Qualcomm has officially unveiled two new mobile processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, both built on 2nm TSMC processes and featuring the first 5GHz CPUs seen in a smartphone chip. Both use a 2+6 Oryon CPU layout with two Prime cores at 5GHz and six Performance cores at 4GHz, paired with 16MB of new Oryon FlexCache. The Extreme variant adds major camera and AI upgrades, including 8K/60fps video capture, 4K/240fps slow motion, a GPU with Adreno Neural Fusion, and more powerful AI hardware.
Anthropic has released Claude Opus 5.5, an upgrade to its top-tier Opus model that arrives roughly two months after the previous version, in line with the company's usual release pace. The company says it performs close to its higher-end Fable/Mythos tier while being about 30% faster and 40% cheaper per task than Opus 5, with notable gains in large-scale coding work and software optimization tasks.
Sonos has released the Beam Ultra, a wider version of its compact soundbar that now supports genuine Dolby Atmos rather than simulated surround sound. The device packs five tweeters, four woofers and nine amplifiers, compared to the simpler single-tweeter setup in the previous Beam generation, and is best suited for TVs 55 inches or larger.
Teardown analysis from Expand Mac mini shows the new M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini models have their NAND storage soldered directly to the logic board, reversing the removable SSD design found in the previous M4 Mac mini. Expand Mac mini, which sells cheaper aftermarket storage modules for the M4 lineup, says supporting the newer chips now looks unlikely.
Raspberry Pi confirmed that its firmware locks boards to their factory-installed RAM capacity, preventing users from swapping in higher-capacity chips. Engineer and forum moderator PhilE said the restriction, rolled out in firmware updates since late 2024, exists to stop resellers from installing larger RAM chips of dubious quality and passing boards off as higher-spec devices. He told users attempting DIY RAM upgrades or repairs that the effort is futile because the firmware also checks other device attributes beyond chip size.
Most laptops that feel slow are not short of processing power. They are held back by a hard drive, a lack of memory, a clogged fan, or a browser doing too much.
Newegg is selling the MSI Spatium M461 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD for $299.99 using promo code SSD73852, working out to about 10 cents per gigabyte. The drive uses a Phison E21T controller with 3D NAND and NVMe 1.4 support, delivering sequential speeds up to 5,000/4,200 MBps read/write, backed by a five-year warranty and 900 TBW endurance rating.
Sublime Text, the cross-platform code editor, has upgraded its embedded Python runtime to version 3.14, keeping the plugin API current with the latest language release. The editor remains a lightweight alternative to full IDEs, offering a single license for use across Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that companies often rush to deploy new AI models the moment they show marginal accuracy gains, without weighing the real costs of testing, deployment, monitoring and engineering labor. The piece uses an example of a model that improves just 0.2% to show how such upgrades can cost far more than they're worth while customers notice no difference. The core argument: technical accuracy gains and genuine business value are not the same thing, and conflating them leads to wasteful decisions.
A tech guide outlines several ways drivers can modernize aging car audio setups, from portable CarPlay/Android Auto touchscreen displays that mount on the dashboard to full aftermarket head unit replacements. It also warns that wireless CarPlay or Android Auto USB adapters only work if a car already supports the wired version, and that swapping the factory stereo can affect steering-wheel controls, cameras or amplifiers wired through it.
A 9to5Mac roundup highlights the accessories staff members are personally buying alongside their new iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max, ranging from Apple's own 40W-60W fast charger and TechWoven case to third-party options like Anker's foldable MagSafe charger. The post was updated on September 19 with additional picks and new product releases launching around the iPhone 18 Pro's delivery day.
Apple's newest iPhone and Apple Watch models are now available for purchase in physical and online stores. A tech columnist evaluated the new devices primarily by comparing them against previous generations already owned by many consumers.
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