You know the person blocking your view of the concert because their phone is swaying in the air, recording the entire thing? Get ready for the unfolded version of it.
This week on The Vergecast, we dive right into the big week of Apple news. First, it’s the refreshed Mac Mini and Mac Studio, as well as the new M6 and M5 Ultra chips. Apple is advertising them all as achievements in AI inference, but we’re skeptical this is more than a marketing ploy for now. Then we get into the newly announced Apple event, why we’re not expecting to see an iPhone 18, and whether the folding phone form factor is really good enough yet for Apple.
After that, there’s a lot to discuss about the Meta settlement. Teens are getting a host of new restrictions on their accounts that, truthfully, a lot of adults would love to have, too. But the bigger question is what happens next: Will other platforms be forced to adopt these rules, too? And which rules could actually be implemented by law, should lawmakers ever get their act together? The settlement has a lot of terms that immediately run into the First Amendment.
Finally, we’ve got a packed closing segment: The Hype Desk returns to talk GTA VI and whether it’s going to make us all more responsible individuals, Nilay breaks down how FCC chairman Brendan Carr has infuriated librarians nationwide, and we close out with a Lightning Round on whether Nvidia has saved the US economy, why Fitbit is partnering with Pokémon, and why Waymo is starting to beef with Tesla.
If you’re interested in reading more about the stories we discussed, check out the links below: