Next week we’ll have Samsung’s first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025, but before we can get there, we’ve seen a week full of tech announcements.
Leaks about the event were a dozen, but we also saw the long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 announcement, groundbreaking Windows 11 updates, and stayed up to date with the latest news on the TikTok ban.
Here’s our roundup of the week’s biggest tech news in case you missed it. What a quick overview!
When you’re done, feel free to check out our picks for the 7 new movies and TV shows airing this weekend (January 17).
Nintendo changed things
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After years of speculation, hype, and rumors, the successor to the Nintendo Switch has finally come to light and Nintendo has released a trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2. Creative name aside, the short trailer showed us a lot: it confirmed that the console and Its screen is bigger than before (we’ve heard it’s now an 8-inch screen due to leaks), it showed us the new button on the right JoyCon and it gave us a new stand design for the console, along with clips of a new Mario Kart title (although many call it mario kart 9if Nintendo counts Route As a main game this would be Mario Kart 10).
Although there aren’t many details, there are a lot of things we still aren’t sure about just from this trailer; Most importantly, it is unclear how much the console will cost when it launches and what its specifications are.
For those details, we’ll have to watch this space and wait to see what Nintendo announces next.
TikTok faced its end… for now
The TikTok ban in the US has been looming for some time, but it became clear this week as we get closer to January 19, the day it will go into full force. Users who feared losing the app turned to rival services, but not just Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Chinese-made alternatives such as RedNote and also Lemon8 (which is owned by ByteDance, like TikTok) proved popular.
There were hopes that the US Supreme Court would stop the execution of TikTok’s app store, but it has not done so, and although at the time of this writing, there are reports that the US government could not impose any fines related to the ban at the beginning that has not yet been applied. confirmed. The only thing left for TikTok fans is that when Donald Trump takes office on January 20, he could work to overturn the ban, a ban he has openly opposed despite being one of TikTok’s original detractors. .
We’re not holding our breath, but maybe this time next week, we’ll all be back to sharing dances in the watch app.
Samsung’s Unpacked ads are leaked
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The Samsung Unpacked event (taking place on Tuesday, January 22) may still be days away, but we may already know everything there is to know about the brand’s upcoming smartphone announcements thanks to leaks .
This includes the full specs and color options for the entire three-phone lineup (made up of the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra), details of AI improvements, including a new morning brief feature, and even the Samsung Galaxy. The S25’s new eye-catching ringtone (which Samsung itself released early).
As with all leaks, we have to take these details with a pinch of salt until Samsung makes an official announcement, but since that will happen fairly soon, we don’t have long to wait and see what it has up its sleeve for us.
Apple’s roadmap for 2025 is leaked
Speaking of leaks, Apple’s iPhone and iPad roadmap for 2025 was teased by reputable reporter and tipster Mark Gurman this week (via a paid Bloomberg article), detailing which technology we should see in the next 12 months.
The first is the iPhone SE 4 with Apple Intelligence and Face ID, which will arrive in the first quarter or early in the second. Then, alongside it, Gurman says we’ll get the iPad 11 with an A17 Pro chipset (just like the iPhone 15 Pro) and 8GB of RAM, which should mean it’s powerful enough to boast Apple Intelligence.
Sometime in the spring, Gurman says we should get a new iPad Air with an M4 chipset to bring it in line with the latest iPad Pro models, and then to round out the year will be the successful iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max. and the iPhone 17 Air (or possibly just the iPhone Air) is launched.
Broken Windows 11 games 24H2
The same story is repeated with Microsoft’s Windows 11 and its 24H2 update, which causes problems for several users. This time, players are frustrated with the functionality of their games, particularly Ubisoft’s. Assassin’s Creed Odysseyafter Valhalla and Origins Received patches to fix constant crashes.
While it’s easy to point the finger at Ubisoft developers, the 24H2 update has been a long-lasting irritant to the user experience, with numerous bugs turning some people away from the operating systems (at least for now).
Valve announced that SteamOS is coming to other portable gaming PCs, giving gamers a great alternative. Additionally, a cloud-native image, Bazzite, running SteamOS (not affiliated with Valve), can be used on desktop PCs, so Microsoft needs to get its act together before potentially losing many users.
DJI launched the first drone of its kind
DJI introduced the new and exclusive Flip, a multi-purpose entry-level drone that is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Its Star Wars spaceship-like body features folding propellers with guards, meaning you can fly up close safely, armed with auto-tracking flight modes and up to 60fps 4K video, plus slow-motion clips. 100 fps.
Ultimately, it’s like a larger, more expensive, supercharged DJI Neo, although the latter offers FPV flight, so check out our DJI Flip vs DJI Neo article to find out the key differences. During our in-depth review of the DJI Flip, we found that you get better 4K video and 48MP images than the Neo, with quality that’s close to what you’ll get from DJI’s Mini 4 Pro without reaching those same heights.
Ultimately, what’s most distinctive about the DJI Flip is its first-of-its-kind foldable design, which still falls within the 249g and lighter drone category that’s largely unrestricted.
OpenAI predicted AGI in 2025
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts we will reach AGI (artificial general intelligence, also known as superintelligence) “as we have traditionally understood it” in 2025 – a bold prediction for the year.
AGI is a type of AI that matches or even exceeds the cognitive abilities of a human being in a wide range of cognitive tasks compared to current AI models, which can only attempt to match people in a few specific areas. It’s what science fiction has taught us to imagine when we think about AI.
This would be a major breakthrough in the field of AI, and many experts say AGI would lead to a revolution unlike anything we’ve seen so far. For now, we’ll have to take Sam Altman’s word that AGI is almost here, but we could be in for a wild 2025 if his prediction is correct.
