The Engadget Podcast

This week Valve surprised us all with the announcement of three new devices: The tiny Steam Machine PC gaming desktop, the Steam Frame VR headset and a new Steam Controller. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's gaming reporter Jessica Conditt discuss how these devices fit into the PC gaming world, which has already been reshaped by Valve's Steck Deck portable. Also, we discuss our favorite games of 2025, as well as the upcoming titles we're looking forward to.  Valve reshapes PC gaming with a new Steam Machine, Steam Frame VR headset and updated Steam Controller – 1:10It’s not just Silksong! A look at our favorite indie games of 2025 with Jess Conditt – 25:25Michael Burry places his next big short on Palantir and NVIDIA – 46:09WSJ Report: OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT encouraged user suicides – 50:57Apple unveils Digital IDs for iPhones, to hold passports and other IDs – 59:35Deezer-Ipsos survey says 97% of people can’t tell if music is AI generated – 1:01:37Around Engadget – 1:07:18Working on – 1:08:42Pop culture picks – 1:09:10

2025 is almost over (gasp!), so it's time to look back at all of the best devices we've seen so far. In this episode, Engadget Deputy Editor Billy Steele joins Devindra to talk about the highlights of the year, which range from the usual suspects (like Google's Pixel and the iPhone 17 Pro), to surprises like the Ninja Swirl. Also, we chat about yet another super-thin phone and the latest sampler from Teenage Engineering. Engadget’s Best of 2025: phones, tablets, cameras, even EVs! – 1:40Reuters reports Meta projected 10% of its revenue ($16B) came from ads for scams this year – 32:20Moto Edge 70 is another super thin smartphone, but who wants it? – 41:43Netflix is going big on video podcasts in 2026 – 42:56You can now stream PS5 games you own to the PS Portal via the cloud – 48:23Around Engadget: Why DJI drones may be banned in the U.S. – 52:27Pop culture picks – 56:05

Home robots are moving way beyond Roombas. 1X unveiled its NEO helper bot this week, a terrifying $20,000 machine that can perform basic tasks after you've trained it, and more complex tasks via teleoperation. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Igor Bonafacic try to figure out why 1X made the Neo look like a murderbot, as well as the future they see for home robots. Also, we discuss last week's AWS outage and our over-reliance on a single cloud provider, as well as Apple's rumored push for OLED devices in 2026.   Devindra also what’s with John Gearty, a former Apple Vision Pro engineer, about the state of Apple’s headset and the world of XR. Interview with John Gearty, former Apple Vision Pro engineer and founder of PulseJet Studios – 1:30Robotics company 1X announces Neo, a $20k home assistant that *might* become autonomous…someday – 33:05Amazon says automation bug caused AWS outage – 45:11NVIDIA is the first company in history to hit a $5T market cap – 50:55OpenAI finishes reorganization that paves path for future IPO – 55:21U.S. Customs and Border Protection announces plan to photograph non-citizens entering the country for facial recognition – 1:08:45Around Engadget: Billy Steele’s Echo Studio 2025 review – 1:17:25Working on – 1:19:39Pop culture picks – 1:22:07 

The era of AI video is upon us, and honestly it's kind of terrifying. Between OpenAI's Sora and official communications from the Trump White House, it's clear that we're not ready for an unending onslaught of AI video. In this episode, Devindra and producer Ben chat with the Washington Post's technology reporter Drew Harwell and Jeremy Carrasco (AKA "ShowtoolsAI"), a former livestream and media producer turned AI video literacy creator. Also, we chat about our final thoughts on Apple's M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro, with a few quick notes about the new Vision Pro.Google and Open AI’s video generation models have upended our sense of reality online, what comes next? – 1:10Apple’s M5 chip is a significant boost in graphics power on the Macbook Pro – 34:11The iPad Pro M5 is a solid speed boost for whoever wants it – 39:36Preview of the Vision Pro M5 review – 44:00Working on – 50:23Pop culture Picks – 51:45 

Apple just announced its fall slate of devices powered by its new M5 chip: A 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and revamped Vision Pro. In this episode, Devindra and Sam Rutherford dive into what's actually new this time around. (Spoiler: It’s really all about the new GPU.) Also, Sam goes deep on his review of the ROG Xbox Ally X, Microsoft’s first stab at a portable “Xbox.” Apple refreshes of the Macbook Pro, Vision Pro and iPad Pro with M5 chips – 1:24Sam Rutherford’s Review of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X – 18:45Microsoft makes big promises with Copilot Voice, can it follow through? – 39:00OpenAI’s Sora app reaches 1M downloads in less than 5 days, faster than ChatGPT – 50:42Sam Altman announces you’ll be able to sext with ChatGPT starting in December – 54:00Working on – 1:06:50Pop culture picks – 1:09:41 

This week, EA announced that it plans to go private as part of a massive $55 billion sale, a move that will likely have huge implications for the gaming landscape. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Sam Rutherford chat about what this deal really means (and why it includes a Saudi Arabian investment fund), and also dive into the messy state of Xbox. Is the ROG Ally Xbox X already a failure at $1,000? Electronic Arts to go private in a deal worth $55 Billion – 1:43What the heck is going on with Xbox? The $1,000 ROG Ally Xbox X could be a failure even before launch – 15:23Great games out now: Final Fantasy Tactics, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hades II and more – 42:46Amazon’s fall hardware event announced new Echoes, a new Fire TV and a panopticon powered by Ring – 59:10Google announces new Nest Doorbell along with a couple of Nest Cams – 1:09:34Hollywood film stars recoil in disgust at Tilly Norwood, an AI actress created by a Dutch production studio –1:14:30OpenAI’s Sora video app is full of fake shoplifting clips – 1:14:13  Working on – 1:17:35Pop culture picks – 1:19:01 

Buying a car in America is usually a hellish experience involving pushy salespeople, mysterious fees, and hours-long financing negotiations. That’s something Carvana aimed to solve with its online used car marketplace when it launched 13 years ago. In this episode, Devindra chats with Carvana Chief Product Officer Dan Gill about how the company moved beyond the flashy marketing of its early car vending machines, and how it’s still trying to perfect the online car buying experience. We also dive into some of the issues the company has faced – including delayed registrations and vehicle issues – and how it’s trying to learn from them. 

We're still in iPhone mode this week, as all of our reviews of Apple's new hardware are rolling out. In this episode, Senior Writer Sam Rutherford joins us to chat about his experience with the iPhone Air and our final thoughts on the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. Also, we dive into all of the news from Meta Connect 2025, including the Ray-Ban Display smart glasses. Is Meta actually on to something with these smart glasses? Or is Zuck just desperate to get people away from phones?iPhone 17 Air review: Thinness with a purpose – 1:21What’s the iPhone 17 Air’s battery life like? – 14:47iPhone 17 Pro: a more substantive update than meets the eye – 24:54The base iPhone 17 is a great phone for pretty much everyone – 35:26Mark Zuckerberg announces Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses during his Connect keynote – 39:35Other News: The ‘framework’ of a TikTok deal is in place, U.S. may license ByteDance’s original algorithm – 1:09:08New rumors about a touchscreen MacBook Pro – 1:10:41Working on – 1:14:32Pop culture picks – 1:15:02 

This week, managing editor Cherlynn Low and senior reporter Karissa Bell are joined by The Verge's Allison Johnson to talk all about the new iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17s. We also answered some questions from Threads and talk about our hopes and dreams from the next Apple event. Also, Devindra and Ben chat about some recent news, including a truly awful AI podcasting company.Cherlynn, Karissa, and a special guest break down the iPhone 17 news from Apple headquarters – 1:04Notes from the iPhone Air hands on – 14:59Once again, a big Apple event with no mention of Apple Intelligence – 40:27Animated movie Critterz will use OpenAI’s tech to try to make a CGI movie on a shoestring budget – 59:24  Inception Point AI wants to use virtual hosts to make 5,000 new podcast episodes a week – 1:04:26David Zaslav thinks HBO Max should be more expensive, because of course he does – 1:23:27Working on – 1:25:41Pop culture picks – 1:28:29 

We've survived Apple's iPhone 17 event and we're here to dive into all of the news. In this bonus episode, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham recap all of Apple's new hardware and try to determine if the iPhone Air has any substance behind all that style.  

We're just days away from Apple's September 9th iPhone 17 event, and the hype seems practically nonexistent. Did the many (many) leaks splash cold water on an enthusiasm, or are we just tired of annual iPhone events? In this episode, Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham joins Devindra to discuss why even the rumored iPhone Air isn't really tingling our gadget geek senses. Also, we dive into the final repercussions of the US. v. Google antitrust trial: Turns out Google doesn’t have to sell Chrome, or give up much of anything else.   The iPhone 17 is almost here, does anyone care? – 1:36U.S. antitrust judge rules that Google won’t have to sell Chrome – 23:24More Gemini-powered smart home products will be revealed on October 1 – 30:02The Browser Company’s sale to Jira parent company Atlassian shows how hard upstart browsers have it – 33:15After 15 years Instagram is finally getting an iPad app – 40:41Dolby announces Dolby Vision 2 with a bunch of AI features that seem useful – 44:25There’s AI in your pizza oven: Ooni’s Volt V2 will cook a pie in 90 seconds using machine learning – 49:02Around Engadget: Remarkable Paper Pro Move, Acer Chromebook 14 Spin Plus, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 – 52:51Working on – 56:55Pop culture picks – 57:20

Now that Apple has scheduled its iPhone 17 event for September 9th, it's time to dive into everything we’re  expecting. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Igor Bonifacic chat with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman about his latest Apple scoops. We're expecting an ultra-thin iPhone Air (which may turn out to be a dud), but when will we hear more about Apple's rumored move into robotics and that darned foldable iPhone?iPhone 17 event preview with Mark Gurman: Apple’s rumored iPhone Air will be rough around the edges at first  – 1:03What to expect from the main iPhone 17 line: more of the same, for better or worse – 10:24OpenAI faces first known Artificial Intelligence wrongful death lawsuit – 26:32U.S. government converts Intel’s CHIPS act grant into 9.9% equity – 32:28Working on – 37:15Pop culture picks –  39:01

This week, Google unveiled its full suite of Pixel 10 devices during an event hosted by Jimmy Fallon, of all people. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Sam Rutherford dive into all of the new phone models and try to determine if Google has finally cracked the code on premium smartphones. Also, they chat about a few announcements from Gamescom 2025.Google announces Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro – 1:08The Pixel 10 Pro Fold – 7:13Pro Res Zoom promises up to 100x virtual zoom with an AI assist – 20:34Pixel Watch 4: a more vibrant screen and satellite connectivity – 26:04What’s hot at Gamescom: new details on the Xbox ROG Ally handset – 29:43New updates to NVIDIA GeForce now – 34:43Unfortunately, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition runs poorly on the Switch 2 – 37:43Working on – 40:56Pop culture picks – 41:57  

Ford has big plans for 2027: This week, the American carmaker announced a new "Universal EV Platform" for future electric cars, spearheaded by a $30,000 mid-sized EV pickup. In this episode, we're joined by SAE International Editor Roberto Baldwin to break down all of Ford's claims, as well as where its $5 billion manufacturing investment is going. Can Ford really rebound after slow EV sales and last year's disappointing product delays? Ford has a plan for a ‘Universal EV Platform’ and a $30,000 mid-size electric pickup, can they pull it off? – 0:49OpenAI releases GPT-5, the reception so far is mixed – 24:45NVIDIA and AMD may tithe 15% of their Chinese GPU sales to the U.S. government – 30:18Goodbye: AOL will phase out dial-up at the end of September – 33:25AI-powered “Smarter Siri” likely won’t hit iPhones until Spring 2026 – 36:42Perplexity makes an unsolicited offer to buy Chrome for $34 billion, which is more than the company is worth – 41:03Listener Mail: Gaming on a MacBook Air – 52:31Working On – 57:05Pop culture picks – 59:13

This week, Apple committed another $100 billion towards US investments in a bid to avoid the Trump administration’s chaotic tariff plans. Oh, and Tim Cook gave Trump a unique plaque with a 24-karat gold base. Just a normal business meeting in a normal country. In this episode, Devindra and Engadget's Sam Rutherford discuss what this latest Apple investment ultimately means (and just how embarrassing appeasing the Trump administration looks). And since the news is fairly slow, we also take some time to answer a few listener questions. Apple attempts to avoid tariffs with another $100 billion U.S. investment and a shiny object for the president – 1:21Nintendo announces blockbuster Switch 2 sales numbers, price hikes for original Switch models – 12:39Trump demands Intel’s new CEO to step down over conflicts of interest – 16:51ChatGPT conversations no longer searchable in Google (why were they there in the first place?) – 18:55Hulu to shut down app in 2026 and be absorbed into Disney+ – 22:15Listener Q&A: HDMI or Optical for sound bar connection, moving off of Windows 10, and good alternatives to the Lenovo Yoga 7 – 26:59Working on – 48:04Pop culture picks – 53:29.  

We’ve been playing around with the developer betas of Apple’s latest software, and now that we’ve spent time with iOS 26, Liquid Glass and more on actual devices, we have thoughts. From representation in Genmoji and Live Translation adventures to Apple Intelligence musings, our hosts Cherlynn Low and Mat Smith share what you can expect on your iPhones later this year. We also go over our reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, as well as Microsoft’s SharePoint server vulnerabilities.Cherlynn and Mat on how iOS 26 feels in the developer beta – 1:17Our reviews of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, Flip 7, and Watch 8 – 43:07Microsoft Sharepoint vulnerability -- who's impacted so far (including the Department of Energy) – 50:58Pop culture picks – 54:15 

VR filmmaker Eliza McNitt has explored the cosmos with her previous work, but with her short film Ancestra, she taps into Google’s AI tools to tell a personal story. Based on her own birth, the film follows a pregnant woman who is shocked to learn she needs an emergency cesarean delivery. We hear her frightened thoughts as she thinks back to the creation of life and the way all living creatures are connected.In this episode, Devindra chats with McNitt about Ancestra and the creative potential (and many dangers) of AI as a video production tool. While she ultimately believes it’s up to every artist to judge the costs and benefits of every tool on their own, she also agrees that AI companies need to be more transparent about how their models are built, especially when it comes to training them on copyrighted works.

Samsung has finally debuted its latest foldables (after plenty of leaks), and boy they sure look thin. This week, Engadget's Sam Rutherford joins us to chat about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, as well as other highlights from its Galaxy Unpacked event. Also, we dive into a few of the best deals from Amazon Prime Day. You won't believe how cheap huge TVs have gotten.  Breaking down the Samsung Galaxy Fold 7 and everything else from Unpacked 2025 – 1:58Galaxy Z Flip 7: bigger screens, bigger battery – 16:06  Galaxy Watch 8: now with an antioxidant sensor? – 20:59  Great deals still available as Amazon Prime Day 2025 comes to a close – 30:38Linda Yaccarino leaves X, xAI’s Grok goes on an antisemitic tirade – 39:03Cloudflare could make AI web crawlers pay a toll – 41:28Jack Dorsey unveils Bitchat, a “secure” Bluetooth mesh messaging app – 43:40Marco Rubio AI imposter attempts to gain access to government information – 46:33A U.S. version of TikTok is currently in development – 49:43Anthropic wins significant Fair Use copyright case – 52:38Working on – 1:00:53Pop culture picks – 1:02:25 

This week, Devindra chats with Sam Chapman, Engadget’s new security reporter who’s been reviewing VPNs and related products. He dives into what led him to security, the VPNs he likes the most and thoughts on potential cyberattacks. Additionally, we discuss Microsoft’s latest news around the Windows 10 Extended Security Update, and Devindra explains why M3GAN 2.0 absolutely rules.

It's been a busy week! In this episode, Devindra and Senior Editor Jessica Conditt dive into their final thoughts on the Switch 2, as well as Jess's time covering Summer Game Fest. We also put a bow on WWDC 2025 and explore what works and doesn't with Apple's Liquid Glass redesign. Summer Games Fest 2025: Sword of the Sea, Mouse: PI for Hire, Big Walk and a ton more indies – 1:17Nintendo Switch 2 review: more polish on the Switch form factor with scant new releases – 22:09WWDC 2025 wrap up: what will users think of liquid glass? – 38:11Air Traffic Control audio reveals Predator drones flew over LA protests – 53:31Meta announces large investment in Scale AI and a new AI Superintelligence initiative – 54:24Warner Bros. Discovery to split into two devisions along old company lines – 59:12  Pop culture picks – 1:00:34