Feed aggregator

SAVE $200: As of Oct. 5, the 15-inch MacBook Air M5 is available for $1,299 on Amazon. That's a $200 savings off the regular list price of $1,499.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple MacBook Air 15-Inch M5 $1,299 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $200   Get Deal

Apple deals are always a highlight of major sale events, such as October Prime Day, which officially launches tomorrow. After all, those big Apple discounts don't come around too often. Fortunately, the early deals continue to rack up ahead of the main event on Amazon, including a sweet saving on the 15-inch MacBook Air.

As of Oct. 5, the MacBook Air 15-inch is priced at a $1,299, down from the regular list price of $1,499 — a total saving of $200. There are some neat bonuses when you buy this MacBook, too — the deal includes up to three months free access to Apple Arcade, Fitness+, and News+.

This is the 2026 version of the MacBook Air, which means it's packed with all the latest features and specs. It's powered by Apple's lightning-fast M5 chip, with features that include Apple Intelligence, Touch ID, a stunning Liquid Retina display, WiFi 7 compatibility, and a hefty 1TB of storage.

The Air is built for working on the go — lighter and slimmer than regular MacBooks — but offers the same super-smooth user experience you expect from Apple.

We expect this deal to get snapped up as October Prime Day gets going, so don't miss the MacBook Air 15-inch with a full $200 off. Now available for $1,299.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by our shopping experts

• Fire Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32)

• AirPods Pro 3 — $179 $249 (save $70)

• Bose QuietComfort Gen 2 — $319 $359 (save $40)

• iPad mini — $499 $599 (save $100)

• MacBook Air M5 — $1,099 $1,299 (save $200)

The best handheld gaming consoles are getting too expensive

Thanks to the AI industry hogging all the memory components, gaming consoles are getting more expensive. In the past 12 months, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all raised prices on their gaming consoles, and Windows laptops are seeing the same increases. It's not a good time to be a gamer. Even before the wave of price increases, handheld gaming PCs were already expensive. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 launched last year for $1,099, but costs $1,999 today. The Legion Go S with SteamOS was originally available for $749.99, but you'll have to pay $999 today at Best Buy — and that's with a $580 discount.

The Steam Deck has also been beset by price increases and has periodically gone out of stock. The Switch 2 has also gotten more expensive, though it's by far the most affordable option in the category.

So far, only one handheld gaming console has held steady at its original price — the ROG Xbox Ally X. We don't know how long it will continue to be available for $999, but we're not complaining.

Nintendo, Windows, or SteamOS?

When purchasing a handheld gaming PC, you generally have three options: Nintendo, Windows, or SteamOS. The right answer comes down entirely to personal preference. If you're a PC gamer who primarily buys games through Steam, then go with a Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion running SteamOS. If you're an Xbox or cloud gamer, then the Windows 11-based MSI Claw 8 or ROG Xbox Ally X will be more your speed.

For the past few weeks, it's been nearly impossible to spend time online without hearing the phrase "GG fuckin' easy." Or, perhaps more accurately, "furkin' easy."

You've probably seen the clip, too. A woman sitting at her desk with wavy red hair, clipped to one side and tucked beneath a pair of gaming headphones, sings, "GG fuckin' easy." A guy cuts in: "Hey, don't say that!" She looks almost surprised. "Really?" Then she scrunches her cheeks, lines radiate from her face, and she offers a compromise: "Furkin' easy."

The whole thing lasts about seven seconds. The post on X has passed 72 million views, and the quote tweets have racked up millions more.

The song is "GG EZ," and in a matter of weeks, those seven seconds have been remixed, memed, and turned into a reason to "nuke all Valorant servers." People who had absolutely nothing to do with the song even started pretending they'd made it. Why? Well, that's internet humor.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

What most of those viewers don't know is that the song started as an AI track, released under the name M.Sasuke. Someone made it, in the sense that someone used the tools. That version currently has over 18 million streams on Spotify. But the version everyone is singing along to now is a remake with human voices, and who counts as its author is less clear than it looks.

What is "GG EZ"?

"GG EZ" is a short, bouncy pop-rap track built around gaming slang. "GG EZ" is what players type after beating someone, usually in games like Valorant or League of Legends, and usually to be insufferable. The song plays that attitude for a cartoonish love-hate story between two gamers, set over light synths and mouse-click-style drums.

The video most people know isn't the original release. It's a remake, which is where the story gets interesting.

Where did the original come from?

The song first appeared in May under the name M.Sasuke, and it didn't take long to find an audience. "GG EZ" became a dance trend in K-pop circles, with idols including BTS's Jung Kook, TXT's Yeonjun, Stray Kids' Lee Know, NCT Wish's Sion and Riku, ITZY's Yeji, and dozens of others posting their own versions.

But as the song spread, fans began to notice something strange about the vocals. They had a tinny, almost robotic quality that sounded suspiciously like AI. As it turns out, they were.

After questions about the song's origins started circulating, M.Sasuke, an anonymous Japanese music producer, acknowledged using AI in their music. It's even in their Instagram bio: "I write music with AI." They also maintained that there was still a human behind "GG EZ," adding that they wrote the lyrics and determined the song's arrangement and style, while apologizing to listeners who object to the use of AI. Forbes described "GG EZ" and M.Sasuke's other music as AI-generated, including both the vocals and the music itself.

Which makes "GG EZ" a little more complicated than the usual AI-versus-human debate. A person claims the words and the creative direction; a machine produced the sound we actually hear. The more interesting question, then, isn't whether "GG EZ" is AI-generated. It's what, exactly, it means to have made it — and in this case, remade it.

Who remade it?

In late August, two creators decided to make the song a little more human. Kaien Nuen, a multilingual influencer and independent artist, teamed up with Angelina "Sugar" Zhang, a cover artist and cosplayer who recently graduated from the University of Toronto. According to Pitchfork, the pair got M.Sasuke's permission before rerecording the track with their own voices.

The resulting release credits M.Sasuke alongside Kaien and Sugar, though the human version was Kaien and Sugar's project. M.Sasuke's credit reflects the fact that "GG EZ" was their song to begin with, rather than necessarily suggesting they were involved in making the new version.

Their version stretches the song to two minutes and 31 seconds and adds a few new flourishes — a burst of Jersey club here, a bigger finish there, and, importantly, the opening exchange of "hey, don't say that!" — while keeping the basic structure intact.

For Kaien, the approach isn't exactly new. He's built a following by putting a human spin on algorithm-friendly genres, performing Brazilian phonk on instruments like the zither, erhu, and guzheng. With "GG EZ," he's essentially doing the same thing in reverse, taking a song that began as machine output and putting people back into it.

How did it go viral?

According to Know Your Meme, the human version of "GG EZ" really took off on X, where musicians started jokingly claiming they had produced it. From there, the song became increasingly difficult to escape, mainly due to Sugar's enunciation of "furkin' easy."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Eventually, the games and the people associated with them got in on the joke. Valorant's official X account posted "gg ferkin ez" alongside an image of Sugar in a Valorant Champions jacket. Esports organization Sentinels joined in, too, while League of Legends veteran Doublelift suggested "GG EZ" should become Valorant's official theme song. In a September stream, popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said, "I've been watching it non-stop," before playing the video intro. A commenter replied, "This shit's Cocomelon for unc."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

But somewhere along the way, people also started taking the song seriously. Pitchfork references a remix by Digicore artists gunk, zayok, and edyn, who released their own take on "GG EZ," approaching it less as a meme to be laughed at and more as a song worth doing something interesting with.

Zayok told Pitchfork that he doesn't even like the original "GG EZ." What interested him was the possibility that putting real human effort into something, even something you think is bad, could turn it into something good. In a way, that's become part of the strange appeal of "GG EZ." The internet didn't just make an AI song go viral. It kept finding ways to make it more human.

Does human-made mean better?

This is the question at the center of the whole saga. The remake has been described as a more "ethical" version of an AI song, and it's easy to see why. Instead of synthetic voices, there are two actual people singing it.

But consider what really changed. Kaien and Sugar didn't write "GG EZ" from scratch. With M.Sasuke's permission, they stepped into an existing song, replacing its synthetic singers with their own voices and building a performance around it. The strange little world of "GG EZ" — its gamer slang, its melody, its "GG fuckin' easy" hook — had already been established before either of them appeared on screen.

What they gave the song was a human presence. Suddenly, "GG EZ" had recognizable voices and meme-able faces. It had performers who could make the joke land with a scrunched-up face and an exaggerated "furkin' easy." And when the internet decided it loved, hated, or simply could not escape the song, there were real people standing there to receive that attention.

That's a different kind of humanization than simply replacing an AI vocal track. Kaien and Sugar didn't erase the AI origins of "GG EZ." In reality, they gave an otherwise faceless song people to look at.

What happens next?

"GG EZ" may be a one-off. Or it may be an early glimpse at a stranger, creative future, one where AI spits out the raw material, and humans decide what's worth salvaging from it.

That's ultimately what happened here. An AI-generated song became a human performance, then a meme, then something other musicians wanted to remix, reinterpret, and make their own. At every step, "GG EZ" became a little less interesting for how it was made and a little more interesting for what people did with it.

Seven seconds was all it took to make "GG EZ" impossible to escape. Figuring out who or what deserves credit for that hasn't been so furkin' easy.

Amazon will host its annual Prime Big Deal Days sale on Oct. 6 and 7, and Mashable shopping experts will be bringing you live updates on all of the best October Prime Day deals. If you're looking to save on essentials or desperately need some relief from this year's tech price hikes, this is your chance to save some serious cash.

We know that shoppers are keeping an eye on the build-up to Black Friday, but we expect this event to drop deals in just about every category. We're already seeing price drops on Apple MacBooks, first-ever deals on new Bose headphones, and huge discounts on top TVs from brands like Samsung, LG, and TCL. Our shopping experts are ready to help you save, and we'll be cross-checking prices at Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart to make sure you know where to find the lowest prices.

Keep scrolling for the full schedule of events and the latest Prime Day deals, live updates, price drops, low-stock alerts, and news from the Mashable shopping team.

Fifteen years ago, on Oct. 5, 2011, the world lost Steve Jobs at the age of 56. Today, the people who worked alongside the Apple co-founder and those who built careers using the tools he helped create are remembering his influence.

Among them are Apple executive chairman Tim Cook and the company’s new CEO, John Ternus, who succeeded Cook in September.

"There are people who leave a mark on the world, and then there are people who change it entirely," Cook wrote on X. "Steve changed the world and so many lives in the process. He certainly changed my life forever. His spirit lives on in everything he created and everyone he inspired."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Cook has regularly posted remembrances of Jobs on the anniversary. This year, Ternus joined him for the first time as Apple’s CEO, reflecting on the attention to detail Jobs instilled in his colleagues.

"The way Steve taught us to care about every detail, every experience, every person, still guides our work today," Ternus posted. "Forever grateful."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The tributes come shortly after Apple’s latest leadership transition. Ternus succeeded Cook as CEO on Sept. 1, with Cook becoming executive chairman after 15 years leading the company.

Others online shared their own reflections, looking beyond Apple’s best-known products to the careers and experiences Jobs helped shape.

Author Andrew Mayne wrote, "He was an incredibly forward thinker pushing ideas years before they became mainstream." Filmmaker Crosby Tatum highlighted Apple’s creative software, including Final Cut Pro and Logic Studio, crediting Jobs with helping independent filmmakers and musicians. "Long live Steve Jobs," he added. User Matt Bieber remembered heading to Apple for a week of meetings when news of Jobs’ death broke.

"I’ll never forget being on campus as flowers and notes appeared and the entire Valley mourned," he wrote. "A surreal week, and one I still think about every October 5th."

For those looking to revisit Jobs’ life and work, Apple’s "Remembering Steve" page collects messages from friends, colleagues, and customers. The company says more than a million people have shared their memories and condolences. The Steve Jobs Archive also preserves photographs, emails, speeches, and videos documenting his ideas that have shaped the world as we know it today.

Kodiak is gearing up to deploy its fully driverless semi trucks on highways later this year, starting with Ikea. I took a ride to see the autonomous tech in action.

Read more about autonomous vehicles: California announces AV regulation, fines for robotaxis that impede emergency responders
Can Waymo and Waze fix cities' potholes?

Timecode chapters
0:00 Intro
0:33 Kodiak AI
1:22 Ride along
3:00 Interview with Kodiak COO
3:30 Sensor pod
3:45 GigaFusionNet
5:18 Conclusion

Video credits
Host: Abrar Al-Heeti
Scripted by: Abrar Al-Heeti
Producer: Celso Bulgatti
Camera: Celso Bulgatti
Video editor: Celso Bulgatti
Thumbnail designer: Zooey Liao

We visited UCSD's Center for the Future of Surgery to learn about the first ever live surgery using humanoid robots.

Read more about AI in health care: ChatGPT Health is now available to all users
AI is changing health: Here's what you should know

Timecode chapters
0:00 Introduction: Humanoid robots in surgery
0:35 The need for remote and robotic surgery
0:59 Challenges of adapting humanoid robots
1:21 Testing the teleoperation setup
2:18 Why live animal surgeries are necessary
3:00 Performance and thermal management issues
3:32 Potential for AI autonomy in surgery
3:59 Key challenges and future outlook

Video credits
Host: Jesse Orrall
Scripted by: Jesse Orrall
Producer: Jesse Orrall, Jon Gomez, Owen Poole
Camera: Owen Poole
Video editor: Jon Gomez, Owen Poole
Thumbnail designer: Zooey Liao

Google's next Fitbit device hasn't been officially announced, but as of Monday, we've possibly already seen it multiple times.

The latest leak comes courtesy of Android Headlines, which posted exclusive photos of a new device purportedly called "Fitbit Edge." It looks a lot like a Fitbit Air, but with an oval smartwatch display. According to Android Headlines, the new watch will launch in October for $149 to $199, with limited app support, Android and iOS compatibility, notifications, a seven-day battery life, and GPS. It'll also reportedly come in the same colors as the Pixel 11 Pro phone: Canyon, Olive, Fog, and Obsidian.

SEE ALSO: Google Gemini access is changing. Free users, take note.

Other odds and ends include sensors on the back (presumably for tracking health metrics) and a long button along the side of the display. But this may not be the device's first appearance. Google actually included what appears to be the same watch in some photos of its upcoming product lineup around Made by Google in August. Reddit users noticed the mystery device pretty quickly at the time. Those earlier images came directly from Google, though the company hasn't confirmed the details in this latest leak.

Oh, OK! Credit: Google/Reddit Come on, guys. Credit: Google/Reddit

If all of this is to be believed, the Fitbit Edge could offer a nice middle ground between the Fitbit Air and a more expensive smartwatch like the Google Pixel Watch 5. If that October launch holds, we should find out more soon.

TL;DR: Blvck Paris and Warner Bros. have teamed up for a second all-black Harry Potter collection featuring hoodies, a Slytherin baseball jacket, interchangeable wanted-poster sweatshirts, and home goods. Priced from $60 to $275, the drop lands Sept. 28 at 12 p.m. ET exclusively on Blvck.

Blvck Paris and the Wizarding World are teaming up for a second all-black Harry Potter collection that strips away bright house scarves and primary colors in favor of something darker.

Most Harry Potter apparel leans into bold yellow ties or crimson sweaters. Pairing the iconic fantasy franchise with Blvck’s signature all-black luxury aesthetic gives fans a way to rep their favorite Hogwarts house without looking like they are heading to a costume party.

Arriving right as hype builds for HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter television series, the new line reinterprets Hogwarts emblems, house crests, and classic characters through dark, tonal embroidery and shadowy textures.

"With this second drop, we wanted to go deeper into the details fans recognize and love while staying true to Blvck’s monochrome identity," said Julian O’Hayon, founder of Blvck Paris. The second limited-edition collection launches Sept. 28 at 12 p.m. ET exclusively at Blvck Paris, with prices ranging from $60 to $275 in sizes XS through 3XL.

Credit: Blvck Paris / Warner Bros. Discovery What's dropping in the Blvck Paris x Harry Potter collection

• Teddy Draco Malfoy Hoodie and Tee — Reworks Blvck’s signature teddy bear mascot in Slytherin-inspired styling and dark wizard accents.

• Slytherin Baseball Jacket — Statement outerwear finished with detailed tonal serpent embroidery stretching across the shoulders and sleeves.

• Zipped Wanted Hooded Sweatshirt — Built for custom styling with four interchangeable wanted-poster graphics featuring iconic characters like Sirius Black.

• Tonal House Hoodies and Sweaters — Muted, dark-grey, and black designs covering Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, layered with curated arrangements of story-inspired icons.

• Slytherin and Gryffindor Jerseys — Sporty streetwear staples that pair Blvck’s all-black foundation with subtle house accent colors and crests.

• Hogwarts Home Goods and Accessories — Expands beyond apparel with a Chamber of Secrets notebook, Slytherin jeans and beanie, Nagini and Wanted-Poster phone cases, hooded blankets, and plush Gryffindor and Slytherin teddy slippers.

Head over to Blvck on Sept. 28 to grab your favorite piece before the best sizes sell out for good.

You could spend yet another evening deciding what to watch...or you could let Ina Garten make you a drink. This month's podcast lineup includes an invitation to her New York apartment, a few awkward dates with Amelia Dimoldenberg, and ghost stories from Spooked for anyone ready to get into the Halloween spirit.

Whether you want a mystery to follow, strangers’ gossip to get invested in, or a conversation to keep you company while making dinner, there’s plenty to queue up. Here are eight podcasts and internet shows to watch and listen to this month.

SEE ALSO: Press play: 5 celeb-creator interviews the internet loved this week (Sept. 25) The Woman in the Woods

For morning walks when you want a reported mystery to dig your teeth into, The Woman in the Woods offers a six-part investigation from 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty into the death of Mindi Kassotis. Here's the story: Kassotis’s friends were told she had died in a hospital. Later, they were told her husband had died, too. But the discovery of a woman’s remains outside Savannah, Georgia, raised questions about those accounts. The series follows investigators’ efforts to uncover what happened, combining reporting with interviews.

Launched Sept. 16, it also has a video edition featuring previously unseen footage and photographs. Start at the beginning and make room for the full investigation.

How to watch/listen: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and other listening platforms.

Chicken Shop Date

Cuffing season is approaching, but Amelia Dimoldenberg is preparing to leave the dating scene. Her celebrity interview series Chicken Shop Date begins its final run on Oct. 2, bringing its famously awkward flirtations and chicken-shop encounters toward a close after 12 years. Dimoldenberg’s deadpan questions have a way of making even practiced interview subjects lose their footing, which is half the pleasure of watching. If you’ve somehow avoided her date with Andrew Garfield, start there before joining the farewell tour. Autumn already makes us a little sentimental; this won't help.

How to watch: YouTube

Happy Hour with Ina Garten

Sweater weather practically demands an invitation to Ina Garten’s apartment. Her new weekly interview show, which launched Sept. 16, brings guests from food, entertainment, sports, and the arts to her New York City home for drinks and conversation. The appeal is familiar to anyone who has watched Barefoot Contessa: Garten knows how to make having people over feel both special and entirely manageable. Kate McKinnon joins her in the first episode, making it an easy place to start. Put this on while preparing for your own fall dinner party, even if the guest list is just you.

How to watch/listen: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Ominous Thrill

If your Halloween viewing plans already include slashers, ghosts, and body horror, Ominous Thrill can extend the program to your headphones. The fiction anthology uses full casts and immersive sound to bring its dark stories to life. Its newest season, "Her Horrorween," launched Oct. 1 with a collection of 15 stories celebrating horror written by women, spanning psychological, folk, supernatural, and other forms of terror. Start with the season’s introduction and choose a story that suits your appetite for scares. Those increasingly dark evenings should provide plenty of atmosphere.

How to listen: Apple Podcasts and Ominous Thrill’s website.

Normal Gossip

A long drive through the foliage is way better with gossip, even when you don’t know anyone involved. Normal Gossip turns listener-submitted stories about everyday people into funny, winding conversations, with host Rachelle Hampton and a guest unpacking strangers' questionable decisions. The show has been running since 2022, so there’s a substantial archive to explore. For an October starting point, try "Paranormal Activity" with Amber Singletary, featuring a blended family, a spectral presence, and a late-night witch hotline. Come for the seasonal intrigue; stay because you suddenly need to know how someone else’s business ends.

How to listen: Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

ICYMI

Your screen time may creep up as the evenings get darker, but keeping up with the internet shouldn’t require spending all night scrolling. Slate’s ICYMI, hosted by Kate Lindsay, unpacks online trends, controversies, and the ways technology shapes everyday life twice a week. Recent discussions have covered vertical microdramas, AI doomsday predictions, and what happens when someone actually swaps their smartphone for a dumbphone. That last conversation, "No Phones? No Problem," is a good starting point if your fall reset includes putting your phone down more often. You can still be informed while taking a long walk with your hands in your coat pockets.

How to listen: Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Spooked

The leaves are changing, the Halloween decorations are going up, and Spooked is returning with more reasons to keep a light on. Hosted by Glynn Washington, the series features people recounting experiences they believe were supernatural, putting the person who lived through each encounter at the center of the story. Its 11th season, "The Spooked Field Guide to the Shadow," begins Oct. 2, with new episodes scheduled weekly throughout the month. If you want to get acquainted before then, the archive has plenty of haunted homes, strange encounters, and unsettling journeys to choose from. Perhaps save the solitary evening walk for another show.

How to listen: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart.

Gerbil

October is urban-legend season, and Gerbil examines one that has followed a Hollywood star for decades. The new series from The Hollywood Reporter follows investigative journalist Allen Salkin as he traces the notorious, unsubstantiated Richard Gere rumor through documents and interviews, asking how it spread and why it endured. Launched Sept. 17, it offers an internet-culture angle on the stories people repeat because someone, somewhere, insists they know someone who was there. Queue it up for a rainy autumn afternoon when you have time to follow a rabbit hole — or, in this case, a different rodent entirely.

How to listen: Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

OpenAI is bringing visual ads to ChatGPT.

In a blog post published Monday, the company announced a new image-based ad format. It also announced expanded measurement partnerships for advertisers and pilots meant to show brands how its placement safeguards work. OpenAI said ChatGPT now reaches 1.2 billion people each week, and described advertising as a way to fund broader access to AI beyond what subscriptions alone can support.

The mockups in OpenAI's announcement show two layouts, both featuring a fictional brand called Heirloom Grocery. In the first, a single banner with a headline sits above a short product description and a "Learn more" button. In the second, a row of scrollable photos replaces the banner. In both versions, the ad carries an "Ad" label and appears beneath a progress indicator for an image ChatGPT is still generating.

That placement reflects how OpenAI plans to roll out the format. The company said it will first test the ads during image generation. It said the ads will be clearly labeled and kept separate from the image being created. OpenAI also repeated its position that advertising does not influence ChatGPT's answers.

Credit: OpenAI / Mashable screenshot

OpenAI said its placement guardrails are designed to keep ads out of emotionally vulnerable or sensitive conversations. Qualifying advertisers can now use a feature called Negative Phrases to set their own placement exclusions.

The company is also running brand suitability pilots with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science. OpenAI said the pilots let these outside firms evaluate its safeguards in a controlled test environment without accessing real user conversations. IAS CEO Lidiane Jones said in the announcement that marketers need brand safety protections that are "durable, consistent, and built to operate at scale."

Testing begins later this month in the US with an initial group of advertisers.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

With a fresh batch of iPhones out of the way, new MacBooks are almost certainly next on Apple's docket.

An updated MacBook Pro with the M6 chip is expected to arrive sometime this fall, based on its usual upgrade cycle. But rumor has it that another mysterious new Mac is also in the pipeline — the first with an OLED touchscreen.

Here's a running list of everything we know about the so-called "MacBook Ultra."

Why an OLED touchscreen MacBook is a big deal

Touch-enabled OLED displays are readily available on most high-end Windows laptops, but Apple has never bothered to equip its MacBooks with OLED panels or touch capabilities before. In fact, company executives have long derided the latter. In 2010, late Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs called touchscreen laptops "ergonomically terrible." In 2018, software head Craig Federighi told Wired that he's "not into touchscreens" on laptops.

The MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar (RIP) was the closest thing we've had to a touch-enabled MacBook. Credit: Brenda Stolyar / Mashable

Then-hardware chief John Ternus, who recently ascended to the role of Apple's CEO, was still dismissing the idea of a touchscreen MacBook in 2021. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, he said Apple had already made "the world’s best touch computer on an iPad...And the Mac is totally optimized for indirect input."

"We haven’t really felt a reason to change that,” Ternus added. For whatever reason, that longtime strategy may have changed.

Apple previously experimented with an OLED "Touch Bar" on MacBook Pros from 2016 to 2021, replacing their physical function row with a customizable touchscreen strip. It was either cool or useless, depending on who you asked.

At present, the only Apple products with OLED touchscreens are the iPad Pros and iPhones. (The former specifically have tandem OLED displays, which are brighter.) The existing 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros have static mini-LED displays. They're "beautifully crisp," to quote Mashable's tech editor, but a touch-supported OLED model would be a more interactive laptop with better contrast, wider viewing angles, and zero blooming to boot.

How do we know Apple is working on an OLED MacBook?

A slate of well-known Apple insiders have all separately claimed to have intel that the company is preparing an OLED touchscreen MacBook for release in 2026.

Bloomberg managing editor Mark Gurman — a fount of Apple scoops — first broke the news in early 2023, calling it "a move that would defy long-held company orthodoxy" (see: that Jobs quote). Gurman has continued to report on the device's supposed development over the years.

In fall 2025, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on X that an upcoming "OLED MacBook Pro ... will incorporate a touch panel using on-cell touch technology." Kuo has foretold the arrival of Apple's foldable iPhone Duo, Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, and USB-C iPads.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This June, a reliable leaker known as Instant Digital added more fuel to the fire with a short post on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform. "It's 100% confirmed that the MacBook screen will be touch-enabled," he wrote.

Just days later, Gurman reported that the developer beta for macOS 27 contained "the first tangible evidence from Apple itself" of the OLED touchscreen MacBook: newly added support for touch-responsive software features like a pull-to-refresh action. (More on those shortly.) At this point, the device is all but confirmed.

What will the OLED MacBook be called? Existing MacBook Pros have had the same design since 2021. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

According to Gurman, the OLED touchscreen Mac is internally code-named K114 and K116. (That probably means it will also come in 14- and 16-inch sizes.) Both he and Kuo have referred to it as a high-end variant of the MacBook Pro, though Gurman's theorized that it could have a different name: MacBook Ultra, maybe?

"A 'MacBook Ultra' label would more clearly signal their [the OLED touchscreen Macs'] position at the top of the lineup," Gurman wrote in a March edition of his weekly "Power On" newsletter. Apple already calls its most advanced smartwatch and silicon chip the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and M5 Ultra, respectively.

But don't put too much stock in that just yet. We thought the foldable iPhone would be called the iPhone Ultra for a while, and it wound up getting the Duo identifier.

OLED MacBook rumored features

Gurman said the OLED touchscreen MacBook has a new interface that makes it easy to switch between touch and traditional point-and-click controls. Updates in the macOS 27 beta clue us in to three software features that will likely show up on it:

• A pull-to-refresh action, similar to how you'd reload a website or social media feed on an iPhone or iPad

• The iPhones' Dynamic Island, a pill-shaped notification area with a hole-punch camera cutout (no more notch!)

• The ability to interact with an extended or mirrored iPad screen via touch inputs

Gurman has also stated that the new MacBook will have a full keyboard and trackpad, so using its touchscreen will be "completely optional." This is not going to be some sort of MacBook-iPad love child, in other words.

Looks-wise, Gurman thinks the OLED touchscreen MacBook will be "significantly lighter" than existing Pro models, which have had the same form factor since 2021. OLED panels are thinner and bendier than regular LCD panels, so this makes sense. Apple's iPad Pros got up to 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter when they gained OLED displays.

Apple's iPad Pro has had an OLED touchscreen since 2024. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

"Apple has reengineered the machine’s interior, miniaturizing parts and rearranging components to make the computer much easier to carry," Gurman wrote.

In 2024, Gurman reported that Apple was "investigating the idea of bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac for the first time," but didn't specify whether that feature was intended for the OLED touchscreen MacBook or another future model. He hasn't mentioned it since, so Apple might've left it on the back burner.

What chip will the OLED MacBook have?

The OLED touchscreen MacBook will reportedly run on Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, not brand-new silicon. That's according to Gurman again, who credited his sources as "people with knowledge of the matter ... who asked not to be identified because the plans are private."

Launched in March of this year, the M5 Pro and M5 Max fuel Apple's current top-end MacBook Pros. They're designed to handle the intensive computing workloads of power users like professional creatives, developers, and AI researchers. With that in mind, the OLED touchscreen MacBook will not be a laptop for the average person.

How much will the OLED MacBook cost? The Dell XPS 14, one of the best MacBook Pro alternatives for Windows users, starts at $2,299.99 with an OLED touchscreen. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The OLED touchscreen MacBook will most likely be Apple's priciest laptop, given its upper-end processors and fancy display. For reference, the existing MacBook Pro with the M5 Pro chip starts at $2,499 in the 14-inch size and $2,999 in the 16-inch size.

Knowing that the iPad Pros got about 20 percent more expensive as part of their OLED upgrade, it's possible that a 14-inch OLED touchscreen MacBook will start around $2,999. Of course, that's assuming the global memory crisis doesn't wreak any more havoc on component costs before its launch, which may be overly optimistic. (Apple already had to raise its MacBook prices once this year amid "RAMageddon.")

Will Apple release the OLED MacBook in 2026?

Gurman has reported that the OLED touchscreen MacBook will arrive between the end of 2026 and early 2027. This spring, he was leaning towards the latter half of that timeframe because of the memory crisis. But these days, he's banking on an imminent launch. (So are 55 percent of Mashable readers, according to the results of our Big Guessing Game: Apple Edition.)

"Apple, I believe, will introduce its first touchscreen MacBook Pro this fall, as early as October," Gurman said in the inaugural episode of his "Power On" podcast, which dropped Oct. 1. "[It] Could slip to November, but as early as October."

The OLED touchscreen MacBook would mark Apple's second all-new laptop of 2026 after the outrageously popular budget MacBook Neo.

Google is pulling back some Gemini app features for free users.

The company announced the change to its AI software suite in a support notice, spotted by 9to5google. Starting on Oct. 9, anyone using the Gemini app without a paid subscription will be limited to just the 3.5 Flash-Lite model, with access to the 3.6 Flash or 3.1 Pro models turned off. Additionally, those who pay $4.99/month for Google AI Plus will lose access to the Pro model, as well, but retain access to Flash-Lite and Flash.

SEE ALSO: The first 5 Googlebook laptops are here, with an OS that blends Android and Gemini

That means if you want to maintain the same experience you've been having with a free account up until now, you'll have to pay at least $19.99/mo for a Google AI Pro subscription. Those who already pay for AI Pro, as a nice little bonus, will get access to the "Deep Think" option that was previously exclusive to even higher tiers of the service.

This is not terribly surprising given how subscription-based services usually work on a long enough timeline. Features that were available to all users gradually become available to only some.

Google has faced some AI challenges this year. Long-time Google DeepMind leader Demis Hassabis has transitioned into a new role, and it's unclear if the move was a promotion or a demotion. The company has also repeatedly failed to deliver on the promised Gemini 3.5 Pro model, originally set to be launched in June.

Bloomberg also reported recently on employee frustrations that Gemini 4 lags far behind rival models from Anthropic and OpenAI, the latest in a series of rumors about behind-the-scenes tensions in Google-land.

SAVE $1,190: As of Oct. 5, the Mammotion Luba 3 AWD 3000 Robot Lawn Mower is on sale for $2,109 at Amazon. That’s a 36% discount and matches its lowest price to date.

Opens in a new window Credit: Mammotion Mammotion Luba 3 AWD 3000H Robot Lawn Mower $2,109 at Amazon
$3,299 Save $1,190   Get Deal

If you want to take lawn care completely off your weekend to-do list, this massive price drop is worth acting on.

Amazon slashed $1,190 off the Mammotion Luba 3 AWD 3000 robot lawn mower, bringing it down to $2,109 — matching its best price ever. The Mammotion Luba 3 AWD 3000 replaces the old-school perimeter wires with a 360-degree LiDAR sensor, dual AI cameras, and network RTK GPS to map your yard down to the centimeter.

Its all-wheel-drive system and omni-wheels let it climb massive 80% inclines (about 39 degrees) and roll over 2-inch roots or curbs without getting stuck. You get twin cutting discs with 12 total blades, powered by two 165W motors that adjust speed on the fly based on grass thickness, and it pushes through a 0.75-acre yard for up to 175 minutes per charge.

SEE ALSO: Amazon is dropping huge deals on robot lawn mowers ahead of Prime Day: Shop Dreame, Mammotion, and more

It identifies over 300 types of obstacles, supports 30 custom zones in the app, and ships with the mower, charging dock, extra blades, and a separate cleaning stand to hose off the bottom. The lawn mower's setup avoids the hassle of burying boundary wires, while the camera-and-LiDAR combo lets it dodge toys, hoses, and trees in real-time.

Its four-wheel-drive grip won't tear up your grass when taking tight turns on steep hills, and you can program it to lay down custom patterns like checkerboard or diagonal stripes. Wire-free mowers that handle this kind of rough terrain usually creep way past $3,000, so knocking over $1,100 off a high-end unit makes automating your yard work a no-brainer.

Grab the Mammotion Luba 3 AWD 3000 robot lawn mower and lock in the $1,190 discount before the clock runs out.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by our shopping experts

• Fire Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32)

• AirPods Pro 3 — $179 $249 (save $70)

• Bose QuietComfort Gen 2 — $319 $359 (save $40)

• iPad mini — $499 $599 (save $100)

• MacBook Air M5 — $1,099 $1,299 (save $200)

SAVE OVER $149: As of Oct. 5, the 2026 Apple Mac mini M5 Pro is available for $1,549.99 on Amazon. That's a $149.01 savings off the regular list price of $1,699.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini M5 Pro $1,549.99 at Amazon
$1,699 Save $149.01   Get Deal

Everybody loves a good Apple deal. Let's face it: they don't come around all that often. That's why sale events such as October Prime Day — which officially launches tomorrow — are always such a treat.

As ever, Amazon has built anticipation with a bunch of early deals, including markdowns on MacBooks, iPads, AirPods, and Apple Watches. But an Apple deal that might have passed you by is a discount on the Apple Mac mini M5 Pro, an Apple device that often flies under the radar

As of Oct. 5, the Apple Mac mini M5 Pro is down from $1,699 to $1,549.99, which saves you $149.01 — a decent saving on any Apple product.

If you've never heard of this device, it's essentially all the power and brilliance of a Mac packed into a little silver box. All you need to do is hook it up to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It runs on the M5 Pro chip, which means it's among the smartest, fastest, most powerful Apple devices out there. It has Apple Intelligence, 512GB of storage, and WiFi 7 support.

Get the Apple Mini Mac Desktop as part of the early October Prime Day deals — now just $1,549.99 at Amazon.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by our shopping experts

• Fire Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32)

• AirPods Pro 3 — $179 $249 (save $70)

• Bose QuietComfort Gen 2 — $319 $359 (save $40)

• iPad mini — $499 $599 (save $100)

• MacBook Air M5 — $1,099 $1,299 (save $200)

SAVE OVER $50: As of Oct. 5, the Apple AirPods 4 are available for $79 at Walmart. That's a total saving of $50.99 from the regular list price of $129.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods 4 $79 at Walmart
$129.99 Save $50.99   Get Deal

We're just a day away from the official launch of October Prime Day on Amazon, but the early deals have been so strong that some bargains have already sold out, including Amazon's $99 deal on the Apple AirPods 4. You haven't entirely missed out, though. In fact, you can now get an even better deal on those exact AirPods.

Walmart was matching Amazon's $99 price — down from $129.99 — but with a day still to go before the big Amazon sale, Walmart has cut the price of these AirPods by another $20.

As of Oct. 5, the Apple AirPods 4 are now just $79 a Walmart, which gives you savings of $50.99.

It's worth noting that these are the last generation of AirPods to not feature active noise cancellation (though there is an ANC version available at Walmart, which is almost double the price). If you don't need ANC, these are an absolute steal right now — one of the very best bargains you'll find on any AirPods. You get spatial audio, high-quality Apple sound, and a charging case that delivers up to 30 hours of runtime.

Grab the Apple AirPods 4 before they sell out at Walmart. Now available for $79 — an overall saving of $50.99.

More AirPods deals

• Apple AirPods Pro 3 — $179 $249 (save $70)

• Apple AirPods Max 2 — $429 $549 (save $120)

SAVE $81.99: As of Oct. 5, the Sony XM6 noise-canceling headphones are on sale for $378 at Amazon. That's down from their list price of $459.99 and the lowest price on record.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony XM6 $378 at Amazon
$459.99 Save $81.99   Get Deal

If you've been holding out for a price drop on Sony's premier active noise-canceling cans, now is your chance. The Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones just dropped back down to $378 at Amazon, shaving $81.99 off their $459.99 list price and matching their all-time low.

The Sony WH-1000XM6 over-ear headphones pack an upgraded QN3 noise-canceling processor and a 12-microphone array that automatically adjusts to block out your surroundings. They bring back a foldable design for easy packing, tune sound with input from studio engineers, and support high-resolution audio via LDAC.

You get up to 30 hours of playback with active noise cancellation on (and up to 40 hours with it turned off). They also handle wired playback and charging simultaneously, pair with two devices at once over Bluetooth 5.3, and pack physical touch controls right on the earcups.

Earning a 4.5-star rating and a Mashable Choice Award, the XM6 headphones deliver top-tier performance where it counts most. In his review for Mashable, Timothy Beck Werth called the active noise cancellation "phenomenal," noting that slipping them on feels like stepping into an instant "bubble of silence." Sony also fixed the biggest design complaint from the previous generation by bringing back a foldable hinge, pairing it with a sturdier, travel-friendly magnetic carrying case.

Vocals sound noticeably clearer thanks to updated audio tuning, and the plush headband ensures zero ear fatigue during all-day wear. While heavy multi-layered tracks can occasionally blur a bit at lower volumes, getting this level of noise cancellation, comfort, and build quality for $378 makes them an easy pick over full-priced competitors.

Snag the Sony WH-1000XM6 while they're down to their best-ever price at Amazon.

Thought SpaceXAI was hard to pronounce? Wait till you see what Elon Musk is cooking up next.

Following Donald Trump's recent remarks that "artificial intelligence" should in fact be called "supreme intelligence" or "super intelligence," the tech billionaire decided to rename his recently renamed SpaceXAI (officially an AI-focused subsidiary of SpaceX) as SpaceXSI.

Seemingly in wholehearted agreement with the president's idea, Musk shared his own decision on X on Sunday.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"No more AI. SI. It's better," tweeted Musk. A follower then asked whether there was any possibility of renaming SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI, to which Musk replied: "Yes, we will make that change."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Supreme intelligence (also known as an alien artificial intelligence in the Marvel comic universe) is just one of the rebrands Trump has suggested for AI. He also suggested "extreme intelligence" and "superior intelligence," before finally settling on "super intelligence" and signing an executive order on Sept. 29 ushering in the new term.

"The name Super Intelligence conveys the true capabilities of the technologies being developed today, unlocking new forms of human creativity and empowering Americans to achieve what was previously impossible—not simply imitating or automating human intelligence as is implied by the term 'Artificial Intelligence,'" reads a post on the official White House website.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's X launches 'X Numbers'

Artificial intelligence is a term that's been around for decades. Coined by American computer scientist John McCarthy in 1955, it has since been used by countless scientific papers, books, articles, movies, and video games. As one commenter tweeted, Musk is having a hard enough time getting people to call Twitter to his rebranded name "X;" we'll see whether the "SI" rebrand fares any better.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is available for $159.99 at Amazon. That's close to market price, but does require shoppers to request an invite to buy.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box $159.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now

Amazon’s $89.99 deal on the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box sold out fast, but the retailer still offers one of the most reasonable routes to securing this high-demand set — if you're willing to join the waitlist.

The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is currently listed at $159.99 on Amazon, with shipping and sale handled directly by the retailer. Because inventory remains extremely tight ahead of Prime Big Deal Days, Amazon is routing orders through its "request invite" lottery system. Submitting an invite request reserves your spot in line to purchase the box at list price, without paying inflated secondary-market rates.

At $159.99, Amazon’s price sits close to TCGplayer’s market price. It's also considerably cheaper than Walmart, so even though it hurts to miss out on the $89.99 deal that Amazon was offering a couple of weeks ago, this is still a strong option for collectors.

The 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is the premier display piece for this milestone expansion. Each ETB comes packed with nine 30th Celebration booster packs, an exclusive full-art foil Nidorina promo card, 16 foil Basic Energy cards, 65 custom card sleeves, damage-counter dice, a condition marker, card dividers, a collector’s player guide, and a code card for Pokémon TCG Live.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by our shopping experts

• Fire Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32)

• AirPods Pro 3 — $179 $249 (save $70)

• Bose QuietComfort Gen 2 — $319 $359 (save $40)

• iPad mini — $499 $599 (save $100)

• MacBook Air M5 — $1,099 $1,299 (save $200)

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle is in stock and available for $99 at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle $99 at Amazon
  Get Deal

The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration expansion has triggered a wild price war among third-party sellers. Amazon's price on the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle isn't amazing, but we'll take what we can get right now.

As of Oct. 5, the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle is down to $99 at Amazon via marketplace seller BFG Productions. You might find better prices after Prime Day, but Amazon actually has stock and is selling for somewhere close to market price. That's a deal in our eyes.

At $99, you are looking at $16.50 per pack for six sealed 30th Celebration booster packs. That’s a far more palatable rate to chase the set’s heavy hitters like Mewtwo ex, Mew ex, Umbreon ex, Salamence ex, and Greninja ex. Plus, every single pack guarantees one of 30 distinct rare Pikachu variant cards, making this one of the most collectible anniversary drops in recent memory.

Stock tends to disappear quickly, so we recommend jumping on this offer to avoid disappointment. Paying $99 is still a markup over retail, but landing a sealed bundle for under $100 on Amazon is currently your safest bet to dodge $130+ reseller gouging.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by our shopping experts

• Fire Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32)

• AirPods Pro 3 — $179 $249 (save $70)

• Bose QuietComfort Gen 2 — $319 $359 (save $40)

• iPad mini — $499 $599 (save $100)

• MacBook Air M5 — $1,099 $1,299 (save $200)