Category: Technology

Easy to use and with a notable emphasis on design, there are many reasons why Apple devices are so desirable. While we saw some great discounts for Black Friday, many of the brand’s best and most recent products are also seeing impressive Cyber Monday discounts. Some of the prices also happen to be the lowest we’ve seen yet. We’ve sifted through the deals to find out what’s on sale for Cyber Monday (and it’s quite a bit). Anyone looking to get or gift Apple Watches, AirPods, iPads, and more, these are the deals to go for. Here are the best Cyber Monday deals on Apple devices for 2022.

AirPods Pro

Released just a few months ago, the AirPods Pro are the second generation of Apple’s premium ear buds and deliver a massively improved sound quality with excellent noice cancellation. Amazon has them for just $200, which is $50 less than we saw it for during Prime Day back in October. Our reviewer and audio expert Billy Steele gave them an 88 in our review, saying they have “the best transparency mode you’ll find on earbuds.”

Buy AirPods Pro (2nd gen) at Amazon – $200

AirPods (2nd gen)

The second-gen AirPods have dropped back down to $79 for Cyber Monday, which is half off their usual rate. These buds are a bit old at this point, but you can’t beat them this holiday season if you want to pick up a pair of AirPods at the lowest price possible. They have a fit similar to Apple’s EarPods of yesteryear, plus they have improved wireless connectivity and decent sound quality.

Buy AirPods (2nd gen) at Amazon – $79

Apple Pencil (2nd gen)

The second-generation Apple Pencil is back down to a record-low price of $89 for Cyber Monday. There are still a couple of iPads that only work with the first-gen stylus, but most of the higher-end models support this one. We consider it to be the best stylus for the iPad, and we like it for its low latency and built-in magnets that let it attach to the side of your tablet.

Buy Apple Pencil (2nd gen) at Amazon – $89

AirPods Max

Released about two years ago, Apple’s AirPods Max, the company’s premium (and only) over-ear headphones have gone up and down in price, but this deal is a near-best at $449. With an Engadget review of 84, AirPods Max pair up a sleek design with solid noise cancellation and on-board controls that are a joy to use. At their usual MSRP of $549, they aren’t cheap, which makes this Cyber Monday deal a very attractive buy.

Buy AirPods Max at Amazon – $449

Apple Watch Ultra

We gave the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple’s latest and most premium watch, a solid 85 in our review. If you’ve had your eye on the toughest wearable Apple’s ever made, grab it now. Amazon has it for just $739, which is 8 percent off and the lowest it’s been since its debut. When we took it on a hike, we had to admire its monster (yet comfortable) build and slew of outdoor-focused features, including a customizable Action button and on-board SOS siren. Of course you also get all of the health and fitness tracking Apple Watches are known for, plus a full three days of battery life on a charge.

Buy Apple Watch Ultra at Amazon – $739

Apple Watch Series 8

The Apple Watch Series 8 came out just one week before the Ultra, making it the latest non-top-tier Apple Watch, and it usually sells for $389. Cyber Monday deals have brought that price down to $349, which means you save $50 on a premium smartwatch that’s only a couple months old. In our real world test we called it “superb watch that makes a great multipurpose wearable with excellent health and fitness tools.” While it doesn’t have the hype of the new Ultra, or the budget appeal of the SE, it’s still the best smartwatch around.

Buy Apple Watch Series 8 at Amazon – $349

Apple Watch SE

In our review back in September, we called the new Apple Watch SE “the best smart watch $250 can buy,” awarding it a score of 89. Now that the pre-holiday sale has dropped the price down to $229, Apple’s most affordable smartwatch is an even better buy. While the battery doesn’t have the same longevity as its Apple Watch siblings, we found it lasted until midnight even with heavy use, and never took more than an hour to refill. We liked its crisp display and snappy responsiveness and found that the health and fitness tracking were on par with the more expensive Series 8.

Buy Apple Watch SE at Amazon – $229

Apple TV 4K (2022)

Apple TV 4K, the brand’s third generation set-top streaming device just came out in October and is down to $123.50 for Cyber Monday. It got an enthusiastic score of 94 in our review earning high marks for its zippy speeds, polished interface and glorious picture quality. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your existing TV or if you want to turn any display with an HDMI port into a powerful streaming device, this is a the time to snap this up.

Buy Apple TV 4K (2022) at Amazon – $123.50

2022 iPad

Apple’s 2022 standard-model iPad is the 10th generation of the multipurpose slate, earning an 85 in our review back in October. We were concerned at the price hike over the previous generation, which brought it to a steep $449. But now that it’s going for $419, it’s a little bit easier to add the base model iPad to your life (or someone else’s). What we did like was the complete redesign, the solid 10-plus hours of battery, and the addition of a landscape-oriented front-facing camera. Note that the iPad standard only works with the first generation of the Apple Pencil.

Buy iPad (10th gen) at Amazon – $419

iPad Pro

The latest iPad Pro earned an 87 in our review for its fast and powerful M2 chip and having “one of the best screens Apple has ever made.” At the $800 list price, it’s steep. But right now Amazon has the premium slate for $60 off the 11-inch and $100 off most storage sizes of the 12.9-inch. Both came out in October of this year, and this is the biggest discount we’ve seen so far. That’s a good opportunity to get one of the best designed tablets on the market, complete with a nine-hour battery life and second-gen Apple Pencil support.

Buy iPad Pro (12.9-inch) at Amazon – $999Buy iPad Pro (11-inch) at Amazon – $739

MacBook Air M2

Apple’s MacBook Air M2 earned an enthusiastic review score of 96 back in July. Right now it’s 13 percent off, bringing it down to $1,049. Our Senior Reporter Devindra Hardawar said this version of the MacBook Air “set a new standard for ultraportables.” You get the blazing fast M2 chip and an expansive and engrossing screen, all tucked into a frankly gorgeous, razor-thin computer. One of the only downsides we noted was the high price, but Cyber Monday is fixing that for now.

Buy MacBook Air M2 at Amazon – $1,049Buy MacBook Air M2 at B&H Photo – $1,049

MacBook Air M1

If you want to save even more and aren’t worried about having the latest model, the MacBook Air with the M1 chip is on sale for just $799. We gave it an 94 in our review, calling it a the MacBook for most people when it first hit the scene, especially those looking for a casual computer. The M1 chip will still feel like a big upgrade if you’re coming from an aging Intel machine, and we also liked this laptop’s lovely display, lack of fan noise and good battery life.

Buy MacBook Air at Amazon – $799

14-inch MacBook Pro

Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro is a whopping $500 off and down to $2,000 for Cyber Monday. We gave it and the 16-inch model scores of 92 in our review, with appreciation for the fast M1 Pro and Max processors, excellent display and solid battery life.

Buy MacBook Pro (14-inch) at Amazon – $2,000

HomePod Mini

If you’ve been thinking about connecting your home with Siri’s helpful AI interface, the HomePod mini is on sale for $94 for Cyber Monday. The diminutive home speakers earned an 84 score in our review, thanks to their solid sound quality and Siri’s continuing improvements to user interactions.

Buy HomePod Mini at B&H Photo – $94

Your Cyber Week Shopping Guide: Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter. Also, shop the top Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals on Yahoo Life. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know, and our car experts at Autoblog are covering must-shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday auto deals.

 

Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is calling on Congress to pass new legislation to rein in tech companies after Twitter boss Elon Musk ignored an information request. “Elon Musk could respond to my tweets but failed to respond to my letter by yesterday’s deadline and answer basic questions about Twitter verification,” Markey tweeted on Saturday.

The senator sent a letter on November 11th about Twitter’s paid account verification feature. Following the initial rollout, trolls could impersonate celebrities, politicians and company brand accounts, the latter leading to real-world effects on stock prices.

Musk addressed one of Markey’s questions when he announced Twitter’s new verification system on Friday. It’ll feature manual authentication and different colored check marks for different types of users. “Gold check for companies, gray check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates,” Musk said. He’s also said sign-ups have hit an all-time high.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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The FCC announced it’s officially implementing the Secure Equipment Act, which means some future equipment from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua won’t be authorized for sale in the US. Existing equipment from those companies, all listed under the FCC’s Covered List, aren’t affected by the law. Last year, the Biden administration signed into law the Secure Equipment Act, which aimed to block the authorization of network licenses from several Chinese companies whose hardware has been deemed a national security threat.

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NASA’s Orion spacecraft breaks Apollo 13 flight record

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The Artemis 1 Orion crew vehicle has set a record for a NASA flight. On Saturday, Orion flew farther than any spacecraft designed to carry human astronauts had ever before, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 back in 1970 – not that it was the aim of the mission. Funnily enough, it’s fitting that Artemis 1 was the one to do it. As Space.com points out, Apollo 13’s original flight plan didn’t call for a record-setting flight. It was only after a mid-mission explosion forced NASA to plot a new return course that Apollo 13’s Odyssey command module set the previous record at 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from Earth.

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Charles Darwin’s full correspondence is now available online

You can read over 15,000 letters from the evolutionary science pioneer.

The University of Cambridge has published all the evolutionary scientist’s surviving correspondence online, including 400 letters that have either surfaced or are newly “reinterpreted.” The searchable collection now covers over 15,000 letters written between 1822 and 1882, ranging from his influential time aboard the HMS Beagle to On the Origin of Species and his end-of-life reflections. The internet archive may even be the only way to see a fuller picture of Darwin’s life. The university notes a print edition of his correspondence, due in early 2023, doesn’t include letters that arrived too late to reach physical copies.

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UK aims to ban non-consensual deepfake porn

Critics say other aspects of the proposed legislation pose dangers to privacy and security.

The UK government will amend its Online Safety Bill with measures designed to prohibit abuse of intimate images, whether or not they’re real. If the bill becomes law as is, it will be illegal to share deepfake porn without the subject’s consent. This would be the first ban on sharing deepfakes in the country, and if the law comes into effect, violating this rule could lead to a prison sentence. Critics have pushed back against certain aspects of the bill, including a revived plan to verify a person’s age before permitting them to access adult content online.

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WhatsApp has introduced a new feature that lets you send messages to yourself like reminders and shopping lists, parent Meta has confirmed with TechCrunch. Called “Message Yourself,” the feature was first spotted by WaBetaInfo several weeks ago as part of a beta test, but is now being rolled out globally to iOS and Android users in the coming weeks.

Once you get the update, you’ll be able to see yourself at the top of the contacts list when creating new messages. Once you click on that, you’ll be able to send yourself notes, reminders, shopping lists and anything else you might need to remember. The resulting notification, if enabled, could help make sure your self-note doesn’t go unheeded. Users can also pin their Message Yourself chats to the top of a conversation list for easier access.

Until now, you could only message yourself by creating a group with just you as a member or by using the apps “click to chat” feature, both inelegant solutions at best. Rival platform Signal already offers a feature called “Note to Self” that does much the same thing, though it’s buried in your contacts list rather than being available at the top. As mentioned, you should see the feature in the next couple of weeks whether on Android or iOS. 

 

For the past couple of years, Cyber Monday has been almost an extension of Black Friday. In the tech deals space, lots of the discounts and sales we saw at the end of last week are still available now as Cyber Monday deals. There are some new ones, though, which means that even if you bought most things on your gift list during Black Friday, it’s worth taking another look online to see if there’s anything else you need or something you can get as a gift while on discount. We’ve collected all of the best Cyber Monday tech deals here so you don’t have to go searching for them.

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd gen)

The latest AirPods Pro have dropped to $200 for Cyber Monday.. That $50 discount is the most significant we’ve seen on these buds that just came out a couple of months ago. The new Pros earned a score of 88 from us for their improved sound quality, excellent Transparency Mode and solid active noise cancellation. We also appreciate the addition of the U1 chip inside the buds’ wireless charging case, which enables Precision Finding using the Find My app.

Apple Pencil (2nd gen)

The second-generation Apple Pencil is back down to a record-low price of $89 for Cyber Monday. There are still a couple of iPads that only work with the first-gen stylus, but most of the higher-end models support this one. We consider it to be the best stylus for the iPad, and we like it for its low latency and built-in magnets that let it attach to the side of your tablet.

Apple 10.2-inch iPad

The 2021 iPad remains on sale for $270, which is the best price we’ve seen it. While Apple did just come out with an updated version, that latest model is much more expensive, coming in at $449. The 10.2-inch iPad is still a great option if you want iPadOS but only have so much to spend. We gave it a score of 86 for its solid performance, improved front cameras and excellent battery life.

MacBook Air M1

Apple’s M1-powered MacBook Air is down to $799 for Cyber Monday which is the best price we’ve seen. Although the M2 laptop is available now, the M1 machine remains a good option if you’re upgrading from an aging Intel model. We gave it a score of 94 for its blazing fast performance, lovely Retina display and lack of fan noise.

Apple Watch SE (2nd gen)

The second-generation Apple Watch SE is on sale for $229, which is an all-time-low price. Apple upgrade a lot in this smartwatch — it has a new SiP and a larger screen, both of which help the new SE look and feel more modern. Apple still left some features to the Series 8, include an always-on display, ECG reader, skin temperature sensor and a few others, but if you can live without those upgrades, the Apple Watch SE gives you a ton of value at its relatively affordable price.

Xbox Series S

Not only does Amazon have the Xbox Series S for $60 cheaper than usual for Cyber Monday, but the online retailer will also give you a $40 credit to use on future purchases when you buy the console. That’s a total of $100 in discounts and credits, which is one of the best we’ve seen this holiday season. We gave the Series S a score of 85 for its slim design, 4K gameplay support and FPS boost technology.

iRobot Roomba s9+

iRobot’s high-end Roomba s9+ is on sale for $229 if you go to Wellbots and use the code ENG220 at checkout, or $799 at Amazon and other retailers. It earned a spot in our best robot vacuums guide thanks to its slick design, its ability to better clean room corners, its strong suction power and its included clean base.

Chromecast with Google TV

The 4K Chromecast with Google TV has dropped to $40 for Cyber Monday. It’s one of the most affordable ways to get Google’s streaming OS into your home, along with 4K content support. We like this Chromecast’s compact design, handy remote and its smart integration with the Google Assistant.

Sony DualSense controllers

Sony’s DualSense controllers for the PlayStation 5 are down to $49 in several finishes. That matches the lowest price we’ve seen, and depending on what color you choose, comes in either $20 or $25 below the pad’s usual price. In general, the DualSense is harder to hook up with a PC than its Xbox counterpart, but its D-pad isn’t as clicky, it doesn’t rely on AA batteries and its haptic feedback system is much more nuanced.

Crucial MX500 (1TB)

Crucial’s MX500 internal drive is down to a new low of $68 for the 1TB version, and you can find discounts on the other configurations, too. We’ve long recommended this drive for its standard form factor, its sequential reads/write speeds of up to 560/510 MB/s and its AES 256-bit hardware encryption. It also has integrated power loss immunity, which saves all of your work even when there’s a power outage.

Jabra Elite 3

Jabra’s Elite 3 wireless earbuds are on sale for $50, which is the best price we’ve seen. Considering these buds start out at less than $100, you won’t find some advanced features on them like noise cancellation or wireless charging. However, they pack impressive sound quality for the price, along with a comfortable design, reliable onboard controls and good battery life.

Google Nest Audio

We called Google’s Nest Audio smart speaker “a steal at $100” when we reviewed it, giving it a score of 87. And now it’s half that price for Cyber Monday. For just $50, you get a smart speaker powered by the AI of the Google Assistant, plus a speaker that delivers surprisingly good sound quality for its size and price point. We did note that the Nest Audio sounds even better as a pair, and now might be a good time to grab two.

Elgato Stream Deck MK.2

Elgato’s Stream Deck MK.2 has dropped to $120 for Cyber Monday, which is a record low. We’ve recommended various versions of the Stream Deck for a while now as an essential accessory for game streamers, but also a handy peripheral for power users to have, too. The MK.2 has 15 programmable buttons that let you trigger actions like launching an app, muting your mic and more, plus you can truly make it your own with a custom faceplate.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT

The excellent and already affordable ATH-M20xBT are on sale for $59 for Cyber Monday, which is a record low. These are our current favorite budget cans thanks to their good sound quality, comfortable design, Bluetooth multi-point connectivity and 60-hour battery life. They may not have as slick of a design as more expensive headphones, or advanced features like noise cancellation, but you can’t beat their value.

Bose QuietComfort 45

The Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones are back on sale for $229 right now, or 30 percent off their usual price. These are some of our favorite over-ear cans thanks in part to their excellent active noise cancellation and clear, balanced audio. The design isn’t as slick as some of our other favorites, but they’re comfortable to boot, plus their 24-hour battery life means you’ll be able to wear them for long stretches of time without interruption.

Sony WH-1000XM5

Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones are down to $348 right now, which is the best price we’ve seen since they came out earlier this year. These are our current favorite wireless headphones, and Sony essentially changed only a few things about the previous WH-1000XM4 to make these cans even better. They have improved noise cancellation and sound quality, plus a slick new design and a solid battery life. We also appreciate their Speak-to-Chat feature and multi-device connectivity.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

Google’s best earbuds yet, the Pixel Buds Pro, have dropped to $150, which is $50 less than their usual price. These are the Android-maker’s answers to Apple’s AirPods Pro, and they are, without a doubt, one of the best pairs of wireless earbuds you can get if you don’t have an iPhone. We gave them a score of 87 for their deep, punchy bass, reliable touch controls and wireless charging case.

Roku Streaming Stick 4K

Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K is on sale for $25 right now, or half off its usual price. This small dongle connects directly to your TV’s HDMI port and streams content in 4K, supports Dolby Vision and offers voice command capabilities via its remote. This updated model also has fast, long-range WiFi and a private-listening feature that lets you listen to your TV’s audio video the Roku mobile app.

Fitbit Inspire 3

The new Fitbit Inspire 3 is down to $70 for Cyber Monday, which is $30 off its usual price. We named this the best budget fitness tracker you can get right now, and that’s only more true when you can pick it up while on sale. The Inspire 3 is more slim than the Charge 5, and while it doesn’t have built-in GPS, you can use its connected GPS feature to map runs and bike rides if you have your phone with you. We also like its automatic workout tracking and long battery life.

Amazon Echo Dot

The latest Echo Dot has dropped to $25, and that’s the first real discount we’ve seen since the device came out a few months ago. Amazon added a bigger speaker inside this Echo Dot for improved sound, and it has a new built-in temperature sensor as well. That will come in handy if you have other smart home devices you control with Alexa because, if the temperature sensor reaches a certain level, you can program a routine to, say, start a fan to keep your environment precisely how you like it. The new Dot can also pair with an Eero WiFi system to add up to 1,000 extra square feet of coverage.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 is on sale for $800 right now. Each iteration of Samsung’s foldable phones is better than the last, and the Flip 4 is no different. It has a slick design that neatly folds in half, rendering it small enough to slip into your pocket. Not only do we appreciate its attractive and more durable design, but we also like its improved battery life and the increased number of hands-free applications it supports.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Samsung’s Cyber Monday deals include the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which is $400 off and down to $1,400. It’s certainly the most polished Fold Samsung has created, and we gave it a score of 86 for its brighter main screen, upgraded main and telephoto cameras, sleeker hinge and noticeably better battery life.

OnePlus 10 Pro

You can pick up the OnePlus 10 Pro smartphone for only $549 right now, which is the lowest we’ve seen it. The standout feature of this handset is its remarkably fast charging technology: you can get a full charge in just over a half hour using 80W SUPERVOOC charging. However, US users are capped at 65W SUPERVOOC, but that’s still the speediest charging standard available stateside. Otherwise, we also appreciated the 10 Pro’s lovely 120Hz display and its fast face-unlock feature.

iRobot Roomba j7

iRobot’s Roomba j7 is on sale for $349 right now, which is the cheapest we’ve seen it, and you can get the j7+ for $599. This is one of iRobot’s latest robo-vacs and it has enhanced obstacle avoidance which lets it navigate around a robot vacuum’s arch nemesis: pet poop. It also has 10x the suction power of a standard Roomba, plus support for smart mapping and Alexa and Google Assistant voice control. With the j7+ model, you’re also getting a clean base into which the robo-vac will empty its bin after every job.

Amazon Echo Show 5

Amazon’s Echo Show 5 is back on sale for $35 for Cyber Monday. This has been one of our favorite smart displays for quite some time, primarily because it acts as a great smart alarm clock. It has a 5-inch display that shows the date, time, weather conditions and more, plus it has a handy tap-to-snooze feature. And if you want it to wake you up visually, too, its sunrise alarm will slowly adjust the screen’s brightness to wake you up more naturally.

Kindle Paperwhite

Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite has been discounted to $95 for Cyber Monday. While we consider the Signature Edition to be the best e-reader, period, the standard Paperwhite comes in at a close second. It has a 6.8-inch display with 17 front LEDs for better illumination, plus a water-resistant design, Audible support and a battery that can last weeks on a single charge.

Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite

Amazon’s most affordable streaming stick is on sale for only $15 right now, which is half off its usual price. This is a good option if you want to upgrade an old, “dumb” TV in your home into a smart one. The Fire TV Stick Lite provides access to Amazon’s Fire TV OS, through which you can access services like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and others. The TV Stick Lite supports FHD content, and you can use the included Voice Remote Lite to ask Alexa to show you the content you want to watch. If you want to upgrade a bit to Dolby Atmos, you can get the standard Fire TV Stick for only $5 more.

Blink Mini

Amazon has brought back the two for $30 Blink Mini deal for Cyber Monday. This compact, wired security camera is only meant for indoor use and you’ll have to keep it close to an outlet, but it shares all of the basic features with the larger Blink Indoor and Outdoor cameras. It record 1080p video and supports two-way audio, plus it’ll send motion alerts to your phone and you can control it via Alexa voice commands.

Your Cyber Week Shopping Guide: Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter. Also, shop the top Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals on Yahoo Life. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know, and our car experts at Autoblog are covering must-shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday auto deals.

 

If you’re still searching for the idea machine to be your next laptop, you’re in luck. Cyber Monday laptop deals have discounted a number of our favorite notebooks, including those from Apple, Microsoft, ASUS and others. Shopping directly with these brands will give you the best customization options, so that’s the best option if you’re very particular about the amount of memory you want in your next laptop or you absolutely want a specific kind of display panel on the thing. But if you’re willing to pick up a pre-configured notebook, you’ll have even more discount options available from Amazon, Walmart and other retailers. Here are the best Cyber Monday laptop deals we found for 2022.

Apple MacBook Air M1

Apple’s M1-powered MacBook Air is down to $799 for Cyber Monday which is the best price we’ve seen. Although the M2 laptop is available now, the M1 machine remains a good option if you’re upgrading from an aging Intel model. We gave it a score of 94 for its blazing fast performance, lovely Retina display and lack of fan noise.

Buy MacBook Air M1 at Amazon – $799

Apple MacBook Air M2

The latest MacBook Air with the M2 chipset is down to $1,049 for Cyber Monday. While we still like the M1 air, the M2 is the notebook to get if you want the best performance possible in Apple’s thinnest and lightest laptop. We gave it a score of 96 for its updated, even sleeker design, gorgeous 13.6-inch display, excellent performance and lack of fan noise.

Buy MacBook Air M2 at Amazon – $1,049

Apple MacBook Pro

The 14-inch MacBook Pro is on sale for $1,600 right now, or $400 off its usual price. There’s an even steeper discount on the 16-inch MacBook Pro — $500 off, bringing it down to $2,000. Both of these are powered by Apple’s M1 Pro chipset, and we gave them both scores of 92 for their powerful performance, stunning Liquid Retina XDR displays, numerous ports and solid battery lives. 

Buy 14-inch MacBook Pro at Amazon – $1,600Buy 16-inch MacBook Pro at Amazon – $2,000

ASUS ZenBook Duo

The 14-inch ZenBook Duo is $300 off for Cyber Monday, bringing the model with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SDD down to $800. This laptop is unique because it has a secondary 12.6-inch touchscreen above its keyboard that offers new ways to multitask while you also use its main, 14-inch FHD touch display. We gave this model a score of 84 for its improved dual-screen software, excellent build quality and strong performance. If you like this design and want something a bit more powerful, the ZenBook Pro Duo with a 15-inch OLED display, a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage is $670 off and down to $1,730 for Cyber Monday.

Buy ZenBook Duo at Amazon – $800Buy ZenBook Pro Duo at Amazon – $1,730

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go 2 is back down to $600 for Cyber Monday for a configuration with a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. We gave this 12.4-inch notebook a score of 86 earlier this year, and it earned a spot in our guide to the best cheap Windows laptops. It impressed us with its slick design, bright screen, good battery life and USB-C charging.

Buy Surface Laptop Go 2 at Amazon – $600

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5

The 13-inch Surface Laptop 5 with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is on sale for $1,000, which is the best price we’ve seen. We gave this machine a score of 83 for its elegant design, bright display, Thunderbolt 4 support and solid performance. We weren’t as impressed by its 720p webcam and its non-backlit keyboard, but this notebook is definitely a step up from the Surface Laptop Go 2 and the better pick if you want a stronger machine as a daily driver.

Buy Surface Laptop 5 at Amazon – $1,000

Samsung Cyber Monday deals

Samsung has extended its Black Friday deals into Cyber Monday, so you can still save hundreds on some of the brand’s newest laptops. Machines in the Galaxy Book 2 series are up to $500 off depending on the model you choose, with one of the most affordable configurations being the 13-inch Galaxy Book 2 360 with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for only $650.

Shop Samsung Cyber Monday deals

Microsoft Cyber Monday deals

A number of Surface laptops and bundles are on sale for Cyber Monday direct from Microsoft. The new Surface Pro 9 and the Surface Laptop 5 are up to $200 and $300 off, respectively, while you can save more than $600 on Surface Laptop 4 bundles. We recommend checking out all of Microsoft’s discounted bundles, because they are some of the best ways to get all of the things you’d need — like keyboard attachments, styluses and more — to make a Surface machine truly your own.

Shop Microsoft Cyber Monday deals

HP Cyber Monday deals

HP’s Cyber Monday offerings knock up to 71 percent off its doorbuster deals on laptops and other devices, plus you’ll get free shipping sitewide. A number of solid laptops have been discounted, including the HP Pavilion 15 with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which you can grab for only $580. There’s also the HP Chromebook x360 with an Intel Pentium processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage that’s only $290.

Shop HP Cyber Monday deals

Dell Cyber Monday deals

Dell has discounted a bunch of machines for Cyber Monday, including Alienware gaming gear and XPS laptops. Most of Dell’s deals are available in “limited quantities,” so it’s a good idea to shop early today if you see something you like. This Alienware x15 R2 laptop with a Core i9 processor, NVIDIA RTX 3070 graphics, 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage is down to $2,500, while this XPS 13 laptop with a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is down to $999.

Shop Dell Cyber Monday deals

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Earlier this year, Twitter confirmed that the private user data for 5.4 million users was stolen due to an API vulnerability, but the company said it had “no evidence” that it was exploited. Now, all of those accounts have been exposed on a hacker form, BleepingComputer has reported. On top of that, an additional 1.4 million Twitter profiles for suspended users was reportedly shared privately, and an even larger data dump with the data of “tens of millions” of other users may have come from the same vulnerability.

The owner of hacking forum called Breached told BleepingComputer that it was responsible for exploiting the weakness (originally obtained from another hacker called “Devil”) and dumping the user records. It said that it also obtained 1.4 million Twitter profiles for suspended accounts, obtained via another API, but only shared those privately among a few individuals.

On top of all that, security expert Chad Loder has revealed that tens of millions more Twitter records may have been collected using the same API. Once again, data collected may include private phone numbers along with public information. Loder posted a redacted sample on Mastodon, as he was banned on Twitter several days ago for unknown reasons. It could contain over 17 million records, BleepingComputer was told.

The breaches leaked users’ private phone numbers and email addresses, which could be used for phishing and other scams. That information could also be exploited to uncover identities from private Twitter accounts. As usual, be very wary of any suspicious emails or texts claiming to come from Twitter — and if you’re thinking about using two-factor authentication, now would be a good time.  

 

If you’ve been waiting for the best possible deal on an Xbox Series S console, today is the day. For Cyber Monday, Amazon is offering a $60 discount (20 percent) plus a $40 coupon that can be applied to future purchases. That effectively gives you a $100 discount (33 percent) off the regular $300 price for today only — a great deal on a very good console. 

Buy Xbox Series S at Amazon – $240 (with $40 credit)

When the Series S came out, we called it the “next-gen starter pack” and gave it a solid 85 score. Even though it doesn’t support gameplay in 4K, it plays incredibly smoothly and has a svelte look that will fit into any decor. Thanks to the FPS boost technology added to the Series S and X, older games, including many made for Xbox One, will look and perform better with faster frame rates.

Unlike the Series X, the Series S only plays digital titles, with no slot to insert physical game media. It’s a great option if you have an Xbox Game Pass membership, though, which costs $10 per month for the Console tier, and $15 per month for the Ultimate tier. Either level unlocks a library with hundreds of game to download and play, while also granting discounts to many titles you might want to buy outright.

Another caveat is that the Series S has less SSD storage, with 512GB on-board compared to the 1TB for the Series X. If you like to keep plenty of titles on hand, you’ll either need to shuffle them between the main disk and USB-C storage, or purchase Seagate’s $200 expansion card. All told, though, it’s a great option for casual console gamers, particularly considering all the backward-compatible Game Pass games — just keep in mind that the sale ends today. 

 

Slow Horses was something of a slow-burning surprise when its first season launched back in April. It was yet another Apple TV hit whose marketing hadn’t done well enough to connect with audiences, relying instead on word of mouth. What viewers found, however, was a low-stakes spy drama with the sort of pulpy, throwback thrills that you rarely see in our more self-serious age. Mixed with a shot or two of black comedy, and it made for a surprisingly gripping package I felt compelled to rave about back in April.

The show’s second season, which returns to Apple TV+ on December 2nd, carries on in that vein, albeit with less of the show’s trademark humor. It focuses, once again, on the staff members of Slough House, the closest thing MI5 has to purgatory for disgraced intelligence officers. Led by the “colorful” Jackson Lamb, the Slow Horses are often left doing administrative donkeywork nobody else thinks is worth doing. Of course, you wouldn’t have a series if the misfits weren’t frequently embroiled in the grander machinations of the intelligence community.

Season Two is based on Dead Lions, the second in Herron’s series of Slough House novels, and focuses on Lamb’s investigation of the death of a former officer. Apple’s usual ban on spoilers means that, of the plot, I can only say that it features “long-buried Cold War secrets” which “threaten to bring carnage to the streets of London.” Oh, and that “when a liaison with Russian villains takes a fatal turn, our hapless heroes must overcome their individual failings and raise their spy game in a race to prevent a catastrophic incident.”

We pick up shortly after the first season, with the Horses frustrated that their heroics haven’t led to better things. Instead, the team has been bolstered with Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Marcus Longridge (Kadiff Kirwan) and put back on regular duties. That has, understandably, left River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) in something of a funk. But when a former agent is found dead on a bus, it suddenly piques Jackson Lamb’s (Gary Oldman) interest enough to return to work in the field.

Given that the first two six-episode seasons were shot in a single run, it’s no surprise that the show expects you to recall much of what happened in the first run. But, despite the continuous production, there’s a big tonal shift here, with the show getting darker and dropping some of its trademark wit and humor. And, I’ll be honest, the running gag about Jackson Lamb’s lack of personal hygiene and non-stop farting starts to get a bit thin by the end.

Fans of the books will already know why the series takes a darker turn, although I found some of the twists were initially a bit lightweight. Maybe years of watching series where nothing we see can be believed meant I was always waiting for a non-existent second shoe to drop. None exist here in the Slow Horses universe, and when you see some beloved characters go, uh, to places you might not expect, be mindful that none of it is for show.

It’s not a show that you can watch with one eye on your phone, but it’s so briskly paced that if you blink, you might lose your place. I’d consider myself a close watcher of things, but even I found myself having to pause to work out which sinister Russian emigre was which. It doesn’t help that while you can see where all of the various plotlines are heading, their collision is a little predictable. But I’m nitpicking, and this isn’t the sort of show you need to unpick for hours on end on Reddit – just repeat to yourself it’s just a show, and you should really just relax.

And Slow Horses’ second season really belongs to Rosalind Eleazar (Guy) and Saskia Reeves (Standish), who are both given time and space to grow their characters. The former carries much of the major narrative this time around, while the latter again shows how much steel is buried underneath Standish’s downtrodden personae. But the show is democratic enough to give every character a grace note or two during the explosive, and gripping, finale.

Slow Horses season two will launch on Apple TV+ on Friday, December 2nd, with two new episodes, with subsequent episodes appearing every Friday through December 30th. A third and fourth season has already been greenlit.

 

Since 2013, Gran Turismo’s Vision project has seen some of the world’s largest automakers, including Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz, imagine what their cars could look like without real-world constraints. Over the weekend, GT series developer Polyphony Digital announced the latest addition to the Vision stable, an entry from Ferrari, would arrive in Gran Turismo 7 on December 23rd.

Like its predecessors, the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo features capabilities that would put any production vehicle to shame. Ferrari outfitted the concept car with “a more extreme version” of the V6 engine found on the 499P hypercar the automaker plans to field at next year’s Le Mans endurance race. In-game, the single-seat hybrid will produce more than 1,000 horsepower, with three electric motors providing additional power.

“We wanted to create a vision of the future designed without constraint, but born from Ferrari’s unrivalled understanding of engineering, aerodynamics and future technologies, and deliver it into the digital world for a whole new audience to experience,” said Ferrari Design Director Flavio Manzoni. Ferrari fans should keep their eyes out for an in-game quiz. Completing it before anyone else will grant early access to the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo.

 

Two years after its release, Half-Life Alyx remains the definitive VR experience. So it’s no surprise a lot of people want more. Until Valve announces a sequel (which might take a while), it’s up to the modding community to provide new content. Thankfully, Levitation, a new single-player mod for Half-Life Alyx, not only extends the story of Valve’s latest but is also earning praise for its gameplay.

The free mod features three to four hours of additional story content, complete with new voice acting and animations. As of the writing of this article, Levitation has a perfect five-star rating across 627 reviews, with many praising the work of level designer FMPONE. The positive response is especially noteworthy considering Levitation was only announced earlier this year. Without sharing too much of the story, the mod sees the player sent to City 17’s mysterious Section X to investigate a levitating building where two members of The Resistance went missing.

You can download Levitation by subscribing to the mod through its Workshop page. Once you’ve installed Part One, Steam will automatically download the remaining four parts as you play through the mod. Note that you will need a copy of Half-Life Alyx and a compatible VR headset to play through the experience.