Apple fans disappointed by the Studio Display could soon have a few more options from the company. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is developing “multiple new external monitors,” including a refresh of its 32-inch Pro Display XDR from 2019. Details on the upcoming screens are sparse, but Gurman suggests they’ll incorporate built-in Apple Silicon chipsets like the Studio Display, which features a dedicated A13 Bionic processor. He adds that the updated Pro Display XDR could ship after the M2 Mac Pro arrives (more on the computer in a moment).
It’s unclear if Apple’s slate of new monitors could include a Studio Display refresh. As MacRumors points out, display analyst Ross Young tweeted in October that the company was preparing to release a monitor with a 27-inch mini-LED panel in the first quarter of 2023. Based on the specs Young shared, it looked like Apple was planning to update the Studio Display with its ProMotion technology.
Gurman also provides an update on the long-rumored M2 refresh of the Mac Pro. In October, he reported the computer would ship with an optional “Extreme” variant of the company’s M2 chipset that was reportedly slated to feature a processor with up to 48 cores and 256GB of memory. Since then, Gurman says Apple has abandoned those plans.
“Based on Apple’s current pricing structure, an M2 Extreme version of a Mac Pro would probably cost at least $10,000 — without any other upgrades — making it an extraordinarily niche product that likely isn’t worth the development costs, engineering resources and production bandwidth it would require,” Gurman writes.
As things stand, the remaining model will reportedly feature an M2 Ultra chipset with up to 24 CPU cores, 76 GPU cores and at least 192GB of RAM. Additionally, Gurman says the new Mac Pro retains the current model’s expandability, including the option to add more memory. It will be interesting to see how Apple offers that kind of upgradability since the company’s current chips feature soldered RAM.
Apple was supposed to finish transitioning its computer lineup to Apple Silicon two years after the release of its first M1 chip. According to Gurman, feature tweaks and a change in Apple’s manufacturing plans are among the reasons why it’s taken the company so long to announce a new Mac Pro. Barring any additional delays, the new model will likely arrive sometime next year, though Gurman did not speak to a specific timeline.
The cut-off dates for holiday shopping have mostly passed, but that doesn’t mean the deals have disappeared. We’re seeing prices that match Black Friday, like the Beats Fit Pro for just $160 and Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds II for $249. Some items have …
HTC has big plans for CES, which include revealing an all-in-one headset with virtual reality and augmented reality support. The company will formally show off the seemingly small and light headset for the first time on January 5th, but it provided The Verge with a render that shows a goggles-style design. The device, for which HTC has yet to announce a name, appears to have front- and side-facing cameras.
Those cameras will be a key part of HTC’s plan to deliver a full-color passthrough video feed. As with the Meta Quest Pro and the Pico 4, you’ll be able to see a colorized version of the physical world around you without having to remove the headset. This should also enable HTC to offer more immersive mixed-reality experiences than you’d get with black-and-white passthrough video. What’s more, the headset may offer a more dynamic range than rival models, which could enable wearers to more easily read text on computer or phone screens (at least without taking the headset off).
HTC says you’ll get two hours of use on a single charge, while the controllers will feature six degrees of freedom and hand tracking. The headset can operate as a standalone device or you can hook it up to a PC for more demanding VR games. You can also use it for exercise, entertainment and productivity, if you’re so inclined.
It’s not yet clear whether there’ll be built-in eye tracking, but there is a depth sensor that may enable more in-depth mapping of a user’s surroundings. HTC also indicated to The Verge that the headset will protect user privacy by storing data on an encrypted local partition. Pricing and availability are as yet unclear. We’ll find out more about the headset — including the name and how it might measure up against the likes of Meta Quest — in a few short weeks.
I’ve become increasingly infatuated with old video games. Lord knows I still play lots of new stuff, but more and more, the loudest parts of modern gaming – the live services explicitly designed to monopolize your attention, the market-tested blockbusters devoid of any edge, the constant stream of power fantasies – bore me. Being old doesn’t make a game good, but when I go back to my favorite retro games, I find a focus and honesty in their design that I don’t see in many of the more acclaimed games of today.
I took to collecting old games and consoles a couple of years ago – in just one of the many ways the pandemic broke my brain – but actually enjoying those on a modern TV is notoriously annoying. And while I could always emulate the classics on my phone or PC, I liked the idea of keeping my retro library on a distinct machine, something I could fire up when I’m in the mood but just as easily walk away from when I’m not.
So, recently I took my first dip into the world of retro handhelds – portable, often Chinese-made devices designed to house and run emulated games wherever you’d like. I settled on the Retroid Pocket 3, an Android-based model that starts at a relatively affordable $119 and comes from a series that had received mostly positive word of mouth in the past. (It has also been available on Amazon for $160, typically with faster shipping.)
Three months later, I’m still happy with it. The Retroid Pocket 3 is one of those “for the price” situations, but, for the price, it’s a fine piece of hardware. If you’ve ever held a Nintendo Switch Lite, the Retroid Pocket 3 will feel like a slightly smaller version of that. It doesn’t have the ergonomic grips of a Steam Deck, but it’s a smooth slim slab, light and small enough to not feel seriously fatiguing over time, and easily portable.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Its 4.7-inch display is big and sharp (750×1334) enough for something I hold a foot from my face, and it has a 16:9 aspect ratio that plays nice with remote streaming and more recent platforms like PSP. (It does result in some hefty black bars with older games originally designed for 3:2 or 4:3 displays, but I got used to those quickly enough.) The LED panel isn’t as vibrant as the OLED screens on newer smartphones, but it’s never come off as noticeably compromised either. Its color saturation and brightness is excellent for a cheap handheld, and it’s not impossible to see outside. Plus, it’s a touchscreen, which makes getting around Android easier.
All the requisite buttons for modern gaming are here as well. There are trade-offs: The four face buttons are beady and on the clicky side, the start/select buttons are placed weirdly on the side, and the triggers aren’t analog, so they can’t respond to different levels of pressure. But everything is fast to actuate and spaced well enough to avoid accidental inputs. The joysticks work as clickable L3 and R3 buttons, too, which isn’t a given with devices like these. I did have an issue with the R1 button sticking down, but that seemed to resolve itself after a couple of days. I’ll chalk that up to the pains of buying from a little-known company.
If you want the D-pad and face buttons to have a softer feel, Retroid actually includes alternative switches in the box. It sells other replacement parts on its website, too. That’s commendable for a worst-case scenario, but the default should be good enough for most to avoid taking on any DIY risks. One thing that isn’t included, though, is a case; I dug around and bought this old one for the PS Vita instead, and it’s done the job.
Retroid sells the Pocket 3 with either 2GB or 3GB of RAM. The latter only costs $10 more, so there’s little reason not to take the memory boost. The processor in this thing is far from a powerhouse; it’s built to emulate old games that don’t need a ton of processing power and last for 5-6 hours while doing that. Pretty much everything from the 8- and 16-bit eras runs perfectly smooth here, as do lower-power handhelds like the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and even the Nintendo DS. I’ve had few issues with early 3D games from the PlayStation 1 or Sega Dreamcast, too. Getting Nintendo 64 games to work requires a bit of control mapping in your emulator – I mean, look at this thing – but once that’s settled, that one is basically perfect as well.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
Things start to get spottier once you get to the most demanding PSP games – think God of War: Chains of Olympus– but even then I was able to play stuff like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories(which isn’t purchasable on any modern platform) at double its native resolution with only the occasional slowdown. The cut-off here is PlayStation 2 and GameCube – those generally require just a bit more resources than the Retroid Pocket 3 can supply. But that still leaves decades of gems. Having Super Mario RPG or the original Metal Gear Solid playable in my hand, with higher-resolution textures and instant save states, is still kind of surreal.
The catch, as with many Android handhelds, is actually getting everything to work. When you first load up the Pocket 3, Retroid helpfully suggests a few recommended emulators you can install right away. If you’re new to this, though, you’ll then have to go through a labyrinthine maze of reading massive tutorials, watching 30-minute YouTube videos, tweaking dozens of settings across multiple apps, customizing hotkeys, cross-checking box art, and actually downloading the proper ROM and BIOS files for your games. And that’s not to mention how owning ROM files exists in a legal gray area. (Engadget does not condone piracy.) I spent more time optimizing RetroArch and organizing Retroid’s (attractive) launcher in my first two days with the Pocket 3 than actually playing games. There’s a reason people like this are mocked.
With the busywork done, though, I’ve found digging into my curated selection of the past refreshing. When I go back to NHL ‘94, I see a sports game that respects my time (and wallet). When I revisit Ridge Racer Type 4, I see a driving game intently focused on one pleasure (cruising around). When I play Link’s Awakening, I see a sequel in a wildly popular series that isn’t afraid to be weird and take risks. When I return to Shenmue, I see a game that revels in patience and refuses to constantly coddle me. It’s not that no modern games do these things, but it’s fascinating to see what some developers valued with far fewer resources. Here, I can get these history lessons on one handheld, in the span of one night.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
My only major complaints have less to do with the Pocket 3 than Retroid itself. Between the time I started writing this article and the time you’re reading it, Retroid launched a new Pocket 3+ handheld just three months after releasing the Pocket 3. There were suggestions that Retroid was using the Pocket 3 to clear out inventory at launch, so to see a follow-up so soon feels scuzzy. The new model has a similar design but 4GB of RAM and a faster processor; it’s still not great for GameCube and PS2 emulation by most accounts, but it can run more of those games, and it’s better with borderline systems like the PSP. At $149, it’s now the superior value, though the Pocket 3 remains a fine option for slightly less cash.
That said, new hardware launches at a breakneck pace in this market, and there’s long been a million different ways to play old games. Among handhelds alone, options like the Steam Deck, Analogue Pocket, Miyoo Mini, Anbernic RG353M and RG505, Ayn Odin Pro and Aya Neo 2 all promise retro gaming goodness at varying price points. But the Retroid Pocket 3 works for me. It required a good chunk of homework at first, but it’s since become a capable emulator and my own personal museum to classic game design.
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Microsoft’s latest update for the HoloLens 2 makes it easier for users to collaborate with colleagues. One of the biggest additions is perhaps the full integration of Microsoft Teams, because users will no longer have to hop on a computer or a phone to attend meetings with the rest of their organization. While the headset has had the capability to make and receive Teams video calls for years, its collaborative features were still pretty limited.
With this new update, Microsoft is giving HoloLens 2 users the capability to display an array of holographic windows with Teams calls, chats and calendars. Since the update also adds OneDrive integration, users will be able to access their cloud-based folders and see Word documents, PDFs and videos shared during calls.
Microsoft has also combined its two Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality apps, namely the Dynamics 365 Guides app that provides step-by-step holographic instructions to users and the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist app that lets frontline workers show colleagues what they’re seeing in the field. The company said the combined application was a priority request from Toyota, which has been providing feedback for the headset since 2016.
David Kleiner, who leads Toyota North America’s Applied Technology & Research Lab, explained that giving frontline workers laptops won’t work, because they don’t have desk jobs and that using a device they can wear with all the tools they need is much more practical. “Someone can grab a HoloLens, start a Guides session, and literally have a trainer in their head,” Kleiner said. “If they do need help, they can call an expert right from the app.”
In addition to discussing the headset’s new capabilities, Microsoft also said that it would release a successor to the current iteration. Reports earlier this year claimed that the tech giant scrapped its plans for the HoloLens 3 and that it was going to be the end for the device. Microsoft, however, denied that it was killing the HoloLens and called it “critical part of [the company’s] plans for emerging categories like mixed reality and the metaverse.” Now, Microsoft mixed reality VP Scott Evans said that the company is “just looking for the right design point to make it a meaningful update” because “[customers] want a successor device that’s going to enable an even higher return on investment.”
