2022 iPhone SE will be based on iPhone XR

Looking ahead at the next generation of iPhone SE, the third rendition of Apple‘s budget phone is expected to release in early 2022. According to reports, rumors suggested that the iPhone SE 3 will be dropped closer to the Spring season. Unlike its predecessor that borrows the design of the iPhone 8, the new SE iteration will adopt the exterior design of the iPhone XR from 2018, equipped with a 6.1-inch display, front notch design, 5G connectivity, and the A15 chip.

The touch ID button is replaced with a side fingerprint scanner, while there will also be Face ID recognition. Rumors suggest that the iPhone SE 3 will be priced slightly above the $400 USD price point similar to the second generation. The SE, which has a classic design language and the only front fingerprint recognition, is still favored by some consumers. It seems that Apple does not intend to give up, and iterative models are revealed to be released next spring. According to the latest news, the iPhone SE 3 will be Apple’s last mobile phone equipped with an LCD display. For those who have no love for OLED, there are few opportunities left. However, it was said earlier that the iPhone SE 3 is still the iPhone 8 model, that is, 4.7-inch screen, front Touch ID , but the latest rumor is that it is based on the iPhone XR, equipped with side fingerprints, of course, does not rule out the front Face ID. A new report from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today reiterated expectations for the next-gen iPhone SE. Kuo believes the two big upgrades will be 5G and an upgraded processor, with the new entry-level iPhone coming in Spring 2022. Kuo reiterates that the 2022 iPhone SE will have a similar design as the existing 4.7-inch iPhone SE.

The Best Black Friday Deals You Can Get Right Now

The majority of Black Friday 2020 deals will launch the day after Thanksgiving (November 26th) in the US as usual, but the pandemic has shaken things up in yet another way. The best deals will be happening online, with fewer in-person sales for the sake of safety. Better yet, some of those great deals are already available, so you can get started on your holiday gift (or personal) shopping. With this post, we’re rounding up the best early Black Friday deals from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Adorama, B&H Photo, Newegg, and anywhere else we find deals you should know about.

Headphones

I love seeing this $72 off deal on Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones (pictured above). It’s happening again at Amazon, matching the lowest price we’ve seen yet. This model of headphones released for $350 in August, improving on the excellent audio quality, sound-dampening noise cancellation, and long battery life of the XM3 from 2018. This newer model doesn’t bring revolutionary changes in either category, but adding multipoint Bluetooth connectivity and auto-pausing sensors makes the XM4 worth seeking out.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus, the best wireless earbuds for most people, pictured in a woman’s ear.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus wireless earbuds are down to just $110 at Amazon and Best Buy. This is the best price we’ve seen for this model, which usually costs $150 outside of any discounts. Compared to the standard Galaxy Buds, this upgraded model that launched alongside the Galaxy S20 series of phones has improved sound quality, microphones, and battery life.

Laptops / tablets

Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 is the best Chromebook you can currently buy, and it’s $80 off its normal price. Normally $629, it’s now $549. That might not seem like much, but it’s a good value if you want a high-end Chromebook experience, with a 3:2 aspect ratio display, a decent processor, and 128GB of SSD storage.

 

Misc. deals

The Apple Watch SE was already the most affordable Watch that Apple made at $279, but it’s even cheaper at Amazon, Walmart, and Target. You can score the 40mm GPS version for $230 or the larger 44mm Watch for $260 at Amazon or Walmart. Each size looks similar to the more expensive Series 6 but lacks the always-on display and a few other features. The Apple Watch SE aligns more with the Series 5 in terms of specs, but at $230, it’s a fantastic value. Here’s an in-depth post on how the SE differs from other recent Apple Watch models.

The Apple Watch Series 6 is also cheaper than usual at Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Normally $400 for the 40mm GPS model, it’s down to $350 for the first time for Black Friday. Previously, just a $20 drop was noteworthy.

Peak Design has kicked off its “Super Massive Black Friday sale” with sizeable discounts on bags and tripods. It might be tough to imagine when you might next need a durable backpack that can fit a lot of gadgets within, but the company’s “Everyday” lineup of bags is 20 percent off. Its bigger “Travel” bags are also discounted.

If you’re into photography, Peak Design’s Travel Tripod and a few accessories that are compatible with it are cheaper than usual.

Gaming

If you’re having trouble narrowing down what games you want, why not get several? Target is hosting a “get three for the price of two” deal on video game purchases even for newer titles like Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon, to name a few. The list goes on, though one thing that isn’t eligible are first-party Sony games for the PS5, like the Demon’s Souls remake, but you can pickup Godfall, which is available on Sony’s next-gen console (and on PC.) Even Cyberpunk 2077, a game coming out next month is eligible for this promotion.

Watch Dogs: Legion, the latest installment in Ubisoft’s hack-anything, open-world game, is down to $50 at Amazon, that’s $10 off, while it’s not the lowest we have seen this game go down, this title recently came out and this is still a good discount. What makes this deal even better is that each version will net you an upgrade to the Xbox Series X / S or PS5 copies for free. Even if you don’t have much interest in the game, it’s an affordable way to check out what impressive ray-tracing graphics look like on the new console hardware.

PC upgrades

If you want 2TB of fast storage for your PC, Samsung’s 2TB 970 Evo Plus NVMe SSD is $250 at Newegg and Amazon, beating the lowest price by about $40. Over the summer, the price was steady at $350. A PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSD like this will fit in only certain kinds of motherboards (so check before you buy). Alternatively, it can also make for a very fast USB-C drive if you get an M.2 enclosure for it. Either route you take, you’ll get a lot of speedy storage.

Stay tuned for more deals.

Here’s our first look at Huawei’s Mate 40 Pro

Huawei announced the Mate 40 Pro yesterday, and now we have one in hand. It might not be easy to recommend Huawei phones outside of China, since the Trump administration’s targeted sanctions have prevented it working with US companies like Google, but devices like the P40 Pro Plus and last year’s Mate 30 Pro have had hardware as impressive as anything else on the global smartphone market. 

 

The situation shouldn’t be any different with the new Mate 40 Pro. It’s likely to be Huawei’s most advanced device yet even if there are still questions over the extent to which the company is actually able to manufacture it. I thought the Mate 30 Pro was the best-looking phone released in 2019, and the Mate 40 Pro builds on that design. The unit I have is in the “Mystic Silver” colorway, which Huawei is promoting the most heavily. It’s a lot more unusual than the name makes it sound the back is frosted glass, but there’s a kaleidoscopic effect where the phone shimmers different colors depending on the light. It looks great. The camera module is circular, as it was last year, but this time the lenses are arranged in a ring around the Leica logo. I think I preferred the Mate 30 Pro’s two-tone glossy effect a little better, but Huawei says this year’s model was inspired by a black hole, so make of that what you will. This is still an attractive device from behind. Around the front, the notch has been jettisoned in favor of a double-wide hole punch cutout for the dual selfie cameras. The OLED display is a little bigger this year at 6.76 inches, and it still has the 88-degree “waterfall” curves on the edges, which Huawei calls a “horizon” display. These edges mean the power button on the side is still pushed back further to the rear than on most other phones. Unlike the Mate 30 Pro, however, Huawei has found space for physical volume buttons this time, which should be an improvement in usability. Overall the Mate 40 Pro is looking like another physically and technically impressive Huawei flagship phone, and I’m looking forward to finding out what the company has managed to achieve particularly with the camera and the new Kirin 9000 processor. The software, of course, will be another matter entirely. Stay tuned for a full review.

Nintendo Switch With New Pokémon-Themed Controllers

Pokémon fans will have the option of playing Nintendo Switch Pokémon-style: HORI, one of the world’s first third party console accessories maker, has pulled the curtain back on controllers decorated with Pikachus, Poké balls and Eevees. HORI’s vibrant iterations of the Split Pad Pro Controllers and D-Pad Controllers are officially licensed by Nintendo.

 

The Split Pad Pro, with a slightly bulkier handle compared to the default Joy-Cons, has been decorated in two styles one displaying both Pikachu and Eevee and one with just Pikachu. Closely resembling Joy-Cons, the D-Pad controller is made with the same dimensions; the only difference between the two is the D-Pad control that replaces the Joy-Con’s four buttons it also only works on handheld mode. Both controllers come in colorways of black and mint green. HORI’s Pokémon-themed Nintendo Switch controllers are currently available for pre-order on the HORI’s website, ranging from $25 – $60 USD. In case you missed it, check out HORI’s Pikachu-style Nintendo Switch accessory collection.

Fortnite is getting Nvidia RTX ray tracing support on computer

Nvidia on Tuesday announced that Epic Games is bringing real-time ray tracing to the PC version of Fortnite. The announcement came as part of the company’s Ampere graphics card live stream, where we expect Nvidia to show off the RTX 3090 graphics card later today.

Fortnite will support DLSS 2.0, Nvidia’s feature that uses AI to boost frame rates while keeping the ray tracing effects boosted to their maximum. The video clip above shows some high-fidelity surface reflections.
When ray tracing launched with the RTX 20-series, Nvidia struggled to attract large-scale games to adopt it right away. But support is growing, and it doesn’t get much larger in scale than Fortnite one of the most popular games in the world. Tune into Nvidia’s live stream for more announcements.

Sony Opens Pre-Order Registration for the PlayStation 5

With anticipation building, Sony has now opened pre-order registration for the PlayStation 5. The pre-order registration offers eager games the chance to guaranteed that they get their hands on the next-gen console the moment it is released. A limited quantity of PS5 consoles will be allocated for a group of existing customers with a first-come-first-serve basis for those chosen.

The pre-order registration is limited to those with a PSN account and there is a maximum to what you can get early access to (one PS5 Console/PS5 Digital Edition, two DualSense Wireless Controllers, two DualSense Charging Stations, two Pulse 3D Wireless Headsets, two Media Remotes, two HD Cameras). But the catch is, Sony has not offered how much customers chosen will have to pay and when they will receive their order. For those that lucky enough to be offered the pre-order, they will need to blindly pay and just patiently wait for when the PS5 is officially released. Head over to Sony now to register for an opportunity to be one of the first to pre-order the PlayStation 5.

Google Stadia tests 4G and 5G Streaming

You can now play games on Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service on your Android phone over 4G and 5G connections, though you have to opt in to an “experiment,” Google announced today (via 9to5Google). Since the service’s launch in November 2019, you’ve only been able to play Stadia games on your phone over Wi-Fi that is, unless you tricked Stadia into playing over a cellular connection by tethering a laptop to a phone or hotspot.

If you want to opt in to the experiment, open up the Stadia app on your Android phone, tap on your avatar, select Experiments, and then “Use Mobile Data,” according to Google. Sean found that when he played Stadia over a 90Mbps LTE connection for his review, “the experience ranged from totally playable to annoyingly stuttery.” But that was all the way back in November 2019, and it’s unclear if Google has made changes to make things run smoothly more consistently when playing over a cellular network, especially when it’s a direct connection (as opposed to a tethered one). Today’s news is one of many notable updates to Stadia since its launch, including bringing the service to practically any Android phone, allowing the Stadia controller to work wirelessly with Android devices, and launching a free version of the service.