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Illustration: The Verge

Apple is tweaking its App Store rules in the EU after regulators charged the company with breaking the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in June. At first glance, the updated rules appear to give developers more freedom when linking to outside purchases — but a restrictive new fee structure will force developers to pay Apple a commission for sales made across any platform, not just iOS, for as long as they include outside links.
Starting this fall, all developers in the EU will be able to include links that lead to purchases outside their apps. The updated rules will let developers tell their users about offers on the web, on another app store, or otherwise “at a destination of their choice.” It allows developers to include as many links as they want and gives users an option to disable in-app scare screens.
But using the feature comes with fees so steep that it’s hard to imagine any developer using it. Once a developer adds external links, Apple places a new “store services fee” on the sale of digital goods and services that occur within one year of the date the user installs the app — on any platform, even if the user never actually clicks the external link. This could potentially include purchases made on an alternative app store or a developer’s website from any type of device, such as a Windows computer. And if the user reinstalls or updates the app, the clock restarts. The fee is 20 percent for apps only offered through the App Store; apps that add support for third-party app stores pay 10 percent, though they’ll face other associated fees.
On top of that, Apple is implementing a 5 percent “initial acquisition fee” on digital goods and services purchased “on any platform” within one year of when a user first installs the app. Altogether, that means Apple can take up to a 25 percent commission on purchases made within one year of installation, including off-platform subscriptions and autorenewals. Developers in Apple’s small business program and those who charge for “qualifying” autorenew subscriptions of more than a year’s time will face lower fees. The fees also don’t apply to subscriptions or autorenewals purchased before the app is downloaded.
“Apple’s terms make it completely uneconomical for developers to distribute their apps through both the Apple App Store and competing iOS app stores,” Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, said in a post on X discussing the new rules.
Apple said the fees reflect the expansive value its app store provides. The initial acquisition fee “reflects the value the App Store provides when connecting developers with customers in the EU,” while the store services fee “reflects the ongoing services and capabilities that Apple provides developers.”
Outside of the EU, Apple charges up to a 30 percent commission on in-app purchases. Apple also has strict rules about links to external purchase options, such as requiring developers to follow specific formatting guidelines, show external links only once, and display a notification (or “scare screen”) to warn users they’re leaving the app. All of this is part of the reason Spotify doesn’t sell audiobooks within its iOS app.
The new fee structure comes as Apple attempts to avoid further action from the EU. In June, regulators charged the company with violating the DMA’s rules against antisteering, or preventing developers from pointing users to cheaper purchase options outside the App Store. The EU also fined Apple €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) for preventing music streaming apps like Spotify from displaying cheaper subscription deals outside the App Store.
Currently, the EU is investigating Apple over its restrictive policies on alternative app stores and its new Core Technology Fee, which requires developers on third-party stores to pay 50 euro cents per install for apps with over 1 million downloads. The DMA went into effect in March, with the goal of regulating big tech to promote competition in digital markets.

In the European Union where the new DMA law opens up app store competition, Apple continues its malicious compliance by imposing an illegal new 15% junk fee on users migrating to competing stores and monitor commerce on these competing stores.https://t.co/YUYwsnrh32 pic.twitter.com/xAWGkOWPrH— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 8, 2024

“We are currently assessing Apple’s deliberately confusing proposal,” Spotify spokesperson Jeanne Moran says in an emailed statement to The Verge. “Apple once again blatantly disregards the fundamental requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission has made it clear that imposing recurring fees on basic elements like pricing and linking is unacceptable. We call on the Commission to expedite its investigation, implement daily fines and enforce the DMA.”
Apple has already made some small changes to its DMA compliance plans after facing criticism from developers and EU regulators earlier this year. It announced that developers of free apps won’t have to pay the Core Technology Fee to access outside app stores, and it also gave developers a one-time option of backing out of the company’s new business terms, but only if they didn’t already launch an alternative app store or use a third-party payment method.
Apple’s latest changes offer some improvements, but they come with the same caveats that make it more difficult for developers to do business.

Illustration: The Verge

Apple is tweaking its App Store rules in the EU after regulators charged the company with breaking the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in June. At first glance, the updated rules appear to give developers more freedom when linking to outside purchases — but a restrictive new fee structure will force developers to pay Apple a commission for sales made across any platform, not just iOS, for as long as they include outside links.

Starting this fall, all developers in the EU will be able to include links that lead to purchases outside their apps. The updated rules will let developers tell their users about offers on the web, on another app store, or otherwise “at a destination of their choice.” It allows developers to include as many links as they want and gives users an option to disable in-app scare screens.

But using the feature comes with fees so steep that it’s hard to imagine any developer using it. Once a developer adds external links, Apple places a new “store services fee” on the sale of digital goods and services that occur within one year of the date the user installs the app — on any platform, even if the user never actually clicks the external link. This could potentially include purchases made on an alternative app store or a developer’s website from any type of device, such as a Windows computer. And if the user reinstalls or updates the app, the clock restarts. The fee is 20 percent for apps only offered through the App Store; apps that add support for third-party app stores pay 10 percent, though they’ll face other associated fees.

On top of that, Apple is implementing a 5 percent “initial acquisition fee” on digital goods and services purchased “on any platform” within one year of when a user first installs the app. Altogether, that means Apple can take up to a 25 percent commission on purchases made within one year of installation, including off-platform subscriptions and autorenewals. Developers in Apple’s small business program and those who charge for “qualifying” autorenew subscriptions of more than a year’s time will face lower fees. The fees also don’t apply to subscriptions or autorenewals purchased before the app is downloaded.

“Apple’s terms make it completely uneconomical for developers to distribute their apps through both the Apple App Store and competing iOS app stores,” Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, said in a post on X discussing the new rules.

Apple said the fees reflect the expansive value its app store provides. The initial acquisition fee “reflects the value the App Store provides when connecting developers with customers in the EU,” while the store services fee “reflects the ongoing services and capabilities that Apple provides developers.”

Outside of the EU, Apple charges up to a 30 percent commission on in-app purchases. Apple also has strict rules about links to external purchase options, such as requiring developers to follow specific formatting guidelines, show external links only once, and display a notification (or “scare screen”) to warn users they’re leaving the app. All of this is part of the reason Spotify doesn’t sell audiobooks within its iOS app.

The new fee structure comes as Apple attempts to avoid further action from the EU. In June, regulators charged the company with violating the DMA’s rules against antisteering, or preventing developers from pointing users to cheaper purchase options outside the App Store. The EU also fined Apple €1.84 billion (about $2 billion) for preventing music streaming apps like Spotify from displaying cheaper subscription deals outside the App Store.

Currently, the EU is investigating Apple over its restrictive policies on alternative app stores and its new Core Technology Fee, which requires developers on third-party stores to pay 50 euro cents per install for apps with over 1 million downloads. The DMA went into effect in March, with the goal of regulating big tech to promote competition in digital markets.

“We are currently assessing Apple’s deliberately confusing proposal,” Spotify spokesperson Jeanne Moran says in an emailed statement to The Verge. “Apple once again blatantly disregards the fundamental requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission has made it clear that imposing recurring fees on basic elements like pricing and linking is unacceptable. We call on the Commission to expedite its investigation, implement daily fines and enforce the DMA.”

Apple has already made some small changes to its DMA compliance plans after facing criticism from developers and EU regulators earlier this year. It announced that developers of free apps won’t have to pay the Core Technology Fee to access outside app stores, and it also gave developers a one-time option of backing out of the company’s new business terms, but only if they didn’t already launch an alternative app store or use a third-party payment method.

Apple’s latest changes offer some improvements, but they come with the same caveats that make it more difficult for developers to do business.

Read More 

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Apple Maps will finally let you manually refresh your search as you pan around to find similar destinations in adjacent (or distant) areas. In the iOS 18 beta, Apple Maps displays a new “search here” button after you search for things like coffee shops or restaurants and then shift the map to a new area.

Image: The Verge
Sometimes when I’m hungry, I want to know my options in the next town without waiting for Apple Maps to refresh.

In the current version, Apple Maps intermittently updates the search area as you pan around, which can get frustrating when I’m attempting to invoke (or avoid) a refresh. As reported by MacRumors, Apple Maps still auto-refreshes as you move around, but at least you no longer need to cancel your search or frantically zoom in and out, hoping for a response without direct control.
The “search here” button in Apple Maps is similar to the “search this area” button that Google Maps has had for a long time. It’s one of the reasons I personally jump over to the latter app when looking for coffee shops and retro game stores in new cities.
Apple Maps is getting other upgrades in iOS 18, too, including support for navigating trails. The company also introduced a web version of the app in beta last month.

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

Apple Maps will finally let you manually refresh your search as you pan around to find similar destinations in adjacent (or distant) areas. In the iOS 18 beta, Apple Maps displays a new “search here” button after you search for things like coffee shops or restaurants and then shift the map to a new area.

In the current version, Apple Maps intermittently updates the search area as you pan around, which can get frustrating when I’m attempting to invoke (or avoid) a refresh. As reported by MacRumors, Apple Maps still auto-refreshes as you move around, but at least you no longer need to cancel your search or frantically zoom in and out, hoping for a response without direct control.

The “search here” button in Apple Maps is similar to the “search this area” button that Google Maps has had for a long time. It’s one of the reasons I personally jump over to the latter app when looking for coffee shops and retro game stores in new cities.

Apple Maps is getting other upgrades in iOS 18, too, including support for navigating trails. The company also introduced a web version of the app in beta last month.

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The Samsung Odyssey headset with Windows Mixed Reality from 2017. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft has reportedly struck a deal with Samsung for OLED panels that could power a new line of mixed reality headsets. Korean outlet The Elec reported earlier this week that (as per a machine translation) the partnership is still in its very early stages, with mass production not started until 2026. A source told the outlet the order could be for “hundreds of thousands” of units and that the device would be focused on watching flatscreen gaming and video content, not “metaverse” engagement.
As Road to VR notes, the rumored device sounds like a competitor to Apple’s Vision Pro, which aims to be a large floating flat screen rather than a more complicated augmented or virtual reality system. (How many people want this? Maybe fewer than Apple thought.) Microsoft previously tried the latter with its HoloLens AR headset and its Windows Mixed Reality line of VR headsets, but it downsized its HoloLens team and discontinued Windows Mixed Reality last year.
Samsung announced in 2023 that it would partner with Google (whose AR/VR history is also pretty rocky) and Qualcomm on a new headset, which has been rumored to show up around the end of this year. Microsoft, meanwhile, has been pushing its apps toward the Meta Quest headset for a few years. It’s an exciting amount of potential competition for the mixed reality space — if any of these headsets actually make it out the door.

The Samsung Odyssey headset with Windows Mixed Reality from 2017. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Microsoft has reportedly struck a deal with Samsung for OLED panels that could power a new line of mixed reality headsets. Korean outlet The Elec reported earlier this week that (as per a machine translation) the partnership is still in its very early stages, with mass production not started until 2026. A source told the outlet the order could be for “hundreds of thousands” of units and that the device would be focused on watching flatscreen gaming and video content, not “metaverse” engagement.

As Road to VR notes, the rumored device sounds like a competitor to Apple’s Vision Pro, which aims to be a large floating flat screen rather than a more complicated augmented or virtual reality system. (How many people want this? Maybe fewer than Apple thought.) Microsoft previously tried the latter with its HoloLens AR headset and its Windows Mixed Reality line of VR headsets, but it downsized its HoloLens team and discontinued Windows Mixed Reality last year.

Samsung announced in 2023 that it would partner with Google (whose AR/VR history is also pretty rocky) and Qualcomm on a new headset, which has been rumored to show up around the end of this year. Microsoft, meanwhile, has been pushing its apps toward the Meta Quest headset for a few years. It’s an exciting amount of potential competition for the mixed reality space — if any of these headsets actually make it out the door.

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Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

The Biden administration released new priorities today for safeguarding clean energy infrastructure from possible cyberattacks.
Smart grids and EVs can have big benefits when it comes to saving energy and cutting down pollution. But as more pieces of our lives become electric and digital, new cybersecurity challenges arise. That’s why the Biden administration is releasing guidance today on how to keep new parts of our energy infrastructure safe from harm.
“We have a once in a generation opportunity to refresh our infrastructure”
“We have a once in a generation opportunity to refresh our infrastructure — to get a bit of a mulligan on some parts of our infrastructure that were never designed for the level of digital / physical convergence that our world is hurtling towards,” Harry Krejsa, assistant national cyber director, says.
In a fact sheet shared exclusively with The Verge before being released publicly, the Biden administration homes in on five technologies it deems critical to the near-term success of a clean energy transition and that deserve extra attention when it comes to cybersecurity.
At the top of the list are batteries needed to store renewable energy and make sure it’s available even when sunshine fades and winds die down. Electric vehicles and charging equipment are also a priority, along with the batteries that power them. Then there are energy management systems for buildings — think smart thermostats, rooftop solar systems, and even smart lighting systems. So-called distributed control systems are another related priority. That encompasses controls for community microgrids and virtual power plants that harness the collective energy storage of fleets of EV or solar batteries. Inverters and power conversion equipment round out the list.

Powering a real city with a virtual power plant

“Digitization cuts both ways,” Krejsa says. On the one hand, it gives home and business owners and grid operators more control. It’s easier to adjust EV charging to specific times when renewable energy is more abundant or to turn up thermostats to save energy and avoid power outages during heatwaves. But those tools can become weak points to exploit without robust protections in place.
President Joe Biden has already had to cope with criminal hackers targeting energy infrastructure during his term in office. A cyberattack in 2021 shut down the Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the US. The ransomware attack took the pipeline offline for five days, leading to gasoline shortages, higher prices at the pump, and gridlocked traffic outside of gas stations.
The Biden administration is also worried about state-backed threats. The Department of Homeland Security named cyber threats posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) a top priority for protecting critical infrastructure through 2025 in a guidance document it published in June. PRC-sponsored cyber group Volt Typhoon has “compromised the IT environments of multiple critical infrastructure organizations” including energy and transportation systems, according to a Department of Homeland Security advisory issued in February.
Protective measures can be as simple as keeping up good digital hygiene. Hackers reportedly used a compromised password to get into Colonial’s network in 2021. But there also need to be more systemic safeguards.
The way energy systems operate today dumps too much responsibility “onto individuals, small businesses, local governments, frontline users who don’t have the resources to mount an adequate defense against the world’s most well-resourced and well-trained, malicious actors,” Krejsa says. “It’s just not a sustainable way to architect that ecosystem.”

The fact sheet released today points to the need for “secure by design principles” that “prioritize the security of customers as a core business requirement.” The Biden administration also emphasizes the need to bring different branches of government together, along with businesses, researchers and even hackers, to design and implement better protections. The Department of Energy launched the Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC) as a pilot public-private partnership in 2023, for example. And Krejsa spoke to The Verge on a call from Las Vegas, where he’s attending the Def Con hacking convention and “issuing a call to action and asking the hacker community for help to say, ‘look at these priority technologies.’”
With everyone on board, the Biden administration’s cybersecurity roadmap includes crafting technical standards and implementation guidance for new energy technologies. It also places a priority on research and development and training a workforce for cybersecurity.
With the nation’s aging energy infrastructure already overdue for an overhaul to accommodate growing electricity demand and new sources of renewable energy, it’s also a good time to tack on a security update.
“Where should we make critical infrastructure investments? These are decisions that are happening right now,” says Nana Menya Ayensu, special assistant to the president on climate policy, finance, and innovation. “When it comes to cybersecurity [we want] to make sure that that is a pillar of a more modern, more nimble, digitalized energy system.”

Image: Samar Haddad / The Verge

The Biden administration released new priorities today for safeguarding clean energy infrastructure from possible cyberattacks.

Smart grids and EVs can have big benefits when it comes to saving energy and cutting down pollution. But as more pieces of our lives become electric and digital, new cybersecurity challenges arise. That’s why the Biden administration is releasing guidance today on how to keep new parts of our energy infrastructure safe from harm.

“We have a once in a generation opportunity to refresh our infrastructure — to get a bit of a mulligan on some parts of our infrastructure that were never designed for the level of digital / physical convergence that our world is hurtling towards,” Harry Krejsa, assistant national cyber director, says.

In a fact sheet shared exclusively with The Verge before being released publicly, the Biden administration homes in on five technologies it deems critical to the near-term success of a clean energy transition and that deserve extra attention when it comes to cybersecurity.

At the top of the list are batteries needed to store renewable energy and make sure it’s available even when sunshine fades and winds die down. Electric vehicles and charging equipment are also a priority, along with the batteries that power them. Then there are energy management systems for buildings — think smart thermostats, rooftop solar systems, and even smart lighting systems. So-called distributed control systems are another related priority. That encompasses controls for community microgrids and virtual power plants that harness the collective energy storage of fleets of EV or solar batteries. Inverters and power conversion equipment round out the list.

“Digitization cuts both ways,” Krejsa says. On the one hand, it gives home and business owners and grid operators more control. It’s easier to adjust EV charging to specific times when renewable energy is more abundant or to turn up thermostats to save energy and avoid power outages during heatwaves. But those tools can become weak points to exploit without robust protections in place.

President Joe Biden has already had to cope with criminal hackers targeting energy infrastructure during his term in office. A cyberattack in 2021 shut down the Colonial Pipeline, the largest pipeline system for refined oil products in the US. The ransomware attack took the pipeline offline for five days, leading to gasoline shortages, higher prices at the pump, and gridlocked traffic outside of gas stations.

The Biden administration is also worried about state-backed threats. The Department of Homeland Security named cyber threats posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) a top priority for protecting critical infrastructure through 2025 in a guidance document it published in June. PRC-sponsored cyber group Volt Typhoon has “compromised the IT environments of multiple critical infrastructure organizations” including energy and transportation systems, according to a Department of Homeland Security advisory issued in February.

Protective measures can be as simple as keeping up good digital hygiene. Hackers reportedly used a compromised password to get into Colonial’s network in 2021. But there also need to be more systemic safeguards.

The way energy systems operate today dumps too much responsibility “onto individuals, small businesses, local governments, frontline users who don’t have the resources to mount an adequate defense against the world’s most well-resourced and well-trained, malicious actors,” Krejsa says. “It’s just not a sustainable way to architect that ecosystem.”

The fact sheet released today points to the need for “secure by design principles” that “prioritize the security of customers as a core business requirement.” The Biden administration also emphasizes the need to bring different branches of government together, along with businesses, researchers and even hackers, to design and implement better protections. The Department of Energy launched the Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC) as a pilot public-private partnership in 2023, for example. And Krejsa spoke to The Verge on a call from Las Vegas, where he’s attending the Def Con hacking convention and “issuing a call to action and asking the hacker community for help to say, ‘look at these priority technologies.’”

With everyone on board, the Biden administration’s cybersecurity roadmap includes crafting technical standards and implementation guidance for new energy technologies. It also places a priority on research and development and training a workforce for cybersecurity.

With the nation’s aging energy infrastructure already overdue for an overhaul to accommodate growing electricity demand and new sources of renewable energy, it’s also a good time to tack on a security update.

“Where should we make critical infrastructure investments? These are decisions that are happening right now,” says Nana Menya Ayensu, special assistant to the president on climate policy, finance, and innovation. “When it comes to cybersecurity [we want] to make sure that that is a pillar of a more modern, more nimble, digitalized energy system.”

Read More 

Samsung handed out nearly 17,000 smartphones to athletes and “Olympic family.” | Image: Samsung

For the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, Samsung created almost 17,000 exclusive Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition phones to be given away to athletes and “Olympic family.” As the Olympic Games now draw to a close, many of those phones are being flipped online and are available to those who weren’t chasing a spot on the podium, as spotted by Mobile Syrup.
A quick eBay search reveals that many of the phones were never opened and can now be snatched up by non-Olympians at a premium. Some listings already have bids over $2,000 (the standard Galaxy Z Flip 6 starts at $1,099), while others have “Buy It Now” pricing set at $10,000.

@imogendaisyg now I can hang up on my friends in a sassy way with my new ✨ olympic phone✨ olympics samsung @Team GB @SamsungUK ♬ original sound – Imogen Grant | GB Rower

It’s a fast turnaround after social media sites like TikTok were flooded with unboxing videos, and the devices popped up during the opening ceremonies as athletes used them to record the procession of boats down the Seine.
Is the Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition worth getting caught up in a bidding war? In addition to a unique yellow colorway and an exclusive leather Flipsuit case, Samsung included a complimentary eSIM with 100GB of 5G data, preloaded apps making it easier to navigate the Olympic and Paralympic venues, and an unlimited public transit access card that might be helpful if you’re a local.
Otherwise, it’s an expensive souvenir from the Paris Games for those not satisfied with a collectible pin.

Samsung handed out nearly 17,000 smartphones to athletes and “Olympic family.” | Image: Samsung

For the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, Samsung created almost 17,000 exclusive Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition phones to be given away to athletes and “Olympic family.” As the Olympic Games now draw to a close, many of those phones are being flipped online and are available to those who weren’t chasing a spot on the podium, as spotted by Mobile Syrup.

A quick eBay search reveals that many of the phones were never opened and can now be snatched up by non-Olympians at a premium. Some listings already have bids over $2,000 (the standard Galaxy Z Flip 6 starts at $1,099), while others have “Buy It Now” pricing set at $10,000.

It’s a fast turnaround after social media sites like TikTok were flooded with unboxing videos, and the devices popped up during the opening ceremonies as athletes used them to record the procession of boats down the Seine.

Is the Galaxy Z Flip 6 Olympic Edition worth getting caught up in a bidding war? In addition to a unique yellow colorway and an exclusive leather Flipsuit case, Samsung included a complimentary eSIM with 100GB of 5G data, preloaded apps making it easier to navigate the Olympic and Paralympic venues, and an unlimited public transit access card that might be helpful if you’re a local.

Otherwise, it’s an expensive souvenir from the Paris Games for those not satisfied with a collectible pin.

Read More 

AMD stands up to Qualcomm with its new Ryzen AI chips, showing it’s nowhere near out of this race. Asus’ Zenbook S 16 is one of the first laptops to feature AMD’s flagship Ryzen AI processor, the one that’s supposed to be faster than Intel and Qualcomm at gaming, content creation, and AI — and fit inside a notebook that AMD says is lighter and thinner than the MacBook Air. It sounds like the makings of a perfect, do-it-all Windows laptop.
But Asus has to convince people they should buy this AMD-powered laptop now, when machines running on Qualcomm’s new chips can also do all the things most people need and with battery life that far outstrips traditional chips. To be the laptop hit of the summer, Asus would have to outshine all of the Qualcomm Snapdragon laptops that were released a few months ago in not just speed, but also in battery life, quality, comfort, apps, features, and price. That’s the mountain AMD and Asus have to climb.
Laptops always come with some sort of compromise, whether that’s performance, battery life, or something else. I’ve found the Zenbook S 16 isn’t the perfect, do-it-all laptop. But it balances day-to-day tasks and power-user features much better than most productivity laptops — and that makes it one of the best I’ve used.

Doesn’t feel like a 16-inch laptop
The Zenbook S 16 is a slim 16-inch laptop with a base configuration of 24GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365 processor for $1,400. It also has a 2880 x 1800 (3K) touchscreen OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a relatively large 78Wh battery. I tested the $1,700 configuration with 32GB of memory and the faster Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip.
It’s impressive that Asus fit such a large battery into the Zenbook’s 0.47-inch thick chassis and that the whole laptop weighs only 3.31 pounds. Bigger laptops are often more annoying to carry around, and some of that has to do with the battery. But the Zenbook feels more like a 13- or 14-inch laptop, so I forgot about its actual size.
The keyboard placement makes the laptop feel smaller, too. Asus pushes the keyboard closer to the front of the laptop by keeping the trackpad to a reasonable size and placing the speaker grille in back, making it easier for me to type on it. I can reach all the way to the function row without removing my palms from the palm rests. With most 16-inch laptops, I wind up typing like I’m Thing from The Addams Family with my wrists floating up in the air.

The keys also come close to the full, satisfying press of a low-profile desktop keyboard without sounding clacky or pingy.
It’s good-looking, too. The outer body is put through a special process that creates a hard, ceramic oxide layer over the surface of the aluminum chassis, giving it a lovely texture that feels rough and smooth at the same time. Asus also kept the same gorgeous geometric lines that sparsely decorate the lid like its previous Zenbooks.
It’s increasingly standard to see a 3K, 120Hz OLED on a machine priced like the Zenbook S 16. The display has vivid colors and deep contrasts, and it makes this laptop even more stunning.
Better performance than Qualcomm
Performance is where this laptop has a distinct advantage over Qualcomm Snapdragon laptops. For video calls, streaming music, and other everyday tasks, AMD’s Ryzen AI chip and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips have the same responsiveness I’d expect from processors of their caliber. But AMD distinguishes itself with superior graphics performance, which makes the Zenbook S 16 surprisingly capable at gaming and content creation for such a portable machine.
Being on the x86 Windows platform means most games really will just work on the Zenbook. Shadow of the Tomb Raider will crash on an Arm-based Snapdragon laptop if I try to run the game at anything higher than 1080p resolution and low graphics. But I can run the same game on the Zenbook S 16 at the same resolution on high spec, and it’ll not only run fine — it will also get up to 20 more frames per second.

The integrated GPU still isn’t powerful enough to run a game like Cyberpunk 2077 natively on such a high-resolution laptop, but AMD’s upscaling technology, FSR 2.1, can help make it playable. With that on, the resolution set to 1080p, and upscaling set to ultra performance, Cyberpunk averaged 77fps for me. The only upscaler currently available to games running on Qualcomm laptops is Auto Super Resolution, and while it’s not exclusive to those Snapdragon laptops, using it results in a lot of flickering of fine lines. I would not play this game that way.
For creative tasks, like rendering 3D images in Blender, the Zenbook S 16 is straight-up faster than every Snapdragon laptop I’ve tested. Currently, Blender doesn’t support Qualcomm’s integrated Adreno graphics on its Snapdragon chips, even with a native Arm64 version of that program available (still in alpha). The AMD-powered Zenbook S 16 runs faster because the program can actually use both the CPU and GPU.
AMD said its Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip would be faster than the M3 Pro in Apple’s MacBook Pro, too, but that didn’t pan out in my testing. The Zenbook S 16 didn’t feel any slower in everyday applications, but the top-tier Ryzen AI chip is actually slower than the MacBook Pro by several whole minutes in a real-world Blender test.
Blender can crash on any laptop if it doesn’t have enough video RAM, including on previous generations of AMD Zenbooks. But I didn’t have that issue with the Zenbook S 16. It has a lot of memory, and AMD now lets you allocate up to 75 percent of it directly to the GPU. When I devoted 16GB of RAM to graphics and ran Blender’s Agent 327: Operation Barbershop demo — a scene with complex lighting and a test I normally run only when I’m testing gaming or workstation laptops — it ran smoothly and didn’t crash. It didn’t render as fast, but it finished the job without issues.
Battery life comes up short
Laptop makers usually have to sacrifice something to have the thinnest and lightest laptop possible. Most often, that’s a compromise in performance — but Asus instead seems to have sacrificed some battery life to get as much performance out of AMD’s chip as it can.
The Zenbook S 16’s battery life let me down a bit, not because the laptop isn’t reasonably long-lasting, but because it gets only 11 hours with a large, 78Wh battery. Asus’ main Qualcomm Snapdragon competitor, Samsung’s 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Edge, has nearly identical weight and dimensions, and it gets 14 hours with a battery that’s 23 percent smaller. But I’m okay with this tradeoff given how I could use the Zenbook S 16 as my primary laptop for writing articles, editing high-resolution photos, and light gaming — and it has a much more comfortable keyboard.

Ideal number and type of video and audio ports.

There’s an SD card, too.

The Zenbook S 16 is also unusually bad at estimating its own battery life. The taskbar battery icon would say 95 percent remaining with an estimated run time of 8.5 hours, then several minutes later, it would have fallen to 87 percent remaining but with an estimated runtime of 12.5 hours. This went on for hours. Sure, battery estimations can fluctuate, but they ping-ponged chaotically on this laptop, so I never could get a good idea of how much battery was left.
AI is a big no-show
Asus’ new Zenbook S 16 comes with one flagship AI app: StoryCube. It’s supposed to help you consolidate your photos and videos from the cloud onto the laptop and automatically sort and organize everything with on-device AI. It sounded like it could be useful for me since I have a bad habit of not organizing the photos I upload to the cloud. But it didn’t work at all, and Asus couldn’t tell me why. Asus says it should take just 24 minutes to generate an AI album for every gigabyte of data, but I let the program run for 24 entire hours and nothing happened.
The Zenbook S 16 also supports the latest version of the AI image generation app Amuse. It works, but using it with AMD’s NPU makes it run slower, not faster. It took twice as long to generate photos with the NPU on, and it’s on by default when you first open the program.
And while Microsoft has made a big push around Copilot Plus PCs this summer, the Zenbook S 16 isn’t part of that program at launch, so it doesn’t have AI-powered features like Cocreator and Live Translation. Those are currently only available on Snapdragon laptops, but they are supposed to be coming to AMD Ryzen AI laptops by the end of 2024.
If you’re thinking about buying this laptop solely for its AI capabilities, I’d hold off. I’m still figuring out how most people can take advantage of AMD’s 50 TOPS NPU in a way that’s genuinely beneficial day-to-day.
The competition
If you’re looking for a large, powerful, relatively thin, and light machine, Zenbook S 16 is a great all-rounder laptop. I’ve tested almost all the new Qualcomm laptops, and none of them can match its overall performance or native support for apps. Even though it’s larger than most Qualcomm laptops, it doesn’t feel like it. The only thing you have to sacrifice is a few hours of battery life, and for me, the performance and size are more important.
But if you feel differently, the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge was the best Qualcomm machine I tested this summer for its battery life and size. There’s also always Apple: despite AMD’s bold claims, Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air beat the Zenbook on both performance and battery life in my tests.

It’s all about the little details.

There aren’t any Intel laptops that I’d currently recommend over the Zenbook S 16 that hit the same sweet spot. While I did like the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo’s four to six hours of extra battery life, it’s nowhere near as pretty or as easy for me to type on or carry around. And while the 2024 Dell XPS 14 also comes to mind, you’re only looking at only about an hour or two of extra battery life that’ll cost you around $500 more.
Since the Zenbook S 16 isn’t truly a dedicated gaming or creator laptop, I’d recommend the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 for that. In my tests, it gets two to three times better 1080p gaming performance without upscaling and rendered my Blender scene in mere seconds. It still manages six and a half hours of battery life in a thin-and-light chassis, too.
The Zenbook S 16 didn’t quite live up to all the performance claims AMD made about it, but it came close and really impressed me in the process. It’s a 16-inch productivity, gaming, and content creation machine that does all those things surprisingly well and is actually easy to carry around. All you have to give up in return are those few hours of battery life. It’s a combination that adds up to make this my favorite 16-inch Windows laptop of the summer.
Photography by Joanna Nelius / The Verge

AMD stands up to Qualcomm with its new Ryzen AI chips, showing it’s nowhere near out of this race.

Asus’ Zenbook S 16 is one of the first laptops to feature AMD’s flagship Ryzen AI processor, the one that’s supposed to be faster than Intel and Qualcomm at gaming, content creation, and AI — and fit inside a notebook that AMD says is lighter and thinner than the MacBook Air. It sounds like the makings of a perfect, do-it-all Windows laptop.

But Asus has to convince people they should buy this AMD-powered laptop now, when machines running on Qualcomm’s new chips can also do all the things most people need and with battery life that far outstrips traditional chips. To be the laptop hit of the summer, Asus would have to outshine all of the Qualcomm Snapdragon laptops that were released a few months ago in not just speed, but also in battery life, quality, comfort, apps, features, and price. That’s the mountain AMD and Asus have to climb.

Laptops always come with some sort of compromise, whether that’s performance, battery life, or something else. I’ve found the Zenbook S 16 isn’t the perfect, do-it-all laptop. But it balances day-to-day tasks and power-user features much better than most productivity laptops — and that makes it one of the best I’ve used.

Doesn’t feel like a 16-inch laptop

The Zenbook S 16 is a slim 16-inch laptop with a base configuration of 24GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365 processor for $1,400. It also has a 2880 x 1800 (3K) touchscreen OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a relatively large 78Wh battery. I tested the $1,700 configuration with 32GB of memory and the faster Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip.

It’s impressive that Asus fit such a large battery into the Zenbook’s 0.47-inch thick chassis and that the whole laptop weighs only 3.31 pounds. Bigger laptops are often more annoying to carry around, and some of that has to do with the battery. But the Zenbook feels more like a 13- or 14-inch laptop, so I forgot about its actual size.

The keyboard placement makes the laptop feel smaller, too. Asus pushes the keyboard closer to the front of the laptop by keeping the trackpad to a reasonable size and placing the speaker grille in back, making it easier for me to type on it. I can reach all the way to the function row without removing my palms from the palm rests. With most 16-inch laptops, I wind up typing like I’m Thing from The Addams Family with my wrists floating up in the air.

The keys also come close to the full, satisfying press of a low-profile desktop keyboard without sounding clacky or pingy.

It’s good-looking, too. The outer body is put through a special process that creates a hard, ceramic oxide layer over the surface of the aluminum chassis, giving it a lovely texture that feels rough and smooth at the same time. Asus also kept the same gorgeous geometric lines that sparsely decorate the lid like its previous Zenbooks.

It’s increasingly standard to see a 3K, 120Hz OLED on a machine priced like the Zenbook S 16. The display has vivid colors and deep contrasts, and it makes this laptop even more stunning.

Better performance than Qualcomm

Performance is where this laptop has a distinct advantage over Qualcomm Snapdragon laptops. For video calls, streaming music, and other everyday tasks, AMD’s Ryzen AI chip and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips have the same responsiveness I’d expect from processors of their caliber. But AMD distinguishes itself with superior graphics performance, which makes the Zenbook S 16 surprisingly capable at gaming and content creation for such a portable machine.

Being on the x86 Windows platform means most games really will just work on the Zenbook. Shadow of the Tomb Raider will crash on an Arm-based Snapdragon laptop if I try to run the game at anything higher than 1080p resolution and low graphics. But I can run the same game on the Zenbook S 16 at the same resolution on high spec, and it’ll not only run fine — it will also get up to 20 more frames per second.

The integrated GPU still isn’t powerful enough to run a game like Cyberpunk 2077 natively on such a high-resolution laptop, but AMD’s upscaling technology, FSR 2.1, can help make it playable. With that on, the resolution set to 1080p, and upscaling set to ultra performance, Cyberpunk averaged 77fps for me. The only upscaler currently available to games running on Qualcomm laptops is Auto Super Resolution, and while it’s not exclusive to those Snapdragon laptops, using it results in a lot of flickering of fine lines. I would not play this game that way.

For creative tasks, like rendering 3D images in Blender, the Zenbook S 16 is straight-up faster than every Snapdragon laptop I’ve tested. Currently, Blender doesn’t support Qualcomm’s integrated Adreno graphics on its Snapdragon chips, even with a native Arm64 version of that program available (still in alpha). The AMD-powered Zenbook S 16 runs faster because the program can actually use both the CPU and GPU.

AMD said its Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip would be faster than the M3 Pro in Apple’s MacBook Pro, too, but that didn’t pan out in my testing. The Zenbook S 16 didn’t feel any slower in everyday applications, but the top-tier Ryzen AI chip is actually slower than the MacBook Pro by several whole minutes in a real-world Blender test.

Blender can crash on any laptop if it doesn’t have enough video RAM, including on previous generations of AMD Zenbooks. But I didn’t have that issue with the Zenbook S 16. It has a lot of memory, and AMD now lets you allocate up to 75 percent of it directly to the GPU. When I devoted 16GB of RAM to graphics and ran Blender’s Agent 327: Operation Barbershop demo — a scene with complex lighting and a test I normally run only when I’m testing gaming or workstation laptops — it ran smoothly and didn’t crash. It didn’t render as fast, but it finished the job without issues.

Battery life comes up short

Laptop makers usually have to sacrifice something to have the thinnest and lightest laptop possible. Most often, that’s a compromise in performance — but Asus instead seems to have sacrificed some battery life to get as much performance out of AMD’s chip as it can.

The Zenbook S 16’s battery life let me down a bit, not because the laptop isn’t reasonably long-lasting, but because it gets only 11 hours with a large, 78Wh battery. Asus’ main Qualcomm Snapdragon competitor, Samsung’s 16-inch Galaxy Book4 Edge, has nearly identical weight and dimensions, and it gets 14 hours with a battery that’s 23 percent smaller. But I’m okay with this tradeoff given how I could use the Zenbook S 16 as my primary laptop for writing articles, editing high-resolution photos, and light gaming — and it has a much more comfortable keyboard.

The Zenbook S 16 is also unusually bad at estimating its own battery life. The taskbar battery icon would say 95 percent remaining with an estimated run time of 8.5 hours, then several minutes later, it would have fallen to 87 percent remaining but with an estimated runtime of 12.5 hours. This went on for hours. Sure, battery estimations can fluctuate, but they ping-ponged chaotically on this laptop, so I never could get a good idea of how much battery was left.

AI is a big no-show

Asus’ new Zenbook S 16 comes with one flagship AI app: StoryCube. It’s supposed to help you consolidate your photos and videos from the cloud onto the laptop and automatically sort and organize everything with on-device AI. It sounded like it could be useful for me since I have a bad habit of not organizing the photos I upload to the cloud. But it didn’t work at all, and Asus couldn’t tell me why. Asus says it should take just 24 minutes to generate an AI album for every gigabyte of data, but I let the program run for 24 entire hours and nothing happened.

The Zenbook S 16 also supports the latest version of the AI image generation app Amuse. It works, but using it with AMD’s NPU makes it run slower, not faster. It took twice as long to generate photos with the NPU on, and it’s on by default when you first open the program.

And while Microsoft has made a big push around Copilot Plus PCs this summer, the Zenbook S 16 isn’t part of that program at launch, so it doesn’t have AI-powered features like Cocreator and Live Translation. Those are currently only available on Snapdragon laptops, but they are supposed to be coming to AMD Ryzen AI laptops by the end of 2024.

If you’re thinking about buying this laptop solely for its AI capabilities, I’d hold off. I’m still figuring out how most people can take advantage of AMD’s 50 TOPS NPU in a way that’s genuinely beneficial day-to-day.

The competition

If you’re looking for a large, powerful, relatively thin, and light machine, Zenbook S 16 is a great all-rounder laptop. I’ve tested almost all the new Qualcomm laptops, and none of them can match its overall performance or native support for apps. Even though it’s larger than most Qualcomm laptops, it doesn’t feel like it. The only thing you have to sacrifice is a few hours of battery life, and for me, the performance and size are more important.

But if you feel differently, the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge was the best Qualcomm machine I tested this summer for its battery life and size. There’s also always Apple: despite AMD’s bold claims, Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air beat the Zenbook on both performance and battery life in my tests.

It’s all about the little details.

There aren’t any Intel laptops that I’d currently recommend over the Zenbook S 16 that hit the same sweet spot. While I did like the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo’s four to six hours of extra battery life, it’s nowhere near as pretty or as easy for me to type on or carry around. And while the 2024 Dell XPS 14 also comes to mind, you’re only looking at only about an hour or two of extra battery life that’ll cost you around $500 more.

Since the Zenbook S 16 isn’t truly a dedicated gaming or creator laptop, I’d recommend the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 for that. In my tests, it gets two to three times better 1080p gaming performance without upscaling and rendered my Blender scene in mere seconds. It still manages six and a half hours of battery life in a thin-and-light chassis, too.

The Zenbook S 16 didn’t quite live up to all the performance claims AMD made about it, but it came close and really impressed me in the process. It’s a 16-inch productivity, gaming, and content creation machine that does all those things surprisingly well and is actually easy to carry around. All you have to give up in return are those few hours of battery life. It’s a combination that adds up to make this my favorite 16-inch Windows laptop of the summer.

Photography by Joanna Nelius / The Verge

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AT&T learns the importance of distinguishing between “is” and “will be” regarding service availability. | Image: AT&T

AT&T has updated its satellite calling advertisement after T-Mobile challenged its rival’s use of the verb “is.” When the “Epic Bad Golf Day” video starring Ben Stiller was initially released in April, the ad closed with “the future of help is an AT&T satellite call away.” This has now been changed to “will be a satellite call away.”
T-Mobile took its complaint to the Better Business Bureau’s national advertising division, which said the wording in AT&T’s original statement implied that the carrier’s Supplemental Coverage from Space service was already available to customers. While AT&T cut a deal in May with AST SpaceMobile to launch the service, it’s currently unavailable, and it could be several months before the offering is rolled out. T-Mobile is launching its own Starlink-based satellite calling service sometime this fall.

Image: AT&T
Before the update….

Image: AT&T
…and after. Literally just a few letters difference.

A revised version of the ad is now available to watch alongside the original on AT&T’s YouTube channel.

AT&T learns the importance of distinguishing between “is” and “will be” regarding service availability. | Image: AT&T

AT&T has updated its satellite calling advertisement after T-Mobile challenged its rival’s use of the verb “is.” When the “Epic Bad Golf Day” video starring Ben Stiller was initially released in April, the ad closed with “the future of help is an AT&T satellite call away.” This has now been changed to “will be a satellite call away.”

T-Mobile took its complaint to the Better Business Bureau’s national advertising division, which said the wording in AT&T’s original statement implied that the carrier’s Supplemental Coverage from Space service was already available to customers. While AT&T cut a deal in May with AST SpaceMobile to launch the service, it’s currently unavailable, and it could be several months before the offering is rolled out. T-Mobile is launching its own Starlink-based satellite calling service sometime this fall.

A revised version of the ad is now available to watch alongside the original on AT&T’s YouTube channel.

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Collections is replacing the Library tab, but keeping its bookshelf symbol. | Image: Google

You can say goodbye to your library tab in Google Photos, because Google is introducing a new destination called Collections that’s supposed to make “finding content easier than ever.” Collections house all of your albums in one place, such as your private albums and those that have been shared with you by other users, as well as new folders for people and pets, documents, and places.
The changes are presumably in support of Google’s upcoming Gemini-powered Ask Photos assistant, which CEO Sundar Pichai said would be arriving sometime this summer. 9to5Google notes that the search tab has also been redesigned, replacing the previous image tiles with a list of suggested options like Screenshots, Selfies, and Menus.

Image: Google
Same location as the Library tab, but with a new name, look, and layout.

The Collections view — which replaces the existing library tab but retains the same bookshelf-style icon — is currently rolling out to all Android and iOS Google Photos users, but may take a few weeks to arrive on all devices.
Users can head into the Collections tab and tap on Albums to switch between different views like “All,” “Shared with me,” and “My albums.” Folders for “Favorites” and “Trash” will be displayed up top, while Google says the remaining two tiles “may rotate based on the items you navigate to the most.” Users’ Locked Folders will no longer be suggested at the top of the Collections view following complaints about the placement.
The Utilities folder is being removed entirely, but the tools under it are simply being relocated. For example, the option to create a Locked Folder can now be found by scrolling to the bottom of Collections. Options for importing images and making creations like albums, collages, and highlight videos can be found by tapping the “+” symbol, while things like freeing up space on the device and managing photo frames now require you to tap your Google Photos account profile.

Collections is replacing the Library tab, but keeping its bookshelf symbol. | Image: Google

You can say goodbye to your library tab in Google Photos, because Google is introducing a new destination called Collections that’s supposed to make “finding content easier than ever.” Collections house all of your albums in one place, such as your private albums and those that have been shared with you by other users, as well as new folders for people and pets, documents, and places.

The changes are presumably in support of Google’s upcoming Gemini-powered Ask Photos assistant, which CEO Sundar Pichai said would be arriving sometime this summer. 9to5Google notes that the search tab has also been redesigned, replacing the previous image tiles with a list of suggested options like Screenshots, Selfies, and Menus.

Image: Google
Same location as the Library tab, but with a new name, look, and layout.

The Collections view — which replaces the existing library tab but retains the same bookshelf-style icon — is currently rolling out to all Android and iOS Google Photos users, but may take a few weeks to arrive on all devices.

Users can head into the Collections tab and tap on Albums to switch between different views like “All,” “Shared with me,” and “My albums.” Folders for “Favorites” and “Trash” will be displayed up top, while Google says the remaining two tiles “may rotate based on the items you navigate to the most.” Users’ Locked Folders will no longer be suggested at the top of the Collections view following complaints about the placement.

The Utilities folder is being removed entirely, but the tools under it are simply being relocated. For example, the option to create a Locked Folder can now be found by scrolling to the bottom of Collections. Options for importing images and making creations like albums, collages, and highlight videos can be found by tapping the “+” symbol, while things like freeing up space on the device and managing photo frames now require you to tap your Google Photos account profile.

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Image: Bethesda

If you haven’t played Doom or Doom II for a while — or ever — a new re-release that Bethesda surprise-dropped (sorta) on Thursday might be the perfect excuse to jump in to the classic games. The re-release, which combines both games into one package called Doom + Doom II and is a free update for anyone who already owns Doom (1993) or Doom II, offers a long list of great new features — including a brand new single-player episode and online, cross-platform deathmatch multiplayer.
With Doom + Doom II, you’ll have access to both of those two games as well as extra single-player content like John Romero’s Sigil episode released in 2019 and Legacy of Rust, which is a new Doom episode created by “individuals from id Software, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames,” according to Bethesda. You’ll also be able to download single-player mods through a new in-game mod browser.

Image: Bethesda

On the multiplayer front, Bethesda has added 25 new maps for deathmatch, meaning you’ll have up to 43 to pick from. The cross-platform deathmatch and co-op also support up to 16 players.
The combined package will support up to 4K resolution and 120fps if you’re playing on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox Series X / S. There’s also updated music for the games by Andrew Hulshult (who worked on the music for Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods DLC), and you can switch back and forth between the newer tracks and older tracks whenever you like.
There’s a lot more I didn’t touch on, and if you’re at all interested in this package, I recommend scrolling through the extensive patch notes. The game is available on PC (via Steam, the Windows Store, the Epic Games Store, and GOG), Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.
There was one other cool piece of retro Doom news announced today, too: Limited Run Games is working on a re-release of Doom on the SNES. The game is set to release in 2025 — and, naturally, there will only be 666 copies made.

The new. The improved. The DEFINITIVE DOOM SNES experience! All 4 DOOM episodes, including Thy Flesh Consumed Added circle-strafe Performance improvements Monster respawning on Nightmare difficulty Level codes Rumble support via an all-new controller!#QuakeCon pic.twitter.com/ylaYZ8JbMg— Limited Run Games (@LimitedRunGames) August 8, 2024

Image: Bethesda

If you haven’t played Doom or Doom II for a while — or ever — a new re-release that Bethesda surprise-dropped (sorta) on Thursday might be the perfect excuse to jump in to the classic games. The re-release, which combines both games into one package called Doom + Doom II and is a free update for anyone who already owns Doom (1993) or Doom II, offers a long list of great new features — including a brand new single-player episode and online, cross-platform deathmatch multiplayer.

With Doom + Doom II, you’ll have access to both of those two games as well as extra single-player content like John Romero’s Sigil episode released in 2019 and Legacy of Rust, which is a new Doom episode created by “individuals from id Software, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames,” according to Bethesda. You’ll also be able to download single-player mods through a new in-game mod browser.

Image: Bethesda

On the multiplayer front, Bethesda has added 25 new maps for deathmatch, meaning you’ll have up to 43 to pick from. The cross-platform deathmatch and co-op also support up to 16 players.

The combined package will support up to 4K resolution and 120fps if you’re playing on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox Series X / S. There’s also updated music for the games by Andrew Hulshult (who worked on the music for Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods DLC), and you can switch back and forth between the newer tracks and older tracks whenever you like.

There’s a lot more I didn’t touch on, and if you’re at all interested in this package, I recommend scrolling through the extensive patch notes. The game is available on PC (via Steam, the Windows Store, the Epic Games Store, and GOG), Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.

There was one other cool piece of retro Doom news announced today, too: Limited Run Games is working on a re-release of Doom on the SNES. The game is set to release in 2025 — and, naturally, there will only be 666 copies made.

Read More 

Illustration: The Verge

The Turkish government has blocked access to Roblox following a government investigation that found content that could lead to child exploitation. “According to our Constitution, our State is obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of our children,” Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç says in a machine-translated post on X.
It’s unclear when Roblox might be unblocked in the country. “On Aug 7, we learned that Roblox was blocked in Türkiye, and we are working urgently to understand the issue with the goal of resolving it,” the company said in a statement on its website. “We are mindful that millions of people use our platform in Turkey everyday, including a vibrant community of developers whose businesses rely on Roblox. We’re always thinking about how to keep our community safe, and we share global policymakers’ commitment to protecting children.
“We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate and share local lawmakers’ commitment to children,” Roblox spokesperson Eric Porterfield says in a statement to The Verge. “We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Türkiye as soon as possible.”
The Roblox block follows Turkey’s decision to shut down access to Instagram last week. Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority didn’t provide a reason for that block at the time, according to The Associated Press. In April, Meta announced that it would temporarily shut down access to Threads in Turkey due to a regulatory decision. The country also overturned a ban on Wikipedia after more than two years in 2020.

Illustration: The Verge

The Turkish government has blocked access to Roblox following a government investigation that found content that could lead to child exploitation. “According to our Constitution, our State is obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of our children,” Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç says in a machine-translated post on X.

It’s unclear when Roblox might be unblocked in the country. “On Aug 7, we learned that Roblox was blocked in Türkiye, and we are working urgently to understand the issue with the goal of resolving it,” the company said in a statement on its website. “We are mindful that millions of people use our platform in Turkey everyday, including a vibrant community of developers whose businesses rely on Roblox. We’re always thinking about how to keep our community safe, and we share global policymakers’ commitment to protecting children.

“We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate and share local lawmakers’ commitment to children,” Roblox spokesperson Eric Porterfield says in a statement to The Verge. “We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Türkiye as soon as possible.”

The Roblox block follows Turkey’s decision to shut down access to Instagram last week. Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority didn’t provide a reason for that block at the time, according to The Associated Press. In April, Meta announced that it would temporarily shut down access to Threads in Turkey due to a regulatory decision. The country also overturned a ban on Wikipedia after more than two years in 2020.

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