Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max offer internal refinements rather than dramatic external changes, featuring the new A20 Pro chip, improved cooling, and a smaller Dynamic Island, though the company's first foldable iPhone Duo may be more intriguing to consumers seeking novelty.
T-Mobile offers an iPhone 18 Pro for free with any trade-in condition or up to $1,200 off the iPhone 18 Pro Max for new customers who activate a line. The devices feature Apple's new variable aperture Fusion camera, A20 Pro processor, and Siri AI, available in multiple colors including new glacier blue and burgundy options.
Column built an issuer processor from scratch, offering a single integrated platform combining banking, card processing, and capital for credit, debit, prepaid, and stablecoin-backed card programs on Visa and Mastercard. The platform enables card program launch in weeks through three API calls, with full control over authorizations, customization, and real-time transaction decisions.
First Geekbench 7 benchmarks for Apple's M6 Mac mini show significant performance gains, with a 12-core chip running at 4.78GHz delivering 24% single-core and 48% multi-core improvements over the M4 model. The M6 achieves scores of 4,071 single-core and 22,783 multi-core, representing substantial jumps from earlier generations like the M1 and M2.
The Meta Quest 3 contains a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor that rivals Oculus Rift's minimum specs (GTX 960), but direct GPU comparisons are difficult due to different architectures and performance metrics. Various analysts suggest equivalents ranging from GTX 750 Ti to GTX 1650, though the Quest 3's optimized software allows efficient game performance despite potentially lower raw processing power than comparable desktop GPUs.
A Geekbench 6.3 benchmark of Apple's M6 Mac mini shows single-core and multi-core performance gains of roughly 10% and 20% respectively over the M5, aligning with Apple's claims. Surprisingly, the M6 trails Apple's A20 Pro smartphone chip in single-core performance and clock speed despite better thermal conditions, possibly due to different core design choices between the M-series and A-series.
Dell has revived the XPS 13 as an affordable thin-and-light laptop designed to compete with Apple's MacBook Neo. The 2026 model features excellent build quality, a bright 120Hz touchscreen, and strong keyboard and trackpad, though the base 8GB RAM configuration feels risky for long-term Windows use and there's no headphone jack.
Samsung is preparing to launch the Galaxy S27 series in early 2027 with four models including the S27, S27 Plus, S27 Pro, and S27 Ultra, featuring major upgrades to display, processor, and battery. The S27 Ultra will introduce a new pill-shaped camera design, while Samsung will skip its Edge series lineup. The flagships will compete against Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and other premium smartphones.
Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max with the new A20 Pro chip, which shows 21-23% performance improvement over the previous generation in Geekbench 6.7 testing. The A20 Pro uses a more power-efficient 2nm process and reaches 4.93GHz CPU frequency, though preliminary results from prototype devices should be interpreted cautiously.
Samsung is offering a $300 discount on the Galaxy Z Fold 8, bringing the price down to $1,600, as Apple prepares to announce its first foldable iPhone expected to cost $2,000. The Z Fold 8 features a redesigned lighter body, large AMOLED display, Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, and dual-camera system, with additional discounts available through Amazon and for higher storage models.