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Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days sale is down to its last day. The 48-hour event started Oct. 6 and ends at midnight PT tonight, Oct. 7, and plenty of deals are still live until then. We've been sorting through Amazon's listings since the sale started to find the discounts worth your money, and smartphones have some of the biggest price cuts of the sale.
If you're shopping for deals on some of the best smartphones of the year, Google and Samsung both have unlocked flagships on sale that you'll definitely want to snap up ASAP. But be quick about it, because all bets are off when the clock counts down, and these prices will rocket back up to their normal baseline. While it's true there may be some stragglers here and there after the sale ends, this is your best opportunity to upgrade your phone without breaking the bank.
Below are some of the best Prime Day smartphone deals still available before the sale ends that you can shop right now.
Best smartphone deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Pixel 11 Pro $834 at AmazonAndroid fans will absolutely love what Google's cooked up here. The Pixel 11 Pro puts Google's Tensor G6 chip inside a 6.3-inch body with an OLED display that adjusts from 1Hz to 120Hz and reaches up to 3,600 nits of peak brightness. For photos, its triple camera has a 50MP main sensor, a 48MP ultrawide lens, and a 48MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom. There's also a 42MP ultrawide selfie camera on the front. Google added a HiLight notification light with this iteration of the phone as well, and the 4,850mAh battery supports 30W wired charging and 25W Qi2.2 magnetic wireless charging. It's a great all-rounder, but especially good on the photography front.
Best budget smartphone deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Motorola Moto G Play LTE $99.99 at AmazonNot every phone has to cost an entire paycheck to function as a reliable piece of tech. The Moto G Play LTE has a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling, and its stereo speakers support Dolby Atmos when you're watching videos or listening to music. It has a Snapdragon 680 processor and 4GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly, with a 5,000mAh battery that recharges at up to 15W. Its 50MP rear camera uses Quad Pixel technology to pull in more light, and if the 64GB of built-in storage fills up, you can add more with a microSD card. Plus, it's an attractive phone that'll look unlike much of the competition for much, much less.
Best premium smartphone deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra $1,179.99 at AmazonIf you're looking for a premium phone, this one should more than do the trick. The Galaxy S26 Ultra has a 6.9-inch QHD+ AMOLED screen with a built-in privacy display. When it's on, the screen looks normal straight ahead but gets harder to read from the side. You can even set it to switch on automatically when notifications arrive, when you type a password, or when you open specific apps. A 200MP main camera with an f/1.4 aperture sits alongside a 50MP ultrawide and two telephoto lenses at 3x and 5x, and the S Pen slides right into the phone. It also comes with a slew of Galaxy AI features.
More smartphone dealsSamsung Galaxy A17 — $189.99 $269.99 (save $80)
Motorola Edge — $299.99 $379 (save $79.01)
Motorola Razr Ultra — $299.99 $379 (save $79.01)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 — $1,549.99 $1,899.99 (save $419.01)
October Prime Day is nearing the end of its 48 hours. But if you've been AFK or haven't felt like shopping, there's still some time to score a deal. In fact, plenty of other retailers are offering competing sales, or sales that just so happen to fall on the same days. Who's to say how that happened? But a savings is a savings, and we're all ears on deals in 2026.
Aside from Amazon, we have Techtober deals at Best Buy, gigantic creepy but also maybe adorable Halloween skeletons at Home Depot, and high-quality sheets on sale at Brooklinen. Keep in mind, some of these sales are set to end tonight, so it might be wise to do some shopping during your evening scrolling.
We've rounded up our favorite October deals below from places other than Amazon.
A stellar Kindle alternative that comes with free books Opens in a new window Credit: Kobo Kobo Clara Colour Bundle with free books $239.97 at KoboThe Kobo Clara Colour is one of Mashable's favorite color e-readers, and you can grab a useful bundle right now that comes with free books. The Kobo Clara Colour, the fantastic Kobo Remote, a Sleep Cover, and books one through five of A Court of Thorns and Roses e-book bundle comes in at $239.97, which works out to getting the books for free.
Cozy and durable sheets, towels, robes, plus more Opens in a new window Credit: Brooklinen Brooklinen Surprise Sale take 15% off sitewide and up to 30% off bundles Get Deal Why we like itSleep is powerful. If you're not getting good rest, maybe you need some luxurious sheets? Brooklinen sheets, bedding, towels, robes, comforters, and pillows are all on sale for at least 15% off. If you feel like grabbing a bundle of bedding, you might be in for a 30% discount. The brand's new arrivals feature great colorway options for fall and cozy bedding to get you through the winter.
More sleep dealsCozy Earth: Take 15% off sitewide and 20% off bundles
Brooklyn Bedding: Save 30% sitewide
Baloo Bedding: Take 20% off all weighted bedding with code FALL20
Is Skelly adorable or creepy? In either case, the 6.5-foot version is on sale for today only at The Home Depot. In addition to Skelly, you can snag deals on friends like a nine-foot color-changing wicked tree or a three-piece set of LED ghosts.
If none of those match your decor vibes, check out the selection of Disney Halloween items on sale.
Gear up for fall adventures with REI deals Opens in a new window Credit: Rumpl REI fall clearance sale take up to 30% off outdoor gear and up to 50% off clothing Get Deal Why we like itFall outdoor adventures are now in the running for the best of the year. Sweaty summer is over, and those leaves aren't gonna crunch themselves. Get outside with these October deals at REI that take up to 50% off outdoor clothing and up to 30% off outdoor gear. You'll find a wide selection from brands like The North Face, Kelty, Patagonia, Yeti, Rumpl, and more.
More outdoor dealsOoni: Take up to 29% off outdoor pizza ovens
Lands' End: Take 50% off sitewide
Solo Stove: Save 10% on smokeless firepits, pizza ovens, and accessories
Ruggable's selection of washable rugs is expansive, and for a few more hours, you can shop to save up to 25% off. That includes some of the brand's best collaborations and new seasonal releases. Don't forget the brand has a Star Wars collection.
More home dealsCrate&Barrel: Take up to 20% off sofas, 35% off kitchen brands, and 25% off storage and dining
Govee: Take up to 50% off smart lighting
Getting healthier apparently requires a lot of purchases. At least, that’s the impression your social media feed can leave. There’s always another supplement to take or coaching program to join, and a discount code to make it all a little more tempting.
New research from Pew Research Center shows how often wellness content comes with a promotion. Researchers analyzed more than half a million Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube posts from over 6,000 health and wellness influencers. Some 38 percent contained a sponsorship or another appeal to use a product, service, or subscription. Among posts directly discussing health and wellness, the share was nearly half.
You might follow a creator for their personality, recipes, or workout advice. But when those posts lead to product recommendations, you’re also a potential customer. At least according to the report, released Oct. 7, which examined posts published between February and April 2026. It found that 92 percent of the influencers included promotions at least occasionally, and around a third of them include ads in a majority of their posts.
Pew’s definition of a promotion includes disclosed sponsorships, product and service recommendations, and free resources such as workout guides. Creators promoting their own offerings can also qualify.
Credit: Screenshot: Pew Research CenterPromotions also appeared in 66 percent of posts about nonprescription medications and supplements, 56 percent about appearance, 56 percent about men’s health, and 52 percent each about nutrition and longevity. They were more frequent in posts from self-described dietitians and nutritionists; complementary, alternative, and integrative health professionals; authors; business owners; and coaches. Athletes and activists included them less frequently.
The commercial side is easy to spot, from a viewer's point of view. Kayla Itsines (15 mil on Instagram) offers workout programs through the subscription-based Sweat app, while Joe Wicks (2.9 mil on YouTube) sells Body Coach app subscriptions featuring workouts and meal plans. Mari Llewellyn co-founded Bloom Nutrition, which sells "Greens & Superfoods" powders, and physician/podcast host Mark Hyman's online store sells supplements and offerings such as his "10-Day Detox" program.
What’s actually in the wellness feed?Just over half of the posts discussed healthy living, compared with about a third discussing medical issues. Fitness appeared in 25 percent, healthy habits in 20 percent, nutrition in 19 percent, and appearance in 14 percent. And if it feels like everyone is talking about protein; 42 percent of nutrition posts mentioned it directly. Thirty percent of posts didn’t discuss wellness at all, instead covering personal life or other subjects.
The report also complicates the idea that wellness influencers are simply nonexperts dispensing medical advice. Self-described healthcare professionals discussed medical conditions and treatments requiring professional involvement most frequently. Those topics appeared much less often in posts from creators who didn’t claim a medical background.
As I previously reported, "credential catfishing" involves fabricating the education, career, or status that signals authority online. Back in September, Mashable covered the story of influencer Angel Victoria Murdock who spent nearly two years documenting her supposed experience in Duke University’s Physician Assistant Program. Followers saw scrubs, medical notes, apparent Duke Health identification, and "get ready with me" videos for supposed rotations. She even posed in graduation attire outside Duke Chapel. But, spoiler alert: She had never attended the program. Murdock also promoted fashion and beauty products and participated in TikTok Shop’s affiliate program.
SEE ALSO: Welcome to the age of 'credential catfishing'Even genuine experience has limits, as certified medical exercise specialist and personal trainer Courtney Babilya told the Associated Press in May. "We have to be careful with people who have an experience in one thing and suddenly become a 'coach' on that," she cautioned.
You don’t even have to follow a wellness creator to encounter their recommendations. Earlier Pew research found that 40 percent of U.S. adults get health and wellness information from influencers or podcasts. Among those consumers, 67 percent mostly encountered it rather than searching for it.
Some viewers are tired of the pitches. In a recent Reddit thread titled "Too many ads," one user wrote: "oh my god i love tiktok but im starting to get irritated that every video is either a regular ad, an undisclosed ad, a partnership, or a brand deal."
A promotion doesn’t automatically make advice bad SEE ALSO: How influencers and politicians built an unregulated supplement empireCreators have bills to pay, too, and brand partnerships can help them keep making the content people follow them for. Plenty of viewers find that content useful: Pew’s earlier research found that 54 percent of people who get health and wellness information from influencers or podcasts said it helped them better understand how to be healthy.
But as viewers, it helps to be discerning about the advice we take. Disclosures are one thing to check: Look for a "Paid partnership" label, a clear #ad or #sponsored in the caption, or a disclosure within the video itself. You shouldn’t have to dig through someone’s profile or a pile of hashtags to find it. The Federal Trade Commission says influencers should clearly disclose brand relationships, including payments and free products, "even if you think your evaluations are unbiased."
Platforms have their own requirements, too. Instagram requires a paid partnership label for branded content involving an exchange of value. TikTok requires its disclosure setting for promotional content, labeling posts "Paid partnership" or "Promotional content." And YouTube requires creators to flag commercial relationships, which adds a disclosure at the beginning of the video.
Those requirements don’t guarantee that every promotion is labeled. And even a clearly disclosed partnership doesn’t tell you whether the health advice is sound. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do for yourself — and your wallet — is let a discount code expire.
The Home Depot 12-foot skeleton has become an icon of lawns all across America since its debut in 2020, but it's far from the only oversized Halloween decoration in the home improvement store's lineup.
In fact, as of Oct. 7, plenty of giant monsters of various ilk are on sale at the store (perhaps in the spirit of October Prime Day). Though the 12-foot "Skelly" won't be on sale, you can pick up a six-foot app-controlled Skelly, several Nightmare Before Christmas characters, spooky trolls, dead brides, plague doctors, a nine-foot tree named Dry Rot Dennis — all of your basic Halloween essentials. (Some of these creatures are brand new to the 2026 lineup).
Below, we've rounded up the 15 best deals on Home Depot's Halloween giants, on sale just in time for you to spruce up your Halloween decoration game.
Best Home Depot Halloween decoration deal Opens in a new window Credit: Home Accents Holiday Home Accents Holiday 6.5-Foot Grave & Bones Animated LED App Controlled Ultra Skelly with LCD LifeEyes $179 at Home DepotIt may not be the tallest skeleton from Home Depot or the tallest monster on this list, but boy, does this six-and-a-half-footer still bring the heat. For starters, it features the same LCD LifeEyes that stand out in the dark of night, and give you 18 options for color customization, including "blue human," "brown human," flames, and hearts. The motion sensor skeleton also comes with five preset sounds, or the option to record up to 30 personalized recordings (with 30-second limits). Plus, the head, arm, mouth, and torso move — and can be controlled remotely via the app, in addition to customizable LED controls and colors. Best of all? Usually, it's only $20 cheaper than its 12-foot sibling, but with this deal, it's $120 less than the larger skeleton.
Opens in a new window Credit: Haunted Hill Farm Haunted Hill Farm 6-Foot Animated LED Hanging Clown Halloween Animatronic $39.99 at Home DepotGoogle wants the next hit browser game to start with a prompt. The company launched Playground on Oct. 7, an experimental platform for creating, playing, and sharing custom games.
"Playground lowers the barriers to creation, so bringing game ideas to life can now be as easy as describing it through a few prompts — no coding experience required," Google software engineer Maryam Karimzadehgan wrote in the announcement.
Creators can start from scratch, remix starter prompts, or use guided support to shape an idea, then test and revise it through a conversational interface. "Want to tweak the physics, rewrite the rules, customize the characters, or overhaul the environment? Just ask," Karimzadehgan adds. "You stay in complete control of the creative direction from rough concept to final product."
Credit: Screenshot: Google PlaygroundUsers can choose genres such as trivia or racing, select 2D or 3D graphics, and upload visuals for the AI to transform into game assets. An upcoming Unity Spark integration promises "robust, professional-level mechanics, high-fidelity 3D capabilities, and the flexibility of the Unity runtime."
Games work in browsers on phones and laptops. Creators can keep projects private, share links, or publish to the Explore gallery, which highlights games based on ratings and play activity. Select genres support leaderboards and multiplayer, while Play Games profiles let users follow creators. Google says published games always undergo safety screenings.
Playground is initially available to U.S. adults, with creation access rolling out based on Google AI subscriptions. Browsing and playing are free; creation uses weekly tokens, with higher limits for Google One AI subscribers.
Credit: Screenshot: Google PlaygroundGoogle joins competitors, including Roblox, which announced its prompt-based Build tool in July, and Rosebud AI, which offers conversational game creation. You can also build games through general-purpose AI assistants. ChatGPT’s Sites tools can also create and host browser games, while Claude’s Artifacts lets users generate, revise, and share playable prototypes through conversation.
Google calls Playground an "early experiment," but the browser-game format may feel familiar to anyone who spent afternoons playing games on the family computer. This time, you can build the game you wish you'd found.
While I love a beach read, nothing beats being inside on a chilly evening, all cozied up with a good book. If you've made your way through your summer TBR, it's time to build your fall stack. Luckily, Prime Big Deal Days is underway with hundreds of book deals.
Amazon's October Prime Day is underway, running until Oct. 7, marking down bestselling titles. The sale on books spans physical copies and ebooks too. And speaking of ebooks, if you're interested in Amazon's e-readers, tons of Kindles are on sale too. And don't forget to pick up a Kindle Click too, a crucial device for your coziest season of reading yet.
Ready to shop? These are the best book deals to shop during Prime Big Deal Days.
Best book deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Circe by Madeline Miller $2.99 at AmazonIf the The Odyssey revived your love of mythology, then you need to check out Madeline Miller's greek reimaginings. Her novel The Song of Achilles is a BookTok hit and her retelling, Circe, is now just $2.99 on Kindle during Prime Big Deal Days. This epic tale reimagines the live of Circe as she comes into her own power as some of the most famous figures in Greek mythology cross her island.
It's a page-turner, perfect for cozy reading season. Looking for something else? We've rounded up dozens of great book deals to shop whether you love a physical copy or want to stuff your Kindle.
More book dealsPhysical books
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall — $10.83 $28.99 (save $18.16)
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch — $11.65 $20 (save $8.35)
The Divorce by Freida McFadden — $9.29 $18.99 (save $9.70)
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah — $9.03 $19 (save $9.97)
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah — $7.64 $20 (save $12.46)
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore — $10.88 $30 (save $19.22)
Isola by Allegra Goodman — $9.01 $19.00 (save $9.99)
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser — $14.25 $29 (save $14.75)
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali — $10.53 $18.99 (save $8.47)
The Love Hypothesis: Collector's Edition by Ali Hazelwood — $12.81 $35 (save $22.19)
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood — $7.21 $17 (save $9.79)
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell — $7.94 $18.99 (save $11.05)
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad — $13.71 $28 (save $14.29)
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller — $7.84 $18 (save $10.16)
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due — $9.44 $19.99 (save $10.55)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid — $6.85 $17 (save $10.15)
The Wager by David Grann — $8.73 $21 (save $12.27)
The Will of the Many: Deluxe Edition by James Islington — $12.49 $35 (save $22.51)
Cookbooks
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics by Ina Garten — $11.78 $40 (save $28.12)
Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz — $13.73 $37.50 (save $23.77)
Martha: The Cookbook by Martha Stewart — $14.59 $40 (save $25.41)
Something from Nothing by Alison Roman — $17.14 $37.99 (save $20.85)
Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson — $12.40 $35 (save $22.60)
The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook by Meredith Hayden — $12.81 $35 (save $22.19)
Kindle Books
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman — $3.99 $13.99 (save $10)
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott — $1.99 $12.99 (save $11)
Brimstone by Callie Hart — $3.99 $11.99 (save $8)
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman — $0.99 $4.99 (save $4)
How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix — $1.99 $12.99 (save $11)
The Invitation by Lucy Foley — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison — $1.99 $10.99 (save $9)
The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez — $3.99 $14.99 (save $11)
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid — $3.99 $12.99 (save $9.99)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)
Reasons to Be Loved by You by Hannah Brown — $3.99 $14.99 (save $11)
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams — $2.99 $9.99 (save $7)
Mashable's shopping team loves to help our readers stretch their dollars further. During October Prime Day (and every other day, for that matter), we're relentlessly scanning product listings, tracking prices, and curating the best deals for y'all so you can get more bang for your buck. We'll shout about our favorite tech deals, which Apple products are at all-time lows, and what deals we think are actually worth it. But when it comes down to it, one of the best ways to decide what to add to your cart is to see what other people already added to theirs.
Below, we're breaking down the top 10 deals Mashable readers purchased during Prime Big Deal Days this year. If you're still looking to do some shopping, the official October Prime Day event wraps up at the end of the day on Oct. 7. Although, you may still be able to snag a few lingering discounts in the days following.
Here are the most popular items Mashable readers are adding to their carts:
Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration swag Opens in a new window Credit: Pokémon Pokemon TCG: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box (invite only) $159 at AmazonThe Pokémon 30th Celebration expansion has been fluctuating in price since it came out, but you can request to buy it at $159.99 (just $11 above market price) for October Prime Day. And Mashable readers have been submitting invite requests left and right. It comes with nine titular booster packs, a full-art foil Nidorina promo, 16 foil Basic Energy trading cards, 65 sleeves, dice, a coin, dividers, a player’s guide, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card. The Booster Bundle is also a hot ticket item for Prime Day, which includes six booster packs from Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time pre-orders Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo Switch 2) $59.88 at AmazonWhile preordering the physical edition of Nintendo's upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Switch 2 typically costs $69.99, Amazon has it on sale for $59.88 for Prime Big Deal Days. Many Mashable readers have already secured the game for less, so don't miss your shot ahead of its Nov. 5 launch.
A pastel pink Owala FreeSip Opens in a new window Credit: Owala Owala FreeSip Twist (24-ounce) $19.97 at AmazonThe Owala FreeSip is the water bottle of the moment and the 24-ounce Twist, which easily slips into backpack side pockets and cup holders, is on sale for under $20 for Prime Big Deal Days. This baby pink (referred to as angel food cake) has particularly called to Mashable readers, but several other color options are discounted as well.
A swanky 3D printer Opens in a new window Credit: Bambu Lab Bambu Lab P1S Combo $499 at AmazonWe love a good splurge, and the popularity of this swanky 3D Printer from Bambu Labs shows our readers do also. As Mashable contributor Soumya Kumar puts it, "The Bambu Lab P1S earns our top spot because it nails the trifecta: speed, output quality, and pure convenience." It's approachable for newbies, but powerful enough for seasoned vets.
The latest AirPods Pro Opens in a new window Credit: Apple AirPods Pro 3 $179 at AmazonThere's no denying the AirPods Pro 3 are great earbuds, but we like them significantly more when they're on sale. While we regularly see the price tag drop to $199, it's rarer to see them at $179, making this a smart purchase.
The 11-inch classic iPad Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad, 11-inch (A16, 128GB, WiFi) $399 at AmazonOver 20 Apple gadgets are at record-low prices this October Prime Day, but none of those gadgets are iPads. Still, there are plenty of iPad deals worth grabbing and readers are flocking to the classic iPad. It's on sale for just $399, making it the most affordable iPad option by a long shot.
Sony's flagship noise-cancelling headphones Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM6 noise-cancelling headphones $378 at AmazonThe latest flagship headphones from Sony come with a steep price tag, so any chance to get them at a discount is worth taking. For what it's worth, Mashable's tech editor says they mostly justify their full cost, thanks to elite noise cancellation, a comfortable fit, a travel-friendly design, and close to the best sound he's ever heard.
This cutie mini power bank Opens in a new window Credit: UGREEN UGREEN Nexode Pro mini power bank $36.07 at AmazonWe all suffer from low-battery anxiety, so it's no shock here that readers are scooping up this mini power bank. Plus, it's pretty cute and small enough to fit in your palm.
A hefty Yeti cooler in violet Opens in a new window Credit: Yeti Yeti Tundra 45 hard cooler $243.75 at AmazonYeti deals are rare, so this 25% discount on the classic Tundra 45 hard cooler is certainly worth adding to your cart. And if you're a big Yeti fan like me, several other deals on drinkware, camping gear, and more are worth a second look.
Kindle e-readers and accessories Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kindle (2024) $103.99 at AmazonLiteracy crisis be damned. Mashable readers are buying Kindles (particularly the last-gen basic Kindle, the last-gen Kindle Paperwhite, and the brand new Kindle Paperwhite) in droves. Plus, we're seeing folks securing their pre-orders for the new Kindle Click, aka the page-turner of our dreams.
More popular deals Mashable readers boughtAmazon Smart Plug — $12.98 $24.99 (save $12.01)
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select — $17.99 $49.99 (save $32)
Apple AirTag (2nd gen) — $24 $29 (save $5)
Anker Nano Smart Display charger — $25.99 $39.99 (save $15)
SanDisk Extreme 1TB portable SSD — $209.99 $299.99 (save $90)
Anker Solix C1000 power station — $469.99 $599.99 (save $130)
Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,299.99 (save $200)
Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD 3000 Robot Lawn Mower — $2,109 $2,608 (save $499)
Apple has long been criticized for the iPhone's "walled garden," the closed ecosystem that the company has built with iOS that gives Apple tight control over which apps and services can run on its smartphone. Android devices have long been viewed as the more "open" option, giving users more control over what's on their smartphone.
But, when it comes to bloatware, that may not be the case. In fact, a recent study from cybersecurity company Surfshark found that iPhone users can remove more pre-installed apps from their devices than users of phones from some of the top Android smartphone makers like Samsung and Google.
According to the study, the iPhone comes with up to 50 pre-installed apps. Users in the EU can remove 48 of these apps or 96 percent of them. (The Phone app and the Settings app are the only two pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted in the EU.) In the U.S., iPhone users are able to delete 44 of these apps or 88 percent of them.
Samsung devices, on the other hand, come with a whopping 88 pre-installed apps and only 50 of them or 57 percent were marked safe to remove. For Google's Android devices, the database listed 71 pre-installed apps, but only 38 percent of them or 27 apps were marked as safe to remove.
The report states that the average smartphone user has between 60 and 90 apps installed on their device. However, they use roughly 10 of these apps on a daily basis and around 30 of them each month. That leaves many apps unused and taking up space.
But, even worse than that, these apps may not just sit there. They can operate in the background, collecting personal data, making bloatware a privacy risk too.
Apple apps collected on average 8 data types per pre-installed app, which includes location data, behavioral data, and other sensitive information. Apple Music and the Apple Store app collected the most user data types, according to Surfshark, listing 17 and 18 data types, respectively, out of 35 different data types.
The pre-installed apps analyzed on Google devices collected an average of 13 data types per app. Google Gemini and the Google app list the most data types, with each disclosing 29 of 38 different data types, which is more than double the average of the other apps.
The average pre-installed app analyzed on a Samsung device also collected 13 data types. However, the Samsung dataset includes Facebook and Instagram, which are the worst offending apps in the report. These apps disclosed a whopping 37 out of 38 data types.
"Data collection practices by popular applications, particularly social media platforms and chatbots, raise privacy concerns," said Surfshark's Chief Security Officer Tomas Stamulis in a statement. "While certain data points are necessary for basic operational functionality, entities may harvest information for targeted advertising or may even share it with undisclosed third parties. Even never-used applications can gather personal data and link to your device."
"Relying entirely on pre-installed applications can affect your privacy, as apps don't always protect user data as you might expect," Stamulis continued. "Shifting to third-party alternatives that are privacy-focused can help minimize data collection, limit overall exposure, and reduce unwanted targeted ads. It can also mitigate the risks associated with potential data breaches as your personal data is not stored in a single database."
Employers in the Golden State can't offload the hard parts of running a business to AI, according to a new state law.
Signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom last week, SB 947 sets restrictions on the use of the novel technology in disciplinary decision making, including firing employees. SB 947 may sound like an obvious regulatory move as industries continue to worry about AI's impact on employment, but the "No Robo Bosses Act" marks the first law of its kind in the nation.
SEE ALSO: Report: OpenAI should pause ChatGPT for Teens over safetyOther states, including California, have enacted bans on AI-enabled discrimination and laws that restrict the authority of automated systems in hiring and benefits decisions. The federal government has clarified that existing employee discrimination law also covers the use of AI systems. Still, AI remains an elusive element in modern workplace management.
What does the new law do?Under SB 947, California employers can't exclusively rely on Automated-Decision Systems (“ADS”), including AI, to determine a worker's continued employment or disciplinary status. The bill also limits the use of AI as a "principal tool" in such decision-making.
Any use of AI must be disclosed to the affected employee, including details on personal data given to the model to determine company action.
If an AI tool is a "primary" element of a termination decision, the law mandates that an employer provide a human reviewer who can go over the decision with an employee. The reviewer must provide additional corroborating information, such as evaluations, disciplinary records, and witness testimony.
Newsom vetoed a previous version of the bill in 2025, citing concerns that its notification terms were too broad. The initial text of the bill included mandatory advance notice, which was later struck, alongside language that would have included gig workers. Gig workers are excluded from the new law.
How will the new law affect employers?All employers in California, no matter their size, are subject to the law.
Employers cannot continue using ADS in ways that may violate state employment law or an employee's protected status, or move forward with an ADS decision that can't be corroborated by a human.
An ADS is defined by the state as "any computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence that issues simplified output, including a score, classification, or recommendation, that is used to assist or replace human discretionary decision-making and materially impacts natural persons."
If the California Labor Commissioner’s Office finds that a company has violated the law or retaliated against an employee exercising their rights under the law, the employer could face civil penalties.
The bill takes effect July 1, 2027.
The iOS 27.2 update is coming soon, and Apple just dropped a new beta for it. As a bonus, there's a beta for the macOS equivalent, too.
The second public betas for iOS 27.2 and macOS 27.2 dropped this week, giving the general populace a chance to test out new features before they arrive for real. As a reminder, if you want to try out the betas yourself, just register for free on the Apple beta website and then install the beta on your iPhone or Mac the same way you would install any other software update.
Without further ado, here's what you can expect from each beta.
SEE ALSO: Apple reportedly teaming with LG for smart home devices, including a doorbell iOS 27.2 public beta 2: What's newThe main attraction for iOS 27.2 is the revamped Health app, which Apple has been teasing for months. It's now divided into three main tabs: Insights, Longevity, and Browse. Insights is a one-stop shop for all your most pertinent recent health metrics, Longevity tracks all of that stuff over longer periods of time, and Browse presumably is how you find anything else you need to find within the Health app.
Other bits and bobs in iOS 27.2 include individual profiles in the Apple TV app, new theme options for CarPlay, and visual tweaks to Clock and Music. Overall, it's not a huge update.
macOS 27.2 public beta 2: What's newIf you think iOS 27.2 sounds modest, it's practically explosive compared to macOS 27.2.
Basically, the main thing to look forward to right now is the addition of five new languages for Siri AI. Those would be Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, and French. I don't want to downplay the importance of adding five extremely widely spoken global languages to the new Siri experience, of course. It's just not headliner material.
As always, make sure you create device backups before installing beta software. Better safe than sorry.
One of my biggest flexes is that I own several Yeti products: a Roadie cooler, and a Rambler bottle, can cooler, and mugs. While most of these were gifts, I rave about them any chance I get. But convincing people to actually splurge on Yeti products is tough. While the quality and IT factor are undeniable, the prices are just a bit too steep for most folks. That's where major shopping events like Prime Day come in.
One of the only times we see Yeti coolers, drinkware, and other products go on sale is during Amazon Prime Day events and lucky for you, we're still smack dab in the middle of one. Prime Big Deal Days, aka October Prime Day is still live through the end of the day on Oct. 7, giving you plenty of time to nab the Yeti products you want for less.
Below, we've gathered all the best Yeti deals we could find for October Prime Day.
Best cooler deal Opens in a new window Credit: Yeti Yeti Tundra 45 Hard Cooler $243.75 at AmazonThe Tundra hard cooler is Yeti's OG baby. It's legendary for its toughness and ice retention and comes in various sizes. One of the best deals we've seen for October Prime Day is the Tundra 45 for 25% off. It can fit 54 cans or 37 pounds of ice, or about 26 cans with a 2:1 ice-to-contents ratio, and keep everything cold for days. It's pretty heavy, even when it's empty, but its heftiness is what makes it virtually indestructible. Plus, it comes in a gorgeous ultramarine violet shade.
More Yeti cooler dealsYeti Daytrip Snackbox (3L) — $49.40 $65 (save $15.60)
Yeti Daytrip Tote (14L) — $110.20 $145 (save $34.80)
Yeti Roadie 24 2.0 — $190 $250 (save $60)
Yeti Hopper Flip 12 — $190 $250 (save $60)
Yeti Hopper Flip 18 — $225 $300 (save $75)
Yeti Hopper M Series Backpack Cooler — $243.75 $325 (save $81.25)
Yeti Roadie 48 Wheeled Cooler — $323 $425 (save $102)
Yeti drinkware deals are popping off for October Prime Day, but this 42-ounce Rambler Straw Mug is the best of the bunch at 40% off. Only select colors are on sale, including this vibrant firefly yellow. Like every Yeti cup, it's double-wall vacuum insulated to keep your drinks hot or cold. It's made with kitchen-grade stainless steel, so it's extremely durable and can go safely in the dishwasher. Plus, it fits in a car cupholder.
More Yeti cup and mug dealsYeti Rambler Travel Bottle (8-ounce) — $18.75 $25 (save $6.25)
Yeti Yonder Helimix Shaker Bottle — $19 $25 (save $6)
Yeti Rambler Tumbler (10-ounce) — $19 $25 (save $6)
Yeti Rambler Stackable Tumbler (16-ounce) — $19.97 $28 (save $8.03)
Yeti Rambler Travel Bottle (12-ounce) — $21 $28 (save $7)
Yeti Rambler Stackable Cups, 2-pack (4-ounce) — $22.80 $30 (save $7.20)
Yeti Rambler Wine Tumbler (10-ounce) — $22.80 $30 (save $7.20)
Yeti Rambler Travel Bottle (16-ounce) — $24 $32 (save $8)
Yeti Rambler Straw Mug 2.0 (35-ounce) — $27.93 $42 (save $14.07)
Yeti Rambler Bottle (26-ounce) — $30 $40 (save $10)
Yeti Silo Half Gallon Water Jug — $45.60 $60 (save $14.40)
Yeti Rambler Food Jar (8-ounce) — $26.25 $35 (save $8.75)
Yeti Flask and Funnel (7-ounce) — $41.25 $55 (save $13.75)
Yeti Rambler Wine Chiller — $56.25 $75 (save $18.75)
Yeti Rambler Pitcher (64-ounce) — $76 $100 (save $24)
Yeti Lowlands Blanket — $152 $200 (save $48)
Yeti Ranchero Backpack — $220 $275 (save $55)
Time is running out for Prime members to shop Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale. Sign up for a Prime 30-day free trial if you want to save some cash, and follow Mashable’s guide to the best October Prime Day deals and live blog for the latest updates.
OpenAI won't let mathematicians rest.
On Oct. 6, the company released a slew of new mathematical results in the form of a massive GitHub repository — an info dump that will take hundreds of human hours to sift through. The company's internal frontier model provided solutions to more than 300 problems, but the company also implied they expect experts to take issue with them, debuting new processes for paper revisions and citations.
"For future releases, we are committed to further improving the quality of the papers via the citations, mathematical exposition, and presentation of the results for better understanding," wrote OpenAI.
SEE ALSO: Report: OpenAI should pause ChatGPT for Teens over safetyLast month, the developer made an industry-rattling declaration that 10,000 AI agents had worked together to solve the Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness problem, a narrower portion of the unsolved Navier-Stokes equation that's part of the Millennium Prize Problems set. The robot mathematicians' "breakthrough" could have nabbed OpenAI a $1 million prize, but the company declined.
And possibly for good reason, academics later called out the company for solving a subset of the problem, not the whole thing, using a mathematical loophole — an approach that some labeled "unnatural."
OpenAI's pursuit of mathematical greatness isn't so easily deterred.
Following OpenAI's announcement, the Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence at the Institute for Advanced Study said it did not endorse AI developers using proprietary models to test solutions without the scientific community's involvement. The developer announced a new advisory group to provide recommendations on future releases. But it appears OpenAI used the same unreleased model to solve the latest trove of equations.
Unlike its previous theoretical entries, however, OpenAI alleges the latest problems were solved with just a single prompt fed to a single AI agent, the developer told Scientific American. The claim is already being questioned by experts, who are still awaiting access to the reportedly mathematically advanced model.
Shopping for a new Windows laptop? Microsoft Surface Laptop Prime Day deals are quite excellent today.
Thank goodness for that. Most PC brands have jacked up their prices this year amid the ongoing memory crisis, and Microsoft is no exception. This spring, it raised the prices of last year's flagship Surface Laptop 7th Edition by up to $500, and the new Surface Laptop 8th Edition it announced in June retained those markups (give or take $50 to $100, depending on the model).
SEE ALSO: October Prime Day is live, but not for long: See the 101 best deals, with 53% discounts on TVs, headphones, and moreDuring Prime Big Deal Days, the "October Prime Day" sale that Amazon is running through midnight PT tonight, select Surface Laptops are on sale for as much as $750 off — not just on Amazon, but at competing retailers, too. Shoppers can save up to 36% on over a dozen configurations of the super-sleek Windows PC right now, with prices starting as low as $1,100. I should also mention that the Prime Day MacBook deals we're seeing pale in comparison; Apple's laptops are only up to 15% off today.
I've rounded up the top Microsoft Surface Laptop Prime Day deals below. Note: There are no live deals on the new compact Surface Laptop 13-inch (2nd Edition) that Microsoft launched in September, but I'll update this story if that changes.
The very best Microsoft Surface Laptop Prime Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $1,349 at AmazonFor the most savings on a Microsoft PC, opt for this black 16GB/1TB variant of 2024's 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7th Edition. Former Mashable tech editor Kimberly Gedeon gave it a near-perfect 4.8/5 rating for its premium all-aluminum design, 23-hour battery life, and peppy performance. (Like this on-sale model, her review unit ran on the last-gen Snapdragon X Elite chip.) It "oozes sophistication and polished refinement," she wrote in her review, calling out its "mint" build quality. It has a haptic touchpad like the MacBook Air, but a smoother display with added touch functionality.
According to the Amazon price-tracking site camelcamelcamel, $1,349 is its lowest price since mid-May. It originally cost $1,599.99 prior to its spring price hike, which is what you'll currently pay for a 2026 Surface Laptop 8th Edition with the same specs.
Deals on the newest Microsoft Surface LaptopThe 2026 Microsoft Surface Laptop 8th Edition has a sharper display and runs on faster Snapdragon X2 chips. The 13.8-inch size comes in platinum, black, dune, and a new "jade" green color, while the 15-inch version is just available in platinum and black. They offer up to 20 hours of battery life.
The 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 8th Edition stuns in jade. Credit: Microsoft 13.8-inch modelMicrosoft Surface Laptop 8, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,599.99 (save $500)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,279.99 $1,699.99 (save $420)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,599.99 $1,999.99 (save $400)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,799.99 $2,249.99 (save $450)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,099.99 $2,649.99 (save $550)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,749.99 $3,499.99 (save $750)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 15-inch (Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,377.91 $1,699.99 (save $321.09)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 15-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,499.99 $1,799.99 (save $300)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 15-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,749.99 $2,199.99 (save $450)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 15-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,949.99 $2,249.99 (save $300)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 15-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,449.99 $2,849.99 (save $400)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, 15-inch (Snapdragon X2 Elite, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $3,149.99 $2,649.99 (save $500)
Dressmaker players are posting their gorgeous dress designs on social media, with the viral sewing game inspiring thousands to create and share stunning gowns.
Developed by Cozy Lives, Dressmaker is an indie game that has players design and sew custom gowns for a variety of different clients with varying needs. Players must listen to customers' requests, then take their measurements, sketch a design, select materials, cut the cloth, and sew it all together on a mannequin.
Players already seem to find fulfilling these customer orders engaging. However, Dressmaker also allows you to sew dresses to be sold off the rack. It's primarily here that players have taken the opportunity to get creative, designing dazzling fantasy gowns, experimenting with materials, and even recreating famous pieces such as Lirika Matoshi's Strawberry Midi Dress that went viral in 2020.
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.Dressmaker began as a personal project by South African developer Jonathan Hau-Yoon and his partner Sabrina Becker, a real-life dressmaker and artist. Becker had been forced to shelve aspirations of working in costume design after she was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that impacts her ability to sew. Instead, she applied her years of fashion expertise to the development of Dressmaker.
Hau-Yoon made an early Dressmaker prototype and posted clips to social media in 2025, gaining over 300,000 views on his first TikTok video alone. He then took the project to his employer, indie game studio Free Lives, and spent three weeks building upon it with fellow developers Ruan Rothman and Sara Laubscher. This more refined Dressmaker prototype was launched on indie game distribution platform itch.io, where it gained enough interest for Free Lives to greenlight a full game from the team now dubbed Cozy Lives.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.Launched on Sept. 21, Dressmaker has already accumulated over 7,600 player reviews on Steam, with the consensus being Overwhelmingly Positive — an incredible outcome for an indie game. Even people who don't typically see themselves playing games in Dressmaker's genre have found themselves enchanted by it, spending hours applying lace and buttons to their creations.
"I'm a middle-aged straight guy with a blue-collar job. This isn't my kind of thing. I wear t-shirts and khakis. I'm not interested in fashion," wrote Steam user dreamshade, noting that he typically prefers roguelike or exploration games. "I did not expect that I would play for three hours and suddenly worry about how much sleep I'm going to lose to this game."
"Yes, I bought this for my gf. Yes, I did test it out for her. Yes, that test did go on for four hours. Please make a DLC for suits," said Steam user GeminiGrayWolf32.
"I am a straight white man and this [is] my game of the year so far," TheMrJellybean wrote in his Steam review. "Absolutely incredible."
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. Viral 'Dressmaker' designs showcase opulent outfitsOne player who has gained significant attention for her viral Dressmaker designs is X user @vampikoi, who has created stunning, intricately beaded gowns right out of a fantasy princess' most fanciful daydream. Aside from the significant time investment, the materials for such dresses cost a pretty in-game penny, so @vampikoi uses a mod that gives her infinite funds for her projects. (Dressmaker already has over 240 mods on Nexus Mods, with @vampikoi herself also creating a Halloween-themed mod planned for release this weekend.)
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.Other creators such as @Eviarnilla have been inspired by classical art, recreating works such as Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" and Katsushika Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" on their dresses. Meanwhile, @CrowsNestHead has gotten incredibly creative with Dressmaker's materials, using them to design viral sculptural dresses that emulate the look of fur and armour.
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. 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.Unfortunately, it isn't possible to accurately recreate all players' creations in real life. As Dressmaker is designed for creativity and fun rather than perfect accuracy, fabrics in the game don't behave how they would in real life. Even so, this indie game is no doubt already inspiring future dressmakers and fashion industry workers across the globe.
"I had always just thought of clothes as fabric to be bought in a store and that didn't fit quite right," Hau-Yoon wrote the day after launching Dressmaker. "Sabrina taught me that clothes are so much more than that: that clothes tell us about economic activity, technology, culture, social status, politics, stories. That they are incredible feats of engineering and construction, full of creativity, when you get into the craft."
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.When it came to Ted Lasso's fourth season, I wanted nothing more than to take a page out of Ted's (Jason Sudeikis) book and "believe."
I wanted to believe that after three years off the air, Ted Lasso had taken an opportunity to reset itself. I wanted to believe that it would fix the issues that plagued its frustrating third season, like bloated episodes and the unfortunate habit of pushing key scenes off camera. Most of all, I wanted to believe that the season's concentration on women's sports would give it a renewed sense of purpose.
SEE ALSO: 'Ted Lasso' Season 4 review: Women's soccer is just what this show needsIn the end, Season 4 rewarded my belief — and the belief of all other Ted Lasso fans — with a mixed bag. The episodes are still too long, and several story choices are downright bizarre, but at least the Lady Greyhounds and assistant manager Alice (Tanya Reynolds) jolted some new life into the season. If only the show had spent as much time on them as they did on dragging out Roy (Brett Goldstein) and Keeley's (Juno Temple) inevitable romance.
That brings us to Season 4's sweet finale, "Being Alive," which is a massive step up from last week's season-low, "Mae Rides The Bus." In many ways, "Being Alive" is a showcase of Season 4's wasted potential. Several Lady Greyhounds get moments that flesh them out further. Siobhan (Rex Hayes) and Niamh's (Aisling Sharkey) rendition of "The Parting Glass" is a touching tribute to Mae (Annette Badland), while Lizzie's (Faye Marsay) continued struggles with finding childcare emphasize the unfair expectations placed on her as a working mother.
Elsewhere, "Being Alive" remembers that Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is a boss, actually, and lets her be as confident and cool as she's ever been. (While still giving her the opportunity to crash out in hilarious fashion at Roy's news that he's heading to Chelsea.) The episode also sees Ted give his son, Henry (Gus Turner), a key heart-to-heart about grief and his own father's death by suicide. It's the kind of of open, reassuring chat that's mostly been missing this season, topped only by Alice and Ted's silent crying session in episode 8.
The finale is not without its low points — Zelda (Tracey Ullman), we'll get to you in a moment! — but overall, it does conjure up some hope at Ted Lasso's future. However, as Ted Lasso fans know all too well, it's the hope that kills you. So, what lessons can Ted Lasso learn from Season 4 to stop killing us and get back to being its best self?
Show, don't tell. Tracey Ullman in "Ted Lasso." Credit: Apple TV"Show, don't tell" is perhaps the most cited piece of storytelling advice, but it's one Ted Lasso seems to have forgotten about along the way. One of the most egregious examples came in Season 3, which had been building up to Nate's (Nick Mohammed) breaking free of Rupert (Anthony Head) and West Ham. When his big exit finally came, Ted Lasso didn't show an ounce of it. Instead, in one of the show's most baffling moves, we learned about Nate's departure from a news report.
Ted Lasso keeps up that worrying trend of failing to dramatize key moments in Season 4, especially when it comes to Zelda's (Tracey Ullman) nefarious plan to gain a controlling stake in Richmond. In the finale, she appears to do just that, and she gloats about it to Rebecca and Higgins' (Jeremy Swift) faces. After several minutes of over-the-top villainy, Rebecca and Higgins pull a reverse Uno: Zelda thought the Milk sisters had sold her shares to them, but in reality, they'd sold them back to Rebecca. Zelda's friend Hugo (Alex Blake) had informed Higgins and Rebecca of Zelda's dastardly plan.
SEE ALSO: 'Ted Lasso' just sank to a new lowWhile Ted Lasso does show Higgins taking a call from Hugo, it otherwise does nothing else to hint at Rebecca's growing suspicions or changed opinion of Zelda. When the big reveal finally comes, it lands with a resigned thud. Making matters worse? The fact that Rebecca forgives Zelda. Yes, it's the kind, Ted Lasso thing to do, but it also craters the stakes going into next season. Now, Zelda isn't a big mastermind villain. She's just a too-broad wild card who we know will try to undermine the club for her own gain. There will be no surprises, and apparently, no growth.
Side note: Mae's will plays a big part in the Zelda showdown, as she returns her 2 percent stake in Richmond to Rebecca, therefore giving her full control. But Mae would not have sold in the first place! She did not need to die for Zelda to be thwarted! The disrespect to Mae doesn't end there. She bequeaths the Crown & Anchor pub to fans Baz (Adam Colborne), Jeremy (Bronson Webb), and Paul (Kevin Garry). Sure, in the women's sports-focused season, let's kill off a woman and give her job to three men! What could go wrong?
Make us care about every relationship. Hannah Waddingham in "Ted Lasso." Credit: Apple TVIn its first few seasons, Ted Lasso built several enduring, beautiful friendships, many of which seemed to vanish this season. Ted and Rebecca are the cornerstone friendship of the show, yet aside from the premiere and the finale, they rarely shared a thoughtful conversation. Watching the two finally get a moment to themselves in the finale felt like seeing an old friend after years apart. Where had they been the whole time?
Several other relationships suffered this season. As soon as Roy and Keeley got back together, the show rushed them straight into pregnancy, without letting viewers settle into their first few weeks back together as a couple. Ted's connection with Henry also faded to the background this season, only to come roaring back — and wonderfully so! — in the finale.
SEE ALSO: 'Ted Lasso' finally starts to do right by the Lady GreyhoundsBut the worst offender here is the romance between Rebecca and Dutch pilot Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn). In its first episodes, Season 4 offered the pair nothing but conflict. Between their differing schedules and a fight about Matthijs possibly moving to London, the pair did not seem destined to be together much longer. Yet Ted Lasso hand-waved their New Year's reconciliation and seemingly forgot about them until the finale, when Rebecca proposes marriage, and Matthijs agrees. First off, Rebecca's sudden desire for marriage jumps out of nowhere, like a flying soccer ball to the face. Second off, Ted Lasso has simply not put in the work to make us care about this engagement. I have nothing against Matthijs: I like his bluntness and his willingness to call out Coach Beard's (Brendan Hunt) strange midlife crisis in the finale. But I don't know if I like him and Rebecca together, because Ted Lasso doesn't showcase them enough. All the best wishes to the engaged couple. I just wish I knew them better.
The lack of care put into these relationships is a symptom of Season 4's biggest problem, which is the show spreading itself too thin. In combining much of its original cast with a full new team, Ted Lasso created a massive web of connections that it simply couldn't sustain. (Not without feature-length episodes, and let's not give them any ideas there.)
Keep the focus on the Lady Greyhounds. Abbie Hern, Brendan Hunt, Jason Sudeikis, Tanya Reynolds, and Jude Mack in "Ted Lasso." Credit: Apple TVThis is a lesson that Ted Lasso has steadily been learning towards the end of the season, but as the show heads into a potential Season 5, it bears repeating — especially since the Season 4 finale features cameos from the men's team, as well as former Richmond team members like Sam (Toheeb Jimoh) and Coach Nate.
Like Jamie Tartt's (Phil Dunster) cameo earlier in the season, the return of these characters feels like the warmest of bear hugs. It's a joy to watch Isaac (Kola Bokinni) gear up to give Beard one of his patented haircuts, just as it's a joy to watch the Diamond Dogs mount back up — now with Alice joining as "the Cat People."
But these cameos stirred up two main concerns. One, that this was Ted Lasso's way of bringing the men's team back into the fold. If the show was overcrowded before, meshing the teams would be downright catastrophic. Plus, it would undermine the focus on the women's team, which has been starving for more screen time as is.
More pressingly, though, I realized that the Lady Greyhounds have no traditions or culture that match what Ted Lasso built for the Greyhounds in its early episodes. Alice's addition to the Diamond Dogs is delightful, but it's also an amendment to a pre-established dynamic. The same goes for the encouraging Post-it notes appended to the "Believe" sign. They're lovely, but they're just adding to a staple of the men's team. It's going to take more than that to create a distinct team culture.
Thankfully, Ted Lasso's Season 4 finale ends with a clear focus on the women's team heading into the future. Alice takes the reins as manager, and of course, she's got a massive binder full of plans to help the team dominate. Meanwhile, Ted becomes assistant manager — a mirror to his job at the grocery store at the very start of the season — and appears excited to let Alice take things from there. With Alice at the head, the future looks bright for the Lady Greyhounds. The same goes for Ted Lasso, as long as it can learn from its mistakes.
Ted Lasso Season 4 is now streaming on Apple TV. The season finale airs Oct. 7.
If a new vacuum is on your shopping list, we've spotted several standout Shark vacuums in the October Prime Day sale. Officially called Prime Big Deal Days, the 48-hour Amazon sale is now in its second and final day. That means you only have until the end of the day to score a sweet discount.
We've covered a lot of deals so far, but the Shark vacuum deals are particularly good. Some of them are also selling out, as the popular Shark Pet stick vac is currently sold out at Amazon (don't worry, we found it in stock somewhere else).
Known for its performance and value, Shark offers high-end features similar to Dyson at a much more affordable price point. And during major shopping events like Amazon's October Prime Day sale, you can often find Shark vacuums at incredible deals. We hand-picked a few we think are worth shouting about this time around, including the best-selling Shark Pet stick vacuum and the popular AI Ultra robot vacuum.
Best Shark vacuum October Prime Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum $149.99 at Shark NinjaThe Shark Pet is a steady Prime Day standout year after year, and October Prime Day 2026 is no different. One of Mashable's former reporters said this stick vacuum is the best he's ever owned, labeling it "life-changing." It's designed to swallow up pet hair, as the name suggests, and it succeeds at its job. It's also lightweight, converts to a hand vacuum when necessary, and is half off. That's a hard deal to beat, so it's no surprise it's already sold out at Amazon. Fortunately, you can still scoop the deal up at the Shark Ninja website.
And if you don't want to stray from Amazon, you can still grab the 2026 Shark Pet vacuum on sale at Amazon for $179.99, which isn't bad either.
Best Shark stick vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark PowerDetect Pet Plus $379.99 at AmazonThe Shark PowerDetect Pet Plus is another option with the Mashable stamp of approval. Shopping reporter Lauren Allain says she owns the older model of this stick vacuum and adores it. Her only complaint is that it might be too powerful. As the name suggests, it automatically boosts power when dirt and debris are detected. So if major suction power is what you're after, look no further. The PowerDetect Pet Plus will cost you a bit more than the basic Shark Pet, but it's still a helluva deal at $379.99 (its lowest price on record).
Best Shark robot vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum $249.99According to Amazon price-tracker CamelCamelCamel, the Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum has only dropped to $249.99 once before. So this 58% discount is pretty dang good. If you'd rather your vacuuming be hands-off, the AI Ultra offers powerful suction and Matrix Clean Navigation to get the job done. The bagless base can hold up to 60 days of dirt and debris, so you'll only have to do the dirty work every couple of months. This vacuum comes personally recommended by one of our contributors, and it has Shark's excellent Matrix spot cleaning feature.
More Shark vacuum October Prime Day deals worth checking outShark Navigator Lift-Away Upright Vacuum — $139.99 $199.99 (save $60)
Shark Rocket Pet Plus Corded Stick Vacuum — $139.99 $199.99 (save $60)
Shark PowerPro Reveal Plus Cordless Stick Vacuum — $189.99 $329.99 (save $140)
Shark PowerDetect Robot Vacuum & Mop Combo — $399.99 $549.99 (save $150)
Time is running out for Prime members to shop Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale. Sign up for a Prime 30-day free trial if you want to save some cash, and follow Mashable’s guide to the best October Prime Day deals and live blog for the latest updates.
It appears Apple is looking to make a push to be on your front door.
The tech giant is reportedly working with LG on a lineup of smart home devices, including a smart lock, a thermostat, and a video doorbell, according to Bloomberg. The companies are also reportedly developing security cameras and a floodlight. Both companies are reportedly developing the devices, but they will carry LG's name rather than Apple's.
Bloomberg reports that they're designed to work with Apple's upcoming smart home hub and could be announced next week, though they may not go on sale right away.
SEE ALSO: I tried the best smart rings of 2026 — the Oura Ring 5 is the best you can buyIf the report holds up, the lineup would put Apple and LG in direct competition with Amazon, whose smart home business includes Ring doorbells and security cameras.
The LG devices would connect to a smart display Apple is expected to unveil on Oct. 13. As Mashable previously reported, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the display will act as a smart home hub and showcase Apple's new AI-powered Siri. Gurman reported that it will be able to recognize individual household members and tailor answers to each person. According to TechCrunch, the hub is expected to have a 6-inch square screen that can sit on a counter or be mounted on a wall.
Apple hasn't announced an official name. The Apple Post has called the device the "HomePad," while Gurman has used Apple's internal code name, J490.
The display is expected to be one of several products in what could be Apple's first big launch since John Ternus became CEO. Gurman reported that Apple is also preparing a new HomePod Mini and a new Apple TV streaming device.
Apple hasn't updated the HomePod line since the second-generation HomePod in January 2023, and the last Apple TV hardware came out in 2022.
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Microsoft is all set to announce a Surface laptop powered by the powerful new Nvidia RTX Spark chip on Wednesday afternoon, but HP may have jumped the gun by revealing the price of its own RTX Spark laptops ahead of time.
According to NotebookCheck, HP posted product listings on its online storefront ahead of the Microsoft event, which is set to start at 1 p.m. ET. These laptops use the RTX Spark chip, making them extra beefy for power users. Per HP's store listings (which have since been removed), the OmniBook X 14 starts at $2,999, and the Omnibook Ultra 16 starts at $3,199.
SEE ALSO: Microsoft is ending support for Internet Explorer mode in EdgeThose are obviously huge price tags, but they make a tiny bit more sense when you see that the machines include the RTX Spark chip, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage.
Still, NotebookCheck noted that the Ultra 16 can go as high as $4,999 with the most powerful variant. That's an astronomical price for a laptop, no matter how powerful it is. We'll see if the Microsoft Surface laptop with the RTX Spark chip, likely to be announced on Wednesday afternoon, is even close to these in price.
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