Technology

Early Amazon Prime Day laptop deals are already live ahead of the retailer’s massive two-day fall sale. Right now, you can save on everything from super cheap Chromebooks to high-end Windows Ultrabooks with excellent price cuts across a wide range of machines. Put simply, it’s a great time to be shopping for a brand-new laptop.

While Amazon Prime Day officially takes place on October 8th and 9th, several retailers have already started ramping up their laptop deals in anticipation. You may be surprised to find that today’s best laptop deals aren’t actually at Amazon but at other retailers like Best Buy, Dell, and Walmart. This is somewhat anticipated since Amazon usually saves its best deals for the two-day event exclusively.

In any case, today’s laptop deals ahead of Prime Day are likely to be just as good as those featured on Amazon. Even better still, you don’t need to sign up for a free 30-day trial or be an Amazon Prime member to shop the deals featured in this roundup.

Today’s best early Amazon Prime Day laptop deals

More early Prime Day deals

Meta’s impressive demo of its Orion AR glasses has got us interested in augmented reality specs again, and a small tidbit of rumored information has come our way that suggests Apple could have its own device in this category by 2026 – with microLED tech included.

This comes from tipster @Jukanlosreve (via Wccftech), who has a decent record for leaks (though that was under a different username). The source says Apple “has not given up” on microLED tech, which it’s been exploring for several years now.

The tech combines the brightness of microLED with the deep blacks of OLED, making it superior to both existing display technologies. It’s also very difficult and expensive to manufacture, which is why we haven’t seen it on smaller gadgets to date.

As our feature on microLED TVs will tell you, this is an innovation that has shown potential for years – but again the problem is in getting the prices down to a point where people are actually going to be available to afford these devices.

Specs appeal

The Apple Watch Ultra should also get a microLED display, according to this tipster. Somewhat surprisingly, we didn’t get an Apple Watch Ultra 3 this year, so we’re not sure what number Apple might be up to in a couple of years.

When it comes to the Apple Glasses, we’ve had several waves of rumors around these AR specs in recent years. The previous estimate for a launch window was 2027 – so it’s possible that Apple has accelerated development on this new device.

Last year there was word that Apple’s AR glasses had been delayed indefinitely, with focus switching to a cheaper VR headset. It’s possible that Meta’s success with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have shifted Apple’s thinking in this respect.

There’s also the Apple Vision Pro of course: the mixed reality headset is very powerful and very expensive, and hasn’t sold in huge numbers, and perhaps Apple wants to get something smaller and more affordable out of the door next.

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OpenAI is now one of the wealthiest private companies on Earth after successfully raising $6.6 billion in its latest funding round on a valuation of $157 billion.

“Every week, over 250 million people around the world use ChatGPT to enhance their work, creativity, and learning,” the company wrote in its announcement post. “The new funding will allow us to double down on our leadership in frontier AI research, increase compute capacity, and continue building tools that help people solve hard problems.”

Existing backers such as Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, and Microsoft were joined by newcomers SoftBank and Nvidia. Apple, which had previously been in talks to invest, backed out earlier this week.

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The funding news comes as OpenAI considers restructuring its core business from a nonprofit to a for-profit model in an effort to make itself more attractive to investors. “We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone, and we’re working with our board to ensure that we’re best positioned to succeed in our mission. The nonprofit is core to our mission and will continue to exist,” an OpenAI spokesperson told Reuters at the time.

The investment round also comes as OpenAI struggles to retain top talent. Since last November, when OpenAI’s nonprofit board of directors unsuccessfully attempted to oust CEO Sam Altman from the company, a steady stream of researchers, founders and C-suite executives have resigned. Researchers Jan Leike and Ilya Sutskever both left in May, in protest of the company’s disregard of safety guidelines in favor of hawking “shiny products.” Chief technology officer Mira Murati tendered her resignation in late September, with research officer Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, senior research executive, quickly following suit.

According to a report from Reuters, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told employees that the company will offer to buy back their shares in the company at the new valuation. Some employees were allowed to cash out their shares earlier this year at OpenAI’s previous valuation of $86 billion. As part of the proposed restructuring plan, Altman could receive as much as $150 billion in equity, making him one of the richest people on the planet.

AI-embracing musicians and audiovisual artists Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst have a new exhibition where you can see and hear their “GPU organ” in action. Herndon explains that the new-fangled pipe organ “plays music acoustically by controlling the RPM of each fan.”

In the embedded Tweet, above, you can listen to a sample of the GPU organ playing. Images show an ornately designed pipe organ with a wall of fans that control the airflow and thus audio output of the instrument. The hardware isn’t explained in any proper detail, but we don’t see any GPUs. Rather, we think that the GPU organ is just a catchy name for a PWM fan-powered pipe organ.

Some GPUs may well have been used in this art project though, as the music you hear is based on AI modeling techniques. The Serpentine site explains that “To train the AI, Herndon and Dryhurst have composed a songbook of hymnals, singing exercises, and a recording protocol, traveling with the Serpentine Arts Technologies team to record fifteen community choirs across the UK.” The spatial audio installation (i.e. the GPU organ) uses these trained models to create the audioscape you hear.

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In some further informative Tweets, Herndon discusses the training, and says that the music is generated from a diffusion model, creating new songs based on the training data and “can generate infinite scores.” For some exhibition user interactivity, Herndon says there is “a new polyphonic call and response model, developed with @Ircam, that allows you to sing to the model and receive a response back.” There is also a video demo of this in the Tweet thread if you wish to witness some haunting-sounding AI choir call-and-response audio action.

If your interest in the GPU organ has been piqued, and you are visiting London, you can go and experience The Call at the Serpentine Galleries in Kensington. The exhibit is open to the public until February 2025. Let us know if you see any GPUs.

iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4, and macOS Monterey 12.3 are releasing next week, Apple confirmed alongside unveiling its new devices including the iPhone SE (2022), Mac Studio, Studio Display, and the green shades of the iPhone 13 series. One of the most useful changes that iOS 15.4 will bring to users is the ability to unlock an iPhone using Face ID while wearing a mask. The new iPadOS and macOS versions, on the other hand, will come with Universal Control to let users work seamlessly between an iPad and Mac.

Apple said in its announcement that the iPhone 13 Pro in Alpine Green and iPhone 13 in Green would ship with iOS 15.4. The new iOS version will also be available for existing iPhone users starting next week, the company said.

The iOS 15.4 update will come with the new way to unlock your device with Face ID while wearing a mask. The feature has been in testing since late January. It is also one of the most requested features as people have been facing difficulties in unlocking their devices when wearing a face mask.

Apple did try to address the concern by bringing a faster way to unlock Face ID-equipped devices using passcodes when wearing face masks. It also last year enabled the option to unlock Face ID using an Apple Watch.

However, enabling the facial recognition technology to work with face masks is something that users have anticipated since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

The iOS 15.4 update will also bring an anti-stalking warning for AirTag, which was a part of the updates that Apple announced last month. It was spotted in the fourth beta release of iOS 15.4 a few weeks back.

Apple also confirmed that iOS 15.4 will include a new Siri voice option, expanded language support for Visual Lookup, and a list of emojis.

In addition to iOS 15.4, Apple is bringing iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 next week. The new software releases will come with Universal Control that will allow users to control iPad and Mac simultaneously using a single keyboard and mouse.

Universal Control was announced at WWDC 2021 in June. It was also expected to be a part of the original macOS Monterey release in October. However, Apple delayed that addition.

The Universal Control feature will initially be available as a public beta. The feature uses Apple’s Continuity to establish a connection between the iPad and Mac. Both devices also need to use a single Apple ID and should be within a few metres of each other.

Exact release date of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4, and macOS Monterey 12.3 is yet to be revealed.

Apple seems to be getting ready to introduce a new model in its MacBook Pro lineup. A Twitter user has spotted a laptop, believed to be the new MacBook Pro, listed on the Industry Canada Radio Equipment List (REL) database. The device was reportedly approved on the REL database on January 11 and will likely support Wi-Fi 6E/ 6GHz connectivity. Additionally, the Cupertino, California-based company could be coming out with a product announcement today. A tipster, without diving into any details, alerted his followers on Twitter to keep an eye out for an Apple announcement on Tuesday.

According to Twitter user Wade Penner (@wadepenner), the new MacBook Pro has surfaced on the Canadian REL database bearing model number A2779. Penner tweeted that the device will likely feature the new M2 Max or M2 Pro chips and will support Wi-Fi 6E/ 6GHz connectivity.

While the listing suggests that Apple might be gearing up for its first product announcement of 2023, a tipster has hinted that it might be coming today. According to tipster Jon Prosser’s FrontPageTech.com (Twitter: @frontpagetech), Apple could make a significant announcement on Tuesday. A MacRumors report corroborates the claim, saying that an announcement from the tech giant could come this week.

According to the report, Apple could announce a new MacBook Pro or Mac mini models. The MacBook Pro refresh is expected to sport a similar design as its predecessors, but will reportedly come with updated M2 Max and M2 Pro chips. There is no official word from Apple on plans for an upcoming release.

Apple launched its newest line of MacBook Pro laptops last year with the M2 chip onboard the 13-inch model. The lineup also includes 14-inch and 16-inch models, which are powered by the Apple M1 Pro chip or the M1 Max chip.

While this year’s MacBook lineup will likely feature a chip upgrade, future Macs could be getting another major upgrade. A recent report reveals that the company could introduce touchscreen support on its Mac computers and launch its first touchscreen MacBook Pro with an OLED display in 2025.

Honor 200 5G series will be launched in India in the coming days. Confirming the upcoming debut of the handsets, Honor has detailed some specifications of the phones via a press invite on Friday. They will run on Honor’s MagicOS 8.0 skin, which is based on Android 14. It will be offered in two colour options in the country. The Honor 200 series was previously launched in China and Europe. The global variant of Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro are equipped with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipsets, respectively.

Honor 200 5G series India launch date

Honor 200 5G and Honor 200 Pro 5G India launch date has been set for July 18, and the launch event will kick off at 12:30pm IST. The Pro model is confirmed to be offered in Black and Ocean Cyan shades, while the vanilla Honor 200 will be released in Black and Moonlight White colours. The handsets will be available for purchase on Amazon, Honor India website and leading mainline stores.

Both models will run on MagicOS 8.0 based on Android 14 in India. The Honor Pro 5G is confirmed to boast a 6.78-inch quad-curved screen.

While Honor hasn’t detailed specification sheets for the Indian versions of Honor 200 5G series, we can expect them to offer similar features to their European counterparts.

Honor 200 series specifications, price (Expected)

The European variants of Honor 200 family feature full-HD+ (1,224 x2,700 pixels) screens. The Pro model has a 6.78-inch display and runs on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset. The vanilla model boasts a 6.7-inch display and is powered by a Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip. They flaunt triple rear camera units comprising a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle macro camera. On the font, they feature 50-megapixel selfie cameras. They carry 5,200mAh battery units with 100W wired fast charging support. The Pro model supports 66W wireless fast charging.

The Honor 200 is priced at GBP 499.99 (roughly Rs. 53,500) in the UK, while the Honor 200 Pro is priced at GBP 699.99 (roughly Rs. 74,800). Price in India is expected to be similar to that of the European pricing.

The stock has slipped nearly 32 percent this year alone as SanDisk reported a string of issues, including unplanned maintenance at its chip foundry, weak sales of enterprise products and lean inventory levels of NAND memory chips.

The stock’s sell off has left SanDisk with a market value of about $13 billion (roughly Rs. 80,995 crores) as of Thursday’s close, making the company “an excellent takeover target” and attractive to memory chipmakers including Micron Technology Inc and SK Hynix Inc, Bernstein analysts said in a research note.

These analysts say SanDisk is best positioned in the “enterprise NAND” market for applications such as cloud computing, datacentres and networking systems.

Shares of SanDisk, whose flash memory storage chips are also used in smartphones and other mobile devices, rose as much as 5 percent to $67.78 on Monday.

SanDisk was not immediately available for comment.

Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Mehdi Hosseini said Western Digital Corp could be a buyer, adding that if the maker of solid-state drives were to pay about $86 per share, or about $19 billion (roughly Rs. 1,18,377 crores), for SanDisk, the deal would add to its profit by the second year.

However, Needham & Co’s Richard Kugele said Western Digital would find it “extremely expensive” to buy SanDisk, which would appeal more to NAND producers looking to consolidate market share.

That could bring Samsung Electronics Co Ltd or Toshiba Corp, with whom SanDisk has a joint venture to make NAND products, into the picture, RBC Capital Markets analyst Douglas Freedman said.

Samsung, which has been boosting its chipmaking business to help offset declining sales of smartphones, had made an unsuccessful hostile bid, worth $5.85 billion, for SanDisk in 2008.

The joint venture with Toshiba could make it difficult for SanDisk to sell itself to a competitor of the Japanese conglomerate, Wedbush Securities analyst Betsy Van Hees said.

© Thomson Reuters 2015

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