Author
Antonio G. Di Benedetto
27 public articlesThe gist: Apple's long-awaited touchscreen MacBook Pro is finally here. I got to try this MacBook that, according to the last two Apple CEOs, shouldn't exist. The most surprising thing is how normal it is. The MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display (what a name) has one of the nicest screens I've seen on a laptop. The […]
The gist: Apple announced a new iPad Mini with a larger OLED display this week, and we've just gotten to try it out at Apple's "Pro and tell" event. It's an iPad for sure, but the new OLED on the Mini looks exceptional, and the optional nano-texture matte finish is awesome. The "Pro and tell" event venue […]
The gist: Apple has already had a busy week. On Monday, it announced a new iPad Mini with an upgraded OLED display, and on Tuesday, we got M6 chip upgrades for the MacBook Pro and iMac. The Macs are the definition of iterative updates - they're quiet refreshes that look just like their direct predecessors. But today […]
The gist: A fridge is about to be merged with a toaster. Dogs and cats are soon to be living together. But it's not mass hysteria; Apple is expected to finally announce a touchscreen MacBook tomorrow at its "Pro and Tell" event. A laptop with a touchscreen should be no big deal - we've had them for […]
The gist: Anduril and Qualcomm are partnering on a new line of laptops called BlueChip, launching in early 2027. The first prototype is a ruggedized model using Arm-based Snapdragon X series chips and aimed at the US military, but the ultimate focus of the joint venture is to make laptops entirely in the US. Eventually. The glob
The gist: It looks like the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook might actually get announced next week, and after using the Lenovo Yoga 9n for our testing of Nvidia's RTX Spark platform, it got me thinking: this is a lot of what I want from a touchscreen MacBook. Like the Apple silicon in modern MacBook Pros, RTX Spark is […]
The gist: Every Googlebook laptop we've tested so far has great hardware. The problem is the software. While Googlebook OS has exciting ideas for how a laptop and phone can work together, right now it's mostly a frustrating experience filled with annoying bugs and lackluster app support. It often feels like using an Android tabl
The gist: Nvidia's RTX Spark N1X processor is finally here, and we've been collectively testing a small fortune's worth of powerful laptops sporting this new "superchip." RTX Spark is designed to be a high-performing Arm-based SoC for laptops and small desktop computers, rivaling the best from Apple, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. It
The gist: I'm embarking on a journey I've so far been hesitant to go on: actually using AI on the regular. Giving my most personal data to cloud services has been a major hold up for me, but it's increasingly possible to run powerful models locally to see what they're capable of. Is this tech so useful […]
The gist: Google's new operating system is off to a rocky start. The five newly launched Googlebook laptops have hardware that ranges from great to excellent, but the software in its current state is the weak point. There are four of us on staff at The Verge actively testing Googlebooks and, frankly, our internal Slack discussio
The gist: A common misconception I've seen with Googlebooks is that the Quick Insert and Google logo keys are new. They're not, as they first debuted a couple of years ago on some Chromebooks. But there is something new for Googlebooks that's ripped straight from Android phones circa 2014. On every Googlebook keyboard, the F1, F
The gist: The first array of laptops powered by Nvidia's new RTX Spark chip are designed to compete with high-end MacBook Pros - and they've got some high-end prices to match. The flagship Surface Laptop Ultra and RTX Spark laptops from Dell, Lenovo, MSI, HP, and Asus start as low as $2,599 for configurations with an 18-core […]
The gist: Googlebooks are here. The first models went on sale Sunday, October 4th, and we received review units of all five Googlebooks about 24 hours ago. Since then, we've been in a mad dash to put the devices through their paces and get a check on what it's like to use these Android laptops. At first […]
The gist: HP is announcing a new laptop that's squarely aimed at Apple's MacBook Neo. The 2026 HP OmniBook 5 14 starts at $699.99 with an Intel Core 5 315 "Wildcat Lake" processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. Much of that sounds pretty familiar, being in lockstep with both Apple's Neo and its recent competition […]
The gist: The Mac Mini is a great little desktop computer, and back when it cost $599, it was easy to recommend to anyone who wanted something speedy, simple, and cheap. The new M6 model is even better, but it starts at $899, and its 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU might actually be overkill for someone who […]
The gist: There are lots of compact desktop computers out there, but none match the Mac Mini's small size and big power. 2024's redesign reduced the Mini to 0.82L, a chassis so minimal you can easily mount it behind a monitor or under a desk. I've used gaming laptop charging bricks that are nearly as large and […]
The gist: There are a few things about using a Googlebook that immediately feel just right. The hardware is polished (since it's based on current laptops). The OS is familiar (if you've ever used a Chromebook). But most impressive, it integrates your Android phone with your PC so they feel more like one device. It's the culminat
The gist: The Mac Studio review unit that Apple sent us to test this year is, put simply, kind of outrageous. It has an M5 Ultra chip with a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU, 256GB of RAM, and 4TB of storage and costs $12,299. This thing is not for your typical content creation workloads. It's for AI […]
The gist: Anamanaguchi, the band consisting of Peter Berkman, James DeVito, Luke Silas, and Ary Warnaar, are most known for their chiptune music. Like me, you might have first heard them in game soundtracks like 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game or know of their collaboration with Hatsune Miku (which even made its way
The gist: Dell's last XPS 13 was meant to be a farewell before the company sunset the entire XPS brand. But it was a bitter ending, and an overpriced one as well. Earlier this year, Dell resurrected the XPS name with the excellent (and very expensive) XPS 14 and 16. And now, it's reinvented the XPS 13 […]
The gist: Apple always makes a big show of the latest cameras in its phones, and the major talking point of the iPhone 18 Pro is about the new variable aperture. Both the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have an adjustable mechanical iris in their main camera modules to let more or less light into the […]
The gist: It's not just time for any old Apple event, but one that's expected to usher in a new era for the company. This is the first iPhone keynote to be led by Apple's newly anointed CEO John Ternus, and all signs and rumors have been pointing to it being the one that also debuts a […]
The gist: Nvidia is announcing its new Personal AI Router (PAIR), a free tool that syncs up your home computers for tackling local AI inference tasks with tools like Ollama and LM Studio. Let's get the obvious thing out of the way, despite what its name might imply: PAIR is not a hardware router. It's open-source software […]
The gist: Lenovo is announcing a new concept laptop for IFA 2026 that uses solid-state cooling instead of traditional fans, making it incredibly thin and super light. The 14-inch Project AeroBlade concept laptop is less than 10mm thick and weighs under 1.8 pounds / 830g. For reference, recent ThinkPad X1 Carbons are around 14mm
The gist: Lenovo's latest rollable concept, announced at IFA 2026, is the ThinkBook Project Swan: a business laptop with a screen that expands horizontally from 14 to 17 inches. Rollable screens are nothing new for Lenovo. The company has shown off several concepts and even launched a real one last year (and it was pretty great)
The gist: Lenovo is announcing the IdeaPad Vibe, a productivity laptop aimed at taking on the MacBook Neo with a similar starting price and a wider range of colors. The Vibe comes in 14- and 15-inch sizes, with AMD and Qualcomm chip options due out in October and November, respectively. Intel versions (likely Wildcat Lake) are s
The gist: Apple is announcing a new generation of the Mac Mini, once again offering two models: one with a new M6 chip and a higher-end model with the M5 Pro found in this year's MacBook Pro. The new Minis have the same tiny design and footprint as the 2024 M4 / M4 Pro models, but with […]
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