Author: Geek Planet

Apple has launched its most affordable MacBook yet, and as earlier leaks suggested, it’s called the MacBook Neo. Priced at only $599, it costs almost half as much as the latest M5 MacBook Air. But the big question is: did Apple cut too many corners to hit that price point, and whether you would be better off splurging for the MacBook Air instead? Let’s find out. The price tag – the part everyone actually cares about Let’s get this out of the way first. The MacBook Neo starts at $599 for 256GB storage, or $699 if you upgrade to 512GB…

Just when it felt like smartphone designs had hit a plateau, something genuinely different shows up. A new device from Bigme is making waves for combining two completely different display technologies into one phone. And no, this isn’t a gimmick flip screen or a folding panel. Instead, it’s a mix of color e-ink and a traditional LCD, and the idea is surprisingly practical. A smartphone with two displays that serve very different purposes The newly spotted device is being touted as the first smartphone to feature both a color e-ink screen and an LCD panel in a single body. The…

This republished article first appeared in the National Review Most of the media are in the tank (remember Brittany Maynard?) for the assisted suicide/euthanasia agenda and, as a consequence, are primarily interested in reporting on stories of “good deaths.” That criticism does not apply to The Atlantic, which recently published a scathing exposé of the cruelties inherent in Canada’s euthanasia regime. Now, staff writer Elizabeth Bruenig has published an important piece detailing how a mentally ill 31-year-old woman named Eileen Mihich was able to access poison drugs by writing herself a fraudulent prescription for death, which was filled unquestioningly by a willing pharmacy. Eileen apparently had no discernible…

Apple launching a truly affordable MacBook was something many had been waiting for. The MacBook Neo was announced with a starting price of $599, making it the most accessible entry point into the MacBook lineup. At first glance, it sounds like a dream device for students, casual users, and anyone who wants macOS without spending nearly a thousand dollars. But once you dig into the details, it becomes clear that Apple cut a few too many corners to hit that price tag. Some of these compromises make an older MacBook Air, especially the M4 model, a far better long-term buy.…

It’s been just over a month since Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S26 series. As someone who has followed and used Samsung phones for years, this launch felt…familiar. Not bad, just not particularly exciting either. Sure, the Galaxy S26 Ultra brings a few upgrades. The much-talked-about privacy display looks impressive, the battery has seen a slight bump, and the redesigned camera module is definitely easier on the eyes. But beyond these changes, there isn’t much that feels new. Meanwhile, my two-year-old Galaxy S24 Ultra is still holding up perfectly well. It does everything I need without any real compromises. And honestly,…

For years, Apple has leaned on student discounts to lower the barrier to entry and quietly funnel the next generation of phone, tablet, and laptop buyers into its ecosystem. The newly launched MacBook Neo feels like the next evolution of that strategy. Despite all its shortcomings, the Neo’s more affordable price tag makes the jump into macOS easier to justify for students who would otherwise default to cheap Windows laptops or Chromebooks. If Apple’s long-term game is to lock in loyalty early, the MacBook Neo might just be the perfect bait to catch them young. Hook: The price Apple has…

Apple has released the iOS 26.5 public beta, opening the door for anyone to try it early. It arrives just days after the developer version, but it doesn’t deliver the kind of upgrade most iPhone users have been waiting for. The bigger story here is what’s not included. There’s still no sign of the anticipated AI-driven Siri overhaul, which was expected to be a headline feature. Without that, the update feels more like a holding pattern than a meaningful step forward. What’s left is a set of smaller changes that don’t significantly alter how your iPhone works day to day.…

OpenAI has quietly shipped one of its most meaningful ChatGPT updates in a while. GPT-5.3 Instant isn’t a flashy new model with headline-grabbing benchmark scores. Instead, it fixes the everyday friction points that made GPT-5.2 Instant feel like an overbearing mother rather than an assistant. Fewer lectures, more answers If you’ve ever asked ChatGPT a slightly sensitive question and gotten a three-paragraph disclaimer before the answer, you know what I’m talking about. GPT-5.2 Instant had a habit of responding like it was deeply concerned about your life choices or outright refusing to answer. Its tone felt overbearing and sometimes even…

This canceled LG Rollable smartphone highlights how far behind today’s designs feel. A newly surfaced teardown from JerryRigEverything shows the device wasn’t just experimental, it pushed further than what you can actually buy today. The LG Rollable smartphone never reached store shelves, but it did make it into the hands of a few internal users. Now, a teardown video details how much engineering went into a phone that almost launched back in 2021. What stands out is how complete the concept feels. Even after five years, the hardware works, and the approach tackles problems foldables continue to face. Inside the…

This republished article first appeared in the National Review California Governor, Gavin Newsom, is clearly running for president and — surprise, surprise — has a new memoir coming out. In an interview about the book, he recounted attending his mother’s hastened death. From the Washington Post story: It was the spring of 2002 when Gavin Newsom’s mother, Tessa, dying of cancer, stunned him with a voicemail. If he wanted to see her again, she told him, it would need to be before the following Thursday, when she planned to end her life. Newsom, then a 34-year-old San Francisco supervisor, did not try to…