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ZDNET has published a roundup of early Labor Day 2026 deals on laptops from brands including Apple, Lenovo, and Dell. The list is compiled through the outlet's standard testing, research, and price-comparison process rather than being a single retailer promotion.
On his CNBC Investing Club Morning Meeting, Jim Cramer discussed Apple's newly unveiled Mac Mini and Mac Studio, which feature upgraded chips for better AI performance. The new Mac Mini now starts at $899, a $100 increase reflecting higher memory and storage costs passed on to consumers.
At his first all-hands meeting following the acquisition of Cursor, Elon Musk reportedly told employees that AI will inevitably grow beyond human control, and argued this is precisely why his AI division must develop the technology before competitors do. The remarks, first reported by The Information, offer little logical justification for why being first matters if the outcome is unavoidable regardless of who builds it.
Cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes has identified fake websites posing as Rockstar Games that promise a playable Grand Theft Auto VI demo, which doesn't actually exist. Clicking the 'Play Now' button on these sites downloads an information-stealing malware disguised as a game installer, rather than any game files.
Google has released Play Services v26.33 and Play Store v52.9, adding a feature that lets Googlebook devices access apps directly from a paired phone. The update also expands Ask Play, the Gemini-powered search tool, to show video highlights for apps and games alongside other developer-facing changes.
The Supreme Court granted preliminary approval to President Trump's executive order restricting mail voting, allowing it to move forward even though it may not immediately alter any state's election procedures before November. The ruling has instead created widespread uncertainty for the roughly one-third of American voters who typically cast ballots by mail.
Google Play awards points for purchases like apps, in-app purchases, movies, books, and eligible subscriptions, but many users never spend them. Those points can be exchanged for gift cards from retailers including Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, DoorDash, Walmart, Target, and Uber, priced at $5 for 750 points, $10 for 1,500, and $20 for 3,000. Unused points expire 12 months after the last account activity, with that window resetting each time points are earned or spent.
A longtime T-Mobile customer who switched to Mint Mobile to save over $100 a month outlines three common tradeoffs of using smaller carriers, starting with data deprioritization in crowded areas. At a packed concert venue, the user experienced noticeably slower uploads compared to customers on premium plans from major carriers, illustrating how MVNO traffic gets lower priority during network congestion.
Waymo announced plans to bring its autonomous vehicles to Munich, aiming to launch commercial robotaxi service there by the end of 2027, marking its first deployment in the European Union. The company will begin mapping streets and testing with safety drivers in the coming weeks while seeking permits from local, state and federal authorities. Munich follows London, where Waymo hopes to start public rides as soon as next month, as part of a broader European push that includes new subsidiaries in France, Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
A ZDNET writer tested FydeOS, a free Linux-based operating system built to mimic ChromeOS, by installing it on an aging Windows laptop. The OS successfully replicated the Chromebook experience—fast boot times, background updates, and support for web, Android, and Linux apps—though selecting the correct build for the hardware proved confusing.
Nvidia is gaining backing from more game studios for its RTX Spark technology and ARM-based chip architecture, signaling a shift toward wider hardware compatibility for PC gaming. This move could allow games to run more consistently across different laptop configurations, regardless of the underlying chip design.
Apple has released the M5 Ultra chip for the new Mac Studio, built by fusing two dual-die M5 Max chips into a quad-die design, a first for the company's silicon lineup. The chip offers up to 36 CPU cores, a jump in inter-die connection speed to 4.4TB/s, and unified memory bandwidth of 1.2TB/s, both notable increases over the M3 Ultra.