Amazon’s Prime Day sale begins June 23 and could be the last time we see deep discounts on many tech products for a while, if some in the tech world are to be believed.
This includes Tim Cook who this week warned about the price. increases for Apple technology, since, according to him, it is now impossible for Apple to absorb the cost of the current component crisis.
To catch up on Cook’s warning and more brilliant news, like Commodore’s foldable phone that’s making us nostalgic, scroll down for our roundup of the week’s biggest tech news.
7. Commodore’s foldable phone took us back to 2004
Are you nostalgic for foldable phones and a simpler era before doomscrolling? Commodore (yes, the latest incarnation of the classic computing giant) feels your pain, so it has created a flip phone that will satisfy your retro needs while freeing your brain from smartphone addiction. Or that’s the idea, at least.
The Commodore Callback sits somewhere between a dumb phone and a modern Android flagship. It doesn’t work with social media apps and has no touch screen or web browser. But it runs most Android apps and has a 48MP rear camera, plus other features like an “audiophile-grade” DAC. Will it start a revolution? We’re not sure, but it’s definitely one of the most interesting phones of the year.
6. GTA 6 has a trailer
This week, Rockstar presented a new preview of Grand Theft Auto 6 and, although we were not lucky enough to see new gameplay, we were not left wanting.
With a hint of 80s synth and guitar, we saw the game’s cover come together. The vignette collage, similar to GTA 5 art, is filled with pink and purple hues that perfectly capture the vibes of Vice City.
Rockstar also announced that pre-orders will begin on June 25, ahead of its release on November 19, 2026.
5. Microsoft launched new Surface laptops
Not content to let Computex steal the spotlight in computing ads, Microsoft unveiled new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 processor.
The new Surface Laptop offers what Microsoft claims is up to 58% faster graphics performance than the previous generation of its laptop and a solid battery life of 20 hours for the smaller models and 19 for the larger ones.
Meanwhile, the 13-inch Surface Pro boasts a 53% jump in graphics performance over its predecessor, with up to 15.5 hours of battery life, according to Microsoft’s internal testing.
4. Sonos updated its app
A few months ago, we interviewed Sonos CEO Tom Conrad about the company’s app issues in its 2024 update, and he said that while they had worked hard to fix its technical issues, it still had big issues with its design and usability that it wanted to get to. This week he announced the first changes that will occur in the application to improve its design.
They include all kinds of things fans have been asking for since the 2024 redesign, including easier volume-switching options, the ability to customize your product list, and options organized by tabs that reflect standard iPhone and Android app design cues. The update will roll out in beta first, to make sure everything works before everyone else gets it…
3. The UK government had bad news for children
Depending on your point of view, perhaps it wasn’t a great week for young social media fans in the UK: Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that, like Australia, the country would ban apps such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat for under-16s starting next year.
It won’t just be social media apps that will be affected: live streaming for those under 16 will also be banned on all platforms. The government says the move will “give children their childhood back”, but UK teenagers are naturally not very impressed, nor are fans of the open internet. Expect this to be a hot topic for the rest of 2026.
2. Android 17 released
Android 17 started rolling out to compatible Pixel phones this week, and while Google’s flashy new Gemini Intelligence software isn’t among the available features yet, there are plenty of interesting new tools to try out if you own a Google Pixel 6 or later.
Chief among the new UI features are Bubbles, which lets you turn any app into a floating bubble that stays on top of other apps (useful for multitasking on large-screen devices), and Screen Reactions, which lets you capture your phone’s screen and record yourself with the front camera simultaneously.
My favorite feature of Android 17 is foldable gaming mode, which adds a dynamic gamepad to the side of your foldable phone (so you can play it like a Nintendo DS, yes, really!); Unfortunately, this won’t drop until the end of the year.
1. Tim Cook warned about Apple price increases
Against the backdrop of the RAM crisis and price increases for other components driven by AI hype and supply chain disruptions, the affordable MacBook Neo was a breath of fresh air when it debuted, but outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook had bad news for anyone hoping the good times would last a little longer.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Cook said: “Unfortunately, price increases are inevitable. We are doing everything we can to mitigate the huge increases that are happening to us and we have been trying to protect our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”
We don’t know when we’ll see such price increases, or how significant they will be, but if you have your eye on Apple technology, you might want to think about purchasing sooner rather than later, especially with Prime Day starting next week.
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