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CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.
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Processor
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Memory
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What is the best Windows laptop?
The Acer Swift X 14 is our current pick as the best overall Windows laptop for its strong performance and gorgeous OLED display. The ultraportable’s overall look is a bit uninspired, but the laptop weighs less than 3.5 pounds and is quite portable while also serving up a relatively roomy 14.5-inch, 16:10 display. And it’s no ordinary display but a high-resolution OLED panel that produces a stellar picture with vivid colors and excellent contrast. Powering the display is a powerful CPU/GPU duo that makes the Swift X 14 a highly capable and versatile machine for a wide range of users, including content creators and casual gamers. And the Swift X 14 offers all of this portability, OLED goodness and strong performance for a reasonable price of $1,500 and can usually be found for less than that.
While the Swift X 14 would make a good match for many people shopping for a Windows laptop, there are other models we’ve tested and reviewed that are great fits for narrower audiences, from budget models and 2-in-1 convertibles to high-powered gaming laptops. With decades of experience testing and reviewing laptops, our laptop experts conduct performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and also perform extensive hands-on tests to assess the design, features and performance of each laptop we review.
You’ll find a good number of recommendations here, but we also have more specific picks in different laptop categories, starting with the best overall laptop and also including best gaming laptop, best cheap gaming laptop, best laptop for college students and best two-in-one laptop. If you narrowed it to a specific brand, check out our picks for best Dell laptop and best HP laptop. And beyond Windows, we have recommendations for the best MacBook and best Chromebook.
As noted above, the Acer Swift X 14 is our top pick among Windows laptops for its strong overall performance, beautiful OLED display and sensible price. The $1,500 model we tested features a 13th-gen Core i7 H-series processor and Nvidia Geforce RTX 4050 graphics. With this CPU/GPU duo, the Swift X 14 delivers unmatched performance in an ultraportable. And it sits in the sweet spot of providing a display large enough to work on for long stretches without feeling cramped while also being lightweight enough to be easily portable. Gamers and creative types are sure to make use of the RTX 4050 GPU, but if you don’t need that graphics jolt, you can get the same awesome OLED display with integrated graphics for less in the Swift Go 14. And if you like the idea of the Swift X 14 but want a larger display, there’s the Swift X 16.
Best ultraportable laptop
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED
It’s not easy to find an ultralight laptop that still feels sturdy, but the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED does. At just 2.2 pounds, the 13.3-inch laptop is lighter than Apple’s MacBook Air, making it the perfect little travel companion. Despite its compact footprint, Asus squeezed in a comfortable keyboard and a big touchpad. And it features a 13.3-inch, 2.8K OLED display with excellent color and contrast. Based on an efficient 13th-gen Core i7 U-series processor, the Zenbook S 13 OLED offers long battery life, which is not always the case with an OLED laptop. There’s nothing quite like the Zenbook S 13 OLED at its price. It’s a commuter’s delight.
Best compact laptop less than $1,000
HP Pavilion Aero 13
HP packed a lot of value into the Aero 13: Eye-pleasing magnesium-aluminum chassis, strong processing performance, long battery life, a bright, colorful display and a weight of just 2.2 pounds. Amazingly, considering all that it offers, it has a regular starting price of less than $800 but it’s regularly on sale for less than $600.
Best big-screen-but-still-portable laptop
LG Gram 17
The LG Gram 17 is the rare large-screen laptop that you can easily take with you. With an expansive 17-inch, 16:10 display and scant 3.2-pound weight, the Gram 17 is impossibly thin and light. It also boasts lengthy battery life, making it a great choice as an on-the-go laptop that provides ample room on which to work. And with the option to outfit it with RTX 3050 graphics, it’s suitable for content creators and even those who might like to dabble in a bit of casual gaming. It’s pricey but worth the elevated cost if you are looking for a roomy display in a lightweight package with a long runtime.
Best entry-level laptop
Acer Swift 3
Available with either AMD Ryzen or Intel Core processors, this 14-inch laptop gives you more screen to work on than 13-inch laptops, but is still incredibly lightweight — less than 3 pounds. The bigger display is nice, too, covering 100% sRGB color gamut — better than you typically find at its starting price under $600. It also has a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader and USB Type-C and HDMI ports, too. A more recent model that the one we reviewed in 2020 is available for a reasonable $569 at Amazon with a 12th-gen Core i5 CPU and 16GB of RAM. It also supplies a 512GB solid-state drive. That’s double the memory allotment and SSD capacity you usually find at this price.
Best budget gaming laptop
Dell G15/G16
The 15.6-inch G15 series and 16-inch G16 line both deliver the latest CPUs and GPUs and roomy displays. Unless you plan to take the laptop with you on daily trips, we recommend the larger G16 model. Not only is its 16-inch display slightly larger on the diagonal, but it also has the taller 16:10 aspect ratio that makes it much roomier. And a similar G16 model costs only $50 or $100 more than a G15 model. Both offer 13th-gen Intel processors along with RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs — Nvidia’s latest graphics processors for budget gaming laptops. The G16 lets you go up to an RTX 4070 GPU. Dell’s G15 and G16 models are basically more budget-friendly versions of those from its Alienware division but still capable of playing the latest AAA titles.
Best gaming laptop
Alienware m18
One of the first of the new generation of 18-inch laptops, the m18 can get expensive if you push it up to a high configuration — an RTX 4090 and Core i9-13900HX will get you to $3,300 even without a lot of memory or storage. But if the big screen is most important to you, it starts at $1,900 with a respectable i7-13700HX and RTX 4060. Don’t expect great battery life, and the fans can get loud when you’re pushing it.
Best laptop for work and gaming
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra
Samsung (with help from Intel and Microsoft) has created a near-seamless experience for using the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra with its other Galaxy devices. That means you can do things like quickly share files between your Galaxy phone, Tab or Galaxy Book, use the Galaxy Book’s keyboard and trackpad to control your other devices, instantly pair your Galaxy Bud earbuds as soon as you put down your phone and open the Galaxy Book, and the list goes on and on. But even if you don’t own another Samsung device, the Ultra is still a great pick if you need a high-end 16-inch display covering 100% DCI-P3 color space, strong processing and graphics performance and relatively long battery life, all wrapped up in a thin, stylish body that weighs just 4 pounds.
Best MacBook Pro 14-inch alternative
HP Dragonfly Pro
The 14-inch Dragonfly Pro is a MacBook alternative that boasts a similarly clean and rigid design and targets the same mainstream “pro” users. And priced at a reasonable $1,400, it costs hundreds less than the 14-inch MacBook Pro. You may not use its gimmicky hotkeys that connect you to HP support, but you will undoubtedly love the look and feel of this minimalistic, matte-black laptop. And it’s more than just a pretty face. It offers competitive performance with its Ryzen 7 7736U processor and also supplies a high-res 1440p webcam and quad speakers that deliver rich, full sound. The Dragonfly Pro is about as close as you can get to a MacBook Pro in a Windows laptop.
Best business laptop
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is the company’s flagship business ultraportable and has become the standard against which other business ultraportables are measured. Although it delivers no surprises or revolutionary upgrades from past iterations, its security, build quality and performance remain excellent. Its 14-inch display and 2.5-pound weight are the sweet spot of enough screen space to work long stretches without needing to connect to an external display, while also being light enough for daily travel. With an industry-best keyboard, long battery life and greener construction, Lenovo’s latest X1 Carbon is a near-perfect business ultraportable.
Best 2-in-1 for less than $1,000
Lenovo Yoga 7i
This thin, 3-pound convertible is a solid choice for anyone who needs a laptop for office or schoolwork. The all-metal chassis gives it a premium look and feel, and it has a comfortable keyboard and a responsive, smooth precision touchpad. Though it’s light on extra features compared to its premium linemate, the Yoga 9i, it does have one of Lenovo’s sliding shutters for its webcam that gives you privacy when you want it. The latest version with 13th-gen Intel processors starts at $900 at Best Buy and can frequently be found on sale for less.
Best premium 2-in-1
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7
Lenovo launched the Yoga line 10 years ago with Windows 8 and now, with Windows 11, the flexibility of the design has only gotten better. The company’s flagship 14-inch Yoga 9i now has an updated look with comfortable, rounded edges and 13th-gen Intel processors that give it a big multicore performance jump. A beautiful OLED display and improved audio make it excellent for work, video conferences and entertainment. Lenovo includes an active pen and a laptop sleeve to complete the premium package.
The powerful speakers do add some vibration to the palm rests when turned up and Lenovo has cluttered the laptop with pitches for optional services and software. But, overall, the latest Yoga 9i is the two-in-one convertible laptop to beat.
Other laptops we’ve tested
Acer Swift Go 16: It’s is a good choice for those who want a big-screen laptop with productivity power, but it gets lost between Acer’s own 16-inch Swift X and Swift Edge laptops.
Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7630: Dell’s more budget-friendly content-creation laptop offers powerful discrete graphics and a large, 16-inch panel with an improved 120Hz refresh rate, but I still want some display upgrade options.
Lenovo Yoga 7i 16: The 14-inch Yoga 7i has long been a favorite for offering more for less. The “more” on this version includes a 16-inch display with a low resolution that makes text fuzzy and it’s an awkward size for a two-in-one.
Asus ExpertBook B9450: This 14-inch business ultraportable is impressively light and eminently portable but costs too much when you consider the previous-gen CPU and a display that feels constricted.
Asus VivoBook F1502ZA: We liked the design and comfortable keyboard on our review unit, but its performance and display came up short.
Lenovo Slim Pro 7: Much like the Acer Swift X, the Slim Pro 7 gets you good performance in a small body, but the other parts aren’t quite as nice.
Asus VivoBook 16X OLED: Outside of its affordability for a big 16-inch OLED display, this VivoBook was a letdown.
HP Victus 15: HP’s entry-level gaming laptop is a bargain, but the Dell G15 outclasses in design and features.
Dell XPS 17 9730: The performance and battery life are spot-on but the lack of an OLED display option and an outdated 720p webcam hold it back.
Asus ExpertBook B9450: Asus’ ultralight business laptop is sturdy and has a long battery life, but its 16:9 display, older processor and grainy 720p disappointed.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2: The display design is still terrific, but it’s expensive for what you’re getting and falling behind its competition.
How we test laptops
The review process for laptops consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features with respect to price. A final review verdict is a combination of both objective and subjective judgments.
We test all laptops with a core set of benchmarks, including Primate Labs Geekbench 5 and 6, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10, a variety of 3DMark benchmarks (whichever can run on the laptop), UL Procyon Photo and Video (where supported), and our own battery life test. If a laptop is intended for gaming, we’ll also run benchmarks from Guardians of the Galaxy, The Rift Breaker (CPU and GPU) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
For the hands-on, the reviewer uses it for their work during the review period, evaluating how well the design, features (such as the screen, camera and speakers) and manufacturer-supplied software operate as a cohesive whole. We also place importance on how well they work given their cost and where the manufacturer has potentially made upgrades or tradeoffs for its price.
The list of benchmarking software and comparison criteria we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. You can find a more detailed description of our test methodology on our How We Test Computers page.
Factors to consider
There are a ton of laptops on the market at any given moment, and almost all of those models are available in multiple configurations to match your performance and budget needs. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed with options when looking for a new laptop, it’s understandable. To help simplify things for you, here are the main things you should consider when you start looking.
Price
The search for a new laptop for most people starts with price. If the statistics chipmaker Intel and PC manufacturers hurl at us are correct, you’ll be holding onto your next laptop for at least three years. If you can afford to stretch your budget a little to get better specs, do it. And that stands whether you’re spending $500 or more than $1,000. In the past, you could get away with spending less upfront with an eye toward upgrading memory and storage in the future. But laptop makers are increasingly moving away from making components easily upgradable, so again, it’s best to get as much laptop as you can afford from the start.
Generally speaking, the more you spend, the better the laptop. That could mean better components for faster performance, a nicer display, sturdier build quality, a smaller or lighter design from higher-end materials or even a more comfortable keyboard. All of these things add to the cost of a laptop. I’d love to say $500 will get you a powerful gaming laptop, for example, but that’s not the case. Right now, the sweet spot for a reliable laptop that can handle average work, home office or school tasks is between $700 and $800 and a reasonable model for creative work or gaming upwards of about $1,000. The key is to look for discounts on models in all price ranges so you can get more laptop for less.
Operating system
Choosing an operating system is part personal preference and part budget. For the most part, Microsoft Windows and Apple’s MacOS do the same things (except for gaming, where Windows is the winner), but they do them differently. Unless there’s an OS-specific application you need, go with the one you feel most comfortable using. And if you’re not sure which that is, head to an Apple store or a local electronics store and test them out. Or ask friends or family to let you test theirs for a bit. If you have an iPhone or iPad and like it, chances are you’ll like MacOS, too.
But when it comes to price and variety (and, again, PC gaming), Windows laptops win. If you want MacOS, you’re getting a MacBook. While Apple’s MacBooks regularly top our best lists, the least expensive one is the M1 MacBook Air for $999. It is regularly discounted to $750 or $800, but if you want a cheaper MacBook, you’ll have to consider older refurbished ones.
Windows laptops can be found for as little as a couple of hundred dollars and come in all manner of sizes and designs. Granted, we’d be hard-pressed to find a $200 laptop we’d give a full-throated recommendation to, but if you need a laptop for online shopping, email and word processing, they exist.
If you are on a tight budget, consider a Chromebook. ChromeOS is a different experience than Windows; make sure the applications you need have a Chrome, Android or Linux app before making the leap. But if you spend most of your time roaming the web, writing, streaming video or using cloud-gaming services, they’re a good fit.
Size
Remember to consider whether having a lighter, thinner laptop or a touchscreen laptop with a good battery life will be important to you in the future. Size is primarily determined by the screen — hello, laws of physics — which in turn factors into battery size, laptop thickness, weight and price. And keep in mind other physics-related characteristics, such as an ultrathin laptop isn’t necessarily lighter than a thick one, you can’t expect a wide array of connections on a small or ultrathin model and so on.
Screen
When it comes to deciding on a screen, there are a myriad number of considerations: how much you need to display (which is surprisingly more about resolution than screen size), what types of content you’ll be looking at and whether or not you’ll be using it for gaming or creative work.
You really want to optimize pixel density; that is, the number of pixels per inch the screen can display. Though there are other factors that contribute to sharpness, a higher pixel density usually means sharper rendering of text and interface elements. (You can easily calculate the pixel density of any screen at DPI Calculator if you don’t feel like doing the math, and you can also find out what math you need to do there.) We recommend a dot pitch of at least 100 pixels per inch (ppi) as a rule of thumb.
Because of the way Windows and MacOS scale for the display, you’re frequently better off with a higher resolution than you’d think. You can always make things bigger on a high-resolution screen, but you can never make them smaller — to fit more content in the view — on a low-resolution screen. This is why a 4K, 14-inch screen may sound like unnecessary overkill, but may not be if you need to, say, view a wide spreadsheet.
If you need a laptop with relatively accurate color, that displays the most colors possible or that supports HDR, you can’t simply trust the specs — not because manufacturers lie, but because they usually fail to provide the necessary context to understand what the specs they quote mean. You can find a ton of detail about considerations for different types of screen uses in our monitor buying guides for general purpose monitors, creators, gamers and HDR viewing.
Processor
The processor, aka the CPU, is the brains of a laptop. Intel and AMD are the main CPU makers for Windows laptops. Both offer a staggering selection of mobile processors. Making things trickier, both manufacturers have chips designed for different laptop styles, like power-saving chips for ultraportables or faster processors for gaming laptops. Their naming conventions will let you know what type is used. You can head to Intel’s or AMD’s sites for explanations so you get the performance you want. Generally speaking, though, the faster the processor speed and the more cores it has, the better the performance will be.
Apple makes its own chips for MacBooks, which makes things slightly more straightforward. But, like Intel and AMD, you’ll still want to pay attention to the naming conventions to know what kind of performance to expect. Apple uses its M-series chipsets in Macs. The entry-level MacBook Air uses an M1 chip with an eight-core CPU and seven-core GPU. The current models have M2-series silicon that starts with an eight-core CPU and 10-core GPU and goes up to the M2 Max with a 12-core CPU and a 38-core GPU. Again, generally speaking, the more cores it has, the better the performance.
Graphics
The graphics processor (GPU) handles all the work of driving the screen and generating what gets displayed, as well as speeding up a lot of graphics-related (and increasingly, AI-related) operations. For Windows laptops, there are two types of GPUs: integrated (iGPU) or discrete (dGPU). As the names imply, an iGPU is part of the CPU package, while a dGPU is a separate chip with dedicated memory (VRAM) that it communicates with directly, making it faster than sharing memory with the CPU.
Because the iGPU splits space, memory and power with the CPU, it’s constrained by the limits of those. It allows for smaller, lighter laptops, but doesn’t perform nearly as well as a dGPU. In fact, there are some games and creative software that won’t run unless they detect a dGPU or sufficient VRAM. Most productivity software, video streaming, web browsing and other nonspecialized apps will run fine on an iGPU, though.
For more power-hungry graphics needs, like video editing, gaming and streaming, design and so on, you’ll need a dGPU; there are only two real companies that make them, Nvidia and AMD, with Intel offering some based on the Xe-branded (or the older UHD Graphics branding) iGPU technology in its CPUs.
Memory
For memory, we highly recommend 16GB of RAM (8GB absolute minimum). RAM is where the operating system stores all the data for currently running applications, and it can fill up fast. After that, it starts swapping between RAM and SSD, which is slower. A lot of sub-$500 laptops have 4GB or 8GB, which in conjunction with a slower disk can make for a frustratingly slow Windows laptop experience. Also, many laptops now have the memory soldered onto the motherboard. Most manufacturers disclose this, but if the RAM type is LPDDR, assume it’s soldered and can’t be upgraded.
However, some PC makers will solder memory on and also leave an empty internal slot for adding a stick of RAM. You may need to contact the laptop manufacturer or find the laptop’s full specs online to confirm. And check the web for user experiences, because the slot may still be hard to get to, it may require nonstandard or hard-to-get memory or other pitfalls.
Storage
You’ll still find cheaper hard drives in budget laptops and larger hard drives in gaming laptops, but faster solid-state drives (SSDs) have all but replaced hard drives in laptops. They can make a big difference in performance. But not all SSDs are equally speedy, and cheaper laptops typically have slower drives; if the laptop only has 4GB or 8GB of RAM, it may end up swapping to that drive and the system may slow down quickly while you’re working.
Get what you can afford, and if you need to go with a smaller drive, you can always add an external drive or two down the road or use cloud storage to bolster a small internal drive. The one exception is gaming laptops: We don’t recommend going with less than a 512GB SSD unless you really like uninstalling games every time you want to play a new game.
Laptop FAQs
Getting an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro? You’ll Want to Change These 4 iOS 17 Settings Right Now
iOS 17, Apple’s latest software update for the iPhone, was released earlier this fall alongside the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. Even though the phones have been out for a little over a month, you might be upgrading your phone just now. The new iPhone OS has lots of cool features, including StandBy, which turns your phone into a smart display, and Contact Posters, which bring full-screen visuals to your contacts and your call screen.
Read more: Do This Before Downloading iOS 17
Most of the biggest features are ready to use as soon as you start using iOS 17 on your supported iPhone. However, a few are disabled by default, so it’s your job to go into your settings and turn them on. To truly tap into the full potential of iOS 17, these are the settings you’ll want to configure as soon as you download it.
If you want to learn more about iOS 17, check out the best hidden iOS 17 features and everything else you need to know about iOS 17.
Turn on Face ID to browse privately in Safari
Safari has added several new privacy settings on iOS 17: You can now choose a different search engine (like DuckDuckGo) when privately browsing, automatically strip all tracking information from URLs, and securely share passwords with friends and family. And you can even lock your private browsing tabs in Safari — but you’ll need to toggle this setting on before you can use it.
In Settings, go to Safari and toggle on Require Face ID to Unlock Private Browsing. That’s all you need to do! If you want to test out the feature, open the Safari web browser and make your way to Private Browsing. If you attempt to browse privately, you’ll be asked to use Face ID to access your private tabs.
Automatically delete your verification codes
We’ve talked about this iOS 17 feature extensively here at CNET, and for good reason. It’s very useful and cleans up the clutter of verification codes in your text messages, and it’s somewhat hidden in your settings. And oh yeah, it’s not enabled by default, so it’s up to you to turn it on.
Read more: iOS 17 Is Bringing a Fix for Those Two-Factor Authentication Codes Piling Up in Your Inbox
In the Settings app, go to Passwords > Password Options and toggle on Clean Up Automatically. Now, when you receive authentication notifications in Messages (or even in Mail), they’ll be automatically deleted from their respective applications — as long as you use the verification code with the autofill feature at the top of your keyboard. If you don’t use the autofill feature, the verification code will stay in your messages or emails.
Make haptic feedback faster
After you perform certain actions on your iPhone — like long-press on your home screen to delete an application or even type on your keyboard — you should feel a tiny vibration underneath your fingertip — that’s haptic feedback. It’s how your phone interacts with you as you interact with it, meant to improve your experience. And with iOS 17, haptic feedback is a whole lot better.
If you want to make haptic feedback faster (snappier even), you can do so. In Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Haptic Touch, you can change the duration of haptic feedback: You can choose from Default, Fast and Slow. Underneath these options, you have an image of a flower that you can touch and hold down on to test the various haptic feedback options.
Enable the level in your camera
If you want to take better photos, or at least straighter photos, the native Camera application on your iPhone has a new, somewhat hidden feature that adds a virtual horizontal level as you snap a photo. You’ll know the shot is level with the ground when it turns yellow and you feel the haptic feedback.
This feature isn’t enabled by default, so go to Settings > Camera and toggle on Level under the Composition section. Now when you take a photo, you should see a broken straight line in the middle of your screen. This is the level. Adjust your phone to make it yellow, signifying that it’s now level to the ground.
Interested in the new iPhone 15, which will come shipped with iOS 17? Check out our comparison of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 and the best deals on the iPhone 15.
I Upgraded to an iPhone 15 Pro Max From an 11. Here’s What Happened
I was so confident that I wanted an iPhone 15 that I told the internet I was buying one before it was even announced. It’s a bold claim, I know. And I kept my word and upgraded from my 3-year-old iPhone 11 (I bought it in 2020) to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, my first Pro Apple phone ever.
At first, my decision to get an $1,199 iPhone 15 Pro Max that is bigger, heavier and much more expensive than my iPhone 11 might seem impulsive. But I guarantee it was anything but. And you might wonder why I opted for Apple’s most expensive phone instead of the $999 15 Pro that’s closer in size to the iPhone 11, or the $799 iPhone 15 which is more of a direct descendant from the 11. For me, it came down to the 15 Pro Max’s cameras. Let me explain.
Unprecedented 5x optical zoom
The 15 Pro Max has a 5x optical zoom, which is unheard-of for the iPhone and a major upgrade from my no zoom iPhone 11. The new telephoto camera is what ultimately convinced me to buy the 15 Pro Max. I mean, take a look at the photo evidence.
I played tourist for the day in San Francisco and took the photos below at the Golden Gate Bridge. I set the 15 Pro Max to 5x optical zoom and used the 11’s 5x digital zoom. I can’t believe the 15 Pro Max caught details like the panels on the bridge, and even the windows on the Salesforce Tower miles away in the background. Colors also appear truer-to-life in the 15 Pro Max’s photo. The Golden Gate Bridge’s iconic orange vermilion-colored paint really comes through in the 15 Pro Max image below.
I like using the 5x optical zoom to record videos too, especially at concerts. The last artist I saw was Labrinth at Pier 80 during the Portola Music Festival in San Francisco. The 15 Pro Max videos I recorded during the concert looked so good I might as well have told everyone I was at the barricade, even though I was actually a few rows behind it. I couldn’t record anything remotely as good with my old iPhone 11. You can see my 5x zoom concert recordings in the video at the top of this page.
Brand-new action button (plus other features I don’t use enough)
The 15 Pros have swapped the classic mute switch for a brand-new action button. You can still use it to silence your phone, but you can also set it to do other things, like open the camera. (That’s what mine does.) When I saw the action button announced, I thought I’d use it a lot, but I’ve only used it a couple of times now that I actually have it. I’ll probably just switch it back to the mute function.
There are other 15 Pro Max features that are even more hyped like the always-on display and the Dynamic Island that I likewise found less useful once I tried them. I have poor self-control when it comes to my smartphone and seeing the screen even slightly lit makes me want to scroll. So I’ll probably turn off the always-on display so I have one less temptation to pick up my iPhone when I should be doing something else.
And while I told the internet how cool I thought the Dynamic Island looked, I’m walking that statement back. The Dynamic Island gets in the way of doing things I’m used to, like tapping the top of the screen to scroll up. On my iPhone 11, a tap on the top center of the screen brings the webpage or social feed I’m scrolling immediately back to the beginning. But on my 15 Pro Max, I need to tap just to the side of the Dynamic Island to trigger the same shortcut. This is going to take some getting used to. Also, when I try to use the Dynamic Island for things like changing songs, I end up accidentally closing it.
Titanium vs. aluminum
The iPhone 11 has an aluminum frame and weighs 6.84 ounces (194 grams), while the 15 Pro Max has a snazzy new titanium frame and weighs 7.81 ounces (221 grams). The titanium sides look and feel nice, but because I always have a case on my phone, they’re not a game-changer.
You also may have seen some titanium durability tests going viral. They made me a bit anxious. It’s worth keeping in mind that the people making these videos are pushing the iPhone 15 Pro Max to its limit. None of my CNET colleagues who have a 15 Pro or Pro Max have had any issues with the phone’s durability. But remember I’m coming from an iPhone 11 which, when CNET put it through a series of brutal drop tests, came through without a crack.
We got USB-C!
The iPhone 15 lineup swapped the Lightning charging port for a USB-C port, which is a big deal because it’s been over a decade since Apple last changed the charging port. USB-C is an industry-standard that can charge multiple devices, not just the iPhone.
So far, I’m a big fan. It was kind of annoying to have to switch out the Lightning aux cord and charger in my car. But because I already have so many USB-C cords lying around the house from devices like my MacBook Pro and Nintendo Switch, the transition has been easier than the one from the 30-pin to Lightning in 2012. I love only needing to have one cord at my desk that can charge both my laptop and my phone.
Battery: Is it giving ‘Pro Max’?
Apple says the 14 and 15 Pro Max iPhones offer up to 29 hours of video playback. But to be honest, I was not getting “Pro Max” battery life when I first got my new phone. I’d unplug it at 100% around 10 a.m. and it would be at about 30% by around 3:30 p.m. I had to limit my usage to get through the day on a single charge, which isn’t something I’ve ever experienced with a new (even non-Pro) iPhone. This is despite the fact that both the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max beat both the 14 Pro and Pro Max, as well as most Android phones, in CNET’s battery tests.
I was concerned, so I took a trip to the Genius Bar. I originally transferred my data wirelessly by placing my iPhone 11 next to my new 15 Pro Max. But Apple recommended I restore the 15 Pro Max to factory settings and transfer the old data from my computer. I was told if that didn’t fix things – which it didn’t – a future update probably would. A little under two weeks later, iOS 17.0.3 came out and fixed the problem. The software update also fixed a problem in iOS 17 that caused iPhones to overheat. After this experience, I probably won’t buy a new iPhone during launch week again.
How’s my battery doing today? I can get through a full day on a single charge, but I do need to plug it back in at night. I was honestly expecting a bit more from a Pro Max battery. It would be nice not to have to plug in my iPhone at night. But then I took a look at how much I actually use my phone. It turns out my daily average is 10 and a half hours a day, which is absolutely horrendous. And to be fair, even when my iPhone 15 Pro Max battery was struggling, it was still much better than the one on my iPhone 11, which would be at 30% by around 1 p.m. each day.
Thank goodness for macro mode
I’ve been having so much fun playing with Macro mode. This is a feature exclusive to Pro iPhones and I really didn’t realize what I was missing out on. My iPhone 11 can’t take macro photos. I’ve had a lot of fun taking creative shots in nature. Below are side-by-side photos of the underside of a leaf with Macro mode on my iPhone 15 Pro Max and without it on my iPhone 11.
I use this feature to take pictures of my food because, as the saying goes, the phone eats first. Macro mode actually saved me from ingesting a bug in my pasta. While the iPhone 11 got pretty close to my lunch before losing focus, the 15 Pro Max got even closer and caught something crawling. So thanks Macro mode, because without you, I would’ve eaten that bug.
Next-level night mode on the 15 Pro Max
How about taking photos in lighting that’s less than ideal? Here are some shots of my friend and CNET colleague, Abrar Al-Heeti, taken at a restaurant in low-light.
Both of these photos were taken with Night mode, but being able to use it with 15 Pro Max’s Portrait mode takes low-light snaps to the next level.
I also find that 15 Pro Max Night mode photos are generally brighter and more detailed than those from the iPhone 11. For example, the knitting in Abrar’s sweater is clearer in the 15 Pro Max photo below.
More portrait flexibility
I love that all of the iPhone 15s let you take Portrait mode photos of a person, cat or dog and change which subject is in-focus after a photo’s been taken. But changing the focus isn’t always perfect.
Take the photo below of myself, Abrar and our friend and CNET colleague, Viva Tung. When I change the focus to Viva, it blurs the edges of her sunglasses a bit, but generally works pretty well. But when I try to change the focus to Abrar, Viva’s still in focus, too.
To be fair, Apple does say not to have the subject you’re trying to have in-focus too far away from the camera, so maybe that’s the issue here. Overall, even though this feature isn’t seamless, it’s still fun to play around with — and I do appreciate the extra portrait flexibility. On my iPhone 11, I can’t change the focus in any of the photos I took.
I’m also a big fan of Cinematic and Action modes for video. Cinematic mode blurs the background and makes video look so professional. And Action mode makes my shaky filming look nice and smooth. But to see what I’m talking about, you’ll have to watch the video above.
Is going Pro worth it?
I already told you that the camera alone made the iPhone 15 Pro Max worthwhile for me. Aside from the 5x optical zoom, my favorite camera features were things I could’ve gotten on the 15 Pro, like Macro mode, or on the regular 15, like Cinematic mode. So if a 5x optical zoom isn’t important to you, I’d recommend considering one of those other models, or even an older iPhone.
I was also surprised that features that sounded so cool on paper, like the Dynamic Island and the Action button, weren’t big draws for me once I actually tried them.
I’m interested to see how long the 15 Pro Max lasts because it was so expensive. I splurged because I was excited about that 5x optical zoom and hopeful this phone will last longer than any of my previous iPhones, including my beloved iPhone 11.
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What I Want From the Next iMac Update
Rumor has it that Apple will launch a new model of its 24-inch iMac, with an anticipated M3 processor, at its “Scary Fast” event on Oct. 30. When Apple redesigned it for its May 2021 debut, it was desperately in need of a complete overhaul: aesthetic modernization, new components, a bigger screen on the entry-level model, an upgraded webcam, port rejiggering and more. We got a lot of those, but it’s been a while and it’s time for a new round of updates, including upgraded components — which we’re likely to see — and some design tweaks, like the port rejiggering that never happened.
Right now, there are two versions of the iMac, a stripped-down model with the seven-core GPU, two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports and optional Ethernet, which starts at $1,299; and a version with the eight-core GPU, two more USB-C connections and included Ethernet, which starts at $1,499. As much as I’d like to see Apple defragment the line for simplicity, it makes sense to keep it this way for Apple.
But it would be loooovely if Apple instead kept the base M1 in the line and dropped the price so that it had a more aggressive entry point. That could potentially mean keeping the M1 chip in production just for the one iMac model, though, which doesn’t seem feasible.
I think the most notable upgrade I’d like to see is a new screen. In a perfect world, it would be a 27-inch addition to the line, but the 24-inch needs to support HDR (which means it would need to be brighter) and a faster refresh rate of 120Hz or better — excuse me, ProMotion — if only to keep up with the rest of its kin.
It’s too expensive to not offer what by now are common features on Windows. However, we’d have heard by now if there was going to be a new panel. Sad trombone. Smaller screen bezels would not come amiss, either.
I would also love to see a new webcam, at least like the higher-resolution one in the Studio Display, if not better. That would allow for more flexibility in zooming and field of view. The 1080p webcam in the current iMac is OK, but computational video can only get you so far without more data.
And one of the continuing complaints I have, which I very much doubt will be addressed this go round (and possibly never, since I’ve been complaining about it for years) is the location of the ports. The back is a horribly annoying place to put them all: At least one USB port should be easily accessible on the bottom or the side. More likely is an update to the accessories with USB-C connections; the current ones are charged via Lightning.
The rumors about the M3 indicate that it’s probably based off the 10-GPU-core M2 (the one that’s in the 13-inch MacBook Air and Pro), but fabricated using a new, smaller 3nm process. The benefits to that can include a smaller die size, better performance per watt and better performance overall. Even an M2-class upgrade would be better than the M1 it’s got now, but I was hoping at least for more GPU and Neural Engine cores in the M3, because it might be another couple of years before we see a refresh.
The M1 also limits the current model to 16GB of memory, which will probably jump to 24GB, which it will need for the higher GPU-core count, because the GPU and CPU share the system memory. 32GB would be nice, but that’s probably not gonna happen.
I’m always hoping to be pleasantly surprised, and it happens more often than you’d think. We’ll know for sure soon. Probably.
Here’s How to Leave a Group Chat on Your iPhone When Someone Has an Android
While Apple’s iPhone 15 series is still turning heads, not everyone is going to be enticed by the tech giant’s latest offering. For instance, this fall Google released the latest edition of its flagship phone, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, a brand-new option for those who prefer Android phones over Apple phones.
However, no matter what fantastic new flagship phones smartphone-makers offer each year, people will always have their favorite brands. And we all know that despite your iPhone or Android alliance, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what kind of phone your friends have, you’re still going to be in group chats with them.
If you’re an iPhone user, you’ve probably been in the situation where a group text is blowing up your phone and clogging your notifications — and all you want is a bit of peace and quiet. Luckily, you have a couple of options to put a pause on that stream of notifications.
So, if everyone in the group chat is on an iPhone — including yourself — there’s a fix to this problem is pretty dramatic, yet pretty simple. All you have to do is leave the group chat. However, if you’re on an iPhone in a group chat with one or more Android users, you won’t be able to just walk away.
Don’t worry: It’s still easy to put a halt to a noisy group chat, even if it’s a mixed group. We’ve got a way for you to silence those pesky notifications.
For more, here’s what we love about iOS 17, and here’s a head-to-head comparison of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
Why can’t I leave a group chat with iPhone and Android users?
It’s easy enough to leave a group chat if everyone is on an Apple device using the Messages app:
1. Tap the group text message that you want to leave.
2. Tap the group icons at the top of the thread.
3. Tap the Leave this Conversation button.
If, however, you use Messages in a group chat with an Android user, you’re stuck. Why? Because once you’re outside of Apple’s texting world, Android and mobile carriers handle messages differently. So after you join a mixed Apple-and-Android group, you can’t leave it. Annoying, right?
What should I do if I’m in a group message with an Android user?
Since you’re unable to leave an iMessage group if there’s an Android user in the chat, your only option is to mute the group chat. It’s a simple process. (Pro tip: You can also follow these steps if you wish to silence notifications without leaving the chat.)
The first thing you’ll want to do is open the Messages app on your iPhone or other Apple device and go into the group chat you want to mute. If you’re using iOS 14 or earlier, you’ll need to tap the group icons at the top of the messaging screen, and then tap the information button on the page that pops up, which appears as a lowercase “i” with a circle around it. After the next screen appears, scroll down to the Hide Alerts option and turn it on.
If you’re using iOS 15 or later, tap the group icons at the top of the messaging screen. Once the next screen pops up, all you need to do is scroll down to the Hide Alerts option and switch it on.
Another option you have to silence your messages is to go to the screen with your list of messages. When you’ve found the message you wish to silence, you can simply swipe left over the message and then tap the purple Alerts button there.
Once you’ve silenced notifications, an icon on the messages screen indicates that you’ve turned off notifications for that specific group message. If you’re using iOS 14 or earlier, this icon will look like a crescent moon. On iOS 15 or later, the icon will be a bell with a slash through it.
Sick of Two-Factor Authentication Codes Clogging Up Your Inbox? iOS 17 Has a Fix
iOS 17 came out earlier this fall, and it brought tons of new features to compatible iPhones, including the ability to create your own contact poster, the brand-new StandBy mode, the Journal app and more. Among these brand-new features is the ability to have your phone automatically delete all of the two-factor authentication codes that are sent to your iMessage or Mail inboxes.
Two-factor authentication is a simple, yet effective way to protect your information. By having a service send a code to your device when logging in to your account, you can make it harder for your information to get stolen. However, it gets a little messy when your messages app is constantly clogged up with all the codes that get sent directly to your messages or email inboxes.
With this new feature, all you’ll need to do is toggle one setting, and then the two-factor authentication codes will be automatically deleted from your account, freeing up your inboxes.
Here’s our review of the new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, and here’s a rundown of everything announced at Apple’s “Wonderlust” event in September.
Go Inside the Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro: See How the New iPhones Look and Work
How can I automatically delete two-factor authentication codes?
On iOS 17, if you want to turn on the option to automatically delete your two-factor authentication codes, you’ll first need to go into your Settings on your phone. After you’ve opened your settings, navigate to the Passwords tab. Then tap Passwords. (You may need to unlock your phone.) Now tap Password Options scroll down to the Verification Codes section and enable Clean Up Automatically.
After you turn that one, you should be set. And don’t worry: This won’t automatically delete any unused authentication codes — it only deletes codes that you’ve already used. This also works in the Mail app, so all of your inboxes will be squeaky clean.
For more, here are some hidden iOS 17 features you need to know and the most impressive features of iOS 17.
Check Out Last-Minute Halloween Deals at Walmart, Target and More
It’s spooky season, which means it’s time to start decorating for Halloween and shopping for the perfect costume. And to help you prepare for your ghoulish festivities, several retailers, including Walmart, Spirit Halloween and Party City, are offering fantastic deals and discounts.
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Honor’s Magic 6 Phone Teased With Generative AI and Eye-Tracking
The Honor Magic 6, which is rumored to launch in 2023, will run on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, the companies announced Wednesday. The new chip will allow Magic 6 owners to tap into generative AI wherever they are, even offline.
The buzz around generative AI tools started last November when OpenAI released ChatGPT. Since then, companies like Google and Microsoft have been in a rush to bring generative AI tools to computers and phones.
Qualcomm touts the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip for its boosted privacy and faster speeds. But it also runs on-device large language models, which is similar to the technology behind ChatGPT and that can be used for more features built around personalization.
Honor says the Magic 6’s LLM is different from cloud-based LLMs, since those are trained on publicly accessible datasets. The Magic 6 “draws from its understanding of the device’s user to provide personalized services according to their preferences.”
During a keynote at the Qualcomm Summit, Honor showed off the Magic 6’s AI capabilities via the phone’s assistant, Yoyo, to create a short video featuring photos and footage stored on the phone. Honor also teased a feature called Magic Capsule which looks like Apple’s Dynamic Island on the iPhone but with eye-tracking. The short demo video below shows a woman holding the Magic 6 and selecting the Magic Capsule by looking at it. There are definitely some strong Amazon Fire phone vibes here.
Apart from Honor, upcoming flagship phones from the likes of Xiaomi, Oppo and OnePlus are set to run on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. However, those companies will need to work with Qualcomm to integrate AI features into their phones as they will not be natively available.
Earlier this month, Google launched the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, both of which are brimming with AI features for improving photos, answering phone calls and even making custom wallpapers.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
T-Mobile Walks Back Forced Plan Migration, Won’t Make People Switch Plans After All
T-Mobile caused a bit of a stir earlier this month when a leak revealed it planned to move people from older, cheaper plans to pricier ones starting with their November bill cycle. On Wednesday, the carrier officially walked back the changes with CEO Mike Sievert confirming that they would not happen.
“We tend to do tests and pilots of things quite a bit to try to figure out what’s the right answer,” Sievert said on a company earnings call, in response to a question about industry pricing and how it could raise its average revenues per user, a key industry metric. “In this case, we had a test sell to try to understand customer interest in, and acceptance of, migrating off old legacy rate plans to something that’s higher value, for them and for us.”
Sievert noted that the company was doing training around this test and said it wasn’t planned to be a “broad, national thing.” In its statement confirming the leak, the company told CNET earlier this month that the notices it was sending out was going to “a small number” of its users, but the carrier never clarified what a “small number” actually meant and didn’t respond to that question when asked.
At the time, the carrier said that the switch would generally see customers pay “an increase of approximately $10 per line” per month.
Read more: Best unlimited data plans
With the “plenty of feedback” the company received following the leak, Sievert said that T-Mobile has learned that this “particular test sell isn’t something that our customers are going to love.” He mentioned that no migrations of plans have actually rolled out.
As for what will happen going forward, the carrier will continue to do tests and pilots for different changes, Mike Katz, T-Mobile’s president of marketing, strategy and products, said on the call.
“I would expect to see more of those kinds of tests from us because it’s been a consistent practice throughout the entire ‘un-carrier’ journey so that we get it right for the experience for our customers,” Katz said.
“We remain very interested in rationalizing our legacy rate plans,” added Sievert. “So we’re going to stay at it,” reiterating that getting users to switch plans will “probably” require the carrier to “do something different” than this test indicated.