macOS 10.14 Mojave Drops Support for Many Older Machines

Apple this morning introduced macOS 10.14 Mojave, the newest version of the operating system designed to run on the Mac.

macOS Mojave is a major update that introduces a range of new features like a Dark Mode, Desktop and Finder improvements, new apps, and a revamped Mac App Store, but unfortunately, the update drops support for a number of machines.

While macOS High Sierra was available for some machines manufactured as early as 2009, macOS Mojave is largely limited to 2012 or newer machines, with the exception of some Mac Pro models. Here’s a full list:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU)

As you can see, compared to High Sierra, the update drops support for the older plastic MacBooks, and MacBook Pro, Air, mini, and iMac models from 2009, 2010, and 2011.

These older machines will not have access to the macOS Mojave features, and will continue to run macOS High Sierra.

Developers can download macOS Mojave starting today, and the update should be available for public beta testers later this summer.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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watchOS 5 Not Available for Original Apple Watch

The new watchOS 5 update, which was introduced at the keynote event of the Worldwide Developers Conference this morning, will not be available on the first-generation Apple Watch models that were released three years ago in 2015.

There were some hints that support might be dropped for the original Apple Watch, including warnings in later watchOS 4 updates after Apple stopped supporting the watchOS 1 SDK.

watchOS 5 will be able to be installed on Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Apple Watch models, while original Apple Watch models will not be able to be upgraded beyond watchOS 4.

The original Apple Watch likely does not have the power and battery life necessary for some of the newer watchOS 5 features, including Walkie-Talkie for touch-to-talk communications with friends, richer interactive notifications, automatic workout detection, and updates to the Siri watch face.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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Apple Introduces Apple Watch Bands and iPhone Cases in Summer Colors

Apple today updated its lineup of silicone iPhone cases and Apple Watch Sport Bands in three summer colors, including Peach, Marine Green, and Sky Blue.

The three new colors are available for both 38 and 42mm Apple Watch Sport Bands, with pricing the same as other Sport Bands ($49).

Apple has also released silicone cases for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus in the new colors, with the cases also suitable for the iPhone 7 lineup. The new silicone cases are priced at $39 for iPhone X, $39 for iPhone 8 Plus, and $39 for iPhone 8.

Apple has not provided leather iPhone cases in new colors, nor has the company introduced iPad cases in the new summer shades. There are also no other new watch bands, with the exception of the Pride watch band.

The Pride watch band is a new version of last year’s Pride band, using Apple’s Woven Nylon band in a series of rainbow colors. Apple has also introduced a matching watch face that’s available today in watchOS 4. The Pride watch band is available for $49 and can be ordered starting today.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4, iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral), iPhone X (Neutral)
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Asus ROG Phone shrinks your gaming PC and puts it in your pocket

What’s the worst thing about that monster gaming PC rig you’ve got at home? It’s the fact that it stays at home and never leaves because it’s so enormous, you’d practically need a heavy-duty crane just to shift it off the desk. Asus feels your pain, so it has made a smartphone that will satisfy your mobile gaming needs without compromising on power, funky designs, or hardcore gaming credentials. It’s called the Asus ROG Phone, and it’s coming later this year.

If you’re not a gamer, ROG stands for Republic of Gamers and is a division of Asus that focuses on gaming, esports, and modding PCs for the highest levels of performance. Hardware wearing the ROG branding is always impressive specs-wise, and the ROG Phone is no exception. It also introduces a new phrase to phone fans unfamiliar with the gaming world: Speed binning. This refers to Asus cherry-picking the best-performing processors from a production run, in this case, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 chip, which hits 2.96GHz inside the ROG Phone, well above the normal 2.8GHz clock speed.

This is exclusive to the Asus phone and instantly singles the ROG Phone out as one designed for people who take mobile gaming very seriously. The chip comes with 8GB of RAM, and either 128GB or a whopping 512GB of internal storage. To make sure you have the power when you need it most, a squeeze of the phone’s body — something like on the Pixel 2 and HTC phones — activates X Mode, where processing tasks are handled by the chip’s four fastest cores, and maxes out the clock speed. To avoid overheating, Asus has built a copper heat spreader into the body, and even sells a separate clip-on fan to speed up heat dispersal.

Made of glass and metal, the ROG Phone weighs a hefty 200 grams — in part due to the 4,000mAh battery — and the body is covered in slashes, angular lines, and design elements that will be familiar to Republic of Gamers fans. It looks great, especially the offset fingerprint sensor and glowing — yes, it really does light up — ROG logo on the back. The dual-lens camera is made up of a 12-megapixel lens and an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens. Around the front is a 6-inch AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 2160 x 1080 pixel resolution. On the audio side, you get dual stereo speakers, DTS Headphone X enhancements, AptX HD Bluetooth, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

To go with the ROG Phone, Asus has made a series of accessories including a second display that’s identical to the one on the phone, an external 4K monitor, a 6,000mAh battery pack, and a dock for livestreaming use when you’re at your PC. Several different game controllers are also available to increase speed and accuracy over using the touchscreen, while the phone itself has two touch-sensitive AirTriggers built into the left-hand side of the device for use in landscape orientation.

When can you get a ROG Phone, and how much will it cost? Asus hasn’t announced availability or price yet but says the device should be on sale before the end of the year. The price is sure to be high, given the technology inside and the presence of that speed-binned processor. The bigger question is just how much demand there is for a specialized gaming phone, a segment most recently explored by Razer with its Razer Phone. It’ll be fascinating to compare the two when the time comes. We’ll keep you updated with ROG Phone news right here.

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Nvidia GeForce GTX 11 Series’ arrival is uncertain after Computex remark

When Nvidia will introduce its GeForce GTX 11 Series graphics cards is still up in the air. A recent press release stemming from the Hot Chips technology summit in California in August originally said Nvidia would feature “their next-gen GPU,” but that statement has since been removed. Nvidia’s scheduled GPU talk at 11:30 a.m. on August 20 also shifted to “TBD.” Stuart Oberman was originally slated to talk about “Nvidia’s next-generation mainstream GPU.” 

“We will hear from the CPU and GPU giants: AMD featuring their next-gen client chip and Intel with an interesting die-stacked CPU with iGPU plus stacked dGPU,” the Hot Chips press release now states. 

Even more, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitted during a Computex press conference that gamers may not see next-generation graphics cards for “a long time from now.” Previously, the company was expected to launch a Founders Edition of the GeForce GTX 1180 graphics card in July, but that rumor shifted to August once the original Hot Chips press release went live. Now August may not even be on Nvidia’s roadmap. 

These two factors — the altered Hot Chips schedule and Jensen Huang’s statement — indicate that the company may have pushed back its GeForce GTX 11 Series launch. That is only speculation at this point, and the “long time” statement could merely play into gamer anticipation for the next-generation cards. Still, a fourth-quarter 2018 release window would still fall within Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s previous expectations for a GTX 11 Series portfolio rollout during the second half of 2018. 

Keep in mind that Nvidia is under a lot of pressure. While Nvidia is apparently aware that gamers are champing at the bit for next-generation graphics, the company still must answer to its shareholders. Graphics cards are a big chunk of Nvidia’s revenue, and the company hasn’t introduced an updated architecture since May 2016. Right now, most of what you hear from Nvidia revolves around artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, supercomputing, and robotics. 

The GeForce talk presented by Nvidia’s CEO during the Computex press conference highlighted the Max-Q design: A tweak of the current Pascal architecture to enable thinner gaming notebooks without sacrificing a lot of performance. These discrete GPUs run around 10 percent slower than their non-Max-Q mobile counterparts because they are required to generate less heat due to the slimmer form factors. 

Over the last two years, Nvidia rolled out 14 GTX 10 Series add-in cards for desktops spanning from the GT 1030 to the Titan Xp, eight discrete graphics chips for laptops, and three Max-Q mobile GPU variants. The architecture to be used in the GeForce GTX 11 Series is up in the air for now: Either Nvidia will fall back on its new Volta design used in the Titan V, or use a rumored new design called “Turing.” There is another code name floating around the rumor well — Ampere — pointing to the next generation family of Tesla cards. 

As a reminder, Nvidia’s CEO said during the company’s Fiscal 2018 fourth-quarter conference call in February that we should “expect Pascal to continue to be world’s best gaming platform for the foreseeable future.”  

Hackers prove how powerful computers can cheat Bitcoin and blockchain

Niche cryptocurrency ZenCash has been hit by a “51 percent attack,” leading to the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tokens. Although problematic in its own right, the attack highlights one of the biggest weaknesses of blockchain platforms like Bitcoin — computing power.

Blockchain backed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and ZenCash, are built on a “proof-of-work” system. That means that the network goes along with what a majority of ‘nodes’ (or miners) say is true. It’s a secure system because to trick it, you need to control more than half of those nodes, or an equivalent amount of computing power.

While that might be difficult for a platform like Bitcoin where there are thousands upon thousands of high-powered mining rigs, it’s much easier to trick smaller cryptocurrency networks. That is exactly what happened with ZenCash, where over a period of four hours, attackers used masses of computing power to take control of the blockchain and create alternate histories, thereby letting them spend their ZenCash twice.

Because the attackers covered their tracks, no one quite knows what they did with it, but no doubt it was profitable. Crypto51 looks at the hash rate, or global computing power currently mining different cryptocurrencies, and how much a 51 percent attack would technically cost to perform if rented from existing networks. In the case of ZenCash, the attacker would theoretically only have had to spend around $30,000 to complete the double-spend hack.

Blockchain networks like Bitcoin, which are far larger, would require a much greater expenditure to complete a 51 percent attack — $717,000 for just one hour, according to Crypto51. Fortunately, there isn’t enough rental power in the world to conduct such an attack, but if an organization was to get a hold of enough hashing power, those currencies are just as vulnerable and could be attacked in much the same way.

ZenCash isn’t the only cryptocurrency that has been hit with a 51 percent attack. As Bitcoinist reports, both Bitcoin Gold and Verge have both been hit in a similar manner in recent months. They required less hashing power than ZenCash, so it’s possible that this latest attack is just another example if a trend of upward trajectory attacks that target much more vulnerable cryptocurrencies and blockchain platforms.

Fifty-one percent attacks aren’t the only problems faced by Bitcoin and public blockchain platforms, though, these developers are trying to solve them.

Best MicroSD Cards For Moto G6

Adopt some more storage for your new budget champ.

The Moto G6 continues Motorola’s trend of offering the best bang for your buck. You get a modern design, powerful internal specs and common sense features like a headphone jack and microSD expansion.

But while you can get by with the same microSD card you’ve been rocking since 2012, it may be worth an upgrade for more storage, faster speeds, or both.

These are the best microSD cards for your Moto G6!

• Performance options
• Value options

Performance options

The Moto G6 records video at a max resolution of 1080p at 60 fps, so you won’t need the fastest card in the world for your video footage. But, if you plan to format the card as Adoptable Storage to use it for apps and games, a fast card is essential. Motorola recommends a card with UHS-1 speeds or faster. Even our value options are that fast, but if you plan to use the card for another phone in a few years, it may be worth investing in a faster card now.

Samsung EVO Select 128GB

The best value performance card is Samsung’s EVO Select 128GB . This will triple or quintuple your phone’s internal storage, and it’s more than fast enough for games, applications and your video footage. More than that, it’s future proof: the high speeds will be good to you in a few years when more budget phones are able to record 4K footage. The card is water-, shock-, heat-, and cold-resistant, so it can go in the same environments your phone can.

The Samsung EVO Select 128GB microSD card is available for $40.

See at Amazon

Samsung EVO Plus 256GB

Motorola’s marketing says the G6 supports cards up to 128GB. But this is a half-truth — the phone supports the microSDXC standard. For a while, the largest card available was 128GB. Now, we have 200GB, 256GB and 400GB cards available. Do note that if you use the card as adoptable storage, there’s a non-zero chance that you won’t be able to use the card in any other device. Whether you use this as adoptable storage, or just use it to hold big media files, it’s hard to go wrong with this card. It’s water-, temperature-, X-ray- and magnet resistant, so no worries about sending it through airport security or having your phone in the rain.

The Samsung EVO Plus 256GB microSD card is available for $93.

See at Amazon

Value options

If you don’t want the microSD to hold games and applications — and instead want something to just playback music and video files — you can save some money and get a slower card. These will be more than fast enough to save your photos and videos to as well.

SanDisk Ultra 64GB

If you don’t need that much extra storage and want to save a bit of money, SanDisk has you covered. Their 64GB Ultra card will still double or triple your internal storage, and be fast enough to keep up with your phone. The card is also shock-, water-, temperature-resistant, so no need to worry about damaging it in extreme environments.

The SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSD card is available for $20.

See at Amazon

Samsung EVO Select 32GB

Despite having the same name as the card in the performance section, this one is too slow to use as adoptable storage. But, it’ll work great for viewing photos, videos, music and other files. Samsung says it’s fast enough for 1080P video recording, but I’d still save that to internal storage to be safe. The card is water- and temperature-resistant, so it’ll be safe in every environment your phone goes into.

Samsung’s EVO Select 32GB is available for $13.

See at Amazon

SanDisk Ultra 16GB

SanDisk has one last option if you don’t want to spend more money than you need to. This 16GB Ultra card is smaller than the rest of the options, but it will be enough to hold some music, photos and videos. The card is too slow to use as adoptable storage, but it’ll work well as portable storage. The card is water-, temperature-, shock-, X-ray-, and magnet-resistant, so don’t worry about just leaving it in your phone no matter where you are.

The SanDisk Ultra 16GB microSD card is available for just over $8.

See at Amazon

What say you?

Do you value speed, or are you willing to spend more money on a card to hold a whole lotta files? Let us know down below!

PlayStation 4 games releasing in June 2018

What are the PlayStation 4 games coming out in June?

There are some pretty amazing titles for the PlayStation 4, and we’re here to keep you updated on all the new ones! Be sure to check in with us once a month to see what new titles you should be expecting, or excited for!

Notable release this month

Here’s what we’ve found so far!

Super Bomberman R

Coming June 12, 2018.

Bomberman will always have a place in my heart. This game has been around as long as I can remember. Much like Mega Man, they’ve stayed true to the themes and functions of the game while still upgrading to move with the new age of technology. The phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is a mentality I wish more game companies stuck to. Even when they came out with Bomberman for the DS they still had the core aspect of the game we all knew and loved with added mini-games, that were super fun, for your enjoyment.

Yes, I know, Bomberman basically is a bunch of mini-games thrown into a single game. But the kinds of mini-games we saw before included things like defusing bombs by blowing into the mic of your DS, and so forth. From the looks of the trailer I’ve seen so far for Super Bomberman R, it doesn’t look like they’re adding anything too wild, and that’s not a bad thing. But, it does look like the bomb battle got quite a few upgrades, a few more characters, and a special guest from Ratchet and Clank! So, whether you wanna play solo or get your friends to jump in, Bomberman has always been a pretty baller way to spend your time. I guess you could say it’s… the bomb. (Okay, I’ll see myself out now.)

You pre-order this title for $39.99 on the PlayStation Store.

See on PlayStation Store

LEGO The Incredibles

Coming June 15, 2018

When Pixar dropped the bomb that another Incredibles movie was going to be made heads rolled. No one could contain their excitement or refrain from screaming, “Yes! Finally!” Well, they’ve added to that excitement by releasing a LEGO game revolving around the sequel of this movie. Who doesn’t love a good LEGO game? It’s fun for all ages, wildly entertaining, and always throws in those little quips to get you and your friends laughing. Yeah, that’s right. The well-known co-op ability with the LEGO games will still be available for this game as well. I guess you could say this game is the greatest good your June is ever gonna get, so where’s your super suit?!

This is available for pre-order on the PlayStation store for $59.99!
See on PlayStation Store

More PlayStation 4 releases

We’ve collected a list of upcoming PlayStation 4 games below. No worries, if any surprise titles pop up we’ll be sure to add it to the list!

• Earth Atlantis – June 1
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle – June 5
• Nobunaga’s Ambition: Taishi – June 5
• ONRUSH – June 5
• Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn – June 5
• Vampyr – June 5
• Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr – June 5
• Fate/Extella Link (JAPAN) – June 6
• MotoGP 18 – June 7
• Jurassic World Evolution – June 12
• The Lost Child – June 22
• New Gundam Breaker – June 21
• The Crew 2 – June 26
• Lumines Remastered – June 26
• MXGP Pro – June 29

Upcoming PlayStation Vita Releases

• The Lost Child – June 22

Upcoming Downloadable Content

• The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset – June 5

Q2 games you might be seeing soon

• The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
• Torn
• Rainbow Skies

What are you playing?

Which PlayStation 4 game are you looking forward to most? Let us know in the comments section!

Updated June 2017: We will continue to refresh this list at the beginning of a new month to ensure you’re in the know when it comes to the PlayStation games being released soon! We’ve added a new section for games releasing sometime in June without a specific date attached to them.

PlayStation 4

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Amazon

Tekton’s 135-piece electronics repair kit is only $29 right now

Fix your gear!

The Tekton 2841 Everybit 135-piece electronic repair kit and security bit set is down to $28.51 on Amazon. This set normally sells between $33 and $34, and it has never dropped below $29 before.

Tekton also has a 27-piece kit on sale for $8.41. It normally sells for around $10, and this is its lowest price ever. Check out the dozen other kits and tools on sale from Tekton right now.

The 2841 Everybit kit has 105 screwdriver bits, 22 precision bits, and a ratcheting screwdriver. The screwdriver has multiple drive positions and a rubber grip for comfort. The bits are designed with repairing electronics in mind, including laptops, tablets, phones, gaming consoles, watches, and more. It even includes pentalobe bits specifically for the iPhone and MacBook. Users give it 4.6 stars based on 888 reviews.

See on Amazon

Microsoft To-Do rolls out list sharing for everyone

Now you can share and collaborate on lists with friends, family members, and co-workers.

Microsoft To-Do can now check another to-do off of its list. As the company teased last month, list sharing is now rolling out to the productivity app across Windows, iOS, and Android (via Windows Blog Italia).

List sharing is fairly straightforward and incredibly helpful if you need to do something like share a list of tasks with a co-worker or just want to collaborate on a shopping list with your significant other. Each list you’ve started will now have a sharing icon next to the ellipses menu at the top right. Tapping it will show you a pop-up menu that lets you quickly create an invitation link, then share that link with others.

By default, anyone with access to the link will be able to view and modify the list. However, there are more options to lock things down. You can toggle an option to limit access to those who have already joined the list, which will keep anyone who may get their hands on the link afterward from being able to join. And if you’re done collaborating, or just need to revoke access altogether, there’s an option to stop sharing.

Thus far, I’ve confirmed that list sharing is rolling out to the Windows (version 1.32.1805.30002) and iOS apps. For Android users, sharing is available with the beta version, but it should start rolling out to everyone relatively soon.

Download Microsoft To-Do (Free)