If you’re looking to add a little touch of boardroom class to your work-from-home-spare-bedroom-office, look no further than the Journey ALTI LIFT desk mat. Practical and sleek, it’ll elevate your workspace (even if the laundry is drying in the corner).

Journey has a knack for slick-looking gadget accessories, from chargers to Apple ‘Find My’ tracked water bottles that are impossible to lose, which we checked out earlier this year. Its latest product, the ALTI LIFT desk mat, iterates on the earlier excellent ALTI by taking the previous model’s wireless charging dock and literally elevating it.

I’ve been using it non-stop for the past few weeks, and it’s become an essential part of my at home working setup. Here’s why you should consider adding it to yours, too.

Smart solutions

The Journey ALTI LIFT desk mat comes in two parts — a reversible desk mat, and a snap-on magnetic charging station.

That mat part takes up the bulk of the desk real-estate needed for the ALTI LIFT. Essentially a giant mouse mat measuring 73cm x 37cm, it’s finished with PU leather on one side, and felt on the other, letting you take your pick between which surface you want to glide your mouse across.

I’ve found that I use the felt surface during the work day, and then flip it over to the smooth leather-like side when playing games in the evening. Each is joined at one end, but separated across the rest of the surface area, letting you lift them up like a flap to store away notes and papers.

The mat part finishes on one end with a magnetic edge, which connects to the star of the show, the charging station. It snaps onto the side of the mat, and offers two charging spots — one flat for charging items like AirPods, and the other section a fold-away, spinning, pivoting and tilting fast-charging arm for both powering your smartphone and angling its screen towards you so you can easily see it at all times.

Hooking up over USB-C to a power supply, the arm can fast charge at up to 15W, and is compatible with MagSafe-enabled iPhones or any Qi2 compatible smartphone. You’ll get 5W of charging from the stationary charging pad, too, while that charging arm works when folded flat as well, if you want to keep those phone-based distractions pointing away from you.

And, with a magnetic connection on either side of the charging base, you can position it for easy access whether you're left or right handed.

Tidy and smart, it’s great for keeping your desk organised and your gadgets juiced at the same time.

Available now in black or grey-and-beige shades, you can pick up the Journey ALTI LIFT wireless desk mat for £119.99.

• Journey REEVUS water bottle is perfect for gym-going content creators — and impossible to lose

Let’s be honest here — computer mice aren’t the most exciting thing in the world. Ubiquitous, functional — they’re like a kettle, or a calendar, something we reach for everyday without really thinking of them. We need them, but we don’t really love them — especially if all they bring to mind are spreadsheets.

But if like half the modern world you’re chained to a desk for most of your waking life for both business and pleasure, they’re also essential. If you’re going to wrap your mitts around one for 12 hours a day, it might as well be a good one.

And they don’t come any better than the Logitech MX Master 4. To paraphrase praise for its predecessor, the MX Master 3S, if something you love is built, designed or coded on a computer, chances are it was done with help from Logitech’s mouse in the mix, so popular has it become within the creative industries.

So the launch of the new MX Master 4 is, in an unexciting area, actually quite an exciting thing. It’s looking to build upon near-perfection — and with the MX Master 4 (and its accompanying Logi Options+ software) Logitech’s inched even closer to that lofty goal.

Here’s five reasons why the Logitech MX Master 4 is the best mouse in the world.

Logitech MX Master 4: In short…

• Supremely comfortable ergonomics
• Useful integrated shortcuts system
• Multi-device connectivity
• Haptic feedback across a number of applications
• Compatible with PC and Mac
• Out now, priced £119.99, available in graphite, black and grey colours

1. Quiet comfort, complete connectivity

Ergonomics are key to any good mouse, and the MX Master line up has had that on lock for years. The MX Master 4 is no different — it’s an incredibly well crafted gadget, fitting the contours of your hand wonderfully. As well as your usual left and right mouse buttons, you’ve also got a host of customisable clickers at your disposal too, with a shortcut-activating ‘Action Ring’ under your thumb alongside three other slimline buttons (one activating gestures), vertical and horizontal scroll wheels, and a scroll-speed switcher. Logitech has tuned the buttons to return 90% less click noise, making it less of a distraction for you — and anyone else you share an office with.

The mouse can connect with up to three different devices at once too, with Bluetooth and 2.4GHz USB-C dongle connectivity supported. If you’ve got a compatible Logitech keyboard, both peripherals will automatically reconnect to the device of your choice once the other has made the jump.

2. Feedback at your fingertips

The Logitech MX Master 4 has rumble built in, not dissimilar to what you’d find in a gamepad. However, rather than being used to add a bit of oomph to onscreen explosions, here it’s to make getting work done a bit easier. It’s used in all sorts of ways across the mouse — you’ll never lose your mouse pointer across screens again, for instance, with haptic feedback letting you know when you’re moving from one pane to the next. Through the Options+ software suite though you can download all manner of supporting plugins to go along with the haptic feedback — from rumbles to inform you of a completed generative AI fill in Photoshop finishing up in the background, to a hand being raised on a Zoom call while you’re secretly distractedly busy in another tab.

3. Thumb-ready shortcuts

The Logitech MX Master line has always had an ergonomic build, with a little resting point for your thumb. But that’s now got an added functional purpose, too. It now features a squeezey button that can trigger an ‘Action Ring’ — an onscreen pop up that circles your cursor and can have all manner of shortcuts assigned to it. Fully customisable, these can be system-wide or app specific, letting you quickly jump to a go-to app from the desktop, for instance, or pull up a specific well-used brush in Photoshop.

It’s simple to configure and quickly becomes second nature to reach for — Logitech reckons it’ll save users as much as 33% in time usually spent on repetitive tasks. It’s simple to configure, and will get better over time, with a ‘marketplace’ letting you try out new add-on shortcuts for applications as they become available.

Though it’s not designed as a gaming feature, it can be used to trigger button combos and macro inputs, so there’s nothing to stop you, theoretically, from using it to program in some quick actions for, say, your favourite MMO game, too.

An additional button next to the thumb’s back and forward buttons is now available for triggering gestures as well. Hold this down, and it can be programmed to trigger gesture-based shortcuts — say, dragging down with the mouse to reveal the desktop.

4. A super-responsive sensor, and super fast scrolling

With an 8000 DPI sensor — adjustable through 50 DPI increments — the Logitech MX Master 4 scrolls around your workspace with precision and super-smooth motion. It’s a very responsive sensor, and isn’t phased by unusual surfaces — it’s happy to glide across even tricky tabletops, including those made of glass, without losing accuracy. The scroll wheel here is crazy too — give it a spin and it can roll through 1,000 lines of text in a second, letting you smoothly rip through long documents and coding lines without wasting time. If that sort of speed isn’t needed, a press of the button on top of the mouse switches to a more reserved, textured-feeling scroll.

5. Battery life you never have to think about

You’ll get 70 days of power per charge of the MX Master 4 (slightly less if you set the haptic force at its highest setting), and you’ll claw back three hours of use from a one minute quick charge if you somehow run out. It charges over USB-C — though annoyingly, Logitech doesn’t offer a cable as part of the package here.

Any downsides?

It’s a minor one, but we can’t help but wish Logitech had included some sort of home for the accompanying dongle. This is the sort of peripheral you’re going to want to take with you from office to home, such is its comfort, and that tiny Logi Bolt USB-C add-on is going to be quite easy to lose if it’s coming in and out of your computer on the regular. Sure, you’ll always have Bluetooth to fall back on if that ever does occur, but the simplicity and reliability of pairing to a dedicated dongle — which helps maintain a 2x better connectivity promise that Logitech is touting here — will always win out.

Also, this is a mouse that very much favours right handed use, given where the Action Ring button sits. Lefties might have a hard time getting their mitts around it.

Final Verdict:

Logitech’s latest mouse lives up to the top-tier reputation of its predecessors. This is the sports car of computer mice. While we miss a dedicated dongle storage spot, and its right-hand favouritism will exclude some users, these niggles are easily overshadowed by the MX Master 4’s exceptional comfort, advanced features, and impressive performance. For anyone seeking a premium mouse to make the drudgery of everyday office work a little less tiresome, the MX Master 4 is an investment that promises to sand the rough edges off your work-life balance.

• 15 amazing PC games you should play today

Apple has just updated its all-in-one iMac desktop computer range, giving home office upgrades a splash of colour.

The main upgrade to the iMac this year is the introduction of the M4 chip — the fourth generation of Apple’s homegrown, super-speedy silicon. That made its debut in the iPad Pro line-up back in the Spring, and the iMac refresh marks the first time that the latest Apple computing chip has been available in a Mac.

Up for pre-order now on the Apple website, prices start at £1,299 / $1,299 for an entry-level model with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. £1,499 / $1,499 gets you the 10-core CPU and 10-Core GPU option with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while a £1,699 /$1,699 option ups the storage to 512GB. Those two pricier models also boast four Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and a Gigbit Ethernet port — the entry level model makes do with just two USB-C ports, and hasn’t got the Ethernet slot. A 12MP camera for video calls is built into the top of the display, too.

More RAM or storage can be configured at purchase too — and you’ll want to buy as much as you need for the future up front ideally, as they’re not easily upgradable machines.

All-in-one, all you need

As is customary with the iMac line up, you get everything in the box you need to get computing straight away — despite its slim frame, all the internal components sit behind the 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, while you’ll get a Magic Keyboard and choice of either a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad in the box, too. Those external accessories have finally made the jump from a proprietary Lightning charging port to the standardised USB-C format this year. An optional new “nano texture glass”, first seen on the latest iPad Pros, is available here too, and should help to reduce reflections on the screen.

Known for their colourful slim-line designs, this year’s iMacs come in new shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and blue, as well as the returning silver.

Available to pre-order today, you’ll see them in shops from November 8th.

The new iMacs launch alongside the roll out of Apple’s long-awaited AI features, Apple Intelligence, which lands today with the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 software updates, following a beta testing phase. Apple Intelligence’s first wave of features will allow users to “refine their writing; summarise notifications, mail, and messages; experience a more natural and capable Siri; remove distracting objects from images with Clean Up,” and more, with fresh features set to be added all the time. Though an official UK roll-out will happen in December, all English-speaking users can access the features by setting their device location and language preferences to US English.

• iPhone 16 vs iPhone 16 Pro: 10 ways to convince yourself you need an upgrade

Apple’s MacBooks are some of the most desirable laptops in the world so it's understandable you are looking to buy the best MacBook for you.

This is down to a combination of Apple’s solid hardware, ever-dependable macOS, and peerless retail and repair experience. The sheer cachet that comes with the Apple brand doesn’t hurt either.

Whether you're simply looking to upgrade your old device or you're venturing into the world of Apple for the very first time, the possible hardware and feature options available make it a viable option for nearly every price bracket.

UPDATED: If you're someone who loves nothing more than tracking down a bargain, we've got some great Apple deal news for you. Apple are currently offering their first wave of refurbished M1 Apple MacBook Pro 13 models for as little as £1,099 from the Apple's official online store. First released in November 2020, the refurbished M1 model comes complete with Apple's limited one-year warranty and means that MacBook fans can save as much as £200 off the model's regular price. Sounds pretty enticing, doesn't it?

In other Mac-related news, excitement is building around the big Apple release of 2021. With everything from a new Mac Pro Mini to an iMac in multiple colourways rumoured to form part of this summer's launch event according to recent leaks, we're excited to see what innovative plans Apple has up its sleeve.

It can be a little tricky navigating the modern MacBook range, however. Apple currently offers six distinct models, and it has just injected some of those with fresh CPU options.

We thought now would be a good time to run through the entire line and identify the best MacBooks for your particular requirements. Note that while we’ve highlighted each of the basic MacBook models, there are additional internal specification options to consider for each.

• The best MacBook alternatives, revealed - maybe go for a Mac rival?

Best MacBook laptop

SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.

• Upgrade your home office without spending a fortune with the best budget laptops.

• The Shortlist
• The Test Selection
• The Test Results
• The Winners

PreviousNext

10

Standing Desks considered

56

Hours of testing

1

Experts consulted

2

Best Buys

Author Bio

Basil Kronfli

Basil Kronfli is a journalist of ten years’ standing, working across sites like TechRadar, Gizmodo and T3, as well as print titles including Metro, Shortlist and Total Film. He specialises in computing, smartphones and cameras, dabbling in kitchen tech, too.

The Best Standing Desk: The Shortlist

Best standing desk: How we chose the ones to test

There are so many standing desks available right now, that it is something of a daunting task to whittle them down. But that's exactly what we did by considering a handful of options for each price point and even looking at standing desk add-ons to see if they matched the dedicated versions.

We also took a number of factors into consideration - including budget and value for money (these aren't the same thing).

The most expensive standing desk we trialled was around the £500 mark but we also considered a an add-on standing desk option that was under £50.

It is worth noting that the Shortlist above takes into consideration 10 desks - all of which have their plus and minus points. For the sake of this test, we shortlisted the Shortlist to five desks:IKEA Skarsta, Deskmate Standing Desk Converter, Oploft, Jarvis Bamboo Adjustable Standing Desk and the The Varidesk Pro.

Best standing desk: how we tested

Given writing and reviewing is our full-time job, the best way to review the desks was actually do our work on them! This means trialling them all in a standing and sitting position. We also considered the overall size of the desks and whether or not they were built for single monitor or dual monitor displays.

Durability was also a big factor - when moving the desks from their sitting to standing positions, we checked to see how easy this was and if there was any noticeable wear and tear. We gave each desk the same allotted time and took into consideration comfort and one of the biggest factors was ease of use, as well as how easy it was to put together.

Best standing desk: test results

The underdog of this shortlist is the Deskmate, but despite being made of recyclable cardboard, we love what it does and what it stands for. The fact it’s got a stepped design means your keyboard is in a well-suited position for standing and typing with elbows at right angles - similar to the Varidesk. Converting your space back to a sitting desk isn’t particularly elegant, it’s simply a case of picking up the Deskmate and moving it, but if you’re okay with that, then this £29.90 investment is worth every penny, even if we don’t see it as an ideal long-term option.

In our opinion, the Varidesk range isn’t attractive; in fact, it’s pretty ugly, but it’s not designed with looks first, it’s primarily about ergonomics and in that department, it’s our winner.

The Varidesk ProPlus’s build quality can’t be faulted thanks to incredibly solid, robust construction - once you put it down on a surface, it isn’t going anywhere. As for the keyboard tray, it sits below the main portion, putting you in the perfect standing position to type with your arms at a right angle - as with the Deskmate, only better. Its transforming motion is also super smooth - easy up, easy down - and it worked like a dream for a 5’6 and a 6’4 reviewer alike.

The IKEA Skarsta is probably the right choice for an office on a budget in need of something more robust than the Deskmate, while the Jarvis Bamboo Adjustable Standing Desk is the best looking, performing complete desk solution we’ve ever used. It isn’t cheap, but it wouldn’t look out of place in a corner of a photography studio, with the rising motion being so smooth, it could replace a vertical videography slider.

Finally, the Oploft is the best looking small-scale solution available in our opinion, and its build quality and weight were both reassuring. That said, it’s a bit too heavy to be truly portable, so is ideally suited to permanent cubicle use at an office, or home unless you’re comfortable carrying a 12KG slab from room to room.

Best standing desk: overall

While our design winner is without a doubt the Jarvis Bamboo - it’s absolutely beautiful and seeing it go up and down by itself never gets old, if you’re looking for a desk that will guarantee you the best posture, that award goes to the Varidesk ProPlus 48, which, despite being comparatively ugly, left us noticeably more limber after just a few days of use.

Best standing desk: for value

The Deskmate desk converter took us by surprise. This thing is made of cardboard, costs less than £30 and can’t get wet or it will disintegrate, and we always have coffee on our desk - high risk zone! Almost a month in though, and ours is in a great state save for a couple of bumps, and while we wouldn’t use it forever, we’re pretty confident it could see you through at least three months of stand-up working, until you’re ready to upgrade to something more permanent that is.

Now that many of us are working from home for the foreseeable future, finding the best Wi-Fi extender is essential. It’s a bit of kit you need to ensure that your Wi-Fi signal stretches from your router to your improvised home office.

Ideally, you’d place your router smack-bang in the middle of your home, giving it the maximum possible reach, but we know that’s not always practical. As Wi-Fi signals are affected (to varying degrees) by the type of material they need to pass through, this can mean that by the time your signal has made its way through your floor, and several walls, it’s as weak as a three-day-old kitten.

There’s nothing worse than dropping out of a video call at an essential moment, or having to walk your laptop into a different room, just because you want to download a file. Giving your Wi-Fi signal a boost means that you can experience a stronger signal in different rooms of the house, or eliminate Wi-Fi blackspots entirely.

There are lots of Wi-Fi extenders on the market. Many of them are confusingly named and it isn’t always easy to determine which one is going to best meet your particular needs.

Never fear, we’ve done the research for you. Below you’ll find our pick of the best Wi-Fi Extenders currently available to buy. We’ve considered a range of budgets and requirements, so there’s a Wi-Fi solution available for everybody.

• Make sure your web connection is protected with the best VPN.

Best Wi-Fi extenders

What to look out for when buying a Wi-Fi Extender

Before you buy any Wi-Fi extender, it’s worth thinking about what level of Wi-Fi you’re going to need throughout your home. If you’re just looking to fill in a few Wi-Fi dead spots upstairs, then a carefully placed budget extender, plugged in on the landing, might well do the job for you, giving your signal that extra boost it needs.

On the other hand, if you need a rock-solid connection and are looking to use multiple devices, or are downloading or streaming lots of data (either movies or gaming), then consider a solution with multiple Ethernet reports for wired connections, or a Powerline option.

Speed, of course, is one of the main things to look out for. Measured in Mbps, the faster the better, but be aware that the levels quoted by manufacturers are theoretical only and will be affected by the strength of the signal coming into your home. None of the devices we’ve used previously have quite measured up their advertised speeds.

Previously, the demands on our own home Wi-Fi were limited, but now there are two home offices in the house, a stable connection is a must. A choice of wired or wireless connections has also given us the extra bit of security that we need. Now we don’t have to worry about dropping signal during a crucial Zoom call with the boss and downloading big files is a breeze.

If you’re not looking to drop big bucks on a MacBook or new Windows 10 powerhouse, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are other options, as this best budget laptop buying guide showcases.

Office work, streaming video, light gaming – it can all be can be handled by budget laptops and 2-in-1 tablets that cost a fraction of the price of premium models.

UPDATE:Okay so it might not be a budget option but we thought you'd like to know that Apple have just released a new MacBook Air. Prices start at £999 (which for Apple is almost reasonable) and key features include a two times faster CPU performance and up to 80 percent faster graphics performance than the previous model and a new Magic Keyboard - currently found on the bigger MacBook Pro. Made from 100% recycled aluminum, there are three colourways available - Space Grey, Gold and Silver.

Whether you’re searching for go-anywhere portability, excellent speakers, a streaming video player or a reliable workhorse, we’ve got you covered.

Below you can read what we liked and disliked with all the laptops we tested but, for clarity, the best laptop for value we tested was the Acer Chromebook 514. The best laptop overall was the Acer Swift 3.

• Need more options but still don't want to spend too much? Check out our best laptops for students
• Don't let your browsing ruin your laptop - check out these best VPN services

Best budget laptops: value and overall

The Acer Chromebook 514 is the most affordable laptop on test for anyone looking to type, watch or browse. The metal body and excellent keyboard belie the £299 asking price, and even though its specs are humble, they go a long way thanks to its efficient operating system, Chrome OS.

Thanks to the latest Intel i5 processor, everything from internet speed to performance was noticeably better on the Acer Swift 3 when compared to the competition. It may not have a touchscreen or 2-in-1 design, but if you’re looking for a seriously competent traditional laptop with plenty of ports, this is the one.

• the shortlist
• the review
• our expert
• how we selected
• how we tested
• test results
• best overall
• best value
• the rest compared
• Feedback

PreviousNext

Best budget laptops: the ShortList

The Expert's View

24

Hours Tested

18

Products Considered

1

Expert Consulted

2

Shortlist Best Buys

All the laptops on test cost less than £600. The most affordable, the Dell Chromebook 11, is just £199. We have chosen a couple of 2-in-1 designs, so you can opt for the versatility of a tablet and convenience of a keyboard.

After testing these laptops we opted for the Acer Chromebook 514 as our best value choice. Combining a fantastic typing experience, a large touchscreen and metal chassis, it delivers a lot for its £299 asking price.

Meanwhile, our best overall choice is the very capable Acer Swift 3. Loaded up with the latest eighth-generation internals from Intel, it offers excellent performance, lots of ports and a sleek design, and costs just £599.

Author Bio

Basil Kronfli

Basil Kronfli is a journalist of ten years’ standing, working across sites like TechRadar, Gizmodo and T3, as well as print titles including Metro, Shortlist and Total Film. He specialises in computing, smartphones and cameras, dabbling in kitchen tech, too.

Best budget laptops: How we selected

We kept a specific buyer in mind with every laptop on test. For someone looking to get started with simple document editing and web browsing, the incredibly affordable Dell Chromebook 11 is a perfect springboard. It is also great for kids.

For a bigger screen and richer design, and the same Chrome OS under the hood, the Acer Chromebook 514 is an ideal step up. It costs £299 and delivers one of the best typing experiences of any of the laptops we tested.

If you’re after a laptop that doubles up as a tablet, we have two options. The first is Microsoft’s – a small, ten-inch tablet with a kickstand and folio cover. It may not be a fully-fledged laptop from a design point of view. But as it runs the powerful Windows 10, its functionality is on the money.

HP also makes 2-in-1 options – we picked the Pavilion X360 as a powerful alternative to the Go. Its screen folds all the way around, hence the name: X360. This means it can be used as a chunky tablet or as a traditional laptop.

Anyone looking for a big screen and large keyboard that packs a separate “number" pad – meet the Asus VivoBook S15. Its colourful accented design adds a playful vibe, and the 15.6-inch, almost edge-to-edge, display, makes it ideal for anyone who’s either hard of sight or wants to watch a lot of Netflix.

Finally, the Acer Swift 3 is quite simply the fastest, most reliable laptop we’ve seen at under £600, thanks to its powerful 8th Gen i5 processor from Intel. It may not pack a touchscreen or 2-in-1 convertibility, but from a practical point of view the Swift 3 nails it, with no less than three USB ports, an SD card reader, a great quality screen and stacks of power for the price.

Best budget laptops: how we tested

Each laptop was tested extensively, considering design, connections, screen quality, operating system (OS), versatility, speaker quality, battery life, typing experience, power and value for money. In addition, there’s something special about every one, so we also considered the “feel good” factor when we fired them up.

When it comes to design, for example, a tablet like the Surface Go and a traditional laptop are very different. But the fit, finish and attention to detail can still be assessed and compared. How secure are the moving parts? Is it compact, portable, ergonomic, or just a bit awkward to use?

Connections are also crucial. Luckily, with lower-cost laptops, ports are a bit more plentiful than they are on premium flagships like Apple’s MacBooks and Huawei’s MateBook X. Having said that, a tablet like the Surface Go still lacks a full-sized USB port, so if you don’t want to be messing around with adapters and dongles, a more traditional offering might be for you.

As for the screen – is it a touchscreen or not? Does it support a digital pen? What’s the quality like, how bright does it get and can you see what’s on-screen when you’re working outdoors or in direct sunlight? There are a huge range of sizes and aspect ratios on offer. Some are 16:9 widescreens perfect for Full HD video. Other, more squat, 4:3 displays like the Surface Go’s are better suited to editing documents.

Then there’s the question of the operating system. We have two on test, Windows 10 and Chrome OS. Windows is more versatile but tends to overload lower-specced machines, so they may not be box fresh fast a couple of months down the line or when you load up all your apps onto them. Meanwhile, Chrome OS is simpler and more streamlined, so works well on lower-cost hardware, but lacks Windows’s advanced capabilities.

We also thoroughly tested the keyboards, typing a portion of this piece on each of those on test. From key travel (how much the keys move when you press them) to bite (the tactile feeling you get from pressing a key all the way) and right through to layout – is there a number pad and are the keys cramped? We typed, took notes and typed some more just to make sure we had a handle on how each of them fared.

Gaming on a Chromebook involves downloading mobile optimised games from the Google Play Store. Some worked great – Final Fantasy IX, for example, runs like a dream on the Chromebook 514. With our Windows devices, we ran performance benchmark tests that simulate stressful, real-world conditions and trialled a range of PC games, which are notoriously more demanding than mobile games.

Best budget laptop reviews: The test results

Kicking off with sound quality, we recommend you plug an external speaker into your laptop when you’re at home. Affordable laptops tend to suffer from pitchy highs and muffled lows. Netflix and iPlayer deserve better.

One laptop, however, stepped ahead of the pack – the HP Pavilion X360. It was able to recreate the richest sound when playing music, with a good amount of clarity if you’re listening to spoken-word news reports and audiobooks.

The £299 Acer Chromebook 514 also impresses, given its incredibly affordable price, and combines a healthy amount of volume with warmth. The Microsoft Surface Go is loud, though lacks depth, while the Asus VivoBook was just a bit too quiet. Dell’s Chromebook 11 sounds like a smartphone – definitely not one for long bouts of listening.

Next up is design versatility, and this is where the hybrids edged ahead of the pack. The Surface Go in particular offers a little bit of everything – a competent laptop, a ten-inch tablet, not to mention sketching and note taking capabilities. Realistically, the HP Pavilion X360 is just too bulky when folded to function like a proper tablet, but flipped 200 degrees or so and the screen takes front and centre stage – great for presenting from or watching content on. It’s plasticky, though, unlike the metal Acer Swift 3, which feels flat-out fancy in comparison.

Turning our attention to typing, it’s a real shame that Acer and HP thought it was a good idea to load up their cramped laptop keyboards with a few too many keys. Acer’s Swift 3, which excels in almost every other area, squishes page-up and page-down keys where the left and right arrows should be. Meanwhile, HP’s Pavilion X360 has an entire column of keys on the right-hand side of the keyboard. These odd layouts will throw all but the most nimble touch typists off their game.

The Acer Chromebook 514, however, packs a fantastic keyboard. It’s a joy to type on and the layout is significantly more traditional, so you can pick one up and your fingers will dance across the keys like you’ve had it for years.

Where the Chromebooks fall down, though, is power. The Surface Go is a little better, with support for the full desktop version of Office 365 and Windows apps. The only laptops that can double up as desktop replacements from a port point of view are the Asus VivoBook S15, the HP Pavilion X360 and the Acer Swift 3 – with the Swift 3 winning out by a large margin.


In a twist of fortunes, when it comes to battery life. The Chromebooks are out on top thanks to lower power demands, putting the Acer Chromebook 514 at the top of the pack with over ten hours of usage, trailed closely by the Dell Chromebook 11, at around ten hours.

Best budget laptop overall reviewed

Acer Swift 3review

Despite its questionable keyboard layout and less than brilliant speakers, the Acer Swift 3 still delivers huge amounts of power, functionality and across-the-board bang for under six hundred quid.

Its metal body makes a great first impression. It feels cool, stark, robust and rich. The lid has a sleek brushed metal finish, which continues to the inside tray the keyboard is nested within.

Acer’s Swift 3 is also packed with ports. The right-hand side has two fast USB 3.0 sockets for zippy data transfer, as well as a USB-C port and headphone jack. There’s also a full-sized HDMI port, so hooking your laptop up to the TV in meetings will be a simple, adapter-free experience.

But there’s more. The left-hand side houses another full-sized USB port and an SD card reader – great for anyone with a camera who wants to conveniently transfer pictures over for a quick edit in Photoshop or Lightroom.

Luckily, the Swift 3 has enough power to keep those kinds of photo editing apps happy. With its latest generation Intel i5 processor, it’s faster than your average sub-£600 laptop and has a healthy 256GB storage.

It features a fingerprint scanner, adding extra security into the mix and, with Windows 10, application support for both work and play is exceptional.

If you’re into casual gaming, most titles available through the Microsoft Store should play fine on the Swift 3, and even simpler 3D and 2D titles available through Steam, like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, are handled well. Top-tier games, however, are too big an ask.

As for the battery, it will last a full working day without breaking a sweat. It’s quoted at ten hours with regular use, though the reality falls a little short in our experience. That said, it’s still great for all-day meetings, students heading to the library for a few hours, or anyone working in a café for the day. If you’re considering a weekend away, though, you’ll definitely want to pack your charger.

Best budget laptop for value reviewed

Acer Chromebook 514 review, £299

The Acer Chromebook 514 is made of metal, has a 14-inch HD touchscreen and a quoted 12-hour battery life. These are features we’d expect to see in £500+ laptops, but this beauty costs just £299.

This has a lot to do with its operating system. Chrome OS is stripped-back compared to Windows 10, so can be paired with less powerful, cheaper processors. That means your money stretches further when it comes to design, screen and keyboard, and the Chromebook 514 makes that point perfectly.

Its keyboard is a joy to type on. The keys are exactly where you want them to be, well spaced and each individual chiclet key has a satisfying amount of travel. There’s a generously sized trackpad below the keys, and you can also interact with the touchscreen, which has a matte finish that repels fingerprints nicely.

With two full-sized USB ports and two USB-C ports, connection options are plentiful. The spring-loaded microSD card slot sits on the left-hand side, alongside a 3.5mm headphone jack, while to the right is a Kensington laptop lock dock.

Offering just 32GB internal storage, though, you’ll definitely want to invest in a microSD card if you download videos and music – a 128GB card will set you back about £20. That said, Chrome OS lends itself to cloud computing (Google Drive, Docs and Sheets, for example), so you can definitely make 32GB work if you need to.

The final area the Chromebook 514 smashes it out of the park is with its 12-hour battery life. It easily got us through a full day of emailing, document editing and about an hour of streaming video at around 40 per cent brightness, all with 18 per cent battery left in the tank.

Comparing the rest on test

If you want something traditional, but with a twist, the HP Pavilion X360 is just that. You can use it as a standard laptop and it does a great job. Packing up to Intel i5 processors, it’s capable and has a touchscreen, as well as a healthy selection of ports. The twist comes in the form of its 2-in-1 form factor – flip the screen around and the X360 functions like a chunky tablet, and it also supports pen input. Its mighty speakers sing while others whimper. The keyboard is far from perfect, but it’s still a versatile, great value laptop.

For something beefier, the Asus VivoBookS15 is the biggest laptop on test. It has a large, 15.6-inch display. This is ideal for those who work with numbers, as the keyboard fits in a separate number pad. Its speakers don’t sound great, so we’d definitely recommend hooking it up to a Bluetooth speaker or a sound system if you plan on using it as a media centre. Once you do, this fun looking, generously connected laptop will give you a whole lot of tech for £549.

Our wildcard, the Surface Go, isn’t a laptop, but it’s so much more than just a Windows tablet. The 4:3 ratio screen is good for showing off photos and reading on, it has a handy kickstand and, at ten inches (the size of an old school iPad), it’s really comfortable to hold. The folio keyboard cover is what makes it function like a laptop, and while it may be a bit cramped for long bouts of typing, connect the Go to a mouse, keyboard and an external monitor, and you’ll forget you’re working on a slim, light, hand-holdable slate.

And then there’s Dell with its £199 entry-level Chromebook 11. This well-connected, long-lasting device is loaded up with a full-sized HDMI port and two USB ports, as well as a microSD card slot.

Now, don’t kid yourself, this isn’t a slick powerhouse. The plastic chassis is clunky, the screen is small and doesn’t look good at an angle, the keys have some rattle to them, and there isn’t much power here either. But for less than £200 it’s a competent word processor with support for thousands of apps in the Android app store and boasts a slightly stripped back Microsoft Office 365 for mobile suite.

Things to look out for when buying a budget laptop

When you’re deciding on a new laptop – particularly at the budget end of the market – there are some key considerations. As a rule of thumb, if you want to watch a lot of stuff, screens above 13 inches are ideal, as too are 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratios.

For document editing, 4:3 aspect ratios are more enjoyable to use as they’re a bit taller so you can fit more of your words onto the screen.

For most people, 128GB storage should be enough for all your favourite apps on a Windows machine. Chromebook users can get away with less, and there’s also the option of increasing the capacity with an inexpensive storage card.

Connectivity is a key concern. Some laptops like the Surface Go, for example, don’t have any full-sized USB ports. Expect to use dongles if you want to hook it up to anything external. What you sacrifice in ports, though, you’ll likely make up for with premium design and portability.

Finally, get into a store and try out the options if you can. You’re going to be spending a lot of time working on your chosen laptop, so finding out how it feels in the flesh is a smart move.

What did we miss?

Tell us, and we'll feedback to our reviewers so we can include it going forwards.

You wait a while for new Apple products, then two come along at once. Not only has a new MacBook Air been revealed but Apple has also taken the wrappers off of its new iPad Pro.

This version of the popular iPad range is the closest yet to an actual computer... but you will need quite a hefty priced add-on to fulfil true computing nirvana.

First, let's hear what Apple says about its new iPad Pro: “The new iPad Pro introduces advanced technologies never before available in mobile computing,” reckons Apple senior VP Phil Schiller. “Combining the most advanced mobile display with powerful performance, pro cameras, pro audio, the breakthrough LiDAR Scanner and new Magic Keyboard with Trackpad, this is another huge leap forward for iPad."

The Magic Keyboard that you can get for the iPad Pro is a beauty. It attaches magnetically to iPad Pro, essentially making the iPad into a desktop computer or laptop. It also has "unique cantilevered hinges that allow smooth adjustments of the viewing angle up to 130 degrees."

Not just any smooth, Apple smooth.

The new iPad Pro specs are impressive. There's a LiDAR Scanner on board to help with AR and a new A12Z Bionic chip (a variant of which was last seen in the iPhone XS).

Size wise, there's an 11-inch and 12.9-inch model to choose from - both available in silver and space grey. Memory wise, there's 128GB 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configurations.

When it comes to price, the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at £769 for the Wi-Fi model and £919 for the 4G version. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at £969 for the Wi-Fi model and £1119 for the 4G one.

And that amazing keyboard? Well, it's pricey - the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will be available for purchase in May for £299 for the 11-inch iPad Pro and £349 for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Head to Apple.com if you want to buy and know more...

• These are the best iPads to buy right now and the best iPad games.

Ever got frustrated that your laptop just doesn't have enough screens? That all those tabs piling up would be gone if only you had a little more space to work. ASUS is hoping to have the solution in the form of its new Zenbook Duo.

The 14-inch laptop has two touchscreens, a deluge of ports and a battery that boasts a life of up to 22 hours. It's the smallest in the series, but its still got plenty of juice thanks to a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. The size also makes it the most portable and supposedly ideal for those who are always working on the go.

But, what's the reality? Does this laptop live up to the 'double-screen' hype, or is it that second screen just a novelty you don't need? Luckily, we're here to answer all those questions. Here are the six things you need to know if you're thinking about buying the ASUS Zenbook Duo.

The Asus Zenbook Duo is available now in the UK for £1,299.99.

• In need of a new laptop? Here are the best MacBook alternatives and best gaming laptops
• If you’re looking for something cheaper, these are the best budget laptops we’ve found

1. Same specs, smaller size

At CES 2020, ASUS revealed two double-screen laptops - the Zenbook Pro Duo - which got a lot of coverage during the event - and the little brother Zenbook Duo. It’s the smaller (and more affordable) offering that we’re interested in - especially when ASUS swears that you’re getting the same specs for nearly £1,000 less.

So what exactly is the difference? Well, according to ASUS the only noticeable difference is the screen sizes - with the Zenbook Duo, you get a 14-inch main display, rather than the 15.6-inch of the Pro Duo. The secondary ‘ScreenPad Plus’ is also smaller - 12.6-inch, instead of 14-inch. But, if we’re being honest (and this is only from using the Zenbook Duo), both of its screens feel plenty big enough. It has a pretty impressive 90% screen-to-body ratio and the smaller size makes it slightly more portable without it being impractical to use. This laptop also has a whole plethora of ports (usually the first thing to go on a smaller laptop), but more on that in point four.

2. It’s almost all screens

The main selling point of this laptop if you couldn’t tell from the name is the two screens - the 14-inch main display and 12.6-inch ScreenPad Plus. Despite this being the smaller model, these screens definitely don’t feel small. That brings us onto the fact that almost two thirds of this laptop is screens, which is fantastic if you’re a creative who needs all the canvas space possible. It also benefits from NVIDIA GeForce graphics so it should keep with those who want to game, too.

However, we struggled with the limited spacing this left for the keyboard. The keyboard is definitely more compact than those usually found on a typical 14-inch laptop - and there’s no room for a number pad (though you can bring one up on the ScreenPad Plus instead). There’s also the fact that instead of being below the keyboard like with most laptops, the ultra-sensitive mousepad is to the right-hand side. This was probably the aspect we took the longest to get used to - however, it was nothing major for us and we were back into our normal rhythm within a day of use.

3. There's an Ergolift hinge

The Ergolift hinge is probably one of our favourite features of ASUS laptops. Because the hinge angles the keyboard, it’s so comfortable to use especially when you’re typing for long periods of time. There’s also a practical reason for this 5.5° tilt, too, because ASUS promises that it also improves the cooling of the device and makes the audio performance better. Who knew adding in a small tilt could do so much?

4. Ports Ahoy

ASUS have always been pretty solid when it comes to the basics, so you can be sure that they’ve included pretty much every port you could need. There are two USB 3.1 ports, one for USB-C, a HDMI port and a slot for a microSD card. There’s even a headphone jack for those of us who haven’t caught up with the wireless bandwagon. It means you should have everything you need to work on the go, without having to carry additional dongles to plug-in.

5. All-day battery

On the power-saving ‘best battery life’ mode, you’ll easily get a full day (or two) out of this laptop - especially if your job largely just requires a lot of typing, surfing the internet and spreadsheets. Asus promises up to 15 hours of battery life with the ScreenPad Plus switched on, which seemed pretty dead on to us, and the battery life can last up to 22 hours if you switch that secondary screen altogether.

This is obviously going to be a lot less if you need more from the laptop and have both screens constantly on the go but we don’t think you’ll struggle to get through the day. After all, there’s nothing worse than watching your battery steadily drop and having to just hope you’ll make it to 5pm. The various energy saving modes will make sure you never have to feel that dread and while both screens have a good brightness range, we found we rarely went above the halfway mark.

6. Doodle Away

This is a laptop designed with the creative in mind. The ScreenPad plus gives you an extra pace to draw, design and doodle and it does feel more natural writing on the horizontal pad (rather than an angled screen). You can then easily flip your work from one screen to another once you’re done and so you can use the bigger screen to assess your work, and then move it back to the ScreenPad Plus to make any finishing touches.There’s also an option to switch off the keyboard so that you can draw without constantly worrying about leaning on the keys, which is a nice touch.

Overall, this is a stylish laptop with a bright double-touchscreen display and it's clear ASUS knows which basics customers won't compromise on (a good battery life and a load of ports are right at the top of that list). It's size makes it portable enough to be a good on-the-go laptop, but it's not too small that you compromise on the screen size. And, you get all of this for a pretty decent price, too. We're just not certain we'd actually use the second screen enough to justify the purchase. However, you're an architect, designer, artist or in any other creative professional where you've always got a pen in your hand, the ASUS Zenbook Duo could be for you.

Choosing one of our best VPN services of 2020 will offer you extra privacy when you're browsing online. For those not in the know, the goal here is to prevent people seeing what you do on the internet, and to stop nefarious access to your personal details when you use public Wi-Fi – a VPN will 'hide' all of those details.

UPDATE: This week saw Mozilla release the beta version of its Firefox VPN App for Andoid, which promises to hide all personal details, activities and locations from those who want to pry. It will be available in over 30 countries, but current invites for the beta version are only being sent to those who are US-based on the waiting list.

Keeping your personal details private is increasingly important because when you use unsecured public internet access you allow the provider of that service to see what you do online, and in some cases sensitive information might be visible to them. At the very least, Starbucks Wi-Fi gives the company a way to profile customers.

You don't have to be paranoid to feel troubled by that. And with so much personal information exchanged online these days, trying to keep that data safe from prying eyes is sensible.

We've taken a look at more than 10 VPN services and whittled them down to find the very best ones. We've performed speed tests on each of our final selections and accessed both BBC iPlayer and Netflix (both UK and US services). Here are the top VPN services that made the cut.

Related: Best budget laptops

• The shortlist
• Best buys
• Our expert
• Test selection
• How we tested
• Test results
• Best overall
• Best value
• Comparing the rest
• One to avoid

PreviousNext

The Shortlist: Best VPN service

AirVPN is the cheapest VPN we tested but it also scores well on speed. It's not the simplest to use, but there are straightforward Windows and Mac apps that offer a great choice of international speeds in loads of geographic locations. We had some modest problems accessing Netflix UK on the service too, but this isn't the end of the world.

Surfshark is actually a slightly random choice for the best VPN, but when it comes to speed it's above average and it's not the most expensive VPN on our list either. It's a solid all-round choice and it feels faster and less laggy than others on test. It also works well with iPlayer and Netflix (both US and UK services).

The expert's view

18

VPNs considered

2

Best buys

1

Experts consulted

15

Netflix shows streamed

What we learned during this testing is that no VPNs can really push your broadband speed. Most ran at roughly half what the connection was capable of and some slower still. In the real world all were fast enough to stream 4K video, though.

We also discovered support for iPlayer and Netflix isn't automatic. For some people this won't be an issue, but if you're planning on using a VPN for all your internet access you're going to want to take that into account. We tested every VPN here and the results are below. This wouldn't be enough for us to fail a VPN, but if that's what you're hoping to do then this will influence your decision.

Pricing was also a very mixed bag. The most expensive is Goose at $16.88 (£12.99) and the cheapest was AirVPN at $7.85 (£6.04). Goose was also the fastest in our test (but peak times took a toll on speeds) while Air also performed really well with impressive speeds at its low price point.

Author Bio

Ian Morris

Ian Morris is a technology writer with 12 years experience in almost every aspect of the industry. A broadband geek and privacy advocate means he is keen to ensure everyone can stay safe online and protect their online habits.

Best VPN services: how we selected

We want a VPN that can run at the maximum speed of our broadband connection. Ideally, anyway. This is harder than you might think because broadband can run at 4mbps or 200mbps. Some services may struggle at the high end, but may be fine for the majority of users.

Of course without testing it’s hard to know which products offer the full speed. We used one of the fastest home broadband connections to try and push each VPN to its limit.

Which VPNs are user friendly? That matters too. However there is an argument for niche services that are more complicated but give users a bit more control. AirVPN is a good example of this. It’s not the most user-friendly service, but it does offer more control than most.

That the VPN actually protects you is important. We want to make sure that, where possible, no records are kept of what sites you visit online. This isn’t to cover up wrongdoing, but simply your right to expect your online life to be treated with the same level of privacy as anything else you do.

For the most part we only tested paid-for VPNs, instead of some of the free services available. The reason is simple. VPNs are about privacy and free services will need to make money somehow or they would go bust. That means most free services will trade off security to offer access. It also means you're unlikely to get the best possible speeds with a free VPN. There is one slight exception to this, which we'll come to shorty.

Some VPN companies - particularly with free browser extensions - also use your bandwidth to provide access to others. This model isn't inherently bad. It's also used by the ultra-private TOR web browser, but does mean your internet service is used by other people. Hola VPN is an example of this, and we wouldn't advise it from a privacy perspective.

Like every good rule, though, there's an exception.

Windscribe’s premium service is reasonably priced, but the company also offers 10GB free to anyone who registers and confirms their email address. There's another, free, 5GB for people who tweet about the company too.

But given its modest price (it's $9 - or around £6.93 - per month) and that you can pay in a variety of currencies, like bitcoin or PayPal, it's a very good option.

Windscribe also meets our desire for honesty about the records it keeps. Only the total amount of data used and last connection time are retained. It also doesn't require an email address to create an account, although if you're using the free service you'll get more data if you do enter and confirm an account.

Windscribe also offers dedicated servers for accessing Netflix in both the UK and US, but you will need a paid account for that. BBC iPlayer, however, worked on the free account just fine.

Best VPN services: how we tested

There are hundreds of VPN services. You’ll find many of them from a simple web search. We spent a lot of time narrowing the shortlist down based on price and features.

We didn’t focus on the ones for advanced internet natives who hack into friends’ computers at the weekend for fun. We are after VPNs that let you browse the internet without worrying you are being monitored.

Testing VPNs fairly raises challenges. Most companies offer a selection of servers around the world and the speed you get will depend on a lot of factors.

To give a fair picture of how a VPN performs we conducted several tests on each using the independent speed tester at ThinkBroadband. It offers a consistent benchmark that can scale well to all connection speeds. It also performs two different download tests.

One is a single thread test that gives you an idea how fast a normal data transfer will run. It also does multi-thread downloads that provides a better picture of how fast the VPN can deliver data if pushed to the limit.

We performed the test using the same 200mbps Virgin Media connection. This is faster than most domestic broadband connections (although not the UK's fastest home Broadband product. Some connections reach 350mbps, or even gigabit speeds).

The one constant we noted was that no VPNs were able to push the top speed of the connection. So if you're a speed freak you're going to have to live with speeds considerably lower than you would get on your normal broadband connection. Sorry folks.

You may want to use VPN to watch your normal streaming services. We tested these VPNs to make sure their UK exit point could connect to the BBC’s iPlayer. Because VPNs can be used by non-UK residents streaming, services often block their IP addresses. It’s annoying if you’re a UK resident who wants to use UK services, and are perfectly entitled to.

We also tested that process on Netflix. Firstly, we use a UK exit point to ensure Netflix works, and then we tried to access the US version of the service to see if that was possible. Netflix doesn’t mind users accessing its content around the world but the rights holders, who own the programmes, sometimes put pressure on the firm to block VPN access.

Some work, some don’t.

To select the VPNs for this round-up we’ve had a look at what other people have had to say about them. We’ve also looked at the pricing and other features. Not all the VPNs in this group have the same features, but at their core the functionality is the same. Even paying less you should expect a decent service, but perhaps some trade offs might exist - for example, the number of devices you can connect.

It’s also crucial to understand that VPN pricing tends to offer very large discounts when you buy a year of the service upfront. Most companies will refer to this price as their “starts at” figure, but if you’re only interested in paying monthly you’ll need to shell out more. We’ve included information about this where possible so you can make an informed decision.

We also considered where the VPN host might be located. For example, companies in some parts of the world might be subject to government scrutiny. You may, therefore, be surprised to see that a lot of firms operate out of Hong Kong or certain parts of Europe. This is generally to protect users from governments trying to see their logs.

But most VPN companies are also careful not to keep details about where you go online. This is, after all, one of the reasons people opt to tunnel their internet traffic via these services.

Best VPN services reviews: Test results

If we take speed as a key factor in VPNs then the results from top to bottom look like this:

1. 1 GooseVPN
2. 2 PureVPN
3. 3 SurfShark
4. 4 NordVPN
5. 5 AirVPN
6. 6 ExpressVPN
7. 7 StrongVPN
8. 8 Private Internet Access
9. 9 Windscribe
10. 10 VyprVPN

If price is the only consideration then then the order changes considerably:

1. 1 AirVPN
2. 2 VyprVPN
3. 3 Windscribe
4. 4 Private Internet Access
5. 5 StrongVPN
6. 6 PureVPN
7. 7 NordVPN
8. 8 SurfShark
9. 9 ExpressVPN
10. 10 GooseVPN

Combine those two sets of scores you can work out a ranking that takes both speed and cost into account. To calculate this we gave each of the ten services a score based on their position in both speed and cost. The cheapest got 10 points and the most expensive 1 point. We did the same for speed and added both scores together.

From that there were two clear winners that balance both speed and price. AirVPN did the best because it is fast and cheap. PureVPN came second. GooseVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark came in next, followed by Vypr, Windscribe, Private Internet Access and GooseVPN all shared the same score.

ExpressVPN came in last because it's one of the most expensive and its speeds sit firmly in the middle of table. However Express is a good VPN. Only the relatively high monthly cost makes it look like a bad option.

And at this point it's important to remember these scores are based on standard pricing without any discounts or special offers. There are times when VPN companies offer big discounts which can make their service even more appealing. Pay particular attention to Black Friday deals to get some great price reductions.

Only four services passed our Netflix UK, US and BBC iPlayer test. They were Windscribe, Surfshark, NordVPN and StrongVPN. For anyone looking to steam video this is likely to be an important part of a VPN, so these are the ones to consider. We strongly suggest both Windscribe and Surfshark for this - and you could set up a backup Windscribe account anyway, as it has that impressive free tier.

Best VPN service overall:

SurfShark

We really did like Surfshark a lot. But there's also some added complication with just how good AirVPN is, because it could actually win both the best budget service as well as best overall.

But Surfshark manages to provide solid access to the Netflix UK and US services as well as letting you stream from the BBC's iPlayer. It also came in as one of the fastest, all for a sensible price of £9.95. While we resolved not to consider the long sign up deals when writing this article it's also hard to ignore that if you can commit to two years you'll pay just £1.99 per month for Surfshark.

But along with being fast and reasonably priced, we also really like the app used to connect to the service. It treads the tricky middleground of offering advanced features while still being simple to use.

Surfshark will block ads, trackers and malware through the app. You can whitelist some apps that can bypass the VPN entirely. You can also whitelist certain sites, which means if you struggle with iPlayer, ITV Hub or another service you can simply add it to a list which should fix the problems.

You can “multi-hop”, allowing you to further disguise your online movements. For example you can select the US as the first hop, then Portugal as the second. For most people this isn't needed, but the very paranoid might enjoy the simple option to do this.

The company also claims it keeps no logs. That means that should the government or business attempt to extract information about your online habits they would be able to discover pretty much nothing about you.

While most of us don't care much about this, it certainly is reasonable for people to have some hope of online privacy, in the same way we’re glad WhatsApp encrypts messages or Apple's iPhones can't be unlocked without your passcode or biometric ID.

Best VPN service for value:

AirVPN

A quick word is needed about pricing, which is relevant when we pick the best value option. Most VPN companies will sell you varying amounts of access to their service. Some, like AirVPN, will offer a per-day rate. That's handy if you're travelling and want to stay secure but don't want all your home network traffic using a VPN.

It's always cheaper to buy a VPN service on a yearly basis. Most VPN companies will sell their "starts at just" pricing based on a one year subscription paid up-front. This is great if you're in it for the long-haul, but not ideal if you want to try different VPNs to find one that meets your needs.

We've taken the pricing the "per month" charge that's based on paying every 30 days. So while some providers might look expensive, there are big discounts for those prepared to commit for longer.

Also, a lot of VPNs want to bill in dollars, euros or bitcoin. For simplicity we took the dollar amounts and where only UK pricing was offered we converted to US currency.

AirVPN is our value pick. There are two reasons for this. First, it's the cheapest on offer here. But cheap is useless if the VPN doesn't perform well. The good news is that Air really does work brilliantly. It's fast, stable and has a great selection of servers all over the world.

Comparing the rest on test

We also to want to give some positive comments on Vypr, which is a really well-designed service with a lot of the features you'd want in a VPN. It has a good logging policy, which it says has been audited by a third party. It's a good, cheap option if you're not bothered about video streaming. For just £6.90 per month you can use the basic VPN functionality and protect yourself while you're online at home, on your phone, or out and about.

StrongVPN is also a decent choice. The streaming aspect of online video will matter to some people, and Strong doesn't disappoint here. It's a bit slower than we'd ideally like, but it's far from the slowest and its $10 (£7.67) makes it one of the cheaper options. There is no logging and servers in 20 countries for you to choose from.

Although it just missed out on a best buy award, we also really, really, like Windscribe. It's another service that allows all the streaming services we tested and if you want a backup service for, say, your phone or tablet, the 15GB free allowance may well suit you. But the general quality of the service means we're a bit sad not to have quite been able to justify making it the overall winner. We doubt anyone subscribing will be disappointed though.

NordVPN is also earns some love. Years ago this service was one of the best known of all VPNs. It might have been this popularity that saw it run at slower speeds than we would like. But the good news is that Nord has clearly invested and it's now able to claim some of the best download speeds in our test. You also get hassle-free streaming on all the major services - which is a big thumbs up from us.

Express VPN is a bit of a weird one. It's the second most expensive but can't deliver streaming video and its speeds are middling. As a service, we like it. As something people will want to pay for it's hard to recommend over other, more competent, services. This is definitely one to keep an eye on for special offers where there are significant discounts.

The most expensive here is GooseVPN but we're happy to say it's also blisteringly quick. If you can stand to pay the £12.99 per month then it's a good option. It also offers unlimited device connections, so for families you could put literally every tablet, smartphone and laptop on it for one monthly price. That's arguably a money saver for many people and, as we said, the speeds are just fantastic.

Any VPN to avoid?

Look around online and you’ll see Private Internet Access is a popular VPN choice. It has a lot of the features you want in a VPN. However it isn't the cheapest service and it doesn't actually provide the sort of speeds we'd hope at the price.

We wouldn't entirely advise avoiding it, but it's worth considering the others first and making a decision based on the factors that suit you. Keep an eye out for Private Internet Access discounts and special offers.

PIA does have a very solid use-logging policy. It keeps nothing, which is a very good thing. The downside is that it's US-based, which does mean that the laws govern it might create an issue. Although this problem is largely hypothetical it's worth considering.

Ultimately, there are better VPNs than Private Internet Access. That doesn't make it hopeless, but we think your money would be better spent elsewhere.

As the world remains poised for an announcement confirming the launch date of the highly-anticipated PS5 console, fans have been treated to what’s reported to be leaked Godfall footage, giving them a glimpse of what they can expect from the forthcoming gaming experience.

Surfacing on, you guessed it, Reddit, the footage is reportedly a snapshot of what to expect from the upcoming Gearbox title - which is also set to land on PC.

The six-second clip shows that the third-person actioner is packed full of weapons and combat moves aplenty.

Posted by Reddit user YeaQuarterDongIng, the clip is said to be taken from an internal trailer dating back to early 2019.

It goes without saying that similar clips do the rounds ahead of every launch and should never be taken at face value. That being said, it does bear a marked resemblance to the trailer shown at The Game Awards - which does add a dash of credibility to the leak.

We’ve since learnt that the forthcoming Godfall game is set to incorporate a loot system where players try to obtain "legendary weapons and armor" according to the website.

Additionally, players will be given the option to partake in either "one, two, or three player co-op play". Exciting stuff.

Now all we have to do is sit tight and await the launch at some point this year.

• In the meantime, why not try ranking the best games console?
• Or maybe take a look at our pick of the best PS4 games 2020?

Images of the new Microsoft Surface range have been released – all thanks to leaker Evan Blass. The journalist posted a series of images allegedly depicting the Surface Pro 7 and 3, and a 2-in-1 device to boot.

A Surface hardware event is coming up this week in New York, so it's thought that the devices will be formally announced then. Journalists from other publications – notably The Verge – had also predicted the specs of the devices Blass leaked, guessing that an update on the Surface 6 would soon be announced.

On top of that, there were predictions for another device Blass depicted – a Qualcomm ARM-powered Surface.

It's also suggested that another device is set to come too – a "dual-screen" device that, as yet, has not been pictured. Microsoft had long been known to be working on such a product, nicknamed 'Centaurus', which would offer a dual-screen experience – think of it as a foldable combination of a laptop and a tablet.

The company had already demo-d the device internally: this week's announcement could be the final unveiling we've all been waiting for.

As for when the devices could be available? We're almost certainly looking at next year at the earliest, with prices probably set to be upwards of £1000. We'll keep you in the loop.

In the meantime, have a gander at our list of the best student laptops to grab yourself a bargain.

The best laptop speakers don’t sound great. Even iMacs aren’t exactly the last word in audio refinement.

We’ve looked into the best computer speakers out there, to get you genuinely good sound from your laptop or desktop.

Our advice? Don’t just stick to classic computer speakers if you have plenty of space to play with. You should also consider active studio monitor-style units, which will sound cleaner and clearer. And some companies have got up to speed with this idea, releasing studio monitor style speakers with mainstream features like Bluetooth.

Read on for our top computer speaker picks. And don’t forget to upvote your favourite.

Done with your laptop? Read up on the best soundbars for your TV.

Best computer speakers

SOMETHING MISSING FROM OUR SHORTLIST?

Tell us about it, and if enough people agree we'll add it in.

In the somewhat unlikely event of you having another tab open with a MacBook in your basket, you might want to hold off a few months.

It looks like new MacBooks will be on the way soon: potentially seven different flavours, which is quite a big deal. As spotted by MacRumors, seven new products have been registered by Apple in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, and they’re referred to as “portable computers”.

You won’t get many hints from the model numbers, which sound more like roads than computers, but here they are anyway: A2141, A2147, A2158, A2159, A2179, A2182, and A2251.

So let’s speculate instead. Well, the most obvious contender for a refresh is the 12-inch MacBook, which hasn’t been updated since June 2017. The MacBook Air is another possible, if Apple wants to go down the annual update route, as it got introduced nine months ago – that’s two. The Touch Bar-free MacBook Pro might also be a contender, as it’s untouched since 2017. Three down, four to go.

That’s when it starts to get a bit harder. A 16-inch MacBook Pro is strongly rumoured, too, so that’s four. If the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros with Touch Bars also get a refresh, that takes us to six. Then what? A return of the 11-inch MacBook Air? A MacBook with built-in 4G? Who knows?

Well, we should in a few months. In the past when Apple has registered devices with the Eurasian Economic Commission database, the products have been announced a few months later, so hopefully we can stop wildly speculating soon. Whatever Apple makes, it likely won’t be cheap, so you should probably consider the best MacBook alternatives while you’re here.

While you’re probably quite used to mulling over the amount of RAM and storage space, a new wave of laptops look set to give you an unexpected choice: one screen or two?

The most interesting of these is Honeycomb Glacier, which sounds like a deliciously refreshing cocktail, but is actually the codename for a new device from Intel.

• On the subject of laptops, you might be interested to discover the best laptops for students.

When you open what looks like a traditional clamshell design, you’re greeted by two screens: the main one is a 15.6-inch 1080p panel, while the second is a 12.3-inch 1,920x720 affair.

Initially, the smaller of these chunky panels sits flush with the keyboard, like a MacBook Pro touch bar that’s really let itself go. But with another swift movement, it pulls up further making your screen extra tall: just the move to pull to avoid eye contact with the person sat opposite you. More importantly, it brings the second screen to eye level, meaning you don’t need to hunch over your keyboard to see what’s going on with screen #2.

It’s just a prototype for now, but even in this state it can still moonlight as a gaming PC. Inside is a mystery (though presumably Intel) eight-core CPU, 32GB RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 chip.

In other words, it would be thoroughly surprising if Intel was pitching this device to feature in our best budget laptops roundup, whenever it launches. Speaking of which, no release date has been hinted at, so for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid you’ll be left struggling away with one screen like a pauper...

If you want some extra screen with your screen, then Asus’s new dual screen laptop is probably right up your street.

The new Asus ZenBook Pro Duo laptop has a 15-inch 4k touchscreen – and what it calls the ScreenPad Plus, a 14 inch so-called secondary screen. If that wasn’t enough for you, the trackpad, located on the right-hand side of the keyboard, also doubles as a number pad . It brings the total number of screens to three.

The laptop is specifically designed for multi-tasking. You can have a to-do list open while you work, a chat window as you play a game, or a video call open while you browse the web.

• On the subject of laptops, you might be interested to discover the best laptops for students.

The rest of the ZenBook Pro Duo's specs are pretty good as well. Its main screen is a 15-inch 4K OLED panel, and the laptop can be configured to have up to an 8-core Intel Core i9 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card. It also has a Thunderbolt 3 port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port and a headphone jack, as well as two big cooling vents, one on each side.

A smaller option, the Zenbook Duo, is also to be released. It has a 12.6-inch secondary screen but is much the same as its larger sibling.

These are not the only products with an innovative approach to screens. The ZTE Axon M from 2018 is a phone with two screens. It folds out like a book, and two apps can be run at once. Unfortunately this didn’t go down well with reviewers – tech site Pocket Lint acknowledged its good qualities but still referred to it as a “hot mess”.

And the Vivo NEX Dual Display Edition phone has a front and back screen, both HD, and incorporates several pop up cameras to boot.

As for laptops, HP launched a dual screen gaming laptop earlier this year to great fanfare. Again, this had the express aim to help you multitask – you can play a game with the main screen while using a smaller screen embedded in the body of the laptop to stream on Twitch or chat to friends.

The ZenBook has no price range or release date as of yet - we're definitely not expecting this one to be in best budget laptop price territory - but Asus has said it will launch the product later this year.

It’s that time again. The time where you excitedly look at updated MacBook Pro specs, start eagerly adding things to your cart on the Apple website and then realise that completing the transaction will result in an alarmed call from your bank.

Yes, Apple has updated its MacBook Pros, making “the fastest Mac notebook ever” in the process. It would be more headline worthy if the company had decided to make one slower, but all the same it’s an impressive spec sheet.

Related: Best budget laptops

Apple’s refreshed top-spec 15-inch model comes with an eight-core i9 processor with a 2.4GHz base speed, and a turbo boost of up to 5.0GHz. This starts at £2,879, but can soon spiral (further) out of control if you start ticking extras. Want to double the MacBook Pro’s 16GB RAM? That’ll be an extra £360. Want a Radeon Pro Vega 20 instead of the standard Radeon Pro 560X? Add £315 to your bill. While you’re there, you may as well toss in an extra 4GB SSD and… oh: the total is now £6,074. Maybe not, then.

Cheaper options are available, but as ever the term ‘cheaper’ is distinctly relative. You could get a six-core i7 processor for £2,349, and if you’re prepared to lose a couple of inches of screen then the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with its eighth-generation quad-core i5 processor might tempt you at £1,749.

Or then again, it might not. The fact that you could buy all six of our best budget laptops for the price of the cheapest 15-inch MacBook Pro is pretty eye-opening...

No key on a keyboard is more maligned than Caps Lock. There are keys that go forever untouched - nobody knows what Insert does, and nobody ever touched Break due to a weird feeling it might shut everything down, and there don’t need to be two Alts, and at least 40% of the Fs are redundant - but none that are as unfairly hated as Caps Lock. Nobody ever mentions it in a positive context. It’s only ever mentioned if you’ve accidentally typed a big load of stuff without looking at the screen, and had Caps Lock on because you’d just sent someone a message saying, like “BULLSHIT IDIOT!”, and then you look up and realise that what you’ve typed looks like a ransom note, and then you turn Caps Lock off and then hold Shift down and angrily type “I HATE CAPS LOCK”, which you ironically should turn Caps Lock on for.

It’s good though! Here’s why!

nO mORE eRRANT eXCLAMATION mARKS, oR lIFTING

Back in the days of manual typewriters, Caps Lock was known as Shift Lock. Every typewriter key had two little letters on it - the lower-case and upper-case of each letter - and pressing Shift would physically lift the whole keyboard so it was the capital letter that his the inky ribbon. This involved quite a bit more effort than pressing a normal key, as it moved a lot of metal, so the Shift Lock key was developed to wedge it in place if you needed to type a lot of capitals. Otherwise your little finger would really be put through its paces.

The other thing Caps Lock avoids - usually at least (of which more later) - is accidentally typing capital numbers, which of course aren’t a thing. Angrily holding down Shift and typing stuff means the Shift applies to numbers and punctuation marks as well, so you end up typing things like I”M CLEVER< I”VE GOT !) GCSE”S AND % A_LEVELS

bY fREQUENTLY tRAPPING YOU, iT rEMINDS yOU tHAT yOU aRE aLIVE

It catches you out a lot, the old Caps Lock, doesn’t it? Imagine if you had a little device on your belt that kept track of how many times you raised your voice at people. The results would make for really interesting reading - we’re probably all a bit angrier than we entirely realise. Caps Lock is sort of like the internet version of that, just as writing in all-caps is thought of as shouting - every time you look up at your screen and realise you’ve written five paragraphs of nought but caps, you can take a moment and think about why you had Caps Lock on. Did you really need to be so aggressive? Was it absolutely necessary? Maybe you could have been more constructive and less confrontational than the IF THE EARTH WAS ROUND WE WOULD FALL OFF IT YOU STUPID ASS post you made, six hundred replies into a Facebook thread that started off about a dog.

iT kEEPS yOU aWARE tHAT tHERE’S a lONG wAY tO gO

We all know how to make text bold - highlight it and, depending on your operating system, press Ctrl+B or Command+B. Same with italicising and underlining - easy as anything. But if you want to make a whole load of upper-case text lower-case, or a load of lower-case text upper-case, highlighting it and pressing Caps Lock doesn’t do a motherfucking thing. We think we’re so special, don’t we, with our fancy telephones and futuristic computers, but until Tim Apple and Bill Microsoft integrate that feature, which everyone has tried many, many times despite knowing full well it doesn’t exist, we’re a long way from where we need to be.

iT kEEPS yOU oN yOUR tOES

If you move between computers a lot - maybe you have a laptop and a desktop, or you freelance and move between offices, or you lead a secret in-between life that nobody knows about and exists on a Lenovo - you will be familiar with the problem of punctuation marks moving around. The at sign, the hash symbol, the tilde and all their silly friends are sometimes found in totally different places depending on the keyboard, the operating system, the software you’re using and the settings. Adding Caps Lock into the mix can make what should be a really easy task all the more baffling, especially as sometimes, particularly on foreign computers, it can do that Shift Lock thing and turn numbers into what looks like cartoon swearing. Sending an emergency email home from a Ukrainian internet cafe, your heightened emotional state meaning you don’t check what you do, can result in a big string of greater-than symbols and asterisks instead of the bank details of your kidnappers. And stuff like that just keeps life interesting! DOESN’T IT?

MOST NEWSLETTERS ARE RUBBISH. OURS ISN'T

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(pICS: wIKIMEDIA cOMMONS / pIXABAY) (Oh nooooooooooo, Caps Lock!)

While you’ve been investigating just how feasible it is to sell a kidney on the dark web to raise enough cash for the new iPhone Xs, we’ve been listening out to the whispers and mutterings to find out what Apple has in store for us next.

From updated MacBooks to a TV streaming, here’s everything Apple is hard at work on.

The October Event

Apple has spent the last decade finely tuning its iPhone launch events – a September night (it’s always been in September) of fancy slides and slick demos that translates to mainstream news coverage, huge hype and a healthy pre-order of new handsets.

In order not to overcrowd its ‘iPhone Moment’, the lesser products of the California tech group have typically had to wait until the dust has settled before being announced at a low key October event – usually in its third week.

An October event has now been confirmed - specifically Tuesday 30 October - and it’s the place where Apple will reveal what they didn’t show off alongside its new iPhones and Watch on 12 September. 

Here’s what we could expect.

An ‘Affordable’ MacBook

Earlier this year, many all-knowing analysts – busy reviewing the profits and movements of the companies that make the components that Apple employs to fill its devices – pointed toward Apple releasing three new smartphones in 2018, alongside an affordable 13-inch MacBook Air.

While the iPhones emerged, an apparent issue with sourcing the right processors for the Air pushed its release back to October.

The new Air isn’t expected to have any significant new bells or whistles but a thorough upgrade on all that’s gone before: a 13-inch Retina high-resolution display, Touch ID, a new Intel chip and USB-C ports.

The main selling point of this MacBook Air won’t be a new tech gimmick, but will rather be its price point – way down at the bottom of Apple’s current pricing, sneaking in at under £1,000.

That would make it cheaper than all other MacBooks – and less than an iPhone XS. Madness. But good madness.

You may also like

The iPhone XS has two secret features that are good for your health

A new iPad Pro

Been eyeing up a new iPad? You may want to wait for the latest Pro model to emerge, with significant speculation that Apple is marrying several useful pieces of tech from its iPhone range with its next tablet.

Rumours point to a new iPad Pro emerging before the close of 2018 with the same TrueDepth front-facing camera system as the latest iPhones. This would solve a minor headache for developers keen to build apps that make use of the camera’s function across both the latest iPhones and iPads, rather than having to build drastically different versions for each device. As with the iPhone, it could also see the iPad Pro lose its home button in favour of reading its owner’s face to open, in turn making its achingly-beautiful screen even bigger – up to 11-inches.

The other significant shift set for the new Pro is a switch from Apple’s Lightning connector to USB-C. That means faster charging, faster uploads and a whole stack of new accessories to clutter your desk draws with.

Swapping to a USB-C connection could also allow the iPad Pro power a 4K external screen via a single cable, turning the touchscreen into a vast control pad for design work and presentations. Yes please.

An updated Mac Mini?

Alongside a new MacBook Air and iPad Pro, there’s one other small-yet-still-significant computing device that could receive a much-needed update later this month.

In 2017, an eager fan emailed Apple President Tim Cook asking if the beloved Mac Mini would ever gain a new set of features. Surprisingly, Tim Cook actually responded, assuring the customer that the micro powerhouse would “be an important part of our product line going forward.”

There’s a chance the Mini, launched back in 2014, could be modernised with multiple processors, improved graphics support, SSD storage and 4K video output as Apple looks to increase its computing sales with a more affordable offering.

2019 line up

Looking a little further afield, there’s an exciting array of products that Apple is set to polish off for launches throughout 2019.

The company is said to be hard at work prepping the successor to the impressive AirPods.

Possibly ready for a reveal at the October event before going on sale next spring, Apple is adding a significant set of features to compete in an increasingly crowded wireless earbud market:

• Noise-cancelling is set to be squeezed into the ‘Pods, letting you cut out the chatter and buzz of the commute

• The new AirPods 2 will be water resistant – though not fully waterproof. A stroll in the rain will be fine, but don’t go for a dip

• You’ll be able to activate Siri without using your hands to tap the new model, but rather uttering “Hey Siri” – great while you’re on the go, terrifying for the person sitting next to you on the bus

• Bluetooth range will be extended, meaning you can move further away from your device when listening or taking a call

Alongside new AirPods, Apple is also said to be working on over-ear headphones. Set to be released under the ‘Apple’ name, the over-ear ‘phones (AirPod Plus? EarPods?) will offer high-end wireless performance, taking on other noise-cancelling offerings from the likes of Bose, Sony and its own Beats label.

Another announcement set for next year is an updated, smaller HomePod. Apple’s home speaker hasn’t performed as well as hoped, largely down to its high price point (£319) compared to the likes of the Google Home (£129) and Amazon’s Alexa (£89.99).

A HomePod Mini and Hompod 2 will take on the likes of Google and Amazon, with a shift away from being a luxury wireless speaker to a more affordable connected speaker with features that revolve around an improved integration with Siri. 

Apple to take on Netflix

The other major launch expected from Apple in 2019 isn’t a gadget, but a new TV streaming package.

In June 2017, Apple hired Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg ¬– executives from Sony Picture Television behind the likes of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and The Crown.

At the time, Eddy Cue - Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services – stated that the company had “exciting plans in store for customers”, pointing towards Apple expanding its range of content offerings (think Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps) to a service that could take on Netflix, Amazon and other streaming services.

Erlicht and Amburg have since been selecting a line-up of original content set to bring subscribers in in their hundreds of thousands – but the exact nature of that content has apparently been a point of contention within the company.

The Wall Street Journal gained insider knowledge that Vital Signs – an original semi-biographical drama about the life of Dr Dre – was deemed too violent to be associated with Apple. Upon viewing the series, Tim Cook was apparently troubled by scenes that “featured characters doing lines of cocaine, an extended orgy in a mansion and drawn guns.” He declare that the show couldn’t be backed by Apple.

This prompted Apple to identify exactly what it did want to feature, telling agents and producers it was looking for “high-quality shows with stars and broad appeal”. Think less Game of Thrones, more Big Bang Theory.

Apple has apparently already invested some $1 billion into buying and creating its first set of original shows, which will include:

• An adaptation of the rollicking novel Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, about his escape from an Australian prison into the underbelly of Bombay, India

• A range of programmes developed by Oprah Winfrey, who signed a deal with Apple back in June

• A thriller series by M. Night Shyamalan

• An animated musical comedy titled Central Park, about a family of Central Park caretakers who have to save the world. It’s by Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, so it could be great

• A sci-fi/horror/fantasy series based on the classic Steven Spielberg 1980s show Amazing Stories – with Spielberg serving as executive producer. Think of it as a Black Mirror-episodic offering with more aliens

• A show from La La Land director Damien Chazelle

The content package could roll out as soon as spring 2019 (probably March), but Apple is yet to decide exactly how it wants to structure its service.

Some believe that Apple could run an entirely new Apple TV subscription, accessed online or on apps on iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs (the box, not the subscription service), separate from Apple Music. Other options include creating a single Apple content bundle, including music, TV and magazines from its Texture acquisition back in March.

However Apple decides to slice up its pie, you can expect to hear a lot more about its original content early next year.

No more Apple Car?

There’s one long-rumoured gadget we’d all like to see: the Apple Car.

Back in 2017 Tim Cook looked to have parked the idea of Apple building its own car altogether, telling Bloomberg that the company was instead focusing on the far less sexy world of ‘autonomous systems’. Rather than building a curvy dream machine of white plastic and metal with touchscreen steering wheels, Cook suggested that the company was turning its attention to what he described as the “mother of all AI projects”, creating solutions that help other manufacturers’ cars become fully self-driving. 

The company is clearly still hard at work on something, after reports emerged in August that one of their test vehicles, fitted with all manner of cameras and sensors, was driven into by a Nissan Leaf at 16mph.

We’ll bring you updates of any new rumours as soon as they surface. Until then, get yourselves ready for that 30 October show.

Most popular

• Was 'The Inbetweeners' ever truly acceptable?
• It turns out that Brexit could have this very strange consequence for Northern Ireland
• According to a massive study this is the exact amount of sleep you need
• According to research this is how you’re being judged on dating apps

Want great free content like this sent to you daily?

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(Images: Getty)

It’s easy to forget things, like, erm, that thing, what was that thing? Jeez, we had it a minute ago. No idea. It’s gone. Anyway, what we’re trying to say is that it’s easy, so we need as many tools as we can to remember things.

Like a font, maybe. A font, that we use to type - that will help us remember stuff, won’t it? Course it will.

Well, researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have managed to prove this ridiculous theory, and are looking out for that old brain of yours with the creation of a new font called ‘Sans Forgetica’, which will supposedly aid your mind in all its future endeavours.

The font has slices out of its letters and also a seven-degree slant and supposedly, that’s what you need to have a healthy brain. Take a look at it and you’ll live to 125.*

But there’s science here to back it up (ok, maybe not the live to 125 years-old bit…). The university tested the newly designed font on 400 students, and 57% of them remembered text written in Sans Forgetica, compared to 50% in everyone’s favourite font, Arial.

So how does it work? Well, it’s due to something called “desirable difficulty”. Essentially, it’ all to do with recognising that something is out of the ordinary.

You may also like

Why are our memories getting worse?

Senior marketing lecturer at RMIT, Janneke Blijlevens, said:

“When we want to learn something and remember it, it’s good to have a little bit of an obstruction added to that learning process because if something is too easy it doesn’t create a memory trace.

“If it’s too difficult, it doesn’t leave a memory trace either. So you need to look for that sweet spot.”

Typography lecturer Stephen Banham, added:

“The mind will naturally seek to complete those shapes and so by doing that it slows the reading and triggers memory.”

Researchers say it could be good for learning new languages, if not your own language - if you don’t know it already. Be careful though, because if you do plan on using it, Banham says that picking it for the long term “would probably induce a headache”. But then again, remember that time you had a headache?

EXACTLY.

*Not a guarantee.

More science?

• This is the scientific reason why you find horror films scary
• The science behind why you can never decide what to watch on Netflix
• We hate to break it to you, but you’ve probably been drinking your coffee wrong

Get ShortList Daily straight to your inbox for free

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(Image: Getty)

As you’re no doubt aware, we’re spending more time than ever looking at screens. According to recent research, British adults spend more time staring at mobiles and monitors than they do sleeping. We simply love our screens.

Of course, that puts a fair amount of strain on, well, a lot but particularly on the eyes and in turn can dry them out, which is why taking the time to look at literally anything else is essential.

So, with a nod to the irony of an online article encouraging you to look away from your screen, here’s how to make the most of your next digital break…

1. Do a puzzle 

Not only does perching a Rubik’s Cube atop your computer scream ‘lateral-thinking Brainiac at work’ to any passing bosses; it’s also a handy distraction for your next sliver of downtime. 

The key to a successful screen break is to get your brain working in a different way. Manipulating a Rubik’s Cube into something approaching completion encourages analytical and abstract thinking, as well as improving your ability to visualise things mentally. 

All of which is a welcome change of pace if you’re staring at a spreadsheet all day.

Crosswords, Sudokus, even a word search will do the job – anything to get your brain thinking differently. Go for the Rubik’s Cube, though. Retro science vibes FTW.

2. Write stuff down

Are you one of those people who insists on bringing their laptop to a meeting, and then proceeds to spend the next half-hour typing out notes / sniggering at WhatsApp? 

If so, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW.

Not only are you passing up on the opportunity to give your eyes a rest, but the chances are those notes you’re making aren’t actually sinking in. 

Writing notes by hand requires the brain to summarise and engage with the information more intensively, with studies showing that those making notes by hand are able to recall the recorded information far better than those using a laptop for the same purpose.

Give your eyes a well-earned rest and let your brain pick up the slack.

3. Reset your eyes

Giving your eyes a rest from staring at a screen is one thing, but what else can you do to give them some serious R&R? Well, according to a host of optical experts, the best course of action is to apply the ‘20-20-20 rule’.

Never heard of it? In a nutshell, this is the theory that, for every 20 minutes of screen use, you should focus on something 20ft away and stare at it for at least 20 seconds.

By gazing at something in the distance, you’ll be relaxing the focusing muscle within the eye, giving it a chance to recover from all that screen time. Keep up the 20-20-20 rule throughout the day and you should noticeably reduce eye fatigue.

Surprisingly, it’s also often hard to keep up with your eyes’ moisture levels. If you want to quickly gauge whether or not you’re suffering from dry eyes, take Optrex’s Dry Eye Blink Test online. It literally takes seconds and you might be surprised by the results…

4. Talk to a human

Sure, you probably don’t want to be doing this on a Monday or Friday when you’ll rightly be trying to insulate yourself from a tidal wave of ‘How was your weekend/Any plans for the weekend?’ banality. 

But Tuesday through Wednesday? Time to break away from your inbox and actually do your talking face-to-face.

Nobody ever complained about not receiving enough emails. Indeed, a 2018 study found that the average employee receives 121 emails per day. That’s a lot. 

Time, then, for you to reinvent yourself as the office maverick by actually walking over to a colleague’s desk and asking them whatever it is you need to know in person.

Bill Murray famously won’t respond to emails at all, insisting on taking all potential job offers over the phone. Be more like Bill.

Optrex ActiMist 2 in 1 Dry + Irritated Eye Spray repairs the eye’s lipid layer and locks in natural moisture. Wondering whether you might have dry eyes? To find out, take the Optrex Dry Eye Blink Test online. As it’s National Eye Health Week (24th – 30th September) Optrex and Boots are offering in-store blink tests* at White City and Piccadilly Circus on Thursday - Friday (27th – 28th ) and Kensington and Oracle Reading on Saturday - Sunday (29th- 30th ).

*This is not a diagnostic tool.

When you shell out thousands of quid for your latest iPhone and Macbook combos, literally the last thing in the world you need is for your shiny new screens to get scuffed, marked and – worst of all – cracked.

And despite the most diligent treatment and the hardiest cases, sometimes damage is just unavoidable.

But, according to a newly-released patent, Apple is now working on technology that would make all of its devices scratchproof and unbendable - the latter a particularly useful asset to have following the iPhone 6 ‘bendgate’ issue in 2014.

According to the patent, Apple is working on an abrasion-resistant finish that can protect the company’s device from wear and tear, Techradarreports.

The patent is called ‘Abrasion-Resistant Surface Finishes On Metal Enclosures’ and it explains that there will be two layers to screens in the future – one lower metallic layer and one harder outer layer coated in either a ceramic material or a carbon-based substance with similar hardness to diamond.

The outer layer is described as being between 0.5 micrometers to 3 micrometers and the lower layer will measure between 8-30 micrometers.

And the abrasive-resistant coating will reportedly be applied over the paint layer, potentially meaning we could see more colour options in the future for Apple products.

All this sounds pretty promising but there’s one big question on our techy minds: can this new technology ever stand up to the mighty Nokia 3310?

One of the most popular phone handsets ever produced, the Nokia 3310 crashed onto the scene in 2000 and its durability hasn’t ever really been matched. Plus, it had changeable covers! Remember those?

Apple, you’ve still got a lot of work to do to match this telephone titan. 

Want great free content like this sent to you daily?

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(Images: Getty / Apple / United States Patent and Trademark Office)

Remember a little while ago when we said you might want to hold fire on replacing your old Macbook? Well, we’ve got an update on that for you.

We mentioned how Apple likes to ramp up new product announcements as we move from summer into autumn, and now it looks like the Macbook Air could be getting some TLC in the next wave.

That’s right, it’s time to expect a very subtle change to the laptops you see four or five people working on in the window of your nearest café every single day.

There’s a new Macbook Air on the way, according to Bloomberg, but it will reportedly have a better screen resolution than the current device.

Essentially, it will be catching up with other Apple laptops by moving over to the ‘retina’ display, the as-yet-unconfirmed reports suggest.

No price point has been confirmed, though it is expected to be cheaper than current non-Air models. The Macbook Air model currently listed on Apple’s site retails at £949, significantly less than the Macbook (£1,249) Macbook Pro 13-inch (£1,249-1,749) and Macbook Pro 15-inch (£2,349).

We’re likely to learn more about any new releases in the coming months, and many will be keen to learn whether the patent Apple took out for a new laptop that merges with your phone will be acted upon.

We’ll find out, for example, whether there will be new Macbooks released which are cheaper than the iPhone 8.

Oh, and Apple will likely be announcing new iPhone models around the same time - head here to find out everything we currently know about those.

Want great free content like this sent to you daily?

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(Images: Pexels)

If you’re reading this story on a Mac computer, take a look down at your keyboard.

You probably haven’t given it much thought before. You’re probably too busy wondering if it’s time to replace your computer or whether you should wait a little longer before taking the plunge. But you should take a look now.

Everything’s the same as on your old Windows PC, right? Well, apart from a few little things. That symbol on the ‘command’ key, for example.

“That does look a little weird, doesn’t it,” you whisper to yourself. “I wonder if there’s an interesting story behind it.” Well, guess what…

Andy Hertzfeld, a member of Apple’s development team in the early days, explained how the icon came about back in the ‘80s.

It’s difficult to come up with a small icon that means “command”, and we didn’t think of anything right away, he wrote, explaining that the original plan was to use the Apple logo on that button before Steve Jobs demanded they go with something else.

“We thought it was important for the user to be able to invoke every menu command directly from the keyboard, so we added a special key to the keyboard to invoke menu commands, just like our predecessor, Lisa. We called it the “Apple key”; when pressed in combination with another key, it selected the corresponding menu command. We displayed a little Apple logo on the right side of every menu item with a keyboard command, to associate the key with the command.

“One day, late in the afternoon, Steve Jobs burst into the software fishbowl area in Bandley III, upset about something. This was not unusual. I think he had just seen MacDraw for the first time, which had longer menus than our other applications.

“There are too many Apples on the screen! It’s ridiculous! We’re taking the Apple logo in vain! We’ve got to stop doing that!”

“Our bitmap artist Susan Kare had a comprehensive international symbol dictionary and she leafed through it, looking for an appropriate symbol that was distinctive, attractive and had at least something to do with the concept of a menu command.

“Finally she came across a floral symbol that was used in Sweden to indicate an interesting feature or attraction in a campground… Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.”

Okay, that’s part of the mystery solved, but why do the Swedes (and those in a handful of other countries) use that symbol? Well, it turns out there’s an interesting story behind that too.

Related

- This is how much Apple is now worth (and how they made such an eye-watering amount of money)

- These 2004 Apple ‘rules for success’ show why the company was so successful

You probably haven’t been to Borgholm Castle, situated on the 25,000-population island of Oland in the Baltic Sea, off Sweden’s east coast.

Even if you have visited the 17th-century fortress, now home to a museum, you’re probably wondering what it has to do with the command symbol.

Well, unless you took a helicopter in, you probably haven’t seen the castle from above.

That’s right, it’s the exact same symbol from Swedish road signs and, yes, your computer. It is unclear whether those designing the road signs were inspired by the castle specifically, or whether they took their inspiration from the centuries-old Gotlandic symbol which shares its design.

If Steve Jobs hadn’t objected to the dev team’s original plans to use the Apple logo on the command button, we might never have known about Borgholm Castle, and that would have been a shame.

Want great free content like this sent to you daily?

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(Images: Pixabay/Getty)

How long have you had your current laptop? It’s a while, right? Long enough that you’re looking for an upgrade? Hold that thought.

If you’re planning on getting a new Macbook – and that goes for those of you already using an Apple computer as well as those of you planning on mixing it up – it might be worth holding fire just for the time being. And it’s nothing to do with those annoying desktop notifications.

Apple has announced the launch of new Macbook pro models with faster processors, but the decision over whether to go for a new one isn’t as simple as it might sound.

Read more: If it’s not already too late – this is why you should wait before updating your iPhone

As Lifehacker notes, “Though Apple has made the MacBook pro’s keyboard quieter, it hasn’t necessarily made it better,” and this is just one reason to maybe hold fire.

In a statement, Apple acknowledged a keyboard issue on certain models, including several released in 2016 and 2017, but the new keyboard – while said by Apple to be quieter - might still not be up everyone’s alley.

Still, the site points out that, if you want the most powerful Macbook you can get, and if that’s your only priority, you might be good to go. If you’re deciding between a Macbook Pro and the lighter Macbook Air, though, you might be best to give it a few months.

The reason for this? Apple tends to save a lot of big announcements for the autumn months, and this isn’t just restricted to new iPhone models.

Lifehacker’s David Murphy has advised against investing in a Macbook Air or regular Macbook in its current guise, and has speculated about what we might get in any potential autumn update.

“Maybe you’ll get an extra port. Maybe you’ll get a price drop. Either way, if you haven’t purchased a MacBook already, you’ve been waiting pretty long. What’s a few more months to make sure you’re buying the best MacBook you can buy?” Murphy writes.

Additionally, he points out it has been a while since the Macbook Air was given major improvements - it could be a sink or swim situation, but with rumours of cheaper models what’s the harm in waiting?

Get our best stories straight to your inbox

Get exclusive shortlists, celebrity interviews and the best deals on the products you care about, straight to your inbox.

(Images: Pexels)

Unless you’re at work or maybe on a train, the chances are pretty high that you use your computer by resting it on your lap. But have you ever wondered what impact this might be having on your between-me-down-theres? My computer is pretty old and it feels like it gets as hot as the sun… and what about radiation? Is that an issue?

Now, a panel of experts have spoken to The Verge about everything you could ever want to know on the topic.

Essentially, it’s pretty good news. There is no credible evidence that using a laptop on your lap will damage your genitals or have any real effect on your fertility.

• On the topic of laptops, these are the best laptops for students.

Dr John Emory, an endocrinologist at the University of Washington Medical Centre, said: “The good news is that laptop use shouldn’t have any negative impact on fertility.”

Dr Sarah Vaugh, an infertility fellow at Stanford University, agreed that there are not enough studies on the issue to prove that this is a major problem.

And the reason that we don’t really need to be worried is that laptops don’t get hot enough to cause any real damage. It’s true that testicles need to remain cool – that’s why they’re on the outside of the body – but laptop heat just isn’t high enough to affect sperm production.

However, the experts agreed that if you are concerned about your fertility you might want to stick to a desk just in case.

Read more: If smoking is so damn bad for you why don’t they just make it illegal?

And they also agreed that radiation from a laptop is so tiny you really don’t need to worry – it’s the same amount of radiation as going on a plane or even walking around outside.

The doctors, however, did have some advice about other things you should avoid to make sure your fertility isn’t damaged:

• Prolonged time spent in very hot hot-tubs
• Marijuana
• Opiates
• Alcoholism

And, according to the NHS, if you or your partner has been diagnosed with a low sperm count, there are several options available. You can help maximise your chances of conceiving by:

• Having sex every two or three days
• Moderating your alcohol consumption and stopping smoking
• Staying in good shape, exercising regularly and having a healthy, balanced diet

(Images: Getty / Unsplash)

If you’re planning on splashing out for a new laptop anytime soon, consider holding on for a bit. Apple are apparently soon to unveil secret plans for cheaper MacBooks and AirPods, according to securities analysts.

Based on supply chain details pored over in fine detail by people who know what such things mean, it seems that there might be plans afoot to release a 13-inch MacBook Air with a lower price point than before - while Apple have kind of neglected the Air line of computers, they’ve continually sold well, mainly to students. 

They currently start at US$999 in America and £849 here, but that’s expected to drop for the new model with GHB Insights analyst Daniel Ives telling The Sun: “We believe a lower priced MacBook Air will be introduced over the coming months as Apple’s looking to capture demand with a more digestible price,”

“We believe $799 and possible $699 will be the prices for this next version.” 

If true this would make the new MacBook cheaper than the iPhone 8, which currently starts at £699. The device is predicted to come out in the second quarter of 2018, so pretty soon, and is part of a plan to increase annual MacBook sales by up to 15%. Apple are the most profitable company in the world, so they’re hardly struggling for sales, but iPhone X sales have been underwhelming (because the iPhone X costs as much as a house) so maybe they’re anxious to make up for the shortfall.

When Steve Jobs unveiled the first MacBook Air back in 2008, he did it by taking the computer out of an envelope - ultra-thinness has always been the USP of the range. Like, it was a big envelope - it wasn’t like people expected it to only contain a birthday card. It clearly had something of substance in it, but of impressively thin substance. There are definitely envelopes that contain thicker documents though. If you get divorced, that’s probably thicker than a MacBook Air, I’d wager. In fact, it would take a pile of five MacBook Airs to be as tall as one Big Mac. That’s thin.

They’re less powerful than a standard MacBook but ever so slender.

Change is also afoot with AirPods, Apple’s wireless, gravity-defying Bluetooth headphones. A new version with increased Siri functionality and less tapping is expected to drop in the second half of the year. Instead of having to tap a headphone before commanding Siri to adjust the volume (or whatever your request is), you’ll be able to just say “Hey Siri” if you wish.

It should make people look a bit less like they’re talking to off-screen producers and a bit more like they’re losing their minds. Fun!

(Images: Apple/Pixabay/Rex)

I had a Sega Game Gear when I was a young buck, and the first game I got on it was Jurassic Park, because dinosaurs are the cat’s pyjamas. Shame then, that they are also terrifying, and as such, I was unable to make it past the second level. It was too stressful, too scary, too much like not fun, so this short dalliance with video games was not to last. Purchasing Sonic the Hedgehog did nothing to suggest that I was simply experiencing an unwarranted, solitary objection to prehistoric beasts, as I also refused to play past the second level on that. Too scared of the Eggman.

As such, my father forced himself to complete both games, because he’d paid actual money for the infernal device, and someone had to get their money’s worth. I, the ungrateful, lily-livered baby, had moved on - gaming was not for me, it seemed.

Until I got a PC many years later, anyway. For it was at this point I discovered that it was possible to play almost any game from the perspective of a cur, dishonestly making your way through the levels unscathed, safe, without fear. You could cheat. You could tap away at the keyboard, and suddenly you couldn’t die. You had all the weapons. You were invisible. You had, erm, a massive head.

How had I not seen this before? Gone was the quitting invertebrate I once was; now I was the all-powerful, inventory-stocked superhuman - I was finally able to enjoy gaming without the constant fear of imminent death greasing up my palms to a level entirely unconducive to gripping onto anything plastic. I now understood what all the fuss was about.

But don’t get your back up - wipe that spit off your screen - because I’m allowed to use cheats if I want. I’m not hurting anyone, and there’s reasoning here:

I am a scaredy-cat baby

Look, the first time I ever played Half-Life, the exact second that the very first monster appeared, I immediately launched from my bed and turned off the Playstation 2 at the wall with a sharp, dog-bothering screech. I was one second from hurling it through my bedroom window and locking myself in the attic for a year.

I mean, I love horror movies, like really love them, but stick a sodding controller in my hands and make me play through anything remotely scary, and the parts of my body where skin meets become wetter than a newt’s handshake. Gimme a few sweet cheats though, and maybe I’ll be able to get a bit further along, just without the constant underlying threat that I might soil the left corner of the room at any given moment.

So let me shove god-mode on for a bit and enjoy the game - I don’t care if I’m cheating - I’m still having fun. And that’s literally the point of playing a game: me, the big baby, going goo-goo gaa-gaa, big helmet on, the scary monsters not allowed to hurt me, just having a nice play on the putey game. Leave me alone.

If you could refrain from rushing me, that would be nice and I’d like it

A time limit on anything stresses me out to a degree entirely detrimental to my heart and/or my blood pressure. I do not require constant prodding, I do not desire a metal poker held over an open flame until it throbs red, and then jammed up my arse when I’m slacking. It puts me on edge, and any enjoyment I may have had the capacity to express, is unceremoniously sapped from my being.

How is anyone supposed to enjoy anything with a time limit on it? Constantly counting down, never stopping, ticking along to my inevitable death, because I couldn’t reach a stupid checkpoint or something else entirely arbitrary and insulting.

I played the Carmageddon games almost entirely without cheats, but putting a cork on that godforsaken timer was my first port of call every time. Not having that little digital twerp sitting up there and tapping its nails on my forehead, enabled me to relax my neck and enjoy the game. Piss off, clock, if that is your real name. 

I get dangerously stressed and have the capacity to explode into fits of rage when faced with a repetitive or difficult virtual challenge 

I am a relatively calm man - not many people have ever seen me lose it, throw the proverbial ‘strop’. However, there is a select group of triggers that will send me flying into a veiny, neck-tensed full-body hemorrhage, and they are: wires, drawers, packaging, technology and computer game enemies. 

As such, if there’s a particular enemy or obstacle in a game that I find intensely annoying (the archers in any Dynasty Warriors game, the honey badgers in Far Cry 4, any of the wankers in Super Mario Bros) then I will flip in the face of them. 

I will be revealed as the entirely unstable human that I truly am, as I shout offensive obscenities at the ceiling until my eyes go completely white. You know the ones - where they start as a recognisable swear word, but mid-way through transform into a full-on T-rex scream: squeezing the controller until it cracks while bellowing “You cccuuuuuaaAAARRRRRRHHHHHHHHH!!!!” at a cartoon turtle. That kind of carry-on. 

Dab my face with a little bit of cheat ointment though, and I am calm once again, safe around others, not a fire hazard.

I appreciate a good story, but hate ‘threat’

One of my favourite games of the past few years was Firewatch - a game without any real, immediate threat, and a distinct lack of enemies. Not that it didn’t scare the absolute hind off me, but you know, it wasn’t hair-trigger stuff - no screaming, basically.

Thing is, most games do involve a never-ending horde of suckers tryna whack you, and sometimes, I don’t choose to deal with it. I want to enjoy the story, I want to follow the game through - a bit like watching a movie - but I don’t want the constant threat, the bubbling menace under the surface, preventing me from relaxing or enjoying myself.

As such, I’m cheating, and it’s letting me follow the adventure and properly get involved without constantly shrieking or elbowing my sippy cup of milk off my high-chair every time anything on screen moves. It’s nice to be a real boy, not a perennially on-edge deer, exploding in a cloud of fear every ten seconds.

I want to experience the full game, but do not necessarily posses the required skill to do this

If I’m not very good at video games (which I’m not), but I still want to experience the full game and truly take in everything, then sometimes cheats are the only way. I want to see all the special moves that my character can do, I want to see all the fancy weapons they can have, I want the tank, give me the tank, I want the fucking tank right now the tank the tank THE TANK.

There are also often parts of a game that can only be accessed by using cheats. Like, you could play the entire game without any help like the martyr that you are, but you could easily be missing out on huge chunks of juicy content, just because you’re a straight-edge snore-fest. As such, I’m afraid to reveal: you’re going to have to pummel in a forbidden code sooner or later, or stuff is going to pass you by.

For example, you can hack and slash your way through the whole of Diablo II, unlock everything, beat everyone, really shaft the whole map, but you’d never have the pleasure of exploding a big herd of cows on the secret bovine level. Why? Because you explicitly need to enter a cheat to get there. Don’t worry about detention, Cuthbert, and live a little, you two-shoed, melting do-gooding prig.

I applaud the work of everyone involved in the game, and want to fully enjoy all their input. I love each and every one of those clever bastards

I don’t really know what the following anecdote says about me as a person, but I’ve revealed worse about myself on the internet, so: when playing the extremely violent FPS Soldier of Fortune and its sequel as a teenager, I would put the ‘notarget’ cheat on, meaning that all the enemies would stand still and be unable to see me.

I would do this because the game had a very sophisticated gore engine which meant you could blow off individual bits of a person in excruciating detail. Thing was, when they were running about and everyone was trying to kill you, you didn’t really get to appreciate all of the detail that was put into this disgusting feature.

But have a load of gormless automatons stand there motionless while you meticulously destroy individual parts of their body with a shotgun and revel in the lurid design work on display, and you can! A weird thing to do, worrying even, but maybe I’m simply waging a solo crusade against the neglect that video game artists experience on a day to day basis. Ever think of that, you ungrateful horse? Ever think of all the cage-fed game designers huddled together in a thankless coop, sweating blood into an important part of a game that you selfishly deem inconsequential? What about them? I care about them and want to romance them all.

I like a good joke as much as the next man

I know this: you have played Goldeneye on the N64 with the big head mode cheat activated at least once. You have done this, because people with big heads are funny. Easter Island is funny, Gordon Ramsay is funny, your dad is funny (because he’s got a big head) - big heads are good and a laugh, and you’re only going to get that in Goldeneye if you’re cheating.

Dumb rubbish like this is often hidden in games, and really, it’s incorrect to even call them ‘cheats’. Often they don’t have any bearing on how you play the game - they’re just a childish laugh given to you for free, a tiny gift of mirth from the devs direct to you and your diaphragm. Play as a stick of tofu in Resident Evil 2! Become a washing machine in Banjo Kazooie! Fight with brooms in Lego Star Wars: The Video Game! Actually manage to complete a game without rushing to the toilet every ten minutes! How hilarious!

Cheats are fun and secret, like being a spy in the war

When you are a secret service agent, you do stuff in codes, don’t you? It’s all very hush-hush and cloak-and-dagger, and that’s exactly what it’s like with video game cheats. I remember printing off a giant list of video game cheats from the internet - it was my Bible, my secret safe-cracker. I was Alan Turing, and I was breaking into these high-security games and stealing their secrets. 

And if you had a cheat cartridge, then by golly, you were a computer hacker possessing of a skill only Anonymous would be able to rival. I had the Xploder, a magical block that you inserted into your Playstation 2 and ‘hacked’ into whatever game was in the console - it made it possible to cheat on uncheatable games, like a true charlatan. A cool computer hacker leaning back on your swivel chair and spinning around with your hands clasped across your chest.

Either that, or a wizard, because you can get yersel fuh if you think I can explain how one of those things works.

I’m not hurting anybody, but myself (the best person to hurt)

Look, if you start cheating on multiplayer games (like paying for aimbots - software that helps you shoot on target), then yes, you are a slug, and you do not deserve to play, but when you’re simply indulging your own I-am-only-going-to-wear-my-boxers-and-eat-crisps-all-day-in-bed personal whims, then where’s the casualty? 

It’s difficult to cheat online nowadays - Microsoft can brand you with a ‘cheater’ label on their leader-boards if you cheat on Xbox games - but there are still ways around it. Don’t seek them out though, you slime-bug, because then you’re actively cheating other people, especially when money is involved. Confine your dishonesty to your own stinky private quarters, and you can do what you want, guilt-free. The only thing you’re damaging is your proclivity for winning - so prepare for a rude awakening whence you leave your hovel and the sun hits your eyes - things are different in the real world, and cheating doesn’t always get you what you want.

Trust me - last time I had an appraisal in my boss’s office and started jumping, crouching, sidestepping left and right then punching and kicking the air to collect all the promotions, I collected all the sacks instead.

Still, at least my massive head was funny.

(Images: iStock)

If your laptop or desktop computer is a Mac, there’s a good chance you’ll have spent plenty of time telling people how much better it is than the alternative.

Whether or not that is true, you’ll still have a few major irritations, not least the pop-ups you’re greeted with whenever an update rolls around.

Sure, you can get rid of them temporarily by asking to be reminded later that day, or the next day, but they’ll always eventually return.

Or will they?

If you were at a loss when it comes to figuring out how to make the update notices disappear, LifeHacker has the answer.

As with many of these things, there are two ways to achieve one thing – though one of the pair has some different side effects.

Option A requires you to open System Preferences, select the App Store icon and make sure the boxes entitled ‘Download newly available updates in the background’ and ‘Install macOS updates’ are both checked.

As you can guess, that will mean getting subtle background notifications that an update is taking place, before that notification drifts away into the background itself.

But how about option B. You could, if you wanted, uncheck both boxes – that way you won’t even get the subtle pop-up.

Of course that means that, while you won’t be stuck with unnecessary updates, you’ll also miss out on more crucial patches.

So far, so good, right? Well, there’s still the small matter of High Sierra updates, which (a) can’t be dealt with in the same way and (b) can slow you right down if you’ve got an older machine.

As MakeUseOf explains, there are – you guessed it – two ways to do this.

The ‘easy’ way involves going to updates, hitting Ctrl+Click on the Mac OS High Sierra banner at the top, and selecting ‘hide update’.

The ‘hard’ way is something you’re only likely to need if, for one reason or another, the above doesn’t work. Here goes.

Step 1: Open your Mac finder and click Go > Go to Folder

Step 2: Type ‘/Library/Bundles’ into the dialogue box (minus the quote marks).

Step 3: An icon marked ‘OSXNotification.bundle’ should be visible. Drag it elsewhere (you can move it back later if needed).

Step 4: Enter your admin password when prompted

Step 5: Restart.

That’s it. Now you can never be bothered by an unwanted notification again.

(Images: iStock/Apple/Pixabay)

Shortcuts on computers are amazing and that is scientific fact. They save you loads of time and effort, and enable you to capitalise on those creative ideas while they’re running through your head, rather than inspiration leaving you before you’ve had chance to get anything finished as you get stuck clumsily trying to move things around.

However, I learned this the hard way. After resolutely sticking to my guns, it took months of persuasion from a good friend to get me to move away from manually doing copy and paste via the top menu and change to control C, control V. After finally trying out the shortcut method for about five minutes I realised what a fool I had been. If I could have started my life again and fixed my mistake, I would have done, but alas, it was too late.

Don’t be like me. Take a look at this list of shortcuts compiled by Gizmodo, try them out, appreciate their excellence, commit them to memory, and don’t look back, as you roar off into the sunset of guaranteed success and happiness. 

Universal shortcuts

1) Web browsing: swipe left with two fingers to return to the previous page, swipe right with two fingers to go forward

2) You don’t need to click and drag to select text: click/tap once at the start of the text, and then shift and click/tap at the end

3) Use control and click (Windows, Chrome OS), cmd and click (macOS), or click using the scroll wheel to open links in a new tab

Windows shortcuts

4) Click the scroll wheel to drop ‘anchor’ and then simply move the mouse up or down to scroll in that direction

5) Holding shift while scrolling up or down changes it to scrolling left and right

6) Clicking on an icon on the taskbar using the scroll wheel will launch another window for the app

7) Swipe up with three fingers to see all the apps you’ve got open

8) Swipe down with three fingers to minimise all open windows and get straight to the desktop

9) Swipe left or right with three fingers to switch between open windows

10) Tap with three fingers on the trackpad to access Cortana

11) Tap with four fingers on the trackpad to access the Action Centre

12) Swipe left or right with four fingers to switch between virtual desktops

13) Hold down the control key and scroll up or down with the mouse wheel to zoom in and out

macOS shortcuts

Note: if any of the below don’t work, head to Trackpad in System Preferences (from the Apple menu) and make sure they’re enabled

14) Use a two-finger swipe from the very right of the trackpad to open the Notification Centre

15) Pinch in with three fingers and a thumb on the trackpad to see the Launchpad

16) Swipe out with three fingers and a thumb to minimise all open windows

17) Double-tap with two fingers on the trackpad to intelligently zoom in or out

18) Swipe left or right with four fingers to switch between desktop spaces

19) Hold down the option key while clicking anything and - surprise - you’ll discover more options

20) If you have a Force Touch trackpad, click down heavier on any address to see a preview of it in Maps

21) Use a Force click on the fast-forward or rewind buttons in QuickTime or iMovie to increase the speed

22) Use a Force click on a date or event to add them to your calendar

Chrome OS

23) Tap on the touchpad with three fingers whilst over a link and it will open in a new tab. Ctrl+Tap will also do this

24) Swipe left or right with three fingers on the trackpad to scroll through open tabs

25) Tap with three fingers on the trackpad whilst over an open tab at the top of Chrome OS and it will close it

26) Swipe down with three fingers and you’ll see all your open Chrome OS windows

27) Pinch-to-zoom has recently been added to some models of Chrome OS trackpads

(Main image: John Reign Abarintos, other images: iStock)

Leaving your laptop open or unlocked is a mug’s game, isn’t it? Leave it unattended for longer than three minutes and your CV will have been edited to list ‘masturbation’ as a hobby or interest, your Facebook status will have been updated and your email signature amended. No good at all.

You’ll be really happy to hear, in that case, that there’s a massive security flaw that will allow anyone to unlock your Mac using a single word! Yay!

The flaw happens on the latest operating system, High Sierra (version 10.13.1), and allows anyone to log in by typing ‘root’ in the username field. 

According to TechCrunch, the bug is ‘most easily accessed’ via Preferences. 

“The bug is most easily accessed by going to Preferences and then entering one of the panels that has a lock in the lower left-hand corner,” they explain. “Normally you’d click that to enter your username and password, which are required to change important settings like those in Security & Privacy.”

But now, someone would just need to enter ‘root’ instead of your user name – after a few goes, it’ll give them access to everything. Not great, is it.

Apple has released a statement on the flaw, saying it is “working on an update to address the issue”. 

“In the meantime, setting a root password prevents unauthorized access to your Mac,” it says. “To enable the Root User and set a password, please follow the instructions here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204012. If a Root User is already enabled, to ensure a blank password is not set, please follow the instructions from the ‘Change the root password’ section.”

Obviously this is a huge security risk that could do more damage than an errant CV edit - so make sure you keep an eye on your Mac until the problem is sorted. 

What do you do with your free time? Watch a bit of telly? Flick about on a tablet? Go on a Wikipedia adventure on your laptop? Scroll through Insta on your phone?

Probably a combination of all four (sometimes at once). You certainly don’t go for a walk, play some squash, go on a bike ride or do some yoga, do you?

Take a look at those first four scenarios again – what do they all have in common?

Exactly, I do all of them naked. Oh and also they all involve staring at a screen.

Adam Alter, an psychologist at New York University did a TED Talk all about the way we use our free time, and it turns out that – especially when compared to just 10 years ago – we’re glued to various iterations of the idiot box all the time.

Here’s a chart to show his findings:

So, the blue stuff is sleeping, working and things like eating and washing (survival), then the red shows screen-time, and the white and yellow is for other pursuits like ‘exercising’, ‘reading’ or ‘seeing how many caterpillars you can fit in your mouth’ etc. Basically: look how much time we spend gorming at a screen, eyes glazed, brain melting, blinks slowing. It’s lots.

Alter talks about how screens rob us of ‘stopping cues’ – which basically means that once you start staring, you can’t stop. When you’ve finished a book, you’ve finished a book, but you’ve never ‘finished’ Instagram or Twitter. 

He also breaks up screen-time into different sections. It’s not all bad, thankfully – on average we spend nine minutes every day looking at stuff that enriches us, like a health app, or Tinder. Unfortunately, we spend 27 minutes glued to stuff that make us feel worse about ourselves, like a news app, or Tinder.

His advice is pretty obvious: take a break now and again. Get outside, block an app, draw a picture, draw a picture of yourself blocking an app whilst outside – anything to tear you away from a screen. This is because an unhealthy addiction to a flat piece of glass can lead to feelings of isolation:

“You get used to it, you overcome the withdrawal like you would with a drug, and life becomes more colourful, richer.”

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of a scroll here and there, just keep it under control. I normally keep it to a minimum of an hour a day. That’s not including Tinder, obviously. Then it’s more like 27 hours a day.

Donald Trump’s had another cracking week of PR, so naturally he’s going to deal with it in the only way he knows how: by announcing something ludicrous so everyone concentrates on that instead of the fact that he’s fired the guy investigating him which definitely isn’t suspicious at all, no sir, definitely not suspicious.

And his latest wheeze? He’s going to ban laptops, notebooks and similar devices from cabins on flights to the US from Europe and the UK.

European security officials told The Daily Beast about the plans, which are expected to be officially announced today (Thursday). Laptops are already banned from flights from ten airports in eight Middle Eastern Countries, apparently following evidence of a plot to blow up aircraft using notebooks packed with explosives.

As The Register explains beautifully, the ban makes little sense on any level, and could seriously harm the aviation industry, since the ban would hugely impact on businesspeople, who use the fact that they can work in-flight to justify the enormous cost of Business and First Class flights. If they can’t work, they’ll be much more likely to take the cheaper cabin class.

In addition, people would undoubtedly be dissuaded from taking their devices at all, since having to part with them opens up the possibility that they could be stolen, cloned, or simply end up in a different country if their luggage goes missing. And if they can’t take their devices, they may not even bother making the journey.

And will the ban make flying safer? Probably not, since any bomb-laden laptop that gets through security would simply end up in the hold instead of the cabin, which could make any firefighting even more difficult. At the end of the day, if it makes it through the checks, it’s going on the plane either way.

It’s undoubtedly a move to give the appearance of protecting American citizens, even if the reality is that it’s absolutely pointless; something which is not exactly new in politics, and is almost de rigeur for Donald Trump.

It’ll be back to reading books and trying not to kill the kid kicking the back of your chair then. Great.

(Image: iStock)

This is such a good idea that we can’t believe no one’s done this before.

It’s emerged that Apple filed a patent in September last year for a notebook ‘chassis’ into which you can insert your iPhone – which becomes a trackpad – or an iPad, which becomes a touchscreen.

That’s right – you’ll basically be able to turn your phone or iPad into a laptop format, enabling you to make use of all that computing power in a different way.

Related: on the subject of laptops, you might be interested to discover the best laptops for students.

However, the terms of the patent dictate that the accessory device (ie. the ‘laptop’ chassis) can have “little or no independent processing resources in the form of a CPU or similar comprehensive processor” – so it won’t be able to add computing power to whatever your iPhone or iPad gives it. However it can provide ‘extended functionality’ – that is, “auxiliary processing resources, such a graphical processing unit, or GPU, or other processing resources that can support the functions of the portable computing device”.

Of course, this being Apple, it’s not an entirely new idea, with the ASUS Padfone attempting something similar back in 2014, although to be fair it is distinctively different enough to be granted a patent.

And, of course, you could argue that devices that can turn your phone or tablet into a laptop already exist, with bluetooth keyboards and the like. However, this does look rather more elegant a solution for the iPad, and the iPhone version is particularly novel, enabling you to not only type properly, but also utilise the phone as a trackpad for navigation.

Apple files many of these patents, so it remains to be seen if it ever sees the light of day, but it could be an extremely cool accessory in the near future.

Devices that you can talk to, space missions to Mars, hoverboards that actually work – we’re literally living in the future aren’t we?

But, of course, science fiction predicted all this stuff years ago, so it’s only right that tech firms tip their hats occasionally to our visionary forefathers when reality catches up with their forward-thinking.

And a neat little addition to Amazon’s Echo is what every Star Trek fan has wanted since the launch of the product: you can now wake it up by saying ‘computer’.

Yes, that’s right, you can now pretend that your humble abode is, in fact, the Starship Enterprise, by shouting ‘computer’ and then instructing your machine to play a tune or read the news, or whatever else you want it to do.

The option has been rolled out over the last week or so - if you’re one of the lucky ones, you can change your wake word via the Alex app, where it now appears as an option alongside Alexa, Amazon or Echo.

The move comes as no surprise given that Amazon executives have previously admitted that the Enterprise’s computer inspired the making of Alexa. The company’s CEO Jeff Bezos is also a huge Trekkie and was even given a cameo in Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond.

[via Mashable]

Apple has unveiled three new models of MacBook Pro at a suitably polished event in at its campus in California, showing off a brand new adaptive 'Touch Bar' that replaces your function keys with more useful, intuitive shortcuts. Here's everything you need to know.

There are three models

• A 15-inch MacBook Pro, with the new Touch Bar and TouchID finger print scanner, brighter screen and improved internal specs. It's available for pre-order now, from £2,349
• A 13-inch MacBook Pro, that also features the new Touch Bar and TouchID finger print scanner. It's available for pre-order now, from £1,749
• A 'budget' model 13-inch MacBook Pro, that lacks the new Touch Bar but features improved specs over previous MacBook Pro models. It's available from 1 November, from £1,449

What does the Touch Bar do?

When was the last time you used a 'Function' button (that's F1 through to F12 for the uninitiated)? No, on purpose - not after accidentally hitting one when you went to wipe something off your screen? 

Apple has a much better idea for a function bar; an OLED (sexy screen) touch bar that changes depending on whatever program you're using on your MacBook Pro. Listening to something on iTunes? The Touch Bar will change to useful playback controls. Typing something into a messenger service? You'll be presented with emoji shortcuts. Safari will display each tab in miniature on the bar for you to swap between. Other programs will allow you to chose custom controls. 

No, it's not a full touch screen. If you want one of those, get a Microsoft Surface Book. 

Anything else?

The other most notable changes are what Apple has taken away from the MacBook Pro: there's no longer an SD card reader (don't worry, the old headphone hole is clinging on in there), nor are there any 'old' USB ports. 

Each of the new models has shifted to using new USB Type-C ports - they're smaller than old USB ports, can be plugged in either way up and can transfer data at faster speeds. The budget 13-inch MacBook Pro has two of them, the 13-inch MacBook Pro (with Touch Bar) has four and the 15-inch has four. 

If you want to plug your iPhone into your MacBook Pro, you'll need to buy a new Lightning-to-USB-C cable (it doesn't come with the MacBook). 

There's also a new MacBook - not a Pro, nor an Air, but a thinner, more powerful MacBook. It looks identical to the new one that came out last year, and is available from £1,249.

Which MacBook should I buy?

Want the hottest machine in town? Get the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

Want a massive screen to watch loads of stuff and edit sweet images? Splash out on the new 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Need a new laptop that can still kick ass? Save some cash and get the standard MacBook - not the Pro.

Not fussed about insane hi-res screens? Get the MacBook Air - it's still a thing.

"Okay AI - write me a story on last night's Liverpool vs United match?"

Sure, a one-armed monkey typing into a Nokia 3310 could have written a report on that game - but the Press Association (PA) of the UK really is set to start using computer intelligence to write short news stories. 

PA editor-in-chief Pete Clifton told a conference of the Society of Editors "robot journalists" could start writing automated match reports and election results for the UK organisation within the coming months.

"This won’t be replacing any of our fantastic journalists," he told the gathering in Carlisle on 18 October, who presumably shifted nervously in their chairs, "it will be more a case of offering an extra level when it comes to short market reports, election results and football reporting.

"Will it take over from proper journalists? Of course it won’t. We won’t have a robot going to a big fire or covering a crown court case."

The PA's UK operation is actually a bit late to the robotic party: the US branch of the media group has been publishing financial reports written by computers since 2015, in addition to prompt reports on baseball games, while PA's counter part news agency in Denmark, Ritzau, has already developed its own robot journalism programme to write hundreds of market reports a month. 

Ritzau's system works by analysing hundreds of market account reports - a bunch of numbers and fluctuating data - and churns out very, very short one line news "reports".

The system is heralded as being both faster and more accurate than a human looking at that same mass of numbers before attempt to write the same short sentences along the lines of "Apple tops Street 1Q forecasts". 

"They are more accurate than when somebody was trying to write too many stories on their own," said Clifton. 

He was also keen to emphasise that journalists wouldn't be losing their jobs, but rather that the system would be used to support the newsroom - as it does in Ritzau, where no journalists lost their jobs to the system.

"It will be more a case of offering an extra level when it comes to short market reports, election results and football reporting."

So expect PA stories on small factual topics, like football results, election stats and financial news, to get a lot faster in the near future. Who knows what other stories may become automated once the computer systems gain a better understanding of human language and factual reporting. Maybe they'll write all our headlines. Maybe they wrote this story.

Nah, they didn't. Or did they? 

No.

[Via: Press Gazette]

Time to get to the core of Apple.

At 18:00 BST, Tim Cook will be taking to the stage of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco to show off Apple's latest array of shiny tech toys.

From a new iPhone to an updated MacBook - and a few new audio surprises - refresh this page from 18:00 onwards to read ShortList.com​'s live digestible record of the event.

19:52

And that's it really. Sia is going to play us out. No MacBook Pro update, nor a new iMac, as rumoured.

We'll bring you news summaries on the new gadgets later tonight.

Until then, start fine tuning your reaction times for Super Mario Runner...

19:44

We got a brief glimpse of a screen about battery life... but it didn't make much sense. Apparently the iPhone 7 will last 2 hours longer than the average iPhone 6S, while the Plus goes further still.

It costs $649 and comes in a range of colours, with double the storage capacity. The old iPhone 6S is also getting a storage boost.

The iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769.

It should arrive on 16 September, while the AirPods arrive 30 October.

19:41

Someone has come on to the stage to show off their new Oz game. It's got 'real time reflections' and 'weather effects'.

Candy Crush will never be the same.

19:37

So the new chip in the iPhone 7 is the A10 fusion - a 64 bit four core monster. It's the most powerful chip ever squeezed into a smartphone, apparently, and will let you run 'console level' games on your iPhone 7.

It'll also let you use Adobe Light Room on your smartphone, which is great if Instagram didn't give you quite enough filtering options.

19:36

Apple Pay is coming to Japan. That's made your day, hasn't it? Thought so...

19:34

Beats are also getting in on the wireless game thanks to Apple's new fancy headphone chip, with Solo3 gear.

19:26

So Apple has dropped the 3.5mm headphone socket due to reasons of 'courage'. That, and they want to free up room for more tech.

They're also all about wireless, and are introducing the new Wireless AirPods. Ooh.

They've got five hours of battery life, plus a charge case with extra juice for 24 hours.

19:01

So, the iPhone 7 is amongst us.

It's waterproof. It doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone socket. It has a bigger camera. It comes with an adaptor for our old regular headphones.

The iPhone 7 Plus also adds a dual camera for zoom and depth of field. It's lovely.

It's everything we've been hearing about for the last few months of leaks...

18:55

Now it's the turn of the iPhone.

Tim Cook is back to run through some of the new features of iOS 10.

18:52

If you see more runners out and about on Sundays, it's probably because they're joining in with Nike's new 'Just Do It Sundays'.

Or because they just like running on Sundays.

The new series 2 and Nike model cost $369, while the old watch (series 1) is available for $269. Both are available on 16 September, while the Nike model arrives late October.

18:45

The Watch Series 2 (seriously, why 'Series 2'?) will come in ceramic, which looks just lovely. Hermes is also renewing their sponsored_longform with the new style.

No mention of battery life though... hmm.

There's also the Apple Watch Nike Plus, a runner-special watch with a stretchy band, lightweight aluminium case and bold colours.

18:40

The new Watch will track your calorie burn even more accurately, even when swimming.

It now has a beefier processor, letting you use more complicated apps, and a new display that's twice as bright as before. It projects at 1,000 nits - which we didn't know was a metric either. It's also got GPS built in, which will make tracking your activities a whole lot easier.

18:36

We have our first new hardware! The new generation of Apple Watch Series 2!

Because Apple Watch 2 would make too much sense?

It's 'swimproof', letting you wear it swimming or surfing, but you can't go below 50 metres. The speaker even ejects water after you've had a dip, which is neat.

18:29

We're going over all the things that the latest iOS for the Apple Watch does. Confetti. Scribbling on a screen. Breathing. Seriously, an app for breathing.

Pokémon GO is also coming to the Apple Watch. (Is Apple buying Nintendo?!) On your Watch you'll be able to see how close you are to hatching your eggs, see what Pokémon are nearby and give you notifications of what you can catch. It'll arrive before "the end of the year".

18:25

And now we're on to the new products: Apple Watch!

Do you own one? No, us neither...

18:20

Now we're on to education - a whole bunch of schools are partnering with Apple to get coding on the curriculum with a new app 'Everyone Can Code' to help teach kids (well, everyone) how to code with Swift.

iWork will also help people collaborate on projects in real-time. We're now watching someone make a project live on stage... which is as dull as it sounds.

No, we still haven't seen any new hardware. Best come back in an hour for that.

18:16

Super Mario Runner is exactly what it sounds like - an automatic scroller game that sees you tap the screen to have Mario jump over enemies and blocks. There's also a battle mode, in which you take on other players to collect coins and pull of daring moves in front of Toads. It's FREE, coming this December.

First ​Pokémon GO, now a Mario app - Nintendo is cleaning up on smartphones.

​18:13

Also, some on Twitter are claiming that Apple has accidentally leaked the iPhone 7 with this tweet...

18:11

Oh GOSH. We didn't expect this. Mario is coming to the App Store.

18:08

We're starting with an overview of Apple Music: "It just keeps getting better." 

And we're done.

18:07

Ah yes - it was all a plug for Apple's new TV offering of ​Carpool Karaoke. ​Corden won't be hosting that though.

​18:03

James Corden. James bloody Corden is introducing the Apple Event. This lad has done well.

He's even managing to make Tim Cook seem fun. Pharrell Williams is getting involved too. This is all very confusing.

17:50

It's almost go time. Apple has turned on the live stream from the Bill Graham auditorium. Zane Lowe is bringing us some slammin' tunes from Beats1 (well, he's playing Drake at least).

We're pretty sure we just saw someone get chucked out for using an Android...

You're probably busy tonight. Got mates round. A comfy night on the sofa with Great British Bake Off. Either way, you don't fancy spending some two hours watching Apple's big news event drag on. So - based on reading analyst predictions, sifting through rumours and having a good old guess - we thought we'd save you the hassle of watching and predict the whole thing. This is how we think it'll pan out...

At 18:00 BST, Tim Cook walks on to the Bill Graham Civic hall stage to the sound of thunderous applause and barely contained jubilation. 

Cook will wave. He will talk – assisted by some minimalist slides - about what a grand year it has been for Apple – a period that has seen it sell its one billionth iPhone, seen the launch of health apps, a new iPhone SE and a bunch of other stuff we’ve all completely forgotten about. 

He might even mention Apple’s commitment to a global audience, of its relationship with the likes of Ireland and Europe, of how it's set to build stronger ties with the likes of China. It will be a bit dull, and you'll wonder when the fun stuff starts.

Tim Cook will then shift his tone, addressing the assembled minions and all the many millions watching around the world that the next year is set to be even bigger, and that he’s so very glad you are all here to see what Apple has in store.

He’ll invite someone you’ve never heard of up on to the stage to introduce Apple’s first product announcement. She will stride forward, thank Cook, and launch into a brief history of the Mac.

Slides will fill us with nostalgia as we are led through iterations of Apple’s key computer; an off-grey lump of plastic transforming into a curved hull of transparent colour, culminating in its most recent slender visage. The Apple spokesperson will then declare that they’ve made the iMac even better, and introduce the new iMac. It looks largely the same. The screen is now 6K. The processors are even more powerful. The graphics card is super good. A designer may be invited along to describe how incredible it is to work with the new iMac, and how excited they are for all of you to give it a try. It will cost upwards of £2,000 and be available for preorder as of today. We will all want one.

“But that’s not all”, the Apple spokesperson will tell us. From the iMac, we will segue effortlessly into Apple’s other Mac flagship, the MacBook. For this, Cook may be invited back onto the stage with the new MacBook Pro.

On scuttles Cook, proudly carrying a new silver Pro like a father cradling his infant child. He waits for the applause to die down, a content grin quivering on his lips. “This is the new MacBook Pro,” he reiterates. It’s thinner, now sporting USB Type-C ports, a better battery and an even lighter design. “But this is the really cool part”, he’ll say, opening up the laptop to reveal a new touch-screen function display; a small strip sitting where the function keys (F1, F2, you know the sort) would usually belong, now replaced by a glowing OLED panel. 

“We wanted to give users more control over how they use their MacBook Pro. Now, if I’m listening to my iTunes library, my MacBook Pro will display controls specific to that program. InDesign? No problem, all my own shortcuts will be accessible as soon as I switch to it,” he says, switching programs and showing off the seamless transition on the new touch display. “How about Microsoft Office tools?” The audience will give a pantomime mutter of unrest at the mention of the great enemy. “We’ve all grown up using ‘Control C’ and ‘Control V’ – but now I’ve got my own copy and paste buttons sitting right there on my MacBook Pro.”

The slides will then shift to explain where the new MacBook Pro fits in Apple’s overall lineup of MacBooks. We’ll be treated to an array of stats and figures, some nice sexy shots of the new internals of the Pro, and finally price details – starting at just shy of £2,000. It will be available for pre-order later today. We will all want one.

For the next section, someone who we’ve apparently met before but can’t quite recall is going to tell us about some exciting new developments with the Apple Watch. 

The someone who we’ve apparently met before but can’t quite recall will walk onto the stage, waving at the crowd. Their sleeve will be rolled down, displaying what looks altogether like the old Apple Watch. But no, this isn’t the old Apple Watch, it’s the new one – the Apple Watch 2 that now features an improved battery, a better screen, a slightly slimmer design and a speedier internal processor. We won’t know why, but we’ll all feel silly that we don’t already own an Apple Watch, as we’re told that X-million have been sold since the timepiece was launched two years ago.

“But that’s not all,” the someone who we’ve apparently met before but can’t quite recall will tell us. He will then produce “The new Apple Watch 2 Pro” from his pocket, inspiring renewed excitement from the audience. It’s a touch bigger than the Apple Watch 2, with a larger screen. The spokesperson will describe its improved GPS functions, its 4G connectivity, allowing you to leave your iPhone at home should you want to go out but not lose connection from your digital life. It’s got a battery that will last a full day, and a variety of new apps are coming that will change how you use the Apple Watch. We will all want one. 

Tim Cook will walk back on to the stage, thanking the spokesperson. Cook is immensely proud of the Apple Watch, and can't wait for us all to try the new Apple Watch 2.  

“You might have heard about the next announcement we’ve got,” he’ll say with a sly smile. Knowing chuckles will be shared amongst the audience members, all aware of the steady line of leaked iPhone news that has filled the Internet since late 2015. “But now I finally get to introduce you to our latest model of the iPhone… The iPhone 7.” 

Cook will pull the new handset from his pocket. It’s exactly the same as the various different blurred photos that leaked to Chinese tech forums back in January 2016. It's roughly the same size as the current iPhone 6S, but the antenna lines now run along the upper and lower edge of the case. The model Cook is holding is gold. The camera lens is a touch larger. The home button no longer has a prominent indentation. Most importantly, there is no longer a 3.5mm headphone hole running along its lower edge.  

Cook will wait for the applause to die down before launching into the major upgrades of the new handset. The screen is sharper. The camera is better than ever – both rear and front. The A10 processor is more powerful, and kinder to the battery. But the major change is to the audio.  

“We believe that this is the best sounding smartphone ever made,” Cook will explain. By ditching the 3.5mm headphone hole to play audio from the iPhone’s Lightning port, a higher quality of music will be available, the sharpest audio experience ever offered by an iPhone. An adaptor for ‘old’ 3.5mm headphones will be included with every handset, says Cook, but a new line of iPhone headphones is where it’s at. For this, Cook will invite someone from Beats – formerly of Dr Dre fame – to introduce the new headphone line.  

The Beats spokesperson, dressed in a casual t-shirt, jeans and Nike trainers, will swagger onto stage with a new set of headphones around his neck. He will reiterate the improved audio supplied by the Lightning connecter, how much better these new headphones sound compared to 3.5mm headphones.  

“But say you want to cut lose for a while, maybe do a lap of the park – you’ll want these,” says the Beats guy, pulling out a small cylinder from which he produces two tiny pods. These are the new wireless Beats Buds – waterproof, sweat proof earpieces that connect to the iPhone 7 via Bluetooth. We may cut away from the stage to have a well known American athlete tell us about how awesome the Buds are, going into detail about how they track their heart rate, giving them data they need to improve their performance and have a better workout. We will all want them. 

As the video finishes we find that Tim Cook has walked back out on stage for one final reveal. “We know that iPhone users love taking photos,” he’ll whittle. We’ll be treated to an array of stunning shots from iPhone users, beautiful landscapes and joyful children frolicking with puppies. “So we decided to make an iPhone for all you photographers out there.” 

He will then reveal the new iPhone 7 Pro – a larger iteration with an even more prominent camera lens sticking from its rear. It owes this budge to not one but two lenses, the specifics of which Cook will proudly explain. It gives better depth to shots. It captures more light. It produces more detail. It can record video in stunning 4K. It’s the best camera Tim Cook has ever seen on a smartphone. We will all want one. 

Cook will then get down to the nitty gritty of explaining where the new iPhones and headphones fit in Apple’s product line up. Slides will explain that the iPhone SE is now cheaper, while the iPhone 7 costs around £550 and the Pro a £680. The Lightning Beats cost somewhere in the region of £120, while the Buds are nearly £200. They are all available for pre order today.

Tim Cook looks thoroughly content now, like a man who has just finished an extremely enjoyable meal with some of his closest family friends. He will beam at the audience and thank them for being able to join Apple for this event. He’ll mention that the lucky few gathered in the room will all be able to get their hands on the devices at the after party. For those watching at home, he’ll bid them a fond farewell.

The crowd will cheer, music will play, Tim Cook will wave and we’ll close our Safari browser. We won’t really remember any of the individual gadgets we’ve just seen with any great clarity, their details blurred into a wash of stats and numbers.

We just know, deep down, that we want all of them.

In the crowded halls of Berlin's Messe exhibition centre, some of the biggest names in tech are amassing.

Each of them has a lorry-load of new gadgets, determined to wow the world and snatch the spotlight away from Apple's own solo PR stunt of 7 September. 

From incredible curved laptops to super slick speakers, here's our roundup of all the coolest tech of IFA 2016. 

A smart watch that actually looks like a watch

A laptop that's actually two tablets

Lightning-powered earphones

Touch-controlled headphones

Another clever watch

A SatNav for your bike

A fitness tracker that'll tell you what you're made of

A neat little modular PC

The world's thinnest laptop

Logitech's silent mouse

A fit 4K TV from Bang & Olufsen

It's hard to make an 'attractive' television. It's just a big rectangle. The BeoVision Horizon manages to look bloody lovely. 

Available with a 40 or 48-inch 4K Ultra HD screen, it can be hung on the wall, erected on a stand or wheeled about like the telly your teacher used to bring out when they couldn't be bothered to teach chemistry. 

From £2,495

A curved gaming laptop

A wireless headphone adaptor

A GoPro killer

GoPro has something of a monopoly on the action camera market, by virtue of making stunning adverts every time they release a new product. 

Garmin is offering a mean bit of competition in the form of the VIRB Ultra 30 - voice command control, GPS, 4K ultra HD. Just mind you don't do anything dangerous enough to break it, yeah?

Coming soon

A connected kitchen

Computers are great. Bloody brilliant they are.

All those programs and code and stuff. The internet, eh? Bloody hell. It's excellent.

Right up until the point when it isn't. When that error message pops up for no discernible reason. Or that file you definitely saved has buggered off into the depths of your file system, never to be seen again. 

These are the greatest computer and tech related frustrations we've ever encountered. 

The spinning beach ball of doom

Don't. Touch. Anything.

Your Mac's beach ball has been spinning for the last six minutes now. You went to go and make a tea in the hope that it would have put an end to its revolutions on your return, but alas, it's still rolling on.

Macs aren't supposed to do this, are they? It's PCs that crash all the time, right? Microsoft is the one all the nerds in IT snigger about when you ask them for help with your ThinkPad? Macs are the good guys, the dependable ones, the faithful old mutts of the computer world?

Does anyone know how to do a hard reset on a Mac? Like - what's the Mac equivalent of 'Alt-Ctrl-Delete'? Asking for a friend...

Encountering the Blue Screen of death midway through your work

It's been what, maybe three, four hours since you last hit 'Save' on your essay. You didn't want to interrupt the flow of concise, articulate brilliance flowing from your fingers. You're pretty sure your keyboard is glowing with residue heat from the friction, but that could be the copious amounts of Red Bull you've been necking.

And then it happens. You're typing, but the words aren't appearing on the screen any more. That little [Not Responding] message creeps into the top of the window description. Nothing moves on the screen until - bam. Blue Screen of death. 

You stare, not wanting to believe what you see. The cursor blinks at you, mockingly. You press any key (space bar, obviously) and begin a prayer to Bill Gates that please, by the power of Word 98 and the spirit of MSDOS, that you've not lost the bulk of your work.

Of course it hasn't. Balls to you, Bill. 

Ejecting a USB stick without making it 'safe' first

Ten minutes. You've got ten minutes before your bus leaves. You need to be on that bus. 

This file just needs to save to USB and you're done. 

Eight minutes. Lord this is slow. You've saved the document to the USB stick, then closed it and opened it again from the USB stick because you don't really trust computers on a core level. But it's okay, the right file is now on the USB stick. You can go. 

'Eject USB DISK' - seriously, how slow do you think the world is, PC? Who has time to eject safely? Just pull and run. Pull and run.

You get to work and OF COURSE the stick is corrupt. Probably made of sand and air. Utter piece of crap. 

Getting the lines to print on an Excel document

WHY else do you use Excel OTHER THAN TO GET GRID LINES.

You've even highlighted the lines you want. They are BIG and THICK and BLACK.

But will they print? Will they hell. You have seven copies of your weekly schedule sitting in the recycling bin as proof that this process isn't as easy as Microsoft thinks it is. 

An install that takes the better part of a day

You know the one. That "quick update" that you let your computer do just before you need to send that urgent email, or just as your laptop flicks to nine per cent battery.

"One minute! We need to install some updates before that'll happen!"

Fine, fine, you're the computer, you know best. Any idea how long this will take?

"I have seven updates to install!"

Sure, but how long? You know, a metric of time? Can you express this period in minutes?

"I am installing update one of seven!"

Yes but...

"Look at this hypnotic little spiral of dots. Look into the dots. Everything is fine. These updates are important. You don't need to know how long they'll take."

Yes, PC. Whatever you say, PC. 

Trying to get Word to format things without screwing up a whole document

Copy and paste. 

Or is it paste as plain text? No, that's buggered everything up - undo.

Keep source formatting? Nope, obviously not. Merge formatting, that'll do it. But WHERE DID THAT INDENT COME FROM?! And why isn't it keeping the double line spacing?

Gah!

Adobe Flash Player just not working

We sympathise with Adobe's maligned little Flash Player. In the digital age it's pretty much a full time job attempting to keep up to date.

Every day we wake up we wondering what we're going to fall behind on: who will drop their secret album project on Tidal? What new gadget is Apple going to leak? Has Chris Pratt signed for another remake of some film we totally loved as a kid? 

However, while we do alright at staying abreast of the latest developments, Flash absolutely sucks. It's never ready when we need it. It's not up to scratch. It's not good enough. Somewhere in the depths of Adobe, someone is cradling the computer on which they built Flash Player, gently weeping, whispering that "Everything will be okay."

No, it won't. Apple hates Flash Player, Google hates Flash Player, everyone hates Flash Player.

Kicking your power cord out

Your laptop battery has been buggered ever since you spilt half a bottle of Sprite over it back in 2014 - but what with computer repairs costing more than a new laptop and the hassle of swapping all your crap over to a new machine, you've been fine using it with a power cable. 

Right up until the point you're working away at a document due in for the next morning, lean back to stretch out the onrushing arthritis and kick the cable out of the socket. You could have sworn your laptop even made a comical "Vrrrrwwwwwwmmm" noise of powering down. 

A black screen looks back at you, mimicking the emptiness that now fills the pit of your stomach. 

Making your screen flip 180 without knowing how

Ctrl + F4?

Ctrl + Shift + Left arrow key?

Ctrl +Alt+ Up arrow key?

You've got no sodding idea what combination of keys you pressed to get your screen to perform a 180, nor why that's even a thing people would want a short cut for. You're not going to find the answer either, until you've craned your neck sideways as you attempt to find the answer via an upside-down Google search. 

(The answer, for future reference, is Ctrl + Alt + Up or Down arrow. Be sure to use it on your colleague's computer when they next wander off to the loo)

Getting Word to write things over the top of existing things

Somewhere on your keyboard hides a button that turns into a right little bastard when you're midway through a Word document.

Should you accidentally hit this key rather than the useful button you were actually hoping to press, you'll unleash a hideous curse not even the minds of Brothers Grimm could conceive: as you type words, they'll just barge their way right over the top of anything you've already written. 

It's like something out of Orwell's 1984 - your own document history being irrevocably rewritten before your eyes. You only wanted to correct the spelling on 'their', now you're ready to lob your computer out the nearest window.

Best save, close, re-open and hope you never press it again. 

Receiving an error message that just doesn't make sense

Like a cat/sick relative/angry partner, you want to understand the needs of your computer. You care about its woes and tribulations. You want to care for it in its times of need.

So when an error message pops up that just DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, it's like trying to communicate with a petulant teenager. 

"What's up buddy?"

"Don't call me buddy! Don't pretend to be interested! You're so fake! I hate you!"

"Is it Dreamweaver? What did it do now?"

"Just F*CK OFF dad! I HATE YOU."

Losing a file

Giving directions can be a tedious activity at the best of times. On the rare occasion you actually know where the B&Q/pub/nearest cash point is, the moment you try to visualise how to get there can take more mental power than the average tax return.

When your computer does it though, it's just a non-starter. What do you mean, you can't find the file? You're the computer! Everything involved in your workings lives inside of you. The only way we're going to find it is if we do a search of a file name - but I'm going to ask you to do that search? Why not cut out the middle man and just look harder? Where did you last see it? Is there the computer equivalent to the 'back of the sofa'?

Bluetooth just deciding it doesn't want to behave

No, we don't know exactly how Bluetooth works. We're sure it's really complicated: lots of data being turned into signals that float through the air and make other things do stuff.

It's all really impressive - except when our Bluetooth headphones/speaker/mouse decides it doesn't want to talk to us anymore. It's sitting right next to our device. It's so close we might as well plug it in with a wire.

But then we'd be admitting that the future doesn't work, and that goes against everything we stand for. Down with wires, yeah? We'll just turn it off and on again - that usually works...

It's an IT issue anyone who has so much as glanced at a Windows PC will have encountered: the dreaded blue screen of death. 

It's the white flag of the PC world, the death rattle of the laptop, cured only by the resuscitative powers of "turning it off and back on again".

We're used to seeing it on our desktop PC, prompting some equally blue language as we begin to contemplate how much work we've just lost - but Blake Sibbitt has spotted the mother of all blue screen moments.

A large advertising display at a mall in Pattaya, Thailand, appears to have given up. It doesn't know what to do. It needs someone to turn it off and back on again, hopefully with a keyboard that's also the size of a building.

That, or it's a piece of contemporary art that neatly encapsulates the year of 2016 so far; things aren't working - how about we just turn it off and don't bother turning it back on again yeah? 

[Via: Geek.com]

Gaming can be an expensive habit - but if you’re looking for quality there’s no need to break the bank on new releases.

Price drops on classics mean that just a tenner will net you some of the best games ever made. Here’s the pick of the bargain bunch. 

Half-Life 2

The grandfather of modern shooters can still mix it with the kids.

Half Life 2 is a near-perfect FPS: relentless pacing, an ever-evolving narrative, and beefy weapons. Hurling rusty razor blades at zombies with the gravity gun never gets old. If you haven’t played it yet, drop everything now and buy it.

Available through Steam (£6.99)

Dishonored

The best level design ever?

Dishonored’s assassination missions are deadly playgrounds with a thousand moving parts. It’s your job to scout, plot, and execute however you wish – and every route is satisfyingly gruesome. Play it ahead of the sequel’s release in November.

Buy it on Steam for £7.99

Mass Effect

Perhaps more than any other RPG, Mass Effect makes you feel like a hero.

It forces you to make tough choices that will decide the future of the galaxy: it’s an epic story, driven by characters you genuinely grow to care for. The second and third may be more polished, but the first has the most heart.

Pick it up on Steam for £7.99 or – in a bit of a crazy deal – the entire trilogy is available for £9.75 on Amazon

Portal

Portal is a one-trick pony – but who cares when the trick is this good?

Armed with nothing but a Portal gun (zap a blue hole on one wall, an orange one on anther, jump through for endless fun) you zoom through tricky, varied puzzles, all the while being heckled by GLaDOS, one of the best villains in gaming. A joke-a-minute romp that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Buy it on the Xbox Marketplace for £9.99 or on Steam for £6.99

XCOMX: Enemy Unknown

XCOM will make you cry. Seriously.

It’s a hard-as-nails strategy game filled with alien nasties that will ensure your best-made plans – and your favourite soldiers – crumble before your eyes. The meat of the game is about responding to those setbacks, and the string of battle tales that generates. A clean UI and deep customisation round it off. If you're a proper masochist, you can play the equally brutal sequel afterwards.

Buy it from Amazon for £6.49

Deus Ex

Deus Ex feels like a piece of history: the combat is clunky, the visuals are dated, and the audio is like something out of a B-roll horror film.

That said, it’s still one of the best RPGs around. It has so many complex systems that – when it all comes together – it’s endlessly rewarding. Try it for next to nothing, then pace your room restlessly waiting for the latest title, arriving in a matter of days.

Buy it on Steam for £4.99

Skyrim

One minute you’re creeping around a cave slitting bandits’ throats and stealing their mead, and the next you’re standing on top of a mountain, battling a dragon in the swirling snow.

Skyrim is a fantasy-lover’s dream. It’s massive, detailed, and boasts distractions at every point of the compass. Be warned, you'll probably not see the light of day once it gets its claws into you. 

But it on Amazon (on PC) for £9.99

Halo: Combat Evolved (/Master Chief Collection)

The first Halo was way ahead of its time, with punchy audio, solid level design, and challenging AI. It remains an excellent sci-fi shooter to this day, with each short section spilling effortlessly into the next, giving you no reason to put your controller down. 

The Master Chief Collection introduces you to this seminal game and its three sequels. Seriously, this is the gaming bargain of the decade.

Buy it for the Xbox One on CDKeys for just £5.99

Diablo II

Kill scary monster. Find shiny sword. Kill bigger monster. Find shinier sword. Kill huge monster… you get the point.

Diablo II perfects the feedback loop that the series is so famous for: it’s an endlessly replayable dungeon crawler, and still has a strong fan base today.

Buy it for £6.99 on Battle.net

Bioshock

Atmosphere. That’s the one word we'd pin on the FPS marvel Bioshock.

Its eerie world – a drowned shell of a former art-deco utopia – is one of gaming’s best settings. Add a subtle, philosophical story and this is a game you cannot afford to miss. Or you could wait for the shiny remastered trilogy, arriving 13 September.

Buy it on Amazon for £6.94

Remember, remember the 7 September. It's the date that Apple has set aside to host its annual reveal of major tech treats - from a new MacBook Pro, to a new Apple Watch.

Oh, and one more thing... the new iPhone.

Bloomberg's technology report and Apple specialist Mark Gurman has word from someone within the company that the Californian tech giant has set aside 7 September as the day it'll reveal the new hardware.

It matches Apple's form book: it loves to host its events on Wednesdays in September. Prominent iPhone leaker Evan Blass suggested that the handset would be available for pre-order on 9 September, with the new phone arriving in shops from 12 September. 

So there you have it. Just a few more weeks for your cracked old iPhone 6 with a battery that lasts half a day to last until you can line up its shiny new upgrade. For an idea of what to except from the new handset, check out our rolling archive of its many, many leaks.

[Via: Bloomberg]

Been fancying a new upgrade for your four-year-old MacBook Pro?

You might want to give it a couple of months - Apple is expected to reveal a new Pro offering this September. 

It's a pro Pro

Bloomberg has word from sources "familiar with the matter" that Apple is set to improve on the current build of the MacBook Pro, in addition to adding new functions. 

What are the minor improvements?

Thinner, smaller, faster - these are the minor tweaks coming to the new MacBook Pro:

• The overall design will be thinner, lighter and not wedge-shaped
• Those black bezels around the screen are going to be smaller, reducing the overall footprint of the device
• The pressure-sensitive track pad will be wider
• It will feature USB-C type ports - better for charging and transferring data at faster rates

What are the major changes?

Apple is apparently hoping that these major changes to their MacBook Pro will help boost sales of the top-of-the-range laptop:

• A narrow OLED display will replace the 'Function' keys. This thin touch screen, positioned above the keyboard, could be used for scrolling, pinching, zooming, or change functions depending on what program you're running
• It will also be possible to buy a model with a more powerful, efficient graphics chip set up, suited for 'professional gamers'
• There's also a suggestion the new Pro could include a Touch ID sensor to improve security, with options to use a finger print to access a whole heap of software and websites rather than having to remember loads of passwords

When will it arrive?

It's likely that the new MacBrook Pro will be shown off at Apple's annual September event, expected to take place on 7 September this year. 

As for when it'll hit the shelves, it could roll out as soon as October. If it's anything like previous Apple releases, expect it to cost in the region of all the money. Like over £1,500.

How's that faithful old lappy holding up? Still ploughing on without a 'K' button? Good for you.

When the time to upgrade finally does arrive (or you spill another tea on your old one - whichever happens first), how about pushing the boat out? Going big? Sinking some serious cash into a serious laptop that'll keep you going for years to come.

Here we select 15 of the finest laptops money can buy. Choose wisely.

MacBook Air

• Intel iCore i5
• 8MG RAM
• It's just so pretty

£999

Asus N Series

• Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speakers (it sounds massive)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M graphics card
• 2TB hard drive

£899.95

Dell XPS 13

• Super-sharp 13.3-inch full HD edge-to-edge screen
• 8GB RAM
• As good as anything with an Apple badge on it, but cheaper

£999.95

Microsoft Surface Book

• The best hybrid laptop/tablet currently available (in our humble opinion)
• 13.5-inch touch screen (so Windows 10 actually makes sense)
• Intel Core i5 processor

£1,299

Lenovo YOGA 900

• Fancy 360 hinge mechanism allows you to fold it flat into a tablet/tent/regular laptop
• Intel Core i7 (seriously impressive brains for a laptop)
• 13-inch QHD touch screen display

£1,199.95

Samsung Notebook 9

• Gorgeous, super-slim keyboard. It feels proper lovely
• 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor
• Weighs just 839g

£1,199

Dell Inspiron 15 7000

• Intel Core i7 process (big grunt)
• A proper NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB graphics card
• 15.6-inch UHD touch screen display

From £999

HP Spectre 13

• Seriously portable: world's thinnest laptop at 1.04cm in thickness, weighing just over 1kg
• 256GB solid state drive
• Guaranteed to attract more compliments than a squad of puppies

£1,149.95

Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air

• 13.3-inch full HD display
• 256GB solid state drive
• 9.5 hour battery life - it's a really, really neat little package

Coming 27 August

Alienware 13 OLED

• Absurdly sharp 13-inch OLED screen
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphics card
• All-day battery life

From £999

HP Elite x2

• Seriously clever laptop/tablet hybrid feature with a kickstand that can find the perfect angle
• 12-inch touch screen display
• 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD

£934

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga

• A proper 'work' laptop with a 360-degree hinge
• 14-inch 2K touch display (if you pay extra for it)
• Built to last

From £1,289.99

MacBook (12-inch)

• Phwor
• 12-inch Retina display
• Cor blimey
• 512GB flash storage

£1,299

MSI GT80S 6QF

• ABSURDLY powerful
• Like, powerful enough to run a VR headset without breaking as sweat
• Pretty much the best gaming laptop there is. Seriously

£4,099

Toshiba Satellite P50

• Hard disk 1TB HDD and 8GB SSD solid state hybrid drive (store all the stuff ever)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M video card
• Forget about using a desktop ever again

£1,099.95

The year was 2000. The Millennium Bug had come and gone, leaving barely a cough in its wake. Your PC had not turned rogue and murdered your entire family, and instead sat with its large derriere calmly sprawled across your desktop.

What to do? What to do? After exhausting your scribbling-on-MS-Paint-and-filling-the-spaces-with-the-paint-bucket-tool capabilities, you turned your attention - if you were lucky enough - to The Sims. The original. The number one. The father. 

Though there have been Sims games since, none have ever compared to the original. Why? Because you inevitably did all of these 21 things, that's why. 

Setting off fireworks in your home because you were the master of life and death

Typing in cheats that were milling around the playground, only to find out they were all lies

Then discovering 'rosebud' and typing ;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;!;! after it to stretch the cheat to its limits

Taking dark and terrible pleasure out of making your Sims pee their pants

Having your expectations set up for the rest of your life

Like, multiple times

Wondering how the burglar fit your flat screen TV in his tiny little swag bag

Enjoying the simpler time when Comic Sans was a legitimate font choice

Being denied certain expansion packs because they were just too damn rude

Taking the ladder out of the pool and waiting to greet your old friend death

Getting your first ever crush on Bella Goth

Waiting 30 minutes for the game to load, playing for another three, and getting bored

Coming to the early realisation that hedge mazes > gardens

Living that pink flamingo life

Accepting that the music would never, ever leave your head

Forgetting to pick up your papers and feeling the paperboy's wrath

Never questioning the eerie sparseness of Neighbourhood 1

Stalking the local graveyard to try and spot a ghost

Getting the sickest rides to work and school

Trying to make toast but

Trapping the pizza delivery guy in a fence but then being gutted when he just disappeared anyway

By Kate Gray

Local multiplayer is something of a novelty these days; a hangover from when the internet was dial-up and controllers had wires. If you wanted to see which of your mates was best at Smash Bros., you actually had to invite them over and ruin your friendship in person. They were better, simpler times.

Away from the bright lights and mum jokes of online monsters like Call of Duty, the quiet delights of local multiplayer lives on. These 20 games are some of the best modern couch co-op experiences you can play right now. Grab a friend, and get gaming.

Towerfall

Towerfall is a masterpiece of simplicity, pitting you and up to three players against each other in a tiny arena as you fire arrows at each other. Skill is the key component here. Luck will only get you so far when deadly accuracy is the most important thing.

Nidhogg

Get a lance, stab your friend. Stab them some more. Jump on their head. Throw your sword at them. Try not to fall in a hole. Stab. Jump. Throw. Repeat. And when you’re done, make sure to run into the mouth of the giant wormdragon or you won’t win. NIDHOGG.

Mount Your Friends

The answer to “why aren’t there more dong physics in games” that you never thought you needed or wanted, Mount Your Friends tasks you with climbing onto a goat in your pants and - well, it’s hard to describe it any better than that. You climb on a goat, your friend climbs on you, and so on. And try not to fall off.

Minecraft

Minecraft (you've probably heard of it) can be a simple co-operative exercise in building and creating things together, but things get more rewarding when you get stuck in to exploring other people’s creations, or attempt a game of survival as various monsters try to attack you. Any way you play it, it’s brilliant.

Samuri Gunn

The best brawlers cut out the nonsense, relying on you and your friends’ creativity and willingness to kill each other to create a sense of fun. Take Samuri Gunn: it’s samurais. With guns. With platforming elements and quick-fire gameplay, it tests your ability to play well, and play fast, if you want to win.

Speedrunners

Speaking of playing fast, Speedrunners is potentially the fastest game of our selection. Taking place on a 2D circuit, you have to dodge obstacles, wall-jump perfectly, trip up your opponents and most importantly NEVER GO OFF-SCREEN if you want to win. It requires the utmost concentration and skill to succeed at a single round of Speedrunners, but practice makes perfect.

Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes

One person has a bomb in front of them. The other person has a manual. Neither of them can see what each other is looking at. The person with the manual has to accurately describe how to solve the puzzles on the bomb to defuse it, but they have no idea what it looks like. When the timer hits zero, you’re both dead. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Nintendo Land

Local multiplayer games made by Nintendo are normally quite sweet and co-operative. Not Nintendo Land. In this twisted nightmare of fun you’re expected to screw everyone else over as you play either one of four characters trying to get points, or the antagonist who’s trying to make everyone lose all the points they have so far.

Mario Kart 8

This is it. The ultimate pick-up-and-play game. Mario Kart 8 relies on your nostalgia and childlike awe to blow you away with incredibly designed race courses, secret shortcuts and beautiful, bright colours that make every track someone’s favourite. And Angry Luigi is a gift that just keeps on giving.

Rocket League

It’s a strange pitch for a video game: football + cars. How it got made, and how it ended up being one of the best couch co-op games of the past decade, is even stranger. But Rocket League is brilliant, challenging, infuriating and incredibly fun - all the things a multiplayer game should be. You'll definitely find yourself on your knees screaming in celebration at some point.

Octodad

Octodad is hard enough when you’re playing solo, but playing with two players requires more co-ordination than trying to walk home drunk. You each take control of either Octodad’s legs or arms, having to communicate with each other constantly to make sure you’re actually doing the tasks you’re supposed to be doing. It's hilarious. 

IDARB

If you want to play a game that’s sort of like football, except you can literally “walk it in”, and also you wish football had more sharks and lasers and less gravity, then give IDARB a go - it’s a chaotic ball game that has random effects every few minutes to make the game a bit harder.

Rayman Legends

Everyone has a role to play in Rayman Legends multiplayer, whether that’s being able to stun enemies, set off traps, or just being regular Rayman. It means that you and your friends can play through what’s already an excellent game without feeling like a third wheel to the star character.

Spelunky

Four-player Spelunky is an exercise in frustration. We all have different play styles, different goals (gold, finishing the level, getting all the secrets) and Spelunky’s randomly generated levels can make this incredibly difficult. It’s even worse if at least one of the players is inexperienced, as they’re basically a liability for the entire time.

Jackbox Party Pack

Technically the Jackbox Party Pack is several games in one - You Don’t Know Jack, a quiz game; Drawful, a Pictionary-type game; Word Spud, a fill-in-the-blanks game; Fibbage, a bluffing game; and Lie Swatter, which requires you to find out which statements are true, and which are lies. Either way, Jackbox makes all your old real-life party games look naff.

Super Smash Bros.

The ultimate in local multiplayer games, Super Smash Bros. lets you pit your favourite Nintendo characters against each other in a beautifully balanced, deceptively complex brawler. It’s such a big deal that it has its own World Tournament (though the players there are considerably more talented than you or your friends…)

Castle Crashers

Stupidly brilliant and brilliantly stupid boss design reigns in Castle Crashers, where it’s up to you and a couple of friends to take out various malicious vegetables, animals and minerals as you attempt to crash the castle. If you’re not laughing because of the game’s humour, you’ll be laughing at the mishaps of your friends and allies.

Affordable Space Adventures

The Wii U may have been a misstep in Nintendo’s otherwise successful history, but Affordable Space Adventures is one of the few excellent games that make the console worth buying. Each player controls different aspects of your “affordable” (that means cheap and crappy) spaceship, from aiming the flashlight to fixing the engine. It’s a beautiful example of co-operation.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

This game also tasks the players with co-operating inside a spaceship, but it’s less realistic and more adorable. Your goal is to save bunnies, the wormholes are heart-shaped, and all the colours are sweet, bright neon in a style that sounds garish, but isn’t. You’ll have to man the guns, the shield, the steering and the map to achieve your goal. It involves a lot of yelling, too.

Sportsfriends

There are a bunch of games - or sports - to play in Sportsfriends, some of them a little bit like other games you might have played, and some of them, like the pole-vault, are entirely new and novel. There’s no guarantee you’ll be any good at anything, but just like real sports, practice makes perfect!

Rarely has a quest, real (the Battle of Hastings) or imagined (throwing the ring back into the fires of Mt. Doom from whence it came) been as honourable, worthy, and true as that of Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. 

Abe - a poor, weird-looking, floor-cleaning schmuck - is the lone hero of the Mudokons and he (that is, you) must save as many of your fellow kind as possible before RuptureFarms turns them into pops. If that terrifying premise didn't make you immediately flick off your PS1 and go play with your Moon Shoes, then hours of fun awaited you.

Here are just some of the many things that inevitably went down. 

Amusing yourself for twenty minutes by farting repeatedly

In the game... mostly. 

Realising you could make your farts green with the classic combination of R1, Up, Left, Right, Square, Circle, X

Imitating Abe's creepy "follow me" at every IRL opportunity

Hello! Hello! Follow me. Okay? 

Secretly wondering if they had to Go There with the mouth-sewn-shut thing

Finding out Molluck the Glukkon's secret ingredients and genuinely feeling a bit unwell

Biggest twist of 1997. 

Getting seriously sassed by the loading screen

Kind of wishing you could've spent more of the game as a floor cleaner

No one can deny it looked hella fun. 

Having to restart a level (again, and again) because the checkpoint system was designed by the devil

Squinting at the screen because being in the figurative and literal dark came as a pair

Chanting. Loads

Generally being one with Abe on all levels

Living your best life as a three-fingered badass

Finishing the whole game just to die because you didn't save enough Mudokons

Still mad.