Whether you’re loyal to Windows, a Mac fan, or willing to try something new, you should know what to look for in a laptop before making an investment. There’s more to consider than just the operating system. Does it have the screen you want? Are there ports that support your peripherals? Can it play games at 1080p or higher? These are among the many considerations of which you need to be aware.
In this guide, we explain what you should look for in 2024, and what you need to avoid. Many options are available in terms of both Windows 11 and Chrome OS, whereas Apple limits its MacBooks to a lower number of configurations. Continue reading to find out which laptop is right for you and which are the overall best laptops, and be sure to check out our list of best laptop brands before you get started.
The operating system should be your first major consideration. While that debate was once dominated by Apple’s macOS and Microsoft’s Windows, Google’s Chrome OS is now a very popular alternative typically offered on much more affordable laptops.
While there are certainly comparable hardware and features offered with these platforms, there are some stark differences between them that are important to consider.
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Windows
Dell XPS 16Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Windows-based PCs are an incredibly diverse category. Dozens of manufacturers make them, and the quality and pricing can vary greatly depending on which model and brand you choose. The fastest models will surpass Macs in terms of performance, and many companies tailor their Windows PCs to a specific purpose, such as gaming or business.
Windows PCs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A standard laptop with a clamshell design and a keyboard-mouse interface is easy to find, such as the lightweight Surface Laptop line. Windows touchscreen laptops can be found even in the lower price brackets, which is not something you’ll see on any Apple MacBook — unless you count a brief fling with the Touch Bar.
More elaborate designs include fold-back screens or even detachable tablet-keyboard combos, such as Microsoft’s Surface range. Meanwhile, Apple reserves the 2-in-1 design for its iPad Pro family combined with a Magic Keyboard, as you won’t see a convertible or detachable MacBook.
On the software side, Windows is far more open-ended than macOS. It’s the standard for game development and many business-related programs, empowering a larger software library. Windows enjoys major updates with new features more frequently, too: Biannually versus annually as with Apple’s macOS. Note that Chrome OS has a less rigid update schedule and is more likely to get smaller updates more often.
Unlike Apple’s more limited hardware lineup, there is plenty of choice in the Windows laptop space. Whether you opt for a major manufacturer like Lenovo, Dell, or one of Microsoft’s own devices, you have a ton of options.
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MacOS
Apple has always been protective of its brand, releasing products in very deliberate iterations. Any Apple product will follow its standards, whereas any manufacturer can make a Windows or Chrome OS-based PC with unique specs. As a result, Macs are very user-friendly and stable. And because they come from the same ecosystem, Apple’s resourceful support network can easily help with any problems that arise.
Quality design is one of the hallmarks of a Mac. They are built to look great, feel elegant, and have incredible displays, which translates to a much higher price tag than many of their Windows and Chrome OS counterparts, especially when configured with lots of storage. Apple computers aren’t known for being cheap.
Macs use fast hardware but rarely sport the most powerful graphics chips as seen in Windows-based PCs — and unlike many PCs, it is impossible to upgrade components, so you are stuck with the specs that you purchase on day one. Still, those who want a solid computer but do not know a lot about hardware can rest easy knowing their Mac will perform well during everyday use. Apple’s hardware also advanced significantly since late 2020, when the company switched processors to their own in-house chips. The M3 series is an incredibly fast chipset that significantly improved GPU performance, and the M4 is right around the corner. ThePro and Max versions are powerful tools for creators, with machines like the MacBook Pro with the M3 Max offering blistering performance and surprisingly awesome efficiency. Today, the MacBook Pro offers the best combination of high speed and battery life you can buy.
Apple’s strict design standards extend to the operating system, macOS, which is straightforward and intuitive. Unlike Windows, the platform includes a suite of proprietary office and media-editing software, and each application is well-suited for its targeted task. It’s no surprise Apple is often the choice of designers and photographers (although models like Microsoft’s Studio Laptop Studio 2 are putting up serious competition thanks to innovative designs and digital pen support).
Finally, while there are no touchscreens on Macs, you can use Apple’s Sidecar mode to add an iPad as a second wireless screen with touch support.
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Chrome OS
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Google’s Chrome OS is different from Windows and macOS. Based on the Chrome browser, this platform initially focused on web-based apps and affordability. While the latter still holds true, Chrome OS has evolved over the years to support more traditional desktop software and mobile apps, similar to its rivals.
Chrome OS powers Chromebooks. These devices are typically more affordable than Windows-based PCs and MacBooks due to their lower hardware requirements. In the past, they were mostly ideal for schools and other institutions, but today, users can do more than just browse social media and make online purchases. Chromebooks can now be used for a lot more, and they’re being increasingly used by businesses seeking a secure and easy to manage platform.
Hardware choices are also much more varied than in the past, with powerful offerings, like the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, that perform and look very much like premium Windows and macOS laptops. There are even 2-in-1 options like the HP Chromebook x360 14 and the affordable detachable tablet Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook with an OLED display. The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 uses Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming platform to offer a viable gaming laptop for under $600.
Overall, Chrome OS is quicker and more versatile today than ever. Its foundation is still web-centric, but the platform now supports Google Play and Android apps, making it the ideal notebook companion if you have an Android phone. It even mimics Apple’s iMessage, allowing Chromebook owners to text from their laptops without picking up the phone.
Moreover, Chrome OS supports Linux, opening up the platform to traditional desktop software, like GIMP and Steam. The drawback is that the library isn’t as diverse as Windows or even macOS, and Linux support is still in beta. Still, the maturity of Chrome OS has proven to be a strong contender in a market dominated mainly by Windows.
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Overall, if Chrome OS fits the bill for what you need in a laptop, you can save a lot of money by going with a Chromebook.
There are several laptop categories, manufactured with a certain use or audience in mind. When shopping for a laptop, decide what you primarily intend to use the laptop for and seek out a category that aligns with those interests. Here are some broad categories and a couple of our favorites for each.
Entry-level ($500 or less)
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Laptops can be expensive, but manufacturers know that not everyone can afford a $2,000 machine. Buyers who need a laptop for the most basic purposes and want to save money can find great laptops that cost $500 or less.
In general, budget laptops are ideal for people who may not know a lot about computers and simply want a device that can carry out basic tasks. They’re built to last despite the low price, with competent construction and ergonomically sensible keyboards and touchpads. One great example is the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 detachable tablet, which manages to be quite usable with a surprisingly good display for only $300.
These laptops are typically light on hardware, meaning you won’t find loads of RAM or high-performance graphics, making them less ideal for AAA games or keeping hundreds of browser tabs open. They’re not incapable of decent performance, just limited as to what you can do compared to higher-priced models.
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This is a category where Chromebooks excel, as they ditch some of the fancier features of Windows and macOS laptops, but there are options from Windows as well. You won’t find a macOS laptop for under $500 unless you buy an older used machine.
Midrange ($500-$1,500)
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Q425Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
This price range is arguably the best in terms of bang for your buck. These laptops are often truly excellent. You get much better internal hardware than the entry-level offerings, but at the cost of premium features, high-powered graphics chips, and fancy materials . However, well-built, all-metal laptops are easily attainable.
The fact that this range is such a sweet spot for the industry means that you have plenty to choose from. There are laptops with great displays (including OLED panels), laptops with powerful processors, beautiful laptops, and ones that are light and portable with great battery life. You may not find a system that ticks every one of those boxes, but the best laptops under $1,000 are some of our favorites. This is also where you’ll find your least expensive macOS machine, the entry-level MacBook Air M2, but you can also squeeze in the newer MacBook Air M3. Several Microsoft Copilot+ PC laptops running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X platform fit into this category, including excellent laptops like the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x.
Premium ($1,500+)
Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
This bracket contains some of the best laptops you can buy today. For a little extra money, you gain longer battery life (in some cases), improved performance from more powerful internal hardware, and larger and higher-resolution displays with more exotic technologies like mini-LED, and overall better build quality. If you’re a bit more of a power user and can afford it, this is the class of laptop you should consider the most.
Despite the higher cost of the premium laptop category, there are still plenty of choices. You can pick up stellar laptops in the 13-inch form with plenty of general computing power and connectivity options. If you’re interested in gaming on the side or content creation, you’ll want to jump up to a 16-inch laptop with higher-power chipsets and a dedicated graphics card.
This category even contains a more modern version of our favorite laptop of the past few years, the Dell XPS 13. If you want something a little heftier and more capable of content creation, the Dell XPS 16 is worth considering too. For gamers, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is one of the best laptops we’ve come across for highly portable performance, while the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 offers real power in a supremely rugged and upgradeable chassis.
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If you’re an Apple fan, we’d recommend the MacBook Pro. It’s costly, but it offers the best combination of performance and battery life.
2-in-1
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The 2-in-1 laptop combines the convenience and ease of a tablet with the utility of a keyboard. This category includes two most common designs: 360-degree convertible and detachable. The convertible can serve as a tablet by flipping the keyboard under the screen. The detachable is essentially a tablet with a removable keyboard but it looks and feels like an ultra-thin laptop when combined. There are other types of 2-in-1s, such as the pull-forward design epitomized by the Microsoft Surface Studio Laptop 2.
Two-in-ones can provide a lot of versatility but are not the most powerful and expandable devices available. The uniqueness of their design can come with some low-power processors, integrated graphics only, and complexity. These 2-in-1 laptops are sometimes more expensive than clamshell laptops with comparable hardware.
When it comes to buying a 2-in-1, some are better laptops than they are tablets, and some are better tablets than they are laptops. Think hard about which “mode” you’ll likely use more before buying, and do so accordingly.
The term “ultrabook” is technically a specification that Intel used for extra-light, portable laptops designed to be easy to carry while still providing great battery life. They use SSDs, power-efficient Intel Core Ultra processors, and carefully designed clamshell bodies. This became a very popular type of computer, and many people began applying the name “ultrabook” to any compact, lightweight laptop designed for easy transport.
Today, any lightweight laptop may be called an ultrabook, although that isn’t entirely accurate (some are now referred to as ultraportables instead). You can find some good examples in our list of the best 13-inch and 14-inch laptops.
Business laptops
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Business laptops offer some intriguing features for the average buyer despite targeting professionals. Sure, they might not always offer the looks of more mainstream systems, but they tend to pack exceptional battery life and have more rugged and tough shells.
The biggest downside to business laptops is that they’re usually expensive. Laptops aimed at video editors and photographers are usually fast with larger displays offering excellent color accuracy. They are also much more likely to offer better protective systems like biometric validation and professionally oriented software packages due to their greater emphasis on security and privacy.
One of the most iconic laptop lines in the business category is the Lenovo ThinkPad, and the latest ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is a fantastic entry in that range. For more options, check out our list of the best business laptop.
Gaming laptops
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Gaming laptops must be built to keep up with the unceasing march of progress. The best tout high-end processors and graphics chips, as well as enough RAM to run modern games. Anything less can render the hottest titles unplayable.
High-tier gaming laptops tend to be bulky, typically to accommodate better desktop-like hardware and larger screens. Their power-gulping components mean that battery life isn’t great — especially on systems with 4K HDR displays. But this isn’t always the case, as our favorite gaming laptops tend to offer a good middle ground or offer more stealth gaming ability.
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The category has also received a number of important upgrades in display technology that make the gaming experience even more enjoyable. OLED has made its way to gaming laptops, offering the usual excellent colors and inky blacks, and mini-LED made its debut in 2023 such as on the Asus Zephyrus M16. Gaming laptop displays have also reached new heights in terms of refresh rates, with 240Hz panels increasingly common and even 480Hz displays being available. Faster refresh rates mean that the displays can now keep up with the superfast components and offer high-speed gaming without tearing and ghosting.
As with any computer, hardware determines what a laptop can do. Better components will naturally be more expensive, so it is essential to consider the laptop’s primary role and choose hardware suitable for that purpose. A laptop purchased to browse the internet or write documents, for example, doesn’t need a high-end processor or video card.
CPU/Processor
As with any computer, the CPU is the brains of the notebook and does most of the general work. When the computer needs to access or change data, the CPU executes that task. Better CPUs will be able to process more data at quicker speeds. However, keep in mind that a CPU’s pure clock speed doesn’t necessarily paint the whole picture. If you’re unsure about your options, copy its model number (such as “Core Ultra 7 258V”) into a web search to compare your choices.
The current offerings from Intel are its Core Ultra Series 2 including the Core Ultra 5, 7, and 9 series in Lunar Lake models. Unlike earlier generations, the generation number is no longer included in the name, so you’ll have to learn the nomenclature to keep up. Meanwhile, AMD’s current notebook chips are its sixth-generation mobile Ryzen 8000 Series and Ryzen AI 9 CPUs, though they are a bit more difficult to find in laptop offerings. And Qualcomm has made a splash with its ARM-based Snapdragon X chipsets that combine better efficiency with strong performance.
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The Intel chipsets are hybrid designs, similar to Apple’s M3, although not based on the ARM architecture as are Apple’s. There are more cores than in previous Intel CPUs, with a mix of Performance, Efficient, and Low Power Efficient cores meant to provide both faster and more efficient performance. Some 14th-gen parts are still being used as Intel updates to faster Arrow Lake chipsets, such as the highest-end 24-core Core i9-14900HX to rival Apple’s M3 Max in CPU performance. Most laptops, especially midrange and premium machines, should make the transition to Intel’s latest architectures throughout 2024. Intel’s Lunar Lake also includes faster neural processing units (NPUs) to speed up on-device AI tasks — something that is still very limited early in 2024. AMD and Qualcomm also offer faster NPUs, all to support Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC AI initiative.
The Ryzen 8000 uses an updated version of the current architecture and so is significantly faster than AMD’s previous offerings. Just as important are the updates to the integrated Radeon graphics, with the implementation of the RDNA3 architecture that’s used in AMD’s discrete GPUs and should bring increased performance in modern games.
When it comes to picking a laptop based on its CPU, newer is almost always better. Try to avoid buying a laptop with a CPU that’s a few generations old. Unless you’re doing something intensive like video editing, don’t worry about buying a chip outside of the midrange. The eight cores available in the Core Ultra 5 226V, for example, offer enough performance for almost anyone, although they compare more with the older Meteor Lake U-series chipsets.
Graphics
A Graphics Processing Unit, or GPU, is a chip that generates all images you see on the screen. Most lower-end laptops ship with integrated graphics, which means the component is mounted inside the main processor. For instance, nearly all Intel laptop chips include integrated graphics, namely the Intel Arc engine. AMD produces Accelerated Processing Units, or APU s, that combine CPU and GPU cores on the same chip (die) similarly.
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Other laptops have an additional graphics chip/module soldered into the motherboard. These chips are called “discrete GPUs,” and they typically can’t be removed by the typical laptop owner. Nvidia and AMD are the primary vendors of these chips.
Nvidia’s latest laptop GPU family is the GeForce RTX 4000 Series, including the RTX 4050, 4050 Ti, 4060, 4070, 4080, and 4090. These will be in the most expensive, most powerful gaming and business-class laptops, though some recent models may use older chips like the RTX 3050 that still perform well. Laptops based on the RTX 4000 Series are increasingly common and provide excellent gaming and creative application performance.
AMD discrete laptop graphics like the RX 7000M and 7000S offer vastly improved performance over integrated solutions, though they are far less common than Nvidia’s solutions.
Audio
Although some laptops offer good sound right out of the box, such as the MacBook Pro with its excellent six-speaker configuration, most laptops don’t have the room to fit decent speakers inside the casing. Most laptops provide ports to connect headphones or external speakers if you want a more immersive listening experience, although there’s a movement among some vendors to do away with the audio jack. The Dell XPS 13 is one example.
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Memory
RAM, often referred to as system memory, refers to dedicated hardware for temporarily storing and accessing information for immediate use. All current tasks store data in RAM, like the web browser currently displaying this guide.
Essentially, the more RAM, the more information a computer can call up at any given time, and thus the more things it can do. However, unlike storage (see below), RAM does not store data indefinitely. Once RAM loses power, all held data is lost.
How much RAM do you need? 16GB is the new sweet spot for most. You’ll want to jump up to 32GB or more, though, if you’re running intensive applications or doing any kind of content creation. On MacBooks, 16GB is the least you should consider.
Storage
The amount of storage space on a laptop’s internal drive(s) is how much data it can hold indefinitely. All data, from installed programs to downloaded music, reside on an internal storage device. Today, most devices are based on NAND Flash technology, commonly solid-state drives (SSD). Spinning hard disk drives (HDD) are becoming hard to find. Chromebooks tend to provide less storage space thanks to the lesser requirements of Chrome OS and the tendency to store more data in the cloud.
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In contrast to RAM, data in storage does not necessarily need to be in use. An installed program that is currently inactive takes up storage space but not memory. As mentioned above, most modern laptops now use solid-state drives (SSDs), which are faster and more reliable than traditional hard drives. There was once a major price difference between laptops with SSDs and HDDs, but given the scarcity of the latter that price advantage no longer applies.
An SSD uses NAND Flash to store data, which doesn’t have moving parts. It offers a dramatic performance boost over a conventional hard drive – which does have moving parts — and can provide the most dramatic improvement in laptop usage when buying a new system.
Make sure your next purchase has an SSD as the primary drive, although that’s almost guaranteed. If you need more space, grab a big external drive too.
Ports
Ports can quickly become confusing on a laptop due to a complex labyrinth of terminology. Make sure to focus on the USB ports that you need.
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Some laptops continue to offer USB-A ports to support legacy devices, like peripherals and external drives. They’re rectangular ports with squared corners and only work with a one-side-up connector. This interface supports USB 2.0 (480Mbps), USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps), or USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), depending on the laptop manufacturer.
Most laptops today don’t offer USB-A ports due to their size. Instead, you’ll see one or more of the newer USB-C ports. This interface is smaller, narrower, and more rounded than USB-A. It’s generally used with several technologies, including Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps) on Intel-based laptops (AMD doesn’t support Thunderbolt 4), USB4, USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 3.2 Gen 2, and DisplayPort, depending on the laptop manufacturer. USB-C requires a different, thinner either-side-up connecter.
If you plan to connect a second external monitor for more large-screen work, make sure that the laptop has the right connections for that monitor, such as USB-C, DisplayPort, or HDMI. You may find VGA on old models, and video output is possible through USB-A using DisplayLink drivers and the appropriate adapter.
Displays
It used to be that you had a choice between IPS LED displays of various quality and resolution, mainly Full HD (1920 x 1080), WQHD (2560 x 1440), or 4K UHD (3840 x 2160). Most laptop displays were in the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio except for Apple’s MacBook displays which were taller at 16:10 and Microsoft’s Surface line standardized on the even taller 3:2. Both provide better productivity thanks to displaying more vertical information.
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Flash forward to 2024, and laptop displays have taken some serious leaps. Buying a laptop today involves a decision between a bunch of different display options, and they’re all for the better.
First, we have technologies like organic light-emitting displays (OLED), Samsung’s quantum light-emitting diode (QLED), and Mini-LED (mainly used by Apple) that all provide incredibly deep contrast, tons of brightness, and dynamic and accurate colors. Even IPS displays have gotten better, with improved contrast, brightness, and colors that make them great options for creative professionals.
Next, the industry is almost fully transitioned to taller displays, 16:10 and the even taller 3:2. You can still buy 16:9 laptops, especially in gaming machines, but most new laptops have taller displays. As mentioned earlier, that’s a boon for productivity, providing more vertical space for documents and web pages. You get some letterboxing when watching video, but that’s a small price to pay for a more productive environment.
Finally, display resolutions are all over the map. For example, Dell used 3.5K (3456 x 2160) displays in its now-defunct XPS 15 OLED machines, and other manufacturers have their own resolutions as well. This is a mixed bag — if you want a true 4K display in an XPS, then you’ll need to choose the XPS 16’s OLED option. There are tradeoffs, but that also means there are more power-efficient options with higher resolution than Full HD but not quite as power-hungry as full 4K.
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Touchscreen support
Touchscreens were once exclusive to high-end laptops mainly because the hardware was expensive and touch-based screens didn’t seem practical. What helped merge the two technologies was the tablet craze and the PC market’s need to regain its footing. Enter the touch-centric 2-in-1 PCs and the overall reduction in manufacturing costs. Touchscreens are now more common — even on some budget designs — unless you own a MacBook.
Bill Roberson/Digital Trends
Windows 11 has gone a long way toward making these touchscreen and combination designs more viable. The interface and software are designed with touch in mind, including conventional programs like Office and the Edge browser. Third-party software, like Google’s popular Chrome browser, also offers great touch support.
While touch may seem to be an interesting feature given that you smudge up a smartphone every day, consider if it’s important on a laptop. Touch makes sense on a 2-in-1 device, and even on laptops that can lean back in Stand Mode. If you don’t think a touch screen on a clamshell design will be practical, however, don’t dump extra bucks into a feature you’ll never use.
One of the most common questions about buying a new laptop is when to shop to get the best deals. There’s no strict rule for securing a cheap but good laptop. But there are a few different ways you can time your purchase window to find a good deal. Consider these timelines if you’re in the market for a new laptop.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday: These two dates in November are probably the most obvious ones for finding amazing deals. However, act fast, as laptop supplies tend to run out quickly. If you wait for the post-Thanksgiving rush, it may be hard to get the laptop you want, so you may not want to wait too long.
You can get ahead by heading online beforehand to see where the best deals — and shortest lines — will be. Doing your research in advance is a smart strategy.
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Back-to-school season: Many retailers offer lower prices to help accommodate students who need new laptops for school. The fall is a great time to shop if you want a more affordable device with a steep discount, even if you aren’t a student heading back to class.
A couple of months after a big release: When a company prepares to release a new model, they typically lower the price of older generations of laptops. Both manufacturers and retailers do this to deplete stock, so there is both physical space to display new releases and customer demand for it.
In reality, there are sometimes minimal differences between laptop generations. This makes it a good idea to watch tech news so you can get a laptop at a great price in the months before a newer model is released. One caveat is the switch from Intel 13th-gen to Intel 14th-gen machines, where the differences will be much more substantial.
Another tip is to search manufacturer websites to stay up-to-date on what’s in the queue and when these new devices will be released to the public. Signing up for their newsletter could be beneficial, ensuring that you never miss a deal. Once you snag the best deal, you can simply unsubscribe from the newsletter, so you don’t get the emails anymore.
When it comes to the best TV brands on the market, you’ll find numerous options from companies like Samsung, Sony, LG, and many others. And while some TVs are best suited to run your PlayStation and Xbox titles (we have an entire list of gaming TVs for you to look through), other sets are renowned for color and contrast accuracy. You’ll find many of these cinema-approved screens in our best OLED TVs roundup, but what about TVs that use conventional LED lighting?
Fortunately, we’re all about keeping our favorite apples in the same basket, which is why we’ve created the roundup of the best TVs you can buy in 2024. Whether you’re a QLED, OLED, or QD-OLED fan, or you’re looking for a giant monitor for your PC gaming rig, our list has a TV for just about every want or need.
Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Sony A95L QD-OLED
The best TV you can buy right now
Pros
Outstanding color accuracy and brightness
Excellent contrast and luminance
Great sound
Gorgeous game mode picture quality
Incredibly good upscaling
Cons
Some deep features not available at launch
Our current top pick remains the Sony A95L QD-OLED. When it came out last year, our Caleb Denison called it the best TV he’s ever reviewed, so you know you’re in for some seriously good picture, sound, and other features. And yeah, Sony’s 2023 flagship is still a killer TV, that just so happens to be equipped with cutting-edge QD-OLED display tech.
For those unaware, “QD-OLED” stands for Quantum Dot-Organic Light Emitting Diode. What we’ve got here is an OLED backbone, complete with a screen that contains self-emissive pixels. But on top of that, there’s also a layer of quantum dots built into the A95L, which does wonders for overall color and peak brightness level, not to mention the supremely wide color gamut you’ll get to experience.
It’s not too often we get to rave about a TV’s audio system, but we couldn’t believe the type of sound quality the A95L is capable of. With such bold performance and brilliant soundstaging, you’d think you were using a great soundbar or surround sound-lite, but nope: it’s all in the TV speakers, friends.
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Picture-wise, the list of terrific things to say is nearly endless, but highlights include some of the best color purity and saturation levels we’ve ever seen; or at least one with these nit numbers. The A95L also delivers some tremendous 4K upscaling, which not only brings lower-res content closer to Ultra HD quality, but also reduces picture noise and other artifacts to give you final frames that clean and sharp look. The A95L is also a fantastic TV for gaming, especially for those who own a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S.
Price-wise, this is going to be one of the most expensive picks on our list, but we really can’t praise the Sony A95L enough. And if you’re on the lookout for a super-great deal on one of last year’s flagship sets, now is the time to track down a Sony A95K.
Sony A95L QD-OLED
The best TV you can buy right now
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Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
LG G4 evo OLED
The best OLED that LG has ever made
Pros
Outstanding brightness
Astounding accuracy
Unprecedented flexibility
Awesome gaming performance
Five-year warranty
Cons
Hit-or-miss sound
Frustrating remote
Last year, we were totally gung ho about the amazing LG G3 OLED, a marvel of self-emissive picture that you can still buy — and you should, as they’re likely to go on sale now that the 2024s are here. For now, though, it’s the LG G4’s time to shine.
In our LG G4 video review, Denison not only says that “the LG G4 has the best picture quality I’ve ever tested in a TV,” but that “it’s the brightest TV we’ve tested to date.” This is some high praise, but he does add that getting it there takes a little bit of work in the picture settings. In the end, it has some excellent versatility — it can be the brightest it can be if you’re going to use it in a bright room, or it can be dialed down if your viewing setting is a man cave or light-controlled home theater room, for example. The choice is yours.
There’s been plenty of fanfare about Samsung and Sony’s forays into QD-OLED tech, which has enjoyed the reputation of being brighter than OLED. We’re big fans of QLED and QD-OLED panels, but now LG is forcing its two fiercest competitors to take heed. We’re also pleased to see LG’s latest chip, the a11 AI processor, put to the test. The speedy new chip brings improved processing speed, unparalleled picture upscaling, lag-free streaming, and big audio performance to LG’s flagship lineup.
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LG G4 evo OLED
The best OLED that LG has ever made
Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Samsung S95D OLED TV
Samsung’s best for bright rooms
Pros
Exellent brightness
Eye-popping color
Snappy operation
Great gaming features
Awesome for bright rooms
Cons
Anti-glare treatment is polarizing
Blacks may appear lifted in bright rooms
The Samsung S95D is further proof that one of the biggest names in TVs shows no signs of stopping. The S95D QD-OLED delivers impressive brightness levels on-par with some of the better-performing LED sets on the market. Another OLED TVs struggle in sunny rooms, but the S95D’s anti-glare screen holds its own, making it a great choice for spaces for even brightly lit rooms. Then there’s the flip side of this awesome coin: its OLED backbone. Thanks to millions of self-emissive pixels, on top of brilliant HDR capabilities, inky black levels and ultra-rich colors are just part of the norm for the S95D.
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The S95D’s marquee feature that has been dividing TV enthusiasts is its special anti-glare coating, that’s new to the TV this year. We first saw it demoed at CES earlier this year, and it’s cool tech that does a great job at drastically reducing glare, especially in bright rooms. However, it can ever-so-slightly reduce the picture’s luster compared to traditional OLED TVs. In a completely dark room, you probably wouldn’t notice the difference, but with some light in the room, a keen eye might pick up on it.
The Samsung S95D also surprised us a bit with how good it sounds. Usually, TVs have pretty weak built-in speakers. The S95D’s has rear-firing speakers and eight bass transducers that deliver decent low-end rumble. It won’t replace a dedicated soundbar, but for casual viewing, it gets the job done. Especially if you plan on mounting this TV on the wall, where the speaker design performs best.
The Samsung S95D is a strong contender for the title of best OLED TV, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention that it features Samsung’s One Connect box that keeps your cables at bay. One of our only gripes is that it runs Samsung’s Tizen operating system, which can be easily remedied by connecting your favorite streaming device instead. If you prioritize absolute picture perfection in a dark room over reflection control, you might want to consider other options. But for most viewers, the S95D is a winner.
Samsung S95D OLED TV
Samsung’s best for bright rooms
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Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
LG M3 Wireless OLED
Premium picture meets cutting-edge tech
Pros
Gorgeous OLED picture quality
Low-latency wireless for gaming
Solid wireless signal connection
Easy setup
Good sound
Cons
Wireless box needs true line of sight
The LG M3 Wireless OLED has arrived to solve a problem that a lot of home theaters struggle with: having too many wires to run. When it comes to power cables, we’ll always be reliant on a lead and power brick (at least for the foreseeable future), but as far as AV connections go (HDMI and digital optical), this is where TVs like the LG M3 are starting to change the game. In terms of picture quality, the M3 is pretty much toe-to-toe with the amazing LG G3, our favorite OLED this year. But the true calling card feature is the M3’s ability to wirelessly receive picture and sound from a broadcasting unit called the Zero Connect Box.
The Zero Connect includes three HDMI ports that can push 4K at up to 120Hz (and the second port is eARC/ARC compatible), digital optical, ethernet, two USB-A, and an output for an IR blaster. And as long as the transmitting device is in range of the M3 TV’s receiver, you’ll be able to enjoy wireless audio and video. Do keep in mind that if you’re planning on using a soundbar, you’ll want to have the Zero Connect located fairly close to the TV, otherwise, you probably won’t have enough cord length to place the soundbar under the M3.
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As mentioned, the picture quality on this model is right on par with the LG G3, and when we tested the M3 ourselves, we experienced zero troubles with latency or any kind of compression or pixelation. This is definitely the kind of next-gen TV that leans on one awesome feature more than any other, and at $5,000 we do wish the Zero Connect box was a little smaller and completely reliable in the signal-range department. But if you told us a year ago that we’d have the ability to go wireless with our HDMI gear, and the picture and sound would be just as good as running physical cables, we’d scoff and laugh. But the LG M3 Wireless OLED has proved us wrong.
LG M3 Wireless OLED
Premium picture meets cutting-edge tech
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Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Hisense U8N
Our favorite Hisense
Pros
Intense brightness
Deep blacks/contrast
Vibrant, accurate color
Great sound
Cons
Overly bright HDR
Poor off-angle viewing
It’s getting harder and harder for us to call Hisense a “budget-friendly” brand. That kind of connotation just doesn’t line up with the type of picture and sound performance you’ll get from a Hisense set, especially if you’ve got your sights set on one of its U8 offerings.
Over the last couple of years, we’ve had the continued opportunity to review several Hisense sets, including a handful of its flagship models. The 2024 Hisense U8N is the newest addition to the Hisense family, and we were simply blown away by the picture quality and medley of features this bad boy brings to the table.
The U8N is a powerful TV that delivers a brilliant and colorful image in both SDR and HDR viewing modes. When measuring nit output for these settings, our reviewer measured peak brightness at 1,300 nits in SDR, with around 3,500 for specular highlights in HDR. There’s no doubting the fact that the U8N can get very bright, but it also delivers the kind of incredible contrast numbers that might fool some folks into thinking it’s actually an OLED set.
While it suffers a bit in the viewing angle department, if you can arrange your furniture appropriately, we have no doubt that the Hisense U8N is one of the best bright TVs on the market for 2024.
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Hisense U8N
Our favorite Hisense
Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Sony Bravia 9
The best mini-LED you can buy right now
Pros
Super-clean picture
Deep blacks, minimal blooming
Excellent contrast
Searing HDR highlights
Excellent motion handling
Cons
Backlight fluctuations visible in dark rooms
Very expensive
The Sony Bravia 9 is one of the best TVs we’ve ever tested, bar-none; and quite frankly, we were expecting it to be amazing. This is because Sony has basically conditioned us to expect big things when a new premium TV hits shelves. In the case of the Bravia 9, Sony developed a new IC chip that allows the TV’s mini-LED lighting to be meticulously controlled, leading to some of the most accurate colors, contrast, and brightness levels we’ve ever seen from an LED-LCD.
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In terms of overall picture quality, our own editor-at-large Caleb Denison thought the Bravia 9 actually did a nice job at striking the balance between a great mini-LED LCD TV and an OLED TV. That being said, because it’s an LCD set, the Bravia 9 performs best in brightly lit rooms and is a champ when it comes to reflection handling. From 4K movies and shows to next-gen gaming, your favorite content gets a solid boost in quality, thanks to Sony’s advanced picture processing and a full suite of HDMI 2.1 ports, which bodes particularly well for gamers who want a TV that delivers fast response time and excellent motion clarity.
One of the best ways to maximize the picture of the Bravia 9 is watching or playing HDR titles. Thanks to Dolby Vision support and compatibility with other leading HDR codecs, the Bravia 9 pushes deep blacks and bright highlights in a way we’ve never seen on an LCD set. Other noteworthy features include a pulse-pounding 70-watt, 2.2.2 audio system, Google TV for apps and streaming content, and VRR support for optimizing your next round of Call of Duty.
While we do wish the off-angle viewing and gray uniformity were a bit better, we’re thrilled to see the kind of precise engineering that went into the development of this 2024 TV.
Sony Bravia 9
The best mini-LED you can buy right now
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Douglas Murray / Digital Trends
LG C4 evo OLED
The best LG OLED for most people
Pros
Excellent colors, contrast, and black levels
Terrific motion clarity and gaming optimizations
Great speaker system
Cons
Not the best off-angle viewing
Let’s not beat around the bush: The LG C4 OLED is one of the best TVs that LG has ever made, and we think most folks will agree. Sitting just one rung below the flagship LG G4 Series, the C4 is equipped with LG’s all-new a9 AI Processor Gen 7 that delivers some of the best picture processing and 4K upscaling we’ve ever seen from an OLED. And unlike its direct predecessor, the C3 Series, the C4 now includes Filmmaker Mode, giving you the kind of picture that a movie or show’s creative team intended for you to see.
Each of the C4’s HDMI 2.1 ports are fine-tuned for both console and PC gaming, so expect lightning-fast response times and low input lag. And because the C4 can handle up to a 144Hz refresh rate, feel free to use this bad boy as a big PC gaming monitor — it’s an excellent gaming TV. We’re glad to see that LG has only improved when it comes to HDR and SDR brightness, colors, and contrast.
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We’re also glad to see another example of a TV company giving a little more consideration to its speakers. Not only is the C4 equipped with a 40-watt 2.2 speaker configuration, but thanks to the new A9 AI Sound Pro feature, your favorite movies, shows, games, and music can be up-mixed to 9.1.2 surround sound.
In years past, we’ve talked about how LG’s webOS streaming hub can be a little overwhelming; at least as far as layout and ad drops go. And while these interface elements could still use some love, we think webOS 24 runs smoother than ever before.
TCL has been a consistent achiever in the TV world, especially over the last couple of years. As a matter of fact, our own TV expert Caleb Denison gave considerable praise to the previous year’s TCL flagship QM8 Series, a mini-LED-driven QLED set with top-shelf brightness, colors, contrast, and motion clarity. For 2024, the new and improved QM8 brings a few meaningful changes to the table, namely enhanced brightness and a more advanced picture engine. TCL claims the new QM8 delivers double the illumination of its predecessor, with some sizes offering up to 5,000 local dimming zones.
Movie enthusiasts and gamers will love the new QM8’s picture processing and console optimizations. Each of the four HDMI ports is 2.1 certified, making this an excellent TV for lag reduction and fast response times. You’ll even be able to game at up to 4K/144Hz or 1080p/240Hz, though only one of the HDMI ports can do so. With support for leading HDR formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10+, the 2024 QM8 delivers vibrant highlights and solid black levels during dark scenes.
As for all things apps and games, the new QM8 returns to Google TV OS. This fast and intuitive platform gives you access to hundreds of streaming apps, free live TV, AirPlay capabilities, and smart home controls via Google Assistant.
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Available in 65, 75, 85, and 98-inch sizes, the latest and greatest TCL QM8 Series is further proof that this fan-favorite TV maker shows no signs of stopping.
TCL QM8 Series (2024)
The best TCL TV for 2024
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Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Sony Bravia 7
The best midrange Sony for 2024
Pros
Bright and vivid
Excellent black levels/contrast
Extremely accurate HDR/Color
Top-tier motion/upscaling
Easy to use
Cons
Limited viewing angle
Poor reflection handling
We’ve sung the praises of the Sony Bravia 9 mini-LED, a premium TV for the ages that delivers a brilliant picture, complete with top-notch upscaling, terrific colors and contrast, and impeccable motion clarity. While Sony’s Bravia 7 Series sits a couple of rungs below the flagship Bravia 9, we’re still big fans of this midrange 2024 offering. Do keep in mind we’re not talking about the best LED set Sony has this year, so there’s definitely an issue or two that we’d like to get squared away.
First and foremost, this isn’t an excellent TV for off-angle viewing. If you happen to be placing it in a living room or media space where seating is spread around the entire room, guests sitting at the farthest ends (totally off-center with the TV screen) will see a less vibrant and colorful picture than those sitting closer to the screen’s center. We’re also not the biggest fans of the Bravia 7’s reflection handling, so this may not be the best TV for a brightly lit room. These grievances aside, our own TV expert Caleb Denison was impressed by how good this TV can look under optimal viewing conditions.
Expect incredible brightness levels, terrific colors and contrast, reliable image upscaling, and must-have gaming features like 4K/120Hz (on two HDMI ports), next to no input lag, and lightning-fast response times. The Bravia 7 is also loaded with Google TV version 12 for all things Netflix, AirPlay, and smart home.
And if you’re thinking you may want to spend more to get into the Bravia 8 Series, do keep in mind that the latter is actually an OLED TV. Is there a big difference between QLED versus OLED TVs? Our thoughtful comparison should settle the score.
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Sony Bravia 7
The best midrange Sony for 2024
Zeke Jones / Digital Trends
Hisense U7N
A cheaper Hisense U8N alternative
Pros
High brightness
Great contrast
Vivid color
Surprising accuracy
Great for gaming
Cons
Poor off-angle viewing
Risk of dirty screen effect
If you can’t reasonably afford the $1,000-plus splurge that the Hisense U8N requires, you can still own an amazing 2024 Hisense by going with the U7N Series. The U7N delivers similar performance peaks as the U8N and uses a similar mini-LED lighting system. However, the U8N is the better choice for overall brightness, colors, and contrast, as well as reflection handling. Our TV expert Caleb Denison also flagged this set for lackluster off-angle viewing and the occasional dirty screen effect.
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This isn’t to say you won’t be blown away by the type of picture the U7N brings to the table. On top of class-leading HDR support, the U7N has excellent gaming features, including an automatic Game Mode for reduced input lag and increased response time and 4K/144Hz (or 1080p/240Hz) support across the TV’s four HDMI 2.1 ports. Google TV OS takes care of the user menus and onboard streaming capabilities, and the remote comes with a Google Assistant button for content searches and smart home controls.
With 55-, 65-, 75-, and 85-inch size options available, the Hisense U7N is one of the best middle-of-the-road sets we’ve tested in 2024 so far, and it’s one of the best TVs you can buy for less than $1,000. We’re also curious to see what a couple of software updates might do for the TV’s overall performance, though we’re pretty sure brightness, colors, and contrast will remain untouched.
The answer to that depends on many factors, including your stylistic preferences, the size of the room, and how far away you’ll be sitting. Take a look at our guide to choosing the perfect TV size for you.
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What should you be aware of when it comes to viewing angles for your TV?
If you want to enjoy your TV from a variety of viewing positions, you’ll need a TV with wide viewing angles. Of the two main LCD panel types (IPS and VA), IPS panels offer the greatest viewing angles. However, this can sometimes come at the cost of worse contrast. OLED TVs offer both excellent contrast and viewing angles, compared to their QLED counterparts, which are best watched from the center position.
What is QLED?
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QLED stands for quantum dot LED TV, and it uses a layer of tiny particles to enhance an LED TV’s color accuracy without diminishing brightness. QLED TVs still don’t deliver the perfect blacks of OLED TVs, but the newest ones come very, very close. Because QLED TVs often have powerful backlights that use hundred (or in the case of mini-LED, thousands) of LEDs, they can get brighter than the brightest OLED TVs.
OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, and these TVs are notable for their ability to produce perfect blacks and what is sometimes referred to as “infinite” contrast. These TVs achieve this through their ability to completely shut down the light they emit on a pixel-by-pixel basis, something QLED TVs can’t do because they rely on a separate backlight to create brightness. You can block a lot of the light produced by a backlight, but not 100%.
What is the best Roku TV?
These are the best Roku TVs. Roku has also started manufacturing its own “Roku-made” TVs, which are on store shelves now.
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How well does 4K TV upscaling work?
That depends on the TV, but as a general rule of thumb, the better (and more expensive) the TV, the better the upscaling.
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Are budget 4K TVs any good?
Almost all new TVs are 4K, so there are plenty of fantastic options to choose from at the lower end of the pricing scale. Don’t expect a standard LED TV to rival an OLED or QLED, though — set your expectations accordingly. We recommend looking for a quantum dot LED TV (QLED) model, as these will offer the best picture quality at lower prices.
Can a 4K TV work well as a PC monitor?
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Yes, so long as your computer has an HDMI output. Adapters can be used for other output types but frequently do not pass along audio.
Do 4K TVs usually have Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri?
Most modern TVs can be paired with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant through either an Amazon Echo, Fire TV, or Google Home device. Some televisions even have them built-in, eliminating the need for a smart speaker.
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Right now, there are no TVs that have Siri built-in. Those that support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, however, can be controlled using Siri on an iOS device, such as an iPad, iPhone, HomePod, or HomePod Mini, as well as a Mac.
Do 4K TVs have problems with burn-in?
OLED TVs are the only type of 4K TVs that have the potential to suffer from burn-in, though it’s incredibly uncommon. Unless you like to leave the same news channel playing for eight hours a day, seven days a week for weeks on end, you probably don’t need to worry about it.
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How do we test TVs?
TVs are a big priority for us at Digital Trends, and our resident TV expert, Caleb Denison, puts all the best TVs from every TV manufacturer through their paces. Check out our detailed rundown of how we test TVs in our reviews.
Here’s a rundown of some of the most common terms associated with today’s TV technology.
4K Ultra HD
This refers to a display resolution that is four times that of 1080p HD. A 4K Ultra HD TV’s pixel resolution is a 3,840 x 2,160 grid in a 16:9 aspect ratio, resulting in nearly 8.3 million pixels. This increase in density adds striking detail and realism to an image and allows larger screens to be viewed from closer distances without individual pixels becoming visible.
High dynamic range (HDR)
High dynamic range is probably most familiar to people through the HDR mode on their digital cameras. It’s designed to deliver a picture that has greater details in the shadows and highlights, plus a wider range of colors. HDR in televisions pursues the same goal. The color palette is wider, blacks are deeper, and whites are brighter.
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Presently, there are two major HDR formats: HDR10 and Dolby Vision, with a third — HDR10+ — beginning to show up on new models, particularly those from Samsung. The first is the HDR standard, but Dolby Vision offers a premium experience. Consider a TV that supports both. HLG (hybrid log gamma) is another recent addition to the HDR collection, which supports over-the-air (OTA) broadcast content with HDR.
Full-array local dimming (FALD)
This refers to an LED TV’s backlighting system. A FALD display contains an array of LEDs spread out in a grid behind an LCD panel, rather than just at the edges of the TV. This LED array is broken up into zones that can be dimmed when necessary to achieve better black levels. Another benefit is more uniform brightness across the screen.
Wide color gamut (WCG)
These are the expanded color reproduction abilities of a 4K Ultra HD TV, which are closer than ever to what we see in a digital cinema. By approaching (or sometimes exceeding) the Digital Cinema Initiative’s (DCI) P3 color specification, a 4K UHD TV can produce billions of more colors than a 1080p HD TV.
Quantum dots
A layer of film loaded with tiny nanocrystal semiconductors is placed in a TV’s display panel to help produce a more accurate array of colors. Quantum dots work by producing a purer form of white light from a TV’s backlighting system, which helps the TV’s color filter perform more accurately.
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Phosphor-coated LED
An alternative to Quantum Dots, phosphor-coated LEDs have a chemical coating to alter the light’s output. When used in a TV, this results in a purer backlight that’s more easily manipulated by a TV’s color filter, resulting in a wide color gamut and increased color accuracy.
HDMI 2.1
The latest version of the HDMI spec. It offers new enhancements for video games like variable refresh rate (VRR) and automatic low-latency mode (ALLM) and the ability to pass 4K signals to the TV at up to 120Hz, for ultra-smooth motion. HDMI 2.1 is a requirement for 8K video sources like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. For most non-gamers, HDMI 2.1 is a nice way to future-proof yourself but it’s nowhere near a necessity yet.
HDCP 2.3
The latest version of the High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection technology, which provides copy prevention specifically of 4K Ultra HD and 8K content. Any source device that requires HDCP 2.3 will require a TV with an HDCP 2.3-compliant HDMI port for a compatible connection.
HEVC (H.265)
Stands for “High-Efficiency Video Coding.” A compression technology developed to make large 4K UHD video files smaller and, therefore, easier to stream over broadband Internet connections. HEVC is said to double the data compression ratio over H.264, the predominant encoding technology used today for 1080p videos while retaining the same video quality. A smart TV or streaming set-top box must be able to decode HEVC to playback 4K Ultra HD video from sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
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VP9
An alternative to HEVC developed by Google and used predominantly for encoding 4K Ultra HD YouTube videos. For a smart TV or streaming set-top box to play 4K Ultra HD YouTube videos, it must be able to decode VP9 videos.
Samsung Electronics’ financial results for this year have not met expectations. The company’s Foundry division is generating big operating losses due to low yield rate issues. In addition, sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 were below projections. In order to try to turn things around, the company plans to bet more on innovation. New patents suggest that Samsung is working on rollable and tri-fold Galaxy devices.
Samsung must determine the economic viability of the project
This is not the first time we have heard about a possible tri-fold Galaxy smartphone. In fact, a recent report claimed that the company is considering launching a device with such a form factor next year. Despite not having made a decision yet, Samsung’s expertise in the foldable screen industry positions the company to initiate the project at any moment.
Essentially, the primary obstacle in developing a tri-fold Galaxy smartphone is its economic feasibility. Samsung must find a way to make it profitable and attractive enough for the public. The latest patents (via VeePN) confirm that Samsung has been mulling over the idea. Moreover, the South Korean giant could also be considering using its rollable screen technology in smartphones.
Potential tri-fold and rollable Samsung Galaxy devices shown on patents
The patented design of the tri-fold Galaxy smartphone is similar to Huawei’s. We can observe a three-section design that unfolds to the size of a tablet. The patent sketch shows that one of the three sections will be noticeably thicker than the other two. This section will be the main one where most of the key components like cameras, battery, processor, motherboard, etc. will be available. The main section is almost as thick as the other two when folded.
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Then there is the rollable Galaxy smartphone patent, where Samsung is exploring an interesting possibility. Instead of having a traditional smartphone form factor and expanding horizontally, the device would have a compact, almost square form factor, similar to the Galaxy Z Flip devices when folded. The phone would then be able to expand upwards, taking on the form factor of a traditional smartphone.
Rollable Galaxy phone patent
Essentially, the form factor of the rollable device draws inspiration from clamshell foldables, but it leverages a different technology to expand itself. It’s an interesting approach with the aim of making phones more compact.
Just like any patent, the devices described may never hit the stores. However, rumors of a potential tri-fold Galaxy smartphone appear to be gaining traction recently. So, Samsung could surprise the tech industry next year. In related news, another Samsung patent for a laptop with a folding screen was recently leaked.
The long-promised Playdate Stereo Dock is officially dead, at least for now. After many months with the desktop accessory stuck in development limbo, Panic has updated the product page so it no longer says it’s “coming soon,” but instead that it’s been put on pause indefinitely due to issues with the Bluetooth experience, the factory that handled it and the rising costs of resolving it all. The Stereo Dock, first announced in 2021, was meant to be a charging dock that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker (and pen holder), along with being a cute way to display your Playdate when it’s not in use. But, things didn’t quite work out as planned.
The Playdate team said it hit some unexpected hurdles in trying to bring the idea to life, and found that “making the Stereo Dock was almost more challenging than making the Playdate itself.” The statement explains:
What happened? Well, our first regret was assuming that our factory at that time — a factory that made lots of Bluetooth speakers — could easily design the electronics for us, saving us lots of time and money. That went pretty well at first. But they, in turn, outsourced the Bluetooth software and chipset to another company in another country.
As a result, the Stereo Dock would crash often — rapidly adjusting the volume would do it. The Bluetooth pairing/unpairing experience was rough. And when we played music, it just didn’t sound very good. The back-and-forth between three companies trying to fix bugs became a huge challenge. And worst of all: the cost of the Stereo Dock kept getting higher and higher.
It goes on to say that the team worked to improve the experience, even buying the Bluetooth chipset source code in hopes to fix the issues, to no avail. While there are “a number of beautiful finished prototypes,” Panic says “they weren’t very good to use.” The official update was foreshadowed in a social media exchange shared on Reddit earlier this month in which Panic’s Cabel Sasser, replying to a question about the Stereo Dock’s status, said it “turned out to be incredibly hard for lots of incredibly dumb reasons” and was put on pause.
The team says it’s now turning its focus wholly back to the continuing production of the Playdate. There may still be a chance that we see the Stereo Dock at some point down the line, but don’t hold your breath. “Will it arrive someday? We still hope so,” Panic said. “Will it arrive anytime soon? Unlikely.”
When the Mac Mini was first introduced in early 2005, it was pitched as a compact “stripped-down” desktop — and the most affordable Mac in Apple’s lineup. Steve Jobs referred to it as a “BYODKM” system: you’d bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse, and the Mini would provide a dependable computing experience with all the benefits of macOS.
The Mac Mini has carried on ever since. There have been periods where the Mini has been sidelined and ignored by Apple for long stretches of time. But the debut of Apple Silicon gave it a new lease on life. Even if the overall design didn’t change much in the transition from Intel to Apple’s in-house chips, the Mini’s potential soared.
But now, that design is about to change. And if the rumors prove accurate, it’s going to be a radical makeover. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that the M4-powered Mac Mini will shrink in size so significantly that its footprint will resemble that of an Apple TV. The new Mac Mini will be anything but a stripped-down Mac.
Steve Jobs shows off the original Mac Mini’s box at Macworld 2005.Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
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Instead, it’ll likely be the most visually impressive example yet of what Apple is capable of in this new era, where the incredible efficiency of its chips allows for all sorts of hardware designs that were technically unfeasible a handful of years ago. I haven’t been this excited about a new Mac since the phenomenal M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros were released in 2021.
Gurman has said that the 2024 Mac Mini — at least the M4 Pro variant — will include a total of five USB-C ports, with two on the front of the machine. I consider that frontside I/O to be a godsend after years of having to turn the Mini around to plug anything in — or just guessing at it. It’ll still have an HDMI port for those of you who’ve integrated Apple’s smallest Mac into your home theater setups. USB-A is said to be a goner, but… it’s time.
Within the Mac family, the Mini still holds an important spot. The iMac is the visual stunner; the MacBook Pro delivers tremendous power on the go; and the Mac Pro and Mac Studio are both geared at professionals and creatives. But the Mini remains the line’s unassuming overperformer at a compelling price for anyone who wants a Mac that “just works.”
No matter its size, the Mini’s BYODKM remains one of its best attributes. Apple might not be planning a 27-inch iMac, but we’re about to have an astonishingly compact desktop that can be paired with any screen you want. And the software outlook is also excellent: the revamped Mini arrives shortly after macOS Sequoia, which added useful features like iPhone mirroring and (long overdue) window tiling.
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It’ll take some kind of colossal, unforeseen deal-breaker for me not to immediately preorder the M4 Mac Mini as my new at-home machine. If I’ve got one concern, it’s that Apple will find some way to artificially hold the Mini back so as not to steal too much thunder from the Mac Studio. But I don’t think that’ll be the case — at least not to an egregious degree. As of now, the Studio easily wins out in CPU and GPU performance, and it has other bonuses, like an SD card slot and faster ethernet. I’d expect those advantages to remain true whenever the M4 model arrives.
Apple’s Mac portfolio has never been on a better path. And for those who’ve stuck with the company’s products for decades, that can still be hard to believe — even this deep into the age of Apple Silicon. We’ve been through some dark days. But with a new Mac Mini that looks equal parts streaming box and miniature PC, Apple seems poised for another M-series marvel — and feather in its cap.
Movies with killer computers are nothing new. From Hal 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to M3GAN, computers, dolls, and robots that become sentient and turn sinister make for a bloody good time at the cinema. It’s also the basis for many of the best sci-fi horror movies.
Nowadays, however, AI is everywhere, from inside the Mac I’m writing this article with to the smartphone you’re reading it on, it’s impossible to hide from it. And what happens when there’s a new buzzword or trend in town? Hollywood flocks to it and doubles down. Enter AfrAId, a movie about an AI that wants to kill you, and the horror film you probably shouldn’t watch this Halloween Week.
AfrAId tells the story of a family whose lives are turned upside down after the father, Curtis, brings AIA, an Alexa-esque voice assistant, into their home. For AIA to work, “eyes” are installed throughout the house, small smart home cameras, tracking everything the family does and feeding the information back to the AI assistant. It’s a pretty unsettling vision of the smart assistant future, but it’s also incredibly corny. If, like me, you spend most of your time on the internet, then you’ll have been inundated with AI information over the last few years, and because of this, AfrAId feels like AI bingo, trying to fit as many buzzwords from pop culture in as possible in just 84 minutes.
AIA can do everything, from pay the family’s bills, teach the children, and even bribe them with points to use on rewards in exchange for doing house chores – It’s all a bit ludicrous, but then again did you expect deepfakes to be as realistic as they are now just a couple years ago?
Horror films strive on the surreal, right? So criticizing AfrAId for being unrealistic would be unfair, but when bad writing, a silly plot, and poor acting combine with a tired premise, it makes the film a genuine chore to watch.
I got about 20 minutes into the movie before I couldn’t help but sigh at every reference thrown into the mediocre script. ChatGPT, Alexa, Minecraft, Cordyceps from The Last of Us, Atrial Fibrillation, and even The Emoji Movie makes an appearance. Honestly, AfrAId is exhausting, as if a group of writers (or an AI) decided to write a movie just to tick the boxes.
You know exactly how this film goes: AIA infiltrates the home, becomes sinister, bribes the kids, and causes mayhem – it’s a simple premise, and an incredibly tired one.
So why am I writing about AfrAId? I hear you ask. Well, considering there are AI horror films being churned out faster than the next AI image generator, I thought it was my duty to watch this one, so you don’t have to. My favorite quote from AfrAId comes in the form of a sales pitch from AIA’s creators, “We want to understand people then ask their permission to tell them stories they can believe in and feel a part of. That’s how you cut through the chatter of the internet and the millions of mouths whispering at you, the millions of eyes watching you. Because that is what people want, not a product, they want empathy, connection, community.”
This quote is incredibly ironic because the film completely misses the mark on giving people what they want. AfrAId is a quick cash grab without any of the thrills you want from a horror, and even if you’re interested in AI you should just avoid it completely.
Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully de-orbited the cryogenic upper stage of the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3), India’s heaviest rocket. This was the second time that ISRO achieved this feat, showcasing its commitment to sustainable space operations. The upper stage, which played a crucial role in launching the OneWeb-2 mission, made a planned re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere on June 14. This step is part of ISRO’s ongoing efforts to ensure responsible space exploration.
The LVM3 is a game-changer for India’s space ambitions. With a payload capacity exceeding 4 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit, the LVM3 can shoulder the weight of far heavier satellites and even more ambitious missions. It plays a critical role in several endeavors.
After successfully placing 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit on March 26, 2023, the nearly 3-ton rocket body was left at an altitude of 450 kilometres. Identified by NORAD as object 56082, it has now been safely de-orbited and removed from space. Following standard procedures, the upper stage was made safe by using any leftover fuel to reduce the risk of accidental explosions.
“The re-entry happened as scheduled, with most of the stage burning up over the Indian Ocean. Only a few parts, such as gas bottles, nozzles and tanks, made of materials that can withstand very high temperatures, were expected to survive the intense heat of re-entry. The LVM3 rocket has three stages and includes two solid rocket boosters (S200), a liquid core stage (L110) and a powerful cryogenic upper stage (C25). The S200 boosters are among the largest in the world, each containing 204 tons of solid fuel. The L110 stage is equipped with two liquid engines and carries 115 tons of liquid fuel. The C25 cryogenic upper stage features a high-thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) and has 28 tons of fuel,” explained space expert Girish Linganna.
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ISRO had announced that the cryogenic upper stage of the LVM3 M4 rocket, which launched the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere uncontrollably on November 15 at about 2.42 pm. This stage, identified by NORAD as 57321, was part of the rocket that successfully placed Chandrayaan-3 into its intended orbit on July 14, 2023. The re-entry took place 124 days after launch, in compliance with the ‘25-year rule’ for low-Earth orbit (LEO) objects set by the United Nations and Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). This guideline requires that objects in LEO re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up within 25 years of the end of their mission to minimize space debris.
As per ISRO after placing Chandrayaan-3 into orbit, the upper stage underwent a process to eliminate any remaining fuel and energy sources, called ‘passivation’, which means making the rocket’s upper stage safe by draining all remaining fuel and disabling energy sources, reducing the risk of explosions or other hazards in space after its mission ends.
Earlier this month, ISRO chief S. Somanath opened new facilities at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL’s) Aerospace Division in Bengaluru. These facilities will produce fuel tanks and precise components for the LVM3 rocket. C.B. Ananthakrishnan, chairman and managing director of HAL, stated that the partnership between ISRO and HAL would speed up India’s human spaceflight missions and the creation of next-generation launch vehicles. He also mentioned that it would not be long before space became a significant part of HAL’s operations.
HAL is expanding its manufacturing facilities to produce large parts for the three-stage, 640-ton LVM3 rocket. India uses this rocket to launch 4-ton communication satellites and commercial missions that include many small satellites in large constellations.
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Thanks to HAL’s expansion, ISRO will soon be able to triple the number of launches of its largest rocket, the LVM3. “Instead of only two LVM3 launches a year, ISRO will be able to carry out up to six. This is important because ISRO currently performs only about 10 launches per year with its current fleet of four different kinds of rockets,” added Linganna.
The new factory will make important fuel and oxidizer tanks for the LVM3 launch vehicle, which can be up to 4 metres wide and 15 metres long, according to a statement from HAL. It is equipped with advanced CNC machines capable of precisely creating 4.5-metre rings and tank domes for the LVM3.
Interestingly, LVM3 has played a critical role in several endeavors as Gaganyaan. India’s historic human spaceflight mission hinges on the LVM3’s ability to propel the crew capsule into orbit. The LVM3 can carry heavier probes and rovers, opening doors to lunar and interplanetary missions that quench humanity’s thirst for knowledge about the universe. At the same time, LVM3’s prowess can generate significant revenue for the Indian space program by offering reliable and cost-effective launch services to international clients.
Currently, ISRO produces around two LVM3s annually but the new facilities at HAL have the potential to significantly increase production, reaching a staggering six rockets per year. “This ramp-up translates to several advantages such as a higher production rate, allowing ISRO to meet tight deadlines for critical missions and capitalize on fleeting launch windows. Besides, India can become more self-sufficient in launching its own satellites, reducing dependence on foreign launch providers. India can also capture a significant share of the growing global demand for launch services, generating revenue for further space exploration and technological advancements,” pointed out Srimathy Kesan, founder and CEO of Space Kidz India, which is into design, fabrication and launch of small satellites, spacecraft and ground systems.
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ISRO is now opening LVM3 production to the private sector, mirroring NASA’s strategy following the Space Shuttle program’s retirement. This move can propel India’s space programme to even greater heights. Collaborating with private companies can facilitate the transfer of valuable expertise in building complex launch vehicles, fostering innovation and strengthening India’s space ecosystem.
Competition in the production sector can drive down costs, making LVM3 launches more attractive to clients, both domestic and international. Besides, private companies can bring fresh perspectives and innovative approaches, accelerating the development of the LVM3 platform and its capabilities.
The global medium and heavy-lift launch vehicle market is projected to reach $9.75 billion by 2032. India, with its increased LVM3 production and potential private sector involvement, is well-positioned to grab a significant share of this lucrative market. By offering reliable, cost-effective launches, India can become a major player in the global space industry, leading to fruitful international collaborations on scientific endeavors that push the boundaries of human knowledge and understanding of the cosmos.
“The road ahead is not without challenges, such as ensuring smooth technology transfer to private players and maintaining quality control standards. However, the future looks bright for India’s space ambitions, and the LVM3 production boost, coupled with potential private sector participation, presents a golden opportunity for the nation to fulfill its space-faring dreams and emerge as a leading force in the global space race,” explained Kesan.
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The LVM3, India’s most powerful launch vehicle, has a payload capacity of 4 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), which is significantly lower than that of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The Falcon 9 can carry payloads of up to 8.3 tonnes to GTO and 22 tonnes to low-earth orbit (LEO).
In terms of launch frequency, ISRO currently produces around two LVM3s annually. However, the new facilities at HAL have the potential to significantly increase production, reaching a staggering six rockets per year. In comparison, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has a higher production rate, with multiple launches per month. This is partly due to the company’s reusable launch technology, which allows for faster turnaround times and increased efficiency.
“The Falcon 9 has significantly higher payload capacity than the LVM3, making it more suitable for larger and heavier satellites. While both vehicles have the potential for increased production, the Falcon 9’s reusable technology allows for a higher launch frequency. The cost of launching a payload on the Falcon 9 is generally higher than that of the LVM3, although the exact cost per launch is not publicly disclosed for the LVM3,” added Kesan.
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