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Somehow, Apple made a $599 laptop that's actually a joy to use. In this episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat about what makes the MacBook Neo so great. And they also dive into the new M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air and M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros. Also, Roberto Baldwin, SAE International's Sustainability Editor, joins us to chat about the state of EVs today as gas prices explode.Subscribe!iTunesSpotifyPocket CastsStitcherGoogle PodcastsTopicMacBook Neo review: Apple puts $600 Windows PCs to shame 1:47iPad Air M4 remains Apples best overall tablet 18:05Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE employee illegally took social security info on 500 million Americans to their new job 33:37Valve clarifies their outlook on the Steam Machine, itll launch in 2026, still no word on price 36:08Grammerly hit with a class action lawsuit for using reporters names in an editing expert tool 40:29A new study claims every major AI chatbot will help users plan a hate attack or political assassination 44:03What to look for in a used EV with SAE International sustainability editor Roberto Baldwin 48:31Around Engadget 1:21:04CreditsHosts: Devindra Hardawar and Nathan IngrahamGuest: Roberto BaldwinProducer: Ben EllmanMusic: Dale North and Terrence OBrienThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/engadget-podcast-apples-599-macbook-neo-is-astounding-140402521.html?src=rss
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Apple is lowering its developer fees in China following discussions with the Chinese regulator. From March 15, the commission rate for standard in-app purchases (IAPs) will be reduced from 30 percent to 25 percent on its mainland China App Store storefront for both iOS and iPadOS. In a Developer blog, Apple also said that developers belonging to its App Store Small Business or Mini Apps programmes will also have their fees reduced by 3 percent, from 15 to 12 percent. This applies to the commission rate for IAPs and in-app subscription renewals after the first year. "We strive for iOS and iPadOS to be the best app ecosystem and a great business opportunity for developers in China," Apple said in the post. "We are committed to terms that remain fair and transparent to all developers, and to always offering competitive App Store rates to developers distributing apps in China that are no higher than overall rates in other markets." Apple says developers are not required to agree to the terms by March 15 to start receiving their benefits, seemingly making the transition as smooth as possible to avoid further regulatory intervention. It will no doubt be taken as a significant win for Chinese businesses, and comes a year after reports that a state watchdog was investigating the fees Apple enforces on developers it hosts on the App Store.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/apple-is-reducing-its-app-store-commission-fees-in-china-131221192.html?src=rss
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Apple's new family of laptops might have a cringeworthy name, but don't let it fool you. Despite the MacBook Neo running on a built-for-iPhone A-series processor and being limited to 8GB of RAM, it delivers on what Macs do best. It has a capable screen, keyboardand trackpadand its overall build quality should embarrass other laptop-making rivals that have compromised on those areas with their $600 laptops. Engadget Don't expect a gaming rig it struggled predictably to run Lies of P, but for most of the things you need a laptop for especially for students and desk workers it handles them with aplomb. Yeah, I said aplomb. Check out our full Neo review by Devindra Hardawar surely you're intrigued by the idea of a $600 MacBook? Mat Smith The other big stories (and deals) this morning Bumble is the latest dating app to add an AI assistant Alexa+ can now swear I guess this wasn't an Xbox after all RAMaggedon is not expected to ease this year as IDC cuts 2026 PC market forecast again. Rabbit teases its modern take on the netbook, built for vibe coders I don't have to like the Cyberdeck name. Rabbit Project Cyberdeck is Rabbit's attempt to make a PC tailored for vibe coding. The company began working on Project Cyberdeck after its CEO, Jesse Lyu, saw how extensively his software engineers were using Claude Code. Unfortunately, existing cheap, lightweight machines had bad keyboards and other limitations. So Rabbit is making its ownand it's taking a big serving of inspiration from the tiny, almost pocket-sized laptops that VAIO made back in the late '00s and early 2010s. Continue reading. Microsoft's Project Helix consoles will head to game studios in 2027 Xbox wants a do-over. In a bid to distract from corporate reshuffles, fears of generative AI game slop and a pretty poor showing against the PS5, Microsoft is getting ahead of its rival. At GDC 2026, the company said that it planned to get Project Helix dev consoles in the hands of game devs as soon as 2027. Jason Ronald, vice-president of next generation for Xbox, reiterated that the new system would be capable of playing both Xbox console games and PC games. (Sony's decision to halt porting its games across to PC makes more sense. ) Ronald said it would incorporate a custom AMD-made system-on-a-chip, offering "a magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability". Continue reading. Meta bought another social network Filled with bots, but on purpose. The owners of Facebook are buying Moltbook, the hyped Reddit-like social network for AI agents that has only been around since January. The company hasn't disclosed the terms of the deal, but Moltbook and its creators will be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) when the deal closes. And that definitely doesn't sound like a cabal of comic book villains that fights the Justice League. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-120553713.html?src=rss
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Ubers and Motional's Hyundai Ioniq 5 autonomous EVs will start appearing as an option for riders in Las Vegas. Passengers requesting for an UberX, Uber Electric, Uber Comfort or Uber Comfort Electric ride may be matched with a Motional robotaxi. They will not be forced to take it, though, and will be notified and given the option to decline and choose a regular ride instead. But if they want to try it, they can boost their chances of getting matched with a robotaxi ride by opting in via the Ride Preferences section under Settings. Riders who get on autonomous rides will be able to unlock the vehicle through the Uber app. Inside, theyll hear audio cues reminding them to close the door and fasten their seatbelt. Theyll also be able to access human support through the Uber app in case they need help. The companies started piloting the robotaxi service in Las Vegas in 2022 after establishing a 10-year partnership. Motionals Hyundai AVs were also tested by Uber Eats for autonomous deliveries in the same year. The first autonomous rides under the partnership will still have safety drivers behind the wheel to monitor the roads. They will also be only available, for now, at designated locations along Las Vegas Boulevard, including rideshare zones at the Resorts World Las Vegas and Encore at the Wynn Las Vegas plus Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino and curbside in Downtown Las Vegas and throughout the Town Square shopping district near the airport. By the end of the year, the companies expect to start offering fully autonomous rides with no human operators. They have plans to expand the rides availability throughout the city, as well. Uber has also just announced that its piloting a robotaxi service in Tokyo in late 2026 in partnership with UK self-driving car startup Wayve and Nissan. In addition, the Uber-backed Nuro will test its own autonomous vehicles in the Japanese metropolis soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/uber-robotaxi-rides-are-now-available-for-passengers-in-las-vegas-120030395.html?src=rss
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Its hard to believe that its been almost four years since Apple gave the MacBook Air a serious glow-up. The 2022 model was a total redesign that bumped its performance with the M2 chip and also improved a number of key components. It was also the first MacBook Air to drop the signature tapered design, and Apple added a 15-inch model one year later to boot. Since then, Apples primarily focused on making sure it has a new chip every year were already up to the M5, if you can believe it. As such, the latest MacBook Air is an expected update that doesnt change the game. Not that it needed changing: its been our favorite ultraportable laptop for years now. But the Airs place in Apples lineup has changed with the simultaneous introduction of the $599 MacBook Neo. And unfortunately, Apple didnt keep the $999 price that last years M4 MacBook Air hit; its back up to $1,099, the same price as the M2 and M3 models. Now that theres the new, inexpensive MacBook Neo out there, who is the MacBook Air for? While I havent used the Neo yet, Im pretty comfortable answering that question: its still for almost anyone. The essentials havent changed While the latest MacBook Air is physically unchanged from its 2022 revision, I dont have a problem with that. I find the Air to be the Platonic ideal of a laptop that most people will be hard-pressed to find issues with. The 13.6-inch (or 15.3-inch, if you opt for the bigger size) display isnt the most cutting edge screen out there, but its still sharp, bright and colorful. Its stuck at a 60Hz refresh rate at a time when many PC manufacturers are using faster screens, but for the Airs audience I dont think thats a problem. I may be miffed that the iPad Air similarly only has a pedestrian 60Hz refresh rate but I think its less crucial on a Mac, where youre not literally touching the screen (at least for now). Other minor quibbles include the fact that Apple still hasnt put a USB-C port on the right side of the computer in addition to those on the left, and the screen notch is still weird if you focus on it too much. But other than that, I cant really come up with any issues here. At 2.7 pounds, the Air isnt the lightest laptop out there, but Ill take the extremely solid feel of the unibody aluminum case over a lighter and possibly flimsier plastic. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget The keyboard and trackpad remain delightful, as well. My main laptop is a 14-inch MacBook Pro, and I can perceive the Airs comparatively thinner case when typing on it. Its not bad at all, it just feels slightly different. But after a short adjustment period, I really didnt think about it and typed away without a care in the world. Its baffling to me that a company that made a keyboard this good also made the horrific butterfly keyboards of yore, but fortunately that era is far in the past. The haptic-powered trackpad is huge, smooth and responsive, just like the ones on all other recent Mac laptops. Altogether, the input experience is great, and I rarely find myself really feeling like I need an external keyboard or mouse. I know people have strong feelings about that, so do as you wish, but its not really something I think about anymore. The MacBook Airs speakers and webcam are also still excellent. Last year, Apple upgraded the 1080p webcam in the Air to a 12-megapixel Center Stage model that can follow your movements to keep you in frame or switch to a desk view that shows a top-down viewpoint of the area in front of the laptop. The old 1080p webcam was already pretty solid, and while this one doesnt magically repair your wrinkles, its definitely more versatile and detailed. The speakers, meanwhile, remain one of those things that Apple has absolutely nailed with this generation of its laptops. Theyre relatively loud and well-balanced, providing far better sound than Id expect from such a thin enclosure. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Enough power to last for years All of this is well-known, though. The big change this year is the M5 chip, which has been available for a while already in the MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. So, we have a good idea of what to expect here as well. Im testing the 13-inch model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage that costs $1,299. Its hard to perceive a difference between the M5 and last years M4 in my normal routine (dozens of tabs, Slack, Lightroom, Apple Music streaming and a bunch of lightweight apps like Bear notes, Todoist and so on). And based on my history with Apples M-series chips, the M5 will be a great performer for years to come. My work-issued MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip still runs like a champ almost five years after it was released, for example. That said, users who do more than the basics with their laptop and have one with a chip older than 2022s M2 will likely find the M5 Air to be a nice upgrade. Geekbench 6 benchmarks show the M5 is 11 percent and 17 percent faster than the M4 Air in single-core and multi-core tests (both with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSDs). There were bigger GPU gains this year, with the M5 scoring 31 percent higher than the M4. Few people out there are likely looking to upgrade from an M4 Air. But the M5 could be a noteworthy upgrade from the M3, depending of course on your workload. The M5 is 31 percent and 43 percent faster than the M3 in single- and multi-core testing. And the GPU is a whopping 56 percent faster as well. If youre interested in doing things like video editing, music creation, gaming or AI tasks, youll definitely appreciate these performance gains. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Finally, these benchmark illustrate the gap between the MacBook Neo and the Air. The M5 is about 24 percent faster than the A18 Pro in the single-core test, but it demolishes the Neos chip in multi-core (105 percent) and GPU (144 percent) performance. This just reiterates what we already know the Neo is best-suited for basic tasks, while the Air should have more than enough power until you get into more specialized use cases. And while no one will mistake the MacBook Air for a gaming laptop, Apple has had increasing success at getting developers to bring big titles to the Mac. Games like Assassins Creed Shadows, Cyberpunk 2077, Lies of P, Control and Resident Evil Village, along with indies like Neva, Stray and Balatro, are available here. Thats not to mention the many quality games worth checking out on Apple Arcade. All this is to say that Macs may still not be the premiere gaming platform, but people who dont have access to a PlayStation, Xbox or more powerful gaming PC can still try a lot of great games on the platform. Thanks to the M5, these games play pretty well to boot. I tried Cyberpunk 2077, one of the more notoriously demanding games out there, and had a stutter-free experience. Most graphically intense Mac games default to a for this Mac setting so you dont really need to worry about optimizing settings. Cyberpunk 2077 stayed pretty well locked at 30 fps in my experience obviously not as good as what youll get on a high-end PC or PlayStation 5, but I never felt like I was having a degraded experience. It was smooth, responsive and looked gorgeous. Getting that kind of performance from an ultraportable like the MacBook Air is hard to complain about. Finally, battery life was close to Apples expectations. The company promises 18 hours of streaming video playback or 15 hours of web browsing. In my test, I looped a locally-stored 4K video file with my screen at half brightness and got exactly 18 hours of playback before the laptop died. Im sure it would have been less if I was streaming the video, but still. Under my usual working conditions running a variety of apps, I got more in the 10-hour range, which is more than good enough for me. MacBook Air M5 Nathan Ingraham for Engadget Wrap-up Even with the MacBook Neo showing its chops despite its relatively humble hardware, I think the MacBook Air is by far the best Apple laptop for most people. Sure, Apples continued insistence on limiting screens with higher refresh rates to its most expensive hardware is increasingly frustrating. But other than that, the MacBook Air punches above its weight in just about every aspect particularly when it comes to performance. The M5 is extremely powerful now and should make this years Air a useful computer for five years or even longer, depending on what you do with it. The MacBook Air is so mature and well-engineered at this point that its not the most exciting thing to review. But if you use one for a bit, its easy to appreciate just how good of a laptop it is.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/macbook-air-m5-review-same-but-faster-120000685.html?src=rss
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