Apple updated a couple of its most-loved products this week, both in relatively minor ways. The iPad and iPad Air both got new processors and not much else, the MacBook Air got a new processor and a new color, and the Mac Studio got a new processor. All this is both good news, and thoroughly unexciting.
Apple’s chip bumps, big and small
On The Vergecast: iPads, Macs, EVs, Skype, and DOGE.
On The Vergecast: iPads, Macs, EVs, Skype, and DOGE.
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
So of course, on this episode of The Vergecast, we talk for nearly an hour about all these chip bumps. The Verge’s Jake Kastrenakes joins Nilay and David to talk about the state of Apple’s various device lineups, the ongoing failure of Apple Intelligence to be a reason to upgrade, and whether reinventing the gadget wheel is what we even want from Apple anymore.
After that, the hosts do a lightning round of tech news. We talk about the latest Digg comeback, the Nothing Phone 3A, the Volkswagen ID. EVERY1 (ugh, that name!), the end of Skype, and more. Then it’s time for a politics and policy lightning round: we talk tariffs, DOGE, the FAA, Brendan Carr’s ongoing assault on free speech, and the latest at the CFPB. And finally, we end on a happy note — by discussing one of the wilder camera / smartphone prototypes we’ve ever seen.
If you want to know more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, first on Apple’s new gear:
And in other tech news:
- Digg is coming back, with founder Kevin Rose and Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian
- Discord is reportedly exploring an IPO.
- Nothing’s Phone 3A and 3A Pro use AI to organize all your stuff
- The Volkswagen ID. EVERY1 is an affordable EV for the masses
- From TechCrunch: Volkswagen’s cheapest EV ever is the first to use Rivian software
- Forrest Jones on TikTok
- Microsoft is shutting down Skype in favor of Teams
- What went wrong with Skype?
And in policy and politics:
- From Politico: Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk
- FAA staff reportedly ordered to find funding for deal with Musk’s Starlink
- Trump’s USCIS wants to review all prospective citizens’ social media accounts
- Senate votes to strip the CFPB of its power to regulate X
- From CNBC: MWC: FCC chair says U.S. will defend interests of its tech giants
- From Semafor: FCC’s Carr defends broadcast probes, slams social media ‘threat’
And finally:
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