The Vergecast

In this hotline episode, guest host David Imel answers your questions about digital cameras, iPods, E Ink phones, and the TI-84 graphing calculator being iced out of the Version History Hall of Fame.

Further reading:

Amazon is launching colorful new Kindles — and a case with physical page-turn buttons

NYC is now the first city in America that bans sketchy subscriptions

HP’s answer to the MacBook Neo is thinner, lighter, and comes with OLED

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Jolly's got new competition: OpenAI just launched its competitor to Muse and Grok Bot. It's called Dots, and the headline feature is that it's also cute, with fuzzy lil triangles and clouds and hearts that you can give access to your personal accounts to do things for you. The Verge's senior AI reporter Hayden Field joins guest host David Imel from San Francisco right after OpenAI's DevDay presentation.

Further reading:

OpenAI DevDay 2026: The biggest news and announcements

The Vergecast has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote to help us win here.

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The Pokémon Trading Card Game isn't just a game, it's an economy. Livestreamers provide vicarious dopamine hits to viewers who tune in to watch them open booster packs, and the rarest cards can resell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The game's 30th anniversary collection just launched, putting more copies of the game's rarest cards back into circulation. Guest host David Imel talks about the state of the Pokémon TCG market with The Verge's film, TV and pop culture reporter Charles Pulliam-Moore.

Further reading:

OpenAI launches Dots

Nothing Headphone 1 Pro

Your new Chromebook won’t get 10 years of ChromeOS support — because support now ends 2034.

Pokémon card scalpers have turned collecting into an online blood sport

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It's a confusing time right now for gaming. Video games are becoming an increasingly expensive hobby. Games are expensive to make, too, and companies want to sell the most lucrative ones they can: Sony and Microsoft are cutting jobs to refocus on blockbusters. At the same time, we’ve got more ways to play than ever: handhelds, phones, even cloud gaming is getting better. So where are we headed? Today on The Vergecast, Sean Hollister asks that question of Shuhei Yoshida, who spent 31 years at Sony playing games and figuring out what gamers will pay for.

Further reading:

The smart home graveyard is getting crowded

There may be a way to save your June Oven after all

Nvidia says its new AI safety platform can contain rogue agents within ‘milliseconds’

Bose’s first wired earbuds in 11 years add noise canceling

Xbox is barely Xbox anymore

AI was everywhere at gaming’s big developer conference — except the games

Half of developers think gen AI is bad for the gaming industry

In 2025, AI became a lightning rod for gamers and developers

The golden age of handheld gaming is already over

The Steam Machine is the most ambitious game console I’ve ever played

The PS6 sure sounds like a handheld

The Steam Deck makes PlayStation’s biggest games portable

PlayStation exclusives aren’t coming to PC anymore

I regret buying the PSVR 2

Xbox exploring ‘radically different’ console business models

How Sony bought, and squandered, the future of gaming

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Meta's Muse AI agent is cute (sometimes caked-up) and it performs well as a productivity tool. And, if you give it access to your social media and e-mail, it can know basically everything about you. This week on The Vergecast, Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes and David Imel give their reactions to Mark Zuckerberg's demos at Wednesday's Meta Connect keynote. They also talk about the new glasses hardware, including the new VR glasses and audio-only, camera-free Ray-Bans.Then, we take a look at the newly-announced, chimeric Chrome/Android hybrid Googlebooks, find out why Brendan Carr is a dummy this week, analyze the Paramount merger, discuss what YouTube's A/B video testing means for the increasingly tenuous concept of a shared reality, and end on a surprisingly heartwarming story about RODECaster 4K support.

Further reading:

Meta Connect 2026: The 7 biggest announcements

Meta Connect 2026 live blog: On the ground at Mark Zuckerberg’s next big product launch

Meta’s Muse AI works and creeps me out

Amazon blocks Meta’s Muse AI agent

Meta ditches the camera on its newest smart glasses

Meta’s next VR device isn’t a headset — it’s glasses

These are the first five Googlebook laptops

Googlebooks feel like the first laptops built for Android owners

I got to see Google’s wild ideas about the future of laptops

The long dream of the Googlebook

Mahershala Ali On ‘Blade’ Being A Big Failure For Kevin Feige: “100%. He Should Feel That Way”

Paramount will need to release way more movies to make this merger work

Xbox is barely Xbox anymore

YouTube is cooking up new Live features.

Free Rodecaster Video firmware update adds 4K support.

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0:00 Welcome Back Banter

00:31 Meta Connect Setup

01:27 Muse First Impressions

05:28 Privacy Trust Gap

07:58 Pervert Glasses Debate

12:55 Passive Surveillance Reality

15:42 Is Muse Actually Winning

18:44 Muse Charm Post Phone

21:38 Do We Need Agents

26:12 Break And Return

26:29 New Meta Hardware

27:00 Audio Only Ray Bans

28:30 Muse Powered Glasses

31:15 Meta Bets on Muse

32:28 Hearing Aid Glasses Pitch

34:40 VR Glasses Return

39:04 Holograms and Splats

42:44 Google Books Arrive

44:57 Android Laptop Lock In

47:49 Windows Fatigue Debate

54:54 Hype Desk Blade Drama

57:14 Remembering Blade Chaos

01:00:37 Blade Reboot Frustrations

01:01:26 Sonos Sponsor Break

01:03:07 Brendan Carr is a Dummy

01:07:38 Lightning Round Kickoff

01:08:02 Meta Muse Mascot Chaos

01:09:26 Paramount Warner Deal Fallout

01:12:37 YouTube AI Channel Agents

01:14:05 A B Video Testing Ethics

01:21:25 Xbox Layoffs And Halo Shift

01:24:45 Rodecaster Free 4K Update

01:26:36 Muse Marketplace Haggling

01:27:35 Wrap Up And Next Episodes

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Meta and Snap both want to get on your face. The Verge's Victoria Song and Jay Peters tried out all the new hardware: Specs, audio-only Ray Bans, and Meta VR. Today, they join guest host David Imel to talk about how these new smart glasses feel, both physically and emotionally.

Further reading:

Meta’s next VR device isn’t a headset — it’s glasses

Meta ditches the camera on its newest smart glasses

I wore Snap’s $2,200 smart glasses

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Transportation editor Andrew Hawkins is here to answer your questions about the confluence of cars and gadgets. Could a folding phone replace a dashboard display? What to do about the iPhone Pro Max not fitting the Tesla's built-in wireless charger? And we hear from a listener who -- shockingly -- doesn't care about CarPlay.

Further reading:

The car of the future is an EV golf cart

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Nvidia's new DLSS 5 (Deep Learning Super Sampling 5) rendering technology uses AI to (theoretically) improve video game graphics. When it was announced, social media declared that it was "yassifying" video game characters, changing faces in a way game developers didn't intend. Linus Tech Tips' own Linus Sebastian and David Gauthier join guest host David Imel to break down the the hype and controversy.

Further reading:

The Beats 360 are what I’d bring to the gym if I hated earbuds

Peloton is back with a ‘cheaper’ folding treadmill

Whoop and Peloton integration is finally here

Xbox is barely Xbox anymore

Apple’s first live music venue is opening beneath its UK headquarters

Nvidia’s DLSS 5, explained

DLSS 5: Has Nvidia’s AI graphics technology gone too far?

DLSS 5 looks like a real-time generative AI filter for video games

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We tried out the new Googlebooks, which are essentially Chromebooks evolved with an Android elemental stone. They're made by Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and Asus (not Google), but all have the new Googlebook OS, heavy Android phone and Gemini integration, and a built-in "Glowbar." Laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto went hands-on with the new devices, and reports back to guest host David Imel.

Further reading:

⁠iPhone owners can now submit claims in Apple’s $250 million Siri AI settlement⁠

⁠The M5 Ultra Mac Studio tears through our benchmark tests⁠

⁠Gemini went rogue and hacked 3 companies⁠

⁠I got to see Google’s wild ideas about the future of laptops⁠

⁠These are the first five Googlebook laptops⁠

⁠Googlebooks feel like the first laptops built for Android owners⁠

⁠The long dream of the Googlebook⁠

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This week's iPhone 18 Pro discourse made aperture a priority, but today on Vergecast we zoom out to talk about the state of smart phone photography at large. Executive editor Jake Kastrenakes, guest host David Imel and senior reviewer Allison Johnson get into manual controls, "buckets of photons," and Apple and Google's strategies on how to prove a picture you took is real. Then, senior AI reporter Hayden Field returns to The Vergecast, just a few new revelations of misaligned behavior since her last appearance. She breaks down who's calling for a slowdown, who's full steam ahead, and the prisoner's dilemma facing the industry. And in the lightning round, we cover robotaxis calling the cops, the Boox Palma 3 e-reader, and the latest crop of intentionally low-quality digital cameras.

Further reading:

Version History: Oregon trail

iPhone 18 Pro review: it's all about the manual controls

The variable aperture isn’t the cool part of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera

Apple’s new iPhone camera mode promises to prove your photo isn’t AI

Inside the suddenly explosive world of AI safety

Your robotaxi might be a narc

Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun

The Boox Palma 3 gets stylus support and a sleek redesign

Camp Snap’s 110D gives slim retro film cameras a digital upgrade

Fujifilm’s Instax Pal 2 is a tiny digital camera that may not disappoint

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0:00 Welcome and lineup00:30 Version History returns02:08 Oregon Trail livestream plug02:36 Apple camera geekout02:59 Apple's new CEO Emmy moment05:23 iPhone 18 Pro upgrades08:33 Pro controls usability11:46 RAW vs ProRAW explained14:35 Signal to noise deep dive21:35 Photographic styles debate25:25 Reference Image authenticity32:40 What we want next41:40 AI safety drama begins42:36 AI Safety Freakout46:10 Liability And Regulation51:34 China Race Narrative54:43 Pace The Frontier Plan55:54 Auditors Inside Labs01:00:22 Prisoners Dilemma Problem01:04:38 Accountability Dead End01:08:45 Waymo Calls The Cops01:14:56 The E Reader Race01:19:56 Tiny Retro Cameras01:26:32 Wrap Up And Goodbye

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Senior reviewers Allison Johnson and Victoria Song trade host and guest duties in a Vergecasting ouroboros that's never been attempted before and will probably never be attempted again. Allison talks about the iPhone 18 Pro's new camera, Victoria talks about the Watch 12 and Ultra 4's new sensors, and they both give their verdicts on who should upgrade.

Further reading:

The iPhone 18 Pro’s big camera update is all about the small gains

The Apple Watch Series 12 is the start of a new wearable era

Your ‘health age’ is fake

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Last week, an Anthropic researcher resigned and posted on X, "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade." These warnings are nothing new, but this one managed to break into the mainstream. So, do the people making AI really think it could kill us all? How? And if it really could be as dangerous as they say, why would anyone continue to work on it? Senior AI reporter Hayden Field joined us to answer your questions about the AI freakout.

Further reading:

The iPhone 18 Pro’s big camera update is all about the small gains

Meta is reportedly ready to launch less pervy smart glasses

The Boox Palma 3 gets stylus support and a sleek redesign

Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’

What execs and politicians are saying about slowing down AI development

Is Big Tech’s AI slowdown a safety pact or a cartel?

Trump and Mike Johnson think the AI industry is overreacting

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Two years ago, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt released his book, The Anxious Generation. In it, he argued that the rise of social media and smartphone use is to blame for the prominent decline in teen mental health since 2010. This month, psychology researcher Peter Gray takes on that narrative with his book, Restoring Childhood. In a conversation with senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner, Gray argues that school — not social media — is the real culprit.

Further reading:

The premium AirPods 5 are the best open-ear earbuds Apple has made

All dressed up with hardware to go.

A street photographer tested Dyson’s new CameraJet toothbrush.

What if social media isn’t hurting kids?

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Sean Hollister got his hands and face on Valve's new VR headset, the Steam Frame. It's expensive, starting at more than $1,000. It's buggy — he and CNET's Scott Stein both felt like beta testers as they reviewed it. But it's also full of interesting ideas, including the promise that Steam games could one day come to your mobile phone. This week on The Vergecast, Sean and Scott discuss who exactly this device is for, in a world that mostly seems to have moved on from VR.

Further reading:

Is it time for AI companies to press pause?

Waymo pulls over, calls cops on riders with a ghost gun

Your car is selling your data

LG responds to TV spying allegations

The Steam Frame is made for irresponsible hardware nerds like me

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Apple did the one more thing: This week it announced its much-anticipated folding phone. It also announced some surprising and controversial new AI features for Apple Watch, including "Live Rewind," which gives the user a text transcript of the last 15 seconds of real life.

On today's Vergecast, Allison Johnson and Vee Song report back from California after having more hands-on time with Apple's new devices. Plus, Nilay Patel and David Imel take another swing at discussing Mac Minis and local LLMs with AI researcher CJ Trowbridge. Finally, Allison and Jake tackle some non-Apple stories in the truly rapid-fire thunder round.

Further reading:

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: Our first hands-on impressions

The variable aperture isn’t the cool part of the iPhone 18 Pro’s camera

Hands-on with the foldable iPhone Duo

Hands-on with the new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4

Apple Watch Series 12 has an always-on Siri that makes AI recaps of your day

Read the Apple document explaining how new listening features still protect your privacy

Mathematicians want proof OpenAI didn’t use their work

OpenAI’s sly mathematical breakthrough sends a chill through academia

Drama swirls around OpenAI’s legendary mathematical milestone

The Trump phone just got a $250 price hike

Six years later, Sony revisits its legendary XM4 headphones

Hori’s electronic Ocarina of Time requires no musical talent.

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For years, big tech companies have embedded their products into the classroom whether through Google's Chromebooks or computer science curricula developed by Apple or Microsoft. The industry pushed a generation of kids to foster coding skills with the promise of high-paying jobs. Now, those students are finding themselves less in demand as AI takes over, and the industry seems to be repeating its playbook. Senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner talks to Natasha Singer, author of the new book "Coding Kids," about how big tech worked its way into the classroom, and why Natasha is optimistic about educators’ response to the AI push.

Further reading:

Schools are catching on to Big Tech’s playbook

Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’

Meta’s Muse AI works and creeps me out

Another big James Talarico interview is punted to YouTube due to FCC threats

Apple asks: have you ever imagined iOS devices doin’ it?

⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Live from Apple Park, Nilay Patel and Victoria Song join Jake Kastrenakes, Dominic Preston and Cameron Faulkner to talk about the iPhone Duo and the new Apple Watches. We also talk about the new iPhone 18 Pro's variable aperture and the AirPods 5.

Further reading:

All the news from Apple’s ‘Surprise and shine’ event

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At this year's London Marathon, two runners completed the route in under two hours, becoming the first people to ever do so on an official course. It's a feat that Outside magazine's Alex Hutchinson once thought wouldn't be accomplished until 2075. The Verge's senior policy reporter (and marathoner) Lauren Feiner talks to Alex about "super shoes" and the other surprising technological advances that led to this moment.

Further reading:

The Fairphone 6 Plus is the midrange phone we desperately needed

The real reason your phone is getting more expensive

What to expect at Apple’s September 9th launch event

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OpenAI announced its next big model, GPT-6 Astra, and also, by the way, that AGI is here now.Today on The Vergecast, we've got an all-star panel to break down the news of the week.First, senior AI reporter Hayden Field joins us to talk about our supposed AGI era and Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face. Then, our friend Joanna Stern pops in to talk about new Apple CEO John Ternus, old Apple CEO Tim Cook, and to, most importantly, speculate on the format of next week's Apple keynote.We wrap things up with a super-special lightning round from the IFA electronics show in Berlin. Senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy and editor Dominic Preston each pick out the five most interesting gadgets they saw at the show.And two more things: Vergecast producer Travis Larchuk pops in to tell his tale of identity theft woe and warn you that he isn't the one DMing you on Twitter to ask you to be on The Vergecast. Plus, Brendan Carr is a dummy.

Further reading:

OpenAI’s next big AI model has ‘entered the AGI era’

Researchers fear safety disaster ahead of OpenAI’s Astra release

OpenAI delayed its new model’s development after the Hugging Face hack

Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for almost $13 billion

John Ternus sends first memo as Apple CEO teasing a ‘huge launch next week’

Phil Schiller is leaving his biggest jobs at Apple

Siri AI is already changing how I use my iPhone

IFA 2026: the biggest tech and gadget announcements

This might be the fanciest toothbrush launch ever.

Anker’s new MindBase is an AI-powered brain for your smart home

This NAS company wants to run your local smart home

I want to wrap myself in Hue’s new Liane rope lights

Homey just made the smart home controller I hoped Apple would

The robot butler dream doesn’t have legs

Here’s Xiaomi’s wide 18 Fold

I held the first truly bezel-free phone

Acer’s new concept hardware is a gaming handheld with a keyboard

Lenovo’s new MacBook Neo competitor comes in two sizes and seven colors

Packard Bell is back, and more colorful than ever.

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0:00 Welcome00:46 Fake Travis warning03:01 OpenAI's Astra model05:45 Safeguards and delays08:55 Opaque recurrence fears13:08 What Astra does well18:08 Access tiers and rollout19:53 Nvidia buys Hugging Face23:04 Is this really AGI26:28 AGI vibes and Microsoft clause32:17 Apple event preview33:41 Ternus keynote politics39:43 Keynote Vibes Shift40:23 Tim Cook Era Review44:56 Services And Fees Machine47:15 Phil Schiller Steps Back49:52 Event Predictions Fold And AI55:43 Siri AI Real Use Cases58:32 Smart Home Display Rumors59:47 Bets And Keynote Structure01:05:19 Brendan Carr Is A Dummy01:09:23 IFA Lightning Round01:10:49 Philips Hue Smart Lighting01:11:03 Hue Rope Light Rave01:11:44 Sticker Shock Pricing01:13:03 Xiaomi Wide Foldable01:15:43 Dyson Camera Toothbrush01:20:31 Tecno Bezelless Concept01:22:42 Local AI Smart Home Hub01:27:09 MacBook Neo Clones01:29:35 Homey Dial Controller01:33:39 Acer DualPlay Handheld01:36:19 Dreame Humanoid Robot01:39:44 Packard Bell Revival01:42:17 Wrap Up And Credits
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Apple's big hardware event is coming next week. iPhones are the main draw, but senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has her eyes on the rumors around — what else? — smart home gadgets. Andrew O'Hara from the Smart Home Insider podcast joins Jen to fire up the Rank-o-Matic and speculate on which rumored gadgets are most likely to see the light of day.

Further reading:

OpenAI’s next big AI model has ‘entered the AGI era’

Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for almost $13 billion

Microsoft slashes Xbox Cloud Gaming to just 15 hours a month for Ultimate subscribers

Microsoft opens up Xbox Cloud Gaming with new pay-as-you-go option

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Data centers have been a staple of Loudoun County since the early dot-com boom, but recent expansions have left some residents wondering how much more the county can take. In this episode, guest host David Imel talks to Lauren Feiner about her recent article detailing the buildout of “Data Center Alley,” what it means for residents, and what other counties reeling with similar buildouts can learn from it.

Further reading:

Is this the future of America?

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Elizabeth Lopatto recently wrote about Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word AI manifesto in her piece, "Mark Zuckerberg doesn't understand how to live." Today, she joins guest host David Imel and senior wearables reviewer Victoria Song for a freewheeling discussion about what happens when we let AI make decisions for us.

Further reading:

Mark Zuckerberg doesn't understand how to live

Dyson made a camera-equipped toothbrush that flosses for you

Markiplier is now GoPro’s biggest shareholder

GoPro has been acquired and is getting into ‘defense, government, robotics and aerospace’

John Ternus is now the CEO of Apple

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Skyrocketing RAM prices put a spotlight on product longevity and repairability, which makes this a particularly apt time for Fairphone to launch its first smartphone sold directly in the United States. Today, David Imel talks to CEO Raymond van Eck about the Fairphone 6+, the company's goals of user-repairability and ethically-sourced materials, and what place AI has in the future of Fairphone.

Further reading:

⁠Read Tim Cook’s final message to Apple staff as CEO⁠

⁠Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell are suing Anthropic⁠

⁠Google capitulates in Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario.⁠

⁠MapQuest downloads surge after refusing to rename Lake Ontario.⁠

⁠MapQuest knows this whole thing is ridiculous.⁠

⁠Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US⁠

⁠The new Fairphone 6 Plus gets a perfect repairability score.⁠

⁠The Fairphone 6 no longer feels like a compromise (except in the US)⁠

⁠This environmentally conscious smartphone is finally coming to the US⁠

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

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This week Apple announced a Mac Mini made for AI and a Mac Studio made for AI, both with faster M6 and M5 Pro chips made for AI. But that's all an amuse-bouche to Sept. 9's (expected) main course: the long-awaited folding iPhone. Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes, and David Imel run through all of this week's Apple news, including the most important story: a surprise discount on the legendary polishing cloth.Then, they react to Meta's settlement in its latest kids safety trial, geek out about Grand Theft Auto VI with the Hype Desk's Ashley Esqueda, check out the Pokémon Fitbit, and decide if Nvidia just saved the global economy.

Further reading:

⁠File a comment with the FCC⁠

⁠Apple announces September iPhone launch event⁠

⁠Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute⁠

⁠Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra⁠

⁠Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices⁠

⁠Apple’s ‘new’ polishing cloth is the same except $10 cheaper⁠

⁠Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement⁠

⁠Meta is planning an ad blitz urging TikTok and YouTube to follow its lead.⁠

⁠All the ways Instagram and Facebook are changing for teens⁠

⁠Rockstar finally responds to ‘heartbreaking’ GTA 6 leaks⁠

⁠Fierce Network: FCC opens comments on E-Rate as the program gets attacked in court⁠

⁠Nvidia is about to be a hundred-billion-dollar-a-quarter company⁠

⁠Panic is passing Playdate tariff refunds on to customers.⁠

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0:00 Welcome to the Vergecast01:26 Apple Mac AI Hype02:26 Mac Mini Agent Craze06:32 Mac Studio vs Nvidia11:43 Price Hikes and Cloth17:01 iPhone Event Invite17:38 iPhone Fold Debate21:30 Camera Crash Out26:57 Meta Settlement Breakdown28:59 First Amendment Fallout36:59 Age Verification Push39:30 Filter Rules and Loopholes44:11 Will Teens Just Switch Apps45:20 Reels Versus Shorts46:35 Government Next Steps47:39 Break And Reset47:50 GTA VI Showcase54:29 Leaks And Spoilers57:12 Can GTA Save Games01:00:51 GTA Online Money01:02:04 Brendan Carr is a Dummy01:03:45 E Rate Fight01:08:46 Nvidia Earnings Hype01:17:50 Pokemon Sleep Fitbit01:22:41 Waymo Versus Tesla01:28:34 Decoder And Goodbye
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If, after months of increasingly dire RAMageddon warnings, you just now find yourself in the market for a new laptop... we're here to help. In the latest installment of our "RAMageddon Survival Guide," laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto joins David Imel to offer his recommendations.

Further reading:

Apple announces September iPhone launch event

Xbox announces disc-to-digital feature that digitizes your physical games

Xbox’s limited-edition green Series X is already sold out

Panic is passing Playdate tariff refunds on to customers

A RAMageddon guide to back-to-school laptop shopping

An okay laptop with 16GB of RAM is better than a nice laptop with 8GB, and this $520 HP OmniBook proves it

This is my new favorite laptop, but thanks to RAMageddon the price already went up by $800

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Two-hour usage limits, age verification, and a $17.1 billion payout: We're breaking down today's big settlement in Meta's kids online safety trial. Senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner and senior tech and policy editor Adi Robertson discuss how we got here, why Meta settled, and what this means for the ongoing conversation around teen mental health and social media.

Further reading:

Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement

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It can be hard enough to set up smart home tech in a house or an apartment, but what about a dorm room? Jennifer Pattison Tuohy recently tested out some smart home tech when she dropped off her son for his freshman year at Clemson. Jen reports back to David Imel on how the gadgets stood up to the challenges of college Wi-Fi and rules against hanging things on the wall.

Further reading:

Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute

Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices

Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra

Android is getting its own weird dots to cure car sickness

WhatsApp is making it easier to ignore spam calls

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Do you remember your first BlackBerry? Do you remember when that first BlackBerry launched? On this episode taped before David Pierce went on leave, producer Travis Larchuk leads David, Nilay, and The Verge’s Sean Hollister through a game of memory and history and a surprising amount of feelings tied to gadget launches.

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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Smart phone cameras have been getting better and better at capturing flawless, true-to-life images. But is that what the people really want?David Imel joins Nilay Patel and Jake Kastrenakes to talk through the Pixel 11's Camera Looks. They're Google's nod to the trend of retro digital and analogue cameras, and alter how a photo is processed on the sensor level. At the same time, its super zoom is still hallucinating text and making stuff up.

Then it's a supersized Brendan Carr is a Dummy, with increasingly infuriating tales of how Brendan Carr is being a Dummy, culminating in the FCC's quest to make sure your internet connection remains slow.

Plus, we talk through the confounding AirPods camera leak, the Fairphone, and YouTube's new method for counting views.

Further reading:

Google is making the Pixel cameras better by making them worse

Revealed: FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close coordination with White House and rightwing media

ABC sues the FCC over Trump and Carr’s campaign of threats

FCC abolishes gigabit speed goal, suggesting it is unfair to slower technologies

Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods appear in leaked video

Meta glasses are a workplace menace

Apple reportedly won’t launch AirPods with cameras until next year.

Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US

YouTube is changing how it counts views to give the numbers a boost

YouTube is reportedly offering channels “millions of dollars” not to cross-post videos on Netflix.

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Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.
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