Reviews / Hardware & Software
-
Mac mini and Apple Silicon M1 review: Not so crazy after all
The M1 is amazingly fast. More importantly, it's a compatibility slam dunk.
-
Hands-on with the Apple M1—a seriously fast x86 competitor [Updated]
Original story 9:00am EST: There's a lot of understandable excitement around Apple's ARM-powered devices right now. And we've got traditional reviews of those devices and their ecosystems, for Apple fans and the Apple-curious. This is not one of...
-
iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max hands-on: How they compare with the 12 and 12 Pro
To supplement our review, we go over what's distinct about two more iPhones.
-
macOS 11.0 Big Sur: The Ars Technica review
The era of Mac OS X is over. Kind of.
-
iPad Air 2020 review: Semi-pro
The iPad Air offers most of the best iPad Pro features for less.
-
iPhone 12 and 12 Pro double review: Playing Apple’s greatest hits
The iPhone 12 is so good, it’s hard to recommend the iPhone 12 Pro.
-
iOS and iPadOS 14 review: iPhone transformation, iPad iteration
For a couple of years now, we’ve heard that Apple kept putting off a big home screen overhaul for iOS as it struggled with improving its development process to reduce the number of bugs that ship with its big annual releases like iOS 12 or iOS 13.
-
2020 13-inch MacBook Pro review: The standard macOS workhorse
A new keyboard and faster performance make this slightly thicker laptop a winner.
-
iPhone SE review: Though it be but little, it is fierce
Apple’s new iPhone packs top-tier performance in an affordable package.
-
MacBook Air 2020 review: The most boring Mac is among the best
It has a new keyboard, and that’s all most folks need to know.
-
OK Computer: The iPad Pro 2020 review
Pointer support and an AR sensor come to the iPad.
-
Samsung Galaxy S20 vs. iPhone 11 Pro: A deeper division lurks beneath the spec sheets
There are more important concerns for buyers than feature lists.
War Stories: How Nintendo sold the NES to a skeptical country
Convincing the public to love home video games again after Atari's dramatic fall.
-
HP Spectre x360 13 review: A high-end two-in-one that’s hard to beat
There was a lot to love about the 4th-generation HP Spectre x360 13, but HP wasn't satisfied. The new 5th-gen laptop, which debuted at the end of 2019, has more improvements than you'd think just by glancing at it. in fact without inspecting it...
-
HP Elite Dragonfly review: Luxurious, professional, expensive
There are more ultra-mobile professionals now than ever before, which is why OEMs are developing increasingly thin-and-light laptops that will appeal to those users. No one wants to add heft to their bag, regardless of whether they're going off on a...
-
2019 16-inch MacBook Pro review: Bye-bye, butterfly
Apple’s new laptop seems designed to address three years of user complaints.
-
Pixelbook Go review: A cheaper Pixelbook does not come without compromises
Google's relationship with its own Chrome OS hardware has been a peculiar one. While other OEMs regularly push out new Chromebooks for users with various budgets, Google continues to refresh its hardware just once a year. Until now, those updates...
-
The 2019 iPad races to the bottom (price-wise), but it’s not so bad down there
The past year has seen Apple blazing a new trail for its iPad line of products, further distinguishing the tablets from their iPhone roots and seeking to establish them as real productivity and creativity devices.
-
Acer Swift 3 review: Better as a budget device than as a mid-range laptop
The Acer Swift 3 laptop is not a flagship, but its lack of anything strange, striking, or gimmicky may work in its favor. While the Swift 3 starts at $479, most of its configurations (including our review unit) cost between $699 and $999. That puts...
-
Garmin Venu review: Fitness expertise with many pixels left to fill
Smartwatches try to get us away from our smartphone screens, but ironically, a smartwatch's screen is one of the most important things about it. While plenty of materials have been used in smartwatch displays (including E-Ink, RIP Pebble), OLED and...
-
iPadOS review: The iPad is dead, long live the iPad
When we reviewed the 2018 iPad Pro, we were impressed by the power and potential of the hardware, but iOS 12 wasn’t up to the task of making the iPad a true content creation machine or a daily workhorse. We said it was time for Apple to branch out...
-
Dell XPS 13 two-in-one review: Lots to flex, few weaknesses
If the changes brought to the Dell XPS 13 earlier this year intrigued you, you may be even more excited for the XPS 13 two-in-one. Dell updated its flagship convertible even more than it updated its laptop. The company changed up the two-in-one's...
-
Garmin Vivoactive 4s review: So many fitness features, so little time
Garmin created the best alternative to the Apple Watch when it came out with the Vivoactive 3 Music. For 2019, Garmin has updated that device with the Vivoactive 4 series, which includes the 45mm Vivoactive 4 and the 40mm Vivoactive 4s. Minor...
-
iPhone 11 review: The most attractive choice in Apple’s best lineup in years
Like the iPhone XR before it, the iPhone 11 is the default iPhone. It's priced where flagship phones used to be priced, and it offers almost all the same features as the expensive iPhone 11 Pro models that also launched this year.
-
iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max review: High quality for high prices
Apple’s new flagship shows the X-series iPhones have matured.
-
Apple Watch Series 5 review: A better, more independent timepiece
At this point, we all know what an Apple Watch is and what it does well. Apple knows that, too. So with the $399 Apple Watch Series 5, the company homed in on small features that could make a big difference when using the Watch on a daily basis.
-
iOS 13: The Ars Technica review
Last year, Apple set users’ expectations with iOS 12, saying it would be focused on improving performance and fixing bugs and stability issues instead of adding a bunch of new features. And while there were still plenty of bugs over the course of...
-
ThinkPad X1 Carbon 7th-gen mini-review: Minor updates made to a stellar machine
There are some people who would never buy a ThinkPad, and there are others who flock to Lenovo's flagship business family every time the company makes an update. The latest release will be no exception, even if the updates it brings are relatively...
-
Lenovo Thinkbook 13s review: ThinkPad influences at a great price
Lenovo's ThinkPad family has a lot of fans, but not everyone can spend ThinkPad money on a laptop. Designed for small business customers (and regular consumers who want a more privacy-focused machine), Lenovo's new Thinkbooks seem like an experiment...
-
15-inch MacBook Pro mini-review: How much does Apple’s fastest laptop offer?
We tested it decked-out with an 8-core Core i9 CPU and Vega 20 graphics.
-
Dell Inspiron 13 7000 review: Premium and practical all in one
Dell's Inspiron line doesn't make as many headlines as the XPS line does, but that could change quickly. Over the past year or so, Dell has taken premium features that come standard in XPS machines and translated them for the Inspiron line. The...
-
HP Spectre 15 x360 2019 review: Carving a niche in a crowded space
The HP Spectre 15 x360 is a good laptop, but it seemed we always found one or two things to quibble with.
-
Blackmagic eGPU Pro mini-review: Quiet, fast, and extremely expensive—like a Mac
The higher-end cousin to Blackmagic's first Mac eGPU delivers where it counts.
-
iPad Air and iPad mini 2019 review: Apple’s tablets strike an ideal balance
These are clearly more appealing to most people than Apple's 2018 iPad or iPad Pro.
-
Mini-review: Fitbit’s Versa Lite favors affordability over unnecessary features
The Versa Lite confused me at first. When Fitbit announced the new Inspire and Inspire HR fitness trackers, the company also debuted the new Versa Lite. This smartwatch looks identical to the original Versa, which came out last year, but it lacks a...
-
Guidemaster: The best Windows ultrabooks you can buy right now
Buyers looking for premium Windows laptops today have plenty of choices; every few months sees some splashy launch of a new high-end PC. Ultrabooks have become the standard design for most premium Windows laptops, and they represent the best of what...
-
Fitbit Inspire HR review: A worthy $99 investment in your health
Apple may be dominating the wearable space, but Fitbit isn't far behind. Long before Apple even made smartwatches, Fitbit made fitness trackers for all types of people who would like to become healthier or advance their training to the next level....