Report: Apple inches closer to releasing an OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro

At multiple points over many years, Apple executives have taken great pains to point out that they think touchscreen Macs are a silly idea. But it remains one of those persistent Mac rumors that crops up over and over again every couple of years, from sources that are reliable enough that they shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Today’s contribution comes from supply chain analyst Ming Chi-Kuo, who usually has…

September 17, 2025
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iOS 26 review: A practical, yet playful, update

iOS 26 became publicly available this week, ushering in a new OS naming system and the software’s most overhauled look since 2013. It may take time to get used to the new “Liquid Glass” look, but it’s easier to appreciate the pared-down controls. Beyond a glassy, bubbly new design, the update’s flashiest new features also include new Apple Intelligence AI integration that varies in usefulness, from fluffy new Genmoji abilities…

September 17, 2025
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Mods react as Reddit kicks some of them out again: “This will break the site”

Under new rules rolling out over the coming months, a small number of users will be required to leave some of their moderator posts so that they aren’t moderating more than five subreddits with 100,000 monthly visitors. Reddit said the change only affects “0.1 percent of our active mods” and will help enable “diverse perspectives and experiences.” But mods whom Ars Technica spoke with have different views. New limits on…

September 16, 2025
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ChatGPT may soon require ID verification from adults, CEO says

On Tuesday, OpenAI announced plans to develop an automated age-prediction system that will determine whether ChatGPT users are over or under 18, automatically directing younger users to a restricted version of the AI chatbot. The company also confirmed that parental controls will launch by the end of September. In a companion blog post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the company is explicitly “prioritizing safety ahead of privacy and freedom for…

September 16, 2025
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Google’s experimental Windows app is better than Microsoft’s built-in search

Google has so many products that it can be near-impossible to keep track. And yet, the company has rarely created desktop apps to go with those services. There are a handful, like Drive and Quick Share, but the company’s flagship product is only now coming to the desktop. The new Google app for Windows is available now, allowing you to search the web, Google Drive, and even your local files….

September 16, 2025
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Millions turn to AI chatbots for spiritual guidance and confession

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that tens of millions of people are confessing secrets to AI chatbots trained on religious texts, with apps like Bible Chat reaching over 30 million downloads and Catholic app Hallow briefly topping Netflix, Instagram, and TikTok in Apple’s App Store. In China, people are using DeepSeek to try to decode their fortunes. In her report, Lauren Jackson examined “faith tech” apps that cost…

September 16, 2025
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macOS 26 Tahoe: The Ars Technica review

The last time Apple gave macOS a fresh design was in 2020’s macOS 11 Big Sur. That release was relatively light on new features and heavy on symbolism. Big Sur is also when Apple finally jettisoned the “10” in Mac OS X after two decades. More importantly, it was the first release installed on then-new Apple Silicon Macs, the culmination of a decade-plus of in-house chip design that began with…

September 15, 2025
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Modder injects AI dialogue into 2002’s Animal Crossing using memory hack

When software engineer Joshua Fonseca recently connected the GameCube simulation classic Animal Crossing to a modern AI language model like the kind that powers ChatGPT, he decided to shake things up. By programming the AI to roleplay as villagers growing aware of their debt situation, and giving them a shared memory to track conversations, Fonseca orchestrated a scenario where the residents began to organize against their raccoon landlord. In Animal…

September 12, 2025
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Jef Raskin’s cul-de-sac and the quest for the humane computer

Consider the cul-de-sac. It leads off the main street past buildings of might-have-been to a dead-end disconnected from the beaten path. Computing history, of course, is filled with such terminal diversions, most never to be fully realized, and many for good reason. Particularly when it comes to user interfaces and how humans interact with computers, a lot of wild ideas deserved the obscure burials they got. But some deserved better….

September 12, 2025
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OpenAI and Microsoft sign preliminary deal to revise partnership terms

On Thursday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced they have signed a non-binding agreement to revise their partnership, marking the latest development in a relationship that has grown increasingly complex as both companies compete for customers in the AI market and seek new partnerships for growing infrastructure needs. “Microsoft and OpenAI have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the next phase of our partnership,” the companies wrote in a joint…

September 11, 2025
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