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The Escape Connector sits between the car’s port and the EV charger’s plug. | Image: EVject

Tesla suing a company that makes a MagSafe-style connector designed to let EV owners make a quick escape from a charging stall if they feel their safety is threatened.
The automaker alleges that the Escape Connector by company EVject is “highly unsafe and poses a high risk of injury to person and/or property,” according to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California last week.
Tesla is calling on the court to block EVject from calling the product safe, ban the import of the adapter in the US, and make the company pay no less than $75,000 in damages.

GIF: EVject
You can’t exactly just drive away; you first need to use your touchscreen to stop the charging session.

In the filing, Tesla says it has tested the North American Charging Standard (NACS) version of the EVject accessory in a high-current simulation with the company’s Supercharger cable and a vehicle EV port. Tesla found the EVject product got as hot as 100 degrees Celsius (the boiling point of water) while DC fast-charging at 420 amps.
Tesla also points out that the company has admitted that the adapter may get hot when charging a Cybertruck. EVject’s website markets the product by painting a fearful scenario: EV owners attacked while charging, and they can’t drive away to safety without getting out the car and unplugging.
EVject advertises the adapter as “fully compatible” with NACS vehicles and lists many Tesla models by name. Tesla, which runs the largest electric vehicle charging network in the world, argues that the Escape Connector could also put its charging cables at risk for damage. EVject advertises that the outer part of the breakaway adapter will protect the station plug when disconnected.

Gov.uscourts.cand.433105.1.0 by ahawkins8223 on Scribd

The Escape Connector sits between the car’s port and the EV charger’s plug. | Image: EVject

Tesla suing a company that makes a MagSafe-style connector designed to let EV owners make a quick escape from a charging stall if they feel their safety is threatened.

The automaker alleges that the Escape Connector by company EVject is “highly unsafe and poses a high risk of injury to person and/or property,” according to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California last week.

Tesla is calling on the court to block EVject from calling the product safe, ban the import of the adapter in the US, and make the company pay no less than $75,000 in damages.

GIF: EVject
You can’t exactly just drive away; you first need to use your touchscreen to stop the charging session.

In the filing, Tesla says it has tested the North American Charging Standard (NACS) version of the EVject accessory in a high-current simulation with the company’s Supercharger cable and a vehicle EV port. Tesla found the EVject product got as hot as 100 degrees Celsius (the boiling point of water) while DC fast-charging at 420 amps.

Tesla also points out that the company has admitted that the adapter may get hot when charging a Cybertruck. EVject’s website markets the product by painting a fearful scenario: EV owners attacked while charging, and they can’t drive away to safety without getting out the car and unplugging.

EVject advertises the adapter as “fully compatible” with NACS vehicles and lists many Tesla models by name. Tesla, which runs the largest electric vehicle charging network in the world, argues that the Escape Connector could also put its charging cables at risk for damage. EVject advertises that the outer part of the breakaway adapter will protect the station plug when disconnected.

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Image: The Verge

The Department of Justice is suing TikTok for allegedly letting kids under 13 make accounts without their parents’ permission and collecting “extensive data” on them, in violation of US child privacy law.
The DOJ claims that TikTok knowingly let kids onto its platform through its “Kids Mode,” collected their information, and failed to delete their accounts at their parents’ requests, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). When a kid under 13 entered their age on the app, they’d be prompted to enter a username, which doesn’t contain personal information, and it would create a Kids Mode account for the user. But the app wouldn’t notify parents or get their consent. Kids can’t upload videos in that mode, but they can view videos; the DOJ alleges that TikTok collected some personal information on them as part of this process, like unique device identifiers and IP addresses.
The lawsuit alleges that TikTok’s age-gating techniques “are deficient in multiple ways.” Under an earlier practice, TikTok would let users restart the account creation process even if they’d originally entered a birthday showing they’re under 13, according to the complaint. TikTok also used to let users log in through Instagram or Google, which would categorize the accounts as “age unknown,” the DOJ alleges.
The DOJ says TikTok has let millions of kids use its platform but said it’s hard to pin down the exact scale of its violations because it didn’t comply with a requirement from a 2019 injunction to keep records on its COPPA compliance. The DOJ is asking the court to prevent TikTok from violating COPPA in the future and pay civil penalties for each violation. Under the FTC Act, civil penalties can go up to $51,744 per violation, per day.
The Federal Trade Commission took credit for its investigation leading to the complaint. The agency announced in June that it had referred a complaint against TikTok to the DOJ after an investigation of potential violations under the FTC Act and COPPA. At the time, the FTC said it had “uncovered reason to believe” TikTok was “violating or are about to violate the law.”
The complaint comes about a month before the DOJ is set to face TikTok in court over TikTok’s lawsuit against a new US law that could outlaw the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, agrees to spin it off.
TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement that the company disagrees with the DOJ’s claims, “many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.”

Image: The Verge

The Department of Justice is suing TikTok for allegedly letting kids under 13 make accounts without their parents’ permission and collecting “extensive data” on them, in violation of US child privacy law.

The DOJ claims that TikTok knowingly let kids onto its platform through its “Kids Mode,” collected their information, and failed to delete their accounts at their parents’ requests, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). When a kid under 13 entered their age on the app, they’d be prompted to enter a username, which doesn’t contain personal information, and it would create a Kids Mode account for the user. But the app wouldn’t notify parents or get their consent. Kids can’t upload videos in that mode, but they can view videos; the DOJ alleges that TikTok collected some personal information on them as part of this process, like unique device identifiers and IP addresses.

The lawsuit alleges that TikTok’s age-gating techniques “are deficient in multiple ways.” Under an earlier practice, TikTok would let users restart the account creation process even if they’d originally entered a birthday showing they’re under 13, according to the complaint. TikTok also used to let users log in through Instagram or Google, which would categorize the accounts as “age unknown,” the DOJ alleges.

The DOJ says TikTok has let millions of kids use its platform but said it’s hard to pin down the exact scale of its violations because it didn’t comply with a requirement from a 2019 injunction to keep records on its COPPA compliance. The DOJ is asking the court to prevent TikTok from violating COPPA in the future and pay civil penalties for each violation. Under the FTC Act, civil penalties can go up to $51,744 per violation, per day.

The Federal Trade Commission took credit for its investigation leading to the complaint. The agency announced in June that it had referred a complaint against TikTok to the DOJ after an investigation of potential violations under the FTC Act and COPPA. At the time, the FTC said it had “uncovered reason to believe” TikTok was “violating or are about to violate the law.”

The complaint comes about a month before the DOJ is set to face TikTok in court over TikTok’s lawsuit against a new US law that could outlaw the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, agrees to spin it off.

TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement that the company disagrees with the DOJ’s claims, “many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We are proud of our efforts to protect children, and we will continue to update and improve the platform. To that end, we offer age-appropriate experiences with stringent safeguards, proactively remove suspected underage users, and have voluntarily launched features such as default screentime limits, Family Pairing, and additional privacy protections for minors.”

Read More 

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Scott Olson, Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has expressed a newfound fondness for Mark Zuckerberg, after years of railing against him.
In an interview with Fox that aired on Friday, Trump said Mark Zuckerberg recently called him “to apologize” after Meta’s AI assistant falsely said the assassination attempt on Trump didn’t happen. (A company blog post written by Joel Kaplan, Meta’s global head of policy, attributed the erroneous responses to “hallucinations” in the system.) In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump claimed that both Meta and Google were “RIGGING THE ELECTION!!!” by suppressing information about the shooting.
Zuckerberg’s apology could help thaw his contentious relationship with Trump, who has long held a public grudge against Meta and its chief executive.
“I believe Mark Zuckerberg, he called me a lot. They are working on, and I think they fixed it. He’s not doing what he did five years ago, with the $500 million dollars, I don’t believe.”

Trump says Zuckerberg called him after the assassination attempt & he won’t be trying to help Democrats win in 2024 as in 2020 pic.twitter.com/i9LKyqHwmV— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 2, 2024

Trump’s $500 million comment may have referred to incorrect claims that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, spent $400 million in 2020 to elect President Joe Biden. Zuckerberg and his wife did not donate those funds to Biden but to two nonprofit organizations that gave grants to state and local governments to help them pay for election administration.
Trump also said Zuckerberg complimented his reaction to being shot at, adding that Zuckerberg said he wouldn’t endorse a Democrat in this year’s presidential election because of the respect he has for Trump.
“Mark Zuckerberg called me — first of all, he called me a few times,” Trump said. “He called me after the event and he said, ‘That was really amazing, it was really brave.’ And he actually announced he’s not going to support a Democrat, because he can’t, because he respected me for what I did that day.”
When reached for comment, Meta spokesperson Dany Lever directed The Verge to a post on X by Meta communications head Andy Stone, which notes that Zuckerberg hasn’t endorsed candidates in previous elections.
Zuckerberg — who in July declined to endorse either Trump or then-Democratic front-runner Biden — called Trump’s fist pump after being shot at “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.” But unlike other Silicon Valley elites, Zuckerberg has neither endorsed nor publicly fundraised for Trump.
Trump’s grudge against Google, however, persists.
“Google, nobody called from Google,” Trump said during the Fox interview. Google has been accused of “censoring” search terms related to the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. Google Communications posted a thread on X refuting those claims, but Trump and conservative media have continued to accuse it of suppressing information.
“Google has been very bad. They’ve been very irresponsible,” Trump said. He said Google could be “close to shut down” by Congress. “Google has to be careful,” he said.

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Scott Olson, Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump has expressed a newfound fondness for Mark Zuckerberg, after years of railing against him.

In an interview with Fox that aired on Friday, Trump said Mark Zuckerberg recently called him “to apologize” after Meta’s AI assistant falsely said the assassination attempt on Trump didn’t happen. (A company blog post written by Joel Kaplan, Meta’s global head of policy, attributed the erroneous responses to “hallucinations” in the system.) In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump claimed that both Meta and Google were “RIGGING THE ELECTION!!!” by suppressing information about the shooting.

Zuckerberg’s apology could help thaw his contentious relationship with Trump, who has long held a public grudge against Meta and its chief executive.

“I believe Mark Zuckerberg, he called me a lot. They are working on, and I think they fixed it. He’s not doing what he did five years ago, with the $500 million dollars, I don’t believe.”

Trump’s $500 million comment may have referred to incorrect claims that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, spent $400 million in 2020 to elect President Joe Biden. Zuckerberg and his wife did not donate those funds to Biden but to two nonprofit organizations that gave grants to state and local governments to help them pay for election administration.

Trump also said Zuckerberg complimented his reaction to being shot at, adding that Zuckerberg said he wouldn’t endorse a Democrat in this year’s presidential election because of the respect he has for Trump.

“Mark Zuckerberg called me — first of all, he called me a few times,” Trump said. “He called me after the event and he said, ‘That was really amazing, it was really brave.’ And he actually announced he’s not going to support a Democrat, because he can’t, because he respected me for what I did that day.”

When reached for comment, Meta spokesperson Dany Lever directed The Verge to a post on X by Meta communications head Andy Stone, which notes that Zuckerberg hasn’t endorsed candidates in previous elections.

Zuckerberg — who in July declined to endorse either Trump or then-Democratic front-runner Biden — called Trump’s fist pump after being shot at “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.” But unlike other Silicon Valley elites, Zuckerberg has neither endorsed nor publicly fundraised for Trump.

Trump’s grudge against Google, however, persists.

“Google, nobody called from Google,” Trump said during the Fox interview. Google has been accused of “censoring” search terms related to the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. Google Communications posted a thread on X refuting those claims, but Trump and conservative media have continued to accuse it of suppressing information.

“Google has been very bad. They’ve been very irresponsible,” Trump said. He said Google could be “close to shut down” by Congress. “Google has to be careful,” he said.

Read More 

The “Dear Sydney” ad did not go over well with Olympics viewers. | Screenshot: Google

Google is not winning any gold medals for its Olympics ads this year. After days of backlash, the company has decided to pull its controversial “Dear Sydney” ad from Olympic coverage.
In the 60-second ad, a father seeks to write a fan letter on behalf of his daughter to her Olympic idol, US track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The premise is the sort of treacly ad you’d expect to see at the Olympics, but things take a twist when instead of helping his daughter write a letter, he just has Gemini do it for them. “This has to be just right,” he says, before prompting Gemini to tell Sydney how inspiring she is, that his daughter plans to break her record one day, and to add a “sorry, not sorry” joke at the end.

From the get-go, the ad has drawn the ire of the internet. Many have lambasted the ad on social media for completely missing the point of writing a fan letter. (Which is, ostensibly, to make a heart-to-heart, human-to-human connection by being vulnerable and expressing how much your hero’s work has impacted your life.) Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri penned a takedown stating she wants to “throw a sledgehammer into the television every time I see it.” Others have pointed out that the ad encourages taking the easy way out instead of practicing self-expression.
Meanwhile, in a statement to multiple outlets, Google acknowledged the negative feedback but said that the commercial wasn’t meant to imply Gemini could completely replace humans. The ad was meant to “show how the Gemini app can provide a starting point, thought starter, or early draft for someone looking for ideas for their writing.”

This wouldn’t be the first time big tech stepped in it while trying to showcase the power of AI in an ad. A few months ago, Apple caught flack for its “Crush” ad, which showed a hydraulic press squishing creative tools into a shiny new iPad. People were understandably upset by the imagery, especially as AI sparks fears that technology will steal and replace the work of writers, artists, performers, and other creatives.
At the heart of the issue, tech companies still struggle to read the room with regard to AI. With the “Dear Sydney” ad, it isn’t even about AI stealing jobs. Generally speaking, humans crave authentic connection. What makes a fan letter precious is the knowledge that someone took time out of their busy life to express what you or your work means to them. It’s hard to imagine that McLaughlin-Levrone wouldn’t be moved by a rambling letter from a child with the occasional typo or awkward grammar.
Ironically, the father’s words leading up to his Gemini prompt were perfect enough. Conversely, the glimpses you can see of Gemini’s draft read more like a boilerplate cover letter. Google may have meant to show that Gemini is great at starting a draft, but it failed to understand that business emails are one thing, but personal letters are something else entirely. Writing them isn’t supposed to be easy. Being nervous, pushing through it, and sending your honest feelings anyway — that’s the entire point.

The “Dear Sydney” ad did not go over well with Olympics viewers. | Screenshot: Google

Google is not winning any gold medals for its Olympics ads this year. After days of backlash, the company has decided to pull its controversial “Dear Sydney” ad from Olympic coverage.

In the 60-second ad, a father seeks to write a fan letter on behalf of his daughter to her Olympic idol, US track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The premise is the sort of treacly ad you’d expect to see at the Olympics, but things take a twist when instead of helping his daughter write a letter, he just has Gemini do it for them. “This has to be just right,” he says, before prompting Gemini to tell Sydney how inspiring she is, that his daughter plans to break her record one day, and to add a “sorry, not sorry” joke at the end.

From the get-go, the ad has drawn the ire of the internet. Many have lambasted the ad on social media for completely missing the point of writing a fan letter. (Which is, ostensibly, to make a heart-to-heart, human-to-human connection by being vulnerable and expressing how much your hero’s work has impacted your life.) Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri penned a takedown stating she wants to “throw a sledgehammer into the television every time I see it.” Others have pointed out that the ad encourages taking the easy way out instead of practicing self-expression.

Meanwhile, in a statement to multiple outlets, Google acknowledged the negative feedback but said that the commercial wasn’t meant to imply Gemini could completely replace humans. The ad was meant to “show how the Gemini app can provide a starting point, thought starter, or early draft for someone looking for ideas for their writing.”

This wouldn’t be the first time big tech stepped in it while trying to showcase the power of AI in an ad. A few months ago, Apple caught flack for its “Crush” ad, which showed a hydraulic press squishing creative tools into a shiny new iPad. People were understandably upset by the imagery, especially as AI sparks fears that technology will steal and replace the work of writers, artists, performers, and other creatives.

At the heart of the issue, tech companies still struggle to read the room with regard to AI. With the “Dear Sydney” ad, it isn’t even about AI stealing jobs. Generally speaking, humans crave authentic connection. What makes a fan letter precious is the knowledge that someone took time out of their busy life to express what you or your work means to them. It’s hard to imagine that McLaughlin-Levrone wouldn’t be moved by a rambling letter from a child with the occasional typo or awkward grammar.

Ironically, the father’s words leading up to his Gemini prompt were perfect enough. Conversely, the glimpses you can see of Gemini’s draft read more like a boilerplate cover letter. Google may have meant to show that Gemini is great at starting a draft, but it failed to understand that business emails are one thing, but personal letters are something else entirely. Writing them isn’t supposed to be easy. Being nervous, pushing through it, and sending your honest feelings anyway — that’s the entire point.

Read More 

Google’s high-end flagship is colorful, capable, and loaded with plenty of AI tricks. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Google’s next Pixel hardware event is less than two weeks away, which, in turn, means the Pixel 9 lineup is nearly upon us. That being said, you don’t need to wait for the debut of Google’s next handset on August 13th if you want a future-proofed Android phone chockful of premium specs and newfangled AI capabilities. That’s because the Pixel 8 Pro — Google’s current high-end flagship — is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy with 128GB of storage starting at $699 ($300 off), an all-time low.

If the recent rumor mill is to be believed, Google’s next pro-grade smartphone will feature several distinct design changes and a modest performance boost thanks to its G4 Tensor chip. But the third-gen chipset in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro is still plenty fast, allowing both phones to run large language models on-device. That means they can leverage a number of AI editing tools, including one that lets you choose the best expression for each person in a photo when you take multiple images and an enhanced Magic Eraser that allows you to easily remove larger objects from photos — albeit with varying degrees of success.
The Pixel 8 Pro has plenty going for it outside of AI, too. The 6.7-inch Android phone packs an excellent camera array with a 5x telephoto lens and 8-megapixel ultrawide, along with manual exposure controls not found on the standard Pixel 8. It also offers a speedy 120Hz refresh, expanded Face Unlock capabilities, and seven years of OS updates, so it will continue to receive support for years to come.

Read our Google Pixel 8 Pro review.

Some more ways to save today

You can grab the RoboVac 11S Max for just $149.99 ($100 off) at Amazon with an on-page coupon or direct from Eufy with promo code WS24T2126111. This older bump-and-run bot can’t hold a candle to the best robot vacuums or even some of our budget picks, but it’s not a bad option if all you need is a simple robovac with good suction, a decent-sized dustbin, and quiet operation.
One thing we don’t anticipate seeing at Google’s next hardware event is an updated Pixel Tablet — which makes the $150 discount we’re seeing at Woot on the dockless, 128GB base model a lot more attractive. Along with the OnePlus Pad 2, Google’s 11-inch slate remains one of the better Android tablets available, with responsive performance, great sound, and a lovely LCD that’s great for watching movies and playing games. Read our review.
The UE Wonderboom 4 is once again matching its all-time low of $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. As my colleague David Pierce pointed out in an earlier edition of Installer, Ultimate Ears’ latest Bluetooth speaker is well-equipped for the dog days of summer, namely because it offers the same rugged IP67 rating as earlier models, a new megaphone feature that amplifies your voice when you talk into it, and USB-C charging (finally).

Google’s high-end flagship is colorful, capable, and loaded with plenty of AI tricks. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Google’s next Pixel hardware event is less than two weeks away, which, in turn, means the Pixel 9 lineup is nearly upon us. That being said, you don’t need to wait for the debut of Google’s next handset on August 13th if you want a future-proofed Android phone chockful of premium specs and newfangled AI capabilities. That’s because the Pixel 8 Pro — Google’s current high-end flagship — is on sale at Amazon and Best Buy with 128GB of storage starting at $699 ($300 off), an all-time low.

If the recent rumor mill is to be believed, Google’s next pro-grade smartphone will feature several distinct design changes and a modest performance boost thanks to its G4 Tensor chip. But the third-gen chipset in the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro is still plenty fast, allowing both phones to run large language models on-device. That means they can leverage a number of AI editing tools, including one that lets you choose the best expression for each person in a photo when you take multiple images and an enhanced Magic Eraser that allows you to easily remove larger objects from photos — albeit with varying degrees of success.

The Pixel 8 Pro has plenty going for it outside of AI, too. The 6.7-inch Android phone packs an excellent camera array with a 5x telephoto lens and 8-megapixel ultrawide, along with manual exposure controls not found on the standard Pixel 8. It also offers a speedy 120Hz refresh, expanded Face Unlock capabilities, and seven years of OS updates, so it will continue to receive support for years to come.

Read our Google Pixel 8 Pro review.

Some more ways to save today

You can grab the RoboVac 11S Max for just $149.99 ($100 off) at Amazon with an on-page coupon or direct from Eufy with promo code WS24T2126111. This older bump-and-run bot can’t hold a candle to the best robot vacuums or even some of our budget picks, but it’s not a bad option if all you need is a simple robovac with good suction, a decent-sized dustbin, and quiet operation.
One thing we don’t anticipate seeing at Google’s next hardware event is an updated Pixel Tablet — which makes the $150 discount we’re seeing at Woot on the dockless, 128GB base model a lot more attractive. Along with the OnePlus Pad 2, Google’s 11-inch slate remains one of the better Android tablets available, with responsive performance, great sound, and a lovely LCD that’s great for watching movies and playing games. Read our review.
The UE Wonderboom 4 is once again matching its all-time low of $79.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. As my colleague David Pierce pointed out in an earlier edition of Installer, Ultimate Ears’ latest Bluetooth speaker is well-equipped for the dog days of summer, namely because it offers the same rugged IP67 rating as earlier models, a new megaphone feature that amplifies your voice when you talk into it, and USB-C charging (finally).

Read More 

It looks like the SQ8 E-tron, but it’s not. | Image: Audi

Audi is giving its all-electric Q8 E-tron some premium add-on packages across the lineup as the automaker’s overall EV sales are falling quarter over quarter this year.
The 2025 Audi Q8 E-tron SUV and Sportback now have a “sportier” S line competition appearance package that feels a bit like a parts bin consolidation. It adds body components from the $90,000 SQ8 E-tron, making the vehicle wider, and includes a body-color Singleframe and special 21-inch five-spoke black wheels. It also gets black-painted brake calipers with S branding and door projection lights for the edition.
While the package is only launching in Europe right now, the company is “evaluating” bringing it to the US as well, according to Audi’s product communications manager, Nathan Hoyt.
There is some speculation that the automaker could end production of the vehicles due to a significant drop in demand. CleanTechnica reported Audi’s EV sales were down from 7.411 vehicles in Q4 2023 to 5,714 in Q1 2024. And earlier this year, Car and Driver reported that Audi was considering an early end to the Q8 E-tron’s production. However, Hoyt tells me there are “no plans at this time to end production of the Q8 e-tron.”
The 2025 Q8 E-tron lineup, starting at $74,800, was announced in early July, and it added new standard options, including Homelink buttons and Remote park assist plus that lets you park the car into tight spots while standing outside the vehicle. There’s also a Magnesium package that black out the colors and adds matte gold to the wheels.

The Q8 E-tron’s just announced S line appearance package also adds new carbon fiber components embedded in places like the front air curtains, side view mirrors, and on parts of all four doors. Of course, the real SQ8 E-tron models have the carbon fiber components, too — but only part of the Carbon Style package add-on.
Audi also includes the SQ8 E-tron’s adaptive air suspension sport system with the S line package, giving the regular Q8 E-tron the ability to change the ride height and add dynamic damping control for better comfort.
While the Q8 E-tron’s future is in question, Audi is working to bring the new A6 E-tron series which will likely have better range and a slicker appearance. Audi’s electric vehicle lineup has long had poorer range compared to Tesla, Ford, and Kia. And while Audi’s Porsche Taycan-based E-tron GT is a great effort, it’s far too expensive for a mainstream luxury EV.
Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is in a price-slashing competition, trying to get customers to choose their EV over the other — especially over Tesla (which is struggling to get new buyers).

It looks like the SQ8 E-tron, but it’s not. | Image: Audi

Audi is giving its all-electric Q8 E-tron some premium add-on packages across the lineup as the automaker’s overall EV sales are falling quarter over quarter this year.

The 2025 Audi Q8 E-tron SUV and Sportback now have a “sportier” S line competition appearance package that feels a bit like a parts bin consolidation. It adds body components from the $90,000 SQ8 E-tron, making the vehicle wider, and includes a body-color Singleframe and special 21-inch five-spoke black wheels. It also gets black-painted brake calipers with S branding and door projection lights for the edition.

While the package is only launching in Europe right now, the company is “evaluating” bringing it to the US as well, according to Audi’s product communications manager, Nathan Hoyt.

There is some speculation that the automaker could end production of the vehicles due to a significant drop in demand. CleanTechnica reported Audi’s EV sales were down from 7.411 vehicles in Q4 2023 to 5,714 in Q1 2024. And earlier this year, Car and Driver reported that Audi was considering an early end to the Q8 E-tron’s production. However, Hoyt tells me there are “no plans at this time to end production of the Q8 e-tron.”

The 2025 Q8 E-tron lineup, starting at $74,800, was announced in early July, and it added new standard options, including Homelink buttons and Remote park assist plus that lets you park the car into tight spots while standing outside the vehicle. There’s also a Magnesium package that black out the colors and adds matte gold to the wheels.

The Q8 E-tron’s just announced S line appearance package also adds new carbon fiber components embedded in places like the front air curtains, side view mirrors, and on parts of all four doors. Of course, the real SQ8 E-tron models have the carbon fiber components, too — but only part of the Carbon Style package add-on.

Audi also includes the SQ8 E-tron’s adaptive air suspension sport system with the S line package, giving the regular Q8 E-tron the ability to change the ride height and add dynamic damping control for better comfort.

While the Q8 E-tron’s future is in question, Audi is working to bring the new A6 E-tron series which will likely have better range and a slicker appearance. Audi’s electric vehicle lineup has long had poorer range compared to Tesla, Ford, and Kia. And while Audi’s Porsche Taycan-based E-tron GT is a great effort, it’s far too expensive for a mainstream luxury EV.

Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is in a price-slashing competition, trying to get customers to choose their EV over the other — especially over Tesla (which is struggling to get new buyers).

Read More 

Image: Apple

Following backlash criticizing an Apple ad’s outdated and stereotyped portrayal of Thailand, Apple has removed it and issued an apology. The negative attention follows Apple’s apology for the “Crush” iPad Pro ad and its removal from broadcasts in May after it attracted widespread criticism among the creative community.
“Thai people are deeply unhappy with the advertisement,” Thai lawmaker Sattra Sripan said in a statement reported by Bloomberg. “I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands.”
The 10-minute ad, titled “OOO (Out of Office),” was the latest in Apple’s The Underdogs comedy series depicting a recurring cast of coworkers as they use Apple products to resolve issues within their workplace.
The ad debuted in mid-July and featured the Underdogs team navigating around Thailand on a quest to find a new packaging factory. Thai citizens, lawmakers, and influencers criticized the video’s use of sepia filters and depiction of an airport, transportation, clothing, and hotels for misrepresenting the country as being underdeveloped.

“Our intent was to celebrate the country’s optimism and culture, and we apologize for not fully capturing the vibrancy of Thailand today,” Apple said in a statement on Friday. “The film is no longer being aired.” Apple says it collaborated with a local production company in Thailand to create the video, according to 9to5Mac. The ad has since been removed from Apple’s YouTube channels, though the full version can still be viewed in this report by Campaign.
Thailand’s prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, who had previously promoted the ad, told reporters that there are two sides to every coin, reports local paper Thairath (translated). Asked by reporters if he was concerned “Apple might not want to invest in Thailand anymore because Thai people are against it and will turn to using Android more,” he said he was not.
While Apple’s iPad Pro “Crush” ad is still available to watch on Apple’s main YouTube channel, we can only find one of the five ads that were released in The Underdogs video series. We have asked Apple if additional videos have also been taken offline and will update if we hear back.

@bangkokpost.official Apple’s latest short film commercial ‘The Underdogs: OOO (Out Of Office)’ that aims to represent its gadgets filmed in Thailand has sparked criticism among Thai people as the commercial portrays Thailand in a low-tech and underdeveloped mood and tone, using a warm colour in several scenes of the film. #apple #Thailand #commercial #technology #gadgets #shortfilm #iphone #ipad #macbook #imac #applevisionpro #ios #applethailand #ไอโฟน #ไอแพด #แมคบุ๊ค #แอปเปิ้ล #โฆษณา #หนังสั้น #ข่าวtiktok #ข่าวเทคโนโลยี ♬ original sound – Bangkok Post – Bangkok Post

Image: Apple

Following backlash criticizing an Apple ad’s outdated and stereotyped portrayal of Thailand, Apple has removed it and issued an apology. The negative attention follows Apple’s apology for the “Crush” iPad Pro ad and its removal from broadcasts in May after it attracted widespread criticism among the creative community.

“Thai people are deeply unhappy with the advertisement,” Thai lawmaker Sattra Sripan said in a statement reported by Bloomberg. “I encourage Thai people to stop using Apple products and change to other brands.”

The 10-minute ad, titled “OOO (Out of Office),” was the latest in Apple’s The Underdogs comedy series depicting a recurring cast of coworkers as they use Apple products to resolve issues within their workplace.

The ad debuted in mid-July and featured the Underdogs team navigating around Thailand on a quest to find a new packaging factory. Thai citizens, lawmakers, and influencers criticized the video’s use of sepia filters and depiction of an airport, transportation, clothing, and hotels for misrepresenting the country as being underdeveloped.

“Our intent was to celebrate the country’s optimism and culture, and we apologize for not fully capturing the vibrancy of Thailand today,” Apple said in a statement on Friday. “The film is no longer being aired.” Apple says it collaborated with a local production company in Thailand to create the video, according to 9to5Mac. The ad has since been removed from Apple’s YouTube channels, though the full version can still be viewed in this report by Campaign.

Thailand’s prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, who had previously promoted the ad, told reporters that there are two sides to every coin, reports local paper Thairath (translated). Asked by reporters if he was concerned “Apple might not want to invest in Thailand anymore because Thai people are against it and will turn to using Android more,” he said he was not.

While Apple’s iPad Pro “Crush” ad is still available to watch on Apple’s main YouTube channel, we can only find one of the five ads that were released in The Underdogs video series. We have asked Apple if additional videos have also been taken offline and will update if we hear back.

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Image: Riot Games

Riot Games is surprise launching Valorant on Xbox Series S / X and PS5 consoles today. After a brief beta period in June, the console version of Valorant will be available in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Brazil and features all the same gameplay, heroes, and abilities as the PC version.
Valorant on console won’t have crossplay support because Riot Games wants to maintain “competitive integrity.” That means PC players won’t be getting controller support, either. The game will support cross-progression, so any skins and progression will carry over between PC and console. Both PC and console players will also receive simultaneous platform releases, including balance patches, new agents, map updates, premium content, and more.

Image: Riot Games
Valorant Xbox gameplay.

Riot Games has also made some tweaks to the console version of its 5v5 tactical shooter, largely to make it more controller-friendly for hip-fire gameplay. “Focus is a new shooting mode that behaves essentially like hip-fire, but with reduced sensitivity,” explains Arnar Gylfason, production director of Valorant. “This way, players can use hip-fire whenever they need speed in moving their camera / aim, but utilize focus mode whenever they need precision. This also approximates the shooting mechanic to what console players are used to in shooters, all of this without losing the added value Valorant’s aim down sights provides.”
Valorant is now available to play for free on PC, Xbox Series S / X, and PS5.

Image: Riot Games

Riot Games is surprise launching Valorant on Xbox Series S / X and PS5 consoles today. After a brief beta period in June, the console version of Valorant will be available in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Brazil and features all the same gameplay, heroes, and abilities as the PC version.

Valorant on console won’t have crossplay support because Riot Games wants to maintain “competitive integrity.” That means PC players won’t be getting controller support, either. The game will support cross-progression, so any skins and progression will carry over between PC and console. Both PC and console players will also receive simultaneous platform releases, including balance patches, new agents, map updates, premium content, and more.

Image: Riot Games
Valorant Xbox gameplay.

Riot Games has also made some tweaks to the console version of its 5v5 tactical shooter, largely to make it more controller-friendly for hip-fire gameplay. “Focus is a new shooting mode that behaves essentially like hip-fire, but with reduced sensitivity,” explains Arnar Gylfason, production director of Valorant. “This way, players can use hip-fire whenever they need speed in moving their camera / aim, but utilize focus mode whenever they need precision. This also approximates the shooting mechanic to what console players are used to in shooters, all of this without losing the added value Valorant’s aim down sights provides.”

Valorant is now available to play for free on PC, Xbox Series S / X, and PS5.

Read More 

Image: Puzzmo / Angie Wang

Everyone seems to want in on newspaper-style casual gaming. While The New York Times is leading the way with Wordle and its iconic crossword, major companies ranging from Netflix to LinkedIn are trying to carve out a place as well. So, when game designer Zach Gage, cofounder of the Hearst-owned site Puzzmo, started exploring the space, he knew the project needed more than great games. He says the goal was to “design a website that isn’t just links to games but is in fact a deeper community experience.” That’s why Puzzmo launched last year with a handful of titles and multiplayer features like leaderboards.
Now both of those aspects are expanding with a new game that’s also introducing new ways to play — inspired by some of the biggest online shooters around.
Back in June, the site introduced Pile-Up Poker, a game that takes the rules of poker — namely the various hands — and turns it into a solitaire-like experience with the goal of earning a high score in the form of virtual cash. It’s a great addition to Puzzmo’s growing library of word games and other puzzles. It also came with a communitywide goal for everyone to work toward: earning a collective $1 trillion of in-game money. The idea is that every Puzzmo player contributes a little bit each day over time by playing Pile-Up Poker and racking up dollars. (Games like Fortnite have similarly experimented with these kinds of collective goals.)

Image: Puzzmo
Pile-Up Poker.

As the community pot grows closer to the goal, new features will be added for everyone. At launch, there was a deck of physical cards designed by BoJack Horseman artist Lisa Hanawalt, and just last week, Puzzmo added the option for clubs — in-game friend groups — to have their own custom, game-specific leaderboards so they can compare scores in TypeShift or Really Bad Chess. The tool is built to be flexible, so people can create hyperspecific ways to play with their friends.
This idea of ongoing support and updates comes from the battle passes found in games like Fortnite and League of Legends. Gage is a hardcore Apex Legends player (he even does meetings inside of the shooter) and believes that the nature of a battle pass, with goals that encourage daily play, can nurture a more dedicated audience. “When you play every day, you start to care about the patch notes,” he explains. “It turns you into a quality community member instead of a person who is just stepping in and playing the game. You become invested.”
There are downsides, of course. A typical battle pass requires a huge investment from the developer to constantly make new in-game items for players, like Fortnite’s never-ending production line of skins. Daily missions can also become checklists for players rather than fun experiences. “Sometimes I have found myself playing a battle pass and wondered, ‘What am I doing? Why am I even playing this game right now? This is a waste of my time,’” Gage says. “That is a feeling that I don’t want anyone to have with any game that I’m making.”
“When you play every day, you start to care about the patch notes.”
Community objectives like the Pile-Up Poker pot, which are designed sort of like Kickstarter stretch goals, solve these problems in a few ways. They don’t require much additional work for the developers since the upcoming features were already part of the roadmap. And players don’t experience the same kind of FOMO because, even if you miss a day or two, the rest of the community is still building toward those goals. At the same time, the process of hitting such a huge number has given a nice jolt to the community, according to Gage, citing vibrant discussions in the Puzzmo Discord. (He notes that the $1 trillion figure was chosen simply because “it sounded cool.”)
The hope is that the combination of all of those elements — friends groups, community goals, a deep and growing library of games — will be what it takes for Puzzmo to go up against its entrenched competition. “Everybody who we are competing with is trying to make a crossword that has the gravitas of The New York Times crossword,” says Gage. “But nobody is building a community around their crossword. That is the appeal of the New York Times crossword — there’s community. You can do it and talk to your friends about it.”
Disclosure: Puzzmo has a partnership with Verge sister site Polygon.

Image: Puzzmo / Angie Wang

Everyone seems to want in on newspaper-style casual gaming. While The New York Times is leading the way with Wordle and its iconic crossword, major companies ranging from Netflix to LinkedIn are trying to carve out a place as well. So, when game designer Zach Gage, cofounder of the Hearst-owned site Puzzmo, started exploring the space, he knew the project needed more than great games. He says the goal was to “design a website that isn’t just links to games but is in fact a deeper community experience.” That’s why Puzzmo launched last year with a handful of titles and multiplayer features like leaderboards.

Now both of those aspects are expanding with a new game that’s also introducing new ways to play — inspired by some of the biggest online shooters around.

Back in June, the site introduced Pile-Up Poker, a game that takes the rules of poker — namely the various hands — and turns it into a solitaire-like experience with the goal of earning a high score in the form of virtual cash. It’s a great addition to Puzzmo’s growing library of word games and other puzzles. It also came with a communitywide goal for everyone to work toward: earning a collective $1 trillion of in-game money. The idea is that every Puzzmo player contributes a little bit each day over time by playing Pile-Up Poker and racking up dollars. (Games like Fortnite have similarly experimented with these kinds of collective goals.)

As the community pot grows closer to the goal, new features will be added for everyone. At launch, there was a deck of physical cards designed by BoJack Horseman artist Lisa Hanawalt, and just last week, Puzzmo added the option for clubs — in-game friend groups — to have their own custom, game-specific leaderboards so they can compare scores in TypeShift or Really Bad Chess. The tool is built to be flexible, so people can create hyperspecific ways to play with their friends.

This idea of ongoing support and updates comes from the battle passes found in games like Fortnite and League of Legends. Gage is a hardcore Apex Legends player (he even does meetings inside of the shooter) and believes that the nature of a battle pass, with goals that encourage daily play, can nurture a more dedicated audience. “When you play every day, you start to care about the patch notes,” he explains. “It turns you into a quality community member instead of a person who is just stepping in and playing the game. You become invested.”

There are downsides, of course. A typical battle pass requires a huge investment from the developer to constantly make new in-game items for players, like Fortnite’s never-ending production line of skins. Daily missions can also become checklists for players rather than fun experiences. “Sometimes I have found myself playing a battle pass and wondered, ‘What am I doing? Why am I even playing this game right now? This is a waste of my time,’” Gage says. “That is a feeling that I don’t want anyone to have with any game that I’m making.”

Community objectives like the Pile-Up Poker pot, which are designed sort of like Kickstarter stretch goals, solve these problems in a few ways. They don’t require much additional work for the developers since the upcoming features were already part of the roadmap. And players don’t experience the same kind of FOMO because, even if you miss a day or two, the rest of the community is still building toward those goals. At the same time, the process of hitting such a huge number has given a nice jolt to the community, according to Gage, citing vibrant discussions in the Puzzmo Discord. (He notes that the $1 trillion figure was chosen simply because “it sounded cool.”)

The hope is that the combination of all of those elements — friends groups, community goals, a deep and growing library of games — will be what it takes for Puzzmo to go up against its entrenched competition. “Everybody who we are competing with is trying to make a crossword that has the gravitas of The New York Times crossword,” says Gage. “But nobody is building a community around their crossword. That is the appeal of the New York Times crossword — there’s community. You can do it and talk to your friends about it.”

Disclosure: Puzzmo has a partnership with Verge sister site Polygon.

Read More 

Microsoft’s latest 2-in-1 is all in on Arm, and it’s the closest the company’s come to merging the power of a laptop with the battery life and flexibility of a tablet. For 11 years, the Surface Pro has been Microsoft’s best articulation of its vision for the future of personal computing: the power of a Windows laptop, with the flexibility and battery life of a tablet.
But x86 chips were too power-hungry, and Arm chips were too slow. So Microsoft split the Surface lineup in two: there was a fast Surface with an x86 chip and bad battery life and a slow Arm one with great battery life. But having to choose between them was never the dream.
The Surface Pro 11 is supposed to have it all. For the first time, it mostly does. Thanks to the new Snapdragon X processor, it’s the first Arm-based Surface Pro that runs Windows and most apps without tripping over itself. More than that, it’s fast as hell. It’s beautifully built and surprisingly repairable, and the new Flex Keyboard is downright magical.
I’ve spent over a month using the Surface Pro 11 as my main computer — forsaking my desktop PC, work MacBook Air, and iPad. Each of them is better than the Surface Pro in at least one way. The desktop has better app compatibility, and its eight-year-old midrange GPU mops the floor with the one in the Surface Pro. The MacBook has better battery life and a less cluttered operating system, and it’s nicer to use on your actual lap. The iPad is a much, much better tablet. And the Surface Pro costs more than any two of them put together. But it’s good enough at the important things and more flexible than any of the others. It’s the closest Microsoft has come to achieving the dream.

The Surface Pro 11 starts at $1,000 with a 10-core Snapdragon X Plus CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 13-inch, 2880 x 1920 LCD touchscreen — keyboard and stylus not included. The step-up model with a 12-core processor, 512GB of RAM, and OLED screen starts at $1,500.
I’ve spent a month using the $2,100 top-of-the-line configuration with a 12-core Snapdragon X Elite chip, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and an OLED screen. Add the new Flex Keyboard and stylus, and it costs $2,550.
The hardware is as refined as you’d expect from a device in its 11th year. The chassis is nearly identical to the 9th edition, from the ports to the peripheral venting that wraps around the top half of the tablet. The most significant differences are the OLED panel on the step-up model, the Flex Keyboard, and of course, the Snapdragon X processor.

The OLED display is Microsoft’s first. It’s bright and often beautiful. HDR video looks great. (Fallout’s wasteland really pops.) But Windows’ HDR support can get screwy — it washes out screenshots taken with the Snipping Tool, for example — so I keep it off most of the time.
And if you spend more time in documents than watching videos (which is a fair bet if you’re interested in the Surface Pro), the OLED may not be for you. The subpixel array can give it a grainy appearance, especially on a white background. It drives my colleague Tom Warren up the wall, but I barely notice it, possibly because I don’t have other OLED laptops lying around. I do notice the glare. There’s no antireflective coating on the screen, and I have to crank up the brightness if I’m near a window, even on a cloudy day.
Late into my time with the OLED Surface Pro, I bought a $1,199 model with an LCD screen. The LCD looks fine. It doesn’t have the grain. If I’d been using it the whole time, I’d be perfectly happy. But next to the OLED, it looks washed out, and it’s just as prone to glare. I’d rather have the OLED, grain and glare and $300 extra be damned.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
The Flex Keyboard has Bluetooth, so it keeps working when you detach it from the tablet.

The whole point of the Surface Pro is that you can take the keyboard off. Otherwise, you’d just get a laptop. Maybe you want to write or draw on the screen with the stylus, maybe you’re trying to get better ergonomics, maybe you want to use a keyboard you like better, or maybe you’re just trying to fit the darn thing on an airplane tray table so you can watch a movie. Most type covers stop working when you detach the keyboard, but the new Flex Keyboard cover has Bluetooth, so it just keeps going.
The handoff between the physical and Bluetooth connections is seamless, and the keyboard itself is pretty good. For $349 ($449 with the stylus), it ought to be. The keys are shallow but have a decent tactile bump on the downstroke and a snappy upstroke. It feels a lot like typing on a slightly flexible MacBook Air — Microsoft reinforced the base to protect the battery, so the keys feel less bouncy than previous type covers. The haptic trackpad is accurate and smooth but feels a little too short. The keyboard deck is wrapped in soft, heathered-looking alcantara fabric. It’s comfortable and feels warmer under the palms than metal would, but I wish Microsoft had switched to aluminum like it did with the Surface Laptop. The palm rests on my review unit have started yellowing after just a few weeks.

Photo by Nathan Edwards / The Verge
The Flex Keyboard is nice to type on, but the fabric on the palm rest is already starting to yellow.

The Flex Keyboard is expensive, and it’s not necessarily so nice that I’d want to use it instead of my regular keyboard and mouse when I’m at home — though I do end up using it that way since I have it around. Fortunately, the Surface Pro 11 works with a half-dozen current and previous Surface Pro keyboard covers, which start at $140. For that matter, the Flex Keyboard works with Surface Pro models back to the Surface Pro X from 2019. You can get a cheaper keyboard for the Surface Pro 11 or buy just the Flex Keyboard for your older Surface Pro.

The OLED display and the new keyboard are both optional, but the Arm chip isn’t. The Surface Pro 11 runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X platform, which tries to do for Windows machines what Apple Silicon has done for Macs and iPads: combine the performance of a laptop with the battery life of a tablet. It feels like it was made for the Surface Pro.
Most of the time, the Surface Pro 11 is as fast as the other Snapdragon X laptops we’ve tested and faster than the Intel and AMD chips we put it up against. More importantly, it feels fast, which is more than any earlier Arm Surface Pro has managed. Even the 10-core chip on the base model is fine.
But it’s not quite a drop-in replacement for an Intel Surface Pro. Because most Windows apps are still compiled for x86 processors, Arm computers have to spend extra cycles on emulation. The new Snapdragon X chips are way better at emulation than earlier Arm processors, but they still struggle with some apps, especially graphics-heavy ones, and some programs refuse to run at all. You’ll need to make sure your must-have apps work well before committing to any of the new Arm laptops.
I’ve spent the past month using the Surface Pro 11 as my main work computer, and app compatibility doesn’t trip me up much. Almost all my day-to-day apps have Arm64 versions, including Slack, Spotify, and the browser. (I run a lot of tabs.) Most of those that don’t, like Beeper and Obsidian, work fine in emulation. The app I miss the most is the Arc browser (sorry, Edge), though my VPN client didn’t work, either, and I did have to switch back to my desktop to use the Via keyboard remapping software. Most games don’t run well on Arm yet, but GeForce Now game streaming works fine — much better than it did in mid-June.
Most days, I got about eight hours of battery life with the screen at around 50 or 60 percent brightness and all of Microsoft’s power-saving recommendations enabled, including dark mode and setting the Pro to sleep after three minutes of inactivity. One day, I got nearly 11 hours. But with great power comes great power consumption. Apps that really push the processor, like our Cinebench benchmark, chew through battery life — and so do video calls, for some reason.
Outside of video calls and benchmarks, I saw a 9 or 10 percent drop in battery level per hour. In calls, it’s twice that, and on days with lots of meetings, I got closer to six hours on a charge. And I looked bad the whole time.

Screenshot by Nathan Edwards / The Verge
The Surface Pro’s ultrawide webcam makes you look like you’re being filmed from waist level.

The front camera on the Surface Pro is a 1440p ultrawide, and its fish-eye effect and default framing are unflattering and distracting. You loom over everyone else in the call. There’s an automatic framing feature that digitally zooms into your face and keeps you centered, but it oversharpens facial features to compensate for the low resolution and never works the first time. This is not a computer to buy if you’re on a lot of calls.
On the bright side, Windows Hello face authentication reliably unlocks the Surface Pro as soon as I wake it up, which is a quality-of-life improvement I wasn’t expecting.

Microsoft calls the Surface Pro a 2-in-1. But you can’t really fit two into one without compromising somewhere. It’s less lappable than a laptop and less tablet-y than a tablet, and it costs as much as buying both. But there’s no better tablet to do office work on and no laptop quite this flexible, especially now that you don’t have to choose between decent battery life and the ability to run actual apps without stumbling.
Even if you’re sold on the idea of the Surface Pro, the smart move would be to wait six months and see how Arm compatibility shakes out, especially if your work requires any sort of graphics horsepower, you like to game, or you want 5G, which isn’t available yet. You should probably do that.
After a month with the Surface Pro 11, I’m not sure I can go back to a regular laptop. I don’t mind the OLED grain, and I could even live with the webcam situation. I wasn’t gaming much anyway, and I’m sure the Arc browser will come to Arm64 someday. I love being able to pop off the Flex Keyboard and stick the Surface Pro on a stack of books for better ergonomics or just plug it in below my monitor and use my regular keyboard and mouse. I’m not quite ready for it to be my only computer, but it feels like we’re nearly there.

Microsoft’s latest 2-in-1 is all in on Arm, and it’s the closest the company’s come to merging the power of a laptop with the battery life and flexibility of a tablet.

For 11 years, the Surface Pro has been Microsoft’s best articulation of its vision for the future of personal computing: the power of a Windows laptop, with the flexibility and battery life of a tablet.

But x86 chips were too power-hungry, and Arm chips were too slow. So Microsoft split the Surface lineup in two: there was a fast Surface with an x86 chip and bad battery life and a slow Arm one with great battery life. But having to choose between them was never the dream.

The Surface Pro 11 is supposed to have it all. For the first time, it mostly does. Thanks to the new Snapdragon X processor, it’s the first Arm-based Surface Pro that runs Windows and most apps without tripping over itself. More than that, it’s fast as hell. It’s beautifully built and surprisingly repairable, and the new Flex Keyboard is downright magical.

I’ve spent over a month using the Surface Pro 11 as my main computer — forsaking my desktop PC, work MacBook Air, and iPad. Each of them is better than the Surface Pro in at least one way. The desktop has better app compatibility, and its eight-year-old midrange GPU mops the floor with the one in the Surface Pro. The MacBook has better battery life and a less cluttered operating system, and it’s nicer to use on your actual lap. The iPad is a much, much better tablet. And the Surface Pro costs more than any two of them put together. But it’s good enough at the important things and more flexible than any of the others. It’s the closest Microsoft has come to achieving the dream.

The Surface Pro 11 starts at $1,000 with a 10-core Snapdragon X Plus CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 13-inch, 2880 x 1920 LCD touchscreen — keyboard and stylus not included. The step-up model with a 12-core processor, 512GB of RAM, and OLED screen starts at $1,500.

I’ve spent a month using the $2,100 top-of-the-line configuration with a 12-core Snapdragon X Elite chip, 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and an OLED screen. Add the new Flex Keyboard and stylus, and it costs $2,550.

The hardware is as refined as you’d expect from a device in its 11th year. The chassis is nearly identical to the 9th edition, from the ports to the peripheral venting that wraps around the top half of the tablet. The most significant differences are the OLED panel on the step-up model, the Flex Keyboard, and of course, the Snapdragon X processor.

The OLED display is Microsoft’s first. It’s bright and often beautiful. HDR video looks great. (Fallout’s wasteland really pops.) But Windows’ HDR support can get screwy — it washes out screenshots taken with the Snipping Tool, for example — so I keep it off most of the time.

And if you spend more time in documents than watching videos (which is a fair bet if you’re interested in the Surface Pro), the OLED may not be for you. The subpixel array can give it a grainy appearance, especially on a white background. It drives my colleague Tom Warren up the wall, but I barely notice it, possibly because I don’t have other OLED laptops lying around. I do notice the glare. There’s no antireflective coating on the screen, and I have to crank up the brightness if I’m near a window, even on a cloudy day.

Late into my time with the OLED Surface Pro, I bought a $1,199 model with an LCD screen. The LCD looks fine. It doesn’t have the grain. If I’d been using it the whole time, I’d be perfectly happy. But next to the OLED, it looks washed out, and it’s just as prone to glare. I’d rather have the OLED, grain and glare and $300 extra be damned.

The whole point of the Surface Pro is that you can take the keyboard off. Otherwise, you’d just get a laptop. Maybe you want to write or draw on the screen with the stylus, maybe you’re trying to get better ergonomics, maybe you want to use a keyboard you like better, or maybe you’re just trying to fit the darn thing on an airplane tray table so you can watch a movie. Most type covers stop working when you detach the keyboard, but the new Flex Keyboard cover has Bluetooth, so it just keeps going.

The handoff between the physical and Bluetooth connections is seamless, and the keyboard itself is pretty good. For $349 ($449 with the stylus), it ought to be. The keys are shallow but have a decent tactile bump on the downstroke and a snappy upstroke. It feels a lot like typing on a slightly flexible MacBook Air — Microsoft reinforced the base to protect the battery, so the keys feel less bouncy than previous type covers. The haptic trackpad is accurate and smooth but feels a little too short. The keyboard deck is wrapped in soft, heathered-looking alcantara fabric. It’s comfortable and feels warmer under the palms than metal would, but I wish Microsoft had switched to aluminum like it did with the Surface Laptop. The palm rests on my review unit have started yellowing after just a few weeks.

Photo by Nathan Edwards / The Verge
The Flex Keyboard is nice to type on, but the fabric on the palm rest is already starting to yellow.

The Flex Keyboard is expensive, and it’s not necessarily so nice that I’d want to use it instead of my regular keyboard and mouse when I’m at home — though I do end up using it that way since I have it around. Fortunately, the Surface Pro 11 works with a half-dozen current and previous Surface Pro keyboard covers, which start at $140. For that matter, the Flex Keyboard works with Surface Pro models back to the Surface Pro X from 2019. You can get a cheaper keyboard for the Surface Pro 11 or buy just the Flex Keyboard for your older Surface Pro.

The OLED display and the new keyboard are both optional, but the Arm chip isn’t. The Surface Pro 11 runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X platform, which tries to do for Windows machines what Apple Silicon has done for Macs and iPads: combine the performance of a laptop with the battery life of a tablet. It feels like it was made for the Surface Pro.

Most of the time, the Surface Pro 11 is as fast as the other Snapdragon X laptops we’ve tested and faster than the Intel and AMD chips we put it up against. More importantly, it feels fast, which is more than any earlier Arm Surface Pro has managed. Even the 10-core chip on the base model is fine.

But it’s not quite a drop-in replacement for an Intel Surface Pro. Because most Windows apps are still compiled for x86 processors, Arm computers have to spend extra cycles on emulation. The new Snapdragon X chips are way better at emulation than earlier Arm processors, but they still struggle with some apps, especially graphics-heavy ones, and some programs refuse to run at all. You’ll need to make sure your must-have apps work well before committing to any of the new Arm laptops.

I’ve spent the past month using the Surface Pro 11 as my main work computer, and app compatibility doesn’t trip me up much. Almost all my day-to-day apps have Arm64 versions, including Slack, Spotify, and the browser. (I run a lot of tabs.) Most of those that don’t, like Beeper and Obsidian, work fine in emulation. The app I miss the most is the Arc browser (sorry, Edge), though my VPN client didn’t work, either, and I did have to switch back to my desktop to use the Via keyboard remapping software. Most games don’t run well on Arm yet, but GeForce Now game streaming works fine — much better than it did in mid-June.

Most days, I got about eight hours of battery life with the screen at around 50 or 60 percent brightness and all of Microsoft’s power-saving recommendations enabled, including dark mode and setting the Pro to sleep after three minutes of inactivity. One day, I got nearly 11 hours. But with great power comes great power consumption. Apps that really push the processor, like our Cinebench benchmark, chew through battery life — and so do video calls, for some reason.

Outside of video calls and benchmarks, I saw a 9 or 10 percent drop in battery level per hour. In calls, it’s twice that, and on days with lots of meetings, I got closer to six hours on a charge. And I looked bad the whole time.

Screenshot by Nathan Edwards / The Verge
The Surface Pro’s ultrawide webcam makes you look like you’re being filmed from waist level.

The front camera on the Surface Pro is a 1440p ultrawide, and its fish-eye effect and default framing are unflattering and distracting. You loom over everyone else in the call. There’s an automatic framing feature that digitally zooms into your face and keeps you centered, but it oversharpens facial features to compensate for the low resolution and never works the first time. This is not a computer to buy if you’re on a lot of calls.

On the bright side, Windows Hello face authentication reliably unlocks the Surface Pro as soon as I wake it up, which is a quality-of-life improvement I wasn’t expecting.

Microsoft calls the Surface Pro a 2-in-1. But you can’t really fit two into one without compromising somewhere. It’s less lappable than a laptop and less tablet-y than a tablet, and it costs as much as buying both. But there’s no better tablet to do office work on and no laptop quite this flexible, especially now that you don’t have to choose between decent battery life and the ability to run actual apps without stumbling.

Even if you’re sold on the idea of the Surface Pro, the smart move would be to wait six months and see how Arm compatibility shakes out, especially if your work requires any sort of graphics horsepower, you like to game, or you want 5G, which isn’t available yet. You should probably do that.

After a month with the Surface Pro 11, I’m not sure I can go back to a regular laptop. I don’t mind the OLED grain, and I could even live with the webcam situation. I wasn’t gaming much anyway, and I’m sure the Arc browser will come to Arm64 someday. I love being able to pop off the Flex Keyboard and stick the Surface Pro on a stack of books for better ergonomics or just plug it in below my monitor and use my regular keyboard and mouse. I’m not quite ready for it to be my only computer, but it feels like we’re nearly there.

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