Lenovo ThinkPad laptops now let you shutter their webcams
Lenovo ThinkPad laptops now let you shutter their webcams
With its newest ThinkPad X, T and L series business laptops and two-in-ones, Lenovo is doing a little extra to keep peepers and creepers from getting at you and your data.
Along with match-on-sensor touch fingerprint readers and IR cameras for facial recognition to make sign-ins easy while keeping your system secure, Lenovo has added physical webcam covers to the new models. Several of the laptops are available with Intel vPro processors, too, for encryption and remote manageability.
All of the new models feature eighth-generation Intel Core series processors as well as USB-C power adapters for universal charging regardless of what series you go with or your IT department doles out. They also have a new docking design with a slide-to-connect mechanism that works with most 12-, 14- and 15-inch ThinkPads.
ThinkPad X series
ThinkPad X280
Lenovo
The ThinkPad X series systems are designed for mobility. The ultraportable 12.5-inch X280, for example, weighs in at 2.6 pounds (1.2 kg) and is 0.7-inch thick (17.4 mm) while still being MIL-SPEC tested for durability. Lenovo promises up to 13 hours of battery life and it has a RapidCharge feature that will get you up to an 80 percent full with just 60 minutes of charging.
The 13.3-inch X380 Yoga is just slightly larger and heavier at 3.1 pounds (1.4 kg), but gains the flexibility of a two-in-one design with a pen-enabled full-HD touchscreen and room for a larger battery that can potentially run the PC for up to 13.6 hours.
The ThinkPad X280 starts at $999, while the X380 Yoga starts at $1,459 and both will be available later this month. Those prices convert to about AU$1,275 and AU$1,860 or £740 and £1,080.
ThinkPad T series
ThinkPad T480s
Lenovo
The new ThinkPad T series models include the 14-inch T480 and T480s and the 15-inch T580. The T480 has dual batteries (one removable, one internal) for up to 14.5 hours of battery life, but you pay the price in weight: 3.5 pounds or 1.6 kg. The 480s has an integrated battery that runs for up to 13.5 hours, but weighs 2.9 pounds or 1.3 kg. Both are available with either integrated Intel UHD 620 or Nvidia GeForce MX150 discrete graphics.
The T580 is essentially a 15-inch version of the T480. However, that larger body allows for larger dual batteries (again, one integrated and one removable) that Lenovo says will let this thing run for up to 27 hours.
Available in January, the ThinkPad T480 starts at $989, with the T480s coming in at $1,269. The T580 starts at $1,079. Those prices in Australia convert to AU$1,260 and AU$1,620 for the T480 and T480s and AU$1,375 for the T580. In the UK, those prices are approximately £730, £940 and £800.
ThinkPad L series
ThinkPad L380 Yoga
Lenovo
The L series is the more budget-friendly ThinkPad line available in 14- and 15-inch versions (L480 and L580) and new a 13.3-inch size (L380) that you can get as a clamshell or two-in-one Yoga design (L380 Yoga). Along with eighth-gen Intel Core processors, the L480 and L580 are available with integrated Intel UHD 620 or discrete AMD Radeon 530 graphics. The L380/L380 Yoga have integrated Intel UHD 620 graphics.
Also arriving in January, the ThinkPad L380 starts at $609, the ThinkPad L380 Yoga at $1,049, L480 at $779 and L580 at $769. In the UK, those prices convert to around £450, £775, £575 and £570. For Australia, they convert to AU$775, AU$1,340, AU$995 and AU$980.
What Biden's Proposed EV Charging Standards Mean for You
What Biden's Proposed EV Charging Standards Mean for You
This story is part of Plugged In, CNET's hub for all things EV and the future of electrified mobility. From vehicle reviews to helpful hints and the latest industry news, we've got you covered.
President Joe Biden's administration announced a proposal for "new standards for [a] national electric vehicle charging network" this morning along with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlining the details of the plan. You may be thinking, aren't there already standards for EV charging? Or what does this mean for your new Tesla Model Y or Ford F-150 Lightning? I've combed through the sprawling 82-page document (pdf link) to find out.
What's in the proposal?
The proposal by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are guidelines to be followed when designing and building charging infrastructure and stations funded by the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan announced earlier this year. The proposal sets standards for hardware selection, software, security and maintenance, accessibility and other requirements for states receiving funding over the next five years to build the planned 500,000 chargers in an effort to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles by American drivers.
The proposed charging standard adopts the CCS DC fast charging port for its high-speed capabilities and widespread adoption.
Antuan Goodwin/Roadshow
Hardware requirements
For you, the electric car driver (or the EV curious), the most important guideline laid out in the proposal is the requirement that all stations built with NEVI funds be built with at least four DC fast charging points. Each of those points should use the Combined Charging System (CCS) plug and supply at least 150 kilowatts of juice each. Picking CCS ensures compatibility for most new EVs built over the last few years from Ford, Chevrolet, Audi, Mercedes, BMW and more; even Nissan has made the flip to the popular standard. Tesla owners will need a CCS adapter, but the automaker has offered such an adapter in Europe for some time. Alternatively, they can continue to use the already robust Supercharger network.
While some EVs — notably the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, the Lucid Air and various Tesla Models — are capable of charging at 250 kW or faster, the DOT reckons that the minimum 150-kW requirement will allow charging times short enough for the majority of new EVs to prevent queues from forming at stations.
The standards proposal allows for the inclusion of one or more CHAdeMO DC fast charging plugs to support EVs still using that connection, including the Nissan Leaf. It also includes allowances for additional Level 2 AC stations with J1772 plugs capable of up to 6kW charging simultaneously across all AC ports — a move that makes room for slower, overnight charging but also for plug-in hybrid vehicles in the NEVI plan.
Tesla drivers will need a CCS adapter to use NEVI-funded stations, but they also already have access to one of the most robust fast-charging networks in the country.
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Accessible charging for all
Being funded by taxpayer money comes with the requirement that the charging infrastructure be available to the public. The proposal states that hardware must be accessible by the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week and on a year-round basis, with minor exceptions for maintenance or repairs.
Also prescribed is a requirement that contactless payment be accepted from all major credit and debit cards with no limitation of access based on membership. Users should be able to roll up, plug in, tap and pay at any federally funded station without having to install an app on their phone. The proposal also includes consumer protections against overcharging or price gouging (with particular attention paid to pricing during natural disasters and emergencies), and the requirement that revenue and profit gained from NEVI-funded stations must be reinvested into Title 23 highway and infrastructure projects.
NEVI-funded charging stations should accept contactless credit and debit cards as a payment option with no membership requirements.
Antuan Goodwin/CNET
However, electrified infrastructure works best when connected, so the proposal also outlines requirements for interoperability with vehicle communication technologies and the adoption of Open Charge Point Protocol standards for communication between the charging station and mapping applications to allow users to get location, real-time availability and pricing information to help pre-plan trips. This early in the game, the proposal is fairly vague on what those open standards will be or even how it will handle displaying pricing in States that "restrict the ability to display charge in dollars-per-kilowatt-hour," with the FHWA leaving room for legislators to work out whether dollar-per-minute, dollar-per-mile or some other display and base should be considered.
Making sure that charging is accessible to all also means that the proposal lays a framework for signage and traffic control devices (such as traffic signs, signals, pavement markings) surrounding NEVI-funded stations and that hardware, software and support systems provide multilingual access and comply with the American Disabilities Act.
Safety and cybersecurity
The proposal comes with guidelines for safety, maintenance and security for NEVI-funded infrastructure projects starting with specific requirements regarding the safe installation of charging hardware and the training and certification of installation and maintenance staff.
The plan lays a framework for communication between charging stations and the cloud, which will allow users to find stations in mapping software with real-time availability.
Antuan Goodwin/Roadshow
The plan requires a minimum of 97-percent uptime for federally funded charging ports which feels ambitious, but if achieved would build confidence for drivers still on the electrification fence. To reach that goal, FHWA is requiring operators to provide at least five years of maintenance for NEVI stations. According to the proposal, five years is long enough to provide a reasonable lifetime for the equipment, but short enough that States can choose to retire and upgrade charging hardware at the end of the maintenance period if technology progresses... for example, to move to faster charging points or more reliable equipment.
States must also meet requirements for physical security of charging sites, including providing adequate lighting, fire prevention and anti-tampering measures like charger locks. Additionally, the plan includes cybersecurity requirements aimed at the prevention of skimming payment devices, data security and grid security. For the most part, these security and safety protections are left up to individual State EV Infrastructure Deployment Plans.
The proposal also builds in requirements for that customers be able to report outages, malfunctions and issues with charging hardware to help increase uptime and that this reporting structure also comply with the American Disabilities Act.
The proposal includes allowances for the big, round CHAdeMO fast charger for EVs like the Nissan Leaf.
Antuan Goodwin/CNET
What the proposal isn't
The proposal isn't a new physical charging standard or software protocol. It doesn't prescribe a new plug type and actually ensures that the current connection types used by most manufacturers continue to be supported for the next five years. The plan also isn't a requirement for all charging infrastructure. States or private entities are free to build charging stations outside of these guidelines, just not with NEVI funding.
Finally, the proposal is just that: a proposal. It's not set in stone and will require approval by lawmakers before the plan is put into action. Think of this more as one of the first steps on the path to America's electrified highway system.
Big Screen Bargain: This 17-Inch Gaming Laptop Is Only $800 Today
Big Screen Bargain: This 17-Inch Gaming Laptop Is Only $800 Today
Are you ready to take your gaming to the next level? The Asus TUF Gaming laptop is ready to be your player two. It features an Intel Core i5 processor with machine intelligence that anticipates your needs and an enormous 17-inch FHD display with 1920x1080 screen resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate for the size and clarity you need for total game immersion. And it doesn't stop there. The GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card from NVIDIA keeps things running fast. Why choose? Game, watch, create and save $200 doing it when you take advantage of this deal on the Asus TUF Gaming laptop during Best Buy's one-day sale.
This laptop packs a punch, offering more than powerful graphics, a backlit color-changing keyboard and a massive 17-inch screen. With a 512GB solid state drive, you can save files faster, store more data and experience gaming without the dreaded midsave crashes or ill-timed lag. Upstream and downstream audio is also improved by Two-Way AI Noise Cancellation, filtering out unwanted noise to give you the best in online gaming communications wherever you go. And while it does run on Windows 10, it upgrades to Windows 11 for free after purchase, so you don't have to worry about being left in the dust. Have a little fun and get back in the game while this sale lasts.
Mortgage Refinance Rates for Aug. 24, 2022: Rates Trend Higher
Mortgage Refinance Rates for Aug. 24, 2022: Rates Trend Higher
Both 15-year fixed and 30-year fixed refinances saw their average rates trend upward. The average rate on 10-year fixed refinance also moved up.
Like mortgage rates, refinance rates fluctuate on a daily basis. With inflation at a 40-year high, the Federal Reserve has hiked the federal funds rate four times this year and is poised to do so again in 2022 to try to slow rampant inflation. Though mortgage rates are not set by the central bank, these federal rate hikes increase the cost of borrowing money. Whether refinance rates will continue to rise or fall will depend on what happens next with inflation. If inflation begins to cool, rates will likely follow suit. But if inflation remains high, we could see refinance rates maintain an upward trajectory. If rates for a refi are currently lower than your existing mortgage rate, you could save money by locking in a rate now. As always, consider your goals and circumstances, and compare rates and fees to find a mortgage lender who can meet your needs.
30-year fixed-rate refinance
For 30-year fixed refinances, the average rate is currently at 5.82%, an increase of 32 basis points over this time last week. (A basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.) One reason to refinance to a 30-year fixed loan from a shorter loan term is to lower your monthly payment. If you're having difficulties making your monthly payments currently, a 30-year refinance could be a good option for you. In exchange for the lower monthly payments though, rates for a 30-year refinance will typically be higher than 15-year and 10-year refinance rates. You'll also pay off your loan slower.
15-year fixed-rate refinance
The average rate for a 15-year fixed refinance loan is currently 5.07%, an increase of 24 basis points over last week. A 15-year fixed refinance will most likely raise your monthly payment compared to a 30-year loan. But you'll save more money over time, because you're paying off your loan quicker. Interest rates for a 15-year refinance also tend to be lower than that of a 30-year refinance, so you'll save even more in the long run.
10-year fixed-rate refinance
For 10-year fixed refinances, the average rate is currently at 5.14%, an increase of 22 basis points compared to one week ago. A 10-year refinance will typically feature the highest monthly payment of all refinance terms, but the lowest interest rate. A 10-year refinance can help you pay off your house much faster and save on interest in the long run. But you should confirm that you can afford a higher monthly payment by evaluating your budget and overall financial situation.
Where rates are headed
At the start of the pandemic, refinance rates dropped to historic lows, but they have been mostly climbing since the beginning of this year. Refinance rates rose due to inflation, which is at its highest level in four decades, as well as actions taken by the Federal Reserve. The Fed recently raised interest rates by another 0.75 percentage points and is prepared to raise rates again this year to slow the economy. Still, it's unclear exactly what will happen next in the market. If inflation continues to rise, rates are likely to climb. But if inflation starts to cool, rates could level off and begin to decline.
We track refinance rate trends using information collected by Bankrate, which is owned by CNET's parent company. Here's a table with the average refinance rates provided by lenders across the country:
Average refinance interest rates
Product
Rate
A week ago
Change
30-year fixed refi
5.82%
5.50%
+0.32
15-year fixed refi
5.07%
4.83%
+0.24
10-year fixed refi
5.14%
4.92%
+0.22
Rates as of Aug 24, 2022.
How to find the best refinance rate
It's important to understand that the rates advertised online may not apply to you. Your interest rate will be influenced by market conditions as well as your credit history and application.
Having a high credit score, low credit utilization ratio and a history of consistent and on-time payments will generally help you get the best interest rates. You can get a good feel for average interest rates online, but make sure to speak with a mortgage professional in order to see the specific rates you qualify for. To get the best refinance rates, you'll first want to make your application as strong as possible. The best way to improve your credit ratings is to get your finances in order, use credit responsibly and monitor your credit regularly. Don't forget to speak with multiple lenders and shop around.
Refinancing can be a great move if you get a good rate or can pay off your loan sooner -- but consider carefully whether it's the right choice for you at the moment.
Is now a good time to refinance?
Generally, it's a good idea to refinance if you can get a lower interest rate than that your current interest rate, or if you need to change your loan term. When deciding whether to refinance, be sure to take into account other factors besides market interest rates, including how long you plan to stay in your current home, the length of your loan term and the amount of your monthly payment. And don't forget about fees and closing costs, which can add up.
As interest rates have rather steadily increased since the beginning of the year, the pool of people eligible for refinancing has shrunk significantly. If you bought your house when interest rates were lower than current rates, you may likely not gain any financial benefit from refinancing your mortgage.
Halloween costume masks don't replace face masks, CDC warns
Halloween costume masks don't replace face masks, CDC warns
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the
WHO
and
CDC
websites.
Halloween celebrations will look different this year, with some regions warning against trick-or-treating due to coronavirus restrictions. But hey, at least costumed revelers will be masked and protected, right? Wrong. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its online holiday guidance Monday, warning that your average costume mask does not protect against the virus.
"Do not use a costume mask (such as for Halloween) as a substitute for a cloth mask unless it is made of two or more layers of breathable fabric that covers your mouth and nose and doesn't leave gaps around your face," the website reads.
And don't try to double up, either. The CDC goes on to warn that wearing a costume mask over a regular cloth face mask may make it hard to breathe, and instead recommends Halloween-themed cloth masks.
The CDC goes on to offer some advice for safely celebrating Halloween, encouraging something it calls "one-way trick-or-treating," in which individual goodie bags are lined up at the end of a driveway or yard for families to grab while going from house to house.
The CDC also gives the thumbs-up to small, outdoor costume parades where the participants are 6 feet apart; visiting pumpkin patches or orchards where social distancing is practiced and masks worn; and "open-air, one-way, walk-through haunted forests." Regular trick-or-treating, even the car-trunk version known as truck-or-treating, is discouraged, as are crowded indoor haunted houses or costume parties.
And watch out on the screaming. Though many Halloween costumes and jump scares are meant to draw screams and shrieks, that increases the risk of spreading a respiratory virus.
But at least there'll be a rare Halloween blue moon to gaze at while not having all that traditional fun.
Older people are increasingly likely to own a smartphone, Pew finds
Older people are increasingly likely to own a smartphone, Pew finds
There's a well-worn cliché that older people only use flip phones but three in five people over 65 in the US now own smartphones, according to new research.
A report on smartphone and broadband use by Pew Research published on Thursday says the number of people 65 and older who have a smartphone has increased from 53% to 61% in the past two years. The number is even higher in people 65 to 74 at 71%, but that share falls to 43% in those older than that.
Meanwhile, broadband use is also high in the over 65s, with 64% having a high-speed connection at home.
Even though smartphones are becoming more common in older adults, they're still far less likely to own one than than younger people. Pew notes that 95% of adults under 49 now own an internet-capable phone, while 15% of all adults say they don't have a home broadband connection at all and are "smartphone-only."
While the study says that high-speed internet use has slightly increased overall, it says that about a quarter of the population does not have a broadband internet connection at home.
These findings come from a nationally representative survey of 1,502 US adults conducted via telephone from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8 this year.
The 17-inch Toshiba Satellite L350-17P shows one manufacturer's approach to building a big laptop on a budget, but the Acer Aspire 6530 couldn't be more different. The smaller, 16-inch screen doesn't make much difference to the overall size and the laptop's actually a few hundred grams heavier than the L350-17P, but it's a much better-looking machine.
The 6530 is available is three different configurations. Here, we review the 6530-623G25Mn, which is available for around £480 from Laptops Direct and other vendors.
Little touches count Small touches like the glossy dark blue lid, and contrasting glossy black and textured, matte grey interior help make the 6530-623G25Mn look less like the enormous slab of plastic that it is, as do the gentle curves on the front of the case. The illuminated Acer logo on the lid may not appeal to everyone, but it's subtly done, and you can't see it when the laptop's in use.
Although the 6530-623G25Mn sports a full-size keyboard with a separate numeric keypad, the keys are more closely packed than on the L350-17P. There's little else to distinguish the two keyboards, though. There's a surprising amount of flex towards the right-hand side of the 6530-623G25Mn's keyboard, but it feels solid enough when typing.
We have a quibble with the trackpad, attractive though it is. It's simply a sculpted area in the middle of the seamless, textured, grey wrist rest, with two large, flush-fitting buttons. The problem is that, with no lip or other tactile division for the touch-sensitive part, it's easy for a button-pressing finger to stray onto it, leading to the mouse cursor jumping around. There's a narrow ridge to distinguish the right side of the trackpad, which is used for scrolling, so it's a pity that Acer didn't use the same idea along the bottom edge.
'Movie-friendly' screen Most widescreen laptops have displays with a 16:10 aspect ratio, but Acer makes much of the fact that its laptops have 16:9 displays. The supposed benefit is that this eliminates the black borders when watching widescreen movies. It's important to note, however, that this only applies to movies presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Many movies are presented in the even wider 2.20:1 aspect ratio, and these will still have black borders at both the top and bottom.
The downside of the 6530-623G25Mn's 'movie-friendly' screen size is its native resolution. For a display with a 16-inch diagonal measurement, 1,366x768 pixels is disappointingly low, at least vertically. Given that the lighter L350-17P has a 17-inch screen with a 1,440x900 resolution, the 6530-623G25Mn loses points.
The 6530-623G25Mn's entertainment credentials are further cemented by its 'Dolby Home Theater' branding. This covers a range of audio enhancements, from true 5.1-channel audio output when external speakers are connected, to an on-board 'Tuba' bass booster for when they're not. The latter consists of just a tube at the rear of the laptop, but adds some much needed depth to music and movie soundtracks. The bass is a little muddy, though.
CPU blues It's rare to find an Intel Core 2 Duo processor in a laptop of this size at this price, and, indeed, the 6530-623G25Mn makes do with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-64 CPU. Despite being dual-core, it simply isn't as powerful as Intel's offerings. It was outperformed by the same-speed, 2.16GHz Intel Pentium T3400 in the L350-17P, scoring 3,715 in the PCMark05 benchmark test, compared to the L350-17P's 4,161.
On the other hand, the 6530-623G25Mn's 3D graphics performance is better than the L350-17P's, thanks to its ATI Radeon HD 3200 chip. Even so, it still leaves much to be desired when it comes to gaming. A 3DMark06 score of 1,329 means that this laptop isn't up to playing demanding 3D games at much above low resolutions and basic detail settings.
There's seldom much point in worrying about battery life with laptops that are designed to replace a desktop PC, but some stamina away from the mains is useful for the odd spot of outdoor working. The 6530-623G25Mn's battery lasted for 50 minutes in Battery Eater's intensive Classic test, which means you won't get much heavy use out of it away from the mains. In the less intensive Reader's test, it lasted 2 hours and 21 minutes, suggesting that the laptop should be good for a couple of hours' word processing and Web browsing on battery power.
Conclusion The ATI GPU makes the Acer Aspire 6530-623G25Mn a better all-rounder than the Toshiba Satellite L350-17P, but you'll pay about £50 more for the privilege and get a smaller, lower-resolution screen into the bargain. It is better-looking, though.
GoPro's latest Quik app creates instant highlight reels from your favorite photos, videos on your phone
GoPro's latest Quik app creates instant highlight reels from your favorite photos, videos on your phone
There have been many apps and services that promise to help you organize the photos and video on your phone, make editing a snap and simplify sharing. GoPro's updated Quik app is the latest I've tried, and it might be the first one I'll actually continue using. That's mainly because it's fairly frictionless to use and sort of rewards you for organizing by creating instant content for you to share.
The app is free to try, works with photos and videos on your phone from any camera, and you don't have to buy a GoPro camera or subscribe to its $50-per-year service to use the app. The free trial lets you create up to five Murals (more on those below) without so much as an email. After that, you can subscribe for $2 a month or $10 a year, which will eventually include unlimited cloud backup of your photos and videos imported into Quik at their original quality. The backup feature will be released later this year.
If you do have a GoPro camera , you can make unlimited Murals with GoPro content. This is also the new app you'll use for remote camera control, to preview and share your shots, and access and back up to GoPro's cloud storage if you're a subscriber.
We've all been there. You want to show someone an awesome shot or video clip you took with your phone's camera but it's "somewhere" in your camera roll. Quik is designed to put an end to the endless scrolling to find that one great shot you're looking for by letting you quickly organize photos and pictures on your phone into Murals.
Murals are essentially collections you create around whatever makes sense to you. For example, it snowed a lot this season where I am, so a chunk of my most recent pictures and videos are of my family and friends in the snow. I wanted to create a collection of my favorites, so I simply selected them in Quik and, in turn, the app imported them from my camera roll and turned them into a Mural.
Murals, once created, can be updated with new photos and videos.
Josh Goldman/CNET
When the Mural is created, the app also puts together a short, shareable video clip from your imported content complete with music and effects. You can leave the clip as is or edit it yourself with the built-in tools; I removed some audio that the app left in from one of my videos, but otherwise it turned out just fine. The tools can be used to edit any other content you have, too.
The clip is just kind of a bonus for building the Mural, though. More importantly, Quik made it possible to quickly pull together a group of my best shots into one spot. And you can continue to build out the Mural, too, by instantly adding content without even opening the app. A Quik "share to Mural" option appears alongside your other sharing options for photos and videos. Tap it and you can choose to add it to an existing Mural or create a new one.
I tested a beta version of the app, though it's available now for iOS and Android. Creating and updating Murals quickly became addictive. Again, every photo or video you have on your phone that's worth keeping can instantly be sorted for easy viewing or sharing without opening Quik. And you can organize them by anything you want, from activities you do or places and events, to people and pets or all your favorite food photos. Add in the extra editing tools, eventual cloud storage and other features and it seems well worth the $10 a year. For someone who takes a lot of photos and video, it's certainly better than endlessly scrolling your camera roll to find that one photo of that one time you did that one thing.
Smartphone market hurt by supply chain issues in third quarter
Smartphone market hurt by supply chain issues in third quarter
Worldwide shipments of smartphones took a greater hit than expected in the third quarter, declining 6.7% after posting double-digit growth in the first half of 2021, according to an IDC report Thursday. The market researcher attributed the decline to disruption in the supply chain that has been dogging many device manufacturers.
"The supply chain and component shortage issues have finally caught up to the smartphone market, which until now seemed almost immune to this issue despite its adverse impact on many other adjacent industries," Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, said in a statement. "In all honestly, it was never fully immune to the shortages, but until recently the shortages were not severe enough to cause a decline in shipments and was simply limiting the rate of growth."
Smartphone makers shipped 331.2 million units during the quarter and while shipments were expected to experience a seasonal decline of 2.9%, the actual drop was more dramatic and varied greatly based on regions. Central and Eastern Europe suffered the greatest decline of 23.2%, while the US and Western Europe experienced less severe drops of 0.2% and 4.6%, respectively.
Samsung retained its markets title with a 20.8% share, down from 22.7% in the year-ago quarter, on 69 million units. Apple regained the No. 2 spot by shipping 50.4 million units shipped for a 15.2% marketshare, up from 11.7% a year ago. Xiaomi came in a close third with 44.3 million units shipped for a 13.4% share, up from 13.1% despite shipping 2 million fewer units than a year ago.
In addition to component shortages affecting all vendors, the industry has been hit by other challenges, including stricter testing and quarantining policies, that will affect production well into 2022.
"Despite all efforts to mitigate the impact, all major vendors' production targets for the fourth quarter have been adjusted downwards," Popal said. "With continued strong demand, we don't anticipate the supply-side issues to ease until well into next year."
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': First Reactions Are Here
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': First Reactions Are Here
Twitter reactions to Amazon's highly anticipated TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power have started to pour in from folks who have already watched the first two episodes, which are set to drop together on Prime Video on Sept. 1 (or Sept. 2, depending on your time zone).
Critics referred to what they've seen as "gorgeous to look at," "grand, bold and ambitious" and "a cinematic experience."
Author Neil Gaiman also chimed in on the social media platform, calling the first episodes "really, really fun."
"I remember buying the Silmarillion as a schoolboy when it was published and it very much not being the prequel I was hoping for," Gaiman wrote. "This is the sort of thing I wanted to experience back then. I'll watch the whole series when it drops, with enthusiasm."
What should Lord of the Rings fans expect? Lucy James, a senior video producer at CNET sister site GameSpot, wrote that "beyond a couple of cheeky nods, it's not trying to be [Peter] Jackson's trilogy, it's standing apart on its own."
"Watching it feels like stepping back into Middle-earth," wrote Devan Coggan, a senior writer for Entertainment Weekly.
While the vast majority of the tweets I spotted leaned positive, some hinted at room for improvement. "The Rings of Power (first 2 eps) is better than the marketing materials would have you believe but has work to do making the plot exciting," wrote Rob Keyes, editorial, brand & PR director for Screen Rant, Collider and Comic Book Resources. "It feels massive and sets up the factions well but pacing is off."
There are eight total episodes lined up for The Rings of Power, which is set thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and stars Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo and Markella Kavenagh, among others. It's reportedly the most expensive TV series ever made.
What Determines Hydrangea Bloom Color? An Expert Breaks Down the Science
What Determines Hydrangea Bloom Color? An Expert Breaks Down the Science
This story is part of Home Tips, CNET's collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.
Growing up in Eastern North Carolina, the cloud-like blooms of hydrangea shrubs became synonymous with the spring and summer months. I have vivid memories of driving around my neighborhood and seeing the vibrant pink, white and lilac blooms in almost every front lawn.
My family even had a few bushes in the back lawn where the hydrangeas could enjoy a lot of direct sunlight with pockets of shades scattered throughout the day. And while I loved the soft pink blooms on our hydrangeas, my mom would remark how they never bloomed bright blue like she intended them to.
This is a common mistake made by novice and seasoned gardeners alike. You probably assume that the blooms will surely look the same planted in your yard as they did at the nursery, right? Well, not necessarily when it comes to hydrangeas. There's a particularly scientific explanation as to why your hydrangeas might not achieve the color you want.
To get the lowdown on hydrangea colors, I spoke to expert Mal Condon, curator of hydrangeas at Heritage Museums and Gardens -- or more aptly known as "the Hydrangea Guy" -- to find out what make hydrangeas change color and get a few tips on how to actually get the color bloom you want.
Read also: This Sweet Flower Is a Secret Garden Killer. Here's How to Get Rid Of It
What colors are possible?
Hydrangea blooms come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes. While the most common colors are pink, blue and purple, hydrangea blooms can also be red, white and green.
Over his 50 years of working with hydrangeas, Condon gets asked all the time about why hydrangeas aren't blooming in the colors intended. Here's what he has to say.
What changes the colors?
While you might desire a specific color hydrangea -- a raspberry red or a brilliant blue -- it actually isn't up to you. Condon said it depends on the makeup of the soil. Specifically, it depends on the aluminum available in the soil.
Many resources will say the hydrangea colors depend on soil pH, which isn't quite true.
"Many talk about pH, and that is important, but the first requirement in the soil is you have to have aluminum," Condon said. "It's a strange thing because aluminum is toxic to most plants, but hydrangeas, particularly the macrophyllas and serratas, tolerate a small amount of it and that's what gives us blue."
Hydrangeas act as a sort of mood ring to tell you the soil conditions of your garden. Generally speaking, more aluminum will give you blue blooms, while soil with little to no aluminum will bloom more pink or red. Condon explains that to achieve blue blooms, you must have soil that is decidedly more acidic with a pH lower than 5.5.
Alkaline soil -- with a pH of 7.0 or above -- generates pink and red blooms, while white hydrangeas will bloom in soils with a neutral pH between 6.0 and 6.2.
Can you change the color of your hydrangea?
Hydrangeas are unique in that, unlike most other plant or flower varieties, the color of their blooms can change with a little chemistry.
The easiest way to acidify your soil and turn those blooms blue is with aluminum sulfate, which can be found at almost any garden center. Condon explained the best way to add aluminum sulfate to soil is to apply it as a drench, using a watering can with one tablespoon per one gallon of water.
"The reason to do this is because you can subject the plant to over-acidification," Condon said. "If we gave it dry aluminum sulfate or sulfur -- another good acidifier -- you can deter the plant's growth process, even kill the plant."
To get pink blooms, you can apply a high-phosphorus fertilizer to discourage the uptake of aluminum, or Garden Lime, an all-natural plant supplement formulated to raise pH in soils to turn hydrangeas more pink.
Condon did say the best practice when altering hydrangea color is to be patient -- don't be overzealous. He recommends adding materials to the soil only twice a year. "It's not something you want to go nuts about," he said.
For more hydrangea information, you can check out Condon's hydrangea care tips here.
There's something about time-lapse videos that grabs your attention a little more than your average YouTube video. Especially popular on Vimeo, these videos often capture scenes like a starry night, a cityscape, or snow piling up over the course of a particularly rough storm.
Sometimes, the camera stays in one spot, monitoring a scene from just one angle. But the most beautiful time lapses involve movement -- the camera pans across the scene over the course of an hour (or longer) to capture change over time on a 360-degree angle.
It sounds complicated. Like, too much work. But, the reality is that it takes no more than 10 minutes to put together a rotating tripod made just for time lapse shooting.
With this setup, what we produced wasn't as alluring as a time-lapsed starry sky, but a pretty cool video of time passing and skies changing at a busy San Francisco corner:
Shooting a time-lapse video is as easy as setting up your camera (or phone) to shoot in intervals, and sticking it on a tripod. But to capture a 360-degree angle, you'll need a rotating tripod accessory.
You can purchase one of these attachments for around $40, but fuggetabout that -- you can do it yourself for much less. Here's how.
You'll need:
Flat-topped windup kitchen timer, like Ikea's Ordning timer
1/4-inch nut
Strong adhesive, like rubber cement
Blu-Tack or any generic, moldable museum putty
Basic tripod (even a Gorillapod would work here)
1. With the rubber cement (or other adhesive), adhere the 1/4-inch nut to the bottom of the timer, making sure to center it. Follow the adhesive's instructions, and let it dry completely before moving onto the next step.
2. Once it's dry, attach the timer to the tripod or tripod mount. All tripods attach to cameras with a standard 1/4-inch bolt, so the timer should work with any model.
3. This is the part that will vary depending on the camera -- it might take some tinkering. Prepare the museum putty or Blu-Tack according the the package instructions. Then, attach the camera to the top surface of the timer.
4. If your camera has a flat bottom, like a GoPro, dSLR, or any other point-and-shoot, this part's easy. But, if you're securing a phone to the timer, it's a little trickier. It's doable, but take the time to ensure the phone won't budge before moving forward.
At this point, your time lapse tripod is set, and you're ready to record! Watch the video above to find out how easily we recorded and edited a time-lapse video with our DIY rotating tripod.
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2018 review: A fully loaded powerhouse laptop
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2018 review: A fully loaded powerhouse laptop
Update, Nov. 13, 2019: Apple has introduced a new 16-inch MacBook Pro with a larger screen and improved keyboard. It completely replaces the previous 15-inch model.
On paper, it looked like an impressive, if predictable, set of internal component upgrades. Apple's 13-inch and 15-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pro models would get new eighth-gen Intel processors, more storage and RAM options, a color-temperature-sensing True Tone screen and other tweaks -- all nice improvements over a ho-hum 2017 update. At the same time, the slim unibody aluminum design would remain unchanged since its last design overhaul in late 2016, keeping features both loved (the giant track pad) and not-so-loved (the slim-travel keyboard, the USB-C-only connections).
If anything, the expensive add-on option for one of Intel's new six-core Core i9 processors would appeal to pro-level users, such as video editors and 3D artists, who may be starting to feel that Apple isn't keeping up with their ever-expanding needs for high-end gear.
To say things got off to a rocky start is putting it mildly. First, there was confusion over that keyboard: Apple maintained that the new third-gen butterfly keyboard was quieter but otherwise unchanged -- but a teardown at repair site iFixit revealed a totally new membrane that may well address the issue of sticky and dust-afflicted keys on earlier models that have prompted class action lawsuits against Apple.
Secondly, there was the speed throttling issue that emerged just days after the July 12 announcement: Some of the most gung-ho early adopters who ran out and got Core i9 MacBook Pros as soon as they were released found mysteriously throttled performance. YouTube tech personality Dave Lee first brought the issue to public attention with a video in which he demonstrated the heat and throttling issues. These results were soon replicated by others, including our own CNET Labs testing.
To its credit, Apple quickly investigated the issue and determined that a simple software bug was to blame. A software update to the MacOS operating system seemed to solve the issue, and you can read more about our pre and post-patch experience here.
If you're one of those early adopters, instructions for how to install the MacOS 10.13.6 update are available here. The issue affected all of Apple's new MacBook Pro models, both 13- and 15-inch. The entry level 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar isn't affected, as it has not been updated this year.
And now that the hype around this software bug is dying down, we're left to consider just how much is actually new inside the MacBook Pro, and if it meets the needs of a creative class increasingly moving towards 4K-and-higher video, and other power-hungry tasks. A more in-depth analysis of the new features and performance of the Core i9 15-inch MacBook Pro follows, but first we'll break down the key takeaways:
MacBook Go!
Post-patch, the Core i9 version is much faster than last year's high-end Core i7 model
The True Tone screen works well in a variety of lighting conditions
Options for up to 32GB of RAM and 4TB of flash storage can greatly help with video production
The "stealth" keyboard update makes it less prone to stuck keys, a major issue for some in the 2016 and 2017 models
MacBook No!
Only the more expensive Touch Bar models have been updated, leaving the entry level 13-inch Pro and the more affordable non-Pro MacBooks out in the cold (for now)
You're still locked into only USB-C connectivity
The super flat keyboard, while possibly more reliable, is still not particularly comfortable
The Touch Bar sill feels like a technology in search of a purpose
High end, high prices
Get ready for some serious sticker shock if you want the new MacBook Pro's most-buzzed-about new components and features. The model I unboxed for testing and reviewing is a 15-inch MacBook Pro, which already sets the price floor at $2,399 (£2,349 or AU$3,499). But, this high-end configuration included one of Intel's new six-core Core i9 CPUs, a whopping 32GB of RAM and a hefty 2TB flash storage drive. (2TB used to be the upper limit, now a 4TB drive is available for anyone who wants to drop an extra $2,000.)
All those upgrades take this specific laptop up to $4,699 (£4,409 or AU$7,139). That's expensive, even for the type of creative or technical professional who would be in the market for a machine like this. But, wow, software patch issues aside, it's some powerhouse. When you pull out almost all the stops, you're going to get a laptop that screams, and this one does.
This new 15-inch MacBook Pro and the 13-inch model with Apple's Touch Bar are the only new Mac laptops of 2018 to date, though the rest of the line is rumored to be getting a refresh before the end of the year. As for the Touch Bar itself, its fingerprint reader works with a new separate security chip called the T2 that adds a few extras, like a secure boot path to make sure no tricky malware sneaks into your bootup process. But the Touch Bar itself gains no new killer features, and remains as vexing as ever.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The specs
Here's a rundown of all of the new and improved 13-inch and 15-inch specs:
New eighth-gen quad-core Intel CPU (i7 or i9).
Support for twice as much RAM (now up to 32GB).
Twice as much SSD storage capacity available (now up to 4TB).
New display support for True Tone, which optimizes colors to ambient light conditions.
New T2 subprocessor for Touch ID security and encryption.
Hands-free Siri (say "Hey, Siri" to activate).
Modest tweaks to the super-flat butterfly keyboard. Apple says the changes are only intended to quiet key clack, but they may (or may not) affect reliability, too.
To the nines
This has been my first chance to test a laptop with Intel's eighth-gen, six-core Core i9 CPU. Previously, the 15-inch Pro topped out at a seventh-gen quad-core Core i7, itself no slouch, after the last line update in spring 2017.
Compared to a 2017 15-inch MacBook Pro with a quad-core Core i7, the new six-core Core i9 was significantly faster in the standard benchmark tests we ran, even before Apple patched the CPU throttling issue.
But -- before Apple released the patch -- when setting up an intensive workload to deliberately push the system, we were able to easily cause the Core i9 CPU in our 2018 MacBook Pro to ping-pong its internal temperature and CPU clock speed up and down rapidly, in both video encoding and 3D gaming.
Once Apple released the update, we installed it on our Core i9 15-inch MacBook Pro and repeated some of the same tests. The CPU throttling stopped, and the clock frequency of the CPU and internal system temperature both remained fairly stable, even when running a 4K video encode or a game set to maximum detail settings. In our standard benchmarks, which don't run long enough to have triggered the throttling issue, the pre and post-patch performance was essentially identical.
Do you need that kind of power? Most mere mortals don't, which is why more affordable 12-inch MacBooks and MacBook Air models are still perfectly fine for the websurfing masses. But this the MacBook Pro, and the pro audience does a lot more than websurfing.
For example, when Apple briefed me on the new Pros, the company offered in-person testimonials and demos from several power users, including Carlos Perez, director of the record-breaking Despacito music video, who talked about how the larger storage and faster processor in the MacBook Pro could let him preview and color correct 5K footage in real time, cutting out intermediary steps from his workflow.
Carlos Perez, director of the Despacito music video.
Brooks Kraft
Consider the graphics power under the hood, too: While the AMD Radeon Pro 560 inside isn't necessarily a gaming GPU, photo, video and design professionals who are editing 4K video or rendering giant 3D models will find it to be a decent step up from the baseline Intel integrated graphics on the 13-inch model. But for video pros really looking to amp up the power, Apple is also promoting a new $700 external GPU box made by a company called Blackmagic -- albeit sealed with non-upgradeable Radeon video cards.
Tone on tone
True Tone is a display technology already found on recent iPhones and iPad Pros, using light sensors to automatically adjust the color temperature of the display to best match your viewing environment. It can make the color range warmer or colder on the fly by adjusting the white balance. For example, the screen will display colors in a way that better matches how that color would look on a real-world wall or object in your current lighting conditions.
Under all but the most extreme lighting situations, it's a subtle effect at best. Under warm studio lighting, for example, True Tone reflected the color temperature of the room. Clicking the checkbox to turn it off quickly shifted the image back toward a colder tone with a more prominent blue tint.
True Tone, off and on.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Anyone editing precise images or video who doesn't want that adjustment can turn True Tone off in the settings menu. And if you're working on an external monitor, the effect can also be used on certain supported external displays, including Apple's recent Thunderbolt Display and LG's UltraFine 4K and 5K monitors.
Keep that keyboard quiet
What's the biggest issue people have with the MacBook's current keyboard design? Is it that the ultraflat keys don't have the same tactile response as the older, deeper keys? Is it the stories about small particles getting wedged in the tight keycaps, leaving some keys sticky or unresponsive? Or is it that the keyboard was just too clacky and loud?
The third-generation MacBook Pro keyboard.
Sarah Tew/CNET
If you chose the third option, you're in luck! Apple says the the new third-generation flat keyboard on the MacBook Pro is quieter than the previous versions. The company officially says this keyboard update has no new engineering or tweaks to specifically address the sticky keys issue, currently the subject of both multiple lawsuits and a new Apple repair program.
But that may not be the whole story. Early teardowns showed a new membrane under the keys, which seems designed to keep at least some dust and grit particles out. Time (and users) will tell if this is enough to mitigate enough of the particulate abuse people submit their laptops to.
Having used Apple's butterfly keyboard across nearly every product shipped with it, starting with the first 12-inch MacBook in 2015, I can say I've encountered the stuck-key issue only occasionally. Not to the point where the keyboard ceases to function, but it was still frustrating when it happened. I found this cleaning methodology worked for all my stuck key issues. At the same time, I've talked to MacBook owners who have had to send their still-new laptops away for keyboard repair, so it is a real issue for some.
This new keyboard is indeed ever-so-slightly quieter. Not that the previous keyboard was especially loud. These new keys have a more muted "thunk" when pressed, rather than a sharp clack. It feels like a softer contact against the button of the key mechanism, which may be due to the transparent silicone membrane. You'd really have to try both generations of MacBook Pro keyboards side by side (which I did) to tell the difference.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The waiting game
Apple clearly wants pro-level customers to feel like they're being heard and that their needs are understood and addressed. Improved pro-level options are finally flowing into the Mac line, starting with the iMac Pro all-in-one late in 2017, and now with these new and improved MacBook Pro laptops. And -- sometime in 2019 -- with a redesigned Mac Pro desktop.
Still, it sometimes feels like it's two steps forward and one step back. The generally impressive iMac Pro is still built around a years-old design and is locked into its nonupgradeable display and components. These new MacBook Pro models finally have the CPU and memory horsepower to make handling large files and complex tasks easier (if you pay up for the biggest upgrades), but the keyboard saga and embarrassing thermal throttling glitch distracted from an otherwise solid upgrade cycle, albeit one lacking significant leaps such as a design overhaul or the addition of Face ID.
All the while, Apple is laddering up to a 2019 relaunch of the Mac Pro desktop. It hasn't gotten a real facelift since the 2013 because its "trashcan" cylinder design couldn't handle the heat (literally) of newer CPU and GPU components. As the redesign progresses, Apple has even set up a so-called Pro Workflow Team to further focus on the sort of elite digital artists -- filmmakers, photographers, designers -- that it continues to target. That's great, but a quick perusal of Twitter would show that pro users want simple but decidedly non-Apple concessions, like keeping a few old-school USB ports on-board. Whether Apple's vision of the new "modular" Mac Pro fits a traditional "slide in new RAM and video cards" vision, or means daisy-chaining locked-down Blackmagic boxes is anyone's guess.
In the meantime, the new MacBook Pro remains the king of the all-around productivity laptops, and if you have a pre-2016 model and are looking for a serious upgrade, it's a clear winner.
For the professionals depending on a serious pro-level tool for their livelihoods, the 15-inch is worth the extra expense, because of its bigger display, AMD GPU power and the new CPUs, including the Core i9 option (although the Core i7 should be enough for many users).
Those seeking a great all-around laptop, and perhaps something a little more portable should look to the 13-inch Pro, which gets most of the same upgrades (and reportedly adds higher-speed Thunderbolt 3 bandwidth to all of its USB-C ports, not just half).
If you're looking to get something nearly as good but spend significantly less, the entry level 13-inch Pro has no new 2018 updates, and no Touch Bar, but is a lot of laptop for $1,299.
However, if you already have a current-design MacBook Pro and you don't need cutting-edge power or more memory headroom, there's probably not enough new to justify a new purchase.
And while this may be the end of the Touch Bar MacBook Pro's story this year, there may yet be more new Macs coming soon. The 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Air, all of the Mac desktops and even the 13-inch Pro without the TouchBar are still only available in their 2017 (or earlier) iterations -- at least for now. You can see the latest predictions about other Mac updates later this year here.
Geekbench 4 (multicore)
Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)24707Razer Blade (15-inch, 2018)18015Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)15973Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-114810
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
Cinebench R15 CPU (multicore)
Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)942Razer Blade (15-inch, 2018)926Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)764Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1691
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
Video playback battery drain test (streaming minutes)
Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)689Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)643Razer Blade (15-inch, 2018)473Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1406
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance.
Tomb Raider (average fps)
Razer Blade (15-inch, 2018)235.5Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)44.3Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)40.8
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
System configurations
Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
Apple MacOS Sierra 10.13.6; 2.9GHz Intel Core i9-8950HK; 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 4GB Radeon Pro 560X / 1,536MB Intel HD Graphics 630; 2TB SSD
Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)
Apple MacOS Sierra 10.12.5; 2.9GHz Intel Core i7-7820HQ; 16GB DDR3 SDRAM 2,133MHz; 4GB Radeon Pro 560 / 1,536MB Intel HD Graphics 630; 512GB SSD
Dell XPS 15 9575 2-in-1
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 3.1GHz Intel Core i7-8705G; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 4GB AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL Graphics; 512GB SSD
Razer Blade (15-inch, 2018)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-8750H; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,660MHz; 8GB Nvidia GeFroce GTX 1070 with Max-Q Design; 512GB SSD
Here's how the new 2018 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models compare with their 2017 predecessors:
2018 vs. 2017 Apple MacBook Pro specs
13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (2018)
13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (2017)
15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (2018)
15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (2017)
Starting price (USD)
$1,799
$1,799
$2,399
$2,399
Starting price (UK)
£1,749
£1,749
£2,349
£2,349
Starting price (AUS)
AU$2,699
AU$2,699
AU$3,499
AU$3,499
Display
13.3-inch 2,560x1,600-pixel
13.3-inch 2,560x1,600-pixel
15.4-inch 2,880x1,880-pixel
15.4-inch 2,880x1,880-pixel
Pixel density
227 ppi
227 ppi
220 ppi
220 ppi
Dimensions (imperial)
11.97 x 8.36 inches
11.97 x 8.36 inches
13.75 x 9.48 inches
13.75 x 9.48 inches
Dimensions (metric)
304 x 212mm
304 x 212mm
349 x 241mm
349 x 241mm
Thickness
0.59 in. (14.9mm)
0.59 in. (14.9mm)
0.61 in. (15.5mm)
0.61 in. (15.5mm)
Weight
3.02 lb. (1.37kg)
3.02 lb. (1.37kg)
4.02 lb. (1.83kg)
4.02 lb. (1.83kg)
Operating system
MacOS High Sierra
MacOS High Sierra
MacOS High Sierra
MacOS High Sierra
Processors
2.3GHz 4-core Intel i5
3.1GHz 2-core Intel i5
2.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7
2.8GHz 4-core Intel i7
Graphics
Intel Iris Plus 655
Intel Iris Plus 650
AMD Radeon Pro 650X (4GB)
AMD Radeon Pro 555 (2GB)
Up-spec
2.7GHz 4-core Intel i7
3.5GHz 2-core Intel i7
2.9GHz 6-core Intel i9, Radeon Pro 560X (4GB)
3.1GHz 4-core Intel i7, Radeon 560 (4GB)
Storage
256GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB
256GB / 512GB / 1TB
512GB / 1TB / 2TB / 4TB
256GB / 512GB / 2TB
RAM
8GB / 16GB
8GB / 16GB
16GB / 32GB
16GB
Battery (Apple estimate)
10 hours
10 hours
10 hours
10 hours
Networking
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2
Ports
4x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), any can charge; 1x 3.5mm headset
4x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), any can charge; 1x 3.5mm headset
4x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), any can charge; 1x 3.5mm headset
4x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), any can charge; 1x 3.5mm headset
Cameras
720p FaceTime HD
720p FaceTime HD
720p FaceTime HD
720p FaceTime HD
Touch Bar/Touch ID
Yes, powered by T2 subprocessor
Yes, powered by T1 subprocessor
Yes, powered by T2 subprocessor
Yes, powered by T1 subprocessor
Trackpad
Force Touch
Force Touch
Force Touch
Force Touch
Colors
Space gray, silver
Space gray, silver
Space gray, silver
Space gray, silver
Senior Editor Justin Jaffe contributed to this review.
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