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Apple has just announced the next generation of AirPods, but if you’ve been waiting for new Beats earbuds, you may also have something to look forward to there. A report from 9to5Mac describes the upcoming Beats Fit Pro that, according to the article, will have wingtips that seem to be designed to ensure a better fit in your ear.

You can see the rumored earbuds at the top of this post or in this set of images shared by 9to5Mac, featuring the Beats Fit Pro in black, gray, white, and lavender.

In addition to the new design, the earbuds will have active noise cancelation, Apple’s H1 chip for speedy pairing and Hey Siri, and support for quick pairing on Android through the Beats app, 9to5Mac reports. It also seems as if the Beats Fit Pro will have good battery life: six hours with ANC on or seven hours with Adaptive EQ.

The Beats Fit Pro will be announced on November 1st and will ship starting a few days after, according to 9to5Mac. MacRumors reports that images of the Beats Fit Pro have appeared in the iOS 15.1 release candidate, lending credence to the possibility that they will be released soon.

There are some great deals today for next-gen console gamers. For Xbox Series S|X owners, grab the official Xbox wireless headset and a second controller for the lowest price we’ve seen this year. For PS5 owners, upgrade your internal storage with a super fast SSD from Western Digital or XPG. In other deal news, score a 65″ LG OLED 4K TV for as low as $1399, get a decked out Alienware RTX 3080 gaming PC for as low as $2099, or save 20% off the upcoming WarioWare game for the Nintendo Switch.

New Xbox Series X Wireless Headset

This is the lowest price we’ve seen so far for the official Xbox wireless headset for the Xbox Series X and S consoles. This headset is Microsoft’s answer to the deservedly popular Sony Pulse 3D wireless headset. It pairs with the Xbox Series S|X without requiring a dongle and you’ll also be able to use it with your other Bluetooth-enabled devices. Other features include Dolby Atmos, DTS: Headphone X, and Windows Sonic support, generous 15-hour battery life, and super comfortable plushy earcups.

Xbox Series S|X Core Controller

Save 18% off the official Xbox Core wireless controller for the Xbox Series S and X consoles. This new controller features a redesigned hybrid D-pad, textured grip on the triggers, bumpers, and back, and a battery life of up to 40 hours. It has a universal 3.5mm audio jack for headphones and a USB Type-C input for plug-and-play compatibility for the PC.

Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller

The Xbox Elite Series 2 wireless controller is the most precise and customizable Xbox controller on the market. This professional-grade controller features adjustable tension thumbsticks, shorter hair trigger locks, wraparound textured grips, interchangeable thumbsticks and paddle shapes, custom profiles saved on your controller itself, and included USB Type C cable with charging dock. It boasts up to 40 hours of battery life and is compatible with the Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, and PC.

Alienware AW3420DW 34″ 3440×1440 Curved 2ms 120Hz G-SYNC IPS Gaming Monitor

The 2020 Alienware AW3420DW is one of the best 34″ ultra-wide gaming monitors out there today. Today’s price is even lower than what we saw on Prime Day of this year. This is an outstanding gaming monitor; the IPS panel offers very wide viewing angles and 98% DCI-P3 color accuracy, the 2ms response time means no visual lag or ghosting, and the 120Hz refresh rate and G-SYNC support means no stuttering or tearing.

Back in Stock on Amazon: PS5-Compatible WD Black SN850 1TB M.2 SSD with Heatsink

Amazon finally has the PS5-compatible WD Black SN850 1TB SSD with heatsink back in stock. This is currently the most popular SSD to get for your PS5 internal storage upgrade. It’s blazing fast drive with transfer speeds rated at up to 7,000 MB/s and a PCIe Gen4 interface and it comes preinstalled with a heatsink. It’s also confirmed by Western Digital themselves to be compatible with the PS5.

Lowest Price Ever for a PS5-Compatible SSD with Heatsink: XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB M.2 SSD

This is the latest SSD that’s specifically designed for your PS5 storage upgrade. It also happens to be the lowest priced PS5-compatible 1TB SSD with heatsink available. In fact, it’s even less expensive than most compatible SSDs without heatsink. The S70 Blade boasts transfer rates up to 7,400 MB/s and a PCIe Gen4 interface. It includes a PS5-compatible low-profile aluminum heatsink, but for whatever reason you’ll have to put it on the SSD itself (which isn’t hard, it’s just adhesive).

Sony WH1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones (As Good As Bose)

The ever popular and highly rated Sony WH1000XM4 headphones are back down to $248. This is the lowest price of the year by $30. The WH1000XM4 is oft considered one of the best noise cancelling headsets under $400; it’s comparable if not better than the Bose QuietComfort headphones, both in terms of audio quality and noise cancellation.

17% Off Tales of Arise for PS5

This is the first time we’ve seen the PS5 version of the game discounted anywhere. Tales of Arise is one of the best Tales games in a long while. I’ve beaten the game myself, and I haven’t had as much fun playing a Tales game since Vesperia and Symphonia. If you’ve seen the gameplay videos or played the demo at all, you’re probably already aware that Tales of Arise graphics are a massive improvement over its predecessors. That’s because Bandai Namco abandoned its proprietary graphics engine for the much more powerful and flexible Unreal Engine. Aside from the revamped graphics, expect the same well-loved gameplay from before, including real-time combo-chaining battles, a wonderfully generic yet epic storyline, and cringe-worthy yet endearing character skits.

65″ LG CX 4K OLED Smart TV for $1399.99

Refurbished with 90-day Woot (Amazon) Warranty

Note that this is a refurbished model with a 90-day Woot warranty. Woot is owned and operated by Amazon. The CX-series is LG’s 2020 OLED TV. The OLED panel blows away any IPS, VA, or TN monitor in black levels, color rendition, response time, and HDR. The new 2021 C1-series model has very negligible improvements over the CX-series and in terms of image quality, they’re practically identical. The CX OLED TV is a perfect match for the PS5 console because it has HDMI 2.1 inputs which can output 4K at 120Hz.

2021 LG C1 65″ 4K OLED TV Price Drop

Now with 6 Months of Free HBO Max

Today the newest LG 65″ 4K OLED TV has dropped to the lowest price we’ve ever seen. The LG C1 OLED TV improves upon last year’s highly-rated CX model with an upgraded A9 Gen 4 processor that delivers slightly better image quality, better 4K scaling, and improved audio handling as well as a new webOS smart TV redesign. The C1 OLED TV also looks good when paired to a gaming PC with an RTX 30 series video card because it has HDMI 2.1 inputs that support 4K at 120Hz and G-SYNC. It’s easily one of the best (if not the best) TVs on the market right now. For a limited time, you also get 6 free months of HBO Max, so you can catch up on blockbuster movies like Godzilla vs Kong, Space Jam: A New Legacy, The Suicide Squad, and more, as well as upcoming movies like Dune and The Matrix Resurrections.

Rubber Encased Hex Dumbbells on Sale

If you’ve been stockpiling exercise equipment to work out at home, you might have realized that the cost of weights adds up. You could be paying upwards of $2-$4 per pound of weights if you’ve been buying stuff at regular retail price. Deals like these aren’t flashy, but they’re very welcome. The dumbbells listed above cost just over $1 per pound. They’re rubber encased to protect your floor, and the chrome finished ergo handles are textured for a better grip.

Alienware Aurora R12 RTX 3080 PC for $2099.99

Do you need a rig that can run Battlefield 2042 in 4K? If you’ve been on the lookout for the extremely elusive RTX 3080 video card for your (up to 4K) gaming needs, then check out this ready-to-go prebuilt Alienware Aurora gaming PC from Dell. The $2200 PC comes equipped with an 11th gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, 512GB SSD, and a separate 1TB hard drive for storage. The RTX 3080 is way more powerful than the previous generation’s best video card, the RTX 2080 Ti, and is the best recommended video card for 4K gaming. The RTX 3080 is the card I’m currently using for the BF2042 open beta, and I can run the game at 4K resolution and over 60fps consistently at medium to high settings.

HP OMEN RTX 3080 Gaming PC for $1899.99

Select “RTX 3080” and “800W Power Supply” as upgrades

Here’s another RTX 3080 config that’s worth a look. Although its overall specs aren’t as good as the Alienware config listed above, you simply won’t find an RTX 3080 equipped pre-built PC for a cheaper price. In fact, the RTX 3080 by itself probably goes for a similar price on eBay. It’s paired with the latest AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor (which can be upgraded). The 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD is lean, but you can easily pick out and swap in your own components.

More Video Game Deals

More Daily Deals for October 18

Just in time for the spooky season, TiMi Studio Group will kick off a Pokémon Unite Halloween event on October 20 that’s dedicated to all things frightening. It’s a pretty massive patch, too, packing in a brand-new playable monster, extra gear, and more.

The highlight of the update trailer is the addition of Greedent, a Normal-type Pokémon introduced in the eighth generation. The final evolution of Skwovet, Greedent is a squirrel-looking creature that primarily uses physical attacks. We don’t see too many of its abilities in the announcement trailer, but it appears as if Greedent will have some solid lane-clearing moves perfect for chasing enemies down.

Elsewhere in the update is a new map overlay that turns it into something more akin to The Nightmare Before Christmas. While the game has already started incorporating spooky music, once things officially kick-off, you’ll see plenty of carved pumpkins and festive lights strung up. There’s a new mode where the monsters can also turn into pumpkins during a match, but it’s unclear how it’ll work. Some ultimates, like Lucario’s, have also been altered to match the Halloween season.

The limited-time Halloween Festival event also features new Trainer cosmetics (like a Pikachu-shaped pumpkin helmets) and Holowear for Charizard, Eldegoss, Lucario, Wigglytuff, and Zeraora. For example, Lucario is dressed like Zorro, with a black cape, pointed hat, and eye-mask to match. The entire thing runs from October 20 to November 7.

Read More: Pokémon Unite Survey Suggests Huge Changes Could Be Coming

This Halloween event comes just a month after TiMi Studio Group dropped the popular MOBA on mobile devices. At the same time, Pokémon Unite started a new season that took our pocket monsters to space. Two creatures, Mamoswine and Sylveon, also joined the game’s roster. With Greedent, who is an admittedly inspired inclusion, there are now 26 total playable Pokémon.

Apple is hosting its next big hardware event at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. The event is titled “Unleashed,” and while we’re not totally sure what Apple will be unleashing, the dotted-font design on the invitation could be a hint at the higher-res miniLED displays expected for new MacBook Pros. These new, more powerful MacBook Pros will probably come in 14- and 16-inch screen sizes, and, may have SD readers and HDMI and MagSafe ports.

And possibly (finally) Apple may release new AirPods as well. It also seems likely we’ll get a release date for macOS Monterey, which was announced at the same time as iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, but remains in beta. The rumor mill also has been predicting the end of the Touch Bar.

WHAT TIME IS THE APPLE “UNLEASHED” EVENT?

You can tune into the live stream, which starts at 10AM PT / 1PM ET on Monday, October 18th. If you miss the live stream, it’s likely you’ll be able to catch a replay after the event wraps.

WHERE CAN I WATCH IT?

Apple is hosting the stream on its website, and it is also streaming it on YouTube. The YouTube stream is embedded above for your convenience.

According to a new Gaming Intel report from industry insider Tom Henderson, development on Battlefield 2042 has not been a smooth process. A source for Henderson attributes these problems to management, which has ignored problems brought by the team, while encouraging them to copy some of the most popular elements from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Henderson states that he’s “unclear what exactly this means,” but cites the operators from Modern Warfare as one example that made its way into Battlefield 2042. “Specialists” in the game have taken the place of the class system that has appeared in previous Battlefield titles.

Apparently, this attempt to court the Call of Duty crowd has also extended to content creators. Henderson points out that multiple content creators associated with Call of Duty were brought in for the game’s beta capture event, but creators traditionally associated with the Battlefield series were left out. For longtime fans of the series, this focus on a completely different shooter franchise might cause some concern.

Henderson’s report comes after the release of the Battlefield 2042 beta. While some people greatly enjoyed the beta, others felt that it seemed to be in a place that didn’t reflect how far along the game should be. Notably, the beta contained a significant number of bugs. Henderson also states that he’s heard that DICE is having “major stability issues with builds of the game.”

There’s more than a month to go until the release of Battlefield 2042, and there’s still hope that some of these technical issues will be resolved by then. Henderson’s report ends on a dour note, however, revealing that some employees are fearing for their jobs given the state of the game. This holiday season is going to be a competitive one for the first-person shooter genre, with Call of Duty: Vanguard and Halo Infinite both releasing within a few weeks of Battlefield 2042. Hopefully, Battlefield 2042 will end up being an enjoyable experience when it launches.

Battlefield 2042 will release November 19th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. You can check out our previous coverage of the game right here.

Are you looking forward to Battlefield 2042? Did you check out the game’s beta? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

You might not remember since February 2021 was actually 19 years ago, but earlier this year phone and console skin makers Dbrand released a set of black PS5 faceplates. Not content with merely releasing them, though, the company also bizarrely baited Sony to sue them, and Sony is now obliging.

As The Verge report, Dbrand’s “Darkplates” have recently been removed from the company’s store, and any purchasing links now redirect to a page that only lists all the news articles written about the plates, including the Gizmodo story linked above.

Why pull them now? Because the company received a cease & desist letter from Sony, part of which says:

It has come to SIE’s attention that dbrand has been promoting and selling console accessories in a manner that is deeply concerning to our client. First, dbrand is selling faceplates for the PSS console (in both standard edition and digital edition configurations) that replicate SIE’s protected product design. Any faceplates that take the form of our client’s PSS product configuration, or any similar configuration, and are: produced and sold without permission from SIE violate our client’s intellectual property rights in the distinctive console design.

Second, dbrand is selling skins for SIE devices that feature the PlayStation Family Mark Your company may not sell products that bear unauthorized depictions of our client’s PlayStation Marks. The below still from one of dbrand’s instructional videos shows a dbrand skin bearing a design identical to the PlayStation Family Mark.

For their part, Dbrand have responded with a rambling corporate shitpost on Reddit, which opens with “much like your hopes and dreams, Darkplates are dead” before eventually settling into actual legal defences of their position, saying the plates don’t violate any existing trademarks. Dbrand suspects that Sony’s actual motivation here is moving to shut down competitors before revealing its own, first-party replacement panels for the PS5.

Note that this isn’t the first company Sony has gone after like this. CustomizeMyPlates were also forced to halt sales of their own coloured replacement plates in 2020, though in their case they resumed sales earlier this year and have been undisturbed since, perhaps because their versions don’t include tiny logos that look a lot like actual PlayStation icons.

The next-generation MacBook Air that’s set to be released in 2022 will also feature a notch, according to the same leaker who was first to mention the notch coming to the 2021 MacBook Pro models.

In a forum post from August discussing the new MacBook Pro models, leaker Ty98 said that the next-generation ‌MacBook Air‌ will include the same notch that Apple is introducing for the MacBook Pro.

He also said that the ‌MacBook Air‌ will “look much better” as Apple plans to eliminate the current wedge design. The ‌MacBook Air‌ has long had a design that transitions from thicker at the back to thinner at the front. The leaker claims that the next ‌MacBook Air‌ will have a “very round and light” design.

Other ‌MacBook Air‌ rumors have indeed suggested that Apple is designing a thinner and lighter version of the machine with thinner bezels than the current model. It is expected to feature a 13-inch mini-LED display, several color options, and an updated version of the M1 chip.

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The wait is finally over as we are just a day away from Apple’s “Unleashed” event. If rumors turn out to be true, Cupertino’s company will unveil a new MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and the long-awaited AirPods 3.

Although many people already expected these launches, it’s the leaker Dylandkt who doubles down on this bet, according to some of his tweets and information gathered by 9to5Mac.

Dylan has become one of the most prominent leakers in the Apple community being more right than wrong about the company’s upcoming launches.

During this past year, the leaker has been teasing a revamped 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, a new Mac mini, and AirPods 3 being. Here’s everything he said.

MacBook Pro

Back in May, Dylan corroborated about the new MacBook Pro having a brand-new look with flat edges, reduced bezels, and expanded connections — which includes an SD card reader, MagSafe, and HDMI port.

Then, in June, he said that the new MacBook would be unveiled during Apple’s Q4, during October or November. By August Dylan posted that the upcoming Apple Silicon 14-inch MacBook Pro CPU would be identical to that of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

It’s comforting to note that both MacBook Pro’s that are coming this fall will have the same chip and the same performance. It’s definitely a win for those who like to opt for the smaller size […]

Just so that everyone understands, I am referring to the 16 and 14 inch pros both having the same M1X.

Last week, finally, he doubled down these predictions and added what we should expect from these launches

• 14-inch and 16-inch models;
• miniLED display;
• Smaller bezels with no bottom logo;
• 1080p webcam;
• Base models with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage;
• Base M1X configuration for both models;
• Similar pricing between both models;
• New charging brick.

Mac mini

Although he talked less about the new Mac mini, Dylan believes it will also launch alongside the new MacBook Pros with the new “M1X” chip or whatever Apple’s going to call it.

Other leakers and rumors not from him say that Apple will probably unveil a Mac mini with a new design.

AirPods 3

Yesterday, Dylan reiterated that AirPods 3 will have a similar design to the AirPods Pro, just without the ear tips. He tweeted that “tips were shown to be an optional attachment on an early prototype, but recent leaks do not show these tips so it’s likely that they aren’t coming.”

Also, the leaker says the long-awaited AirPods 3 will launch during Apple’s “Unleashed” event. Read everything we know about the rumored AirPods 3 here.

Just to reiterate, AirPods 3 will have a similar design to that of AirPods Pro, just without ear tips. Tips were shown to be an optional attachment on an early prototype, but recent leaks do not show these tips so it’s likely that they aren’t coming.

— Dylan (@dylandkt) October 17, 2021

What could be coming next from Apple?

For those expecting a replacement for the 27-inch iMac, Dylan claims you’ll need to wait a bit longer. It’s likely that a new iMac will launch next year due to the current chip shortage, which also makes part of Apple’s two years transition from Intel to its own processor. Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman also reported a few months ago that Apple briefly stopped the development of this new iMac to focus on the 24-inch iMac, which was unveiled in April.

What do you think of these leaks? What excites you the most about tomorrow’s event? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Following the last-minute rumor that Apple’s upcoming new MacBook Pro models could feature a notch at the top of the display, much of the online discussion has involved concerns that such a notch would encroach on the active screen area, potentially eating into the macOS menu bar.

However, it’s worth noting that Apple has explored ways of including a notch in a MacBook Pro display that would avoid ingression into the main screen area, make the notch appear seamless against a black strip, and potentially allow for additional information to be displayed to the user that would also free up menu bar space in the main 16:10 display.

For example, an Apple patent filed in 2019 with the U.S. patent office, titled “Electronic Device Display With Extended Active Area,” describes, among various embodiments, a laptop computer featuring a main rectangular screen and two “extended regions” between the screen and an inactive border, wherein “the first and second rectangular extended regions are on opposing sides of the camera.”

Specifically, the laptop’s “first and second rectangular extended regions display icons on a black background while the main rectangular region displays a rectangular picture.”

“The first and second extended regions may be located on opposing sides of a camera or other electrical component in a protruding portion or island-shaped portion of the inactive region. Icons or other information may be displayed on a black background in the extended regions, giving the display a continuous unbroken appearance.”

Such an implementation could potentially add system status information in a black strip above the macOS menu bar, but that would of course require a significant adjustment to the way the menu bar operates on these new Mac models in the final release of macOS Monterey, and there’s been no evidence of that so far.

The notch rumor, while seemingly sketchy on its own, has gained some traction since Friday, initially due to a discovery by MacRumors of screen resolutions that will feature in the redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

In the ‌macOS Monterey‌ beta, MacRumors uncovered potential display resolutions of 3024×1964 and 3456×2234 for the rumored 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. When subtracting 74 pixels from the height of both, the resulting 3024×1890 and 3456×2160 resolutions work out to an aspect ratio of 16:10. All of Apple’s current MacBooks feature a 16:10 aspect ratio, leading to speculation that the extra 74 pixels could be for a notch.

The possibility that Friday’s rumor may have substance to it has further been bolstered by an alleged photo of a MacBook Pro screen with a notch that was originally shared by a Weibo account.

Apple is hosting a virtual event on Monday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with rumors widely suggesting the event will be focused on redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with a faster version of the M1 chip, brighter mini-LED displays, MagSafe, and additional connectivity.