A leaker claims to have the specs for the iPhone 12 Pro Max and how they compare to the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Claimed specs for the iPhone 12 Pro Max have been leaked on Twitter by tipster @LeaksApplePro, revealing the major upgrades the phone will have over the iPhone 11 Pro Max. But there’s a catch.

LeaksApplePro has a mixed track record of accurate leaks, though they claim this new information comes from "a reliable source that got a lot of things right" and that the specs are from screen shots of marketing material. Either way, the leaker spilled a lot of iPhone 12 Pro Max information.

• Here are the best iPhones right now
• iPhone 12 vs. iPhone 11: The biggest changes to expect
• Plus: OnePlus Clover is coming to the US — for a shockingly cheap price

Not much of this will be surprising to followers of the Apple iPhone 12 rumors that have been percolating over the past eight months. The presence of the new A14 Bionic chip with a fourth-generation Neural Engine, is expected, as the iPhone 12 Pro Max was always going to get an upgrade over the A13 Bionic in its predecessor. And the presence of IP68 splash, water and dust resistance is incredibly shrug-worthy.

Ok guys, here it comes.
Sorry Timothy.
Check this thread.
Coming a lot of screenshots.

— Leaks (@LeaksApplePro) August 27, 2020

Another batch of leaked specs has the iPhone 12 Pro Max tipped to feature a 6.7-inch True Tone OLED display with HDR and a resolution of 2788 x 284. Rather oddly there was no mention of a 120Hz refresh rate, which is currently expected for the iPhone 12 Pro models, despite some confusion around the matter.

Forgot about the most important one, sorry guys.
My bad 🤣 pic.twitter.com/wqOBp8H1Uq

— Leaks (@LeaksApplePro) August 27, 2020

Things get a little more interesting when it comes to camera specs. LeaksApplePro's information has the iPhone 12 Pro Max tipped to use a triple rear-camera array made up of 16MP cameras in wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto configurations. And those cameras will be supported by a LiDAR sensor, something that's thought to be a feature of only the Pro Max model.

As leaked by Front Page Tech’s Jon Prosser in a massive iPhone 12 leak this week, the LiDAR sensor is expected to help with autofocus and subject detection in video recording and when using the phone’s cameras in Night mode. Plus, the LiDAR sensor should deliver better performance in iPhone AR apps.

The cameras will have the same aperture range of those in the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but they will come with an "Advanced Night mode" and enable 4K video recording at up to 120 frames per second. Slo-mo video recording will measure in at 120fps or 240fps at 4K; the iPhone 11 Pro Max could only do so at 1080p.

pic.twitter.com/H5Cviu4VXw

— Leaks (@LeaksApplePro) August 27, 2020

A lot of this information tracks with Prosser’s leak, who has a strong track record of accuracy. But one tweet in the thread of iPhone 12 Pro Max information details more of the phone's camera capabilities.

Sadly, these seem to track with those of the iPhone 11 Pro Max, with both phones featuring "next-generation Smart HDR" and a suite of effects for the "Portrait Lighting" mode. This causes us to raise an eyebrow to the validity of the leak.

Prosser seems to have similar thoughts and responded to @LeaksApplePro with a curt "yeah. No." Prosser didn't go on to explain his sharp response. But it did spark a lot of people questioning the accuracy of the leaks.

Ok guys, here it comes.
Sorry Timothy.
Check this thread.
Coming a lot of screenshots.

— Leaks (@LeaksApplePro) August 27, 2020

With the iPhone 12 range set to be revealed in September or early October, we don’t have that long to find out which leaks are accurate. When we’ll be able to get our hands on the new iPhones is a trickier question, as it looks like their release could be staggered.

Say hello to ZOTAC’s new, unannounced GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity graphics card.

VideoCardz has the scoop on the latest leak of ZOTAC’s new GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity, which is a gigantic, chunky triple-fan, triple-slot beast. It looks pretty damn long, features dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors — remember, the nifty new 12-pin PCIe power connector is exclusive to NVIDIA’s own Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series Founders Edition cards.

In some shots the GeForce RTX 3090 doesn’t have NVLink fingers — you can read more on that here, but in these product shots the beasty new GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity does indeed have NVLink.

Cooling that super-fast next-gen Ampere GA102 GPU + GDDR6X can’t be easy, so ZOTAC is using a “more refined” IceStorm 2.0 cooler on its new GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity graphics card.

ZOTAC is using a “iridescent holographic finish” on its new Trinity card, something I can’t wait to see in person.

For comparison sake, these are older renders on the Founders Edition cards:

NVIDIA’s new Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3080 is said to be around 15-25% better than the RTX 2080 Ti, which will be a big deal if the GeForce RTX 3080 is priced at $799. The slightly lower-end GeForce RTX 3070 will reportedly offer RTX 2080 Ti level performance for $599 — which is going to really shake things up.

We should see NVIDIA’s new GeForce RTX 3090 feature a huge 24GB of next-gen GDDR6X memory at 21Gbps, while the GeForce RTX 3080 will have 10GB of GDDR6X at 19Gbps.

Here’s an easier break down for you:

• GeForce RTX 3090: $1399
• GeForce RTX 3080: $799
• GeForce RTX 3070: $599
• GeForce RTX 3060: $399

The very latest: RTX 3090 PCB + GDDR6X @ 21Gbps

• The PCB of the RTX 3090: A juicy leak of the purported PCB of a custom variant of the GeForce RTX 3090 leaked out a few days ago. It is reportedly the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Vulcan-X. You can see this model has 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors, unlike the RTX 3090 Founders Edition that should pack just a single 12-pin PCIe power connector.
• Micron reveals RTX 3090 name, 24GB GDDR6X memory @ 21Gbps: I’m sure this is part of the marketing or else all of us tech media websites would be receiving calls from lawyers, but Micron revealed its next-gen GDDR6X memory that the GeForce RTX 3090 (it admits the card by name) will be clocked at a bonkers-high 21Gbps.

Wait, a 12-pin PCIe power connector?

• 12-pin PCIe power connector on Founders Edition ONLY: NVIDIA will be using a special new 12-pin PCIe power connector on its GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition graphics cards, something that I’ve confirmed with a few industry sources of mine now (to confirm the rumors floating around online).
• Many, many 8-pin PCIe power connectors on custom AIB: But, custom GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics cards from AIBs like ASUS, COLORFUL, EVGA, MSI, etc will not be using the 12-pin PCIe power connector and rather multiple (2 and even up to 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors).

• Traversal coprocessor: We have had more leaks on NVIDIA’s next-gen GeForce RTX 3000 series than any family of graphics cards before it, with an interesting “traversal coprocessor” on the new GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. You can read more on that here.
• NVCache: Ampere is meant to have something called NVCache, which would be NVIDIA’s own form of AMD’s HBCC (High Bandwidth Cache Controller, more on that here). NVCache would use your system RAM and SSD to super-speed game load times, as well as optimizing VRAM usage. You can read more on NVCache here.
• Tensor Memory Compression: NVCache is interesting, but Tensor Memory Compression will be on Ampere, and will reportedly use Tensor Cores to both compress and decompress items that are stored in VRAM. This could see a 20-40% reduction in VRAM usage, or more VRAM usage with higher textures in next-gen games and Tensor Memory Compression decreasing that VRAM footprint by 20-40%.



• How fast is the GeForce RTX 3090? Freaking fast according to rumors, with 60-90% more performance than the current Turing-based flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. We could see this huge performance leap in ray tracing titles, but we’ll have to wait a little while longer to see how much graphical power NVIDIA crams into these new cards. You can read more on those rumors here.
• Power hungry: As for power consumption, GA102 reportedly uses 230W — while 24GB of GDDR6X (which we should see on the new Ampere-based TITAN RTX) consumes 60W of power. You can read more on that here.
• Production begins soon: NVIDIA is reportedly in the DVT (or Design Validation Test) range of its new GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics cards. Mass production reportedly kicks off in August 2020, with a media event, benchmarks, and more in September 2020 as I predicted many months ago. More on that here.

I’ve already written about rumors that NVIDIA’s next-gen Ampere GPU architecture would be up to 75% faster than current-gen GPUs such as the Turing architecture, right after rumors that Ampere would offer 50% more performance at half the power of Turing. This is pretty crazy stuff right there.

Not only that, but we’ve got some rumored specs on the purported GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards, which will both be powered by NVIDIA’s new Ampere GPU architecture.

We’ve already heard that Ampere would offer 50% more performance at half the power of Turing, which sent the hairs on my neck standing up. Better yet, you can read about the leaked specs on the purported Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 right here.

Ford teamed up with electronic artist Matthew Dear to remix the sounds developed for its all-electric 2021 Mustang Mach-E into music. The song is called 'New Breed' and uses both Dear's vocals and sounds specifically engineered to make the quiet electric car sound more like a car but from the future.

Engineers drew on sci-fi inspiration such as the film Blade Runner to come up with sounds for the Mach-E, according to Pitchfork. Ford also released this video detailing how sound designers Michael Sonnenberg and Marty Peters philosophy behind the Mach-E's sounds and how Dear created 'New Breed.' In the video, the sound designers were insistent they didn't want to recreate internal combustion engine sounds for the Mach-E. I think all of us who appreciate authentic engine sounds should send them a Thank You card for that. Instead, they came up with some funky and futuristic tones and buzzes that just happen to work well for mixing into electronic music:

If you're going to have an electric car, why not use it to make some electronic music? Ford picked a hometown hero to head up the project. Dear has been a staple in the Detroit electronic music scene since 1999, when he started releasing music while still in college, according to the Metro Times. He came up in the industry just as electronic music was really taking off in the region. He is also co-founder of the music label Ghostly International and has six studio records and more than two dozen EPs under his collective four musical aliases. His first single 'Hands Up For Detroit' was heavily sampled by artist Fedde Le Grand for the track for 'Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit.' That is to say, in the last 20 years, Dear has made a name for himself as no slouch when it comes to creating electronic tunes in a city that practically invented the art form.

So, is the song any good? That I will leave up to you, dear readers. Detroit has a huge, billion-dollar music scene. You can hear anything and everything on a typical night. I came up more as a rock n' roll type, so I am a poor judge of electronic music, but let me know in the comments!

Amazon's new health service and fitness band offers a new take on health metrics that includes a body fat analysis using your phone's camera and voice analysis to determine how you sound to others.

Amaon has entered the health and fitness world with Halo, a subscription service and accompanying fitness band that unlocks an array of health metrics, including activity, sleep, body fat and tone of voice analysis, to determine how you sound to others. Amazon’s entry into the fitness space is odd indeed, and ambitious. And we’re just getting our minds wrapped around it. 

The band itself looks a lot like a screenless Fitbit tracker, but with a few different elements: It has temperature sensing, much like Fitbit’s newest smartwatch, the Fitbit Sense, and a microphone that continually scans a wearer’s voice to determine emotional tone. Yes, it’s a lot to take in. And the service is immediately available for early access. We haven’t even had a chance to try it out yet. 

The membership part will start at $65 for the first six months ($100 once the early access deal is over) and then $3.99 a month after that. (International prices aren’t currently available, but $65 converts to about £50 or AU$90.) The subscription to Halo includes the basic fitness band that has one button, no screen and tracks your heart rate, steps and temperature. The lack of screen means you’ll have to rely on the mobile app to see all your data, but it does a lot more than just count your steps and log your weight. 

A tone-analyzing, Amazon health band that also lets you scan your body fat may sound like Black Mirror incarnate, but it’s also opening up some ideas in fitness that we’ve never seen before.

Body fat analysis with a smartphone camera 

Amazon thinks the concept of weight loss is flawed, and that body fat is a much better predictor of health.

Most of us have been conditioned to obsess over our weight. The entire diet industry was built on it with programs, apps and devices that revolve around ways to lose pounds. 

But weight can fluctuate daily based on factors including humidity, medication, menstrual cycle and illness. Plus muscle is more dense than fat, and a scale can’t tell the difference between the two. You could literally work your ass off building muscle and burning fat, and not see the numbers on the scale go down.

Rather than relying on weight, Halo focuses on body fat percentage, which is less volatile and takes a lot more time and work to change. 

The gold standard in the medical world for body composition analysis is a DEXA scan (dual-energy absorptiometry), which can cost up to $100 at a lab. The Halo app does it all using your smartphone camera. Once you take your photos, the app automatically eliminates everything else in the background, calculates body fat percent based on body indicators, and then creates a 3D model of your body, which is both cool and terrifying. The app requires you to wear minimal form-fitting clothing and trust Amazon to take a picture of you wearing it. The entire process takes seconds. 

If you’re feeling uncomfortable, that’s not surprising: The idea of body-scanning with a camera is already an awkward proposition. Amazon doing this on a health platform makes it feel more so. The sample body-scan images Amazon showed me look very personal — not necessarily something I’d ever want anyone else to see.

That’s why Amazon promises that the finished body scans stay on your phone and won’t be shared with anybody, including the company, unless you opt into that. According to Amazon, “the images are processed in the cloud, but encrypted in transit and processed within seconds, after which they’re automatically deleted from Amazon’s systems and databases. All scan images are fully deleted within 12 hours. The scan images aren’t viewed by anyone at Amazon and aren’t used for machine learning optimizations.”

Watch that tone! 

Halo also offers a Tone analysis, which has nothing to do with body tone, but rather analyzes the nuances of your voice to paint a picture of how you sound to others. It can let you know when you’ve sounded out of line, weirdly enough. 

The fitness band has two built-in mics to capture audio and it listens for emotional cues. The company says it’s not intended to analyze the content of your conversation, just the tone of your delivery. It takes periodic samples of your speech throughout the day if you opt in to the feature. You enable the microphones by tapping the side button and you’ll know when the mic is off when a red LED lights up on the band. 

The voice scanning pulls out the wearer’s specific voice in conversations and delivers analysis with related emotional-tone words (like “happy,” or “concerned” in the Halo app). The idea, according to Amazon, is to help guide you to deliver better tones of voice and speaking styles, like a vocal form of good posture. It isn’t intended as a form of psychological analysis, but it seems awfully hard to draw the line on a concept like this. 

Amazon’s been exploring the idea of emotional tone-sensing since at least 2018, but this is the first time it’s approached the idea in any device. And according to Amazon, the Tone feature is only available on the Halo band for now. It will be limited to the band’s microphone, but Amazon sounds open to exploring the idea on other devices, depending on how the early access response goes from first-wave wearers. It’s a very odd thing to put on a fitness band, and we have no idea what this is like to use yet.

Amazon promises that Tone voice samples are encrypted and stored only on a wearer’s phone (shared from the band via Bluetooth with the encrypted key), are deleted after analysis and won’t be shared to the cloud or used to build machine-learning models.

Sleep analysis with temperature tracking

The app provides a comprehensive sleep analysis with a breakdown of the different stages of sleep and overall sleep score, much like other fitness trackers. It also goes beyond the basics by keeping track of your overall body temperature during sleep and creating a baseline for each person. It then charts your average temperature each night relative to your baseline to help you identify variations that could affect your health and the quality of your sleep. 

The Halo band won’t provide a specific body temperature, similar to the way other temperature wearable devices like the Oura Ring already work.

Temperature has become a trending wearable metric in the COVID-19 era: The Oura Ring has one and Fitbit’s newest Sense watch has one too. Amazon’s Halo team is pursuing research for COVID-19 symptom detection on its wearables, much like other health wearable companies, but no specific studies or plans have been laid out yet.

Activity tracking: A week at a glance 

Halo also does basic fitness tracking based on the information from the band. It can automatically track walks and runs, but you’ll have to go into the app and tag any other workouts manually. 

It rewards you for any type of movement or activity, but gives more points for more intense workouts and subtracts points for sedentary time. And it doesn’t keep a daily tally of your activity, your score is based on the points you accrued during the entire week. The entire picture of exercise, sedentary time and active time is combined into one tally.

Amazon’s sleep and activity scores and other AI tools will require an Amazon Halo subscription; otherwise, the band will default to more basic tracking data. Much like Fitbit and its Premium service, this looks to be continuing a trend of fitness devices that expect a subscription model as part of the package.

A lot of labs and partners, but no Google or Apple integration

A Labs section of Amazon Halo looks similar to what’s on Fitbit’s Premium service, with a lot of multiweek health and fitness goals to opt into, and partners lined up from OrangeTheory to Weight Watchers. Amazon promises these challenges are scientifically vetted, but it also sounds like these challenges will keep being added to over time. 

But at least at launch, Halo will not tie in to Apple’s HealthKit or Google’s Fit App which puts it at a disadvantage with people who are already deeply invested in either for health tracking. Amazon is leaning on Weight Watchers, John Hancock Vitality wellness program, and a few others that will be able to hook into Amazon Halo health data.

The looming privacy question

There’s a lot of process in terms of features, and while some seem interesting and innovative, the biggest barrier to entry is privacy. Sharing any kind of health data (let alone unflattering seminudes) requires next-level trust, and you might not be prepared to give Amazon that trust. The company doesn’t exactly have the most pristine track record when it comes to keeping user data private. Alexa-enabled devices have been in the hot seat for storing private conversations “for machine learning purposes.” And Amazon’s Ring doorbell has had a series of privacy dust-ups. 

Halo puts privacy in your hands by allowing you to opt out of data sharing with Amazon and third-party apps as well as disable the microphone on the band, but it’s still going to be an uphill battle. That is unless its features prove to be earth-shattering and worth the privacy risk, which remains to be seen.

Amazon is late on arrival

The lack of connection to Apple or Google is telling. Amazon’s making a play in the health and fitness data space, and with Google, Fitbit and Apple already deep in, it’s a big question as to how Amazon will make waves. Or, where Amazon Halo will go next. It’s a platform as much as a wearable, and it sounds like Halo’s early-access experiment may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Hurricane Laura is a catastrophe. The storm made landfall on Wednesday night as a Category 4 hurricane, and has already killed at least one person. Residents of Texas and Louisiana unable to evacuate have been hit hard. But as the storm is making its way inland from the Gulf of Mexico, people are tracking its progress up close inside Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Flight Simulator includes a live weather system, which is basically modeling Laura inside the game world. Microsoft partnered with Swiss meteorological service Meteoblue, dividing the in-game world up into 2 million 100-square-mile chunks, each with its own simulated weather system based on real-world data. The result is something quite remarkable.

Simply put, the footage of Hurricane Laura from Microsoft Flight Simulator is both terrifying and awe-inspiring. It's also much safer than traditional forms of observing these kinds intense storms firsthand.

Microsoft Flight Simulator pulls in lots of real-world data, which sometimes leads to hiccups and glitches as the game struggles to bring it all together as a cohesive whole. Weather data is an exception, however. The game isn't putting individual in-game clouds where they are in the real sky, but instead running a sophisticated simulation based on the data. The result: incredibly stunning pictures of a virtual version of the same storm.

Above & around Hurricane Laura

Microsoft Flight Simulator (Live Weather) pic.twitter.com/T7v8aJ0jhG

— Petri Levälahti (@Berduu) August 27, 2020

This thread by Alex, a Twitter user and video editor, shows more breathtaking shots of Hurricane Laura from a distance. It's worth reading the entire thread to see his entire gallery of images, including one taken up from such a high angle that his plane needed to be de-iced.

Just flew through the outer edge of Hurricane Laura in #MicrosoftFlightSimulator pic.twitter.com/XeyneNTVk4

— Technically Alex ✊🏿🏳️‍🌈 (@TechnicalDIY) August 27, 2020

Alex also noted that he wasn't alone. Flight Simulator also pulls in live flight data from the real world. While there weren't any other real flights in the area of the storm, there were plenty of other players in-game investigating the hurricane with him.

AFAIK all the green dots are other players.

I feel like MS Flight Sim is going to create a new genre of gaming events where people track down IRL weather events in-game to experience them.

It's so incredible that this stuff is possible. pic.twitter.com/ZBws2qFIbc

— Technically Alex ✊🏿🏳️‍🌈 (@TechnicalDIY) August 27, 2020

Obviously, you shouldn't be using a flight simulator — or a game of any kind — to monitor dangerous storms like this if they're coming at you. It's possible to check the progress of Hurricane Laura via the National Hurricane Center's website, which shows a map, relevant statistics, and safety information.

Bang & Olufsen

When a company like Bang & Olufsen talks about its “philosophy of purposeful design,” you know you’re in for some luxury gadget porn. The company has unveiled the BeoPlay H95, its flagship wireless headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC), high-end sound and lots of bespoke features aimed at well-heeled travelers.

The over-ear headphones are built around 40mm titanium drivers with neodymium magnets and custom processors. The ANC system is Bang & Olufsen’s most advanced yet, based on digital processing and using two kinds of microphones for extra noise reduction, the company said. It also comes with ACC and aptXTM Adaptive codecs that are supposed to deliver “low-latency, low-bit rate, high quality wireless audio” over Bluetooth 5.1.

Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen promises 38 hours of battery life on a charge, even with ANC turned on. It includes four voice microphones for added call clarity, with advanced mic noise reduction that enhances clarity while reducing background noise.

Naturally, the H95s are built with top end materials, including a brushed aluminum framework, lambskin ear covers and a leather headband. With special pivoting hinges, they fold flat into a small size to fit into the aluminum carrying case — with matching textiles inside, of course.

The earpad design in soft memory foam creates "good contact to the skin," offering extra passive noise cancellation on top of the ANC. It also comes with aluminum dials on each side "inspired by the focus rings on the lenses of high-end cameras," to control ANC, volume and sound transparency.

Bang & Olufsen

All these luxe features (and marketing) won't come cheap. The Beoplay H95 headphones will arrive in select retailers and Bang & Olufsen stores on September 10th for $800, or £700 in the UK. Ahead of that date, the company is selling a limited run of 95 numbered pairs (celebrating its 95th anniversary) starting today. It didn't mention where you can find those nor at what price.

“It will happen”

Sony debuted a new PlayStation 5 commercial this week, and it's already racked up nearly two million views on YouTube. However, with the PS5 price and PS5 release date remaining under wraps, there's still a big question mark over whether the device will deploy this year as planned. The platform holder has stated on multiple occasions that it remains on schedule for a Holiday 2020 launch, but there are plenty who have their doubts.

However, speaking with GamesIndustry.biz this week, marketing bigwig Eric Lempel provided a brief update: "We’re pulling it together. We will launch this year – that will happen – and from my end we will absolutely make sure that we will bring all of the magic and all of the excitement of launches that we have had in the past."

Elsewhere in the interview, Lempel suggested that the PS5's launch window will be the "best lineup" in PlayStation history, which we suppose is a relatively empty statement from a marketing bigwig, but based on all PS5 games announced so far, we reckon he may have a point. Here's hoping we get more information on the next-gen system next week.

There are video games that handle satire well. There's the sprawling meta-textual commentary of a game like The Stanley Parable, for instance, or high-volume farce like Asymmetric's West Of Loathing. We might even include games like Borderlands and Grand Theft Auto in this list, titles which take big—if not necessarily artful—swings at a variety of cultural topics and gaming tropes. And then there's the folks over at Epic Games, who've decided to escalate their ongoing feud with Apple tonight by literally jamming a big, mean, scowling Apple into their very popular video game Fortnite.

This comes in the wake of Epic's other big attempt at subtle, pointed humor last week, when it released a video heavily suggesting that, by demanding a cut of the game's profits in exchange for it being available through its digital storefront, Apple was acting in a manner similar to the Ingsoc government of George Orwell's 1984, a ruling class that responds to independent thought by clamping a cage full of ravenous rats onto a guy's head. (Which would actually make for a pretty kickass Fortnite costume, now that we think about it.)

ICYMI: Compete in the #FreeFortnite Cup, happening this Sunday - August 23! We’re giving away more prizes than ever before!

Compete for an opportunity to win the new Tart Tycoon Outfit, gaming hardware, and exclusive apparel. Read more in our blog: https://t.co/ZijIBf5iA3 pic.twitter.com/loxnFYFa7i

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 21, 2020

But clearly, that swipe at Apple's own literary pretensions was too subtle, because Epic Games has now announced that it's hosting the #FreeFortnite Cup event, mobilizing its hordes of tween advocates to hop on, shoot each other, and just generally celebrate "the final days of the entire Fortnite community's ability to play together." (Also: Yell at Apple a bunch for being such big ol' meanies.)

There's no clear winner in the semi-ethical battle being waged between the two companies, both of whom are basically just arguing over how to divvy their players' disposable income up. But in terms of which side is being petty as fuck, we've definitely gotta give the crown to Epic, which is not only doing everything in its power to paint Apple as a bunch of big mean bullies, but is even giving away merch with parody versions of the company's logo. That's to say nothing of the "Tart Tycoon" skin it's giving away with the event, which is literally just a very angry apple man who's so mad that you still get to play Fortnite, Braxton. Don't you want to hop on Twitter, Braxton? Don't you want to tell the apple how mean it's being to you and your video game friend

The recently-released Microsoft Flight Simulator is a game best enjoyed with a dedicated flight stick, but actually finding one of these controllers is a challenge. None of Amazon.com's best-selling PC flight sticks are available to buy new as of Monday August 24th — they're either listed as unavailable, only available used, or scheduled to be back in stock in the coming months.

It's impossible to know if this current shortage is directly caused by the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Flight yokes and sticks are a relatively niche product to begin with, and, even prior to the game's official release, people on Twitter were complaining about shortages. Meanwhile, plenty of other gaming accessories like Nintendo's Ring Fit have also been selling out this year thanks to a combination of increased demand as people are staying at home more, and manufacturing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Equally, however, Microsoft Flight Simulator is the biggest flight sim release in years, and it's also relatively affordable thanks to its inclusion in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. Plus, in a couple of months' time, Star Wars: Squadrons is due to release, meaning anyone who buys a flight stick now will have a second big-budget game to use it with come October 2nd.

Although flight sticks are getting harder to find at the likes of Amazon.com and Best Buy, there do seem to be some other online retailers where they're still available. Dell has a relatively affordable Thrustmaster combination flight stick and throttle controller in stock, for example, and you have more options if you're willing to buy second-hand. Otherwise, you might have to settle for using a regular gamepad as you explore Microsoft's massive procedurally-generated world.

Taking a look back at another week of news and headlines from Cupertino, this week's Apple Loop includes the latest leaked design of of the iPhone 12, the launch date of Apple's new iPhone 12, Epic Games' struggle with the App Store, losing the MacBook Air, latest iMac reviews, iPad Air specs lea, and a year of the Apple Card.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).

Streaming Rehearsal For iPhone 12

Although it has not yet been made official, the launch event for Apple's iPhone 12 family is expected to take place in early September. Traditionally a Tuesday event, there's now a suggestion that Thursday September 10 is an option. Why? Preparations to stream the event on youTube were spotted by the geekerati. Michael Potuck reports:

“The date listed for the video going live was September 10 (first image in tweet below showing date in European format). While it's possible the slip-up could have revealed when Apple is going to have its iPhone 12 event, September 10 was also last year's iPhone 11 event date. Maybe the date for today's YouTube test remained the same from last year?"

The Latest iPhone 12 Images

Case manufacturers have always been a good source of 'final design images' of handsets ahead of a launch event , and the iPhone 12 designs are no exception. This week saw a rush of cases going on sale (that's how confident the manufacturers are), which in turn showcases the iPhone 12 look, if not the actual specs. Forbes' Gordon Kelly:

“They originate from smartphone case maker Skech, which should add to their credibility because case makers get access to new iPhone chassis designs and dimensions early, so they can start working on their accessories. That said, case makers don’t receive information on the exact camera module layout or the notch, since these details are not crucial to their products. This means the dummy units use last year's designs there as placeholders.”

The Epic Apple Legal Battle Continues

The continued battle over the App Store between Apple and Epic Games continued this week, with Apple giving Epic Games notice that it would be removing its Developer Account and access to the App Store not just for Fortnite, but Epic's entire portfolio. This includes the Unreal 3D Engine used by countless developers. Jacob Kastrenakes for The Verge:

“Apple will terminate Epic's inclusion in the Apple Developer Program, a membership that's necessary to distribute apps on iOS devices or use Apple developer tools, if the company does not "cure your breaches" to the agreement within two weeks, according to a letter from Apple that was shared by Epic. Epic won't be able to notarize Mac apps either, a process that could make installing Epic's software more difficult or block it altogether. Apple requires that all apps are notarised before they can be run on newer versions of macOS, even if they're distributed outside the App Store.”

Ben Thompson takes an in-depth look at the the case of "Apple, Epic, and the App Store", from the fundamentals, through the software stack, to the App Store issues:

“…the question as to what is anticompetitive and what is simply good business changes as a business scales. A small business can generally be as anticompetitive as it wants to be, while a much larger business is much more constrained in how anticompetitively it can act (as a quick aside, for the first part of this essay I am painting in broad strokes as far as questions of specific legality go). The specific case of Apple and the iPhone raises an additional angle: should the importance of the market in the question make a difference as well?"

Much more at Stratechery.

What Should Apple Call The New MacBook?

With the move to ARM-based Mac computers, will Apple look to maintain the current Air and Pro names, or take a different angle to differentiate the new products? While it looks like the Pro name will remain the Air name could be on the way out, as I noted earlier this week:

“Apple has been here before, with a new concept to launch with both the 'Air' and 'Pro' designations in use. Launched in March 2015, the 12-inch MacBook targeted the premium space between the Air and thePro. It was kept small and light, it had a fan-less design, and it was pushed as a highly portable laptop for day-to-day work. Sounds familiar?

“The MacBook Air is too old and has lost its totemic brilliance. The aura of the MacBook Pro is not a comfortable fit with what is currently expected from Apple. How about 'MacBook'?"

More here on Forbes.

Steady As She Goes 27-Inch iMac Reviewed

Apple's latest iMac, launched earlier this month, is now with the reviewers. Many are noting the improved FaceTime camera and the anti-glare coating, but the value is found in a steady increase of specs, not with any gee-whiz technology. Samuel Axon reviews the all-in-one macOS machine, starting with the positioning:

“With an ostensibly giant leap looming for the Mac, this new release is just an incremental step for the iMac. It boasts the usual updates: faster processors, better RAM and storage options, and better graphics processing. It also has a new webcam and better microphones.

“But it's not a radical change overall. Rather, the new iMac represents a subtle refinement of one of the world's best (albeit priciest) computers. It's the calm before a coming storm.”

More at Ars Technica, and I've summarised all the iMac reviews here.

Normal Service For A New iPad Air

The last few years have seen the iPad step into the limelight with a arch update to the hardware. It now looks like March 2021 will be no different (in that respect) as previous years with your regularly scheduled update to the iPad family. Hartley Charlton reports:

“Apple will launch the iPad Air 4 in March 2021 with an A14 processor, according to Chinese site MyDrivers."

"…corroborates previous rumors that Apple will bring the ‌iPad‌ Air 4 much closer to the current iPad Pro in terms of design and features. The ‌iPad‌ Air 4 will reportedly have a smart connector on its rear to support the new Magic Keyboard. It is also apparently set to transition from the Lightning Connector to USB-C, and feature four stereo speakers.”

And Finally…

One year after its launch, Apple’s move into credit cards with the eponymous ‘Apple Card’ has been quite a roller coaster. From the lows of men receiving a better credit rating than women, to Goldman Sachs calling it “the most successful launch of a credit card in the United States ever”, there’s a lot to look back on. William Gallagher looks at 12 months in the life of the Apple Card:

"In every sense bar one, Apple Card is a typical Apple product. It was rumored for years, it launched to fanfare and criticism, plus it was even thought of first by Steve Jobs. The difference is that apart from its titanium card, it's not hardware, and apart from its app, it's not really software either.

"When we all look back to see exactly when Apple really pivoted from being a hardware company to a services one, we're going to be sure it was 2019. It might even be March 25, 2019, when Apple eschewed its regular launching of new MacBooks, iPads or education products.”

Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes.

What’s the best student laptop? We asked students

The best laptops for students, from kindergarten through college

Shopping for a laptop can be stressful — doubly stressful if you or your children will be learning online for the first time. Kids of different ages have a range of different laptop use cases and different needs. And as technology evolves, so do students' needs. So I spoke to some experts on the subject: students themselves.

My recommendations here are meant to accommodate a variety of preferences and price ranges. But they're a jumping-off point rather than an exhaustive list: every student is different. Before making a decision, you'll want to make sure you read reviews and try out devices yourself if you can. I'll do my best to keep this article up to date with items that are in stock.

Best laptops for elementary school students

For younger students, a touchscreen device is easier to use than a keyboard and touchpad, says Michelle Glogovac, whose five-year-old son will be distance learning for the first six weeks of the fall semester. Glogovac's son uses an iPad for Webex meetings with his kindergarten class. He's gotten the hang of it; Glogovac says he's already learned how to mute and unmute himself, "a skill that many adults aren't familiar with."

That said, it may be worth investing in a keyboard case if you go the tablet route. Glogovac has to type her son's meeting codes and passwords for him, which can be cumbersome on the iPad's flat screen.

As kids get older, their best laptop choice will vary depending on their needs. As a parent, it's important that you and your child are in sync about how they intend to use it and the size of the programs they want.

Kristin Wallace purchased a budget HP laptop for her daughter, Bella, but didn't realize how quickly the nine-year-old would fill up 32GB of storage. "It is really slow and has no space for games. I need a computer with more storage space," said Bella, who uses the laptop to Zoom with friends and take virtual guitar lessons and math enrichment classes. Wallace plans to buy Bella a better device in the next few weeks.

Audio quality is an important consideration for kids' laptops. Lisa Mitchell, an elementary library media specialist, says her students use their devices to watch YouTube videos in addition to their online classes. Battery life is also a plus, even for distance learners who may not be far from a wall outlet. Bella likes to use her laptop all around the house and doesn't want to bring the cord with her.

Durability is also worth paying for, according to Mitchell. If you're using a tablet, get a protective case. "If a reasonably-priced insurance or replacement policy is available, it's usually worth the extra expense."

Check out:

• Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition ($139): a colorful, fast tablet with kid-friendly content
• Lenovo Chromebook Duet ($289): a tiny 10-inch Chromebook with a detachable keyboard
• Apple 10.2-inch iPad ($329): a great budget tablet that supports the Apple Pencil
• Microsoft Surface Go 2 ($399): a solid Windows tablet with a built-in kickstand
• Google Pixelbook Go ($649): a sturdy touchscreen Chromebook

Best laptops for middle school students

The middle school students I spoke to don't use their laptops for much more than web-based schoolwork and browsing. Don't be too concerned about power — prioritize a machine that's comfortable and easy for your child to use.

"We just got the most basic Chromebook and it is totally perfect," says Gabrielle Hartley, an attorney and mother of three children who will be taking a mix of in-person and online classes in the fall. "The most basic Chromebook serves all the needs of the basic middle schooler."

Hartley's son Max, who is in eighth grade, agrees. "I would really like a gaming PC or gaming laptop that can plug into a monitor and run video games with 120fps, but I really don't need that," Max says. "Most eighth graders aren't going to be running any video games on their laptops or any software that requires a lot of power."

Max mostly uses his laptop for Google Classroom applications, including Gmail, Slides, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. They're very easy to use on his device, which he describes as "a run-of-the-mill Samsung Chromebook." That said, if your child is starting middle school this year, it could be worth checking with their teachers to see what operating system is most compatible with their workflow. Caspian Fischer Odén, a ninth grader from Sweden, told me he has trouble with his Chromebook because his school has blocked downloading apps from the Google Play Store.

Even kids with more demanding hobbies think a budget device can get the job done. Sam Hickman, an eighth grader from the UK who uses his laptop for photo and video editing, says, "For most middle schoolers, any processor developed within the last two years will be able to handle any tasks they can throw at it."

So, what is worth paying for? A comfortable keyboard, several students told me. Many middle school kids aren't used to typing for long periods of time. You should also look for a device that's compact and easy for them to carry around, particularly if they're preparing for in-person school. Shoot for an 11- to 13-inch model — certainly nothing larger than 15 inches.

Check out:

• Samsung Chromebook 3 ($219): a small but sturdy laptop made for students
• HP Chromebook x360 ($379): an affordable Chromebook with great battery life
• Lenovo 300e ($379): a durable 2-in-1 with a stylus
• Acer Aspire 5 ($469): a portable option for kids who need a 15-inch screen
• Dell Inspiron 13 5000 ($609): a durable, light Windows laptop

Best laptops for high school students

High schoolers' laptop needs can vary based on their interests, but most don't need powerful machines with lots of bells and whistles — especially if they come with glitches or serious downsides that could interfere with schoolwork. Miles Riehle, a student at Laguna Beach High School, has a high-end Surface Pro 7 but finds it overwhelming. "There is so much other stuff that I don't use very often," he said. "Something simpler might be a little more straightforward."

The best operating system may depend on what your child is used to. Aryan Nambiar, a student at Barrington High School in Illinois, has an iMac at home and enjoys using an iPad for his schoolwork. Riehle says he would prefer a Chromebook because he has an Android phone and often uses Google services.

But almost every student I spoke to agreed that the most important feature of a high school laptop is portability. Kids attending in-person classes may be carrying their device around for much of the day with a stack of other books. Look for a 13- or 14-inch screen, or a lighter 15- to 17-inch model.

Students also recommend something sturdy. "Most high schoolers I've seen will throw their laptop in their bag without too much care," says Moses Buckwalter, a student at Penn Manor High School. Backpacks can be jostled in the hallway as well. Distance learners can still run into trouble at home. "Anything can happen," says Aadit Agrawal, a high school student from India. "My own brother scratched my laptop with his nails."

Battery life is another key feature. "It can be a real struggle to find a place to charge while in class," says Cas Heemskerk, a sophomore from the Netherlands. Unlike college students, many high schoolers don't have frequent breaks to juice up their devices, so try to find something that can last a full day.

Many students recommend a touchscreen with stylus support. Nambiar uses the feature for his biology class, where he does a lot of visual modeling. "The touchscreen is always a bonus for drawing diagrams, whereas if you're using a laptop it'd be a whole process to submit a diagram you drew," Nambiar says. Riehle uses a Surface Pen to fill out school forms and annotate PDFs. Agrawal finds it useful to take notes on the same screen as his online lessons.

Depending on the broadband situation in your area, you may also want a laptop with multiple connectivity options. Agrawal's online classes are sometimes interrupted by powercuts, so he recommends an LTE model. Matej Plavevski, a junior at Yahya Kemal College in North Macedonia, recommends looking for an Ethernet port in case slower connections disrupt meetings. That's hard to find on smaller laptops, but there's a slew of affordable dongles and docks to consider.

Check out:

• Apple iPad Air ($499): a powerful tablet with a great screen
• Lenovo Yoga Chromebook C630 ($599): a convertible Chromebook with all-day battery
• Acer Chromebook Spin 713 ($629): a fantastic Chromebook that's not too pricey
• Surface Laptop 3 ($799): an excellent, light laptop that's comfortable to use
• Dell XPS 13 ($1,199): the best portable Windows laptop you can buy

Best laptops for college students

College kids are justified in spending a bit more money than other age groups. Some (especially in STEM courses) can expect to do some fairly demanding work. Assad Abid, an electrical engineering undergrad from Pakistan, needs to run simulation software for his assignments. Aakash Chandra, a student at New Horizon College of Engineering in India, does a lot of coding, in addition to creative work in Premiere Pro and Photoshop, and gaming. Students also noted that it's worthwhile to pay for a laptop that will last for a few years after graduation. That means you won't have to worry about finding and financing your next device until you're (hopefully) settled into a job.

But among high-end, capable devices there's still a wide range of options. Students stressed that a college laptop should be light. Expect to bring it between classes, meals, meetings, the library, and other locations on campus. "It's a boon that I can carry my laptop as well as some notebooks without feeling like I'm carrying too much for six hours a day," says Haseeb Waseem, a senior at Villanova University who is taking a blend of in-person and virtual classes this fall.

Another universally-lauded feature: battery life. Waseem, who uses an HP Spectre, says the all-day juice gives him "the flexibility to study in a bunch of different locations, and even outside."

Speakers and webcams are often overlooked, even in top-end devices. But students say it's worth looking for good ones if you're starting college this year. Zoom will be a large part of university life this semester: many kids will be attending virtual classes, while others will still be meeting with clubs, study groups, and professors as well as hanging out with friends online. Waseem isn't satisfied with his laptop's audio and picture quality, which he says has made it difficult to pay attention in class and to engage with other students.

Many students will need to invest more in areas tailored to their interests and schoolwork needs. Chandra's dream laptop would include a stylus and touchscreen for his creative work as well as a high-end GPU. Waseem, who uses his laptop for a hodgepodge of activities, including streaming, coding, social media, video chatting, and Microsoft Office work, would prefer to prioritize a large screen to keep track of his multitasking.

Check out:

• Acer Swift 3 ($579): a super light laptop that performs well
• HP Envy x360 13 ($759): a fast and stylish 2-in-1
• Dell XPS 13 ($1,199): the best portable Windows laptop you can buy
• Lenovo Yoga C940 ($1,249): a premium convertible with a standout display
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon ($1,299): a pricey laptop for students who want serious power

Looking for something new to watch on Netflix? A documentary about the video game industry called High Score is out now, and it’s really good.

High Score tells the story of the formative years of gaming. The limited series debuted on August 19, and GameSpot’s review said it’s the “most impressive video game documentary to date.”

There are six episodes, spanning 4.5 hours in total. The show begins in the ’70s and covers notable events through the early ’90s, exploring the stories of the games and people who made them. “The result is a crash course on the golden age of gaming filled with insightful interviews, brilliant writing, and most importantly, an inspiring and inclusive message,” GameSpot reviewer Steven Petite said in his review.

The series is narrated by none other than Mario voice actor Charles Martinet, and it’s directed by William Acks, France Costrel, and Sam LaCroix, all of whom worked on Showtime’s series about the dark web, Dark Net.

“All told, High Score is the most comprehensive video game documentary to date. It has a large scope but manages to tell intimate, relatable stories about people who fell in love with games and decided to dedicate themselves to what has become one of the most ubiquitous entertainment mediums in the world,” Petite said in GameSpot’s review.

Only the best deals on Verge-approved gadgets get the Verge Deals stamp of approval, so if you’re looking for a deal on your next gadget or gift from major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and more, this is the place to be.

Genki is offering a 15 percent discount to readers of The Verge who buy two or more products from its site. Two easy picks are its new Covert Dock for the Nintendo Switch along with the Portable Stand or Genki Audio Bluetooth adapter for the Switch to go with it. Whatever you end up buying, just add them to your cart and then paste in the offer code ONTHEVERGE at checkout to save. If you were thinking about getting the Covert Dock and the Portable Stand together, the cost goes from $95 down to $80.

There are more gaming-related deals to absorb because GameStop is hosting a one-day sale on games and accessories that ends once the clock flips over to Sunday. You can check out everything that's offered in the sale here, but I'm just going to pluck out a couple of favorites.

• Pre-owned Xbox One Bluetooth wireless controllers and DualShock 4 wireless controllers are $30 (usually $50)
• You can buy two pre-owned Xbox One or PS4 games, and get the third one for free

The $250 off deal on the OnePlus 7 Pro I wrote about a few days ago ends this weekend. Until then, Daily Steals is selling this brand-new model with a full one-year warranty for $449. It normally costs $699, so it's a huge price drop considering you'll be getting the mid-tier configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Daily Steals' page says that it's the Sprint variant, but it will work on AT&T and T-Mobile.

A class-action complaint lodged Wednesday claims Apple was aware of a MacBook Pro design flaw that caused some units to exhibit backlight display issues.

Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the action targets the so-called “stage light” or “flexgate” issue that presented in MacBook Pro models manufactured in 2016 and 2017.

Discovered in 2018, the problem manifests as dark patches that run across the bottom of an impacted MacBook Pro’s display, resembling light installations commonly seen on a theater stage. Some users reported that opening their MacBook Pro’s display past a certain angle renders the screen nonfunctional.

Independent repair outfit iFixit investigated the “stage light” effect in early 2019 and tracked the issue back to a thin flex cable that connects the display to a controller situated on the logic board beneath MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar. According to the lawsuit, these flex cables were defective and would deteriorate over time as the connected display was opened and closed.

Following initial reports of the “stage light” effect, a host of complaints claiming similar troubles surfaced on social media outlets, blogs, a Change.org petition and Apple’s own Support forums.

While Apple ultimately launched a repair program covering 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro models, the company failed to include 15-inch Pros and models produced after 2016 that faced identical issues. Further, the tech giant delayed issuing the repair program “despite the fact that it both knew and should have known” the root cause of the problem.

Prior to the repair program, owners were forced to pay out of pocket for costly repairs. As the flex cable was an integral display component, remedying “stage light” often necessitated replacement of the entire screen assembly.

Apple has not revealed when it first recognized complications with the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro, but variants unveiled in 2018 included a longer display flex cable in an apparent bid to fix the issue.

“Apple was aware of the issues with the backlight screen and the defective flex cable, in light of the comments posted by consumers on Apple’s discussion forum and that those comments were deleted after they were posted,” the lawsuit reads.

The class-action argues violation of unfair competition laws in various states, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and consumer fraud statutes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, fraudulent concealment and unjust enrichment are also asserted.

Plaintiffs seek damages, court fees and a judgment requiring Apple to identify and declare all defective MacBook Pro laptops, among other relief measures.

Stage Light Class-Action by Mikey Campbell on Scribd

One of the best features of Android Auto is the Google Assistant integration, which essentially allows you to control the app without any kind of physical input.

Using nothing more than voice commands, you can technically launch apps, start playing a song, make a call, or respond to a text message, all thanks to Google Assistant on Android Auto.

But in addition to so many other problems, Google Assistant has recently started lagging in Android Auto, with several users confirming that it needs too many seconds to respond.

As we reported only a few days ago, Android Auto does recognize the voice command that the user sends, only that Google Assistant launches a few seconds later, in some cases even being interrupted completely without the action actually executed.

Certainly, this is a frustrating experience, and while Google has originally remained tight-lipped on the whole thing, it now looks like the company has started looking into the problem to see what's going on.

There are no specifics available other than "the Assistant team is investigating," but at least we know that Google is looking into it and there's now a chance to see the whole thing fixes sooner or later.

In the meantime, there's no way to take care of this annoyance on your own, although some users claim that downgrading the Google app to an older version sometimes improves the experience with the assistant – the Google app is the one that's powering Google Assistant both on the phone and in the car.

This doesn't seem to do the trick for everybody, though, so right now, the best option is to just give up on voice commands and wait for Google to come up with a full fix.

The company is projected to roll out a new Android Auto update in late August or early September, but the fix for the Assistant problem will be included in a new Google app update. No ETA is available just yet though.

NEW YORK/BENGALURU – A YouTube alert interrupted Jack Erricker's schoolwork on Friday morning as he and kids all over the world woke up to the news that their favorite game, Fortnite, had been taken down from Apple's Store and Google Play store.

"It's basically the only game I play," said Erricker, an 11-year-old in Bengaluru, India, an avid Fortnite player on his Apple iPad. "I'm not happy, I don't think it's a good move."

Fortnite, which has attracted more than 350 million players globally, is especially popular among younger gamers and has become one of the few lifelines to the outside world for kids trapped at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Unable to play outside, kids are spending hours with friends chit-chatting and fighting on Fortnite, which is free to play and available on nearly all devices.

Epic Games has defied the App Store Monopoly. In retaliation, Apple is blocking Fortnite from a billion devices.

Visit https://t.co/K3S07w5uEk and join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming "1984" https://t.co/tpsiCW4gqK

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 13, 2020

APPLE AND GOOGLE GO TO WAR WITH EPIC GAMES OVER FORTNITE

Apple and Alphabet Inc's Google on Thursday removed Fornite from their app stores for violating in-app payment guidelines, and the news spread rapidly among kids who are otherwise too young to get headlines off CNN, the BBC or the New York Times.

Removal means no new players can download the game and the app will not receive updates from the store. But the game will continue to work for now for those who already have it.

Calum Jack, an eight-year-old from London, heard the Fortnite news from friends in Asia as soon as he woke up at 6 a.m. The topic was "all over YouTube," he said.

FACEBOOK BASHES APPLE JOINING THE FRAY ON WAIVING COMMISSION FEES

He is online up to 10 hours a day, playing, building or just chatting with up to 20 friends as far apart as Canada and India. Fortnite and other online games have been Jack's main social outlet since coronavirus lockdowns closed schools across the world in March.

"It's been very important since we've been on holiday. We play all the time," he said.

Fortnite-owner Epic Games has challenged Apple's policy of taking a cut of purchases made inside the app by allowing users to pay Epic directly at a cheaper price. The financial ramifications of the move were apparent even to young gamers.

"Epic was cutting into Apple's profit margins," said Zoraan Kunnel, 13, of Bengaluru, India.

On Thursday, Epic released a video within Fortnite, on YouTube and other social media channels mocking Apple's iconic "1984" ad with the hashtag "FreeFortnite." The hashtag has trended on social media and racked up nearly 26 million views on short-form video app TikTok.

"My friends think that Fortnite is going to win the argument," Erricker said. "There's a lot of people who play Fortnite, and they'll be against Apple."

As to what Jack will do if the game stops working on his iPad, he said: ""I'd just play on the [Sony] PS4."

The official iPhone 12 reveal is right around the corner, and while we have a pretty good idea of what the new iPhone might look like, it’s always fun to fantasize. That’s been the case with the cavalcade of concept videos we’ve seen as of late, each exploring different designs Apple could potentially pursue for its next iPhone. They’re so slick, so nuanced, several of them are actually quite believable.

The latest video to add to the legions of cool and inventive concepts throws everything you might be expecting out of the window for a truly fantastic twist on what we think we know about cameras and displays. YouTuber Furkan Kasap has come up with an entirely futuristic iPhone 12 concept that takes a decidedly different path from the fan-made iPhone 12 “trailers” we’ve seen thus far.

The video is only about a minute long, though it uses every single second of its runtime to show us what could be if Apple ever decides to shatter our perceptions of its current phones. As the clip begins by zooming in on the phone, it isn’t the front of the device that takes the spotlight — it’s the back, where we’d expect the camera array to be. There are a series of cameras there, but also what appears to be a secondary display covering them.

The displays appear modular, mimicking what we could see on an Apple Watch and split into four quadrants that can be set up to display various portions of a screen, with certain areas showing a musical streaming service, one showing the time, and eventually the entire display giving way to showing alerts and time, depending on users’ preferences.

Much like the Smart Stack widget Apple is introducing as part of iOS 14 this fall, this look would be perfect for showing instant notifications in a smaller area instead of the phone’s screen.

Though it’s practically something of a pastime these days to speculate about what Apple might have in store for the iPhone 12, there’s still a lot we don’t know. Rumors have insinuated that there's likely to be four different iPhone 12 models, all with OLED screens and 5G connectivity. The iPhone 12 Pro models will likely gain an additional camera lens — potentially an LiDAR sensor — along with screens that support faster refresh rates.

One thing we don't see on the iPhone 12: a secondary display like the one in this concept video. Still, it's fun to think about what would happen if Apple ever went down the path Kasap has outlined here.