The Vergecast

Apple's big hardware event is coming next week. iPhones are the main draw, but senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy has her eyes on the rumors around — what else? — smart home gadgets. Andrew O'Hara from the Smart Home Insider podcast joins Jen to fire up the Rank-o-Matic and speculate on which rumored gadgets are most likely to see the light of day.

Further reading:

OpenAI’s next big AI model has ‘entered the AGI era’

Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for almost $13 billion

Microsoft slashes Xbox Cloud Gaming to just 15 hours a month for Ultimate subscribers

Microsoft opens up Xbox Cloud Gaming with new pay-as-you-go option

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Data centers have been a staple of Loudoun County since the early dot-com boom, but recent expansions have left some residents wondering how much more the county can take. In this episode, guest host David Imel talks to Lauren Feiner about her recent article detailing the buildout of “Data Center Alley,” what it means for residents, and what other counties reeling with similar buildouts can learn from it.

Further reading:

Is this the future of America?

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Elizabeth Lopatto recently wrote about Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word AI manifesto in her piece, "Mark Zuckerberg doesn't understand how to live." Today, she joins guest host David Imel and senior wearables reviewer Victoria Song for a freewheeling discussion about what happens when we let AI make decisions for us.

Further reading:

Mark Zuckerberg doesn't understand how to live

Dyson made a camera-equipped toothbrush that flosses for you

Markiplier is now GoPro’s biggest shareholder

GoPro has been acquired and is getting into ‘defense, government, robotics and aerospace’

John Ternus is now the CEO of Apple

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Skyrocketing RAM prices put a spotlight on product longevity and repairability, which makes this a particularly apt time for Fairphone to launch its first smartphone sold directly in the United States. Today, David Imel talks to CEO Raymond van Eck about the Fairphone 6+, the company's goals of user-repairability and ethically-sourced materials, and what place AI has in the future of Fairphone.

Further reading:

⁠Read Tim Cook’s final message to Apple staff as CEO⁠

⁠Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell are suing Anthropic⁠

⁠Google capitulates in Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario.⁠

⁠MapQuest downloads surge after refusing to rename Lake Ontario.⁠

⁠MapQuest knows this whole thing is ridiculous.⁠

⁠Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US⁠

⁠The new Fairphone 6 Plus gets a perfect repairability score.⁠

⁠The Fairphone 6 no longer feels like a compromise (except in the US)⁠

⁠This environmentally conscious smartphone is finally coming to the US⁠

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This week Apple announced a Mac Mini made for AI and a Mac Studio made for AI, both with faster M6 and M5 Pro chips made for AI. But that's all an amuse-bouche to Sept. 9's (expected) main course: the long-awaited folding iPhone. Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes, and David Imel run through all of this week's Apple news, including the most important story: a surprise discount on the legendary polishing cloth.Then, they react to Meta's settlement in its latest kids safety trial, geek out about Grand Theft Auto VI with the Hype Desk's Ashley Esqueda, check out the Pokémon Fitbit, and decide if Nvidia just saved the global economy.

Further reading:

⁠File a comment with the FCC⁠

⁠Apple announces September iPhone launch event⁠

⁠Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute⁠

⁠Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra⁠

⁠Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices⁠

⁠Apple’s ‘new’ polishing cloth is the same except $10 cheaper⁠

⁠Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement⁠

⁠Meta is planning an ad blitz urging TikTok and YouTube to follow its lead.⁠

⁠All the ways Instagram and Facebook are changing for teens⁠

⁠Rockstar finally responds to ‘heartbreaking’ GTA 6 leaks⁠

⁠Fierce Network: FCC opens comments on E-Rate as the program gets attacked in court⁠

⁠Nvidia is about to be a hundred-billion-dollar-a-quarter company⁠

⁠Panic is passing Playdate tariff refunds on to customers.⁠

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0:00 Welcome to the Vergecast01:26 Apple Mac AI Hype02:26 Mac Mini Agent Craze06:32 Mac Studio vs Nvidia11:43 Price Hikes and Cloth17:01 iPhone Event Invite17:38 iPhone Fold Debate21:30 Camera Crash Out26:57 Meta Settlement Breakdown28:59 First Amendment Fallout36:59 Age Verification Push39:30 Filter Rules and Loopholes44:11 Will Teens Just Switch Apps45:20 Reels Versus Shorts46:35 Government Next Steps47:39 Break And Reset47:50 GTA VI Showcase54:29 Leaks And Spoilers57:12 Can GTA Save Games01:00:51 GTA Online Money01:02:04 Brendan Carr is a Dummy01:03:45 E Rate Fight01:08:46 Nvidia Earnings Hype01:17:50 Pokemon Sleep Fitbit01:22:41 Waymo Versus Tesla01:28:34 Decoder And Goodbye
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