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Commentary: I redesigned the iPhone 14 camera so Apple doesn’t have to.

Apple’s iPhone 14 is almost certainly coming soon. With just a few weeks ahead of its possible launch, the rumor mill is furiously churning out gossip about the new iPhone’s release date, price and design changes and other upgrades. I’ve been very vocal about the major features I want to see on Apple’s next flagship phone, but it’s the camera that I’m particularly keen to see take some real steps forward.

The cameras on Apple’s phones have always been superb, with the iPhone 13 Pro capable of taking the sort of shots you’d expect to see from professional cameras, and even its cheapest iPhone SE able to take beautiful snaps on your summer vacations. But the Pixel 6 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra pack amazing camera systems that mean Apple doesn’t have the lead it once did.

So I’ve sat around daydreaming about how I’d go about redesigning Apple’s camera system for the iPhone 14 to hopefully secure its position as the best photography phone around. Apple, take note.

A much bigger image sensor on iPhone 14
The image sensors inside phones are tiny compared with the ones found in professional cameras like the Canon EOS R5. The smaller the image sensor, the less light can hit it, and light is everything in photography. More light captured means better looking images, especially at night, and it’s why pro cameras have sensors many times the size of the ones found in phones.

Why are phone cameras lacking in this regard? Because the image sensors have to fit inside pocket-size phone bodies, where space is at a premium. But there’s certainly some room to play with. Phones like Sony’s Xperia Pro-I and even 2015’s Panasonic CM1 pack 1-inch camera sensors that can offer greatly improved dynamic range and low-light flexibility, so it’s not too wild to hope for a much larger image sensor inside the iPhone 14.

Sure, Apple does amazing things with its computational photography to squeeze every ounce of quality from its small sensors, but if it paired those same software skills with a huge image sensor, the difference could be huge. A 1-inch image sensor surely couldn’t be out of the question, but I’d really like to see Apple take things even further with an APS-C size sensor, such as those found in many mirrorless cameras.

Fine, not all three cameras could get massive sensors, otherwise they simply wouldn’t fit into the phone, but maybe just the main one could get a size upgrade. Either that or just have one massive image sensor and put the lenses on a rotating dial on the back to let you physically change the view angle depending on your scene. I’ll be honest, that doesn’t sound like a very Apple thing to do.

A zoom to finally rival Samsung
While I generally find that images taken on the iPhone 13 Pro’s main camera look better than those taken on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, there’s one area where Samsung wins hands down; the telephoto zoom. The iPhone’s optical zoom tops out at 3.5x, but the S22 Ultra offers up to 10x optical zoom.

And the difference it makes in the shots you can get is astonishing. I love zoom lenses, as they let you find all kinds of hidden compositions in a scene, instead of just using a wide lens and capturing everything in front of you. I find they allow for more artistic, more considered images, and though the iPhone’s zoom goes some way to helping you get these compositions, it’s no competition for the S22 Ultra.

So what the phone needs is a proper zoom lens that relies on good optics, not just on digital cropping and sharpening, which always results in quite muddy-looking shots. It should have at least two optical zoom levels; 5x for portraits and 10x for more detailed landscapes. Or even better, it’ll allow for a continuous zoom between these levels to find the perfect composition, rather than having to simply choose between two fixed zoom options.

Personally, I think 10x is the maximum Apple would need to go to. Sure, Samsung actually boasts its phone can zoom up to 100x, but the reality is that those shots rely heavily on digital cropping and the results are terrible. 10x is huge and is the equivalent of carrying a 24-240mm lens for your DSLR — wide enough for sweeping landscapes, with enough zoom for wildlife photography too. Ideal.

Pro video controls built in to the default camera app
With the introduction of ProRes video on the iPhone 13 Pro, Apple gave a strong signal that it sees its phones as a genuinely useful video tool for professional creatives. ProRes is a video codec that captures a huge amount of data, allowing for more editing control in postproduction software like Adobe Premiere Pro.

But the camera app itself is still pretty basic, with video settings limited mostly to turning ProRes on or off, switching zoom lenses and changing the resolution. And that’s kind of the point; make it as simple as possible to get shooting and to capture beautiful footage with no fuss. But the pros who want to use ProRes will also likely want more manual control over things like white balance, focus and shutter speed.

And yes, that’s why apps like Filmic Pro exist that give you incredible fine-grain control over all these settings to get exactly the look you want. But it’d be nice to see Apple find a way to make these settings more accessible within the default camera app. That way, you could fire up the camera from the lock screen, twiddle just a couple of settings and get rolling straight away, confident that you were getting exactly what you wanted from your video.

In-camera focus stacking on iPhone
Imagine you’ve found a beautiful mountain wildflower with a towering alpine peak behind it. You get up close to the flower and tap on it to focus and it springs into sharp view. But now the mountain is out of focus and tapping on that means the flower is now blurry. This is a common issue when trying to focus on two items in a scene that are far apart, and experienced landscape and macro photographers will get round it using a technique called focus stacking.

Focus stacking means taking a series of images with the camera staying still while focusing on different elements within a scene. Then, those images are blended together later — usually in desktop software like Adobe Photoshop or dedicated focus software like Helicon Focus — to create an image that has focus on the extreme foreground and the background. It’s the opposite goal of the camera’s Portrait Mode, which purposefully tries to defocus the background around a subject for that artful shallow depth of field — or “bokeh.”

It might be a niche desire, but I’d love to see this focus stacking capability built in to the iPhone, and it possibly wouldn’t even be that difficult to do. After all, the phone already uses image blending technology to combine different exposures into one HDR image — it’d just be doing the same thing, only with focus points, rather than exposure.

Much better long-exposure photography
Apple has had the ability to shoot long exposure images on the iPhone for years now. You’ll have seen those shots; images of waterfalls or rivers where the water has been artfully blurred but the rocks and landscape around the water remain sharp. It’s a great technique to really highlight the motion in a scene, and it’s something I love doing on my proper camera and on my iPhone. And though it’s easy to do on the iPhone, the results are only OK. The problem is that the iPhone uses a moving image — a Live Photo — to detect motion in the scene and then digitally blur it, and this usually means that any movement gets blurred, even bits that shouldn’t be. The result is shots that are quite mushy looking, even when you put the phone on a mobile tripod for stability. They’re fine for sending to your family or maybe posting to Instagram, but they won’t look good printed and framed on your wall, and I think that’s a shame.

I’d love to see Apple make better use of its optical image stabilization to allow for really sharp long-exposure photos, not just of water, but of nighttime scenes too, perhaps of car headlights snaking their way through the street. It’d be another great way of getting creative with photography from your phone, and making use of the excellent quality from those cameras.

Plus, you can save a little more if you’re actually heading back to school this fall as a student or teacher.

Lenovo already has some pretty great laptops and accessories — including a $345 discount on the Yoga 7i, one of our favorite laptops for college students in 2022. And right now, you can save even more thanks to its ongoing Back to School promotion. When you use the coupon code BTS2022, you can save up to $100 on top of any preexisting discounts. And students and teachers can save an extra 5% by verifying their identity with IDme. There’s no listed expiration, but considering that many schools are already back in session or will be very soon, we’d recommend ordering sooner rather than later if you’re hoping to take advantage of this offer.

With this coupon code, you could pick up a 15-inch Yoga 7i two-in-one with 12GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for just $815, $385 off the usual price. The coupon code discount depends on how much you spend, saving you $25 on any order of $500 or more, $40 on $750 or more, $60 on $1,000 or more and $100 on any order of $1,500 or more.

There’s more than just laptops on sale as well. You can also save on other tech and accessories, like the Logitech Ergo K860, one of our favorite keyboards on the market in 2022. Or grab a pair of Bose QuietComfort 45 over-ear headphones, one of our favorite noise-canceling pairs for 2022, which are already $50 off. There’s plenty of other school essentials available too, including mice, monitors, and storage drives, so no matter what you’re looking for, you’re sure to find it for less at Lenovo.

With rumors of a better selfie autofocus and night photos (and no notch) the iPhone 14’s most improved feature might be its front-facing cameras.

Apple’s annual fall event, where it typically shows off a new iPhone, is just around the corner. Recent reports put the date as early as Sept. 7, meaning the iPhone 14 (unofficial name) could be up for grabs in less than a month. Sept. 16 is the date CNET expects it to go on sale, but of course nothing is official until Apple makes its announcement.

In the meantime we have rumors and questions: How will the iPhone 14 stack up against its predecessor, the iPhone 13? How much better will the cameras get? Will the iPhone 14 get more expensive? And what’s the deal with the notch anyway — is this the year of the no-notch iPhone? We’ve sorted through the rumors to find some answers, or at the very least, form a better idea of what may feature on Apple’s 2022 flagship phone. To be clear, none of these specs or features have been confirmed by Apple.

iPhone 14 design: Bye-bye notch, hello cutouts
This one has persisted for years, but one of the biggest rumors is about the notch at the top of the screen. After introducing the notch on the iPhone X back in 2017, Apple could finally ditch it this year — though apparently only on the Pro models. The company is expected to trade it out for a smaller hole-punch camera in the Pro models, according to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo Kuo. A hole-punch design refers to a display with only a small circular cutout for the front camera, as seen on a number of Samsung launches including the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy Z Flip 4.

However, display analyst Ross Young predicts the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will receive two cutouts: a hole and pill-shaped cutout to accommodate the front-facing camera and Face ID. Right now, the notch is home to the components that make Face ID work, meaning Apple may need to shrink all that tech in order make a notchless iPhone a reality. Whether the next iPhone receives one cut-out or two, the rumors we’re following point to members of the iPhone 14 lineup going notchless for the first time in five years.

iPhone 14 selfie camera: Revamped front-facing camera
Apple made major changes to its rear cameras over the years, but the cameras on the front have been overlooked. That may no longer be the case this year. If the notch goes away iPhone 14’s front shooter may alter visually with the addition of cutouts, but there’s also chatter about the camera system itself receiving a noteworthy upgrade functionally.

In an April tweet, Kuo said the entire iPhone 14 lineup will receive a larger aperture (f/1.9), which should help the device take better pictures at night, and an upgrade to autofocus. All this potentially represents the iPhone’s biggest front-facing camera upgrade since 2019.

The iPhone 14 display: Pro models might have an always-on display
One of the biggest iOS 16 features previewed by Apple was its overhauled lock screen. Set to launch in the fall as part of iOS 16, the lock screen will show more information at a glance, including weather, activity progress, battery levels and your calendar. It’s a feature that pairs well with an always-on display — and it makes sense that Apple would launch it via the upcoming iPhone 14.

A June report by 9to5Mac discovered references to backlight management tools as well as hidden flags for engineers that could allow them to test an always-on display on an iPhone 13 Pro. The always-on display is already found on numerous Android phones as well as the Apple Watch. Instead of lighting up your entire display like your lock screen does, an always-on display only activates a portion of the screen to save power.

iPhone 14 price: Pro models might more expensive by $100
Apple didn’t make any price changes between the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineup, but Wedbush analyst Dan Ives expects a price hike for iPhone 14 pro models to the tune of $100. Currently, the iPhone 13 Pro starts at $999 and the iPhone 13 Pro Max starts at $1,099.

That’s backed up by Kuo, who recently said he expects the average selling price of the iPhone 14 lineup to increase. The macro-economic environment also points to a price hike. Inflation remains persistently high, while Apple continues to grapple with supply chain issues in China — both of which have been pushing up the price of conducting business.

iPhone 14 size: Same, same but different bezel size for Pro models
Apple’s last two iPhone lineups have featured the same 6.1-inch size for the base model, going up to 6.7 inches for the Pro Max. According to a Nikkei Asian Review report, Apple will stick with these sizes for the iPhone 14 series, but eliminate the 5.4-inch Mini. This rumor is corroborated by a March report from 9to5Mac. Reports showed sluggish sales of the iPhone 12 Mini, so it’ll be no surprise if Apple ends up retiring the small phone in 2022.

Although the size of the next iPhone is expected to stay the same, the display bezels for the Pro Max are rumored to be 20% smaller compared to previous iPhone generations, according to CAD renders shared by Twitter leaker ShrimpApplePro. This means the screen would be slightly larger. However, it’s important to note that this rumor should be taken with a grain of salt since ShrimpApplePro doesn’t have an extensive track record to support their speculations.

The wait for Apple’s new iPhone may be over sooner than you think. Apple is expected to hold a launch event in September, which means the 2022 iPhone could possibly be up for grabs soon. Speculation on the iPhone 14 (unofficial name) has been churning — since even before the iPhone 13 was announced a year ago. Since then, we’ve heard plenty of gossip about the new iPhone’s design, price and new features. But what about its release date? Apple has yet to disclose any official dates, but we can make some educated guesses based on the tech giant’s track record.

Apple tends to unveil its new iPhones either on the first or second Tuesday of September. Last year, the iPhone 13 series officially made its debut on Tuesday, Sept. 14, followed by preorders beginning on Friday, Sept. 17, and then the phones went on sale the following Friday — Sept. 24. For the iPhone 14, Apple could hold its event either on Tuesday, Sept. 6, or Tuesday, Sept. 13. Since iPhones usually go up for preorder on the Fridays of the same week, we’d expect that to happen this year on Friday, Sept. 9, or Friday, Sept. 16. iPhone release dates are usually a week and a half after Apple’s announcements. Sometimes launch dates are staggered for specific models, especially when introducing a new design or size. So it’s possible the iPhone 14 lineup will have more than one release date.

There’s also another theory that’s been floating around for a few years. In 2018, CNET took a deep dive into the Apple event timeline and emerged with a compelling Labor Day hypothesis. Based on the 2022 calendar, the Labor Day rule would put the September Apple event (and the iPhone 14 unveil) on Wednesday, Sept. 7, with a Friday, Sept. 16, release date. A recent Bloomberg report also suggested the same dates for the iPhone 14’s announcement and release.

However, the Labor Day prediction was a week off for 2021 — and, because of coronavirus delays, about a month off in 2020. To be sure, there have been some reported supply chain issues for the iPhone 14 that some worry could potentially push the release date later. But noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has quelled some of those fears, saying it should only have a “limited” impact, in a July post on Twitter.

For a more in-depth look at iPhone rumors, check out every rumor we’ve heard about Apple’s iPhone 14 and our story on whether there will be a foldable iPhone. Also, check out whether you should upgrade to an iPhone 12 or 13 this year, if you’re not interested in the rumored iPhone 14.

You can currently download the third iteration of Apple’s public beta software on your iPhone.

The third iOS 16 beta release is out, and you can get your hands on it now — as long as your current iPhone supports it and you’re OK with installing software that may have slight bugs and other issues (as most prereleases do).

iOS 16 brings several new features to your iPhone, including a customizable lock screen, an intelligent cropping feature and the ability to unsend and edit text messages.

In June, Apple released the first iOS 16 developer beta shortly after its developer conference, but not many were eligible to download and install the software. Developer betas require an Apple Developer Program membership, which runs $100 a year, and aren’t recommended for everyday use because they can be filled with bugs and make your phone more difficult to use.

Fortunately, you can get iOS 16 Beta 3 right now, which should be a little more stable than the developer version. All you need to do is enroll your device into the Apple Beta Software program and install a config profile to get the iOS 16 beta on your device.

For more, here’s a look at all the best new features that are available on iOS 16, as well as some of the cool hidden features you might not know about.

Before you start, back up your iPhone
Getting your hands on prereleased software can be exciting, but there are precautions you should take before updating. All prereleased software like iOS 16 beta may contain bugs and other issues that can make your device more difficult to use, which is why you should back up your device in case you want to revert back to iOS 15.

By default, your iPhone should back itself up every time it’s connected to power and Wi-Fi during your regular sleep hours. However, if this backup feature is disabled, you can go to Settings > Your Name > iCloud > iCloud Backup and then hit Back Up Now to back up your device.

Additionally, you can back up your iPhone via Finder on your Mac. Simply connect your device to your computer, open Finder, choose your device and then create a backup. Apple also recommends archiving your backup, so that it’s not overwritten by other backups.

Sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program
Once your device is backed up, it’s time to sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program, which allows anyone to try out prereleased software for free, to provide feedback to Apple on quality, usability and issues. Currently, you can test out iOS 16 beta on any compatible Apple device (iPhone 8 and later).

To enroll in the Apple Beta Software Program:

1. Go to the Apple Beta Software Program website on your iPhone.
2. Tap the blue Sign Up button at the bottom of the page.
3. Use Face ID or Touch ID to log in to the Apple ID that is attached to your iPhone.
4. Read and accept the Apple Beta Software Program Agreement.

On the page that appears next, scroll down to Get Started and tap enroll your iOS device, which should be hyperlinked in the paragraph that appears. That will take you to another page, where Apple will lay out everything you need to do to download and install iOS 16 beta on your iPhone.

Install the iOS 16 beta configuration profile
If you scroll down this page, you’ll see a section called Install Profile. To download and install the iOS 16 beta on your device, you must now install a configuration profile on your iPhone.

Essentially, a config profile allows a third party to manage your device; in this case, Apple. You may have concerns whether or not this is a privacy breach, but rest assured that this config profile simply allows Apple to deliver and manage the iOS 16 beta on your device.

To install the config profile, hit the blue Download profile button and then tap Allow in the pop-up that appears. Next, exit your web browser, launch the Settings app and tap Profile Download at the top of the page. It should then show you a window for the iOS 16 public beta config profile. Tap Install, enter your passcode and then hit Install two more times. Finally, tap Restart to get the over-the-air iOS 16 beta update.

Download and install iOS 16 beta
Once your iPhone boots back up, go to Settings > General > Software Update, hit Download and Install and enter your passcode to begin the process of updating to iOS 16 beta.

If for some reason you don’t see the Download and Install option, you may need to either wait a few minutes or clear your memory to make space. If you don’t have enough space, you won’t be able to download iOS 16, so clear your memory by deleting large files and offloading hefty apps.

You should see a loading bar, along with a rough estimate of how long the download process will take. Once the download is complete, reboot your device and wait for iOS 16 beta to install. When your iPhone boots up, you should see iOS 16 beta downloaded on your device.

You can improve your Windows 10 experience by changing any of these settings.

Windows 10 has been out of the spotlight since Microsoft launched Windows 11, its latest operating system, in October 2021. Windows 11 reached broad deployment earlier this year after a staggered rollout spanning half a year, meaning it’s now ready for all compatible computers. (Here’s how to download it if you’re ready.) However, there are plenty of people who are unable to or uninterested in upgrading. And like any OS, Windows 10 has a few default settings that are less than ideal.

Some are just annoying (you don’t really need Cortana “getting to know you”), while others will actually slow down your device, show you tons of notifications and ads and collect more of your information than you might be comfortable with. As long as Windows 10 is still what’s powering your computer, it’s worth it to optimize your settings to make sure your PC is running the best it can.

You’ll want to spend just a few minutes looking into these settings and potentially turning them off, for the sake of privacy, speed and convenience. Here are seven default settings that you can disable in Windows 10. (You can also check out some top Windows 10 tips and tricks and how to troubleshoot common Windows 10 problems.)

File-sharing updates
A feature Windows 10 added is an optimized update delivery system that lets you download updates from other Windows 10 computers over the Internet (not just from Microsoft’s servers). The catch is that your computer is also used as an update-sharing hub for other Windows 10 users.

This feature is turned on by default, but you can turn it off by going to Settings > Update & security > Advanced options > Delivery optimization and toggling off Allow downloads from other PCs.

Annoying notifications
The Windows 10 Action Center is a handy central hub for all of your notifications — apps, reminders, recently installed programs. But notification overload is definitely a thing, especially when you add unnecessary notifications (such as Windows tips) into the mix.

To get your notifications under control, go to Settings > System > Notifications & actions.

Turn off things like “Get tips, tricks and suggestions when you use Windows” or “Show me the Windows welcome experience after updates and occasionally when I sign in to highlight what’s new and suggested” as well as any unwanted notifications from individual apps.

Start menu ads
Microsoft pushes its Windows Store apps — so much so that you may be seeing apps you never downloaded in your Start menu. These suggested apps are basically ads.

Turn off these pesky ads by going to Settings > Personalization > Start > Show suggestions occasionally in Start. For more information, check out our Windows 10 Start menu guide.

Cortana ‘getting to know you’
Cortana, your adaptive personal assistant in Windows 10, gets, well, pretty personal with the information it collects about you, such as speech and handwriting patterns and typing history, which you may consider to be just a little creepy.

You can stop Cortana from “getting to know you,” and clear that information from your device, by going to Settings > Privacy > Inking & typing and toggling the option off.

Apps running in the background
In Windows 10, by default, many apps run in the background (even if you don’t have them open). These apps can receive information, send notifications, download and install updates and otherwise use up your bandwidth and your battery. If you’re using a mobile device and/or a metered connection, you may want to turn this feature off.

To do so, go to Settings > Privacy > Background apps and either toggle off Let apps run in the background or toggle off each app individually.

All the syncing
Windows 10 is all about syncing. Everything (system settings, themes, passwords, search history) syncs across all your signed-in devices by default. But not all of us want our search history to sync between our phones and our computers, so here’s how to turn syncing off.

To turn off settings syncing (including themes and passwords), go to Settings > Accounts > Sync your settings. You can turn off all settings syncing, or you can selectively turn off specific settings.

For more, check out the best Windows 11 features and how to use them and everything to know about upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

Looking to get the best value for your old phone? Here are your best options.

With smartphone technology advancing at a lightning pace, it can be downright irresistible to snag the latest models, even if you already have a great device in your pocket. You might want more storage, a better camera, or you might just want the latest color. It may even be that your other personal needs have changed between the time you originally got your smartphone and now. Whatever your reasons for wanting to upgrade, you’ll most likely want to get the best phone trade-in you can for your current model.

Furthermore, with the pandemic squeezing pocketbooks, there’s a rising demand to get your money’s worth out of a mobile trade-in. That’s where the CNET directory of gadget trade-in providers comes in. We’ll look at a few of the best phone trade-in options like ItsWorthMore and others where you can get top dollar for your devices.

Read more: Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics in 2022

To evaluate the merchants on our list, we looked at a composite picture of each business. We ranked merchants based on our research into Better Business Bureau ratings, CNET staff reviews, online reputation among resellers and how easy or hard it is to get in touch with someone at each business, among other factors.

Every service is different, though, and trade-in values change by the day. They also assign values based on the condition of the cell phone you’re trading in, and take into account things like the device’s color. This means that preowned phones in good condition are likely worth more money or store credit.

So you’re going to have to shop around. Below the list of merchants is our basic FAQ of carriers, buyers and online marketplaces for your best phone trade-in experience.

What about Gazelle?
Gazelle has lived on this list for a long time, but after refining our review criteria, we’ve removed it. The change comes in light of an increased number of poor customer reviews and recent complaints to the BBB. We will continue to update this list over time.

FAQ: Carriers, buyers and online marketplaces
When looking for value from your old phone, there are four types of organizations you can work with: retailers, buyers, marketplaces and carriers. The characteristics of each are quite different:

Retailers: These are the brick-and-mortar stores in your neighborhood, ranging from Walmart and Target all the way to the remaining Radio Shack locations. In many cases, you can walk into the retailer, hand over your old Apple, Google or android phone and walk out with a new one, with a healthy discount applied. Many of these retailers won’t just give you money for your old phone. They want the deal for your new business and give you a trade-in offer, so keep that in mind. Some also offer online trade-ins.

Carriers: These are the cellular service providers and almost all of them have some sort of mobile phone trade-in program, to encourage you to trade up to the next model and keep their service. Good news: this doesn’t necessarily mean that the phone needs to be in working condition.

Buyers: These folks want your phones and will give you money or credit for them. A buyer generally won’t force you to buy a new device from them (although expect some deal sweeteners if you go that way). Some of them will send you packaging to send your device back to them. This is the group we look at in this guide because they generally send you real money in return for your device, which means you’re free to buy anything you want once you get your green.

Marketplaces: This option includes the classic resell methods like Craigslist and eBay, along with some specialty referral marketplaces like Flipsy, which are built around the idea of trading in gadgets. Here, you’re often dealing directly with individual buyers (or bulk buyers who are scooping up phones for other markets). Straight talk, though: There is substantially more risk when selling to individuals than companies with known reputations.

Keep those concepts in mind as you look for the best deal for your device.

The tech giant has apparently agreed to fund development and production of podcasts in exchange for the chance to turn them into film or TV shows.

Apple’s shot at being a media company already has yielded successes, with Emmy wins for its TV series, such as Ted Lasso and The Morning Show, and an Oscar best picture win for its film set in the deaf community, CODA. Now Apple appears to be on the hunt for new inspiration, striking a reported agreement with a prize-winning podcast developer, Futuro Studios.

Under the terms of the deal, reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple will fund development and production of podcasts in exchange for “first chance to turn any podcast into a film or TV show.” Neither Apple nor Futuro immediately responded to requests for comment.

The move, reportedly led by Apple’s TV studio and not its podcast division, marks another way the tech giant is looking to ramp up its $5 per month media subscription business, Apple TV Plus, which launched in 2019.

Apple helped popularize the term “podcast” when it embraced the technology as part of its iPod and iTunes music player and software more than a decade ago. The downloadable radio show format has become particularly popular as music streaming has gone mainstream with services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music Premium, Tidal and Spotify.

Spotify in particular has sought to become a central podcast industry player, buying studios like Gimlet Media, maker of Crimetown and Heavyweight. Gimlet also produces The Wall Street Journal’s daily podcast, the Journal. Spotify also has an exclusivity deal with Joe Rogan, whose namesake podcast is one of the most popular — and controversial — on the planet.

Bloomberg’s reporting didn’t indicate that Apple will increase its podcasting efforts, at least not now. Instead, Bloomberg said, Apple will likely mine the relationship for further ideas for its Apple TV Plus service.

US President Joe Biden has signed a law committing $280bn (£232bn) to high tech manufacturing and scientific research amid fears the country is losing its technological edge to China.

The investments include tax breaks for companies that build computer chip manufacturing plants in the US.

Business groups have long pushed for more government support, citing the need to reduce reliance on China.

A global shortage of microchips increased the urgency of their calls.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said the bill was a “game changer” that would ensure American leadership and prosperity in the next century.

“Authoritarians were cheering for us to lose and hoping we sit on our hands,” he said. “By enacting the CHIPS and Science Act we are making clear we believe another great American century lies on the horizon.”

The US currently produces roughly 10% of the global supply of semiconductors, which are key to everything from cars to mobile phones, down from nearly 40% in 1990.

The country is not alone in its investments in the industry.

The European Union this spring said it would commit more than €40bn to boost production of computer chips, while China has also been boosting its investments in science and technology.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington had opposed the semiconductor bill, calling it reminiscent of a “Cold War mentality.”

In addition to the chip investments, the bill directs about $200bn to agencies such as the National Science Foundation, aiming to boost investments in fields like robotics and wireless communications.

Mr Biden called it a “once in a generation” investment and said it was already yielding growth in the US, pointing to plans from Micron to spend $40bn on memory chip manufacturing, a project expected to create 40,000 jobs.

It is the latest accomplishment for the White House, which also recently clinched a deal to advance a sweeping plan to combat climate change.

Unlike that plan, which was opposed by Republicans, this bill was supported by both parties, despite marking a large expansion of the role of the US government into a domain often left to the private sector.

Commentary: Samsung is expected to release its best foldables yet at Samsung Unpacked on Wednesday. One thing could make them extraordinary.

Samsung’s next big phones expected to be revealed at its Unpacked event this week are rumored to be its best foldables yet, with improved cameras, new hinges and slimmer designs. But as the holiday shopping season approaches, the feature Samsung should lean on is a price cut.

Samsung has driven high sales with two-for-one offers and generous discounts when trading in old devices. That goes for both its pricey Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip devices that go for as much as $1,800, as well as its Galaxy S smartphones, which start at $800.

The way Samsung charges us for its phones is a stark contrast with Apple, which largely holds firm on its prices even through discount seasons like Black Friday, only allowing discounts from carriers or retailers.

This week, Samsung has a chance to make a change.

Samsung is planning a large product reveal event, called Unpacked, for Wednesday, Aug. 10, during which it’ll announce its newest foldable smartphones. The two devices, expected to be called the Galaxy Fold 4 and Galaxy Flip 4, aren’t going to appeal to the masses like the Galaxy S line of devices, in part because they cost so much.

But price is where Samsung could make a difference. Despite offering more discounts, in recent years Samsung has lost market share to Apple at the top of the phone market — the so-called premium segment where 7 of every 10 $800-and-up phones sold globally are iPhones. And in the lower-priced models, where the Galaxy S competes with the standard iPhone at around $600 and up, sales have actually begun to decline around the world, per a recent Canalys report.

Though Samsung’s Unpacked event on Wednesday will focus on foldables, it also serves as Samsung’s big product release just before Apple announces its expected iPhone 14 series of phones in a few weeks. Unpacked represents Samsung’s chance to make a big impression ahead of Apple’s own event, and any deals could make a difference.

It’ll already be hard to convince people to buy any new phone this year with rising inflation and a looming recession. Our collective confidence in the economy has fallen through the floor, with one survey from the University of Michigan finding consumer sentiment is at its lowest point in at least 70 years.

Historically prices for many of these phones have stayed mostly the same over the years. Starting price for Samsung’s Galaxy S and Apple’s latest iPhones typically sit between $700 and $800, so it’s unlikely Samsung would break from that model.

Still, if Samsung were to introduce a price cut for all its phones, effectively driving the price down to what it actually charges us through those special deals rather than the sticker price, it could potentially “change the equation,” said Bob O’Donnell, an analyst at Technalysis Research. But convincing Apple users to switch to Android will take more than just a price cut.

“There are people who will never give up iOS for a variety of reasons — green bubbles being one of them,” said O’Donnell. “They’re not going to change, as cool as [foldables] may be, until they can have [iOS.]”

Apple and Samsung’s premium horse race is an iOS vs. Android battle
Over the past decade, there’s really only been two phone-makers worth paying attention to outside China. One is Apple, the other is Samsung. Apple’s iPhone gets praised every year because of its industry-leading software and powerful chips. When CNET Senior Editor Patrick Holland was thinking of a headline to sum up his glowing review for images he took with the iPhone 13 Pro last year, he ended up with “Damn, these cameras.”

Samsung often positions itself as the alternative, offering sleek designs without all the Apple baggage like requiring you to use its App Store or having to deal with iMessage. It’s also often the lower-priced option whenever you walk into an AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile store.

To be sure, people are buying as many iPhones as ever, said Tim Cook during a July conference call discussing Apple’s latest financials. And other premium brands aren’t feeling the squeeze of a shrinking economy just yet.

While Apple has pulled ahead in the premium smartphone race in recent years, both companies have been at each other’s throats for a lot longer than that. The companies have traded blows in big ad campaigns, like Samsung mocking Apple for removing the headphone jack in 2016. Apple for its part has accused Samsung of stealing its designs, including in a worldwide years-long court battle that ended in a 2018 settlement.

Most other phone-makers have rarely been able to compete. LG lost money before leaving the phone game in 2021, while Microsoft gave up when its Windows Phone OS lost to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android in 2017. Google gets good reviews for its Pixel phones, few people buy them, and the phones have a negligible market share, which Holland calls “a conundrum.”

“Maybe that’s a failure from Google’s marketing, limited carrier relationships in Pixel’s early days, the dominance of Apple and Samsung in the US or just that people don’t trust the search company with their data,” Holland said.

Which is a long way of saying that Samsung is Apple’s only real competition outside China. Samsung sells more phones globally than any other manufacturer, though the majority of those are midrange and budget A-series phones.

One of Samsung’s current obstacles is convincing iOS users to switch. They aren’t having trouble converting the Android faithful to try out their Galaxy S phones, which this year featured a stylus, larger screen and better cameras. Even its pricey folding devices are catching on, somewhat — making up an astonishing 36% of the premium Android phone market, according to IDC research director Nabila Popal.

But getting Apple faithful to leave their blue bubbles may be very difficult.

“I personally think Apple consumers are just so glued to Apple with brand loyalty and the ecosystem that they’re used to,” Popal said. “As great as foldables are, it will not be the driving factor to convert an iOS [user] to Android and Samsung.”

The other big factor is awareness. Even three years after the first Galaxy Fold arrived in early 2019 and a fourth version coming soon, they haven’t been sold in enough numbers. “You still don’t see many [foldables] in the wild,” said O’Donnell. And one of the best ads for any technology is when you see a happy customer actually using it in your family or walking down the street.

“When people do see [a foldable], if that’s their thing, they’re still knocked out, they’re like this is crazy, this is incredible,” O’Donnell said.

Unfolding the future
This year, rumors suggest Samsung’s Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 are only getting rudimentary improvements for their screens and cameras. The same happened last year, but the big upgrade was in affordability, with discounts dropping the Fold’s price below $2000 and the Flip’s down to roughly the same price as other premium smartphones. But then Samsung started offering even more discounts afterward, with two-for-one deals across its product line.

The message was clear: Samsung still has an opportunity to introduce another price drop, which would put them in better competition with cheaper premium handsets, and make them much more attractive to people today.

For its part, Apple doesn’t seem concerned enough about foldables to rush out one of its own. Instead, Apple’s stuck to its well-worn plan of annual improvements, including for its upcoming iPhone 14, which is rumored to include a smaller front-facing camera notch, better battery life and a new always-on display.

Prices, meanwhile, are likely to remain the same if not increase along with inflation, like they did last year. This creates the opening for Samsung, both with its mainstream Galaxy S phones and its foldables alike.

“I feel that foldables are at a tipping point, the brink of a breakthrough, where it’s just a matter of a bit more time before they just explode,” Popal said.

Maybe the price could help make a difference.