Meet the Hyundai Inster, the latest cute, small electric vehicle that is being cruelly denied a North American debut. This subcompact EV has over 200 miles of range, an almost retro-inspired interior aesthetic (think lots of plastic and chunky buttons), and an adorable face that won’t be making an appearance on US roads any time soon.
Oh, and did I mention that it will be very affordable? Automotive News is reporting that the Inster will be priced below $26,000. So not only is Hyundai entering the fray for affordable EVs, but it’s doing it as at an extreme distance from the US — which is very much in need of affordable EVs.

Tesla is being wishy-washy on making a more affordable $25,000 “Model 2.” Ford is still trying to crack the code with its Silicon Valley-based skunkworks team. GM is promising cheaper EVs — like a $35,000 Chevy Equinox EV or an Ultium-based Chevy Bolt — but has yet to fully deliver. The Volvo EX30, another alleged $35,000 smallish EV, is delayed.
The Kia EV3 from Hyundai’s sister company is supposed to be coming in 2025, along with a few other affordable EVs. But the Inster won’t be among them. Like the Honda e before it, it’s a vehicle too tiny for America’s truck-shaped digestive system.

The Inster will launch first in Korea this summer, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. I’m not seeing New Jersey anywhere on that list. Very disappointing.
The tiny crossover is taller than a Hyundai Elantra but shorter than a Mitsubishi Mirage. It can get 300km (182 miles) of range on its 42kWh battery, or 355km (220 miles) with its longer range 49kWh battery. A single electric motor can put out 95 horsepower in the base version and 113hp in the Long Range model. Both variants have 108 pound-feet of torque.

Inside, there are screens, of course. But also physical controls of the like you don’t normally see in a modern car, let alone an EV. There’s a 10.3 instrument cluster and an equally sized center display touchscreen. And there are plenty of creature comforts, like a wireless charging pad and heated steering wheel.
But alas, it will be the denizens of South Korea and those who hang their hats in luckier locales whose fingers will be kept toasty warm while steering the Hyundai Inster — and not my own.

Meet the Hyundai Inster, the latest cute, small electric vehicle that is being cruelly denied a North American debut. This subcompact EV has over 200 miles of range, an almost retro-inspired interior aesthetic (think lots of plastic and chunky buttons), and an adorable face that won’t be making an appearance on US roads any time soon.

Oh, and did I mention that it will be very affordable? Automotive News is reporting that the Inster will be priced below $26,000. So not only is Hyundai entering the fray for affordable EVs, but it’s doing it as at an extreme distance from the US — which is very much in need of affordable EVs.

Tesla is being wishy–washy on making a more affordable $25,000 “Model 2.” Ford is still trying to crack the code with its Silicon Valley-based skunkworks team. GM is promising cheaper EVs — like a $35,000 Chevy Equinox EV or an Ultium-based Chevy Bolt — but has yet to fully deliver. The Volvo EX30, another alleged $35,000 smallish EV, is delayed.

The Kia EV3 from Hyundai’s sister company is supposed to be coming in 2025, along with a few other affordable EVs. But the Inster won’t be among them. Like the Honda e before it, it’s a vehicle too tiny for America’s truck-shaped digestive system.

The Inster will launch first in Korea this summer, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. I’m not seeing New Jersey anywhere on that list. Very disappointing.

The tiny crossover is taller than a Hyundai Elantra but shorter than a Mitsubishi Mirage. It can get 300km (182 miles) of range on its 42kWh battery, or 355km (220 miles) with its longer range 49kWh battery. A single electric motor can put out 95 horsepower in the base version and 113hp in the Long Range model. Both variants have 108 pound-feet of torque.

Inside, there are screens, of course. But also physical controls of the like you don’t normally see in a modern car, let alone an EV. There’s a 10.3 instrument cluster and an equally sized center display touchscreen. And there are plenty of creature comforts, like a wireless charging pad and heated steering wheel.

But alas, it will be the denizens of South Korea and those who hang their hats in luckier locales whose fingers will be kept toasty warm while steering the Hyundai Inster — and not my own.

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

YouTube is working on new plans for its YouTube Premium subscriptions, the company said in a community post on Thursday. “We’re committed to bringing members more plan options by expanding our existing offers to more regions, while also introducing new plans and exploring ways for you to share your benefits with friends in the future,” according to a post from a YouTube team member identified as Hazel.
Currently, there are only a handful of YouTube Premium plans: Individual for $13.99 per month (or 12 months for $139.99); Family for $22.99 per month; and Student for $7.99 per month. By subscribing, you get perks like ad-free videos, the ability to download videos to watch offline, and ad-free access to the YouTube Music library. Thursday’s post didn’t specify what any of the new plans might look like or what benefits you might be able to share, and YouTube didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

YouTube is also adding new features for Premium subscribers, as detailed in the community post and a separate blog post. An AI-powered “jump ahead” feature, which recently launched on Android, will arrive on iOS “in the next few weeks.” On Android, Premium users will be able to watch YouTube Shorts in picture-in-picture mode (a feature that’s already available on TikTok).
Premium subscribers will also have access to a handful of experiments they can opt in to, including having batches of Shorts automatically download to your phone so you can watch offline, a conversational AI assistant (which the company is bringing back following a previous test), and a redesigned watch page on desktop.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

YouTube is working on new plans for its YouTube Premium subscriptions, the company said in a community post on Thursday. “We’re committed to bringing members more plan options by expanding our existing offers to more regions, while also introducing new plans and exploring ways for you to share your benefits with friends in the future,” according to a post from a YouTube team member identified as Hazel.

Currently, there are only a handful of YouTube Premium plans: Individual for $13.99 per month (or 12 months for $139.99); Family for $22.99 per month; and Student for $7.99 per month. By subscribing, you get perks like ad-free videos, the ability to download videos to watch offline, and ad-free access to the YouTube Music library. Thursday’s post didn’t specify what any of the new plans might look like or what benefits you might be able to share, and YouTube didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

YouTube is also adding new features for Premium subscribers, as detailed in the community post and a separate blog post. An AI-powered “jump ahead” feature, which recently launched on Android, will arrive on iOS “in the next few weeks.” On Android, Premium users will be able to watch YouTube Shorts in picture-in-picture mode (a feature that’s already available on TikTok).

Premium subscribers will also have access to a handful of experiments they can opt in to, including having batches of Shorts automatically download to your phone so you can watch offline, a conversational AI assistant (which the company is bringing back following a previous test), and a redesigned watch page on desktop.

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Some of these products are already better than they were during Black Friday, and we’re just getting started. | Image: Shira Inbar

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Some of these products are already better than they were during Black Friday, and we’re just getting started. | Image: Shira Inbar

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Valve’s new Steam Deck Top Played list will be updated daily based on the past week of statistics. | Screenshot: Steam

Today, Valve released a new Steam Charts page highlighting the top played games on the Steam Deck. The list will be updated on a daily basis, revealing what titles are most popular on the handheld.

Good morning! We just shipped a new Steam Charts page featuring the top-played games on Steam Deck. This list is updated daily, and you can explore the top 100 games on Deck by week, month, or year – check it out here:https://t.co/JclnxE5LEp pic.twitter.com/5bGDaWLR3c— Steam Deck (@OnDeck) June 27, 2024

The list functions as a new discovery method for people to know what to play on their Valve handheld. As the company has pointed out, a Steam game that runs great on a desktop PC might not offer the same experience on the Steam Deck.
The data for the daily top 100 played games list is sourced from a rolling time window of the past week of stats, as Valve explained in a follow-up post to its initial announcement on X. However, according to Valve’s Lawrence Yang, the listing isn’t strictly based on the number of players in each game.
“The metric we’re using to determine top-played is a combination of unique users and interest. Hades 2 has only been out for a month, but so many Steam Deck players have it as one of their top played games for the entire year, that it was lifted in the rankings.”
The Verge has reached out to Valve to clarify how interest in a game is being determined. (We’ll update this post when we hear back.)
The new chart includes the current pricing and promotions for the top 100 titles (it’s launching on the same day that Valve’s Summer Sale is getting underway, which includes a discount on the LCD Steam Deck), day-to-day changes in each game’s ranking, and whether the title is verified for the console so it runs without compatibility issues. The list defaults to the past week, but gamers can also see the top 100 Steam Deck games from the past month or the past year.

Valve’s new Steam Deck Top Played list will be updated daily based on the past week of statistics. | Screenshot: Steam

Today, Valve released a new Steam Charts page highlighting the top played games on the Steam Deck. The list will be updated on a daily basis, revealing what titles are most popular on the handheld.

The list functions as a new discovery method for people to know what to play on their Valve handheld. As the company has pointed out, a Steam game that runs great on a desktop PC might not offer the same experience on the Steam Deck.

The data for the daily top 100 played games list is sourced from a rolling time window of the past week of stats, as Valve explained in a follow-up post to its initial announcement on X. However, according to Valve’s Lawrence Yang, the listing isn’t strictly based on the number of players in each game.

“The metric we’re using to determine top-played is a combination of unique users and interest. Hades 2 has only been out for a month, but so many Steam Deck players have it as one of their top played games for the entire year, that it was lifted in the rankings.”

The Verge has reached out to Valve to clarify how interest in a game is being determined. (We’ll update this post when we hear back.)

The new chart includes the current pricing and promotions for the top 100 titles (it’s launching on the same day that Valve’s Summer Sale is getting underway, which includes a discount on the LCD Steam Deck), day-to-day changes in each game’s ranking, and whether the title is verified for the console so it runs without compatibility issues. The list defaults to the past week, but gamers can also see the top 100 Steam Deck games from the past month or the past year.

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Image: @evleaks (X)

With Samsung’s next Unpacked event less than two weeks away, the sneak peeks are starting to ramp up. Longtime leaker Evan Blass today shared what appear to be official, high-resolution marketing images of the soon-to-be-announced Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, and Galaxy Buds 3.
The company’s “Ultra” smartwatch matches up with renders we’ve seen previously, though these shots reveal that the device will use an Apple Watch-like proprietary connection between the hardware and watch bands. Samsung has in the past stuck with spring pins for wider compatibility with third-party straps, but that looks to be changing for this model.

Watches, buds. pic.twitter.com/BP8yN0g9nz— Evan Blass (@evleaks) June 27, 2024

The watch’s display is still round despite the squircle enclosure around it, and the orange accents, well… they’re also pretty reminiscent of Apple’s flagship wearable. At least Samsung’s take will come in more than one color. Three of them, to be exact: the images show silver, a darker natural titanium, and black.

Image: @evleaks (X)
Looks somewhat familiar…

The standard Galaxy Watch 7 more closely follows the company’s usual aesthetic; I really like the look of that olive green version with the small pops of color on both sides of the watch band.
Blass also shared images of the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Both are moving to a stemmed design. They’re more angular than Apple’s AirPods, but the overall vibe is quite similar — especially for the glossy white Galaxy Buds 3.

Image: @evleaks (X)
The Buds have the same blue and orange accents as the Watch 7’s strap.

The “Pro” buds stand out a little more with their dark gray finish and transparent case lid, but they, too, are ditching the subtler, completely in-ear fit and going with a stem look. We’ll have to wait for Samsung to outline the benefits of this design shift. It could help lead to better voice calls (and AI assistant interactions) since the mic will move slightly closer to a person’s mouth.
Samsung is expected to announce fairly iterative new foldables — the Galaxy Fold 6 and Flip 6 — at its Unpacked event in Paris on July 10th. But this summer, there’s perhaps more excitement surrounding the company’s next wave of wearables — especially its first-ever smart ring — that are also likely to debut at the show.

Image: @evleaks (X)

With Samsung’s next Unpacked event less than two weeks away, the sneak peeks are starting to ramp up. Longtime leaker Evan Blass today shared what appear to be official, high-resolution marketing images of the soon-to-be-announced Galaxy Watch Ultra, Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, and Galaxy Buds 3.

The company’s “Ultra” smartwatch matches up with renders we’ve seen previously, though these shots reveal that the device will use an Apple Watch-like proprietary connection between the hardware and watch bands. Samsung has in the past stuck with spring pins for wider compatibility with third-party straps, but that looks to be changing for this model.

The watch’s display is still round despite the squircle enclosure around it, and the orange accents, well… they’re also pretty reminiscent of Apple’s flagship wearable. At least Samsung’s take will come in more than one color. Three of them, to be exact: the images show silver, a darker natural titanium, and black.

Image: @evleaks (X)
Looks somewhat familiar…

The standard Galaxy Watch 7 more closely follows the company’s usual aesthetic; I really like the look of that olive green version with the small pops of color on both sides of the watch band.

Blass also shared images of the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Both are moving to a stemmed design. They’re more angular than Apple’s AirPods, but the overall vibe is quite similar — especially for the glossy white Galaxy Buds 3.

Image: @evleaks (X)
The Buds have the same blue and orange accents as the Watch 7’s strap.

The “Pro” buds stand out a little more with their dark gray finish and transparent case lid, but they, too, are ditching the subtler, completely in-ear fit and going with a stem look. We’ll have to wait for Samsung to outline the benefits of this design shift. It could help lead to better voice calls (and AI assistant interactions) since the mic will move slightly closer to a person’s mouth.

Samsung is expected to announce fairly iterative new foldables — the Galaxy Fold 6 and Flip 6 — at its Unpacked event in Paris on July 10th. But this summer, there’s perhaps more excitement surrounding the company’s next wave of wearables — especially its first-ever smart ring — that are also likely to debut at the show.

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The new Vertex AI capabilities aim to improve the accuracy of Google’s corporate chatbots. | Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images

Vertex AI, the Google Cloud development platform that allows companies to build services using Google’s machine learning and large language models, is getting new capabilities to help prevent apps and services from pushing inaccurate information. After rolling out general availability for Vertex AI’s Grounding with Google Search feature in May — which enables models to retrieve live information from the internet — Google has now announced that customers will also have the option to improve their services’ AI results with specialized third-party datasets.
Google says the service will utilize data from providers like Moody’s, MSCI, Thomson Reuters, and ZoomInfo and that grounding with third-party datasets will be available in “Q3 this year.” This is one of several new features that Google is developing to encourage organizations to adopt its “enterprise-ready” generative AI experiences by reducing how often models spit out misleading or inaccurate information.

Another is “high-fidelity mode,” which enables organizations to source information for generated outputs from their own corporate datasets instead of Gemini’s wider knowledge bank. High-fidelity mode is powered by a specialized version of Gemini 1.5 Flash and is available now in preview via Vertex AI’s Experiments tool.

Image: Google
Organizations can also allow Google’s AI models to pull information from their own company datasets.

Vector Search, which allows users to find images by referencing similar graphics, is also being expanded to support hybrid search. The update is available in public preview and allows those vector-based searches to be paired with text-based keyword searches to improve accuracy. Grounding with Google Search will soon also provide a “dynamic retrieval” feature that automatically selects if information should be sourced from Gemini’s established datasets or Google Search for prompts that may require frequently updated resources.
The ability to have more control over where Google’s AI models source their information might help to improve the lackluster reputation Google’s AI-based search features have gained thus far. After cutting a deal to access Reddit’s data for AI training in February, Google’s AI Overviews feature was mocked for making bizarre recommendations based on old Reddit posts — such as adding Elmer’s glue to pizza.

The new Vertex AI capabilities aim to improve the accuracy of Google’s corporate chatbots. | Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Getty Images

Vertex AI, the Google Cloud development platform that allows companies to build services using Google’s machine learning and large language models, is getting new capabilities to help prevent apps and services from pushing inaccurate information. After rolling out general availability for Vertex AI’s Grounding with Google Search feature in May — which enables models to retrieve live information from the internet — Google has now announced that customers will also have the option to improve their services’ AI results with specialized third-party datasets.

Google says the service will utilize data from providers like Moody’s, MSCI, Thomson Reuters, and ZoomInfo and that grounding with third-party datasets will be available in “Q3 this year.” This is one of several new features that Google is developing to encourage organizations to adopt its “enterprise-ready” generative AI experiences by reducing how often models spit out misleading or inaccurate information.

Another is “high-fidelity mode,” which enables organizations to source information for generated outputs from their own corporate datasets instead of Gemini’s wider knowledge bank. High-fidelity mode is powered by a specialized version of Gemini 1.5 Flash and is available now in preview via Vertex AI’s Experiments tool.

Image: Google
Organizations can also allow Google’s AI models to pull information from their own company datasets.

Vector Search, which allows users to find images by referencing similar graphics, is also being expanded to support hybrid search. The update is available in public preview and allows those vector-based searches to be paired with text-based keyword searches to improve accuracy. Grounding with Google Search will soon also provide a “dynamic retrieval” feature that automatically selects if information should be sourced from Gemini’s established datasets or Google Search for prompts that may require frequently updated resources.

The ability to have more control over where Google’s AI models source their information might help to improve the lackluster reputation Google’s AI-based search features have gained thus far. After cutting a deal to access Reddit’s data for AI training in February, Google’s AI Overviews feature was mocked for making bizarre recommendations based on old Reddit posts — such as adding Elmer’s glue to pizza.

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Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Instagram’s new “AI Studio” will let creators make AI chatbot versions of themselves, and Meta is starting to roll it out as an “early test” in the US, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on his broadcast channel on Thursday.
As part of the test, “you might start seeing AIs from your favorite creators and interest-based AIs in the coming weeks on Instagram,” according to Zuckerberg. “These will primarily show up in messaging for now, and will be clearly labeled as AI.”
Zuckerberg shared a few videos of conversations with creator-made AI chatbots as examples. From a creator’s Instagram, you can tap a “Message” button to kick off a conversation. A notice at the top says that the messages are generated by AI and “some may be inaccurate or inappropriate.” (Let’s hope Meta’s systems can prevent these creator-made AIs from saying something terrible.) Meta also includes “AI” in front of the creator’s name and, at least for now, a “beta” tag after the person’s name.

“We’ve been working closely with creators to build these so they’re helpful in answering the questions they get from their followers and can chat with people in a way that’s useful and fun,” Zuckerberg says. “It’s early days and the first beta version of these AIs so we’ll keep working on improving them, and make them available to more people soon.”
In a new interview, Zuckerberg talked more about the company’s AI strategy. He says, “We think people want to interact with lots of different people and businesses and there need to be a lot of different AIs that get created to reflect people’s different interests.” Meta wants to let creators and eventually small businesses “create an AI for themselves” to interact with their communities and customers. “We think that’s going to create a much more compelling experience and just be more dynamic and useful than just having a single thing that people use.” He also says Meta will let people make AI characters that aren’t necessarily representations of themselves.

Broadly, this is a vision the company has had for a while — Zuckerberg made similar remarks in an interview with my colleague Alex Heath last year when the company announced its Meta AI assistant and celebrity-themed chatbots. Now that the company is actually testing AI Studio, we’ll see if people really do want to chat with AI versions of their favorite creators.

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

Instagram’s new “AI Studio” will let creators make AI chatbot versions of themselves, and Meta is starting to roll it out as an “early test” in the US, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on his broadcast channel on Thursday.

As part of the test, “you might start seeing AIs from your favorite creators and interest-based AIs in the coming weeks on Instagram,” according to Zuckerberg. “These will primarily show up in messaging for now, and will be clearly labeled as AI.”

Zuckerberg shared a few videos of conversations with creator-made AI chatbots as examples. From a creator’s Instagram, you can tap a “Message” button to kick off a conversation. A notice at the top says that the messages are generated by AI and “some may be inaccurate or inappropriate.” (Let’s hope Meta’s systems can prevent these creator-made AIs from saying something terrible.) Meta also includes “AI” in front of the creator’s name and, at least for now, a “beta” tag after the person’s name.

“We’ve been working closely with creators to build these so they’re helpful in answering the questions they get from their followers and can chat with people in a way that’s useful and fun,” Zuckerberg says. “It’s early days and the first beta version of these AIs so we’ll keep working on improving them, and make them available to more people soon.”

In a new interview, Zuckerberg talked more about the company’s AI strategy. He says, “We think people want to interact with lots of different people and businesses and there need to be a lot of different AIs that get created to reflect people’s different interests.” Meta wants to let creators and eventually small businesses “create an AI for themselves” to interact with their communities and customers. “We think that’s going to create a much more compelling experience and just be more dynamic and useful than just having a single thing that people use.” He also says Meta will let people make AI characters that aren’t necessarily representations of themselves.

Broadly, this is a vision the company has had for a while — Zuckerberg made similar remarks in an interview with my colleague Alex Heath last year when the company announced its Meta AI assistant and celebrity-themed chatbots. Now that the company is actually testing AI Studio, we’ll see if people really do want to chat with AI versions of their favorite creators.

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Originally announced in late 2022, TP-Link’s Wi-Fi 7 Archer GE800 gaming router is now available. | Image: TP-Link

The TP-Link Archer GE800 Wi-Fi 7 tri-band gaming router was first announced in late 2022 before making appearances at CES 2023 and CES 2024, alongside a bunch of Wi-Fi 7 laptops. It’s finally available starting today for $599.99, although those excited to upgrade immediately can save $100 as part of a “limited-time launch promotion.”
Designed to take full advantage of the broader 6GHz wireless spectrum that Wi-Fi 6E first had access to, Wi-Fi 7 further increases speeds by doubling the maximum channel bandwidth from 160MHz to 320MHz, allowing more data to be transmitted.
The Wi-Fi 7 spec also allows connections to span multiple bands with a feature called Multi-Link Operation (MLO). For example, a file can be downloaded on the 6Ghz band at 1Gbps and on the 5GHz band at 500Mbps, resulting in combined download speeds of 1.5Gbps. TP-Link boasts the new tri-band Archer GE800 can achieve wireless speeds up to 19Gbps by spreading data across the 6, 5, and 2.4GHz bands simultaneously.
Just keep in mind that you’ll need a Wi-Fi 7-compatible device like the Google Pixel 8, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, or recently announced laptops like the Razer Blade 16 or Lenovo Legion 7i to take full advantage of those speeds. None of the current crop of gaming consoles support Wi-Fi 7.
The Archer GE800 also features a pair of 10Gbps ethernet ports and four 2.5Gbps ports, with one serving as a dedicated gaming port that prioritizes network traffic from a connected console, although the Xbox Series X / S and PS5 only include gigabit ports. And because every piece of gaming hardware needs to put on an elaborate light show, the GE800 features multicolor lighting that can be controlled from a desktop app panel that also provides insights on router performance and the status of the network.

Originally announced in late 2022, TP-Link’s Wi-Fi 7 Archer GE800 gaming router is now available. | Image: TP-Link

The TP-Link Archer GE800 Wi-Fi 7 tri-band gaming router was first announced in late 2022 before making appearances at CES 2023 and CES 2024, alongside a bunch of Wi-Fi 7 laptops. It’s finally available starting today for $599.99, although those excited to upgrade immediately can save $100 as part of a “limited-time launch promotion.”

Designed to take full advantage of the broader 6GHz wireless spectrum that Wi-Fi 6E first had access to, Wi-Fi 7 further increases speeds by doubling the maximum channel bandwidth from 160MHz to 320MHz, allowing more data to be transmitted.

The Wi-Fi 7 spec also allows connections to span multiple bands with a feature called Multi-Link Operation (MLO). For example, a file can be downloaded on the 6Ghz band at 1Gbps and on the 5GHz band at 500Mbps, resulting in combined download speeds of 1.5Gbps. TP-Link boasts the new tri-band Archer GE800 can achieve wireless speeds up to 19Gbps by spreading data across the 6, 5, and 2.4GHz bands simultaneously.

Just keep in mind that you’ll need a Wi-Fi 7-compatible device like the Google Pixel 8, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, or recently announced laptops like the Razer Blade 16 or Lenovo Legion 7i to take full advantage of those speeds. None of the current crop of gaming consoles support Wi-Fi 7.

The Archer GE800 also features a pair of 10Gbps ethernet ports and four 2.5Gbps ports, with one serving as a dedicated gaming port that prioritizes network traffic from a connected console, although the Xbox Series X / S and PS5 only include gigabit ports. And because every piece of gaming hardware needs to put on an elaborate light show, the GE800 features multicolor lighting that can be controlled from a desktop app panel that also provides insights on router performance and the status of the network.

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Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft’s first round of Copilot Plus PCs launched last week with the promise of better battery life, performance that matches a MacBook Air, and chips ready for AI. I’ve spent the past week testing both of Microsoft’s new Surface devices, and I think they largely live up to Microsoft’s promises.
There are some expected app emulation drawbacks here and there. But for the most part, if you don’t have complex app needs, these new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips deliver the Windows on Arm experience that Microsoft has been promising for more than a decade. They also put a lot of pressure on Intel to respond.
I’ve been most impressed with the battery life on the $999.99 base model of the Surface Laptop during my testing. There have been times I’ve used it for the entire workday and never worried about having to charge. I’ve closed the lid and, days later, woken the Surface Laptop to find it hadn’t drained the battery life down to zero. I’ve never been confident enough to do that with an Intel-powered laptop.
Intel still has the upper hand when it comes to app compatibility after decades of developers optimizing their apps for Intel’s hardware. But now its competition has caught up on performance and managed to achieve the type of battery life that Intel has promised and failed to deliver for years.
That alone has to make Intel nervous, but there has also been a growing frustration inside Microsoft about Intel’s lack of progress over the past decade. I think most of it started with the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book in 2015. Microsoft was trying something new with the detachable display on the Surface Book, and it relied on Intel’s Skylake chips to deliver its new hardware.
I heard from sources at the time that Intel’s Skylake firmware and drivers caused plenty of issues for the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, leaving Microsoft’s customers frustrated by devices they’d spent thousands of dollars on. It took months for Microsoft and Intel to deliver fixes to prevent those Surface devices from draining battery during standby. Microsoft wasn’t alone in struggling with the power management of Intel’s Skylake chips, with Dell suffering similar problems. Those headaches helped further conversations inside Microsoft to diversify the silicon inside Surface. The result was evident a few years later, in 2019, when Microsoft launched the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 and the Surface Pro X, and neither came with an Intel processor. It was the first time Microsoft had picked AMD or Qualcomm for its Surface devices. “We literally spent tens of thousands of hours of co-development and co-engineering hand-in-hand with Microsoft,” said AMD’s Jack Huynh in an interview with me in 2019.
Microsoft was keen to make AMD and Qualcomm the stars of its Surface show that year, so only the smaller 13-inch Surface Laptop 3 shipped with Intel options. Qualcomm also helped co-engineer the SQ1 chip for Microsoft’s Surface Pro X, which led to a pivotal decision to fully exclude Intel from this new device and push Windows on Arm instead.
While the Surface Pro X didn’t deliver a great Windows on Arm experience, it showed a future that was possible for Microsoft’s Surface devices if developers got on board. Qualcomm and Microsoft continued to work on iterations of the SQ line for years, but it wasn’t until Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia in 2021 that things really started to change for Windows on Arm.
Nuvia was originally founded in 2019 by three former Apple engineers and chip specialists who worked on the A-series chips that powered the iPhone and iPad. Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X Elite chips are based directly on the Oryon CPU tech from its acquisition of Nuvia.
Microsoft and Qualcomm, confident they could kick-start a true Windows on Arm effort eventually, then spent the past two years working toward Copilot Plus PCs. That involved a lot of work convincing software developers to port their apps to ARM64 and getting Microsoft’s PC partners on board to offer a selection of laptops that weren’t just an afterthought or to satisfy a contract.
The results of this multiyear effort are clear to see, with Windows on Arm finally feeling like it’s moving in the right direction and getting the support from developers it so badly needed when Microsoft first launched the Surface Pro X nearly five years ago. I was surprised to see Slack and Google release ARM64 apps just weeks before Microsoft’s launch, and even Adobe has committed to bringing apps like Premiere Pro to Windows on Arm.
Now, we have to see how AMD and Intel respond. Copilot Plus PCs are limited to Qualcomm chips right now, but both AMD and Intel are planning to launch their own versions soon. AMD’s Strix Point chips are coming in July, just a month after Qualcomm’s, but Intel’s Lunar Lake chips won’t arrive until “later this year.” Both AMD and Intel are promising better performance and battery life, but they’re no longer competing against each other here since Qualcomm is now a serious contender on both metrics.
Microsoft also appears to be giving Qualcomm a helping hand. For reasons that Microsoft, AMD, and Intel won’t explain, only Qualcomm will have the AI-powered Copilot Plus features until a mystery update appears at some point in the future.
How Intel responds with its new laptop chips will be particularly important. It feels like we’re now in a transition to Windows on Arm, but it’s not like the transition Apple pulled off with its own silicon. Microsoft has decades of legacy and compatibility it can’t just drop, as it’s a big part of the reason many businesses still rely on Windows every day. Apple was able to drop 32-bit apps and force its developer community to transition to Arm by ditching Intel chips. Even with some of Microsoft’s frustrations over Intel’s progress, I can’t see the same thing happening for Windows.
Instead, Intel will now have to compete knowing Windows OEMs are willing to put Qualcomm chips inside some of their best laptops. AMD is also rumored to be launching its own Arm-based CPUs for Windows laptops as soon as 2025, so that could shake things up further. There’s a lot going on, and we’re only just at the beginning of a Windows AI era that Microsoft is promising could revolutionize how we use PCs.
How Microsoft handles balancing its transition to Windows on Arm and keeping all of its chip partners and OEMs happy will be interesting to witness. I know that the lead-up to this Copilot Plus PC launch hasn’t been easy, particularly with Microsoft attempting to control how OEMs launch their hardware. The Recall mess provided some added tension here, too.
A diversification of silicon is only a good thing for competition and the Windows laptop market. While Windows on Arm laptops are still limited to the premium part of the laptop market, if they’re successful, it won’t be long before they start taking on the budget-focused territory. That’s when Intel’s response will be truly tested. 

The pad

Microsoft has been charged with antitrust violations in the EU. Microsoft has escaped antitrust violations in the EU for 15 years, but that changed this week thanks to its Microsoft Teams bundling. EU regulators have now charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its Teams chat app with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Slack filed a complaint with the EU against Microsoft in 2020, just as Teams was skyrocketing in usage during the covid-19 pandemic. If Microsoft is found guilty of the charges, it could face a fine of up to 10 percent of the company’s annual worldwide turnover.

Xbox cloud console appears in a patent listing. Remember the small little Xbox streaming device that appeared on Phil Spencer’s shelf? Well, Keystone surfaced in a new patent this week. The canceled Xbox streaming console would have shipped with an HDMI port, ethernet, and a power connector. It was designed to access Xbox Cloud Gaming, but Microsoft put it on hold because it couldn’t get to the right price point.

AI work assistants need a lot of hand-holding. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how AI work assistants like Copilot require a heavy lift to get the full value out of them. While Microsoft sells a vision of a helpful AI assistant, one CIO says businesses need to clean up and manage their data to really make the most of Copilot.

Xbox founding member Marc Whitten is now Cruise CEO. Marc Whitten left Microsoft for Sonos after the disastrous Xbox One launch and more recently served as president at Unity. He also ran Amazon’s Fire TV and Kindle divisions for a few years, and now he’s taking charge of Cruise, the GM-backed robotaxi company. He certainly has his work cut out for him after a disastrous response to a driverless car crash incident.

Xbox TV app is coming to Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks. You won’t need a Samsung TV to get access to the Xbox TV app soon. Microsoft is bringing its Xbox TV app to some Fire TV Stick devices, opening up any TV to get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming to play Xbox games without a console.

Microsoft makes Copilot less useful on Copilot Plus PCs. The new dedicated Copilot key that’s appearing on new Copilot Plus PCs just launches a Progressive Web App (PWA) version of Copilot. The web app doesn’t even integrate into Windows anymore like the previous Copilot experience did since last year, so you can’t use Copilot to control Windows 11 settings or have it docked as a sidebar. It’s a strange decision for devices that are supposed to be so AI-focused.

The new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard works on a Surface Pro X from five years ago. Microsoft’s commitment to compatibility is unwavering when it comes to the Surface Pro. I managed to get the new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard working on a Surface Pro X (2019) just by plugging it in. It even automatically pairs by Bluetooth so you can use it wirelessly. Microsoft has also issued driver updates and firmware updates to make this new keyboard compatible with other Surface Pro devices.

A Microsoft engineer accidentally leaked 4GB of internal code. Microsoft’s big security effort hit a brick wall earlier this month after it was discovered that an engineer accidentally posted internal code for Microsoft’s PlayReady media file copy prevention technology to a Microsoft developer community. Researchers from AG Security Research were able to successfully build the Windows PlayReady library thanks to the leaked code and instructions on the build process. Oops.

Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted from Microsoft stores and Steam in December. Playground Games is ending sales of Forza Horizon 4 due to licensing and partner agreements. The game will also be removed from Microsoft stores and Steam on December 15th, 2024. This is a good example of why game preservationists aren’t keen on a digital-only future where games can just disappear from stores.

What’s gaming like on Windows on Arm? I need to do more testing, but my first impressions in the Surface Laptop review weren’t great. Others, like Retro Tech Dad, had some luck with a bunch of older games but also found issues with titles like Doom Eternal. Gaming feels like a mixed bag on Windows on Arm right now, despite Microsoft’s promises of a “step forward for gaming on Arm devices.” I’ll dig into this further in a future Notepad issue.

I’m taking a break next week during the July 4th holiday week, so Notepad will return on July 11th. In the meantime, if you picked up one of the new Copilot Plus PCs, please let me know what you think about it. You can reach me via email at notepad@theverge.com.
If you’ve heard about any secret project Microsoft is working on, you can also reach me confidentially on the Signal messaging app where I’m tomwarren.01. I’m also tomwarren on Telegram if you’d prefer to chat there.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Microsoft’s first round of Copilot Plus PCs launched last week with the promise of better battery life, performance that matches a MacBook Air, and chips ready for AI. I’ve spent the past week testing both of Microsoft’s new Surface devices, and I think they largely live up to Microsoft’s promises.

There are some expected app emulation drawbacks here and there. But for the most part, if you don’t have complex app needs, these new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Plus chips deliver the Windows on Arm experience that Microsoft has been promising for more than a decade. They also put a lot of pressure on Intel to respond.

I’ve been most impressed with the battery life on the $999.99 base model of the Surface Laptop during my testing. There have been times I’ve used it for the entire workday and never worried about having to charge. I’ve closed the lid and, days later, woken the Surface Laptop to find it hadn’t drained the battery life down to zero. I’ve never been confident enough to do that with an Intel-powered laptop.

Intel still has the upper hand when it comes to app compatibility after decades of developers optimizing their apps for Intel’s hardware. But now its competition has caught up on performance and managed to achieve the type of battery life that Intel has promised and failed to deliver for years.

That alone has to make Intel nervous, but there has also been a growing frustration inside Microsoft about Intel’s lack of progress over the past decade. I think most of it started with the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book in 2015. Microsoft was trying something new with the detachable display on the Surface Book, and it relied on Intel’s Skylake chips to deliver its new hardware.

I heard from sources at the time that Intel’s Skylake firmware and drivers caused plenty of issues for the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, leaving Microsoft’s customers frustrated by devices they’d spent thousands of dollars on. It took months for Microsoft and Intel to deliver fixes to prevent those Surface devices from draining battery during standby. Microsoft wasn’t alone in struggling with the power management of Intel’s Skylake chips, with Dell suffering similar problems. Those headaches helped further conversations inside Microsoft to diversify the silicon inside Surface. The result was evident a few years later, in 2019, when Microsoft launched the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 and the Surface Pro X, and neither came with an Intel processor. It was the first time Microsoft had picked AMD or Qualcomm for its Surface devices. “We literally spent tens of thousands of hours of co-development and co-engineering hand-in-hand with Microsoft,” said AMD’s Jack Huynh in an interview with me in 2019.

Microsoft was keen to make AMD and Qualcomm the stars of its Surface show that year, so only the smaller 13-inch Surface Laptop 3 shipped with Intel options. Qualcomm also helped co-engineer the SQ1 chip for Microsoft’s Surface Pro X, which led to a pivotal decision to fully exclude Intel from this new device and push Windows on Arm instead.

While the Surface Pro X didn’t deliver a great Windows on Arm experience, it showed a future that was possible for Microsoft’s Surface devices if developers got on board. Qualcomm and Microsoft continued to work on iterations of the SQ line for years, but it wasn’t until Qualcomm’s acquisition of Nuvia in 2021 that things really started to change for Windows on Arm.

Nuvia was originally founded in 2019 by three former Apple engineers and chip specialists who worked on the A-series chips that powered the iPhone and iPad. Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X Elite chips are based directly on the Oryon CPU tech from its acquisition of Nuvia.

Microsoft and Qualcomm, confident they could kick-start a true Windows on Arm effort eventually, then spent the past two years working toward Copilot Plus PCs. That involved a lot of work convincing software developers to port their apps to ARM64 and getting Microsoft’s PC partners on board to offer a selection of laptops that weren’t just an afterthought or to satisfy a contract.

The results of this multiyear effort are clear to see, with Windows on Arm finally feeling like it’s moving in the right direction and getting the support from developers it so badly needed when Microsoft first launched the Surface Pro X nearly five years ago. I was surprised to see Slack and Google release ARM64 apps just weeks before Microsoft’s launch, and even Adobe has committed to bringing apps like Premiere Pro to Windows on Arm.

Now, we have to see how AMD and Intel respond. Copilot Plus PCs are limited to Qualcomm chips right now, but both AMD and Intel are planning to launch their own versions soon. AMD’s Strix Point chips are coming in July, just a month after Qualcomm’s, but Intel’s Lunar Lake chips won’t arrive until “later this year.” Both AMD and Intel are promising better performance and battery life, but they’re no longer competing against each other here since Qualcomm is now a serious contender on both metrics.

Microsoft also appears to be giving Qualcomm a helping hand. For reasons that Microsoft, AMD, and Intel won’t explain, only Qualcomm will have the AI-powered Copilot Plus features until a mystery update appears at some point in the future.

How Intel responds with its new laptop chips will be particularly important. It feels like we’re now in a transition to Windows on Arm, but it’s not like the transition Apple pulled off with its own silicon. Microsoft has decades of legacy and compatibility it can’t just drop, as it’s a big part of the reason many businesses still rely on Windows every day. Apple was able to drop 32-bit apps and force its developer community to transition to Arm by ditching Intel chips. Even with some of Microsoft’s frustrations over Intel’s progress, I can’t see the same thing happening for Windows.

Instead, Intel will now have to compete knowing Windows OEMs are willing to put Qualcomm chips inside some of their best laptops. AMD is also rumored to be launching its own Arm-based CPUs for Windows laptops as soon as 2025, so that could shake things up further. There’s a lot going on, and we’re only just at the beginning of a Windows AI era that Microsoft is promising could revolutionize how we use PCs.

How Microsoft handles balancing its transition to Windows on Arm and keeping all of its chip partners and OEMs happy will be interesting to witness. I know that the lead-up to this Copilot Plus PC launch hasn’t been easy, particularly with Microsoft attempting to control how OEMs launch their hardware. The Recall mess provided some added tension here, too.

A diversification of silicon is only a good thing for competition and the Windows laptop market. While Windows on Arm laptops are still limited to the premium part of the laptop market, if they’re successful, it won’t be long before they start taking on the budget-focused territory. That’s when Intel’s response will be truly tested. 

The pad

Microsoft has been charged with antitrust violations in the EU. Microsoft has escaped antitrust violations in the EU for 15 years, but that changed this week thanks to its Microsoft Teams bundling. EU regulators have now charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its Teams chat app with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Slack filed a complaint with the EU against Microsoft in 2020, just as Teams was skyrocketing in usage during the covid-19 pandemic. If Microsoft is found guilty of the charges, it could face a fine of up to 10 percent of the company’s annual worldwide turnover.

Xbox cloud console appears in a patent listing. Remember the small little Xbox streaming device that appeared on Phil Spencer’s shelf? Well, Keystone surfaced in a new patent this week. The canceled Xbox streaming console would have shipped with an HDMI port, ethernet, and a power connector. It was designed to access Xbox Cloud Gaming, but Microsoft put it on hold because it couldn’t get to the right price point.

AI work assistants need a lot of hand-holding. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on how AI work assistants like Copilot require a heavy lift to get the full value out of them. While Microsoft sells a vision of a helpful AI assistant, one CIO says businesses need to clean up and manage their data to really make the most of Copilot.

Xbox founding member Marc Whitten is now Cruise CEO. Marc Whitten left Microsoft for Sonos after the disastrous Xbox One launch and more recently served as president at Unity. He also ran Amazon’s Fire TV and Kindle divisions for a few years, and now he’s taking charge of Cruise, the GM-backed robotaxi company. He certainly has his work cut out for him after a disastrous response to a driverless car crash incident.

Xbox TV app is coming to Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks. You won’t need a Samsung TV to get access to the Xbox TV app soon. Microsoft is bringing its Xbox TV app to some Fire TV Stick devices, opening up any TV to get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming to play Xbox games without a console.

Microsoft makes Copilot less useful on Copilot Plus PCs. The new dedicated Copilot key that’s appearing on new Copilot Plus PCs just launches a Progressive Web App (PWA) version of Copilot. The web app doesn’t even integrate into Windows anymore like the previous Copilot experience did since last year, so you can’t use Copilot to control Windows 11 settings or have it docked as a sidebar. It’s a strange decision for devices that are supposed to be so AI-focused.

The new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard works on a Surface Pro X from five years ago. Microsoft’s commitment to compatibility is unwavering when it comes to the Surface Pro. I managed to get the new Surface Pro Flex Keyboard working on a Surface Pro X (2019) just by plugging it in. It even automatically pairs by Bluetooth so you can use it wirelessly. Microsoft has also issued driver updates and firmware updates to make this new keyboard compatible with other Surface Pro devices.

A Microsoft engineer accidentally leaked 4GB of internal code. Microsoft’s big security effort hit a brick wall earlier this month after it was discovered that an engineer accidentally posted internal code for Microsoft’s PlayReady media file copy prevention technology to a Microsoft developer community. Researchers from AG Security Research were able to successfully build the Windows PlayReady library thanks to the leaked code and instructions on the build process. Oops.

Forza Horizon 4 will be delisted from Microsoft stores and Steam in December. Playground Games is ending sales of Forza Horizon 4 due to licensing and partner agreements. The game will also be removed from Microsoft stores and Steam on December 15th, 2024. This is a good example of why game preservationists aren’t keen on a digital-only future where games can just disappear from stores.

What’s gaming like on Windows on Arm? I need to do more testing, but my first impressions in the Surface Laptop review weren’t great. Others, like Retro Tech Dad, had some luck with a bunch of older games but also found issues with titles like Doom Eternal. Gaming feels like a mixed bag on Windows on Arm right now, despite Microsoft’s promises of a “step forward for gaming on Arm devices.” I’ll dig into this further in a future Notepad issue.

I’m taking a break next week during the July 4th holiday week, so Notepad will return on July 11th. In the meantime, if you picked up one of the new Copilot Plus PCs, please let me know what you think about it. You can reach me via email at notepad@theverge.com.

If you’ve heard about any secret project Microsoft is working on, you can also reach me confidentially on the Signal messaging app where I’m tomwarren.01. I’m also tomwarren on Telegram if you’d prefer to chat there.

Read More 

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images

Over the last day or so, customers of the big three US mobile carriers — Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — who are using data roaming internationally have complained about an inability to connect and make calls. Complaints about connection problems have spread across social media for hours, with little response from the carriers.
In an email sent to The Verge, AT&T spokesperson Keoni Holoman explained that the issue is apparently linked to an unnamed third party:
The AT&T network is operating normally. Some customers traveling internationally may be experiencing service disruptions due to an issue outside the AT&T network. We’re working with one of our roaming connectivity providers to resolve the issue.
That won’t help anyone get connected, but the companies are aware of the issue. A tweet from Verizon’s support account on X says, “Our teams are actively working with local providers to resolve the issue” of calls not connecting for people traveling abroad. T-Mobile declined to provide an on-the-record response to our question that met our standard for publishing.

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photo from Getty Images

Over the last day or so, customers of the big three US mobile carriers — Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — who are using data roaming internationally have complained about an inability to connect and make calls. Complaints about connection problems have spread across social media for hours, with little response from the carriers.

In an email sent to The Verge, AT&T spokesperson Keoni Holoman explained that the issue is apparently linked to an unnamed third party:

The AT&T network is operating normally. Some customers traveling internationally may be experiencing service disruptions due to an issue outside the AT&T network. We’re working with one of our roaming connectivity providers to resolve the issue.

That won’t help anyone get connected, but the companies are aware of the issue. A tweet from Verizon’s support account on X says, “Our teams are actively working with local providers to resolve the issue” of calls not connecting for people traveling abroad. T-Mobile declined to provide an on-the-record response to our question that met our standard for publishing.

Read More