Month: May 2024
No-Deposit Electricity: Pricier Than It Sounds – CNET
In states with deregulated energy markets, some households may qualify for no-deposit or prepaid electricity plans. Though no-deposit doesn’t always mean cheaper.
In states with deregulated energy markets, some households may qualify for no-deposit or prepaid electricity plans. Though no-deposit doesn’t always mean cheaper.
Here are a few of our favorite deals from Sony’s latest Days of Play sale
The new PlayStation 5 “slim” is matching its all-time low of $449 ($50 off) for a limited time. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
Sony’s recent State of Play showcase may have given us a brief glimpse into the company’s plans for 2024 and beyond, but that probably does little if you were hoping for something you can play right now. That’s where the Days of Play sale comes in. Now through June 12th, Sony is discounting dozens of PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 titles, as well as accompanying hardware, accessories, and subscriptions.
First things first, if you’re still looking to pick up a PS5 console, you can save $50 on the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, which are available for as low as $449 (Amazon, Best Buy, PlayStation Direct) and $399 (Amazon, Best Buy, and PlayStation Direct), respectively. These match the lowest prices we’ve seen on the newer PS5 models, which are slightly slimmer than Sony’s original PS5 console. They also sport two front-facing USB-C ports and an expanded 1TB of built-in storage (up from 825GB), though keep in mind that only the disc-based version can play physical games and other Ultra HD Blu-ray discs.
As an added bonus, PlayStation Plus members who buy directly from PlayStation will receive 12 months of Netflix Premium, the streaming service’s most expensive tier.
Read our hands-on impressions of the PS5 “slim.”
Elsewhere on the hardware front, the PSVR 2 is on sale starting at $449 ($100 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the PlayStation Direct storefront. That’s the best price we’ve seen on the virtual reality headset, which, sadly, often costs more than the PS5 that’s required to play it.
The PSVR 2’s price reflects its underrealized potential. Its launch library wasn’t the greatest, but it’s slowly and steadily building its catalog with a diverse selection of made-for-VR titles. This includes Horizon Call of the Mountain, which you can currently purchase from Amazon, Best Buy, and PlayStation Direct with a PSVR 2 starting at $499 ($100 off). The latest Horizon title is probably one of the better showcases for what Sony’s PC-grade VR headset is capable of, though new VR modes in AAA games like Resident Evil 7 and Gran Turismo 7 are thrilling, to say the least.
Additionally, if you buy a PSVR 2 directly from Sony and subscribe to PlayStation Plus, you’ll also get 12 months of Netflix Premium for free, which saves you about $276 over the course of a year.
Read our PSVR 2 review.
Now through June 9th, you can also save up to 30 percent on a 12-month subscription to PlayStation Plus via the PlayStation Store, which is stackable with existing subscriptions. The exact amount varies based on which plan you choose; however, the Essential tier is 20 percent off ($63.99), the Extra tier is 25 percent off ($101.24), and the Premium tier is 30 percent off ($111.99).
The entry-level Essential plan allows you to download free PS Plus games monthly, which are accessible for as long as you’re a subscriber to PlayStation Plus. It also unlocks multiplayer access in games that require it, exclusive discounts, and advanced console features like cloud storage and Share Play. PS Plus Extra, meanwhile, offers the same set of perks as well as access to hundreds of titles that rotate regularly, including those that are part of Ubisoft Plus. If you step up to PS Plus Premium, you can add game trials, cloud streaming, and access to even more PlayStation classics and a selection of Sony Pictures films.
A PlayStation sale without discounted games would be odd, so it’s no shocker that hundreds of digital PS4 and PS5 games are currently on sale. Most are up to 60 percent off, but you’ll find opportunities to save as much as 85 percent on select titles during the various 24-hour flash sales that will be available throughout the event.
But if you happen to miss something juicy there, you can still find great prices on newer exclusives like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is on sale starting at $49.69 (about $20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the PlayStation Store. The digital deluxe edition is also available for $59.99 ($20 off) from the PlayStation Store, while the collector’s edition is down to $149.99 ($80 off) in the PlayStation Direct storefront. The latter includes physical extras like a steelbook case and a 19-inch Venom statue featuring Peter Parker and Miles Morales, plus two in-game suits and various skill unlocks.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also worth a look, especially now that it’s on sale for $52.49 (about $18 off) in the PlayStation Store. The modern rendition of Square Enix’s classic JRPG is actually beating the price we recently called out for the physical copy, though you can also pick up the digital deluxe edition on sale for $67.49 (about $23 off).
Unsurprisingly, you can also find sales on third-party PS4 and PS5 titles spanning multiple genres. For example, sports gamers looking to crack a bat can pick up MLB The Show 24 starting at $49.69 (about $20 off) at Best Buy, Target, and the PlayStation Store.
If you’re not into baseball, there’s also WWE 2K24, which is easily 2K’s best wrestling game yet. It refines some of the more recent gameplay modes and adds new match types, including an ambulance match, a casket match, and a special guest referee. Right now, the base version is on sale for $52.49 (about $18 off) in the PlayStation Store.
The base game is great on its own, but if you’re looking to get the most out of it, I’d recommend grabbing the 40 Years of WrestleMania Edition for $89.99 ($30 off). It offers accelerators, boosters, and all five character packs planned for the game, including the new ECW Punk Pack that adds hardcore legends like CM Punk, The Dudley Boyz, Sandman, and Terry Funk.
A few more Days of Play highlights
Tekken 8 is one of the fiercest fighting games out, and you can start practicing for July’s Evo tournament with the Deluxe Edition, which is currently on sale for $69.99 ($30 off) in the PlayStation Store. You might as well buy this version if you don’t already have the base game, as it’s now the same cost and includes the Year 1 character pass, a Kinjin avatar skin, and a Character Costume pack that unlocks the all-gold suit for all compatible characters.
God of War Ragnarök is a must-play if you haven’t already chopped up baddies Viking-style as Kratos and his son, Atreus. The PS4 / PS5 bundle of the base game is going for around $39.89 (about $30 off) at Best Buy, Target, and the PlayStation Store, or you can grab the Digital Deluxe Edition for $49.59 ($30 off) to get bonus cosmetics, artbooks, soundtracks, and avatars and themes for your PS5 dashboard. Read our review.
Gran Turismo 7 for the PS4 and PS5 is on sale for around $39.89 (about $30 off) at Best Buy, Walmart, and the PlayStation Store. The seventh entrant in Sony’s legendary racing simulator has lifelike visuals and equally impressive driving physics, the effects of which you can feel with the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers. It comes with more than 400 cars and over 90 tracks and circuits spanning dozens of iconic locales. Read our review.
If you’re looking to add a pop of color to your PS5, Sony is selling various PS5 Console Covers for a limited time. Right now, you can pick up various covers for the original PS5 and the newer slim edition starting at $44.99 ($10 off). The same goes for the original PS5 Digital Edition and the latest digital-only model.
The new PlayStation 5 “slim” is matching its all-time low of $449 ($50 off) for a limited time. | Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
Sony’s recent State of Play showcase may have given us a brief glimpse into the company’s plans for 2024 and beyond, but that probably does little if you were hoping for something you can play right now. That’s where the Days of Play sale comes in. Now through June 12th, Sony is discounting dozens of PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 titles, as well as accompanying hardware, accessories, and subscriptions.
First things first, if you’re still looking to pick up a PS5 console, you can save $50 on the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, which are available for as low as $449 (Amazon, Best Buy, PlayStation Direct) and $399 (Amazon, Best Buy, and PlayStation Direct), respectively. These match the lowest prices we’ve seen on the newer PS5 models, which are slightly slimmer than Sony’s original PS5 console. They also sport two front-facing USB-C ports and an expanded 1TB of built-in storage (up from 825GB), though keep in mind that only the disc-based version can play physical games and other Ultra HD Blu-ray discs.
As an added bonus, PlayStation Plus members who buy directly from PlayStation will receive 12 months of Netflix Premium, the streaming service’s most expensive tier.
Read our hands-on impressions of the PS5 “slim.”
Elsewhere on the hardware front, the PSVR 2 is on sale starting at $449 ($100 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the PlayStation Direct storefront. That’s the best price we’ve seen on the virtual reality headset, which, sadly, often costs more than the PS5 that’s required to play it.
The PSVR 2’s price reflects its underrealized potential. Its launch library wasn’t the greatest, but it’s slowly and steadily building its catalog with a diverse selection of made-for-VR titles. This includes Horizon Call of the Mountain, which you can currently purchase from Amazon, Best Buy, and PlayStation Direct with a PSVR 2 starting at $499 ($100 off). The latest Horizon title is probably one of the better showcases for what Sony’s PC-grade VR headset is capable of, though new VR modes in AAA games like Resident Evil 7 and Gran Turismo 7 are thrilling, to say the least.
Additionally, if you buy a PSVR 2 directly from Sony and subscribe to PlayStation Plus, you’ll also get 12 months of Netflix Premium for free, which saves you about $276 over the course of a year.
Read our PSVR 2 review.
Now through June 9th, you can also save up to 30 percent on a 12-month subscription to PlayStation Plus via the PlayStation Store, which is stackable with existing subscriptions. The exact amount varies based on which plan you choose; however, the Essential tier is 20 percent off ($63.99), the Extra tier is 25 percent off ($101.24), and the Premium tier is 30 percent off ($111.99).
The entry-level Essential plan allows you to download free PS Plus games monthly, which are accessible for as long as you’re a subscriber to PlayStation Plus. It also unlocks multiplayer access in games that require it, exclusive discounts, and advanced console features like cloud storage and Share Play. PS Plus Extra, meanwhile, offers the same set of perks as well as access to hundreds of titles that rotate regularly, including those that are part of Ubisoft Plus. If you step up to PS Plus Premium, you can add game trials, cloud streaming, and access to even more PlayStation classics and a selection of Sony Pictures films.
A PlayStation sale without discounted games would be odd, so it’s no shocker that hundreds of digital PS4 and PS5 games are currently on sale. Most are up to 60 percent off, but you’ll find opportunities to save as much as 85 percent on select titles during the various 24-hour flash sales that will be available throughout the event.
But if you happen to miss something juicy there, you can still find great prices on newer exclusives like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is on sale starting at $49.69 (about $20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and the PlayStation Store. The digital deluxe edition is also available for $59.99 ($20 off) from the PlayStation Store, while the collector’s edition is down to $149.99 ($80 off) in the PlayStation Direct storefront. The latter includes physical extras like a steelbook case and a 19-inch Venom statue featuring Peter Parker and Miles Morales, plus two in-game suits and various skill unlocks.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is also worth a look, especially now that it’s on sale for $52.49 (about $18 off) in the PlayStation Store. The modern rendition of Square Enix’s classic JRPG is actually beating the price we recently called out for the physical copy, though you can also pick up the digital deluxe edition on sale for $67.49 (about $23 off).
Unsurprisingly, you can also find sales on third-party PS4 and PS5 titles spanning multiple genres. For example, sports gamers looking to crack a bat can pick up MLB The Show 24 starting at $49.69 (about $20 off) at Best Buy, Target, and the PlayStation Store.
If you’re not into baseball, there’s also WWE 2K24, which is easily 2K’s best wrestling game yet. It refines some of the more recent gameplay modes and adds new match types, including an ambulance match, a casket match, and a special guest referee. Right now, the base version is on sale for $52.49 (about $18 off) in the PlayStation Store.
The base game is great on its own, but if you’re looking to get the most out of it, I’d recommend grabbing the 40 Years of WrestleMania Edition for $89.99 ($30 off). It offers accelerators, boosters, and all five character packs planned for the game, including the new ECW Punk Pack that adds hardcore legends like CM Punk, The Dudley Boyz, Sandman, and Terry Funk.
A few more Days of Play highlights
Tekken 8 is one of the fiercest fighting games out, and you can start practicing for July’s Evo tournament with the Deluxe Edition, which is currently on sale for $69.99 ($30 off) in the PlayStation Store. You might as well buy this version if you don’t already have the base game, as it’s now the same cost and includes the Year 1 character pass, a Kinjin avatar skin, and a Character Costume pack that unlocks the all-gold suit for all compatible characters.
God of War Ragnarök is a must-play if you haven’t already chopped up baddies Viking-style as Kratos and his son, Atreus. The PS4 / PS5 bundle of the base game is going for around $39.89 (about $30 off) at Best Buy, Target, and the PlayStation Store, or you can grab the Digital Deluxe Edition for $49.59 ($30 off) to get bonus cosmetics, artbooks, soundtracks, and avatars and themes for your PS5 dashboard. Read our review.
Gran Turismo 7 for the PS4 and PS5 is on sale for around $39.89 (about $30 off) at Best Buy, Walmart, and the PlayStation Store. The seventh entrant in Sony’s legendary racing simulator has lifelike visuals and equally impressive driving physics, the effects of which you can feel with the DualSense controller’s adaptive triggers. It comes with more than 400 cars and over 90 tracks and circuits spanning dozens of iconic locales. Read our review.
If you’re looking to add a pop of color to your PS5, Sony is selling various PS5 Console Covers for a limited time. Right now, you can pick up various covers for the original PS5 and the newer slim edition starting at $44.99 ($10 off). The same goes for the original PS5 Digital Edition and the latest digital-only model.
‘Guilty’
Jason Kint, on X:
As I’ve said in the past, nothing makes a statement on important
news close to the newspaper front page. Across America, almost
every editor went with the simple fact, “Guilty.”
Quite the collection of front pages.
Trump and his lickspittles can and will argue that the trial was unjust. The state of New York was against him. The city was against him. The judge was against him. But it wasn’t the state, city, or judge who convicted him. It was a jury of 12 ordinary citizens, chosen jointly by prosecutors and Trump’s own lawyers. That’s the beauty and power of our criminal justice system.
★
Jason Kint, on X:
As I’ve said in the past, nothing makes a statement on important
news close to the newspaper front page. Across America, almost
every editor went with the simple fact, “Guilty.”
Quite the collection of front pages.
Trump and his lickspittles can and will argue that the trial was unjust. The state of New York was against him. The city was against him. The judge was against him. But it wasn’t the state, city, or judge who convicted him. It was a jury of 12 ordinary citizens, chosen jointly by prosecutors and Trump’s own lawyers. That’s the beauty and power of our criminal justice system.
Google Chrome’s plan to limit ad blocking extensions kicks off next week
Chrome’s Manifest V3 transition is here. First up are warnings for any V2 extensions.
Enlarge / Someone really likes Google Chrome. (credit: Isaac Bowen / Flickr)
Google Chrome will be shutting down its older, more capable extension system, Manifest V2, in favor of exclusively using the more limited Manifest V3. The deeply controversial Manifest V3 system was announced in 2019, and the full switch has been delayed a million times, but now Google says it’s really going to make the transition: As previously announced, the phase-out of older Chrome extensions is starting next week.
Google Chrome has been working toward a plan for a new, more limited extension system for a while now. Google says it created “Manifest V3” extensions with the goal of “improving the security, privacy, performance, and trustworthiness of the extension ecosystem.”
Other groups don’t agree with Google’s description, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which called Manifest V3 “deceitful and threatening” back when it was first announced in 2019, saying the new system “will restrict the capabilities of web extensions—especially those that are designed to monitor, modify, and compute alongside the conversation your browser has with the websites you visit.” It has a whole article out detailing how Manifest V3 won’t help security.
iPhones Pause MagSafe Charging During Continuity Camera, and Might Not Charge Via USB Either
Adam Engst, writing at TidBITS:
Apple seems allergic to saying that an iPhone won’t charge with
MagSafe during Continuity Camera. However, it may not charge over
USB either. Several users in a Reddit conversation
reported that their iPhones lost charge during Continuity Camera
sessions, even while plugged in.
I suspect that Continuity Camera taxes the processor sufficiently
that the iPhone heats up. (It’s always warm when I take it off the
mount after a meeting.) Since MagSafe charging also causes the
iPhone to get warm — warmer than USB-based charging — Apple’s
battery optimization system may be putting charging on hold to
protect the battery from thermal overload. Which is good, if
unexpected in the moment.
★
Adam Engst, writing at TidBITS:
Apple seems allergic to saying that an iPhone won’t charge with
MagSafe during Continuity Camera. However, it may not charge over
USB either. Several users in a Reddit conversation
reported that their iPhones lost charge during Continuity Camera
sessions, even while plugged in.
I suspect that Continuity Camera taxes the processor sufficiently
that the iPhone heats up. (It’s always warm when I take it off the
mount after a meeting.) Since MagSafe charging also causes the
iPhone to get warm — warmer than USB-based charging — Apple’s
battery optimization system may be putting charging on hold to
protect the battery from thermal overload. Which is good, if
unexpected in the moment.
Here’s How to Get a Refund if You Bought Spotify’s Failed Car Thing Device – CNET
Customers who paid for the discontinued hardware device will be eligible to get their money back before it becomes unusable later this year.
Customers who paid for the discontinued hardware device will be eligible to get their money back before it becomes unusable later this year.
Avocado Eco Organic Mattress Review 2024: Affordable, Organic Comfort – CNET
Environmentally conscious sleepers are often interested in natural and organic mattresses, but those beds can be quite expensive. Is the Avocado Eco Organic mattress the affordable organic mattress solution?
Environmentally conscious sleepers are often interested in natural and organic mattresses, but those beds can be quite expensive. Is the Avocado Eco Organic mattress the affordable organic mattress solution?
‘Why You Should Use Your TV’s Filmmaker Mode’
An anonymous reader shares a CR report: Based on the name, you’d think Filmmaker Mode is strictly for watching movies. But in our labs, we find that it can get you pretty close to what we consider to be the ideal settings for all types of programming. Filmmaker Mode is the product of a joint effort by the Hollywood film community, TV manufacturers, and the UHD Alliance to help consumers easily set up their TVs and watch shows and films as they were meant to be displayed. The preset has been widely praised by a host of well-known directors, including J.J. Abrams, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Cameron, Patty Jenkins, Rian Johnson, Christopher Nolan, Jordan Peele, and Martin Scorsese, as well as actors such as Tom Cruise. Right now, you can find Filmmaker Mode on TVs from Hisense, LG, Philips, Samsung, and Vizio. And more sets may get the feature this year.
Most newer TVs have fancy features that manufacturers say will improve the picture. But these features can actually have the opposite effect, degrading the fidelity of the image by altering how it was originally intended to look. To preserve the director’s original intent, Filmmaker Mode shuts off all the extra processing a TV might apply to movies and shows, including both standard (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) content on 4K TVs. This involves preserving the TV’s full contrast ratio, setting the correct aspect ratio, and maintaining the TV’s color and frame rates, so films look more like what you’d see in a theater. For most of us, though, the biggest benefit of Filmmaker Mode is what the TV won’t be doing. For example, it turns off motion smoothing, also referred to as motion interpolation, which can remove movies’ filmlike look. (This is one of three TV features that it’s best to stop using.) Motion-smoothing features were introduced because most films, and some TV shows, are shot at 24 frames per second, while most TVs display images at 60 or 120 frames per second. To deal with these mismatches, the TV adds made-up (interpolated) frames, filling in the gaps to keep the motion looking smooth. But this creates an artificial look, commonly called the soap opera effect. Think of a daytime TV show shot on video.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader shares a CR report: Based on the name, you’d think Filmmaker Mode is strictly for watching movies. But in our labs, we find that it can get you pretty close to what we consider to be the ideal settings for all types of programming. Filmmaker Mode is the product of a joint effort by the Hollywood film community, TV manufacturers, and the UHD Alliance to help consumers easily set up their TVs and watch shows and films as they were meant to be displayed. The preset has been widely praised by a host of well-known directors, including J.J. Abrams, Paul Thomas Anderson, James Cameron, Patty Jenkins, Rian Johnson, Christopher Nolan, Jordan Peele, and Martin Scorsese, as well as actors such as Tom Cruise. Right now, you can find Filmmaker Mode on TVs from Hisense, LG, Philips, Samsung, and Vizio. And more sets may get the feature this year.
Most newer TVs have fancy features that manufacturers say will improve the picture. But these features can actually have the opposite effect, degrading the fidelity of the image by altering how it was originally intended to look. To preserve the director’s original intent, Filmmaker Mode shuts off all the extra processing a TV might apply to movies and shows, including both standard (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR) content on 4K TVs. This involves preserving the TV’s full contrast ratio, setting the correct aspect ratio, and maintaining the TV’s color and frame rates, so films look more like what you’d see in a theater. For most of us, though, the biggest benefit of Filmmaker Mode is what the TV won’t be doing. For example, it turns off motion smoothing, also referred to as motion interpolation, which can remove movies’ filmlike look. (This is one of three TV features that it’s best to stop using.) Motion-smoothing features were introduced because most films, and some TV shows, are shot at 24 frames per second, while most TVs display images at 60 or 120 frames per second. To deal with these mismatches, the TV adds made-up (interpolated) frames, filling in the gaps to keep the motion looking smooth. But this creates an artificial look, commonly called the soap opera effect. Think of a daytime TV show shot on video.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Cheap Third-Party ‘Lightning’ Headphones Are Often Cheap Bluetooth Headphones
Wild story from Josh Whiton, who bought a cheap pair of wired Lightning-connector headphones in Chile, but couldn’t get them to work unless he enabled Bluetooth on his iPhone:
A scourge of cheap “lightning” headphones and lightning
accessories is flooding certain markets, unleashed by unscrupulous
Chinese manufacturers who have discovered an unholy recipe:
True Apple lightning devices are more expensive to make. So
instead of conforming to the Apple standard, these companies have
made headphones that receive audio via bluetooth — avoiding the
Apple specification — while powering the bluetooth chip via a
wired cable, thereby avoiding any need for a battery.
They have even made lightning adapters using the same recipe:
plug-in power a fake lightning dongle that uses bluetooth to
transmit the audio signal literally 1.5 inches from the phone to
the other end of the adapter.
Commenters on the thread on X are blaming the supposedly high licensing fees Apple charges for Lightning peripherals, but I don’t think that’s it exactly. I wrote about this back in 2021 — there’s a baseline assumption that Apple kept the iPhone on Lightning as long as it did because it made a lot of money selling (a) its own Lightning cables; and (b) from requiring certified third-party Lightning products to pay a stiff licensing fee.
But go search for “Lightning cables” on Amazon. You can buy Lightning USB cables for $1 apiece in bulk. Temu sells them for under $1. These cheap cables probably aren’t up to spec or officially licensed. But they are cheap. It doesn’t really matter what the actual licensing fees from Apple are, because these knockoff cable makers wouldn’t pay them anyway.
I think the problem these cheap manufacturers are solving isn’t that Lightning is expensive to license, but that it’s difficult to implement for audio. Actual Lightning headphones and headphone adapters have a tiny little digital-to-analog converter (DAC) inside the Lightning plug. It’s like a little computer. Doing it with Bluetooth and using the Lightning plug only for power is surely easier. It’s just lazy. But it’s kind of wild that the laziest, cheapest way to make unofficial “Lightning” headphones is with Bluetooth.
Now this makes me wonder though: do dirt-cheap USB-C headphones work the same way, or do they tend to include a DAC for actual wired playback?
★
Wild story from Josh Whiton, who bought a cheap pair of wired Lightning-connector headphones in Chile, but couldn’t get them to work unless he enabled Bluetooth on his iPhone:
A scourge of cheap “lightning” headphones and lightning
accessories is flooding certain markets, unleashed by unscrupulous
Chinese manufacturers who have discovered an unholy recipe:
True Apple lightning devices are more expensive to make. So
instead of conforming to the Apple standard, these companies have
made headphones that receive audio via bluetooth — avoiding the
Apple specification — while powering the bluetooth chip via a
wired cable, thereby avoiding any need for a battery.
They have even made lightning adapters using the same recipe:
plug-in power a fake lightning dongle that uses bluetooth to
transmit the audio signal literally 1.5 inches from the phone to
the other end of the adapter.
Commenters on the thread on X are blaming the supposedly high licensing fees Apple charges for Lightning peripherals, but I don’t think that’s it exactly. I wrote about this back in 2021 — there’s a baseline assumption that Apple kept the iPhone on Lightning as long as it did because it made a lot of money selling (a) its own Lightning cables; and (b) from requiring certified third-party Lightning products to pay a stiff licensing fee.
But go search for “Lightning cables” on Amazon. You can buy Lightning USB cables for $1 apiece in bulk. Temu sells them for under $1. These cheap cables probably aren’t up to spec or officially licensed. But they are cheap. It doesn’t really matter what the actual licensing fees from Apple are, because these knockoff cable makers wouldn’t pay them anyway.
I think the problem these cheap manufacturers are solving isn’t that Lightning is expensive to license, but that it’s difficult to implement for audio. Actual Lightning headphones and headphone adapters have a tiny little digital-to-analog converter (DAC) inside the Lightning plug. It’s like a little computer. Doing it with Bluetooth and using the Lightning plug only for power is surely easier. It’s just lazy. But it’s kind of wild that the laziest, cheapest way to make unofficial “Lightning” headphones is with Bluetooth.
Now this makes me wonder though: do dirt-cheap USB-C headphones work the same way, or do they tend to include a DAC for actual wired playback?