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No-Brainer Prime Day Deal: This Magnetic Power Bank Is Basically Free

No-Brainer Prime Day Deal: This Magnetic Power Bank Is Basically Free

CNET10-07-2025
Amazon Prime Day Deal: According to the Amazon page, the Zendure wireless charger isn't on sale, but given we've seen it go for as much as $60 before, grabbing it for only $10 is an absolutely steal -- so we're still calling it a Prime Day deal. The Qi2 certified wireless charger is the perfect companion to your iPhone with MagSafe, keeping your phone juiced up on the cheap.
The humble wireless charger is a great way to power your phone at home, but did you know that the same tech can be used on the go as well? Qi2 wireless battery packs are a wonderful way to top up your phone's battery when you're out and about, and they're even better when you can get one at a discount.
The battery pack has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and the fast 15-watt charging speed is a solid spec, too. That allows you to charge an iPhone 16 from dead to 20% in 22 minutes. A 20-watt USB-C port is also offered alongside a 22.5-watt USB-A port, should you need a little extra oomph. Those ports mean you can charge multiple devices simultaneously, too.
Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.
As if charging on the move wasn't enough, this portable power bank has a party piece to offer as well. The built-in kickstand means you can prop your phone up in either portrait or landscape mode, perfect for keeping tabs on notifications or watching content on a table.
Why this deal matters
As good as the technology is these days, heavy phone users can still drain their batteries before the end of a busy day. This handy bit of kit can be ready to top things off at a moment's notice, and you can slap it to the back of your phone and carry on with your day, too. At just $10, why not throw one of these in your bag just in case?
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Apple's iOS 26 brings the most significant change to your iPhone in years
Apple's iOS 26 brings the most significant change to your iPhone in years

Yahoo

time20 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Apple's iOS 26 brings the most significant change to your iPhone in years

Apple (AAPL) is bringing the biggest changes to the iPhone in years with its upcoming iOS 26 software. I've been using a beta version of the operating system, and while it's taken a bit of getting used to, I generally appreciate the broad-based refresh. Available for download as a public beta on Thursday, iOS 26 brings a new naming convention pinned to the year ahead, in this case 2026, as well as a completely new look and feel. Apple calls the new aesthetic Liquid Glass, owing to its translucent features that make it appear as though light is warping and bending around buttons, sliders, and app folders. Like any major software change, iOS 26 is sure to stir up controversy for some users. Apple has already dialed back the translucence in some menus after early user complaints about readability. But iOS 26 doesn't just come with a stylistic makeover. It also brings improvements to the Phone and Messages apps, as well as Apple's AI-powered Visual Intelligence. There's even a new Games app that acts as a hub for all of your time-killing adventures. But it's hard to imagine iOS 26 boosting iPhone sales, which is Apple's main goal. People generally upgrade their phones based on hardware improvements, like better batteries or enhanced cameras, not new software. Still, iOS 26 could set the table for what is expected to be Apple's foray into superthin smartphones, including, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, an iPhone 17 Air later this fall. That Air will also help guide a future foldable phone, a smaller market dominated by Android device makers like Samsung. That makes getting the software right all the more important as the company prepares for some of the most radical changes to its phones since the iPhone X. Liquid Glass and the new look of iOS 26 Part of Apple's decision to roll out Liquid Glass, the company said, was to create a cohesive look across all of its devices, from the iPhone to the iPad to the Mac. But most users will experience the software on their iPhones. And while it's a big change, it's not as though you'll download the update and have to learn how to use your iPhone from scratch. Virtually all of the menus and apps you're used to are exactly the same. That doesn't mean some folks won't like the new look. I like seeing light move around the app folders on my home screen, even if they're somewhat reminiscent of "Candy Crush" blocks. But after a while, I hardly noticed the change. And for people who aren't fans of the design update, you can still adjust the color and tint of app icons and folders. The lock screen has also been revamped. The time now adjusts to better match your background photo, and you can add a 3D effect to your image. You'll also see an animated album cover image when you're listening to songs with Apple Music+. The FaceTime, Phone, and Messages apps now feature customizable backgrounds, Live Translation, and the ability to poll your friends when you and the gang want to figure out where to grab dinner. Visual Intelligence gets some enhanced options, including the ability to see what's on your screen via screenshots, which you can then use to search for items, images, or text — such as the details of a concert being advertised on Instagram. Take a screenshot of an upcoming sporting event with the date, and Visual Intelligence will automatically ask if you want to add it to your calendar. The Camera and Photos apps are more streamlined as well. Rather than displaying a variety of shooting settings, the Camera app now provides photo and video options at the bottom of the screen. Tap the buttons and swipe to the left and right, though, and you'll find the portrait, slo-mo, and other functions. Apple brought back the tab view for the Photos app, so your photo library and collections now appear separately rather than on a single page. One particularly impressive feature Apple added is the ability for iOS to recognize if a specific photo was taken at a concert. When it does, you'll see a small ticket stub icon at the bottom of the screen. Tap it, and you'll get info about when and where the concert took place, the set the artist was playing, and links to their page in Apple Music. And, mercifully, Apple has made it easier to block spam calls and texts. If your iPhone doesn't recognize an incoming call, it can screen it for you by answering and asking for the caller's name and the reason they're calling. That allows you to choose when you want to answer or ignore a call. Hold Assist also uses Apple Intelligence to put your call on hold when it detects you're waiting to speak to someone. It will then alert you when someone gets on the line, making waiting for your insurance agent to go over your co-pay just a bit less of a burden. Apple's new Games app is also a welcome addition to iOS 26. Serving as a hub for all of your games, the app allows you to play with and against friends and quickly find new titles to help you pass the time. The iOS 26 update includes a slew of other smaller features that will generally make your life a bit easier, including changes to Wallet, Apple Maps, and Apple Music. As for Apple Intelligence, rather than a massive overhaul, the company has sprinkled smaller AI-powered enhancements across a variety of apps, making it feel as though Apple Intelligence is a larger overarching piece of the operating system instead of a singular experience. And in the end, that will likely be more appealing and less confusing for customers. Apple will launch iOS 26 later this fall. You can check out the public beta in the meantime. But if you don't want to risk running into any bugs, it's best to just wait until the full public Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley.

Apple's iOS 26 public beta is out. Here's how to install it safely
Apple's iOS 26 public beta is out. Here's how to install it safely

Fast Company

time21 minutes ago

  • Fast Company

Apple's iOS 26 public beta is out. Here's how to install it safely

A stable 'release' version of Apple's iOS 26 is due in September, but you can now try an in-progress version, called the public beta. It previews a revamped interface and new features in apps like Messages and Phone (both with spam filtering), Camera, Wallet, and especially CarPlay. Models starting with the iPhone 15 Pro also get upgrades to the Apple Intelligence AI suite, including live translation, improved image creation, and the ability to search visually across apps. The translucent Liquid Glass interface is seeing a bit of a revival in areas such as Notification Center, after Apple toned it down in earlier betas. Is the iOS 26 public beta safe to install? The public beta follows four developer betas meant for app creators (although others tend to install betas out of curiosity). Adding the word public doesn't mean this beta is without risks. To get it, you have to accept an agreement that absolves Apple of responsibility for any problems it may cause. This includes bricking—rendering the phone inoperable. It's safest to test the public beta on a spare device, which Apple's beta site strongly recommends. You can lower the risk to an old model or your current one by first backing up your iPhone and learning how to unbrick and roll it back to the latest release version of iOS 18. We'll walk you through how to do that further down. These tips may also help with glitches you may encounter in the release version. How to get iOS 26 public beta First, check whether your iPhone supports iOS 26. Apple's list includes models back to 2019's iPhone 11 and 2020's SE (2nd generation), both using the A13 Bionic chip. If you have an iPhone X or earlier model, it won't show an option to download iOS 26. Getting the beta is easy: Visit the Apple Beta site, click Sign Up, and log in with the same Apple ID your iPhone uses. Signing up provides access to all Apple OS 26 betas: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS, plus HomePod software. 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macOS 26 beta preview: Spotlight's time to shine
macOS 26 beta preview: Spotlight's time to shine

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macOS 26 beta preview: Spotlight's time to shine

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Add in a lovely visual refresh thanks to Apple's Liquid Glass design, as well as enhanced iPhone continuity features, and you have an operating system that feels like a genuine step forward for the Mac faithful. (Ed. note: Apple just released the public betas for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and watchOS 26 . This means you can run the preview for yourself, if you are willing to risk potentially buggy or unstable software that could cause some of your apps to not work. As usual, we highly recommend backing up all your date before running any beta, and you can follow our guide on how to install Apple's public betas to do so.) I've never been a heavy Spotlight user, aside from the few times I've needed to quickly look for an app or file. But in macOS Tahoe 26, it's suddenly a lot more useful. Now Spotlight can also help you find specific files; search cloud file services and websites; run Apple shortcuts and automations; and even run basic commands, like looking up your recent screenshots when you type "/screenshot." Spotlight has become more than just a search engine for your Mac, it's practically a super-powered command line. (And notably, it has no real equivalent on Windows. So once again, Mac power users will be able to gloat about the supremacy of macOS.) Over the course of my testing, tapping the command key and space bar to trigger Spotlight practically became second nature. I'd bring it up to find files, as usual, but I noticed that it was better at unearthing what I was looking for than before. Spotlight also replaced my usual practice of typing in search strings in Safari or Chrome's address bar. It takes just a few seconds to bring up Spotlight, type "YouTube," hit tab to trigger the search box and type in the video I'm looking for. This intelligent site searching also works for Amazon and IMDB — hopefully, Apple will add more commonly used sites over time (or perhaps just the ability to map a site's internal search engine to Spotlight). If you're often buried by tons of tabs in your web browser, Spotlight can also quickly search through them. That helped me avoid getting distracted by social media and Slack conversations. I could just stay in my productivity flow, since I didn't have to sift through multiple app windows and tabs. The ability to trigger actions from Spotlight was similarly useful — it's a cinch to pop it up, start typing "Send Message" and jot out a quick text to my wife. Spotlight also learns your most common commands over time, so now I just have to type "se" for the Send Message action to pop up. I'm sure for a certain type of Mac power user, Spotlight will give them far fewer reasons to ever touch their mouse or trackpad. While Spotlight is the most powerful upgrade in macOS Tahoe 26, you'll notice the spiffier Liquid Glass interface first. As with iOS 26, it basically amounts to more transparencies and visual flourishes spread throughout the OS. The menu bar at the top of the screen is now fully transparent, instead of looking foggy like before. It's not much, but it does make your Mac's screen seem a little bigger (or perhaps that may have just been extra noticeable on the cramped 13-inch MacBook Air I've been testing on). Similarly, widgets and the Control Center dropdown have more glass-like visual elements that make them look a bit more modern. There's no real practical advantage, but to paraphrase a classic Marge Simpson quote, I just think it's neat. Apple Silicon-equipped hardware has more than enough graphics power to spare, so these visual upgrades also don't hinder performance at all. I didn't notice any slowdown during my testing, and according to Activity Monitor, there didn't seem to be a big hit to CPU or GPU usage. Even though you've been able to make phone calls on Macs for a while now through FaceTime, it's taken until macOS Tahoe 26 for Apple to debut a dedicated Phone app. The app itself is nothing special — it gives you a quick glance at your contacts and recent calls, all in a compact Liquid Glass window — but at least it's a more logical place for phone calls. Even better than the standalone app, though, is the addition of iPhone Live Activities appearing in the macOS Tahoe 26 menu bar. That makes it easier to keep track of an inbound Uber or Doordash order, without whipping out your phone. And if you need to tap into a specific activity, macOS will also automatically launch the app from your phone via iPhone mirroring. It's the sort of usability feature you'd expect from Apple, and notably it's also not easily replicable on Windows. (And sure, you can also view it as a way to keep iPhone users from straying to the dark side too.) The more I dug into macOS Tahoe 26, the more intriguing it became. Here are a few other updates worth highlighting: The Shortcuts app seems a lot more powerful now, especially with the addition of custom automations and Apple Intelligence-powered actions. You can have an automation trigger writing tools or Image Playgrounds, and there's also a new "Use Model" command that can tap into on-device AI models and ChatGPT. I'm still trying to wrap my head around building a complex automation, but conceivably it could let you do something like compare an audio transcript to text notes, according to Apple. Safari has received a Liquid Glass redesign that looks pretty polished. It's not nearly as transformative as the Safari iOS upgrade, which makes it easier to read websites on a small phone screen, but at least it looks nice. The Notes app now has Apple Intelligence-powered reminders whenever you share content to it. That could help you unearth some key tasks from a large email. The Photos app has also received the Liquid Glass treatment, and you can finally use Pinned Collections on Macs to keep your favorite photo groups handy. The Apple Music app can now use AutoMix to intelligently blend songs together, similar to a DJ. I've been using this feature on iOS 26 a lot, and it's honestly delightful — so long as you're not a total gapless playback purist.

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