Nvidia has just properly unveiled RTX Spark alongside Microsoft’s flagship Surface Laptop Ultra, heralding what Jensen Huang said about reinventing the PC — massive unified memory, local AI and desktop-class power in a portable chassis.

If you ask AMD, however, Nvidia didn’t invent a new category. Instead, it validated one Team Red has been selling for over a year. Speaking directly after the RTX Spark reveal, Mike Nordquist, CVP of Client Product Marketing, didn’t hold back with me.

Between calls to celebrate industry competition and pointed critiques of Nvidia’s hardware architecture, Nordquist laid out a sharp, pragmatic case for why AMD believes its second-generation Ryzen AI Max 400 series (codename Gorgon Point Halo) leaves Nvidia’s new darling in the dust.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

'Nvidia is just getting started'

While Nvidia embraces the unified-memory laptop, AMD was quick to point out that it kicked off this exact architecture with Strix Halo back in early 2025.

“The exciting part is just the category development. We introduced a similar product in early 2025, so having more people come in and validate that, and you see Microsoft beefing up, I think that’s good overall. Competition is good overall,” Nordquist commented.

“We’re in our second generation that we just announced in the last month, which brings 50% more capacity [than RTX Spark]. So you can get higher capability [AI] models than maybe what you saw today.”

This cuts straight to the core of one thing AMD does have an advantage over Nvidia on — core memory. RTX Spark caps out at 128GB of unified memory, but AMD’s Gorgon Halo pushes that ceiling to 192GB. As Nordquist says himself, that gives you “bigger models up to 300 billion parameters,” which ensures a “higher quality.”

The elephant in the keynote: why did nobody say “Arm”?

Quick explainer to kick this off. AMD and Intel CPUs are built on an x86 architecture — the architecture that’s been used by Windows PCs for over 30 years. It has its down sides, but the main strength here is its the default native standard. It’s been around for ages and chips are built for it.

Nvidia’s RTX Spark and Snapdragon X Elite use an Arm architecture. Arm’s not new, but comparatively, it’s the new kid on the block which does introduce some power efficiency gains.

However, it’s main issue is emulating these apps built for x86 into Arm. There’s a performance penalty there, as it needs to translate the code as you use the app at the same time.

This is probably the sharpest jab from Nordquist. Not about raw AI performance or memory bandwidth, but the glaring omission in Nvidia and Microsoft’s keynote. Across the entire launch, the word “Arm” was practically scrubbed from the script.

“Everything just runs native [on AMD], and I still don’t know what that experience is going to be, how great the CPU is going to be,” Nordquist pondered. “We feel really good that everything just runs out of the box with out product. And I think those questions remain [with RTX Spark].”

When pressed on whether Windows on Arm is finally staging an unstoppable coup against traditional x86 computing, Nordquist dismissed the supposed architectural superiority of Arm outright.

“I don’t think there’s anything magic about going to Arm — that it’s going to be lower power or some other attribute out there. I don’t think we’ve ever believed that, and I don’t think Intel probably believes that as well,” Nordquist responded.

“I didn’t hear Arm mentioned once. It was interesting in their keynote that neither Nvidia nor Microsoft talked about it.

Thirty years of laptop DNA vs a GPU giant’s first clamshell

Nvidia might dominate AI data centers and even make the dedicated GPUs for gaming laptops. But when it comes to the messy, compromise-heavy reality of consumer laptops — thermal throttling, battery curves, sleep states and legacy software — Nordquist hammered how that building a standalone laptop platform is a different beast.

“They’re new to the laptop market in general. We’ve been doing it for 30 years-plus in this space, so I think we know how to run Windows,” Nordquist added.

“There’s no emulation; the games are just going to run natively. You’re buying into something that’s going to work, and not having to worry about whether something’s going to break. You’re just kind of covered with what we have.”

The silicon war moves to the bench

Nordquist’s retort lands with some weight because it exposes Arm’s hurdles and the challenge Nvidia has:

• The compatibility tax: Microsoft has worked hard on its Windows Prism Emulation layer for translating x86 apps to Arm, but running that translation still risks edge-case performance hits. Conversely, AMD’’s x86 architecture guarantees zero translation overhead for hefty software and native PC gaming.
• The memory ceiling: Nvidia’s 128GB unified cap is undeniably impressive, but AMD’s 192GB ceiling gives local AI 50% more breathing room for more concurrent agents.
• The category reality: Nvidia’s joined a party AMD rocked up to a year ago. The company has already spent 12 months taking consumer feedback and refining the second-generation silicon.

But ultimately, the time for talk is over. Nvidia brought serious star power, but AMD isn’t blinking. Now it’s time for real-world benchmarking to see whether Nvidia’s Arm silicon can actually match AMD’s battle-tested x86 brute force.

More from Tom's Guide

• I didn’t believe an Nvidia RTX Spark laptop would have the same performance both on and off the charger — so I put it to the test
• AMD just flaunted its own 192GB monster chip to spoil Nvidia’s RTX Spark party — Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 should worry Apple, too
• I just tested Windows 11 26H2 — here’s how to update now and why Microsoft finally fixed the two worst things about Windows 11

In the era of privacy becoming almost nonexistent, we need to take every measure we can to reclaim some sense of security. Naturally, it’s not as convenient as it should be to protect yourself — we have traded convenience for privacy after all. But most operating systems have features, although buried beneath submenus, to make your device and data more secure.

If you're a macOS user, there are few settings you should enable to enhance your security — here are some of them.

Enable macOS Firewall and Stealth Mode

Connecting to new Wi-Fi? I highly recommend enabling Firewall. It’s not necessarily difficult to find, but it is disabled by default. That’s because a fresh install of macOS doesn’t have any services with open ports to be exploited.

macOS does have a built-in security feature called Gatekeeper, which ensures only trusted software runs on your Mac, but it’s not a network security tool, so incoming ports can still be exploited. This is especially the case if you’re using public Wi-Fi. In which case, enabling Firewall will prevent unwanted access from malicious actors.

To activate Firewall, navigate to the Apple logo > System Settings > Network > Firewall. Firewall should still allow incoming connections from trusted sources like Zoom or Spotify. However, in rare cases, you could run into connectivity issues with certain software.

You should also find Stealth Mode in the same section. This will make your Mac invisible when you're on public networks.

Activate FileVault

If you feel like your Mac is ever at risk of being lost or stolen, then you should activate FileVault. This is a disk encryption that scrambles your data for anyone trying to read your SSD, in or out of the Mac. In order to enable this, navigate to System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault and turn it on.

From there, you can choose to back up your recovery key to your iCloud account or produce a local recovery key, so you can physically jot it down and store it somewhere inaccessible to other people. I recommend the latter if you’re worried about someone potentially breaching your iCloud account.

Go into Lockdown Mode

This may be an intense measure to take, but setting your Mac to Lockdown Mode will strengthen the overall security of your device. It blocks FaceTime calls from unknown contacts, Just-In-Time JavaScript compilations in Safari, and even some file attachments in the Messages app.

This ensures that both click and zero-click exploits won’t execute and infect your system (no defense is perfect, though, so don’t start randomly clicking things). Lockdown Mode also stops USB devices from connecting to your Mac while it’s locked.

You can enable Lockdown Mode by going to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Lockdown Mode.

It's worth nothing that there is a huge trade off when using Lockdown Mode. Naturally, you might not receive that call or message attachment you’re expecting from a known person on an unknown number. You won’t be able to see link previews. Services like Google Sheets or Canva might slow down or even break. Some UI and font elements might also break, making it difficult if not impossible to navigate certain webpages. You can work around this, however, by excluding trusted sites from Lockdown Mode in the Safari settings.

Bottom line

While some of the measures may seem extreme, I highly recommend it for people who travel. You never know when you could be exposed, both physically or digitally, and it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially if you’re in a place far from home.

Also, if you’re looking for a feature to disable instead, I recommend turning off the Safari setting that allows files to open after downloading. Navigate to Safari > Settings > General and disable Open safe files after downloading. The last thing you need is a file on some random website automatically downloading and sneaking past Safari’s safety feature to then open on your device and wreak havoc.

More from Tom's Guide

• Does antivirus software still slow down your PC in 2026? We tested the top security software to find out
• AI scams are getting scary realistic — 4 red flags to watch out for
• Is your smart home leaking data? 5 easy ways to secure your connected devices

As a lab tester at Tom’s Guide, I get to benchmark the best laptops. From best Chromebooks and Windows laptops to the best MacBooks and best Android tablets, I’ve tested it all. But I don’t get a new operating system and platform to try very often. That’s why I was very excited to get my hands on the new Googlebooks, especially the Lenovo Googlebook 15.

After spending several days with the Lenovo Googlebook 15, I think Google is really onto something. This 15.3-inch OLED laptop combines a gorgeous display, great performance for Android apps, a fresher take on phone integrations, and genuinely useful AI features.

It's not perfect, though. Battery life is a little underwhelming, and the underlying Googlebook OS still has some early bugs and compatibility issues to work out. But as the largest Googlebook, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is an excellent showcase for this new laptop platform.

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is Lenovo’s newest laptop powered by Googlebook OS. Naming aside, it is effectively an Android laptop with cool UI layers and fancy AI features on top of the OS—all optimized for keyboard and mouse.
• Who is it for? Those in the Android ecosystem, or who prefer a Google-powered laptop over Windows or macOS. Also ChromeOS users who want a more premium device.
• What does it cost? It starts at $1,150 from Lenovo, or $1,099 from Best Buy.
• What do we like? The Lenovo Googlebook 15 has a sleek design, beautiful OLED screen, great everyday performance, tons of useful AI features, and great synergy with Android phones.
• What don’t we like? The Lenovo Googlebook 15 doesn’t have the best battery life, has minor bugs in Googlebook OS, and needs an Android 17 phone for the best experience.

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: Specs

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: The ups

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 has a lot going for it, including a large 15.3-inch OLED display, a sleek design, strong performance, and useful AI features

Sleek design

Some laptops can be boring, but the Lenovo Googlebook 15 sure isn’t. Lenovo calls this Googlebook color “Cloud Grey,” and it is striking. The colorway isn’t new to Lenovo (it appears on their Legion gaming laptops), but I love it. In a sea of black and gray laptops, it sure stands out.

The laptop is made from a magnesium-aluminum alloy and a carbon fiber blend. Sliding my hands over the lid, I find it has a soft yet marble-like feel (which Lenovo calls a silk-touch coating). Opening and closing the lid every day is a pleasure.

The keyboard deck is flanked by four Dolby Atmos speakers, similar to the MacBook Pro. The underside features a toned-down version of the Google Pixelbook Go’s textured, ribbed, and wavy finish. I am used to the flat aluminum of a MacBook Pro, so this really makes the laptop feel different when it is resting on my lap or when I’m holding it while it’s closed.

Portability is also a plus. While 2.8 pounds might seem heavy for a laptop, I didn’t find this system too much of a burden to carry to and from work. The profile is sleek, measuring about 0.63 inches thick.

A design note unique to Googlebooks systems is the small “Glow Bar” at the top of the device. This is a little bit reminiscent of the glowing white Apple logo on older MacBooks. It’s partially for brand identity, but it isn’t just for show, as it has several purposes.

Power on the Googlebook, and you’ll see a nice RGB glow on the Glowbar. Plug your Googlebook in and out of power, and the Glowbar will display your battery percentage. Finally, use Gemini, and the colors will move with the responses. You can turn it off, but I haven't found much reason to. It’s a nice way to show those around me that I’m using a new and cool Googlebook.

The final aspect I love is the keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard includes special Googlebook OS icons (like Home, Overview, and Back) and shares the same silk texture as the lid. This makes it easy to type. The trackpad has haptic feedback, which makes this MacBook user feel right at home.

Glorious OLED touchscreen

Lenovo packed a 15.3-inch OLED screen into this Googlebook, and it's glorious. OLED isn't unique to the Lenovo Googlebook 15, but its 15.3-inch panel is the largest in the Googlebook lineup (so far), and that extra screen real estate makes a difference in productivity and overall immersion.

I tested this OLED panel while watching several nighttime tours of New York City. The panel delivers deep, inky blacks across the darkened buildings, while the city lights pop with vibrant color and shimmer. An overhead shot of the Freedom Tower and Hudson River was particularly impressive, with reflections of the city lights in the river looking remarkably realistic.

My spreadsheets looked great on the Lenovo Googlebook 15 display. Normally, my eyes hurt after looking at spreadsheets all day on my MacBook Pro’s MiniLED display, but on the Googlebook, the text is crisp and easy to read, with strong contrast between dark and light elements. The extra screen space also lets me stack apps side by side and multitask without plugging into a monitor.

Our lab numbers and comparisons with similarly priced laptops back my experience. This system’s 451.8-nit SDR brightness is nearly identical to the MacBook Air M5 (454.8 nits) and the Galaxy Book 6 Pro (457 nits), while its 1,009-nit HDR peak trails only the Galaxy Book 6 Pro (1,053 nits), showing how well this laptop handles streaming movies and TV shows.

Its 112.8% sRGB and 79.9% DCI-P3 results fall slightly behind those of other laptops, but its 0.21 Delta-E indicates excellent color accuracy. The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is definitely competitive with other premium 15-inch laptops, at least for the display.

Decent performance

Under the hood, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 runs on the Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor and has 16GB of RAM. As part of Intel’s “Panther Lake” line, this chip is the same one found in many mid-range Windows laptops. My Tom's Guide colleague, Tony Polanco, has a full benchmark roundup if you’re curious how these Googlebooks stack up.

I mainly used the Lenovo Googlebook 15 to browse shared copies of work spreadsheets, check my social media feeds in Chrome, and use the Android versions of Firefox, Telegram, and Instagram. For those tasks, this Googlebook is great. I even did something I never could on my MacBook with an iPhone app— I pulled up the Verizon Fios Mobile TV Android app and watched Live TV right from my laptop.

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 makes a great everyday companion to your phone for productivity. Since many apps on Googlebook OS run on Android, it might even replace your phone when it’s not nearby.

While writing this review with about eight Chrome tabs open and those Android apps running, I experienced no lag. Playing a light Android game like Block Blast posed no issues, and the touchscreen made gaming snappier. When I stepped things up with Asphalt Legends, the game performed well in intense races, and I never experienced a lockup, even with Chrome and other apps open in the background.

Based on our lab's benchmarks, you can see why the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is geared toward everyday productivity. It trails the more powerful MacBook Air and Galaxy Book 6 Pro in raw processing and graphics. In Geekbench 6, the 2,463 single-core and 9,956 multi-core scores beat those of Lenovo’s older flagship Chromebook Plus 14 with a MediaTek chip.

Its 4,421 Wild Life Extreme score and 26.52 fps beat the Chromebook Plus 14 but came in well behind the MacBook Air and Galaxy Book 6 Pro. It has enough power for everyday office work and Android apps, but it won't replace a gaming laptop.

Useful AI features

I was never a fan of AI in laptops, but the Lenovo Googlebook 15’s features show how a tech company can do AI right. The AI features I want, including “Magic Pointer” and “Rambler,” are there, but only when I need them.

Magic Pointer is my favorite experience. For instance, when I looked up laptops for this review, I clicked the status bar to enable the feature, then clicked the laptop name, and a small box popped up with my query, which eventually directed me to the Google Gemini app to find more information quickly.

The feature can also be enabled with a cursor shake, but I turned it off to avoid accidental triggers (which happened more than once). It also supports object detection and can detect and look up photos of objects with Gemini for feedback with a quick click.

Rambler, on the other hand, turns into a natural voice to clean up text. To test it out, I opened a message draft to a friend and triggered the feature using my keyboard’s dictation button. To really push its limits, I intentionally messed up what I wanted to dictate: I misstated my friend's home state before correcting myself mid-sentence, accidentally said the wrong month for a planned visit, and rambled through an awkward explanation about canceling a trip to Seattle because of budget constraints and flight issues. Despite the messy input, Rambler instantly filtered out what was wrong and made a clean, well-crafted message.

The Files app and Gemini Notebook also integrate seamlessly. You can add files and choose “Add to Notebook,” making it easier to use the assistant to build complex projects. Files AI also includes a switch that lets you see auto-generated descriptions of Files in the Description column, making them easier to find.

Much to my delight, some of these features are optional and can be turned off. Magic Pointer has an off switch in the settings app, and you can turn off Rambler by switching back to classic voice typing in settings. The Files AI feature in the Files app is optional and can be turned off, too. You can choose not to connect Gemini with Personal Intelligence right out of the box when setting up Googlebook.

Android synergy

Using the Lenovo Googlebook 15 made me want to switch back to Android. That’s largely because of many cool new “Better Together” Android integrations built into Googlebook OS.

While getting the most out of Android phone features on this laptop requires an Android 17 phone, the experience is now more upfront than it was on ChromeOS. It is a little more like what you get when you own a macOS laptop and iPhone. Google has even added desktop widgets and the ability to create folders on the desktop — two things you could never do on a Chromebook.

Setting up this Lenovo Googlebook was easy. I simply scanned a QR code, signed in with my Google account, and the laptop instantly started copying and syncing the content from my Pixel 9 Pro XL Android phone.

Once the two devices were linked, I had all the Android apps I needed right in the launcher. I could continue reading the webpages I started on my phone on the Lenovo Googlebook, cast full-sized, resizable Android apps from my phone to the Googlebook, and transfer files back and forth directly from the Files app using the dedicated section for my Pixel.

This all feels seamless. Unlike on a Chromebook, apps streaming from my Android phone were fully resizable and draggable. Previously, apps streaming through Phone Hub were fixed to a hub at the bottom of the screen.

It’s not entirely new compared with what you’d get on a Chromebook, but this revamped Android phone integration in Googlebook OS is the kind of thing Apple offers with iPhones and macOS. It makes the Lenovo Googlebook 15 a great buy for Android users or Google Pixel fans.

Lenovo Googlebook 15: The downs

While the Lenovo Googlebook 15 has many strengths, it also has notable flaws.

Dependent on Android

As much as I love Android synergy, if you’re planning to use the Lenovo Googlebook 15 with your Android phone, you should ideally run Android 17. Without it, you’ll miss out on “Better Together” features such as “Continue On,” App Streaming, Instant Hotspot, Notification Sync, and Cross-Device File Syncing.

While Google offered to provide us with test phones to ensure the best experience, I had my personal Pixel 9 Pro XL, so that wasn’t an issue. Google also said it’s working with Samsung to roll out compatibility to more phones soon.

Curious about cross-platform features, I also paired the Lenovo Googlebook 15 with my iPhone 17. When I connected the Googlebook via cable and used the out-of-the-box Googlebook OS experience, I was offered the option to copy content from my iPhone, such as my contacts, to the Googlebook. The Googlebook also recognized the apps on my Apple phone, but I had to download them from the Play Store after setup.

I also downloaded the “Link to Googlebook” app on my iPhone. With it, I could see the iMessages from my iPhone on the Lenovo Googlebook 15 — though only the most recent conversations I started on the Googlebook itself appeared in the list. However, messages were sometimes out of sync.

Naturally, all the other “Better Together” features are missing when using Googlebook on the iPhone. This functionality is similar to the Link to Windows app on Windows 11, so it’s nice to see Google thinking about folks outside its own garden.

Disappointing battery life

Huge 15-inch OLED panels, like the one in this laptop, are power-hungry, which is why the Lenovo Googlebook 15 managed only 10 hours and 25 minutes in our Chromebook battery test. Google claims these devices can last up to 16 hours of web browsing, but we didn’t come close because our testing methods differ.

Our battery test is much more demanding than Google’s because it involves browsing at 150 nits across 30 webpages until the device powers down. In my personal tests, I came close to our lab's results.

When running the Lenovo Googlebook 15 through a typical workday starting at 9:30 AM with a full charge, the battery dropped to 43% by 2:30 PM with the screen set to a comfortable 79% brightness. That mixed usage included heavy web browsing, cycling the laptop in and out of sleep, playing Android games, running Android apps, replying to iMessages via Link to Googlebook, and streaming apps from my Pixel.

While I still had about 25% juice left by the time I got home, it's nowhere close to the all-day endurance I get from a MacBook Pro.

Googlebook OS bugs

Overall, the hardware powering the Googlebook experience is great, but the underlying operating system has early bugs that need ironing out. Several software issues make this laptop slightly frustrating to use.

While streaming apps from my Pixel 9 Pro XL to my Googlebook is neat, they sometimes don’t scale properly or crash. Other apps also struggle with the keyboard and mouse, lagging despite a solid Wi-Fi connection and close Bluetooth range. I experienced this most when streaming the Instagram app from my Pixel, but I am hopeful Google can fix this over time.

Downloading apps and games from the Google Play Store needs a close eye. A fresh new badging system will let you know if the app is “optimized for desktop,” “made for desktop,” “compatible with desktop,” “better on the website,” or “built for mobile.” Some top Android games, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and Fortnite, weren't available on my Lenovo Googlebook 15, probably due to their anti-cheat features.

Microsoft Edge, one of my must-have Android apps, has a desktop compatibility badge on the Google Play Store. Although the app downloaded, it refused to work. This is likely because the developer has not yet optimized it for this Intel-powered Lenovo Googlebook. My colleague from Tom’s Hardware was able to open the Microsoft Edge app just fine on his Qualcomm-powered HP Googlebook.

Finally, I couldn't log in to my company's corporate Google account and services on the Lenovo Googlebook 15. Instead, I shared the spreadsheets and documents I usually edit to my personal Google account to gain experience with the Googlebook. That’s likely an IT policy issue, not a hardware problem. Definitely keep this in mind if buying this for work.

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: Verdict

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is one of the most interesting laptops I’ve tested in a while. The gorgeous 15.3-inch OLED display, sleek design, and solid everyday performance make it a great laptop. It’s a strong showcase for the potential of Googlebooks.

However, the real standout is the software. Google’s Android integration makes this laptop feel like the MacBook and iPhone experience Android fans — and ex-ones like me — have been waiting for. Useful AI features like Magic Pointer and Rambler feel practical, not gimmicky.

Unfortunately, battery life is a weakness, and some early Googlebook OS bugs and compatibility issues remain. If you’re a Chromebook, Android, or Pixel user looking for a premium laptop, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is an easy recommendation.

OpenAI, Google, Meta and Anthropic have all acknowledged incidents recently in which their AI models accessed real computer systems without authorization during research or security evaluations.

In OpenAI’s case, agents actively worked their way around restrictions designed to keep them contained, while the other three companies traced their incidents to testing environments that were misconfigured and left connected to the internet.

And as these same companies race to put more autonomous agents into the hands of consumers, the incidents raise an uncomfortable question about how much control AI companies actually have over the technology they’re building.

Here's a look at all the recent attacks and an explanation for each one.

OpenAI’s agents broke into Hugging Face

One of the most alarming examples involved roughly 700 OpenAI agents taking part in a cybersecurity evaluation called ExploitGym, with the attack on Hugging Face unfolding between July 8 and July 13, 2026, according to an investigation by the AI research nonprofit METR and OpenAI’s own report.

The agents were supposed to complete their assigned tasks inside a controlled environment, but they turned OpenAI’s internal Artifactory package registry into an unauthorized message board, coordinated with one another and searched for ways around restrictions meant to keep them isolated from the internet. Their efforts ultimately resulted in a breach of Hugging Face, the popular AI development platform, where OpenAI’s technical report found the agents executed code on 41 production dataset-server workers.

The incident wasn’t a deliberate attack ordered by a human operator. The agents were trying to succeed at their assigned tasks and adopted methods that crossed security boundaries, and OpenAI has conceded that early warning signs in the weeks before the breach could have triggered an earlier response.

OpenAI has since attributed the incident to misaligned behavior, which essentially means AI systems pursuing a goal in ways their creators never intended.

Hugging Face wasn’t the only target. In a September 25 update, OpenAI said it was notifying third parties on a rolling basis wherever its models may have bypassed security controls, impaired online services or otherwise affected outside websites, and that it had notified dozens of them so far. The company later raised that figure to more than 100 organizations, covering notifications sent through September 26.

The activity OpenAI identified includes agents bypassing access controls and using exposed credentials, and some agents modified third-party websites, including by using public wiki pages as makeshift message boards that later required cleanup. OpenAI says its review is ongoing and that it expects to notify more organizations.

It's happened to Google, Meta and Anthropic too

The problem extends well beyond OpenAI.

In August, Meta confirmed a report from The Information that one of its models, which the publication identified as Muse Spark 1.1, had breached another company’s systems during a cybersecurity test.

A Meta spokesperson said a misconfiguration by Irregular, an independent testing firm the company works with, inadvertently gave the model internet access. The model then exploited a vulnerability in a third-party service and made changes to the company’s internal systems.

Meta said the incident did not involve a sandbox escape, and it hasn’t named the affected company or explained what was changed. But the underlying behavior was troubling, since an AI system placed in the wrong environment was capable of taking actions against a real organization.

Google reported a similar problem involving its Gemini models. During a May cybersecurity evaluation, also run with Irregular, a Gemini model that wasn’t supposed to have internet access got online through a configuration problem. It then used publicly available information and guessed credentials to get into systems belonging to three real companies.

Anthropic has disclosed three incidents in which Claude models gained unauthorized access to the production systems of three organizations during cybersecurity evaluations run in Irregular’s environment. The models involved were Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Mythos 5 and an unreleased internal research model. In one case, Opus 4.7 was pointed at a fictional target whose name matched a real company’s live domain.

The problem isn’t that AI is evil

When agents go rogue, it can feel as if the agents are evil, that's really not the case. In each of these cases, the AI agent was not deliberately trying to cause harm. the AI was taking unauthorized actions because it believed those actions will help complete a task.

But even so, they reveal a practical problem about AI agents and how they can be remarkably effect while pursuing a goal without reliably understanding what methods are acceptable.

If an agent is rewarded for completing a task, it may discover shortcuts that violate rules, exploit vulnerabilities or exceed its permissions.

And unlike a traditional chatbot that simply produces text, an autonomous agent can interact with websites, execute code and make changes to connected systems.

Why this matters for everyday AI users

For most people, the immediate risk isn’t that ChatGPT will suddenly start hacking government websites. It’s that AI assistants are becoming increasingly capable of acting on our behalf.

OpenAI’s Dots, which launched September 29 for ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium subscribers, along with ChatGPT Work and other agent-style products, represent a broader shift away from AI that simply answers questions and toward AI that completes tasks. That can mean searching files, interacting with websites, using connected services and carrying out multi-step workflows with less supervision.

The appeal is obvious, since a task that would take you an hour can be handed off to an AI assistant instead. But every additional permission creates another opportunity for something to go wrong.

An agent with access to your email may encounter sensitive personal information, one connected to cloud storage may be able to read documents you never intended to share, and an agent authorized to interact with external services could run into malicious instructions or make an unexpected change.

Bottom line

The solution is not to stop using AI agents. I use them regularly and find them to be incredibly helpful.

Start by checking which accounts, apps and services your AI assistant can access, and disconnect anything you don’t actively need, particularly services containing sensitive financial, medical or personal information.

When possible, require approval before an agent sends messages, changes files, makes purchases or takes other consequential actions. It’s also worth remembering that an AI agent isn’t only limited to doing exactly what you imagined when you gave it an instruction, because a task that sounds straightforward to a human may involve dozens of decisions made by the AI along the way. The fewer permissions an agent has, the less damage an unexpected decision can cause.

More from Tom's Guide

• Amazon and DoorDash take photos of your front door — but good luck finding out when they’re deleted
• I emailed myself every day for a month and let Gemini write back — here's how it transformed my workflow
• ChatGPT-6 just got a huge 'interactive answers' upgrade — and free users get it starting today

The Acer Googlebook 14 ($899) stands out among the other newly released Googlebooks for its relatively low asking price and 2-in-1 convertible design. It still has the hallmarks of the lineup, including a thin, light design, a sturdy aluminum chassis, and a Glowbar to mark it as a Googlebook. It’s certainly a hardware winner, but the software is where things get a bit more complicated.

Inside, the Acer Chromebook 14 packs an Intel Core Ultra 5 Panther Lake chip. That, along with 16GB of RAM, gives it plenty of power to handle multiple open Chrome tabs and various Android apps. The 14-inch OLED touch display is impressive, with everything from websites to videos looking sharp and clear. The roomy keyboard deck, thick keycaps, and large touchpad also make it great for getting work done.

The Gemini-powered AI features are interesting. For instance, wiggling the cursor brings up a chatbox where you can ask Gemini questions about what you’ve selected. The Rambler feature is also useful, as Gemini can clean up your messy dictation and turn it into a properly edited document. You can even dabble in some vibe coding and create Android apps for whatever you need.

Googlebooks are designed to work with the best Android phones, similar to how the best iPhones and best MacBooks seamlessly integrate. If you’re already familiar with the Google and Android ecosystems, then laptops like the Acer Googlebook 14 could be what you’re looking for. However, if you’re an iPhone user or don’t need deep interoperability with your Android phone, you might want to look elsewhere.

Even if machines like the Acer Googlebook 14 feel like suped-up Chromebooks, they do lay the groundwork for future iterations that can better realize the dream of a more integrated Android ecosystem. There's a lot to like about Acer's laptop, but since you need an Android phone to get the most out of it, it’s really only for those users. Find out more in my Acer Chromebook 14 review.

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Acer Googlebook 14 is a 2-in-1 convertible laptop built to work with Android phones.
• Who is it for? This laptop is for Android users who want more interoperability between their phone and laptop.
• What does it cost? The Acer Googlebook 14 starts at $899 at Best Buy.
• What do we like? We like the slim design, vivid 14-inch OLED panel, unique Googlebook AI features, and strong everyday performance.
• What don't we like? We don't like the relatively poor battery life, dependence on Android phones, and sometimes buggy Googlebook OS.

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Specs

Acer Googlebook 14 review: The ups

The Acer Googlebook 14 impresses with its slick design, gorgeous OLED panel, strong performance, and unique AI features.

Lovely design

The Acer Googlebook 14 is one of the thinnest and lightest 2-in-1 laptops I’ve ever reviewed. Thanks to that ultraportable design, I almost forgot I carried it in my bag while traveling. Despite its thin profile, the laptop feels sturdy and durable thanks to its aluminum build. Its smooth surface also feels good in hand.

Opening the laptop with one hand is a cinch, as it smoothly glides up on its hinge. As a 2-in-1, you can fold the display 360 degrees to switch to tablet mode. In this configuration, you basically get a huge Android tablet. Tent mode is great for when you want to kick back and watch videos without having the keyboard in front of you.

Speaking of the keyboard, I like how it’s spacious enough to accommodate my large hands. The keys have a nice travel distance, and the keycaps are plenty thick—which makes typing enjoyable. Another standout feature is the huge touchpad, which never fails to respond to all of my gestures. I wish the touchpad had haptic feedback like some other Googlebooks, but that is a minor nitpick at best.

The keyboard deck has a new Quick Insert key that instantly pulls up emojis, clipboard items, or recent files. That can be useful, but it replaces the traditional Caps Lock key. You can remap it, which is a bummer. However, you can hold the function key and tap Quick Insert to get Caps Lock.

The two speakers flanking the keyboard deck can get pretty loud, though I find the overall sound quality relatively thin. This is a complaint I have with most laptop speakers, so I won’t ding the Acer Googlebook too much for that.

Port selection is minimal at best. It has three USB-C ports, one of which is Thunderbolt 4/USB4, and a single headphone jack. Wireless connectivity options include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. In my experience, I never used more than one USB-C port, but I would have liked at least one USB-A port and an HDMI port.

Rich OLED display

The 14-inch (2880 x 1800) OLED touchscreen on the Acer Googlebook 14 is quite nice. The 120Hz refresh rate also ensures everything moves smoothly. For instance, the latest trailer for the Street Fighter movie looks impressive, with colors popping off the screen thanks to the excellent contrast between dark and light elements. Web pages also look great, with crisp, clear text.

Our lab tests corroborate what my eyes experienced. Color reproduction (sRGB and DCI-P3) leans toward the oversaturated side, which accounts for the bold colors. Color reproduction (Delta-E) is also solid and in line with other laptop displays. Competitors like the Asus Googlebook 14 and 13-inch MacBook Air aren’t as vivid, though their color reproduction is arguably more naturalistic.

Brightness is another highlight. The Acer Googlebook 14 not only has strong SDR brightness, but it also delivers incredible HDR brightness. The chart above shows HDR brightness across 100% of the screen, but our test showed the screen can hit 1083 nits across 10%. That is some bright stuff!

I found the touchscreen to be as responsive as Android tablets I’ve reviewed. Swiping through menus and selecting tabs happens instantaneously. You can certainly argue that the Acer Googlebook 14’s tablet mode works better than a Windows convertible, since Windows 11’s touch interface doesn’t feel as natural as on an Android platform designed for touch.

Strong everyday performance

The Acer Googlebook 14 I reviewed packs an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Thanks to those specs, it’s a fairly decent performer that can handle multiple open Chrome tabs and Android apps without a problem. During my testing, I never noticed any slowdown when switching between websites and apps.

How did Acer’s convertible do in our lab tests? On the Geekbench CPU test, the laptop scored 2465 in single-core performance and 9960 in multi-core. That’s better than the Dell XPS 13 (2026), which packs the same Panther Lake processor and amount of RAM. Of course, the MacBook Air with its M5 chip blows both laptops away in performance.

While you can certainly play some light Android games on the Acer Googlebook 14, don’t expect it to adequately run anything intensive. On the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme GPU performance benchmark, Acer’s machine (like other Intel-powered Googlebooks) didn’t do as well as its Qualcomm-fueled siblings. And, unsurprisingly, the MacBook Air M5 delivered better performance.

Strong interoperability and Gemini features

Googlebooks exist to be companions for your Android phone. The laptop certainly lives up to that promise—for better and worse. For now, let’s stick with the positives, as Google has done a commendable job of creating its own Apple-like synergy between Googlebooks and Android devices.

I used a Google Pixel 9 phone for my testing, and setting up the Acer Googlebook 14 with it was seamless. As soon as I powered on the laptop, I got a notification on the Pixel phone to start the process, which took about 10 minutes since I had a lot of apps and files to transfer. After that, I could effortlessly start work on the phone and continue on the laptop, just like I would on an iPhone and MacBook.

Magic Pointer is one of the standout Googlebooks features. Like I said in the intro, shaking the cursor while hovering over content brings up Gemini. There, you can ask the chatbot to summarize text, translate foreign languages, or organize your calendar. You can turn this feature on or off, and I mostly went with the latter since I didn’t find it particularly useful. That said, it does work as advertised.

Rambler is the other big feature, as the upgraded speech-to-text tool does a nice job of taking your messy stream-of-consciousness ramblings and turning them into a coherent document. During my testing, I purposely switched to talking Spanish, and Rambler had no problem translating it. Again, another feature I wouldn’t normally use since I prefer to write rather than dictate, but it works well.

Create My Widget is for aspiring vibe coders who want to create their own apps. All you have to do is tell Gemini the kind of app you want, and it will create a widget for you. I’m not imaginative, so I had it create a widget to check the weather, and it did so right on the device. I can see folks having a blast with this feature, even if it isn’t something I’d use.

Acer Googlebook 14 review: The downs

On its own, the Acer Googlebook 14 is a fantastic convertible, but it's not perfect.

Only for the Android faithful

One thing is abundantly clear: Googlebooks like Acer’s cannot truly function on their own. Sure, you can do some of the basics, like browse the web or fire up YouTube. But for anything meaningful, such as Better Together features like Continue On, App Streaming, Instant Hotspot, Notification Sync, and Cross-Device File Sync, you’ll need an Android phone. That’s swell if you’re an Android user, but it leaves everyone else in the lurch.

In fairness to Google, you can transfer apps and files from your iPhone. The same is true for iMessages when you use the Link to Googlebook app from the Apple App Store. That’s all great, but I still felt limited in what I could do between an iPhone and Googlebook. Again, to get the most from a Googlebook, you’ll need an Android phone—which effectively shuts out iPhone users, likely myself.

Googlebook OS is limited

Googlebook OS is a brand-new operating system. As a result, it has some growing pains.

For example, apps that you stream from your phone don’t always scale correctly to the laptop’s screen. And even though this is an Android laptop, some Android games and apps either don’t perform as intended or crash completely.

Another issue my colleagues and I had was that we couldn’t log into our company’s corporate Google account and services. Because of that, I couldn’t use the Acer Googlebook 14 as my everyday laptop as I do with every notebook I review. This is an IT policy and not a problem with the laptop itself, but it’s something to keep in mind if you work for a large company.

I’m sure Google will keep ironing out Googlebook OS’ kinks over time, but right now, don’t expect a completely flawless experience, as you will run into the occasional hiccup during use.

Poor battery life

Based on our testing, laptops with Panther Lake processors generally have solid battery life. I expected the same from Googlebooks powered by Intel’s silicon, but I’m sad to report that this isn’t the case. Though the Acer Googlebook 14 doesn’t have atrocious battery life, it also doesn't match what you'd get from contemporary laptops.

Google said its laptops can last between 14 and 16 hours. However, our tests show otherwise. In our testing, which is the same as the one we’ve used on Chromebooks in the past, the Acer Googlebook 14 lasted 10 hours and 25 minutes. Compare that to the XPS 13 with the same Intel chip (and a smaller battery), which lasted four and a half hours longer.

You can read my article about why Googlebooks have a battery-life problem for more details on our testing methods and how they compare to Google’s. But suffice it to say, Intel-powered Googlebooks are not battery-life champs. If you plan to use the Acer Googlebook 14 on the road, don’t forget to bring its charger!

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Verdict

On its own, the Acer Googlebook 14 is a great 2-in-1 laptop. Its lightweight, classy design suits any environment, and the beautiful 14-inch OLED panel is perfect for both work and play. Being the most affordable Googlebook right now is another feather in its cap.

The main sticking point with the Acer Googlebook 14 and others in this lineup is Googlebook OS. Again, if you’re a die-hard Android user who wants a laptop that communicates near flawlessly with your phone, this and the other Googlebooks are certainly worth considering. However, if you’re an iPhone user or prefer Windows laptops, there isn’t much here to sway you over.

Apple has confirmed it will be hosting an event on October 13, which is expected to include the first wave of Apple's first-party smart home devices — plus a few old favorites like HomePod and Apple TV. However, something you shouldn't expect to see at the event is the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook Ultra.

According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple will be hosting a separate launch event on October 27. Expected to be on the agenda is the eagerly-anticipated MacBook Ultra, a new iPad mini, plus new versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac running on M6 chips.

This will apparently be a proper Apple launch event too, rather than some scattered press releases with an update to the Apple Store. Gurman's sources claim there will be an online video presentation, focused on creative professionals, alongside an in-person event for members of the press — likely so they can experience the new devices for themselves.

Apple October 27 event: What to expect

Gurman claims the new touchscreen MacBooks are codenamed K114 and K116, and have a design that's lighter than current models. Naturally, the screen is where a lot of the upgrades seem to be, with a sharper OLED display and a Dynamic Island hole-punch in place of the current MacBook display notches.

There had been rumors that Apple could launch the new laptops with an M5 Pro or M5 Max chip. Apparently, Apple is gearing up to skip the M6 equivalents and move straight onto the M7 series, with the goal of boosting its AI processing capabilities. So it seems as though claims the Ultra may not come with any kind of M6 chip might have been overstated.

The M6 Macs are codenamed J804 and J833, with designs that look like existing models. Meanwhile, the iPad mini 8 is expected to come with an OLED display, a landscape FaceTime camera, and an upgraded speaker system.

We don't know how much any of these new devices might cost, or if Apple has any hidden plans that haven't leaked yet. Thankfully, though, it seems we won't have to wait too long to find out more — especially considering there had been rumors the MacBook Ultra wouldn't be arriving until next year.

More from Tom's Guide

• How to blur your house on Apple Maps — and why you should do it right now
• iPhone Duo — I ranked the 9 biggest reasons to buy Apple’s $2,000 foldable
• Pre-ordering iPhone Duo? Use these tips to get it on day one and avoid huge shipping delays

Oh, Cherry, why must you overprice your keyboards so? The Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact is, at the time of writing, the world’s first ultra-band mechanical gaming keyboard, and on paper, it sounds incredible. 8,000Hz wireless and wired polling, useful gaming features like Last Key Prioritization, and up to 1,100 hours of battery life — and when gaming, it doesn’t disappoint.

But the K63W Pro Compact is far, far from perfect. There’s no Bluetooth, and the keyboard isn’t hot-swappable. Some keys feel mushy, and the all-plastic construction simply doesn’t match the premium $179 price tag. To be considered one of the best mechanical keyboards in an overcrowded market, you simply can’t afford such glaring flaws.

For the complete breakdown, read my full Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact review.

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact review: Specs

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The world’s first mechanical keyboard with ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, at the time of writing
• Who is it for? Gamers who need a super compact keyboard and 8KHz polling
• How much does it cost? $179 / £155
• What do we like? The powerful gaming performance, no-frills software, and long battery life
• What don’t we like? The subpar construction, lack of Bluetooth, mushy keys, soldered switches, and the premium price

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact review: The ups

The Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact excels when it comes to gaming. 8,000Hz polling, ultra-wideband connectivity, Last Key Prioritization, and long battery life — all are winning features.

8,000Hz polling and ultra-wideband wireless

At the time of writing, the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact is the world’s first ultra-wideband mechanical gaming keyboard. Unlike most other keyboards (and peripherals) which utilize 2.4GHz, the K63W Pro Compact operates in a higher frequency band. This means it’s less prone to signal interference and connection dropouts caused by hunting for free 2.4GHz lanes that are being hogged by other devices. In other words, the rest of your 2.4GHz peripherals and home devices don’t interfere with UWB. The downside is short connection range, but there’s enough to cover your desk.

UWB tech has been available on things like AirTags for a while, but it isn’t mainstream yet for gaming peripherals and we’ve only seen it on the SteelSeries Rival Pro mouse. Most competitive or esports gamers will be playing over a wired connection to avoid lag and connection dropouts, and to ensure their keyboard doesn’t die mid-play.

But is it overkill? Keyboards don’t have to transmit data near as fast as a mouse so there isn’t really any risk of connection dead zones (as you’d get on a rodent which has to recognize and report millions of sensor locations per second). SImilar to how 8KHz now feels like snake oil as every brand seems to be adding it to their keyboards — even though it isn’t needed — I fear UWB is going to be the next “big thing.”

Anyway, back to the good things. Thanks to this, the K63W Pro Compact can achieve 8,000Hz polling over a wireless connection (and wired, too, of course). 8KHz is mostly overkill for 99% of gamers, and it’s a drain on system resources as well as the keyboard’s battery life. You can drop this to 1,000Hz through companion software, though, and save it to one of the custom profiles which you can then swap to via key combinations — handy!

On paper, the K63W Pro Compact sounds like a competent and powerful gaming keyboard, but does it hold up in practice? Why, yes it does!

Sublime gaming performance

The Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact, as its name suggests, is a compact keyboard sporting a 70% layout. Measuring just 12.08 x 5.31 x 1.18 inches, it doesn’t take up too much desk space, giving you more room to move your mouse around. Because of the small layout, the arrow keys feature dual functions. Holding Fn and M lets you swap between the Mod Tap layers, giving you access to right control, right shift, menu and Fn inputs. You can also activate both layers at the same time, with the input determined by whether a key is pressed or held.

I don’t have many qualms with the K63W Pro Compact’s gaming performance. 8,000Hz polling means there are no latency issues or input lag (just like over 1,000Hz). I played Counter-Strike 2, Forza Horizon 5 and Cyberpunk 2077 to test the K63W Pro Compact, and I was impressed with the keyboard’s performance across the board. The linear switches felt light enough to activate, thanks to their short 1.2mm pre-travel distance, so I could quickly alternate between keys.

The K63W Pro Compact features ‘Snappy Tap’, or Last Key Prioritization, which works very well. This is a Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Direction (SOCD) resolution which prioritizes the last pressed key when two opposite keys (such as A and D) are held down at the same time. It essentially enables instant counter-strafing, giving you a competitive edge in games with inertia-based accuracy penalties like Counter-Strike 2 or Valorant — though it will get you kicked out of Valve games.

Overall, the K63W Pro Compact is a good gaming deck for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. If you’re an elite player, though, you may want to consider a highly customizable Hall Effect keyboard, like the Epomaker HE68 ($59) or the Wooting 60HE+ ($174).

No-frills software

If you want to customize the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact, you’ll need to download Cherry Utility on to your PC. Annoyingly, the app is compatible with Windows only, so apologies to macOS users (even though the keyboard’s keycaps are dual labelled). But it works well on Windows.

Cherry Utility sports a clean interface and doesn’t give you much to complain about. You don’t get as much customization potential as on a Hall Effect keyboard (where you can adjust each switch’s sensitivity), but you can enable Snappy Tap, adjust the polling rate, customize the RGB lighting, and record macros. Cherry Utility gets the job done without inundating you with intrusive pop-ups or ads (looking at you, Asus Armoury Crate).

Up to 1,100 hours of battery

For its size, the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact boasts impressive battery life. It packs a 6,000mAh battery that can last up to 1,100 hours. That’s a lot, and the K63W Pro Compact trumps its competition in the battery department. Naturally, your mileage will depend on the polling rate and RGB settings, so if you’re polling at 8KHz, you won’t get nearly as much — though Cherry doesn’t specify exact numbers.

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact review: The downs

While I was impressed with the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact’s gaming performance, I’ve been left feeling shortchanged by its flaws, like the lack of Bluetooth, subpar construction, mushy keys, and more — especially at its asking price.

Expensive

Before I get into the meat of my issues with the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact, I want to preface them by mentioning the keyboard’s price. This deck, much like many others from Cherry, costs a premium, retailing for $179 / £155 at Amazon. Sure, it’s the world’s first UWB mechanical gaming keyboard, but I’m not sure the price is justified — especially because UWB has niche appeal and hasn’t become mainstream yet.

No Bluetooth

Surprisingly, the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact doesn’t feature Bluetooth connectivity. I can kinda see why: it’s a gaming keyboard. The lack of Bluetooth makes it fine for fixed gaming setups where you’ll have the bulky UWB received plugged in at all times — but it means the K63W Pro Compact isn’t great for gamers on the move (even though it’s super portable).

The omission of Bluetooth also means that the K63W Pro Compact can connect to just one device at a time, so no multipoint connectivity. I don’t know about you, but no Bluetooth feels like a noteworthy flaw, especially given how much this keyboard costs. Much cheaper decks, like the Keychron C1 Pro 8K ($54) and the Keychron V1 Ultra 8K ($114), offer many of the same features as the K63W Pro Compact while also featuring Bluetooth connectivity for convenience.

ABS keycaps, and some flex

One of the things I wasn’t expecting at this price point is the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact’s subpar construction. The keyboard is made entirely of ABS plastic which feels a little cheap, and there’s some flex in its body, too, when you hold it by its sides. I’m used to seeing that on budget keyboards, like the Epomaker EK68 ($89) but I expected more from the K63W Pro Compact.

Adding insult to injury are the K63W Pro Compact’s ABS keycaps. Nope, paying nearly $200 doesn’t get you double-shot PBT keycaps, unlike the aforementioned cheaper Epomaker EK68 and the Keychron V1 Ultra 8K. PBT keycaps are more durable than ABS ones, and they’re more resistant to wear and tear, so the K63W Pro Compact is disappointing in this regard.

Some keys feel mushy

While the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact feels decent to type and game on, some of its keys feel really mushy, and like the switches require a lot more force to activate. That’s surprising because on paper, the Cherry MX Low Profile 2.0 switches have a pre-travel distance of just 1.2mm, so they don’t need to be pressed all the way down for your commands to register. I didn’t notice the mushiness much during gaming, but it became apparent during typing and productivity tasks.

I took a typing test at 10fastfingers.com to see how the K63W Pro Compact fared against other mechanical keyboards I’ve tested. While I was able to achieve 92 words per minute, I wasn’t particularly happy with the accuracy. 88% is quite low by my standards, and I noticed that I was backspacing a lot more than usual, even outside of the typing test.

The K63W Pro Compact is a strange one. Sometimes, I was getting double inputs and other times, my key presses didn’t register at all. This made me wonder if my review unit was faulty, so I reached out to a marketing representative to determine the cause. I’ll update the review as and when I hear back.

Not hot-swappable

Last but not least, I’m very surprised that the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact isn’t hot-swappable. Its Cherry MX Low Profile 2.0 switches are soldered to the PCB so if you want to replace them, you’ll need to de- and re-solder them to the PCB. While it can be done, it requires some technical expertise and specialist tools.

For that reason, and for more versatility, I’d recommend buying a hot-swappable keyboard from the get-go — and there’s no shortage of them. The Epomaker P65 ($119) is excellent and compact, though you’d be sacrificing 8KHz polling. If you need 8,000Hz polling, the Keychron V1 Ultra 8K is a no-brainer.

Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact review: Verdict

You can’t charge a premium and not offer a well-rounded package. Don’t get me wrong: the Cherry XTRFY K63W Pro Compact is a decent keyboard. Gaming performance is superb, and the keyboard’s battery life is impressive. Plus, you get UWB and 8,000Hz wired and wireless polling, although both are arguably pointless on a keyboard.

But I said it before and I’ll say it again: the K63W Pro Compact doesn’t do enough to justify its price tag. The lack of Bluetooth, exclusion of PBT keycaps, and non-hot-swappable switches feel like glaring omissions. The keyboard doesn’t feel very premium either, and the mushy keys aren’t my favorite. In a world where you can buy a competent gaming keyboard for under $120, I just can’t see myself recommending the K63W Pro Compact.

How much does a click per second matter? Turns out quite a bit, if you’re a competitive gamer. That extra click per second is the difference between firing off one or two shots on a semi-automatic weapon, potentially giving you a competitive advantage.

That’s where the Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike comes in. On the surface, it’s a fairly typical competition gaming mouse: lightweight, fairly unergonomic, with two buttons on the top and two on the side. This mouse, however, like its predecessor, has some handy tech within. Specifically, magnetic switches under the mouse buttons, which allow adjustable click actuation and rapid trigger.

So should you buy this mouse? Admittedly, it isn’t perfect. There’s no ergonomic variant available, no onboard DPI switch, and rivals have the edge in key areas. But the Logi is still doubtless one of the best gaming mice around. Find out more in my full Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike review.

Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? Logitech’s latest elite esports mouse
• Who is it for? Competitive gamers, especially FPS and MOBA players
• What does it cost? $199 / $169
• What’s good? The quick, haptic clicks with rapid trigger, plus the lightweight design and customization options
• What’s not? There’s no DPI button or ergonomic version, and (clicks aside) rivals offer more features for less money

Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike review: Specs

Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike review: The ups

The Logitech Pro X3 SuperStrike is an elite gaming mouse through and through, packing adjustable click switches, rapid trigger and 8K polling. It’s lightweight, customizable and looks rather fetching in hot pink.

Elite click performance

Core to the SuperStrike’s performance are its HITS switches. They’re magnetic, like you’d find in one of the best gaming keyboards (including the Logitech G X2 Pro Rapid keyboard released at the same time). They offer customizable haptic feedback, which is neat — honestly, I don’t find this too beneficial, but it sure feels good.

Adjustable actuation

More importantly, the switches open up adjustable actuation for LMB and RMB, meaning ultra fast, responsive clicks. The downside is unwanted clicks, leading to accidental shots in games like Counter-Strike 2.

I got used to the increased sensitivity pretty fast though, so this wasn’t a problem for long. The upside is ultra quick click registry, which is ideal for FPS players — that millisecond of time you get over an enemy using typical optical switches can be the difference between you headshotting them, or them you.

Logi's G Hub software features an actuation test to see how much faster you'll click using the HITS switches versus traditional optical or mechanical switches. My result was 17ms faster. Competitive players will probably see even more of a difference, and it could be enough to have potentially game-changing results.

Rapid trigger

My favorite feature, though, is rapid trigger — after actuating, the switch doesn’t need to reset like a mechanical switch would in order to actuate again. This means you can spam repeat inputs without resetting the mouse button, which is ideal for MOBA players. In theory, this speeds up your repeat clicking versus non-rapid-trigger switches.

The difference for me was subtle, but I still noticed it straight away. I took back to back tests on cpstest.org, which averages clicks over 30 seconds. My overall average clicks per second (CPS) were more or less the same over 30 seconds on the SuperStrike versus the SteelSeries Rival Pro (optical switches, with no rapid trigger). This is because over 30 seconds, my fingers tired and I slowed down (I’m no MOBA player).

Importantly, though, my realtime click speeds in the opening few seconds went from just over 6CPS (Rival Pro) to 7CPS (SuperStrike). When initially opening up on a semi-automatic weapon, that means I’m getting an extra click per second on the SuperStrike, and therefore an extra shot — a big advantage in a 1v1.

I found this especially useful for semi-auto or high recoil weapons on Counter-Strike 2 and Wardogs, like the AK47. Firing single shots or short bursts controls recoil better — being able to chain more of those together in quick succession helped me shoot more frequently and accurately, scoring more kills than I usually would. I went from my usual upper-mid scoreboards on Counter-Strike 2 to top three. That’s a result.

Rapid quick succession clicks are also obviously ideal for MOBA players who need to spam clicks constantly, but I’m lacking the joint health for that these days.

Ultra sensitive

When it comes to keyboards, I stand by my position that 8,000Hz polling is snake oil. In a competition mouse, though, it’s vital. A mouse moves incredibly quickly and accurately. Greater data transfer is therefore required to ensure no latency, and that every tiny movement or adjustment is translated properly so that your cursor lands exactly where it’s supposed to.

Thankfully, the SuperStrike packs 8K polling, which is as fast as it gets these days, giving you peace of mind about all the above (well… almost — as I’ll discuss in the cons). The SuperStrike’s sensitivity also maxes out at 48,000 DPI, which is extremely fast, enabling rapid movement.

Lightweight and flickable

The Pro X3 SuperStrike weighs 61g or 2.1 ounces, which is the same as its predecessor, the Logitech G Pro X2 SuperStrike. Compare that to other elite mice and the SuperStrike starts to look a little heavy.

It doesn’t feel like it, though. The SuperStrike also has up to 90G of acceleration (up from 88G in the prior model), meaning more cursor movement from less hand movement — that’s greater than the 70G acceleration of the Rival/Sensei Pro, which can counteract the weight difference between the two. If you want the lowest weight combined with the highest acceleration, though, check out the Razer Viper V4 Pro and 49g + 90G acceleration.

Of course, this will kinda depend on preference. Some players prefer a little extra weight in their hand. And besides, I’ve found the SuperStrike adequately lightweight and flickable.

Fairly customizable

As I’ll cover below, I think Logitech is lagging behind software-wise. That said, the SuperStrike is still a highly customizable mouse, so praise where it’s due.

The G Hub software is fairly slick and reliable, and lets you customize lots of aspects. You can change actuation, enable and tweak rapid trigger, assign binds and macros, and tailor DPI and poll rates. That’s all you really need, although I’d appreciate a few more nice-to-haves.

Importantly, you can set custom configs in addition to the range of per-genre presets. This is vital for me, as I like to bind both side buttons to crouch and prone, which differs per game.

Decent battery life

The SuperStrike offers up to 135 hours of battery life. Of course, that’s an ‘up to,’ and polling at 8K, you can forget anything near that. It’s a little short of the Viper V4 Pro’s 180 hours, and, in my opinion, pales in comparison to the zero-downtime system in the Rival/Sensei Pro. But safe to say the SuperStrike’s battery life has been long enough for me to not have to think about it much.

That hot pink

I know looks don’t really matter, but damn do I find it refreshing to see mice that aren’t just available in black or white. I’m a huge fan of the green Razer Viper V4 Pro and the two orange Fnatic-collabs mice — the Lamzu Maya 8K ($119) and Sony Inzone Mouse-A ($149). Likewise, I absolutely love the SuperStrike in hot pink, especially when paired with the Pro X2 Rapid keyboard.

Weirdly, Logitech hasn’t yet released a white variant of the Pro X3 SuperStrike, despite releasing it alongside the Pro X2 Rapid keyboard and Pro X2 Lightspeed headset — both of which come in black, white and the same hot magenta. If you want an all-white trio, you’re out of luck, unless you go for the last-gen X2 SuperStrike.

Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike review: The downs

I mostly love the Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike. However, it’s available in symmetrical guise only and there’s no onboard DPI switch. I also think SteelSeries has a couple of legs up over the SuperStrike with its latest elite mouse.

Symmetrical only

If, like me, you’re a palm gripper, you may well prefer an ergonomic design. Unfortunately, the SuperStrike only comes in symmetrical guise, which tends to benefit claw and finger grip styles.

Obviously, those are just general rules, so mileage may vary. However, after playing with the SuperStrike for a week instead of my ergonomic mouse, I’ve noticed some pain and stiffness in my right wrist and pinky finger. If you want a cutting edge ergo mouse, check out the SteelSeries Rival Pro or Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro.

No onboard DPI switch

We had this problem with Logi’s last generation of gaming mice, the X2 SuperStrike and X Pro SuperLight 2 — there’s no onboard DPI switch. I get that it’s tricky to fit one on the body of a competition mouse, but come on… just put one on the base like SteelSeries and Razer.

So what happens when you want to switch DPI in game? Logitech seriously expects you to a) keep G Hub running while gaming; and b) either switch apps in game to change DPI, or remap one of your two precious side buttons to DPI switch. Come on. Sort it out, Logitech.

Falling behind the Rival?

As great as adjustable actuation and rapid trigger may be, elsewhere I think the SuperStrike is a tier (okay, maybe half a tier) below recent rivals. Hear me out.

SteelSeries’ Rival and Sensei Pro use UWB 6GHz connection instead of the typical 2.4GHz used on the SuperStrike, Viper V4 Pro and, well, virtually all other peripherals. This reduces connection dropouts caused by your mouse hunting for a free 2.4GHz lane, resulting in (theoretically) greater accuracy. I’d love to see more elite mice use this tech — imagine the SuperStrike’s buttons with UWB!

I also find Logitech’s software features and companion app pretty basic versus my Rival Pro. There’s no angle snapping, no acceleration curve customization, no separate click and sensor polling. You get all of this on SteelSeries’ GG. To be fair, though, I much prefer using G Hub to Razer’s Synapse, which I’m really not a fan of.

I also prefer the zero-downtime battery life of the Rival Pro. I’ve already had to use the SuperStrike while wired charging, which is something I never have to do with the dual swappable batteries of my SteelSeries. I suppose, in short, the SuperStrike feels simply like a minor improvement on an old formula, while other brands are trying harder to innovate, yet at $199 / $169 the SuperStrike is the most expensive of all the competition.

Logitech G Pro X3 SuperStrike review: Verdict

I’ll admit, competition at the top is fierce. There’s not much separating the elite esports mice these days. All the top contenders are super light, super sensitive and super fast — the Pro X3 SuperStrike is no different.

As I mentioned above, though, it kinda feels like Logitech has rested on its laurels somewhat since the Pro X2 SuperStrike and failed to address the issues with that mouse, or to build on it in any different, innovative way. It’s for that reason I’m scoring this lower than the recent SteelSeries Rival Pro, which, while not as fast clicks-wise, offers loads of cool features to make up for that and puts itself ahead.

In the end, though, it’ll come down to the features most important to you. If you value that edge on click speed above all else, the Pro X3 SuperStrike is easily top dawg.

So Nvidia’s RTX Spark is officially here, and Team Green is making a big stink about its mission to “reinvent the PC” in the age of local agentic AI. But can I be honest with you, dear reader? The AI stuff is cool, but it's also fixing this one key gripe with Windows laptops, which has me believing in this reinvention.

As the headline gives away, I’m talking about getting the same performance both on and off the charger. The snail’s pace I’d get on a Windows laptop whenever it's disconnected has become a commonplace gripe of mine — so much so that I was suspicious of whether Nvidia had actually cracked it.

Well, turns out the company proved me wrong royally with some key examples over the months, showing just how efficient this is with that battery to deliver the same speeds no matter where you are.

The accident

Probably the most surprising view of this potential is in Blender. For those out of the know, this is a seriously intensive app for 3D animation and digital art — it demands a lot of your CPU and GPU in remapping pixels every time you move an image.

During IFA 2026, I saw a Blender demo that was supposed to show the app with and without DLSS activated on two identical Surface Laptop Ultras. Instead, it revealed the raw stamina of an RTX Spark system because one was left unplugged.

Speaking to Nvidia, the demo had been turned on/setup at 9 am, and I attended it at around 2:30 pm. After 5.5 hours, the 10% battery warning had only started showing.

Even on something super power-efficient like a MacBook Pro, you’d be lucky to get 4-5 hours out of it. So you can imagine how blown away I was in this situation.

On top of that, I saw Unreal Engine 5's biggest sample map running on the MSI Prestige Flip N16 without any stuttering off the charger.

No more gaming frustration

And since this is Nvidia, we have to talk about gaming. You already know the key gameplay specs here — DLSS 4.5 supported through the sheer heft of all those Blackwell GPU cores and the horsepower to run 1440p games at buttery-smooth frame rates.

Nowhere was this more obvious than with the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra. That magnetic USB-C port may have stolen my heart, but at the same time, I got to see Gears of War: E-Day (a game that's being translated to work with the silicon) run at exactly the same frame rate.

That standard gaming laptop frustration of watching your FPS dip is a thing of the past here. No more massive cut in performance!

What does this mean for battery life?

But let’s get real here. What is the battery life in reality? All of this sounds great, but there isn’t anything concrete beyond a claim of “all-day battery life.”

Throw in the fact that this is an Arm chip and that emulation isn’t necessarily the most power-efficient way to run apps, and this is something I’m very keen to test.

More from Tom's Guide

• NVIDIA RTX Spark laptop preorders are live: here's where to buy them
• AMD just flaunted its own 192GB monster chip to spoil Nvidia’s RTX Spark party — Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 should worry Apple, too
• I tried Microsoft’s new haptic Surface Mouse — and standard mice now feel completely broken

Protecting your personal data usually means tweaking phone settings and managing passwords, but keeping nosy eyes off your doorstep requires a different kind of cleanup. Apple Maps makes it surprisingly easy for anyone to scout out your neighborhood and view your home down to the window frames.

Leaving high-resolution imagery of your property online gives potential burglars, nosey neighbors, and strangers a clear view of your entry points, security setup, and personal belongings.

Provided Apple's Look Around feature covers your area, scrubbing your residence off the map in Apple Maps is pretty straightforward. Here's how to check if your location is eligible and blur your home, plus what to do if you need an alternative method.

How to request a blur via email

You can also request a property blur directly by emailing mapsimagecollection@apple.com. Be sure to include your full name, the exact address, and a description or screenshot of your property from Apple Maps.

This email route is a handy alternative if the in-app reporting feature isn't working for you or if you are submitting the request from a non-Apple device.

More from Tom's Guide

• How to remove your home address from the internet — 6 ways to protect your privacy
• Check your iPhone right now: 3 privacy settings you need to change immediately
• iOS 27 has a hidden anti-scam setting — here’s why every iPhone user should turn it on

We just benchmarked the first 5 Googlebooks, and so far, they’ve held their own against the best Windows laptops and the best MacBooks. This is especially true with the Snapdragon X Elite-powered Dell XPS Googlebook and HP Googlebook 14. Even if Google’s new laptops aren’t mind-blowing, they’re far more capable than the best Chromebooks.

The one area that still concerns me is battery life. Google claims Googlebooks have at least 14 hours of battery life. As the company explains on a support page, they test battery life by keeping the laptop's screen brightness at a minimum of 100 nits, with Dark theme and Battery Saver mode enabled. Wi-Fi is connected and used for browsing data.

Our battery test is very different, so we didn’t get the same results. To put it bluntly, Googlebooks have disappointing battery life, especially when rival laptops can last anywhere from 15 to 20 hours on a single charge. So, how did Googlebooks fare in our battery life tests? Read on to find out!

How we test laptop battery life

Before getting into the results, I want to explain how we test a laptop’s battery life. I should note that Googlebook OS is a brand-new operating system, so we’re still working to determine the best tests and testing methods for the platform. But since some of the manufacturers are aware of how we test and didn’t object, we’re sticking with it.

As I said in our Googlebook benchmark story, our Googlebook battery test is the same as the one we've used on Chromebooks in the past, and it's much more demanding than Google's testing. Unlike our custom in-house macOS and Windows battery test, this test uses the live internet and is powered by a Chrome extension. It cycles through a list of 30 live websites every 30 seconds until the battery drains.

We set the screen to 150 nits of brightness and disable Bluetooth and location services while using the device's default theme. We also keep the display’s refresh rate at 120Hz, which Googlebooks have enabled by default out of the box. We run this test three times on each machine. With that established, let’s dig into the numbers.

Our test results

If you’ve read the previous benchmark story, then you’ll already know most of the results. I say most because I’ve now included some results after testing a couple of Googlebooks with the display set to 60Hz. I also have an update on the Asus Googlebook 14, which had the most eyebrow-raising battery life.

The HP Googlebook 14 is the clear winner with its 11 hours and 52 minutes of battery life across two runs. The Acer and Lenovo Googlebooks each lasted for 10 hours and 25 minutes, while the XPS Googlebook lasted just shy of 10 hours. Those aren’t the worst results, but as you’ll see, the competition leaves Google’s laptops lagging.

The Dell XPS 13, which uses the same Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor as the Acer, Asus, and Lenovo Chromebooks, lasted an impressive 14 hours and 57 minutes. The 13-inch MacBook Air M5 did even better, lasting 15 hours and 37 minutes. Even the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 Gen 10, which we tested like a Chromebook, lasted an impressive 13 hours and 19 minutes. I could list other laptops, but I think you get the point.

Returning to the Googlebook results, let’s discuss the Asus Googlebook 14, which lasted 6 hours and 50 minutes. That’s after running two tests, with the first at 6 hours and 18 minutes and the second at 7 hours and 23 minutes.

We’ve reached out to Asus about this and are working with them to determine why the company’s laptop has nearly half the battery life of other Googlebooks. This laptop may have a defect. Regardless, I’ll update this article when we hear from Asus.

Now, what happens when we run our battery test with the display set to 60Hz instead of 120Hz? We’ve only had time to test this on the Dell XPS Googlebook and HP Googlebook 14, but as you can see, battery life was nearly two hours longer on both machines. That might not sound like much, but if you’re on the road, those two hours could make a huge difference if you need to get important work done.

Except for the XPS Googlebook, all the Googlebooks we tested have OLED panels, which are notorious for draining battery life. This is something to take into account when reviewing our battery life results. And before you ask, the XPS likely has so-so battery life because it has a 52Wh battery, whereas the other Googlebooks have a 70Wh battery.

Outlook

We plan to run a total of three battery tests on all the Googlebooks we’ve received, but I can tell you that we likely won’t see a huge difference when we average the results. The real-world testing we’ve done, such as web browsing and video calls, also seems to align with our test results. For example, the Lenovo Chromebook 14 went from 95% to 74% in two hours during back-to-back Google Meet sessions.

I want to reiterate that Googlebook OS is so new that we’re still trying to determine the best way to test laptops running it. It’s also entirely possible we could see improved battery life as Google further optimizes the platform over the coming months and years.

For now, if you’re considering getting a Googlebook, don’t expect whichever laptop you choose to last nearly as long as a MacBook or a newer Windows laptop. That said, if you do opt for a Googlebook, set the refresh rate to 60Hz to squeeze more life out of its battery.

More from Tom's Guide

• Googlebooks vs Chromebooks — here are the actual differences
• I tested all 5 new Googlebooks — and this is the one that blew me away
• I checked out the new Googlebooks — 3 reasons I'd buy one, and 3 reasons I'd skip

Being budget-conscious is getting harder these days, with the cost of living going through the roof in 2026. That said, there are ways to save some cash, especially with your internet bill.

If you've never heard of Amaysim, let me introduce them to you. The telco is a budget-focused Aussie telco that’s now owned by Optus, offering inexpensive postpaid mobile plans and NBN services. Whilst it's long offered competitive prices on its mobile offerings (it’s been in the SIM-only game since 2010), the telco's NBN services are relatively newer – meaning deals have also been quite rare.

As a long-time Amaysim mobile customer and Tom's Guide's resident NBN expert, I can attest that there have been many times when I've considered switching my internet service to get one Amaysim-provided bill, but I've consistently found better value for my NBN plan elsewhere… until today, that is.

With its current sale, new Amaysim NBN customers are treated to a tidy AU$30 off the price of select plans for the first six months of service. But the telco has further sweetened the deal by adding an additional AU$10-off introductory offer, bringing total savings to AU$40 per month, or AU$240 in total over those first 6 months.

That brings high-speed plans like NBN 100 and NBN 500 down to just AU$50p/m for the first half year, before the price then increases to an ongoing AU$90p/m. This makes Amaysim the cheapest NBN 100 and NBN 500 provider across the 30+ Australian telcos I monitor every month for introductory cost. Both these Amaysim plans also come with unlimited data and operate on a no-lock-in contract basis.

You'll need to act fast to secure these awesome Amaysim deals though, as they're set to expire on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

When it comes to simplifying your bills, Amaysim's mobile and broadband bundle offer is also worth a look. After the introductory discount ends, you could pay as little as AU$80p/m for these plans by bundling an Amaysim mobile plan alongside your NBN, which would reduce your ongoing bill by AU$10 per month, or AU$120 a year. That’d make your ongoing internet costs total AU$960/y, which is one of the cheapest yearly costs for either NBN 100 or NBN 500.

Do note, though, that Amaysim exclusively provides NBN services and doesn’t provide hardware — you will need to BYO modem-router, in other words. That said, if you've already got an NBN service, then there's a very good chance that the modem you already have will work adequately with an Amaysim plan. Alternatively, I often recommend this Amazon eero 7 router for AU$299.99 if you want to invest in something new that can support NBN 500’s faster download speeds.

If you've got a real need for speed and want to save on your internet and mobile bills, you can check out Amaysim's other NBN plans in the widget below.

More from Tom's Guide

• Best NBN deals in Australia October 2026
• Best NBN plans in October 2026: I've compared the top choices for value, speed, gaming and more

Apple is expected to launch a redesigned MacBook Pro later this month with the biggest changes affecting the laptop's display. For years, rumors and leaks have suggested the MacBook Ultra will feature an OLED screen with touch support.

Many of those rumors originated from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, an Apple insider, who has reported previously that the OLED MacBook would be thinner and lighter. Recently, though, Gurman has walked back some of the redesign rumors.

On X, Gurman responded to questions about the Apple design compared to both the new Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra and the current 16" MacBook Pro M5.

He claimed the new MacBook would be lighter than the current model, which weighs in at 4.7 lbs. though it's not clear from his response if it will be lighter than the new Surface, which Microsoft claims weighs 4.41 pounds.

"I don’t think it’ll be significantly thinner in the end," Gurman responded to a question about the dimensions.

What we know about the OLED MacBook so far

Gurman's response does contradict his own previous reporting that the laptop would be thinner and lighter. The expectation is that the OLED panel, more compact than the current miniLED LCD display, would allow Apple to shave some millimeters off.

Apple has been testing OLED panels on the iPad Pro and it appears finally ready for laptop primetime alongside touchscreen capabilities. The new panel could also introduce a Dynamic Island, as seen on the best iPhones.

Apple has yet to announce any upgraded M6 chips after including the base one in the new Mac mini M6. Previously, the OLED MacBook was rumored to launch with the unannounced M6 Pro and M6 Max silicon.

Apple could announce its more powerful M6 Pro and Max chips and the new MacBook at the same time, but don't be surprised if the first iteration is powered by the M5 Pro, M5 Max or even the M5 Ultra, like with the new Mac Studio.

We also want to note that it may not carry the MacBook Ultra moniker. The iPhone Duo was rumored to launch as the iPhone Ultra until rumors suddenly shifted a week before it was announced. For now, it's either the Ultra or an OLED MacBook Pro.

When could the MacBook Ultra launch

Rumors have suggested that new CEO John Ternus wants to move away from more scheduled releases, but Apple has typically launched new MacBooks in late October or early November.

As an example, the M5 MacBook Pro was announced in mid-October last year, while the M5 Pro and M5 Max versions didn't show up until March of this year. If Apple doesn't launch the OLED MacBook soon, we could see it in early 2026.

One thing we do expect is a price increase, and not just because of the ongoing RAM crisis. It could cost up to 20% more thanks to the OLED touchscreen.

That would translate to a starting price of $2,499 for the 14-inch model and $2,999 for the 16-inch version, up from $2,199 and $2,699 for the current models. Of course, fully kitted-out configurations could hit closer to $4,000 and higher.

More from Tom's Guide

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• Forget RTX Spark: The Surface Laptop Ultra’s magnetic USB-C charger is a game-changer that makes Apple’s MagSafe look obsolete

Just as its leaving Android on its Fire TV sticks, Amazon is adopting Google's operating system for its newest generation of tablets, dousing its Fire OS — and moniker — after more than a decade.

At the same time, Amazon's new tablets now prominently feature Alexa+ as a persistent widget that lives in the lower righthand corner of the devices, to be summoned at a moment's notice.

In addition to receiving spoken or written queries, Alexa+ is also able to look at whatever is on the screen of the tablet, and act on your prompts.

For example, you might have a picture of a plant you've photographed on the screen; Alexa+ can look at the photo and tell you what it is.

The other really clever feature on the new Alexa tablets is a "Kindle Mode" — open the Kindle app, and the tablet will silence notifications and change the display to a more Kindle-like experience, muting the colors and making it seem closer to an actual e-reader.

Here's a rundown of the new tablets; there are five in all — three Amazon Alexa Tablets, and two Amazon Kids Tablets, aimed at younger audiences.

Amazon Alexa Tablets

Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro

The headlining model is the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its optional nanomatte display. Amazon said it worked with Corning to create a photolithography process that helps preserve color and contrast while cutting down on glare.

Looking at the nanomatte and glossy displays side by side, the latter did exhibit deeper blacks, though the nanomatte display was pretty close — and as you can tell by the photo, dramatically reduces the glare.

When using both my finger and the optional stylus, the nanomatte display also felt very comfortable and smooth.

The Tablet 12 Pro, like the other modes, is made out of aluminum, and has a much more premium feel than older Fire tablets. It's 6.5mm at its thinnest, and has a 12-inch, 280 PPI display (2800x1840) with a 120Hz refresh rate and a rated brightness of 500 nits. It has a 3:2 aspect ratio, which Amazon says is better suited for productivity work.

Inside is a 4nm 8-core chip with up to 16GB of RAM, along with Dolby Atmos speakers, and Wi-Fi 6E. Amazon says the Tablet 12 Pro will last up to 16 hours of video playback, which goes up to 20 hours when in Kindle mode.

One of the long edges of the tablet has a small indentation to magnetically attach the Amazon Alexa Tablet Pro Pen ($89.99, sold separately); on the other edge is a pin connector for the Amazon Alexa Tablet Pro Keyboard ($149.99).

The Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro will start at $499.99 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage; the nanomatte model starts at $549.99.

Amazon Alexa Tablet 11

Geared more for entertainment, the Amazon Alexa Tablet 11 has a 2.5K display (276 ppi, 2560x1600, 90Hz refresh rate) in a 16:10 aspect ratio, which the company says will be better if you want to kick back and watch a movie.

Like the 12-inch model, it has an aluminum unibody, but has an 8-core processor with 8GB of RAM, dual Dolby Atmos speakers, and will last up to 15 hours playing video.

Amazon Alexa Tablet 11 starts at $329.99 in Graphite, Amethyst, and Matcha, with 8GB RAM and 64GB storage; unlike the Tablet 12 Pro, there's no option for a nanomatte display.

Amazon Alexa Tablet 8

Last is the Amazon Alexa Tablet 8, which has an 8.7-inch 1340x800 display, and weighs 11.6 ounces. It has an 8-core processor, Wi-Fi 6 and will last up to 14 hours of video playback. It starts at $229.99 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, and comes in three colors: Graphite, Rosette, and Teal.

Amazon Kids Tablets

Amazon is also relaunching its Kids Tablets in two sizes: 8.7 inches and 11 inches. Like earlier models, these too will come with protective bumper cases, which will be offered with designs from popular franchises like Paw Patrol and Barbie. The 8-inch tablet will last up to 14 hours on a charge when playing video, and the 11-inch will last up to 15 hours.

Like previous kids' tablets, these models will have the usual array of parental controls, from content restrictions to time limits to whitelisted web pages. Like the grown-up tablets, there's an Alexa+ button in the corner, but it's a more siloed, kid-friendly version.

The Amazon Kids Tablet 8 starts at $229.99 and Amazon Kids Tablet 11 starts at $329.99.

Outlook

All of the new Amazon tablets will be go on sale in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada on October 14, 2026, and will be available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain on October 19.

Having held all of the new tablets, I can attest to their much-improved design, and the 12-inch model certainly felt responsive when I was swiping and using the stylus; we'll have to get one in our lab to see how it compares to the best Android tablets, but its matte display will surely be a differentiator.

Even though these tablets have Alexa+ as their go-to AI, because these are Android-based, you can also use Gemini as the default voice assistant, which makes for an interesting dichotomy.

These new tablets are also more expensive than previous versions; the Fire HD 8 tablet, for instance, only cost $129, while the kids' model was $179. This is partly a reflection on the current state of electronics as well as the fact that the new tablets use more durable materials, but the higher prices could give some parents pause.

Stay tuned for our full assessments of these devices; we hope to get them reviewed soon.

More from Tom's Guide

• I finally found a tablet with a paper-like display that’s perfect for productivity without the distractions
• I thought smaller was better until I tried a massive 14-inch tablet that feels like a clipboard
• I used this Android tablet for three weeks — and its giant speaker has spoiled me

The most terrifying thought concerning smart home privacy is the idea that my baby monitor is being watched by anyone other than myself. In the era of privacy beaches, your smart home devices might be leaking your data, and you need to shut that down ASAP.

Smart devices, from your thermostat to your washing machine, utilize IoT (Internet of Things) technology, which means that they’re embedded in a network that exchanges data with other devices over the internet. But what sort of data could a washing machine collect that could pose a potential privacy issue? Well, that simple smart appliance is connected to the same network as your laptop or computer, so hackers can bounce from a lightbulb to a PC.

We live in a time where we’ve traded our privacy for convenience, and while these companies have gathered a ton of data on us already, it doesn’t mean we need to keep the toxic river flow going. Let’s go over how to secure your devices.

Change your password

Come on now, don’t walk around with your username as “admin” and password as “password” for your router or any of your smart devices. You might as well be handing the manila envelope of your life directly to a hacker.

If you’re looking for convenience, use a strong password manager to autogenerate a password for you. Using personal information in a password is almost as bad as whatever the default is. Simple words are also ill-advised. If you really want to know how fast a hacker can break your password, Hive Systems produced a convenient graphic for you to get the idea.

Most importantly, don’t use the same password twice. I know it’s a pain, but it’s necessary, and let’s move onto why.

Enable 2FA or MFA

Changing your password is not enough. Even if you’ve somehow developed an impenetrable string of letters, numbers, and symbols, it could easily be put on blast if there’s a security breach. And suddenly, a hacker knows the password for your Samsung washing machine, which could be the same password you use for your laptop (if you happened to not take my previous advice).

Most devices let you set up two-factor authentication (2FA) or multifactor authentication (MFA), and it is a simple way to stop a hacker from breaching your smart home even if they have the password to your device. Setting this up, typically through your phone, is another layer to keep your smart home safe.

Enable automatic firmware updates

This may seem rather obvious, but it’s important to point out that you should keep all your smart home devices, especially your router, up to date and this includes your other devices too, like your smartphone and laptop. The easiest way to do that is to enable automatic firmware updates. Whenever there’s a security issue, manufacturers will ideally patch the vulnerability as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, that might not always be the case. If a company is no longer supporting the product or simply discontinued it, that might be your cue to do the same. No one likes spending money on something new when the old one works just fine, but the older a product is, the more vulnerable it could become.

Use a router-level VPN

Setting up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can not only secure your smart home devices but all of the devices on your network. A VPN encrypts your data, so hackers won’t be able to see what exactly your smart home devices are communicating. It’s not impenetrable, but it’s a strong layer of security.

Now, the only problem with this is that most VPNs aren’t free and not all routers are compatible with VPN integration. However, if you have access to a VPN and a compatible router, you should be able to set it up via your router settings, in a section likely labeled VPN Client mode.

Set up a smart home network

One of the most significant changes you can make to your smart home is using a local or separate Wi-Fi network for your smart home devices. This does come with some drawbacks, however.

You can set up a guest network on your router and throw all your smart home devices on there, effectively isolating them from your primary network. How effective this is comes down to the type of smart home device you’re connecting. Some can get temperamental with your phone not being on the same exact network. You might need to switch to the guest network, connect with the device, and switch back to see if that works. In other cases, it might not be compatible at all.

If you want to go the local network route, things will take a slightly more challenging but effective turn. You’ll need to get your hands on a Raspberry Pi or an old laptop and start looking into Home Assistant, an open source home automation system that keeps all of your smart home devices local.

If you’re willing to trade convenience back for privacy, this should be your next step. It’s more involved than what we can cover here, but to put it simply, your smart home devices connect to your laptop or Raspberry Pi locally and then can be managed through the Home Assistant app.

Bottom line

The more steps you take to secure your network, the less likely you’ll have to worry about your personal data being breached because of something as simple as your washing machine. Even one of these steps will drastically improve your security, but changing your passwords and using 2FA or MFA is great advice in and out of your smart home.

More from Tom's Guide

• Does antivirus software still slow down your PC in 2026? We tested the top security software to find out
• AI scams are getting scary realistic — 4 red flags to watch out for
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There are rumors that Apple’s Vision Pro category is on “life support.” But after playing with the new Meta VR Glasses, coming this spring for $1,299, I think it would be premature for Apple to pull the plug.

As reported by Bloomberg, Apple is exploring thinner and lighter Vision Pro designs, but the alleged new device wouldn’t reach the market until late 2028 at the earliest. That gives Meta a huge head start, and based on my hands-on impressions Meta’s VR Glasses are essentially a much cheaper — and much less cumbersome — version of the $3,500 Vision Pro that makes shockingly few trade-offs given its lightweight design.

What are the Meta VR Glasses like to wear? A revelation

Weighing about 100 grams, the Meta VR Glasses are not going to cause you neck pain like the 650-gram Vision Pro. They’re like Oakley shield-style sunglasses with a wire, but you can’t see through them like regular glasses. You need a video passthrough to see your environment.

The best thing I can say about wearing the Meta VR Glasses is that I barely felt them at all during a 40-minute demo session. They’re sleek and light, and you can easily adjust the lenses (sliding them left or right) to get the right IPD (Interpupillary Distance).

The puck computing unit is on the bulky side for sure, weighing in at 300 grams or 10.6 ounces. That’s heavier than most phones. But I like that this puck, which houses the Snapdragon Reality Elite chip, 12GB of RAM, storage and battery, has a built in belt clip. The Vision Pro battery needs to go in your pocket if you’re standing.

The battery life is slightly better through the Meta VR Glasses vs Vision Pro, too. You get 3 hours of runtime, versus 2.5 for Apple’s headset.

Interface: Intuitive eye- and hand-tracking

The first thing I noticed when setting up the Meta VR Glasses is how eerily similar the setup process is to the Vision Pro. You use your eyes as the cursor and your fingers as the mouse, bringing your index finger and thumb together to “tap.”

To calibrate, you follow dots around the screen a few times with your eyes and click them. Even the sound I heard during this process reminded me of the Vision Pro. Great artists steal.

More importantly, the interface is fluid and easy to use. To scroll, you simply rub your finger up and down on your index finger with a closed fist and you can scroll left and right by moving horizontally. It’s pretty easy to pick up, but I like that you have the option to just pinch your fingers and scroll up and down with your arm outstretched — just like the Vision Pro.

As you might expect, Meta’s Muse AI assistant is on board, and it’s pretty easy to do things with just your voice, such as closing all apps and going back to the home screen. I didn’t get to test any agentic AI use cases yet, though.

Immersive entertainment and sports (despite the 70-degree FOV)

In terms of visual experiences, I started with a 3D performance of Billie Eilish, and immediately I felt the impact. As she sat on the stage and reached out to fans in the crowd, I felt like I was in the front row with them. Co-directed between Eilish and James Cameron, this is a great showcase for what the Meta VR glasses can do.

I also had an opportunity to watch the famous tip-in from the New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby against the Spurs. For this 180-degree clip, I had the view from right behind the backboard, and I got a new appreciation for Victor Wembanyama’s height and the frantic energy of Madison Square Garden that night.

Meta says that it will be offering a range of sports content to Meta VR Glasses users for free, so you won’t have to subscribe to NBA League Pass, for example. Meta promises 100 immersive live sports events to watch each year.

As for the 70-degree field of view, it’s true that it’s more limited than the 110 degrees from the Meta Quest 3. But I personally was not bothered by it, and I wasn’t annoyed by light leakage either.

The last video demo I experienced through the Meta VR Glasses was “Avengers: Infinity War.” The movie itself was 2D but the environment mirrored the action in the movie, so it feels like you’re on Nidavellir as Thor forges his new axe. True 3D movies are coming, though.

Computing: Weirdly good virtual keyboard

I’ve never typed on a virtual keyboard projected on a desk, but doing just that felt almost natural through the Meta VR Glasses. When responding to a message you can have it so that the virtual keyboard is displayed on the table right in front of you, complete with a separate touchpad.

I typed a quick reply to a message, and it actually felt natural, complete with audible clicks as I pecked. The touchpad was accurate, too. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re typing on a flat surface with no key travel.

The Meta VR Glasses will be able to act as a portable display of sorts, so you can extend your desktop (or multiple desktops) from your Mac or PC to the glasses. This can be done wirelessly or via USB-C.

Gaming on the Meta VR Glasses

I played only a single game on the Meta VR Glasses, but it showed the potential of the platform for mixed reality experience. In the lowkey Dragon Grove, I solved a series of puzzles by picking leaves and flowers off of a virtual tree and matching them.

I liked that I could spin the game table around to check out different vantage points, and at any time you could just hold out your hand and the dragon would land in your palm. The graphics looked crisp and colorful despite being overlaid on the passthrough camera view.

Meta promises more than 75 games at launch that you can play with hand gestures, but you’ll still be able to use Touch Plus controllers with the glasses to play the thousands of existing VR games.

Meta VR Glasses vs. Xreal Aura

The Meta VR Glasses have some serious competition from the Xreal Aura, which promises many of the same features for $1,219 but powered by Android XR and Gemini AI.

Unlike the Meta glasses, you can look directly through Aura glasses without needing a video passthrough. On the other hand, the Aura has lower resolution per eye (1900 x 1200 vs 2.5K), so the visuals may not be as crisp. For more see our Meta VR Glasses vs Xreal Aura comparison.

Outlook

Right now it’s hard to say if the Meta VR Glasses are worth $1,299, but they’re a heck of a lot more accessible than the Vision Pro while delivering nearly all of the same benefits — minus Apple’s ecosystem of course.

You get an immersive VR experience for watching video and playing games, and there’s some good productivity potential here — though I’d like to test out the virtual computing screen myself.

The best part is just how comfortable and light the Meta VR Glasses feel. There’s virtually no penalty here in terms of ergonomics, and the eye- and hand-tracking work really well for a product that’s not shipping until the spring.

So overall I’m pretty positive on the Meta VR Glasses so far, and I think business travelers in particular will really like it. If I were Apple, I would keep the Vision line on life support while developing something close to this.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra is real and promises to be a powerhouse. Powered by an Nvidia RTX Spark chip, this 15-inch laptop is built for local AI and 3D graphics. Though its starting price of $2,599 is steep for average users, “prosumers” could certainly benefit from what this laptop aims to deliver.

Of course, this raises a question for the folks the Surface Laptop Ultra is marketed to: why shouldn’t you get a MacBook Pro instead? It’s a fair question, especially since Microsoft wasn’t shy about comparing its latest laptop to Apple’s flagship notebook during the Microsoft Surface event. Jensen Huang says Nvidia and Microsoft have “reinvented the computer as we know it,” but can the Surface Laptop Ultra do anything the MacBook Pro can’t?

While we haven’t yet had meaningful hands-on time with the Surface Laptop Ultra, we have enough information to make some preliminary comparisons between the devices. So, should you get the Surface Laptop Ultra or a MacBook Pro M5 Pro? Read on for all the details!

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra vs. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Specs

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra vs. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Price

Though the Surface Laptop Ultra isn’t as expensive as we feared, even the entry-level model commands a steep price—comparable to the M5 Pro MacBook Pro.

Over on Microsoft’s online store, you can buy the Surface Laptop Ultra starting at $2,599. This model packs an RTX Spark N1X chip with a 5120 GPU and 18-core CPU, 24GB of unified memory, and a 512GB SSD. You can pre-order it now and get it as soon as October 16. Interestingly enough, you can trade in your MacBook Pro and get up to $1,000 cash back on the Surface Laptop Ultra.

The next model, which packs the more powerful RTX Spark N1X chip with a 6144-core GPU and a 20-core CPU, along with 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD, starts at $3,699. The product page lists various configurations, with the highest-end model, featuring 128GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, costing an eye-watering $5,899.

Conversely, the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip packing a 15-core CPU/16-core GPU, 24GB of unified memory, and a 1TB SSD starts at $2,499. The 16-inch model starts at $2,999 with the same M5 Pro chip, memory, and storage.

For $200 more, you can get a 14-inch model with an M5 Pro chip featuring an 18-core CPU and a 20-core GPU. If you have money to burn, you can configure the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Max chip (18-core CPU/40-core GPU), 128GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD for $6,699. This laptop can top out at $9,699 if you get an 8TB SSD.

To be clear, both the Surface Laptop Ultra and MacBook Pro are pricey machines and can get even more expensive when you opt for higher-end components. Yes, the MacBook Pro can shatter your bank account, but if we just look at starting prices, Apple’s powerful notebook is $100 less than Microsoft’s.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra vs. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Design

Our own Jason England went hands-on with the Surface Laptop Ultra at Computex and got another look during Microsoft’s Surface event. He says the 15-inch laptop feels as premium as a MacBook Pro, with a similar-feeling keyboard and a massive touchpad. Based on what I saw during the livestream, you could certainly mistake the Surface Laptop Ultra for a MacBook Pro.

Getting into some specifics, the Surface Laptop Ultra measures 12.9 x 9.4 x 0.7 inches and weighs 4.4 pounds. Jason says the laptop is “impressively light” and that it has good weight distribution when you hold it. As with the MacBook Pro, it’s easy to open the Surface Laptop Ultra’s lid with one hand.

One of the most interesting features of Microsoft’s laptop is that, according to Microsoft, it has the world’s first built-in magnetic USB-C charging port. While I won’t dispute that, it’s clearly inspired by Apple’s MagSafe charger on MacBooks. According to Jason, the USB-C port survives the trip test.

Since the 14-inch MacBook Pro measures 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches and weighs 3.4 pounds, it’s smaller and lighter than the Surface Laptop Ultra. However, the Microsoft laptop is smaller and lighter than the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which measures 14.0 x 9.7 x 0.6 inches and weighs 4.7 pounds.

Microsoft is clearly inspired by the MacBook Pro, which isn’t a bad thing given how Apple’s laptop is arguably the gold standard for premium notebook design. So in that sense, both are likely equal here, though we’ll want more hands-on testing before rendering a verdict.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra vs. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Display

We didn’t get a lot of info on the Surface Laptop Ultra’s display, but it seems to have the basics of what you’d expect from a premium laptop. As with design, it also seems this laptop’s display will be comparable to that of a MacBook Pro.

The Surface Laptop Ultra has a 15-inch PixelSense Ultra touchscreen display, which is a mini-LED. It has a screen resolution of 3270 x 2180 pixels, an aspect ratio of 3:2, and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. I know those are a lot of numbers, but even without having gone eyes-on with it, I can tell that this display should deliver a sharp and vivid image.

Conversely, the 14-inch MacBook Pro M5 Pro has a 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display (Apple’s name for mini-LED). It has a sharp 3024 x 1964 resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Even if it’s not an OLED panel, I’ve always found the image quality pleasing to the eye, with the bold colors and nice contrast levels.

We’ll need to get the Surface Laptop Ultra into our testing lab to see what it can do, but given how it’s mini-LED like the MacBook Pro, I expect excellent image quality overall.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra vs. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Performance

Microsoft is promising a lot with the Surface Laptop Ultra, at least for developers, creators, and AI engineers. The Nvidia RTX Spark chip powering the laptop has up to 6,144 GPU cores, an Nvidia Grace CPU with up to 20 cores, and up to 128GB of unified memory. Thanks to that, Microsoft says it can run AI models with more than 120 billion parameters locally, with up to 1 petaflop of AI performance.

When Jason tested the RTX Spark itself, he said there’s a lot to gain from the massive local models that can change how you interact with your computer — from it being a tool that lies idle when not in use to an active assistant. This was a point Microsoft kept coming back to during the Surface event. If you’re someone who feels constrained when using laptops not expressly built for local AI, the Surface Laptop Ultra and other RTX Spark machines could be a huge game changer.

Given the power of Nvidia’s chip, it should also be a gaming powerhouse. During the event, we saw a brief glimpse of Gears of War: E-Day running at 60 frames per second. I was able to wring better performance from this game when I played it on the RTX 5080-powered Razer Blade 18, with frames in the 120s. Still, I won’t complain about games running at 60 fps. I expect games can run even better when specifically optimized for RTX Spark.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro M5 Pro I tested is among the most powerful laptops ever. In nearly every metric, it far exceeded the competition — as you can read in my full MacBook Pro M5 Pro review. I can’t vouch for its AI capabilities since I didn’t run any local models during testing, but given that many folks use MacBook Pros to run LLMs locally, it’s a solid machine for that purpose. It can even run graphically demanding games as well as some dedicated gaming PCs, so long as those games have been optimized for Apple Silicon.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra vs. MacBook Pro M5 Pro: Outlook

I’ll need to fully test the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra before deciding whether or not it’s better than a MacBook Pro. However, based on what we know, I have an idea of who this machine is and isn’t designed for.

If you mostly use laptops for browsing the web, watching streaming videos, and light work in Google Docs, neither laptop is for you, as they’re way overpowered and overpriced for your needs. If you want a laptop for the basics, the $799 Dell XPS 13 or $699 MacBook Neo won’t let you down, as both are reasonably priced and have premium-like features.

What about if you’re a gamer? It’s still too early to see how games run on RTX Spark systems in general, but if that’s your primary focus, then you’re likely better off with one of the best gaming laptops or even one of the best gaming PCs, especially with how much the Surface Laptop Pro can cost. And given how Macs don’t yet enjoy the same robust gaming support as PCs, the same applies there. Neither of these machines is designed for hardcore gamers.

Since most of the Surface event focused on local AI agents, it’s not hard to tell who the Surface Laptop Ultra is designed for. So if you’re an AI developer who wants a laptop expressly built for that task, the Surface Laptop Ultra should suffice. However, we’ll need to do some hands-on testing to see if Microsoft’s laptop can handle local AI tasks better than a MacBook Pro — or the newly released Mac Studio M5 Ultra that’s also built for local AI.

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During the major Microsoft RTX Spark event today, the tech giant revealed its new premium Surface Laptop Ultra which aims to go head to head with Apple's MacBook Pro.

Starting at $2,599, the RTX Spark-powered laptop comes in one size, 16 inches, but with multiple internal configurations, all the way up to a super-powered one that costs $5,899.

What does this laptop feature

The big news here is the Nvidia-built RTX Spark N1X processor, but Microsoft is not messing around with the Surface Laptop Ultra.

Despite the ongoing RAM crisis, Microsoft's Ultra laptop is a RAM hog with up to 128GB of RAM in some configurations. Even the base setup starts with 24GB of unified memory.

Here's what that looks like in the base configuration compared to Apple's MacBook Pro:

It has some MacBook Pro-esque features, including MagSafe-like magnetic charging. It comes with advanced cooling.

Surprisingly, compared to a 16-inch MacBook Pro, the Microsoft Ultra is about $400 cheaper in their base configurations. Though the high-end one is about $900 more expensive than Apple's comparable Pro laptop.

RTX Spark

Using the Nvidia CPU, the laptop can support traditional video-editing formats and 3D rendering. Using the chip and local AI to speed up editing and rendering. Microsoft claims it's 2.1 times faster than the MacBook Pro.

Windows and Nvidia will promote this laptop as an AI machine being able to run agents locally and how important AI agents are for the future. This should be important for AI enthusiasts and coders but not necessarily for average users.

What should intrigue the regular person is the creativity and gaming potential. We've already tested out the RTX Spark for video editing, gaming and more. Check out our coverage for more in-depth details.

Pre-order and launch date

Right now you can preorder a Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra on Microsoft's website. The company is offering a "breakup with your MacBook" promotion that can net you up to $1,000 refunded.

As an example, trading in a comparable 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chipset will get you $1,024. You can trade in other devices, including a phone or console like the Xbox Series X, which will only get you $200.

Pre-orders are live now, and the laptop is set to release on October 16, 2026. Stay tuned for our full review once we get one in for testing.

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For over a decade, laptop users have been forced into an annoying ultimatum: either get the safety of a breakaway magnetic charging cable (like Apple’s MagSafe) or the universal convenience of USB-C.

You could never have both, but with the $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra, Microsoft just shattered that compromise. Dubbed “Magnetic Connect,” the Ultra features the world’s first built-in magnetic USB-C port. It is a massive physical design breakthrough that brings the trip-saving safety directly to a standard port.

Also, not that I’m keeping score, but I predicted this back during my first time testing the Ultra. What can I say? I don’t miss.

The trip test

During my hands-on time with the Surface Laptop Ultra, the magnetic connection immediately proved its worth.

• The pull: If you catch your foot on the cable while walking past a desk, the cord snaps away cleanly and instantly — exactly like MagSafe. There’s zero drag on that 4.5-pound aluminum chassis, meaning your pricey investment isn’t going to go flying.
• The fit: The magnets align that socket superbly, and pull the cable into a satisfying, strong, secure fit that doesn’t feel wobbly no matter how much I jostled it.
• The brick: Furthermore, the included 140 watt charging brick is remarkably small and light, and it features a magnetic USB-C port on its end as well, creating a completely seamless travel setup.

Seeing the prototypes that led to this moment shows just how much work went into making this happen, and I can only hope this is a new standard that other laptop makers take note of!

Mag (not so) Safe from the competition anymore

The absolute best part is that the port on the laptop is still just a standard USB-C port.

Unlike Apple’s MagSafe, which sacrificed precious port space for a proprietary power connector, Microsoft’s port pulls double duty. If you don’t have the magnetic charging cable, you can still plug in any standard USB-C peripheral, display or third-party charger.

It’s uncompromised flexibility that the Cupertino crew simply can’t match.

The machine attached to the port

It’s genuinely funny to me that Microsoft packed this laptop with some of the most cutting-edge silicon on the planet, yet the physical port is the thing stealing the show. Some of the loudest cheers from the audience were reserved for this — that’s how big it is.

And all this proves a point I constantly hammer home: you can have all the AI teraflops in the world, but sometimes the greatest innovation is just making sure we don’t accidentally yank our laptops off the table.

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• I tested the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2026) like I was a student — its gaming, creator and AI performance is huge, but it comes at a cost

With a release window in the "coming weeks" the Xreal Aura smart glasses finally have a price, and no, it won't be cheap. The Android XR spectacles are a pair of spatial computing glasses that should rival the recently announced Meta VR Glasses.

The glasses will come in two configurations starting at $1,279, with pre-orders open now.

“By combining lightweight optical see through glasses with Android XR, Gemini, and Snapdragon-powered performance, XREAL AURA gives movie-lovers, gamers, sports fans, desktop workers, developers and the enterprise, a new way to experience computing that's more wearable, open, and connected to the world around them – and they will be able to experience it this year," CEO and co-founder Chi Xu said in a press release.

What are the Xreal Aura?

If you're unfamiliar, the Xreal Aura was developed in a partnership between Google, Qualcomm and Xreal. These glasses feature "split-compute," meaning that the Snapdragon Reality Elite silicon that powers the glasses is in a separate puck.

The glasses weight 95 grams, putting them on the slightly heavier side of AR glasses. They feature a 70-degree field of view, which is pretty generous when similar products often sit closer to 50.

The compute puck enables gesture controls but can also be used as a trackpad for navigation.

Xreal Aura vs Meta VR Glasses

With a price of $1,279, the Xreal Aura glasses are basically the same price as the Meta VR Glasses and, based on our initial hands-on testing, seem to do a lot of the same things.

Both are spatial computing eXtended Reality platforms in a pair of smart glasses that are tethered to a compute puck that holds the battery and CPU.

Xreal's glasses seem to have an advantage, thanks to the Android XR operating system and built-in Google apps, Gemini Live integration, wider connectivity and a more familiar aesthetic. You can just look through the Aura to see the world around you, while the Meta VR Glasses require a camera passthrough.

But I wouldn't sleep on the Meta VR Glasses. Muse is coming on strong as an AI assistant. The 5K micro-OLED displays offer more detail than Xreal's 1200p display, and you get better light blockage. Plus, Meta has a huge content library.

For more details, we've done a deep dive comparing the Meta VR Glasses versus Xreal Aura. Either way, lightweight spatial computing is growing, pointing to an interesting future.

Price and release window

Pre-orders are now open via Xreal.com/aura if you paid a reservation deposit. You should receive an email today if you did.

"Due to high demand and high reservations for AURA, only those who already reserved AURA prior to October 7 will be eligible to pre-order AURA and complete their purchases starting today," the Xreal press release said.

The glasses come in Medium (60-60mm IPD) or Large (66-72mm IPD) versions to start. From there, you can either pick a version with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage in the compute puck for $1,279 or 16GB RAM and 512GB storage for $1,499.

The glasses will start shipping to the US, Canada, Japan and South Korea, with more markets coming next year. Otherwise, general availability orders will be available at launch, whenever that is.

Xreal is describing the release of the Aura as a phased rollout, and it's not clear how available the specs will be outside of the reservation phase.

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We’ve just benchmarked the first five Googlebooks. While my team and I will still need to use these laptops to assess their real-world performance, our lab results give us a clear picture of what they can do.

In case you didn’t know, Googlebooks are designed to give Android users seamless interoperability between their phones and laptops, just as iPhone owners have with MacBooks. These laptops aren’t just Chromebooks by another name. They all run the brand-new Googlebook OS, which combines aspects of Android and ChromeOS. And since these are Google laptops, Gemini is built right in and delivers unique features you won’t find elsewhere.

The Googlebooks we benchmarked are from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Each has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Acer, Asus, and Lenovo’s machines run on an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 Panther Lake, while Dell and HP’s notebooks use a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip. These are the starting configurations, though you can upgrade memory and storage at checkout for some of them.

Now that you know what Googlebooks are about and the specs of the laptops we benchmarked, it’s time to look at the numbers — both against each other and against some of their competitors. Let’s dive in!

Quick links

• Acer Googlebook 14: $899 @ Best Buy
• Dell XPS Googlebook: $999 @ Best Buy
• Lenovo Googlebook 15: $1,099 @ Best Buy
• Asus Googlebook 14: $1,299 @ Best Buy
• HP Googlebook 14: $1,299 @ Best Buy

Geekbench 6.7

On Geekbench 6, which tests general CPU performance, the Acer, Asus, and Lenovo Googlebooks generally scored similarly in the single- and multi-core tests. All of these laptops run on the same Panther Lake processor.

The XPS Googlebook and HP Googlebook 14 had comparable single-core performance to those three laptops, but both notebooks scored much higher on multi-core performance. These results clearly show that Qualcomm’s chip performs better on Google’s new platform, with about 50% better overall performance.

Google’s machines held their own against competitors like the Dell XPS 13, which also has the same Panther Lake chip as the Acer, Asus, and Lenovo Googlebooks. Single-core results are roughly the same, but the XPS 13’s multi-core results weren’t close.

The same is true for the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 Gen 10, which packs a MediaTek Kompanio U910 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. This last one also proves that a “high-end” Chromebook can’t match the power of a Googlebook.

Of course, the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air models with their M5 chips crush every laptop in both Geekbench tests for raw performance. That said, Dell and HP’s Googlebooks aren’t too far behind, which shows the capability of the Snapdragon X Elite.

CrossMark

Next, let’s see how Googlebooks did in the CrossMark benchmark, which evaluates performance across three main scenarios: Productivity (document and spreadsheet editing, web browsing), Creativity (photo editing, photo organization, video editing), and Responsiveness (application launching and file opening).

This benchmark generates scores for each category, along with an overall aggregate score that weights productivity and creativity more heavily than responsiveness. Higher scores indicate superior performance.

The results here are interesting. The Intel-driven Acer, Asus, and Lenovo laptops scored better for productivity and responsiveness, while the Qualcomm-powered Dell and HP did better for creativity. Their overall scores are generally the same, however. The Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Air scored far lower in every single CrossMark test.

3DMark Wild Life Extreme

On the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme GPU performance benchmark, Googlebooks with Snapdragon X Elite outperformed their Intel-powered cousins, both in overall scores and frames per second. That said, even the XPS Googlebook, which did the best in our testing, still couldn’t hit 60 frames per second.

To get the obvious out of the way — the MacBook Air M5 is the best machine for gaming. And that’s not just based on numbers, as games like Resident Evil 4 run like a dream every time I’ve tested it on MacBooks. As for the XPS 13 and Chromebook Plus 14 Gen, I wouldn’t bother trying to play games on either.

I’ll need to play various Android games on Googlebooks to see what the real-world experience is like, but I expect they’ll run noticeably better on the Snapdragon machines. As with the Geekbench benchmark, performance is generally 50% better overall.

Battery life

Lastly, let’s look at battery life, which Google claims is generally around 14 hours for Googlebooks. Google details how it determines battery life for its laptops here. But in short, the device screen brightness is kept at a minimum of 100 nits, with Dark theme and Battery Saver mode enabled. Wi-Fi is connected and used for browsing data.

Our Googlebook battery test is the same as the one we've used on Chromebooks in the past, which is much more demanding than Google's testing. Unlike our custom in-house macOS and Windows battery test, this test uses the live internet and is powered by a Chrome extension. It browses through a list of 30 live websites every 30 seconds until the battery drains. We set the screen to 150 nits of brightness and turn off Bluetooth and location services with the device's default theme.

Admittedly, Google's testing gives Googlebooks an advantage, which accounts for their 14-hour claims. However, our testing is vastly different, as I've detailed above.

So how did Googlebooks perform under these conditions? As you can see above, we didn’t see anything close to the advertised 14 to 16 hours of battery life. The Asus Googlebook 14 barely managed to reach 6 and a half hours. The big winner here is the HP Googlebook 14, with its nearly 12-hour battery life. As you can see, all the other competitors I’m comparing Googlebooks to lasted far longer on our usual battery test.

There are a few caveats to keep in mind. We usually run three battery tests, but so far we’ve only run one. Though unlikely, we could see different results once we’ve averaged the three. We also ran the battery tests with the display at 120Hz, which is on by default. It’s very possible that battery life will also improve when we run our tests with the display set to 60Hz.

Except for the XPS Googlebook, all the Googlebooks we tested have OLED panels, which tend to be a greater drain on battery life. Although Google has mandated certain hardware standards, such as touch displays and metal chassis, manufacturers are not required to include OLED panels in Googlebooks. That being the case, I suspect we could see even better endurance on models with LCD screens.

Outlook

Again, I’ll need more time with Googlebooks, but based on our benchmark results, they’re impressive yet not mind-blowing. Battery life is my biggest concern, since we now live in a world where laptops can last over 20 hours, as we’ve seen with MacBooks and certain Snapdragon X notebooks. Qualcomm’s chip also seems better suited to Googlebooks, as the Intel models can’t match that level of performance.

If you’re an Android user looking for a laptop that works seamlessly with your phone, Googlebooks could be a great fit. If you decide to take the plunge, I recommend the Snapdragon X Elite-powered Dell XPS Googlebook and HP Googlebook 14, which start at $999 and $1,149, respectively.

More from Tom's Guide

• Googlebooks vs Chromebooks — here are the actual differences
• I tested all 5 new Googlebooks — and this is the one that blew me away
• I checked out the new Googlebooks — 3 reasons I'd buy one, and 3 reasons I'd skip

For the last five years, I have logged thousands of miles on long-haul flights testing nearly every pair of the best AR glasses on the market. No more staring down at a phone, Steam Deck or laptop on a tray table for eight hours — just a 150-inch OLED monitor at eye level that makes my economy seat feel more like business class.

And with Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days officially kicking off, the market is flooded with so-called “discounts” that are ultimately deceptive. I’ve cut through the noise, and here is the ultimate fluff-free guide to the only deals actually worth your money — on glasses I’ve tested (and love), whether you’re a curious beginner or a hardcore travelling gamer.

Prime Day AR glasses deals: Quick links

• RayNeo Air 4 Pro: was $299 now $239 @ Amazon
• Xreal xbx a01+: was $299 now $254 @ Amazon
• Viture Luma Pro: was $499 now $359 @ Amazon
• RayNeo GT Max: was $429 now $364 @ Amazon
• Viture Beast: was $549 now $529 @ Amazon
• Xreal One Pro: was $599 now $549 @ Amazon

The BS detector: check the price history

So before you click “add to cart,” the first thing you need to know is that not all Prime Day percentages are real — especially at the lower-end.

• The genuine drop: The Xreal xbx a01+ has dropped to $254 from its original $299 price. This is a clean, event-specific historic low, and turns these glasses from a good buy to a great one.
• The imposter: You will see the Viture Pro 2 heavily advertised at $299 with banners claiming a 21% saving off a $379 reference price. But $299 has always been the standard everyday price — it is an incredible piece of hardware, but you are not getting a special October discount.

To be clear, $299 is still a great price, but not every deal is actually a deal. Let's dig into it below.

Who should buy what?

So after clocking over 50,000 miles testing all the glasses on sale right now, which ones are best for you? Let me break it down for you.

The smart glasses you *actually* want

It’s easy to get lost in the marketing weeds of “spatial computing” and “mixed reality.” But at their core, AR glasses are the ultimate life hack for the modern commuter — lightweight, completely private monitors that fit in a sunglasses case.

And the beauty of the versatility of options is that you don’t need to care about picture tracking. The option is there, and that’s great, but if you’re brand new to this category, it’s not important. You just need to care about never having to crane your neck over a cramped 13-inch laptop screen on a cross-country flight ever again.

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AI scams are so realistic that even the most tech savvy person might fall prey to them. AI development increases by the day, and of course with any new technology, there comes the perversion of such technology, especially for malicious intent.

The old, “Your car’s extended warranty” trick might not cut it, but what about a call from a loved one? Yes, it is that real and it’s terrifying. Americans lost $893 million because of AI scams in 2025 (via the FBI), and if I had to speculate, the report might be worse for 2026 as AI continues to evolve.

There are several red flags you should watch out for with any sort of potential scam, but with AI scams, you need to be extra vigilant.

Red flag: Urgency

The urgent “RIGHT NOW” energy is a dead giveaway for scammers. My own mother-in-law received a call from the “courthouse,” saying that she missed her summons. And they threatened to put out a warrant against her if they didn’t receive information to confirm her identity, which of course included her Social Security number.

That’s a scary thing to be threatened with, but you know what you should do? Call your courthouse directly on a trusted number and verify that information. The same goes for anyone claiming to be from an official government body or even a loved one. Contact them directly on a trusted line of communication.

If the court really wanted you that urgently, they’d be knocking on your door. Take time to assess what these potential scammers are asking you and verify the information on your end.

Red flag: Emails about your account

One of the most common scams are emails about your account. It’s more terrifying now because they look so legit. I’ve caught myself second-guessing multiple times because some emails just look too realistic. It could be anything from threats about locking your account to resetting your password because there’s been a data breach.

The key here is to NEVER click on any links in an unprompted email or download any PDFs or documents. If there’s an actual problem with your account, login at the source, and assess what the supposed issue might be. It wouldn’t hurt to reset your password as well.

Red flag: Payment requests

Even if your best friend is asking you for money, I hope that you’d at least ask, “Why?” The same goes for anything you receive in the mail, in an email, or on the phone.

AI-generated emails and voices are incredibly convincing, and it’s easy to get scared into sending someone money because you “missed a payment,” or that you owe a debt, especially if you’re someone on top of your finances.

Take a deep breath, and don’t click on any link or give out any of your financial information. If you really did miss a payment, go directly to the source that they’re claiming you owe money to. Always deal with your financials directly, where you typically would, and never through anyone that contacts you unprompted.

Red flag: Pushback

As I’ve said so far, verifying the information being told to you is the most important thing to do in these situations, but there’s another dead giveaway for scammers — pushback.

Seriously, I’ve been on the phone with some of these scammers and they will be actively evasive or straight up pushy if you try to ask them questions to verify the information that they’re claiming to have.

If you’re talking to someone, or something in the case of an AI bot, who simply isn’t cooperating with your requests, run for the hills immediately.

Bottom line

Remain vigilant. The common throughline with all these red flags is that you want to verify and assess all of the information on your end without giving anything away yourself.

It’s not exactly fun to remain suspicious at everything you see, but unfortunately that’s the current world we live in. A highly personal email can contain detailed information about you, but that doesn’t mean you should trust it — companies sell your data all the time and experience data breaches, so it shouldn’t be hard to believe that a scammer acquired personal details about you.

There’s a “gotcha” mentality prevalent in even legitimate businesses, so always check the information twice and don’t be afraid to ask a friend or even the internet for help.

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