Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders delayed in Canada Tariffs in the US have delayed the original April 9 date Image credit: Nintendo News by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on April 8, 2025 Nintendo has delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in Canada from their original April 9 date, in order to line-up with the new, as-yet-undetermined pre-order date for US customers. Much like the US, the Switch 2's release date of June 5 will not change. Pre-orders for the Switch 2 were delayed in the US last week as Nintendo assessed the potential impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs. In a statement to MobileSyrup, Nintendo of Canada confirmed the delay was a result of the same situation. "Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will not start on April 9, 2025 in order to align with the timing of pre-orders to be determined in the US. "Nintendo will provide updated information at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged." The Nintendo Switch 2 base unit will cost CA$629 in Canada. The tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty around the US market specifically, since Nintendo manufactures the Switch 2 in countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, both of which are subject to Trump's high-percentage 'retaliatory' tariffs on imported goods. Those tariffs are due to come into force on April 9. Meanwhile, pre-orders for the Switch 2 have begun elsewhere, including Europe. We'll update you when Nintendo sets a new pre-order date for the US market.

Game developers likely weren’t surprised last week when Nintendo rolled out the Nintendo Switch 2 without any major trumpeting of its improved processing and graphical prowess. Though there were some notable advancements from the Nintendo Switch (like support for 4k output at 60fps and 1080p output at 120fps), the custom CPU/GPU chip provided by NVIDIA still doesn’t seem to match the raw power made available by Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X|S. Nintendo’s announcements focused, as they always do, on new interactive advancements like GameChat and the Joy-Con mouse functionality.But one new technology made possible by NVIDIA has been making waves since the announcement: support for DLSS. NVIDIA’s AI-driven frame generation technology has already allowed developers to deliver improved performance on lower-end PC games, which has been a particular boon for reaching players on handhelds like Valve’s Steam Deck, the ROG Ally, and beyond. Since the Switch’s debut in 2017, developers have made an array of compromises to bring their games to the platform, with high frame rates and graphical fidelity often being traded away to pass certification.With DLSS, that may no longer need be the case. In our time with the Switch 2 and speaking with Nintendo last week, we got a strong sense that the company not only wants developers to take advantage of the technology to make their games look better on the system, but that it intends to use it in its own games, starting with Donkey Kong Bananza.Related:Nintendo adopting DLSS signals renewed interest in supporting graphically-polished gamesDLSS support is likely to be a huge relief for developers that have expressed frustration over porting their games to the Nintendo Switch towards the end of its lifespan. Those teams are likely to feel unleashed with the Nintendo Switch 2, as developers like CD Projekt Red and FromSoftware are leading the way in porting games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring to the device. Neither port is likely to be as technically impressive as their PC and PS5/Xbox brethren, but the Switch 2's mobility and specs (which outpace Valve's Steam Deck in many respects) are impressive.So impressive that for the first time in years, it seems like Nintendo is interested in touting the visual quality of games on the console in a way it hasn’t in some time. Supergiant Games creative director Greg Kasavin was on hand at the Nintendo preview with Hades II, grinning from ear to ear as he watched players try his game out on the next-generation Switch. "We knew we'd be making this game for the Switch 2 before we even knew there was a Switch 2," he said, explaining that the Switch 2 doesn't offer any significant upgrades over other console versions, but it does deliver a better visual experience than the Switch version. "A lot of it is just kind of the raw satisfaction of a higher definition display," he said.Related:DLSS tech seems to be opening doors for Nintendo in the realm of first-party development, letting its developers allocate processor power to bigger gameplay environments and enhanced particle effects. Inverse's Shannon Liao quizzed the Switch 2's hardware leadership about its use of the frame generation technology and what possibilities it offered for first-and-third party developers. "We do use DLSS upscaling technology, and that's something we'll continue to use as we develop games," said Dohta, adding that its inclusion can help developers design games that output to resolutions as humble as 1920x1080 and as potent as 4K with HDR.Image via Nintendo.On the first-party side, Nintendo is touting Donkey Kong Bananza as an example of the "new kinds of gameplay" enabled by the Switch 2 hardware. "In Donkey Kong Bananza, you can experience the exhilaration of being able to destroy anything you want in the game without restrictions," said Kawamoto in Nintendo’s "Ask a Dev" series, also pointing to Mario Kart World's "open world" linking all the racetracks together as benefits of the console's improved processing power.Related:Dohta didn’t specify how either game was using DLSS technology, leaving developers to try and piece it out for themselves. It’s worth interrogating what “new kinds of gameplay” Kawamoto was referring to considering that after hands-on time with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, neither type of gameplay feels that “new.”Mario Kart World's open world lobby is fine, but it's more interesting for its social play implications than its technical novelty. It's the Knockout Tour mode that brings the technology to life. Knockout Tour is a battle royale-like experience as the massive 24-player lobbies can vote on several race circuits that they play through uninterrupted. Players start the race in one course, then are steadily eliminated, with the top racers making it all the way through five maps.Is that kind of gameplay possible on another platform? Maybe, but credit to Nintendo, many other kart racers have hit the market since the last Mario Kart game and none of them attempted this kind of feature.Donkey Kong Bananza is something of a head scratcher. It's a charming return for Nintendo's simian sidekick (yes I'm calling him a sidekick now they haven't made new Donkey Kong Country games in years), giving him a chance to occupy a role filled by Mario in Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch: the role of the family-friendly action game hero available with the console on day one. Developers curious about Bananza should look at it as a study in layered level design. Players are able to destroy most of the terrain in the large maps, and Nintendo has populated the world with cave systems and hidden treasures that reward players pounding at rocks like a toddler in a playground.But beyond the "Donkey Kong" charm of it all (and it is very charming, the voice going "ooooh ba-na-NA whenever you picked up a banana was an instant win), the chunky digging spaces didn't feel that remarkable considering the amazing destructible voxel worlds of games like Minecraft and Teardown, or the jaw-dropping verticality of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. It’s possible that in both games DLSS is taking some of the load off of the console’s processing power so that Nintendo’s developers have more budget to build out the game worlds.AI-driven frame generation technology is a relatively new advancement, meaning Nintendo and third-party game developers may be learning what it enables on a similar timeline. Regardless, it’s hopefully a boon for any developer eager to free up processing power for either resource-intensive game mechanics or social opportunities for players hanging out on a GameChat video call.What makes the Nintendo Switch 2 unique?Though Nintendo’s embrace of DLSS is notable there’s still a warning sign in Nintendo’s more traditional showcasing of games based on graphical prowess. Again and again the company has said that chasing hardware horsepower is a losing game, and prioritizing unique mechanics will keep it competitive.So what unique possibilities does the Nintendo Switch 2 offer? Beyond the mouse functionality, DLSS support, and GameChat features, it’s hard to say at this time. For now it’ll be up to FromSoftware to show the game development community what the Switch 2 has to offer that other consoles can't. It was the only studio to show up with a bona fide Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive: a gothic PvPvE game called The Duskbloods. Frustratingly, the company didn't reveal more than a highlight reel of in-engine footage that showed off some stunning art direction and tantalizing gameplay, but failed to detail which of the Switch 2's new features it would lean heavily on.Developers hoping for clearer signs from Nintendo about how best to innovate with DLSS might have to wait for its next wave of premiere first-party games to debut—a wait that could go even longer if the Trump administration’s planned tariffs continue to affect the console’s debut.

AI experts are feeling pretty good about the future of their field. Most Americans are not.A new report from Pew Research Center released last week shows a sharp divide in how artificial intelligence is perceived by the people building it versus the people living with it. The survey, which includes responses from over 1,000 AI experts and more than 5,000 US adults, reveals a growing optimism gap: experts are hopeful, while the public is anxious, distrustful, and increasingly uneasy.Roughly three-quarters of AI experts think the technology will benefit them personally. Only a quarter of the public says the same. Experts believe AI will make jobs better; the public thinks it will take them away. Even basic trust in the system is fractured: more than half of both groups say they want more control over how AI is used in their lives, and majorities say they don’t trust the government or private companies to regulate it responsibly.That makes sense when you look at just how hard the US government has failed at basic tech regulation. Congress loves to haul big tech CEOs in for theatrical hearings where lawmakers fumble through questions about Section 230 that sound like they were written by someone who just discovered the internet yesterday. Few Americans believe they have any agency in the AI-driven future.“It seems like when you look at these … congressional hearings, they don’t understand it at all. I don’t know that I have faith that they would be able to bring on enough experts to understand it enough to regulate it, but I think it’s very important,” one academic expert said in the report.The public’s skepticism about government AI regulation exists alongside the wildly ambitious claims of tech leaders about the future potential of AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he expects we may see “the first AI agents ‘join the workforce’ and materially change the output of companies” in 2025. That seems to show up in the data, too: few Americans believe they have any agency in the AI-driven future. Nearly 60 percent of US adults say they have little or no control over whether AI is used in their lives. That number isn’t much better among experts.There are gender splits, too. Male AI experts are far more likely than women to say they feel optimistic and personally excited about AI. And when it comes to representation, both experts and the public agree that AI design reflects the perspectives of white men far more than women and Black or Hispanic communities. The diversity problem isn’t just about who builds the models — it’s baked into how people experience the technology.While older generations debate the potential of AI, Gen Z is already living with it. A separate study released this week by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation finds that Gen Z is highly engaged with AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot — 79 percent report using them, and almost half do so weekly. But that doesn’t mean they trust it. In fact, Gen Z is more likely to say AI makes them feel anxious (41 percent) than excited (36 percent). Just 27 percent say it makes them feel hopeful.“They haven’t gotten to a point where they feel like the benefits outweigh the risks.”“Gen Z, they don’t trust the government, they don’t trust big tech companies, they don’t trust the news,” Zach Hrynowski, author of the Gallup report, told The Verge.Gen Z recognizes that AI will shape their future jobs and learning, but they’re wary of its effects. Nearly half think AI will harm their “ability to think critically.” And while most believe AI can help them work and learn more efficiently, only a third of Gen Z workers trust work done with or by AI as much as human output.Schools and workplaces aren’t helping much, either. Most Gen Z students say their schools lack clear AI policies, and over half of Gen Z workers report the same about their employers. But the research shows that when institutions do have clear AI rules, young people are more likely to use the tools, trust them, and feel prepared for the future.AI may be advancing fast, but trust is lagging behind. The systems are getting smarter, but the people are skeptical — especially the ones who will have to live with it the longest.“They haven’t gotten to a point where they feel like the benefits outweigh the risks,” Hrynowski said.See More:

GUI Galore Game Dev Market Humble Bundle / News / April 8, 2025 / Humble There is a new Humble Bundle of interest to game developers, the GUI Galore by GameDev Market bundle. This bundle contains a collection of more than 50+ game UI packs for developing game user interfaces. As with most Humble Bundles this one is organized into tiers: 1$ Tier 40 Cute Portraits 32×32 40 Fantasy Human Portraits 32×32 Pixel Art Ancient Nordic Runes Fantasy Game Buttons v9 MMRPG Skills Tree Gold Game Ranks Fantasy Game Ranks GUI Wooden Loading Bars Spells & Ability Icons 60 RPG Spells & Ability Icons Game Coins & Gems Package 15% off any order over $10 Mid Tier Cyber Pixel UI/GUI Kit Pixel Art Sci-Fi UI 2D Pixel Quest Vol.3: The UI Starlight UI Warforged Mobile UI Reaper Mobile GUI Captains GUI GUI Blue Sky 2D Pixel RPG Icon Pack 2D Icons Military Item 2D Icons 150 Space Rank Tabletop Badges Black Crusader UI Match-3 Art Pack Flat Ability Icons Minimalist GUI Kit Dark 25$ Tier Mobile Game GUI Pack 02 Mobile Game GUI Pack 04 Mobile Game GUI Pack 08 Post Baroque UI/GUI Kit Brontes RPG MMO Game Interface Ranger RPG GUI Christmas Icons GUI Pack Halloween Party GUI Pack RPG & MMO UI 10 Creature Cards RPG MMO 3 PC Mobile UI Essential Inventory Sound Effects Game Level Map Pack Horizontal Mode 2 Game Level Map Pack Side Scrolling Card Game Template Pack Game Level Map Pack Horizontal Mode MMORPG UI Kit Xenon Star Yamato V3 100 Illustrator Graphic Styles Bundle 01 Cyberpunk Game GUI Medieval Age – Game GUI RPG & MMO UI 11 You can learn more about the GUI Galore by GameDev Market bundle in the video below. Using links on this page help support GFS (and thanks so much if you do!). The assets in this bundle are all released under the GDM Pro License.

Tactile sensing is a crucial modality for intelligent systems to perceive and interact with the physical world. The GelSight sensor and its variants have emerged as influential tactile technologies, providing detailed information about contact surfaces by transforming tactile data into visual images. However, vision-based tactile sensing lacks transferability between sensors due to design and manufacturing variations, which result in significant differences in tactile signals. Minor differences in optical design or manufacturing processes can create substantial discrepancies in sensor output, causing machine learning models trained on one sensor to perform poorly when applied to others. Computer vision models have been widely applied to vision-based tactile images due to their inherently visual nature. Researchers have adapted representation learning methods from the vision community, with contrastive learning being popular for developing tactile and visual-tactile representations for specific tasks. Auto-encoding representation approaches are also explored, with some researchers utilizing Masked Auto-Encoder (MAE) to learn tactile representations. Methods like general-purpose multimodal representations utilize multiple tactile datasets in LLM frameworks, encoding sensor types as tokens. Despite these efforts, current methods often require large datasets, treat sensor types as fixed categories, and lack the flexibility to generalize to unseen sensors. Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign proposed Sensor-Invariant Tactile Representations (SITR), a tactile representation to transfer across various vision-based tactile sensors in a zero-shot manner. It is based on the premise that achieving sensor transferability requires learning effective sensor-invariant representations through exposure to diverse sensor variations. It uses three core innovations: utilizing easy-to-acquire calibration images to characterize individual sensors with a transformer encoder, utilizing supervised contrastive learning to emphasize geometric aspects of tactile data across multiple sensors, and developing a large-scale synthetic dataset that contains 1M examples across 100 sensor configurations. Researchers used the tactile image and a set of calibration images for the sensor as inputs for the network. The sensor background is subtracted from all input images to isolate the pixel-wise color changes. Following Vision Transformer (ViT), these images are linearly projected into tokens, with calibration images requiring tokenization only once per sensor. Further, two supervision signals guide the training process: a pixel-wise normal map reconstruction loss for the output patch tokens and a contrastive loss for the class token. During pre-training, a lightweight decoder reconstructs the contact surface as a normal map from the encoder’s output. Moreover, SITR  employs Supervised Contrastive Learning (SCL), extending traditional contrastive approaches by utilizing label information to define similarity. In object classification tests using the researchers’ real-world dataset, SITR outperforms all baseline models when transferred across different sensors. While most models perform well in no-transfer settings, they fail to generalize when tested on distinct sensors. It shows SITR’s ability to capture meaningful, sensor-invariant features that remain robust despite changes in the sensor domain. In pose estimation tasks, where the goal is to estimate 3-DoF position changes using initial and final tactile images, SITR reduces the Root Mean Square Error by approximately 50% compared to baselines. Unlike classification results, ImageNet pre-training only marginally improves pose estimation performance, showing that features learned from natural images may not transfer effectively to tactile domains for precise regression tasks. In this paper, researchers introduced SITR, a tactile representation framework that transfers across various vision-based tactile sensors in a zero-shot manner. They constructed large-scale, sensor-aligned datasets using synthetic and real-world data and developed a method to train SITR to capture dense, sensor-invariant features. The SITR represents a step toward a unified approach to tactile sensing, where models can generalize seamlessly across different sensor types without retraining or fine-tuning. This breakthrough has the potential to accelerate advancements in robotic manipulation and tactile research by removing a key barrier to the adoption and implementation of these promising sensor technologies. Check out the Paper and Code. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 85k+ ML SubReddit. Sajjad AnsariSajjad Ansari is a final year undergraduate from IIT Kharagpur. As a Tech enthusiast, he delves into the practical applications of AI with a focus on understanding the impact of AI technologies and their real-world implications. He aims to articulate complex AI concepts in a clear and accessible manner.Sajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/University of Michigan Researchers Introduce OceanSim: A High-Performance GPU-Accelerated Underwater Simulator for Advanced Marine RoboticsSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/This AI Paper from ByteDance Introduces a Hybrid Reward System Combining Reasoning Task Verifiers (RTV) and a Generative Reward Model (GenRM) to Mitigate Reward HackingSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/VideoMind: A Role-Based Agent for Temporal-Grounded Video UnderstandingSajjad Ansarihttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sajjadansari/PilotANN: A Hybrid CPU-GPU System For Graph-based ANNS

Looking for a new board game to shake up your next game night? Monkey Palace is one that's worth a look. This game brings the brick-building fun of LEGO into a board game setup as you, and up to three other players, are tasked with rebuilding the Monkey Palace with various LEGO pieces. If that's something that's caught your attention, we have good news: It's currently enjoying a 45% discount right now at Amazon.Monkey Palace: A Lego Board Game for $22.06Monkey Palace: A Lego Board GameMSRP: $39.99Ages: 10+Players: 2-4Play Time: 45 minutesThis has dropped its price from $39.99 to $22.06. If you're a LEGO fan – kid or adult – who's interested in picking up this game for your board game collection, there's no better time than now to grab it.Monkey Palace is meant to be played with two to four players that are 10 years of age and older. It has a playtime of 45 minutes as well, making it a perfect pick for a board game night that can be played fairly quickly. It also comes with multiple playing boards so you can keep replaying it if you find you really enjoy it.If you're looking for more board games to pick up right now, we've got plenty of suggestions. Our roundup of the 17 best board games to play in 2025 will point you towards a selection of top-tier picks that are must-have investments for your collection. If you'd like to see some board game options geared towards a younger audiences instead, our roundup of the best board games for kids highlights a variety of options that are sure to be a hit with the kids. We also have a roundup of cheap board games you'll love, if you're looking to save some cash but still want to pick up something new.More Board Games We RecommendWingspan See it at AmazonCascadiaSee it at AmazonTicket to RideSee it at AmazonAzulSee it at AmazonCarcassonneSee it at AmazonRiskSee it at AmazonHannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Warning: contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 episode 2 “Exile”. Emotionally, The Handmaid’s Tale rarely misses, but structurally, it isn’t always what you’d call elegant. “Exile” didn’t so much progress the plot as reverse it. In the season five finale, June and Serena boarded a train to the future, but now they’re both back in the past with June once again running Mayday missions and Serena once again swishing around Gilead/New Bethlehem high on her own supply.  Similarly, Nick’s decision to finally relent and spy for the US? Scratch that, he’s changed his mind and is going to be good from now on for the sake of his kid. Can June persuade him back into the fight? Well, she did every other time this exact thing has happened.  Fans are used to The Handmaid’s Tale going around in circles, so “Exile” leaves us with a familiar feeling. At least its screeching-brake 360 turns are for a good cause. Luke and Moira’s characters have been sorely lacking something to do for years now, so this heroic guerrilla mission into No-Man’s Land is welcome – even if it sent June on a thousand-mile detour to drop Nichole off with a suitable babysitter.  June and Holly’s scenes together were the episode high points, thanks to Cherry Jones being a rare co-star not eclipsed by sharing a screen with Elisabeth Moss in what is surely the role of her lifetime. Jones did a lot with a little. The elliptical way she told Holly’s survival story was as affecting for what she didn’t say as for what she did. Not wanting to burden her daughter with gruesome details, Holly turned away from June and glossed over what must have been seven years of torture. She let out her anger, but not her suffering, and protected them both by halting before saying Hannah’s name. Initially, they were careful with each other, tentative rather than familiar.  That all changed after the “Two Months Later” time jump (this being the last ever season, clunky moments like that caption must be necessary to shake everything into the right position). The carefulness dropped away and the old mother-daughter dynamic reasserted itself as past resentments bubbled up. The fight gave Holly the line of the episode when she summed up June and Nick’s love story with the simple but effective, “My daughter fucked a Nazi.”  You can see why she’d think that. We know Nick as the man so in love with June that he punched out his Gilead superior and agreed to become a spy when her life was endangered; Holly just knows him as the enemy. Not privy to the five-and-a-bit seasons of drama we’ve seen, Holly also didn’t know that her once politically disengaged book editor kid was now a freedom fighting badass who’d collected several Commander scalps. It was almost funny when June told Holly that she didn’t know the things she’d done – a teenage ‘you wouldn’t understand, mom,’ eye-roll moment but in an extraordinary context.  Fathers, not mothers, were the focus in the rest of the episode. Commander Wharton paternally told Nick to “make good choices” – presumably having wind of his son-in-law’s resistance activities seeing as he’s devoting so much time to warning him against them. By throwing into the fire the SIM for that US-issue burner phone, Nick showed that he either took Wharton’s advice, or his latent threats, seriously. He’s chucking his lot in with New Bethlehem and choosing his future over his past.   Serena chose to do the same, after spending the episode recharging her holy powers and emerging with her piety health bar at full strength. In the aptly named idyllic faith-led community of Canaan, Serena remembered her late father. Unlike her mother Pamela (who is, I suppose, still out there somewhere?), Serena’s dad seemed kind and supportive. A pastor who shepherded souls towards God, it wasn’t just green fingers Serena inherited from him, but also a talent for pulpitry. Yvonne Strahovski was magnificent in Serena’s grace-saying scene, and really sold the intoxicating high of a messiah complex. Quoting Jeremiah 29:14 to equate herself with biblical exiles, she was buzzing on God. Everything is finally coming up Serena, who’s been called to heal the world (to her, there could be no clearer divine blessing than June pushing her off that train straight into the path of a church). This time, Serena gets to try to launch a new country in pastel shades with the scent of the New England coastline in her nose rather than the stink of hanging corpses on a city wall. Blessed day, indeed. Let’s see just how long Gilead’s commanders allow her to stand in her power. The Handmaid’s Tale season six streams on Tuesdays on Hulu in the US. It will air on Channel 4 in the UK at a later date. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

From the creators of Contrast and We Happy Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third person action-adventure game set in the American Deep South. As Hazel, you will explore the mythos and encounter creatures of Southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When disaster strikes her hometown, Hazel is called to become a Weaver: a magical mender of broken bonds and spirits. Imbued with these new abilities, Hazel will confront and subdue dangerous creatures, untangle the webs of her own family's shared past and - if she's lucky - find her way to a place that feels like home. A DARK MODERN FOLKTALE When a hurricane rips through Prospero, Hazel is pulled into a Southern Gothic world of memory made real and must embark on a journey to rescue her mother and safeguard her hometown. In this folktale for modern times, Hazel will need to reconcile the weight of family, history, and legacy against her own identity. CONFRONT MYTHICAL CREATURES Wield an ancient power to restore creatures and uncover the traumas that consume them. Cast weaving magic to fight destructive Haints, explore the diverse regions of the South, and reweave the tears in the Grand Tapestry. HAUNTING BEAUTY OF THE GOTHIC SOUTH Discover the lush, decayed county of Prospero and its locals. Experience a crafted visual style, touching storytelling, and immersive music inspired by the complex and rich history of the South.

Joining the ongoing $100 price drops on Apple’s upgraded M4 Mac mini configurations and this particularly notable Amazon all-time low on Twelve South’s near-perfect 15W 3-in-1 HiRise 3 Deluxe MagSafe stand, today we are starting things off with the MacBooks. First up, Amazon is offering up to $200 off the Apple’s most-affordable 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro and $300 off the upgraded 48GB 16-inch model. From there we move over to some serious clearance pricing and the return of Amazon all-time lows on 24GB 15-inch M3 MacBook Airs at $550 off the original price before we take a look at deals on Apple Watch Ultra 2, AirPods Max (USB-C), and Lexar’s tiny Go portable SSD for iPhone. All of that and more awaits below.  Apple’s most-affordable 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro is up to $200 off, 48GB 16-inch over $300 off As worries flood-in regarding the price of Apple gear in the wake of the Trump tariffs worldwide, we wanted to touch down this morning to highlight an ongoing deal on the most affordable base-model M4 MacBook Pro. Alongside some deals on other configurations in the lineup down below, Amazon is offering the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and the 512GB internal SSD starting from $1,399 shipped – the silver model is $1,399 and the Space Black is down at $1,429 shipped. This is a regularly $1,599 configuration at up to $200 off the going rate As of right now, this configuration is still up at full price via Best Buy – even open-box listings at Best Buy are going for a touch more than the new price at Amazon. We have never seen the silver variant go for less than we are today at Amazon and the Space Black model is now within $36 of the lowest price we have tracked all-time. And in these uncertain times, it’s hard to say how much stock Amazon actually has already stateside, and how much it is willing to part with at such a deep discount. As for the rest of the lineup, some of the best prices you’ll find right now are waiting in the list below. The more affordable 14-inch models are all within $10 and $20 of the lowest we have tracked this year and the higher-end 48GB/1TB 16-inch M4 Pro variant is matching our previous mention – the only model that has gone up significantly here is the 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro 24GB/1TB that is $200 off instead of $300 off: 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro 16GB/512GB $1,399 (Reg. $1,599) 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro 16GB/1TB $1,599 (Reg. $1,799) 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro 24GB/512GB $1,789 (Reg. $1,999) 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro 24GB/1TB $2,299 (Reg. $2,499) 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro 48GB/1TB $2,591 (Reg. $2,899) While it’s still hard to say for sure, for anyone, exactly how the Trump tariffs might take hold of pricing on already-released Apple gear, some price hikes or, let’s call it, less generous deal pricing might very well be in the cards. Here’s the latest from our friends at 9to5Mac to get you up to speed: Amazon clears out upgraded 24GB 15-inch M3 MacBook Airs at the $1,349 low ($550 under the orig. price), more While we are still tracking some solid $50 price drops on most of the new M4 MacBook Airconfigurations, Amazon has just brought back its all-time low clearance pricing on the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air with the upgraded 24GB of RAM. Originally $1,899, and now carrying a regular price at $1,699 after Apple upgraded its stock RAM offerings, you can now score the 24GB 15-inch MacBook Air with the 512GB SSD in all four colorways down at $1,349 shipped. Before Apple upped its RAM offerings the 24GB 15-inch MacBook Air with the M3 chip carried a regular price at $1,899, that means with today’s deal you’re looking at a still more than capable machine at $550 off the original price, or $350 off the new MSRP we saw after the RAM update last fall. Today’s deal is matching our previous mention and only the second time we have seen this configuration down this low at Amazon. Now clearly this is the previous-generation M3 model we are looking at, but it is also lower in price than the comparable M4 machines despite the lighter price tags those models released with this year. Let’s take a quick look at the best discounted prices on the M4 machines for reference here: 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/256GB $949 (Reg. $999) 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/512GB from $1,169 (Reg. $1,199) 13-inch M4 MacBook Air 24GB/512GB $1,349 (Reg. $1,399) 15-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/512GB from $1,139 (Reg. $1,199) 15-inch M4 MacBook Air 16GB/512GB $1,344 (Reg. $1,399) 15-inch M4 MacBook Air 24GB/512GB $1,549 (Reg. $1,599) Clearly you could score the 13-inch M4 MacBook Pro with the same 24GB of RAM and 512GB storage option we are featuring on the 15-inch today at the same price, and we certainly wouldn’t blame you for taking that route. But, as you can see above, the M3 model we are highlighting is $200 less than the deal price on the regular $1,599 15-inch M4 MacBook Air with the upgraded internals. If you can make do with the 13-inch display, we recommend just going with the newer M4, but if not, it will likely be quite a long time before we see a 15-inch M4 with 24GB of RAM in the $1,400 range, never mind $1,349. DREAME’s Spring Cleaning sale – up to $700 off intelligent robotic cleaners and effortless wet/dry vacs DREAME is offering hundreds on savings on its range of intelligent robotic vacuum and mop combos as well as its wet/dry and stick vacuum models. Delivering as much as $700 in savings on X40 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop, you’ll find some of the best prices of the year on a collection of models across the brand’s to meet just about anyone’s needs.  DREAME X40 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop: $900 (Reg. $1 600)DREAME L40 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop: $500 (Reg. $1,500)DREAME L10s Ultra Gen 2 Robot Vacuum and Mop: $400 (Reg. $900) DREAME H12 Pro Wet & Dry Vac: $255 (Reg. $450) DREAME H14 Pro Wet & Dry Vac: $400 (Reg. $700)DREAME H14 Wet & Dry Vac: $300 (Reg. $500) DREAME Z30 Stick Vac: $350 (Reg. $700)DREAME R10 Stick Vac: $190 (Reg. $300)  Apple Watch Ultra 2 prices drop again: Black models up to $170 off (Best Buy open-box w/ full warranty), or new from $719 Update: Alongside the even lower ope-box pricing you’ll find on the black models below, Amazon has now dropped brand-new listings of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the Orange/Beige Trail Loop down to $719 shipped(Reg. $799). Straight up cash deals on brand-new Apple Watch Ultra 2 units have been harder to come by in 2025. We have seen some drops here and there on select configurations, but nothing quite as readily available as during the holiday season at the tail end of 2024. Today, however, over at Amazon you’ll find the the Natural Titanium Apple Watch Ultra 2 with a Navy Ocean Band marked down to $734.89 shipped, or $64 off the regular $799 price tag, alongside a host of notable open-box listings at Best Buy with full 1-year Apple warranties at the ready and up to $170 in savings on the black models. Scope those out down below. Best Buy’s open-box listings, and especially the “excellent condition” units, have yielded some of the best prices of the year on Apple Watch Ultra 2, and they continue that trend today. These units work and look “like new” and include all of the usual accessories. Here are some of the most notable Black Titanium configurations seeing discounted open-box pricing right now. Black Apple Watch Ultra 2 $629 (Reg. $799) With Black Trail Loop Black Apple Watch Ultra 2 $703 $673 (Reg. $799) With Black Ocean Band Black Apple Watch Ultra 2 $706 $693 (Reg. $799) With Green Trail Loop Apple’s upgraded M4 Mac mini configs just fell back to Amazon lows: 16GB/512GB at $699 or 24GB model at $899 ($100 off), more Amazon has now brought back its best price ever on the upgraded M4 Mac mini with 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Regularly $999, you can land one down at $899 shipped, or $100 off the going rate to match the lowest price we have ever tracked on Amazon. Head below for more details and additional discounts across the lineup. The new latest M4 Mac mini made its debut back in October as Apple’s upgraded and most affordable headless Mac. We did see the 24GB model fall to $939 a couple times in late 2024, but it wasn’t until 2025 that we started to see the straight $100 cash discounts. Today’s offer lands on par with the Amazon all-time low we first spotted at the top of March to give folks another shot at the best Amazon price to date on Apple’s 24GB Mac mini. As of right now, the entry-level model with the 16GB of RAM and 256GB internal SSD is still sitting at the $529 shipped discounted rate – that’s $70 off the list price and $29 above the best price we have tracked. However, folks who don’t need the 24GB RAM upgrade will find the mid-tier stock configuration with 16GB of RAM and the 512GB SSD also now back down at $699 to deliver $100 in savings and the lowest price we can find. Here’s how the discounted pricing breaks down across the lineup – only the upgraded M4 Mac mini configurations are back down at the Amazon all-time low pricing though: M4 Mac mini 16GB/256GB $529 (Reg. $599) M4 Mac mini 16GB/512GB $699 (Reg. $799) M4 Mac mini 24GB/512GB $899 (Reg. $999) M4 Pro Mac mini 24GB/512GB $1,294 (Reg. $1,399) All 5 AirPods Max (USB-C) colors are now $49 off at Amazon and Best Buy Today’s accessories and charging deals: It’s back: Twelve South’s near-perfect 15W 3-in-1 HiRise 3 Deluxe MagSafe stand now at $100 Amazon low (33% off) Update: This deal is now back after quickly going out of stock over the weekend. Details below in the original post. Amazon is now offering its best price to date on one of our favorite 3-in-1 15W MagSafe charging stands – the Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe. Regularly $150, you can now score one of the more premium options on the market down at a new $99.99 shipped Amazon all-time low. This is $12.50 under the most readily available Prime Day and Black Friday offers from 2024, landing roughly $6 under the previous best price we have tracked. It you were going to make a short list of the best MagSafe charging stands out there, the Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe would be an easy pick for the top 5 – It would likely crack the top 3 for most folks, and that’s if it wasn’t already in the top spot. For me personally, it is an easy top 3 alongside offerings from Satechi and Nomad – the only real difference here is the form-factor. If you like what you see and are in the market for a new charging stand, it’s very hard to go wrong with this one. You’re looking at a 3-in-1 setup with official 15W MagSafe charging for your iPhone, a 7.5W Qi-certified charger for your AirPods or other Qi-capable devices on the base, and a magnetic fast charger for your Apple Watch. The main pad is adjustable to get your phone at the right viewing for video-chatting angle, and I’m a big fan of the build here – the weighted build is stable while a vegan leather wraps around the base alongside sleek aluminum accents. You’ll also find the new 2024 model Twelve South HiRise 2 Deluxe 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Station in white now sitting down at the $63.99 shipped Amazon all-time low. Regularly $80, this is the brand’s latest 15W Qi2 model that’s equally as notable an option for folks who don’t need the Apple charging action. Still live: First chance to save on new Powerbeats Pro 2 – open-box units now $64 off with full warranty Samsung’s brand-new 2025 3D and OLED Odyssey monitors now up for pre-order with up to $300 FREE credits Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. 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Donald Trump's brutal tariff war is already rattling the global economy — and the resolve of business leaders everywhere.Look no further than the president's close ally and number one henchman Elon Musk, who the Washington Post reports has been personally begging Trump to reconsider behind closed doors.Over the weekend, Musk broke rank and railed against the architect of Trump's catastrophic tariff policy, advisor on trade and manufacturing, Peter Navarro.But Trump doubled down, threatening to add new 50 percent tariffs on imports from China, meaning that Musk's personal pleas have been to no avail — indicating a growing and intriguing rift between the two.After spending months together on the campaign trail and then at the White House, could the honeymoon phase now be crumbling as Trump's economic ambitions clash with Musk's business realities?Less than a month ago, Trump turned the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom in a desperate attempt to prop up his ally's ailing carmaker.The schism between the two has widened considerably since then, with Musk telling Italian right-wing populist political party Lega that he'd like to see a "zero-tariff situation" and a "free trade zone" between Europe and the US."If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so, in my view," Musk said at a Saturday meeting, via a video link.On Monday, Musk posted a widely-circulated video of economist Milton Friedman explaining that the manufacturing of pencils requires complex supply chains, which free trade enables.Musk also mocked the Trump administration for imposing tariffs on islands exclusively populated by penguins.It's an especially noteworthy change of tune as Musk is expected to leave his post as the unofficial lead of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in the coming months.Instead of leveraging the US' position as a world power with the largest GDP, Trump has cratered international relations and undermined goodwill with the nation's longtime trading partners.The exact reasoning for the president's not-at-all "reciprocal" tariff war remains murky at best, with economists largely shaking their heads in disbelief."This is simply a 'spectacle' of failed economic policies," Li Daokui, one of China's most influential economists, told Agence France-Presse. "It is hard to imagine that there is any other economic policy that can make people around the world, including people in the United States itself, suffer losses at the same time."How the turmoil will affect Musk's many businesses remains to be seen. The mercurial CEO has previously claimed that the "tariff impact on Tesla is still significant" as a result of Trump targeting the auto industry.It's the perfect storm for Tesla, which was already reeling from a tarnished brand and tanking sales well before Trump announced the latest round of tariffs."The backlash from Trump tariff policies in China and Musk’s association will be hard to understate," Wedbush Securities analyst and longtime Tesla bull Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients on Sunday. "Tesla has essentially become a political symbol globally... and that is a very bad thing for the future of this disruptive tech stalwart and the brand crisis tornado that has now turned into an F5 tornado.""This is a full blown crisis Tesla is navigating now (along with these tariffs), and it is time for Musk to step up, read the room, and be a leader in this time of uncertainty," Ives added.Musk's brother has also publicly criticized Trump for his catastrophic trade policy."Who would have thought that Trump was actually the most high tax American President in generations," Kimbal Musk wrote in a post on his brother's platform Monday. "Through his tariff strategy, Trump has implemented a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer."More on Trump and Musk: Elon Musk Breaks Rank, Rages Against Donald Trump's TariffsShare This Article