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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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Want to download Windows 11? You need to do these two things first
Want to download Windows 11? You need to do these two things first
Windows 11 began rolling out in October and brings a new, more streamlined design and updated features, including support for Android apps, easy toggling between multiple virtual desktops and better multitasking. Microsoft included a few Mac-like features and the ability to run Android apps on Windows 11.
But there are a few catches to downloading the new operating system. For starters, Microsoft is using a phased rollout for Windows 11. And before you download, you'll need a Wi-Fi connection and a Windows 11 Home account. However, Windows 10 users can upgrade for free (here's how to get Windows 10 first so you can download Windows 11). But if you're setting up a Windows 11 Home account -- which most people using it on a personal device will be -- there are a few extra steps you'll have to take before accessing the new features.
Read more:Windows 11 review: Familiar but fresh
We'll break down everything you need to know before downloading Windows 11, including how to check if your computer is compatible to make sure you meet the new requirements. And here's what to know if you're thinking of upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 Home. This story was recently updated.
Create a Microsoft account (or sign in to yours)
You'll need to create a free Microsoft account before you download Windows 11.
Microsoft
To set up Windows 11 Home, you'll need a Microsoft account, which gives you access to Microsoft products and services. Don't worry -- it's free to create one.
In the past, it was possible to opt out of creating a Microsoft account and use a local one instead (though the process wasn't intuitive). It appears that with Windows 11, you will need to create a Microsoft account to get started. After that point, you can delete your Microsoft account and sign in with a local account if you'd like, and this won't impact how you use the OS -- but you won't be able to sync content across multiple devices. A Microsoft account also allows easier transferring from your old PC to a new one, and more options for signing in.
Windows 11 Pro and the version built for enterprise use will not require people to sign in to Microsoft accounts.
Here's how to create a free Microsoft account as Windows 11 rolls out:
1. Go to account.microsoft.com, and click Sign in.
2. Tap Create one to make a new account. (If you already have an account, you can sign in here.)
3. Enter your email address. Or, if you'd rather create a new email address through Microsoft (which will appear as @outlook.com), click Get a new email address, enter what you'd like, and click Next.
4. Create a password, and click Next.
5. Enter your country/region and date of birth, and click Next.
6. Check your email for a verification code, and click Next.
Connect to the internet
You need to have an internet connection to set up Windows 11.
Sarah Tew/CNET
To download Windows 11 Home (and to create a Microsoft account), you'll also need to be connected to the internet. The reason for this is that Windows 11 will primarily be delivered as a Windows Update, much like newer versions of Windows 10 have been.
You'll also need the internet to perform future updates and to take advantage of some of the new Windows 11 features, according to Microsoft.
This requirement may pose a problem for those who lack easy internet access. However, after you connect for the initial setup, you don't have to connect again if you don't want to (though you should to get important security updates that prevent vulnerabilities).
If you're downloading Windows 11 on your current computer, just make sure you're connected to the internet before you start the process. If you buy a new Windows 11 computer after the OS is generally released, you should be prompted to connect to the internet when you're setting it up.
For more, check out how Windows 11 compares with Windows 10, everything to know about making the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and all the Windows 11 features we wanted but didn't get.
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How to run both Chrome OS and Ubuntu on a Chromebook
How to run both Chrome OS and Ubuntu on a Chromebook
You've probably heard a lot about Chromebooks. These affordable computers are manufactured by companies like HP, Acer, Toshiba, and Samsung, among others, and run Google's cloud-based operating system known as Chrome OS, which relies on an Internet connection to run most apps.
The big appeal for these computers are their price tags, with most models retailing for under $400 and some even dipping as low as $179. Many people aren't aware, however, that Chromebooks are capable of doing more than just running Web apps. In fact, you can run both Chrome OS and Ubuntu, a popular Linux operating system, on a Chromebook. Here's what you need to know.
Choosing the right model
Any Chromebook is capable of installing Ubuntu, however I recommend using a model that is equipped with an Intel processor. Chromebooks that include an ARM processor will not be compatible with a majority of Linux programs. You will have a more enjoyable experience if you use a newer model with better internal hardware.
It will also help to use some sort of external storage such as a flash drive or an SD card for more space to install any additional programs.
The process
The first thing you must do is enable the Chromebook's Developer Mode, but be aware that this will erase anything you may have saved to the device's internal storage. Press and hold the Esc and Refresh keys, and then press the power button. The Chromebook will reboot into Recovery Mode.
Dan Graziano/CNET
A yellow exclamation point will appear on the screen with a warning message, press the Ctrl and D keys simultaneously to continue to the next screen. Press the keyboard's Enter key to turn OS verification off and confirm the decision to turn on the Chromebook's Developer Mode. A red exclamation point and a warning that OS verification has been turned off will be displayed on the screen, followed by two loud beeps, this is normal.
Sit back and wait as this process could take up to 10 minutes to complete. Don't panic if you see a red exclamation point after Developer Mode has been enabled, the system will reboot back into Chrome OS shortly.
Dan Graziano/CNET
You will be required to input your network credentials and login information after the Chromebooks reboots. After doing so, you must download a tool known as Crouton, which will allow Ubuntu to run on top of Chrome OS. Save the file to your download folder and then open the Chromebook's terminal by pressing the Ctrl, ALT, and T keys together.
Type "shell" in the command line and hit the Enter key. Next, type "sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -t unity" and wait for Crouton to install. If your Chromebook has a touch screen use the command "sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -t touch,unity" instead.
Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET
You will be asked to enter a username and password once the installation process is complete. This is separate from your Chrome OS login and will be used inside of the Ubuntu operating system. To enter Ubuntu type the command "sudo startunity" into the terminal.
Click on the first icon on the left-hand side of the screen and search for the terminal. Once inside of it, type "sudo apt-get update" in the command line to update the operating system. When that's complete, type "sudo apt-get install software-center," this will allow you to easily install a wide variety of Linux programs. You can open the software center and search for the specific program you want, or you can download programs from the Web and install them through the software center.
Tips
To get back to Chrome OS from Ubuntu, press the Ctrl, Alt, and Back keys together. Moving from Chrome OS to Ubuntu can be done by pressing Ctrl, Alt, Forward, followed by Ctrl, Alt, and Refresh. On a model with an ARM processor, use Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Back, and Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Forward to move back and forth between both operating systems.
You can also open the Chrome OS terminal and type "shell" in the command line, followed by "sudo startunity," either method works. One thing you will notice is that it now takes longer for the Chromebook to power on. When you see the yellow exclamation point, simply press the Ctrl and D keys to speed up this process.
Uninstalling Ubuntu
The best part about this how-to is that it's completely worry-free. Whether you are unhappy with Ubuntu, running out of space, or want to return your Chromebook back to its original factory state, it takes only a couple of seconds to undo the entire process.
Dan Graziano/CNET
Restart the computer and press the spacebar when you see the red exclamation point. Press the Enter key to turn OS verification back on; this will once again erase anything stored on the device's internal storage. The system will reboot back into Chrome OS; enter your network credentials and log in to your Google account to begin using your Chromebook again.
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Windows 11 review: Microsoft's subtle changes make you ask, update or wait?
Windows 11 review: Microsoft's subtle changes make you ask, update or wait?
Microsoft made Windows 11 available on Oct. 5 on a rolling basis as a free upgrade to most Windows 10 users. If you have Windows 8, you'll have to get the free upgrade to Windows 10 first, then download Windows 11. Before you decide whether or not to install the new OS, let's talk about what we like and don't like about the upgrade.
An operating system, whether it's MacOS on your MacBook or Google's Wear OS on your smartwatch, gets better the more transparent it is to the user. And that user is you, sitting in front of a laptop keyboard or tapping on a phone screen. So sorry, no Spinal Tap "goes to 11" puns here. That's mostly because Windows 11 feels more like Windows 10.5 than a generational leap -- not that there's really anything wrong with that.
Maybe the shift from Windows 10 to Windows 11 feels subtle because the jump from Windows 8 to Windows 10 was so gigantic. Big enough for Microsoft to skip an entire version number, even. That generation was all about righting a ship that had gone somewhat off-course, leaning too far into tablet territory, trying to convince everyone that Windows laptops and tablets were as cool as iPads. They're not, and that's OK: I work on a Windows machine, I do plenty of PC gaming on one, but when I flip through news headlines in bed at night, it's on an iPad.
Read more: Surface Pro 8 review: a familiar flagship for Windows 11
Windows 10 started out with favorable reviews and has remained in everyone's good graces precisely because it got out of the way of whatever you were doing instead of trying to force its ideas on you. But more importantly, it was free* -- which includes an asterisk to indicate it was generally available as a no-cost upgrade to anyone with a nonancient PC.
Before 2015, Windows upgrades either cost some money, or if you bought a new laptop or desktop, the latest OS just came preinstalled. Apple's OS X moved to a similar free-to-upgrade model around the same time. Except for system builders, the idea of paying separately for a computer operating system is basically extinct. That's a big change from when you had to hand over $120 to Microsoft for the privilege of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Who can get Windows 11?
The list of compatible PCs is frankly a little narrower than I would have expected. The base requirements are a 64-bit processor, 4GB of memory, 64GB of storage, UEFI secure boot and TPM (trusted platform module) 2.0. It's that last one that gets tricky for some people, especially on cheaper laptops. If you've got a CPU older than a seventh-gen Intel Core series (we're up to 11th-gen now), you might be in trouble. If you want to check, use the Microsoft PC Health Check app. There are workarounds for installing Windows 11 anyway, but proceed with those at your own risk.
Microsoft
Visual cues
If there's one thing that immediately stands out about Windows 11, it's this: The start menu and taskbar are now centered on the bottom of the screen, rather than aligned to the left by default. Yes, that's the single biggest visual and interface change you're going to see on day one. Sure, there's plenty more going on underneath, but it feels like this UI shift is there mainly to let you know there's something new and different going on under the surface.
And there is a good deal going on in Windows 11. For casual or mainstream users, you're unlikely to notice much of it, though there are some standout upgrades worth noting.
Read more:Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio review: The screen is everything
Get some Android in your Windows
One of the big selling points of Chromebooks, which run Google's ChromeOS, is that most Chromebooks can run just about any Android app, from phone-centric favorites like Instagram to mobile games. That breaks Chromebooks out from being restricted to just cloud-based apps and frankly adds a lot of functionality to your $300 or so Chromebook.
Microsoft is adding similar functionality to Windows 11 , both to compete with Chromebooks and to forge greater bonds between Windows PC users and Android phone users, just as Macs and iPhones are inexorably bound.
But... that feature is not included with the launch version of Windows 11. It's going to be previewed sometime in the coming months, so I wouldn't expect it to be added as a fully baked feature until some time in 2022.
That's a shame, because easy access to Android apps was probably going to be the biggest single practical change in Windows 11 for most people. Sure, there are plenty of other ways to do this, using an app like Bluestacks or even the Your Phone app from Microsoft, but it's not simple enough for everyday users.
Microsoft
Snap groups and multiple desktops
Easily organizing a bunch of open windows so you can see and access them when you want -- and hide them when you don't -- is handy once you get the hang of it. The ability to snap windows into preset slots on the desktop has been around for a while now, but the new Snap Groups and Snap Layouts offer a few new ways to wrangle your windows.
By hovering over the "maximize" button on the top right corner of most windows, you'll get a pop-up showing a bunch of layout options. Minimize these apps, and you can pop them all back up again in the same exact spots, by hovering over any of the snapped window icons in the task bar.
But... not every app I tried allowed me to snap its window. Web browsers, system tools and many other random programs did, but programs such as Photoshop and Steam did not (hovering over their maximize buttons didn't offer the snapping options pop-up menu).
If you have a gigantic monitor, use multiple monitors or need several thinly sliced web browser windows open at once, it can be handy. On a laptop screen, you're generally not looking at one or maybe two windows at once.
Multiple desktops are a common MacOS feature, and a good way to keep multiple facets of your digital life organized. For example, you can keep all your work apps -- email programs, browsers, video conference apps -- on one desktop, and all your gaming apps on another. Like on a Mac, you hot-swap between them, it's really just a change in how your open apps are visualized.
You can actually do that in Windows 10 as well, but it's a pain. In Windows 11, Desktops have their own taskbar icon by default, and creating and organizing multiple desktops is even easier than on a Mac, which is not something you'll hear very often.
Wither the Widget?
Every gadget-maker loves widgets, defined in consumer tech terms as small icon-like apps that usually sit in a group somewhere on your device's UI. Usually it's useful little things like the weather, stock prices, your latest emails or calendar items, or a small newsfeed. Your iPhone and iPad have them, Android devices have them, Macs have them (under the usually hidden Notification Bar on the right side of the screen). Windows used to have built-in widgets, too. They were called Gadgets and died along with Windows 7.
Microsoft
Now they're back. On the plus side, with its own taskbar button, the new widgets are easy to find. Hit the button and a semi-transparent panel pops out from the left edge of the screen. It has, by default, widgets for weather, your Outlook calendar, photos you may have in OneDrive, a To Do list and a few others. You can customize the list a bit, but there are not too many options for now. Below that is a newsfeed that looks like it's curated by the same people who do the news curating on the home screen for the Microsoft Edge browser. You can hide stories from any specific outlet by clicking on a menu icon in the news section or hit a "manage your interests" button to customize the feed, but by default, it's pretty basic. Lots of sports, Fox News and celeb gossip.
Microsoft Teams integration
Do you use Microsoft Teams instead of Zoom, Facetime or Google Hangouts? You'll be able to get to it and launch it a little faster, because it's fully integrated into Windows 11 now. I've never been invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting, except by people who work for Microsoft.
It's interesting to note that Windows users can now pop into Facetime meetings with the latest iOS "invite anyone" feature. Clearly there's a lot of competition for video meeting mindshare (faceshare?).
Other quality of life improvements
As I'm often referring to system tools, settings menus or other on-screen things in my writing, I take a lot of screen shots. On a Mac, that's easy -- Shift + Command + 4. In Windows, well, it's never been quite that simple. The built-in Snipping tool is, however, slightly less annoying under Windows 11. Now you can take a snip by hitting Windows + Shift + S, although it copies the screenshot to the clipboard, it doesn't automatically save the image, you'll still have to do that manually.
The Edge browser now has a safe Kids Mode that's easy to access by clicking on your profile in the upper right corner, and can be customized for different age groups.
Auto HDR -- a feature that moved over from the Xbox Series X -- give games that don't support high dynamic range a boost to lighting, brightness and contrast for a more HDR-like look.
I'm waiting for a revamped version of the Microsoft app store, which will allow for third-party services like game stores and web browsers. The Opera browser is available now, the Epic Games storefront is expected soon. No word on other browsers like Firefox or Chrome, or the popular Steam PC game storefront. Eventual Android app support will come, at least initially, from an Amazon-branded Android app store, rather than from Google Play.
Who should get Windows 11?
Despite my lukewarm embrace of the new Windows OS, there's no compelling reason to skip it. That's because, any new PC OS launches in an unfinished state, and the best improvements and most polished versions come later, from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 Creators Edition.
I've used various preview builds of Windows 11 across multiple PCs for months, along with the final release build, and it's been fine, almost completely trouble-free, and I've never once thought about rolling back to Windows 10.
That said, Microsoft's gonna Microsoft sometimes. Some long-term Windows irritations have stuck around. When setting up the OS for the first time, there are still plenty data-sharing and ad-personalization checkboxes to uncheck, and the built-in Edge browser still buries the default search engine settings (to switch the default search engine from Bing to, say, Google) several submenus deep. Switching which apps do what by default is also more complex now; you literally have to assign each file type -- .htm, .html, etc. -- one by one. Hopefully this will get streamlined at some point.
If you're going to buy a new laptop or desktop at pretty much any point after today, it'll probably come with Windows 11 preinstalled. In that case, you don't have to make a conscious decision, just go with the flow. If you have a current-gen Windows laptop, tablet or desktop, you'll be able to download and install Windows 11 either now or at some point in the near future. It's being rolled out slowly, probably to avoid a huge rush of same-day downloading.
As a general rule of thumb, I always suggest that you don't jump up and be the first person on the block to download a new OS update, whether it's for your laptop, phone or tablet. Issues will inevitably pop up, if only because of the tremendous breadth of hardware configurations and accessories, from printers to mice to VR headsets, that need to work right.
That said, testing for Windows 11 has been extensive, and the main issues so far have been with how icons are displayed, some menu weirdness and occasional File Explorer problems.
My final word on the subject, for now: If you want to try and download/install Windows 11 on day one, go for it. If you want to wait a few weeks (or a few months), that's fine, too.
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Philips Hue's new TV gadget matches colored lights to whatever you watch or play
Philips Hue's new TV gadget matches colored lights to whatever you watch or play
The folks behind Philips Hue have already released a lot of new smart lights this year. Now, the brand's newest product wants to help you sync those color-changing smart lights with whatever's playing on your TV screen. It's called the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, and it's a significant upgrade for the brand's Hue Entertainment feature -- but at a preorder asking price of $230, it won't come cheap.
Like the name suggests, Hue's new sync box is an HDMI pass-through device similar to the one we tested out with the DreamScreen 4K TV lighting kit. You'll connect it to your TV, then take your media streamers, game consoles, set-top boxes and anything else that connects to your TV via HDMI and connect them to the Hue Play Box instead. From there, Hue reads the incoming video signal of whatever you're watching or playing and uses that data to quarterback color-matching smart lighting effects in real time, with virtually no lag.
Now that's Entertainment
The original Hue Entertainment pitch forced you to connect your laptop to your TV in order to enjoy effects like this. Now, you can sync your lights up with any device that connects to your TV via HDMI cable.
Ry Crist/CNET
All of that is a big step up from the original Hue Entertainment pitch, which didn't include the pass-through approach at all. Instead, users had to download Hue Sync software to their computer to match the lights with whatever was playing on their monitor or laptop screen. That's fine for PC gaming, but it forced you to connect your computer to your TV in order to enjoy the feature on a full-size screen from the comfort of your preferred spot on the living room couch, and it left things like gaming consoles out of the mix altogether.
The arrival of a new, dedicated Hue Sync app marks another point of progress for Hue Entertainment. Before, you'd set the feature up in the original Hue app, with somewhat limited controls for things like brightness and the position of your lights in relation to the screen. Philips Hue parent company Signify says that you'll be able to adjust the brightness and the speed and intensity of the lighting effects, as well as your default preferences for each HDMI input.
Apart from the HDMI output that connects the device to your TV, each Hue Play box includes four HDMI inputs to sync it up with your streaming devices, gaming consoles, Blu-ray players and DVR boxes.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
By the way, there are four of those HDMI inputs on the back of the Hue Play box, which means you can sync your lights with up to four separate devices. From there, it'll automatically switch between those devices as you use them, with full support for 4K resolution and HDR10. Signify says that the box doesn't store any information about what you watch, and adds that the Hue Play box supports simultaneous color-matching with up to 10 Hue lights at once.
You can use any of Hue's color-changing lights with the feature, but the best bets are TV-friendly accent lights like the Philips Hue Light Strip. Fixtures you can hide behind or beside the TV are a good fit, too -- most notably, the Philips Hue Play light bars, which can stand on their own or mount directly on the back of your TV.
It's no coincidence that those Hue Play lights share a name with the new Hue Play HDMI box. Signify tells me that the HDMI box is compatible with the same plug-in power supply as those Hue Play bars, with a plug that's designed to power up to three devices at once. That means that you could use a single Hue Play plug to power an entry-level Hue Entertainment setup with two lights and the HDMI box.
That's a nice approach that might help free up some of the cord clutter behind your entertainment center. I also wonder if Signify won't ultimately start selling Hue Entertainment starter kits that package the HDMI box with those Hue Play lights at a discount.
The Hue Play HDMI Box seems like an especially good fit with the color-changing Philips Hue Play light bars, seen here on either side of the TV.
Philips
An expensive outlook
That Hue Play approach is also the setup we'll probably use when we test the Hue Play HDMI Sync Box for ourselves at the CNET Smart Home. It might make for a contentious movie night, though, as our team is somewhat split on the feature. Some find it fun and immersive, some find it too distracting and others land in a meh middleground. Let us know where you land in the comments -- and feel free to toss out movie or game suggestions you'd like to see us test.
Personally, I'm excited to finally try Hue Entertainment with console gaming, especially with games that already put a lot of emphasis on immersion. I can just imagine oohing and aahing while landing on a colorful new planet in No Man's Sky, for instance. Minecraft and Super Mario Maker 2 jump to mind as other good fits with distinctive color schemes that vary from setting to setting as you play. At any rate, your experience will definitely vary depending on what you're watching or playing, so experimenting with different titles and different settings in the Hue app will likely be key.
And, apart from convincing people that this is more smart lighting game changer than smart lighting gimmick, Hue's biggest hurdle here is obviously the price. $230 gets you an HDMI box -- and remember, the PC software that came before it was free. That's expensive enough on its own -- but you'll need Hue lights, too. A two-pack of those Hue Play light bars with the power supply costs $130, which brings the total to $360 if you're building a setup from scratch.
And you're still not done. Despite the fact that Hue's newest lights include Bluetooth radios that let you connect direct with your phone for basic control, you'll still need a Hue Bridge plugged into your router in order to try out advanced features like Hue Entertainment. It's currently available for $50 on Amazon, which would bring your total buy-in to $410.
The research firm IHS Markit predicts that the global smart lighting market will grow to $2.8 billion by 2023.
IHS Markit
I'm skeptical that many outside of the true Hue die-hards will adopt the feature at that price, but time will tell. Signify is banking on the accuracy of rosy smart lighting forecasts from research firms like IHS Markit, which predicts that the global smart lighting market will grow from $241.6 million in 2017 to $2.8 billion in 2023. That's more than a tenfold increase.
IHS Markit analyst Blake Kozak suggests that Signify has an opportunity to take the category "to the next level by adding 'immersion' as a descriptor of smart-home lighting."
Kozak says, "Although its newest smart plugs and filament lighting solutions will be far more popular and mainstream, colored lighting now has a new use case and interest and growth could be strengthened globally, especially in North America."
With preorders open now with an expected ship date of Oct. 15, I also wouldn't be surprised to see the Hue Play box packaged with one of Hue's smart light starter kits as a Black Friday special this November. We'll have a better sense of whether a deal like that would be worth pouncing on after we try the new device out for ourselves, so stay tuned.
Originally published Sept. 17, 9 a.m. ET. Update, 11:25 a.m.: Adds information about Hue Play support for 4K and HDR10 and comment from IHS Markit.
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Windows 11 review: Microsoft's subtle changes make you ask, update or wait?
Windows 11 review: Microsoft's subtle changes make you ask, update or wait?
Microsoft made Windows 11 available on Oct. 5 on a rolling basis as a free upgrade to most Windows 10 users. If you have Windows 8, you'll have to get the free upgrade to Windows 10 first, then download Windows 11. Before you decide whether or not to install the new OS, let's talk about what we like and don't like about the upgrade.
An operating system, whether it's MacOS on your MacBook or Google's Wear OS on your smartwatch, gets better the more transparent it is to the user. And that user is you, sitting in front of a laptop keyboard or tapping on a phone screen. So sorry, no Spinal Tap "goes to 11" puns here. That's mostly because Windows 11 feels more like Windows 10.5 than a generational leap -- not that there's really anything wrong with that.
Maybe the shift from Windows 10 to Windows 11 feels subtle because the jump from Windows 8 to Windows 10 was so gigantic. Big enough for Microsoft to skip an entire version number, even. That generation was all about righting a ship that had gone somewhat off-course, leaning too far into tablet territory, trying to convince everyone that Windows laptops and tablets were as cool as iPads. They're not, and that's OK: I work on a Windows machine, I do plenty of PC gaming on one, but when I flip through news headlines in bed at night, it's on an iPad.
Read more: Surface Pro 8 review: a familiar flagship for Windows 11
Windows 10 started out with favorable reviews and has remained in everyone's good graces precisely because it got out of the way of whatever you were doing instead of trying to force its ideas on you. But more importantly, it was free* -- which includes an asterisk to indicate it was generally available as a no-cost upgrade to anyone with a nonancient PC.
Before 2015, Windows upgrades either cost some money, or if you bought a new laptop or desktop, the latest OS just came preinstalled. Apple's OS X moved to a similar free-to-upgrade model around the same time. Except for system builders, the idea of paying separately for a computer operating system is basically extinct. That's a big change from when you had to hand over $120 to Microsoft for the privilege of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Who can get Windows 11?
The list of compatible PCs is frankly a little narrower than I would have expected. The base requirements are a 64-bit processor, 4GB of memory, 64GB of storage, UEFI secure boot and TPM (trusted platform module) 2.0. It's that last one that gets tricky for some people, especially on cheaper laptops. If you've got a CPU older than a seventh-gen Intel Core series (we're up to 11th-gen now), you might be in trouble. If you want to check, use the Microsoft PC Health Check app. There are workarounds for installing Windows 11 anyway, but proceed with those at your own risk.
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Visual cues
If there's one thing that immediately stands out about Windows 11, it's this: The start menu and taskbar are now centered on the bottom of the screen, rather than aligned to the left by default. Yes, that's the single biggest visual and interface change you're going to see on day one. Sure, there's plenty more going on underneath, but it feels like this UI shift is there mainly to let you know there's something new and different going on under the surface.
And there is a good deal going on in Windows 11. For casual or mainstream users, you're unlikely to notice much of it, though there are some standout upgrades worth noting.
Read more:Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio review: The screen is everything
Get some Android in your Windows
One of the big selling points of Chromebooks, which run Google's ChromeOS, is that most Chromebooks can run just about any Android app, from phone-centric favorites like Instagram to mobile games. That breaks Chromebooks out from being restricted to just cloud-based apps and frankly adds a lot of functionality to your $300 or so Chromebook.
Microsoft is adding similar functionality to Windows 11 , both to compete with Chromebooks and to forge greater bonds between Windows PC users and Android phone users, just as Macs and iPhones are inexorably bound.
But... that feature is not included with the launch version of Windows 11. It's going to be previewed sometime in the coming months, so I wouldn't expect it to be added as a fully baked feature until some time in 2022.
That's a shame, because easy access to Android apps was probably going to be the biggest single practical change in Windows 11 for most people. Sure, there are plenty of other ways to do this, using an app like Bluestacks or even the Your Phone app from Microsoft, but it's not simple enough for everyday users.
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Snap groups and multiple desktops
Easily organizing a bunch of open windows so you can see and access them when you want -- and hide them when you don't -- is handy once you get the hang of it. The ability to snap windows into preset slots on the desktop has been around for a while now, but the new Snap Groups and Snap Layouts offer a few new ways to wrangle your windows.
By hovering over the "maximize" button on the top right corner of most windows, you'll get a pop-up showing a bunch of layout options. Minimize these apps, and you can pop them all back up again in the same exact spots, by hovering over any of the snapped window icons in the task bar.
But... not every app I tried allowed me to snap its window. Web browsers, system tools and many other random programs did, but programs such as Photoshop and Steam did not (hovering over their maximize buttons didn't offer the snapping options pop-up menu).
If you have a gigantic monitor, use multiple monitors or need several thinly sliced web browser windows open at once, it can be handy. On a laptop screen, you're generally not looking at one or maybe two windows at once.
Multiple desktops are a common MacOS feature, and a good way to keep multiple facets of your digital life organized. For example, you can keep all your work apps -- email programs, browsers, video conference apps -- on one desktop, and all your gaming apps on another. Like on a Mac, you hot-swap between them, it's really just a change in how your open apps are visualized.
You can actually do that in Windows 10 as well, but it's a pain. In Windows 11, Desktops have their own taskbar icon by default, and creating and organizing multiple desktops is even easier than on a Mac, which is not something you'll hear very often.
Wither the Widget?
Every gadget-maker loves widgets, defined in consumer tech terms as small icon-like apps that usually sit in a group somewhere on your device's UI. Usually it's useful little things like the weather, stock prices, your latest emails or calendar items, or a small newsfeed. Your iPhone and iPad have them, Android devices have them, Macs have them (under the usually hidden Notification Bar on the right side of the screen). Windows used to have built-in widgets, too. They were called Gadgets and died along with Windows 7.
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Now they're back. On the plus side, with its own taskbar button, the new widgets are easy to find. Hit the button and a semi-transparent panel pops out from the left edge of the screen. It has, by default, widgets for weather, your Outlook calendar, photos you may have in OneDrive, a To Do list and a few others. You can customize the list a bit, but there are not too many options for now. Below that is a newsfeed that looks like it's curated by the same people who do the news curating on the home screen for the Microsoft Edge browser. You can hide stories from any specific outlet by clicking on a menu icon in the news section or hit a "manage your interests" button to customize the feed, but by default, it's pretty basic. Lots of sports, Fox News and celeb gossip.
Microsoft Teams integration
Do you use Microsoft Teams instead of Zoom, Facetime or Google Hangouts? You'll be able to get to it and launch it a little faster, because it's fully integrated into Windows 11 now. I've never been invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting, except by people who work for Microsoft.
It's interesting to note that Windows users can now pop into Facetime meetings with the latest iOS "invite anyone" feature. Clearly there's a lot of competition for video meeting mindshare (faceshare?).
Other quality of life improvements
As I'm often referring to system tools, settings menus or other on-screen things in my writing, I take a lot of screen shots. On a Mac, that's easy -- Shift + Command + 4. In Windows, well, it's never been quite that simple. The built-in Snipping tool is, however, slightly less annoying under Windows 11. Now you can take a snip by hitting Windows + Shift + S, although it copies the screenshot to the clipboard, it doesn't automatically save the image, you'll still have to do that manually.
The Edge browser now has a safe Kids Mode that's easy to access by clicking on your profile in the upper right corner, and can be customized for different age groups.
Auto HDR -- a feature that moved over from the Xbox Series X -- give games that don't support high dynamic range a boost to lighting, brightness and contrast for a more HDR-like look.
I'm waiting for a revamped version of the Microsoft app store, which will allow for third-party services like game stores and web browsers. The Opera browser is available now, the Epic Games storefront is expected soon. No word on other browsers like Firefox or Chrome, or the popular Steam PC game storefront. Eventual Android app support will come, at least initially, from an Amazon-branded Android app store, rather than from Google Play.
Who should get Windows 11?
Despite my lukewarm embrace of the new Windows OS, there's no compelling reason to skip it. That's because, any new PC OS launches in an unfinished state, and the best improvements and most polished versions come later, from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 Creators Edition.
I've used various preview builds of Windows 11 across multiple PCs for months, along with the final release build, and it's been fine, almost completely trouble-free, and I've never once thought about rolling back to Windows 10.
That said, Microsoft's gonna Microsoft sometimes. Some long-term Windows irritations have stuck around. When setting up the OS for the first time, there are still plenty data-sharing and ad-personalization checkboxes to uncheck, and the built-in Edge browser still buries the default search engine settings (to switch the default search engine from Bing to, say, Google) several submenus deep. Switching which apps do what by default is also more complex now; you literally have to assign each file type -- .htm, .html, etc. -- one by one. Hopefully this will get streamlined at some point.
If you're going to buy a new laptop or desktop at pretty much any point after today, it'll probably come with Windows 11 preinstalled. In that case, you don't have to make a conscious decision, just go with the flow. If you have a current-gen Windows laptop, tablet or desktop, you'll be able to download and install Windows 11 either now or at some point in the near future. It's being rolled out slowly, probably to avoid a huge rush of same-day downloading.
As a general rule of thumb, I always suggest that you don't jump up and be the first person on the block to download a new OS update, whether it's for your laptop, phone or tablet. Issues will inevitably pop up, if only because of the tremendous breadth of hardware configurations and accessories, from printers to mice to VR headsets, that need to work right.
That said, testing for Windows 11 has been extensive, and the main issues so far have been with how icons are displayed, some menu weirdness and occasional File Explorer problems.
My final word on the subject, for now: If you want to try and download/install Windows 11 on day one, go for it. If you want to wait a few weeks (or a few months), that's fine, too.
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