The iPhone 17E is good, but you probably shouldn’t buy it
The iPhone 17E is a better value than the 16E was when it arrived, but that should matter to basically nobody. The main thing to know about the 17E is that the iPhone 17 exists, it costs $200 more - or maybe more significantly, an extra $9 per month on a two-year payment plan not […]
Apple iPad Air M4 review: a little bit faster now
The newest iPad Air is a chip bump iPad - maybe the chip-bump-iest iPad Air yet. Inside this new machine are, in fact, three upgraded chips compared to last year's model: an M4 processor, a C1X cellular modem, and an N1 chip that brings the Air Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support. That is […]
How Live Nation allegedly terrorized the concert industry
SeatGeek was close to a deal that would bring its ticketing business to the next level. The company was in negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys, aiming to take over first-party sales at its stadium. But there was one sticking point: "the concert issue." The team feared that if it dropped SeatGeek's rival Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster's parent […]
Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next
Fresh off launching the low-cost MacBook Neo, Apple is reportedly preparing at least three new products that will fit into its highest-end "ultra" lineup. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gruman, the next batch of releases may not bear the "ultra" name, like its Watch, but will all command price premiums over their mainline counterparts. There's the […]
Listen to this: Mabe Fratti’s experimental cello pop
The opening notes of "Kravitz", which kicks off Mabe Fratti's 2024 record Sentir Que No Sabes, are lodged in my brain permanently. It's not a showy album, by any means. But there's something about the buzzing of her cello, plucked as you might an upright bass. The way they ring out before coming to an […]
What we’re listening to, watching, and reading right now.
There is so much art out there that it’s absolutely impossible to keep up. Whether it’s a slept-on post-punk album from the ‘80s, a new sci-fi novel, or a cult classic horror movie, we’re always finding new obsessions here at The Verge — and we want to share those obsessions with you. Sometimes that might […]
The best Switch 2 controller just got better (and a little worse)
Crowning the EasySMX S10 the best Switch 2 controller last fall was easy. The $60 wireless gamepad, which is often well below $50, mimics or improves on many of the $90 Switch 2 Pro controller's best features. The S10 has great-feeling rumble in games, TMR joysticks that will last longer than Nintendo's, plus amiibo support, […]
The cute and cursed story of Furby
The hottest toy of 1998 was sort of adorable, and sort of annoying. It couldn't do much - couldn't do anything, really - but it could look at you, it could say some nonsense phrases, and it seemed uncannily aware of the world around it. That's all Furby needed to pretty much take over the […]
The uncomfortable truth about hybrid vehicles
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the EV struggle, follow Andrew J. Hawkins. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started Apologies to the Toyota Prius, but the first hybrid vehicle […]
Sony appears to be testing dynamic pricing on PlayStation games
A site called PSprices has been tracking prices on Sony's digital game store and noticed something unusual: some games were being offered at different prices to different users. What's more, those offers are tracked in the PlayStation API with experiment identifiers like IPT_PILOT and IPT_OPR_TESTING. Dynamic pricing is nothing new and is used across a […]