Monica Chin | The VergeThe Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.2025-01-24T21:00:25+00:00https://www.theverge.com/authors/monica-chin/rsshttps://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1Monica Chin<![CDATA[How to uninstall apps in macOS]]>https://www.theverge.com/21286492/macos-uninstall-apps-how-to-macbook-apple2024-02-12T16:45:59-05:002024-02-12T16:45:59-05:00
We’ve all been there: you downloaded an exciting new app because you thought it might be fun — useful, even — but you didn’t end up using it, something better came out, or you’ve just gotten bored and it’s time for it to go. Never fear — uninstalling an app from macOS is a simple process that takes just a few seconds.
The process is slightly different for apps you downloaded from the internet and those you got from the App Store. Here’s how to clean out both.
Easiest way to uninstall apps
To uninstall apps you got from the App Store, you’ll need to use Launchpad.
Click the Launchpad icon on the dock (it’s a square with nine small squares in it ).
Click and hold any app until all of the icons start shaking.
Find the program you want to delete, and tap the delete button (it looks like an X).
If the app you want to delete doesn’t have a delete button, then that app can’t be removed with Launchpad. If that’s the case, follow the steps below.
Second way to uninstall apps
Quite a few apps don’t let you uninstall them using Launchpad — instead, you’ll need to use Finder to get rid of them.
Click the Finder icon in your dock (it’s the blue square with a smiley face).
Click Applications on the left side of the window.
Select the app you want to uninstall.
Drag the app to the Trash can on your dock. (If the app is in a folder, open the folder first to see if there’s an Uninstaller tool.) You can also right-click on the icon and select Move to Trash.
Once the app is in the Trash, you’re done. If you want to really get rid of it (and there’s nothing else in Trash that you may need in future), then just right-click on the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
Update February 12th, 2024, 4:45PM ET: This article was originally published on June 10th, 2020, and has been updated to account for changes in the OS.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[I really hope Asus didn’t ruin the Zephyrus G14]]>https://www.theverge.com/24044499/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-2024-apple-macbook2024-01-20T09:00:00-05:002024-01-20T09:00:00-05:00
The Asus Zephyrus G14 and G16 are chunky and funky no more. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
[Editor’s note: Monica Chin is The Verge’s former senior laptop reviewer, currently taking a break from tech journalism. But some things are hard to quit.]
Once upon a time, in the olden days of March 2020, a little company called Asus released a spritely whippersnapper of a gaming laptop called the ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighed just over 3.5 pounds, and it was powered by a truly monstrous AMD processor, the likes of which had never been seen in a 14-inch form factor.
I still remember reviewing that laptop, almost four years ago, like it was yesterday. I remember running the Red Dead Redemption 2 benchmark — the ultimate test at that time — over and over again, poring over the game settings, trying desperately to figure out what I’d messed up to make the egregiously high frame rates I was seeing make sense. (The best Intel had to offer at the time, remember, was Comet Lake. And, well, we don’t talk about Comet Lake in this household.)
And then there was the design. The G14 sported a retro aesthetic, spaceship-y in nature with large, luxuriously comfortable keycaps and a keyboard font that evoked Johnny Rockets. The lid eschewed the smooth and sleek aesthetic around which laptops were just beginning to converge at that time, opting instead to be covered with a curious but totally unique dot matrix. If you paid a bit (okay, a lot) of extra money, those dots became animated LEDs that you could do all kinds of funky things with, from raising a virtual pet to making a dude’s head continuously explode. Since then, there’s been a G14 model that doubles as a DJ deck and another covered in obscure shapes with “BLACK HOLES IN THE NOW” scrawled across the bottom. It has never been a laptop concerned with blending in.
I remember emailing Asus to ask if the $1,449 price they’d sent me was a typo — shouldn’t something this exceptional be $1,000 more? And I viscerally remember the feeling I got when Asus’ representative replied that no, believe it or not, that was the real price. It was a realization that this computer was something new — that this computer was something different.
The G14 went on to create what was essentially a new category of gaming laptop over the next few years. The product’s popularity made it basically impossible to buy for quite some time. It’s been a huge product for Asus, a near-consistent presence on Best Buy’s bestseller lists, and, anecdotally, one of the gaming laptops I most often saw in the wild.
These days, innovative 14-inch rigs abound. Asus’ wasn’t the first ultraportable gaming notebook — that honor, of course, belongs to the Razer Blade — but the Zephyrus G14 still proved to everyone that not only could heavy-duty games run well on a 14-inch laptop with all-day battery life and a funky, bold design, but also that such a machine did not need to cost an arm and a leg.
It redefined the category, in other words, by being the exact opposite of a MacBook in basically every way.
Fast-forward to CES 2024. The G14, which has largely retained a facsimile of its 2020 chassis since release, was unveiled with a major redesign. It is much thinner and much lighter. The spaceship vibe is no more. Gone is the dot matrix, as are the exploding heads and virtual fauna that it wrought. The lid is now sleek and professional, with a — I don’t know, is it a slash? — across the center as the sole decoration. Everything about it is rounder, more polished, and prestige. As reports from the show have pointed out, it suddenly looks, feels, and seems a heck of a lot like a MacBook.
The G14 is far from the only CES release that’s blatantly chasing the Mac line when it comes to design. Dell has swapped out its 15-inch and 17-inch XPS configurations for a 14-incher and 16-incher, respectively (sound familiar?). The models have lost not only their full-sized SD slot (sigh), but also their physical function row in favor of haptic touch buttons (another thing a certain Cupertino company tried). Everyone and their mother is grumpy about it. And it’s emblematic of a larger trend we’ve been seeing throughout the computing space in recent years, in which 13-inchers and 14-inchers are converging on a boardroom aesthetic while getting thinner and lighter at all costs.
Now, I understand the desire to emulate the MacBook. It’s a phenomenal line of computers. It’s on top of Best Laptop pages all across the internet, and there’s little disagreement as to its value.
But there are a few things I really hope manufacturers will keep in mind as they mull over whether to scrap designs that were unique and different in pursuit of the MacBook’s look and feel. The first is that the MacBook is not just its look and feel. It’s much more.
I would argue that the reason Apple computers have become the machine that, like, every professional has is, moreso than anything else, their performance. It’s the category-topping power of both their chips and their battery life — it’s the combination of strength and efficiency that they offer. After all, the early-2020 MacBook Pro 13 and the late-2020 MacBook Pro 13 had very similar chassis, but only the latter had both category-topping performance and category-topping battery life, and it only took a few months to totally eclipse its Intel counterpart’s sales. Category-topping performance and category-topping battery life, incidentally, are also what the G14 has had for several years.
I don’t mean to imply that design is unimportant. I am saying that the pursuit of thinness, sleekness, suaveness, whatever you want to call it, often comes with costs.
We’ve seen that play out time and time again. You can look to the transition from the Dell XPS 13, an all-around exceptional laptop that was topping Best pages in the pre-M1 era, to the Dell XPS 13 Plus, a flaming fireball of an ultrabook with about five minutes of battery life, a shallow touchpad, disappointing performance, and a frustrating keyboard that got middling reviews from pretty much everyone. (Tom’s Guide, noted fans of the XPS line, slammed it as “a stunning step backwards.”)
You can look to the ThinkPad Z-series, which had to leave out most of the features that make ThinkPads world renowned in order to maintain a slim frame. The Razer Blade has been doing the thin-and-sleek thing for years on end, and it has consistently been louder, hotter, pricier, and worse in the battery life department than the G14. Heck, you can even look to Apple. After all, the thin-at-all-costs mindset is what subjected us to five years of butterfly keyboard.
I hope this isn’t what’s happening to the G14, the XPS 13, and other major laptops that received redesigns at CES this year. But I’m seeing some warning signs. Last year’s G14 could accommodate up to an RTX 4090 — Nvidia’s top guns — while this year’s caps out at an RTX 4070. Granted, the G14’s 4090 was limited to 125W, a significantly lower number than bigger 4090 machines were pulling at that time, and the RTX 4070 model was definitely the sweet spot of performance and price. But the fact remains: SKU options for G14 fans are more limited now than they were before.
And then there’s battery life, which has long been one of the G14’s most outstanding features. Not only does the 2024 G14 have a smaller battery than its predecessor, but it has a higher-resolution OLED screen. Don’t get me wrong: I love me an OLED screen, especially for gaming, and the Zephyrus’ looks great. But last year’s QHD Mini LED panel was already stunning, with some reviewers reporting that it was basically as good as an OLED. And high-resolution OLED screens combined with H-series processors are rarely a recipe for exceptional battery life. I’ll point you, again, to the XPS 13 Plus. The Acer Swift 3. The HP Pavilion Plus 14. The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED. The HP Spectre x360 13.5. I mean, literally, just take your pick.
I understand the impulse to follow the cool kids to their cafeteria table. Truly, I do. But the Zephyrus G14 had a good thing going. It wasn’t for everyone, but it was wholly and unapologetically itself. It would be a shame, as Windows machines across the market race to catch the MacBook, if such bold products disappeared.
Updated Jan 20th 2024 at 4:35pm ET: Added extra context about the power draw of the RTX 4090 in last year’s G14 that was present in original draft.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[How to find your Apple Music Replay]]>https://www.theverge.com/23484112/apple-music-replay-how-to2023-11-28T10:04:05-05:002023-11-28T10:04:05-05:00
I am a devoted Apple Music user, and you will pry the service out of my cold, dead hands. Still, I’ve spent the past few Decembers incredibly jealous of the sea of Spotify rewinds that populated my friends’ social media profiles.
Sure, Apple has always had ways to see your most-played songs over given periods of time. But it hasn’t had anything nearly as comprehensive or interesting as what Spotify puts out — at least, until this year.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Replay, Apple Music’s answer to Spotify Wrapped, is quite the same as its time-honored competitor. Still, it shows you the basics — your top artists, your top songs, stuff like that.
Here’s how to get it up and running.
How to look up your Apple Music Replay
You can do this from the Apple Music iOS app (or, for that matter, from the Apple Music app on Android). To do that:
Open the app and make sure you’re on the Listen Now tab.
Scroll down until you see the Replay section. It should be about halfway down.
Once you’re there, you can click that. You’ll be taken directly to your results on the website.
Once you’re there, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your Apple ID. Do all the shindiggery required to do that.
And then wait. Assuming you’ve listened to enough music, your report will eventually pop up.
There is not currently a way to export and share the full report, though you can share your Replay playlist from the Listen Now section of the Apple Music app (as you would any other playlist); in addition, if you go to the end of your highlight reel on the site, you can share a summary image, including your top minutes, top album, and top song.
Update November 28th, 2023, 10:03AM ET: This article was originally published on November 29th, 2022, and has been updated to account for changes in Apple Music.
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Monica ChinNathan Edwards<![CDATA[The best Chromebook to buy this year]]>https://www.theverge.com/21296102/best-chromebooks2025-01-24T16:00:25-05:002023-11-22T09:57:20-05:00
Chromebooks are no longer just laptops that run a browser and a few Google apps. They can cover a wide variety of computing needs now, and a good Chrome OS laptop or two-in-one can be more useful than a mediocre Windows laptop — especially now that many can run Android and Linux apps.
That’s assuming you get one with enough power to actually function, though — cheap Chromebooks are notorious for creaky processors, inadequate RAM, and slow, skimpy storage, while decent Chromebooks often cost just as much as Windows machines. Fortunately, the message that many people actually want good Chromebooks rather than just cheap ones has gotten through to manufacturers and to Google. The latter has recently launched the Chromebook Plus certification, which guarantees a baseline level of hardware as well as ten years of software support.
You can get a decent Chromebook for about $400. Many are around $500 or $600, though there are good options in the higher and lower ranges as well. The extra money goes a long way toward getting something you’ll be happy with.
For the first time, the quality of the Chromebooks in this range has been consistent. There are so many similarities between the offerings from Asus, Lenovo, Google, HP, Dell, and Samsung that a conspiracy-minded person might suggest they’re all sourcing their components from the same factory. That’s great news if you’re comparison shopping; the majority of this list would be good buys if you can find them at a discount. In some cases, we’ve left older models on the list precisely because they’re regularly discounted. A laptop that was great at $500 two years ago can still be a good deal at $300 today.
Acer’s newest Chromebook Spin, which is part of the Plus line of Chromebooks, is the best Chromebook we’ve seen so far in 2024. Like the rest of them, the Plus Spin 14 has Google Gemini features integrated with ChromeOS, and comes with 12 free months of Google One AI premium, which includes 2TB of cloud storage space.
It’s configured with an eight-core Intel Core Ultra 5 115U with a max clock speed of 4.20GHz. That’s, technically, slower than last gen’s ten-core Intel Core i5-1335U with a max clock speed of 4.20GHz — but the Ultra Core has an NPU, which means it’s better suited for running AI-related tasks on-device. The new Spin Chromebook also supports the current LPDDR5 memory standard, which is faster than the previous generation in the 2023 Spin 714.
The Plus Spin 714 also now has two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, instead of two USB-C 3.2 ports, for much faster data transfer and power delivery.
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is the least expensive laptop with Google’s new Plus certification. At around $400 for a Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, it’s the baseline Chromebook you should consider if you can’t spend any more.
It’s so easy to get a bad Chromebook at this price, so it’s a relief that the Chromebook Plus CX34 is so good. Not only does it have respectable internals, but the 1080p screen and 1080p webcam are good for the price, the keyboard is great, and the trackpad is fine, if a bit stiff. Battery life is decent, too, and like all Plus Chromebooks, it comes with 10 years of software updates. You can spend more on a laptop, and you probably should, but don’t buy a Chromebook less powerful than this one.
The Chromebook Flip CX5 was a hard sell for most people at $800 in 2021, even with a Core i5 processor and 15GB of RAM, but it really was that good. It’s sturdy enough to withstand all kinds of jolts and jostles in a backpack or briefcase, and has a unique velvety texture that’s very pleasant to hold. Add a wide port selection, a smooth and comfortable keyboard, and a vivid display, and you’ve got a chassis that can hold its own against plenty of midrange Windows laptops.
It’s no longer the best Chromebook you can get, but if you can find a good configuration at a good price, it’s still worth considering. Battery life is quite satisfactory and easily lasted us all day. And the CX5 delivered some of the loudest audio we’ve ever heard from a Chromebook.
The model linked above, with a 12th-gen Intel i3, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, is almost as powerful as the Chromebook CX34 above — though the webcam isn’t as good — and unlike that model, it’s convertible.
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 / GPU: Qualcomm Adreno / RAM: 8GB / Storage: 128GB / Display: 13.3-inch OLED, 1920 x 1080, 60Hz, touch option / Dimensions: 12.05 x 7.32 x 0.27 inches / Weight: 2.22 pounds
The Chromebook Duet 5 is a compact convertible device with an OLED screen. It’s thinner and lighter than most Chromebooks out there, and its back cover doubles as a kickstand. And it’s often available for under $400, making it one of the cheapest OLED devices you can buy.
The OLED display makes for quite enjoyable viewing, and the detachable keyboard is great as well with excellent spacing and satisfying feedback. Performance (our unit was powered by the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2) was surprisingly snappy, and the device could handle our standard office workload with no issue. But the standout feature was battery life: We saw between 10 and 12 hours to a charge, even when doing fairly demanding tasks like Zoom calls and high-resolution YouTube videos.
There are a few unfortunate omissions: there’s no fingerprint sensor, and there’s no included stylus (though one is supported). But Chrome OS fans who want a great screen for multimedia viewing can’t do better than this Chromebook at this price.
If you want a Chromebook with RGB lighting that isn’t specifically a gaming Chromebook — and who doesn’t? — your only option is the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook. This device doesn’t have quite as premium a build as the old school Elite Dragonfly, but it’s still quite nice. It’s also got a solid 8MP webcam, excellent speakers, and one of the brightest screens I’ve ever seen on a Chromebook. But the real differentiating factor is the colorful keyboard, which you won’t find on any of the other products listed here.
The one thing I will warn potential buyers of is that the colorful keyboard and bright screen take their toll on battery life. I only saw around six hours to a charge here. That’s not terrible, but we’d hope to see more from a device this expensive. Still, the Dragonfly Pro offers a premium build and unique combination of features, and that makes it worth a look from deep-pocketed business customers.
Updated November 22nd, 2023: Changed top pick, added a new Chromebook Plus model, removed some older models, and repositioned others to account for lower prices.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[If you can’t motivate yourself to exercise, try this app]]>https://www.theverge.com/23935105/future-personal-training-fitness-app-price-features2023-10-27T15:17:12-04:002023-10-27T15:17:12-04:00
This is the Future app for iOS. | Image: Future
If you’re anything like me, making yourself work out is hard. You set an alarm but then can’t convince yourself to get out of bed. You’re done with work and have your clothes and sneakers packed, but tasks that seem more pressing just keep coming up, and oh look, they just released another episode of Billions, and do you really feel like leaving the house?
Many people’s answer to this conundrum is a personal trainer — someone you meet with once a week or so who walks you through various customized exercises and shouts encouragement. If you don’t show up to your workout, you probably still get billed for the session and — more importantly — your trainer will be upset with you, and that’s no fun. But personal trainers can cost well over $100 per hour, which just isn’t an accessible price for many people (myself very much included). That’s why I’ve avoided getting one for many years, even though I’m sure it could be exactly the motivation I need to leave my couch and get some reps in.
If you are also in this situation, I have found a good compromise, and I would like to make sure you’re aware of it. It’s called Future Personal Training.
To be clear, Future is not cheap by any means: memberships are currently $199 a month. This is not Planet Fitness. But compared to the cost of a personal trainer at my gym in New York City, who might charge close to that amount per session, you’ll probably save. Still, you may well be in a region or part of a gym where good personal trainers are more affordable, so make sure to do some research before signing up.
Future is a virtual personal training service. You download the app, answer a few questions about your fitness level and workout preferences, and are then able to select a personal trainer from a few provided options. These personal trainers are real people (no AI here), and you can scroll through their bios and qualifications to get a sense of who might be a good fit for you. One warning I will give: even if you answer the quiz questions identically, you will not be given the same set of trainer options each time. So if you see a trainer you really want, just go ahead and grab them.
The trainer I selected sent me a video greeting, and then we scheduled a video call. Here, I told her what I’ve told you: I wanted to be exercising more, but it felt a bit like a chore, and I had trouble motivating myself to do it. Basically, I needed someone who could assign me a few fun workouts a week and hold me accountable for doing them. I’ve been using Future for over half a year now, and my trainer has done exactly that. I’ve discovered working out again, and it turns out, it’s pretty fun.
It’s much harder to blow off a workout when you feel like a real human is waiting for you to get it done
Through the Future app, you have an open chat with your coach. Mine will message me encouragement every so often and will check in now and again to see how it’s going. She assigns me workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I’ll message her as I’m doing them if I have any questions or feedback. Coaches can adjust things on the fly. I let my coach know at one point that I’d moved to a gym with a pool, and she started building swimming into my assignments; I told her my gym had gotten rid of its foam rollers, and she swapped in replacement exercises. She gets the data from my smartwatch at the end of each workout and can use that to roughly see if the level needs adjusting.
As time has gone on, I’ve gotten to know my coach on a personal level as well. She asks me how my weekend went and sends pictures when she gets back from vacation. I’m sure your mileage on this one varies by the coach you select, but it’s much harder to blow off a workout when you feel like a real human, who you know, is waiting for you to get it done.
Future’s assigned workouts look largely like lists of exercises complete with reps, weights, and instructional videos. When you’re done with an exercise, you press the “next” button. It’s a bit like doing a Fitbod workout, if you’ve ever used that. But what’s different from Fitbod (apart from the fact that your workouts are designed by a real human) is that your coach maintains a virtual presence throughout. A little bubble with my coach’s head in it lingers in the corner of my screen during every exercise, and it really does give me the feeling that she’s watching me as I squat or crunch. Irrationally or not, it makes me think more about my form as I work. There’s an audio component as well. My coach records a quick but very motivating introduction to each workout that plays as I warm up and also makes clarifications about certain exercises that might be more confusing. It feels like she’s kind of hanging out in my head.
The most important aspect of a workout is that I do it
I have to note that there’s one thing you don’t get out of Future that you would out of an in-person personal trainer, and that’s form correction. Your coach can certainly give you tips on your form, and you can ask them questions, but they’re not actually watching you complete the exercises and won’t be able to tell you if you’re doing them wrong. If form correction is a priority for you, then Future probably isn’t your pick.
But that’s a benefit that I’ve personally been willing to give up. Because to me, the most important aspect of a workout is that I do it. And when I feel like I have someone by my side, encouraging me as I work out — even if that’s not literally true — the whole prospect of doing it feels less intimidating and more like a fun, social affair. And when I know that person will be cheering me on in the chat as soon as I finish, I’m more motivated to make sure I get the workout done and that I do it right. If you’re someone who would benefit from something like this and Future is in your budget, it’s worth giving it a shot.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[Qualcomm claims its Snapdragon X Elite processor will beat Apple, Intel, and AMD]]>https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/24/23930366/qualcomm-snapdragon-x-elite-processor-availability-release-date2023-10-24T18:16:27-04:002023-10-24T18:16:27-04:00
What laptop is this? I have a guess. | Image: Qualcomm
Qualcomm has announced its new Snapdragon X Elite platform, which looks to be its most powerful computing processor to date. The chips (including the new Qualcomm Oryon, announced today) are built on a 4nm process and include 136GB/s of memory bandwidth. PCs are expected to ship in mid-2024.
Qualcomm has made the ambitious claim that its Snapdragon X Elite will outperform multiple Intel Core i7 processors on the Geekbench 6 benchmark that measures multi-threaded performance. The company has put forth a chart as evidence for this, which it did not label in any especially useful way. I have no idea whether this y-axis is a linear or logarithmic scale or where it starts. There is also no mention of single-thread performance, which is an area where Intel’s processors are traditionally very strong. Additional charts claim to show the X Elite chip beating AMD’s Ryzen 9 7940HS on GPU benchmarks, with the same ambiguous “relative performance” as the y-axis.
Oh, Qualcomm also claims that its chip will deliver “50% faster peak multi-thread performance” than Apple’s M2 chip. This is just a funny claim; the X Elite has 50 percent more cores than the M2 and sucks down much more power, so of course it is going to do better on Geekbench at “peak multi-thread performance.” That’s like a professional sprinter bragging about winning the 100-meter dash against a bunch of marathon champions. But I digress. Clearly, this chip is not a potato, and I imagine that it will offer a huge step up in performance from the Snapdragon PC chips that we’ve seen in the past. Will it “beat” Apple’s M2? I mean… I guess we’ll have to see.
Qualcomm also announced a new technology called Snapdragon Seamless. In Qualcomm’s words, this is “a cross-platform technology that enables Android, Windows, and Snapdragon devices using other operating systems to discover each other and share information to work as one integrated system.” One could, for example, drag and drop files and windows across multiple different devices, share screens, or have their earbuds automatically switch between them. Seamless is incorporated into Snapdragon’s mobile platforms; current partners include Microsoft, Google, Dell, Lenovo, Honor, and Oppo.
This seems like a neat idea, but it is, of course, something you will only see widespread use of if lots of people end up buying Qualcomm’s PC chips. So, as I said, I guess we’ll have to see.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[Meta’s Telegram-like ‘broadcast channels’ are coming to Facebook and Messenger]]>https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/18/23922888/facebook-broadcast-channels-instagram-whatsapp2023-10-18T17:08:51-04:002023-10-18T17:08:51-04:00
Here’s what broadcast channels will look like. | Image: Meta
Meta’s “broadcast channels,” previously available for Instagram and WhatsApp, will be coming to Facebook and Messenger “in the coming weeks,” according to a Meta blog post. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also shared the news in a post from his personal Facebook account.
Broadcast channels function a bit like giant but limited group chats. A creator can invite their followers and then blast things like voice notes, polls, text posts, videos, and photos to anyone who joins. Channel members receive notifications whenever the creator drops content.
Specifically, these channels will be available for Pages on Facebook, and they’re in testing now. Those who manage the official page for a celebrity or a company, for example, will be able to start a channel directly from the page. Those who wish to join a broadcast channel will be able to do so directly from any specific page.
Broadcast channels have proven to be a handy thing on Instagram, where they’ve been since February of this year. I’m a member of a few myself. While they can have many hundreds of members, their chat-like interface (and the fact that they live in your DMs) makes it feel like a more intimate way to connect with creators you follow.
On the other hand, I do also try to limit the number of broadcast channels that I join, largely because I want to keep a handle on how many notifications I’m getting throughout the day, which is why it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me why these channels can’t be cross-platform. Plenty of other tools have the option to work across both Facebook and Instagram, such as direct messages. I don’t see a huge benefit to joining both an Instagram and Facebook channel for the same creator if it will lead to more notifications about the same content.
Still, having broadcast channels available for Facebook and Messenger seems like an obvious next step in the feature’s (very fast) journey. The feature has exploded on Instagram after its introduction in the US earlier this year, with the most popular channels counting millions of members.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 review: a simple, smart purchase]]>https://www.theverge.com/23914934/asus-chromebook-plus-cx34-review2023-10-13T09:00:00-04:002023-10-13T09:00:00-04:00
The Chromebook Plus CX34 is a surprisingly excellent device for just $399.
In 2017, Samsung released a product called the Chromebook Plus. The Chromebook Plus was more than just a single Chromebook model; it was marketed as a new vision for what ChromeOS could be. It was $450 — quite pricey at the time. A Chromebook running a desktop-class operating system. A Chromebook that might compete with the Windows laptop.
That vision wouldn’t quite come to pass. Android apps on the Chromebook Plus were full of glitches and bugs. Windows wouldn’t resize. Everything was crashing everywhere, all the time. The Plus’ stylus barely worked. The dream was real, but the software wasn’t ready.
Six years later, ChromeOS is much more stable, and Chromebooks are a mainstream staple. Their sales skyrocketed in 2020 as many classrooms moved online; they’re in every student’s backpack and occupy flashy display tables at Best Buy. And a new Chromebook Plus is making the rounds. It’s not a single Chromebook this time but an OEM partnership program: any model that meets a short list of criteria can receive the “Plus” label. “Plus,” this time, does not seek to redefine the Chromebook so much as it does to direct the public’s attention to a specific category of models amid a crowded and diverse field.
I’ve been using the $399 Asus Chromebook Plus CX34, one of the first Chromebooks to carry the Plus branding. It’s great, and it’s a good representation of the sort of device Google is trying to promote with this program — not the fanciest or most groundbreaking product (as the 2017 Plus was positioned) but rather the affordable option that offers excellent value.
Excellent $400 Chromebooks are nothing new — the Lenovo Duet has been available for years, after all — but it’s exciting to see Google itself looking straight at customers and saying, “These are the ones to buy.” Whether this Plus initiative will convert any buyers from Windows to ChromeOS, I truly don’t know. But I do think it will help Chromebook buyers find capable systems without spending more money than they need to. And that seems like a very good thing.
Chromebook Plus CX34
Score: 8
Pros
Cons
Excellent look and build
Sharp 1080p display
1080p webcam with AI features and physical shutter
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is the most affordable of the Plus bunch, with its Core i3 / 8GB / 128GB base model (which is what I have) priced at just $399. The rest of the gang is in the $400–$800 range, with various models from Acer, HP, and Lenovo. I assume pricier ones will arrive in due time.
I won’t dive too deeply into what the Chromebook Plus certification is — I wrote a whole separate article you can read for that. In short, Chromebook Plus is a badge that a Chromebook model can receive if it meets a (fairly short) list of minimum requirements: at least 12th Gen Intel Core i3 or a Ryzen 7000 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, 1080p display resolution, and a 1080p webcam. The idea is that if you are wandering around Best Buy looking for a new Chromebook, the Plus logo will essentially tell you, “Hey, this is a good one to buy.”
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 specs (as reviewed)
14-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS panel, 250 nits, non-touch
8GB RAM 4800 MHz
128GB UFS storage
Built-in microphone
1080p FHD camera, webcam shield
Wi-Fi 6(802.11ax, Dual-band 2*2, Bluetooth 5.2 Wireless Card
Tso USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C (full function), two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-1, one HDMI 1.4, one 3.5mm audio combo jack
Backlit keyboard with anti-ghost and 1.4mm key travel, spill-resistant to 60cc
12.9 x 8.4 x 0.74 inches (32.64 x 21.44 x 1.87 cm)
3.17 pounds (1.44 kg)
50 Wh battery, 3-cell, Li-Polymer
Intel Core i3-1215U processor, Intel UHD graphics
$399.99
If that Plus branding drives more people to look at the CX34, I’ll be ecstatic because it’s a really solid package for $399. The chassis, while plastic, has an incredibly durable feel and a smooth, comfortable texture. Using it feels quite a bit like using the larger Chromebook Flip CX5, which is — and I will die on this hill — one of the best Chromebooks ever made. The palm rests and lid have a unique marbled pattern to them that gives the device a neat but understated sort of look. And it’s all a fairly portable package, weighing in at just over three pounds.
The 14-inch 1920 x 1080 non-touch display is quite sharp and kicks back no glare. (Asus claims that there will be a touchscreen option as well, though I haven’t been able to find that for sale yet, so I don’t know how much more it will cost.) The 1080p webcam has a physical shutter, and it’s actually one that’s easy and comfortable to slide back and forth rather than a minuscule one that you have to pry with your fingernail. Connectivity is excellent, with two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one HDMI 1.4, and one audio combo jack. Honestly, the only real complaint that I have about the system is the touchpad — it’s got a bit of a stiff click. That’s really it.
When it comes to performance, there’s also little to complain about. Both CX34 models are equipped with an Intel Core i3. It flies on my test model. Bouncing around between 12 to 15 apps, even with downloads or updates running in the background, was no problem; I felt no heat, and the only time I heard the fans come on was when I was calling in Google Meet or using Magic Eraser (which I’ll explain further down). Benchmark scores were impressive, coming out well ahead of premium competitors like the Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook on Geekbench 5. I don’t imagine that a school or work ChromeOS user would hit this processor’s ceiling, even working on battery.
Speaking of battery, it’s also okay. I averaged just over seven hours of continuous use to a charge (a mix of 12–15 Chrome tabs, Android apps, and PWAs for office productivity use with the screen at half brightness). That’s better than I’ve seen from other 14-inch Asus devices like the Chromebook Flip C436. I do think it would make sense for the Plus certification to have a battery life requirement (Intel has one for its similar Evo program for Windows laptops), but perhaps that would exclude more Chromebooks than Google would like.
That’s the laptop itself in a nutshell. Let’s talk about that “Plus” moniker.
I mentioned that Chromebook Plus is similar to Intel’s Evo standard, and Evo is likely the closest analog. But Chromebook Plus differs from Evo (and other similar fare, like the AMD Advantage platform) in that qualifying products receive more than a fancy badge. They also receive some exclusive features from Google. Some of these are, like, Adobe free trials and stuff. But some of them seem neat, and while I don’t know that they’ll be central to any Plus user’s experience, they’re differentiators that Google, uniquely, can provide.
The one that has really blown my mind is Magic Eraser. For those unfamiliar with the Pixel line, Magic Eraser is a tool in Google Photos that does what it sounds like it might do — it automatically erases things from photos.
Now, I need to make clear that I am not a photo professional in any capacity, and so seeing anyone do pretty much anything with Photoshop looks like wizardry to me. Nevertheless, I was simultaneously impressed and a little bit afraid for humanity after playing around with this tool. I would open up Google Photos, I would click on a photo, I would click the Magic Eraser button, and gray outlines would appear around various people in the photo’s background. If I clicked one of the outlined people, that person would just disappear from the photo. Entirely. And instantly. Like, maybe it takes a couple milliseconds or whatever. But the process is very, very fast.
Here’s a photo of me on a ski slope. Magic Eraser nixed those three people from behind me on the left. If you look closely, you can kind of see that the one person’s poles are still there, but the other two are seamlessly gone. So there, people!
Now, I know that Pixel (and other Android) phones have had this feature for ages, but Pixel phones, as Google tells it, also have special chips inside them made specifically for this AI business. What boggles my mind is that a feature like this is running on a 12th Gen Intel Core i3. On a laptop that costs $399.
Next thing: there are some very neat Plus-exclusive wallpapers. They’re dynamic, and the time of day that they reflect changes based on the actual time of day in your time zone. There are only two of these available at the moment, but it’s a neat idea that seems, in retrospect, like an obvious thing that people might want. It’s also fitting to have these available now for ChromeOS since Apple just released a whole bunch of stunning dynamic screensavers for its Macs.
The feature that’s a bit less jazzy but does actually intrigue me is Offline File Sync, which automatically downloads files from your Google Drive account as a background task. Turning this on is a little bit tricky; you have to dig through your Advanced settings to toggle it on. Now that I’ve done this, whenever I dive into my Google Drive files through the Files app, I can see a little checkmark next to each of my items indicating that it’s available offline.
This feature seemed kind of boring when it was demonstrated at the Chromebook Plus launch event, but I’ve had all kinds of use cases pop up for it since then. Sure, I have Offline Sync enabled for my personal Google Drive account, and it’s not like I couldn’t edit files offline before. But there’s something about having them all laid out there, with little checkmarks, that just feels right and gives me comfort. (I also see no reason why this couldn’t be on non-Plus Chromebooks, but perhaps it will make its way there as time goes on.)
Agree to Continue: Asus Chromebook Plus CX34
To start using the Chromebook Plus CX34, you’ll need to agree to the following:
Google Terms of Service
You can also say yes or no to the following:
Automatically send ChromeOS diagnostic and usage data to Google
That’s one mandatory agreement and one optional agreement.
And then there is AI video calling stuff. I, frankly, am weary of AI video calling stuff. As someone who writes about new laptops for a living, I have been hearing about AI video calling stuff nonstop for this entire year. But Google has done something with its version that I really appreciate: it’s made it really simple.
When you are on a video call, some buttons pop up on the bottom of your screen. One reads, “Improve Lighting”; click it, and the lighting on your face improves. Another says, “Cancel Background Noise.” Other buttons allow you to blur your background to two different levels. That’s it.
These features are built in to the platform level, which means they’ll work with Meet, Zoom, or whatever app you’re using. I did run into one complication, which is that the Plus controls don’t always seem to be communicating with meeting software’s local controls. During one video chat, I instinctively used the blur setting within Google Meet to blur my background. I wasn’t then able to un-blur my background from the Plus menu; I had to do that in the Meet app.
Still, this is a much easier process than I’m used to. On many laptops, you have to dive into some not-very-good app and choose between a dizzying assortment of different lighting and microphone settings in order to achieve these same ends. But if there’s one thing ChromeOS is really good at, it’s simplifying.
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 Accessibility
The letter keys are 0.6 x 0.6 inches with 0.1 inches between them. The keyboard is backlit but has no indicator lights. The power button requires little force to depress. The volume keys are 0.75 x 0.4 inches. The keys are gray with black text and take a small amount of firm force to depress.
The speakers reached an average of 80 decibels in my testing, which is equivalent to a standard external speaker.
The laptop requires two hands to open. It can be opened flat to 180 degrees.
The touchpad is 5.1 x 2.9 inches and takes somewhat firm force to depress.
The Chromebook does not support fingerprint or facial logins.
ChromeOS
ChromeOS includes a built-in screen reader (ChromeVox).
ChromeOS supports dictation, accessed in Settings.
High-contrast mode can be toggled with Ctrl + Search + H.
Captions appear in the bottom center of the screen. The following caption features are adjustable: size, font, color, opacity, shadow, background color, and background opacity.
The following keyboard keys can be remapped: Search, Ctrl, Alt, Escape, Backspace, Assistant, and Caps Lock. The top row can be remapped to act as function keys.
The following keyboard features can be toggled: sticky keys, onscreen keyboard, highlight object with keyboard focus, highlight text caret when it appears or moves, navigate pages with text cursor, and switch access.
The following cursor settings can be adjusted: color, size, speed, click strength, and haptic feedback. The following can be toggled: mouse acceleration, reverse scrolling, tap dragging, tap-to-click, touchpad acceleration, and automatic click.
ChromeOS includes a Snap Layout feature, accessed by pressing and holding the Maximize button on an open window.
In the past, when I’ve reviewed Chromebooks, I used to put a “current state of ChromeOS” section in each one. I’ve gradually stopped doing that over the years because I’ve stopped having interesting things to say.
Some Android apps have improved from the mess they once were, others remain a mess, and others have been pulled from the platform altogether. Browsing the Google Play Store still feels a bit like browsing a graveyard, with “Not Available For This Device” stamped across a whole mess of applications. The platform does, increasingly, have native support for other Windows apps that were previously unavailable through things like Linux and virtual app delivery — but those still aren’t widely seen as accessible solutions for the average consumer.
Which is why I’m glad that Google is trying this other niche instead. And I view this Plus label — and the makeup of the cadre of products that’s been announced with it — as a glimpse into the company’s mindset more than anything else. In this moment, Google’s focus is not on luxurious and wildly expensive Chromebooks that purport to do everything that a high-powered Windows workstation can. Instead, it’s targeting the price-conscious consumer, and it’s focusing not on the ways that ChromeOS is like Windows but rather on the ways in which it can be different. Google is selling Chromebook Plus models (including Asus’ excellent one) by leaning into two things it’s very good at: AI and simplicity.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 review: why does this exist?]]>https://www.theverge.com/23906932/microsoft-surface-laptop-go-3-review2023-10-12T10:00:00-04:002023-10-12T10:00:00-04:00
The Surface Laptop Go 3 is a thin, light laptop that just costs too much.
The Surface Laptop Go 3 has arrived, and very little has changed from the Surface Laptop Go 2. The chassis looks identical, with the same 3:2 screen and the same recognizable Surface logo on the lid. Dimensions and weight are almost the same. It remains a compact, lightweight, portable device targeting a more budget-oriented shopper than Microsoft’s other Surface computers might.
Oh, and there’s one other thing that hasn’t changed: the price makes no sense. The Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $799. My test unit, which has a Core i5-1235U processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, is $999.
A thousand dollars for this device is ridiculous. It was a problem in 2022 that Microsoft was selling a computer with this many issues for the amount that it was (the top spec then was 8GB / 256GB for $799; the $999 config is a new offering). It is an even bigger problem that now, in 2023, the company has reissued essentially the same device with the same flaws but is asking for even more money.
The thing is, I don’t even hate the Go 3 that much. It’s cute! I love how easily I can slide it into my crowded backpack. It looks quite nice, and the green color is fun. The speakers are excellent. There is absolutely room on the market for a product like this.
But not for $800 or $1,000. Sorry, but this has gone on long enough, and it’s time we pumped the brakes. Here’s why.
Literally. The keyboard on this thousand-dollar laptop is not backlit.
Now, I like everything else about this keyboard. It’s got a solid click. The texture is very comfortable. The power button is conveniently located in the top right, and it includes a handy fingerprint sensor. The font is nice. But if you want to use this thing in the dark, you are just out of luck.
Multiple people asked about this bizarre design choice in Microsoft’s briefing prior to review publication. The company’s answer was that a backlit keyboard wasn’t a top priority for the Surface Laptop Go 3’s target audience.
Folks, I have so many questions. Primarily: whomst precisely does Microsoft imagine the Laptop Go’s target audience is? This isn’t budget pricing. This isn’t secondary-device-to-use-on-a-plane pricing. This isn’t seventh-grader pricing. This is a thousand dollars. This is the same price Apple charges for the base M1 MacBook Air. From where is Microsoft pulling the idea that these very mainstream, midrange shoppers don’t need backlit keys? I would point you to literally every other thousand-dollar laptop on the market right now that has backlit keys, because they strongly suggest otherwise.
A thousand dollars for a laptop without a backlit keyboard. Why?
The screen is grainy
It’s not the 12.4-inch size that’s the problem, although I do imagine this screen will be too small for a big chunk of people, especially folks who are visually impaired. I do very much appreciate the 3:2 aspect ratio, which is my favorite screen shape for laptops. And it even reached 360 nits of brightness in my testing, which should be more than bright enough for indoor and outdoor use.
The problem is that the resolution of 1536 x 1024 is just… not it. In 2023, using this screen is just going to be a grainy, pixel-y experience that will bring you back to the screens of decades past. The panel also kicks back significant glare, which meant that I was staring at myself basically the entire time I was using it.
You can literally get a $300 Gateway laptop with a 1080p display these days. You could buy three 1080p Gateway laptops for the price of this Surface Laptop Go. Just get one for yourself, keep one as a backup, and gift one to your best friend. You could do that for less than it would cost to buy one Surface Laptop Go.
What on earth is 1536 x 1024 doing at this price point? Again, why?
256GB of storage
Literally, that’s all you can get. Both of the models listed on Microsoft’s website have only 256GB of storage.
I’m not saying that there aren’t some people for whom 256GB will be enough. I know you all are out there, and I support you. Nevertheless, it’s not the amount I’d generally recommend that someone go for in a laptop that’s not user-upgradable, and anyone who thinks they might want to game is certainly out.
Just picking another product out of a hat here: $899 gets you 512GB of storage in the Acer Swift 3, plus a much higher-resolution, 14-inch OLED display.
Just… why?
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 accessibility
The keyboard’s keys are dark with white legends. There is no backlighting.
Ports include one USB-C, one USB-A, 3.5mm headphone jack, Microsoft Surface Connect.
The lid can be opened with one hand.
The screen is 12.5 inches with a 1536 x 1024 resolution. It reached 356 nits of brightness in testing. All configurations include touch support.
The touchpad supports precision gestures.
Setup involves turning the device on and clicking through several menus.
Fingerprint login is supported.
Windows 11
Windows 11 includes a dedicated accessibility menu.
Windows 11 includes a built-in screen reader (Narrator). It supports third-party screen readers including NVDA from NV Access and Jaws from Freedom Scientific. A full list of compatible software can be found on Microsoft’s website.
Windows 11 supports voice typing (accessed by Windows + H) and speech recognition (toggled with Windows + Ctrl + S).
Color Filters including inverted, grayscale, red-green, and blue-yellow can be toggled with Windows + Ctrl + C. Contrast themes are toggled with Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen. Standard Dark Mode and custom colors are also available under Personalization.
Caption color and size can be customized and appear close to the bottom of the screen.
The keyboard can be remapped with Microsoft’s PowerToys. Sticky Keys is supported. An on-screen keyboard is available.
The cursor’s size and speed can be adjusted and gestures can be remapped in Touchpad Settings.
Windows 11 supports eye control with external eye trackers.
Windows 11 includes a Snap Layout feature, accessed by hovering over the Maximize button on any open window.
It’s soon to be obsolete
The processor inside this device is a 12th Gen Core i5. The 14th generation of the Core series is aboutto come out in December. That means the Go 3 is one generation behind and is about to be two generations behind.
For some context: this laptop got a much lower score on PugetBench for Premiere Pro than we expect to see from 13-inch competitors around this price point, and it froze during multiple attempts to complete our 4K export test. Battery life is fine (I averaged around seven and a half hours of continuous work use at 200 nits brightness) but not so great as to be impressive.
I understand that Microsoft may think its target audience here doesn’t know or care what specific generation their chips are. First, I would question whether that’s true — again, we are well out of the “school laptop for young kids” category and very much in a price range where adults will be looking for a primary productivity and work device and where marginal performance and battery life does start to matter. I reject the claim that $999 is a “nobody is doing anything demanding” price point.
But even if we are talking largely about consumers who don’t necessarily demand the latest and greatest Intel hardware, I don’t consider that a good excuse for Microsoft to go off and charge whatever it wants to. These are chips that are, objectively, old. There are laptops with these chips on the market that have been out for over a year.
Oh, and this isn’t as big of a deal-breaker, but it is a thing that bugs me: only Wi-Fi 6 is supported, rather than the newer Wi-Fi 6E. Also, the webcam’s only 720p.
Why?????
Now, Microsoft’s claim in response to all of these criticisms (which have all been made very publicly in the lead-up to this release and were also made regarding the Laptop Go 2) is that it made these compromises in order to deliver some other really great features at a low (let’s pretend, for argument’s sake, that we live in a world where a $1,000 is considered low) price.
What exactly are those features that you get instead? It’s lightweight and portable, primarily. It’s built to the standards of Microsoft’s Surface line, with a sturdy chassis, a premium look, and an excellent keyboard and touchpad. The audio is also a standout, delivering truly impressive volume and surround.
You may very well be someone who cares more about a premium chassis than you do about keyboard backlighting or having a screen that you can read without squinting. But I still do not think you should buy this if that’s you. Because here’s the reality: at a price point of $999, you can just get all of those things. I promise you, you can.
AGREE TO CONTINUE: Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3
To start using the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3, you’ll need to agree to the following:
Windows Software License Terms: Windows Operating System and Terms of Use
You can also say yes or no to the following:
Privacy settings (location, Find My Device, sharing diagnostic data, inking and typing, tailored experience, advertising ID)
That’s two mandatory agreements and six optional agreements.
If you want a lightweight laptop with a premium build and a touchscreen that costs around $1,000, and you don’t mind 12th-Gen chips, I have faith that you can find great options in just a few minutes of Googling. You will find brighter and higher-resolution screens. You will find backlit keyboards. You will find storage galore.
Look, here’s one I just pulled up for you: the Dell XPS 13 is available for literally $949 with a stunning FHD touchscreen and a more powerful processor and a 512GB SSD. (And if you think Microsoft knows how to build a beautiful device, wait until you see the XPS line.)
I truly do like the Laptop Go 3 as a concept. But this particular unit doesn’t just ask for some compromises; it is one big compromise all the way down. Either wait until it’s on sale for like $500 or just go get an XPS.
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Monica Chin<![CDATA[T-Mobile is pushing some unlimited customers onto pricier plans]]>https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/11/23913290/t-mobile-automatic-plan-upgrade-customer-service-unlimited2023-10-11T17:53:05-04:002023-10-11T17:53:05-04:00
Starting next week, T-Mobile will move subscribers of some of its older unlimited plans to new (and, in some cases, more expensive) options, the carrier has confirmed to CNET.
The plan will apply to users on the One, Simple Choice, Magenta, and Magenta 55 Plus plans, according to documentation posted on Reddit. Impacted users will be informed by “an SMS and email,” and the new plans will take impact beginning with the November billing cycle. The price increases customers see will vary depending on their plan, but most can expect a bump of $5 or $10 per line.
T-Mobile clarified to CNET that those impacted can opt out of the move and stay on their old plans. In order to do so, you’ll need to call T-Mobile’s Customer Care support line.
It’s clear from T-Mobile’s communication that this isn’t just a mass migration of customers from old plans to new ones; people are just being bumped up across the board. For example, some customers on the Simple Choice / Select Choice plans are being moved up to Magenta, per the leaked documentation, but those on Magenta are also being moved up to Go5G.
Back in 2020, T-Mobile had to agree to a number of conditions in order to proceed with its purchase of Sprint. One was that it would offer “the same or better rate plans” for three years. And technically, I suppose, the company is continuing to offer the same plans for the same prices here that it was before. Still, T-Mobile customers could be forgiven for feeling a bit, well, slighted here. Don’t worry: I’m sure the hold music you’ll have to listen to when you call T-Mobile to opt out will be a delight.
