The Engadget Podcast

For a 50-year-old company, Apple remains pretty hip and nimble. This week, Devindra and Senior Reporter Igor Bonifacic dive into Apple's big birthday, the state of the company today and what the next 50 years could bring. Also, we celebrate the successful launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, which will bring us back to the Moon (but just for a close look).

 

Apple at 50: Why it’s still all about personal computing – 1:16

Artemis II is safely on its way to the moon, but they’re having problems with Outlook – 37:48

SpaceX files for the largest IPO ever, what’s driving their hopes for a 1.75 Trillion valuation? – 40:52

Another Starlink satellite broke up in orbit, the second in 6 months – 47:21

Anthropic accidentally leaked source code for Claude Code – 52:17

FCC issues ban on all foreign-made WiFi routers – 57:18

Around Engadget – 1:02:09

Working On – 1:07:18

Pop culture picks – 1:08:20

If you're feeling anxious about AI and what it means for the future of humanity, you should watch The AI Doc: Or, How I Became an Apocaloptimist. As I noted in my review, the film aims to deliver some clarity amid all the AI hype with a plethora of interviews from AI CEOs, boosters, and critics. Now that it's in theaters, we sat down with the film's Oscar-winning director, Daniel Roher (Navalny), to dive deeper into his complicated feelings around AI.

It turns out people don't actually love having Copilot shoved into their faces. This week, Devindra and PCWorld Senior Editor Mark Hachman discuss Microsoft's surprising plan to "fix" Windows 11 by refocusing on customization and core features, instead of bringing Copilot AI into tons of apps. Is there any enthusiasm left for Windows? Or will most people be better off considering macOS or Linux?

 

Microsoft hits the reset button on Windows 11, de-emphasizing Copilot AI – 1:03

OpenAI pulls the plug on its Sora video generation app after just 5 months – 25:23

Meta’s terrible week in court, part 1: $375 million ruling in New Mexico child engagement case – 33:58

Meta’s terrible week in court, part 2: Meta and Google lose landmark social media addiction suit – 38:49

OpenAI puts erotic chat on hold indefinitely – 43:49

Update your iPhones: iOS exploit ‘Darksword’ released on GitHub – 46:39

Epic games lays off 1,000 workers after Fortnite engagement dips – 47:48

Honda and Sony kill off their Afeela EV collaboration – 49:26

Listener Mail: Which Mac Mini to get for a budding pro photographer – 55:15

Pop culture picks – 57:52

NVIDIA started an online firestorm this week when it announced DLSS 5 at its GTC conference. The company claims it's meant to deliver "photorealistic" lighting and materials in games by using neural processing. But it differs considerably from previous versions of DLSS, which were focused on using machine learning to upscale lower resolutions and generate additional frames. To help us break this down, Anshel Sag, VP and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy joins us to discuss his experience with NVIDIA's DLSS 5 demos. Also, we dive into what's next for Xbox with Project Helix.

 

NVIDIA announced DLSS 5, the disgust was immediate (with Anshel Sag from Moor Insights & Strategy) – 0:51

Arizona attorney general sues Kalshi for operating an illegal gambling business – 36:22

Polymarket users threaten the life of a reporter at The Times of Israel over accurate reporting – 36:59

Apple announces AirPods Max 2 with improved noise cancellation – 44:33

Elon Musk’s xAI faces class action suit over facilitating CSAM – 47:38

Samsung stops selling Galaxy Z TriFold after 3 months because components got too expensive – 51:22

Around Engadget: Apple Studio XDR review, Dell XPS 16 review – 53:49.346

Listener Mail: Stick with iPhone on Linux? And are there any good Android tablets? – 55:41

Pop culture picks – 58:46

Somehow, Apple made a $600 laptop that's actually a joy to use. In this episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham chat about what makes the MacBook Neo so great. And they also dive into the new M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air and M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros. Also, Roberto Baldwin, SAE International's Sustainability Editor, joins us to chat about the state of EVs today as gas prices explode.

MacBook Neo review: Apple puts $600 Windows PCs to shame – 1:47

iPad Air M4 remains Apple’s best overall tablet – 18:05

Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE employee illegally took social security info on 500 million Americans to their new job – 33:37

Valve clarifies their outlook on the Steam Machine, it’ll launch in 2026, still no word on price – 36:08

Grammerly hit with a class action lawsuit for using reporters’ names in an editing ‘expert’ tool – 40:29

A new study claims every major AI chatbot will help users plan a hate attack or political assassination – 44:03

What to look for in a used EV with SAE International sustainability editor Roberto Baldwin – 48:31

Around Engadget – 1:21:04