Latest news with #AppleMacBook
CNET
3 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Best Last-Minute Memorial Day Laptop Deals: Up to $500 Off on Top Models From Apple, Asus, MSI and More
Memorial Day has passed, but that doesn't mean you can't find good deals. While most steep discount offers have ended, a few last-minute deals can bring you massive savings on some of the most powerful laptops on the market. If you've been looking forward to upgrading to a new laptop, you can still get pretty solid discounts on budget and premium models. Whether you want an Apple MacBook, a Windows laptop or an affordable Chromebook, here are the best deals that are still available. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. These are limited-time deals, and most will end tonight. So, if you like a deal you see here, grab it before it's too late. Losing out on a deal may mean you may not see the same kind of pricing anytime soon, at least for a few weeks. To make sure we're giving you the best recommendations, we'll continuously update this roundup through Memorial Day and beyond. Best Memorial Day laptop deals Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro (14-inch): $980 Save $470 This high-powered 14-inch laptop has an Intel Core 5 Ultra processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It has a vibrant 3K AMOLED touchscreen with an anti-reflective finish. It's a great laptop for taking work meetings, with its 1080p camera, AKG Quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, and dual bidirectional, noise-canceling microphones. $980 at Amazon Is Memorial Day a good time to buy a laptop? Compared to other major shopping events like Black Friday, Memorial Day is a little more geared towards big-ticket items like mattresses and major appliances. However, there are still some amazing deals on tech to be had -- including laptops. Prices may drop a little lower around the holidays, but if you don't want to wait until November, Memorial Day is still an excellent time to grab a new laptop for less. Where are the best Memorial Day laptop sales? Tons of retailers were offering some amazing Memorial Day deals on tech like laptops, including Amazon and Best Buy. A handful of major brands had some direct deals of their own for the main event day. While most of the steeply discounted products are now sold out, there are still some good deals left. What else is on sale for Memorial Day? Whether you want the big-ticket products like mattresses and major appliances or tech like headphones, TVs and laptops, plenty of post Memorial Day deals are still live. To get a good idea of what's out there, be sure to check out our full roundup of all the overall best Memorial Day deals still available. How we choose the best Memorial Day laptop deals Many of us at CNET have covered shopping events for over five years, including Black Friday, Prime Day, Memorial Day and countless other shopping events. We've gotten good at weeding out scams and superficial deals, so you'll see only the best offers on our lists. We look for real discounts, quality reviews and remaining sale time when choosing laptop deals to show you. We have a team of experts who have tested hundreds of laptops to make sure we're bringing you the best options at the best prices.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Yahoo
Laptop specs explained: A jargon-free guide to what's inside your computer
All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. Convoluted, jargon-laden hardware specifications (specs) can make laptop shopping difficult for those of us who aren't especially tech-savvy. But as Mashable's resident laptop expert, I know that being able to decipher them is essential to pinpointing PCs that fit your needs and identifying when deals are actually worthwhile. So, a basic working knowledge is valuable. Below, I walk through common specs for today's Apple MacBook and Windows laptop components in plain language, and dole out some recommendations for different types of users. (For a deeper dive into specs for Chromebooks, which are cloud-based laptops that run on Google's ChromeOS, read our dedicated "Chromebooks versus laptops" guide.) Spoiler alert: The RAM in question is not a horned sheep, the chiclets are not edible, and the nits you'll encounter don't have the potential to hatch your scalp. Credit: Intel The central processing unit (or CPU) is a chip inside a laptop's motherboard that's responsible for executing all tasks and commands. It's often referred to as the machine's brain or control center. Modern MacBooks run on Apple's custom-made M-series chips. In Windows laptops, you'll find CPUs made by Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm (i.e., its Snapdragon line). Qualcomm processors are based on a different kind of Windows architecture than Intel and AMD chips, and as such, they don't work with some games and certain specialty apps. SEE ALSO: The best laptops for 2025, tested by our experts I don't typically recommend buying a laptop with a processor that's more than two generations removed unless your needs are basic, or if you care more about saving money than future-proofing. (Older laptops tend to be way cheaper and easier to find on sale than newer ones.) It's really easy to tell the age of a MacBook's CPU: The bigger the number in its M-something processor name, the newer and faster it is. Intel and AMD's naming schema is a bit more complex — the former has a CPU generation guide on its website — but put simply, they follow the same "higher model number equals newer/better" logic. Shoppers can pick from three different Qualcomm chips in Windows laptops as of mid-2025: the Snapdragon X, Snapdragon X Plus, and Snapdragon X Elite. I've listed them in order from least to most powerful, but the low-end Snapdragon X chip is the company's latest release. The graphics processing unit (or GPU) is a specialized chip that's responsible for rendering the visuals on a laptop's screen. There are two different species of GPUs out there. One is an integrated GPU, which is built into the laptop's CPU and shares its memory with it. They're cheaper than the alternative, but they're also not powerful enough for serious gaming or multimedia editing. Integrated GPUs have the same manufacturer as their CPU (Intel goes with Intel, Qualcomm with Qualcomm, etc.). The other type of GPU you'll come across is a dedicated GPU, aka discrete GPU, which is a standalone graphics card that has its own memory. They offer more power for intensive tasks but consume a lot more of it: Laptops with dedicated GPUs (e.g., gaming laptops) tend to have lousy battery lives. They also cost a premium. Among dedicated GPUs, the biggest names are Nvidia's GeForce RTX series and AMD's Radeon RX series. GeForce RTX GPUs can be paired with CPUs from any manufacturer, but Radeon RX GPUs only come with AMD CPUs. SEE ALSO: The best gaming laptops of 2025 In comparing dedicated GPUs between different laptops, I usually advise prospective buyers to go up to two generations back if they want a good deal or if they mainly play casual and indie games. If you're someone who keeps up with the latest Triple-A games (and you've got cash to burn), a current-gen GPU is worth the investment. When it comes to decoding GPU model numbers, higher numbers still indicate brawn and brand-newness. Credit: HUIZENG HU / Moment via Getty Images A laptop's random-access memory (RAM) is where it temporarily stashes the data its CPU needs for any active applications. The more RAM a machine has, the more tasks its system can handle simultaneously. Sixteen gigabytes of RAM has become the industry standard as of late, even among MacBooks, and that's going to be a great starting point for most people. You can bump that up to the next configuration tier (usually 32GB) or higher if you do a lot of demanding gaming or content creation. Those with basic workloads can get away with 8GB of memory — "basic" meaning sending emails, writing documents, watching YouTube, and maybe playing Minecraft — but don't go any lower than that. As mentioned, dedicated GPUs have ready access to their own little stockpile of RAM called VRAM, or video random-access memory, for handling graphics data. The more visually intricate Triple-A games you play, the more VRAM you'll want. A laptop's storage is the space where it keeps long-term data — your documents, downloads, photos, videos, and audio files. You'll run into a few different types of storage at different pricing levels. SSD (Solid-State Drive) storage is used in mid-range and premium laptops, while UFS (Universal Flash Storage) and eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard) flash storage are common in budget PCs. They go in that exact order from fastest to slowest data transfer speeds. SEE ALSO: Chromebook vs. laptop: What are the differences? Casual users can get by with 256GB of storage, the standard starting configuration for most laptops, but you'll want to upgrade to at least 512GB for a daily driver, especially if you do any sort of regular gaming or creative work. Keep in mind that the laptop's operating system takes up a chunk of its storage space, so you won't get to utilize the full advertised capacity. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable A laptop's display (or screen) is the panel on which it produces text and visuals. It's the focal point of the device's lid, the thin slab attached to its base (or chassis) with hinges. It also serves as your main way of interacting with the laptop's software, so it's crucial that it's relatively nice and apt for your needs. Consider the following display specs: Laptop screens range in size from 11 to 18 inches, and like TV screens, they're measured diagonally from corner to corner. Stick with the lower end of that range (11 to 13 inches) if you frequently work on the go and prioritize portability. Stay in the middle (14 to 15 inches) if you want a machine that has more power and screen real estate for multitasking, but is still relatively easy to tote around. Go for the upper end (16 to 18 inches) if you'll mainly be using your laptop for gaming or multimedia work, and you're OK with it staying parked in one spot most of the time. Delving into laptop display technologies gets convoluted and acronym-heavy fast, so I've done my best to compile a brief, no-nonsense rundown of the two-ish types you'll encounter most often. Touchscreens come in both varieties, for what it's worth. LCD screens are the standard among low-end to mid-range laptops. They look fine and don't suck up a ton of power. There are two notable LCD subtypes, one being IPS displays, which have better, more realistic colors from wider viewing angles compared to regular LCD displays. The other is mini-LED displays, which are brighter and have better contrast. They're newer and pricier. SEE ALSO: When to buy a laptop, whether you need the latest specs or a great deal The other main type of laptop screen out there is the thin OLED display, which features rich colors with deep blacks and stark contrast. They can be decently energy-efficient if their picture isn't constantly super bright or white. (The main trade-off is a proclivity for burn-in.) They used to be reserved for high-end laptops, but nowadays they're available on models at a variety of price points. A laptop screen's resolution refers to its dimensions in pixels. (Pixels are teeny little light-emitting dots that make up the screen's picture.) The higher the resolution, the sharper the picture is going to be. Full HD (or 1920 x 1080 pixels) is a good baseline for general-purpose usage and even some gaming, but feel free to go up from there if there's some wiggle room in your budget, or if your workflow necessitates it. Gamers and creatives who like detailed visuals should look into QHD (2560 x 1440) or 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) options. Resolution is directly tied to another minor display spec called aspect ratio, which is basically just a width to height comparison. A wider 16:9 aspect ratio has traditionally been the go-to, but 16:10 and 3:2 aspect ratios with more vertical space are getting more popular. They're considered better for general productivity versus entertainment. A laptop screen's refresh rate (measured in hertz) refers to the number of times it updates its picture per second. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother motion looks. General-purpose laptops typically have 60Hz displays, while fancier gaming laptops range from 120Hz to 240Hz so action-packed titles look clean. There are some gaming laptops out there that go all the way up to 480Hz, but that's way overkill. The brightness of a laptop's screen (that is, the amount of light it produces) is measured in nits. The more nits, the brighter the screen and the easier it is to see its picture in direct sunlight. Laptop displays generally range from 250 nits on budget models to 600 nits on premium PCs, with some elite content creation laptops capable of cranking up to 1,000 nits and beyond. I wouldn't go any lower than 300 nits, but I also don't think it's necessary to buy the brightest screen possible: There's a good chance you'll hardly use it at its maximum setting because it'll strain your eyes. It'll also zap the laptop's battery life. (For reference, I can work all day with my 500-nit MacBook Pro set to about 75 percent brightness.) Credit: Molly Flores / Mashable A laptop's webcam is the front-facing camera built into its display. It's located in the top bezel (screen border), or in the case of MacBooks, in a small notch that juts down into the screen. Some webcams come with physical privacy shutters that you can slide open or closed with a finger. Laptop webcams aren't as lousy as they used to be: While some gaming PCs still have 720p webcams, manufacturers have mostly (finally) moved on to 1080p as the standard resolution, and many newer models boast 5MP, 9MP, or 12MP options. That said, most of them are still pretty lousy compared to smartphones' front-facing cameras, no matter the resolution. If you care deeply about video call quality, I'd just resolve to buy an external webcam. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable Laptops have "island-style" keyboards with low-profile, spaced-out keys. They're also frequently called "chiclet" keyboards (as in Chiclets, the square-shaped gum candies). Some include numeric keypads, or numpads, next to their QWERTY setups, but they feel rarer nowadays, with most keyboards opting for just the top row of numbers. Most modern laptops have backlit keyboards; snazzy gaming laptops' keyboards sport colorful "RGB" backlighting. They also typically have fingerprint readers built into one of their keys for security purposes. Windows laptops from 2024 on have dedicated Copilot keys — Copilot being Microsoft's AI assistant. A laptop's touchpad or trackpad is the touch-sensitive rectangle below the keyboard that allows you to control its cursor without needing a separate mouse. It can be made of plastic (on cheap laptops) or glass (on nicer laptops). Touchpads on MacBooks and Windows laptops support gestures — e.g., pinching your fingers on the surface to zoom. Some higher-end models have haptic touchpads that produce subtle vibrations when certain actions are performed. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable Every laptop has a selection of ports on the side of its chassis — or in the case of some gaming laptops, the rear portion below its hinges — which let the user connect different accessories and peripherals. Think external monitors, keyboards, and wired headphones. Common ports on today's laptops include USB-C ports, Thunderbolt 4 ports, 3.5mm audio jacks, and a charging port. Some models still tack on a USB-A port, but those are being phased out. (Such older ports are referred to as legacy ports.) Laptops geared toward multimedia editing come equipped with HDMI ports and SD/microSD card slots. A laptop's battery life is a measure of how long it lasts on a single full charge. This can vary greatly depending on the specs of its other components, their settings, and the tasks the machine runs throughout the battery cycle. Manufacturers typically list laptops' battery lives as potentials — "up to 18 hours," for example — and in my experience, they rarely hit their advertised maximum in practice. Laptops keep getting thinner and lighter as time goes on, which is stellar if you value portability and sleekness. (Models under three pounds are deemed lightweight.) However, gamers and creative professionals shouldn't shy away from heavier options. In the laptop world, heft is associated with power. If you live near a major tech retailer like Best Buy or Costco, consider paying them a visit to see some laptops in person. You'll be able to check out different brands' keyboards, touchpads, displays, webcams, and overall build quality — maybe not for the purpose of actually buying one of the models on display, but just to figure out your preferences for certain components so you can hone a pool of contenders. Of course, you won't be able to get a real feel for a laptop's internal specs until you take it home and start using it. That's why we put myriad laptops through an exhaustive real-world testing process involving performance and battery life benchmarks (which we combine with design and value judgements to produce final ratings). We want to give our readers the knowledge to make smarter buying decisions from the jump. For the latest takeaways from our testing, check out Mashable's guides to the best laptops we've tried, including breakouts for the best MacBooks, Windows laptops, gaming laptops, and cheap laptops. At the time of writing, we think the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M4) is the best MacBook for most people. Among Windows laptops, the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is our top pick. And for gamers, the Alienware m16 R2 is the best option we've tested to date. Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $1,049 at Best Buy $1,199 Save $150 Shop Now Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, 13.8-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,199.99 at Amazon $1,399.99 Save $200 Shop Now Alienware m16 R2 (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $1,549.99 at Best Buy $1,899.99 Save $350 Shop Now
Hans India
06-05-2025
- Hans India
UP STF busts NEET exam rigging racket, arrests three
Noida: In a major crackdown, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has busted a gang accused of rigging the NEET UG and other competitive examinations, and arrested three individuals from Gautam Buddha Nagar district's Noida. The accused have been identified as Vikram Kumar Shah, Dharampal Singh, and Aniket Kumar. The arrests took place in Sector 3, under the Phase-1 police station limits of Gautam Buddha Nagar district. The accused are now booked under FIR No. 182/2025 at Phase-1 police station in Gautam Buddha Nagar, under sections 318, 319, 336, 337, 338, 340, and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Local police have initiated further legal proceedings. The STF has seized a significant amount of incriminating evidence from the accused, including six calling mobile phones, four personal phones, two encrypted Aadhaar cards, a candidate data sheet, a PAN card, a credit card, a voter ID, a passport, a cheque book, an Apple MacBook, and a Toyota Fortuner. Acting on specific intelligence received on May 3, the STF Noida unit under the supervision of Additional SP Raj Kumar Mishra and Deputy SP Navendu Kumar raided the office of the gang located in Sector 3. The tip-off revealed that members of the gang were contacting relatives of NEET UG candidates, offering guaranteed passing by leaking papers in exchange for large sums of money. According to the STF, the accused were caught red-handed and immediately taken into custody. During interrogation, 30-year-old Vikram Kumar Shah revealed that he originally hailed from Darbhanga, Bihar and had gone to Vinayaka Mission University in Chennai in 2011 for a Biotechnology degree. There, he met co-accused Aniket Kumar, and the duo began arranging admissions at the university for a 30 per cent commission. Post graduation, Shah moved to Delhi, where he met Dharampal Singh. Together, they formed a company named 'Admission View' and began collecting data on MBBS aspirants. They allegedly contacted students' families, promising guaranteed admissions and demanded Rs 5 lakh per candidate, the STF said. The gang advised candidates to fill in only those answers in the OMR sheet they were sure of and leave the rest blank. They would then arrange to replace the OMR sheets with ones filled in with correct answers. If the candidate secured admission, the gang kept the money; otherwise, they delayed refunds and fled if legal pressure mounted. After several complaints surfaced, the gang rebranded in 2023 by forming another firm, 'SHREYANVI EDU OPC PVT LTD,' registered again in Noida Sector 3, and resumed the same fraudulent operations, targeting students ahead of the NEET UG 2025, the STF mentioned.
Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Indian Express
NEET-UG 2025: Noida STF arrests 3 Delhi residents for demanding money from medical aspirants, their families
The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday arrested three people for allegedly offering National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – Undergraduate (NEET-UG) candidates help to crack the examination through unfair means in exchange for money. According to an official statement issued by the Noida unit of the STF on Sunday, the three accused have been identified as Vikram Kumar Shah, Aniket Kumar, and Dharampal Singh. Shah and Kumar are residents of Lakshmi Nagar in Delhi, whereas Singh stays in the Sagarpur area of the national capital. The police said the accused were arrested based on a tip-off, and the three of them ran an office in Noida's Sector-3. 'On Saturday, we received a tipoff from informants that some suspects were calling relatives of NEET aspirants and offering them deals to pass the test. We then raided the office in Sector-3 at night and arrested the three men and also seized 10 mobile phones, an Apple MacBook, credit, PAN, and Aadhaar cards, examination ID cards, a Fortuner car, and data sheets of candidates from their possession,' said the police. Vikram Kumar Shah, 30, has purportedly told the interrogators that he met Aniket Kumar at the Vinayaka Missions University, Chennai, while he was studying Biotechnology there in 2011. Shah also allegedly told the police that they started helping candidates obtain admission at the university for a commission. 'After completing their post-graduation in Chennai, they came to Delhi, where they met the third accused, Dharampal,' reads the official statement. The three registered a company called Admission View. They would collect details of MBBS candidates and offer them deals to secure a seat for Rs 5 lakh. They would tell the candidates to only write down answers that they knew during the exam, and leave the rest blank, saying they would get the answer sheets changed. If the candidate managed to pass, they would take all the money, the Uttar Pradesh Police said. 'In case the candidate could not clear the exam, we would simply ignore their calls or at times change the location and then move to find new targets,' the accused allegedly told the police. With complaints piling up against the company, the suspects shut it down in 2023 and started a new firm, Shreyanvi Edu OPC Pvt Ltd, in Noida to continue duping NEET aspirants. A First Information Report in the matter has been registered under sections 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation), 336, 337, 338, and 340 (all related to forgery), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. More than 22 lakh medical aspirants took the NEET-UG test across the country on Sunday.
NDTV
05-05-2025
- NDTV
NEET UG Exam Rigging Racket Busted In Noida, 3 Arrested
Noida: In a major crackdown, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has busted a gang accused of rigging the NEET UG and other competitive examinations, and arrested three individuals from Gautam Buddha Nagar district's Noida. The accused have been identified as Vikram Kumar Shah, Dharampal Singh, and Aniket Kumar. The arrests took place in Sector 3, under the Phase-1 police station limits of Gautam Buddha Nagar district. The accused are now booked under FIR No. 182/2025 at Phase-1 police station in Gautam Buddha Nagar, under sections 318, 319, 336, 337, 338, 340, and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Local police have initiated further legal proceedings. The STF has seized a significant amount of incriminating evidence from the accused, including six calling mobile phones, four personal phones, two encrypted Aadhaar cards, a candidate data sheet, a PAN card, a credit card, a voter ID, a passport, a cheque book, an Apple MacBook, and a Toyota Fortuner. Acting on specific intelligence received on May 3, the STF Noida unit under the supervision of Additional SP Raj Kumar Mishra and Deputy SP Navendu Kumar raided the office of the gang located in Sector 3. The tip-off revealed that members of the gang were contacting relatives of NEET UG candidates, offering guaranteed passing by leaking papers in exchange for large sums of money. According to the STF, the accused were caught red-handed and immediately taken into custody. During interrogation, 30-year-old Vikram Kumar Shah revealed that he originally hailed from Darbhanga, Bihar and had gone to Vinayaka Mission University in Chennai in 2011 for a Biotechnology degree. There, he met co-accused Aniket Kumar, and the duo began arranging admissions at the university for a 30 per cent commission. Post graduation, Shah moved to Delhi, where he met Dharampal Singh. Together, they formed a company named "Admission View" and began collecting data on MBBS aspirants. They allegedly contacted students' families, promising guaranteed admissions and demanded Rs 5 lakh per candidate, the STF said. The gang advised candidates to fill in only those answers in the OMR sheet they were sure of and leave the rest blank. They would then arrange to replace the OMR sheets with ones filled in with correct answers. If the candidate secured admission, the gang kept the money; otherwise, they delayed refunds and fled if legal pressure mounted. After several complaints surfaced, the gang rebranded in 2023 by forming another firm, "SHREYANVI EDU OPC PVT LTD," registered again in Noida Sector 3, and resumed the same fraudulent operations, targeting students ahead of the NEET UG 2025, the STF mentioned. Further investigations are underway.
