Month: November 2022

The new iPad 2023 could be one of the best tablets of the year – if it includes these changes.

The iPad 10.9 (2022) is one of the best tablets you can buy, whether you’re looking specifically at iPads or open to any option on the market. This might be a basic model from Apple, yet its specs and features feel anything but rudimentary. It’s not perfect, however, leaving plenty of room for the new iPad 2023 to improve upon it.

That’s expected to be the successor to the iPad 10.9 (2022), and based on our experience with Apple’s current model, we’ve come up with a list of things we want from this next baseline tablet.

You’ll also find all the leaks and rumors about the iPad 2023 below, and as soon as we hear more, we’ll add them to this article. Note also that while we’re referring to this as the new iPad 2023, it’s unclear now whether it will launch this year or in 2024.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The next entry-level iPadWhen it it out? Probably between now and June 2024How much will it cost? Possibly around $449 / £499 / AU$749

New iPad 2023 release date and price

The only iPad 2023 release date leak so far suggests that it will land between now (October 2023) and June 2024, which is quite a wide window.

Soon might make sense, as Apple typically launches new entries in either September or October, but we’d think we’d have heard more about it if a launch was that imminent, so don’t be surprised if we’re waiting until 2024.

We don’t know what the iPad 2023 will cost, but it may have a similar starting price to the iPad 10.9 (2022), which starts at $449 / £499 / AU$749. Then again, that tablet cost more than its predecessor, so it’s possible Apple will push the price up again.

The next model could have a similar price to the iPad 10.9 (2022) (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

New iPad 2023 news and leaks

There aren’t many leaks about this tablet yet, but we have heard that the iPad 2023 will simply offer “spec upgrades”, suggesting this will be a small update, with probably a new chipset but the same design and a 10.9-inch screen again.

Indeed, given that Apple upped the screen size and changed the design for the iPad 10.9 (2022), we’d expect both of those things to stay the same for the next model; meaning a 10.9-inch screen and an iPad Air-like design both being likely.

However, in line with the leak above we’d think it will almost certainly have a new chipset. Or at least a newer one – the current iPad uses Apple’s existing A14 Bionic, also seen in the iPhone 12 line and the 2020 fourth-generation iPad Air, so the next model will likely get an upgrade to, at least, the A15 Bionic found in the iPhone 13.

What we want to see

As good as the iPad 10.9 (2022) is, it could always be better, so we hope the new iPad 2023 includes some of the following changes and upgrades.

1. Apple Pencil 2 support

Apple Pencil 2 support is missing from the iPad 10.9 (2022) (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

One of the more unusual aspects of the iPad 10.9 (2022) is that it supports the original Apple Pencil rather than the newer Apple Pencil 2. That’s despite switching to a USB-C port, which means you can’t even charge the Apple Pencil (which charges via Lightning) without an adapter.

There are reasons for this decision, but it seems like a mistake overall, and one we hope Apple will fix for the next model.

2. A lower price, or at least no price rises

Apple pushed the price up significantly for the iPad 10.9 (2022), compared to its predecessor, so for the next model we’d ideally like to see the price fall, given that this is the company’s cheapest line of tablets. At the very least, though, we don’t want it to rise any higher.

3. A less reflective screen

The iPad 10.9 (2022)’s screen can prove quite reflective (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

While we were largely happy with the iPad 10.9 (2022)’s screen, one issue we found in our review was that the lack of an anti-reflective coating meant there could be quite a lot of reflections in it, particularly when used outside.

We don’t expect Apple to switch to a mini-LED or OLED screen, or pack in more pixels for the new iPad 2023, but we’d love to at least be able to comfortably use it outdoors, so hopefully this model will have that coating.

4. More camera modes

Cameras are rarely a priority for tablets, and such is the case with the iPad 10.9 (2022). We’re largely fine with that, but the absence of both Portrait mode and Cinematic mode are noticeable and disappointing, so we’d like to see them included for the new iPad 2023.

5. Improved battery life

The iPad 10.9 (2022) actually has quite reasonable battery life, with our reviewer managing around 8-10 hours of constant use. That’s in the same ballpark as most other iPads, but when you consider that the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) lasted over 16 hours in our tests, we think Apple can do better, given that a tablet isn’t a million miles from a laptop.

Even an extra couple of hours would make all the difference, so we hope that’s a focus for Apple with the next model, as it could help ensure the iPad 2023’s place among the best iPads.

Read More 

The Honor Magic Vs is a foldable flagship with its sights set on Samsung. Here’s what you need to know.

The Honor Magic Vs is the successor to the Honor Magic V foldable phone, and it looks set to give the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 a real run for its money.

The phone is already on sale in China and confirmed to be arriving in European markets soon, so we know all of the specs and features on offer.

Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about the Honor Magic Vs, including its design, display, power, cameras, and details on when it might release in your local region.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The latest foldable phone from Honor

When is it out? November 30, 2022 in China, then global in Q1 2023

How much does it cost? CNY 7,499 (around $1,050 / £880 / AU$1,580) in China and €1,599 in Europe (around $1,700 / £1,405 / AU$2,525)

Honor Magic Vs release date and price

The Honor Magic Vs was unveiled in China on November 23, 2022 and started shipping on November 30.

Fast-forward to MWC 2023 in February and alongside the launch of its new flagship, the Honor Magic 5 Pro, the company also locked in European pricing, with regional availability still to come.

In China, the Honor Magic Vs starts at CNY 7,499, which converts to around $1,050 / £880 / AU$1,580. That’s for a model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but there are also pricier configurations, topping out at a 12GB/512GB model for CNY 8,999 (roughly $1,260 / £1,060 / AU$1,890).

As expected, pricing outside of China is higher, with the phone retailing for €1,599 in Europe (around $1,700 / £1,405 / AU$2,525).

(Image credit: Honor)

Honor Magic Vs design

The Honor Magic Vs looks a lot like the Honor Magic V or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, with a large foldable display that opens out into a tablet-like expanse, or can be folded shut, leaving you with a more smartphone-sized device.

There’s a punch-hole camera on the foldable display, and there’s a large secondary screen that you can use when the phone is folded shut, with a punch-hole camera of its own.

The Honor Magic Vs comes in Cyan, Black, and Orange shades, or at least they’re the colors mentioned in global press materials – some imagery shows other shades too though.

It weighs 261g and it’s 160.3mm tall, and its remaining dimensions are 141.5 x 6.1mm when unfolded, and 72.6 x 12.9mm when folded shut. That makes it both thinner and lighter than the previous model.

It should be able to hold up to a lot of use too, with Honor claiming the Magic Vs is able to withstand over 400,000 folds.

(Image credit: Honor)

Honor Magic Vs display

The foldable screen on the Honor Magic Vs is a 7.9-inch 1984 x 2272 OLED one with 381 pixels per inch, a 90Hz refresh rate, and a brightness of up to 800 nits. 

The hinge design allows the Magic Vs to fold without a gap according to Honor, and the company claims there’s no crease in the center of the display – which is something that even the best foldable phones have struggled to achieve.

As for the exterior screen, that’s a 6.45-inch 1080 x 2560 OLED one with 431 pixels per inch, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a brightness of up to 1,200 nits. So in many ways it’s actually a better screen than the main foldable display.

(Image credit: Honor)

Honor Magic Vs cameras and battery

There’s a triple-lens camera on the back of the Honor Magic Vs, consisting of a 54MP f/1.9 main camera, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide camera with a 122-degree field of view, and which can also be used for macro shots, and an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto camera, offering 3x optical zoom.

There’s also a 16MP f/2.45 camera on the secondary display, though oddly Honor hasn’t said anything about the selfie camera on the foldable screen.

As for the battery, that’s 5,000mAh, which is bigger both than the battery in its predecessor, and the one in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. It can charge fast too, at up to 66W. That’s apparently enough for it to charge a full 100% in just 46 minutes

(Image credit: Honor)

Honor Magic Vs specs and features

There’s plenty of power here, with the Honor Magic Vs using a high-end Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset. That’s not quite as powerful as the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but it’s the best chipset seen in any 2022 Android phone.

That’s paired with a choice of 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Honor Magic Vs also supports 5G, and it runs MagicOS 7.0, which is Honor’s custom interface laid on top of Android 12. The company has also committed to three years of OS updates and five years of security updates for its international release.

It also has dual stereo speakers, and supports the company’s new Magic Pen stylus. In all then, on paper at least, this looks like it could easily be one of the best Honor phones, and could give Samsung some serious foldable competition

Read More 

Here’s everything we know about The Continental TV show, which arrives on Peacock and Prime Video in September.

The Continental hotel will soon re-open its doors to fans of the John Wick movies with a new prequel TV series called The Continental, which is coming to Peacock, NBC Universal’s streaming platform in September, 2023.

The John Wick franchise, which stars beloved actor Keanu Reeves as the iconic assassin thrust out of retirement seeking vengeance, was only meant to be one film. But now the John Wick universe boasts four chapters (read our guide to watch the John Wick movies in order) with more on the way. We can look forward to spin-off movie Ballerina in 2024, which follows the story of ballerina-assassin Rooney (played by Ana de Armas) who hunts those who killed her family. As well as a fifth movie instalment, which has been all but confirmed by Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.

The Continental will be set in an alternate history in the 1970s and over three episodes it’ll focus on a young version of Ian McShane’s Winston, the manager of The Continental hotel in the John Wick movies. This chain og hotels around the world offer a neutral territory for members of the criminal underworld, such as assassins like Wick, to do business or hide from the authorities. Below you’ll find everything you need to know about The Continental, including its release date, cast, plot details, and more. Major spoilers incoming for the John Wick franchise, so turn back if you’re not caught up on the four films.

The Continental release date

The Continental will launch on September 22, 2023. (Image credit: Lionsgate)

The first episode of The Continental will arrive on September 22, 2023. The second episode lands a week later on September 29, 2023 and the third and final episode a week after that on October 6, 2023. 

The Continental will launch exclusively on Peacock in the US, and Prime Video in non-US regions (per Deadline) apart from Israel and the Middle East.

The Continental trailer

The official trailer for The Continental arrived in mid-August, 2023. It gives us a tantalizing look at what we can expect from the show, including lots of action, beautifully-choreographed fight scenes and a simmering feud between warring factions.

From what we can tell, Mel Gibson’s character Cormac is the manager of The Continental hotel in the 1970s and tells a young Winston (Colin Woodell) that he needs to get his house in order after his brother Frankie steals something that belongs to him. “This sacred institution wields power beyond your imagination,” Gibson’s Cormac says. “Your brother took something from me. Find him, because if you don’t, I’ll bring the weight of this whole institution down on you both.”

The John Wick franchise always looked stunning and we’re delighted to see The Continental is set to be just as aesthetically-pleasing, with 1970s styling, gorgeous sweeping scenes of New York City and The Continental and, of course, plenty of dark scenes drenched in neon light.

The Continental cast

We’ll see a younger version of Charon in The Continental. (Image credit: Lionsgate)

Amazon Studios has released a handy guide to the cast of The Continental.

Colin Woodell as young Winston Scott Ayomide Adegun as Charon Peter Greene as young Uncle Charlie Mel Gibson as Cormac Nhung Kate as Yen Katie McGrath as The Adjudicator  Jessica Allain as Lou Jeremy Bobb as Mayhew Adam Shapiro as Lemmy Claire Cooper as Mrs. Davenport Ray McKinnon as Jenkins Ben Robson as Frankie Marina Mazepa as Gretel Mark Mushashi as Hansel Mishel Prada as KD Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles 

Given The Continental is a prequel, Keanu Reeves won’t be appearing in the small-screen series. So, for those of you holding out hope for a John Wick cameo, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

The Continental will take place in an alternate history 1975, meaning that both present day hotel owner Winston and his trusted concierge Charon will be played by younger actors, Colin Woodell and Ayomide Adegun, rather than Ian MacShane and Lance Reddick. Another of the show’s biggest announcements is the involvement of Mel Gibson who will play a character called Cormac, the manager of The Continental hotel in the 1970s.

In the most recent press release from Amazon, more details have emerged about supporting characters, including KD and Mayhew, played by Mishel Prada and Jeremy Bobb, two NYPD detectives. Frankie, Winston’s brother who drags him into the events of the series, is played by Ben Robson. And Nhung Kate plays his wife Yen, a fierce fighter in her own right who would do anything to protect him.

Finally, two more notable characters are Lou, played by Jessica Allain, and Miles, played by Hubert Point-Du Jour, a brother and sister duo who run the dojo their late father left them. From what we can tell from The Continental trailer, it looks like Winston will team up with Lou and Miles to take on Cormac.

When it comes to the crew behind this spin-off, the series has been created by Greg Collidge (Wayne, Ride Along) and Kirk Ward (Wayne). Executive producers include Albert Hughes, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch, Shawn Simmons, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, and Marshall Persinger. 

Hughes will also take the directorial chair for the first and third episode, with Charlotte Brändström (The Rings of Power) helming the second. 

The Continental plot

The Continental will chart the rise of Winston as he claims ownership of the hotel chain. (Image credit: Lionsgate)

While The Continental is a prequel series, it’s also an entirely new spin-off from the usual story focusing instead on a young Winston, who in the John Wick films we know and love owns the New York City hotel residence.

However, in The Continental he doesn’t own the hotel – at least not at the start. Instead, it’s owned by Cormac (Mel Gibson) who summons Winston to find his brother, Frankie, as he’s stolen something important to him. 

Interestingly, The Continental will also explore real-world events, including the Great Garbage Strike and the rise of the American Mafia. Despite being a work of fiction, then, it seems the series will draw heavily from, or be inspired by, true events.

Speaking to Fandom in 2020, Chad Stahelski, stuntman turned director on the John Wick franchise, said: “The angles they’re working on The Continental TV show right now is a different perspective on the whole world. It’s coming at it from different characters’ point of views and what the breadth of the world is actually. Whereas in John Wick, I’m following one time period, literally almost a week in the life of one man, where everything spirals out of control.”

The Continental: John Wick timeline explained

Don’t expect John Wick to appear in The Continental. (Image credit: Lionsgate)

As we’ve mentioned, The Continental is a prequel set 40 years before the John Wick films we’ve come to know and love. Speaking to Deadline, Lionsgate TV’s Kevin Beggs said: “Because we’re way back in time, way back pre-John Wick and even pre-young John Wick, that character is not finding his way into the universe. We are in the John Wick universe, but it’s way back in time. Think about the Game of Thrones prequels because you don’t know any of the players, but you do know the world.”

Given John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad previously revealed that Keanu’s character was initially meant to be a 75-year-old man (per Variety), we could well have seen Wick appear in some guise. However, with the character eventually written as a 35-year old, he won’t have been born by the time of the events of The Continental. So, as we said earlier, don’t expect him to feature.

Ultimately, as far as the John Wick timeline is concerned, it’s an origin story of The Continental’s deep history. It’s also an opportunity for Winston and several other characters from the franchise’s origin stories to be explored and perhaps provide a more detailed look into how their characters came to be in the John Wick mythos.

It’s unclear if future seasons will be greenlit, if The Continental will remain a miniseries, or how the TV series will tie into John Wick Chapter 4. If it’s even half as successful as the original John Wick film was, however, you can be sure Peacock will renew the prequel show for more installments.

For more Peacock-based content, find out how much a Peacock subscription costs or read our Peacock review. Alternatively, check out what we thought of Peacock’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot.

Read More 

Matter has already arrived at many of your favorite smart home gadgets, with more on the way. Here’s how it’ll change your tech for the better.

On October 4, 2022, the first version of Matter, a smart home standard, was made available to users and companies worldwide, and two years later, it’s everywhere.

Thanks to the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which is a consortium of over 500 companies, Matter is a way of having all your smart home devices work in harmony, and in one place — without having to use a deluge of apps to manage them all.

Matter can be found in smart lights, sensors, blinds, and plenty more. So much so, that we have a guide listing a bunch of them, making it easier for you to find Matter-compatible appliances. However, we’ve listed a few answers for you below, to help understand what Matter means, and how it will benefit you, especially if you’re about to buy a smart home appliance for the first time.

What is Matter?

(Image credit: Nanoleaf)

When you buy a smart home product, you may expect it to work with the other smart home devices you already own. This didn’t use to be the case — you would usually have to use the app that the product recommended in its instruction manual and go from there.

Using apps like Apple Home, which groups up all of your smart devices into one central overview where you can manage them wherever you are, would not work with products like this, leading to a lot of frustration.

This is where Matter comes in. It removes that annoyance, so the next smart home peripheral you buy works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and more.

It’s important to mention that the standard has been updated several times since its launch in October 2022. For example, Matter 1.3, published in May 2024, enables support for more smart appliances, such as laundry dryers, washing machines, robot vacuums, and more. For now, this latest standard is supported by Apple’s latest software updates. This includes iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11 and tvOS 18.

How does Matter work?

(Image credit: Future)

Using Matter shouldn’t change how you currently interact with your smart home setup. Once the update rolls out to your devices and their smartphone apps, you should be able to continue using everything as you do now, you’ll just have more options for the gadgets you can add to your home. The only thing to watch out for is that different brands aren’t integrating their products with Matter in the same way.

Some, such as Phillips Hue, will make nearly all of their existing devices (as well as new ones) Matter compatible. Like Phillips, companies will do this via a software update – which for the Hue Bridge will happen in “Q1, 2023,” or January, February, or March – which will then bring the devices into the fold of the new standard.

There may be a few hiccups here and there – Philips is having to abandon the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box and the dial of the Philips Hue Tap Dial Switch for now, and some settings may be reset by the change – but for the most part, the transition over to Matter will be quick and painless.

Unfortunately, this total adoption of Matter won’t be possible for every existing smart home device. For some brands – like Amazon and Google – very old models will be left behind.

If you have the latest smart device like the new Echo Dot (5th gen), the Google Nets Hub Max, or the Echo Show 10 (among others) then those should get the Matter update. However, models that are older than a few years won’t necessarily offer the same support. In those instances, you’ll either have to upgrade your smart speakers or forgo the benefits that Matter will bring.

Further, even some fairly recent models won’t update to Matter, with support for the new standard only coming to newly released smart home gadgets from some brands. That’s the case with Nanoleaf’s smart lighting – only the new Matter-compatible additions to its Essentials line will adopt the Matter standard.

That said, even if your older gadgets don’t get the update, your existing smart home setup should continue to work as well as ever. So, unless you were planning to upgrade it already there shouldn’t be a need for you to rush out and replace everything right away.

If you are looking to buy some upgrades though – then you’ll want to make sure what you’re buying does support Matter, otherwise, your new purchases could become outdated pretty quickly.

Read More 

The iPad Pro 2023 could have an even bigger screen than current models, along with other upgrades.

The iPad Pro 2023 is (surprise!) expected to land some time this year, and although we haven’t heard much about the device by way of official details, the rumors we have come across suggest Apple’s next Pro-level tablet will be a much bigger upgrade than we saw with the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022).

In fact, ‘big’ is the key word here, because numerous sources suggest that this year’s iPad Pro will be even larger than the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro – though it’s likely that Apple will keep making models in the current sizes, too.

That’s not all we’ve heard, either. Below, you’ll find all the latest news, leaks and rumors surrounding the iPad Pro 2023, with details on its possible release date and specs. We’re also adding to this article whenever we hear something new, so keep it bookmarked and check back soon.

Cut to the chase

What is it? The next top-end iPad

When is it out? Probably sometime in 2023

How much will it cost? Unknown but expect a very high price

iPad Pro 2023 release date and price

The iPad Pro 2023 will probably cost at least as much as an iPad Pro 2022 (Image credit: Future)

The next iPad Pro could land sooner than you might expect. While the iPad Pro 2022 line only launched as recently as October 2022, we might see a new model in early 2023.

That’s according to Ross Young – a leaker with a solid track record – who says that Apple’s could debut a new iPad Pro with a 14.1-inch display sometime this year.

We’ve more recently heard that a 16-inch iPad (which may or may not be a Pro model) might land in late 2023, though it’s not clear whether this would be in addition to or instead of the rumored 14.1-inch version.

It’s also entirely possible that neither of these leaks are right. In fact, we might not see a new iPad Pro in 2023 at all, given that there was over a year between the April 2021 launch of the iPad Pro 2021 and the October 2022 launch of the iPad Pro 2022.

As for price, Apple may keep pricing similar to current models, if the screen sizes remain the same. That would mean a starting price of around $799 / £899 / AU$1,399 for the 11-inch version and $1,099 / £1,249 / AU$1,899 for the 12.9-inch model, though that’s just speculation for now.

And, of course, if these slates have larger screens, their asking prices are sure to be higher, too. We’ve heard rumblings that Apple’s first OLED iPad Pros – which are rumored to arrive in 2024 – could cost more than some of the best MacBooks, so it’s possible that the company’s 2023 slates could surprise us in the price department. 

iPad Pro 2023 news, rumors, and leaks

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Prathankarnpap)

As noted above, one of the biggest changes coming to the iPad Pro 2023 could be a bigger screen. We’ve heard talk of a 14.1-inch iPad Pro display multiple times, while 16-inch iPad Pro display has been talked about, too. Elsewhere, there’s been more general talk of larger iPad Pro screens in the future.

Whether one or both of these screen sizes would be offered is unclear, but it certainly seems likely that a bigger screen is coming, given the number of sources mentioning one.

The sources who mentioned a 14.1-inch model also said more about it, claiming between them that the next iPad Pro will have a mini-LED display – like the latest 12.9-inch models – and that it will have an M2 chipset, again matching current models. Its base storage, meanwhile, might sit at 512GB, and it could start with a whopping 16GB of RAM.

Those last two details are higher than the starting configurations of current Pro models, but you can spec exiting models to match, if you’ve got the extra cash.

With the main change seemingly being screen size, there’s a chance that this may not be a new generation of iPad Pro at all, and rather an additional model for the current line.

The other big leak surrounding a future iPad Pro is the possible switch to an OLED screen. This would arguably be better than the mini-LED currently used by the iPad Pro 12.9, and certainly better than the IPS LCD display used by the iPad Pro 11.

That said, while we’ve heard a number of times that this change is coming, the consensus seems to be that Apple’s OLED iPad Pros won’t be arriving until 2024. The latest rumors suggest that Apple is working on a 14.1-inch OLED iPad Pro with a super-fast M3 Pro chipset, and while that suggestion fits with Ross Young’s aforementioned claims regarding a 14-inch iPad Pro arriving some time in the future, we think a 2024 ETA for these devices is more likely than 2023. 

And finally, leaker Majin Bu – who has a mixed track record when it comes to predictions – has claimed that Apple is working on a “smaller” version of macOS for the latest iPad Pro models. This would apparently arrive as a software update alongside macOS 14, in late 2023, and would make the interface a lot more like that of a Mac, while still allowing the slates to run iPad apps.

While we’d take this with a pinch of salt, Apple has clearly been trying to bridge the gap between tablets and laptops for a while, so it’s certainly possible that this will happen, and if it does, we’re sure to see this operating system on the next iPad Pro.

Beyond the leaks, we can also take some educated guesses at possible changes. The next iPad Pro might use the as-yet-unannounced M3 chipset, for example – of the sort rumored for Apple’s aforementioned OLED iPad Pro models – since that would be a step up from the current M2 SoC. Though that will depend on when the next models launch.

There’s a chance Apple will also move the selfie camera to one of the long edges of the slate, since that makes it more useful in a landscape orientation, which is how iPads tend to be positioned – especially for video calls. The company actually already did this with the iPad 10.9 (2022), but not with the latest iPad Pros.

The issue it would have to solve is the Apple Pencil charger, as that currently sits on the same edge as the camera would want to be, and there’s probably not room for both. So, we might have to see more extensive design changes for the iPad Pro to allow for this switch.

Check back regularly for the latest developments surrounding the iPad Pro 2023 and in the meantime, check out our rundown of the best iPads. If you’re already looking to buy one of Apple’s tablets, our constantly-updated collection of the best iPad deals is a good place to start. 

Read More 

Here’s everything you need to know about Severance season 2 on Apple TV Plus.

Severance season 2 is one of the most hotly anticipated shows on Apple TV Plus, especially now that the mega-hit Ted Lasso has come to an end. The first run of episodes was popular with critics and viewers alike, so we can’t wait to find out what creator Dan Erickson, executive producer/director Ben Stiller and the rest of the creative team have come up with for the show’s sophomore outing.

Plot details are currently thin on the ground, though it’s certain we’ll be heading back to the sinister Lumon Industries. In this bizarre office environment, employees undergo a medical procedure that keeps their home and professional lives entirely separate – think of it as an extreme way of achieving that elusive work/life balance. 

First time out, Severance established itself as a show that could tie together complex, conflicted characters in a bleak office satire. It’s a series that grew in scope and ambition with every creeping episode building up to one of the best end-of-season cliffhangers in recent memory. In fact, it’s arguably the best Apple TV show to date, which is why Severance season 2 is right at the top of our must-see list.

Unfortunately, it looks like we may have to wait a bit longer than originally expected. Even though this second run of episodes was greenlit back in April 2022, with production kicking off in October, the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike has put the shoot on indefinite hiatus. In the meantime, here’s everything we know about Severance season 2, from new cast members to speculation about a release date and what the plot has in store. It’s time to get back to work…

Severance season 2 release date

Patricia Arquette gets down to business as manager Harmony Cobel.  (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Filming on Severance season 2 began in October 2022 and was originally  slated to end in May 2023.

Things have changed significantly in the last few months, however, and these shifts could contribute to a big delay to the Severance release date. 

Firstly, in April 2023 rumors emerged of behind-the-scenes tensions (reported by TVLine) slowing down production, though executive producer/regular director Ben Stiller was quick to reassure the world there was nothing to worry about. 

“No one’s going to the break room,” he said on Twitter (via TVLine). “We’re on the same really slow schedule we’ve always been on. Same target air date we’ve always had. Love our fans and each other, and we are all just working to make the show as good as possible.”

That was before the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike in May 2023, bringing work on many major TV to a standstill. Severance is among the high-profile shows to have shut down production, and going back before the cameras will depend on when the industrial dispute is resolved. In other words, the timescale is anybody’s guess.

With that – and the inevitable lengthy post-production process – in mind, it’s unlikely the Severance season 2 release date will be before the very end of 2023. At present, however, a 2024 arrival – two years after the show’s February 2022 debut – seems much more realistic. 

Severance season 2 cast

Expect Severance‘s main cast to go back to the office for its next season. (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

These are the season 1 stars we expect to return in the Severance season 2 cast:

Adam Scott as Mark S / Mark Scout
Zach Cherry as Dylan G / Dylan George
Britt Lower as Helly R / Helena Egan
John Tuturro as Irving Bailiff
Patricia Arquette as Harmony Cobel
Tramell Tillman as Seth Milchick
Christopher Walken as Burt Goodman
Dichen Lachman as Ms. Casey
Jen Tullock as Devon Hale
Michael Chernus as Ricken Hale

There were also plenty of recurring and guest characters in Severance‘s first season, so we might see some of those individuals return for its next outing. However, Apple is yet to confirm which of those might be back, or whether new actors have been hired to play new characters. 

As revealed in the The Hollywood Reporter (THR), there will be at least eight new faces, joining the Severance season 2 cast in yet-to-be revealed roles:

Gwendoline Christie (The Sandman, Game of Thrones, Wednesday)
Bob Balaban (Gosford Park, The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Robby Benson (Beauty and the Beast)
Stefano Carannante (Miribilia)
John Noble (Fringe, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Tourist, Trapped)
Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Search Party, The Old Man)
Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie, New Girl)

“I’m like geeking out about all of [the new cast],” star Britt Lower told the Hollywood Reporter at the 2023 Golden Globes. “They’re really dynamite.”

Ben Stiller had previously suggested to THR that he had many actors in mind for potential season 2 roles, saying: “For me there are a lot, people like Christopher Guest [This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show] I kind of imagine, ‘Wow that would be amazing if someday he might be a part of the show.’ It’s fun when you have a show like this where it allows for people to maybe come in for an episode or two but also fit into the world of Severance.”

Creator Dan Erickson suggests he wants Severance‘s cast to go full A-list celebrity, though, joking with THR that “If Barack Obama is [there at the 2022 Emmys], I’m going to see if he wants a role on this show. I think he’d be really good, he’d bring some gravitas.”

Severance season 2 plot

Severance season 2 should pick up events immediately after season 1’s finale. (Image credit: Apple Tv Plus)

Major spoilers for Severance season 1 follow. 

So, what’s going on in Severance? The show is set at Lumon Industries, a shadowy corporate organization (founded by so-called visionary Kier Eagan back in 1865) that has figured out a way to split a person’s psyche into two: an ‘innie’ who works on Lumon premises, and an ‘outie’ who never has to work a day in their life.

The downside, of course, is that the ‘innie’ doing all the work experiences a never-ending nine-to-five loop where they never leave the office, and are doomed to complete obtuse and meaningless tasks on repeat for eternity. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take long for some employees to take issue with such a soul-destroying, Kafkaesque experiment.

Mark S (Adam Scott) initially joins Lumon to escape the crippling grief of losing his wife in a car accident, allowing himself to disassociate from his ‘outside’ psyche for most of the week. But he becomes more curious about the workings of the company after his friend and manager Petey (Yul Vazquez) stops showing up to work unexpectedly. Then a new recruit, Helly R (Britt Lower), seems determined to escape the office. Cue plenty of manipulation by their shadowy employers, a surprisingly violent disco, and unexplained baby goats in the workplace,

Season 1 ended on a big cliffhanger, when rebellious innies Mark, Helly and Irv (John Turturro) successfully activated their work psyches ‘remotely’, allowing their personas to exist briefly in the outside world. 

We’ll explore the world outside of Lumon Industries in more detail in Severance season 2. (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

We expect Severance season 2 to pick up the moment its predecessor ended, when the remote activation was interrupted by the employees’ supervisor, Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman). That left Dylan (Zach Cherry) caught red-handed in the Lumon control room; Irving knocking on the front door of office sweetheart Burt (Christopher Walken); Helly (whose outie is the daughter of Lumon’s boss) on stage at a Lumon gala, having just outed the company’s sinister practices; and Mark in his sister’s home, where he’s just realized his late wife is alive after all, and working as Lumon employee Ms Casey (Dichen Lachman).

That’s a lot going on at once, and all these outies are about to find themselves very confused after an hour of their innies taking control. The question is, how much impact did they have in that brief adventure in the outside world? And will anyone believe their stories about Lumon’s inner sanctum?

We expect Severance season 2 will focus more on the world outside of Lumon Industries, with Helly’s gala outburst and Mark’s discoveries having leaked some company secrets to the public. But it wouldn’t be Severance without, well, severance, and we’re sure to see the cast making frequent switches between their ‘innies’ and ‘outies’, especially if they need to further investigate Lumon’s labyrinthine office corridors, which are sure to contain plenty of secrets we’re yet to unearth. Those baby goats could just be the start…

Will Irving and Burt be reunited in the outside world in Severance season 2? (Image credit: Apple)

Cast and crew are, unsurprisingly, remaining tight lipped, to the extent you wonder whether their on-set and outside world selves might have been severed like their alter-egos in the show. Adam Scott even divulged on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that, “We have secret scripts and have to use like code words when we’re on email. It’s so secret it’s crazy and it feels ridiculous. It’s also great because people wanna know [what’s going to happen].”

We have, however, had a few very minor teases about Severance season 2. “There is an expanding world that I think is sort of teased and in a way is owed by the way we ended season one where we did suddenly get some glimpses of Helly’s life on the outside and Dylan’s life on the outside, and Irving’s life on the outside,” the show’s creator, Dan Erickson, told Gold Derby. “I don’t want to get into how much time we’re going to be spending in those various arenas, but we know that they have stuff going on the outside that we haven’t seen that we haven’t really explored yet, and of course, inside the company it’s a vast company and there’s plenty of stuff that we haven’t seen yet. 

“It’s expanding on both sides and that’s both the fun and the challenge,” he continued. “How do you make it bigger and how do you take a broader view of it and include some new elements that weren’t there before but still keep it feeling like it’s centered in the same world, on the same story that you were doing before?”

Ben Stiller expressed similar sentiments to Variety : “I think that the biggest thing is how to maintain all those things in terms of the feeling of the show, while at the same time expanding the world since the end of the last episode. We’ve brought Mark and Irving and Helly to the surface, and I think those are storylines that people are going to be interested in. So, it’s going to be figuring out that balance.”

Oh, and expect there to be a reveal of sorts concerning those goats in season 1. Asked if there was any significance to their appearance at San Diego Comic-Con (per Time magazine), Erickson simply replied: “Yeah.”

Severance season 2 trailer

There’s no official Severance season 2 trailer yet, but we did get a very, very brief teaser during Apple’s September 2022 iPhone 14 event. 

The footage only shows Helly disembarking from a subway train, either on her way home or to her Lumon office, so it doesn’t really give anything away about the show’s second season. Still, it’s a fun little Easter egg-style clip, and shows how much Apple is leaning on another of its flagship shows (like Ted Lasso before it) to drive subscribers towards its streaming service.

Once an official trailer drops, we’ll update this section.

Will we get more seasons of Severance?

Can we expect more seasons of Severance? (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Are more installments coming after Severance season 2? It seems likely. Severance is one of the best TV shows to have landed on Apple’s streaming platform since its launch in 2019, and the company won’t want to sleep on a certified hit. It holds a 97% certified “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was a big part of the conversation during awards season, with several wins and even more nominations.

Also, it feels like there’s much more story to tell, with so many mysteries to unravel that it seems unlikely they’ll squeeze everything into two seasons – especially as the show, like Ted Lasso before it, has been a major hit for Apple TV Plus. Besides, Ben Stiller hinted that Severance may have legs to continue in a statement released when season 2 was confirmed. “It has always been a multi-season story and I’m really happy we get to continue it,” he said. “I’m grateful to our partners at Apple TV Plus who have been behind it the whole way. Praise Kier!”

If there is a Severance season 3, however, don’t expect to see it before 2025… 

For more Apple TV Plus-based coverage, check out the best Apple TV Plus movies, how much a subscription costs, or our review of Apple TV Plus as a streaming service.

Read More