I had three flagship phones on three different tripods all aimed at a sun rapidly being crowded by a nuisance moon, and all I wanted was one or two excellent eclipse shots.
Turns out that photographing a solar eclipse with your smartphone is not that easy. In fact, figuring out a repeatable process without cauterizing your retinas is downright challenging. But I did it. I grabbed some of the best smartphones money can buy, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and prepared for 180 minutes of celestial excitement.
That last selection might turn a few heads. It is, after all, a now aging flagship Android phone that does not have the latest image processing or even the fastest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip found in the Galaxy S24 Ultra (the S23 Ultra has the Gen 2). However, one thing it has that none of my other flagship smartphones offer is a 10X optical zoom (not even the S24 Ultra has that).
Throughout this endeavor I committed to not using any enhancements, leaving the phones’ zoom lenses to do their best work without digital magic. I never pinched and zoomed. I just pointed each phone at the eclipse and hit the shutter.
Making an adjustment
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Except as soon as I did this, I realized it wasn’t going to work. The sun naturally blows out the exposure on all the phones. It’s not that I haven’t taken pictures of the sun before. I’ve snapped quite a few with the iPhone and to get over the blowout, I tap the sun on screen and that speeds up the exposure to lower the light and bring out the sun’s definition.
An eclipse wreaks havoc with a smartphone’s exposure controls, and the more the moon occludes the sun, the sharper that light becomes. My solution was simple and likely one you’ve seen elsewhere. I took my Celestron eclipse glasses and carefully placed the film of one sunglass lens over each phone’s zoom lens. If you ever have trouble identifying which camera is the zoom, just open the camera app, select the max optical zoom, and put your finger over each camera lens until you see your finger on the screen.
Three phones, three tripods (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The solar sunglasses helped with cutting down the massive glare. After that, I tapped on the screen and adjusted the exposure until I could see the sun getting the Pac-man treatment from the moon. In most cases, the result was a very orange-looking sun.
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For the next hour or so, I shifted from one phone to the other, repositioning my tripods, lining up the sun, and snapping away.
There were some non-smartphone-related glitches, like cloud cover right before our peak totality (90% where I live) but I was more successful than I expected and the smartphones, for the most part, were up to the challenge.
Not all smartphone cameras are created equal
As you can see, the Ultra’s 10X zoom gets you closer. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
You’ll see some of my comparisons above and below (I’ve used the best from all the phones in the above shots) which I did not resize or enhance, other than cropping them where possible to show them side-by-side.
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Pixel 8 Pro shoot at 12MP (the latter is binned from a 48MP sensor, meaning four pixels combined into each one), the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 10X zoom camera is only 10MP. I think those numbers do factor into the overall quality.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The Google Pixel 8 Pro matched the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x zoom and sometimes seemed sharper than either the iPhone or Galaxy S23 Ultra, but I also struggled the most with the Pixel 8 to capture a properly exposed shot. It was also the only phone that forced a long exposure after the peak 90% coverage. The good news is that some of those long exposures offered up the most atmosphere, managing to collect some of the cloud cover blocking my full view of the eclipse.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Things got more interesting with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and its 5x Tertrapism lens. The eclipse appears a little closer than on the Pixel 8 Pro, but also more vibrant. There are a handful of iPhone 15 Pro Max pictures where I can see the clouds and it’s quite beautiful. As with all the phones, this image capture process was a bit hit-and-miss. Colors shifted from orange to almost black and white, and sticking the focus was a challenge. When I did manage to capture a decent photo, I was thrilled.
One of the Google Pixel 8 Pro’s best eclipse photos. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom pulled me thrillingly close to the eclipse. It was certainly easier to get the exposure and focus right. At a glance, the S23’s images are better but closer examination reveals significant graininess, so much so that some appear almost like paintings and rough canvas.
As I dug deeper into all the photos, I noted how each phone camera used ISO settings to manage the image capture and quality. The iPhone 15 Pro Max ranged from ISO 50 (very slow light capture) to ISO 800 (super fast for ultra-bright situations and action shots). Naturally, those at the upper end of the spectrum are just as grainy as those from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which ranges from as low as ISO 250 to 800.
Sometimes the comparison came down to a matter of taste. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The Google Pixel 8 Pro has the widest range from as low as ISO 16 to an astonishing ISO 1,536. It used that for a capture of the 90% eclipsed sun behind clouds. Aesthetically, it is one of the better shots.
If I had to choose a winner here, it would be the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra by a nose. That extra optical zoom means you have more detail before the graininess kicks in.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a very close second, but only because it was easier to capture a decent shot. I also think that if it had a bigger optical zoom, the iPhone’s powerful image processing might’ve outdone the year-old Galaxy.
Probably my favorite iPhone 15 Pro Mac eclipse shot. (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Google Pixel Pro 8 has some great shots but also a lot of bad ones because I couldn’t get it to lock in on the converging sun and moon. It also suffered the most when it came to exposure. Even so, I am impressed with the ISO range and the sharpness of some shots.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max and Google Pixel 8 Pro also deserve special mention for producing my two favorite shots. They’re not the closest or clearest ones, but by capturing some of the clouds, they add an ethereal, atmospheric element.
If I live long enough to see another eclipse (there’s one in the American Midwest in 2044), I’ll look for special smartphone eclipse filters and give it another try. By then we could well have 200x optical zoom cameras with 1,000MP sensors.
If you’re a discerning mobile photographer in the market for a new shooter, our best camera phone roundup should be your first port of call, but, if you’re interested in how the best of the best actually perform, read on. I decided to pit the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra against one another in an extensive shootout to see how these top-ranking photographic champs compare.
For those not so familiar with this trio of mobile titans, here are some of the highlights. The Pixel 8 Pro – Google’s latest and greatest – delivers the company’s best AI smarts yet, thanks to its in-house Tensor G3 chip. This helps with everything from screening calls to ensuring everyone’s smiling and looking at the camera in that photo from your auntie’s 60th birthday (a feature known as Best Take).
Where photography is concerned, the 8 Pro’s hardware falls to a 50MP main sensor – boasting superior low light compared to the Pixel 7 Pro’s primary camera, a 48MP ultra-wide with a tuned macro mode and a 48MP telephoto that offers 5x optical zoom and helps facilitate the phone’s max 30x Super Res Zoom.
Apple, by comparison, hasn’t yet gone hard on branding every feature under the sun with AI, but that doesn’t make the iPhone 15 Pro Max any less of a cutting-edge powerhouse. It has one of the most capable mobile chips on the market in the company’s own A17 Pro SoC, alongside the first periscopic telephoto camera ever on an iPhone, with a unique tetraprism 5x optical zoom.
Sapphire crystal lens cover, Adaptive True Tone flash, Photonic Engine, Deep Fusion, Smart HDR 5, LiDAR scanner, Apple ProRAW, Dolby Vision HDR recording at up to 4K 60fps, LOG video recording, Academy Color Encoding System, Cinematic video recording
Pro controls, Ultra HDR, Magic Editor, Best Take, Photo Unblur, Motion Mode, Real Tone, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Top Shot, Live HDR+, Video Boost
ProVisual Engine, Reflection removal, Generative fill, Astrophotography, Pro Mode, Dual Recording, Nightography, Instant Slow-mo, Photo Assist, Super HDR, Super Steady video
Then we have the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It looks like its predecessors but boasts the best performance of any Android phone currently on the market, thanks to a custom-tuned Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, a truly stunning 6.8-inch 120Hz display, a killer quad rear camera and, for a unique touch, Samsung’s iconic S Pen stylus.
Galaxy AI features can be found all over the Ultra experience, translating phone calls in real-time and letting you reframe photos with generative fill. However, like the last Ultra, camera versatility remains one of its biggest strengths.
In line with its rivals, there’s now a 5x optical zoom to work with but through some clever sensor cropping, the Ultra actually affords you six lossless focal lengths, from 0.6 to 10x zoom, as well as still capture at up to 200MP, thanks to its main sensor (not to mention up to 8K 30fps video capture too).
So with the specs and features detailed, let’s get on with testing those cameras in the real world.
Note: the camera being used is noted in the bottom left corner of each camera sample.
Main sensor
Starting with standard photos, shot using each phone’s main snapper. These are the results from simply opening the camera app and hitting the shutter button – no settings tweaks and no lenses or modes changed first.
Tower Bridge & Millennium Bridge
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
We shot on a characteristically bright and cloudy day in London Town; starting with these shots of Vic against Tower Bridge (above) and later Millennium Bridge (below).
The Pixel adopted perhaps the most striking results in this well-lit scene, with strong contrast and colors. It also served up the most true-to-life colors for Vic’s skin and hair. However, the rest of the scene adopted a slight magenta tinge that looked unnatural in comparison to the other two phones.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
The iPhone captured a nicer, brighter image – with softer contrast and a cooler overall look – and the most balanced dynamic range processing, bringing up the darkest parts of the image without making the entire scene appear flat.
The S24 Ultra – like the Pixel – miscolored the overall scene, with a slight green tint this time, but otherwise applied good color and contrast to Vic herself. The phone’s large sensor and lens resulted in a slightly wider shot with shallower depth, applying a pleasing, natural softness to the background. The end result does, however, looked a little washed out.
So while all three have specific strengths, I’d give this one to the iPhone.
Shoes
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Next up, Vic’s blue suede shoes, captured outside with a strip of bright, cloudy sky directly above between buildings that rose high on either side.
Here, the Pixel clinches it for blending the high contrast and great detail capture – also seen on the iPhone, but with more accurate colors.
Uplighting
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(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Removing natural light from the scene and relying on what was predominantly this strong uplighting, like the Tower Bridge shot, the Pixel spit out the most striking and high-contrast image, with a lot of shadow detail on the brickwork.
With Samsung’s move away from its former heavily-processed approach to photography, I think it managed the most true-to-life and visually pleasing result of the three phones here. That said, I wish it had applied the iPhone’s processing when it came to dynamic range. Apple’s phone was the only one of the three to avoid blowing out the skin on Vic’s hand, even if the shot was comparatively too cool overall.
High contrast
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
One of the first sample shots taken on the day was this high-contrast scene, as I thought it would be a great way to assess how these phones handle metering and dynamic range processing. Sure enough, the results presented a lot of variation.
The Pixel’s preference for contrast is exacerbated here, with its attempts to stop down the scene in order to capture anything beyond the arch. This left the shot underexposed, overall, while the light sources still appeared blown out. It made for the most dramatic final image but the weakest of the three.
The iPhone took second place, serving up great colors and contrast, and managing to rescue some of the brightest parts of the shot in the back of the scene. Not quite as well as the S24 Ultra, though, which produced a similar result but did an amazing job more correctly exposing the entire scene. It kept all the detail beyond the arch, as well as all the lit brickwork in the foreground.
Zoom
Now let’s talk zoom. While all three of these phones have large main sensors and periscopic 5x telephoto cameras, they all handle zoom a little differently.
Samsung (above), unsurprisingly, served up the greatest versatility. Its combination of a secondary dedicated 3x telephoto sensor and sensor cropping gives you lossless shots at 0.6x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x and 10x magnification. In addition, that insane 100x Space Zoom feature, which might seem useless on first impressions, means you’ve got more headroom at distances between that 10x and 100x that the other phones struggle to match.
As for consistency and overall quality, I think the iPhone (above) deserves a pat on the back, as it doesn’t overextend like the Samsung. Even at its maximum zoom range, 25x lossy shots still held an impressive amount of detail and information that’s wholly usable.
The Pixel (above) didn’t disappoint in this test but it just received a participation award here. It served up consistent and usable shots but they don’t turn heads like the other two.
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(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Also, don’t fall for Apple’s 24mm, 28mm, 35mm lens marketing (above), it’s just cropping on the main sensor, which I’d advise you do in post instead, for greater control.
Low light
While all three phones can deliver in conventional low light shooting scenarios, like nights out and at dusk, I wanted to see what work the image processing and sensors have to do when the lights get low. As such, we shot in a windowless room with the door almost completely shut – to the point where I could only just make out the plants on the wall with the naked eye.
First, here’s the scene with the lights on, to serve as a baseline for what each phone’s low light and Night modes are striving for.
The scene before the lights were turned off (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Night mode off
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(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Low light capture without Night mode proved (unsurprisingly) challenging for all three phones. The iPhone cranked the ISO up to retain the most sharpness and detail, at the expense of exhibiting the most sensor noise.
With Google’s well-established prowess with Night Sight, the Pixel didn’t even try here; creating a sort of pink sludgy shot with such underwhelming detail and color information that it looked like it was shot using infrared.
The S24 Ultra made the best of a bad situation, offering sharper detail than the Pixel and less noise than the iPhone in exchange for its characteristic green tint across the scene.
Night mode on
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(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Flipping to Night mode, the Samsung showed the least improvement; struggling to recover much color detail or improve exposure much over the standard low light sample.
The iPhone boasted the fastest Night mode capture time and produced a usable shot with good detail but poor dynamic range. Not to mention it added a yellow hue to the scene.
The Pixel, meanwhile, moved from the back to the front of the pack, by being able to render a shot that looked like it was taken in a lit room. It’s still dim, sure, but there’s clear definition in the subject, tangible detail in the shadows and you can tell that the leaves on the plants are, in fact, green.
Portrait mode
Portrait mode using the main cameras on each phone yielded some interesting results. Both Android phones struggled to segment Vic from the background cleanly, while the iPhone over-softened her slightly in both scenarios.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
In all three phones’ images, the level of bokeh looked too extreme as standard, with the iPhone offering the most effective adjustment over this attribute after capture. The Pixel won the award for subject detail, while the S24 Ultra managed the most accurate colors.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
While all three phones crop in by default, the Pixel locks you into a 1.5x zoom as standard. You can punch much further out with the Galaxy and iPhone.
Selfies
All these shots are taken using each phone’s front camera, with a mix of Portrait mode enabled or disabled, depending on the sample.
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(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
The Pixel’s tendency to increase contrast and under-expose in bright conditions carried across to its front 10.5MP camera. The iPhone and Galaxy’s 12MP selfie snappers were brighter and retained more face detail in direct comparison.
The S24 captured the narrowest field of view and had that characteristic green tint but offered the best overall composition – covering color, contrast and detail capture. The iPhone once again won for edge detection around challenging elements like hair and offering the most natural-looking bokeh, even if shots erred on the cooler side once more.
Video
Finishing with video capture, our 4K 60fps test footage revealed that, while close, the iPhone’s stabilization and autofocus tracking ruled supreme, but that color and contrast take a nosedive compared to the still shots the phone can produce.
The S24 Ultra over-exposed and over-sharpened footage but did the best job at filtering out wind noise. The Pixel came out on top, even without leaning on its AI-enhanced Video Boost feature.
Not only did footage more closely match still photo quality and fidelity, but provided you’re happy with the degree to which it punches in, you get a warmer and more filmic image overall, with attractive depth of field from that main 50MP sensor.
It’s worth noting that if you’re looking for a new phone to slot into a content capture workflow, the iPhone arguably has the best codecs and toolset, with Samsung’s flagship offering has the highest degree of control at capture.
Conclusion
So with these titans thoroughly tested, we can’t say there’s a clear-cut champ but rather the winner depends on which photographic qualities matter most to you. Are you a fan of the Pixel’s Night mode photography, or more a lover of the iPhone’s bokeh? Perhaps the sheer breadth of features and versatility offered by the S24 Ultra gets your vote.
Whichever device made the most convincing argument, just know that you’re getting one of the industry’s best right now.
As another week winds to a close, it’s time for Engadget’s roundup of the best deals we spotted this week. There’s no giant sale happening right now, but we still found a few decent discounts on some of our recommended tech, including 40 percent off a year’s subscription to Max’s streaming service, $130 off our favorite Android tablet and a new low price on our top mouse for gaming. If you’ve been considering a foldable phone but have been (understandably) turned off by the high prices, a both Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google’s Pixel Fold are currently on sale and going for $400 and $500 off, respectively. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Max
Max will run its 40-percent-off promotion until Tuesday, April 9. If you think you’ll watch the streaming service a fair amount in the next twelve months, you may want to take advantage. Any new subscriber can get the deal, but some returning and existing customers are eligible too. If you previously had a plan through the Apple App Store or Google Play, and are returning, you can save. If you’re a current member and signed up for your subscription through Max’s site, you’re eligible.
All three tiers are seeing the discount, including the top-tier, ad-free plan with 4K support, which is now $140 annually instead of $240. The mid-level plan is also ad-free but doesn’t support 4K content and that one is $105 for the year, instead of $192. The cheapest plan is ad-supported and down to $70 yearly, instead of $120.
If you need extra storage for a device that takes microSD cards, here’s a good price on a terabyte. The 1TB version of Lexar’s Professional 1066x card is now down to $76.49 on Amazon which is a 47 percent discount off the list price (though it regularly goes for $85) and the lowest price we’ve tracked.
The Professional 1066x is not a formal pick in our microSD card guide, as it’s a bit slower than our top choices, though not drastically. Those top picks are Samsung’s Pro Plus and Pro Ultimate, but neither are seeing much of a discount right now. Other storage that is on sale includes sales on more Lexar gear, Seagate cards and Crucial RAM.
The entry-level, second-generation Apple AirPods from 2019 are down to $89 from their full price of $129 at Amazon and Walmart (note they regularly sell for $99). The sale isn’t an all-time low, but beats the lowest we’ve seen this year by a dollar. These don’t have active noise cancellation or transparency mode, have an older chip and the audio isn’t as good as the later generations. But if you’re just looking for a pair of buds that work well with Siri at a sub-$100 price, this could be the way to go.
For upgraded sound, check out the third-generation Apple AirPods which are 13 percent of making them $149 from their $169 list price. In addition to better sound, these add an hour of battery life and Spatial Audio support.
Apple’s top-of-the-line second-gen AirPods Pro are marked down to $199 from $249 at Amazon and down to $200 at Target — a 20 percent discount that they’ve seen for many months now. They are our top pick for earbuds for iOS and deliver active noise canceling, great sound with an H2 chip and a MagSafe USB-C charging case.
The top gaming mouse in our buyer’s guide is down to $40 after a 43 percent discount which matches the all-time low. The Razer Basilisk V3 offers a complete blend of price, performance, build quality and comfort. We liked its sturdy body and textured matte finish. Plus the grip is comfortable and likely will be for most people, though perhaps not for those with the smallest hands. Also the buttons are relatively quiet and not tiring to press repeatedly, an important consideration in a gaming mouse.
Our top Android tablet is now on sale. Currently, Amazon, Best Buy and Samsung’s own site are selling the base-model Galaxy Tab S9 for $670. That’s $130 off the list price and the lowest price we’ve seen yet, beating the previous low it hit a few weeks ago. The Tab S9 family is our top choice for Android tablets, thanks to their multitasking abilities, aided by DeX mode that adds PC-like function and a speedy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The OLED displays are gorgeous and the included S Pen makes note taking and drawing rather pleasant. Add accessories like a keyboard case and you’re getting a tablet that acts a lot like a PC.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A9+ is also on sale and down to $170 instead of $220 at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. That’s the lowest priced we’ve tracked, though the discount has been around for a few weeks now. The deal applies to the base model in either Graphite or Sliver with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is expandable with a microSD card. If you want a little more RAM for gaming and heavier use, you may want to go for the model with 8GB of memory. That model is down to $220 after a $50 discount.
We named the Tb A9+ the budget pick in our Android tablet buying guide because it covers the basics well. It has an 11-inch LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The battery is decent but the charging rate is rather slow at 15W.
A decent key light can improve how you look on camera and now Logitech’s Litra Beam is $10 off and down to $90, which is only $5 more than the lowest price we’ve seen.
It’s a stylish-looking accessory with a three-way adjustable stand, allowing you to adjust the height, tilt and rotation. It can run on either USB or AC power so you can put it wherever makes sense for your setup. The device uses TrueSoft tech, which, according to Logitech, provides “balanced, full-spectrum LED light with cinematic color accuracy for a natural, radiant look across all skin tones.” The frameless diffuser should mitigate harsh shadows, too.
The JBL Charge 5 is back down to $130 at Amazon and directly from JBL. That’s not an all-time low, but still $30 or so less than it’s been selling for lately. The Charge 5 is a mid-range pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. It packs a big sound for its roughly two-pound size and it’s IP67-rated, so it can survive a dunk in water. The battery is big enough to supply up to 20 hours of listening and can even lend a little refill to your phone if you need it. The new low price may have something to do with the release of the Wi-Fi-enabled version — this one just connects via Bluetooth only.
A robot vacuum can be a low-effort way to start your spring cleaning, which makes this sale on Shark robovacs particularly timely. One notable deal is a 44 percent discount on Shark’s AI Robot Vacuum and Mop. That brings it down to $270 from $480, which is just $20 more than its all-time low price. It’s pretty similar to one of the top picks in our guide to robot vacuums, Shark’s $700 Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop, except the discounted model doesn’t have a self emptying base.
If you’ve been thinking of getting a folding phone, now might be a good time to shop. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is $400 off the list price at Amazon, dropping the base model with 256GB of storage down to $1,400 instead of $1,800 — that’s still not cheap for a phone, but the savings does take out some of the sting.
It’s a solid phone though we do wish Samsung was doing more to take advantage of its head start in the foldable space — or at least brought down the price. Amazon is also selling Google’s entry in the foldable race, the Pixel Fold for $500 off.
If you have Wi-Fi dead spots in your home and aren’t ready to pony up for a mesh system, you may want to look into an extender. The RE700X model of TP-Link’s AX300 Wi-Fi extender is on sale for $90 after a 25 percent discount. That’s within a dollar of the all-time low it hit last year as part of Black Friday sales. This is a variation of the extender we named the best overall in our guide and lacks adjustable antennae, but the other specs are the same.
We liked the AX3000 for its their coverage range, Wi-Fi 6 support and a high max speed of up to 2402 Mbps on the 5GHz band and 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz band.
One of our favorite ereaders, the Kobo Libra 2, is down to $170 directly from Kobo. That’s a $20 discount, though not an all-time low. We recommend the Libra 2 in our ereader buying guide as the best model with buttons. It has a premium feel, a waterproof design and an ergonomic build that’s a pleasure to hold for long periods of time.
The 7-inch, 300 dpi display is crisp and the built-in integration with Overdrive makes it easy to borrow, download and read ebooks from your local library. Plus the Kobo store has a selection that’s nearly as vast as Kindle — it’s just missing the self-published and Amazon-published titles.
Smartphones don’t have to cost as much as the rent on a Santa Monica studio apartment — you can easily find one at Cleveland rental prices. The OnePlus Nord N30 5G is our pick for the best cheap phone you can buy and right now it’s $50 off, making that recommendation even more relevant. That isn’t a record low price, but its close. The discount comes as part of a larger sale on OnePlus phones and earbuds.
The Nord N30 5G offers has a relatively speedy Snapdragon 695 5G processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s also a 16MP front-facing camera and, a 108MP main and 2MP macro lens on the back.
According to Sony’s PS5 landing page, this deal should have expired at the end of March, but here we are nearly a week into April and it’s still live as of this writing. A bundle pairing the PlayStation 5 with a digital copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is still $50 off, bringing the standard console down to $449 and the disc-drive-less version down to $399.
There are rumors of a “PS5 Pro” but the current model can still play many games at 4K and/or 60fps, and its library has steadily improved over time. Spider-Man 2 is of the system’s more acclaimed exclusives; we called it “perfectly balanced” in our review. The game normally goes for $70 on its own.
The Meta Quest 2 VR headset is $199 at Amazon and Walmart, a $50 discount, but sadly, the sweeter deal that included a Meta Quest store credit in addition to the discount has expired.
The Quest 2 is the budget pick in our guide to VR headsets. It’s not as sharp, fast or feature-rich as the newer Meta Quest 3, but it can still run just about all the platform’s best games and apps and serves as a good introduction to VR.
The base model, 256GB Pixel Fold is $500 off and down to $1,299 at Amazon and the Google Store. The 512GB version is also $500 off and down to $1,419. The previous low for both versions was $100 more.
The Pixel Fold is the runner up in our foldable phone buying guide and we gave it a score of 85 in our review last year. It has a 5.8-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch interior display. We found it takes better pictures than the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5, and the wider shape makes it easier to use the exterior screen than the Galaxy’s thinner design. However Samsung’s foldable phone has a brighter screen and faster performance. The Galaxy Fold 5 is on sale for $1,400.
If you’re looking for an air fryer that could very well replace your oven, you’d do well to check out the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. Right now it’s down for $320, which is an $80 discount that matches the best price we’ve seen. You can get the same deal at Amazon, Best Buy and Williams Sonoma. This made the list in our guide to the best air fryers as an option that can toast, broil, roast and bake in addition to air frying. It’s big enough to cook a 14-pound turkey or fit a five-quart dutch oven just keep in mind that it’s rather large, taking up a cubic foot of space with its 40-pound girth.
There’s still time to get a free TV from Samsung when you pre-order one of their new models for 2024. Until April 11, Samsung will throw in a 65-inch 4K TV when you pre-order a new OLED, 8K, 4K or Frame TVs for 2024. We hesitate to call this a great deal: Many of the better Samsung TVs from last year are now available for much cheaper, and we can’t say how much of an upgrade the new models will be until we see more reviews drop. On paper, they don’t look to be huge leaps, though the top-end S95D OLED TV may be notable for its new anti-glare panel. The freebie TV is also a basic entry-level model from 2022, the Samsung TU690T.
Still, this is a decent sweetener if you’re willing to pay for one of the latest models and could use any sort of large screen for a secondary room around the house. The offer may be particularly appealing if you want a new Frame TV, as the previous version is currently going for the same price as the 2024 model. You can read more about this discount here.
One of the Anker chargers from last month’s sale is still on sale, though it’s $2 more than the low it hit in March. The 735 Nano 2 65W wall charger goes for $56 at full price but now, thanks to a 29 percent discount and an additional 15 percent, on-page coupon, it’s down to $34. It has three ports, including two USB-C connections and one standard USB-A connection.
Apple today introduced a new firmware update for AirPods Max. The new firmware is 6A325, up from the 6A324 firmware released in January.
Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware, so it is unclear what’s new, and the notes often only list generic bug fixes.
Apple also does not offer instructions on how to upgrade the software on the AirPods, but firmware is generally installed over-the-air while the AirPods are powered on and connected to an iOS device or a Mac.
You can check your AirPods Max firmware by following these steps:
Connect your AirPods to your iOS device.
Open the Settings app.
Tap General.
Tap About.
Tap AirPods.
Look at the number next to “Firmware Version.”
If we find anything notable in the firmware release, we’ll update this article.
Apple’s WWDC 2024 dates have been announced, giving us timing for the unveiling of the company’s next round of major operating system updates and likely some other announcements. This week also saw some disappointing news on the iPad front, with update timing for the iPad Pro and iPad Air pushed back from previous rumors. We did hear some new tidbits about what might be coming in iOS 18 and…
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will…
Apple today added a handful of devices to its public-facing vintage and obsolete products list, including some older iPhone and iPad models. Apple now considers the iPhone 6 Plus to be “obsolete” worldwide, meaning that Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers no longer offer repairs or other hardware service for the device. Apple says it considers a product “obsolete” once seven…
Apple has yet to release the first beta of iOS 17.5 for the iPhone, but two changes are already expected with the upcoming software update. iOS 17.5 will likely allow iPhone users in the EU to download apps directly from the websites of eligible developers, and the update might include some changes to how Apple ID recovery contacts work. More details about these potential changes follow. W…
A first look at iOS 18’s rumored visionOS-style redesign may have been revealed by a new image of the Camera app. Alleged iOS 18 design resource. MacRumors received the above iPhone frame template from an anonymous source who claims they obtained it from an iOS engineer. It will allegedly be included as part of the Apple Design Resources for iOS 18, which helps developers visually design apps …
Nearly one year after it launched in the U.S., the Apple Card’s high-yield savings account will be receiving its first-ever interest rate decrease. Starting on April 3, the Apple Card savings account’s annual percentage yield (APY) will be lowered to 4.4%, according to data on Apple’s backend discovered by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The account currently has a 4.5% APY. 4.4% will …
Best Buy is discounting a large collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, including both the 14-inch and 16-inch versions of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and…
You still have a few more days to save 40 percent on a year’s subscription to Max. The discount is available to new subscribers (and some existing ones) and includes every plan the streaming service offers. The top tier subscription is for the ad-free, 4K plan which will now cost $140 annually instead of $240. The mid-level plan is also ad-free but doesn’t support 4K content. Thanks to these Max streaming deals that level is $105 for the year, instead of $192. The cheapest Max subscription is ad-supported and now $70 yearly, which works out to $5.83 per month as opposed to the usual $10. Max will run the discounts until Tuesday, April 9th.
Max
Annual subscriptions are currently 40 percent off for new and some existing subscribers.
Not only is the deal open to all new subscribers, existing subscribers who buy their service direct from Max.com can also take advantage. If you’re a returning subscriber and previously went through Max.com, the Apple App Store or Google Play, you can also get the discount. Unfortunately, only new subscribers via Fire TV are eligible. The timing of the deal is tied to March Madness promotions, as Max will stream all 2024 Division I NCAA men’s basketball championship games live, along with other live sports.
For those who don’t remember, Max is the name given to the streaming service that combines HBO’s programming with Discovery+ content. While the name may be less memorable, the smooshing of the two services means more content to peruse — from brands like HGTV and Food Network — in addition to fine HBO fare like The Last of Us and True Detective. It’s also where you can find Studio Ghibli films and A24 movies. Plus Our Flag Means Death, though canceled, was superb. There’s a reason we named Max one of the best streaming services out there.
It’s been a bit quiet on the AirPods front in recent times – all we got in 2023 was a USB-C refresh for the AirPods Pro – but it looks like 2024 could be busier, with a new report suggesting 4th-gen AirPods and the AirPods Max 2 are on the way.
This comes from well-known Apple analyst Jeff Pu (via MacRumors), and the AirPods are being described as “lower-cost” earbuds. We’re not sure exactly what that means, but previous rumors have pointed to two versions of the AirPods 4 making an appearance, with one at an “entry-level” price and one at a “mid-tier” price.
Quite how those two price tiers are going to match up with the current (and rather confusing) line-up remains to be seen: Apple currently sells the AirPods 3 from 2022 for $179 / £169 / AU$279 and the AirPods 2 from 2019 for $129 / £129 / AU$219. It sounds as though both those models will be replaced.
We’re expecting a tweak to the design so that the AirPods fit better, and the switch to USB-C is a given. The mid-tier models are also rumored to be getting active noise cancellation as well, in what sounds like a pretty major upgrade.
To the Max
As for the AirPods Max 2, the leaks have been pointing towards a 2024 launch for some time – although we weren’t that impressed with the revelations last year that the 2nd-gen cans would switch to USB-C and get new colors… and that would be about it.
If Apple wants to keep up with the best headphones on the market, it might need to do a little more than that to tempt consumers into picking up the AirPods Max 2. The current AirPods Max retail for $549 / £499 / AU$899, which is on the expensive side.
This new leak doesn’t give us any more information about what’s coming with the AirPods 4 or the AirPods Max 2, only that production on these devices is due to ramp up in the last quarter of the year, pointing to a launch over the holiday season.
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There’s plenty of time for more leaks between now and then. In the meantime, Apple is being tipped to launch new iPad Pro and iPad Air models next month, and it should be sharing a whole host of software update news at WWDC 2024 on June 10.
Apple plans to release lower-cost AirPods later this year, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple’s supply chain.
In a research note today with investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said a Foxconn subsidiary will be one of the suppliers of the lower-cost AirPods. Pu said Foxconn will ramp up AirPods assembly at a factory in India in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman previously said Apple plans to release two fourth-generation AirPods models in September or October, including entry-level and mid-tier models. He said both models will feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C port, while the mid-tier model will also feature active noise cancellation and a speaker for Find My location tracking. It is unclear if the lower-priced AirPods and the entry-level fourth-generation AirPods are the same product, but it seems plausible.
Pu also expects updated AirPods Max to be released in the fourth quarter of 2024. Gurman previously said a USB-C charging port will be the only new feature for the over-ear headphones, and new color options are also a possibility.
Apple’s WWDC 2024 dates have been announced, giving us timing for the unveiling of the company’s next round of major operating system updates and likely some other announcements. This week also saw some disappointing news on the iPad front, with update timing for the iPad Pro and iPad Air pushed back from previous rumors. We did hear some new tidbits about what might be coming in iOS 18 and…
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will…
Thieves in Montreal, Canada have been using Apple’s AirTags to facilitate vehicle theft, according to a report from Vermont news sites WCAX and NBC5 (via 9to5Mac). Police officers in Burlington, Vermont have issued a warning about AirTags for drivers who recently visited Canada. Two Burlington residents found Apple AirTags in their vehicles after returning from trips to Montreal, and these…
In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting “later” in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more narrow timeframe. In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the “fall…
Apple this week added dedicated “Tech Specs” pages to its website for the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and second-generation Apple Watch SE. The pages offer a variety of information about the latest Apple Watch models, including details about materials and finishes, size and weight, hardware, connectivity, battery life, health and wellness features, safety features,…
Apple today added a handful of devices to its public-facing vintage and obsolete products list, including some older iPhone and iPad models. Apple now considers the iPhone 6 Plus to be “obsolete” worldwide, meaning that Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers no longer offer repairs or other hardware service for the device. Apple says it considers a product “obsolete” once seven…
April 2024 is looking to be an exciting month for streaming – especially if you’re a Max subscriber. Not only is Max one of the best streaming services, but it’s a movie buff’s best friend, and these four Oscar winners are essentially to every watch list.
We’ve selected four movies coming to Max in April 2024 with Oscar wins to their names, including a rom-com set in Tokyo, a Darren Aronofsky thriller, a biopic from the mind of David Fincher, and an A24 drama that made a big impression on movie fans this year.
These four films show that Max is very fond of Oscar winners – and you can find more of them in our list of best Max movies.
Lost in Translation (2003)
Director: Sofia Coppola Runtime: 102 minutes Age rating: R Available on: April 1
Sofia Coppola earned her first Oscar win with her feature Lost in Translation, taking home the award for Best Original Screenplay. Leading the story is Bob Harris (Bill Murray), a fading Hollywood actor in a midlife crisis when he travels to Tokyo to film a whisky commercial. He meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a college graduate who is left by herself while her husband is on a job in the same city. Though their ages and lifestyles differ drastically, they start spending more time together to deal with the cultural barriers around them and their individual feelings of loss.
Black Swan (2010)
Director: Darren Aronofsky Runtime: 108 minutes Age rating: R Available on: April 1
Natalie Portman was named Best Actress at the 2011 Academy Awards for her thrilling performance as Nina, a ballerina whose life revolves around the art of dance. She’s cast as the lead in a production of Swan Lake and is perfect for the White Swan role, while a competitive newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis) is everything needed for the role of the Black Swan. Their rivalry turns into a menacing relationship, and that mixed with the pressure of Nina’s controlling mother, Nina forms a deeper connection with her dark side.
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The Social Network (2010)
Director: David Fincher Runtime: 120 minutes Age rating: PG-13 Available on: April 1
Another entry on our list that was awarded for its writing talents with a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Aaron Sorkin, in addition to Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Film Editing. The Social Network is a David Fincher masterpiece that recounts the events of how Facebook become a social and cultural phenomenon. Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard student and computer whiz who, out of spite, creates a project that will change the face of communication. And it turns out that the spite has barely begun…
The Zone of Interest
Director: Jonathan Glazer Runtime: 106 minutes Age rating: PG-13 Available on: April 5
The most recent entry in our list earned two Oscar wins at the 2024 Academy Awards, walking away with Best Sound and Best International Feature Film. With Jonathan Glazer in the director’s seat, The Zone of Interest takes us to German-occupied Poland in 1943 and centres around SS officer and Auschwitz commander Rudolf (Christian Friedel) and his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller). It’s a brutal look at the banality of evil, filling every inch of space around the idyllic life they’re building with the reality of the horrors.
Apple’s M3 Ultra chip may be designed as its own, standalone chip, rather than be made up of two M3 Max dies, according to a plausible new theory.
The theory comes from Max Tech‘s Vadim Yuryev, who outlined his thinking in a post on X earlier today. Citing a post from @techanalye1 which suggests the M3 Max chip no longer features the UltraFusion interconnect, Yuryev postulated that the as-yet-unreleased “M3 Ultra” chip will not be able to comprise two Max chips in a single package. This means that the M3 Ultra is likely to be a standalone chip for the first time.
This would enable Apple to make specific customizations to the M3 Ultra to make it more suitable for intense workflows. For example, the company could omit efficiency cores entirely in favor of an all-performance core design, as well as add even more GPU cores. At minimum, a single M3 Ultra chip designed in this way would be almost certain to offer better performance scaling than the M2 Ultra did compared to the M2 Max, since there would no longer be efficiency losses over the UltraFusion interconnect.
Furthermore, Yuryev speculated that the M3 Ultra could feature its own UltraFusion interconnect, allowing two M3 Ultra dies to be combined in a single package for double the performance in a hypothetical “M3 Extreme” chip. This would enable superior performance scaling compared to packaging four M3 Max dies and open the possibility of even higher amounts of unified memory.
Little is currently known about the M3 Ultra chip, but a report in January suggested that it will be fabricated using TSMC’s N3E node, just like the A18 chip that is expected to debut in the iPhone 16 lineup later in the year. This means it would be Apple’s first N3E chip. The M3 Ultra is rumored to launch in a refreshed Mac Studio model in mid-2024.
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple’s password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they’ll respond favorably to social engineering. An…
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce…
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as “Instant Digital.” Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will…
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new…
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There’s also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who…
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18….
Apple may be planning to add support for “custom routes” in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple’s pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled “CustomRouteCreation.” While not much is revealed…
Streaming service Max will finally be rolling out to Europe later this Spring, replacing HBO Max on the continent. Except for the United Kingdom, that is – the situation on the British Isles is a little complicated.
This news comes straight from a keynote presentation by JB Perette, who is the CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games over at Warner Bros. Discovery. The roll out won’t happen all at once, but in two waves.
On May 21, Max will officially launch in the Nordic countries, the Iberian Peninsula, as well as Central and Eastern Europe. It’s important to mention those regions already have HBO Max available to them so the change is happening there sooner. After that, the service will soon be made available in Poland, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium.
It’s unknown exactly when the platform will go live in the last four countries, however it could happen in the summer. As Variety points out, the 2024 Olympic Games will kick off in Paris on July 26. Plus, “Max will be the only platform to stream all live coverage of the [games]”. So if they want to have most of Europe watching the Olympics, it’ll have to come out before then.
Pricing
Pricing for subscription plans, at this moment, is unknown. Prices weren’t revealed during Perette’s presentation, although there is some information out there. According to Variety, Max in Europe will offer a cheap basic plan with ads, and a premium plan that’ll allow viewers to “stream content in Full HD or 4K on up to four devices simultaneously”. They go on to claim users will be given “up to 100 downloads of content.” As the service becomes available, pricing should become more clear.
On the surface, it seems Max subscribers can download up to 100 individual movies and shows from the platform. It is possible that Variety is actually talking about users being allowed to download hundreds of movies and shows. We believe it’s the former, but again, the wording isn’t super clear.
Going back to the subscriptions, the basic plan will first launch in nine countries including Denmark, France, Norway, and Romania. Pricing for everything “will vary from country to country”. More will be revealed within the coming months.
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UK availability
Max’s presence in the United Kingdom depends on the business deal Warner Bros. Discovery has with the British telecommunications company Sky.
As Deadline explains, Sky is the “exclusive distributor of most HBO content” in the UK due to a “lucrative licensing deal”. The contract doesn’t expire until 2026, so it’s entirely possible people there will have to wait another two years before they can get something resembling Max.
Sky has special “life of series agreements” for certain content so they can continue streaming them even if the deal changes. Of course, Warner Bros. and Sky can alter their contract within the next two years, but whether or not that’ll happen remains to be seen.
