Many people are scared that artificial intelligences may one day rise up and kill humanity, but after losing hours playing around with a digital ego-booster, I’m instead beginning to worry about the machines being a bit too nice to us.

This all began with a recommendation from journalist Max Read, in his excellent newsletter Read Max, to check out Google’s NotebookLM tool. Launched last year, Google bills NotebookLM as an AI-powered research assistant, allowing you to upload documents and have the AI sift through them for…

Apple officially unveiled the Apple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max as the top choices for the ultimate iPhone experience. Both pack Apple’s most powerful phone hardware yet, almost reaching the level of Apple’s M series Mac chips.

But the Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have little to differentiate them apart from their size. Apple splits the Pro series into two classes: big Pro and little Pro models. With different-sized bodies, the aspects that obviously vary are the size of the screen, as wello as the phones’ heft, and battery capacities. But is there more to this than immediately meets the eye? Is there a reason to buy the Pro Max if you normally prefer smaller phones, or vice versa?

Below, we classify each of these differences and discuss how varying dimensions affect the user experience differently on the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and whether there’s one that comes out on top.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: specs

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: design

The iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max essentially have the same design but with one very obvious difference: the size. The standard iPhone 16 Pro has much smaller dimensions, similar to the smaller iPhone 16. The Pro Max, on the other hand, has a much larger footprint to facilitate the massive display. The larger size also leads to the iPhone 16 Pro Max weighing roughly 30 grams heavier than the standard Pro. However, despite these differences, the two phones are equally thick at 8.25mm, which is impressive.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max is essentially a scaled-up version of the 16 Pro, though the camera is almost the same size. Both phones also identical buttons, including the new Camera Control button, but may have different placements according to the size. That means the distance your thumb needs to travel to access those buttons will vary. The ease with each of the phones will depend on your preferences and the size of your hands.

Other than that, there aren’t any other ways the two iPhones differ. They even get identical color options, including the new copper-ish Sand Titanium (initially rumored to be coffee). Other major differences between the phones lie in the display.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: display

The difference between the displays on the two phones is highly apparent, with a clear distinction between the standard iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Simultaneously, both phones are getting a marginal increase in display sizes over the non-Pro iPhone 16 models, as well as the older iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, thanks to leaner bezels and slightly larger bodies.

The iPhone 16 Pro now gets a 6.3-inch display, up from the 6.1-inch on the previous generation. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro Max now goes up to 6.9 inches, taller than the iPhone 15 Pro Max as well as stalwarts, such as the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, in the Android ecosystem.

The size difference results in different screen resolutions as Apple aims to offer the same level of sharpness (same pixel density) on both displays. The two displays also get the same brightness of up to 2,000 nits and up to 120Hz variable refresh rate, and both come with Dynamic Island.

Apart from the size, there isn’t much to differ between the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max’s displays.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: performance

Apple furnishes the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max with nearly the same hardware, and the same applies to the insides of the two phones as well. Both of them are powered by Apple’s latest A18 Pro chip with a new and more efficient design than the predecessor that powers the iPhone 15 Pro.

Without many differences to the numbers of cores on the CPU, GPU, and the Neural Engine, Apple says the new chipset now offers 15% faster performance than the last year’s A17 Pro. The CPU gets two dedicated units to run low-power AI applications off it instead of tossing them to the Neural Engine.

The GPU gets 20% better graphics capabilities and 2X faster ray tracing rendering. The Neural Engine doesn’t get a noticeable upgrade over the iPhone despite the event’s emphasis on Apple Intelligence. Nonetheless, it can still process up to 35 TOPS (trillion operations per second), which is nearly as good as the Neural Engine on the Mac’s M4 silicon.

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One minor difference between the iPhone 16 Pro and the Pro Max is the available storage options on both phones. While the iPhone 16 Pro comes with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options, the Pro Max lacks a 128GB variant, following the same pattern from the iPhone 15 Pro range. Storage of 128GB admittedly makes little sense for phones of this caliber, and would be filled quickly, especially if you record plenty of videos with the iPhone 16 Pro. At the same time, it would have helped make the larger iPhone 16 Pro Max more accessible and lowered the price by $100 or so. It would also make sense as Apple lets you upload practically all of your files, media, and even data from apps to iCloud.

Another difference between the iPhone 16 Pro and the Pro Max seems to be their ability to ward off heat. While testing, we found that the iPhone 16 Pro can get uncomfortably hot while juggling apps. Though Apple doesn’t specify, one can suspect the smaller phone forces Apple to reduce the size of the passive vapor cooling tech inside. Even if that’s not the case, the smaller surface area could contribute to the slower dispersion of heat during intensive scenarios such as gaming.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: battery and charging

Another fundamental consequence of the smaller size of the iPhone 16 Pro versus the Pro Max is limited space for its battery pack. The iPhone 16 Pro Max boasts a 4,685mAh battery, which is much larger than the 3,582mAh iPhone 16 Pro battery. This isn’t surprising, considering the iPhone 15 Pro had a 25% smaller battery than the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

In real use, this difference in capacity translates to a big disparity. The iPhone 16 Pro generally lasted less than a day with fairly normal use, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s larger cell meant it got a lot more juice out of single charge. How much more? A day-and-a-half to two days of use. That’s a much more acceptable result for a premium device, and it’s a big edge for the big phone.

When it comes to charging speeds, Apple eliminated any disparity between the two devices — and as a matter of fact, that’s the case with all iPhone 16 phones. While the entire series didn’t get the 45 watts of fast charging like we expected, all the iPhone 16 phones max out at 30W with a MagSafe Charger. They can also reach up to 50% charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher over a wired USB-C connection. In addition, the phones support up to 25W wireless charging with MagSafe and 15W wireless charging using accessories with the more common Qi2 protocol. Both phones can pump charge wirelessly into accessories, such as AirPods, though they won’t charge the Apple Watch.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: cameras

With the iPhone 15 series, Apple introduced a new 5x telephoto camera but limited it to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. This year, both the iPhone 16 Pro and the 16 Pro Max get the exact same camera systems, including the 5X telephoto. The identical camera systems on both phones also include the new 48-megapixel primary camera that can now shoot images faster and an improved 48MP ultrawide-angle camera that can combine four pixels into one for brighter shots. The 12MP selfie camera remains unchanged from the previous year.

With the new primary camera, Apple also includes the ability to shoot 4K HDR videos at 120 frames per second, which can be slowed down to 24 fps for more gripping cinematic effects. As with other performance-intensive tasks, the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s larger body to give it an edge in thermal performance.

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Both phones also get four microphones now that allow a more holistic sound capturing, especially tuning it for spatial use cases. Besides capturing sounds at different distances, the microphone array can also eliminate background noise using machine learning.

With identical cameras, both phones have the same performance while taking photos, though the iPhone 16 Pro Max has an advantage for videos — whether you consider its resilience against heat or the advantage of serving as a bigger viewfinder.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: software and updates

Apple’s iOS 18 boots right off the bat on all new iPhone 16 models. Apple Intelligence and Android-like customization features are central to the latest version of iOS, and we expect an undiluted experience across both the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max. iOS 18 also brings one key addition to Messages, in the form of RCS support.

The only advantage of the iPhone 16 Pro Max would derive from its larger screen and its ability to edit icons for apps or in the Control Center more easily. However, considering Apple closely controls the experience across its phones — and not just the flagship models — we don’t foresee limitations with either of the models.

Once again, the varying usability of screens on both devices depends largely on your preferences more than any other factor.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: price and availability

Apple iPhone 16 Pro vs. iPhone 16 Pro Max: which one should you buy?

The iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are largely replicas of each other, with basic differences based on the size. The smaller iPhone 16 Pro is lighter and easier to wield. At 6.3 inches, it does not necessarily have a small screen, and should suffice unless you explicitly prefer larger displays.

The larger iPhone 16 Pro, despite the extra bulk, has certain advantages. Foremost, the larger area accounts for better cooling in more demanding tasks, such as gaming or videography. If you intend to use the iPhone for a few years, the advantage may become more apparent as the processing demands for iOS and apps intensify. The bigger screen also gives you more real estate for watching video content, gaming, or while recording videos. We also expect your thumb to rest at a more relaxing position while using Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 Pro Max compared to the smaller Pro.

Despite those minor trade-offs with each of the phones, none of them is a deal-breaker. Both are among the best phones you will be able to buy for the remaining part of the year through September next year. Most importantly, these are the best devices if you wish to be among the first to experience Apple Intelligence features that will be available in the coming months.

Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor yesterday, during an event in Hawaii. That is the company’s most powerful chip to date. The Xiaomi 15 series will be the first to bring the Snapdragon 8 Elite to market, as expected.

The Xiaomi 15 series will be the first phones to bring Snapdragon 8 Elite to market

This is something that a Xiaomi representative confirmed a while back, but now we got an official confirmation during the SoC launch event. It was written as clear as day, as you can see below.

The Xiaomi 15 series is expected to arrive on October 23. Xiaomi did not flat out say it, but the date was written on a poster back when the Snapdragon 8 Elite name was first confirmed. The Xiaomi 15 series was also mentioned on that poster.

Now, considering that the Snapdragon 8 Elite did not launch on October 23, but on October 21… that leaves us with the Xiaomi 15 series. One thing to note is that this announcement will be for the Chinese market only.

The global launch will follow later on, though we don’t know when exactly. If the company ends up sticking to its usual release cycle, we could see the Xiaomi 15 make its global debut at the end of February.

The Xiaomi 14 series launched in China at the end of October last year. The global launch followed at the end of February. So, the same could happen with the Xiaomi 15 series too.

Xiaomi will announce two smartphones this month

Xiaomi is expected to announce two smartphones, the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra will likely use the same processor, but that phone is not expected to debut until next year.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite was expected to be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Qualcomm decided to mix things up, though. The company probably did that so that it brings its mobile SoC within the same umbrella as its PC chipsets, such as the Snapdragon X Elite.

Qualcomm is using its Oryon CPU cores for the first time, these are second-gen cores, though. The Prime cores can reach a record 4.32GHz clock speed, while the performance cores are clocked at up to 3.53GHz. If you’d like to know more about this chip, click here.

Do note that the Xiaomi 15 also surfaced on Geekbench with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. It managed to score 3,180 points in the single-core, and 10,058 points in the multi-core test. That model included 16GB of RAM.

The single-player Squadron 42, set in the Star Citizen universe, has been delayed all the way to 2026. This is interesting because the developers said the game was “feature complete” last year. Squadron 42 was first announced in 2014 and has experienced throughout the .

The stated reason for the delay is to apply more polish. Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) boss Chris Roberts that he’s “confident” the title will make its 2026 release window. To sate eager fans, the developer dropped an hour-long gameplay video that chronicles the opening segments, seen below.

Roberts also told convention-goers that Squadron 42 would feature “30 to 40 hours of gameplay.” He went on to note that there’s still some work left to “bring the quality of the game up to” the level shown in the gameplay video.

Squadron 42 is a first-person action game that features on-foot exploration and combat, ship piloting and more. It has an absolutely stacked voice and mocap cast, many of whom are featured in the above gameplay video. The cast includes Gary Oldman, Henry Cavill, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis and Sophie Wu, among many others.

There’s also the matter of the parent game Star Citizen. It’s still not ready for a full release, after in 2012. However, the game has an active alpha community and is still racking up impressive crowdfunding numbers. All told, CIG has for the title in the past 12 years.

Indian stock trading and mutual fund startup Groww paid $159.4 million in taxes as it shifted its domicile from the U.S. back to India, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Nearly a dozen Indian startups are in the process of relocating their headquarters to India from the U.S. and Singapore to better comply with Indian laws and facilitate IPOs in the country. The shift in domicile creates a tax event for both investors and the startup.

While the IPO market remains subdued in the U.S. and many developed markets, India has emerged as a hotbed for public offerings this year. The first nine months of 2024 saw almost 70 IPOs in India, already the second-highest number of offerings in any calendar year on record.

One key reason for the influx of startups returning to India is the potential for better analyst coverage, even for companies valued below $2 billion. This coverage is crucial for attracting institutional investors. Hundreds of Indian startups — many of them backed by accelerator Y Combinator — chose to base their headquarters in the U.S. in the past decade.

The Combo 2 is now the most expensive option in iRobot’s Essential line and slightly pricier than the $400 DreameBot D10 Plus, our current choice for the best budget robot vacuum and mop. The Vac 2 is available via “select retailers” in North America (including Target and Best Buy, so far) and has the same features as the Combo except for the mopping capabilities, which contributes to its lower price.

Both vacuums have a self-emptying dock, up to 120 minutes of battery life, and the ability to perform cleaning routines that can run automatically or start manually from a button on the robot, in the mobile app, or by voice command to Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant-capable smart device.

When a cleaning routine is complete (or when its battery is close to dying), the Combo 2 will automatically return to its included AutoEmpty dock, where the contents of its dust bin will be sucked into a bag that iRobot says is large enough to hold 60 days’ worth of dirt. The bag is also self-sealing, making the process of replacing and throwing it away a little cleaner.

The Combo 2’s mopping capabilities require a little more maintenance. The charging dock can’t automatically refill the tank used to moisten the robovac’s reusable microfiber mop pad, and rugs will need to be manually moved out of the way during a cleaning routine that involves water, as the Combo 2 can’t retract its mop pad when transitioning from hard floors to carpeting.

iRobot says the new Combo 2 features “100 percent stronger suction compared to the Roomba Combo Essential” while cleaning for up to 120 minutes on a single charge. But the company doesn’t specify which of the four levels of suction power will yield a two hour runtime. At maximum power, you can potentially expect a cleaning routine to last less than two hours.

Also, the Combo 2’s navigation isn’t as advanced as what you’ll find on more expensive Roomba models. This robovac relies on “specialized sensors” and an “enhanced bumper” to avoid obstacles as it simply crisscrosses a room. Although it can display a visual representation of where it’s traveled through the iRobot app, the Combo 2 can’t generate 3D maps of a room to know where it has and hasn’t cleaned.