some substance to these predictions, and it's concerning for consumers that a growing number of analysts and big players in the tech industry are talking about the RAM crisis lasting until 2030, and that robots are apparently set to take the baton from AI data centers and push demand for more memory as we head into the next decade.

We can but hope that Micron and SK Hynix are overshooting with their expectations of the hungry robots eating all our RAM in a few years' time, although how that land lies will depend on how widely robots are adopted, as well as how much memory they'll need.

Meanwhile, SK Hynix asserts that the "virtuous cycle" which has resulted from AI-powered productivity gains driving increased investment in infrastructure (data centers) will continue, and moreover "broaden to include general enterprises and nation-level initiatives", the upshot being that the "global AI data center infrastructure market will continue to grow steadily."

I don't think many PC owners or gamers feel that the way things have gone with memory of late is all that 'virtuous' at all, but the shareholders of SK Hynix and other big chip makers certainly won't be complaining. They can probably afford themselves a very nice PC even in the current super-inflated component climate, after all.

• Amnezia VPN has opened up Amnezia Pulse, its in-house tool for tracking internet shutdowns, to the public.
• The map uses anonymized data from Amnezia's VPN servers to flag outages by region and provider.
• Russia is the main focus for now, but the team is already spotting disruptions further afield.

Censorship-resistant provider Amnezia VPN has launched Amnezia Pulse, a public map that tracks internet outages, slowdowns, and "whitelist" restrictions as they happen.

The tool began life as an internal project, powering the company's monthly digests on Russian internet blocking. Now, anyone can check the live map to see which regions are having problems.

That's a big deal in a country where even the best VPN can struggle to stay connected. Russian authorities have spent well over a year cutting mobile internet across entire regions, often letting only a government-approved list of services load.

What is Amnezia Pulse?

Amnezia Pulse maps disruptions on both mobile and home networks, and is updated daily. In Russia, it monitors the four most popular mobile operators (MTS, MegaFon, Beeline, and T2) alongside home broadband providers Rostelecom and Dom.ru.

Each region is color-coded by severity. Green means no disruptions, yellow signals problems, and red marks a serious outage. Clicking a region opens an hour-by-hour graph of the incident.

The tool is already making headlines. Newsweek reports that Amnezia Pulse logged 80 incidents across 36 Russian regions between September 15 and October 20, 2026, with Krasnodar Krai hit hardest.

Amnezia also told the outlet it has begun seeing synchronized shutdowns hitting several regions or operators at once.

How does it work?

Rather than relying on user reports, Pulse reads the traffic passing through Amnezia's own VPN servers, each of which counts incoming and outgoing data and the number of active connections.

The system builds a 14-day baseline of "normal" activity for each region and operator, split into five-minute intervals. It flags an incident when several warning signs coincide, such as a drop lasting over an hour, multiple operators going quiet together, or several regions being hit at the same time.

Amnezia says the data is anonymized. It doesn't collect IP addresses and only processes the region, provider, and connection speed.

Coverage isn't limited to Russia, either. Amnezia has spotted traffic anomalies in Gabon linked to long-running social media restrictions, and plans to expand into Africa and Latin America.

Who benefits?

For everyday users, Pulse answers a simple question: is the problem on my end, or has the internet been cut? That could save time otherwise spent restarting routers or cycling through VPN apps.

Researchers and rights groups stand to gain even more. Amnezia plans to launch an open API for researchers, human rights organizations, and technical experts.

Maria Xynou of the censorship measurement project OONI called the tool "a valuable resource for both the Russian and global internet freedom communities."

There is a catch, though. Pulse's accuracy depends on how many Amnezia Free and Premium users are connected in a given region.

The project has also faced pushback, with Amnezia telling Newsweek it was forced to pause the tool earlier this year following what it described as an attack by Roskomnadzor. The provider has since reinforced its apps against blocking and says it will keep improving Pulse's accuracy and reach.

• The European Commission is considering EU-wide anti-piracy blocking orders as part of a Copyright Package due in 2027.
• A tech industry group warns this could force VPN providers to inspect and filter their users' traffic.
• France and Spain already make VPNs block pirate sites, and the results so far have been messy.

Europe's next big copyright shake-up could change how your VPN works behind the scenes, even if you never go near a pirate stream.

The European Commission is weighing an EU-wide system of anti-piracy injunctions that would require providers to block access to websites and servers hosting infringing content.

According to the Disruptive Competition Project (DisCo), a blog run by tech industry body CCIA, that system could sweep in VPN providers, including the services on our best VPN list.

The group argues this would turn privacy tools into internet watchdogs. The plans remain on the table for the Commission's Copyright Package, which is expected in the second quarter of 2027.

From privacy tool to traffic filter

VPNs are built to be neutral. They route and encrypt your traffic without monitoring or controlling what you access, and they don't host any content themselves.

DisCo points out that blocking orders wouldn't break a VPN's encryption. However, enforcing them would require providers to check traffic against blocklists, such as destination IP addresses or DNS requests.

That shifts VPNs from passive conduits to active filters. And since the infringing content stays online, pirates can simply move to new domains or routes.

Europe has already tested VPN blocking

Several countries are already ahead of Brussels. In 2025, a Paris court ordered five major VPNs to block more than 200 illegal sports streaming sites, while Italy moved to extend its Piracy Shield system to VPN and DNS providers.

In Spain, a Córdoba court ordered NordVPN and Proton VPN to block IP addresses tied to illegal LaLiga streams in February.

The same court later refused to fine NordVPN for not complying. LaLiga has since asked the Commission to add NordVPN, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark to its piracy watch list.

DisCo highlights the irony: Spain's national cybersecurity institute, INCIBE, actively recommends VPNs to citizens as a way to protect their personal data.

What it means for VPN users

In July, the EU's top court ruled that VPNs are lawful technical tools and that providers aren't liable when users bypass geoblocking. That ruling dealt with liability, though, not blocking orders, so it doesn't stop an EU-wide injunction system from pulling VPNs in.

If that happens, the most obvious change is that some sites could become unreachable through your VPN. Overblocking is the bigger worry. IP blocking is a blunt tool, and LaLiga's campaign in Spain has already knocked hundreds of thousands of legitimate domains offline.

There's a privacy cost, too. Even light-touch rules to monitor, filter, or retain traffic would weaken the protections that private VPNs are built to offer.

For now, nothing is final. The Commission hasn't published its proposal, so the real test will come when the Copyright Package lands next year.

In my review of Apple's iPhone Duo, I noted the engineering and build quality, how easy it is to unfold the phone, and also how solid and sure it feels when you close it. And I have opened and closed the flexible, dual-screen phone many, many times.

When a small set of iPhone Duo owners complained that their large inner screens had unexpectedly and disturbingly cracked, Apple did something unusual: it acknowledged the complaints: "We are aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units. If users experience issues with their iPhone Duo display, they should contact AppleCare for a replacement.”

That's not Apple saying there's a fundamental flaw or that the issue is found on anything more than a small number of the already popular phones.

I watched with some dismay as people started bandying about the 'crackgate' phrase. Apple has had its share of 'gates' over the years, including 'bendgate' with the iPhone 6 Plus, and Antenna Gate with the iPhone 4. On the latter, Steve Jobs memorably told customers they were holding the phone wrong (he later apologized for the issues).

The notion of '[anything]gate' comes from the Watergate Scandal, a cover-up of a crime involving the then President of the United States, Richard Nixon. Now, whenever people think there's an issue and someone is trying to obfuscate it, they slap a 'gate' on it. I've written before that I hate this.

Leaving aside the term, there is the fact that some people claim the iPhone Duo cracked when they opened it and only shortly after they brought it home. Since we can't rewind those tapes, we have to take them at their word. Still, I think it's fair to wonder if they opened it too roughly, like a strongman trying to tear a phonebook in half. We just don't know.

Inside the iPhone Duo Display

(Image credit: Apple)

Here's what I do know, though: Apple spent considerable effort building a durable folding iPhone. Seriously, how could it not?

Samsung has been doing this for a decade, and with each iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold line it has improved the display panel structure and supporting hinge technology. On the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra it actually uses two titanium plates. One relatively rigid plate sits at the bottom of the stack, and is responsible for making the phone open stiffly flat. The other, for durability at the crease, is a super-thin sheet of titanium alloy.

Apple does not talk about where it sourced its iPhone Duo display technology, though most have surmised that it started with Samsung. Even so, the display and hinge architecture of the iPhone Duo is distinct from that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

It's worth digging into these details to understand the iPhone Duo's potential weak points, and because, in many of my conversations about why the Duo displays might have cracked and how it happened, people want to understand what part, exactly, is cracking. The build, as described by Apple on the Surprise and Shine launch day in September, provides some clues.

It's been more than a month since Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, but I recall Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji explaining in stark detail how Apple builds the iPhone Duo display and hinge (complete with images).

According to Srouji, the goal for Apple was, unsurprisingly, "to provide the high quality for viewing content without what people dislike about foldable displays: The distracting crease, the plastic feel, susceptibility to scratches and dents."

Apple started with what it knew and built something better

(Image credit: Apple)

Talking to me after the event, Srouji and Apple CEO John Ternus probably leaned a little too hard into criticisms of other foldable displays. Ternus claimed, "I think what you've seen out there are all these just kind of cheap-feeling plastic surfaces that don't feel good to the touch."

Having used most of the major foldable phones out there, I don't think Ternus was being fair. After all, Apple has built its first foldable on the shoulders of giants like Samsung, who all but perfected the display design. Did Apple take it further? Absolutely.

In the keynote, Srouji said Apple's engineers relied on "their learnings from iPad and Mac" to develop the biggest folding display innovation: the nano-texture display. This reflection-killing surface is what's primarily responsible for hiding virtually all visual remnants of the crease.

(Image credit: Apple)

I don't think the nano-texture covering (a polymer with a special anti-scratch coating, by the way) has anything to do with the possible cracks; instead, they probably relate to the multi-layered construction, and both the display and the hinges' ability to withstand thousands and thousands of folds (or, in the case of these cracked Duo screen customers, one bad unfold).

Based on the images Srouji showed off, the iPhone Duo display is composed of 10 layers. Included in them is a back panel of titanium (yes, like on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra) for straightness and stiffness when unfolded. There are also two ultra-thin flexible glass layers above and below the OLED panel.

Instead of these floating freely, Apple uses an elastic adhesive to keep the panels together while also letting them slide back and forth over each other so that, Srouji said, "the panel doesn't distort over time".

Behind the panel is the hinge, which Apple says has one hundred components, some of which are attached to carbon fiber support plates.

Watch this space

(Image credit: Apple)

My point is that Apple was about as open as a tech company could be about how and why it made the iPhone Duo display, and we have enough information to make at least one reasonable assumption: one or more of the thin glass panels cracked for a few iPhone Duo owners. After all, the OLED panel is about as flexible as a thin piece of plastic. The titanium wouldn't crack; even the nanostructured polymer is unlikely to crack. My guess is that either a manufacturing imperfection or misuse resulted in one or both of the glass panels cracking, and possibly damaging the OLED sandwiched between them.

There are other hypotheses, like some loose component inside getting sandwiched and cracking the screen or even hinge misalignment. I'm sure Apple is examining every possibility.

The iPhone Duo is the first iPhone with a significant moving part. It's the first with two displays. And the first where one is a flexible display that's expected to survive tens of thousands of folds. The complexity and quality assurance for building such a device is surely enormous. Apple is lucky to have had others like Samsung, Motorola, and Google go through a decade of perfecting the technology before it delivered the iPhone Duo. Still, that doesn't diminish its accomplishment. Nor does it lessen the risks of shipping a folding iPhone to people who don't always know when to stop unfolding. Maybe someone over-torqued it; maybe they just got a bad unit.

In the end, such issues are not entirely unexpected, but they do not, for now at least, indicate a larger issue. I think Apple did its homework here, and I'm simply not buying 'crackgate.'

• Researchers uncover critical UEFI firmware flaw that could enable remote code execution on servers
• Public release of patch code may accelerate exploit development before many vendors deploy updates
• Delayed firmware patching across hardware ecosystems leaves organizations exposed despite available fixes

Cybersecurity researchers from Anthropic and Google have discovered a critical-severity vulnerability in boot-time firmware used by practically every server in existence today.

A patch is available, but given the fragmented market of UEFI manufacturers, it could take months before most of the servers are secured. In the meantime, patch code was made publicly available, which means cybercriminals will have their work laid out for them.

Discovering the bug

Virtually all modern servers today run UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), software built into the server’s motherboard that helps start the device and load the operating system. It includes security features like Secure Boot, which helps stop unauthorized programs from running when the machine starts.

The free, open source toolkit developers use to build this firmware is called TianoCore EDK II - it serves as a common foundation for creating UEFI firmware for different types of hardware.

Alex Matrosov of Anthropic and Dan Holmes of Google recently found that EDK II contained a critical buffer overflow vulnerability. The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) describes it as a bug in BIOS “where a user may cause “Out-of-bounds Write”, Classic Buffer Overflow, and “Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size” by remote access.” “Successful exploitation of this flaw can result in remote arbitrary code execution, " it added.

Just like other UEFI vulnerability exploits, this one would be difficult to remediate in the wild. Deploying malicious code before security solutions, or even the operating system for that matter, means that whatever anti-malware or endpoint protection solutions are installed won’t be able to spot, or remove it. Reinstalling the operating system won’t help, and neither would replacing the hard drive.

The bug is now tracked as CVE-2026-97631, and was given a severity score of 9.5/10 (critical). Luckily enough, it doesn’t seem to have been exploited in the wild. However, that might change very soon, given that the security community botched the disclosure efforts.

Multiple companies and hardware manufacturers develop their own UEFI, and many rely on shared codebases such as EDK II. When a vulnerability is discovered in the code, fixing it upstream (in the codebase) is only half the work - each affected firmware vendor must patch their own product and then distribute the new firmware to their customers. This process can take time, leaving a window between the availability of the fix and its deployment across affected systems.

Discretion is advised

That is why discretion is paramount, and some participants seem to have dropped the ball, with Ars Technica claiming the two researchers who found the bug arranged for it to stay private until a coordinated disclosure that was planned for January 2027.

However, AMI - one of the manufacturers building motherboards - apparently published a pull request last month that not only detailed the vulnerability but also included a fix for the code.

Since the cat was out of the bag, TianoCore Project members then published a public advisory about the flaws, as well.

“With publicly available patch code, it will be trivial for advanced hackers to learn how the vulnerability is triggered and to build working exploits,” Ars Technica’s Dan Goodin writes. “Further compounding the urgency, patching UEFI code vulnerabilities in millions of end devices sold and used by thousands of hardware makers and cloud providers is cumbersome and time-consuming.”

Exploiting this flaw is not that easy, though. Threat actors need to have some level of access to the target device beforehand, meaning that the bug will be mostly used by state-sponsored threat actors, and large, highly organized hacking collectives.

It really is turning out to be Black October - especially since the PHP2Shell flaws were inadvertently disclosed to the public in similar fashion.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI review: Two Minute Review

I really like the Acer Swift Air 14 and not just because of the price. It’s very portable, attractive in that clean minimalist way popularised by a certain Cupertino company, and comes with a battery life that’s as good as any other I’ve come across.

Acer has been impressing me with its recent Swift laptops, and this one is no exception. Of course, the price tag makes it a no-brainer for anyone wanting a solid, portable laptop at an almost budget price tag. It’s not sub-$500 / £500, but it’s close. I certainly think it’s one of the best laptops for the price.

It does, however, have some of the shortcomings that even the best Ultrabooks have. It’s not the most powerful laptop out there, by any stretch of the imagination – this is for people who just want to go online and do some office work or stream, not game or edit video. And the audio suffers from the laptop's smaller design.

Those things actually don’t bother me. That’s not what this laptop is supposed to be used for. But, Acer makes the same weird design choice that even Apple makes on more budget models, where there are two USB-C ports, both of which can be used for power, but, for whatever reason, they’re on the same side of the computer.

Still, quibbles aside, the amount of computer you get for the price in the Acer Swift Air 14 is pretty impressive.

The Acer Swift Air 14 has an etched lid, though it has more minimal etchings in some territories. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)Acer Swift Air 14 review: Price & Availability

• How much does it cost? $699.99 / £749.99 (about AU$1,010)
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

If you’re looking for the Windows version of the Apple MacBook Neo, the Acer Swift Air 14 offers just as much value. The base configuration might start at a higher $699.99 / £749.99 (about AU$1,010) price tag, but if you want to match the Swift Air 14’s 512GB of storage, then two laptops end up at the same price. Unfortunately, that currently excludes Australia as it hasn’t yet been released there.

Granted, you’re not getting the most powerful laptop out there. If you’re looking for something similar but better, the Acer Swift Spin 14 AI is that computer. Sure, it’s $1,499.99 / £1,399 (about AU$2,150), but its Qualcomm CPU has double the cores and triple the NPUs than the base version of the Acer Swift Air 14’s Intel Core 5 320 CPU. You can upgrade the Acer Swift Air 14 to a configuration with the Intel Core 7 350 CPU and 12GB of RAM, but it’s still not going to do the same heavy lifting. Plus, the Acer Swift Spin 14 AI has a 360-degree hinge, touchscreen, and stylus.

It might be better to consider the Acer Swift Air 14 as Acer’s budget entry in its Swift line. It’s an excellent value while still functioning as a competent Ultrabook.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Acer Swift Air 14 review: specs

The Acer Swift Air 14 comes in two variants. The base configuration comes with the Intel Core 5 320 CPU with 8GB of RAM, and a model with an Intel Core 7 350 and 12GB of RAM. The difference in processors aren’t that different, except that the Intel Core 7 350 can be boosted to a higher turbo frequency, 4.8GHz vs 4.6, and has 21 TOPS NPU compared to the Intel Core 5 320’s 20 TOPS NPU.

Base

Max

Price

$699.99 / £749.99 (about AU$1,010)

£1,049.99 (about $1,400 / AU$2,020)

CPU

Intel Core 5 320

Intel Core 7 350

GPU

Intel Graphics

Intel Graphics

RAM

8GB LPPDDR5X

12GB LPPDDR5X

Storage

512GB PCIe Gen3 SSD

512GB PCIe Gen3 SSD

Display

14-inch diagonal, WUXGA (1920 x 1200) display up to 120Hz, 300 nits

14-inch diagonal, WUXGA (1920 x 1200) display up to 120Hz, 300 nits

Ports and Connectivity

2x USB-4 Type C, 1x USB-3.2 Type A, Aux

2x USB-4 Type C, 1x USB-3.2 Type A, Aux

Wireless

Realtek Wi-Fi 6E (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.3

Realtek Wi-Fi 6E (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.3

Camera

Full HD IR camera with physical privacy shutter

Full HD IR camera with physical privacy shutter

Dimensions

1.19 kg (2.62 lbs)

1.19 kg (2.62 lbs)

Weight

313.99 x 222.65 x 12.9/18 mm / 12.36 x 8.77 x 0.51/0.71 inches

313.99 x 222.65 x 12.9/18 mm / 12.36 x 8.77 x 0.51/0.71 inches

Beyond those internal configuration differences, the Acer Swift Air 14 is available in four different colors – Sage Green, Frost Blue, Blossom Pink, and Lilac Purple with only the Sage Green and Blossom Pink available in the UK. EMEA countries, including the UK, also sport more minimalist etchings on the lid.

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Design

• Very attractive, portable design
• Keyboard and touchpad are good but not amazing
• Both USB-Cs are on the left

The Acer Swift Air 14 is a gorgeous laptop. I’ve only seen the Sage Green color in person – the color of the test unit for this review – but the colors, lid etchings, and aluminum chassis all present a very aesthetically pleasing package. I imagine that the other three colors look just as good in that way that I think makes this an attractive alternative to the Macbook Neo.

Also in its favor is its utter portability. It weighs just over two and a half pounds. That’s about the same as an ankle weight. And it’s just over a half inch thick at its thinnest point. I don’t think you can really get any more portable without going down in screen size to a 13-inch laptop.

The Acer Swift Air 14 is attractive in its various colors. The reviewed model came in Sage green. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Speaking of which, its 14-inch screen is a good-looking, if not amazing, non-touch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 1920x1200p resolution. It does get up to 300 nits of brightness – I typically have the brightness up only halfway when I’m using it.

I appreciate the 180-degree hinge, but that’s mostly because I feel like I don’t have to be as gentle with the Acer Swift Air 14 when opening it. I could see its use, though, if you want to share your screen with someone sitting across from you. If you do that, the viewing angle is more than enough for both people to see at 170 degrees.

The Acer Swift Air 14 comes with a 180-degree hinge for a bit more flexibility. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

Moving on, the keyboard is pleasant to use if nothing spectacular. I used the Acer Swift Air 14 to write this review and didn’t feel fatigue from typing. At the same time, it’s a linear keyboard with a somewhat short travel.

The trackpad is fairly responsive and accurate, though I found it to be a little too sensitive at times when my thumb was a little too close to it and had trouble getting the cursor to cooperate.

The Acer Swift Air 14's keyboard and touchpad are pretty good to use, if not mind-blowing. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

The port selection is about as minimal as one would expect on a laptop like this. Along with a USB-A port and headphone jack are two USB-C ports. Unfortunately, they’re both on the left side, a design choice that I always dislike since I find myself regularly having to plug the computer in on the right side, sometimes from a distance too.

The Acer Swift Air 14 has two USB-C ports for charging, both on the same side of the laptop. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Performance

• Decent for day-to-day work
• Slows down if using multiple RAM-intensive tabs
• Sound quality is just okay

Acer Swift Air 14 benchmarks

Here's how the Acer Swift Air 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Fire Strike: 3544; Time Spy: 1643; Night Raid: 18712; Steel Nomad Light: 1164
GeekBench 7: 2337 (single-core); 7529 (multi-core)
25GB File Copy: 39.64
Handbrake 1.11.1: 9:34
CrossMark: Overall: 1358 Productivity: 1389 Creativity: 1431 Responsiveness: 1083
Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p): 24.716 fps; (1920x1200p) 24.229 fps
Borderlands 3 (1080p): 3.66 fps; (1920x1200p) 4.44 fps
Web Surfing (Battery Informant): 16:52:40

One of the downsides of a laptop built for a sub-$1,000 price tag is that either the design or performance (or both) suffer. The design on the Acer Swift Air 14 is pretty good... so it goes that the performance is what is throttled.

Now, Acer built this laptop to hit a price point, but the company also built it to an expectation. This is supposed to be an extremely portable laptop with long battery life for not much money.

With that in mind, Acer used the affordable Intel Core 5 320 six-core CPU with a speed of 1.5GHz and 20 TOPs (21 for the Core 7 350) and put only 8GB of RAM in the computer. At least the 512GB SSD storage is sufficient.

The Acer Swift Air 14 can do some light gaming, but it's not a powerhouse. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

If you’re looking for a laptop to work on while in a cafe responding to emails in between social media side quests, then what the Acer Swift Air 14 does is more than enough. Even using the AI features like Acer PurifiedView and PurifiedVoice during video calls, both of which work well, or messing with CoPilot+ doesn’t tax this laptop.

But it’s not too hard to push the Acer Swift Air 14. When I’ve tabs open that require a lot of RAM and try to switch windows, I’ve experienced some freezing. And anything but the least demanding games are a jittery mess. I wouldn’t use this laptop for 4K video editing, either. A powerhouse this is not. Then again, it’s not meant to be.

As far as the sound quality goes, the Acer Swift Air 14 suffers from what ails just about all thin and light laptops. There’s just no room for any speakers capable of producing a full sound and it shows. There’s not much bass and the sound is on the thinner side. That said, it’s not harsh, so listening to music in the background while working is still pleasant.

One of the Acer Swift Air 14's AI apps is PurifiedVoice, which can minimize background noise or focus a speaker's voice during a video call. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

• Performance score: 4 / 5

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Battery life

• Almost 17 hours of battery life
• Charges relatively quickly

The new benchmark for a good laptop battery life these days is anything over ten to twelve hours. So, the fact that the Acer Swift Air 14 can hit almost seventeen hours in our benchmark is remarkable. Note that this benchmark requires the laptop to run for that entire amount unplugged.

I’ve been using this laptop regularly for a little over a week and I don’t think I’ve seen it go below 50%. I have charged it a few times, mostly out of habit, but I have yet to be compelled to find an outlet. Plus, it does a good job of holding its charge when the lid is closed.

Acer advertises that the Swift Air 14 has fast charging, which might be true on certain settings, but I found it to charge at a still-good 1% a minute rate when set to a balanced performance mode.

You can access a handful of proprietary AI-powered apps through the AcerSense app. You can also check and change battery settings here. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

• Battery Life score: 5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Swift Air 14?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The price is quite exceptional for what you get. It might be budget, but doesn’t look, feel, or work like a budget laptop.

5 / 5

Design

It looks great, is incredibly portable, and has a serviceable keyboard and touchpad. I do wish the two USB-C ports were on separate sides.

4.5 / 5

Performance

Good enough for everyday use but not demanding tasks, the Swift Air 14 can also handle some AI tasks. Audio is okay.

4 / 5

Battery Life

I’m not sure if the battery life can get any more impressive. You can get about two days’ worth of use without charging.

5 / 5

Final Score

Great value and great design, not to mention fantastic battery life, are only slightly hampered by less-powerful performance.

4.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You need the ultimate in battery life
The Acer Swift Air 14’s battery life is impressive to say the least. It can last a couple days without a charge, and charges back up relatively quickly.View Deal

You need portability
Not only is this laptop attractive in that MacBook kind-of-way, but it’s very light and thin, making it perfect to just throw in a backpack and take it on the road.View Deal

You’re on a budget
One of the best things about the Acer Swift Air 14 is its price. It feels like a much better laptop than what I would expect for $700 / £750.View Deal

Don't buy it if…

You want a lot of power
The Acer Swift Air 14 does what it does well, but it can’t handle demanding tasks. If you want or need a lot of power, there are plenty of less portable alternatives that might be a better option.View Deal

You get irritated by having all the USB-C ports on the same side
I know it’s probably not a big deal, but it’s one of those design choices that actually affects day-to-day use if you’re plugging into random outlets. There will be times where running the cable behind the laptop to the other side gets in the way or shortens the distance that you can be from an outlet.View Deal

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Also Consider

If our Acer Swift Air 14 review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI

The Acer Swift Spin 14 AI is a gorgeous laptop with a surprising amount of power, a battery life that competes with the Swift Air 14, and a 360-degree hinge and touch screen that allows for seamless 2-in-1 use.

Read our full Acer Swift Spin 14 AI review

Apple MacBook Neo

If you ever wanted an Apple laptop but at a budget price, there’s nothing better than this laptop. It has that classic MacBook look, full MacOS experience, and an exceptional screen, especially for the price. Of course, it is a bit limited in power and comes with just two USB-C ports.

Read our full Apple MacBook Neo review

How I tested the Acer Swift Air 14

• Tested for a week and a half
• Used it for work, gaming, and streaming
• Messed with its AI capabilities

I used the Acer Swift Air 14 for a week and a half. I used it for work, including typing up this review (along with the requisite online research). I used it to stream video. I even did some light gaming and attempted some semi-serious gaming. I played around with the AI as well.

After spending time with the Acer Swift Air 14, it’s clear that this is meant for those that want a portable and attractive laptop that’s nice to use on a limited budget.

I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.

• First reviewed: October 2026

• Australia government has issued a bill to ban chatbots that create 'emotional intimacy' with users
• The bill is also designed to reshape broader online standards to shield users from harmful content
• It arrives as the American Psychological Association reports that 49% of adults speak with AI as if it were a friend

The Australian government has issued a bill that will ban AI chatbots which seek to establish ‘emotional intimacy’ with its users, following a speech given by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on October 27.

The Digital Duty of Care bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on October 28, could create new online safety measures applied across social media, games, apps, and chatbots ‘to provide a safe online environment for all Australians’, says the Labor party. The bill is set to be debated by the Senate in the coming weeks, with hopes it will be officially passed by the end of the year, The Guardian reports.

Not only is the framework designed to prevent AI chatbots from infiltrating young users’ emotional dependency, the bill will replace existing, broader online standards to shield users from harmful content. In 2025, Australia made history by becoming the first nation to ban social media for under-16s.

According to Communications Minister, Anika Wells, content that encourages misogyny, terrorism, suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders will also be included. At the same time, the bill would also require social media platforms to have an easy-to-access ‘opt-out’ feature for suggested content fuelled by the algorithm.

Though the bill will be debated in the upper house before a final decision is made, it’s still unclear whether it will win the support of other parties. As it stands, the Greens continue to back Labor’s proposal while the Coalition and One Nation stand by their opposition to the bill, blaming Labor of forming ‘an ‘Orwellian’ system of censorship’.

Despite this backlash, Labor is determined to convince them otherwise, saying it’s still open to amendments. In his speech given on Tuesday, Albanese addressed the Coalition in an attempt to sway their vote saying ‘the stories we hear about people identifying a chatbot, a non-person as their best friend, should be a huge wake up call for every member of this parliament to be prepared to act’.

In addition to these challenges, Labor has fallen under increasing pressure to enlist the telecommunications ombudsman as a social media and AI watchdog (which doesn’t exist for big tech) after the party rejected an amendment during the lower house debate. This would allow social media users to file complaints if their accounts ever became hacked or inaccessible, and would also include compensation and will make room for investigating broader issues to name and shame tech giants.

Analysis: Chatbot dependency is only getting worse

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Labor party surely has a tough debate ahead, but despite the proposed bill’s criticisms the Australian government’s decision to tighten online safety measures hasn’t come from nowhere — and it’s not the first nation to clamp down on chatbots in this way.

Just a few months back, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and four other government departments introduced new regulations to ban AI-generated romantic companions, including virtual relationships with minors. The laws stated that these AI tools could no longer ‘excessively cater to users, induce emotional dependence or addiction, and damage users’ real interpersonal relationships’.

Following the rollout of the legislation, companion chatbots from tech companies such as ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba were forced into evaluation before becoming publicly available again. If the government deemed these services unsafe, it shut them down.

With this in mind, both China and Australia’s recent actions reflect an alarming rise of user-chatbot dependency. According to a recent American Psychological Association (APA) survey reported by Medical Daily, Americans are turning to AI for emotional support as they struggle with financial pressure and remain uncertain about the future.

The results from the survey show that 49% of adults who use AI said they conversed with it as a friend, and 47% had used it as if it were a mental health professional including seeking a second opinion on a therapist's suggestions or for therapeutic practices. Additionally, 77% of the survey’s 3,132 respondents identified that the rising cost of living is one of the biggest causes of stress, and 74% mentioned their concerns about the nation's future.

That said, seeking the advice of an AI chatbot is something that Medical Daily seriously condemns. ‘AI systems can provide inaccurate information, miss important context, or respond inappropriately to someone in distress. Users may also share sensitive personal information without fully understanding how a particular service stores or uses their conversations,’ the outlet writes.

It also added the following: ‘People who use chatbots for emotional support should treat responses as general assistance, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. They should avoid relying on AI alone when symptoms persist, worsen, or interfere with daily life, and should discuss significant mental health concerns with a qualified health professional’.

By clamping down on regulations for chatbots, the Australian government has shown its awareness of the rising reliance on AI services, and it clearly wants to prevent this before the issue is irreversible. That said, Labor still faces the challenge of convincing opposers that this bill is the best practice for the nation.

AGM Pad P3: 2-minute review

Rugged tablets usually follow one rule. Make them big, make them heavy and hope the specification sheet distracts you.

The AGM Pad P3 does not play that game. It is an 8.68-inch tablet that measures 232 x 146 x 14.5mm. That is thin for a device that claims IP68 and IP69K protection. It means the tablet can survive brief submersion and high-pressure water jets. AGM says it is built for one-handed use, and it includes an adjustable strap for hands-free carrying.

Inside is the MediaTek Helio G99. It is an octa-core chip built on a 6nm process. It is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. A microSD slot can add up to 1TB more if you need extra capacity. The SoC wouldn’t be classed as fast in 2026, but it has proved dependable in a lot of budget hardware, and it’s better than many of its competitors. Android 16 is the real surprise, since many rivals are still shipping with Android 14. And some of those won’t be getting an upgrade to the latest release.

If this tablet has a weakness, it might be the screen. It has a 120Hz IPS panel with an 800 x 1340 resolution, and AGM quotes a peak brightness of 600 nits. That smooth refresh rate helps scrolling feel quick, but the limited resolution only supports 720p video playback.

Connectivity is practical, but hardly concurrent. You get dual 4G SIM support and eSIM, plus NFC, GPS and WiFi. But there is no 5G, which will matter to some buyers and not to others. The 7,200mAh battery charges at 18W, so this is not a device you can top up in a hurry.

On the back is a 50MP main camera, and on the front is an 8MP selfie, not great but not terrible either. The system supports at least Widevine L1, meaning Netflix and other streaming services can play in HD.

So this is a compact, tough and affordable tablet. It makes sensible choices where cheaper rivals make clumsy ones with even older technology and lesser specifications.

It might not be the best rugged tablet I’ve tested, but it represents good value for money.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)AGM Pad P3: Price and availability

• How much does it cost? $236/£249/€300
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Directly from AGM Mobile

To avoid confusion, this hardware has several naming options, including the AGM G3 Compact tablet and the AGM Pad P3, so I’ll use the latter.

The AGM Pad P3 is sold through the AGM EU store at a price range of €299 to €329, depending on whether you choose to include a tablet stand. The store lists versions with and without a tablet stand. AGM is also running a promotion that includes a free stylus with purchase, although this wasn’t included with my review model.

In the USA, you can get this hardware on Amazon for $235.99, and in the UK it’s £249.99.

That is a lot of tablet for the money. It is also significantly cheaper than AGM's own Pad P2 Active, which lists at €369 to €408.90 in the same store. The Pad P2 Active still runs Android 14. The P3 is smaller, has a faster 120Hz screen and runs a newer operating system.

Looking at the usual brand suspects for rugged tablets reveals that the Pad P3 may have found a niche, since most alternatives are more expensive, some excessively so.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 5 is closer to $500. However, you get a much better software ecosystem, guaranteed updates, Samsung Knox enterprise security, and an included IP68-rated S Pen stylus. Samsung also have the Galaxy Tab Active 4 Pro, but that 10.1-inch design is north of $650.

A more affordable Samsung option is the Galaxy Tab A9 (8.7-inch), a tablet that mirrors the size of the AGM P3. It is incredibly affordable at around $175, features a great UI, and has mass-market accessory support. However, it lacks the smooth 120Hz fluid display, comes with only 64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM and lacks the processing power of the P3's Helio G99 chip.

The two competitors that AGM is truly up against are Ulefone and Oukitel, with the Armor Pad Pro from Ulefone and the RT3 Pro from Oukitel. The Armor Pad Pro is only $220, and that price includes 8GB of RAM and better cameras, but the SoC is less powerful.

The Oukitel RT3 Pro is the same price, comes with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of ROM, has only a 16MP main camera and runs Android 14. As with the Ulefone, it uses a less powerful SoC, in this case the G81.

The bottom line is that as a new product, the AGM Pad P3 is slightly more expensive than the closest competitor options, but the amount of processing power, RAM, and the 50MP primary camera sensor more than justify the extra money.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

• Value score: 4/5

AGM Pad P3: Specs

Item

Spec

CPU:

MediaTek Helio G99 (2x Cortex A76 at 2.2GHz + 6x Cortex A55 at 2.0GHz)

GPU:

ARM Mali G57 MC2

RAM:

6GB

Storage:

128GB + microSD (up to 1TB)

Screen:

8.68-inch IPS LCD, 120Hz

Resolution:

800 x 1340 (HD+), about 180ppi

Peak brightness

600 nits

SIM:

Dual 4G SIM plus eSIM

Weight:

535g (measured)

Dimensions:

232 x 146 x 14.5mm

Rugged spec:

IP68 and IP69K, MIL STD 810H [to be confirmed]

Rear cameras:

50MP main (single sensor)

Front camera:

8MP

Networking:

4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS

Streaming:

Widevine L1

OS:

Android 16

Battery:

7,200mAh, 18W wired charging

Extras:

Adjustable carry strap, free stylus promotion, optional rotating metal stand

Colours:

Grey

AGM Pad P3: Design

• Slim by rugged standards
• One-handed use
• Stand is optional

Most rugged tablets are built like paving slabs. The AGM Pad P3 tries to avoid that form factor, being only 14.5mm thick, making it slimmer than many ordinary tablets with a protective case on.

My scales say it weighs 535g, although the official numbers are 540g, but that might include the provided strap. That is well under half the weight of the 8849 Tank Pad Ultra, which is a big difference if you carry a tablet all day.

The smaller 8.68-inch screen is critical to the design, letting you hold it in one hand like a large phone. That suits tradespeople on a job site, delivery staff and anyone using a tablet on their feet. An included strap supports hands-free carrying, connecting via loops through slots in each corner.

AGM offers an optional metal stand, which was included with my review machine. This relatively lightweight stand uses four tiny screws to secure it to the back of the P3. It offers a reasonably wide range of positions, from almost upright to nearly flat. In at least one position, it also supports the tablet in portrait orientation.

My only concern with the stand is that the small screws might easily be lost if you decide to remove them outdoors, and without those you won’t be able to reattach it.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The button layout is simple and predictable, with no custom buttons or special functions other than the power button and volume rocker. Because the buttons are small, there is no fingerprint reader, but it supports facial recognition from the front-facing camera.

The SIM and microSD tray was one of my least desirable aspects of the P3. The rubber plug is thin and difficult to remove, and once it's shifted, you need to then find the tray ejector from the box to get the SIM tray out. It’s all excessively fiddly, and it might have been easier without requiring a tool. The tray accepts either two SIMs or a SIM and microSD, but as this tablet supports an eSIM, that’s hardly a significant limitation.

The IP68 and IP69K ratings are the expected baseline, providing serious protection. IP69K adds resistance to high-pressure, high-temperature water jets. The AGM promotional material also cites a MIL-STD 810H drop test, but it doesn't say how far it fell or what surface it landed on. It’s normally impossible for reviewers to test devices to destruction, but the P3 looks like it could take some abuse and keep working.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

Design score: 4/5

AGM Pad P3: Hardware

• MediaTek Helio G99
• 8.68-inch 120Hz display
• 7,200mAh battery

The Helio G99 is an old friend, as I’ve covered it in both tablet and phone reviews previously. It uses two fast Cortex-A76 cores and six efficient A55 cores on a 6nm process. The Mali G57 GPU is modest, but better than what you find in budget phones. The G99 is a platform for apps, maps, documents, and video, not demanding games.

AGM has paired it with 6GB of RAM, which is adequate but not exactly indulgent. The 128GB of storage is equally fine, and the microSD slot means you can get more storage space if you need it. Cards up to 1TB are supported, although you can only use one physical phone SIM if you install a microSD.

From a hardware perspective, the most compromised feature is the screen.

At 800 x 1340 on an 8.68-inch panel, it delivers only about 180 pixels per inch. That is on the low side, making text slightly lumpy and fine detail in photos appears missing until you zoom in. On the plus side, the 120Hz refresh rate makes everything feel smoother than the resolution suggests.

AGM claims a peak of 600 nits, and it can be bright, but the glossy display still makes it hard to see in natural outdoor light. If you can find a screen protector with an anti-reflection coating that fits, it might work better outdoors.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

As I mentioned in the intro, Widevine L1 certification is included, enabling it to stream HD content from most content providers. The only caveat to that is that the screen resolution doesn’t allow for anything higher than 720p, which has been designated ‘HD’ by marketing gurus.

I wish this tablet had an HDMI port, where it could display 1080p to a suitable TV, because the tablet is undoubtedly capable of doing that. But given how many tablets have only Widevine L3 encryption, even expensive ones, AGM deserves recognition for using L1.

The 7,200mAh battery is modest, but the screen is small, and the SoC is reasonably frugal, so it still lasts a decent amount of time. The snag is that the fastest charging you can get with the included charger is 18W. Some phones can charge at 55W, and some tablets take more power than that. In my performance assessment, I’ll cover how 18W charging affects speed.

The last few points about the hardware in the P3 are that it has no 5G, though dual 4G SIM and eSIM support covers most uses. NFC and GPS are on board.

Overall, not a spectacular platform, but one that is appropriate to its price and potential uses.

• Hardware score: 3.5/5

AGM Pad P3: Cameras

• 50MP on the rear
• 8MP on the front
• Two cameras in total

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

The AGM Pad P3 has two cameras:

Rear camera: 50MP Omnivision OV50B40
Front camera: 8MP BYD BF20A1

The main camera is a 50MP unit by Omnivision, the OV50B40. For a camera sensor in a tablet, this one is reasonable, as it uses pixel binning to achieve better colour representation.

But, in my testing, it didn’t care much for low-light conditions, resulting in grainy results.

It is possible to take some good pictures with this sensor, but most are taken outside in strong natural light. As you can see in my indoor shots, this sensor tends to crush contrast and slightly wash out saturation below a certain lighting threshold.

Looking at the drivers compiled for the Android distro on this phone, it suggests there might also be a 0.3MP focusing sensor, but AGM doesn’t explicitly mention it or list it in the phone's specifications.

What it does mention for selfie taking is an 8MP BYD chip designed by that brand for cars, like parking cameras and self-driving functionality.

With many phones now coming with Sony 32MP selfie cameras, this one appears to be intended as a cost-saving measure for the makers.

What’s slightly fascinating is that the best video resolution available is the same for both front- and rear-facing cameras, that being 1080p. Although the rear can offer 60fps over 30fps on the front.

The 50MP Omnivision OV50B40 specification says it supports video at 8K at 30fps, 4K at 90fps, 1080p at 240fps, and 720p at a whopping 480fps. However, the G99 can only process 2K (2048 x 1080) at 30 fps, but the camera app doesn’t have those as options. So what does it do with all those unused sensor pixels? It has stabilisation, which is useful for shooting on the move.

Let us be realistic. Nobody buys a tablet like this for photography, I hope. It is a tool for documenting. Think site inspections, damage records and stock checks. What matters is whether the camera is quick, steady and legible.

The primary sensor is good enough for that, and the selfie camera is acceptable for quick face-to-face conversations.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)AGM Pad P3 Camera samplesMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark PickavanceMark Pickavance

• Camera score: 3/5

AGM Pad P3: Performance

• Modern SoC
• Good battery life

Tablet

AGM Pad P3

Ulefone Armor Pad Pro

SoC

MediaTek Helio G99

MediaTek Helio G88

GPU

ARM Mali-G57 MC2

ARM Mali-G52 MC2

Mem

8GB/128GB

8GB/128GB

Weight

535g

560g

Battery Capacity

mAh

7200

7,650

Geekbench

Single

726

342

Multi

2014

1239

OpenCL

1604

1137

Vulkan

1541

1127

PCMark

3.0 Score

10014

7070

Battery

19h 50m (0%)

15H 4m (20%)

Charge 30

%

22%

6%

Passmark

Score

5968

6800

CPU

4579

3280

3DMark

Slingshot OGL

2607

1652

Slingshot Ex. OGL

2584

1259

Slingshot Ex. Vulkan

2463

1313

Wildlife

1314

641

Wildlife Extreme

374

N/A

The Helio G99 is no speed demon, but it’s better than the G88 that Ulefone used in its original Armor Pad Pro. That puts it in the middle of the budget field.

The natural comparison was AGM's own Pad P2 Active, which uses the same chip, but there wasn’t much to gain from comparing such similar machines.

The more interesting aspects of these results are to do with battery life, since the G99 is a 6nm chip, and the G88 is 12nm. The reduction in track size for the G99 provides greater power efficiency, and that is reflected in the nearly 20 hours it ran PCMark battery test versus the 15 that the G88 system managed. Admittedly, the Ulefone Armour Pad Pro still had 20% of power left, hinting at another two hours and 15 minutes of runtime. But given that the battery is 6.25% larger on the Pad Pro, it's still an impressive win for the Pad P3.

Charging was abysmal on the Ulefone tablet, and while it's better on the AGM, it could still take between 2.5 and three hours to get a full charge using the included charger.

I also noticed that if you use a high-end charger, like one of the Ugreen Nexode power packs, it actually charges slower than normal. Phones and tablets that are tuned to a specific charger is a recent development, and one I’m not keen on.

Looking at these numbers, I expect everyday use to be fine with the Pad P3. The 120Hz screen helps the interface feel snappier than the silicon deserves, which is why I expect it was used. Android 16 is also a bonus, as it brings better security and, in theory, longer support.

But AGM could improve Android update availability, since they’ve historically never made it a selling point.

• Performance score: 3/5

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)AGM Pad P3: Final verdict

For tradespeople, delivery staff and field workers, the AGM Pad P3 is easy to recommend. It is tough, small and cheap. It also gets the details right that matter in daily use, like Widevine L1 and a modern version of Android.

For everyone else, it is a sensible rugged option that doesn't cost much or take up much luggage space. At this price, one shouldn’t expect miracles, obviously.

The shortcomings are plain. The screen resolution is low for the size. The Helio G99 is a budget chip, and 18W charging is slow. There is also no 5G, if that’s important to you. None of these caveats is a surprise at this price, but it's best to go into this with your eyes wide open.

Compared with the AGM Pad P2 Active, the P3 is cheaper, smaller, newer and has a faster screen, but the same underlying SoC. It lacks the removable case of the older tablet.

If you need something more powerful, bigger or with a projector, you should look elsewhere.

Which device suits you depends on how much you value portability, because that’s probably the strongest aspect of the AGM Pad P3.

Should I buy a AGM Pad P3?AGM Pad P3 Score Card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Low price for a rugged tablet with a modern OS

4/5

Design

Slim, compact and tough

4/5

Hardware

Sensible choices, but a low-resolution screen

3.5/5

Camera

Fit for documentation work, but not ideal for photography

3/5

Performance

Old SoC delivers an adequate budget platform

3/5

Overall

Easy to carry and use, and highly affordable

3.5/5

Buy it if...

You want a tablet that is easy to carry
At 14.5mm thick and with a small screen, it fits places that larger rugged tablets cannot. For those who need to hike to a remote location, or want to travel light, the AGM Pad P3 will be your lightweight companion.

You stream content on the move
Widevine L1 means HD playback on major streaming services, so you can watch movies in at least 720p, not 480p. It’s only the screen resolution that holds it back from using 1080p sources.

Don't buy it if...

Don’t buy if...

You need a sharp screen
At 800 x 1340, text and images are not crisp, and it’s not ideal for reviewing video or still image captures that are at much higher resolution than the display.

You need fast charging
An 18W charger will take a while to fill the battery, so this isn’t the tablet you need for work and forget to connect to the charger the night before. Also, you need to use the charger that came in the box to get the fastest possible charge.

Also Consider

Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra
A 200-lumen DLP projector, 120W charging, heavier at 1.6kg, but with dual 1000-lumen floodlights and auto-keystone correction. The issue is that this tablet is much more expensive, even if it has better all-around specs.

Read my full Ulefone Armor Pad 5 Ultra review

Ulefone Armor Pad Pro
Another practical, rugged design with an inbuilt camping light, with a slightly older SoC than that in the AGM Pad P3. However, it has better camera sensors and 8GB of RAM. And it has the uSmart expansion port that enables the attachment of endoscopes or microscopes.

Read my full Ulefone Armor Pad Pro reviewView Deal

For more ruggedized devices, we've reviewed the best rugged phones, the best rugged laptops and the best rugged hard drives

As Europe emerges from record-breaking summer temperatures, and as the US prepares for midterm elections in November, data centers find themselves in the firing line on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the UK, water companies say data centers are using 6.6 million liters of precious public supplies every day; in the US, some voters are blaming rises in their electricity bills on, you’ve guessed it, data centers . Bloomberg has described the data center “backlash” as a “defining midterms issue”.

And so, a narrative has been allowed to develop – that too many data centers are being built, and too quickly, and worst of all in areas where water is scarce. No wonder some communities believe their water needs are being ignored in the name of advancing IT infrastructure to support AI.

In some cases, there has been genuine cause for grievance – in an earlier era, water efficiency was not always a design constraint on data center construction.

But the public debate is now running on figures which range from outdated to plain wrong. Some of the loudest claims overstate the problem by orders of magnitude. Others, including several the industry itself repeats, understate it.

Getting the numbers right matters – and most of all to the communities that host these facilities – because bad numbers produce bad siting decisions, misdirected scrutiny, and misplaced trust.

The No.1 myth about water use

“Every ChatGPT conversation drinks a bottle of water” is the most famous quote in the public discourse about AI infrastructure and data centers. But the claim is not supported by anyone – not even its author. Traced to a single academic paper - Making AI Less “Thirsty” by Pengfei Li, Jianyi Yang, Mohammad A. Islam, and Shaolei Ren of UC Riverside – the figure was a calculated estimate built from public data, not an actual meter reading from a data center.

But a 2024 Washington Post analysis ensured the figure went viral. Since then, Ren has indicated that the GPT-4 estimate was likely far too high and that the real figure is closer to 15ml per prompt in total, of which 5ml is on-site cooling water in a data center. Then in August 2025, Google found that a median text prompt of its AI tool, Gemini, consumed 0.26ml of on-site water – or about five drops.

Credible estimates still span more than a thousandfold depending on model, location, season, and, above all, what you choose to count. But nobody is talking about bottles of water anymore – the honest answer to How much water does a query use? is a range, and the range is wide because disclosure is inconsistent.

Not all data centers are the same

Critics think all data centers are the same when it comes to water and cooling – but that’s simply not the case. Different cooling technologies use different amounts of water. Google disclosed in 2024, for example, that one of its Texas data centers consumed about 10,000 gallons in a year – roughly two months of a single household’s use – while its largest water consumer, in Iowa, used around a billion gallons. Same company, same year, but a difference of five orders of magnitude determined almost entirely by cooling architecture and climate.

There’s another myth that water used by data centers is lost forever. But again, no two facilities are the same. A data center which withdraws river water, runs it through heat exchangers and returns it to the river, at a slightly higher temperature, clearly has a very different impact from one which draws water from an aquifer and evaporates the same volume into the sky. Water withdrawal (and return) and water consumption are two different metrics. Again, bad numbers fail to tell the full story.

Golf is greedier when it comes to water

But are data centers really such water hogs? In most countries, their water use barely registers. In the US, for example, direct annual consumption by data centers accounts for 0.3% of total public supply. By comparison, golf courses use approximately thirty times more water than every American data center combined. And agriculture dwarfs both: the UN’s World Water Development Report puts farming at roughly 70% of global freshwater withdrawals.

National figures, though, obscure local impact. That’s why a single data center drawing millions of gallons of water a day, arriving suddenly in one small municipality, matters more locally than a thousand different water uses spread across a continent. It’s understandable – but important to put in context. Data centers attract community scrutiny not because they are large water users nationally but because they are concentrated and visible.

More AI doesn’t mean more water

The good news is that more AI doesn’t mean more water. The newest data centers have closed-loop designs, immersion cooling, and reclaimed-water agreements, precisely because the thermal loads of next-generation AI demand it.

The three largest hyperscalers – Microsoft, Google, and Amazon – have all committed to being “water positive” by 2030, replenishing more water than they consume. The EU, meanwhile, requires annual water reporting for data centers above 500kW. Regulation has a crucial role to play going forward.

The thirst for facts

On today’s evidence, AI data centers are a small national water user but with a real footprint. However, new engineering, better planning and regulation are achieving results. What is not yet solved is the accounting of water use. Standardized, facility-level and independently verifiable disclosure of withdrawals, discharge, and consumption would cost the industry relatively little and build trust with local communities.

Right now, the bad numbers around data centers and water use create misdirected scrutiny and misplaced trust. That needs to change. Honest accountability matters if public debate and policy are to keep pace with AI's growth.

We've reviewed, rated, and ranked the best web hosting services.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• AI startup Cathedral used autonomous agents to breach Anthropic systems through weaknesses in third-party software
• Agents accessed HR, sales, and IT data, exposing limited customer and partner information
• Incident highlights how AI-powered attackers can rapidly exploit vendor weaknesses despite strong internal defenses

An AI startup seemingly gave Anthropic a taste of its own medicine when it used AI agents to break into the company and expose sensitive data.

The company in question is called Cathedral, which was founded by former members of the defunct US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a US government initiative established to reduce federal spending and bureaucracy, while modernizing government technology and operations.

Anthropic is running a two-fold bug bounty program through HackerOne. One part is focused on finding technical flaws in Anthropic’s systems, while the other is an invite-only program that rewards researchers for finding universal jailbreaks that bypass Claude’s safety protections.

Cathedral apparently shared its results with Anthropic through the bug bounty program. After its human researchers unsuccessfully tried breaking in for a few days, they deployed AI agents which took less than 12 hours to find a way in, by exploiting flaws in third-party business software.

Violating the rules

After accessing the company’s network, the agents accessed meeting transcripts, information on salaries and job offers, as well as Slack messages. Employee conversations with Claude were not exposed, it seems.

Anthropic confirmed the news, saying Cathedral accessed a “limited set” of sales, human resources, and IT systems, and compromised contact information and basic user account records belonging to certain customers and partners. Source code and AI model weights were not accessed.

“Our monitoring flagged some of Cathedral’s activity before they reported it to us,” Anthropic said in a statement shared with The Washington Post. “We shut off their access the same day.”

According to Gizmodo, Anthropic accused Cathedral of violating the program’s rules by failing to disclose the full extent of its activity. We don’t know if that means Anthropic won’t release the payment for the bounty, but it sure sounds like it.

Paying the bounty could be the least of Anthropic’s concerns, though. The company is currently gearing up for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), with a valuation of $1.4 billion. Leaking sensitive data to anyone, including white hat hackers, is definitely not a good signal.

A 'bunch of kids' wreaking havoc

“The fact that weaknesses in ordinary enterprise software can compromise the infrastructure of even the most advanced organizations should be a wake-up call for every company in America,” the Washington Post cited Cathedral’s report as saying.

At the same time, a senior Trump administration official allegedly told Via The Independentthat “if a bunch of kids who have just started a company can do this, then potentially the Chinese aren’t far behind.”

Cathedral can hardly be described as “a bunch of kids” - it is an AI startup focused on offensive and defensive cyber operations for the US military and government. Its founders include Gavin Kliger (former Pentagon chief data officer), Luke Farritor (best known for helping decipher ancient Roman scrolls using machine learning), Marko Elez (former SpaceX staffer), and Jack Stein (apparently worked as an investment banking associate at Salem Partners before joining DOGE).

The cybersecurity community had something to say about it. Jacob Krell, Senior Director for Secure AI Solutions & Cybersecurity at Suzu Labs, wasn’t particularly phased, saying if third-party vendors are a risk everywhere, then they’re a risk at Anthropic.

"Cathedral's agents got into Anthropic the same way attackers get into everyone else, through the vendors,” Krell said. “Security maturity is capped by the weakest vendor you integrate with, and no amount of in-house engineering changes that."

Darin Fredde, Senior Director of Technical Marketing Engineering at Ridge Security, praised Anthropic’s response: "Anthropic deserves credit for reporting that its monitoring detected some of the activity and for taking containment measures. But the real measure of remediation is independent verification that those attack paths are closed. We need to stop confusing a successful patch with a verified security outcome. Otherwise, we're just closing the front door and hoping nobody discovered the spare key."

• The Ninja MultiPo XL can prepare two different dishes with different settings at the same time
• It comes with a seven-liter 'MegaZone' pot, plus two 3.1-liter pots
• It's available now for £259.99 (about $350 / AU$490)

My kitchen already contains more Ninjas than a bad kung-fu movie, all of which I've bought with my own money: Ninja has become my go-to brand thanks to clever design and decent pricing. So I'm intrigued by the launch of yet another multi-cooker, because it combines ideas from two of my favourite kitchen helpers: my multicooker and my dual-drawer air fryer.

The new multicooker is called the Ninja MultiPot XL and it comes with three pots: a seven-liter one for making big meals, and a pair of 3.1-liter ones so you can make two different things at two different settings. I thought dual-pot designs were a gimmick until I bought my air fryer, and now I'm like what's inside it: a big fan.

I've been buying multicookers since the early days of the Instant Pot, and my current multicooker model is the Ninja Foodi Max 15-in-1. It's on as I write this, making soup for the family dinner.

I love the convenience of the Max, but it's awfully big and I don't use the air fryer function. So I'm really interested in whether this new model can do what I need it to do without needing what looks like a very large Darth Vader helmet on my countertop. So let's see what this MultiPot XL can do.

The Ninja MultiPot XL has nearly the same capacity of the 7.5L Foodi Max, but it's considerably more compact (Image credit: SharkNinja)What kinds of cooking does the Ninja MultiPot XL do?

The 11 different cooking functions of the Ninja MultiPot XL are:

• Slow cook
• Sear / sauté
• Bake
• Sauce
• Rice
• Pasta
• Mixed Rice
• Sous Vide
• Simmer
• Hotpot
• Keep warm

You'll notice the absence of air frying here, but that's definitely not a deal-breaker for me. It's one of the reasons this Ninja is so much smaller than my Foodi XL despite having almost the same maximum capacity.

Looking at what I usually cook, I reckon this could easily replace my Foodi Max. I typically use mine to sear or brown meat before slow cooking it, to sauté veg before adding stock for soup, and to make pasta. The keep warm feature is something I'm used to with the Foodi Max and I use it all the time, and the presence of a sous vide option is really attractive: I've tried stand-alone sous vide gadgets before and found them too much of a fuss but I'd be tempted to experiment with sous vide salmon and steaks here.

According to Ninja the pots are oven-safe up to 428F / 220C, they're dishwasher safe (as are the lids) and they can be nested for easy storage. The glass lids are a nice touch — I can't see what i'm cooking when I close the lid of my Foodi Max — and the small size makes this really tempting to me. It's small enough to carry over to the table, too.

There are only two obvious downsides to me. The first is the lack of pressure cooking, which is something I like to use from to time, and the second is that it will almost certainly have the infamous Ninja beep alert that all my Ninjas make. But those are minor issues. If you're big on cooking ideas but short of space this looks like it could be an excellent kitchen companion.

The Ninja MultiPot XL is available now direct from SharkNinja and major retailers. The list price is £259.99 (about $350 / AU$490).

• Sony has announced a new range of PS5 controllers and console covers
• They come in three translucent finishes, including orange, green, and gray
• They play upon the transparent look that was popular in the 1990s

Translucent gaming hardware is having a moment right now, with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 and Microsoft’s see-through Xbox Series X leading the charge. Now, Sony is getting in on the act with a new range of PlayStation 5 covers and controllers that take you back to a time when seemingly everything had a touch of transparency about it.

Dubbed the Prism range, the new accessories are available in three translucent forms: Flare Orange, Emerald Green, and Graphite Gray. They come with a “premium glossy sheen for a sleek and elevated design,” Sony says, and those finishes “give players a closer look into the design and craftsmanship behind our DualSense controllers and PlayStation 5 consoles.”

As Sony alluded to, it’s not just the DualSense controller that gets the Prism treatment. The PS5 console itself can take on one of the collection’s looks thanks to three dedicated console covers that can be fixed to your PS5 to overhaul its appearance.

Sony says that the Prism PS5 controllers cost $84.99 / £74.99 / €84.99, which pushes the price a little higher than the standard PS5 controller but is in line with other special editions.

The console covers, meanwhile, will set you back $74.99 / £64.99 / €74.99. You’ll be able to pre-order the products on November 10, 2026, and they’ll officially launch on February 4, 2027.

We'll be covering the pre-orders of these products live and predict that the combination of their slick finishes and the appeal to retro and long-term PlayStation fans means they will be in hot demand!

Retro revival

(Image credit: Sony)

Many tech companies have brought out translucent devices in recent years as they seek to capitalize on the nostalgic hit the look provides for fans of ‘90s design and throwback gaming culture.

Sony is no different, with company designer Leo Cardoso saying: “We know how much our fans have been looking forward to the return of transparent controllers. We wanted to bring back the iconic see-through trend of the late ‘90s in a fresh, modern way that complements the PS5’s industrial design.”

With Sony’s main console rival Microsoft launching a translucent green Xbox Series X alongside an “OG Green” see-through controller, PlayStation bosses might not have wanted to feel left behind — or for their fans to cast envious sideways glances at their Xbox-toting friends and family members.

Now, they might not have to worry about that. And if you’re a fan of the retro aesthetic and want to bring a touch of the 1990s to your PlayStation 5, this could be one way to do it.

• Blizzard has launched a World of Warcraft: Forever mockumentary
• The show is made with British comedian Bill Bailey
• It walks viewers through the ‘strange and wonderful world’ of Azeroth

If you’ve ever been curious about the world and environments found in World of Warcraft and all its weird and wonderful inhabitants, Blizzard Entertainment has just released a new three-part mockumentary exploring everything there is to know about the company’s latest game, World of Warcraft: Forever. Just don’t take it too seriously.

That’s because the docu-series is being headed up by famed British comedian and musician Bill Bailey, who lends his voice and in-game character to the show as he walks viewers through the much-loved world of Azeroth, which has been reimagined for the launch of World of Warcraft: Forever on November 4, 2026.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the natural world,” Bailey said, “but nothing quite prepares you for Azeroth. The creatures are extraordinary, the landscapes are stunning and, unlike many other nature documentaries I’ve been involved in, I managed to stay dry and not get bitten by something. It was enormous fun exploring this strange and wonderful world,” said Bill Bailey.

Bailey has taken on the guise of a Dwarven adventurer for the series, which Blizzard says will take in “some of Azeroth’s most iconic regions, from the forests of Elwynn to the frozen wilderness of Winterspring.” You can also expect “a documentary-gone-rogue with Murlocs, Kobolds, and many more of the world’s most fascinating inhabitants.”

More episodes are on the way

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

There’s been plenty of chat surrounding World of Warcraft: Forever, with Blizzard saying it wants to focus on the “foundational lore of Warcraft” and that it’s stuffed the game world with secret content “that’s going to take people a long time to find.” That’s got plenty of gamers interested in seeing what’s coming, with the beta period extended to allow fans more time to explore the world before it launches in full.

The first episode of World of Warcraft: Planet Azeroth is available today on the official World of Warcraft YouTube channel, while episode 2 will be available on October 31, and the final episode will go live on November 6, a couple of days after the release of World of Warcraft: Forever.

That could make it the ideal warm-up act for a game that we’re excited for, albeit with some reservations. If Blizzard and Bailey can strike the right note, there could be a lot to look forward to.

It's been a busy week for Apple, with the launch of the M6 iMac and MacBook Pro M6 following Monday's OLED iPad Mini reveal — but it saved the biggest news for last today with the launch of the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, its first touchscreen laptop.

TechRadar's Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff is at Apple's event in LA, and will be bring you all of our first impressions of Apple's flagship MacBook, which Apple is calling the "world's best pro laptop".

Here's everything that happened during the launch of Apple's most significant Mac launch of the year...

Apple 'Pro and Tell' event: the story so far

• Apple has just announced the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display
• Apple launched the OLED iPad mini on Monday, October 26
• Yesterday we saw the M6 iMac and MacBook Pro M6 announced

Welcome to our 'Pro and Tell' liveblog

(Image credit: Apple)

Hello, Mark Wilson here (TechRadar's Managing editor of News, UK) and I'll be counting us down to Apple's big news today — which is expected to be an OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro.

I've been a MacBook user for 20 years (yes, I'd paid extra for the matte black MacBook in 2007), so I have lots of thoughts on these surprising rumors. I'll also be bringing you the latest from our Editor at Large, Lance Ulanoff, who's in LA right now for Apple's event.

Bur first, let's it's time for a recap of what's happened so far and a closer look at those rumors, to help warm us up...

October 28, 2026 – 11:03 AMA 'Ternus teaser'

https://t.co/2XsfEhVRJHOctober 28, 2026

Apple CEO John Ternus posted this Batman-style teaser two hours ago — and it doesn't reveal a whole lot.

The biggest social media theory is that it points to the return of the glowing Apple logo, which we haven't seen on a MacBook Pro for over a decade.

That glowing logo was more of a translucent cut-out rather than a separate LED, but it appears that Apple's found a way to bring it back without compromising its flagship MacBook's structural integrity.

It'd certainly give this probably-very-expensive laptop an extra bit of stardust over the rest of the lineup...

October 28, 2026 – 11:09 AMWhat’s Apple announced so far?

(Image credit: Apple)

The touchscreen MacBook Pro won't be the first device Apple has set loose on the world this week. Yesterday we saw the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro get a new version with the M6 chip that Apple says “delivers up to 30 percent faster graphics and up to 25 percent faster AI workloads” versus the M5. There’s also a new N1 wireless chip that enables Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

The iMac also got a spec bump with the same M6 and N1 upgrades as the MacBook Pro, and it can also support two external 4K displays at 165Hz instead of 144Hz.

Finally, Apple added AI features to its Creator Studio subscription, including Generate Fill in Pixelmator Pro and the addition of OpenAI models alongside existing Apple Intelligence options. Notably, Final Cut Pro got MotionVFX templates, graphics, transitions and more.

An impressive list, but Apple's biggest news is still likely to come...

October 28, 2026 – 11:18 AMOLED MacBook Pro: what can we expect?

The new MacBook Pro M6 (above) is likely to be overshadowed in just a day by Apple's new flagship, touchscreen OLED models (Image credit: Apple)

Perhaps thanks to the legacy of Steve Jobs’ famous hatred of them, Apple’s never done a touchscreen laptop before. With a new one set to launch today, what should we be looking out for?

Obviously, there’s touchscreen functionality, and Apple is rumored to have built an updated version of macOS to accommodate touch gestures. We’re also expecting an OLED panel — likely dubbed Super Retina XDR by Apple — with a built-in Dynamic Island and thinner bezels.

There will likely be both 14-inch and 16-inch models and options for M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. Whichever size you buy, the chassis could also come in slightly thinner than existing MacBook Pro devices.

All very impressive, but this is also likely to come at a serious cost...

October 28, 2026 – 11:37 AMOLED MacBook Pro: a pricing headache?

(Image credit: Apple)

The MacBook Pro M6 is already expensive, starting at $1,999 / £1,999 / AU$3,199. So how much can we expect to pay for a touchscreen OLED model with an M5 Pro or M5 Max chip?

The latest speculation from Bloomberg suggests the 14-inch version (with M5 Pro) could cost $2,899, which would be the highest-ever starting price for a new MacBook model. The 16-inch version, meanwhile, is tipped to cost at least $3,399.

Of course, those are just starting prices, with extra like RAM upgrades taking the prices further skywards — Apple currently charges an extra $600 / £600 to double RAM from 24GB to 48GB, for example. In other words, we should expect this to be the premium iPhone Duo of the MacBook world...

October 28, 2026 – 11:48 AMApple has gone full Hollywood

(Image credit: Future)

TechRadar's Lance Ulanoff is in LA for Apple's event today and is feeding me his first photos and thoughts.

As you can see, Apple's event is very much in the heart of Hollywood. The event's building has a lot of history too — CBS Columbia Square was built in 1938 and served as the home of CBS radio and television until 2007.

Passes are being handed out, we're just waiting to head inside...

(Image credit: Future)October 28, 2026 – 12:02 PMThe Dynamic Island could be a dark horse

(Image credit: Apple)

I’m a fan of the Dynamic Island on my iPhone 16 Pro, and despite its awkward name, it feels like a genuinely useful addition to my phone. It's a rumored addition to the new OLED MacBook Pro, and I’m intrigued to see how it plays out on a Mac.

Over the years, many developers have built their own versions of the Dynamic Island for macOS, and most of them have added handy functionality in one way or another. Now it’s Apple’s turn to show us its own take on the concept.

But really, all the Dynamic Island needs to be is an upgrade over the useless notch, which won’t be difficult. That alone could be enough to convince Mac fans of its utility, even if it doesn’t blow anyone away.

October 28, 2026 – 12:04 PMIt's time for a vote!

Okay, we've filled you in on the rumors, so now it's time to get a temperature check on your thoughts — are you interested in buying a touchscreen MacBook Pro? Let us know in the poll below...

October 28, 2026 – 12:10 PMCan Apple convince the skeptics?

(Image credit: Apple)

We've asked for your opinion on the concept of a touchscreen MacBook Pro in our poll below. But what do TechRadar's resident experts think of the idea?

I asked Alex Blake, an Apple veteran and TechRadar contributor, for his thoughts on what we might be seeing today.

"I’ve long been a touchscreen laptop doubter and agree with Steve Jobs’ pronouncement that they make your arm want to fall off. So I’m going to take some convincing that Apple’s latest effort is worth the outlay, especially when they’re rumored to cost an eye-watering $2,899 and up," he said.

"I’m also wondering why Apple is making this move now. The MacBook Pro is already the best laptop in the world without a touchscreen, so Apple must feel like it’s got something really special — as it often does — with this latest product," he added.

"Perhaps if Apple had decided to make a 2-in-1 instead of a fixed laptop, I might be more tempted. But that’s apparently not what we’re getting — and if we were, the price would be even sillier than it’s already expected to be," he said.

October 28, 2026 – 12:17 PMWe're in!FutureFutureFutureFuture

We're inside Apple's event, and it's not quite on the scale of the company's bigger keynotes.

For one, there's basically no seats, which suggests this announcement could be more about the hands-on experiences than a long presentation.

The rumors suggest that a 10am PDT / 1pm ET / 5pm GMT announcement is possible, so we might be just 40 minutes away from the official news...

October 28, 2026 – 12:28 PMWhy no M6 Pro and M6 Max chips?

(Image credit: Nvidia / Apple)

The MacBook Pro released yesterday has Apple's M6 chip, but today’s touchscreen MacBook Pro is expected to get the M5 Pro and M5 Max, not the M6 Pro and M6 Max. What gives?

According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on AI upgrades in the M7 generation that it deems so important that it has decided to skip the M6 Pro and M6 Max (and M6 Ultra) and jump right ahead to the M7 Pro and M7 Max in late 2027.

That suggests the company ditched the high-end M6 chips and moved development resources over to the M7 equivalents, but presumably also decided it was worth launching the entry-level M6 anyway.

Confusing, we know. But here’s one way to look at it: like pretty much everything these days, AI is the likely reason.

October 28, 2026 – 12:47 PM15 minutes to go

(Image credit: Future)

We've found one of the few seats available in Apple's very dark space. Unfortunately it's behind a lot of less fortunate standing people.

Earlier, our Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff managed to get this very angelic shot under the Apple logo. Not long to go now, folks...

(Image credit: Future)October 28, 2026 – 12:49 PMHow will Apple explain this?

(Image credit: Screen grab)

Apple loves to jokingly talk up its “crack marketing team,” but they’ll have their work cut out trying to frame this one, given company co-founder and patron saint Steve Jobs’ long-standing opposition to touchscreen laptops.

Sure, Apple could tell us about all the innovative software features it’s built into macOS or how the touchscreen will increase your productivity (in conjunction with Siri AI, most likely). But the fundamentals remain that same as they did years ago: this is going to involve some degree of holding your arm horizontally in a way that Jobs would said will make it want to fall off.

How is Apple going to address that elephant in the room? I’ve got no idea, but it’s going to be fascinating to see how they spin it...

October 28, 2026 – 12:56 PM5 minutes to go...

(Image credit: Future)

It seems those rumors about a 10am PDT / 1pm ET / 5pm GMT announcement were correct, judging by the number of people inside Apple's event.

We've been told that the whole experience, not just the products, should be special. It won't be long till we find out if that's classic Apple hype or hyperbole...

October 28, 2026 – 1:00 PM

Unusually, there's no live stream for this Apple event — but fortunately, we're inside the building in LA to bring you all the news as it happens.

We've been promised multiple floors of experiences — exactly how many floors you need to experience a touchscreen MacBook Pro remains to be seen...

October 28, 2026 – 1:04 PM

John Ternus has hit the stage — and the touchscreen MacBook Pro is official!

(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)October 28, 2026 – 1:10 PMThe touchscreen MacBook Pro is official

(Image credit: Future)

The 'All New MacBook Pro' (as it appears to be called) is officially here.

We don't have all the specs yet, but it has a tandem OLED display and weighs 3lbs...

FutureFutureFutureOctober 28, 2026 – 1:20 PMMacBook Pro with 'PROLED XDR Display': specsFutureFuture

The Wi-Fi at Apple's event is wobbling, but the new flagship MacBook Pro (with the dubiously-named PROLED XDR display) is already live on Apple's website.

It's available in 14-inch and 16-inch variants, with M5 Pro (16-core GPU or 20-core GPU) or M5 Max (32-core GPU or 40-core GPU) chips. Base storage starts at 1TB (going up to 16TB on the M5 Max versions), while base RAM is 24GB (going up to 128GB on the top model).

You can pre-order it now with availability starting on November 6. As rumored pricing starts at $2,899 for the 14-inch version and $3,399 for the 16-inch model...

October 28, 2026 – 1:29 PMAbout that touchscreen

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple has revealed a little more about the OLED MacBook Pro's touchscreen. It supports all the usual Multi-Touch gestures (scroll, pinch, rotate, draw and more).

Why? Apple says you can use it to manipulate 3D objects or play virtual instruments. There are also classic use cases like pinching-to-zoom on photos, docs or web pages, or sketching and annotating on the screen.

Apparently the touchscreen is on this very high-end MacBook so that designers can interact with 3D prototypes, or developers can test how touch feels in their iOS apps. All very nice, but these don't sound like revolutionary use cases for touch on a laptop — perhaps our hands-on demos will make us think otherwise...

October 28, 2026 – 1:46 PMThe first YouTube promo

Here's Apple's first video promo for the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display — tagline 'the first-ever Mac with Touch'.

Apple sells the laptop as being a "totally portable reference monitor", with up to 2,000-nits peak brightness and a 24-hour battery life for your "all-nighter". No, not that kind of all-nighter, the work-based ones...

October 28, 2026 – 1:53 PMThe launch as it happened

There was no livestream for today's touchscreen MacBook Pro event, but want to see the reveal as it happened? Here's how Apple CEO John Ternus introduced it in LA...

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar October 28, 2026 – 2:12 PMMacBook Pro PROLED: pricing

Let's take a closer look at the slightly less exciting part of Apple's new flagship MacBook Pro — its price.

The 14-inch versions starts at $2,899 / £2,899 / AU$4,599, while the base 16-inch versions comes in at $3,399 / £3,399 / $5,499. You can pre-order today, with deliveries starting on November 6.

Naturally, moving up to an M5 Max chip or boosting memory and storage will quickly ramp up that price tag. A fully maxed-out 16-inch version with all the bells and whistles? That will set you back a hilarious $14,549 / £14,549 / AU$22,424.

Still, your sweet spot will likely be somewhere in the memory and storage options below – starting with those for the 14-inch model...

(Image credit: Apple)

And these are the memory and storage options for the 16-inch version...

(Image credit: Apple)October 28, 2026 – 2:16 PMIt's time to try one...

(Image credit: Future)

Right, that's enough about specs and pricing — it's time for TechRadar's Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff to get his hands on the MacBook Pro PROLED XDR and see if it lives up the hype of being the "world's best pro laptop", as Apple calls it.