Instagram has revealed that it lowers the quality of older, less popular videos – reserving higher quality for more popular content.

Adam Mosseri, head of the Meta-owned social media platform said on Sunday “we bias to higher quality… for creators who drive more views”.

He said Instagram reduces the quality of videos that have not been watched for a long time because most views occur soon after one is posted – but the quality will be improved if the video gets more popular.

But the revelation has sparked concern among some creators that it may impact the reach and visibility of their videos.

“I think it’s simply wrong to adjust the quality of a person’s video based on performance,” wrote one person.

They said it was an example of why some people had become “jaded” with Instagram.

“The very heart of it has become solely dependent upon performance, metrics, views, and engagement – so much so that I can’t even control if the quality of my video is retained due to Instagram pushing a bias,” they said.

Social media consultant Matt Navarra told the BBC the move “seems to somewhat contradict Instagram’s earlier messages or efforts to encourage new creators”.

“How can creators gain traction if their content is penalised for not being popular,” he said.

And he said it could risk creating a cycle of more established creators reaping the rewards of higher engagement from viewers over those trying to build their following.

Videos that have a higher resolution or contain lots of visual assets such as edits, images or other clips can demand more computing power to encode.

These will typically be larger in size than videos in a smaller resolution, meaning they require more storage space on servers.

And one person said in response to Mr Mosseri’s post they understood the benefits of potentially reducing storage cost, but it did not outweigh the negatives.

“From a creator’s perspective, spending time on creating high quality content just for it to be downgraded to low resolution sucks,” they said.

In May, Instagram announced changes to its system for recommending content, particularly video, to “give all creators a more equal chance of breaking through”.

However, Mr Navarra said he agreed with Mr Mosseri’s assertion – when responding to user concerns about the impact on smaller creators – that people will always value a video’s content over its quality.

He said creators should focus on how they can make engaging content that caters to their audience, rather than be overly concerned by the possibility of its quality being degraded by Instagram.

Mr Mosseri clarified to users on Sunday that Instagram does not decide to reduce or improve the quality of individual videos, but rather does so in an “aggregate” way and on a “sliding scale” – adding he believed the difference in quality “isn’t huge”.

“The goal is to show people the highest quality content that we can,” he said in his initial video response.

The BBC has asked Instagram for more information.

The social media platform’s attempts to make video more key to its app experience have previously resulted in backlash from some users and creators.

In 2022 it reversed plans to shift further away from its traditional photo or so-called “grid” post format towards a TikTok-style focus on short form video content after it was criticised by creators and celebrities including Kylie Jenner.

Today’s best laptop deals are spread across retailers, with Amazon deals and Walmart deals having some laptops worth taking a look at. But the widest selection of all is at Best Buy, where you can find plenty of Dell laptop deals, HP laptop deals, Lenovo laptop deals, and even MacBook deals to choose from. We’ve tracked down what we feel are the Best Buy laptop deals worth taking a hard look at if you’re in the market for both a laptop and some savings. Reading onward you’ll find all of the details on how to save, as well as some information on which discounted laptop might best suit your needs.

Acer Chromebook 315 — $179 $249 28% off

The Acer Chromebook 315 is one of the larger Chromebooks you’ll find, as its display comes in at an impressive 15.6 inches. This makes it a great option for people who want some extra screen real estate, but who still like to do their work on the go. The Acer Chromebook 315 has plenty of power for a Chromebook, and is made as much for comfort as functionality. Its slightly larger size will come in handy when doing creative work and an integrated numeric keyboard gives it the feel of working on a desktop. The Acer Chromebook 315 is able to reach up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge, meaning you can work on the go all day without needing to take a charger with you.

HP 14-inch laptop — $200 $250 20% off

The HP 14-inch laptop is a sleek and fun computing device. It’s a great option for anyone searching the best laptops for high school students or the best laptops for college. It has an Intel Pentium processor and 4GB of system RAM that combine to push through homework assignments, work presentations, and hours upon hours of binge watching. The 14-inch screen sports HD resolution and makes this HP laptop a great way to enjoy movies, photos, and other digital content. The HP 14-inch laptop is able to reach up to 14 hours of battery life on a single charge, making it a great all-day option for people who like to do their work on the go.

Lenovo IdeaPad 1 — $320 $580 45% off

The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 is a great alternative to the best budget laptops. It’s hard to beat this price tag when it comes to a Lenovo laptop, and even at this price point, the IdeaPad 1 doesn’t hold back on features. It has a 15.6-inch HD display that’s great for binge watching on, and it’s about as portable as most laptops get, coming in at just over three pounds and not much more than half an inch thick. You’re able to connect an HD monitor to this laptop via HDMI connection, and a built-in webcam with privacy shutter and dual array microphone makes it a great way to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues.

HP 17.3-inch laptop — $401 $550 27% off

This 17.3-inch HP laptop is on the entry-level end of the model lineup, though it does have some slightly upgraded specs for getting your work or studies done throughout the day. It checks in with 8GB of RAM and a blazing fast 256GB solid state drive. It also has an Intel Core i3 processor and Intel UHD Graphics. While these are closer to the entry-level range, this laptop can still get things done. You’ll also find Windows 11 preinstalled to ensure you’re up and running in no time after breaking it out of the box.

Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 — $550 $750 27% off

With its unique design, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 laptop is truly made to accommodate all users. It has a 360-degree hinge, so you can work in four different modes. A lift hinge keeps your wrist comfortable as you type, and a larger touchpad allows for extra room when navigating. The touchscreen is a Full HD display that works with ComfortView software to reduce harmful blue light emissions. It’s a comfortable device to work at or play with for hours at a time, and it even makes a worthy consideration if you’ve got your eye on the Apple MacBook Air M2 or anything from the Microsoft Surface lineup.

Acer Nitro V gaming laptop — $700 $950 26% off

The Acer Nitro V is a good gaming laptop to consider if you’re looking for a laptop with a larger screen. It has internal hardware that’s difficult to find at such a great price, including an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card. These work together to make your gaming experience immersive and smooth, and a 512GB solid state drives makes for a lot of space to store your favorite PC games. This even makes a great laptop if you like to do your gaming on the go, as it’s able to reach up to 13 hours of battery life on a single charge, and the 15.6-inch screen goes a long way toward creating an immersive gaming environment.

Apple 15-inch MacBook Air M2 — $999 $1,299 23% off

The Apple MacBook Air M2 has been one of the most popular laptops on the market, and it will be hard to top the price you’re seeing here with this Best Buy laptop deal. It has the Apple M2 chip that provides a great harmony of performance and efficiency, with the MacBook Air M2 providing some of the longest battery life you’ll find in a laptop. This build comes with a 256GB solid state drive, which should be plenty of capacity for most people. You might need more if you’re planning to house any sort of media library or do some video editing, but you can always put one of the best external hard drives alongside the MacBook Air M2.

HP Victus 16 — $1,000 $1,400 28% off

While the HP Victus 16 is geared toward gamers, it makes a great laptop option for anyone looking for a good balance of performance and affordability. You’ll be getting some quality specs as the Victus 16 is built for this deal, with gaming level performance at its forefront. It comes with Windows 11 and HP fast charging technology as well, so it makes a great laptop for everyday productivity and taking your work on the go. You can keep in touch with friends and family with its Full HD camera, and its micro-edge display allows for a larger screen in a smaller footprint.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 — $1,050 $1,500 30% off

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a powerful laptop that comes highly reviewed by Best Buy customers. It is favored for its high resolution and 15-inch screen. This build includes 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and 17 hour battery life. Our Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 review highlighted additions like thunderbolt 4 and 3:2 aspect ratio screen. However, we’ve noted that the leap between the Surface Laptop 4 and Surface Laptop 5 isn’t as big as we might’ve hoped. However, judgements like this weren’t with a big sale going on being factored into the calculations. In other words, if your old Surface Laptop 4 is starting to show some wear and you’re wanting to stay with the same line, now is the time to buy.

Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro M3 — $1,699 $1,999 15% off

The Apple MacBook Pro M3 can be a tough one to find discounted, as it’s Apple’s newest generation of professional laptops. But you’ll get the M3 chip with this MacBook Pro, which is a powerful and efficient processor made by Apple that will provide a lot of of performance for users across the board. It also includes Apple’s 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, which is one of the best you’ll find in a laptop. Rounding out the specs of this MacBook Pro M3 are 1TB of solid state storage and 16GB of system RAM.

Next year, we’re expecting a huge leap in Tensor for Pixel smartphones. But the year after could see another big leap, this time for wearables. As Google is expected to start using a custom Tensor chip for its Pixel Watches in 2026 with the Pixel Watch 5. This is according to Android Authority.

This chipset would use older CPU cores, which is pretty common with wearable chips, as they tend to prioritize efficiency over cutting-edge performance. Not much is known about this chip right now, but we do know that it is likely to use one ARM Cortex-A78 core and two ARM Cortex-A55 cores. Google is also apparently assessing RISC-V as a potential alternative to ARM. The modem is still a mystery at this point.

These cores are pretty old, with the Cortex-A55 having debuted back in 2017, but that is the way to go with wearables. Both Samsung and Qualcomm have been going the same route with their wearable chips. In fact, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 which is inside the Pixel Watch 3, uses Cortex-A53 cores, which first debuted in 2012.

How will this change Pixel Watch?

How will this move to Tensor change the Pixel Watch going forward? Well, for one, it means Google won’t release the same watch twice with the same processor. The Pixel Watch 2 and 3 both use the same Qualcomm processor. But it will also let Google do more of what it wants to do with Wear OS on Pixel and more with Fitbit, making features work better and exclusive to Pixel.

Lately, we’ve seen quite a few features being exclusive to Pixel, before rolling out to the rest of the Android world. In fact, the foldable features in Android 15, were already available on the first-generation Pixel Fold – which launched with Android 13. Now, we’ll likely see the same thing with Wear OS moving forward.

Last week, the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) released a expressing its regret that the US Copyright Office’s refused to grant an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to help preserve rare video games. However, the VGHF continued by saying it won’t back down and will continue advocating for improved video game preservation.

For some context, the VGHF had been a longtime supporter of the Software Preservation Network’s (SPN) petition to receive a for the sake of preserving video games, especially for researchers who need access to them and can’t do so due to unavailability. As the only currently legal way is to get a legitimate hard or soft copy of the game and play it on its corresponding console, researchers are encountering difficulties in progressing in their studies. Piracy would be illegal, of course, which is why the SPN is fighting for an exemption. However, there are those who don’t see things this way.

Despite not convincing the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the US Copyright Office, the VGHF doesn’t regret supporting the SPN’s petition for a DMCA exemption. Its goal, and that of several like-minded organizations (as mentioned by ), is to help preserve out-of-print and obscure video games for future generations to enjoy. The petition sought to allow researchers to access these games remotely from libraries and archives.

The ESA pushed hard against the petition, refusing to allow any remote game access whatsoever. ESA members have even ignored calls for comment on the situation, reports. As the VGHF says, researchers are now forced to use “extra-legal methods to access the vast majority of out-of-print video games that are otherwise unavailable.”

Three years of fighting for a cause and not giving up shows that the VGHF remains committed to video game preservation. The organization ended its statement by calling game industry members to support its cause.