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Developers won’t be able to use App Store features including Ask to Buy and Family Sharing if they forgo the tech giant’s payment system.

Apple said on Thursday that apps exclusively released in the South Korean App Store can use third-party payment systems to take in-app payment. The move comes after South Korea last year amended its Telecommunications Business Act, which banned app stores from forcing developers to use its first-party payment systems. Google complied with the law in November, and now Apple follows suit.

The South Korean law clamps down on app stores in an effort to rein in tech giants, who’ve been called out for their monopoly over in-app payments. Apple, in particular, has been criticized for the commission it charges to use its payment system, which critics have dubbed the “Apple Tax.” The tax gives Apple up to a 30% cut on subscriptions and in-app purchases. This has been the source of many developer complaints throughout the years.

Though developers can request to use a third-party payment system for apps exclusively distributed in South Korea, Apple will still take a 26% commission for payments made through these systems. If an app is available globally, developers must create another version of the app for distribution solely on the App Store in South Korea.

Apple warns that users will not have access to some App Store features if developers choose to go this route, including features like Ask to Buy and Family Sharing. Moreover, Apple won’t be able to assist users with refunds, purchase history, subscription management and the like. Instead, developers will now be responsible for these features, and they must report all sales to Apple each month.

Both Apple and Google opposed the South Korean law, citing the benefits of its first-party system. Namely, both tech giants argued that allowing a third-party payment system undermines their users’ safety and privacy on their app stores, increasing the risk of fraud.

Lawmakers around the globe are looking to establish limits for big tech. The US Congress is working on a slate of bills aimed at antitrust and privacy that would change the way that tech giants do business.

Back before the iPhone launched on June 29, 2007, Tony Fadell was used to a regular working rhythm at Apple. People would send out emails at the beginning and end of the day, with “action items” based on conversations and other things that had recently happened. Sometimes, emails arrived between meetings too, but it wasn’t a lot of them.

That all started to change about five months before the iPhone’s launch. Suddenly, the frequency of emails increased. The several dozen employees using prototype iPhones around the company’s Cupertino, California, offices were sending many more emails throughout the day, including in the middle of meetings, ramping up communication across the company.

Now the principal at investment firm Future Shape, Fadell at the time was head of Apple’s iPod music player division and a key member of the team creating the first iPhone. He was already one of Apple’s top executives, the “father of the iPod,” having spent more than a decade making mobile devices.

But the iPhone seemed different, he said. Even though it wasn’t yet fully functioning as a phone, Apple employees were already finding it indispensable. They used it not just to communicate throughout the day, but also to Google things — to confirm a fact or jolt their memory midconversation.

“The center of gravity shifted,” he said. Suddenly, the work laptop wasn’t as important. Instead, the iPhone had become one of the most critical devices in their daily lives.

“The behaviors changed.”

Fadell’s revelation was one of the first signs that the iPhone was going to be more than Apple’s take on a smartphone. Within a few years, the iPhone would be on its way to kick-starting a mobile renaissance, with attached cameras, always-on internet connections and downloadable apps transforming how people use technology today.

But the iPhone’s success wasn’t a sure thing when it launched 15 years ago, not even for Apple. Back then, the device barely had any of the core features many of us take for granted today, like video chat, wireless syncing or its superfast internet connection. The original gadget didn’t have an App Store either, and the multibillion-dollar companies that apps would one day spawn didn’t yet exist. Back then, the iPhone was an uncomplicated device that Apple pitched as a marriage among a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a mobile phone and an internet communicator.

It’s difficult to invent “the future” with a truly game-changing product, and it’s even harder to spot when that’s happening. Tech companies spend most of their time improving what already exists, often by making products more capable, easier to use and incrementally faster. But companies also invest in big bets like the future of television, global internet access or electric cars. (Consider Facebook, which is so determined to convince us about moving into the metaverse with its VR headsets that it changed its corporate name to Meta.)

Despite all that time and money, though, sometimes companies come along with a new idea that seems poised to change everything — only it doesn’t. And in the few instances when a product does begin to transform things, it rarely feels groundbreaking at the time. Instead, it usually seems overhyped and disconnected from reality.

Perhaps that’s why Jim Balsillie, then BlackBerry’s co-CEO, was so dismissive of the iPhone. BlackBerry’s other CEO, company co-founder Mike Lazaridis, was so intrigued by initial reports about the iPhone that he’d corralled Balsillie to watch a webcast replay of Apple’s launch presentation.

“These guys are really, really good,” Lazaridis said, according to the book, Losing the Signal. “This is different.”

The first iPhone went on sale on June 29, 2007. Fifteen years later, the iPhone is absolutely essential to Apple’s strategy for software, accessories and services.

Tomorrow marks 15 years since the first iPhone went on sale. When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone he wryly hyped it as three revolutionary products: An iPod, a phone and an internet communicator. The first iPhone only came in one size and the only decision you had was whether to get one with 4GB of storage or 8GB. As far as carriers, only AT&T supported Apple’s first phone.

At the time, the idea of carrying an iPhone instead of a flip phone and an iPod was enough to convince some people to buy one. For others like me, the iPhone’s main appeal was the touch screen, which seemed unreal and futuristic.

“From the very beginning, one of the unique things about [the] iPhone was that we wanted to fuse together software, services and hardware to create a simple, powerful kind of magical experience,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president for product marketing. “And with the original iPhone, it was that interaction of multi touch and pinch to zoom, where you started to see that come together.”

Fifteen years later, Apple sells eight different models of iPhone, five of which have launched in the past 10 months. There is at least one version that works with pretty much every major phone carrier in the world. The iPhone is available in an array of colors, finishes, sizes and storage options that now top out at 1TB. And while the screen is where most of the magic happens, it’s no longer the main appeal of the iPhone.

Over the past decade and a half, what defines the iPhone has shifted away from just design and hardware specs. Instead, the iPhone and iOS have become a gateway into Apple services and features like iMessage, FaceTime, Siri, Apple Music, Apple Pay, top-of-the-line cameras and apps like Uber, TikTok, Twitter and WhatsApp. For better or worse, the iPhone has become home to our photos, music, conversations, ideas, games, identity, work, social media, shopping, keys and money.

In 2022, the iPhone continues to extend beyond its svelte metal-and-glass chassis into the world around us. It’s the backbone for products like the Apple Watch and AirPods, and will likely play a role in future Apple products like rumored AR glasses.

It also serves as the foundation for Apple’s digital services, which have become an increasingly important factor to differentiate the iPhone from competing mobile devices. These services have evolved rapidly in recent years along with the iPhone.

Find My, which started as a tool in 2010 for locating a lost iPhone, has grown into a network for finding Apple devices and pretty much anything you can attach one of Apple’s tiny AirTag trackers to. Some products, like VanMoof’s S3 bike, even have built-in Find My support, eliminating the need to add an AirTag entirely. As of 2021, Apple’s Find My network had hundreds of millions of devices, most of which were iPhones.

Just weeks ago at WWDC, Apple’s annual software developers conference, the company announced iOS 16 with expansions to its nearly decade-old Wallet app and Apple Pay service. Essentially, Apple wants to make your physical wallet obsolete. There’s also a new feature called Apple Pay Later that lets you split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees. It’s done entirely through your iPhone.

In fact, you need an iPhone to access or use most of these services. Keep in mind that, for years, the iPhone’s premium price made it inaccessible to many, and that’s still true of Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhone Pro models. The recently upgraded iPhone SE gives Apple the opportunity to expand the iPhone’s reach even further. It’s the purest example of what defines an iPhone in 2022. The SE blends the body of an iPhone 8 with the glass and processor from the iPhone 13. At $429, it’s currently the most affordable way to get people into Apple experiences.

I spoke with Borchers ahead of the iPhone SE launch in March about the phone and why Apple added an A15 Bionic chip to it.

“It’s actually a really easy decision to put as much capability as we can in today, in order to invest in and create opportunities for those future experiences. It’s something that distinguishes us from others,” said Borchers.

No other phone maker takes this approach. It would be like Samsung using the body of its Galaxy S8 and putting the Galaxy S22’s processing power inside. The upcoming Pixel 6A will be the first budget Android phone that uses the same processor, Google’s Tensor chip, as the flagship Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Of course, Google isn’t putting it into the body of Pixel 2 and instead is introducing a new design.

It makes sense that Apple’s cheapest phone has the same processor as its most expensive: It’s all about giving people access to Apple experiences. For example, if you buy an iPhone SE, you can use the Live Text feature in iOS 15 to grab text with your camera or copy it from a photo. And while the 2016 and 2020 versions of the iPhone SE sold well, it seems the 2022 version isn’t breaking any sales records yet. Apple doesn’t disclose a specific model breakdown of how many iPhones it sells, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo lowered his shipping estimates for the iPhone SE (2022) by 10 million. The lower demand could be an effect of rising inflation and the fact that the 2022 and 2020 versions of the iPhone SE look identical.

The SE showcases how iOS and Apple Silicon become the bedrock for everything you do on your iPhone. Obviously, not every model in Apple’s iPhone lineup is equal. More expensive phones like the iPhone 13 Pro come with a contemporary design, high refresh-rate screens, larger camera sensors and tools like the U1 ultra wideband chip and lidar.

These extra perks mean you can use your iPhone in more ways. For example, if you’ve got the right car, you can unlock it and start it with your iPhone. Borscher describes moments like these as “automagic,” meaning it just works. The same way a pair of AirPods can switch from your iPhone to your Mac for watching a video, or the way you can unlock your Mac using your Apple Watch.

Of course, such growth has consequences. Antitrust concerns over the app store and mobile payments, debates about screen time, Apple’s contentious dealings with the FBI, criticism that all these services are part of a strategy to lock people into Apple’s ecosystem and more recently, privacy questions over AirTags are just some of the concerns that have grown alongside the iPhone’s meteoric success. There are even questions as to whether Apple can launch another product line that is even half as successful as the iPhone. My CNET colleague and Apple reporter Ian Sherr points out that products like the Apple Watch and AirPods are lucrative largely because of their connection to the iPhone.

Over 15 years, the iPhone has become ubiquitous and helped Apple become a nearly $3 trillion company. The next iteration of the phone, likely called the iPhone 14, is expected to launch this September. It will no doubt run on iOS 16 and have the newest version of Apple’s A series processor and will continue to support the Apple experience. As for the long-term, my colleague Lisa Eadicicco thinks the most important part of future iPhones will be how it works with everything around it.

Apple’s smartphone is turning 15. Experts say technologies like lidar and AI will define its future.

Lucy Edwards, a blind UK-based journalist and broadcaster, found it difficult to maintain a social distance in public during the height of the pandemic. That’s why she tried the iPhone’s People Detection feature, which uses the iPhone 12 Pro and 13 Pro’s lidar sensor to detect when others are nearby.

“I’m going to have to get used to it, but I’m really excited that I can be in control again,” Edwards said in a BBC video from 2020 documenting her experience.

Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is just one example of how the technology inside the iPhone has evolved in the last 15 years. When the first iPhone launched, on June 29, 2007, it had a 3.5-inch screen that would be considered minuscule by today’s standards and a single 2-megapixel camera. Now Apple’s most sophisticated phones come equipped with triple-rear cameras that are advanced enough to shoot films, sensors that help people like Edwards navigate the world, and powerful chips with billions of transistors.

The iPhone often served as a catalyst for the technologies introduced within, whether it’s digital assistant Siri, mobile payments or wireless charging, and helped drive the evolution of how we live our mobile lives. But in the future, the most important part of the iPhone might be everything around it. That’s according to analysts who’ve observed the mobile industry’s general trends and Apple’s strategy.

In the short term, we’re likely to see incremental improvements like higher quality cameras and giant displays. But over the next decade, the iPhone could evolve into a hub for smart glasses and other devices. AirPods, Apple Watches and CarPlay-enabled vehicles may be just the start. The iPhone’s core elements, like its display and charging systems, are also expected to get a significant boost.

“The next quest for the smartphone is to figure out what it will connect to next,” said Runar Bjørhovde, an analyst with market research firm Canalys. “Because the smartphone has not necessarily reached its potential yet, but as a standalone device I think the smartphone is getting closer and closer to the edge.”

Your iPhone at the center of everything
There’s plenty of speculation about what’s next after the smartphone. The resounding consensus seems to be smart glasses, with companies like Meta, Snap and Google all working on their own version of high-tech spectacles.

Apple is no exception; reports from Bloomberg indicate that the iPhone maker could debut a mixed reality headset this year or next that supports augmented and virtual reality technologies. A pair of AR-powered smart glasses could arrive later this decade, according to the report.

So what does this have to do with the iPhone? Possibly everything. Even though Apple’s headset is expected to function as a standalone device, the apps and services it runs would likely stem from the iPhone.

Think of the Apple Watch. It doesn’t need a nearby iPhone to function, but a large part of its appeal involves its ability to sync closely with Apple’s phone. Many of the Apple Watch’s notifications are also tied to accounts and apps that were set up on the iPhone.

Whether it’s a smart headset, the Apple Watch, AirPods or HomeKit-enabled appliances, analysts expect the phone to remain at the center.

“The phone will be the anchor,” said Gene Munster, managing partner for tech investment firm Loup Ventures and a longtime Apple analyst.

But it isn’t just about connecting to new personal tech gadgets. Apple is gradually turning the iPhone into a viable replacement for the wallet, weaving it even more tightly into the nondigital aspects of our lives.

Apple has made a lot of progress on this front over the past year by rolling out new features like digital IDs for Apple Wallet and Tap to Pay, which turns the iPhone into a contactless payment terminal for merchants without additional hardware. Apple also just announced Apple Pay Later, which lets Apple Pay users split a purchase into four equal installments paid over the course of six weeks.

“It’s clear that there’s a lot of momentum within financial services with Apple, and I think we will see further advancements there,” said Nick Maynard, head of research for Juniper Research.

Better lidar, more advanced AI for better spatial awareness
Making educated guesses about Apple’s general direction for the iPhone is certainly easier than pinpointing specific changes that might be coming. But analysts have some ideas based on the seeds Apple has planted in current iPhones.

Lidar will likely continue to be important as the company pushes more deeply into augmented reality. Apple added lidar on the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020 to boost the performance of AR apps, enable new camera tricks and facilitate accessibility features like the aforementioned People Detection. The technology measures distance by determining how long it takes for light to reflect off an object and bounce back.

Yet the iPhone’s current lidar sensors might not be sophisticated enough to bring Apple’s augmented reality ambitions to fruition, said Munster.

“Specifically what needs to happen is the mapping of the real world needs to be more accurate,” said Munster, whose firm conducts research on topics like augmented reality, autonomous vehicles and virtual reality. “And until that happens, AR isn’t really going to happen.”

Lidar improves the iPhone’s depth-sensing skills, but it’s still up to the phone’s processor to make sense of all that data. Apple has leaned into artificial intelligence — one of Silicon Valley’s favorite buzzwords in recent years — to give the iPhone and other products more context about users and their surroundings.

Once again, you can look to the Apple Watch to see this approach at work. Apple’s smartwatch uses artificial intelligence and data gathered from its sensors for tasks such as tracking your sleep and noticing when you’re washing your hands. Hanish Bhatia, a senior analyst for Counterpoint Research, provided a hypothetical example of how AI improvements could one day manifest in upcoming iPhones. He envisions a future in which Apple’s smartphone can observe a person’s habits to understand whether the phone’s primary user or a family member may be using the device.

“The way you use your phone, at what angle your smartphone is tilted … Do you press with a particular pressure, or do you just tap it with your nails or something like that?” he said as an example. “All of these are different types of behaviors which are very unique to a user.”

Bhatia’s example is speculative and doesn’t reflect Apple’s actual plans. But with advancements in AI and technologies like lidar and ultra wideband giving the iPhone more spatial awareness, it’s easy to imagine a scenario like this.

Displays and charging tech could get a big change
Perhaps one of the biggest questions surrounding Apple’s future smartphone plans is whether the company will ever create a foldable iPhone. Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival in the mobile space, has already launched several generations of phones with flexible designs. Motorola, Huawei and Microsoft have all followed suit, and Google is rumored to be working on a bendable Pixel. Shipments of foldable smartphones are said to have increased by 264.3% in 2021 compared with 2020, according to The International Data Corporation.

But experts like Munster and Maynard are skeptical about whether Apple will take a similar approach. Though the tech giant has filed patents for mobile devices with flexible displays, those filings aren’t always indicative of Apple’s plans. Sales of foldable phones have been growing, but shipments still pale in comparison with regular smartphones. (Research firm IDC estimates that 7.1 million foldable phones were shipped in 2021 compared with 362.4 million phones shipped in just the fourth quarter of last year). And then there’s the question of whether foldable devices bring anything truly new or meaningful to the smartphone experience.

There are also challenges with creating a true glass screen that’s foldable, says Munster. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip has a glass screen, but that glass is also combined with “a special material” to “achieve a consistent hardness,” CNET reported in 2020.

“The piece that’s missing from my perspective is how [Apple] would actually do it,” Munster said.

New headset featuring both virtual and augmented reality environments is part of a “deluge” of new products reportedly coming in the next year.

Apple’s first mixed-reality headset could come with the company’s flagship M2 processor, just one of the “deluge” of new products the company is expected to unveil in the next year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported Sunday.

The M2, unveiled in June, features redesigned central processing units and a significant memory increase, which would provide a significant boost to the much-rumored headset over the previous M1 chip.

The much-rumored headset incorporating both virtual and augmented reality environments is expected to provide a boon to the gaming industry. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier week that the headset — expected to be announced in January 2023 — would be the most complicated product Apple has designed yet.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about his excitement about AR. Earlier this week, he explained that the tech industry is still in the “very early innings” of this technology’s possibilities.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities we’ve seen in this space, and sort of stay tuned and you’ll see what we have to offer,” Cook told China Daily.

Other products Gurman expects to debut in the next 12 months include four iPhone 14 models, three Apple Watch variations, several Macs with M2 and M3 chips, iPads, updated AirPods Pro earbuds, a fresh HomePod, and an upgraded Apple TV.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The CEO of Solana cryptocurrency is tired of seeing people pulling out their laptops to mint NFTs in the middle of dates. This is his solution.

In a first from a major cryptocurrency company, Solana Labs on Thursday announced it was developing its own brand of smartphone. The Solana Saga is a top-spec, 6.67-inch Android phone that’ll launch in first quarter of 2023 for $1,000. Revealed at a keynote in New York, the Saga is designed to make trading cryptocurrencies easier and safer on mobile phones.

Solana is a cryptocurrency that competes with ethereum, which is the second biggest cryptocurrency on the market. It aims to dethrone ethereum by being more efficient: It claims to be able to process 50,000 transactions per second, compared with ethereum’s 30 per second. It’s also cheaper to use and more carbon efficient. Its downside thus far has been security: Solana’s network has shut down five times this year alone.

The Solana Saga is a rebrand of OSOM’s OV1, which phone afficianados will recognize as the spiritual successor to the Essential Phone. The privacy focused OV1 was slated to hit the market by the end of the year. Other features include 512GB of storage, 12GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon+ Gen 1 CPU.

The Saga is a central part of Solana’s attempt to make cryptocurrency apps more mobile friendly. Many crypto, decentralized finance and NFT applications are more limited on mobile than on desktop, or have cumbersome user interfaces. Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO of Solana, joked at the event that he still sees people pull out laptops on dates in order to mint new NFTs. “Web3 still feels like we’re in the year 2007,” Solana mobile head engineer Steven Layer said at the event.

Solana’s new Solana Mobile Stack, which will run first on the Solana Saga, is designed to fix that problem. It’s open-source software that consists of three main tools: a Mobile Wallet Adapter, a Seed Vault and Solana Pay. The wallet adapter connects Android apps to any Solana crypto wallet stored on the device. The Seed Vault partitions wallet seed phrases and passwords from apps on the phone, attempting to merge the security of a hardware wallet with the usability of an internet-connected wallet. Solana Pay will work similarly to Apple Pay and Google Pay, except the user will be able to transact using the Solana cryptocurrency.

The first M2 Mac available exists in its own bubble, but it also delivers better performance than the original M1 version.

“What a strange-looking MacBook.” That was my first thought when I first saw the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the new M2 chip at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino during WWDC 2022.

There wasn’t anything particularly strange about it — it looked like the last several models of 13-inch Apple laptops, both Pro and Air. But in the Apple Silicon era, I’ve become far more used to the company’s new design language, which is built around flat, constructivist designs with sharper angles and a studied minimalism. That same design has since been applied to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops, the 24-inch iMac and soon, the new 13-inch MacBook Air.

The M2 Air, with a bigger screen, better webcam and newer design is said to be arriving sometime in the next month. As both 13-inch laptops have the same M2 chip and a similar price, I won’t consider this a complete review until I can test and compare the two systems side by side.

This M2 MacBook Pro, despite being the newest MacBook you can buy right now (until the revamped MacBook Air goes on sale next month), has a gently rounded edge that tapers ever so slightly on the front side. It’s a throwback design that can be traced back more than a decade, starting with the first Retina-display MacBook Pro I reviewed in 2012 to the current Touch Bar design, which I first reviewed in 2016.

In fact, it looks just like the 13-inch MacBook Pro that was part of Apple’s first wave of M1-chip Macs in late 2020. Same body, same camera, same limited ports, same Touch Bar. Yes, this remains the last holdout of the Apple Touch Bar, a clever-but-underused second screen that’s fallen out of favor.

And that’s exactly what this system is: The 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, with the initial M1 chip swapped out for the new M2 chip. That makes it Apple’s most powerful 13-inch laptop, and it will probably edge out the otherwise similar new M2 MacBook Air because its active cooling allows it to run at higher temperatures.

Where the M2 fits in the lineup
But despite the hype, the M2 sits in a confusing spot in the Apple silicon hierarchy. It sits above the original M1 chip (which was available in two versions with different numbers of graphics cores), but below the M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra. The M1 Pro and M1 Max are available in the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 Ultra, essentially two M1 Max chips side by side, is only available at the moment in the new Mac Studio desktop.

Which of these chips will show up in an eventual revamp of the Mac Pro desktop, or a new big-screen iMac, is unknown.

In the original M1 Mac lineup, I had the hardest time reconciling the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a target audience. It was more expensive than the practically identical M1 MacBook Air, while offering the Touch Bar, active cooling and a slightly brighter screen. For most people, the Air—even with a few upgrades—was a better choice. There’s a reason I call the MacBook Air the most universally useful laptop you can buy.

With the new M2 MacBook Air right around the corner, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is an even tougher sell. The M2 Air has the newer design (plus cool colors), a slightly larger liquid retina display, now just as bright as the Pro, and a much-needed full HD webcam. This leaves the 13-inch MacBook Pro as the only Mac left with a substandard 720-pixel resolution webcam.

But there are some reasons you may still want the 13-inch MacBook Pro over either the new MacBook Air or the much-more-expensive 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro. We outlined the most obvious reasons here, and they include:

It’s the last opportunity to get a Touch Bar MacBook.
It’s the smallest MacBook with the longest battery life (at least until we test the new Air model).
It provides platform continuity for your company or creative shop.

MacBook math: M2 Mac price comparisons
The M2 MacBook Air is currently $1,299 (£1,349, AU$1,999) to start, compared with $1,199 (£1,249, AU$1,899) for the MacBook Pro. Both base models include 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. That’s a much less expensive way to get into a MacBook Pro than the 14-inch or 16-inch Pro models, which start at $1,999 and $2,499.

We tested the new M2 MacBook Pro and compared it to the nearly identical M1 13-inch MacBook Pro, as well as the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip. As shown in the charts below, the M2 is a notable bump over the M1, but not as powerful as the next chip up on the chain, the M1 Pro. The last generation of Intel MacBook Pro was far behind, while a new (and expensive) premium Windows laptop from Razer with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 and an Nvidia 3070Ti GPU was also faster.

While we won’t know for sure until we can test the M2 Air, based on our previous testing, I expect only minor performance differences between the M2 laptops. Both M2 laptops top out at 24GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.

In my hands-on experience, it felt like exactly what it is — a modest internal bump to the M1 version. When the M1 chips launched, I was excited that I could easily edit and play back 4K video clips, only running into a little stuttering when I applied real-time effects and color correction in Premiere. The M2 version was even better, but not as good as the video editing we tried on our MacBook Pro and Mac Studio systems, using the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.

I love the new MacBook Air design and its upgrades to the display and webcam. I suspect the 13-inch Pro will appeal to only a very specific subset of shoppers, such as those who want the better cooling and who want to jump into the Pro line without spending $2,000 or more.

For everyone else, I’d suggest waiting to see what the M2 version of the MacBook Air can do when it arrives sometime in July.

Rumors suggest new foldable models from Samsung, Google and Motorola are in the works.

Foldable phones hit the headlines in 2019, when companies like Samsung, Huawei and Motorola introduced their first bendable devices. If the rumors and reports are accurate, 2022 is shaping up to be another banner year for foldable phones, with Samsung, Motorola and Google expected to debut new flexible designs.

Samsung’s rumored foldable phones might even arrive in the coming months if the company follows its previous pattern. For example, Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Flip 5G in the summer of 2020 and the Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 in August 2021.

Sales of foldable phones are growing, but they still aren’t nearly as ubiquitous as standard phones. Shipments of foldable smartphones are said to have increased by 264.3% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to The International Data Corporation. But the IDC estimates that just 7.1 million foldable phones were shipped in all of 2021, compared to 362.4 million phones shipped in just the fourth quarter of last year.

Here’s a look at the rumored foldable phones from Samsung, Motorola and others that are said to be in the works.

Read more: How iOS 16 and Android 13 Could Change the Future of Smartphones

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Samsung’s phone-tablet hybrid is reportedly due for an upgrade this year. Based on the leaks and rumors that have emerged so far, it looks like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will be a moderately improved version of the current Z Fold 3. It could have a sleeker design, thanks to a slimmer hinge according to prolific leaker Ice Universe, as well as an improved camera on par with that of the Galaxy S22. Qualcomm’s recently announced Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 will reportedly power the device, the source also claims.

But what I’m really hoping to see for the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a cheaper price. The current version costs $1,800 without a trade-in, making it one of the most expensive phones around. But display analyst Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, speculates Samsung’s next-generation foldables will get a price cut.

Samsung typically unveils its new foldable phones in August, so we’re expecting to hear more in the coming months. Check out our full story for more details about what to expect from the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

Samsung is also expected to launch a new version of its clamshell, flip phone-style Galaxy Z Flip this year. Similar to the rumors about the Z Fold 4, leaks about the Z Flip 4 indicate it will be a refresh of the current model rather than a dramatic change.

The Z Flip 4 is expected to get a larger cover screen according to Young, the display analyst, and Yogesh Brar, a writer for the site 91mobiles who claims to have received a full list of the Z Flip 4’s specifications. An upgrade like this would make it easier to check the time and notifications at a glance without unfolding the phone.

We won’t know for sure until Samsung announces a new version of the Z Flip, which would likely happen in August. Check out our full story to learn more about what we might see in the Z Flip 4.

Read more: iOS 16’s Lock Screen Upgrades Make the iPhone More Like a Smartwatch

A new Samsung foldable

But perhaps what’s more exciting is the idea that Samsung could introduce a completely new type of foldable phone this year. In a tweet that seems to have been deleted, Ice Universe previously said Samsung could debut a third type of foldable this year. Young also chimed in to say a Samsung slidable phone was scheduled for production in 2022 but had been pushed further out.

If Samsung is planning to launch a foldable in a new style, it certainly has plenty of ideas to choose from. The Korean tech giant showcased several new concepts at CES 2022 in January, including phones with a tri-folding screen and a display that slides. Samsung hasn’t provided any indication that it plans to launch a new type of foldable anytime soon, but we’re expecting its next major Unpacked event to take place in August.

2022 Motorola Razr

Motorola might be preparing its iconic Razr for another comeback. The company is reportedly working on a new version of its foldable Razr flip phone that could have a cheaper price, a new pill-shaped dual camera and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, according to leaks from well-known leakers Steve Hemmerstoffer (via CompareDial) and Evan Blass (published on 91Mobiles).

We ultimately liked the 2020 Razr for its refined design and improved battery life. But CNET reviewer Patrick Holland pointed out the phone’s then-$1,400 price and other shortcomings, like the camera’s poor low-light performance, have held it back from being as good as it could be. Hopefully Motorola has addressed these concerns if the rumored third-generation Razr turns out to be real.

Read more: Best Samsung Phone for 2022

Google Pixel Fold (or Pixel Notepad)

Google might be the next major tech company to jump on the foldable phone bandwagon. The company is reportedly working on a foldable Pixel that might have a similar shape as Oppo’s Find N and a price that’s lower than the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s, according to 9to5Google. The outlet also says the phone might be called the Pixel NotePad, but cautions that its camera could be a step down from the Pixel 6’s.

Google hasn’t said a word about any plans to release a foldable phone yet. We also didn’t see any clues about a foldable Pixel at Google I/O, the company’s annual developers conference where it sometimes shows off new tech concepts. But given Google’s recent focus on hardware — which it emphasized at I/O by announcing six new gadgets — it wouldn’t be surprising to see the company experiment with foldables.

If Google does have a foldable phone in the works, it’s unclear when it would launch. Korean news site The Elec said Google previously planned to announce the device in the fourth quarter of 2022, but the company has reportedly delayed the launch.

A TCL foldable phone

TCL scrapped plans to release a flip phone-style foldable phone in 2021, but it’s not giving up yet. The Chinese electronics maker showcased two new concepts earlier this year for phones with rollable and foldable screens. One concept has a screen that can bend inwards and outwards, while the other can fold and expand the size of its screen.

TCL hasn’t said when it plans to release a foldable phone. But if and when it does, the company plans to keep the price at $700 or less, TCL previously told CNET. Getting to that price will be challenging, but hopefully it will motivate other phone makers to make their foldables similarly affordable.

Apple is one of the few major smartphone makers that hasn’t released a foldable phone, and it’s unclear whether it ever will. But rumors about an iPhone with a bendable screen have been circulating for years, fueling speculation. If Apple is working on a foldable iPhone, it likely won’t release the device for another few years. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter in 2021 that a foldable iPhone is still two to three years away. Display supply chain analyst Young also said in February that Apple’s foldable iPhone would be delayed until 2025, according to 9to5Mac.

Waiting a few years to launch its first foldable might not be a bad idea. Foldable phones are expected to account for 1.8% of the overall smartphone market by 2025, a jump from 0.5% in 2021, according to the IDC. The market research firm also says foldables are expected to take over one-third of the premium market for Android phones.

See if your Pixel phone will get Android 13 and other updates.

Pixel phones are usually the first to get new Android updates, and that’s one of the biggest perks separating Google’s phones from other Android devices. Your Pixel phone may be eligible for upgrades over the next three to five years, but that depends on which model you own.

Android version updates usually bring new features and design tweaks to your phone. Android 13, for example, will introduce more Material You customization when it launches this fall. It’ll also have better privacy and security features and improved compatibility with devices such as laptops and speakers.

Google guarantees three years of software and five years of security updates for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro from when those devices became available in the US Google Play Store. That includes three major Android version updates, security updates until October 2026 and “feature drops,” which are smaller software updates introducing extras such as vaccine card shortcuts and air quality alerts. If you own a Pixel 4, Pixel 4A, Pixel 5 or Pixel 5A, you can expect to get updates for at least three years from the date each phone launched in the US Google Store.

The Pixel 3 and earlier are no longer eligible for Android version and security updates. Google still includes the Pixel 3A and 3A XL on its list of supported phones even though those devices are only guaranteed to receive updates until May 2022. CNET has contacted Google for clarity and will update this story accordingly.

Take a look at the table below to see how long your device will be compatible with new Android software updates.

Read more: What iOS 16 and Android 13 Tell Us About the Future of Smartphones

Android 13’s new features
Android 13 will introduce a bunch of new features that aim to improve security, customization and connectivity with other devices. Some highlights include:

End-to-end encryption for group conversations to its Rich Communication Services messages app
Emergency SOS calls for Wear OS smartwatches
An expansion of Material You that includes premade color sets and themed icons for your home screen apps
The ability to automatically erase your phone’s copy-and-paste clipboard after a short period of time
Fast pairing for setting up new devices
Android 13 is currently still in beta, and we’re expecting to see the final version arrive in the fall alongside the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Check out our full story on Android 13 to learn more about what’s coming in the update.

Read more: The Most Exciting New Phones We’re Hoping to See in 2022

Pixel feature drops explained
Pixel feature drops are exactly what the name implies: regular updates that bring new features to Pixel phones. While new Android versions, such as Android 13, bring sweeping changes to the entire operating system, feature drops are smaller updates focused on specific additions. Google launched its first feature drop in December 2019, and new releases typically debut in December, March and June.

Google announced its latest Pixel feature drop on June 6, and it’s available for the Pixel 4 and later. The update includes a new tool for creating music videos, easy access to your COVID-19 vaccine card from the home screen, new wallpapers for Pride Month, conversation mode for reducing background noise in the Pixel’s Sound Amplifier accessibility mode and more information on the lock screen, such as a Nest doorbell video feed.

Read more: Google Pixel Watch: What We Know (and Don’t) So Far

How to see your Pixel’s Android version and check for updates
You can check your phone’s Android version and see if updates are available by opening the Settings menu, tapping System and selecting System update.

While Google says most security patches will happen automatically, you can check for security updates manually by launching the Settings app, choosing Security and selecting the Google Security checkup tool.

You can also see if a Google Play system update is available from this menu by choosing the Google Play system update option in the Security section.

Looking for more Pixel advice? Learn whether you should upgrade to the Pixel 6 and check out these Pixel tips and tricks.

Commentary: Apple’s next iPhone is likely still months away, but iOS 16 might be dropping hints about what’s coming.

Apple’s next major iPhone operating system, iOS 16, was previewed at WWDC and is now available to download for developers. The new iPhone update will work on the iPhone 8 and newer and likely launch alongside the rumored iPhone 14 this fall. iOS 16 offers a bunch of heavily requested features, such as the ability to customize your lock screen or edit sent iMessages. But if you look closely, iOS 16 might also reveal some clues about the iPhone 14.

While Apple told us a lot about new features coming to current iPhones, it lacked any specific mention of what to expect from the iPhone 14. That’s not surprising; Apple never discusses new products before announcing them. Sometimes the company reserves certain software announcements for its annual iPhone event so it can debut these features as exclusives for the latest iPhone.

For example, Cinematic mode was absent from Apple’s iOS 15 announcement and instead launched as an iPhone 13 feature in the fall. Though if you look closely, there were some subtle hints sprinkled in iOS 15. Since Apple launched Portrait mode for FaceTime calls in iOS 15, it’s easy to imagine Apple creating a Portrait mode for video recording — which is essentially what Cinematic mode is.

iOS 16 seems to be no different. Several features look like they have the potential to offer hints as to what we might expect for the iPhone 14 series. One of these clues is actually buried in the code for iOS 16.