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iPhone Air is much thinner compared to the iPhone 17 Pro. (Apple) Now that we’ve seen the actual iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models — they were revealed at the Apple iPhone event today — it’s time to decide if you’re ready to upgrade to one of the newer devices. If you watched Apple’s keynote or pored through Engadget’s liveblog, you probably noticed the Air and 17 Pro share quite a few similarities — many of the specs are identical, or nearly so.  For starters, both run the new A19 Pro chip, giving each of them a performance edge over the non-Pro A19 in the baseline iPhone 17. And their screens, bodies and basic feature sets — high-refresh ProMotion screens, Apple Intelligence, scratch-resistant Ceramic Shield front and back, Camera Control button, MagSafe wireless charging — are all largely aligned, too. And there’s only a $100 delta in their price tags, with the iPhone Air starting at $999 and the iPhone 17 Pro at $1,099.  But these two phones have two very different audiences. The Pro, as usual, is designed to be the no-compromise iPhone, while the Air is much more of a fashion statement. It’s the thinnest iPhone ever, and that comes with some notable compromises.  To that end, let’s take a deep dive on the key areas where the newly introduced iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro diverge. (For more of today’s Apple releases, check out our hands-on with the new AirPods Pro 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11.) Size and weight The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest phone yet, at just 5.6mm thick. In comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro is 8.75mm thick — that’s more than 3mm thicker than the Air! I’m almost certain the Air would get lost between my couch cushions on day one.  When it comes to the screen size, the iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch display, which is larger than the 17 Pro’s 6.3-inch screen. (If you want larger still, the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a whopping 6.9 inches diagonally). But the screen tech uses the identical Super Retina XDR technology with all the same bells and whistles — ProMotion high refresh rate, P3 color gamut, True Tone. They should look pretty much identical.  As for weight, the Air with its titanium casing tips the scales at just 5.82 ounces (165 grams), while the iPhone 17 Pro weighs 7.27 ounces (206 grams) with an aluminum chassis. That’s a tad more than the iPhone 16 Pro’s weight of 7.03 ounces (199 grams), probably due to the newer model’s larger battery. If you decide to upgrade to the 17 Pro Max instead, it has a larger 6.9-inch display and weighs a whopping 8.22 ounces (233 grams). But long story short, the Air’s superthin design and wispier weight is pretty much the reason you’re buying this phone. The Air is pretty light and thin in comparison to all other iPhones. (Apple) Cameras Here’s where the biggest differences lie: the cameras. While the iPhone 17 Pro has three rear 48MP cameras, the iPhone Air has just one (also 48MP, though it serves as two cameras in one). Here’s what they include: iPhone 17 Pro rear cameras: The Pro boasts a triple array “Pro Fusion camera system,” where the three 48MP cameras combine to offer .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x and 8x optical zoom options. The Pro also offers macro photography, spatial photos and can shoot in ProRAW image mode. Video offerings are also full-tilt, with 4K Dolby Vision video recording up to 120fps, along with a litany of sophisticated options that will appeal to more serious video shooters (ProRES Raw, Genlock support, cinematic mode and more). iPhone Air rear camera: By comparison, the Air has a single 48MP Fusion camera system that delivers only 2x optical zoom in addition to standard. That also means it lacks even the ultrawide (.5x) mode found in the baseline iPhone. Video recording is similarly limited to just half the Pro’s framerate, albeit still in 4K Dolby Vision. Both phones have the new Center Stage 18MP front-facing “selfie” camera, which eliminates the need to rotate your phone to take a landscape photo. You instead just tap to expand the field of view. And when others join the photo, the camera automatically expands the view. And when you’re on a video call, the camera uses artificial intelligence to adjust the frame. They also both offer Dual Capture, so you can shoot from the front and back cameras simultaneously.  The iPhone 17 Pro has three rear-facing cameras. (Apple) Still, the camera compromises are arguably the Air’s biggest shortfall. Don’t get this phone if you like long zooms, ultrawide shots or top-notch video quality. Battery life Battery life ratings should always be taken with a grain of salt. That said, Apple claims the Air will deliver up to 27 hours of video playback and can get up to a 50% charge in 30 minutes. The good news is that basically matches the battery claims of last year’s iPhone 16 Pro. The bad news is that it falls well short of the new and improved battery specs on this year’s 17 Pro. That model is rated up to 33 hours of video playback and up to a 50% charge in just 20 minutes with a 40-watt charger.  Apple Now, unlike the cameras, there’s a workaround for the Air’s shorter battery life. Apple offers an add-on iPhone Air MagSafe battery which snaps on to the Air’s backside and gets you up to 40 hours of video playback. But it costs $99 and fattens up your superthin phone — doesn’t that kinda get you back to square one? Price The iPhone Air starts at $999, which matches the price at the 256GB tier of the iPhone Plus model it’s replacing (which just so happens to be my favorite). So that’s $100 more than the starting price of last year’s 128GB Plus, but with the storage doubled, I guess I can’t complain too much. For 512GB, it’ll

There’s a lot to like about the new iPhone lineup: new selfie cameras, a new unibody frame and a even a super-thin iPhone, if that’s your thing. All of the new phones share one important upgrade you might have missed during Apple’s 72-minute livestream, though: they all start at 256GB of storage. For the first time in four years, Apple raised the base-level storage on its entire iPhone lineup. Since the iPhone 13, Apple’s phones have started at 128GB for the cheapest configuration. Now, the iPhone 17, 17 Pro and iPhone Air will start with double that capacity. It’s about time. While 128GB may sound like a decent amount of storage, it hasn’t made sense as a base amount of storage for some time, particularly for Pro-level phones, which have much more powerful cameras. Apple has seemingly understood this for a while: for the last two years (when the iPhone 15 lineup launched), the Pro Max versions have started at 256GB. But there’s absolutely no reason that only people buying the most expensive iPhone should get a storage bump. Because I write about tech, my friends and family often ask me for help “fixing” various problems with their phones. (I spend most of my time reporting on the social media industry, so usually this involves me just Googling their specific issue and muddling through.) I’ve lost track of the times friends have asked me for help fixing things that boil down to the fact that they simply don’t have enough storage left on their phone. And, almost every time, they only have the minimum 128GB of storage that’s come standard since the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 13 line. But no one wants to hear: “you don’t have enough storage, you need to delete stuff.” One of my friends recently vowed to never buy the cheapest iPhone again, after I explained that paying for extra iCloud wouldn’t address her issues around local storage. But if you can afford it, paying for a storage upgrade is still worth it. Yes, paying the $200 extra for 512GB for $400 more for 1TB on the Pro series (which now maxes out at $1999 for 2TB) stings. It makes an already-expensive phone feel like an even bigger investment. But as someone who shelled out for a 512GB iPhone 14 Pro three years ago, I have no regrets about paying that extra premium. I’m currently using about 295GB of my allotted storage and have never once had to think about whether I need to clear out my downloaded media or if I have enough storage to shoot photos of my nephew in ProRAW Max or record cinematic videos on vacation. I plan on keeping this phone at least another year and I expect I’ll still have plenty of storage left by the time I do decide to upgrade (extra storage also helps a bit with resale or trade-in value).  But, if you just can’t bring yourself to pay extra for more capacity — and I get it, I really do — jumping from 128GB to 256GB will still be a meaningful bump. You might not notice it right away, but it should give most people a lot of extra time before they start seeing those dreaded “storage almost full” pop-ups. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/all-of-the-new-iphones-start-with-256gb-of-storage-finally-222415353.html?src=rss

Earlier this year, I typed up an open letter to Apple, giving the company my unsolicited (but completely free of charge!) suggestions on what it could do to improve its entry-level smartwatch, the Apple Watch SE. Now that the iPhone event has concluded I wanted to see if anyone over in Cupertino took my advice.  I asked for a bigger screen, a faster processor and faster charging. I said flashier materials weren’t necessary, nor was an always-on display. I also didn’t think the watch needed to have every last health sensor. But on-board Siri would be nice. The Apple Watch SE 3 has some of what I asked for, but not everything. Still, at the same $250, this is looking like a pretty tempting budget smartwatch. The screen is still small but the processor is top of the line I compared the display on the SE Gen 2 to my old Apple Watch Series 4 and they were about the same size. It’s usable, but after wearing the Series 10, or even the Series 9 for a while, the screen feels dinky. Down to the pixel, the size on the SE 3 is the exact same on the Apple Watch SE gen 2, with a 759 square millimeter display area. Sigh.  The Apple Watch SE second generationAmy Skorheim for Engadget But! The same S10 chip that’s going into the new Series 11 will ship inside the Apple Watch SE 3, too. That means the budget smartwatch will be able to handle watchOS 26 features like Workout Buddy and Live Translation, just like its pricier siblings (an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone still needs to be nearby, as it does with the other wearables).  That new chip will also enable the useful double tap gesture as well as the new wrist flick move that dismisses notifications — something I find surprisingly useful as an inveterate notification-clearer. You also get on-board processing of Siri requests. No more excessive tapping just to start a timer. Both the gesture and Siri support are things I’d hoped a new SE would have. So, yay! The Apple Watch SE 3 can give you a sleep score, just like its pricier siblingsApple AOD isn’t critical, but faster charging is In my experience with smartwatches, an always-on-display is a nice to have, but not crucial if the screen lights up quickly enough when I lift my wrist. But Apple went ahead and added the feature. So that’s a bonus.  I also said we could do without a brighter screen, and Apple agreed. Like the SE Gen 2, the SE 3 has a maximum brightness of 1000 nits — that’s plenty. I can easily read the time and other pertinent info in bright sunlight on such a screen, and feel no need for the extra blaze of the Series 11’s 2000 nits.  The most critical ask was faster charging. The SE Gen 2 charged… so… slowly… It took over two hours to juice up. Which, for me, made it completely unusable as a sleep tracker, since I couldn’t recharge it while I got ready for the day (something I could do with every other recent smartwatch I’ve tested). Thankfully, Apple fixed the problem. The SE 3 can go for 8 hours after just 15 minutes on the charger. Hallelujah.  The Apple Watch SE second generation charged too slowly.Amy Skorheim for Engadget Sensors, case materials and the rest The big news for the flagship Series 11 watch was a feature that can detect hypertension. The Apple Watch SE 3 can’t do that. Nor does it have the sensors for the ECG app. As I said in my letter, it’s OK if my watch isn’t a doctor’s office. The SE 3 can track your heart rate during workouts and can deliver the new sleep score if you wear it to bed. Plus Apple added temperature sensors that can help with ovulation predictions and the like. That’s more than enough health data gathering for a budget smartwatch.  While there was talk of a plastic version of the SE, that didn’t happen. Instead, the SE 3 is made from an aluminum alloy, just like the base model Series 11 — similar durability is a nice consideration for any budget model.  And it’s still just $250! When the Apple Watch SE Gen 2 came out back in 2022, Engadget’s Cherlynn Low called it “the best smartwatch $250 can buy.” With all the improvements Apple has added, that praise may now be an understatement.  So maybe the Apple folk didn’t read my letter. But enough good stuff came to be that I’ll pretend they did. It’s always nice to feel heard.   This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/apple-acquiesced-to-my-apple-watch-se-3-demands-mostly-220726287.html?src=rss

Tucked away in Apple’s iPhone 17 press releases was a bonus for off-grid owners of older models. The company gave iPhone 14 and 15 owners free access to satellite features for another year. This is Apple’s third extension since Emergency SOS via satellite launched with the iPhone 14. “The free trial will be extended for iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 users who have activated their device in a country that supports Apple’s satellite features prior to 12AM PT on September 9, 2025,” the company’s copy reads. An Apple support page lists Armenia, Belarus, China mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia as unsupported countries. Apple’s off-grid feature set began in 2022 with Emergency SOS via satellite. In iOS 18, it expanded to include Messages via satellite, Find My access and roadside assistance. The features work through a partnership with Globalstar. Apple As for why Apple keeps extending the free access, a Redditor floated a logical-sounding theory after last year’s announcement. “I can’t see Apple ever charging for [Emergency SOS via satellite],” u/rotates-potatoes posted. “The positive PR of ‘saved by Apple’ is too good, and the negative PR of ‘died because they didn’t pay $3’ is too bad.” (It’s worth noting that the pricing was speculative. Apple hasn’t said how much it plans to charge.) You can demo the features on your iPhone right now. To test Emergency SOS, head to Settings > Emergency SOS, and scroll down to “Try Demo” (at the bottom). For the texting feature, go to Settings > Apps > Messages, and scroll down to “Satellite Connection Demo.” This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-gives-iphone-14-and-15-owners-an-extra-free-year-of-satellite-connectivity-202434416.html?src=rss

Microsoft reportedly plans to begin using Anthropic’s latest Claude models to power some of the Copilot features in its Office 365 apps. In a report published Tuesday, The Information said the tech giant would announce the change “in the coming weeks.” Microsoft currently relies on OpenAI’s tech to power the majority of AI features found inside of Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. As an outsider looking in, Microsoft’s embrace of Anthropic’s models would appear to signal a deepening split between the company and OpenAI. Microsoft is the AI lab’s largest investor, and was integral to Sam Altman’s rehiring as CEO following his brief ouster in 2023. However, in recent months reports of a growing impasse between the two in negotiations over OpenAI’s plan to restructure its for-profit division as a public benefit corporation have bubbled up.  For its part, Microsoft denied the move is motivated by animosity. “As we’ve said, OpenAI will continue to be our partner on frontier models and we remain committed to our long-term partnership,” a company spokesperson told The Information. Still, the decision likely comes as unwelcome news for OpenAI. The Information reports Microsoft is at least partly motivated by the fact it believes Claude 4 Sonnet “performs better in subtle but important ways” than GPT-5. For example, The Information’s source said Anthropic’s model tends to generate “more aesthetically pleasing” PowerPoint presentations. Notably, that’s coming from an older model, and one that isn’t even Anthropic’s flagship offering.  Anthropic did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request. According to The Information, Microsoft does not plan to charge more for access to Anthropic models in Office 365, with Copilot pricing set to remain at $30 per user per month. That’s notable because the company will pay Amazon to access Claude Sonnet 4 through AWS, Anthropic’s primary cloud provider. As part of its investment in OpenAI, Microsoft can access the company’s models at no additional cost. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/microsoft-reportedly-plans-to-start-using-anthropic-models-to-power-some-of-office-365s-copilot-features-202017205.html?src=rss

The announcement of the iPhone Air surprised exactly nobody during today’s Apple “Awe dropping” event. As we finally get officiall details about this lightweight smartphone model, one of the biggest questions is about the battery. Thin devices mean thinner batteries, so we’ve been curious to see how the iPhone Air will stack up. One thing we now know is that it’s less beefy than standard smartphones when it comes to wireless charging. According to the tech specs provided by Apple on its website, the iPhone Air charges at 20W on both MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging, whereas the other iPhones announced today charge a little faster at 25W. Apple also shared fast-charging capabilities for the iPhone Air: “Up to 50 percent charge in 30 minutes with 20W adapter or higher (available separately) paired with USB‑C charging cable, or 30W adapter or higher paired with MagSafe Charger (both available separately).” The spec sheet also says that the iPhone Air on its own offers up to 27 hours of video playback or up to 22 hours of streaming video. When coupled with a dedicated iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack, those figures jump to up to 40 hours and up to 35 hours, respectively. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-airs-top-wireless-charging-speed-is-20w-201804255.html?src=rss

There’s a marketing practice called Anchoring, where a mediocre product is offered at a similar price to the one the manufacturer actually wants to sell. Sure, you can buy the base model but the next model up, for just $50 more, offers so much more that buying the cheaper one feels like a bad deal. Apple is no stranger to this practice, but I do think that the iPhone Air is a fairly extreme example of it. Apple’s iPhone strategy has, in recent years, centered on four models: That year’s model, its Pro sibling, and then larger-screened variants of both. This year, the Plus size version of the base model was ditched in favor of the iPhone Air. It’s a dramatically thinner phone, coming in at 5.64mm deep compared to the regular iPhone 17’s 7.95mm. It has a more powerful chip, packing Apple’s flagship A19 Pro compared to the regular iPhone 17’s A19. Oh, and it has a 6.5-inch display, slightly bigger than the 17’s 6.3-inch panel. But those are its only advantages. Phones have been getting larger and larger for well over a decade and every time, consumers have bought them. The demise of the iPhone SE killed the idea a large number of people were clamoring for a handset smaller than five inches. But I’ve never heard anyone grouse about the thickness of their handset, given these objects also need to be held comfortably in the hand. Consequently, the Air’s main reason for existing is, fundamentally, one that offers a bunch of compromises to reach a target no-one asked it to. In fact, it becomes embarrassing when you put the Air in a side-by-side comparison with the base model iPhone 17. The handset has a slightly smaller screen and is “only” using the regular A19 chip but, in every other metric, it’s a far better phone. It has a bigger battery and a longer promised runtime, dual 48-megapixel cameras over the Air’s single lens. But while the Air retails from $999, you can pick up an iPhone 17 for $799 with 256GB storage, which I think is a steal. In any logical world, the iPhone Air wouldn’t even get a second glance with 99 percent of buyers. Of course, much like the MacBook Air this is going to be the shape of iPhones to come. You can already see Apple’s desire to slim down the form factor and ditch legacy technologies like physical SIM cards. It won’t be long before these changes come across to the rest of the iPhone line as users acquiesce to Apple’s desire to trim things down. It’s doubly obvious the Air is laying the groundwork for any planned Apple foldable, too, given that Samsung and Honor are releasing foldables that measure 9mm thick when closed. But I’d urge everyone else to restrain the desire to spend $999 of their hard-earned to be a beta tester for Apple’s hardware roadmap. Sure, I’ll probably buy the iPhone Air 5 (or 22) but probably only because I don’t have any other choice. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-iphone-air-is-a-great-advertisement-for-the-iphone-17-201318112.html?src=rss

Anthropic has begun rolling out a small but significant update to Claude. Starting today you can use the chatbot to create and edit Excel spreadsheets, documents, PowerPoint slide decks and PDFs. In the past, Claude offered rudimentary file support, but now you can interact with any documents you need to modify directly through the chatbot. The new functionality is part of a feature preview you can try out as long as you have a Max, Team or Enterprise subscription. Sorry, Pro and free users, you’ll have to wait. The preview will roll out to Pro subscribers “in the coming weeks,” with no timeline yet for when free users can expect access. “We’ve given Claude access to a private computer environment where it can write code and run programs to produce the files and analyses you need. This transforms Claude from an advisor into an active collaborator. You bring the context and strategy; Claude handles the technical implementation behind the scenes,” says Anthropic of how it built the feature. “This shows where we’re headed: making sophisticated multi-step work accessible through conversation. As these capabilities expand, the gap between idea and execution will keep shrinking.” To check out the preview, toggle “Upgraded file creation and analysis” in the settings menu, which you can find by first selecting “Features” and then “Experimental.” You can then upload or describe the file you’d like Claude to create or edit for you, and download Claude’s creation once you’re happy with the result.  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-can-now-edit-and-create-files-including-excel-spreadsheets-143043937.html?src=rss

Video game difficulty is a real balancing act. You want to be challenged and earn each new level, but when it’s too hard there’s more frustration than fun. Apparently, a number of players have found the new Hollow Knight: Silksong game a bit too hard, struggling to defeat some of the bosses.  Now, Team Cherry, the indie studio behind the Hollow Knight series, is making things a bit easier. Team Cherry has announced Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s first patch, which includes a “slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses.” This update includes the bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter. Otherwise, the patch mostly includes bug fixes, such as gamers remaining cloakless or getting stuck floating. It also brings an increase in rosary rewards from relics and psalm cylinders, as well as for courier deliveries. These retroactive updates should come by mid next week, but eager players can join the public-beta to get the fix. Team Cherry notes that its already working on more fixes in a second patch.  The long awaited sequel to Hollow Knight finally launched on September 4, with eager fans crashing Steam, the Nintendo eshop and the Xbox Store. It’s available now for $20.  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hollow-knight-silksongs-first-patch-should-give-you-a-chance-against-its-early-bosses-134125593.html?src=rss

One of our favorite magnetic power banks is on sale for 42 percent off right now. The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery is down 42 percent to $28, which is almost as low as we’ve ever seen it. This steep discount is also available at Anker’s online store with a coupon code that the company provides. This 5,000mAh MagSafe-compatible charger with a foldable stand is a slim and portable battery that can keep your devices going on long days away from a charger. Anker says the 622 Magnetic Battery can recharge a dead iPhone 16 or 16 Pro to just over 80 percent, and an iPhone 16 Pro Max to just over 60 percent. In our hands-on review of the portable charger, we liked the magnetic stand that folds out into a 30-degree angle. Users can rotate their phone to either portrait mode or landscape mode while charging. The Anker 622 is an older charger, so it outputs a maximum of 7.5W when charging wirelessly. If you need to refill your battery faster than that, you might want to pick up one of the newer Qi2 power banks. Though a Qi2 power bank will, of course, cost more, some of our favorites are having great sales right now. The Anker Ultra-Slim 10,000mAh battery pack can charge an iPhone 16 Pro to 50 percent in just 26 minutes, thanks to its Qi2-certified 15W of wireless charging. Right now it’s 25 percent off, priced at $60 down from $80. It’s got a bare-bones design, opting for a slim profile instead of a stand. If you prefer one with a stand and you like the idea of a display that tells you how much charge your power bank has left, then check out the Anker 10,000mAh battery pack with smart display and foldable stand. In our rundown of the best power banks, this was our top pick for iPhones. Not only does this battery pack offer Qi2 wireless charging at 15W, it also offers 27W when using USB-C for fast charging. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/anker-magnetic-power-banks-are-up-to-42-percent-off-right-now-133451206.html?src=rss