The Federal Communications Commission wants to put an end to illegal robotext messages. On Monday, Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency will consider rules to require mobile wireless companies to block illegal text messaging. The FCC is already battling illegal robocalls — automatic dialers flood consumers’ phones with unwanted calls, many of them scams, such as …

Apple’s new MacBook Pro computers feature slightly larger displays, helped by smaller bezels and a new notch reminiscent of its iPhones, the company said during its Unleashed event Monday. Apple says it’s shrinking the borders around the laptops, which come in 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch sizes, wrapping its top menu bar around its cameras instead of placing them below it.   The company has boosted the …

With a slew of critical ports around the edge, no Touch Bar and the return of MagSafe charging, Apple’s new 2021 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, announced at its October event Monday, have more in common with its 2015 MacBook Pro lineup than more recent laptops. But as a professional photographer, this is the step backward I’ve been hoping for. …

Apple’s rumored AirPods 3 didn’t make an appearance at the company’s California Streaming event, but Apple’s next-gen earbuds could still debut this year, possibly at Apple’s October event. (Here’s how to watch Apple’s Unleashed event live today and everything we could see like a new MacBook Pro.) Over the years, for some of us, AirPods have become an essential tool for work, school …

Apple boasted about how efficient its new MacBook Pro laptops are during their debut Monday, but it takes Apple’s most power-hungry laptop charger, a beefy 140-watt brick, to top up the biggest of the new laptops. Apple’s previous 16-inch MacBook Pros, which use the Intel processors Apple is kicking out of its Mac family, came with a 96-watt charger. The 140-watt …

Apple says its new MacBook Pro models feature “the best audio system in a notebook” with better microphones and improved bass.   Both the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro feature a six-speaker sound system with 80% more bass. The speakers include two, larger tweeters and four force-canceling woofers that Apple says can go half an octave (or “so la ti …

Update, Oct. 18: Apple is hosting a launch today to show off its latest devices. You can follow CNET’s live blog here. So far we saw the AirPods 3, an Apple Music ‘Voice’ plan, new HomePod Mini colors and new MacBooks with Apple’s M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. Apple’s new MacBook Pro laptops will ditch the Touch Bar but bring back MagSafe, add …

Facebook will be building its metaverse out of Europe — at least in part. The company announced in a blog post Monday that it will be hiring around 10,000 people from within the EU to fill highly skilled roles working on Horizon Worlds, a 3D virtual play space, over the next five years. The idea of a metaverse — a …

The Apple Store was inaccessible Monday, ahead of Apple’s Unleashed event. The virtual event begins at 10 a.m. PT Monday (1 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. GMT, 4 a.m. Tuesday AEST) and is likely to reveal next-generation Mac computers, powered by the company’s own Apple silicon chips.  “Be right back,” Apple’s message said. “We’re making updates to the Apple Store. Check back …

Now playing: Watch this: New MacBook Pro: MagSafe returns 4:44 Apple’s new MacBook Pro laptops mark the return of the HDMI port and SD card reader, the company said during its Unleashed event Monday. Apple removed the SD card slot and HDMI port in 2016, to the dismay of some users.  Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted the comeback earlier this year, after …