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Look Out For an M2 MacBook Pro This Year, Rumors Suggest
Look Out For an M2 MacBook Pro This Year, Rumors Suggest
Although Apple introduced a slew of devices at its event earlier this month, a new MacBook Pro has yet to appear.
9to5Mac speculated after the event that a MacBook Pro and MacBook Air with a new M2 chip could launch later this year, citing anonymous sources. Reliable Apple analyst Mark Gurman predicted on Sunday that a 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro could indeed arrive in 2022, but that a 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 and M2 Max options will launch in 2023. The latter two would succeed 2021's 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1.
Read on for everything we've heard so far about the rumored upcoming MacBook Pros.
When will new MacBook Pros be announced?
At first, it looked like a new MacBook Pro could arrive at Apple's first event of the year on March 8. Gurman had estimated in February that the 13-inch MacBook Pro, succeeding the 2020 MacBook Pro, would be announced during the event. The rumor was bolstered by a recent EEC filing, which includes at least one new laptop, model A2681.
As we know, the 13-inch MacBook Pro didn't arrive at Apple's most recent event. (Here's every new device that did show up that day.) But the aforementioned rumor from 9to5Mac says a new 13-inch MacBook Pro model is in an advanced stage of development. This indicates that the updated laptop could launch in the not-too-distant future -- maybe even at Apple's WWDC in June. This is corroborated by Gurman's most recent newsletter, which says in the Q&A section (only visible to paid subscribers) that the 13-inch MacBook Pro could show up in 2022. Gurman also predicts that it will come with a new M2 chip. More on that below.
An M2 chip?
The so-called M2 is being bandied about as an update to Apple's first-gen M1 entry-level version, although we've heard no details beyond that. AppleTrack and others have said that the aforementioned specs would take away everything that makes a MacBook Pro a "pro" model, especially in light of speculation about a revamped Air, but that might not be the case. If the rumored M2 chip has specs somewhere between the M1 and M1 Max, say eight cores (with six or eight P cores), support for 32GB RAM, 14 GPU cores and no ProRes accelerator, it could serve quite well as a less expensive Pro for low-end content creation, such as most photo editing. Not everyone is editing video. And that still leaves room for a light, less powerful Air.
Recently, Gurman wrote that a developer told him Apple has been testing multiple Macs with a new chip, and that this new chip's specs match those of the M2 that Gurman predicted last year.
This is corroborated by the rumor from 9to5Mac, which says the expected new models of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air will be powered by the M2: an M1 replacement that retains the M1's eight CPU cores but ramps the GPU up to 10 cores. As it's positioned to take over the base M1 chip's place in the Apple Silicon lineup, the M2 might not outperform the M1 Pro, M1 Max and newly announced M1 Ultra, according to 9to5Mac.
Touch Bar: Yes or no?
According to AppleTrack, a previously reliable source on Weibo indicates that the design of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro wouldn't change. If it's true, that means the Touch Bar is staying -- a decision that won't thrill everyone. It also means no updated ProMotion display.
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Getting out of breath while walking up stairs: What's normal, what's not
Getting out of breath while walking up stairs: What's normal, what's not
This story is part of New Year, New You, everything you need to develop healthy habits that will last all the way through 2020 and beyond.
How many times have you been walking along, minding your own business, when all of a sudden a short flight of stairs takes all the breath out of your lungs? Personally, I'd like to consider myself in pretty good shape, but I can barely hold a conversation with my walking-mate while climbing any staircase more than one story.
It turns out, getting winded while doing simple activities isn't really a sign you're out of shape -- it's something that happens to everyone, fit or not. However, there are some simple steps you can take to make the experience less distressing the next time it happens.
Why do I get winded so easily and what's making it happen?
If you check your heart rate, it's likely to have spiked way up.
Rick Broida/CNET
The fancy medical term for what's happening when you get winded walking up stairs is "exertional intolerance." While approaching stairs, you're not warmed up -- your muscles are cold, your heart rate is low, and your body is not ready to move suddenly. When you start climbing, you're essentially doing single-leg squats with some cardio mixed in, and your heart rate quickly skyrockets. Your body suddenly needs more oxygen -- hence the feeling of being winded.
Another reason why it affects you so strongly is because walking up stairs uses your fast-twitch muscles, which are used for explosive movements, and muscles like your glutes that you may not commonly train. If you're an endurance cardio nut like me, you're in great shape, but sustained exercise like this uses slow-twitch muscles. So, it won't transfer over super well to exercises like stair climbing.
If you've been hitting the gym regularly but the stairs are still giving you trouble, don't fret that you're not in good shape. There are plenty of other ways to measure your overall health and fitness, including your heart rate or other metrics like body composition and strength.
Read more:9 of the best running shoes for 2020
How do I stop getting winded so often?
Lunges will help you conquer the stairs with ease.
Getty Images
If getting out of breath while climbing stairs is really putting a damper on your life, there are steps you can take to lessen the annoyance. I'm not going to suggest that you jog in place for a moment to warm up before ascending a short staircase with your boss, but here are a few ways you can prepare yourself ahead of time.
First, incorporate stair-specific exercises into your workout routine to train your body for the stimulus. Exercises such as sprints, jumps or other explosive movements will help with the sudden exertion. To train your glutes and legs, try bodyweight exercises like squats and lunges.
If you smoke cigarettes, it's almost certainly contributing to your windedness. Although e-cigarettes are touted as a healthy alternative, preliminary studies suggest that vaping also damages your lungs. If you were considering quitting anyways, January 1st is right around the corner and may be a good day to start.
When to call your doctor
If you think your windedness is out of the range of normal, call your doctor.
Getty Images
If you're debating whether or not to call a medical professional, you're better safe than sorry. One major warning sign to look out for is chest pain that comes on when you get winded -- it could be a sign of heart disease or a coronary blockage. The doctor will do a stress test, and if you do have a blockage, there's a simple procedure to fix it. Swollen feet and ankles or coughing is another sign there may be something wrong with your heart.
Another reason to seek medical help is if getting winded from basic activities is affecting your daily life -- for example, if you avoid walking short distances. Or, if the situation doesn't get better once you start exercising more, it may be time to consult a doctor or physical therapist.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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Don't Have AC? Try Putting Your Socks in the Freezer
Don't Have AC? Try Putting Your Socks in the Freezer
The ideal temperature for sleeping is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees Celsius), give or take a few notches depending on the person. But if you don't have air conditioning, summertime heat can make your home's indoor air temperature rise far above that, even at night. So, how can you sleep comfortably without AC during the summer?
Sure, you could go out and purchase a portable AC unit. But if it's not in the budget -- or if you're merely trying to sleep through an out-of-the-ordinary heat wave -- we've got some other ideas.
Instead of suffering through the heat, consider the 10 tips below to help you sleep cooler and more comfortably without relying on air conditioning. And while you're at it, check out these additional tips for sleeping during a heat wave, how to sleep next to a human furnace and why restful sleep is so important in the first place. Plus, the ultimate sleep hack.
Freeze your sheets and pillowcases
An hour or two before you go to bed, throw your sheets and pillowcases in the freezer. They won't come out stiff as a board, don't worry. However, they'll stay icy long enough that you can easily fall asleep without feeling like you're overheating.
Throw your socks in the freezer, too
Along the same lines as freezing your linens, you can also freeze your socks for cooling relief. Like your fingers, feet and toes are sensitive to temperature changes and play a role in regulating temperature. By keeping your feet cool, you help cool down the rest of your body.
Use house fans to make your own AC
Fans are much more energy-efficient and wallet-friendly than an air conditioner. They use about 1% of the electricity that AC does. So, take advantage of fans and strategically place them around your room. Place one fan next to your bedside and put a bowl of ice water in front of it. The ice will create cold air that the fan will blow towards you. Next, face a window fan outwards to blow the hot air from your bedroom outside.
Use a wet towel layer
Lay a damp towel down on your bed over your sheets to give your body some cooling relief while you fall asleep. Though, I recommend you lay a dry towel underneath the wet one to avoid soaking your mattress with water which can damage the foam in your mattress. The towel won't stay cold for the entire night, but it should stay cool enough that you can drift off to sleep.
Don't sleep in the nude
You may see advice on the internet suggesting that you should sleep in the nude to stay cool. That might work if you sleep cool, but it won't do much for you if you get sweaty. If you're hot, it's beneficial to wear lightweight pajamas (such as cotton) that can wick the moisture away. Otherwise, your body is free to sweat all over your sheets.
Consider cooling sheets, pillows and comforters
Paul Strowger/Getty Images
If a mattress is out of your realm of budget, you can opt for cooling sheets or pillows for relief. Search for sheets made with breathable fabric like organic cotton, linen or bamboo. Bamboo is great at absorbing sweat and helping you stay cool, and organic cotton does a good job of wicking away moisture.
Consider a cooling mattress
There are a lot of mattresses that retain heat, especially beds made with standard memory foam. A cooling mattress can actually make a big difference in how comfortable you sleep. It can either provide extra airflow and breathability, or it can actively provide your body with a cool-to-the-touch sensation and draw heat away from you like Brooklyn Bedding Aurora.
Block out the sun and heat during the day
Prevent your bedroom from getting too hot during the daytime, especially in the summer, with blackout curtains. Not only do they keep your bedroom dark, but they can also reflect heat and stop it from entering your bedroom through the windows.
Sleep on the first level of your home
Unfortunately for people in two-story homes, hot air rises. That means the top story of your house is going to be warmer than the bottom story. So, beat the heat a little by sleeping on the bottom story of your home when you need relief from the heat.
Drink ice water before bed
Drink a significant amount of water before bed to try and counteract the night sweats. Also, avoid alcohol before bedtime as it can promote dehydration, making it more difficult for your body to regulate temperature and keep you cooler.
For more, check out our guide to natural sleep aids, the best way to take a power nap and how to train yourself to be a back sleeper (and why you should). And if all else fails, these are our picks for best portable AC units.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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Maybe in your past you weren't a hot sleeper, but now you share a bed with your partner who radiates heat like an oven and you're waking up in a sweat pile. Unfortunately for you and your co-sleeper, science says there's a relationship between temperature your body's sleep processes. Aside from being uncomfortable, poor sleep from being too hot can lead to grogginess in the morning, slower decision making and an overall worsened mood. There's a reason why experts recommend you sleep in a temperature between 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit.
If your partner is a hot sleeper and they're keeping you from getting your proper rest, try the tips below to stop the night sweats and help you both sleep more cool.
For more advice on how to sleep cool, check out the five ways to make memory foam sleep cooler or learn how you can sleep cooler without AC.
Read more: The best mattress of 2022
Split your bedding like this to sleep cooler
Utilizing two different blankets is a great way to help each person get the coverage and feel they need while they sleep. This especially goes for couples where one sleeps hot and the other sleeps cold. Rather than a comforter, buy two twin XL blankets that fit each person's needs. The hot sleeper should consider a lightweight, breathable fabric, while the cool sleeper can use a microfiber or sherpa throw that offers a lot of warmth.
Use cooling sheets and a cool comforter
Especially in these summer months, it's important to sleep with breathable bedding -- especially if you or your partner is a hot sleeper. Rather than satin, flannel or regular cotton sheets, try organic cotton, bamboo or linen sheets that are much more breathable and easily wick moisture away. There are also cooling comforters like the Breeze by Buffy that don't trap heat like fluffy, down comforters or thick duvets.
Look into the Chilisleep Sleep Pad
Cool down the surface you sleep on by trying the Chili Sleeping Pad It's a cooling mesh mattress pad that comes with a remote control and a temperature regulating unit. One of the best parts is that you can buy a personal-size sleeping pad, or one made for two both you and your partner sleep hot.
Put the hottest sleeper on this side of the bed
If you can swing it, rearrange your bed and mattress to be near your window. The hot sleeper can get rest sleeping next to the window with a constant cool breeze coming through. If it's too warm outside to get a nice draft during the night, try a window fan.
Open your window and let the hottest sleeper take the side closest to it.
Getty Images/ ZenShui/Sigrid Olsson
Use fans to your advantage
Fans are the best friends of hot sleepers. They help keep air circulating and promote a constant breeze. You can even create a makeshift air conditioner using a fan and ice water. Place a bowl full of cold ice water in front of a fan and face it toward the hottest sleeper. This way, you'll feel cool and icy air blow toward you without having to rely on your AC.
Make sure your co-sleeper is well hydrated
Many of our body functions are in some way related, and that goes for hydration and our circadian rhythm. Our bodies naturally begin to cool down when we recognize bedtime is near, but this process can be thrown off if the body is feeling dehydrated. By drinking water before bed, you ensure your body gets the hydration it needs to properly regulate temperature. This is particularly important if you sweat a lot during your sleep. The more water you lose, the more it needs.
Turn on that AC
As mentioned before, the best temperature for sleep is around 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Set your thermostat low before you go to bed to ensure your bedroom is properly ready for sleep. If you don't have an air conditioner or are avoiding turning it on to save money, try these tips to help you sleep cooler without an AC.
Consider a different mattress
If all else fails and you have room in your budget to buy a new mattress, it may be beneficial to upgrade your sleeping setup. A larger mattress ensures you have enough space between you and your co-sleeper to feel more comfortable and less second-hand heat. You can even consider a cooling mattress that's designed to help bring relief to hot sleepers.
Want to read more about getting better sleep? Check out our article on natural sleep aids for insomnia, how to get the most out of your nap and tips to make your firm bed softer.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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Garmin Epix Review: Finally, a Sports Watch With an Amazing Screen
Garmin Epix Review: Finally, a Sports Watch With an Amazing Screen
The Garmin Epix breaks the mold for sports watches with its bright AMOLED screen -- and its price. Rather than a transflective display like many of Garmin's earlier outdoor watches, the screen on the $900 (£899, AU$1,399) Epix enhances the overall experience, making it feel more like a true smartwatch. Even better news is this display doesn't come at the sacrifice of battery life, unlike some of its competitors such as the Apple Watch Series 7 or Galaxy Watch 4.
The Epix shares most of its core features with the Fenix 7 series that starts at $700 including extensive sports modes, onboard navigation and blood oxygen tracking, but it has a vastly superior screen.
Like
6-day battery life with always-on display
Comprehensive fitness tracking
Extensive mapping and routing support
Android and iPhone compatibility
Don't Like
No heart health features like ECG
No LTE variant, microphone for taking quick calls
47mm size is too big for some wrists
If you're looking for a watch to help you train and recover, the Epix does that to a tee. There's also suggestions for workouts you can do to complement your existing routine. I found it helpful that the watch would give me nudges to help up the intensity of my workouts to boost my VO2 Max -- which, admittedly, isn't as high as it used to be as I've been enjoying easier workouts during the pandemic.
I've been wearing the Epix for a month and although it's missing some features like solar charging and a speaker and mic for taking quick calls on your wrist, it really does feel like the best high-end Garmin watch if you're tossing up between the Fenix 7 and Epix -- especially if $900 for the best fitness tracking sounds worth the investment.
It's all about that screen
Without a doubt the standout design feature of the Epix is its 1.3-inch AMOLED display. It's bright and easy to see in direct sun. There's also the option to leave the display always on so the time or your workout stats stay visible.
The Epix only comes in 47mm size. I have small wrists and while the Epix admittedly does look a bit big on me, it doesn't feel too overwhelming. For those with even smaller wrists than mine, you might want to try the Epix or look at the smaller Fenix 7S before buying.
The Epix on a small wrist.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Garmin has really built this watch to withstand the elements. You get the choice of two versions, either a stainless steel version that comes with a Gorilla Glass DX screen, or a titanium version for $100 more with a sapphire crystal face. These metallic finishes may lead to some of the watch's heft, which I found too heavy for me to wear at night despite sleep tracking being offered as a feature on the Epix. I'm an active sleeper, so I was always concerned I'd accidentally knock my teeth out with the watch if I wore it to bed on the regular.
Like the Fenix, you can use both the touchscreen and physical buttons to interact with the watch. By default, the touchscreen is disabled during a workout to avoid accidental presses. All five buttons have a satisfying click to them and the interface is pretty responsive overall to touch, although some screens have a split-second lag that I've learned to live with.
You swipe up or down from the main watch face to access glances, which is a summary screen of metrics like heart rate, blood oxygen, step count, notifications and training status or VO2 Max. This is all customizable, so you can easily swap in metrics like respiration rate instead of the weather if you like.
The Epix also uses Garmin's quick fit watch bands so you can switch them out with the press of a button. There are third-party watch faces available through the ConnectIQ store, a separate app to the Garmin Connect app you need to download on your phone to sync the watch. I ended up sticking to the watch's first-party options as they had enough complications and widgets I could change to show my favorite metrics at a glance.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
The Epix has more sports tracking modes than you could ever want
The Epix has so many health and fitness options, it can feel overwhelming if you're a more casual athlete like myself. Fortunately you can customize the interface and workout types to only surface the activity types you want to track and the data that actually matters to you. If you're a serious athlete, there's more than enough to sink your teeth into with over 30 different activities, plus a multisport mode so you can seamlessly transition between workout types.
For runners, PacePro calculates when you should increase or decrease your pace depending on the course you're running. There's also real-time stamina that helps you work out how much you have left to give in the tank when running or cycling. I like the idea of seeing my stamina levels on my wrist, but it's better for long-distance or endurance runners who want to avoid burning out rather than more casual runners like me.
You can also get general guidance with daily workout suggestions for runs and rides that take your training status into account. Like the Venu 2 and Venu 2 Plus, the Epix has animated workouts for cardio, weights, yoga and Pilates. Skiers will appreciate a dedicated activity type for backcountry ski and a ski power metric to show the load of your cross-country workouts, though you do need a separate chest strap for this feature to work. Surfers also can see tides, wave height and winds on the Epix too, while golfers will appreciate being able to track scores and see courses on their wrist.
A strength workout animation on the Epix.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Post-workout screens show metrics like pace, distance, a map if it was an outdoor GPS activity, as well as aerobic and anaerobic load, plus recovery time.
Heart rate accuracy is good on the Epix when compared to a chest strap, but results varied depending on the workout type and how tight I fastened the watch. Cycling, for instance, caused some big variances in readings particularly during the first few minutes of my ride. Because the Epix is so big on me, it did bounce around more than smaller watches, even when tightened securely, which affected some readings.
The Epix (purple line) matches up well to a chest strap for the most part, with a little variance at the start of my run. Heart rate accuracy will vary across individuals too due to other factors like fit and activity type.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
The Epix also has other health and fitness features found on more recent Garmin watches:
Body battery: An indicator that takes activity level, heart rate variability and stress into account to indicate if you're ready to take on a workout or take it easy.
High and low heart rate alerts.
VO2 Max that also adjusts for trail running and heat or altitude.
Blood oxygen sensor for spot, all-day background and sleep readings.
Sleep tracking with sleep stages and score.
All of this information is surfaced on the watch itself, or you can look through the Garmin Connect app on iOS or Android to see all your metrics. There is a lot of detail in this app and for first-time users it can feel overwhelming, but fortunately you can pare it down to just the essential fields you want to see if you spend some time customizing the app.
All of the data you see in the Connect app is reflected on the watch too.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
For sleep tracking, similar to other Garmin watches I've tested, the Epix does tend to overestimate my total time in bed as well as underestimate my awake time during the night.
It is a shame to see the Epix lacks an electrocardiogram or ECG app given its price. While this might not be a dealbreaker for some, it does feel like a big omission considering the Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch and Fitbit all have this option, and all are hundreds of dollars less than the Garmin.
Maps to get you anywhere you need to go
The Epix also offers extensive onboard mapping and navigation tools. It has turn-by-turn navigation, golf and ski maps, round-trip routing and multiband GNSS support. Overall GPS performance has been great, with the signal locking on within seconds after starting a workout. Accuracy matched up to route and distance data captured from a control phone.
My favorite mapping feature that makes the most of the bright AMOLED display is round-trip routing. It suggests a couple different routes for riding or running based on distance and routes back to your starting point. It's been on Garmin's Fenix line for a couple generations now, but I've found it's helped me find a couple new routes to try.
Maps look great on the AMOLED display.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Garmin offers Live Track which broadcasts your location so friends or family can know your location during an outdoor workout like a run. This does require you to take your phone with you for all activities where you want Live Track, as the Epix does not come with an LTE variant like the Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, or Garmin's own Forerunner 945 LTE. While cellular would cause more battery drain during a workout, again for the price of this watch, it feels like an omission to not have that option.
There's also incident detection onboard that can alert your emergency contacts during certain activities if the watch senses you have had an accident. Over the past month, the Epix has given me two false positive incident detection warnings, including after I vigorously brushed sand off my dog at the beach. All of a sudden, I felt lots of buzzing and a loud sound coming from the watch and I had to cancel the incident detection before it sent a text. So it does seem to be a little sensitive to particular motions it associates with an incident.
It's a sports watch, but has some smart features too
There are just enough smart features on the Epix to help it keep up with the competition, but unfortunately it's missing a speaker and mic for taking quick calls on your wrist, or interacting with a voice assistant. The Garmin Venu 2 Plus, also released in 2022, has this onboard if that's a dealbreaker for you.
The screen makes reviewing notifications a breeze, although you won't be able to respond to any notifications or text messages from the watch if you're paired with an iPhone. Quick replies are only an option on Android. The Epix uses Garmin's own operating system and there are a couple third-party apps available on the Connect IQ store, but not as extensive as those offered on other watches like from Apple or Samsung.
Music apps on the Epix. Bluetooth headphones and earbuds connect seamlessly as well.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
But the Epix supports multiple music apps including Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer. You can store music offline from these services or transfer songs to the watch. The stainless steel variant has 16GB of storage while the sapphire version comes with 32GB. All versions come with Garmin Pay for contactless payments from your wrist.
The Garmin Epix battery life goes on and on… and on
Garmin has somehow managed to get six days of battery life from this AMOLED watch, with the always-on display active. That's way more than Apple and Samsung watches under the same parameters. If you don't use your watch to track sleep and turn it off overnight as I have been doing, you can even get up to one week before you need to charge.
If you turn off the always-on display and just use raise-to-wake, that extends to 16 days battery life in smartwatch mode. Of course if you're doing a lot of GPS activities you might not meet these numbers, but even with a 60-minute outdoor walk each day, I still met the Garmin claims for battery life.
Sure, this isn't as long as the Fenix 7 series -- which can last several weeks between charges -- but for the display and capabilities of this watch, I was impressed.
The Epix (left) side-by-side with the Fenix 7X (right).
Lexy Savvides/CNET
I also really like how some of the watch faces show battery life remaining in a time format rather than as a percentage. For example, it says something like two days or 14 hours. The watch uses Garmin's standard 4-pin charger.
The Garmin Epix checks almost all the boxes you could want in a sports watch. But if you need more flexibility with a smaller watch face, built-in flashlight or a solar charging option, take a look at the Fenix 7 series. You'll really notice the difference in screens between the two watches side by side, though. If you like the sound of the Garmin Epix and are looking for more of a hybrid smartwatch but can't stomach the price, the Venu 2 or Venu 2 Plus is a great alternative for hundreds less.
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Garmin Venu Sq review: A solid fitness tracker without the frills
Garmin Venu Sq review: A solid fitness tracker without the frills
The $200 (£179, AU$300) Garmin Venu Sq has almost every fitness- and health-tracking feature you could want in a smartwatch for less than competitors like the Apple Watch ($349 at eBay) and Fitbit Versa 3 ($170 at Target). It has a bright LCD touchscreen, built-in GPS, SpO2 (blood oxygen) tracking and up to six days of battery life, which makes it a compelling buy, especially if you want a watch that's compatible with both Android and iOS.
It's not the most premium-looking smartwatch out there and it misses out on features like a voice assistant and altimeter, but it makes up for it in health and fitness features that elevate it from the rest.
A functional watch without the wow factor
Like the name suggests, the Venu Sq has a square watch face with rounded edges, unlike the original Garmin Venu and almost every other Garmin sports watch with circular designs. Its 1.3-inch color LCD display feels a bit cramped compared to other Garmin watches, but it's clear and easy to read even in bright sunlight and you can keep the screen set to always-on. Having used the larger Garmin Venu for a while, the smaller size of the Venu Sq took a bit of getting used to, especially during workouts when I couldn't see as many stats at a glance and had to scroll to find the right metric like heart rate, which was all the way on the last page.
The overall build quality is sturdy enough thanks to an aluminum bezel, although the plastic case and buttons make it feel like a cheaper watch than it actually is, especially compared to something like the Apple Watch SE ($280 at eBay), Galaxy Watch Active 2 ($200 at Amazon) or Fitbit Versa 3 for example, which all have metal finishes and OLED displays. The Venu Sq has two side buttons: one to start/stop activities and the other to navigate back and forth between menus. Once I figured out which did what, it took me a few days to get completely comfortable using them to navigate the interface.
My biggest complaint with the Venu Sq's design is the vibration motor, which is not particularly strong. Half the time it was the buzzing noise, not the vibration itself, that clued me in on a notification.
Blood oxygen monitor and heart health alerts
Garmin's biggest strength is in health and fitness tracking, with the Venu Sq squarely hitting the mark. It has an SpO2 sensor to identify blood oxygen levels, either as a spot check or automatically throughout the day and night, similar to the $399 Apple Watch Series 6. Although setting it to monitor constantly will reduce battery life a lot faster. It's also hard to find the SpO2 option in the menus and I found that adding it as a widget in the settings is the best way to get it to pop up on your wrist.
Unfortunately I didn't have a pulse oximeter to compare the readings from the Venu Sq to determine accuracy. Either way, it's important to note that the Venu Sq has not been approved to be used as a medical device and should not be used for diagnostic purposes. Always consult with a physician or other qualified health provider about any health-related issues you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Though the Venu Sq doesn't have an ECG, or electrocardiogram, like the Apple Watch Series 6 and Galaxy Watch 3 ($399 at Amazon), it does give you the option to receive high and low heart rate notifications that will let you know if your heart rate spikes above or falls below what it considers to be a healthy threshold.
The Venu Sq also uses heart rate variability to determine your stress levels, but doesn't really offer much guidance on how to decrease your stress. I found Garmin's Body Battery meter, which takes into account heart rate variability readings, activity levels and sleep, a more accurate representation of how my body was working that day and helped me decide what kind of workout to do and how hard to push myself. It works better than the Stress Management Score in the Fitbit Sense ($240 at Target) that is a bit more difficult to interpret for me.
Garmin also offers breathing rate and estimated VO2 max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise, which can be used to gauge and improve athletic performance. The higher the number, the more fit you are.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
Sleep tracking is also great on the Venu Sq and clearly identifies your sleep stages of REM, deep and light sleep. You'll also be able to see breathing rate and SpO2 levels in the morning. The downside is that the Garmin Connect app doesn't give you any tips on improving your sleep quality. Menstrual cycle tracking is also available on the Venu Sq and like other Garmin watches, it offers pregnancy tracking to log symptoms and monitor baby movement.
The Venu Sq has a range of workouts preloaded onto the watch, including cardio, strength, Pilates and yoga, so you can follow along with a preset routine on your wrist. There aren't any visual cues on the screen though, just text cues, so if you're doing yoga for example, you'll need to know what "standing forward bend pose" or "low lunge pose" means to get the most out of the routine. You can also build your own workout, such as a circuit of weights, a Pilates routine or a run, within the Garmin Connect app and sync them to the watch. There are also over 50 additional Garmin-created workouts you can load.
On top of these preloaded routines, the Venu Sq can track more than 20 different workout types, from the usual running and walking variants to golf and pool swimming. There's also a personal running coach you can use to help you train for a race or to hit a set goal. It doesn't give you personalized feedback on your form or audio cues like the Galaxy Watches ($295 at Amazon), for example, instead it's more a guide for when you should warm up or how long you should run for, displayed on your wrist.
The Venu Sq has built-in GPS, meaning you don't have to rely on your phone for distance tracking when you're outside. Just be warned that it does take at least 30 seconds to lock on to a GPS signal when you are outside (regardless of whether you have your phone with you or not), which seems like an eternity if you're an impatient runner like me who just wants to get on with it. Once it finally locked though, it tracked my route accurately.
The downside is that there is no gyroscope or altimeter on the Venu Sq, so if you need accurate elevation data you'll likely want to look elsewhere. The Garmin Connect app does a good job of clearly showing you all the details after your workout, but it doesn't dive any deeper into metrics than what similarly priced rivals like the Apple Watch SE or Fitbit Versa 3 offer.
Like other Garmin watches, the Venu Sq has Garmin Live Track which lets you share your location with a safety contact when you are doing an outdoor workout. It does however require a cellular connection, so you will need your phone with you to use this feature.
You can customize the options on this screen to show only your favorite workout types to track.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Just enough smarts for most people
While the Venu Sq is geared towards fitness and health tracking, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll miss out on smartwatch features. Like almost every other watch, the Venu Sq displays notifications from your phone and pings your phone to locate it if you lose it within Bluetooth range. You'll be able to see call notifications come through regardless of which phone you have the watch paired with, but only Android users will be able to decline calls and respond to text messages from the watch with prewritten responses. There is no speaker or mic onboard so you can't use voice-to-text responses.
The Venu Sq runs Garmin's own operating system (Garmin OS) which is not as seamless as that of Apple or Samsung's smartwatches, but I found it to be stable and more responsive than the Fitbit OS. It's faster to sync updates and doesn't experience any lag in selecting menu options or opening apps.
The biggest pain point for me when using the Venu Sq paired with an iPhone ($500 at Best Buy) has been notifications. The Garmin Connect app on iOS doesn't let you filter out what notifications come through on your wrist and simply mirrors whatever notifications you have set up on your phone. It might not be a deal breaker for many, but I like to push only the most important notifications such as calls and text messages to my wrist, rather than everything that my phone shows. Android users get more control over which notifications come through.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
If you want onboard music storage, you'll need to opt for the music edition of the Venu Sq that costs $50 more, which is the version I tested in this review. The Venu Sq Music lets you store music for offline listening from apps like Spotify (with a Premium subscription) or songs you already own. It's also the watch to get for faster data transfers as it has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, whereas the regular Venu Sq only uses Bluetooth.
Garmin has plenty of watch faces to choose from, including third-party options to help personalize the look, plus a fairly wide selection of apps through the Connect IQ Store (a separate app you need to download on your phone). You can also make contactless payments with Garmin Pay on all versions of the watch. The main Garmin Connect app is where you see all your stats and change settings on the watch, while the Connect IQ Store is for adding apps and watch faces.
The Venu Sq, however, lacks a voice assistant, a feature that by now has become standard for most of its similarly priced competitors. This might not be a deal-breaker for you, but it means you miss out hands-free voice control, which I like.
A week's worth of battery life
The Venu Sq has great battery life and you can get up to six days worth of use before you'll need to charge it up, though that number may start to whittle down if you're using it for a lot of GPS workouts, listening to music or continuously tracking your blood oxygen levels. Garmin quotes up to eight hours of battery when playing back music, 14 hours if you are using it in GPS mode, or up to six hours with GPS and music playback.
A great fitness watch without extra bells and whistles
If you're willing to sacrifice a few smart features for better health and fitness tracking, the Garmin Venu Sq is a solid choice that works with Android or iOS. That said, I do wish that Garmin wouldn't charge the extra $50 for the music version, as it does alter the value proposition quite a bit, particularly if you are an iPhone user who might also be considering the Apple Watch SE which, at that point doesn't cost you that much more.
When Local Newspapers Fold, Polarization Rises. Here's What You Can Do
When Local Newspapers Fold, Polarization Rises. Here's What You Can Do
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising energy costs and our ongoing struggles with the coronavirus pandemic take up a lot of our attention these days. But there's more going on a lot closer to home -- you just might not know it, because your local newspaper is gone.
More than a quarter of hometown newspapers have disappeared in the last century, leaving about 70 million Americans with little or no way to stay informed about their city and county governments, schools or businesses. As the country heads toward the 2022 midterm elections, Americans are increasingly turning to friends and social media to stay informed -- which isn't always trustworthy, as we learned during the 2016 election when around 44% of Americans were exposed to disinformation and misinformation through untrustworthy websites.
"The state of local news in America is dire," said Tim Franklin, senior associate dean of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and head of the Medill Local News Initiative.
Local journalism isn't just a nice idea. Community newspapers report some of the most important stories in our country. That includes the Boston Globe's 2002 series exposing the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's sex abuse of minors, Sara Ganim and The Patriot-News' coverage revealing Penn State sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky and the Charleston Gazette-Mail's 2017 expose on opioids flooding into West Virginia.
This is part of Citizen Now, a package that aims to empower readers with information about our changing world.
CNET
But for every Pulitzer Prize-winning local journalism story, there are countless more that have served as chroniclers of their communities and watchdogs of the people in power. And when they aren't there, research from the Brookings Institute found there's generally more government waste and fraud.
"When you have less local news, there's various effects, some of which you'd find predictable: lower voting turnout, more corruption, more waste," said Steven Walden, president and co-founder of Report For America, a nonprofit that funds young reporters to work in understaffed newsrooms throughout the US. "There's also evidence that you have more polarization and misinformation."
The journalism industry has been struggling to adapt. Advertising, once a vital part of the newspaper world, has shifted to online. Meanwhile, profit-hungry newspaper owners have chosen to lay off staff and reduce the quality of their products.
Nonprofit organizations have stepped up to support newsrooms in several ways, but ultimately, they live or die by their communities. Many local papers and radio stations depend on individual donations to fund reporting that would never be done by larger publications, covering civic meetings and investigating local issues that lead to exposés which fix injustices. Even simply signing up for and reading local news draws people closer to issues that affect them -- and reinforces what publications do.
"Most of these stories weren't big but they mattered immensely to the residents in a community larger outlets didn't regularly cover," said Greg Yee, now a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, speaking about his year writing for the Farmington Daily Times in Farmington, New Mexico. (Full disclosure: Yee is a former colleague of this article's author.) Stories that stick out from that time include a mobile home park cut off from natural gas in winter and a new gas station opening in a Navajo Nation community, the only fuel access in 30 miles, that significantly improved locals' quality of life.
"A good local news organization is a problem solver: it identifies problems and helps a community come together to solve it," said Penelope Abernathy, visiting professor at Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, who heads a site dedicated to mapping news deserts, areas with one or zero local papers. "And a good news organization shows you how you are related to people you may not know you're related to in another part of the county, region or state."
The Washington Post / Getty Images
Long, withering decline
Journalism jobs have been shrinking for decades, driven by declining newspaper circulation and the rise in digital advertising. The news industry's advertising and subscription businesses have roughly halved over the past decade. Much of that money's shifted to Google, Facebook and Amazon, which together now hold 64% of the US online advertising market.
For newspapers, that shift in spending is catastrophic. In the decade after the great recession in 2009, the Pew Research Center found newspaper newsroom employment in the US had dropped by more than half, to about 35,000 workers.
Ironically, the news industry has more readers than ever before – upwards of 10 times as many, according to Danielle Coffey, vice president and general council of the News Media Alliance.
"We don't have a broken product. It's being consumed at exponential rates," she said. "The source of the problem is the revenue problem."
It wasn't always this way.
The founding fathers believed so strongly in newspapers as a public good that they set up government subsidies for postal rates, reducing the cost of distributing the news – which at the time, was delivered on horseback.
In the 1960s and '70s, though, publicly traded paper owners began fixating on profits. To impress shareholders, news organizations conglomerated into big chains that gobbled up local papers into regional networks, said Amanda Lotz, professor of the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University.
"The financialization pressure really moves [newspapers] away from the balance between a commercial and public service enterprise of providing news to a community," Lotz said.
Rounds of acquisitions resulted in the gutting of editorial budgets and staff. With fewer reporters, newspapers started relying on national stories published by wire services, a trend that created "ghost papers" that had little or no local content. Meanwhile, the internet became an easy substitution for things online that had until then been exclusive to the paper, like weather, sports scores, classifieds and even news.
Venture capitalists and other financial firms began buying up newspapers in the 1980s but rapidly accelerated in the last two decades, growing to own over 23% of US newsrooms today while wringing out profits with more layoffs.
"Those losses put more strain on already stretched newsrooms and the publications ended up churning through staff," said Yee, who worked for four years at a pair of newspapers owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital. "All of that translates into worse, inconsistent coverage of the communities they're trying to serve."
As a result, from 2004 until the start of the pandemic in 2020, the US lost a quarter (around 2100) of its newspapers, according to a report from the University of North Carolina's Hussman School of Journalism and Media. By the end of last year, another hundred were gone, Poynter reported, expanding news deserts that are mostly located in financially-impacted rural areas in the country's interior.
Some papers have tried to rely more heavily on subscriptions, while transitioning to mainly digital publishing. Some success stories include the Chattanooga Times Free Press, which has been operating since 1869. Last September, it switched to a daily digital edition and a single print edition on Sunday from a daily print edition. The publication spent $6.1 million to give all its monthly subscribers iPads and train them one-on-one how to use them to access their daily paper, and it's retained subscribers through the transition.
"There are some real success stories in this transition. If you can lower your paper costs and your distribution costs and if you can attract enough digital subscribers, you can support a local newsroom on that. But many local news organizations are still getting a significant chunk of their revenue from print advertising," Medill's Franklin said.
Bloomberg / Getty News
Legislative fix, maybe
One way the news industry could regain revenue and profit is to seek compensation from big tech platforms. After all, advocates say, Facebook, Google, Twitter make money selling ads next to links, videos and photos published and shared freely to their networks.
Legislators in Australia were the first to pass a law in February 2021 requiring Google and Facebook to negotiate with publishers for compensation to use their work, while France followed with its own legislation shortly thereafter. The latter locked horns with Google before finally securing legal assurance that the search giant would pay local media outlets when they appear in search results. Critics like the Electronic Frontier Foundation lament that the Australian and French laws ensured deals for big media publishers at the expense of smaller ones, but that hasn't stopped Canada and the UK from gearing up to pass their own versions.
A version of that idea in the US, called the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, was proposed in March, 2021 by Senators Amy Klobuchar, Rand Paul, Cory Booker, and Lindsey Graham -- a rare bipartisan effort. The bill would allow news organizations to collectively bargain with tech companies for compensation, but hasn't moved out of committee yet.
Another idea to fund journalism Is the Local Journalism Sustainability Act introduced a year ago in the House by Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick and Dan Newhouse. That bill, if it were to become law, would give newsrooms around $50,000 annually in tax breaks to hire reporters. Small businesses, meanwhile, would receive $5,000 for the first year to advertise in local papers, and Americans would get a $250 stipend to pay for news subscriptions. It's unlikely to pass, though, in part because of partisan bickering over other spending plans on Capitol Hill.
"We need to make sure these publications can sustain themselves through this crisis and beyond, and I believe the credits in this bill make significant progress in providing a pathway to that sustainability," Rep. Kirkpatrick said when announcing the bill.
Nonprofit newsrooms
Some news organizations are finding funding beyond ads and subscriptions. Nonprofit foundations and philanthropic organizations are funneling grants and other aid money to newsrooms, including a new wave of nonprofit publications, like ProPublica, which run mostly on foundation and individual donations.
The American Journalism Project is a self-described venture philanthropy firm that to date has raised $90 million to back 32 local nonprofit newsrooms. Founded in 2019, it's also helped launch four more, taking the startup incubation model and applying it to digital newsrooms.
The organization focuses on both funding newsrooms and guiding them toward self-sustainability by diversifying their revenue streams, said Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. Newsrooms they've helped grow by around 67% in their first year and are projected to double their revenue in three years.
"Will local news only be nonprofit? No. Is nonprofit news vital for the future of an informed citizenry? We think so," Berman said.
Report For America, founded in 2017, describes itself as a service organization, which helps pair young reporters fresh out of college with legacy newsrooms. The organization financially supports the reporter by paying half their salary (up to $25,000) the first year, then a third (up to $20,000) the following year. After that, it's up to the publication to decide whether to hire them permanently.
"If you're not in New York or Boston or Washington, some of these news organizations have trouble getting people to go out to smaller towns," said Report For America's Waldman. "We have a very significant recruiting operation and are able to create a sort of self-selected group of people who are really passionate about local."
Report For America has grown its graduating class to 130 reporters this year, up from its first class of 13 in 2018 -- to date, over 560 reporters have gone through the program and partnered with local newsrooms. They include Laura Roche of the Charlotte News & Observer writing about the fraught debate over museums returning the unethically sourced remains of Black people, Sierra Clark of the Traverse City Record-Eagle writing about Melissa Isaac and many others in her Anishinaabek Neighbors series, and Brandon Drenon of the Indianapolis Star writing about the NAACP and others criticizing Indiana schools for failing Black students.
Report for America also connects newsrooms with donors in their area in an effort to get the community more involved in funding its local news again.
"Our goal is to actually help change the local business models in a way that they can sustain that," Waldman said.
The nonprofit Knight Foundation pledged to give $300 million to news organizations in 2019, some of which will go to both the American Journalism Project and Report For America, among other nonprofits that in turn support local newsrooms -- efforts that can be seen city by city on this interactive map. The flow of financial support is important for local newsrooms that operate on nonprofit and for-profit models, which are both valuable to their communities, said Jim Brady, vice president of the Knight Foundation's journalism program.
"Nonprofits tend to be more investigative or enterprise in nature, and the for-profits tend to provide more information on how consumers can live their daily lives. So we think both must be part of the answer to how local news can thrive," Brady said.
An infographic from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media's project website, The Expanding News Desert, headed by Penelope Abernathy.
UNC Hussman
What to do if you don't have local journalism
News experts have advice for what to do if you live in a news desert, with little or no coverage. First on the list: Stop thinking that social media posts are an informative replacement for reporting. Social media can help people know what's going on, but it's rife with bias and misinformation.
"There's a proliferation of misinformation and disinformation that goes unchecked because there's no local journalist checking on the facts. [Social media is] a place where unvetted gossip can get spread," Franklin said.
People need to learn to spot misinformation that's spread on social media by publications that look like they're trustworthy but aren't. Both the World Health Organization and the Poynter Institute have their own free online courses to learn how to fact-check posts yourself -- not just to spot fake news, but also to understand the agenda behind why they're spreading in the first place.
In the voids left by local papers, citizen journalists and bloggers have stepped up to provide their communities with informative coverage, but they lack the oversight and vetting a newsroom provides. For lack of better options, a citizen reporter could start a site on Substack and write about local events, Franklin suggested.
The best thing to do is to reach out to regional papers the next town over and request coverage. You can find your nearest local or regional paper on Newspapers.com or NewspaperMap.com. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has a station finder site too, and if you're a fan of National Public Radio, you can sign up to become a member of your local station in order to help support it. It isn't a perfect solution for an existing newsroom to stretch to cover another area, but is far better than starting a new local publication from scratch.
But if your community decides to launch a new publication, organizing it as a nonprofit newsroom is a successful way to go. They rely on donations -- foundation support and individual giving account for a combined 83% of nonprofit revenue, according to the Institute of Nonprofit Newsrooms' 2021 Index. And that model is working: 83 of the over 400 nonprofit newsrooms affiliated with INN are less than five years old.
Then there's nonprofit newsroom Berkeleyside, which hosted the so-called first 'direct public offering' where it solicited a combined $1 million in funding from 355 of its readers (an average of $2,816 per person) in 2018 to get started. These are technically securities, but sold directly to its readers, and the publication continues to publish today. It's one of many ways newsrooms are innovating new ownership structures to stay solvent.
"We need to get more support from communities, from local community foundations, from national media foundations and from high net-worth individuals to help make local news sustainable in all areas of the country," Brady said.
Correction, June 28: The original version of this story incorrectly stated how many reporters were in Report For America's first graduating class. Its first graduating class of reporters was in 2018 and had 13 members.
