Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that Apple will launch a new product on Wednesday, February 19. The most likely release is the much-anticipated iPhone SE 4, but there are a few other possibilities. Heres everything you need to know.iPhone SE 4The iPhone SE 4 has been rumored for over two years, and its going to be a massive upgrade to Apples most affordable iPhone model. The revamp will include an all-new design inspired by the iPhone 14, along with major internal performance improvements and an upgraded camera.Revamped design that ditches the Home button with a notch and Face IDA18 chip with 8GB of RAM Apple Intelligence6.1-inch OLED display Face ID instead of Touch ID48MP rear camera12MP front-facing cameraUSB-C instead of Lightning for charging According to Bloomberg, the iPhone SE 4 is almost certainly the product Apple will announce on Wednesday. Im pretty excited to see this thing actually hit the market, and I think it has a shot at being a big success if Apple gets the pricing right.Wildcard: M4 MacBook Air The M4 MacBook Air will offer a handful of upgrades over the M3 version. The big change, of course, will be the faster performance and better efficiency offered by the M4 chip. Perhaps most notably, this should lead to an increase in battery life as well. The M4 chip will also unlock a higher top RAM configuration of 32GB for the MacBook Air. For comparison, the M3 MacBook Air tops out at 24GB. Another big change: the M4 MacBook Air will support two external displays even when its lid is open. Currently, the M3 MacBook Air only supports two external displays when its lid is closed. The M4 MacBook Air is expected to launch soon, with supply dwindling at Apple retail stores. Whether or not that happens this week or later this spring remains to be seen.Apple is working on two updates to the iPad lineup. First, theres the iPad 11, a new model of its most affordable iPad. The iPad 11 will feature faster performance with Apples A17 Pro chip paired with 8GB of RAM. Thats a significant boost from the iPad 10, which is powered by the A14 Bionic chip and 4GB of RAM. These upgrades will enable Apple Intelligence support on Apples cheapest iPad. Additionally, Apple is working on a new version of the iPad Air. This will just be a basic spec bump update, with a performance boost from the M2 chip to the M3 chip.Theres a brand new product expected to join Apples lineup this year. As 9to5Mac reported last September, Apple is working on a new smart home command center with a square display and an A18 chip for Apple Intelligence support. Bloomberg has also extensively reported on this product. According to Mark Gurman, the device will feature a 7-inch display and be about the size of two iPhones side by side, with a thick edge around the display. The devices design is centered around being attached to a wall and will be available in silver and black color options. Bloombergalso reports that there will be bases with additional speakers that can be placed in the kitchen, on a nightstand or on a desk.While Apple was initially targeting a March release for the new smart display product, more recent reporting suggests the device will ship later than anticipated. New software betasLast but not least, were still waiting for Apple to release the next round of software betas for all of its platforms. iOS 18.4 is expected to bring multiple new Apple Intelligence features, including Siri with personal context, on-screen awareness, and in-app actions.Personal Context Understanding: With the on-device semantic index provided by Apple Intelligence, Siri can understand emails, messages, photos, calendar events, files, and more. It can provide answers to questions that are personal to you. For example, when you say, What was that movie that Jamie told me I should check out? Siri will dig up the message from last week. And when youre filling out a form and say, Add my passport number here, Siri can extract the number from a saved photo of your passport and drop it in.On-screen Awareness: Siri will be able to understand and take action with things on your screen. So when a friend texts you recommending a new coffee shop in the neighborhood, you can simply say, How long would it take me to walk there from home? and Siri will understand just what you mean.In-App Actions: Siri can take hundreds of new actions on your behalf in both first- and third-party apps. The next time youre editing photos, youll be able to say, Make this photo warmer, and Siri will make adjustments using the Photos app. Siri can also take actions across apps. So after youre done editing that photo, say, Add this to my ratatouille recipe note, and Siri will seamlessly transition from the Photos app to complete the task.Bloomberg reports that the first iOS 18.4 beta will be released as soon as sometime this week. In addition to iOS 18.4, Apple will likely release iPadOS 18.4, macOS 15.4, tvOS 18.4, and watchOS 11.4.Wrap up Id bet on this week focusing on the new iPhone SE 4. This is a hotly-anticipated addition to Apples product lineup that will put Apple Intelligence at a much lower price point. Most 9to5Mac readers who care about the latest and greatest hardware might think its a boring announcement, but its a key market for Apple.Based on last years schedule, were overdue for the release of the first iOS 18.4 beta. Whether or not that materializes this week remains to be seen.My favorite iPhone 16 accessories:Follow Chance:Threads,Bluesky,Instagram, andMastodon.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Looking for the most recentregular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.Connections: Sports Editionhas a mix of difficulty today. The toughest category might be the purple one (surprise, surprise), which requires you to know a little sports history to solve it. Read on for hints and the answers.Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut onSuper Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That's a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn't show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic's own app. Or you can continue to play it free online. Read more:NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of BetaHints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groupsHere are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.Yellow group hint: Blow it by the batter.Green group hint: Get those three points.Blue group hint: South Beach sports.Purple group hint: Teams that no longer exist.Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groupsYellow group:Fastball.Green group: Parts of a field goal attempt.Blue group: Miami teams.Purple group:Defunct WNBA teams.Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English WordsWhat are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, #148. NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is fastball. The four answers are cheese, fireball, gas and smoke.The green words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is parts of a field goal attempt. The four answers are block, hold, kick and snap.The blue words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is Miami teams. The four answers are Dolphins, Heat, Hurricanes and Marlins.The purple words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is defunct WNBA teams. The four answers are Miracle, Shock, Sol and Sting.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer?Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.Todays NYTStrandspuzzle has a fun theme, and I found the words easy to locate. But one of them surprised me. Let's just say that I don't remember Perry from Phineas and Ferb being a dangerous critter in this specific way. If you need hints and answers, read on.I go into depth about therules for Strands in this story.If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visitCNET's NYT puzzle hints page.Read more:NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So FarHint for today's Strands puzzleToday's Strands theme is:Ouch!If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Lead singer for The Police.Clue words to unlock in-game hintsYour goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:JELLY, SELL, CELL, FISH, SELF, SELFISH, GITS, BITS, NITS, HORN, BUMBLE, PLATAnswers for today's Strands puzzleThese are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you've got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:HORNET, JELLYFISH, SCORPION, BUMBLEBEE, PLATYPUSToday's Strands spangramToday's Strands spangram isSTINGERS.To find it, start with the S that's three letters down on the furthest column to the right, and wind across and down. The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, #352. NYT/Screenshot by CNET

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More than 10,000 protesters gathered in New York City on Presidents Day to speak out against the current Trump administration and the actions in particular of Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).It was one of several protests that took place Monday in major cities across the country and came during the same long weekend that smaller protests sprouted up at Tesla dealerships across the country.Protesters who spoke to TechCrunch from Washington Square Park, raised concerns about DOGEs access to sensitive data of millions of Americans and the groups dismantling of federal agencies. They said that they view Musks work with DOGE as a veiled attempt at a financial power grab, and expressed frustration that Musk, an unelected official, has gained unprecedented levels of power over the federal government.I think its extremely dangerous that [Musk] has access to our personal data, Dmitri, 53, an architect who asked that his last name not be used, told TechCrunch. Hes kind of a futurist fanboy whos basically living in a sci-fi fantasy and trying to implement that, and has the resources to do mass amounts of damage. Hes tinkering with something that he doesnt have the ability to actually understand.Protesters hold up signs at an NYC protest on Presidents Day, February 17, 2025.Image Credits:Rebecca BellanA 55-year-old retired teacher who identified himself only as Tom and who held a sign that read: No one voted for Musk, told TechCrunch, As much as I dislike the fact that a significant number of Americans voted for Trump, it is absolutely the case that no one voted for Musk.Tom noted that he didnt believe the average MAGA supporter voted for Musk and worried that DOGEs cuts would hurt Americans on a state, local, and individual level.The consolidation of power under billionaires is a frightening thing, he said.Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to create DOGE, giving Musk, the billionaire owner of SpaceX, Tesla, X, and other companies, the reins to root out government fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.Since then, DOGE has fired nearly 10,000 federal workers who handled everything from managing federal lands to caring for military veterans. Another 75,000 workers have accepted the Trump administrations buyout proposal, which in late January offered federal workers eight months pay and benefits to leave their posts if they resigned in early February. DOGE has also cut 104 government contracts related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development.Trump also granted Musks DOGE team access to the Treasury departments digital payments system, which controls trillions of dollars in payments to Americans, from Social Security benefits to tax refunds, despite questions about their security clearances, their cybersecurity practices, and the legality of Musks activities.Supporters of Trump and Musk applaud their on-paper efforts to root out corruption, inefficiency, and red tape. Opponents object to the way DOGE is going about its stated goals, and warn that the teams actions will lead to more corruption and national security risks.A wave of legal challenges has followed that allege a lack of transparency and data privacy violations.The protesters in New York started at Union Square and marched to Washington Square Park, congregating under the iconic memorial arch dedicated to George Washington, the nations first president. They chanted Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go, and held signs that touted a range of causes, but Musk and DOGE were a common theme throughout.Protesters gathered under the arch at Washington Square Park. Image Credits:Rebecca BellanThe New York Police Department estimated the number of attendees to be more than 10,000.Victoria, who identified herself as a 37-year-old teacher, held a sign that read: Stop the coup, echoing comments made to The Guardian on Monday by Arizonas attorney general, Kris Mayes, who told told the outlet, In the U.S., we appeal rulings we disagree with we dont ignore court orders or threaten judges with impeachment just because we dont like the decision. This is a coup, plain and simple.As people played music and shouted chants, their homemade signs raised over their heads, a 39-year-old small business owner who identified himself as Corwin said of Musk, hes so conflicted and its so clear that his antiregulatory attitudes benefit him personally and financially.Musk has targeted several agencies for reduction or dismantling that regulates industries in which his companies operate. Earlier this month, Musk said he wants to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which would regulate Xs planned expansion to financial services, posting on his social network X CFBP RIP, punctuated with a tombstone emoji. He has stated an intention to go after the Federal Aviation Administration, an agency hes clashed with before and one that regulates SpaceX. He has also called for ending a rule that requires automakers to report crashes when autonomous driving technology is engaged.Musks actions at the federal level have affected Teslas brand image. During the automakers 2024 fourth-quarter earnings, analyst Thomas Monteiro of Investing.com noted that the hype around Tesla is trending downward due to, among other things, severe brand devaluation.Stories are cropping up of people selling their Teslas out of a desire to no longer support Musks businesses. Some Cybertruck owners have reported instances of vandalism and harassment. The automakers sales, which were already beginning to suffer due to increased competition in the market and a stale lineup, have begun to plummet in Europe after a gesture by Musk, at the presidents inauguration, was seen by many as a Nazi salute. Polands sports and tourism minister Slawomir Nitras lobbied for a Tesla boycott, and in Germany, several companies have cut ties with Tesla in reaction to Musks support both for Trump and the far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Social media is often about scale, but Nextdoor bet long ago on something different: that it could grow a big business off smaller, local communities.For years, the plan worked. The 15-year-old company has long been a dominant platform for neighborhood-based conversations, connecting users for everything from lost pet alerts to local business recommendations. Then at some point, growth stalled. Users found less reason to engage with the app beyond transactional use cases. What also turned them off: misinformation, racism, and petty bickering on the platform, perpetuated by contributors who either didnt know better or didnt care.Now, Nirav Tolia is on a mission to turn things around. He has a strong motive to prove himself capable. Tolia founded the company and led it until 2018, when he was reportedly ousted by the board over a disagreement about a potential acquisition. In 2021, Nextdoor went on to go public through a special purpose acquisition vehicle at a $4.3 billion valuation, but facing flattening growth and dwindling advertiser interest, the board last year asked Tolia to return.Tolia also has a lot at stake financially. He says hes the companys largest individual shareholder in Nextdoor, whose market cap now hovers around $1 billion. Benchmark, one of Nextdoors earliest venture backers, is the companys largest institutional shareholder. Tolia claims that neither of us have sold since the IPO.Tolia says he has confidence in the company, thanks largely to the pieces he is putting in place. Hes making progress, too. Nextdoor reported 45.9 million weekly active users as of the end of September, up 13% from the same period in 2023. One of those most valuable pieces, seemingly, is the proprietary data that Nextdoor generates from the platform data that, unlike Reddit, for example, Nextdoor has no intention of selling to an OpenAI or Google.Still, with a long climb ahead of it, and given the challenges facing a company of Nextdoors comparatively small size including the inability of larger institutional investors to get involved as shareholders some obvious questions include how much time Nextdoor has for this turnaround, and whether it might be better off as a privately held company.We talked with Tolia about these things, as well as his relationship with longtime board member Bill Gurley of Benchmark, in a conversation that you can hear here. Meanwhile, excerpts from that chat follow below, edited for length and clarity.Youve been on a bit of a media tour lately. Why?In the first few months when I came back, the most important priority for me was to speak with people internally, but as we work internally to get our plan together, and to think about how we start to achieve our potential, it is and will be increasingly important for us to tell that story externally as well. Because one of our challenges is that Nextdoor is a company thats been around for 14 years and has 100 million verified neighbors [registered on the platform]. So its not small. It is a company that we believe doesnt have the relevance that it can have and isnt achieving the potential that it should be achieving.Youve said that youre planning to change the product.We believe very deeply that there are so many ways our neighbors can help us. We also believe very deeply that staying connected to our local community is something that is important to keep us informed, keep us safe, and keep us smart about purchase decisions that were making in the local community. But we realized when we looked at the product that we didnt have enough of the relevant information you need to stay informed . . .and when we did have that information, we didnt always deliver it the right way. And so creating a new product which were calling next internally, the next Nextdoor is all about making it more powerful for users to feel like theyre connected to their local communities.What are some of the specific transformations that youre going to make?Nextdoor has always been a place where UGC and neighbor created content is 99% of what you find. But we realized over time that neighbors dont always have the broad range of information that youre looking for, and there are lots of entities in your neighborhood, whether its schools or local businesses or influencers or organizations that you rely on, and those could be local news publishers as well. They all have content that should be shared with neighbors. And so one of the big initiatives [is to bring in] new content from new sources that can broaden the value proposition when youre reading the content on Nextdoor.I stopped using Nextdoor because I was a little alarmed by what was [being said by neighbors]. A lot of your challenge is making certain [users] arent going off the rails, without also being accused of suppressing free speech.It truly is one of the big challenges that all social media platforms have. Ill say two things. One is, we can always do better at ensuring that the mood and the sensibility of the conversation is more constructive and positive. The other piece though . . .I believe that with the advent of AI, there is going to be more technology leverage than there ever has been. And so the combination of us reminding our neighbors that this is about community and coming together and then using new and innovative AI toolsIm very, very optimistic thatwe can improve [users experiences] in a pretty significant way.Would you ever use AI to dampen political conversations?Our official policy is that we dont allow for national political conversations. Of course, people will still bring things up every so often. One thing is, we can create dedicated groups for the political conversation which is something that we do because it turns out that some users actually do want to have those discussions, and in some ways they get even more angry when we say, This is not a place to have the political discussion. Go have that on X [or] on a different platform. So part of it is shunting it into an area where its not part of the mainstreaming experience, but its still accessible. And then part of it really is . . . [applying more AI].Just to give you a very specific example, we have something called a kindness reminder, where, before your post goes to the site, we run it through an AI technology that looks for heated language or expressions that we might describe as unconstructive. And before we allow you to post to the site, we hit you back with a message that says, Hey, you may want to reframe the words that you used in these ways. We can do so much more on this front.Is that AI developed in-house?Definitely in-house. This is something I feel really strongly about. When it comes to AI, we actually have the three ingredients that you need as a technology company to really do great things. The first thing is, you need engineers, so to your point, weve developed it all in house. The second thing is, you need your own content. You can go buy content; licensing content is what a lot of companies do today, but its much better if youre creating your own proprietary content, which is whats happening at Nextdoor. And then the third thing is you need an audience that you can test your LLMs against, because thats how they get smarter. And with 100 million users, we obviously have a very large fish bowl.Would you ever license that AI?Its something that we get asked all the time by investors. I have a very strong point of view on this, [which is]: if you can find Nextdoor content, whether its Google or OpenAI or Microsoft Passport, why would you come to Nextdoor? So my personal opinion is if theres a platform that has a proprietary database of content that is the reason their users visit them, its very, very, very dangerous for them to then give that to one of the places where, frankly, consumers would rather go first. I would never say never. But the strong point of view I have is: if you want the value of Nextdoor, I want you to come to Nextdoor.Youve known [famed VC] Bill Gurley for years. Hes on the board of Nextdoor. According to The Information, he engineered your ouster, then called you back after growth had flattened. Is that an accurate retelling?No, its not accurate. But look, there was nobody around the company that was excited about its trajectory. I mean, we had gone public and our stock was down 90%. It wasnt a Bill Gurley thing or a Nirav Tolia thing or any one individual. It was clear that we needed to do something. Bill is someone who Ive known since 1996. Ive worked with him since 1999 when he funded my first company. I dont know that theres been anyone whos been more influential in my professional career than Bill. I think extremely highly of him. We dont always agree, but weve had an amazing working relationship through three different companies, and hes invaluable to me, and he was invaluable when I left Nextdoor and he was invaluable when we were on the board together, and none of us were happy. It wasnt just me and Bill. It included Sarah Friar, who was CEO at the time. We all want to try to make this company great, and were just trying to find a way to do that.Do you want to do it as a public company? I wonder if theres any benefit, with all that you want to do, to taking Nextdoor private again. Have you talked to any [private equity] buyers about that?We dont comment on those kinds of things. But [its] a really interesting question, which is, theoretically, would we consider going private. Just going back to Bill, I had many conversations with Bill about this, because obviously Bill has primarily been a private company investor and Ive primarily been a private company CEO, so thats a comfortable place to be, because weve done it for many decades.When youre a public company, the quarterly results matter a lot. When youre a public company, your score, which is your stock price, is something that youre seeing in real time every single day, whereas as a private company, as long as you have a good relationship between your investors and the management, you can take long-term bets, and you can do things that may affect short term metrics without really feeling the pain of an instant external reaction at the same time.What Bill and I talked about is, if you really want this company to be great, you need to do it as a public company. Its kind of the equivalent of, do you want to play in the Major Leagues or the minor leagues? I mean, private companies are still minor leagues. When you eventually go public, there are more responsibilities. You are tracked more closely. You do have more skepticism around you. And there are people who care deeply about short-term performance as well as long-term, but those are all muscles you need to build anyway. I [also] think the cost of going private and then slowly but surely building the thing back up and going public eventually in the future, that would have just felt like walking in a big circle.Who owns Nextdoor at this point? I know you had a sizable position, as did Benchmark. I saw that Cathie Woodss Ark Investment Management recently brought up something like 4% of your Class A shares.Yeah, absolutely. Thats all public information. So I am the largest individual investor. Bill and Benchmark are the largest institutional investors. Neither of us have sold since the IPO, so you should know that we feel very, very, very confident that the potential of Nextdoor is greater than what is seen today, and were working every day to make that a reality, not just for all of our shareholders, but that includes us as the two major shareholders.Cathy is someone who we feel very, very fortunate to have taken a large position in Nextdoor, but theres an interesting thing thats gone on in our industry: We are a subscale company, currently at a billion dollar market cap. Everyone kind of understands the challenges of being subscale. One of them is most big investors, institutional investors theyre not even allowed to buy positions in companies that are sub $3 billion or $4 billion in market cap. And so we want more investors, long-term investors, marquee investors, but weve got to do it slowly but surely because were subscale at the moment, and until we prove ourselves a little bit more, we wont have that opportunity.It just goes back to the same thing that we were talking about a few minutes ago, which is: weve got to prove our value, and thats something that starts with a better product that proves more value for our users, which then allows our advertisers to have a better experience, which allows our financial metrics to be better, and ultimately, all that stuff will take care of itself. But right now, were in a place where pretty much everything were doing has to do better.

Although the OnePlus Open 2 isn't coming this year, a free OnePlus Nord N30 and OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are available when you buy the original model during this Presidents' Day sale -- but don't wait.

ZDNETPresidents' Day is here and plenty of retailers from Amazon to Walmart are taking advantage of the holiday by offering deals and discounts on even the most popular products, including Best Buy.You can shop savings on laptops, TVs, and other top tech. These are my favoritePresidents' Daydeals, which I sourced with help from ZDNET's team of experts, that you can score atBest Buy now.Shop more deals at Best BuyOur favorite Best Buy Presidents' Day dealsSony Bravia X90L TV: Save up to $2,000: Sony's Bravia X90L TV is editor-in-chief Jason Hiner's pick for the best TV for the money, and right now every display size is on sale at Best Buy, starting with the 55-inch model for $1,000.Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids: $140 (save $40): This kid-friendly version of the Kindle Paperwhite has a larger 7-inch and glare-free display for easier reading.GoPro Hero13 Black Camera Bundle: $380 (save $70): Expert Adrian Kingsley-Hughes says the GoPro Hero13 Black is the action camera to beat in his review, and right now, you can snag a full bundle offer for $380, a great value considering the Hero13 camera alone sells for $400 regular price. This kit includes the camera, battery, a mount and accessories, and a USB-C cable.Shark FlexStyle Hair Styler: $250 (save $50): If you're not convinced of the Dyson Airwrap's price even with a discount, Shark's flagship competitor is on sale for under $300.Apple iPad Air 11-inch M2: $499 (save $100): This iPad Air is powered by the older M2 chip, which is still 50% faster than the previous M1 iteration. Plus, this price matches one of the lowest offers we've seen since Black Friday, making it a great time to score some winter savings.Sony WH-1000XM4 Headphones: $250 (save $100): TheSony XM4headphones are not the newest model to hit the market, but they're still a great purchase if you're looking for premium sound. Plus, if you're eyeing the newest XM5 model, they're on sale as well for $329, but keep in mind that this model doesn't fold up.Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones: $349 (save $80): Expert reviewer Prakhar Khannaprefers the QuietComfort Ultraheadphones over the popular Sony XM5's for traveling, and right now they're $100 off, selling for the same price we saw during Black Friday.Apple AirTag 4-Pack: $70 (save $29): Perhaps one of ZDNET's favorite recurring deals of all-time, right now you cansave 29% on a four pack of Apple's handy AirTag trackers, which make finding your keys, wallet, purse, and more easier. Plus, this offer matches the lowest price this bundle typically sells for throughout the year, so you can't go wrong.Best Buy Presidents' Day tech deals Nina Raemont/ZDNETBose Ultra Open Earbuds: $229 (save $70): Expert Nina Raemont says these are thebest earbuds she's ever run in, and right now they're 23% off, $20 better savings than those offered during Black Friday.Apple AirPods Max (Lightning): $470 (save $80): The lightning iteration of Apple's popular AirPods Max headphones are on sale at Best Buy for $80 off. Plus, swipe up theUSB-C modelon sale for $480, too.Apple iPad Air 13-inch M2: $699 (save $100): If you're eyeing the larger iPad Air model, lucky for you that's on sale for a same-as-Black Friday price, too. This model also features the M2 chip, but has a slightly larger screen display.Apple iPad Pro 11-inch M4: $1,099 (save $100): Apple's best iPad is on sale for $100 off, too, though this iPad is pretty pricey compared to previous years' iterations. However, you do get the most powerful chip to date, the M4, as well as a tandem OLED display and double the storage as the standard model.Apple Pencil Pro: $99 (save $30): The newest ApplePencil Prois on sale for $30 off, but Apple products don't see discounts often, and this is the best price you can nab right now for this model, especially if you're looking to pair it with a 2024 iPad Pro.iPad 10th Gen: $279 (save $70): This $279 iPad deal is the model editor-in-chief Jason Hinerrecommends to most people, and it's 20% off.Ring Battery Doorbell: $60 (save $40): The newest 2024 Ring battery doorbell is 40% off now, and features head-to-toe video, two-way talk, and full motion detection.Arlo Pro 5S Camera 3-Pack Set: $200 (save $300): Home tech expert Maria Diaz likedthis Arlo camera's great batteryand image quality, but thought it was a tad pricey. This $300 off deal remedies that.Ring Wired Doorbell Pro: $180 (save $50): This Ring wired doorbell option is 22% off right now, and it's ZDNET's top pick for the best wired Ring doorbell.Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro: $200 (save $50): If you prefer Android gear, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are also on sale. Swipe up this pair for 20% off and grab top features like noise cancellation, real time interpretation, sound optimization and more.Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds: $249 (save $50): ZDNET readers snag these Bose earbuds quick when they go on sale, and for good reason. Expert Nina Raemont calls these "the best noise-canceling earbuds on the market," and right now they're $70 off.Best Buy Presidents' Day laptop deals Cliff Joseph/ZDNETApple MacBook Air 13-inch M2: $799 (save $200): Although not the newest Air model (that would be the M3 iteration), the MacBook Air M2 is still a great laptop for most people thanks to its clear display, 18-hour battery life, and comfortable size. Scoring a MacBook under $1,000 is always a great buy in our book.Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M3: $899 (save $200): If you are looking to purchase the newest Air model, the MacBook Air M3 is it. Right now it is also $200 off, and although we saw it for $50 lower during the holiday season, this is still a significant amount of savings for an Apple product.Lenovo IdeaPad: $330 (save $270): Built with Windows 11 and an Intel 12-gen core i5 processor, this laptop is thin and compact and gets up to 11 hours of battery life.Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M4: $1,499 (save $100): The M4 MacBook Pro is the newest model on the market with the most powerful chip yet. Right now, it's 100 off, bringing it close in price to the previous MacBook Pro M3 model. If you're looking to upgrade your laptop and had plans to jump to the M3, now's a great time to score an M4.Microsoft Surface Laptop: $750 (save $250): This Microsoft laptop has a stylish form factor and a marathon battery life per expert Kyle Kucharski, and right now it's $250 off.Lenovo Yoga 7i: $550 (save $350): This Lenovo 2-in-1 model can easily flip between a tablet and a laptop. It features a handy 14-inch display, Dolby Atmos sound, and more.HP Envy 2-in-1: $450 (save $400): This laptop has built-in AI technology to run AI applications more smoothly so you can better multi-task. Plus HP Fast Charge allows you to go from 0% to 50% charge in around 45 minutes.ASUS Chromebook Plus: $349 (save $150): This laptop is built with Google AI, and you get 12 months of the Google One AI Premium plan for free, along with 2TB of additional storage when you buy.Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: $1,080 (save $520): A high-end laptop for both gaming and content creation. With a 165Hz refresh rate, RTX 4070 graphics card, and 512GB SSD.Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: $1,300 (save $200): A mid-range gaming laptop built with a 14th gen Intel Core i9 and RTX 4060 graphics card.Asus Vivobook S 14: $550 (save $400): An excellent laptop for students, office work, and casual use with an OLED display, Intel Core Ultra 5 processor, and 512GB SSD.Lenovo LOQ 15: $650 (save $150): An entry-level gaming laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5 7235HS processor, Nvidia RTX 3050 GPU, and a 512GB SSD.Best Buy Presidents' Day TV deals Kerry Wan/ZDNETSamsung The Terrace Partial Sun 75-inch Class QLED 4K TV: $5,000 (save $1,500): Samsung's popular The Terrace TV is $1,500 off right now, and is the perfect pick for an outdoor setting thanks to its weatherproof design.LG 65-inch Class C4 Series OLED: $1,500 (save $300 at Best Buy): This TV has AI-assisted deep learning that analyzes what you're watching to choose the best picture and sound setting for your content.Samsung 75-inch Class DU6950 Crystal 4K Smart TV: $500 (save $250): One of Best Buy's top-selling deals right now, this 75-inch Samsung TV offers 4K resolution, superior brightness, and high contrast colors. It's on sale for over $200 off.Insignia F30 43-inch Series Smart Fire TV: $150 (save $50): Another top-selling offer, this Insignia TV just got a little more budget-friendly thanks to a $50 off deal. It features an LED display and 4K resolution, and is a great size for dorms, offices and more.Sonos Arc 5.0.2 Channel Soundbar: $650 (save $251): This smart soundbar will hook you up with Dolby Atmos and clear, crisp sound for your at home setup. Right now, save over $250.TCL 55-inch Class QM7 4K UHD: $500 (save $300): TCL's High Brightness ULTRA Direct LED Backlight produces up to 2,400+ nits peak brightness for dazzling specular highlights, perfect for any viewing environment.Samsung S84D 77-inch OLED: $1,800 (save $1,500): Samsung's lower-end OLED TV offers signature picture quality and object tracking sound at a more affordable price.Roku Pro 65-inch: $800 (save $400): The popular streaming platform's flagship Mini-LED TV supports AMD Freesync Premium Pro VRR for console gaming, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Vision IQ.Best Buy Presidents' Day appliance deals Daniella Ramirez/ZDNETDyson V15 Detect Extra Cordless Vacuum + 10 Accessories: $600 (save $200): Dyson vacuums are always popular buys during sale events, and right now you can snag the Dyson V15 Detect cordless stick vaccum, as well as 10 accessories for $200 off. This is managing editor Alison DeNisco Rayome's favorite model, too.LG 7.4 Cu. Ft. Stackable Smart Electric Dryer: $900 (save $250): This energy-efficient dryer features a spacious drum, TurboSteam technology to reduce wrinkles and odors, and AI technology that automatically selects optimal drying settings for enhanced fabric care and convenience.Samsung AutoRelease Dry Smart Built-In Stainless Steel Dishwasher: $700 (save $290): Quiet operation (42 dBA), fingerprint-resistant finish, and powerful cleaning from the StormWash+ system makes this deal a win.Insignia 13.8 Cu. Ft. Garage Ready Upright Freezer: $500 (save $250): This stainless steel, energy-efficient storage solution isn't just a freezer; it features adjustable shelves and door bins, temperature alarm and auto-defrost functionality, and the ability to convert between freezer and refrigerator modes.LG 28.7 Cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator: $1,500 (save $489): With its dual ice maker, IcePlus acceleration technology, and Smart Cooling system, this 3-door refrigerator/freezer offers ample storage and advanced features at a great discount. Whirlpool 24.6 Cu. Ft. Side-by-Side Stainless Steel Refrigerator: $1,100 (save $520): As a spacious and energy-efficient refrigerator, it features adjustable glass shelves, a built-in water and ice dispenser, and a fingerprint-resistant finish.GE 27 Cu. Ft.French Door Refrigeator: $1,500 (save $660): This spacious fridge comes with a filtered water dispenser as well as two humidity-controlled drawers that ensure your fruits and vegetables stay fresh for a long time.Samsung High-Efficiency Front Load Washer: $800 (save $325): This smart washer lets you remotely stop and start a load via the SmartThings App, and is equipped with Super Speed Wash, which powerfully cleans a full load of laundry in just 28 minutes.Samsung 6.3 cu.ft. slide-in induction range: $1,000 (save $2,105): A sleek, stainless steel induction top range with Wi-Fi connectivity and Air Fry function. When is Presidents' Day? Presidents' Day is always celebrated on the third Monday of February. This year, it falls on Feb. 17, just a few days after Valentine's Day. Show more How did we choose these deals? ZDNET only writes about deals we want to buy -- devices and products we desire, need, or would recommend. Our experts looked for deals that were at least 20% off (or are hardly ever on sale), using established price comparison tools and trackers to determine whether the deal is actually on sale and how frequently it drops.We also looked over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the deals we're recommending. Our recommendations may also be based on our own testing -- in addition to extensive research and comparison shopping. The goal is to deliver the most accurate advice to help you shop smarter. Show more When will these deals expire? Best Buy's Presidents' Day sale is expected to run from Feb. 10-17, but it's likely some of these deals may hang around a bit after that, especially at competing retailers. However, if there's something you're eyeing, we'd recommend scooping it up now.Deals are subject to sell out or expire at any time, though ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best product deals for you to score the best savings. Our team of experts regularly checks in on the deals we share to ensure they are still live and obtainable. We're sorry if you've missed out on a deal, but don't fret -- we're constantly finding new chances to save and sharing them with you atZDNET.com. Show more Does Amazon have a Presidents' Day sale? Yes, Amazon does offer significantsales and discountsfor Presidents' Day 2025. In fact, many of the retail giant's Presidents' Day deals are already live with sales underway, overlapping with the Amazon Valentine's Day discounts. With less than a week between the two holidays, there's lots of savings to be had for consumers. Show more ZDNET Recommends

Leaving an unfulfilling relationship is tough, as you might struggle to let go of the time youve ... [+] invested. Here are three reasons behind this sunk cost mindset and how to move forward.gettyOne of lifes hardest decisions is letting go of a relationship that no longer fulfills you, especially when youve spent years together. It can be incredibly difficult, both emotionally and psychologically.This could be due to the sunk cost fallacya mental trap where people continue investing in something because of how much theyve already put into it.People also exhibit this tendency in relationships, where they refuse to walk away from connections that no longer serve them. Instead of assessing their happiness in the present, they focus on how much time, effort and love theyve already given, making the idea of leaving feel like a loss rather than an opportunity for growth and new beginnings.However, staying in an unfulfilling relationship doesnt just preserve the pastit actively takes away from future possibilities, personal growth and emotional well-being.If youve ever felt torn between staying and leaving, youre not alonebut you do have the choice to break free.Here are three ways to overcome the sunk cost mindset and make relationship choices that serve your happiness.1. Self-Reflect To Get Past Cognitive DissonanceCraving consistency is normal. Even if a long-term relationship is unfulfilling, it can still feel familiar, safe and comfortable due to the sheer time spent being in it. In fact, the more we invest in our relationships, the more dependent we may feel on our partners.This increased dependency reinforces commitment bias, making it likely for us to continue investing time, effort and emotional labor in a relationship that may no longer be fulfilling.In such relationships, we often cling to good memories and downplay our unhappiness, creating a mental conflict known as cognitive dissonance. This occurs when our desire to see the relationship positively clashes with the reality of our dissatisfaction.To reduce this discomfort, we convince ourselves to stay, often by rationalizing the situation or focusing on the few positives. The fear of losing whats familiar can feel scarier than the possibility of finding something better.For instance, you may have convinced yourself to stay because at least, they dont cheat, even though they fail to support you emotionally. But staying in a relationship out of comparison or minimal standards doesnt foster true happinessit only prolongs dissatisfaction.Instead of viewing a long-term relationship as a sunk cost, we can reframe it as a valuable chapter in our life that contributed to personal growth. After all, change is often necessary for progress.Navigating this dissonance may take time, but honest self-reflection is key. Acknowledging both the highs and lows without distorting ones reality can help break free from the cycle of rationalization. Seeking outside perspectiveswhether through therapy, trusted friends or familycan offer the clarity needed to make peace with moving forward.2. Focus On Self-Growth To Overcome Relationship AmbivalenceWhen we think about ending a relationship, we dont make the decision lightly. You may question What if I regret leaving? What about all the time and effort weve put in? What if I never find anyone else?Research also suggests that people often experience ambivalence, feeling equally torn between staying and leaving. Researchers suggest that people with anxious attachment styleswho crave closeness but also fear rejectiontend to struggle the most with this decision. They may deeply value their partner, but also experience frequent relationship conflicts, making it hard to choose a clear path.By staying, they may unknowingly close the door to meeting someone truly compatible or focusing on their own personal growth. Over time, this can lead to frustration, stress and emotional exhaustion.If a fear of being alone drives you to stay, focus on seeking support and personal growthhobbies, friendships and self-fulfilmentwhich can shift your perspective from loss to opportunity.3. Embrace Prospective ThinkingTo overcome the sunk cost fallacy, its essential to shift from focusing on past investments to future well-being. Prospective thinking involves evaluating decisions based on their potential to enhance future happiness.So, ask yourself Will staying in this relationship make me happier a year from now? Consider what you might gain by leaving, such as emotional freedom, personal growth or the opportunity to find a more compatible partner. Reframing the relationship as a learning experience can also help.Instead of lamenting the time already spent together, appreciate the clarity gained about your needs and desires. Recognizing that moving on can save emotional energy and prevent future heartbreak is a crucial step toward making decisions that prioritize your long-term happiness.The time, energy and love youve given werent wastedthey helped shape who you are and pushed you to create a future you deserve. But to move forward, you need to recognize when a relationship has served its purpose and have the courage to embrace new possibilities. Its okay to let go. Sometimes, thats the most loving choice you can makefor both yourself and the other person.Wondering whether youre feeling unfulfilled in your relationship? Take this science-backed test to find out: Relationship Satisfaction Scale