Our top picks of accessories for the Nintendo Switch 2

The SSA's shift to Elon Musk's X comes as the agency plans to cut its regional office workforce by roughly 90 percent, WIRED has learned.

Macworld Over the past 10 years, Apple has generally stuck to devices that are predictable and safe, avoiding major new launches or radical changes that might not be rock-solidly reliable. Nevertheless, rivals in the industry sometimes push Apple out of its comfort zone, especially when shareholders demand similar innovations. The iPhone and iPad excel at their respective tasks in their classic slab form factors. But times change, and Apple is reportedly working on a variety of foldable models—with the first models, an 8-inch iPhone and a massive 19-inch iPad due to arrive as early as next year. While it may seem exciting to imagine what a folding iPhone or iPad might look like, it’s the last thing Apple needs. Paying more for less Before Apple launches its first foldable devices, the iPhone 17 Air could give us a glimpse at the general folding formula later this year. Apple is believed to be working on the iPhone 17 Air to experiment with slim devices as a foldable iPhone or iPad would have to be noticeably thin when opened to maintain Apple’s sleek form when folded. However, the new Air model is rumored to cost at least $100 more than the regular iPhone 17, despite being less capable. To achieve its exceptionally slim design, Apple reportedly needs to exclude flagship perks, including an ultrawide rear lens, a physical SIM card slot in international markets, a Pro chip, stereo speakers, some battery capacity, and other features. So, you’ll essentially be paying more for a newer design with midrange specs. A recent report specifies some of the foldable iPhone’s similar drawbacks. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that next year’s 7.8-inch foldable iPhone will cost at least $2,000 and possibly even cross the $2,500 mark. Along with the above compromises, some of which are likely to make their way into a folding phone, Kuo notes that the phone will offer a Touch ID sensor—a significant downgrade from Face ID. So you’re going to be giving up a lot just to get a little more screen. If you can get an iPhone with an iPad for less than the price of a folding phone, what’s the point.Foundry A flipping flop Now, some may argue that a folding iPhone is worth the higher price. Maybe you’ve seen the Samsung Z Flip and Z Fold devices and feel like you’re missing out. And yes, they are cool and fun for the first few days, but after I used one for a while, I didn’t find that they addressed any existing smartphone flaws or served any meaningful purpose. The concept is cool, but unless Apple can figure out some killer app, I think a folding iPhone should remain a prototype. For example, the Z Flip’s clamshell form factor offers two main advantages: a more pocketable size and remote shooting. Well, even the largest iPhone 16 Pro Max already fits in most pockets, and you can use it for hands-free photography using the Apple Watch’s built-in camera remote and a basic dock. So a folding iPhone would only do what the iPhone can already do in a different way. The Samsung Z Flip looks cool but the folding screen is a party trick.Mattias Inghe The Z Fold’s design is similarly not worth it, as the Pro Max iPhone display is sufficiently immersive for on-the-go viewing for most users. That’s not to mention that buying an iPhone and iPad separately would actually be a cheaper, more durable investment. And besides, most people use their Apple devices interchangeably when one of them is charging, updating, or out of reach, so two is better than one. Meanwhile, the foldable iPad will reportedly run a new operating system, possibly even a touch-enabled version of macOS. This is something Apple fans have wanted forever, but there seemingly aren’t any technological restraints stopping Apple from bringing macOS to the iPad right now. And if there are, a hinge won’t fix them.  The iPad Pro already packs a large screen, the capable M4 Mac chip, and offers a MacBook-like keyboard attachment, so making it foldable serves no legitimate productivity purpose over a tablet other than portability. A mightier OS would be great, but if it’s limited to the high-priced folding phone, it would basically make the iPad irrelevant. Watch the next -gate unfold If you’re still not convinced by now, you may also want to consider the durability of these devices. Pretty much every foldable on the market develops some form of crease over time. While a report claims Apple is working to figure this one out, the form factor will undoubtedly introduce new challenges. Given the sensitivity of these devices, bending them repeatedly dozens or hundreds of times a day is bound to eventually break something inside them. Remember Apple’s MagSafe Duo Charger? It was nowhere near as technologically complex as a folding phone, and it broke down after around 200 folds. It didn’t quite rise to the level of antennagate or bendgate, but a folding iPhone with a busted hinge absolutely would. Even with rigorous testing, what guarantees internal components beyond the display itself won’t wear down when users repeatedly fold and unfold their iPhones or iPads? That’s a problem you don’t have with the current lineup of devices. The MagSafe Duo’s hinge didn’t exactly hold up to wear and tear.Foundry Don’t fold under pressure, Apple Due to pressure from shareholders and competitors, Apple Intelligence was revealed during last year’s WWDC. Nearly a year later, the project remains indefinitely delayed, and the next-gen Siri may be delayed for at least another year. Had it not been for the aforementioned catalysts, I’m certain the company wouldn’t have announced these AI features until this year’s Dub Dub or even the one that follows. Apple should learn from the Apple Intelligence mishap to stick to its mission and avoid external influence. Android phone brands have long experimented with all sorts of wacky gimmicks, and most of them eventually die out. As much as some corporations hope foldables will be the next smartphone evolution, the statistics simply prove otherwise. Mainstream foldables have been around for half a decade, yet only about 1 percent of users have adopted them. They’re generally overpriced and riddled with flaws, and most importantly, they fail to elevate the smartphone experience. Apple should know better.

Apple Intelligence might already have become a slightly tarnished brand — a modern-day repeat of the Apple Maps mess — but the company won’t give up on it without a fight; the word’s out that it now intends to rollout the contextual Siri features it promised at WWDC 2024 this fall. If it achieves this, it does at least mean the company will manage to ship the feature within the same year it promised, even if it did have to change senior leadership to get there. A fall release also means the feature is likely to be part of what is promised with iOS 19, which is also expected to appear later this year after introduction at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June. That expected update to the iPhone’s operating system is already being touted as the biggest iOS upgrade in a while — a claim that hints at even greater intentions for 2026, which should see new iPhone designs, new product categories, and important new services (including AI-assisted healthcare services).  AI on the prize While we recently heard Apple intends to open up the platform to support Google Gemini and others along with ChatGPT, many of these plans will have been made with Apple Intelligence in mind. That contextual ability is what I I expect will bond all those and any subsequent hardware introductions together, and I can imagine that many at the company are frustrated that promises made at WWDC have not (yet) been kept. That’s particularly true since it emerged that most of the people working on Siri development at that time had never seen those things before, even in the labs. Quite clearly, there was some hype over substance. And while Apple appears to be working hard to push those promised Apple Intelligence features over the line, there’s little doubt some of these challenges reflected internal conflicts that might still need to be resolved. The New York Times says Apple plans to release a Siri virtual assistant this fall that can handle certain transactions, such as editing and sending photos to friends. These were among the still unreleased features demonstrated at WWDC 2024, which suggests other tasks could also be on the way, such as finding emails on specific topics, or files shared with a user by another person in preceding week.   Apple is said to be ready to do “whatever it takes” to bring these exciting Apple Intelligence tools across the line. It might well have to do more. Putting an ‘I’ in ‘team’ These reports follows insights from The Information that exposed some of the big fissures running through Apple Intelligence development, describing a team sometimes in conflict with weak leadership and shifting goals. Apple’s teams apparently often shifted focus between on-device and in-cloud genAI services and frequently got lost exploring one direction only to shift to another. More recently, we learned that R&D spending decisions were made, unmade, and that development then suffered in reaction to divergent voices at the top of the company. (Apple’s AI leader, John Giannandrea, had secured a hefty budget for AI servers in 2023, only to see that budget slashed by another department leader, for example.) What seems to be emerging is a picture of significant internal conflict at Apple with different departments and leaders getting into turf wars that look – at least from here – humdrum and petty rather than being focused on the big picture around Siri. That concerns me, as this kind of in-fighting frequently characterizes groups at the end of their growth.  The power of teams There is one more thing. A few weeks ago, we learned of changes in leadership for Apple Intelligence. That news emerged subsequent to Apple’s top 100 leaders meeting, an annual event usually held in secrecy. As John Gruber noted at that time, the fact that this news emerged after that meeting means at least two of Apple’s most senior people leaked it, which itself hints at conflict between leading decision makers within the company. To my mind, the Apple Intelligence story shows a need for Apple’s senior leaders to bring their key people into harmony, as in-fighting erodes trust within any company, and entities characterized by lack of trust do not field the most effective teams. Everything around us might have been made up by people no smarter than we are, but they probably didn’t make these things up alone — they worked as a team. You don’t need AI, generative, or otherwise, to see that. You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.

If Apple isn't able to get its Siri improvements out with iOS 19 in the fall, a new report tries to put the blame on early cost-cutting decisions by CFO Luca Maestri.Apple Intelligence delays are all ex-CFO Luca Maestri's fault, apparentlyFirst it was that Apple is years behind the rest of the industry in AI, then it was that Apple management can't cope. Now according to the New York Times, the reason Apple Intelligence is failing is because Apple was too miserly to spend some cash years ago.Specifically, the claim is that in 2023, the then-chief financial officer Luca Maestri halved a budget that engineers had wanted for buying GPU processors for AI development work. It doesn't matter that Apple is often the most highly valued firm in the world, you don't get to be CFO of it if you're not in absolute control of spending. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Steve Soboroff, the local developer who in January was appointed Chief Recovery Officer following the Los Angeles Fires by Mayor Karen Bass, has announced his resignation due to a disagreement with senior city leaders. The LA Times has more details surrounding the row, including some eye-opening claims ("They haven’t asked me to do anything in a month and a half, nothing, zero") about him being largely shut out of the planning process.  Soboroff, who refused the $500,000 salary on a 90-day contract, had lately been in hot water over select comments he made in a private meeting at the Harvard-Westlake school. His disagreement with the decision to tender an Illinois-based contractor over AECOM for important infrastructure rebuilds as part of the recovery process was another apparent point of contention.  Here's more from the post-fire recovery response thus far: Land banks and local nonprofits mount a challenge to developer speculation in AltadenaPoll: most in L.A. support stricter bu...

One of the best games ever made is getting even better as Larian Studios has announced a release date for Patch 8 of Baldur’s Gate 3. It goes live on April 15th; however, the developer will discuss it in greater detail on Twitch the day after at 1 PM UTC. Patch 8 includes long-awaited features like cross-platform multiplayer, cross-progression and Photo Mode. It also adds 12 new subclasses, one for each main class, including the Ranger’s Swarmkeeper, the Rogue’s Swashbuckler, the Wizard’s Bladesinging, and the Monk’s Drunken Master, among many others. There are already 46 subclasses to choose from, and when you throw multiclassing into the mix, the sheer number of build options expands even more. Patch 8 includes other notable features, including split-screen co-op for Xbox Series S, at long last. Stay tuned for the patch notes when they go live next week. Baldur’s Gate 3 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. You can check out our reviews for the PC and PS5 versions. Patch 8 will be ready to roll out on Tuesday, April 15th!To celebrate, get ready to join us on Twitch where we’ll talk all things Patch 8 with guest developer Ross, whose work on the new subclasses will be arriving next week.📆 April 16th, 1pm UTC📺 twitch.tv/larianstudios▶️ youtu.be/h5ZC8Y_X78Y— Larian Studios (@larianstudios.com) 2025-04-11T15:01:26.286Z

Windows 95 Jingle, 1960 World Series Broadcast and Other ‘Audio Treasures’ Added to the National Recording Registry From a list of 2,600 nominations submitted by the public, the Library of Congress has selected 25 songs, albums and sounds that are at least ten years old to preserve for posterity The Windows 95 reboot chime was one of 25 audio works added to the National Recording Registry this year. Brooks Kraft LLC / Sygma via Getty Images When users turned on their computers during the mid-1990s, many heard a short, whimsical tune indicating that their Windows 95 operating system was booting up. Developed by the renowned music producer Brian Eno, the six-second startup chime was intended to convey a sense of “welcome, hopefulness and progress” at a time when many individuals were still getting comfortable with personal computers, according to a statement from the Library of Congress. Now, Eno’s nostalgic ditty will be preserved for posterity. It’s one of 25 audio works selected this year to join the National Recording Registry, which protects “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” songs, albums and sounds that are at least ten years old. Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Sound Watch on “These are the sounds of America—our wide-ranging history and culture,” says Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, in the statement. “The National Recording Registry is our evolving nation’s playlist.” This year’s inclusions were chosen from more than 2,600 nominations submitted by members of the public, according to the library’s announcement. Chicago’s debut 1969 album, Chicago Transit Authority, topped the list of public nominations. Other top-ten finishers included Roy Rogers and Dale Evans’ 1952 single “Happy Trails,” Elton John’s 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Mary J. Blige’s 1994 album My Life.  The oldest selection on this year’s list is a 1913 recording of the song “Aloha ‘Oe” by the Hawaiian Quintette. The song was written in the late 19th century by Lili’uokalani, a princess and later queen of the Hawaiian Kingdom, after a “heartfelt parting” with a close friend, per the library. The beloved tune spread to the mainland United States by as early as 1884. Lin-Manuel Miranda created Hamilton and played the title character during its Broadway debut. Library of Congress The newest audio work is the original Broadway cast album for the hit musical Hamilton, created in 2015. It just made the ten-year cutoff to be considered for this year’s list. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton’s creator, describes the registry as “an artistic version of a nation’s conversation with itself.” “Every piece of art that is made is both deemed timeless by the Library of Congress and also a product of its time,” Miranda says in a video released by the library. “To listen to these recordings, to go back as far as the turn of the century [from] the beginning of recorded sound to the present, is to hear points in a timeline, is to time travel. I feel incredibly honored that Hamilton is a point in that timeline.” Another new work is Minecraft: Volume Alpha, the soundtrack album created by Daniel Rosenfeld for the 2011 version of the popular video game. It’s only the second video game recording to be selected for the registry, following the inclusion of the “Super Mario Bros.” theme in 2023. Just as the Nintendo tune entered the registry alongside the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, “the ‘Minecraft’ selection comes with its own film adaptation fresh off a some $300 million global debut,” writes the Washington Post’s Thomas Floyd. James Horner & Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On (From "Titanic") Watch on Several well-known albums are entering the archive, including the Steve Miller Band’s Fly Like an Eagle (1976) and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black (2006). According to Billboard’s Paul Grein, three of the newly selected singles once topped the Billboard Hot 100: Celine Dion’s 1997 hit “My Heart Will Go On” from the film Titanic, Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” (1972) and Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” (1975). This year’s inclusions go beyond music. Also joining the registry is a radio broadcast of the final game of the 1960 World Series between the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates. In the recording, NBC announcer Chuck Thompson gives a play-by-play of the action-packed game on October 13, 1960, which the Pirates ultimately won 10-9. “The Library of Congress is proud and honored to select these audio treasures worthy of preservation, including iconic music across a variety of genres, field recordings, sports history and even the sounds of our daily lives with technology,” says Hayden in the statement. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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Influencer report highlights gender pay gap in sponsored content earnings Women earn roughly 32% less than men in the gaming sector, according to the report Image credit: Adobe News by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on April 11, 2025 A new report on sponsored influencer activations suggests a pay gap between male and female-identifying creators across all video platforms, with women earning around 32% less than men. These stats come from Collabstr, which counts sponsored streams or a video of any length in their metrics, and is based on a sample size of 2,414 gaming creators. "We've seen a clear disparity in collaboration rates between male- and female-identifying influencers in the gaming space," Collabstr co-founder Kyle Dulay told GamesIndustry.biz. "On average, male gaming influencers earn about $234 per collaboration, while female influencers earn roughly $160 – that's a 32% pay gap." For context, we asked Dulay if the report featured any more nuanced detail on gender beyond binary self-identification. "Less than 1% of our users select 'Other' as their gender during the signup process, so there is not much we can pull here." Highlighting Twitch as a platform, that pay gap shrinks a little, according to Collabstr's survey. "When we narrow the focus to just Twitch, the gap closes slightly, but it's still significant: female-identifying Twitch streamers earn about 27% less than their male counterparts per collaboration," Dulay said. "While the playing field is slowly leveling out on platforms like Twitch, the overall industry still has a long way to go toward pay equity for creators." When asked about broader creator trends and how gaming compares, Dulay draws attention to how the content is presented. "Female creators tend to have more of a cross-over content style where they might include more lifestyle sort of content into their content style (fashion, cosplay, beauty, vlogs, etc..). Most male gamers are entirely dedicated to the gaming niche and there is less crossover into other content verticals. Quite often, men will not even reveal their face. "Other than the advertising medium (Twitch, TikTok, etc..) there is not much difference between the way the actual collabs are structured versus other collabs we see." When it comes to the gender pay gap between creators, a few factors might be at work. "The gender disparity for gaming influencers on platforms like YouTube or Twitch is much less than it is on platforms like TikTok or Instagram, and with YouTube and Twitch being popular platforms for gaming collaborations it would make sense that male gamers might get a higher share of collaboration volume," Dulay said. "Male creators also tend to have more focused content, where they exclusively showcase gaming, versus female creators who aren't afraid to cross over into other content verticals (lifestyle vlogs, fashion, cosplay, etc..), and by being so niche, men can command higher prices. "Overall, there is the macro problem that women also may be discounting their services versus their male counterparts."