Most new Macs can still be downgraded with few downsides. Here’s what to know. An Ars Technica colleague recently bought a new M4 MacBook Air. I have essentially nothing bad to say about this hardware, except to point out that even in our current memory shortage apocalypse, Apple is…
Apple is taking an “ain’t broke/don’t fix” approach to most of its gadgets. Excepting the AirTag 2, so far it’s been a quiet year for Apple hardware. But that’s poised to change next week, as the company is hosting a “special experience” on March 4. The use of the…
“Neanderthal deserts” in our genomes suggest a strong pattern in matings. By now, it’s firmly established that modern humans and their Neanderthal relatives met and mated as our ancestors expanded out of Africa, resulting in a substantial amount of Neanderthal DNA scattered throughout our genome. Less widely recognized is…
Geometry of tread patterns determines frequency, so blocks were designed to play Star Wars music. We’re all familiar with the high-pitched squeak of basketball shoes on the court during games, or tires squealing on pavement. Scientists conducted several experiments and discovered that the geometry of the sneakers’ tread patterns…
Google’s new image model replaces the previous versions immediately. The last year has been big for Google’s AI efforts. Its rapid-fire model releases have brought it to parity with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic and, in some cases, pushed it into the lead. The Nano Banana image generator…
An OTA update will be pushed out in a few weeks; owners can also go to a dealership. Last year, Ford set a new industry record: It issued 152 safety recalls, almost twice the previous high set by General Motors back in 2014. More than 24 million vehicles were…
That guest network you set up for your neighbors may not be as secure as you think. It’s hard to overstate the role that Wi-Fi plays in virtually every facet of life. The organization that shepherds the wireless protocol says that more than 48 billion Wi-Fi-enabled devices have shipped…
The ability to resell Steam items for real value is key to the state’s case. New York state has filed a lawsuit against Valve alleging that randomized loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 amount to a form of unregulated gambling, letting users…
Subaru has a new EV using the platform it shares with Toyota, starting at $34,995. Much of the Subaru Uncharted makes very little sense. The “new” EV clearly resembles the Solterra, upon which Toyota and Subaru jointly developed the Uncharted and the bZ Woodland as a continuation of a…
Officials expect the investigation into a booster anomaly on ULA’s Vulcan rocket to last multiple months. DENVER—The Global Positioning System is one of the few space programs that touches nearly every human life, and the stewards of the satellite navigation network are eager to populate the fleet with the…
