Ah, Christmas. That time of year when we stop thinking about tech and start thinking about mulled wine, carols, and bad sweaters. Well, apart from all that time we spend thinking about what tech we’re hoping Santa will bring us, and then once the big day arrives, all that time we spend thinking about how to set it up and actually use it.
Anyway, that’s all still a few days away – before then, it’s time for one final look back at the week in tech for this year. And what a week it was! Apple had a rather nasty Christmas gift to unpack, in the form of a US ban on sales of the Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2. That’s due to a patent dispute, and it means that if you’re hoping your stocking will contain one of Apple’s newest smartwatches, you might be disappointed.
Elsewhere, we got lots more information about what the Galaxy S24 series might be like, learned about a few nice new Google Chrome features, and discovered that Warner Bros. and Paramount might be merging. Who said this was a quiet time of year?
Next week, we’ll have a special TechRadar Friday newsletter looking back at all of the biggest stories of 2023. Until then, happy holidays!
The iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max came with a significant design change this year, swapping the traditional Ring/Silent switch for a new Action button – and it seems that a lot of case makers were caught unawares by the tweak.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is expected to launch at some point next, and we've got a few ideas about how the most expensive, most powerful Ultra model might go about reclaiming the title of the best Android phone from the Google Pixel 8 Pro.
The TechRadar deals team never sleeps, and if you're in the US and you're after a cut-price gadget or five this holiday season, check out these hand-picked deals from Amazon, Walmart, and more. We've got more deals for both US and UK shoppers below.
Google is rolling out a pretty significant December update for its Chrome browser on the desktop, extending the reach of the built-in safety check feature, warning users about extensions that might be malicious, and enabling tab groups to be saved together.
You might have one less streaming service to pick from in the not-too-disant future: we've seen a report that suggests the Max and Paramount Plus services might be merging, which would certainly give Netflix and Disney Plus something to think about.
