Apple’s 2023 MacBook Pro update gives its pro-performance laptops the most power they’ve ever had. The upgrades go beyond just the Apple Silicon chips, though.
As rumored, Apple has revealed a new Mac mini, and the company’s latest M2 and M2 Pro SoCs are at the center of this bite-sized refresh.
As far as the right to repair goes, Samsung may be choosing a side, at least for several of their most popular devices.
When Apple released its first M2 MacBook Variants last year, the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, we were torn. The Air’s design and feature set made the 13-inch Pro look ancient, but its lack of a fan put a cap on its utility for power users. Now the M2 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are here to rectify the…
Scream VI teases some of the New York locales Ghostface will visit. The Last of Us shows off what to expect for the rest of the season. Plus, get a look at what’s in store on Superman & Lois, Syfy’s new space-disaster colony show The Ark, and Poker Face. Spoilers get!
Uber is expanding its electric car rentals to Europe. The ridesharing service has expanded its deal with Hertz to provide up to 25,000 EVs to European capital cities by 2025, including those from Polestar and Tesla. The rollout will begin in London this month, and will reach hubs like Amsterdam and Paris as soon as 2023. Rates and other details will be available in “due course,” Uber says.
The companies first teamed up in late 2021, when Hertz pledged to offer up to 50,000 Tesla rental EVs to Uber drivers in the US. Last spring, Hertz said it would add as many as 65,000 Polestar EVs to its fleet within five years. The rental car agency claims its Uber partnership in North America has been successful — almost 50,000 drivers have rented Tesla vehicles so far.
Both firms see the European expansion as key to furthering their goals. Uber says it plans to be a “zero-emissions platform” in London by 2025, and completely electric in Europe and North America by 2030. Hertz, meanwhile, has set out to offer “one of the largest” EV fleets worldwide.
Neither brand may have much choice, however. The UK and European Union intend to ban sales of new fossil fuel cars by 2035, and the EU agreement also demands cutting new car emissions by 55 percent from 2030. Many automakers operating in Europe, like Ford and Volvo, expect to drop combustion engines by 2030. Uber and Hertz will have to adopt EVs in the next several years, and these rentals could help ease the transition for drivers who can’t justify buying the technology at this stage.
Samsung expanded its self-repair program for Galaxy devices today, adding the latest flagship smartphones and, for the first time, PCs. As you may remember, the initiative is a team-up with iFixit, which provides tools and online self-repair guides.
Starting today, you can order repair kits for the 15-inch models of the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360. Supported PC repairs include the display, battery, touchpad, case (front and rear), power key with fingerprint reader, and rubber foot. Additionally, Samsung added the Galaxy S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra kits. It supports repairs for the display assemblies, rear glass and charging ports for those phones.
The newly supported models join the program’s initial lineup of the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S21 and Galaxy Tab S7+. The new kits still include a free return label to help you send used parts to Samsung for recycling. All the new kits are available starting today.
While Apple’s program covers more components (including cameras and SIM trays), it also requires you to rent or buy a separate toolkit and talk with someone on the phone to complete the process. With Samsung’s kit, you only need to buy the part and follow the instructions.
Samsung frames its self-repair program as being about convenience and the environment — and it can be beneficial for both of those things. But the elephant in the room is Right to Repair legislation on federal and state levels. New York and Massachusetts have passed laws mandating self-repair programs, while the White House has also pushed for it. In 2021, President Biden ordered the FTC to tackle “unfair anti-competitive restrictions on third-party repair or self-repair of items” in the farming and technology industries. So although Samsung’s and Apple’s programs are good for consumers, it’s a stretch to think this would happen without the threat of government legislation.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was mocked for his questionable move.
If you’re watching HGTV or Netflix, there’s a chance that you might run into a show hosted by an influencer who shills for the natural gas industry. An industry group is using federally sanctioned funds that are supposed to go to consumer education to pay for influencers and celebrities to promote natural gas and…
If you’re looking for new routers, mesh WiFi systems and smart home devices, such as lights and plugs, TP-Link is selling quite a few at a discount on Amazon. The TP-Link Archer AX73 WiFi 6 router is currently available for $140, which, while not quite its lowest price on the website, is still 30 percent off retail. The company says it was designed with 8K streaming in mind. If you’re a frequent and serious gamer, TP-Link’s Archer GX90 WiFi 6 Gaming router is also on sale for $200, which is the lowest we’ve seen it go for on the website.
Buy TP-Link modems, routers and smart home devices at Amazon – up to 53 percent off
Archer GX90 is a tri-band router, which provides a 4.8 Gbps dedicated band for your gaming needs. It can detect and optimize game streams, and it comes with eight detachable antennas that give it the power to provide WiFi coverage for a four-bedroom house. Meanwhile, TP-Link’s Archer AXE300 Quad-Band WiFi 6E router has dropped back down to its all-time low of $480. It can deliver WiFi speeds of up to 15.6 Gbps and provide access to a new 6 GHz band. Like the Archer GX90, this router also comes with eight antennas to ensure WiFi coverage for big homes. But if you still need mesh WiFi systems to help boost coverage, there are a couple on sale right now, as well.
You can get a three-pack bundle of the TP-Link Deco P9 Hybrid Mesh WiFi system, which can provide coverage for a 6,000 sq. ft. home, for $150. That’s 35 percent less than its typical price. Meanwhile, a two-pack bundle of the TP-Link Deco X20 is on sale for $104 or 42 percent lower than retail. The two WiFi 6-capable mesh devices can cover over an area up to 4,000 sq. ft. in size.
If you’re looking for smart home devices, you can also find Kasa and Tapo by TP-Link-branded products in the list. The Kasa Smart Plug Mini is on sale for $13, down $7 from retail. It can add voice control support to any outlet, particularly for Alexa and Google Assistant. The device also allows you to switch off electronics from anywhere using the Kasa app and to monitor the consumption of anything that’s plugged into it. In addition, the TP-Link sale includes Kasa Smart Bulbs for $35 (22 percent off), as well as Kasa and Tapo light strips for up to 44 percent off.
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