iPhone 16 date confirmed, Asus ROG Ally X review, new Macs and PS5 Pro an “open secret”

• 🍎 Apple’s launch event will take place on Monday, September 9th at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT

• 📆 It’s a day earlier than expected, but avoids US politics

• 🙅‍♂️ The presidential debate would have taken place just 8 hours later on the 10th.

• 📱 Four new iPhones are expected – 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max

• ⌚ An Apple Watch 10 redesign and an Apple Watch Ultra 3 upgrade

• 🎧 AirPods 4 and another affordable AirPods set could also appear

It dawned on me over the weekend that if Apple stuck to the rumored (and natural) launch date of Tuesday, September 10, the company would be riding a wave of press for less than a day and then running right into the presidential debate on ABC that same night.

This is how I imagine the development from date to date. Prepare your trade-in devices now:

• 🚀 Monday, September 9th: Apple launch event (confirmed)

• 🛍️ Friday, September 13th: Apple Pre-Order Date (Estimated)

• 📆 Friday, September 20: Apple iPhone 16 release date (estimated)

There is no possibility Apple wanted to compete with the Trump-Harris debate on September 10, just eight hours later, and for obvious reasons has never held an iPhone launch event on September 11 (as a New Yorker, I respect that). Note: This does not change the iPhone 16 release date, This is expected to be Friday, September 20th.

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• ✅ 🏃‍♂️Slightly higher FPS performance in several games

• ✅ 🪭 Improved cooling ensures that the Ally X runs noticeably cooler

• ✅ 🔋 Larger battery offers 3-7 hours of battery life

• ✅ 🕹️ Tighter thumbsticks and a more precise D-pad

• ✅ ⚖️ Weight and thickness have hardly changed

• ​​✅ 🧠 2x more storage space and 24 GB faster RAM

• ❌ 💰 $100 more than the original Asus ROG Ally

• ❌ ​​📺 The display has larger bezels and is more blurred than other handhelds

• ❌ ⚙️ No direct optimizations to the Z1 Extreme chip to make the Ally X faster

Best Buy: Asus ROG Ally X

We were allowed to play with Asus ROG Ally X at Computex and Kevin Lee tested it thoroughly last month and declared it the “King of Handhelds.”

The Asus ROG Ally X is officially the best gaming handheld. All of Asus’ major internal improvements and small external tweaks have fixed all of the original’s shortcomings. Asus ROG Strix GL502VW. It’s more comfortable than before, lasts much longer than before, and even performs significantly better than any other handheld.

That may change next year. I wrote how Sony’s PSP 2 handheld can dethrone the Asus ROG Ally X exclusively on the established PlayStation game library. But such a device is only a rumor (a year before the PS5Pro). This means that it is Asus’ crown for now (leaks from a Lenovo Legion Go Lite fascinate the coronation committee of The Shortcut).

Best Buy: Asus ROG Ally X

Read Kevin’s full review

• ❌ Meta has reportedly canceled its high-end VR headset codenamed “La Jolla”

• 🛑 This $1,000+ Quest Pro 2 experienced rising costs and low demand, says The information

• 📆 Development reportedly took 8 months (discontinued 2 weeks ago)

• 🥽 Its MicroOLED displays could have competed with the Apple Vision Pro

I continue to use my Apple Vision Pro during the trip and let others experience the mind-blowing technology. At $3,500, it’s obviously not for everyone, and it sounds like Meta pulled the plug on its competitor weeks before its Meta Connect conference, where we may see a lot more cheaper VR headsets instead of more expensive.

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• 🎮 PS5 Pro was reportedly an “open secret” at Gamescom 2024

• 💿 Developers should synchronize their game launches with PS5 Pro

• 📆 This confirms many rumors that the PS5 Pro will be unveiled in September

• 🛍️ Pre-orders for the PS5 Pro could start next month and ship in November

The PS5Pro is described as an “open secret” by the Canadian tech site Wccftechwho first discovered a revealing Twitch clip featuring journalist Lorenzo Fazio. The full video, hosted by the Italian publication Multiplayeris more than two hours long, but the 24-second clip, simply titled “PS5 Pro,” tells us everything about what happened behind closed doors at Gamescom.

Apparently at least one game developer has postponed the release of their game to coincide with the upcoming launch of the PS5 Pro. Pre-orders for PS5 ProIn my opinion, will be sold out.

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• 💻 New MacBook Pro, Mac Mini and iMacs are reportedly coming this year

• ⚙️ Developer logs suggest Apple’s new M4 is being tested on computers

• 📱 So far, only the iPad Pro from March 2024 has the M4 chip

• 📆 Apple usually announces new Mac hardware in October

As someone who regularly upgrades their tech to keep themselves ahead of the game, I have to say that I am happy with my MacBook Pro with Apple’s M1 Max chipset from four years ago. The thing has held up well. But if you’re like me, you almost want to be seduced by something new, and that can come in two months, reports Bloombergby Mark Gurman.

Apple is reportedly testing M4 Mac computers, which means we could actually get a new MacBook Pro, new iMac, and new Mac Mini in October (the usual timeframe). It’s been four years since I bought the MacBook M1 Max, and I’m tempted by the AI ​​found on all of them Laptops with Snapdragon X processorso I’ll wait until October to see what Apple has.

• 🆚 Google offers two 6.3-inch phones with different specifications to choose from

• 📱 These Pixel phones are the same size, but the Pro design is a bit more premium

• 📸 There is a telephoto camera on the back of the Pixel 9 Pro, not the Pixel 9

• 💰 But the Pixel 9 has most of the Pro features for $200 less

• 🛍️ Pixel 9 costs $799, Pixel 9 Pro costs $999. Pre-order bonuses are below ⤵️

Amazon: Pixel 9 + $100 gift card

Best Buy: Pixel 9 + $100 Gift Card

Amazon: Pixel 9 Pro + $200 gift card

Best Buy: Pixel 9 Pro + $200 Gift Card

Read Max’s comparison

• 🖥️ The HP Omen 35L gaming PC features industry-standard parts and cooling

• ⌨️ The HyperX Alloy Rise 75 wireless keyboard offers a battery life of up to 1,500 hours

• 🎛️ The keyboard includes customizable top plates, switches and badges

• 🎙️ HyperX QuadCast 2 and QuadCast 2 S record Hi-Fi audio and RGBs

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• 🙌 The new Xbox and PC controller from Nacon seems to have everything

• 🎮 The gamepad is based on the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro

• 🖥️ It has an LCD screen, micro switch buttons and gyro support for PC

• 👏 The controller also uses Hall effect technology to prevent stick drift

Learn more

• 😣 Avowed will run at 30fps, Obsidian confirmed

• 🤷‍♂️ The game’s art director said it allows for better visual effects and lighting

• 😫 It’s not the first Xbox exclusive game to launch at 30fps instead of 60fps

• ⏳ Starfield and Redfall both started at 30fps but were eventually updated

⤴️ The advantages: There is a chance that Obsidian will rework Avowed’s performance and increase the frame rate, similar to Starfield, Redfall, and A Plague Tale: Requiem, which eventually received 60fps patches. However, there are no guarantees and no new Xbox seems to be on the horizon to make things easier on the hardware side.

Read Adam’s analysis

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation Gift Card for $88

• 🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for $41

• 🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $44

• ❎ 50% discount Xbox Game Pass for $29 (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51 and soon $60 for 3 months)

We are extending our discount codes to paying subscribers as a freebie. It’s similar to CD-ROM freebies for magazine subscribers from the 90s.

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