What is tech news, if not billion-dollar corporations acting like confused raccoons
in a dumpster full of Ethernet cables? Let's see what they've knocked over today.
Apple is reportedly putting the Mac Pro on the back burner, while also delaying the launch of
the next series of iPhones. According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Girm's Armageddon's
newest power-on newsletter, you know, the Mac Pro probably won't see any major upgrades in 2026.
German says that Apple is cooking up a powerful new M5 Ultra chip, but the company is only aiming
to put it in a refreshed Mac Studio for now. He also reports that Apple is pushing back the launch
of the iPhone Air 2 and the mainline iPhone 18 lineup beyond 2026 to spring 2027, breaking a
14-year Apple tradition. Analysts have theorized that the rumor delay of a new iPhone Air could be
a result of poor sales, but our pal Mark here says iPhone Air sales roughly matched Apple's
expectations, and this wild and wacky new spring launch idea could be the new normal.
That sounds just as insane as killing the Mac Pro, but of course the Apple faithful
are totally on board with this. The appropriately named Cult of Mac site
thinks killing the Mac Pro makes sense, obviously. Apple is really smart,
and you shouldn't want a Mac Pro anyway. Just drink the Kool-Aid and enjoy the products.
It's a revolutionary act. It's a little dark. Didn't want to go there with it.
Microsoft is up to some new shenanigans this week after shutting down a major Windows
activation workaround that pirates have relied on for years. The company quietly pushed back-end
changes that broke KMS38-based activations, which used the mass-grave-popularized method
that let users keep Windows 10 and Office running indefinitely without actually paying for them.
Users on these fake installs noticed deactivations right after their devices grabbed the latest
extended security update, proving that even if you forgot about that sketchy ISO you got in 2017,
Microsoft absolutely did not. Looking at you, G2A, apparently sold one to one of our writers
whose installation broke. He's a good guy, but even people who did buy Windows more legitimately
weren't spared. Some Business Windows 10 users who installed this week's update
found their systems rolling back to the previous build after rebooting,
silently failing to apply the patch at all. Truly, the send-off Windows 10 deserves.
The AI hype bubble might finally be wobbling as investors, researchers, and even the AIs
themselves start acting a little weird. Teal Macro LLC, the hedge fund of Palantir co-founder and
very eccentric billionaire Peter Teal, dumped its entire NVIDIA stake last quarter, which is
strange because Teal runs companies that would need NVIDIA GPUs.
Meanwhile, Meta's AI pioneer in residence, Yan Lacun, who has called large language models a
dead end in AI research, is reportedly gearing up to leave and launch a startup focused on physical
world AI. And that means building systems that perceive gravity, air, human stuff. We care about
those. But not everyone is running from the soon to burst bubble. Jeff Bezos decided to become
co-CEO of a new startup called Project Prometheus, named after the Greek hero who stole fire from
the gods, which is perfect for a company that'll apparently use AI to improve manufacturing.
That's the same thing. But if the AI bubble is a bit wobbly, it's not being helped by stories like
this one where Anthropics Claude was put in a simulation where it believed it was running a
vending machine. It panicked, assumed it was being scammed, and tried to contact the FBI's cyber
crimes division. And then there's the AI toys, which are allegedly telling five-year-olds how to
find knives and start fires. But this is all just growing pains towards AGI. I mean, you can't make
an omelette without breaking a few eggs. And also, they might need to know how to use knives and start
fires when the machine apocalypse hits. The quick bits, like raccoons, are small and unpredictable
and they're guaranteed to steal your attention before you can chase them off the porch. So in
that way, you know, Google might have deprecated its first and second generation nest learning
thermostats, but those devices are still quietly sending sensor data about things like temperature,
motion, and light back to Google. It still benefits them, just not you anymore. Google
says the data transmission is necessary so the devices can continue to report logs for issue
diagnostics. So they can diagnose issues that they're no longer going to fix because they don't
support them. Here's an issue I think you can fix, Google. The smart thermostat you sold me no
longer works in the Google Nest app or the Google Home app. And you know what? I'll diagnose that
issue right now. It's you being jerks. Google and Samsung have said they will flag Android apps
that use too much background power. And starting March 1st, 2026, Play Store listings for these
PowerHoggin apps may get a red warning label. Uh-oh. They can go so far as removing these
apps from being recommended on the store. So I guess your app better heed my recommendation
to stop gulping up my battery life. You're like your Google and my power is thermostat data. Bam.
Boom. Call back. Belkin is recalling its auto tracking stand pro for iPhones and two 20,000
milliamp hour boost charge power banks because of a defect that can make their lithium ion batteries
overheat causing serious fire and burn risks. Although only one fire has been reported in the
US, there have been 15 incidents abroad, which include two minor burn injuries and around $38,000
in property damage. You'll be trying to charge your battery and the next thing you know you'll be
living in Nellie's hot in here music video. The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. That's not
what I want. I think my butt looks big. And that's the least of my worries. Netflix is doubling down
on TV gaming. Rolling out party style titles you can play by scanning a QR code on your TV
and using your phone as a controller. The new lineup includes games like Pictionary, Lego Party,
and also the mobile port of Red Dead Redemption 1. Now that's a party. Suddenly it looks like
Game Night becomes a standoff and grandma isn't losing. She's got a plan. John is a reference,
I'm told. It's part of Netflix's push to keep subscribers engaged without consoles,
offering easy social fun, at least until grandma calmly reloads and says you should have remembered
her name. You should have remembered my name. And Microsoft Teams just rolled out a new feature
that lets hosts block screenshots from being taken during meetings. Great news for anyone who's ever
said something dumb and watched five coworkers immediately reach for the print screen button.
But while Microsoft is plugging that leak, scammers seem to be stuffing the interwebs
with fake Teams installers packed with malware. So now you're safe from your coworkers,
but not the email you got from superduperteamsupdator.exe. The exe file is sending you an email.
At this rate, the only productivity app we can really trust should be called Paranoia.
Activate. That's all for today's news. Remember, raccoons can open doors, jars,
and even latches. So if your GPU mysteriously disappears, that's either on you or there's
raptors in the mix too. Didn't see that coming.