ExxonMobil has misled consumers for years by perpetuating a “myth” about plastic recycling, according to a new lawsuit filed by the state of California.
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The Batman 2: everything we know about the DC superhero sequel
Following the success of The Batman in 2022, a sequel from Warner Bros. Pictures was inevitable. Even the revamped DC Studios led by James Gunn and Peter Safran won’t derail director Matt Reeves’ plans for The Batman 2, which has been officially titled The Batman Part II.
Robert Pattinson will once again portray Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, Batman. Beyond that, several questions remain about the upcoming sequel. To sort out the facts from the rumors, we’ve compiled this roundup that shares everything we know about The Batman Part II so far.
When does The Batman Part II come out?
The Batman Part II was initially supposed to be released on October 3, 2025. Unfortunately, The Batman Part II has been delayed by nearly a year, pushing the premiere to October 6, 2026. Yes, it will be at least two-and-a-half years before we get to see Robert Pattinson suit up again, which marks a four-and-a-half-year span between the original and the sequel.
This delay isn’t surprising since Warner Bros. Pictures announced the film’s October 2025 debut in January 2023, five months before the writers’ strike kicked off six months of labor disputes in Hollywood. On the film’s old date, The Bride!, director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reworking of Bride of Frankenstein will be released by Warner Bros. That film stars former Dark Knight Christian Bale, Jessie Buckley, Annette Bening, and Penelope Cruz.
The original plan was for The Batman Part II to begin production in November 2023. However, production has not started yet, and no new cast members have been announced.
There were unconfirmed reports that the film began shooting in March 2024, but the month has passed without any response from Warner Bros. Despite this, insider Jeff Sneider claims that The Batman Part II will start filming in April 2025 and that the cast will be announced in fall 2024, but this report should still be taken with a grain of salt.
How does The Penguin fit into The Batman Part II?
Although The Penguin was originally described as a prequel to The Batman, it has subsequently been revealed to take place almost immediately after the first movie.
“In the movie, the election day was November 7th,” explains Reeves during an interview with Collider. “This takes place a week after that, after Bella Reál has been elected but is now Mayor-Elect Bella Reál. We’re in the aftermath of all that flooding. The wealthier neighborhoods, of course, have gotten the aid they needed, and in Crown Point — and other areas of desperation — they’re not getting the help they need. That is the void Oz steps into when he decides to make his moves. The story plays out, really, over the next weeks that take you toward the end of the year. I don’t think we quite get to play Christmas or New Year’s, but we’re getting there.”
Reeves also stressed that while The Penguin does lead into The Batman Part II, it isn’t required viewing for anyone. The events of the sequel will stand on their own.
“Here’s the thing, I think that in terms of it being an epic crime saga, it is something that’s deepened by watching all of it,” Reeves said. “But the truth of the matter is that each one, of course, needs to live on its own. So The Batman lives on its own, The Penguin series lives on its own, The Batman Part II will live on its own, but it will be deepened. You won’t have to be prepared for what happened, you’ll just understand that that’s the entry point of where this character is coming in. The events that unfold are unfolding in a way where it’s not like, ‘Oh, gee, I needed to see those eight episodes of that show or I don’t understand what’s going on.’ It doesn’t really work that way.”
Will there be more TV spinoffs from The Batman?
Reeves has previously mentioned two other spinoffs from The Batman, one centered around the Gotham City Police Department and the other around Arkham Asylum. Although no other shows are currently lined up, Reeves told Collider: “We are talking about doing more — I think it would be really fun.”
What’s the status of The Batman Part II’s script?
In a separate interview with EW, Reeves confirmed that The Batman Part II‘s script has been finished, and production is on schedule to begin in early 2025. He also teased the way that The Penguin leads into the sequel.
“Oz does become one of the entry points into the movie,” Reeves said. “I can’t tell you where it goes from there, except to say that we’re super excited about it.”
What’s the plot of The Batman Part II?
It’s simply too soon to say. There’s no confirmation as to who the primary villain will be or what’s happening beyond the continued evolution of Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne/Batman. The Batman ended with Pattinson’s Dark Knight seen in a more heroic light by the people of Gotham City, so the sequel will presumably start with that status quo.
One strong possibility is that the sequel will show the Dark Knight facing off against Thomas Elliot, a.k.a. Hush. Once a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, this villain is famous for teaming up with the Riddler and having multiple other villains help them battle and torment Batman with his knowledge of the hero’s true identity.
The Batman did have the Riddler reveal that Bruce’s father inadvertently caused the death of a reporter named Edward Elliot, who may very well be Hush’s father. Combined with rumors that Hush will appear in the film, it seems likely that The Batman Part II will depict the villain seeking vengeance from Bruce for his father’s role in Edward’s murder.
What villains are rumored to be in The Batman Part II?
There are also rumors that the villains Clayface, Professor Pyg, and Scarecrow will show up in the sequel, along with Batman’s young ward Dick Grayson/Robin. Though Robin technically appeared in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, this could be Grayson’s first live-action appearance in a film since 1997’s Batman & Robin.
Despite these claims, Gunn took to Threads to deny the rumor that Pyg and Scarecrow will join Hush, Clayface, and Robin in Part 2. However, this statement implies the latter three characters will make their debut in the franchise.
Who has been cast in The Batman Part II?
When Warner Bros. announced The Batman Part II in April 2022, only Pattinson was confirmed to return as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Regardless, the following cast members will almost definitely be back: Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin. Farrell is also starring in Max’s spinoff series, The Penguin, which will chronicle Cobblepot’s rise to the top of Gotham’s criminal underworld and possibly lead into the sequel film.
Zoë Kravitz could return as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, but it’s also possible that Reeves will hold off on her return to give Bruce a new love interest. Barry Keoghan had a brief cameo as The Joker in The Batman, which established his possible alliance with Paul Dano’s Riddler. While neither Keoghan nor Dano have been confirmed for the sequel, the former actor neither confirmed nor denied that his Clown Prince of Crime will appear, implying there is still more to come from him.
Harvey Dent/Two-Face was rumored to be the main antagonist of The Batman Part II, with actor Boyd Holbrook (Logan) said to have been hired to portray the iconic villain. However, James Gunn has since debunked those rumors on Threads.
Is there a trailer for The Batman Part II?
No. In fact, now that the film has been delayed to 2026, audiences likely won’t see a trailer until around mid-2025.
Jeffrey Wright hasn’t seen a script yet
Don’t hold your breath waiting for The Batman 2 to hit theaters… or even to start shooting. One of the first film’s key actors set to return hasn’t even read a completed script yet. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the freshly Oscar-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright commented that he has yet to see a Batman 2 screenplay.
“You’ve seen as much of a script as I have at this point,” said Wright, who played Batman’s ally James Gordon in the 2022 film. “I don’t want to jump ahead. I just want to go forward with it.”
“Clearly, I’m Lieutenant Gordon at the end of the film, the first film, so we may be moving up in the ranks, I suppose, but I haven’t seen anything yet,” he added. “I’m being patient, letting [director] Matt Reeves do his thing — which is going to be magical and wonderful — and looking forward to diving back into it when the time comes.”
James Gunn says Matt Reeves is still working on the script
On Threads, Gunn responded to a fan asking for a status update on Reeves’s script for The Batman Part II. Gunn confirmed that Reeves is still working on the screenplay. When pushed to reveal a finish date, Gunn replied, “When Matt thinks it’s ready.” If filming is rumored to start at the beginning of 2025, expect Reeves to complete his script by the fall of 2024.
Andy Serkis shares filming update on The Batman Part II
In an interview with Popverse, Serkis said he hasn’t seen a script for The Batman Part II. However, Serkis believes the sequel’s screenplay will be “brilliant” because of his affinity for Reeves. Serkis then predicted The Batman Part II’s start date for filming and when fans can expect it in theaters.
“Basically, I know nothing about the movie other than that I’ve just found out that we’re probably likely to be starting filming early next year,” Serkis said. “Therefore, if you do the math, it’ll be a year and a half after that.”
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ExxonMobil is the world’s leading producer of single-use plastics that become waste, according to the state attorney general’s office. To encourage people to buy products made with single-use plastics, the suit alleges, ExxonMobil “deceived Californians for almost half a century by promising that recycling could and would solve the ever-growing plastic waste crisis.”
“They clearly knew this wasn’t possible.”
Plastic is quite difficult to reuse, which is why very little of it is ever recycled. Promoting recycling as a cure-all for plastic waste can actually lead to more of it becoming trash, experts warn. Now, the state of California wants to hold industry accountable for the plastic pollution that has accumulated in the environment, animals, and even people’s bodies.
“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release yesterday.
The AG’s office launched an investigation into the petrochemical industry’s role in creating a plastic “pollution crisis” in 2022. It says it unearthed new documents over the past two years that led the state to file suit this week. The lawsuit alleges that ExxonMobil has violated state public nuisance, natural resources, water pollution, false advertisement, and unfair competition laws through misleading marketing about recycling.
The state is suing for civil penalties and disgorgement, which would force the company to turn over any profits it gained illegally. California also wants to set up an abatement fund and injunctive relief to stop the company from promoting plastics as recyclable the way that it has for years. The attorney general’s office points to a 12-page ad in Time magazine in 1989 on “the urgent need to recycle” as one example of the company’s “campaign of deception.” “Americans have entered an era in which landfilling will no longer be the primary method of garbage disposal,” the ad says.
By 2015, less than 10 percent of plastic waste had ever been recycled. Nearly 80 percent of the 6,300 million metric tons of plastic waste that had been created around the world ended up in landfills or littering the environment.
Even when plastic is rehashed, it’s typically “downcycled” because the quality of the material deteriorates with each use. Plastic bottles are turned into fibers used in carpeting instead of new plastic bottles, for example. And gadgets made with recycled plastic typically have to be reinforced with fresh plastic. It’s often just cheaper for a company to use new plastic rather than recycled materials.
Newer claims from industry about “advanced” or chemical recycling are just as flawed, the attorney general claims, since the majority of plastic waste that goes through that process becomes fuel. The state also claims that plastics produced using ExxonMobil’s “advanced recycling” technology contain such little amounts of used material that “they are effectively virgin plastics.”
ExxonMobil shifted the blame to California in an emailed response to The Verge. “For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn’t effective. They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills,” the statement says.
One of the selling points for plastic is that it’s lightweight and easy to transport — a characteristic that also makes it easier for plastics to drift into the environment. Once it’s there, it breaks down into tiny particles called microplastics that have flooded the world’s oceans and have been found in everything from seafood to baby poop. Around 21 million pounds of plastic garbage has been collected from California’s beaches and waterways since 1985, according to Bonta’s office.
Plastics are made from fossil fuels and are responsible for 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — more than the climate pollution from global shipping.
“While greenwashing certainly isn’t new, the fossil fuel industry in particular has frequently downplayed the impacts that their sector has on climate change,” Cornell University climate and environment legal scholar Leehi Yona said in an emailed statement. “In my view, this latest lawsuit builds on the sustained efforts of many governments to hold fossil fuel companies accountable to the myriad ways they have misled the public on the risks of their products.”
Filling out CAPTCHA puzzles is tedious, but using them as (imperfect) shields against malicious bots made sense, at least until now. Artificial intelligence can now defeat those puzzles every time, according to new research from ETH Zurich. CAPTCHA, an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart,” is employed across an enormous range of websites.
However, the tool may need renaming based on how well the AI model created by the Swiss researchers solved the security measure’s word and object identification puzzles.
The AI puzzle solver is built on a widely used AI model for processing pictures called You Only Look Once (YOLO). The scientists adjusted YOLO to take on Google‘s popular reCAPTCHAv2 version of CAPTCHA. You’ll immediately recognize reCAPTCAv2 from every time you’ve had to click on a car, bicycle, bridge, or traffic light to prove your humanity.
With 14,000 labeled photos of streets as training data and a little time, however, the scientists could teach YOLO to recognize the objects as well as any human. Exactly as well as a human, in fact, since the AI didn’t solve every puzzle perfectly the first time. But, you may recall how you get more than one chance, assuming you don’t totally mess up the puzzle. YOLO was able to perform well enough that even if it made an error in one puzzle, it would make up for it and succeed with another CAPTCHA puzzle.
Narrowing down the scope of objects users need to identify – often just 13 categories, such as traffic lights, buses, and bicycles – allowed for easier integration across websites.
However, this same focus on a narrow set of object types is what made it easier for the YOLO-based AI model to defeat the system. According to the ETH Zurich team, the system’s simplicity worked to the AI’s advantage, allowing it to master the image-based challenges without much difficulty. Despite attempts to make CAPTCHA more sophisticated by incorporating factors like mouse movement and browser history (known as device fingerprinting), the AI’s success rate remained intact.
The Rise of CAPTCHA-Solving AI
The fact that an AI system can now bypass CAPTCHA systems with a perfect success rate is a wake-up call for the cybersecurity community. CAPTCHA systems are a critical component of web security, designed to prevent bots from engaging in activities like spamming, creating fake accounts, or launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. If these systems are compromised, websites could become more vulnerable to automated attacks and other malicious activities.
The success of the YOLO model in cracking CAPTCHA systems is not an isolated case. In recent years, AI models have demonstrated increasing proficiency in tasks once thought to be exclusive to humans. Solving CAPTCHA puzzles is just the latest milestone in AI advancements that have reshaped expectations around machine learning and automated systems.
Implications for Everyday Users
For the average person, CAPTCHA puzzles are an everyday encounter, whether logging into an online account, submitting a form, or making an online purchase. The security of these interactions hinges on CAPTCHA’s ability to keep bots out. With this latest AI breakthrough, there’s a real risk that CAPTCHA may no longer serve its intended purpose as an effective gatekeeper.
One immediate concern is that if CAPTCHA systems become obsolete or easy for bots to bypass, it could result in an uptick in automated activities such as spam or malicious bot-driven campaigns. For instance, CAPTCHA systems are often employed to prevent bots from creating thousands of fake accounts or automatically posting spammy content across social media platforms. If bots can easily bypass CAPTCHA, it could lead to increased fraudulent activity across websites.
Additionally, as CAPTCHA technology is defeated, websites and service providers will be forced to explore more robust security mechanisms. Some alternatives being discussed include more sophisticated behavioral analysis techniques, such as tracking user interaction patterns, and biometric-based verification systems that rely on fingerprints or facial recognition.
Am I AI?
Proving that you’re not a robot isn’t as easy as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean you have to panic about being replaced any time soon. It’s simply evidence that cybersecurity needs to account for the rapidly evolving capabilities of AI models. CAPTCHA might end up phased out in favor of different puzzles to prove your humanity.
It would have to be more intensive than simply picking the right image. A security setup might have to monitor your behavior in solving a puzzle, like how fast and well you type and scroll. Or it might take a combination of multiple tests and verifications. In other words, cybersecurity will need to be stricter, though hopefully without slowing down web browsing too much. If things get really tough, perhaps we’ll all have to submit a tear after watching Mufasa die in The Lion King.
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AI can be used to detect where you are and what you are doing from GPS data
South_agency/Getty Images
Hackers, app developers and even government agencies could be using your smartphone to create a map of the room you are in and determine what you are doing. The security vulnerability uses data in the GPS signal and doesn’t require access to data from the camera, microphone or accelerometer.
Soham Nag and Smruti Sarangi at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi have been researching whether any information other than location could be extracted from GPS signals when Android smartphone…
SpaceX and NASA are gearing up for the Crew-9 launch that will carry an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the capsule and its crew could lift off as early as Thursday, September 26, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, following a flight readiness review carried out on Monday, NASA officials have noted that the launch could be delayed by a gathering storm.
“NASA, SpaceX, and the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron are closely monitoring potential Tropical Cyclone Nine and its approach toward the Gulf of Mexico and Florida’s west coast ahead of launch,” the space agency said.
Despite this, the Falcon 9 rocket is is still scheduled to roll out to Kennedy’s Space Launch Complex-40 on Tuesday for a static fire and final dress rehearsal in preparation for launch.
The original plan was for NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to fly to the ISS alongside NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, but Cardman and Wilson were recently removed from the flight as their seats are needed to bring home Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore at the end of the Crew-9 mission in February. Williams and Wilmore were supposed to travel home on Boeing Starliner’s spacecraft, but technical problems with the Starliner prompted NASA to bring the vehicle back to Earth empty, leaving Williams and Wilmore without a ride home.
Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission to the space station with SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Hague and Gorbunov will spend about five months at the station, conducting experiments, research demonstrations, and spacewalks to perform maintenance on the orbital outpost.
How to watch
NASA is currently targeting 2:05 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 26, for the launch of the Crew-9 mission.
You can watch the build-up to the launch, the liftoff, and the early stages of the ISS-bound flight on NASA’s YouTube channel, which we’ve embedded at the top of this page.
We’ll update here if NASA makes any changes to the launch schedule, but be sure to check its social media channels for the very latest information.
Both Apple and Google released compact flagship smartphones recently. Apple’s arrived earlier this month, while Google’s landed in mid-August. We’re here to compare those two phones, the Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro. Not only are both of them compact phones, but they actually have the same display sizes. To make things even more similar, they also have flat sides, and so on. There are a lot of differences between them, though, so there’s plenty to talk about here.
As per usual, we will first list their specifications and will take it from there. Following that, we’ll be comparing their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio output. These two phones are just as powerful as their larger siblings. Neither company decided to cut corners with the smaller flagships this year, which is always nice to see. So… let’s get to it, shall we?
Specs
Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro, respectively
– Screen size:
6.3-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED ( flat, 120Hz, HDR, 2,000 nits max brightness)
6.3-inch QHD+ OLED (120Hz, HDR, 3,000 nits)
– Display resolution:
2622 x 1206
2856 x 1280
– SoC:
Apple A18 Pro (3nm)
Google Tensor G4
– RAM:
8GB
16GB (LPDDR5X)
– Storage:
128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB (NVMe)
128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB (UFS 3.1)
– Rear cameras:
48MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.28-inch sensor, 1.22um pixel size, sensor-shift OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, f/2.2 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, PDAF), 12MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, 1/3.06-inch sensor, 1.12um pixel size, 3D sensor-shift OIS, 5x optical zoom)
50MP (wide, f/1.7 aperture, 1.2um pixel size, OIS, EIS), 48MP (ultrawide, f/1.7 aperture, 123-degree FoV), 48MP (periscope telephoto, f/2.8 aperture, OIS, EIS, 5x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
12MP (f/1.9 aperture, PDAF, 1/3.6-inch sensor size, OIS)
42MP (f/2.2 aperture)
– Battery:
3,582mAh
4,700mAh
– Charging:
38W wired, 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless, 7.5W Qi wireless, 5W reverse wired
27W wired, 21W wireless (Pixel Stand), 12W Qi wireless, 5W reverse wireless (no charger)
– Dimensions:
149.6 x 71.5 x 8.3 mm
152.8 x 72 x 8.5 mm
– Weight:
199 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3
– Security:
Face ID (3D facial scanning)
Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner
– OS:
iOS 18
Android 14
– Price:
$999+
$999+
– Buy:
Apple iPhone 16 Pro
Google Pixel 9 Pro (Best Buy, Google Store)
Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro: Design
Both of these phones are made out of metal and glass. The thing is, the iPhone 16 Pro has a frame made out of titanium, with some aluminum in the mix. The Pixel 9 Pro’s is made out of aluminum. Titanium is the stronger material, but aluminum is better when it comes to heat dissipation. Both phones have flat sides all around, though they do curve a bit towards the very edges, for comfort’s sake. You’ll also notice rounded corners on both smartphones.
The front and back sides on both devices are flat too. The iPhone 16 Pro includes a pill-shaped cutout at the top of the display, the so-called ‘Dynamic Island’. Google’s handset has a display camera hole instead. The bezels are very thin on both of these devices, and they’re also uniform on top of that. On the iPhone 16 Pro, you’ll find the power/lock key and the ‘Camera Control’ buttons on the right-hand side. On the left, the volume rocker buttons are located, and the ‘Action Button’.
The Pixel 9 Pro includes all of its physical keys on the right-hand side. The power/lock button sits there, and below it you’ll find the volume up and down buttons. Apple’s handset has a camera island in the top-left corner of its back, with three cameras in there. Apple’s well-known rear camera design is included here. The Pixel 9 Pro has a pill-shaped camera island at the top, which is centered. That design makes the Pixel 9 Pro sit nicely on the table, without wobbling, unlike the iPhone 16 Pro.
Apple’s handset is a couple of millimeters shorter than the Pixel 9 Pro. It’s also ever so slightly narrower and thinner, but the difference is less than a millimeter. The two smartphones have the exact same weight, they weigh 199 grams. They’re both also IP68 certified for water and dust resistance.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro: Display
The iPhone 16 Pro features a 6.3-inch 2622 x 1206 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. That panel is flat, and it offers an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. HDR content is supported here, and the same goes for Dolby Vision. The peak brightness of this panel is 2,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 90%, while the display aspect ratio is 19.5:9. This display is protected by the Ceramic Shield glass.
Google’s handset, on the other hand, features a 6.3-inch 2856 x 1280 LTPO OLED display. This panel also offers an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It supports HDR10+ content, and the peak brightness here is 3,000 nits. The screen-to-body ratio is at around 87%, while the display aspect ratio sits at 20:9. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 from Corning is included on top of the display here.
Both of these displays are great. They’re bright, vivid, and more than sharp enough. The touch response is good on both panels, and the viewing angles are great. The blacks are also quite deep, as you’d expect out of OLED displays. Neither display offers high-frequency PWM dimming, though, if that’s something you care about. They both do get bright enough for outdoor use but are not the brightest around.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro: Performance
The Apple A18 Pro SoC fuels the iPhone 16 Pro. That is Apple’s brand-new flagship processor. It’s a 3nm chip, in case you were wondering. Apple paired that up with 8GB of RAM and NVMe flash storage. The Pixel 9 Pro is fueled by the Google Tensor G4 processor. That is Google’s new 4nm chip. That processor is paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 3.1 flash storage. Neither phone offers expandable storage, by the way.
Apple’s chip is more powerful than Google’s, quite a bit more powerful. Google’s processor is adapted for Pixel phones, though, and it’s made with AI tasks in mind. In regular, day-to-day use, both of these smartphones are outstanding. They do everything you need them to without skipping a beat. Browsing, messaging, emailing, image editing, video processing, basically anything you can think of.
What about gaming? Well, the iPhone 16 Pro is the more powerful smartphone here, both in terms of the CPU and the GPU. It can easily run any game you’ll find on the App Store, even the most demanding ones. The Pixel 9 Pro does not have that much CPU and GPU prowess, but it can still run pretty much every game. Even the most demanding ones are playable, but you may not want to play them at the very highest details, as you’ll notice some limitations. Both smartphones do get quite warm during gaming, but not too warm.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro: Battery
The iPhone 16 Pro features a 3,582mAh battery. That is not something Apple confirmed, but something that had to be checked once the phones became available. The Pixel 9 Pro, on the other hand, has a 4,700mAh battery on the inside. Android phones usually have larger batteries, so that’s perfectly normal. The thing is, both of these smartphones do offer really, really good battery life, so that’s not something you need to worry about.
At this point in time, we’re still working on our iPhone 16 Pro review, but have been using the phone for a while, and do know what to expect in terms of battery life. Both of these devices can get you through the day, even if you’re using them quite a bit. Getting to over 7 hours of screen-on-time is possible on both smartphones, depending on your usage. Do note that we didn’t really play games on the day we reached such numbers. Your mileage may, of course, vary, as there are many factors involved.
The iPhone 16 Pro supports 38W wired charging, along with 25W MagSafe wireless, 15W Qi2 wireless, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging. On top of that, 5W reverse wired charging is also supported. The Pixel 9 Pro, on the other hand, supports 27W wired, 21W wireless with Pixel Stand, 12W Qi wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging. Neither of these two phones includes a charger in the retail box, only the charging cable.
Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs Google Pixel 9 Pro: Cameras
You’ll find three cameras on the back of both of these smartphones. A 48-megapixel main camera (1/1.28-inch sensor) sits on the back of the iPhone 16 Pro. It’s backed by a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (1/3.06-inch sensor, 5x optical zoom). The Pixel 9 Pro includes a 50-megapixel main camera (1/1.31-inch sensor), a 48-megapixel ultrawide unit (1/2.55-inch sensor, 123-degree FoV), and a 48-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom).
Both of these smartphones are very capable in the camera department. The thing is, they do provide considerably different results. The iPhone 16 Pro prefers to offer images that have warmer color temperatures, images that are yellowish. The Pixel 9 Pro does the exact opposite, it prefers cooler tones, so the images do pull more towards the blue side of things. That’s a jarring difference that you’ll notice in many photos compared side-by-side. Google’s handset also loves to offer contrasty photos, while the iPhone 16 Pro tends to brighten up the shadows even during the day.
Both smartphones do a great job of keeping the photos vivid and sharp, though. Their secondary cameras do a good job of keeping the same color profile as their main cameras. We did prefer Google’s telephoto camera, though it was a close call. Both ultrawide cameras did a fantastic job. Both smartphones also do great when it comes to macro photography, though the iPhone 16 Pro left more of a positive experience there. The same goes for video recording.
Audio
You will find a set of stereo speakers on both of these phones. Those speakers are more than loud enough on both phones, and they do offer audio output that is good in terms of quality too… well, for smartphones.
There is no audio jack on either one of these two phones. You can, however, take advantage of the Type-C port that sits on the bottom of both smartphones. If you prefer wireless connectivity instead, Bluetooth 5.3 is supported on both devices.
Google TV is an easy to use operating system that provides access to all of the best streaming services in one centralized location. But even if your smart TV runs a different OS, you can get access to Google TV easily by buying a Chromecast for as little as $30, or a new Google TV box for closer to $100. You may also not know that if you use a VPN with your Google TV set or Chromecast, you can access even more content. Here’s how to set up a VPN on Google TV or a Chromecast and why you may want to use one.
Why use a VPN on Google TV or Chromecast?
For streaming purposes, VPNs have one clear benefit: spoofing your IP address to that of a different country so that you can access geo-restricted content. If you use a VPN and connect to a different country’s server, you can access its content library on any streaming platform.
Let’s say you live in the US but want to watch some award-winning BBC documentaries on the BBC iPlayer streaming service. All BBC iPlayer content is free if you live in the UK, but blocked everywhere else. Using a VPN, you can connect to a UK VPN server and stream to your heart’s content.
VPNs also have considerable security benefits if you use them on your smartphone or PC. Purchasing a single subscription means you can use your VPN on any supported device, so we recommend you purchase one for its flexibility.
What VPNs are available on Google TV?
Google TV doesn’t have many apps to install compared to other smart TV systems like Amazon’s Fire TV OS. Although this may seem like a disadvantage, it’s actually a blessing in disguise.
With VPNs, you want to ensure you invest in a quality and trustworthy product. There are many untested or free VPNs available that sell your data or falsify their encryption claims. Although this might not be a huge issue for streaming purposes alone, it generally poses massive security and privacy risks.
When installing a VPN on Google TV or Chromecast, we recommend the following VPN services:
We also have a guide to the best VPNs where we explain why we recommend them.
How to set up a VPN on your Google TV or Chromecast
It’s easy to use a VPN on your Google TV (and perhaps even easier on a Chromecast). Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to install one:
Google TV
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Navigate to the Google Play Store on your Google TV.
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Search for the VPN you want to install (alternatively, search for the keyword “VPN” to view your options).
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Install the VPN.
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Log in or sign up.
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Navigate the country server list and connect.
Note that you can use your VPN on as many devices as it supports. So, once you’ve purchased a subscription, it’s wise to download it on as many platforms and devices you can to maximize your investment.
Chromecast
If you have a Chromecast, you can still enjoy the benefits of a VPN — you just need to use your smartphone or laptop in tandem with the streaming device. Here’s how to do it:
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Install a VPN on your smartphone or laptop.
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Make sure your Wi-Fi is enabled.
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Turn on the VPN on your smartphone/laptop.
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Connect your smartphone or laptop to your TV via Chromecast.
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Begin streaming your content.
Additional tip: VPNs also work with screencasting. As long as your smart TV is under the same Wi-Fi as the device you’re screencasting from, you can use the VPN securely.
VPN options for other streaming platforms
Don’t have Google TV? Good news: Robust VPN options (or alternatives) exist for the other major streaming platforms, too.
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