CANVAS HiFi built its reputation around doing something rather unconventional: using BACCH 3D processing and a single, furniture-friendly audio system to create a much larger front soundstage without surrounding the television with separate left, center, right and subwoofer cabinets. At IFA 2026, the Danish company is taking that concept considerably further by adding support for dedicated Dolby Surround and Dolby Atmos channels around and above the listener.
The big change is Almando InMedio, a new component developed with German electronics specialist Almando. It handles surround decoding and signal distribution while allowing CANVAS to remain responsible for the front soundstage. Surround, rear and height duties can then be assigned to compatible active loudspeakers, with both wired and wireless connectivity, including WiSA.
And there is an important distinction here: CANVAS is not introducing its own surround or height speakers. Instead, it is opening the platform so owners can build a multichannel home theater around CANVAS using active or passive speakers from other manufacturers. That makes this much more than CANVAS simply adding a Dolby Atmos badge to the box.
Related Reviews:
What Is CANVAS HiFi and How Does BACCH 3D Work?
Canvas HiFi
Calling CANVAS HiFi a soundbar has always been somewhat misleading. The Danish company’s original CANVAS is an active stereo loudspeaker system designed to integrate physically with a television, either mounted beneath the display or used as part of a freestanding installation. Its interchangeable fabric and wood fronts can be matched to common TV sizes, giving the television and speaker system the appearance of a single piece of furniture rather than a screen with another black box hanging underneath it.
CANVAS is also deliberately TV-brand agnostic. Its universal mounting system works with flat-panel televisions from multiple manufacturers, and CANVAS specifically lists Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and LG among the supported brands. Current versions are designed to visually match 55, 65, 75, 77, 83 and 85-inch screens, while CANVAS SOLO can be installed independently beneath televisions of other sizes.
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Canvas The HiFi Frame includes black (as shown) or silver border for a sleek look.
Samsung represents a deeper relationship. CANVAS and Samsung introduced The HiFi Frame at IFA 2025, initially pairing the audio system with Samsung’s The Frame and The Frame Pro televisions. CANVAS has since expanded that concept to other Samsung displays, giving buyers considerably more freedom over the television they put inside the integrated frame.
The other major piece of the CANVAS formula is BACCH 3D, technology developed from research led by Princeton University Professor Edgar Choueiri. BACCH stands for Band-Assembled Crosstalk-Cancellation Hierarchy, and its purpose is very different from conventional virtual surround processing.
With normal stereo loudspeakers, sound from the left speaker reaches both ears, as does sound from the right speaker. BACCH processing reduces that acoustic crosstalk so the spatial information contained in the recording can reach the listener’s ears more accurately. The result can produce a soundstage that extends well beyond the physical position of the two speakers, including greater apparent width, depth and, with suitable material, a more convincing sense of three-dimensional space.
That is why CANVAS has previously been able to create such an expansive presentation from the front of the room without installing physical surround speakers behind the listener.
The new Dolby Surround and Dolby Atmos expansion changes that equation. BACCH 3D is still responsible for what happens across the front of the room, but CANVAS can now become the front end of a system with real surround, rear and height channels. And that is where the new Almando InMedio becomes important.
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What Is Almando InMedio and How Does It Work?
The component that makes CANVAS HiFi’s move into full multichannel home theater possible is the new Almando InMedio, developed in collaboration with German electronics specialist Almando. Rather than forcing CANVAS owners to add a conventional AV receiver or processor, InMedio handles surround decoding, channel distribution and connectivity while allowing CANVAS to remain responsible for the front soundstage.
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The control box is compact enough to be hidden inside the CANVAS converter bracket, keeping another piece of electronics out of sight beneath the television. InMedio determines which channels are sent to CANVAS and which are routed to the active loudspeakers positioned around or above the listener.
In the configuration CANVAS considers the logical starting point, BACCH 3D continues to handle the front left, front right, center and subwoofer channels through CANVAS, while InMedio provides up to eight additional channels for surround, rear and height speakers. The complete system can therefore support configurations up to 7.1.4 channels, with those eight external channels connected either by wire or wirelessly using WiSA HT.
Owners can also mix the two connection methods rather than committing the entire system to one or the other. Almando lists an 8-channel analog output alongside 8-channel WiSA HT transmission on the WiSA-equipped version of InMedio, while CANVAS receives its signal from InMedio through the latter’s optical digital output. Almando says several versions of InMedio are planned for different system requirements, so not every model will necessarily include every connection option.
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InMedio is also considerably more than a surround breakout box. Its current specification includes HDMI eARC/ARC, optical and coaxial digital inputs, RCA analog input, USB-A, UPnP networking and B&O PowerLink, along with an integrated Gigabit Ethernet switch. Almando also lists AirPlay, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Qobuz Connect, internet radio and podcast support, giving InMedio the potential to become the connectivity hub for a much larger CANVAS-based AV system.
The surround ambitions extend beyond Dolby as well. Almando currently lists Dolby Atmos up to 7.1.4, Auro-3D and MPEG-H 3D Audio, along with WiSA HT and B&O Wireless PowerLink compatibility. There are also separate 12V trigger outputs for audio and video equipment, which could make InMedio useful in more elaborate installations involving external amplifiers, projection screens and other components.
System configuration is divided between two apps. Surround setup, channel assignment and the external loudspeakers are controlled through the Almando Play app, while BACCH 3D continues to be configured through the CANVAS app. Outputs can also be assigned for subwoofer duty, allowing wired or wireless subwoofers to be incorporated into the system.
There is another way to configure the front of the room, but it comes with a significant tradeoff. Users can install separate front left and right speakers and have CANVAS operate primarily as the center channel. According to CANVAS CEO Laust Nielsen, doing so disables BACCH 3D because CANVAS is no longer handling the left and right front channels required for its crosstalk-cancellation processing.
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That is why the more interesting configuration keeps CANVAS responsible for everything across the front. Owners retain the BACCH 3D presentation that distinguishes CANVAS from a conventional soundbar or center speaker, but gain physical surround, rear and overhead channels where they can provide a genuine benefit.
There is one important caveat before anyone starts measuring the ceiling for four Atmos speakers. The InMedio being shown at IFA 2026 is the first prototype, not a finished production unit. Almando says the hardware is ready, but software development and certification are still being finalized. The extensive feature list therefore represents the platform Almando is currently developing, and some details could change before commercial availability.
System Audio Is the First Partner, But Not the Only Option
System Audio Silverback On-wall Speaker with Oak Grille
CANVAS HiFi is not developing its own surround, rear or height loudspeakers for this system. Instead, the company is taking a more open approach, and its first loudspeaker partner is fellow Danish manufacturer System Audio.
Selected models from System Audio’s Silverback range of active loudspeakers will be adapted to better match the CANVAS design language, including coordinated Kvadrat textiles, colors and wood finishes. The idea is to provide CANVAS owners with a surround solution that looks like it belongs in the same room rather than a collection of unrelated boxes assembled around the television.
System Audio is also a logical technical partner because its Silverback loudspeakers are already active and support WiSA HT. The compact Silverback 1, for example, incorporates 80 watts of amplification, WiSA HT connectivity and an analog line input, and can be mounted on a wall or placed on a shelf. System Audio already positions the Silverback platform for expandable home theater applications, so adapting selected models for the CANVAS ecosystem does not require reinventing the loudspeaker.
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But buying System Audio speakers will not be mandatory.
Laust Nielsen explained to eCoustics that owners will be free to use other compatible active loudspeakers, either through InMedio’s wired outputs or wirelessly through WiSA HT. Conventional passive loudspeakers can also be used, although they will require separate amplification between the InMedio and the speakers. That opens the door to considerably more ambitious installations and means existing home theater owners may be able to incorporate loudspeakers and amplifiers they already own rather than starting again from scratch.
That flexibility is important because adding more speakers is not necessarily the starting point for everyone who buys CANVAS. One of the system’s greatest strengths is how effectively it can create an unusually large and immersive soundstage without any surround or height speakers at all.
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Canvas HiFi and Silverback On-wall surround speakers with Danish Kvadrat burnt umber fabric grilles.
The Bottom Line
We have experienced CANVAS extensively at audio shows and in a home environment, and BACCH 3D can make the presentation extend well beyond the physical dimensions of the system. With suitable movies and music, the sense of width, depth and spatial placement can be rather startling considering that all of the hardware is sitting beneath the television. CANVAS itself describes BACCH 3D as part of the combination of loudspeaker design, room correction and crosstalk cancellation that allows the system to produce a much larger presentation than its physical footprint would suggest.
That flexibility may ultimately be more important than the System Audio partnership itself. Some buyers will want the cleanest possible installation with matching Silverback speakers, while others may already own active loudspeakers, amplifiers, or passive speakers they want to integrate. InMedio gives both groups a path forward without turning CANVAS into a closed ecosystem.
Adding Dolby Atmos changes the conversation because CANVAS is no longer limited to competing with premium soundbars and all-in-one TV audio systems. It can now become the front end of a genuine 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos home theater while retaining BACCH 3D where it arguably makes the most sense.
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With Playback Distribution now handling CANVAS HiFi in North America, the company also has a much stronger route into dealers, custom installers and demonstration rooms on this side of the Atlantic. The InMedio hardware and software still need to reach production, but if CANVAS and Almando deliver what they are showing at IFA 2026, this could turn one of the more interesting alternatives to a conventional soundbar into something considerably more ambitious.
‘Customers increasingly … [use] Mac mini as a powerful platform for agentic AI’, Tim Cook said in July.
After rumours of an impending announcement were published this morning, Apple has officially revealed its first new Mac mini desktop computer in nearly two years, with two new models featuring the company’s new M6 and M5 Pro chips respectively.
With the M6 chip – also newly announced today (25 August) – the Mac mini can deliver up to four-times faster AI performance, two-times faster storage and graphics, and 40pc faster CPU performance, according to Apple.
The M6 is the company’s first 2nm chip, which features a larger 12-core CPU complex with “the world’s fastest CPU core” according to Apple, along with a larger 12-core GPU with neural accelerators, a dual 16-core neural engine, and up to 170 gigabits per second (Gb/s) of unified memory bandwidth.
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Meanwhile, the M5 Pro features up to an 18-core CPU and up to a 20-core GPU – with neural accelerators in each GPU core – with an “enhanced shader core and third-generation ray tracing for complex work” in 3D design, VFX, and game development. The Mac mini with the M5 Pro also supports up to 64GB of unified memory and 307Gb/s of memory bandwidth.
The Mac mini with M6 is priced from $899, while the version with the M5 Pro is priced at $1,699.
The new Mac mini was announced after Bloomberg reported on its impending reveal earlier today.
Sources told the publication earlier today that the new device was expected in the coming days – the tech giant has since officially unveiled the device.
The upgrade to Apple’s Mac mini line follows a growth in demand for the small, portable device popularly used to run AI applications locally.
“We’re seeing customers increasingly … [use] Mac mini as a powerful platform for agentic AI [or] deploying clusters of Mac Studio systems to run frontier-class models locally,” Cook said at the company’s last earnings call in July.
The machine is available for pre-order starting today, according to the company, with the product set to launch on 22 September.
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The Mac mini is one of a number of Apple products set to launch soon, including the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple’s first foldable smartphone, a new range of Apple Watches, updated AirPods and a smart home device.
The company is also readying a new Apple TV set-top box, a HomePod mini smart speaker and a revamped iPad mini with an OLED screen.
“The rapid expansion of AI data centres has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage”, a company spokesperson said at the time, adding that Apple had “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly”.
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According to Counterpoint Research, global smartphone shipments are poised to drop nearly 14pc in 2026, with prices expected to jump by as much as 13pc.
The Mac mini has been a particular problem for Apple in supply chain terms, with deliveries taking weeks or months to be completed. Cook said that the company’s new advanced manufacturing centre in Houston, Texas will be assembling Mac minis starting “later this year”.
With additional reporting by Colin Ryan
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Updated, 3.55pm, 25 August 2026: This article was amended to include up-to-date information on the new Mac mini, as the device was officially announced shortly after our article was published.
Apple’s top-tier Mac, the Mac Studio, has been given a big AI bump with the M5 Ultra. Here’s how it compares against the M3 Ultra model it replaces.
The Mac Studio now has M5 Ultra, an upgrade from the M3 Ultra.
The new Mac Studio arrived on Tuesday, with the all-new M5 Ultra now the top-of-the-range chip for tough productivity workloads. Apple is positioning it squarely as a desktop for doing a lot of AI-related processing, including running models locally. The design stays faithful to the outgoing model, so the story lives inside the chip. This time, the headline is artificial intelligence rather than raw core counts. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
SpaceX plans to spend up to $100 billion building a new Starship launch facility in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, which the state says could eventually “support thousands of launches annually.” CNBC reports: Once built, Starbase, LA will serve as the main launch facility for Starship, SpaceX’s in-development rocket that’s the largest ever built and designed to be fully reusable. Musk has aspirations to massively expand SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, to launch orbital data centers and to someday colonize Mars. Those ambitions, and justification for SpaceX’s nearly $2 trillion market cap, hinge on the success of Starship.
SpaceX said, in a video posted to its website on Tuesday, that the search for a site to build launch pads and have access to ample fuel for its operations took about seven years. Musk said in the video that the company would bring “probably 10,000 really exciting jobs” to Louisiana with the spaceport. A fact sheet posted online by the state of Louisiana said SpaceX is expected to generate an estimated “3,000 direct new jobs over the next 10 years” in the state, and “8,100 indirect new jobs.” SpaceX said it would work on a “historic coastal restoration” in Louisiana, in partnership with the state to “bring the marsh back” and ensure the wetlands around its new facility will have “storm protection.”
I’ve been hooked on smoothies in an almost superstitious way ever since college: A fruit smoothie is like a good luck charm, promising the health you feel you deserve despite all your other bad decisions. But in my more recent adult life, a good blender is the passport to taqueria salsas, Oaxacan-style mole, and all the delicate emulsions I once had to buy at restaurants and in jars.
Well, Vitamix crushes the blender game, but usually comes with a price tag to match. Luckily Vitamix promo codes crop up at various points during the year, and we’re here to help you stay up to date on those discounts.
Vitamix New Ascent X5 With Stainless Steel Container
Vitmix’s top-of-the-line blender model, Ascent X5, is now constructed with a stainless steel container. The 48-ounce stainless steel container is not only huge and hygienic, the machine itself combines an intuitive touch interface with a refined, timeless design. The non-reactive stainless steel material resists stains, odors, and corrosion, and expertly handles hot, cold, and acidic ingredients. This futuristic gadget also has an automatic self-cleaning program and ten blending programs for popular items like smoothies, soups, frozen cocktails and more for a precise blend, every time.
Get a $50 Vitamix Promo Code Plus Free Shipping
Vitamix has tons of ways to save on these handy kitchen gear items, including $50 off when you register your email. All you have to do is input your email on Vitamix’s website, and you’ll get a discount of up to $50 sent straight to your inbox. Plus, you’ll get free shipping on orders of $100 or more.
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IMAGE COURTESY OF VITAMIX
Does Vitamix Offer Free Shipping?
Glad you asked. Vitamix is offering free standard shipping for orders above $99. This pretty much means that ground shipping is free for blenders at the current discounts. Priority shipping is not free, however.
The WIRED Gear Team’s Favorite Vitamix Blenders
WIRED has long been singing the praises of the classic Vitamix 5200. The model made a blender convert out of contributing reviewer Joe Ray after he realized that the “model of preference for blender aficionados around the world” was also his key to home mole and Oaxacan-style cookery.
A similar road-to-Damascus moment beset WIRED contributing reviewer Heather Arndt Anderson when she tested the Vitamix Ascent X2, also currently on a $50 promo discount. “The more I thought about it,” she wrote, “the more I realized that maybe I’ve never been a blender person because I never had a good blender.” Anderson also made a big batch of mole and avoided passing out from chile fumes, then moved on to homemade masa and a Georgian walnut spread. She regretted only that the blender wasn’t easier to clean.
After testing through a number of brands’ blenders, WIRED contributing reviewer Emily Peck marveled that even the basic Vitamix Explorian E310 churned almonds frictionlessly into butter without even need of a presoak.
Apple just announced the Mac mini with M5 Pro and you’ll need one with 64GB of RAM to run the Junie Local model, a free 27B parameter coding agent that compares to Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-5.
JetBrains developed Junie as a coding agent that runs on your Mac and calls out to models the user chose. That always required some configuration and sending data off to some other AI product, so JetBrains has built Junie Local.
According to a blog post by JetBrains, Junie Local installs with a single command, takes about 20GB of space, and requires at least an M5 Mac with 64GB of RAM. Apple’s recently announced Mac mini costs $2,699 to meet that spec with an M5 Pro processor.
It runs using Qwen3.6-27B at 4-bit and is entirely local. There is no need for tokens or sending data to someone else’s server.
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JetBrains targeted the M5 processor as the base spec due to the Neural Accelerator having 8-bit arithmetic instructions, which enables around 40% more prefill throughput. Qwen has a newer version, 3.8, but 3.6 was chosen since it’s faster without the “reasoning” required for 3.8.
The blog post suggests that JetBrains testing placed the 27B parameter coding agent on par with Sonnet 4.5 at a 10,000-token reasoning limit. GPT-5 at medium effort scored slightly higher.
Here’s what JetBrains had to say about the minimum spec requirements:
We know that an M5 Mac with 64 GB of RAM is a big ask. We are not going to pretend otherwise, and we know it puts Junie Local out of reach for many people reading the post.
That is simply what it costs to run a 27B model well today, and it is the number we are working hardest to bring down. The aim is a lower memory floor, wider hardware, and more of the stack optimized. If the lofty requirements are the reason you cannot try Junie Local, rest assured that we are working to bring them down.
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JetBrains says that the Mac is a starting point, not the whole plan. It has started work for DGX Spark and RTX 5090, and they’ve looked at supporting 24GB cards.
Junie Local is free to install. Type /local into Junie and it installs. Switch back to cloud models using /model
AI authorship is increasingly employed for web pages, Pew Research Center report claims
Over 33% of pages published since the launch of ChatGPT reportedly show signs of AI generation
Of the 10,000-page sample used in the study, 10% of pages had signs of AI authorship
An incredible 35% of web pages published since the launch of ChatGPT show signs of AI authorship, new research has claimed.
A study from the Pew Research Center, which used automated tools to assess a sample of 10,000 web pages, also found that in the entire sample – based on data from the Common Crawl project – almost 10% of all pages had signs of AI creation.
The “How Much of the Internet Is Written With AI?” report also found that certain types of websites are more likely to feature some AI generation, while detecting some of the key fingerprints of AI-generated text, which goes beyond em dashes.
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AI is writing more and more web pages
The report – which was compiled using a machine learning model tasked with looking for signs of AI authorship – found that 9.6% of all pages in the sample of 10,000 appeared to have been written by AI. While that may seem a small amount, the sample from Common Crawl dates back to the beginning of the World Wide Web, over 30 years ago.
In keeping with other research (such as AI on the Internet), the data indicates that “large shares of recently published pages on the internet were likely written or substantially edited by AI.”
Reassuringly, the data highlights the interesting point that the majority of the suspected AI-generated web pages published in 2026 are .com domains and, as such typically commercial. In contrast, just 1% are .edu (US-based educational facilities) and 0.8% are .gov.
Is it written by AI?
Using its evaluation of 490,000 English-language web pages, the Pew Research Center also established some more useful indicators (“common features”) of AI text generation.
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The em dash is regularly held up as an example of AI writing, as is the use of the Oxford comma. The em dash appears “twice as frequently” in pages published since 2023, while Oxford commas have a 63% increase. The report authors note that these aren’t solitary indicators (“Humans use these in their writing too!”)
Other “tells” offer a more reliable giveaway of AI-generated writing, as demonstrated by the report. Certain words and trends are listed by the research, including “delve,” “interplay,” and “testament,” which have apparently “more than doubled in usage.” The report lists numerous examples of “AI-typical vocabulary.”
Meanwhile, the negative parallelism, which you might have seen as “it’s not just X, it’s Y,” has almost trebled in use.
It might be increasingly difficult to identify an AI-generated web page these days, but if it comes from a .edu or .gov domain, it is overall more likely to have been written by a human.
A pyrotechnic charge is set off by passing a high voltage through a filament within it, melting the filament and igniting the charge. We could think of a variety of circuits that could do this, but perhaps we wouldn’t have come up with [Michał Słomkowski]’s solution. He’s used the ringer crank generator from an old military field telephone. It’s an old project he’s shared with us due to its recent republishing on his website.
The basic principle is simple enough, winding the generator charges a capacitor bank through a bridge rectifier. Then a thyristor is used as the trigger device, dumping the contents of the capacitor into the filament. But the full circuit has a couple of refinements. There’s a charge indicator circuit using a couple of Zener diodes and an LED, and a filament tester which passes a non-triggering current through the filament from a 9 volt battery. We like the use of an over-the-top high-current thyristor, no doubt what he had in his junk box.
Perhaps it’s a symbol of how far technology has moved, that today it’s surprisingly rare to find a bridge rectifier or a thyristor, and building this device today would involve a microcontroller and probably an AliExpress inverter module as a matter of course.
Apple has unveiled its new desktop processors with the M6 and the M5 Ultra.
We’ve compared the processors below, noting the differences between the two and which chip you should go for, depending on your needs.
Read on to learn more about M6 and M5 Ultra, where you can find both chips and which ones will best suit your needs. For more from Apple’s launch, visit our Mac Mini M6 vs Mac Mini M4 guide, while our best laptops round-up includes our favourite computers from the past year.
Specs Comparison Table
M6
M5 Ultra
CPU
12-core
Up to 36-core
GPU
12-core
Up to 80-core
Neural Engine
Dual 16-core
32-core
RAM
Up to 36GB
Up to 512GB
Memory Bandwidth
170GB/s
1.2TB/s
Availability
At the time of writing, the M6 chip is currently only found within the latest Mac Mini which has a starting RRP of £899/$899. It’s currently available for pre-order and will launch globally from September 22nd.
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The M5 Ultra is also only available in one device: the Mac Studio and is considerably more expensive than the Mac Mini M6, with a starting RRP of a whopping £5499/$5499. At the time of writing, it is also available for pre-order and will launch from September 22nd.
M6 is Apple’s first 2nm chip
Apple explains that its M6 chip is built using cutting-edge 2nm process technology, and is the brand’s first state-of-the-art 2nm processor. This, according to Apple, promises to pack greater transistor density into a smaller die for a “major leap in performance and power efficiency”.
With this in mind, Apple promises the chip advances “every compute block” and delivers gains across every dimension of performance too.
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Mac Mini M6 running Photoshop
M5 Ultra is Apple’s most powerful chip yet
As its name and hefty price tag suggests, the M5 Ultra is hailed as being Apple’s most powerful chip to date. The M5 Ultra also sees a first for Apple silicon, as it uses M5 Ultra next-generation UltraFusion technology to connect two dual-die M5 Max chips to form its quad-die architecture. This, according to Apple, increases bandwidth to over 4.4TB/s and connection density by over 6x, to allow the four dies to behave as one unified processor.
Mac Studio M5 Ultra running Adobe Premiere
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M5 Ultra itself includes up to a 36-core CPU that’s made up of 12 super cores and 24 performance cores, and a GPU with up to 80-cores that each incorporate a Neural Accelerator too. In addition, the M5 Ultra’s GPU includes Apple’s latest shader core with second-generation Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading and third-gen ray tracing too. This, Apple promises, delivers up to 40% faster graphics performance than the M3 Ultra.
Apple says that M5 Ultra is best suited for 3D rendering, colour grading, complex graphics, data science, LLMs, training and perfecting AI models, scientific analysis, 8K video editing and intensive gaming too.
Mac Studio M5 Ultra running LM Studio and MATLAB
M5 Ultra supports up to a whopping 512GB of memory – compared to M6 which supports up to 36GB
Following on from the above point, a chip built for such intensive tasks needs plenty of memory to ensure it runs smoothly and quickly.
Fortunately, the Mac Studio M5 Ultra comes with 96GB of memory as standard, although this can currently be upgraded up to 256GB. If you need a bit more, then you’ll have to wait until late October, as a 512GB option is set to launch then – though we don’t currently know how much this will set you back. Considering upgrading to the 256GB Mac Studio M5 Ultra adds an additional £/$4000, we’d recommend bracing yourself for the 512GB iteration.
On the other hand, the Mac Mini M6 comes with a more conservative 16GB of memory as standard, though you can upgrade to either 24 or 32GB should you see fit.
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M5 Ultra includes a 32-core Neural Engine
Both M6 and M5 Ultra promise to offer AI-prowess, with Apple stating that developers can run and fine-tune large AI models locally on their Mac, thanks to Apple’s developer frameworks and tools that automatically optimise performance.
While the M6 chip introduces a Dual 16-core Neural Engine that promises to provide up to two times the peak compute over previous generations for faster on-device AI, the M5 Ultra doubles this with a 32-core Neural Engine instead. This should drive complex AI tasks, plus Apple Intelligence features, securely and with “industry-leading” energy efficiency too.
Early Verdict
Choosing between the M6 and M5 Ultra chip will depend entirely on your needs. If you’re looking for a device that can support everything from intensive gaming to 3D rendering and training AI models, then the M5 Ultra Mac Studio is undoubtedly the device that’ll suit you best. However, you’ll need to factor in the very high price tag.
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On the other hand, if you need more of any everyday yet still powerful device, then the Mac Mini M6 should give you all the power you realistically need.
Despite the continued growth of increasingly large flat-panel TVs and premium direct-view displays, the projector is not going away. For dedicated home theaters and larger multipurpose spaces, projection can still deliver screen sizes that conventional televisions simply cannot match without moving into far more expensive territory.
Advances in laser light sources, HDR processing, brightness, and installation flexibility have also made modern projectors more capable outside of completely darkened theater rooms. Epson’s flagship QL7000 ($32,999), for example, delivers up to 10,000 lumens of color and white brightness, supports HDR10, and can produce images up to 300 inches with a choice of interchangeable lenses.
At CEDIA Expo 2026, Epson will showcase its latest home projection solutions across several screen configurations, demonstrating why projection remains a serious option for custom integrators and consumers who want a genuinely cinematic image at home. Bigger televisions may continue to grab headlines, but when the goal is a 150-inch, 200-inch, or even larger image, projectors still have a rather persuasive argument to make.
Epson QL7000
Epson QL7000 Goes Big with Stewart Filmscreen
For its CEDIA demonstrations, Epson will be employing its top of the line 10,000-lumen QL7000 4K 3LCD Laser Projector.
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Demo One: The QL7000 will be paired with Stewart Filmscreen’s new slimmer profile Director’s Choice Generation 2 four way masking screen — an impressive 215-inch, 2.0:1 cinematic display optimized for today’s growing library of 2.0:1 streaming content. The setup will showcase the impact of high brightness projection and HDR performance on a truly cinematic scale.
Demo Two: The QL7000 will also be demonstrated with Stewart Filmscreen’s StudioTek 130 G4 acoustically transparent screen. The screen allows speakers to be positioned behind the image, helping preserve precise LCR localization and a cohesive soundstage while still delivering a premium visual experience.
Demo Three: This demonstration combines the QL7000 with Stewart Filmscreen’s 160-inch Balón Edge Phantom HALR+ ambient light rejecting, acoustically transparent screen to showcase high brightness projection in environments with controlled ambient light.
As with the StudioTek demonstration, the Balón Edge Phantom HALR+ is acoustically transparent, allowing speakers to be installed behind the screen. However, the Phantom HALR+ material is also designed to maintain image contrast in rooms with higher levels of ambient light.
The installation demonstrates how projection can serve as an integrated alternative to direct view displays and video walls while minimizing its visual impact on the room.
To round out Epson’s CEDIA 2026 exhibit, a live projector comparison will demonstrate key Q-Series performance differences in brightness, HDR, and color, showing how each model; the QL7000, QL3000, and QB1000 — is suited to different home installation requirements.
Compatible with Epson Precision Short/Long-Throw Lens
Compatible with Epson Precision Short/Long-Throw Lens
15-Element Epson VRX Cinema Lens Included
Double Micro-Lens Array
Yes
Yes
No
Lens Shift
3-Axis Motorized Lens Shift with Memory Presets (dependent on the installed lens)
3-Axis Motorized Lens Shift with Memory Presets (dependent on the installed lens)
3-Axis Motorized Lens Shift with Memory Presets
Lens Shift Range
Vertical: -64 % to +64 % Horizontal: -16 % to +16 %
Vertical: -64 % to +64 % Horizontal: -16 % to +16 %
Vertical: -96.3% to +96.3% Horizontal: -47.1% to +47.1%
Keystone Correction
Vertical/Horizontal: ± 30 degrees
Vertical/Horizontal: ± 30 degrees
Vertical/Horizontal: ± 30 degrees
Screen Size
60″ to 300″, based on attached Epson High Precision Lens
60″ to 300″, based on attached Epson High Precision Lens
50 to 300″ (at 58 to 62’4″ screen distance)
Connectivity
Dual 40 Gbps HDMI® 2.1 ports (supports up to 120 Hz at 4:2:2 in 8-, 10- and 12-bit color modes)
Dual 40 Gbps HDMI® 2.1 ports (supports up to 120 Hz at 4:2:2 in 8-, 10- and 12-bit color modes)
Dual 40 Gbps HDMI® 2.1 ports with ARC & eARC (supports up to 120 Hz at 4:2:2 in 8-, 10-, and 12-bit color modes)
ISF® Certified
Yes
Yes
Yes
Smart Home Control Compatible
Control4®, Crestron®, PJ Link, and others
Control4®, Crestron®, PJ Link, and others
Control4®, Crestron®, PJ Link, and others
Model Color
Black or White
Black or White
Black or White
Dimensions (WDH)
22.8 x 7.5 x 22.4″
22.8 x 7.5 x 22.4″
20.5 x 17.6 x 7.6″
“Advancements in projection technology are giving integrators more options for delivering compelling large-screen entertainment in spaces that may have traditionally been challenging for projection,” said Melvin Diaz, senior product manager, home entertainment, Epson America, Inc. “At CEDIA Expo, we’re excited to demonstrate how the Q-Series platform combines high brightness, exceptional image performance and a compact, thoughtfully designed form factor to bring immersive cinema experiences to more rooms. From dedicated home theaters designed for large cinematic experiences to beautiful living spaces with more ambient light, the Q-Series gives integrators the flexibility to create an extraordinary viewing experience while allowing the technology to elegantly disappear into the space.”
The Bottom Line
The annual CEDIA Expo remains the place where custom integrators can see how the latest home theater, control, lighting, and smart home technologies actually work together, and the large scale theater demonstrations are always part of the attraction.
For CEDIA 2026, Epson is taking a more useful approach with the QL7000. Rather than simply putting its 10,000 lumens of color and white brightness on the biggest screen it can find, Epson is demonstrating how the same projector performs with several screen materials, sizes, and installation approaches. That includes a 215-inch masking screen, an acoustically transparent screen, an ambient light rejecting option, and a retractable installation designed to disappear when it is not being used. The QL7000 itself can produce images up to 300 inches and accepts interchangeable lenses, which makes this kind of demonstration particularly relevant for integrators.
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That is what makes Epson’s CEDIA presentation interesting. Choosing the projector is only half of the equation; the screen material, room lighting, speaker placement, viewing distance, and installation all have a major impact on the finished system. Visitors to Epson’s booth will be able to see those differences rather than merely stare at another specification sheet.
With enormous OLED, Mini LED, and direct view LED displays continuing to improve, projection has plenty of competition. But when a client wants a 135-inch, 160-inch, or 215-inch image that can be integrated into the architecture of the room, projectors still offer something most televisions cannot. Epson appears determined to make sure integrators remember that.
Price & Availability
Epson Q-Series Projectors are available at the following prices:
Screens: The screens featured in this report are available through Stewart Filmscreen and Authorized Dealers – prices vary depending on size and configuration options – professional installation strongly suggested.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri took the stand in Meta’s latest trial over social media addiction and children’s privacy Tuesday. During his testimony, Mosseri said that it was “news to me” that Instagram employees were told by a company lawyer to “limit” certain types of data they presented to the executive as part of their work on teen safety.
Mosseri appeared as part of a high-profile trial between Meta and attorneys general from dozens of states. Lawyers for the states have said that Meta intentionally tried to “hook” kids onto its platform despite internal research that showed its apps were harming young users.
One bit of internal research that surfaced during the trial Tuesday was from a 2023 slide deck prepared by Instagram designers and others about teen safety on the app. The deck indicated that content related to suicide, self injury and eating disorders had a “disproportionately large teen audience” that was two and half times bigger for teens than adults. It also indicated that content deemed “non-recommendable” to teens was being viewed by teens at a rate that was 1.5 times higher than adults.
A lawyer for the company later told Instagram employees working on the presentation to remove those stats in order to “limit” Mosseri’s “exposure to this information,” according to messages shared during the trial. On the stand Tuesday, Mosseri said that he has never participated in a conversation about moderating his own access to information. “I’m not a legal expert, so I’m not sure what the reasons might be for removing information from presentations before they get to me, but [I’m] not trying to encourage my team to hide anything,” he said. “I think that my understanding is if there are legal implications of certain work, that lawyers review the material.” He described the lawyers’ role as ensuring the accuracy of documents and that “they make sense, particularly when it’s about whether or not something we’re doing complies with the law.”
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Mosseri’s comments came after Instagram’s Director of Product Design, Francesco Fogu, testified about the July 2023 presentation and the conversations around what statistics to include in it. Fogu said he was “surprised” because he had never before been told to “hide data from leadership.” He was ultimately permitted to communicate the data to Instagram’s leaders “vocally,” he said. He added that the data was still available to executives because it was detailed in reports that were linked within the presentation. Later, during cross-examination from Meta’s lawyer, he said the presentation was successful because it was the “catalyst” for the creation of Instagram’s teen accounts.
One feature that repeatedly came up during Mosseri and Fogu’s testimony was Instagram’s “take a break” tool that can remind users to stop scrolling. Only 1.8 percent of Instagram users initially opted into the feature after it was introduced in 2021, according to data from Meta. Fogu, who still works at Meta, repeatedly said he was unsure about the accuracy of that statistic.
At one point, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked Fogu whether he knew what the highest adoption rate for the feature had ever been. Fogu said he didn’t. “You’re the head of this and you don’t know what the highest it’s ever been,” she asked. “I do not create the dashboards for collecting data. I do not read data. That’s not my job. I just trust my team,” he said. “And yet, even though you have to trust them, even though you have to design things, you have no idea what those numbers are as you sit here today,” Rogers said.
Fogu wasn’t the first witness to testify about “take a break.” The jury also heard from a former data scientist at Meta, George Volichenko, who said the feature had a “very low and disappointing” adoption rate among teens after it was introduced in 2022. Volichenko said that early findings showed only .165 percent of teens opted to take a 10-minute break from Instagram, though adoption later increased to .2 percent. He described the feature as “easy to dismiss.”
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Mosseri was also pressed about “take a break” and its adoption rate. The Instagram chief seemed to be frustrated with the focus on the feature. “This is one feature with a disappointingly low usage rate, which has been significantly improved,” he said. Instagram’s teen accounts, which are now mandatory for teens under 16, have time limits enabled by default, Mosseri pointed out. “There are many features that are effective, there are many features that are ineffective,” he said. “One in 50 people today will post a photo or a video to Instagram. That’s a 2% participation rate.”
Mosseri is the first high-profile Meta executive to testify in the trial, which could have a lasting impact on Meta. Lawyers for the states are seeking penalties as high as $1.4 trillion and hoping to force the company to change aspects of how its apps are designed. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also expected to appear, along with other current and former employees. Mosseri’s testimony will continue Wednesday.
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