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Google finally showed me a vision for AI I’m comfortable with

Google Ask Photos

OPINION: Google I/O was almost entirely focused on its Gemini AI model’s takeover of its most important products. It may not have been the most exciting showcase of AI’s potential, but it’s the first to leave me feeling enthusiastic rather than icky and scared.

I’ve seen generative AI as a personal and existential threat ever since it emerged as this decade’s most disruptive tech trend. I’ve been incredibly sceptical about its ability to be a net benefit for humanity now and in the future.

As tech journalists we’ve seen Microsoft et al pitch a future where no-one clicks our websites because search has neatly summarised our collective words into an aggregated paragraph, complete with a link to the shopping page for the product we’ve spent weeks testing.

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I’ll often be reminded that ChatGPT can do what I do as a copywriter, but in seconds. Ask a graphic designer who creates logos for people’s businesses. They’ll tell you the same.

Reporting on that stuff in real time has felt like writing my own career obituary. And people wonder why I became a yoga teacher as a side hustle!

However, during Google I/O on May 14, I began to see a side of AI that could aid my personal and professional life, rather than hinder it. It’s one that could help me be more productive and achieve complex tasks in double quick time. And no-one else’s livelihood needs to suffer.

All benefits, no thievery

Take the series of Google Gemini tools coming to Android 15, Google Photos and Google Search, for example. I was particularly impressed with the new Google Lens tool that enables a video of a tech issue to be uploaded along with a voice query relating to the problem.

Gemini could identify the model, analyse the nature of the issue, and spit out a load of text that might help you with troubleshooting the problem. This potentially eliminates a dozen web other searches and ensures people don’t have to spend ages looking for the technical term, like the tone arm in this image below.

Google Search video AI

The ability to make a deeply personal vegan meal plan for the week (and easily adjust it) could save me a couple of hours on a Sunday morning while I’m watching the football and – due to the complex potential within search – save me some money too.

The Gemini Overlay in Android 15 will leverage the multimodal elements of the generative AI model to “Ask This Video” within YouTube as a shortcut to the information or the portion of the video required.

Google Gemini in Android

Again, much of this comes with the caveat that Google eventually finds a way to compensate the people who wrote those troubleshooting guides, recipes, and created the videos to gave Gemini the knowledge in the first place.

The tools within Workspace apps like Gmail and Docs look ever so useful in terms of harnessing the information that can otherwise take ages to find.

Instead of scouring your Gmail inbox, you can ask Gemini very specific questions about the content. I can bring up my most recent invoices, find my upcoming deadlines, summarise a lengthy brief. It’s much more powerful than the Google Assistant ever was and it’ll help me make my living without screwing anyone out of theirs.

From distorting to enhancing reality

I’ve been wary of some of Google’s AI photography tools in recent years. Things like Magic Eraser and Magic Editor don’t sit well with me because their entire purpose is to completely distort reality. In my view, these images cease to be a photograph and become just an embellishment of a former reality.

However, the new Ask Photos tool is a joy because it harnesses content you’ve already organically created and makes it more meaningful and more useful thanks to proactive prompts.

Hell yeah, create me a lovely little album of all the best places my wife and I have been in 15 years together. Show me one photo of my dog per week we’ve had him.

How many times are you endlessly scrolling through your photo library looking for a singular picture or piece of information? Ask Photos can eradicate this.

Gemini Ask Photos birthday

This is a vision for generative AI I’m far more comfortable with. It’s not quite as mindblowing and future-altering, but it’s something that can shave minutes off frustrating, time-consuming daily tasks. It’s something that can harness content I’ve already organically created and show me the best of it within just a few seconds.

I could get used to this. Perhaps.

The post Google finally showed me a vision for AI I’m comfortable with appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Using the Google Pixel 8a has made me worried about the Pixel 9

Google Pixel 8a back

OPINION: I have been using Google’s new Pixel 8a smartphone for the past few days and one thing has become immediately clear – this is just about all the phone that anyone needs.

With the past couple of releases, Google has been on a great run with its mid-range devices, consistently improving year-on-year by taking the best parts of its flagship series and making them more accessible. This has reached a culmination with the Pixel 8a.

Google’s £499/$499 mid-range option for 2024 is the most complete A-series phone yet, and in multiple ways it’s a better choice than the pricier Pixel 8. Considering just how easy to recommend the Pixel 8a is, I am not sure whether Google will be able to make the upcoming Pixel 9 notably better to justify the likely price difference between the two phones.

The Google Pixel 8a shines so brightly because rather than focus on a single feature (a trap many mid-range phones fall into), it ticks multiple boxes without leaving much out. Welcome features like a good IP67 rating and Qi wireless charging are both here, as is a 120Hz OLED and the same Tensor G3 chip found in the $999/£999 Pixel 8 Pro.

Now, the Tensor G3 is a chip that isn’t going to bother the very best phones for pure performance benchmarks and it lacks the efficiency of the latest silicon from Apple and Qualcomm, yet inside a device below £500/$500 it really gets the job done.

It also brings many of the excellent AI features from the pricier Pixel phones, including support for Gemini Nano down the line via a software update and the barage of GenAI photo editing skills. As it uses the same chip, there’s every chance the Pixel 8a will pick up the same AI features that come to the Pixel 8 Pro in the future.

Arguably the biggest reason to plump for the Pixel 8a is the software promise. Google has said that it will support the phone for seven years with Feature Drops, security updates and full-on Android updates all included.

Google Pixel 8a front

This is rare for £1000/$1000+ phones, but it’s almost unheard of for cheaper devices where two years of Android updates is often seen as better than average. Investing £500/$500 on a phone and knowing it’ll receive new features for all those years makes that initial outlay easier to swallow.

A better Pixel 8 in many ways

When Google first announced the Pixel 8a, a lot of headlines claimed people should just buy the Pixel 8 instead. In some ways, the claim is correct – the Pixel 8 does have a more capable camera and a slightly better display, but in actual use I much prefer the Pixel 8a. It’s a little smaller, with a much more comfortable rounded body and it also has the far nicer matte backing of the Pixel 8 Pro.

It seems a given that Google will carry over some of these Pixel 8a design changes to the inevitable Pixel 9, but I can’t see that device pushing the bar far enough to make any price difference worth it. The Pixel 8a ticks so many boxes for the cost that it already feels like the Pixel 9.

While Google I/O is set to be the home of multiple new AI features, and leaks surrounding the Pixel 9 Pro are already circulating, I feel there’s very little reason to go for anything but the Pixel 8a if you’re not interested in the flagship £1000/$1000 experience.

The post Using the Google Pixel 8a has made me worried about the Pixel 9 appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Sound & Vision: The new Sonos app looks great, but it's a mess

OPINION: Sonos launched a redesigned version of its multi-room speaker control app this week, and it’s fair to say the response has been mixed.

Sonos announced in late April that it would launch a fresh update to its control app, with a completely new interface designed to get users to their music more quickly. Ahead of the launch, Sonos said that it had focused on “creating a better way to listen”, and redesigned the app for an easier, faster, and better experience that can support “more rapid innovation”.

All this sounded great, with the tabbed interface of the previous app ditched for something that put your music and frequently used services within easy reach.

It’s not gone to plan

However, with the app now out for both iOS and Android the reaction from users has been underwhelming. As someone who uses the app daily, I can see where this frustration comes from. While the new app is an upgrade from a design perspective, the baffling removal of features – some very important ones – along with numerous bugs makes this a rocky start.

Take a look at replies to the announcement post on X or scroll through the active Sonos subreddit and it’s easy to see where the majority of the initial frustration lies.

In this redesign, Sonos has removed alarm and sleep timer functionality – two basic features for a multiroom speaker system. Sonos has noted the change, saying that the “feature is not currently available in the Sonos app, but will return in a future update.”

Hi Nikki! This feature is not currently available in the Sonos app, but will return in a future update. We appreciate your feedback and will pass it along to our team 🔊

— Sonos (@Sonos) May 8, 2024

For a duo of simple features to be removed is odd, but the issues don’t seem to end there. Users have reported that important accessibility features have been removed, that TruePlay tuning is broken – something I can attest to – and music queues can’t be edited. App launches can often be bumpy, but this reaction will be far from welcome for Sonos.

Of course, bugs are to be expected and Sonos has made it clear in replies to disgruntled users on X that this is its “most ambitious software update yet” and certain features will return in future updates.

The problem with that is there’s no timeframe on the return of these basic features, and for Sonos to even think about removing them from such a huge update gives me the impression that it wasn’t expecting anything resembling the backlash it is currently getting. It could be a while before the new app gets all the features of the previous one.

Sonos new S2 app redesign
Sonos new S2 app

There are some welcome changes here, but the issues are plentiful

Visually, I think the app looks a lot better than it did. The heavily customisable home screen is an improvement and being able to select a preferred streaming service makes searching for songs a lot more practical. The constantly visible Now Playing screen is welcome too, making it easier to jump back to whatever is playing when you’re elsewhere in the app.

A lot of settings are buried deeper than before, EQ for instance, but personally I wouldn’t delve into that too often. My biggest issues revolve around app performance – things are just so unreliable at the time of writing, almost like I am beta testing an app that hasn’t been properly released yet.

For instance, when I opened the app for the first time, multiple services needed to be reauthorised, with Apple Music refusing to work at all. I ended up deleting Apple Music from my services and adding it again – after about five tries, it worked. I’ve also had issues with volume levels varying wildly between songs on different speakers.

After such an outcry, I would hope the app gets all the features users want quickly, especially as Sonos looks set to have a busy summer with the launch of its first set of headphones.

The post Sound & Vision: The new Sonos app looks great, but it's a mess appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Winners and Losers: iPad gets even better while Xbox shutters studios

If you haven’t had a chance to catch up on the biggest stories in tech this week then we’ve got you covered with Winners and Losers.

Even though it was a short working week for folks in the UK, the tech world didn’t slow down in the slightest as things kicked off with Apple’s iPad-centric event which featured the first proper updates for the iPad range since 2022.

There were plenty more tech launches besides Apple’s, including the TicWatch 5 Pro Enduro, the super sleek (and surprisingly small) Pixel 8a, and the futuristic Huawei Watch 4 Pro Space Edition.

You can always check out our news coverage for a deep dive into all that took place but to see which stories stood out above the pack, just keep on reading.

iPad Air 11 inch and 13 inch models

Winner: Apple

It’s no secret that Apple has all but conquered the tablet market with its range of iPads, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon.

The previous crop of iPads was hardly lacking in power or efficiency but Apple has found a way to raise the bar yet again, allowing the new iPad Pro to leapfrog the M3 series of chips completely by launching with the even more powerful M4 processor.

It seems a little absurd to provide a tablet with that level of processing power, but it’ll no doubt cement the iPad Pro 2024 as the most powerful tablet available by a wide margin. The iPad Air 6 won’t be mistaken for a slouch either as that’s being given the M2 chip to play with.

In addition to a new Magic Keyboard as the impressive Apple Pencil Pro, there was also a notable price drop for the iPad 10th Gen, making it a much better buy given that its launch price of £499 had us all raising our eyebrows. Whether you like Apple or not, you can’t deny that the company is crushing the tablet game right now.

Xbox Wireless Controller in Pulse Red

Loser: Xbox

The games industry is very much in a state of flux, as reports of layoffs seem to be a neverending occurrence in the current news cycle. Unfortunately, Xbox has only added more fuel to that fire after shutting down a total of four games studios that came under its wing as part of the Bethesda acquisition some years ago.

Two of the studios in question were responsible for Redfall and the critically acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush which was recently ported to PS5. As part of a company-wide email from the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, he detailed:

“These changes are grounded in prioritising high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades.”

From the email, it seems as though Xbox is pivoting its focus towards top-tier franchises, with less room for smaller indie titles. To make matters worse, there are rumblings that even more closures could be on the way from Xbox, indicating above all that the games industry is in dire need of a rethink when job security is so tenuous.

The post Winners and Losers: iPad gets even better while Xbox shutters studios appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Asus ROG Ally X has solved PC handhelds' greatest flaw

OPINION: This week, Asus confirmed that it will be launching the ROG Ally X, a new PC handheld system that will coexist with the original model as a more high-end option. 

Asus is keen to point out that the ROG Ally X won’t act as the sequel, as The Verge reports that the new model will still feature the same AMD Z1 Extreme and  7-inch 120Hz LCD screen. 

It’s admittedly disappointing that Asus isn’t upgrading to an OLED display, as it’s been a question mark over the ROG Ally ever since the introduction of the Steam Deck OLED. But on the other hand, I’m pleased to see that Asus will be addressing the great flaw of the ROG Ally, and handheld PC systems in general: battery life. 

Asus ROG Ally X
Asus ROG Ally X

I’m a big fan of the original Asus ROG Ally. It’s powerful enough to play all of my favourite PC games, and is remarkably light considering the specs it’s packing. However, all of that portable power arguably goes to waste when you consider how poor the battery is. 

When testing the handheld with modern AAA games, the ROG Ally was only capable of lasting around 90 minutes when set to Performance mode. That’s poor stamina, and sadly not long enough to last long long trips on a plane or train. 

This isn’t a problem exclusive to the ROG Ally though. I found that the Ayaneo 2S only lasted 100 minutes in the same test, while the Lenovo Legion Go was only able to hit two hours. The Steam Deck OLED is the best of the bunch in this regard, but even then you need to make compromises to performance settings to last more than three hours. 

Steam Deck OLED
Steam Deck OLED – Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Asus is opting to fix this problem with the upcoming ROG Ally X. With the official launch still a couple of months away, the company has been coy on exact figures, but when speaking to The Verge, Asus claimed there will be a significant improvement for battery life. 

“We’re not looking at 30 to 40 percent more capacity,” Asus SVP Shawn Yen told The Verge. “We’re looking at way more than that.” When pushed further, Asus even hinted that we can expect a battery life longer than three hours, which would double the stamina of the original. 

Since Asus isn’t changing the chip, it seems that this stamina boost will come from a larger battery pack. This will likely have significant consequences for the rest of the device, especially in terms of weight. 

Asus ROG Ally in hand
Asus ROG Ally – Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

I don’t think that will be an issue though. The vanilla Asus ROG Ally only weighs 608g, which is even lighter than the Steam Deck. This leaves plenty of wiggle room for more heft, while still ensuring it’s portable enough to easily carry around. That’s a great compromise in my eyes, considering how important the battery life is for a gaming system designed to be used on the go. 

My biggest concern is that the ROG Ally X will come with an inflated price. The gaming handheld is already rather expensive at £599/$699, yet Asus has confirmed that the X model will have a higher price. For those who already own a ROG Ally, I’m not convinced that a longer battery life, boosted RAM and a M.2 SSD slot will justify an upgrade.

Nevertheless, the introduction of the Asus ROG Ally X shows that handheld PC makers are going in the right direction. Battery life should be one of the most important considerations when designing these devices, even if that results in compromises to performance and design. 

And with both Asus and Valve focusing specifically on this area with their latest revised models, I’m growing more confident that we’ll see even greater battery life improvements for future devices. If I can play my PC games for over five hours straight on the go, then my purchase will be guaranteed.

Ctrl+Alt+Del is our weekly computing-focused opinion column where we delve deeper into the world of PCs, laptops, handhelds, peripherals and more. Get it straight into your email inbox every Saturday by signing up for the newsletter.

The post Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Asus ROG Ally X has solved PC handhelds' greatest flaw appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Fast Charge: Forget the iPad Pro, the Air is all the tablet you need

OPINION: Apple this week announced a bunch of new iPads, including the new top-end iPad Pro range with slightly larger OLED screens, a much thinner design – seriously, these are the thinnest Apple products to date – and, of course, the new ultra-powerful 3nm Apple M4 chipset.

But all that high-end tech comes at a steep price. The base 11-inch iPad Pro starts at £/$999, while the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at £/$300 more, at £/$1299 – already a hard pill to swallow when you consider that the only difference between the two is the size of the screen. 

Then there’s the fact that you’ll have to opt for either the 1TB or 2TB variant if you even want the option of adding Apple’s new nano-texture coating to the screen – an extra that’ll also cost you £/$100 more.

It’s worth noting that, even for the same price as a MacBook Air, you’ll still only be getting the iPad Pro – and not even a charger if you’re in the UK. You’ll still need to fork out for the £/$129 Apple Pencil Pro and £/$299-£/$349 (size-dependent) Magic Keyboard if you’re seriously considering using it for work or creative purposes, driving the price up even further.

iPad Pro width
Old iPad Pro vs new iPad Pro

Let’s be honest; for the vast majority of people, it’s not worth it – especially with the new iPad Air range floating around at a much cheaper price point. Granted, the new 11- and 13-inch iPad Airs aren’t exactly cheap at £/$599 and £/$799 respectively, but they’re much more manageable figures than Apple’s top-end tablets.

The Air could be the better choice

First off, with matching 11-inch and 13-inch options available, the iPad Air offers the same screen real estate as its more premium siblings. Granted, they’re Liquid Retina LCD screens and not the ProMotion-enabled OLED panels of the iPad Pro range, but considering most iPads until this point have used LCD panels, it’s not exactly a downgrade that most will notice.

Then there’s processing power to consider; the new iPad Air range sports the desktop-level Apple M2 chipset – the same chipset as the previous-gen iPad Pro range, which we felt – and still feel – is more than enough power for iPadOS, with only a slim fraction of the available apps coming close to utilising the M2’s power. 

iPad Air 11 inch and 13 inch models
iPad Air 11 and iPad Air 13

Yes, the iPad Pro range has an M4 chipset, but considering that most apps can’t even take advantage of the M2, the M4 feels like much of a muchness at this point. Maybe that’ll change with the reveal of the next version of iPadOS at WWDC in June, but right now, it feels pretty pointless. 

The iPad Air, with its desktop-level chip, allows it to offer features not available on the likes of the iPad mini and iPad, including Stage Manager, external display extension support and even Hover Mode with the Apple Pencil, continuing to close the gap between it and the iPad Pro range.

Then there’s the all-important accessory support to consider. Despite being debuted alongside the iPad Pro and not the iPad Air, the new Apple Pencil Pro does work flawlessly with the latest Air range. 

That allows digital artists to utilise the new tech within the stylus like a squeeze action to access an on-screen toolbar, haptic feedback and a built-in gyroscope that captures rotation as well as movement, all without the iPad Pro, and at £129, it’s the exact same price as the previous Apple Pencil. 

Apple Pencil Pro Specs
Apple Pencil Pro features

That’s not quite the case with the second-gen Magic Keyboard, which remains exclusive to the iPad Pro, but you’ll find first-gen Magic Keyboards for the iPad Air range that work just as well. You won’t get the new function buttons or aluminium build, but the core concept of the Magic Keyboard remains unchanged – essentially turning your iPad into a trackpad-equipped laptop.

Let’s go back to those all-important numbers from earlier. If you were to buy a 13-inch iPad Air, stylus and keyboard it’d still cost you £/$1277, but that’s less than the competing iPad Pro. It’s a more positive picture with the 11-inch combo, coming in at a total of £/$1027. 

So, yes, while the iPad Pro boasts the ultimate tablet hardware, you can get pretty damn close for much less with an iPad Air. 

The post Fast Charge: Forget the iPad Pro, the Air is all the tablet you need appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Apple’s best announcement had nothing to do with the iPad Pro

keyboard ipad 10th gen
keyboard ipad 10th gen

OPINION: Even though plenty of new products and features were unveiled during Apple’s Let Loose event, it was clear that the company wanted to focus on the M4-toting iPad Pro. Given just how unbelievably powerful the device will be, this is fair, but I think that for many people the best news of the night was found elsewhere.

It was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ announcement but towards the end of the event, Apple unveiled a sizeable price drop for the standard iPad 10th Gen, bringing the price down from £499/$449 to just £349/$349. As someone who uses the iPad 10 daily, I can safely say that this is a seriously good deal.

ipad 10th gen front
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

For starters, the iPad 10 should never have launched with its price, being a notable uptick on its predecessor and much closer in price to the iPad Air. Seeing Apple rectify this is great, but now that it has a lower price in tow, the iPad 10 is easily the one that most people should get.

It’s all too easy to be enamoured by the processing chops of the iPad Air and iPad Pro, but these devices are designed for a very niche crowd that work in industries like animation or content creation. For everyone else, you’d struggle to find something that the iPad 10 can’t do.

With the humble A14 Bionic chip in tow, my iPad 10 has allowed me to edit videos in LumaFusion, practice the piano in Rocksmith Plus and, courtesy of Scrivener, finish my first book (agents, hit me up).

Plenty of power

For these tasks and more, the iPad 10 has been my go-to device, and at no point have I hit a wall that could have been fixed by a more powerful iPad. With that in mind, I would implore those currently shopping for a new iPad to be unperturbed by Apple’s FOMO marketing – the company has made a great, affordable tablet that leaves you wanting for very little.

Plus, with the £250/$250 difference between the iPad 10 and the new iPad Air, you always put the money saved towards accessories like the Apple Pencil, or an Apple Watch SE. You can’t say fairer than that.

The post Apple’s best announcement had nothing to do with the iPad Pro appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

6 features the Nintendo Switch 2 must have for me to buy it

Nintendo Switch

OPINION: Nintendo has finally confirmed that the successor to the Switch will launch before April 2025, which means it’s only a matter of months away from release. 

The Nintendo Switch has been a huge success, currently ranking as the third best selling console of all time. This means that the Switch 2 has a lot to live up to, especially now that there’s far more competition in the handheld market following the release of the Steam Deck. 

With that in mind, I’ve created this list of the 6 features that the Nintendo Switch 2 must have in order to guarantee my purchase and become another success story. Check them out below:

Assassin's Creed Mirage
Enemies – Image Credit (Ubisoft)

Improved graphics performance 

I love the Nintendo Switch and still use it regularly, but there’s no denying that its Nvidia Tegra chip is starting to show its age. There have been performance issues for first-party games such as Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, while the third-party offering has dried up in recent years due to the Switch’s inability to keep up with the PS5 and Xbox Series X hardware. 

For example, Assassin’s Creed Mirage failed to materialise on the Switch, despite being playable on an iPhone 15 Pro smartphone. There’s also a growing number of third-party games on Switch that are only playable through the cloud, including Resident Evil Village, Hitman 3, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Kingdom Hearts 3. 

I’m hoping that this cloud workaround will be a thing of the past, and the increased firepower of the Switch 2 should enable it to run more complex games. It should also open the door for first-party developers to be even more ambitious. 

While a handheld system is always going to be more restricted than a home console, I believe that making use of AI features such as DLSS should allow it to push up performance as high as a 1080p resolution while still maintaining a healthy battery life. 

Nintendo Switch in the dock

4K output to TV in docked mode

I’ve heard some Switch fans say they’re hoping for a 4K upgrade for handheld mode, but I’d disagree on that point. You don’t really need that high of a resolution for a small 7-inch screen to make a noticeable difference, and upping the pixel count this high would have a detrimental effect on battery life. However, there’s no reason why Nintendo couldn’t enable a 4K performance when the Switch 2 is connected to the TV. 

Right now, the Switch’s dock is essentially just a plastic docking station that makes it easy to hook up the portable to a TV. I think Nintendo should upgrade the dock to feature a powerful chip which could upscale the performance of the Switch when connected to the TV. This would theoretically enable the Switch to reach a 4K resolution on a TV without compromising on the battery life in handheld mode. 

Now that 4K TVs are steadily becoming the norm, especially following the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, it’s a good time for Nintendo to finally make the jump. I personally think the 1080p output to a TV can look a little pixelated at times, especially since I own a 55-inch television. Enabling 4K mode on the Switch’s dock would immediately solve this issue, and make the succeeding console feel like a substantial upgrade. 

joy-con

Hall-effect joysticks 

If you asked every Switch fan what is their most hated feature of the portable gaming system, it’s likely that Joy-Con Drift will rank very high. This is the term given to Joy-Con controller issue that will trigger unwanted inputs for the analogue sticks, potentially causing your in-game character to spin around in a circle or move in the wrong direction. 

Joy-Con Drift can be caused by excessive use of the analogue stick, to such an extent that the mechanical parts begin to erode away. Nintendo sadly hasn’t been able to fix this issue, even with the release of the Switch OLED edition, but this should hopefully be rectified with the Switch 2. 

The emergence of hall-effect joysticks has been revolutionary for controllers, as it uses magnet technology rather than physical contact to register your inputs, therefore greatly reducing the risk of wear and tear. If Nintendo were to implement the hall-effect technology into its next-gen Joy-Con, then it would immediately eliminate Joy-Con Drift for good.

super mario odyssey

Backwards compatibility

The Nintendo Switch has now been around for over seven years, and in that time, it has amassed a huge collection of games. It would be a huge shame if it wasn’t possible to play these games on the Switch 2, and so I have my fingers crossed that there will be support for backwards compatibility.

Having backwards compatibility on the Switch 2 would also ease the pressure on the new device to deliver a compelling line-up of launch games in the first year, allowing access to your existing Switch games.

I’m also hopeful that the Switch 2 could offer a performance or visual boost to older games. For example, if the Switch 2 supported 4K resolution in docked mode, I’d love to revisit games such as Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey in the enhanced resolution. 

I’m also hopeful that the Nintendo Switch Online service continues to offer all of the NES, SNES, N64 and Game Boy classics, as I’ve loved being able to dip into these retro games on the portable. 

Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart

Speedier loading times

One of my favourite PS5 upgrades is the transition to M.2 SSDs. This cutting-edge storage solution offers significantly speedier loading times, which has all but eradicated loading screens for modern games. 

I’d love to see this upgrade arrive on the Nintendo Switch 2, as loading screens can still be pretty lengthy, especially for open-world games such as Tears of the Kingdom. 

The PS5’s new SSD has also allowed for improved gameplay features, such as near-instant fast travel, and the ability to hop between game worlds in an instant, demonstrated best by Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

Sony has arguably underutilised the breakneck speed of the PS5’s SSD, but I can’t imagine Nintendo doing so, as it loves to eke every drop of potential out of every new innovation, whether it’s the motion control of the Wii or the 3D effects of the 3DS. 

Nintendo eShop on Switch

Customisable UI

I’m a big fan of the user interface of the Nintendo Switch, as it’s simplistic and easy to navigate, especially since all of the games are organised in a row, organised by the most recently played. 

That said, I do wish that the Switch offered a tad more customisation. For example, I loved being able to set my own background on the PS4, offering more personalisation to differentiate your Switch from one owned by a sibling or friend. 

It’s an obvious win for Nintendo in my eyes, as it could not only sell fun wallpapers on its digital store, but also provide special edition variations through Amiibo as an extra incentive. 

The post 6 features the Nintendo Switch 2 must have for me to buy it appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

The Pixel Tablet without the dock is even harder to recommend

hub screen on pixel tablet
hub screen on pixel tablet

Google made a bold move this week. 

Less than two hours after Apple revealed the new iPad Air range and top-end iPad Pro range, Google made a tablet-themed announcement of its own.

No, it’s not the Pixel Tablet 2, but instead a new version of the Pixel Tablet sans the hybrid dock/speaker system. Y’know, the one feature that made the Pixel Tablet interesting in the first place?

Frankly, even with a £200/$100 discount compared to the Pixel Tablet & speaker combo, the standalone Pixel Tablet is almost impossible to recommend to the vast majority of consumers.

You see, the £599/$499 Pixel Tablet’s hybrid nature was essentially the reason to pick it up over any other Android tablet, or even an iPad. The idea was that the Pixel Tablet could function as your everyday tablet in use, and when not in use, it could double up as a smart screen like the Nest Hub Max. 

home screen on pixel tablet
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

It was a feature we praised in our review, helping it stand out from a sea of tablets from the likes of Samsung, OnePlus and even Apple. The tablet goes into what Google calls Hub Mode whenever docked, providing a slimmed-down version of the UI found on the Nest Hub with access to Google Assistant, smart home controls, Google Photos library and more. 

It wasn’t quite as impressive as the experience from a full-fat smart display like the Nest Hub Max, missing out on features like facial recognition, and sound quality was lacking, but it did a good enough job as a smart display overall. 

That’s important because when it comes to the actual tablet aspect of the Pixel Tablet, it’s pretty damn underwhelming. 

The Tensor G2 chipset powering the tablet is fine, but it wasn’t even the most powerful chipset around at its initial 2023 launch despite being used in the likes of the Pixel 7 and even the Pixel Fold, focusing more on AI than pure processing power. That gap is widening in 2024 with huge advancements from MediaTek and Qualcomm, as well as the rollout of the newer Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8 range. 

In fact, we found that it was on a par with the OnePlus Pad’s Dimensity 9000 chipset that was first released in 2021 – and the OnePlus Pad is quite a bit cheaper than the Pixel Tablet too. For reference, it can currently be found as little as £359/$399 at the time of writing.

Person holding Google Pixel Tablet
Image Credit: Google

Speaking of the OnePlus Pad, that tablet’s 11.6-inch 144Hz display also makes the Pixel Tablet’s 10.95-inch 60Hz display feel comparatively jittery when swiping around the tablet.

There’s also the fact that, unlike most mid-range and premium tablets, there are no official stylus or keyboard case accessories for the Pixel Tablet, limiting its use to entertainment rather than work or educational purposes. 

What I’m trying to get across is that, without the hybrid dock system, the Pixel Tablet simply doesn’t do enough to entice consumers. 

The budget/mid-range tablet is an extremely competitive one, with options from Apple now including the £349/$349 iPad 10, as well as the likes of the £359/$399 OnePlus Pad and the £449/$449 Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE, all offering a better tablet experience than Google’s standalone Pixel Tablet – and most at a cheaper price point too.

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The Apple M4 feels wasted without new iPad Pro software

OPINION: This week, Apple shocked the world by unveiling yet another generation of Apple Silicon chips, this time in the form of the Apple M4 chip. 

The fact that Apple is launching a new chip isn’t surprising in itself, but rather the timing. After all, the Apple M4 was announced just seven months after the release of its predecessor, the M3 chip. 

Many have suggested that this short gap between generations is likely due to Apple’s eagerness to capitalise on the growing popularity of AI. All of the major technology companies, such as Microsoft, Intel, Google, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm, are investing heavily in AI right now, so Apple seemingly wanted to act quickly before being left behind. 

According to Apple, the M4 features the most powerful neural engine ever, capable of a stunning 38 trillion operations per second. For comparison, the preceding Apple M3 is restricted to just 18 trillion operations per second, which is less than half the AI performance of the M4 processor. 

The AI power of the Apple M4 is remarkable, but all of that power will be wasted if Apple doesn’t develop enough software to make use of the processor’s cutting-edge neural engine. AI performance differs from raw processing power, as it only impacts the performance of AI-powered workloads. Right now, there aren’t a huge number of AI features that Apple offers, at least not enough that will benefit from the added power that the M4 chip promises. 

When the M4 was first announced, Apple gave a couple of examples of AI features that could benefit. The first involves being able to isolate a subject from its background when editing a 4K video in Final Cut Pro. However, this is a feature that’s already available via the Google Pixel 8 smartphones, and is quickly becoming available in a wider range of devices. 

Apple M4 specs
Credit: Apple

Apple also says the AI power of the M4 allows iPad Pro users to automatically create musical notation by simply listening to someone play the piano. It’s an impressive feat, but it’s a feature that the vast majority of people will have no interest in. 

As of now, there isn’t really any Apple AI feature that’s enticing enough to make me consider an iPad Pro purchase, or any future Mac that will be upgraded to the new M4 chipset. 

This isn’t an exclusive issue to Apple. It’s currently the same problem for Windows devices, as the AI power of Intel’s 14th Generation processors currently feels underutilised, with a dearth of advanced AI features to whet the appetite. 

iPad Pro M4
Credit: Apple

That said, I find the issue more surprising with Apple, as the company is in the unique situation of having full control of both the hardware and software of its products. As a result, it should be easier for Apple to harness the full potential of its M4 chip via new software updates and apps. 

I expect Apple will eventually address this issue. In fact, the upcoming WWDC event on 10th June 2024 is the perfect opportunity for the company to release a slew of AI-powered features that will make the purchase of an iPad Pro far more compelling. 

Nevertheless, I still can’t help but feel the release of the M4-powered iPad Pro is a tad premature. The record-breaking AI performance may be an exciting development, but if you buy the tablet this month, you won’t really be able to benefit from its untapped potential. 

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5 important announcements you might have missed from Apple's iPad event

Editing on the iPad Air 2024

Apple packed a lot into the Let Loose event, despite its short running time. While the iPad Pro and the new M4 chip were the headline attractions, there were a lot of little details that might have gone unnoticed.

Apple events are always packed full of small announcements that are buried inside larger reveals. Below we’ve highlighted some of the smaller stories from the show you might have missed.

For more from the latest Apple event, see our iPad Air 6 vs iPad Mini 5 comparison and our look at the M4 vs M3.

No charger in the UK

An odd one, this. If you purchase the iPad Pro M4 or Air M2 in the UK or other European countries it will ship without a charger – rather just a USB-C cable. It’s a different story in the USA though, where the tablet will have a 20w power adapter included inside the box.

Left ImageRight Image

The iPad Pro lacks the ultra-wide camera

The iPad Pro 2024 looks like a huge upgrade in many areas, however there is one slight downgrade. Instead of two cameras on the back, the new Pro models only have a single 12MP snapper – no 12MP ultra wide.

We can’t imagine many will be too fussed about this omission, in fact we don’t think we’ve ever properly used this camera, yet it’s rare for a feature like this to be removed.

ipad pro 2024 camera
iPad Pro 2024 camera

The iPad 10 is now the budget iPad

Apple didn’t update the iPad 10 during the Let Loose event, however it did drop the price to £349/$349, ditching the iPad 9 completely from the range in the process. This means the iPad 10 is now the most affordable iPad that Apple sells, and it’s a very tempting prospect.

The Apple Pencil Pro is the same price as the Apple Pencil 2

Apple’s Pencil range is now four products large, with each offering different features and compatibility. You might be surprised to learn that the new Apple Pencil Pro is actually selling at the same £129/$129 price as the Apple Pencil 2, even though it has new features like haptic response.

Apple M4

There are differences with the M4 depending on which storage size you get

As Apple’s Pro tablets have picked up more capable chips, things have become a little more complicated. No longer are all the Pro models the same, and there are some big differences depending on which storage option you select.

M4 models with 256GB or 512GB of storage have an M4 chip with a 9-core CPU comprising 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. Jump up to the 1TB or 2TB models and along with heaps more storage, the M4 chip has a 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores.

There’s a difference in RAM, too. The 256GB and 512GB models have 8GB of RAM, whereas the 1TB and 2TB have 16GB.

Finally, the nano-texture glass option is available only on the 1TB and 2TB models.

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Apple just launched the strangest pricing strategy I’ve ever seen

(OPINION) Apple’s latest event brought a ton of new products including multiple sized iPad Airs, M4 toting iPad Pros and even a pro-level upgrade for the iPad’s trusty stylus, the Apple Pencil. Known as the Apple Pencil Pro, this new device is already breaking my brain.

From first impressions, the Apple Pencil Pro definitely seems like quite an impressive device. On top of familiar features that we’ve come to appreciate from Apple’s iPad accessory, the Apple Pencil Pro now features an all-new squeeze button, a gyroscope for recognising rotation, haptic feedback and even Find My support (great news for anyone who’s lost of one of these things in the past).

As far as accessories go, that’s quite a solid amount of upgrades and I have no doubt that digital artists are already lining up to put down a pre-order for the Apple Pencil Pro, and you might be wondering exactly how much more these features will set you back.

Here’s the thing, the Apple Pencil Pro and the Apple Pencil 2 are the same price.

Apple Pencil Pro pricing
Here’s what I’ve been staring at on the Apple Store

I’ve now rewatched the pricing portion of Apple’s event multiple times and refreshed the Apple Store plenty just to double check that I’m not missing something but so far as I can tell, Apple has decided to lump the Apple Pencil Pro with the same £129/$129 price tag as the lesser powered Apple Pencil 2.

On the one hand, this is definitely a rare win where consumers are concerned, and it does offer up something of an obvious winner when pitching the two devices against one another, but it does beg the question: what is Apple’s strategy here?

After all, Apple is known for being a luxury brand and if you want to opt for more storage or even a different style of chassis, the company has been more than ready to charge you quite a bit extra for the pleasure.

There was no mention during the presentation about sunsetting the Apple Pencil 2 or even bringing the price down to reflect the cost of the Apple Pencil Pro, so again I have to ask, what is Apple trying to do here?

It’s not the type of company to overlook such an obvious oddity, so if there is some kind of plan behind it all then I’d love to know, otherwise I’ll be stuck here refreshing my browser until Tim Cook himself tells me that it’s not a mistake.

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3 things I want from the Apple Watch 10 (and something I don’t)

apple watch walkie-talkie step 1

OPINION: With its tenth iteration on the horizon, 2024 could end up being one of the biggest years for the Apple Watch yet.

As great as the Apple Watch has been for setting the standard on the smartwatch market, there’s no denying that the range hasn’t changed much in the last couple of years.

While Samsung moved towards a stylish, more sports-focused design from the Galaxy Watch 4 onwards and Google has adopted an almost pebble-like aesthetic in the Pixel Watch, Apple’s wearables have maintained the same look for almost a decade.

Well, if even a handful of rumours turn out to be true then the Apple Watch 10 (or the Apple Watch X) could bring about the design overhaul that’s desperately needed. While we wait to see if this speculation comes to fruition, I have a few more wishlist items that would make the Apple Watch 10 one of the best smartwatches yet (and one potential mistake that could hurt it).

We need custom watch faces

One of the best things the Apple Watch has going for it is the premium array of watch faces that Apple has designed from scratch. Whether it’s the recent Snoopy pick which brings the beloved character to life with great animations, or the timelapses of various cities worldwide, Apple has built up quite the collection over the years – but it hasn’t left much room for user expression.

Apple has never been a company to give users the complete freedom to customise things to their exact liking, but even if the watch face library was opened up a bit to feature designs created by watch brands like Casio or Seiko, it would go a long way towards allowing the Apple Watch to work better as a fashion accessory.

Apple Watch Series 9 on table

It’s time for an Apple Health overhaul

The simplicity of Apple’s fitness tracking software has always been one of the Apple Watch’s greatest strengths, but having spent enough time testing wearables from the likes of Garmin and Fitbit, it’s become clear that Apple doesn’t do the best job in actually breaking down information in a meaningful way.

For instance, cardio recovery and sleep tracking stats are just thrown at the user with very little explanation as to what it all means. By comparison, my trusty Whoop Strap 4.0 lets me know if I’ve been overtraining, if it’s time for a rest day, or the amount of genuine sleep I was able to get from the total time I spent in bed.

These are the breakdowns that make a huge difference and actually allow users to make actionable changes as a result. If I could get that information from my Apple Watch, it could be a game changer.

The battery situation has to change

Any fellow Apple Watch users will know exactly what I’m talking about here, and I’m still in partial disbelief over the fact that the abysmal battery life of these devices still hasn’t been addressed.

Apple’s been quoting the 18-hour battery life of the Watch for so long now that it feels almost like a moot point to even mention it, but against battery champions like the TicWatch Pro 5 and the OnePlus Watch 2, this reality of one-day per charge is starting to feel ridiculous.

One of the benefits of a smartwatch is that it can act as a backup device for when your phone runs out of battery, thanks to NFC payments and messaging, but that concept doesn’t really work if it barely outlives your smartphone.

Please Apple, don’t change the watch band design

One of the rumours I’ve seen is that in order to bring about battery gains for the Apple Watch 10, it could be using all-new watch straps that take up less space on the chassis itself, allowing for a larger battery cell.

While the allure of a longer battery life might sound like a tempting trade-off, it would be a great shame if every compatible watch band until now was suddenly made redundant.

I’m partially saying this because I’ve built up a nice collection of Apple Watch bands that I’d like to continue using, but there’s also a bigger problem at play. Apple has been making strides in reducing its e-waste, whether that be in moving to carbon neutral designs or taking charging bricks out of the box, but if it were to suddenly make countless compatible accessories useless then it would feel like an unnecessary betrayal of all the environmentally conscious work the company has put in thus far.

The post 3 things I want from the Apple Watch 10 (and something I don’t) appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

Sound & Vision: Vinyl has a waste problem and Evolution Music wants to fix it

OPINION: Billie Eilish caused a bit of a stir (seemingly with Taylor Swift fans) when she commented on the state of vinyl releases for Record Store Day when she talked about the wastefulness of multiple releases. And she made a pertinent point about it.

And it’s not just multiple vinyl releases that should be viewed as wasteful, but the vinyl record industry as a whole is rather wasteful in its approach to sustainability, an aspect that should – and likely will – be coming under the microscope as vinyl continues its resurgence among music fans.

The company looking to take on this issue is Evolution Music, headed by its CEO Marc Carey, who came to a Clarity Alliance event in May to set his stall out.

He started as a DJ back in the 80s but as a keen environmentalist, he worked in the clean tech sector conducting research about materials and general sustainability, work that involved working for local authorities too.

Marc Carey CEO Evolution Music
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

At the same time he was still DJ-ing, turning it into the UIC radio show. Having grown tired of working in the corporate/local government area, concerned by greenwashing issues and not having enough impact on sustainability, he focused on the radio show, working with established artists but mainly also focusing on springboarding new talent. And with this environmental bent, the ethos and ethics behind UIC was based on the permaculture movement – “People Care, Earth Care, Fair Share”.

The Earth Care aspect of that proved difficult working in the music industry in terms of finding sustainable options, and like a lightning bolt, an idea flashed into being with regards to vinyl production.

And here we get to the crux of the matter, with estimates putting vinyl manufacturing as creating over 300,000 tonnes of PVC every year – how to reduce that? By creating a new type of record that will work with any record player.

Evolution Music calls it EvoVinyl, which is produced in the same way as traditional PVC LPs (to avoid having to install a new, more expensive set-up), but the raw materials have changed in using bioplastics (renewable biomass sources), the sustainability remit extending further ensure the packaging (reused cardboard) for records is more planet-friendly than before.

EvoVinyl different colours
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Plenty of testing and proving the concept from the Diamond Black pressing plant in Luton to a test listen with Mark’s friend Rob Cass at Abbey Road, and also taking their EvoVinyl to the National Physical Laboratory to test against traditional vinyl – and they found there was “no real difference”.

There is surface noise, which is being addressed, and the one difference they did find was that the biomaterial used dissipated static better. With traditional vinyl, static can affect the sound and usually involves more care and upkeep.

Having proved it can be a) be produced and b) competes well against vinyl performance, the next hurdle was to see what the music industry makes of it.

So far it’s been positive.

Brian Eno’s EarthPercent charity has done proof of concepts, including Michael Stipe’s album from 2022, with EvoVinyl used for records as part of the EarthDay 2023 concert, with Coldplay, Chvrches, Nile Rodgers, and Emeli Sande just some of a few who had records pressed to EvoVinyl as part of the concert.

EvoVinyl records pressed
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Need more convincing?

As Evolution Music has worked with more pressing plants, they’ve found that because EvoVinyl presses at a lower temperature saving about 30% in terms of energy costs, and its cycle time is 50% faster (the time it takes to press a record).

But don’t think of that to mean that EvoVinyl will be glaringly less expensive than the alternative. Vinyl is expensive, which makes it prohibitive for some to get into, and EvoVinyl is likely to be the same, and with Gen Z discovering vinyl, lower costs are important to keep vinyl’s momentum going.

But the hope is that pressing plants will give over more lines for its production (and why wouldn’t they with the savings involved), and over time this will reduce the price because of the scale it’s being manufactured at.

EvoVinyl journey
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

British hi-fi brand PMC has invested in EvoVinyl as part of its commitment to sustainability, and it’s likely that you’ll be hearing more as Evolution Music and EvoVinyl gain traction.

It’s true what Billie Eilish said about the amount of waste vinyl production can produce, but the answer isn’t years away but is available right now. You might not have realised or even thought about it, vinyl is on the cusp of changing for the better.

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Winners and Losers: Sony brings PlayStation invites to mobile as Spotify adds lyric limit

It’s the first of two May bank holiday weekends, but that doesn’t mean we’re taking a break from calling out our winner and loser of the week. 

This week saw some big (albeit not great) news surrounding Apple, as the iPhone saw a sales drop in the second quarter of 2024. That said, Apple can’t be suffering too much as newly emerged court documents revealed that Google had paid the company $20 billion in 2022 alone simply to remain the default search engine in Safari. 

We also shared our in depth looks at two exciting new phones, including the luxury Honor Magic 6 RSR Porsche Design and the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra and its unique telescoping lens. 

PS5 multiplayer invites

Winner: Sony 

Our winner this week is Sony as the company announced a new way to send multiplayer invites via the PlayStation app. 

Soon, gamers will be able to generate shareable links on the PS5 and in the PlayStation app and send them to other PlayStation users via any messaging app or social media platform. Then, all that person needs to do is click the link or scan the QR code to join the game from the chat. 

This means you don’t need to nudge your friends to come online to start a multiplayer session. For those you’ve just met, you don’t even need to add each other as friends before jumping into a game. 

Another update that should encourage people to transition from their chat to a game is the PS5 session invites for Discord. Links shared in Discord will display a live multiplayer status, allowing you to check if a session is still active and how many players are present before hitting join. 

Lastly, Sony is launching a feature that’ll let you share your or a friend’s PlayStation Network profile on any messaging app by generating a link. This should streamline the process of adding friends on your PS5. 

spotify monthly lyrics limit
Image credit: Reddit user superbuza

Loser: Spotify 

Our loser this week is Spotify as some users reportedly hit a roadblock when trying to view lyrics using their Spotify Free accounts. 

Users took to X/Twitter and Reddit to share their frustration after discovering they could no longer view lyrics using Spotify Free. Instead, they found themselves faced with a preview of the lyrics and a pop-up that reads “Enjoy lyrics on Spotify Premium”, suggesting that users now need to subscribe to the music streaming service to access a feature that was previously free. 

It doesn’t appear as though Spotify has removed the lyric feature from Free accounts altogether. Instead, Free users will be subject to a monthly limit on lyrics, with every tap on the “Show lyrics” button counting toward this limit (via Dexerto). 

Spotify users have been split on their response to this update. On the one hand, you have the Free users who are upset that Spotify would lock a previously free feature behind a paywall. 

On the other hand, there are those arguing that you should pay for Spotify Premium if you can to ensure that artists get their fair share of the revenue from these streaming apps – though why Spotify can’t offer new perks (such as lossless audio from the long-awaited Spotify Hi-Fi) to encourage people to subscribe rather than revoking free features might be the real question here.

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Ctrl+Alt+Del: Slow down Apple, it's too early for an M4 chip

OPINION: This coming Tuesday, Apple is holding yet another showcase event where it’s expected to unveil a new range of iPads. And if rumours are to be believed, the next iPad Pro will be powered by the Apple M4 chip. 

Apple analyst, Mark Gurman, reports (via Bloomberg) that Apple could launch an M4-powered iPad Pro at the Let Loose event. What’s more, he suggests that Apple will also upgrade the iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini with the M4 chip later in the year.

This has all come as a big surprise, with Apple only introducing the M3 chip back in October 2023. If Gurman’s report is accurate that would mean there will only be a 7-month gap between the M3 and M4 generations. Some may applaud Apple for the speed it’s producing new chips, but I think this is more of a negative than a positive.

More of a negative than a positive

Most chip makers, such as AMD and Intel typically leave at least a 12-month gap between processor generations. This is frequent enough to ensure the brands are continuously pushing the envelope but also leaves customers enough time to purchase a new device without worrying that it will become outdated within a matter of months. 

Apple M1November, 2020
Apple M2June, 2022
Apple M3October, 2023
Apple M4May, 2024?

This is the same tactic that Apple uses for its iPhone launches, with new phones hitting stores every September like clockwork. When spending big bucks on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple fans want to feel assured that this will be the ultimate flagship iPhone for at least the next 12 months. If there was any threat of a successor launching a few months later instead, then the appeal of buying the new phone would diminish. 

Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t been quite as structured with its Mac releases. In March this year, Apple launched a new MacBook Air powered by the cutting-edge M3 chip. It wasn’t a huge upgrade overall, but the new processor at least provided a welcome performance boost. However, just two months later, reports now indicate that the iPad Pro could benefit from an M4 upgrade. This would put the tablet in a strange position of being a more powerful option than Apple’s entry-level laptop.

If I had bought a MacBook Air in the last couple of months, I’d be pretty annoyed by the potentially imminent release of the M4 chip. Suddenly, the new laptop feels outdated, and I’d be wondering why Apple didn’t instead wait a couple of months to upgrade it with the more advanced chip. 

MacBook Air M3 angled on table
MacBook Air – Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Gurman suggests that Apple has decided to accelerate its computer processor upgrades in order to show off the M4 chip’s new AI capabilities. This makes a lot of sense, with Intel recently making huge strides in AI innovation, and Qualcomm making big AI performance claims about its upcoming Snapdragon X Elite chips. The likes of Microsoft, Nvidia and Adobe have also spent the last couple of years doubling down on AI advancements, while Apple has been surprisingly quiet on the AI front in comparison and has arguably been left behind by its rivals.

The Apple M4 chip will seemingly rectify that, with the iPad Pro acting as Apple’s very first AI-powered device. I’m excited to see what kind of AI features Apple will introduce, with the company in a perfect position to innovate due to its seamless integration of both software and hardware. 

However, Apple has long known about the rapid advancements and popularity of AI, so that doesn’t excuse its poor planning. The M3 has felt like a rather pointless generation to me, especially since it’s failed to materialise in several devices (including the Mac Mini and iPad Pro).

iPad Pro M2 no keyboard or pencil
M2-powered iPad Pro – Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Sure, it’s helped to boost sales of Apple’s Macs, but it’s probably left many new Mac owners feeling buyer’s remorse with the M4 seemingly arriving just a matter of months after. Maybe it’s the case of the M3 chip arriving too late as opposed to the M4 arriving too early, but it’s still an issue that needs addressing.

The move over to Apple Silicon has undoubtedly been a huge success for Apple, but if it wants to continue competing with the likes of AMD and Intel, it really needs to stick more faithfully to a structured roadmap. This way, customers can feel confident that their new Mac purchase will offer cutting-edge performance for at least the next 12 months, rather than feeling outdated in a matter of weeks.

Ctrl+Alt+Del is our weekly computing-focused opinion column where we delve deeper into the world of PCs, laptops, handhelds, peripherals and more. Get it straight into your email inbox every Saturday by signing up for the newsletter.

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Fast Charge: The OnePlus Pad Go comes a little too late – and that’s a bit of a shame

While working on my OnePlus Pad Go review – which should be live in the next couple of days here at Trusted Reviews – I had a realisation. 

The OnePlus Pad Go’s £299 price tag is indeed tempting, not only because of the boosted spec but inclusion of LTE connectivity by default, but there’s a problem: the more powerful OnePlus Pad isn’t as expensive as it was at release in early 2023 and, just like with the release of the Galaxy S23 FE and S23, is now only slightly more expensive than the Pad Go. 

It’s not even third-party retailers that are undercutting the new budget tablet; OnePlus itself is offering the OnePlus Pad at quite a significant discount, with 20% off the RRP at the time of writing, bringing the full-fat tablet down to just £359 – £60 more than the OnePlus Pad Go.

That’s a problem because the OnePlus Pad boasts quite a bit more tech than the Pad Go. That includes a larger, faster 11.6-inch 144Hz display, a much more powerful processor in the form of the Dimensity 9000, along with 12GB of RAM, and rapid 67W fast charging tech that we found delivered a full charge in 64 minutes.

The OnePlus Pad also has another key strength compared to its entry-level sibling; accessory support. The OnePlus Pad offers support for both a OnePlus-designed keyboard cover and stylus, with both attaching to the tablet via magnets in the same way a high-end iPad does. 

Granted, these accessories come at an additional cost, but simply the option of using them makes the OnePlus Pad a more appealing tablet than its cheaper sibling, especially for school or work purposes. 

Left ImageRight Image

But why is this even happening in the first place? It’s mainly down to OnePlus’ decision to delay the launch of the OnePlus Pad Go in Europe. 

You see, despite its 2024 release, the OnePlus Pad Go initially made its debut in October 2023 in India. That made a lot of sense for OnePlus – the regular Pad was around six months old at the time and was still selling for quite the premium compared to the Go, making the Go’s budget nature a tempting option for budget-conscious buyers. 

The problem with the European launch is that OnePlus has waited too long. Tech depreciates pretty quickly, and that’s especially true in the mobile and tablet worlds where tech is advancing at an increasingly rapid pace, making what look like flagship-level products look comparatively outdated within a year of release. 

That means that the discounted OnePlus Pad has a very real chance to undercut the “more recent” OnePlus Pad Go, simply because of the poor timing and significantly delayed release compared to its Indian launch.

OnePlus can’t go much cheaper than the £300 mark with the Pad Go without incurring some kind of loss – especially with elements like LTE connectivity rarely seen at the price point – so there isn’t a clear fix here. Sure, OnePlus could bump the regular Pad’s price back up to £449, but it’s still available at a discounted price from third-party retailers.

Instead, it seems OnePlus will have to commit to a European launch for its key products with a much shorter turnaround than what we’ve seen with the OnePlus Pad Go. Let’s hope the company learns from its mistakes and strengthens its Western release plans going forward.

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Sound & Vision: Personalised apps and headphones are the future

OPINION: If you could plot the future of where audio devices are going, it’d be a line that splits into various branches. There might be some overlap and some convergence, but it seems that audio brands all have different ideas of what the future will be.

Some have jumped down the direction of wearable audio, some believe immersive audio will be the breakout feature, and others place their faith in delivering true lossless high fidelity audio on the move.

What’s occurred to me in the last few weeks is how personalisation is also driving the direction of headphones, wireless speakers, and even apps.

First up was the news of Sonos’ relaunching its S2 app. It’s no surprise that with so many music streaming services out there, some are beginning to get flustered. If you subscribe to more than one, how do you keep all your favourite tracks together in one place?

That’s what Sonos aims to achieve with its revised app that’s coming in May. It’s made personalisation and customisation key to the experience, as well as simplified and streamlined the app. There’s no jumping from tab to tab to perform various functions – it’s all consolidated into one home screen. And now you can pin albums, songs, and playlists to that home screen, making it faster and easier to get back into the music you like.

Sonos new S2 app redesign
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

And it makes sense. With so much ‘content’ available to wade through, having choice actually feels overwhelming. Don’t you find it annoying when you open the Netflix app and then spend minutes if not longer scrolling for something to watch before giving up? By making you the curator of your own experience, you’re in charge of what you want.

So there’s the one side in terms of the app and service experience that’s putting personalisation at the forefront. The other aspect I want to talk about is the hardware itself.

Recently I was invited to a demonstration by Japanese brand Final Audio to peek at its technology that could make a sound profile unique to you. Final Audio calls it Timbre Physical Personalization, which I’ll try to simplify as being about how we hear sounds and how our brains interpret those sounds.

In the first session, a virtual version of my head and upper torso was made, as well as a scan of both my ears to create an ‘Acoustic Avatar’. The second session was conducted with me in the UK and technicians in Japan where I listened to a track multiple times to see if I could hear any differences.

My digital ear Final Audio
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Sometimes the loudness, tone and pitch of sounds changed, other times I could barely hear a difference, but that’s not a problem. Our ears are all different, and it’s about what you can hear rather than overly focusing on what you think you can hear.

What Final is getting at is creating a sound profile, or timbre, that reflects how you hear the world. You’ll see a lot of manufacturers focusing on tone – bigger bass, brighter highs, neutrality, crispness etc but that’s reflective of the brand’s own tastes in tuning. Sony will have a different taste, Bose will have a different philosophy, Bowers & Wilkins have its own approach, and so on. Final’s perspective on the matter is that it wants to remove the philosophy from the equation and echo how you hear the music, not impart how they think music should be heard.

It’s not necessarily a new idea, there have been a lot of acoustic hearing tests in apps, but the method and the depth of the scanning of my body takes it to a whole new level that I’ve not seen before.

Both what Sonos and Final are doing show that personalisation is coming to the fore. We’ve always had that aspect of personalisation and customisation with apps, such as fine-tuning the ANC, swapping out voice assistants or changing the controls; but this feels like a step forward, and potentially a sign of brands relinquishing control over the wheel and putting you in the driver’s seat.

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Winners and Losers: Adobe Firefly AI gets smarter as Biden signs TikTok ban

Winners and Losers: Adobe and TikTok

It’s Sunday, meaning it’s time for us to pick our winner and loser of the week. 

This week marked some exciting launches, including an affordable tablet and smartwatch from OnePlus, a nostalgic 6-disc CD changer from Bang & Olufsen, and the Snapdragon X Plus chip for future laptops.

Meanwhile, Meta teamed up with Microsoft to create a limited edition Xbox-inspired version of the Meta Quest, while Apple is rumoured to have cut production of its own Vision Pro mixed reality headset due to low demand. 

But who are our main winners and losers of the week? Keep reading to find out.

Adobe Firefly Image 3 model generated image

Winner: Adobe 

It was a busy week for Adobe as the company hosted its annual Adobe Max conference in London. 

No doubt the most exciting news from the event surrounded the company’s latest Firefly Image 3 model generative image model, which marked some substantial upgrades for both Firefly and Adobe Photoshop. 

The generative AI model is both better at understanding prompts and more skilled at structuring images and producing detail. These improvements should be apparent in instances that might usually be dead giveaways that AI has been used, such as wonky straight lines and a lack of detail in faces when generating crowds. 

The new model is also capable of drawing from a broader range of art styles and producing a more varied range of human emotions. 

For Photoshop users, Firefly Image 3 is the magic behind several new features rolling out in Generative Fill this week. 

New tools include Reference Image, a feature that allows users to upload photos or illustrations as prompts instead of typing words. Photoshop will then generate an object with similar characteristics and place that item in the scene. 

There’s also Enhance Detail, a tool that uses AI to improve the clarity of your image, and Generate Background which generates entire backgrounds from a written prompt. Lastly, there’s the Generate Similar tool to finetune generated images when the results aren’t quite what you wanted but are very close. 

Despite what your opinion is on generative AI, there’s no doubt the Firefly Image 3 model is an impressive update with a huge amount of potential for Photoshop users. 

what is tiktok tips and tricks

Loser: TikTok 

Our loser this week is TikTok, as US president Joe Biden signed a bill that will ban TikTok in the country if ByteDance does not sell the app in the next year. 

The bill – which gained widespread support from US senators – was initially introduced to address concerns that TikTok shares user data with the Chinese government. This is something that the app has continuously denied, stating that ByteDance “is not an agent of China or any other country”. 

Of course, TikTok is not going down without a fight. Singaporean businessman and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew posted a response to the news in a video titled ‘Response to TikTok Ban Bill’: 

“Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok, and a band on you and YOUR voice. Politicians may say otherwise, but don’t get confused, many who sponsored the bill admit a TikTok ban is their ultimate goal,” said the CEO. 

“Rest assured, we aren’t going anywhere. We are confident and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts. The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again”.

The post Winners and Losers: Adobe Firefly AI gets smarter as Biden signs TikTok ban appeared first on Trusted Reviews.

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