You will need iOS version 14.5 or later to download and use this feature. If you have version 14.5 or are up to date, the firmware update should have already occurred as it downloads automatically.
You can check if you have the right firmware by going to the Items tab in the Find My app. Tapping on AirTag will let you know if you have the new firmware. If you don’t have the AirTag change, you’ll probably get it later as Apple says the firmware update will be sent out again periodically.
Just make sure the AirTags are within 33 feet of your iPhone, which is the maximum Bluetooth signal range for the device.
A stalking problem
This firmware update is part of a series of changes coming to AirTag after it was discovered they were being used to stalk people. The purpose of the louder sound is to make finding unknown AirTags easier to locate.
The AirTags themselves are a neat device. They’re a great way to locate missing items, but some bad actors just had to ruin it for everyone. In February 2022, some modified AirTags were found being sold with their safety features disabled.
The good news is that Apple quickly discovered this glaring problem and took action. The company stated at the time that it was working with law enforcement on AirTag misuse and laid out a plan for future changes.
It took a while, but those changes are finally here.
Updates down the line
Increasing the AirTag’s volume is the first of four updates. Apple plans on bettering its unwanted tracking alert system to notify people earlier if some unknown AirTag is on their person.
If you were a part of the iOS 15.4 beta, you might have seen an inkling of this as a message would appear during AirTag setup stating misusing these devices to stalk is illegal.
There are also changes coming to Precision Finding and displays alert, but the details of these updates are still unknown. Apple has said very little other than they will be coming out later in 2022.
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Even with supply chain constraints, Covid lockdowns in Shanghai, and a war in Ukraine, Apple managed another record quarter, earning $97.3 billion mostly on the back of an apparently very well-received iPhone 13 line.
The Cupertino, California, company released earnings numbers late Thursday and followed with an earnings call with analysts that, while painting a mostly positive picture, did outline warning signs in the supply chain, Covid, inflation, and European headwinds.
Consumers bought into virtually every product category Apple has to offer, pushing the iPhone up to a total of $50.5 billion in total sales, the Mac to $10.4 billion, wearables to $8.8 billion, and the fast-growing services category (which now has 825M paying subscribers) to $19.8 billion.
If there was one cautionary tale among the group, it's the iPad, which fell 2% year over year to $7.6 billion. "We’re continuing to see such a strong demand for iPad even while navigating strong supply constraint," said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the earnings call.
The story on the iPad, which recently saw the release of the iPad Air with an M1 chip is not that isn't selling poorly, but that getting components to build the product (for iPad and Macs) is more challenging than ever.
The question of supply constraints and, in particular, silicon shortages came up repeatedly during the call as analysis wondered if Apple should be doing something to shore up supplies.
Cook essentially dismissed the idea. "In today’s world, not possible for us to have a buffer on silicon. [It] rolls off the fab into a final assembly very quickly."
The Mac was another bright spot for Apple, which is crediting Apple Silicon (the M1 line of chips) for much of that growth. The commitment to Apple Silicon, noted Apple CFO Luca Maestri, shows up in the results. He said they've experienced the best eight quarters ever for Macs.
Tough road ahead?
Apple, like other corporations around the world, is starting to return to normal and Cook said Apple is excited to welcome employees back to offices but added that it's "still monitoring Covid-related disruptions in China."
The subject of Covid and disruption in the Shanghai factories that assemble many of Apple's products came up repeatedly. Cook tried to paint a positive picture. "On a positive front, almost all final assembly factories have restarted. Also encouraged that the Covid case count in Shanghai has decreased in recent days," he told investors.
Still, the lockdown had little effect on this quarter and seems to be part of a darker picture in the coming months. Apple is, like everyone else, dealing with inflation across the price of components (though Cook said some component prices are falling while others rise), shipping costs, the war in Ukraine, continue silicon shortages.
Talking about global challenges that we all face, Cook said, "We are not immune to these challenges, but we have great confidence in our people strategy and teams."
When pressed about how inflation might impact consumer product prices, Cook demured but made it clear that they're keeping an eye on how inflationary pressures impact sales.
"Obviously monitoring our daily sales very closely." Cook said Apple is seeing the impacts in sales and operating costs this past quarter and is assuming it will continue in the current one. He added, "[We're] definitely seeing some level of inflation that I think everyone is seeing."
Cook and Maestri offered not a hint in the call of what is to come. There was scarcely a mention of AR, VR, new innovations, future iPhones, or wearables. The closest anyone came to offering a whiff of what consumers can expect from Apple in the coming months is in regard to services when Maestri told analysts, “We plan to add new services and new features that we think customers will love.”
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Laptops are boring. There, I’ve said it. This is because back in 2020, Apple launched the best laptop ever made – the MacBook Air (M1, 2020), and even two years later, it hasn’t been beaten… until now (maybe).
The LG Gram 14 has just been announced, and it’s the first time I’ve been excited about a laptop for a while. If LG nails it, this may be the laptop that convinces me to finally ditch the MacBook Air. I may even stop annoying everyone by telling them to buy Apple’s thin and light laptop. I never thought I’d be one of those people who bang on about Apple products, but annoyingly the fruit-themed company went and made a brilliant laptop.
So, why am I so excited about the LG Gram 14? Over the years, I’ve reviewed several LG Gram laptops, and I’ve always been impressed by how light they are. While using the LG Gram 17, I just couldn’t get my head around how a 17-inch laptop could feel so light, so every time I picked it up, I was surprised. I can’t say that about a lot of the laptops I review.
The LG Gram 14 should be even lighter (due to being smaller), and I think 14-inches is the sweet spot for the perfect laptop screen. I find 15-inch and above laptops to be too big to carry around comfortably, and trying to use one on public transport can end up being extremely frustrating.
Meanwhile, 13-inch laptops are far more portable (and are comfortable to use on trains and buses), but the screen can feel a little cramped.
But, 14-inch laptops manage to be just as portable, while offering a touch more screen real estate that makes them more comfortable to use, and 14-inch laptops are becoming ever more popular.
Analysis: Potentially the new best laptop?
(Image credit: LG)
Not only does the LG Gram 14 have the potential to be an extremely lightweight laptop that’s easy to carry around and comfortable to work on, but according to LG’s website for the new laptop, it’ll be a pretty formidable performer as well.
It comes with Windows 11, as well as new 12th generation Intel Core processors and LPDDR5 RAM. So, it should offer excellent performance, and as an Intel Evo-certified laptop, we should also expect almost instant wake-up speeds and a battery life longer than 9 hours.
If the LG Gram 14 lives up to its potential, this could finally be the laptop to knock the MacBook Air off the top of our best laptops list. We’ll hopefully get it in soon to see if Apple has anything to be worried about.
You might not think the best Amazon Kindles have any flaws whatsoever, and admittedly they're fantastic devices for reading on the go, but some of the best ereaders have something Kindles don't: color screens.
That's right, color screens are in vogue in ereaders right now, and it's something we've seen on lots of Kindle wishlists before - but could the feature be coming to Amazon's devices? Some people think so, thanks to a new color ereader panel that's been announced.
E Ink, the company which makes screens for many ereaders, has announced a new type of E Ink panel (via Business Wire) which has both black-and-white and color modes. The latter uses cyan, magenta, yellow and white ink, which is similar to the CMYK color model used in lots of publishing except with white instead of black.
This isn't E Ink's first color screen, but it's apparently much more responsive to touch than the previous versions, offers a higher resolution, and updates much quicker too. It also supports pen input, which will be useful for ereaders that come with styli for sketching.
So why are we tying this new E Ink screen to Amazon's Kindles? Well, Kindles do use displays from E Ink, so the collaboration wouldn't be out of the question - but there are some reasons that readers might get really excited for a new color Kindle.
Analysis: why some might love a color Kindle
Despite Kindles' popularity as ereaders, they have plenty more functions than just for enjoying novels. They're great for reading business documents, and also support audiobooks, magazines and comic books.
Those three forms of media are all supported by services Amazon itself offers: Audible, Kindle Unlimited and Comixology respectively, and people who are strongly into the Amazon ecosystem (or like those forms of media) likely already have subscriptions to those services.
However, when you read a magazine or comic book on a Kindle, you've got an obvious issue: they're in black-and-white, and this can be a big problem. You'll often miss out on an artist's work or the nuanced layout and color planning of a magazine page, and sometimes it's just impossible to work out what's going on, especially in graphic novels.
So while Kindles support these publications, they're not the best device for enjoying them, and you'd be better placed buying a color ereader or simply a tablet for your consumption.
But if Amazon launched a color Kindle - like many people are asking for - the device would be the ultimate all-in-one reading device, so you could easily switch between books, the latest column or a particular comic book, and get the optimal experience for each.
Given that Amazon's ereader rivals have slowly started using color E Ink panels, it seems likely that the company will follow suit at some point too - let's just hope it comes in at a reasonable price tag.
UNESCO's World Book Day in 2022 falls on April 23 (except in the UK, where we like to be different, as it falls in early March), and if you own the Amazon Kindle or any of the other Kindle models, or simply subscribe to Prime, you're in for a treat.
That's because Amazon is offering 10 free ebooks to celebrate the occasion, which anyone with a Kindle – or a Prime account – can download for free. So if you own one of the best Kindles, you've getting even more bang for your buck.
The offering lasts until April 27, and covers books from a range of authors and genres – we'll list them all below. The aim is to promote literature from all over the world.
To get the books, simply head to Amazon's Read The World page to add them to your Amazon account, then download them to your ereader. You don't need a Kindle to make the most of this deal, as you can read them in a web browser or on the Kindle smartphone app, but we'd always recommend buying a Kindle if you want to read on the go.
What are the free books?
The Puma Years by Laura Coleman (Travel Memoir, Bolivia)
"In this rapturous memoir, writer and activist Laura Coleman shares the story of her liberating journey in the Amazon jungle, where she fell in love with a magnificent cat who changed her life." Check out the full listing here.
The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai (Literary Fiction, Tunisia)
"From an award-winning Tunisian author comes a stirring allegory about a country in the aftermath of revolution and the power of a single quest." Check out the full listing here.
North To Paradise by Ousman Umar (Memoir, Ghana)
"The inspiring true story of one man’s treacherous boyhood journey from a rural village in Ghana to the streets of Barcelona—and the path that led him hom" Check out the full listing here.
Where The Desert Meets The Sea by Werner Sonne (Historical Fiction, Israel)
"An illuminating and heart-stirring historical novel set in post-WWII Palestine, where the boundaries of love and friendship are challenged by the intractable conflicts of war." Check out the full listing here.
An Eye For An Eye by Carol Wyer (Thriller, England)
The Other Man by Farhad J. Dadyburjor (Book Club Fiction, India)
"A heartwarming and transporting romantic comedy about finding happy ever after on your own terms." Check out the full listing here.
The Easy Life In Kamusari by Shion Miura (Contemporary Fiction, Japan)
"From Shion Miura, the award-winning author of The Great Passage, comes a rapturous novel where the contemporary and the traditional meet amid the splendor of Japan’s mountain way of life." Check out the full listing here
Mother Dear by Nova Lee Maier (Psychological Thriller, Netherlands)
"There’s only one thing worse than doing the unthinkable: what you’re willing to do to hide it." Check out the full listing here.
If you own an Amazon Kindle, you're likely no stranger to free books - not only are there various subscription services like Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited, but the Kindle Store has loads of free novels on it, and it's also easy to send a PDF to your Kindle for all the free classics online.
But Amazon's Read The World offering for World Book Day is a little different, as the texts cover a broader range of genres than we normally see from the heavily-genre-fiction-and-romance fare that's normally offered for nothing.
More importantly, this literature spans the whole world, so you can read from authors from Ghana, China or India, as well as other places. Again, we don't normally see this kind of diversity too much from the Kindle store.
So World Book Day will be great news for Kindle owners or Prime subscribers who like to experience the cultures of other countries... which is part of the point of it, really.
Fans with aging Apple laptops prayed that a new MacBook Air (2022) would make an appearance at the Apple "Peek Performance" event March 8. They were left wanting. Again.
But never fear! Convincing rumors suggest a new MacBook Air will be released alongside a second generation of the M1 silicon, and in a range of bright and cheery colors at that. It has big shoes to fill: The older MacBook Air (M1, 2020) still tops both our best laptop and best Apple laptop guides and has since November of 2020, when it was released alongside other M1-powered devices such as the Mac mini (2020) and 13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020).
The MacBook Air 2022 will most likely keep the silent, fanless design and excellent battery life, which is already the longest in an Apple laptop, even if Apple doesn’t make any adjustments. But we’re expecting some improvements, particularly in the Air’s design, with the 2022 model. Rumors abound of a complete redesign including a plethora of colors to choose from, similar to the classic Mac-inspired ones that you can pick for the 2021 iMac and 4th generation iPad Air.
Here's everything we know to date.
MacBook Air (2022): Cut to the chase
What is it? Apple's newest ultraportable laptop
When is it out? Possibly late 2022
What will it cost? Unknown, but likely similar to current pricing (starting at $999/£999)
Latest news
(Image credit: Jon Prosser / RendesByIan)
April 15: Apple is testing a whole bunch of new Macs that are powered by its next-gen M2 chip -- including a new MacBook Air and multiple MacBook Pro models, according to the laptop grapevine.
April 13: MacBook production could be affected by current lockdowns in China due to Covid, reports suggestion, meaning potential delays to Apple's new laptops, according to respected Apple source, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
April 11: “Apple is gearing up to launch some new Macs in the next few months," writes Mark Gurman. "What better place to do so than WWDC?" And one's likely to be the MacBook Air, he says.
April 2: No April Fool's joke here: DigiTimes says sources from the supply chain – insiders in the firms involved in making parts for Apple’s laptops – are ramping production, anticipating hot sales of forthcoming MacBook Air models.
More of the latest MacBook Air tidbits ▼
March 25: New rumors suggest that Apple could release a new 15-inch MacBook Air in 2023. This could either be the best decision Apple has ever made – or a big mistake, writes TechRadar's computing guru Matt Hanson.
March 22: Apple meant to launch a redesigned MacBook Air at its recent launch event, but wasn’t been able to stick to its original timeframe, says Mark Gurman. The company now plans on launching the MacBook Air in the second half of 2022, he says.
Oct. 22, 2021: Apple’s next MacBook Air might come equipped with a Mini-LED screen like the new MacBook Pros – maybe minus the notch – when it purportedly arrives in mid-2022, as well as an M2 chip, with an off-white color keyboard and bezels.
Aug. 11, 2021: Apple’s next MacBook Air will be landing midway in 2022 complete with plentiful color options and a Mini LED screen, says analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Release date and price
(Image credit: Jon Prosser)
We were hoping that Apple would spill some beans at its Peek Performance event on March 8, but now that this slipped by without even a mention, the predicted release date is a little foggy. With so many rumors flying around, it's still likely we could see it announced by the end of 2022, so keep your eyes peeled for any events towards the end of the year.
The latest 24-inch iMac was only released back in May 2021, and given that featured the same M1 SoC as the first wave of Apple silicon, it's anyone's guess as to if this latest MacBook Air will offer the very same M1 with a complete design update, will sport one of the new chips unveiled with the new MacBook Pros, or have an all-new Apple M2 chip.
Given that the two most recent MacBook Pro models contain souped-up versions of the M1 chip (the M1 Pro and M1 Max), it's unlikely that the 2022 MacBook Air would launch with the same, ultra-powerful Soc during the same release window, so an M2 chip debut is more likely.
There's no official murmurings on price yet, but we anticipate the new MacBook Air will start at $999 / £999, just like the current model.
Design
(Image credit: Jon Prosser / RendesByIan)
Regardless of when the new MacBook Air arrives, there's been plenty of leaks and speculation regarding its new design to make it worth the wait. We anticipated back in April that the MacBook Air is overdue for its own colorful redesign following the release of the 24-inch iMac during the Spring Loaded event, when the new models took inspiration from some classic, colorful Mac designs.
According to renders provided by Prosser, these new MacBook Air laptops could also feature white keycaps, larger function keys, and a slightly smaller trackpad. The chassis is also noticeably slimmer and 'boxier', doing away with the current sloped edges and instead opting for a very modern, blunt edge. With these rumors all collated, it would seem this anticipated redesign will be the thinnest, lightest MacBook Air to date.
Now that the rumors have been proven true with the return of MagSafe charging on the two newest MacBook Pros, we also anticipate that the 2022 MacBook Air will feature a Mini-LED display, something not only suggested by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo but a couple other sources
Specifications
Just wanted to share some details on when to expect the next generation M2 (not the M1X which is reserved for the Pro Mac devices). This processor is on track to release in the first half of 2022 alongside the upcoming colorful Macbook (Air).July 5, 2021
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That quote is from popular Twitter leaker Dylandkt, who's profile was deleted in Janary of 2022 -- draw your own conclusions as to why. But a thinner design does suggest that the MacBook Air (2022) will include some variant of the Apple M1 SoC; it's unclear if this will be the same M1 chip featured in the current MacBook Air, or a new all-in-one M2 SoC.
The current version of the laptop -- the MacBook Air (2020) -- comes with Apple’s M1 SoC or system on a chip, which combines CPU, GPU and other components into an 8-core processor capable of surprisingly stunning performance. The 2020 model is much more powerful than the Intel-powered version it replaced, working 3.5 times faster when it comes to CPU performance and 5 times faster for its GPU performance. What could a new M2 chip bring?
Outside of the chip itself, it's likely that Apple will keep many of the other specifications the same as the current model. This is the 'budget' laptop option after all, so any boost to power could push the price higher and eat into the market for the MacBook Pro.
This means you'll see a choice between 8GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of SSD, alongside established features like the Magic Keyboard, and Touch ID. We're also anticipating thinner bezels, a 13-inch display (as is currently the standard), and an improved 1080p webcam. Updated webcam tech was featured on the 2021 iMac, with Apple claiming this to be the “best camera ever in a Mac”, so we'd be surprised if this isn't extended across the entire range of MacBook devices given how dire the current 720p webcam performance is.
For context, the last Intel-based MacBook Air could run two 4K external monitors, so we might see this feature return, especially since the newest iMacs and MacBook Pros all sport 1080p webcams.
While the number of ports on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) ended up expanding quite a bit, the same might not happen on the MacBook Air (2021), which will likely remain at two ports.
Apple is testing a whole bunch of new Macs that are powered by its next-gen M2 chip -- including a new MacBook Air and multiple MacBook Pro models, according to the laptop grapevine.
This report comes from one of the more reliable sources for Apple spillage, Mark Gurman, who points out in Bloomberg that tapping info in developer logs suggests no fewer than nine possible Macs using different variations of the incoming M2 chip are being tested.
Obviously, take this with a large pinch of your preferred condiment, although Gurman does clarify that as well as the logs in question, he has spoken to inside sources who have corroborated the info. But remember that there are no guarantees here, nor ever with any nuggets from the rumor mill.
Okay, so the main points of interest here are the new MacBooks, starting with the purported MacBook Air (2022), which has long been rumored as coming in an all-new design with the M2 chip. Gurman asserts that this laptop is codenamed J413 and will offer an 8-core M2 CPU (with a 10-core graphics solution).
There’s also an entry-level MacBook Pro with M2 in testing, which will use the same SoC as the Air. And again this refresh of the base 13-inch model has been floated multiple times via the rumor mill.
Further Apple laptops currently in the testing process purportedly include MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch refreshed models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, both running with the same core spec. Supposedly the M2 Max is a 12-core SoC with 38-core graphics (notched up from 10 cores and 32 cores respectively in the current M1 Max). These notebooks will come with up to 64GB of system RAM, the report states.
As you might expect, the much-rumored Mac mini (2022) comes into play with this batch of testing too, and the next-gen model supposedly runs with the same spec as the MacBook Air and its M2 chip – but there’s a further Mac mini variant with the M2 Pro inside also in testing.
Interestingly, Apple has supposedly also tested Mac mini machines with an M1 Pro and M1 Max, but Gurman believes these designs won’t come to fruition, and may well be redundant now that the Mac Studio is on the scene.
Finally, Gurman asserts that there’s a Mac Pro which is built on the follow-up chip to the M1 Ultra currently seen in the Mac Studio.
Analysis: Best laid plans might still go awry…
Apple prototypes and tests bushels of hardware, and not all of it is picked for store shelves. So there are no guarantees that we’ll see anything like all of the Macs talked about here. That said, Gurman does observe that testing is “far along” in some cases, so presumably some of this hardware is close to being finalized for launch.
The leaker believes that two Macs will come out around the middle of the year, and we’ve heard before from Gurman that we may see these unveiled at WWDC (we’re not so sure, as we’ve discussed previously, but hey, we certainly can’t rule it out).
The theory is that one of those models destined for a WWDC reveal is the redesigned MacBook Air, and in this latest rumor deluge, Gurman again mentions that this is one of the Macs that’ll arrive in 2022, along with the low-end MacBook Pro (13-inch) and Mac mini. We’re looking at 2023 for the others, then, or however many of them make the cut (also interesting to note here is that there’s no mention of any new iMac).
Clearly, we need to stay skeptical around these predictions – and any crystal ball gazing for that matter – and what’s more, there could be disruption to MacBook production that throws these potential timeframes into disarray, or at least might cause a delay. As we heard earlier this week, the current lockdowns in China could have a considerable impact on MacBook manufacturing in particular.
MacBook production could be affected by current lockdowns in China due to Covid, and this might mean that Apple’s laptops planned for later this year may be delayed.
Respected Apple source, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, took to Twitter to highlight a report in the Nikkei Asia, and observed that all this could spell big trouble for the MacBooks due later in 2022.
(2/2) Quanta is almost the sole EMS supplier for MacBook, so among Apple's main products, MacBook has been the most affected amid China lockdowns due to Quanta's halted production.April 12, 2022
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As Kuo observes, the problem is that Quanta is pretty much the “sole EMS supplier for MacBook”, an acronym for Electronics Manufacturing Services – meaning involvement in design issues (and more) as well as manufacturing – and that Quanta’s disrupted production means the MacBook is the most impacted hardware when it comes to the Chinese lockdowns (in Shanghai and elsewhere).
Apple’s iPhone and iPad will also be affected as you might imagine, with production suspended at Pegatron and Compal, but as Kuo notes this won’t be as big a deal because Foxconn can “partially support” the supply of iOS devices to mitigate the shortfall at least somewhat. (We discussed the impact on Apple’s iOS hardware in more detail here earlier this week, if you’re interested).
Analysis: MacBook Air delay in the cards?
Obviously this is not the news anyone keen to see new MacBooks wants to hear, with these laptops apparently set to take the brunt of Apple’s lockdown-related disruption – at least going by these sources (pinches of condiments to hand, as ever).
So what MacBooks are we talking about? The rumor mill reckons that Apple is planning to push out a redesigned MacBook Air (2022) this year, and perhaps also a refreshed entry-level MacBook Pro 13-inch.
If we’re looking at, say, a September on-shelf release date for the MacBook Air, or maybe even October, then it’s not difficult to see how any further major slippage in the supply chain and production schedules could push the new notebook out to the very end of the year, maybe – or even 2023?
Apple would certainly want to avoid the latter worst-case scenario, if what we’ve heard from the rumor mill is correct – namely that it was originally the company’s intention to get the revamped MacBook Air out late in 2021, so the device has already theoretically slid a fair distance in terms of launch timeframe. But then there’s not much that can be done, really, if the tale really is playing out as these reports suggest – the MacBook Air will be ready when it’s ready, and obviously enough, not before.
Naturally, these lockdowns won’t just affect Apple, but also other big notebook makers like Dell, HP and Lenovo, companies that’ll doubtless feel similar pressures on their production timelines, too.
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go 2 could be here in the next couple of months, according to the latest speculation – and while the rumors on the upgrades aren’t all that exciting, there’s some positive news on the pricing front.
Zac Bowden of Windows Central claims that word from his sources is that Microsoft is getting ready to launch the Surface Laptop Go 2, and that the laptop will ship in the first half of 2022.
That means it could debut possibly in May or June, though Bowden reckons it’s most likely to be the latter – unless the current planned timeframe slips (which is, of course, always a possibility around launch timing).
Rumor has it that Microsoft intends to keep the pricing the same while (obviously) upgrading the hardware. In other words, the Surface Laptop Go 2 should start from $549 for the most basic version, with the pricing for upper-end models also staying the same.
What’s going on with the hardware upgrades, then? Bowden believes that the laptop will shift up a gear to Intel’s 11th-gen silicon (Core i5), with the entry-level model maintaining the same RAM and storage configuration, namely 4GB plus 64GB of eMMC.
The two higher-tier models will have the fingerprint sensor and power-up the RAM to 8GB plus storage to 128GB or 256GB respectively (SSDs, not eMMC drives), with pricing pitched at $699 and $899 just as before. If pricing stays the same in the UK and Australia, that would mean price tags of £549 / £699 / £899 and AU$999 / AU$1,249 / AU$1,549.
Analysis: If it ain’t broke, pep it up a bit
It’s exciting to hear that a next-gen Surface Laptop Go could be on the near horizon, seeing as the original laptop caused quite a splash when it landed back in October 2020. Indeed, in our review we praised it as the best Surface device Microsoft has ever made, delivering all sorts of high-quality elements – particularly that gorgeous display – as part of an affordable portable.
Performance was one of the areas where we were more critical of the original Surface Laptop Go, and stepping up to a 12th-gen Core i5 chip (from an 11th-gen) will help out on this front.
It’s also worth noting that an additional ripple in the rumor pond is that Bowden heard from one source that the entry-level Surface Laptop Go 2 might up its storage game to 128GB, which would be a very useful boost for this cheapest model. Then again, this could possibly be referring to the business-targeted version of the sequel, not the base consumer model, so take it with a particularly heavy pinch of salt.
While this is more of a minor refresh, of course, and nothing much about the overall design is supposedly going to change – save for a new color option (sage) – some pepping up on the hardware front is all that’s needed, really.
As far as the design goes, as they say, if it ain’t broke, there’s no need to fix it (although Bowden observes that a backlit keyboard might be nice, and this could yet be an upgrade Microsoft is implementing – though the low price point may yet preclude this, at the entry-level anyway).
I've used my iPad Pro for years now – obviously that means that I do like it, but there are two features that really ruin the experience for me.
The first is the battery life, but I know I can only get so annoyed at that. I've used the thing incessantly for several years, and Apple isn't exactly great with its product battery life anyway – I'm used to this now.
But there's one feature that some Apple fans paint as a positive, that I just hate for the iPad: Face ID.
Face ID sucks on iPads
I know Face ID is popular on iPhones, but I've found it doesn't work well at all. It rarely recognizes my face, and even when it does, it takes loads of rotating and fiddling with the device to angle it right. Oh, and simply picking up the phone is a chore when in-screen fingerprint sensors let me avoid this.
I'm admittedly comparing it to Android phone equivalents, which are a little less secure, but I'm not a secret agent or important celebrity – the odds of someone printing out a 3D copy of my face to hack into my phone is pretty rare.
I also found that Face ID doesn't take into account changes in my face – sometimes I have lots of facial hair and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I wear glasses and sometimes I don't. I've even found my hairstyle affects it, and don't get me started on face masks.
But if it's annoying on iPhones, it's downright bad on iPads.
That's because you need the sensors angled just right in iPhones for Face ID to work. That's not too hard if you're lifting the device up to your face to unlock it. But you're not exactly going to want to do the same on an iPad.
I always find myself craning my neck over my 12.9-inch iPad Pro to try and get it to unlock, or picking it up and twirling it around in my hands. That's not exactly easy given how huge it is.
Apple's Face ID might be great for small portable devices, but tablets are designed to be used on a desktop or work counter – given that Face ID requires you to be perfectly positioned in front of the sensors, the system of facial unlocking just isn't ideal.
Long live Touch ID
(Image credit: Future)
I think Apple knows that Face ID is bad on iPad models, because for other tablets, it's begun to avoid it.
The iPad Air 4 and Air 5, as well as the Mini 6, all use Touch ID embedded on power buttons on the edge of the tablet. A solution like this makes unlocking the slate so, so much easier – you can just reach out, and press the power button to boot it up.
Bear in mind that you have to touch the iPad Pro's power button anyway, to let it know you want to unlock via Face ID, so you're just cutting out a step with the button.
I wish I had this feature on my iPad Pro. It'd stop me having to do circus tricks to get the slate to notice me, and could let me easily boot up my video edit or movie stream without too much effort.
Coming to the iPad Pro?
I don't think Apple will drop Face ID any time soon, even though it's avoided bringing it to its mid-range tablets. That would be an admission that the tech doesn't work well, and Apple wouldn't do that without a new innovation to replace it with.
But I'd love to see the company bring Touch ID for its next iPad Pro models, which we expect to see in 2022. It'd be a consumer-friendly upgrade that would make the tablets much more usable.
iPad Pros are designed for professionals. These tablets are going on desks, or on laps on public transport, or being carried around in the field – using a very directional facial recognition tool just won't cut it.
Perhaps we could see both Face ID and Touch ID used as options for the tablet – if it's a pricey Pro model, Apple could afford to use both. But if it comes down to one or the other, I'm crossing my fingers to see Touch ID used more, not less, for future Apple devices.
Apple has a MacBook Air inbound for this year, and it will land in the second half of 2022, a report claims – and this isn’t the first we’ve heard that from the rumor mill.
DigiTimes asserts that its sources from the supply chain – insiders in the firms involved in making parts for Apple’s laptops – have supplied some fresh gossip on the incoming redesigned MacBook Air.
The tech site wrote: “Apple’s MacBook series are high-end consumer devices, but can also be regarded as a business notebook model as they are favored by many companies or office workers, the sources indicated, adding that hot sales of MacBook Pro released in late 2021 have lingered into the first quarter of 2022, with shipment volumes higher than expected, and new MacBook Air set for launch in the second half of the year is expected to add further sales momentum.”
Recent rumors have indicated that Apple will bump up the display size slightly on the next MacBook Air, from the current 13.3-inch screen to a 13.6-inch panel, as theorized by analyst Ross Young, a well-known source of Apple leaks. (It’s also thought that the company could make an even bigger move in 2023 with the introduction of a 15-inch Air alongside the 13-inch form-factor).
Analysis: Plentiful rumors around the incoming Air
This latest rumor regarding the launch timeframe of the next MacBook Air marries with what we’ve recently heard from one of the more reliable Apple sources out there, Mark Gurman. In recent newsletters, Gurman has suggested that Apple planned to have the redesigned MacBook Air out already – indeed, the original intention was supposedly to debut the laptop in late 2021 – but has delayed it to later in 2022. It’s rumored to use the M2 chip, which would make sense as the next-gen silicon should be ready at that point.
Another heavyweight Apple leaker, Ming-Chi Kuo, has also claimed that the new MacBook Air is set to go into mass production most likely in Q3, meaning units would be ready to hit shelves later in 2022. Certainly the rumor mill now seems to be lining up behind this idea, and when those individual pieces of speculation are considered together, they do, of course, seem more likely.
It also makes sense that Apple would want to push forward with further energizing Mac sales, which seem to be ticking along nicely, by debuting new models later this year (we may also see a revamped MacBook Pro 13-inch with M2 chip, other rumors have hinted).
The best laptop games are there for you whenever you're on break for work and you just need to kill some time before you get back to the grind. Because they're so easy to run, even cheap laptops will be able to play these games just fine.
Don't think you're getting some third-rate games here, either. Games like Disco Elysium are not only easy on your laptop, but engaging and hilarious to boot. The laptop games on this list are among the best PC games on the market right now, and really goes to show the flexibility that PC gaming offers.
Even if you're using one of the best gaming laptops, the games on this list have a lot to offer, even if they're not quite up to snuff to the mighty graphics in more powerful notebooks. This list is by no means extensive either: but we narrowed down the 10 games that everyone should consider installing on their laptops for some nice gaming on the side.
(Image credit: ZA/UM)
1. Disco Elysium
CPU: Intel Core i7 or AMD 1800 equivalent
RAM: 8 GB RAM
GPU: NVIDIA Geforce 1060 or equivalent
Ever had grand dreams of becoming the greatest detective in history? We know we did, and we have just the game for you. Disco Elysium is digital heaven for those who’ve always had a knack for problem-solving skills and fancy themselves the coolest (or most crooked) PI in their daydreams.
In this open-world RPG, among the best laptop games that you can play right now, you have unprecedented freedom to do whatever you want as a detective – whether that’s solving murder mysteries and helping people or taking bribes, manipulating others and becoming a millionaire. And, that’s with a plethora of wild skills and cool detective tools at your disposal.
The city you’re running around in, of course, has that certain mystery je ne sais quoi atmosphere to it, like Gotham-meets-Neo-noir. And, it only adds to this extremely charismatic title. If you’ve got hours to kill, or really even if you don’t, this game needs to be on your laptop right now.
(Image credit: Innersloth)
2. Among Us
CPU: Intel Pentium 4
RAM: 1 GB
GPU: Intel HD
Among Us seems a bit more casual than other titles on this list, with each game lasting 10 to 15 minutes but that doesn’t mean you won’t lose hours playing it. The concept is relatively simple. 4 to 10 players are placed in a map, either a spaceship or space station, and are tasked with some menial errands. Up to 3 of the players are secretly imposters who pretend to do the same things but actually go around sabotaging things and killing other players. Emergency meetings can be called where players argue over who the imposter is and then vote to kick someone out. Considering how short each game is, just about everyone will have a chance to play as an imposter after a few games.
What makes Among Us such an enduring game is how it can bring friends together the way a good board game can, combining socializing and strategy in a way that most online games don’t.
(Image credit: Studio MDHR Entertainment Inc.)
3. Cuphead
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8400, 3.0GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 3.0GHz or higher
RAM: 2 GB
GPU: Geforce 9600 GT or AMD HD 3870 512MB
You might be turned off by the tremendous amount of challenge it poses, but we promise you that Cuphead is worth a shot. If you don’t already find its vibrant, whimsical art style delightful, then you might be convinced by some backstory of how it was made.
Cuphead is from indie developer Studio MDHR (short for Studio Moldenhauer), named for the two brothers who started the project, Chad and Jared Moldenhauer. In fact, the whole company is made up of family members and friends who sought out to finish their dream project.
Marija Moldenhauer, Chad’s wife, was responsible for the inking and clean up in this hand-drawn ode to 2D platforming classics like Mega Man and 1930s Fleischer cartoons like Betty Boop. And, if the 19 bosses aren’t enough for you, Cuphead is getting a major DLC next year featuring new bosses, areas and a new playable character.
(Image credit: SEGA)
4. Humankind
CPU: Intel Core i5 4th Gen
RAM: 8GB
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 770 or AMD R9 290
If you’re a fan of history-based strategy games like Civilization or Age of Empires but are looking for something a little different, then Humankind is for you. This game takes that format and gives it a little twist, allowing you to customize your gameplay as you go. You can upgrade to different cultures as you progress and shape your empire with all sorts of decisions regarding religion, war, alliances, and more that can have long lasting impacts. In fact, every play through will be different.
You can wage nuclear war or destroy the world with pollution in Humankind, but your goal is to be the most famous empire by the end of the game to win. While it does seem to share a lot of similarities with the aforementioned giants of turn-based historical strategy games, that added level of customization, different mechanics for city-building and waging war, not to mention the ability to essentially rewrite history makes Humankind a worthy and unique addition to the genre.
(Image credit: Chuckefish)
5. Stardew Valley
CPU: 2 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
GPU: 256 MB video memory, shader model 3.0+
If you’re obsessed with farming sims (and, considering how well the likes of Farming Simulator and Harvest Moon sell, there’s a few of you out there), then few games will get you jumping for agricultural joy more than the enchanting busywork of Stardew Valley.
Taking cues from the Harvest Moon games, Stardew Valley's top-down point of view and cutesy characters feel blended together seamlessly, making it one of the best laptop games available.
It doesn’t seem all that exhilarating, tending to fields, growing produce and raising livestock – but that’s the beauty of it. There’s a special kind of peace to the mundanity of Stardew Valley’s minutia as you expand your farm, catch some fish down at the river and even head into the village to strike up friendships (and maybe something a little more) with a cast of NPCs. Farming has never been so much fun or addicting.
6. Age of Empires IV
CPU: Intel Core i5-6300U or AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
RAM: 8GB
GPU: Intel HD 520 or AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
Fans of RTS games rejoice! Age of Empires IV is here and it takes everything that made previous entries so much fun and updates it. Not only does the game receive a fresh coat of paint but the AI and mechanics have been updated as well.
You can select one of eight civilizations to play your way through four distinct campaigns covering 500 years of history, ending at the Renaissance. You don’t have to stick to the single-player campaign however. You can also play with friends in PvP or multiplayer co-op as well. And, more importantly, you don’t need a hefty GPU to play, making this a great game to play on your laptop. You just need integrated graphics as good or better than Intel HD 520, which has been around since 2015.
(Image credit: Finji)
7. Night in the Woods
CPU: Intel i5 Quad-Core
RAM: 4 GB
GPU: Intel HD 4000
In more than a few ways, we’re inclined to describe Night in the Woods as Life is Strange meets Bojack Horseman. The interactive dialogue bits are reminiscent of the former while the overarching themes of dealing with mental health issues ring true in the latter.
Night in The Woods itself was developed in Unity by Infinite Fall, the virtual studio comprised of coder and composer Alec Holowka and Twitter jokester slash illustrator and animator Scott Benson. Together, these two have designed not just a game, but a stunning world full of relatable characters that should hopefully resonate with you.
You take on the role of Mae, a cat who dropped out of college and recently returned to her hometown of Possum Springs. It’s a completely narrative-driven game, as modern point-and-click adventure games tend to be, with very few gameplay hooks that will hold your attention. So, if you’re into Telltale Games or Life is Strange, Night in the Woods might be the best laptop game for you.
Best of all, it will run fairly smoothly on integrated graphics, given that it has an attractive, but not highly demanding, art style. Surely, this is a title we’ll be talking about for years and years to come, even if it was snubbed at The Game Awards.
(Image credit: Electronic Arts)
8. Command and Conquer: Remastered Collection
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 @ 2.4ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400 @ 2.4ghz
RAM: 4GB
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 420 or ATI Radeon HD 5570
The 90’s are still alive in the form of the Command & Conquer Remastered Collection. This doesn’t just have a remastered version of the original game from 1995. It also has Red Alert as well as the games’ three expansion packs for over 100 missions and over 250 multiplayer maps. That’s quite a lot of content in this release.
Among the best laptop games to dig into this 2020, this remastering includes upscaling the cinematics, remastering the music (including 20 re-recorded tracks), and most importantly, setting the game in 4K resolution. The controls have been updated for a modern experience including the ability to use hotkeys. And, the game comes with mod support for those who want to add their own spin to the game.
The core of the game is still mostly the same as it was in the 90’s so if you’re looking for a great looking, great sounding blast from the past, then this is the perfect escape for you.
While it’s a 2018 title and has a reasonably massive following, your laptop’s integrated graphics can still run Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. It has mostly the same forgiving system requirements as its predecessor, so if you are a fan of that game, you should be able to engross yourself in this best laptop game as well.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire drops players on the Deadfire archipelago and tasks them with hunting down a rogue god. And, just like its predecessor, it features rich storytelling and deep RPG gameplay that harkens to the days of Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights.
While all the backgrounds are in 2D and viewed from a top-down point-of-view, they’re still lovely to behold. Plus, the numerous spell effects will keep you bewitched as you work your way through the intense and tactical combat.
And, because it's coming from Obsidian, a studio known for making the best RPGs of all time, you can be confident that you’re getting an adventure, and one of the best laptop games, that’s worth every penny.
(Image credit: Lucas Pope)
10. Papers Please
CPU: 1.5 GHz Core2Duo
RAM: 2 GB
GPU: OpenGL 1.4 or better
If somebody told you a game about working in a border control office would be one of the most addictive games ever, would you scoff and walk off shaking your head?
Well, you might give a little indie gem by the name of Papers, Please a chance. Set in a fictional take on the Eastern Bloc, you’re an immigration clerk tasked with processing refugees from a hostile neighbouring nation.
The core concept is simple: check each person’s documents against a clear set of rules, process those who meet the requirements and detain those with false papers.
The game is created to test your attention to detail, as well as the strength of your moral compass. Sometimes you’ll have to decide if specific sympathetic characters should be granted asylum, even if it goes against the rules.
The twist is good performance effectively feeds you family, while mistakes put their lives in danger. It’s dark, but engrossingly so.
AMD has fired a volley of flak at Intel, providing comparative benchmarks of its Radeon 6500M laptop GPU versus Intel’s new Arc A370M, showing that the former leaves Team Blue rather in the dust.
Of course, we must take any comparisons coming direct from a manufacturer with considerable caution – more on that later – but here are the results as detailed by AMD on Twitter:
As you can see, the posted image compares the two GPUs in terms of average frames per second (fps) in 1080p resolution with medium details over five different games.
Whereas Intel’s Arc A370M creeps above the magic 60 fps mark consistently, with results running from 62 fps to 71 fps, the AMD GPU manages from 88 fps to 135 fps in its best-case scenario. That latter game, F1 2021, sees the 6500M being over twice as fast as the Intel GPU, but some results are a lot closer than that – but still with AMD having a decent lead to the tune of 25% to 50% or so.
Analysis: Let’s be careful around these early benchmarks
Obviously on the face of it, this looks like a big win for AMD. However, there are plentiful caveats here as we already mentioned, so let’s dig into those.
Firstly, there’s the point about bias which we already made: a manufacturer presenting benchmarks will inevitably cherry-pick these to some extent in order to show its product in the best light (in terms of games chosen, and perhaps settings used, or drivers).
Then there are the unknowns around the configuration of the laptops and what the rest of the hardware spec was. AMD has evidently quickly got hold of one of the initial notebooks with the A370M inside, but what were the other components built around it, and those of the 6500M laptop?
And also, what power levels were the A370M and 6500M configured with? Both can run up to 50W, but it’s not clear if, say, the Intel GPU might’ve been powered at its base usage which is a fair bit lower at 35W, with the 6500M running at 50W (and getting better performance as a result). It’s up to the laptop manufacturer to decide what power to supply the mobile GPU with, based on the notebook’s capabilities and thermals.
Still, all that said, in some corners of the net there has been a somewhat disappointed reaction to Intel’s very first Arc GPUs, somewhat egged on by leaks like the one spotted by Tom’s Hardware which suggests the A370M is slower than the half-a-decade-old Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti mobile GPU in 3DMark. However, we should be cautious around any such leaks, as always.
Remember, too, that Intel’s driver doubtless still needs some refining – it’s fresh out of the gate, after all – and performance will be improved as time ticks on in the early days. The truth is we’ll only really know how good Intel’s first Arc mobile GPUs are when we actually get to test them ourselves, and can see all the ins-and-outs of the comparative playfield in doing so.
Furthermore, it’s worth bearing in mind that Arc has other potential strengths like XeSS for boosting frame rates, and advantages away from gaming which some users will benefit from (such as AV1 encoding).
Don’t forget that the two Arc 3 series laptop GPUs initially launched are the lowest-end products, too, and we’ve yet to see anything of Intel’s big guns and what they can do.
