In this week’s Sunday Reboot, the touch-enabled MacBook Pro looms, but the Mac-iPad divide still exists for some reason.
Imagine the MacBook Pro, but with OLED and a touchable display.
Sunday Reboot is a weekly column covering some of the lighter stories within the Apple reality distortion field from the past seven days. All to get next week underway with a good first step. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Even the most seasoned globe-trotter likely finds traveling stressful. Between panic-packing, navigating cramped terminals, and living out of a suitcase, each phase of being away from home can be overstimulating. That’s why the best gifts for travelers are ones that focus on ease and peace of mind.
Jet-setters may think they have their travel routine down to a science, but the perfect gift can enhance any experience, whether it’s a three-day business retreat or a two-week adventure across Europe. Below, find my favorite gifts for frequent travelers, from an essential suitcase set and a portable e-reader to comfortable compression socks and the perfect neck pillow.
Expandable Small Carry-On & Large Check-In Suitcase Set
Every traveler needs a luggage set that includes a checked case and a carry-on. Chances are, the jet-setter in your life already has one they love. But if they’re due for a refresh, this set from Quince is an excellent (and expandable) gift. The brand makes some of my favorite travel gear, with pieces that look remarkably similar to designs from premium brands—but at a fraction of the price. This set comes in a range of minimalist colors and has all the features you could want in luggage, including 360-degree spinner wheels, a TSA-approved lock, and high-quality zippers.
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Vacation Reading
Amazon
Kindle Paperwhite and Paperwhite Signature Edition (2024, 12th Generation)
For the bookworm who’s always traveling, the Kindle Paperwhite is the obvious gift. Reviewer Nena Farrellsays the 12th-generation model has the highest contrast ratio of any Kindle and lasts up to three months on a single charge. Whether you’re reading in direct sun or a dim plane cabin, its 7-inch display is crisp and easy on the eyes thanks to its warm backlighting. Plus, its IPX8 waterproofing rating means you can confidently read poolside without worrying about water damage. The Signature Edition adds wireless charging, auto-brightness, and double the storage at 32 GB.
If you’re traveling abroad—or just don’t yet have your Real ID—a travel wallet is a must. The puffy Luka from Calpak comes in 23 colors, so you’re sure to find an option that fits your giftee’s vibe. It’s got plenty of room for cash, cards, your passport, and other documents, and it zips securely for peace of mind. Just note that it is quite large—about the size of a mass-market paperback. On the plus side, this makes it easy to find at a glance in a big bag or backpack. On the minus, a flight attendant once asked me to put it in the overhead compartment when she saw it on my lap. —Kat Merck
Travel Organizer
Eagle Creek
Pack-It Reveal Carry-On Set
Frequent travelers who don’t use collapsible cubes when packing are struggling, and they don’t even know it. Give them this travel tip: Eagle Creek’s set is the best, made of durable fabric with compression and high-quality zipper pulls. Editor Kat Merck says there’s just enough mesh for air circulation to prevent odor buildup or fabric degradation, and the bottom and back of the cubes are opaque for privacy. They’re water-resistant and designed with a top handle. The largest cube in this set is also split into two sections for clean clothes and dirty laundry. Eagle Creek also sells larger sets for extended stays and slim cubes to help you maximize narrow spaces in your luggage.
Oren Etzioni, left, and Max Tegmark debated the risks of AI in a New York Post video. Etzioni actually considers himself a realist, not an optimist, as he notes in this piece. (New York Post via YouTube)
Regular readers of this column may have wondered about the long gap since my Sept. 4 column, “What kids tell chatbots, but not you.” Well, it’s hard to write business-as-usual AI columns during the great AI freakout. I’ve realized that I won’t be able to do justice to this topic in one column, and that life goes on. As the economist Antoine Levy pointed out, OpenAI employees warn that we may all die within a few years yet still fund their 401(k) accounts.
I’m easing into the topic of AI risks by sharing a recent debate I had with Max Tegmark, an MIT professor and a leading AI doomer. The New York Post set this up as optimist against doomer, but I consider myself an AI realist.
Tegmark noted that Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon have converged on AI, and took it as good news. It terrified me. AI needs rules written by people who understand it, not by demagogues. Tegmark said that AI is less regulated than a sandwich shop, but we have plenty of sandwich shops and zero superintelligence (so far). I believe that we should address what exists: the hackers who already use AI to break into companies for the price of lunch.
A condensed version of the debate follows. Words in quotation marks are verbatim, and the rest is paraphrased. You can view the debate on YouTube. Several exchanges refer to this summer’s incident, in which OpenAI test agents got out of their sandbox and hacked Hugging Face.
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Six points of disagreement
1. Is AI already out of control?
Tegmark: Loss of control used to be a forecast, and “now suddenly it’s in the past.” This summer “1,200 rogue bots broke out of this American company,” and “humans didn’t even find out until weeks later.”
Etzioni:The agents weren’t rogue. The people “setting the configurations of their sandbox” at OpenAI “failed to put the boundaries on them appropriately.” People made that mistake, and people can fix it.
2. Today’s dangers vs. extinction risks
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Etzioni: Cyberattacks and attempts to make bioweapons are “a clear and present danger.” Extinction-level risks are different: “We haven’t seen those yet. We hypothesize, and usually pretty vaguely, on how these will come about.”
Tegmark: The risks Etzioni wants to separate are “connected in their cause.” “If there were some safety standards like there are for other industries, so many of these problems would go away.”
3. Government regulations vs. technical fixes
Tegmark: Do what the auto and pharma industries do, and “have some binding safety standards that the government requires before people can make money off of products.” Companies would have to show that their AI won’t harm kids and won’t slip out of their control. If they can’t show that terrorists won’t use it to make bioweapons, “well, come back when you can, buddy.”
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Etzioni: Regulation is necessary, but it has its own risks. “The road to regulatory hell is paved with the EU’s good intentions.” And “we should not underestimate the power of technical solutions.” The author Dan Wang says China is run by engineers and America is run by lawyers, so we naturally talk about regulation and they naturally talk about technical fixes. For bioweapons, the fix may lie “in the transitions from what’s called bits to atoms,” where we can block the physical materials an attacker needs.
4. Can we count on China?
Tegmark: “We don’t have to trust China.” The Chinese Communist Party wants to stay in control, so “they will not want to let a Chinese company build uncontrollable superintelligence.”
Etzioni: I don’t trust China. “Nothing would make them happier than us hamstringing ourselves.”
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5. Is the political backlash good news?
Tegmark: “There’s been more political change in a good direction in the last few months than in the past decade.” It’s like a ketchup bottle: “nothing, nothing, nothing, and then all of it at once.” At my convention I introduced Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon back to back, “which had not been in my bingo card.”
Etzioni: “Can you imagine two worse demagogues?” And “we need to have good solutions, not popular ones.”
6. How it plays out
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Etzioni: “I foresee over time something quite negative happening, and to me the question is whether it’s Hiroshima or the Cuban Missile Crisis.” The Cuban Missile Crisis was a threat averted. Hiroshima was a catastrophe that came before the better rules did.
Tegmark: Self-interest is the fix. Make safety the way companies get rich, and “we’re going to see all the creativity and entrepreneurship of private industry racing to the top to do this instead of racing to the bottom.”
Five points of agreement
1. Don’t take AI CEOs at their word
Etzioni: The AI CEOs are self-interested. “When you are on the path to a trillion-dollar-plus IPO, that exerts a gravitational force on your mind.”
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Tegmark: “I completely agree with Oren that we need to take what the AI CEOs say with a grain of salt.” Listen to AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio instead: “I don’t think we can dismiss them as just doing it for some money reasons.” The whistleblowers gave up stock options potentially worth $1 million or more to speak out.
2. We were both wrong
Etzioni: I was an AI optimist and I’m now an AI realist. The things I thought were many years away “are either right here, right now, or coming soon at a pace that we may not be able to anticipate.” I’ve learned from Tegmark, and “I was wrong.”
Tegmark: I was wrong too. “I never imagined that the people in America with the most power would let companies get so close to things that one could lose control over without intervening.”
Tegmark: “The idea of corporate self-regulation is a joke in this case.” It “didn’t work out so well for the tobacco industry or for the pharma industry.”
Etzioni: I agree. Social media showed us how self-regulation goes: “This is the big tobacco moment for high tech.” “We don’t want to spend another 20 years to find out that AI companies didn’t exercise the appropriate level of self-discipline.”
4. Box AI systems in
Etzioni: A self-driving car will save your life, but “it doesn’t decide where to go. That’s a completely different system in the car than the thing that controls the brakes.” When I tell my car to head to Dunkin’ Donuts, the car doesn’t respond that it’s taking me to the gym instead because “it’s the second time you’ve gone to Dunkin’ Donuts this week.” We should box in other AI systems the same way.
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Tegmark: “By default, machines should be given the least amount of access and power that they need to do their job.” “You don’t give every janitor in the Pentagon the nuclear codes.”
5. The time to act is now
Etzioni: “We agree on off switches for AI. I’ve been advocating that since at least 2017. We agree on labeling, on liability, on cyber standards, protecting kids.” The time to do that work is now.
Tegmark: “I agree with Oren: the time to actually act on this is now.”
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Postscript: The real difference
Look back at these disagreements. Where Tegmark blames the machine, I blame a person. An engineer left a hole in the sandbox. A hacker typed the prompt. A politician found a new fear to run on. That’s why I’d box AI systems in rather than count on how they were raised.
Anthropic’s Amanda Askell compared getting Claude to behave to raising a child. But those of us with kids know how that goes. As I said in the debate, “the three-year-olds don’t listen to us, but the teenagers certainly don’t listen to us.”
I had to iterate a bit to realize my vision, telling the AI not just to stick pig faces on the blocks but to have the blocks shaped like distorted pigs. “Each block is a pig,” I wrote, “contorted into the shape of the Tetris blocks. Make ’em look a little squished but still cute!” This resulted in a clean, playable version of Tetris, though the occasional block looked like a T-posed pig with its legs spread-eagle. The AI suggested the title Piggy Stacker, but I thought mine was better. (I’m right.)
Dinner Darling
The next game idea came courtesy of my colleague Jay Dayrit, who, when asked what kind of game I should make, immediately requested, “Gay dinner party.” I typed that in.
With no follow-up requests, the result was a 2D flash-style game called Dinner Darling. The art looks like everyone is a Bitmoji. You’re placed in the shoes of a very stressed-out-looking host, Julian, who is tasked with hosting a fancy dinner party with fussy guests who can’t seem to sit in their chairs at the table. As timers count down, you have to prepare various artisanal bruschettas and espresso martinis for your increasingly angry guests.
After it generates, I give the game a shot and fail miserably, unable to figure out the controls in time to bring my guests a timely pastry or cocktail. (Sasha, one of the guests, required numerous espresso cocktails in a row.) “PARTY CATASTROPHE,” the game-over screen read.
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There is no mention of anybody’s sexuality in the game at all, but when I lost, Dayrit called from across the office, “See? You’re bad at the game because you’re straight!” Well played, Playground.
Every home has a sewer line that connects your home’s drainage to the city’s main system. Sometimes, though, that line may break. When it does, you’d spot some pretty unpleasant happenings in and around your house. Several of your drains may back up, while outside in the yard, random patches of grass would turn soggy and start to smell. That’s how you know it’s time to get the sewer line repaired.
Unfortunately, it isn’t the simplest job because the usual fix involves getting a crew to dig a trench along the pipe’s entire route, typically with a backhoe or excavator. It’s not only slow, but also pricey, considering the damaged lawn needs restoring afterwards. However, this can be a problem of the past, thanks to a technique called cured-in-place pipe, or CIPP. CIPP does away with the need for swapping out the whole pipe under a home and works on the existing line. This is done by passing a flexible felt tube soaked in a special liquid — resin – which hardens into a brand-new pipe in place inside the damaged one.
Getting this done first involves feeding a small inspection camera down the line to check things out. Water is then blasted through the pipeline in a technique called hydro-jetting to scrub out roots and buildup. Next, through a manhole or an existing opening in the pipe, that soaked tube is slid in, then inflated with air or water so it presses snugly against the old pipe’s walls. The resin is then hardened, effectively fixing the pipe.
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What skipping the trench actually saves
The thing with resin is that it’s a syrupy liquid that turns into hard plastic once it cures, except in this case it doesn’t harden on its own. Instead, the crew actually needs to pump in hot water or steam, or by running a UV light through the tube. Again, the biggest sell with this method is that none of this needs a trench going through your yard. As a result, it’s not just your yard that stays largely untouched, but also your driveway, patio, or walkway sitting on top of the pipe.
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The process is vastly quicker, too, so you can save up on paid hours. For a small cracked section of a home’s sewer line or a pipe burst by cold weather, the whole process just takes a day or two. By contrast, crews usually need two to three days to dig up and replace even part of that line. On top of that, lining a home’s line often costs less than replacing it.
It’s not just for individual houses, either, as cities can also employ the method for the larger sewer pipes running under the street that households drain into. The process is relatively quick, but while it happens you might want to go easy on showers and laundry or the water could back up.
However, there are still limits to where the technique can be used. It works best on pipes that are simply cracked, leaky, or rusted. If a pipe is properly caved in, though, the crews will likely still have to dig up. The technique is also not the most durable out there, at least compared to PVC pipes. Swapping those in ensures the line lasts over a 100 years. By comparison, a liner should last around 50 years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which isn’t bad, but it is only half the lifespan.
Samsung’s Galaxy S27 Pro and Galaxy S27 Ultra are shaping up to look quite different from the current generation, but the changes underneath may not be nearly as dramatic. Camera processing is reportedly being tweaked for warmer, more natural-looking photos, while certification filings point to a much-needed battery bump.
A fresh leak, however, points to an upgrade that could matter a lot more to people with sensitive eyes. Tipster WalleGalaxy claims Samsung will introduce DC dimming support on the Galaxy S27 Pro and Ultra, potentially moving away from the PWM-only approach it has relied on for years. The current Galaxy S26 series still uses PWM at around 480Hz and offers no DC-like flicker reduction option.
The S27 Pro | S27 Ultra displays support DC dimming, which helps reduce eye strain.
Samsung is collaborating with various safety firms to understand how to lessen eye strain problems experienced in earlier models.
PWM, or Pulse Width Modulation, controls brightness by rapidly switching OLED pixels on and off. Lower brightness simply means the pixels spend more time switched off during each cycle. Most people never consciously see the flicker, but some users can experience headaches, eye strain, or nausea, particularly at lower brightness levels.
There is a reason Samsung and plenty of other manufacturers have stuck with it, though. PWM allows OLED pixels to operate at a more stable current, which helps maintain accurate colors, consistent grayscale, and panel uniformity as brightness drops.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
DC dimming solves one problem but brings another
DC dimming, on the other hand, controls brightness by lowering the current flowing through the pixels instead of rapidly cycling them on and off. Flicker is dramatically reduced, which can make the display easier on the eyes for people sensitive to PWM.
The downside is that DC dimming can affect image quality at very low brightness. Previous implementations have shown changes in grayscale and darker colors, while full DC dimming can also make panel uniformity harder to control. Samsung, however, does not necessarily have to choose one approach over the other. It could fall back on PWM at extremely low brightness and use a hybrid system instead. The company has already taken a similar approach with the Galaxy S24 FE, so it would not be surprising if the Galaxy S27 Pro and Ultra follow the same route rather than relying on DC dimming alone.
Apple is reportedly preparing its first Apple TV 4K hardware refresh in years, and the upgrade could address two everyday annoyances: having to speak into the Siri Remote to control the device and struggling to find the remote between sofa cushions.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has tested two additions for the next Apple TV 4K: built-in microphones for hands-free Siri commands and a redesigned Siri Remote with a built-in speaker. The features are part of Apple’s broader smart home push, which is expected to be unveiled on October 13 alongside the new HomeView smart display and an updated HomePod mini.
The changes could make Apple TV more convenient to use, particularly for people who rely on voice commands or frequently misplace their remotes. However, Apple has reportedly tested the features, and it has not yet confirmed which will make it into the final product.
Built-in microphones could bring hands-free Siri to Apple TV
Currently, users need to speak into the Siri Remote or use a paired HomePod to interact with Siri on Apple TV. Built-in microphones would let users issue voice commands directly to the set-top box without picking up another device.
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Leaked image of Apple TV 4K (4th generation)MacRumors
That could make everyday tasks, such as searching for a film, opening an app, or controlling playback, feel more natural. It would also bring Apple TV closer to the hands-free voice experiences already available through smart speakers and displays.
The feature fits into Apple’s wider effort to make its devices work together as a connected home system. Bloomberg reports that the next Apple TV will use a standard A19 chip, which would provide the hardware foundation for the updated experience and Apple’s newer Siri capabilities.
A speaker in the Siri Remote could make it easier to find
The second reported upgrade is a Siri Remote with a built-in speaker. The current remote has a basic Find feature, but adding a speaker could make it easier to locate when it disappears into couch cushions or gets left somewhere in the room.
Hold down the button that looks like a TV (or computer monitor) to open Control Center on Apple TV.Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends
Together, the two features would tackle small but familiar frustrations rather than radically changing how Apple TV works. For existing users, that could make the upgrade more appealing even if the overall set-top box design remains familiar.
According to 9to5Mac, Apple is expected to announce the new Apple TV 4K on October 13, with the device reaching stores on October 30. The updated HomePod mini is expected to arrive on the same date, while the HomeView smart display is reportedly scheduled for mid-November.
Apple has yet to confirm the new Apple TV’s final features, pricing, or availability. For now, anyone considering an upgrade may want to wait for the announcement before buying the existing model.
The Apple smart home device that the company is expected to announce on Tuesday is called HomeView and will ship to consumers in November, according to a report Sunday by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
The device, which will feature a display and be powered by an A18 chip, will act as a Siri command center for an Apple-powered smart home, Gurman reported. The HomeView will come in two versions: a countertop model with a metal speaker base and a wall-mounted version with a flat, square base.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
For more than a year, Apple has been rumored to be readying a Siri-focused smart display hub for the home, sometimes referred to as a HomePad, though we don’t know for sure that’ll be the name. This display would focus heavily on Siri AI and compete with products like Amazon’s Echo Show and the Google Nest Hub line by acting as a HomeKit hub.
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Alongside the HomeView, Apple is expected to unveil a new Apple TV set-top box powered by an A19 chip and an updated HomePod mini with an S10 chip that extends voice control, music playback and other functionality throughout the household, Gurman reported.
Apple is expected to unveil the devices at its massive “Welcome Home” smart home event happening on Tuesday. Invitations went out on Thursday with a distinctive rainbow-colored Apple logo.
HomeView is expected to ship in the middle of November, Gurman wrote.
Steven Musil is a senior news editor at CNET News. He’s been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late ’70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers and had a brief stint at MacWeek.
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It’s spending billions on businesses that could turn financial services into its next growth engine
Grabhas spent roughly US$2.5 billion (S$3.2 billion) on acquisitions so far this year. Strip out its expansion into Taiwan, and most of that money is going toward one thing: financial services, particularly lending.
Until recently, Grab was largely building its financial services business from the ground up.
That is changing. This year, it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying businesses that already have customers and lending operations, with Atome accounting for the biggest bet so far.
Here’s a look at Grab’s acquisitions, how much it has spent, and what it’s trying to build with those deals.
But the first major deal came a month later, and it was in financial services.
Feb: Stash (US$425 million)
Image Credit: Stash
Grab announced in Feb that it would acquire US-based investing app Stash at an enterprise value of US$425 million (S$543 million).
The deal gives Grab access to a digital investing platform with more than US$5 billion in assets under management and over one million paying subscribers. Stash is also expected to generate more than US$60 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2028.
Grab will initially acquire 50.1% of Stash, with the remaining stake to be paid for at fair market value over the following three years.
This one was different from the Stash deal. Rather than expanding Grab’s financial services business, it was a geographic expansion: Taiwan would become Grab’s ninth market and its first outside Southeast Asia.
The Taiwan business generated about US$1.8 billion in gross merchandise value in 2025 and was profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis. Grab plans to migrate foodpanda’s users, merchants and delivery partners onto its platform, with the full migration targeted for early 2027.
Atome operates across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, offering Buy Now, Pay Later loans, consumer cash loans, BNPL cards and other digital lending products. It has 25 million cumulative transacted users and a gross loan portfolio of about US$1 billion.
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The remaining 40% will be acquired roughly two years after the first transaction closes. Unlike the initial 60%, that portion does not have a fixed price: its valuation will depend on Atome’s revenue and adjusted EBITDA, subject to a floor of US$2 billion and a cap of US$4.5 billion.
That makes Atome by far the biggest financial services bet in Grab’s 2026 acquisition spree—and the deal that most clearly shows where Grab is putting its money.
The bet on lending
The common thread between Stash and Atome is that Grab is not simply buying another app or adding another product to its super app.
It is buying established financial businesses with existing customers, products and lending infrastructure—giving it a faster route to scale its financial services operations than building everything in-house.
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But why now?
Image Credit: Grab
The strategy comes as Grab’s financial services business begins to outpace its more established mobility and delivery businesses.
Part of the sharp increase in Grab’s loan book came from Superbank, an Indonesian digital bank that Grab began consolidating in Jun after increasing its stake to more than 50%. Grab had been an investor in Superbank since 2022, and the bank had more than six million customers by April 2026.
Grab’s gross loan portfolio reached US$2.3 billion at the end of Q2, up 197% from US$781 million a year earlier. Superbank contributed US$761 million of loan receivables to the portfolio, although Grab said the loan book would still have doubled year-on-year even without its contribution.
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The business is not profitable yet, however.
Financial Services recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss of US$15 million in Q2, although that was an improvement from the US$26 million loss a year earlier. Grab attributed the improvement to higher contributions from its lending businesses and Superbank.
The company is betting that more scale will change that equation.
With Atome included, Grab expects its Financial Services segment to reach US$500 million in adjusted EBITDA and a gross loan portfolio of more than US$6 billion by 2028.
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At the same time, Grab’s core business has finally started generating meaningful cash.
That gives Grab room to spend on acquisitions while continuing to return money to shareholders.
Becoming the “everything” app
Grab has spent over a decade trying to become the “everything app” of Southeast Asia—the one platform a person opens for a ride, a meal, a parcel, and, eventually, their money.
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Ride-hailing may have been the entry point, but financial services are increasingly becoming a bigger part of that strategy. Grab already has payments, digital banking and lending products. With Stash and Atome, it is adding investing and a much larger consumer lending business to that stack.
But the bigger question is whether Grab can turn that scale into sustainable profits.
The company now has a much larger lending operation, millions of additional financial services customers and a broader range of products. But it also has greater exposure to credit losses as it lends to more consumers across the region.
That makes the next few years particularly important. Grab has the cash to keep making acquisitions, but its US$2.5 billion spending spree will ultimately have to show up in the numbers—especially if financial services is to become the profit engine management expects it to be by 2028.
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Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Apple’s smart home plans could involve yet another partner, with security company ADT potentially joining the roster alongside LG and Schneider Electric.
ADT has been linked to Apple’s smart home plans
Since early October, the rumor mill has been rife with claims that Apple will be using companies like LG and Schneider to help its smart home revival effort. However, job listings indicate that there could be a third company that will lend a hand to Apple. Job listings for ADT have appeared across the United States since July, calling out for a “Low Voltage Technician,” reportsMacRumors. While some have been hired for the positions, it seems they haven’t been given much information about their actual responsibilities. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Despite the recent leaps forward in other forms of computer-driven design, the reliability of PCB autorouters remains questionable; on the positive side, though, the lack of massive training data makes them plausible for a determined programmer to implement. For anyone contemplating this undertaking, [James Bowman] recommends a slightly unusual choice: use a hexagonal layout grid.
[James] built his own autorouter in his CuFlow PCB layout program. It takes a fairly straightforward approach: it represents the board as a grid of cells, and uses Lee’s algorithm to find the shortest routes between connected cells. The program initially used a square grid, but a hexagonal grid had a few advantages: in particular, each cell has six equidistant neighbors, rather than four (or eight, if you accept diagonal neighbors at a different distance), which allows denser routing. Because a hexagon more closely approximates a circle than a square, the same minimum-distance rules allow smaller cells, allowing the autorouter to pack more traces into the same space.
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